MP plans to grill minister over ‘unconstitutional’...

ISSUE NO: 17619

28 Pages 150 Fils

www.kuwaittimes.net

Established 1961 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf

THULHIJJA 19, 1439 AHTHURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

Max 46ºMin 32º

The strange, shockingtheft of an antique oud

Cheap fares, costly fuel send India’s airlines into a tailspin

UN schools for Palestinians reopen despite US funds cut 115 Vikas makes history for India,

ugly scenes mar Asiad boxing24 26

News in brief

Instagram adds verified accounts

SAN FRANCISCO: Instagram yesterday set out tothwart duplicity with an option to authenticate high-profile accounts at the Facebook-owned image orvideo sharing social network. Blue badges displayed atInstagram accounts will indicate holders have gonethrough a verification process that includes providingphotos of identity documentation. Verification badgesare intended to enable Instagram users to know whenposts actually come from accounts of celebrities,notable public figures, big brands or well-knownorganizations. In coming weeks, profiles of accountswith huge audiences will start showing more informa-tion, such as when they were created, where it is locat-ed, and what ads it may be running. — AFP

MP plans to grill minister over ‘unconstitutional’ appointment

Adasani vows to pursue major ‘corruption’ casesBy B Izzak

KUWAIT: Opposition MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said yes-terday he will file to grill Minister of State for NationalAssembly Affairs Adel Al-Khorafi at the start of the nextterm starting October, insisting that his appointment isunconstitutional. Adasani and MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari had grilled Khorafi over alleged violations inthe previous term but they did not gather sufficient sup-port to file a no-confidence motion against him.

The lawmaker described his appointment as “politi-cally suspicious”, adding the minister does not have anyreal work to do. Adasani also warned that if the nextgrilling fails to oust the minister, he will continue to grillhim unless the government does not dismiss him. Herecalled that in the previous term, he addressed a ques-tion to the prime minister and Khorafi sent a responsestating that the question was not in line with the consti-tution, “although the question was legitimate and in linewith the constitution”.

The lawmaker said he will continue to press for legalaction against a number of major suspected corruptioncases like suspected money laundering at the OlympicCouncil of Asia, which is based in Kuwait. He said theissue has already been sent to the public prosecutionfor legal action, adding that it is illogical that the deal-ings of one official amounted to KD 12 million and KD 6million by another.

He also said the National Assembly pressed actionagainst the inflated hospitality expenditures of the inte-rior ministry and case has also been referred to thepublic prosecution. He said that such expendituresamounted to only KD 2 million a year, but in the previ-ous two years, swelled to KD 33 million. He said thosesuspected of being involved in the case have been sus-pended pending legal action.

Adasani said an investigation has been launched bythe Audit Bureau into allegations that the Cabinet wasgiving funds to lawmakers, saying that if proven, thecase amounts to bribery. He also said that he will con-tinue to monitor developments regarding violationscommitted in the distribution of agricultural land tosome people, in violation of the law.

Separately, Director-General of the Public Authorityfor Sports (PAS) Humoud Fulaiteh yesterday said a PASdelegation held a very positive meeting with officials ofthe International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the Swisscity of Lausanne on Tuesday. In a statement by PAS,Fulaiteh, who is heading the Kuwaiti delegation inSwitzerland, affirmed there was an agreement betweenthe authority and IOC officials on “all topics that wouldlift the ban on the Kuwaiti sports permanently”. Thestatement quoted Fulaiteh as saying that execution of theagreed-upon “roadmap” would begin next week, hopingthere would be no intervention “from other parties toobstruct” the process.

JAKARTA: Bronze medalist Kuwait’s Issa Al-Zankawi celebrates during the awards ceremony for the men’sdiscus throw athletics event at the 2018 Asian Games yesterday. — AFP

Iran arrests ‘dozens of spies’

TEHRAN: Iran’s intelligence minister said “dozens ofspies” had been arrested as part of a crackdown onespionage and dual nationals and alluded to an agentIran had placed in the Israeli government. IntelligenceMinister Mahmoud Alavi said Iran had planted theagent “in the cabinet of a country that has a verystrong intelligence service”. The conservative Tasnimnews agency said this was a reference to GonenSegev, a former Israeli energy and infrastructure min-ister who was charged with spying by a Jerusalemcourt last month. The minister said there was also aconcerted effort to root out dual nationals working inofficial positions. He added 230 “terrorist cells” hadbeen intercepted over the past year. — AFP

WASHINGTON: FIFA President Gianni Infantino (center) laughs as US President Donald Trump holds a red cardduring a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday. — AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warnedevangelical leaders that if Republicans lose control ofCongress in the midterm elections, Democrats will insti-tute change “quickly and violently”, The New YorkTimes has reported. At a meeting with those leaders atthe White House on Monday, Trump said everythingwas at stake for his conservative agenda if his partyloses in November, according to an audiotape of themeeting obtained by the Times.

Democrats “will overturn everything that we’ve doneand they’ll do it quickly and violently,” Trump said,according to the Times report published Tuesday night.“They will end everything immediately. When you lookat Antifa,” he added, referring to militant leftist anti-fas-cism groups, “and you look at some of these groups,these are violent people.” The Times said a WhiteHouse spokesman, Hogan Gidley, declined to expand onwhat the president meant.

It was not the first time Trump has warned of vio-lence if things did not go his way. During the 2016

presidential campaign, he said his supporters wouldprobably react violently if he did not win theRepublican nomination. “I think you’d have riots,”Trump warned. The Times said reporters were allowedto listen in on brief comments by Trump during theMonday meeting with ministers and pastors, and heardhim talk about abortion, religious freedom and youthunemployment.

But after the press was shown out of the room,Trump changed the subject and suggested how theevangelical leaders could help Republicans win inNovember, the Times reported. “I just ask you to go outand make sure all of your people vote,” Trump said.“Because if they don’t - it’s Nov 6 - if they don’t votewe’re going to have a miserable two years and we’regoing to have, frankly, a very hard period of timebecause then it just gets to be one election - you’re oneelection away from losing everything you’ve got.”

Trump also welcomed FIFA boss Gianni Infantino tothe White House on Tuesday, congratulating football’sgoverning body for awarding the 2026 World Cup toNorth America before jokingly waving a red card atjournalists. “I very much appreciate the fact that wehave won a very important event, the World Cup in2026,” said Trump, who had backed the joint USA-Mexico-Canada bid which triumphed over Morocco ata vote in Moscow on June.

Continued on Page 24

Trump warns of violent change if Reps lose midterms

MUMBAI: Indians returned almost the entire amountof currency withdrawn in the government’s note banof Nov 2016, raising fresh questions over the purposeof a shock move that triggered a sharp slowdown inthe economy. In its annual report, the Reserve Bank ofIndia said the total value of notes returned by thepublic was 15.3 trillion rupees ($216.7 billion) or 99.3percent of the total of 15.4 trillion rupees of notes incirculation on Nov 8, 2016. “The figures show thedemonetization exercise was a flop,” said a chiefeconomist at a bank, who sought anonymity as thesubject is a sensitive one. “Almost the entire amountcame back, which showed that people were nothoarding money in cash.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned India withhis so-called demonetization campaign that he saidaimed to uncover unaccounted wealth and counterfeitmoney. The old notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupeedenomination ceased to be legal tender from Dec 31,2016. The move hit India’s growth, driving it to athree-year low of 5.7 percent in the June quarter of2017, with several small businesses shutting down andmany laborers losing their jobs.

However, Subhash Chandra Garg, the government’seconomic affairs secretary, told reporters the RBIdata did not mean the effort was unsuccessful. “I thinkdemonetization achieved its objective quite substan-tially,” Garg said, declining to elaborate.


Demonetization ‘a flop’; rupee hits fresh lows

WASHINGTON: Reem Dad, a 22-year-old from SaudiArabia, is developing a platform for pilgrims andtourists to experience a virtual reality tour of Madinah,one of Islam’s holiest sites. Heba Zahid, 37, is workingon GreenDesert, a venture that would be one of thefirst to help create a recycling culture in the MiddleEastern country. Dad and Zahid were among 14 youngwomen social entrepreneurs from the ultraconservativekingdom who recently attended an intensive program atHalcyon, a Washington-based business incubator, toturn their ideas into reality.

The initiative comes after Saudi women were giventhe right to drive in June, among reforms backed byCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman raising hopes forgreater gender equality despite an ongoing crackdownon women’s rights activists. “Everything is changingnow... There is space for females everywhere,” saidDad, whose virtual reality program is called Taibah VR.“If a man wants to establish a company or wants tostart up something, there’s a process they go through -the same process we also go through. So I feel we areequal,” she told AFP.

Other projects include an Arabic-language app tohelp autistic children communicate, matching employersand workers to reduce unemployment and underem-ployment, as well as a video game to motivate youths toengage in community service. The Saudi government’sVision 2030 aims in part to promote local businesses,including those run by women, whose participation in

the workforce is expected to grow from 22 percent to30 percent by the end of the next decade. That’s still farbehind most other nations. In the United States, wherelarge gaps remain between women and men’s employ-ment rates, wages and job positions, around 60 percentof women participate in the labor force, according tothe Brookings Institution.

Halcyon fellow Asmaa Alabdallah, 22, founded BitGo,a Pokemon Go-like augmented reality game that usesgamification techniques to encourage community serv-ice. “Of course, we have a lot of challenges... but themost important thing is that you will never give up,” shesaid, insisting like Dad that her greatest obstacle lay notin being a woman entrepreneur in Saudi Arabia as muchas in finding local programming talent.


Saudi women grow ventures at US incubator

WASHINGTON: Saudi entrepreneurs Asmaa Alabdallah(left) and Reem Dad stand in front of Halcyon Houseon Aug 17, 2018. — AFP

KUWAIT: His Highness the DeputyAmir and Crown Prince Sheikh NawafAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah praisedthe great role of teachers in educatinggenerations and instilling virtuous val-ues among students, which is the cor-nerstone of the educational process. HisHighness the Deputy Amir and CrownPrince also stressed the need of adopt-ing the latest methods of effective edu-cation in addition to boosting Islamicvalues, Kuwaiti customs and respect fororiginal traditions.

This came during His Highness’meeting with Chairman and members ofthe Board of Directors of KuwaitiTeachers Society at Bayan palace yes-terday. They thanked His Highness forpatronizing the 43rd TeachingConference, organized by KuwaitTeachers Society on ‘Teacher’s profes-sional development and contemporarychallenges’. They also presented to HisHighness a copy of the society (2017-2021) strategic plan. His HighnessSheikh Nawaf has also conveyed greet-

ings of His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah toall teachers and students on the neweducational year and wished them moresuccess and progress.

Also yesterday, His Highness theCrown Prince received His Highness thePrime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. He alsoreceived Deputy Prime Minister, ForeignMinister and Acting Defense MinisterSheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, as well as Minister of Commerceand Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan.

Separately, His Highness the PrimeMinister received Director General ofthe Environment Public Authority (EPA)Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, and EPA members. The recep-tion came on the occasion of EPA’s win-ning the outstanding achievementaward in Geographic InformationSystem (GIS) for the year 2018, for itsEnvironmental Monitoring InformationSystem of Kuwait (eMISK) last July inthe United States. — KUNA

Thursday, August 30, 2018

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Established 1961

Crown Prince praises teacher’s‘great’ educational role

Sheikh Nawaf stresses need of adopting latest methods of effective education

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Chairmanand members of the Board of Directors of Kuwaiti Teachers Society. — KUNA photos

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah meets withDirector General of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, and EPA members.

His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with His Highness the PrimeMinister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh NawafAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Deputy Prime Minister,Foreign Minister and Acting Defense Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) recently honored staff members who reported for duty during Eid Al-Adha at branches which openedthroughout the holiday.

China respectsminority freedoms,religious beliefKUWAIT: The Chinese Embassy in Kuwait held a pressconference yesterday, during which it released the fol-lowing statement:

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination ofRacial Discrimination (CERD) reviewed China’s report onthe implementation of the International Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination inGeneva from 10 to 13 August 2018. It recognized theprogress made by China in protecting the rights andinterests of national minorities and its achievements in theimplementation of the convention.

Human rights for all are what the Chinese governmentand people have been striving for. Since the founding ofthe People’s Republic of China, under the leadership ofthe CPC and through unremitting efforts, the Chinesepeople have scored unprecedented achievements inhuman history and blazed an oriental pathway towardmodernization. By integrating the universal principles ofhuman rights with China’s specific conditions, promotingmutually reinforcing progress in democracy and people’swellbeing, and upholding peace and development in aholistic way, we have blazed a path of human rightsdevelopment with Chinese characteristics.

China has managed to meet the basic living needs ofits 1.3 billion-plus people, lifted more than 700 millionpeople out of poverty, and created 770 million jobs. Wehave put in place the world’s largest education system,social welfare system and community-level democraticelection system, making historic progress in human rightsdevelopment in China. China’s endeavors have also pro-vided new viable solutions to challenges in the protectionof human rights worldwide.

China’s experience shows that human rights can beprotected in more than one way. Countries can findtheir own models of human rights protection in factorlight of their national conditions and people’s needs.The key contributing to China’s remarkable achieve-ments in its human rights endeavors is its firm commit-ment to a human rights development path with Chinesecharacteristics.

While some anti-China forces have made unjustifiedaccusations against China for political purposes, and afew foreign media have tarnished China’s anti-terrorismand criminal actions in Xinjiang through its distortedreports of the CERD review, they have ulterior motives.At present, Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economicgrowth and harmonious coexistence among differentnationalities. People of all national groups in Xinjiangcherish a peaceful and prosperous life. Any rumor orslander will have no meaningful results.

In these years, China has consistently advanced humanrights protection, especially with regard to nationalminorities. Guaranteeing the right of minorities in Chinato participate in deliberations on state affairs and admin-istration, since all 55 national minority groups in China

are fully represented in the National People’s Congress(NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political ConsultativeConference (CPPCC). The heads of departments in 155national autonomous local authorities in China are offi-cials from national minorities. The national minorities andthe regions in which they live have experienced rapideconomic and social development. In 2017, the eightprovinces saw national minorities growing their invest-ment in fixed assets by 11.8 percent, up 4.6 percentagepoints more than the national average. Education fornational minorities also developed rapidly. China exempt-ed rural students from all tuition and compulsory educa-tion fees and increased public funding for primary andsecondary schools providing compulsory education inrural areas. China has also protected the right of minori-ties to use and develop their own languages effectively.To date, 14 national minority projects have been placedon UNESCO’s “Masterpieces of the Oral and IntangibleHeritage” and 479 works of national minorities have beenplaced on the list of intangible national cultural heritage.

China has also adhered to the policy of freedom ofreligious belief, sought to guarantee the right to freedomof religious belief of citizens and to build positive androbust religious relations in order to maintain religiousharmony and social congruence. The constitution ofChina clearly states the citizens have the freedom tobelieve. No state, social group or person may compel acitizen to believe in or believe in a religion, and no dis-crimination against believing or non-believers may bemade. The State shall protect legitimate religious activi-ties. No one shall engage in activities that disrupt socialsystems, harm the physical health of citizens or impede

the application of the education system in the countryunder the pretext of religion. Of the 56 national minoritiesin China, 10 are Muslim nationalities and citizens of thesenationalities are scattered in various provinces,autonomous regions and municipalities directly under thecentral government administration. The total number ofMuslims in China is more than 20 million, and the numberof mosques is more than 40,000. The Xinjiang UigurAutonomous Region is the largest Muslim region in Chinawills a population of 13 million. The relevant Chinese lawprotects legitimate religious activities. All legitimate reli-gious activities performed by citizens who are believers inreligious places and in their own homes according to reli-gious traditions are administered by religious groups andcitizens themselves and no organization or person mayinterfere in it.

China, including the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, isalso a victim of terrorist acts. China rejects terrorism in allits forms, and this position is permanent and clear.Terrorism is the enemy of human society and the currentsituation of combating international terrorism is complexand harsh. The fight against terrorism in all its forms andits image must be a shared responsibility and a prioritytask of all states and the international community. Chinaalways supports the strengthening of international coop-eration in the fight against terrorism and supports theefforts of the international community in this area. Inorder to maintain security, stability, and integrity of theinternational community, everyone must participate in theefforts of the international community to combat terror-ism within the framework of the United Nations, leavingthe double standard.

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Military option in Idlib would have catastrophic consequences: Otaibi

Rohingya minority crisis proves tobe worst in modern history: Kuwait

NEW YORK: The crisis of the Rohingya minority provedto be of the worst in modern history, Kuwait said lateTuesday. With the Muslim minority being subjected tokilling and torture, the least that can describe such acts isethnic cleansing, said the Permanent Representative of theState of Kuwait to the United Nations AmbassadorMansour Al-Otaibi. This came in a speech Otaibi deliveredat a meeting for the UN Security Council on Myanmar.“The world is following our session and expects from us;at least, to hold our moral and humanitarian groundsregardless of any political considerations,” he noted.

More than 887,000 Rohingya refugees have been dis-placed since August last year, as they joined some300,000 other refugees who have fled Myanmar toBangladesh, he added. On April 24 this year, members ofthe Security Council arrived in the city of Cox’s Bazar,Bangladesh, to assess the tragic situation faced by morethan 1.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.“This session comes a day after the fact-finding committeeissued its report documenting the genocide-level crimes,war crimes and crimes against humanity that took place inMyanmar,” he said. “These findings were in line with whatwe have seen on ground in Rakhine State, in addition tostatements by eyewitnesses Cox’s Bazar.”

Reiterating condemnation of such acts that go counterto international laws and norms, Ambassador Otaibiunderlined the necessity for the Government of Myanmarto shoulder its responsibility, either in terms of protectingits people and/or refraining from the use of disproportion-ate military force. Otaibi also expressed his appreciationto the Government of Bangladesh in regards to the crisisof the Rohingya refugees; whom more than 50 percent arechildren, in addition to some 31,000 women solely caringfor their families. Kuwait, the United Kingdom and theRepublic of Peru led the Security Council on the April2018 field visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Catastrophic consequences Separately, Kuwait said before the UN Security Council

late Tuesday that a military option in Syria’s Idlib wouldhave catastrophic humanitarian consequences, especiallywith half of the governorate’s population are internally-displaced.

Diplomatic efforts need to be doubled on the highest oflevels in order to avoid carnage and not re-live the bloodyscenarios in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, Otaibi said. “Eyesare on Idlib, resided by some three million people. Anymilitary escalation would worsen the already dire humani-tarian crisis.

It is sad and frustrating at the same to see theCouncil resolution not being implemented on ground,”Ambassador Otaibi said in reference to resolution2401, which was unanimously adopted by the UNSecurity Council last February and called for immedi-ate cease-fire and facilitating entry of humanitarianassistance. “Resolutions unimplemented are worthlessones. History once again will witness incompetence ofthe UN Security Council in light of loud breaches ofinternational humanitarian law and international lawfor human rights throughout the Syrian crisis,”Otaibi stated. — KUNA

17,000 privatesector jobs forKuwaitis soonBy A Saleh

KUWAIT: The Manpower and Government RestructuringProgram (MGRP) is carrying out distinguished effortstowards increasing the percentage of employing Kuwaitisand limiting future unemployment, MGRP SecretaryGeneral Fawzi Al-Majdali said. The program works in sev-eral areas at the same time to achieve this goal, supportemployment policies, create job opportunities for Kuwaitisand curb unemployment by providing many means thatsupport nationals and urge them to work in non-govern-ment areas, financially or otherwise, he added.

The program exerts efforts towards achieving the tar-geted increase in Kuwaiti labor percentage in the privatesector in many aspects, particularly monthly payments forKuwaitis in nongovernment areas in order to urge them towork in the private sector, Majdali said. He added that theproposal to amend the percentages of Kuwaiti workers inthe private sector is complete, and is being coordinatedwith concerned authorities to make 17,000 job opportuni-ties available soon.

The program proposed and prepared four decisionsthat were issued by the Cabinet in 2003, 2005 and 2008that aim to provide 33,732 citizens with jobs, Majdali fur-ther noted. He added that the program reviewed the cur-rent percentages decision and added some amendments toit, and carried out a survey of employers to make sureabout their intentions to employ Kuwaitis in the privatesector. According to the proposed law, telecommunicationand banking sectors will witness the highest percentagerises, because the new change stipulates that 65 and 68percent of employees should be Kuwaitis respectively. Thedecision stipulates 30 percent of Kuwaitis in higher edu-cation, 8 percent for occupational, science and technicalactivities and 10 percent for support and administrativeservices.

ArcadesMinister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister

for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh issued ministerialdecision 95A/2018 with regards to rules to grant approvalto entertainment arcades. The decision stipulates that togrant approval, security, safety and preventive measuresshould be present. As for the specifications of the arcades,they should be at least 100 sq m in size with trained super-visors and a minimum of one for every five rides.

Electronic games should not contain bloody scenes thatcontribute to boosting violence or involve gambling. Thedecision bans the sale of food and drinks in the arcadesuntil after obtaining a license from the concerned authori-ty, and they must not have closed cabins. The decision setthe hours for children from 8 am to 10 pm and 8 am tomidnight for adults, except for holidays, when closing timecan be extended till 2 am. The decision bans men fromworking in women’s areas and women to work in men’sareas and banned smoking in children’s areas.

Kuwaiti officialhails culturalcooperation with EgyptCAIRO: A senior official from the Kuwaiti NationalCouncil for Culture, Arts and Literature (NCCAL) praisedyesterday the Kuwaiti-Egyptian cultural cooperation,which he described has no limits and one of the mostimportant tributaries of the deep-rooted relations betweenthe two countries, adding that Cairo is a beacon of culturein the Arab world. NCCAL’s Acting Secretary GeneralBader Al-Duwaish told Middle East News Agency(MENA) that the National Council has been keen tostrengthen cultural and artistic cooperation with Egypt dueto its leading position in the ‘soft power arena’, and its highcultural and artistic beacons, including the Egyptian OperaHouse and the General Book Library Authority in Cairo. Headded that the selection of Kuwait as an honorary guestduring the Cairo International Book Fair in 2014 reaffirmsthe strong relations between the two countries, both at theofficial level and the cultural levels. — KUNA

Mansour Al-Otaibi


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KUWAIT: The Arab Woman Awards, pre-sented by Harper’s Bazaar Al-Arabiya,announced nominations are open for its2018 edition. Now in its 6th year inKuwait the awards have twenty cate-gories including business, fashion, entre-preneurship, charity, media, young talentand medicine. Previous award winnerswere Ambassador Reem Al-Khaled, DrKefaya Abdulmalek, Mariam AbdulmalikAl-Salah and Nada Al-Shammari.Nominations for this year’s awards can bemade via the website http://www.arab-womanawards.com/nominate/

The ful l l ist of winners wil l beannounced in October at a prestigiousawards ceremony held in Kuwait Cityhosted by honorary chair and leader of theboard of judges, Sheikh Mubarak FahadAl-Salem Al-Sabah, KuwaitUndersecretary of State.

“The Arab Woman Awards Kuwait werelaunched to recognize the drive and pas-sion of the women in Kuwait. We are acountry of high achievers with educated,focused people who really want to build onthe success of our country.

As such I encourage everyone whoknows of an incredible, hard-workingwoman who deserves to be celebrated to

nominate her now,”said SheikhMubarak Fahad Al-Salem Al-Sabah.

The other mem-bers of the judgesare ProfessorMoudhi Al-Humoudprevious Ministerof Education;Sheikha Souad J AAl-Sabah, fashiondesigner andfounder of Sirdab6

and Dr Labiba Temmim, co-founder of theArab Woman Awards Kuwait andManaging Director of Hayatt Breast CancerAssociation.

The Arab Woman Awards werelaunched in 2009 by ITP Media Groupwith the aim of raising public awareness ofthe significant achievements by Arabwomen and to provide young women withinspirational role models. The events nowrun across the GCC with ceremonies in theUAE, Kuwait, KSA and Qatar with over300 winners to-date. All awards cere-monies are private by-invitation onlyevents with a commemorative publicationcreated per country.

Arab Woman Awards Kuwait2018 nominations open

Photo of the Day

KUWAIT: A flock of pigeons at Shuwaikh beach. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Mubarak FahadAl-Salem Al-Sabah

CAIRO: Arab States have taken strides on the path ofestablishing the free Arab trade zone, an Arab Leagueofficial said yesterday marking the start of the 38thsession of custom general directors in the organizationmember countries. Common products’ rules of originwill be in effect as of October 1, capping years ofdeliberations on this particular issue, said AmbassadorKamal Hassan, the ArabLeague’s Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Economic Affairs,in his statement at the openingsession.

Ambassador Hassan under-scored necessity of coordina-tion among the custom generaldirectors to address require-ments for setting up the jointtrade zone, other relatedissues in addition to facilitat-ing inter-Arab custom tasks.Services features as a top pri-ority in the joint Arab economic tasks, he said, notingthat Ten Arab States had signed an agreement forcooperation at this level.

Arab countries are also bonded with a ‘transparencytreaty’, according to which the signatory states notifythe Arab League about actions with respect of inter-Arab trade to avert complications in the commercialactivities among them.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Al-Jamal, the session chairmanand President of the Qatari General Authority of

Customs, said participants in the two-day meetingwould discuss matters related to the Arab CustomUnion and commissions’ tasks on custom procedures,information and translation of the coordination system.Jamal Al-Jalawi, Director-General the GeneralAdministration of Customs, headed the Kuwaiti delega-tion that took part in the meeting.

Customs unionMeanwhile, Jalawi said

that Kuwait is seriously act-ing to meet all requirementsfor the aspired Arab jointcustom union. Kuwait is alsoproviding continuous sup-port for Arab economicactions and efforts for tack-ling snags obstructing estab-lishment of the great Arabfree trade zone, he said.

Jalawi said the confereesadopted a draft of the common Arab custom law andexecutive bylaws, pending submission to the Arabministers of economy and finance at their meeting,scheduled in Cairo next week. Moreover, they adopt-ed an index for Arab custom procedures, final text ofthe Arab custom declaration in Arabic, French andEnglish, in addition to setting rate of the “Arab dinar”for setting value of personal belongings and gifts inpassenger’s possession, or an equal value in nationalcurrencies. — KUNA

Arab League lauds steps foreffecting common trade zone

Kuwait working seriously for common Arab custom union

CAIRO: Officials attend the Arab League’s 38th session of custom general directors in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. — KUNA

NBK celebratesback to schoolday at itschildren’s hospital KUWAIT: Having the ‘Back to School’ seasonapproaching, the National Bank of Kuwait(NBK) organized a special event displayingschool supplies at its children’s hospital. Thisevent comes as a part of a fun programdesigned for engaging children undergoingtreatment and runs all year round. The chil-dren had the chance to select their stationeryfrom the book shop ‘International BusinessCenter’ that offered all school supplies to thechildren. Yaqoub Al-Baqer, NBK Public rela-tions team leader said “The fun activity pro-gram is a part of NBK’s social responsibilitytowards children to support them while theyget their treatment.”

“The children enjoyed picking up theirfavorite stationary and creating their paperkites,” Baqer added. “We are overwhelmed tosee the children happy and live the excitementswhile getting prepared to school.” The funevent is part of a program that extends all overthe year and includes a library corner, story-telling sessions, fun events and a movie nightactivity that are organized occasionally.Children at the hospital choose their favoritestory to read or a cartoon movie to watch withtheir family and friends. NBK has provided a

display screen, entertainment facilities, varietyof different and various books and other sup-plies for children to enjoy the whole program.It is worth mentioning that NBK’s Stem CellTherapy Unit is the first children’s bone mar-

row transplant center in Kuwait. The new cen-ter is the largest corporate social responsibilitydonation in Kuwait and will expand the hospi-tal’s ability to treat children with cancer andblood diseases.

Arab customlaw draftadopted

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By Hanan Al-Saadoun and Agencies

KUWAIT: Fire broke out in a steel factory in industrial MinaAbdullah, prompting Mina Abdullah, Um Al-Haiman, MubarakAl-Kabeer hazardous material and backup fire stations torespond. The fire was contained and some people were rescued.It took firemen four hours to bring the flames under control. Aninvestigation was opened to determine the cause of the fire.

DisputeA police statement said operations did not receive any

call about an assistant principal of a school Tasering ateacher. The statement said investigations revealed that afight took place between the two and no Taser was used, andthe dispute was resolved friendlily.

Work mishapAn Indian man in his 50s lost his life when a machine he

worked on fell on his head, Al-Anbaa reported yesterday.The body was recovered by the coroner as investigationsunderway to determine what led the accident to happen.

HarassmentAhmadi detectives are trying to identify a caller from a

company phone and determine whether it is a male orfemale, as a man claimed he was urged to commit immoral

acts. A citizen in his 20s in east Ahmadi told police he washarassed through the phone and handed them a screenshot.

FightA fight between more than 20 young men broke out near

a branch of Dhahar Co-operative Society. The reason behindthe fight was a collision between two vehicles. Police locatedthe car that was driven recklessly and it was impounded, pri-or to arresting the driver and questioning him.

Smuggling foiledHitteen postal parcel center foiled an attempt to smuggle

more than one kilogram of cannabis. The case was sent to theDrugs Control General Department, as authorities are work-ing on identifying the person to whom the parcel was sent.

BurglaryForensic experts went to a citizen’s chalet in Nuwaiseeb

to take evidence from the room of the guard after the placewas raided and burgled.

Reckless drivingA citizen was arrested after being pulled over for driving

erratically. He was found in an abnormal condition, andtablets suspected of being drugs were found, in addition todrugs paraphernalia.

Steel factory fire putout after four hours

20 people involved in fight near co-op branch

KUWAIT: Firefighters battle a blaze in a steel factory in industrial Mina Abdullah.

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Theft can happen at any time and even inbroad daylight, right in front of you. This week aSalwa resident experienced the most shocking theftwhen a man enquiring about a classified ad she’dposted offering to sell her father’s antique oud stolethe musical instrument from her. On Mondayevening, the woman received a call from a manclaiming he was interested in buying the 50-year-old oud she wanted to sell. She gave the man heraddress and at the agreed upon time, he drove up infront of her building.

When the man got out of his car, he left theengine running. He spoke with the woman for a fewminutes and asked to examine the oud. First he saidit needed repairs and bargained a bit on the price.He also offered to swap the oud with another poor-looking one, but the woman refused. He asked totake the oud for a day to try it, offering her any formof guarantee, but she again refused. The man thenasked to ‘try’ it out, saying that he needed to sitdown to play. As they were standing on the streetcurb, he suggested that he get back in the car.

He then said he was thirsty and asked for aglass of water. When the woman turned to go intoher apartment and bring some water, the man spedoff with the oud. When she tried to call him, theman turned his mobile off and blocked her. Theshocked woman immediately went to the policestation and gave them the suspect’s vehicle’slicense plate number. The police officer told her noinvestigators were working and told her to returnthe next morning.

She went again the next morning to file a caseagainst the man for theft of the oud, giving policethe conversation records on her phone in additionto his car’s plate number. The investigator called theman, who seemed very cooperative on the phone

and promised to come to the police station. After anhour, the police officer called him again, and heclaimed he was on the way. After another hour, theofficer called him again, and he again said he wason the way.

But the suspect never showed up. So the policeofficer advised the woman to file a case that wouldbe transferred to the criminal investigation depart-ment to arrest the man. A sentence for theft caninclude imprisonment between one to three years.After the police calls, the man seemed to have real-ized that the theft would not go unreported and thatthere was enough evidence of the crime. So afterfailing to come to the police station, despite beingcalled repeatedly by a detective, the man sent thestolen oud by taxi back to the woman’s address. Asthe oud was returned, he no doubt is hoping thatthe case will now be forgotten. All the events,including the return of the oud - now with a brokenpiece - have been recorded and included in thecase file at the police station.

The strange, shocking theftof an antique oud

The antique oud

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality stormed an unlicensed storage area in Kabd yesterday, and removedencroachments on state property. Police were informed to arrest the owner of the 100,000 square-meterarea, who had divided it into workshops and warehouses that he rented illegally. Kuwait MunicipalityDirector Ahmad Al-Manfouhi oversaw the operation. —By Hanan Al-Saadoun

InternationalIran ready to abandon nuclear deal if needed

Page 7EU urges ‘amicable’ end to Franco-British scallop warPage 8

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May’s some-what stiff dance moves won mixed reviews yesterday asshe became an unlikely social media star with her“Maybot” manoeuvres. The PM got into the groove inCape Town on Tuesday when she was welcomed to SouthAfrica by some dancing schoolchildren. The 61-year-oldjoined in the fun with some shapes reminiscent of ganglyformer England footballer Peter Crouch’s robot dance -before looking up, clocking the cameras and drasticallyreining it in. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said it was“the exact moment where she loses the will to live” - theforthcoming avalanche of social media mockery appearingbefore her very eyes.

But before that, just for a few seconds, “we saw whoTheresa May really was... just a woman, flapping about in

front of some bewildered kids like she was being attackedby eels. “It was without doubt the most human she hasever looked, which is an odd thing to say about a video

that looks like a possessed shop mannequin beingTasered.” The Sun compared her to John Travolta with theheadline “Mayin’ Alive!” - but called her performance“toe-curling”. The Daily Mail said the “robotic nature ofher game attempts” saw her moves dubbed the “Maybot”on social media. Meanwhile May’s dance made it onto thefront page of The Guardian, which called it “an impressionof a wobbly fridge”.

2 out of 10Professional dancer James Jordan gave her perform-

ance low marks. “It was embarrassing to watch - like badmum dancing,” he told The Sun. “But at least she gave it ago. You have to praise Theresa for trying. “I’ll give her twoout of 10 for effort - one point for each leg.” Referring to a

popular BBC celebrity ballroom dancing contest, evenMay admitted she had not set the dance world on fire.

“I think the chances of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ comingcalling are pretty minimal,” she told Sky News television,adding: “Everybody was dancing. It was great excite-ment.” Dance choreographer Arlene Phillips was quoted assaying in the Daily Mail that she would “give her someadvice on how to relax, swing her hips — but most of all,make her look comfortable.” The Times said the way“Twinkle Toes Theresa” had “pawed at the concrete”raised concerns that she “might have stood in somethingas she stepped out of her car”. In South Africa, The Citizennewspaper said May “put on a brave face” and “joined inwith a bit of a Madiba-esque shuffle” in the style of formerpresident Nelson Mandela.— AFP

UK PM’s dance moves dubbed ‘Maybot’Mayin’ Alive! May’s somewhat stiff dance moves win mixed reviews

BERLIN: Germany yesterday handed backhuman remains seized from Namibia a centu-ry ago after the slaughter of indigenous peo-ple under its colonial rule, but angry descen-dants slammed Berlin for failing to properlyatone for the dark chapter. Herero chiefVekuii Rukoro, whose ancestors were amongthe tens of thousands of Herero and Namapeople massacred between 1904 and 1908,said the handover ceremony should have tak-en place not in a Berlin church, but a Germangovernment building.

He also accused Berlin of taking too longto formally apologize for what is often calledthe first genocide of the 20th century. “Bytrying not to acknowledge the past, theGerman government will continue to makeserious mistakes as regards present andfuture policies,” Rukoro told the church audi-ence, which included government officialsfrom both countries. “We are after all thedirect descendants of these remains and weshould not be ignored.” A Namibian delega-tion formally received the remains, including19 skulls, a scalp and bones, during the churchceremony.

Michelle Muentefering, a minister of statefor international cultural policies in theGerman foreign ministry, asked “for forgive-ness from the bottom of my heart” as shehanded over the remains to Namibia’s cultureminister. Several Herero women in traditional,cow-horn shaped headdress wiped awaytears during the at times emotional proceed-ings. “May the remains of our ancestors final-ly go home to Namibia in peace. May theyreturn to the dust from which they came. Mayjustice be done and faith in humanity berestored,” said Nama chief Johannes Isaack.Outside the venue, some two dozen protest-ers held up signs that read “Repatriationwithout an official apology?” and“Reparations Now!”.

No reparationsThe German government announced in

2016 that it planned to issue an official apolo-gy for the atrocities committed by Germanimperial troops. But it remains locked in talkswith the Namibian government on a jointdeclaration on the massacres. It has alsorefused to pay direct reparations, arguinginstead that German development aid worthhundreds of millions of euros since Namibia’sindependence from South Africa in 1990 was“for the benefit of all Namibians”. Angered by

Berlin’s stance, representatives of the Hererosand Namas have filed a class-action lawsuit ina US court demanding reparations. They alsowant a seat at the table in the discussionsbetween the German and Namibian govern-ments. “They are still negotiating on anappropriate text... for an apology. That’s a bigjoke,” chief Rukoro said during the service,wearing a red, military-style dress uniform.

He accused both countries of trying tosideline him and others from the handoverproceedings, saying he had been told inadvance “not to embarrass the two govern-ments”. He also blasted the decision to holdthe ceremony at the French Church in Berlin.“We don’t believe that it is bigger and moredignified than all the government buildings ofthe federal government in Berlin.” Rukoro andNama chief Isaack are both plaintiffs in theUS lawsuit. The New York judge in the casehas yet to rule on whether to hear the suit,which Germany wants thrown out on thegrounds of state immunity from prosecution.

‘Extermination order’Incensed by German settlers stealing their

land, women and cattle, the Hereros revoltedin 1904 and killed more than 100 Germancivilians over several days. The Nama peoplejoined the uprising in 1905. Determined tocrush the rebellion, General Lothar vonTrotha signed a notorious “exterminationorder” that would lead to the deaths of some60,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama people.Many were murdered by German imperialtroops while others, driven into the desert orrounded up in prison camps, died from thirst,hunger and exposure. Dozens were beheadedafter their deaths, their skulls sent toresearchers in Germany for discredited “sci-entific” experiments that purported to provethe racial superiority of white Europeans.

In some instances, captured Hererowomen were made to boil the decapitatedheads and scrape them clean with shards ofglass. Research carried out by German pro-fessor Eugen Fischer on the skulls and bonesresulted in theories later used by the Nazis tojustify the murder of Jews. Germany has pre-viously repatriated human remains toNamibia in 2011 and 2014. The remains, manyof which were stored on dusty shelves in uni-versities and clinics, were “often stolen...brought to Germany without respect forhuman dignity”, according to the German for-eign ministry. — AFP

GUGULETHU: Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May (center) watches school children dancing during a visit to the ID Mkhize Secondary School in Gugulethu, about 15km from the centre of Cape Town, as part of a working visit toSouth Africa yesterday. — AFP

May becomes unlikely social

media star

German city takes down goldenErdogan statue after outcryFRANKFURT AM MAIN: The German city of Wiesbaden removedyesterday a temporary statue of Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan set up in a town square by artists, after it sparked con-frontations between his supporters and opponents. “In agreementwith state police, Mayor Sven Gerich decided to have the statueremoved as security could no longer be guaranteed,” the city’s gov-ernment said on Twitter. Firefighters arrived shortly after midnightwith a crane to lift the four-metre (13-feet) tall golden effigy of

Erdogan from the central German Unity Square, where it had beenplaced on Monday as part of Wiesbaden’s Biennale art festival.

Organizers had hoped the statue would provoke public debaterelevant to this year’s theme of “bad news”. Since a failed 2016 coupattempt in Ankara, Erdogan’s crackdown on political opponents andjournalists-including some German nationals-has been closely fol-lowed in Germany, home to a sizeable Turkish minority. The statue,which had been posed to point boldly into the distance, was quicklydefaced with insults like “Turkish Hitler”. A “slightly aggressiveatmosphere” developed, a police spokesman told the DPA newsagency, while city councilor Oliver Franz told the WiesbadenerKurier newspaper that verbal confrontations had escalated intoscuffles and “bladed weapons were spotted”. “We put up the statueto discuss Erdogan,” Wiesbaden city theatre chief Eric Laufenbergtold DPA. “In a democracy, we have to put up with all kinds of opin-ions”. But Emil Saenze, a local representative of far-right, anti-immi-grant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) blamed the outcry on“stupidity” by the organizers, who had “given a stage to a despotwho spends his time humiliating Germans”. — AFP

WIESBADEN: Fireworkers lift a four-meter tall golden statue featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remove it inthe western German town of Wiesbaden, where it had been placed as part of Wiesbadenís Biennale art festival. — AFP

Tears, anger; Germany returns remains from Namibian genocide

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Thursday, August 30, 2018

7

News in brief

Egypt kills 20 jihadistsCAIRO: Egypt’s army said yesterday it has killed 20jihadists in the latest round of military operations in theWestern Desert and Sinai Peninsula. The military launcheda sweeping operation in February focused on Sinai ineastern Egypt aimed at wiping out militants, includingfrom the Islamic State group, who have been waging abloody insurgency. Operations over the past few days had“resulted in the elimination of seven extremely dangerous”jihadists close to Egypt’s western border with Libya, thearmy said in a statement. It said 13 militants were alsokilled in shootouts with government forces during armyraids in central and northern Sinai. — AFP

UK to open embassies LONDON: Britain said yesterday it would open newembassies in Chad and Niger to boost its diplomaticpresence in Africa’s troubled Sahel region. Theannouncement came as Prime Minister Theresa Maywrapped up a trip to South Africa and headed toNigeria and Kenya on her first trip to the continent aspremier. “In one of Africa’s most fragile regions, we areincreasing our support for African countries’ efforts totackle the underlying drivers of instability and conflict,”the Foreign Office in London said in a statement. “Theexpansion will see the UK step up diplomatic, defenseand development engagement in the region, creatingnew partnerships and opportunities and reducingpotential threats to UK and European security.”— AFP

Bomb kills 5 Kenya troops NAIROBI: Five Kenyan soldiers were killed and 10injured yesterday when their vehicle hit a landmine on aroad in a coastal area close to the Somali border.“Soldiers operating in Lamu County, while on a humani-tarian civil assignment to fetch and distribute water tothe residents in the area, hit an Improvised ExplosiveDevice (IED),” the military said in a statement. It saidfive soldiers “succumbed to their injuries” while 10 werebeing treated for injuries. The incident occurred on adirt road a few kilometers from the border, between thecoastal village of Kiunga, where there is an airstrip, andSankuri. —AFP

Activists held in Greece LESBOS ISLAND: Police in Greece on Tuesday saidthey had arrested three members of a Greek NGO onsuspicion of helping migrants illegally enter the country.The members of Emergency Response CentreInternational (ERCI) were detained on the Greek islandof Lesbos, where thousands of migrants are housed insqualid conditions in cramped camps. “The activities ofan organized criminal network that systematically facili-tated the illegal entry of foreigners were fully exposed,”a police statement said. Members of the group were incontact with migrants on social media groups and“actively assisted” their illegal entry into Greece from2015 onwards, according to the statement. —AFP

Suicide car bomber kills 11RAMADI: A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle in thetown of Al-Qaim in western Iraq yesterday, killing atleast 11 people, five of them security personnel, policesaid. The 9 am bombing at a checkpoint on the outskirtsof Al-Qaim also wounded 16 people - 11 civilians andfive security personnel, police Captain Mahmud Jassemsaid. The town, on the Syrian border some 340 kilome-ters from Baghdad, was one of the last in Iraq to berecaptured from the Islamic State group in Novemberlast year. One month later, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi declared victory over the jihadists. But since then,the security forces have announced a number of cam-paigns to flush out holdout IS fighters from sparselypopulated areas from which they have continued tomount attacks. — AFP

Israel renews threat to attack Iran’s military targets in Syria

Russia hopes West won’t ‘obstruct anti-terror operation’ in Syria JERUSALEM: Israel yesterday renewed its threat to attackIranian military targets in Syria, after the two Muslim alliessigned an accord on security cooperation. “The accord con-cluded by (Syrian President) Bashar Al-Assad and Iran con-stitutes a test for Israel: Our response will be loud andclear,” Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said on Israeli pub-lic radio. “We will not allow Iranto establish itself militarily inSyria,” he said. “We will react inSyria with all our might againstany Iranian target that threatensIsrael, and if the Syrian army’s airdefense intervenes against us, itwill pay the price.” Iran’s militaryattache to Damascus saidTuesday that his country’s mili-tary advisers would remain inSyria under the defense agree-ment signed the previous day.

“Support for Syria’s territorialintegrity and the independence of Syrian sovereignty werealso emphasized in the agreement,” Brigadier-GeneralAbolghasem Alinejad said. Tehran has provided steady politi-cal, financial and military backing to Assad as he has foughtback against a seven-year uprising. Israel has sought to avoiddirect involvement in the conflict but acknowledges carryingout dozens of air strikes in Syria to stop what it says aredeliveries of advanced weaponry to its Lebanese enemyHezbollah. It has also pledged to prevent its arch foe Iran fromentrenching itself militarily in Syria and a series of strikes thathave killed Iranians in Syria have been attributed to Israel.

Anti-terror operation Meanwhile, Russia yesterday called on the West not to

stand in the way of an “anti-terror operation” in Syria’s Idlib,as speculation grows Damascus is planning a Russian-

backed offensive on the rebel-held province. “I hope ourWestern partners will not give in to (rebel) provocations andwill not obstruct an anti-terror operation” in Idlib, foreignminister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference with hisSaudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir in Moscow. Lavrov alsosaid that there is “full political understanding” between

Russia and Turkey, who sup-port opposing sides of theSyrian civil war but are cur-rently in intense negotia-tions to ensure Idlib doesnot become a breakingpoint in their alliance.

“It is necessary to disas-sociate the so-called moder-ate opposition from terror-ists and at the same timeprepare an operationagainst them while minimiz-ing risks for the civilian

population,” Lavrov said. “This abscess needs to be liquidat-ed.” Lavrov went on to accuse the West of “actively heatingup” the idea of a “so-called planned chemical attack by the(Syrian) government.” Over the last week, Moscow hasaccused Syrian rebels of planning to stage a chemical attackin the northwestern province that would “provoke” Westernstrikes on its ally Damascus.

It also accused British secret services of being “activelyinvolved” in the plot. Moscow’s accusations came after USPresident Donald Trump’s national security adviser JohnBolton said Washington will respond “very strongly” ifSyrian regime forces used chemical weapons to retake Idlib.This week Russian media reported Moscow is reinforcing itsmilitary presence in the Mediterranean near Syria. In April,the US, France and Britain launched joint missile strikes onSyrian targets in response to an alleged chemical weapons

attack in the town of Douma that left scores of people dead. Russian stuck by its ally Syria and angrily insisted the

Douma attack was staged by the White Helmets volunteerrescue service. Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched amilitary intervention in 2015 to support the embattledregime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed

the course of the war. Damascus still holds the southeasterntip of Idlib, a strategically important province adjacent toLatakia on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad’sclan. More than 350,000 people have been killed and mil-lions displaced since Syria’s war started in 2011 with thebrutal repression of anti-government protests. — Agencies

Our responsewill be loud

and clear

Clashes shatter illusion of security in Libyan capitalTRIPOLI: A bout of fighting in Libya’s capital has laid barethe fragility of a militia cartel that had brought a veneer ofstability to the city and encouraged the gradual return offoreign diplomats and plans for elections in December.Major battles have become rarer in Tripoli since last yearas a handful of armed factions aligned with the interna-tionally recognized Government of National Accord(GNA) consolidated their control.

But the ascent of four or five “super militias” has creat-ed resentment among groups excluded from the capitaland from access to the spoils of Libya’s informal economy.That has heightened the risk of conflict and made the chal-lenge of disbanding militias or integrating them into regu-lar security forces more complex, diplomats and analystssay. Bringing militias to heel is seen as crucial to resolvinga conflict that has divided Libya since a NATO-backeduprising forced Muammar Gaddafi from power sevenyears ago, slashing oil production and giving space tomigrant smugglers and militants.

Fighting on Monday and Tuesday pitted the SeventhBrigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65 km south-east of Tripoli, against the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades(TRB) and the Nawasi, two of the capital’s largest armedgroups. The Kaniyat and other groups from outside Tripolihave noticed the success of rivals inside the city withgrowing unease. Reports about the wealth, power andextravagant lifestyles of some Tripoli militia commandershave fuelled resentment. “The profits from state capturenow go to a narrower set of armed groups than everbefore,” said Wolfram Lacher, a researcher at the Germanthink-tank SWP. “That’s a very dangerous situation becauseit excludes powerful forces from access to levers of thestate and administration, and this is now causing those

forces to build alliances against the big militias in Tripoli.”As they launched their incursion into Tripoli, Kaniyatdenounced their rivals as the “Daesh (Islamic State) of pub-lic money”, promising to “cleanse” them from the country.

Heavy fightingKaniyat made gains as tanks, armored vehicles and

pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns weredeployed in densely populated residential areas of south-ern Tripoli, with explosions and heavy artillery fire echoingacross the city. At least five people were killed and nearly30 wounded on the first day, officials said.

Tripoli’s big armed groups claim official status throughthe GNA - which is opposed by a rival government andmilitary faction based in the east of the sprawling NorthAfrican country - but act with autonomy. They guardstrategic buildings, control Tripoli’s airport and have infil-trated ministries and many of the banks, giving themaccess to coveted dollars at the official exchange rate,about five times cheaper than the parallel rate. “They placetheir people throughout the state administration, particu-larly in positions that offer control of economic resources,”said Lacher. Since last summer an ex-prime minister, themayor of Tripoli and the head of the state religious author-ity have been among a series of senior figures to beabducted then released by militias. A key member of theGNA’s leadership, Fathi Al-Majbari, withdrew from hisposition after an armed group attacked his residence inJune. Earlier this month the National Oil Corporationdenounced militia threats against the newly appointedhead of its fuel distribution unit over efforts to tacklesmuggling, and the sovereign wealth fund said that it hadbeen forced by threats and abductions to move premises.

Prominent Libyans based abroad have said they seekthe protection of armed militia factions, not the govern-ment, when they travel to Tripoli. Diplomatic staff evacuat-ed amid fighting in 2014 and now tentatively returning ulti-mately depend on armed groups for access and protection.Critics of a French-led plan to hold national elections onDec 10 worry that a free vote will be impossible, andthat militias will challenge with force any result they

don’t like. “I think it’s a race against time and I feel likethe (Libyan) state’s disappearing,” said one senior diplo-mat. “It’s hard now to tell where’s the state and where’sthe militia.” Gaddafi’s four-decade-long, one-man dicta-torship left Libya with few effective state institutionsafter his overthrow. — Reuters

Iran ‘ready’ to abandon nuke deal if neededTEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader warned yesterday thecountry could abandon its nuclear deal with world powersif it no longer served its interests, even as economic andpolitical pressure mounted on the government. “Naturally,if we reach the conclusion that (the nuclear deal) is nolonger maintaining our national interests, we will put itaside,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with thecabinet, according to his website. He said Iran must not“pin its hopes” on Europe, despite European efforts to sal-vage the nuclear deal following the withdrawal of theUnited States.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has beenbattered by the return of US sanctions, which has triggereda rapid departure of foreign firms and ended his hopes ofattracting large-scale investment. His political enemies arecircling, with parliament announcing that two more of hisministers could be impeached in the coming days.

The labor and economy ministers have already beensacked by parliament this month and motions have beenaccepted to vote on impeaching his industries and educa-tion ministers in the coming days. Khamenei insisted thepolitical tumult was a sign of the strength of Iran’s democ-racy. He praised the tough questioning Rouhani received inparliament on Tuesday as “a glorious show of the power ofthe Islamic republic and the self-confidence of officials.”

Differences between officials are “natural”, he added,though he said they should not be covered by the media“because the people would become worried”. Tuesday’sgrilling in parliament was the first for Rouhani in five yearsas president, and lawmakers slammed his handling of fiveeconomic issues, ranging from unemployment to the col-lapsing value of the currency. In voting at the end of thesession, they declared they were unsatisfied with four ofhis responses.

‘Day and night’ Under parliamentary rules, the issues could then have

been referred for judicial review, but parliament speakerAli Larijani - a close ally of Rouhani - said yesterday therewere no legal grounds for doing so. Parliament can theo-retically impeach Rouhani, but he has the protection ofKhamenei, who has previously said removing the presidentwould “play into the hands of the enemy”. Instead,Khamenei called on officials to work together “day andnight” to resolve the country’s economic problems.

Iran’s currency has lost around half its value since the USannounced it was withdrawing from the nuclear deal in May,and further pain is expected when sanctions on its crucial oilsector are reimposed in November. Conservative opponentsof Rouhani, who have long opposed his outreach to theWest, are smelling blood. Next in their sights is his ministerof industry, mines and business, Mohammad Shariatmadari,who is accused of failing to prevent high inflation, particular-ly in the car industry. A motion was also filed yesterday tovote on the impeachment of Education Minister MohammadBathaei, over a series of issues linked to school budgets, thecurriculum and alleged mismanagement.

Impeaching ministersIran’s parliament launched impeachment proceedings

against two more cabinet ministers yesterday, as oppo-nents of President Hassan Rouhani piled further pressureon his government. The labor and economy ministers havealready been sacked by parliament this month and, onTuesday, Rouhani faced his first grilling by lawmakers inhis five years in power.

Conservative opponents of the president, a politicalmoderate, appear keen to drive home their advantage inthe wake of a deepening economic crisis triggered by thereimposition of US sanctions.

Yesterday, 20 members of parl iament signed amotion to summon Education Minister MohammadBathaei, who must now appear within 10 days to facequestions and an impeachment vote. On Tuesday, twoother groups of MPs presented motions to impeach theminister of industry, mines and business, MohammadShariatmadari.

Rouhani faced tough questions over his handling of theeconomy when he appeared before lawmakers on Tuesday.In voting at the end of the session, lawmakers declaredthey were unsatisfied with his answers to four of their fivequestions, covering unemployment, smuggling and the col-lapsing value of the Iranian rial. — Agencies

SARAQIB, Syria: Turkish forces are seen in a convoy on a main highway between Damascus and Aleppo, near the townof Saraqib in Syria’s northern Idlib province yesterday. — AFP

TEHRAN: Khamenei (center) speaks during a government meeting in the capital Tehran. — AFP

ZLITEN: A trail of blood is pictured at the site of an attackon a checkpoint in the city of Zliten, 170 km east of theLibyan capital Tripoli. An attack on a checkpoint betweenthe Libyan capital and the town of Zliten killed four sol-diers of the UN-backed unity government. — AFP


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

BERLIN: Police in eastern Germany were accused yester-day of stoking tensions by leaking to far-right groups thearrest warrant over a fatal stabbing that sparked racist mobviolence. “It’s unacceptable that some police officers thinkthey can leak things like this even though they know they’recommitting an offence,” said Saxony state’s deputy premierMartin Dulig, calling the release a “scandal”.

Saxony, in Germany’s ex-communist east, has againbecome a hotspot for xenophobia after a knife killing earlySunday in the city of Chemnitz led to protests that degenerat-ed into rightwing extremists hunting down immigrants in thestreets. Police on Monday arresteda 22-year-old Iraqi and a Syrian,23, suspected of killing a 35-year-old German identified only asDaniel H. with multiple stabbings inthe late-night altercation.

Authorities have not yet fullydisclosed the identities of thevictim or suspects in keepingwith the German convention ofprotecting the identities of peo-ple involved in judicial proceed-ings. However, the arrest warrantof one of the suspects found its way into the hands ofrightwing groups who then posted it online, where it waswidely shared, spelling out the full names of the suspects,victim, eye-witnesses and the judge. National InteriorMinister Horst Seehofer called the release “completelyunacceptable”, and prosecutors said they had launched aninvestigation on suspicion of breach of official secrets rules.

Lawyer Sebastian Scharmer, who has defended victimsof neo-Nazi violence, said he had filed a criminal complaintagainst an activist who posted the warrant, Lutz Bachmannof far-right movement PEGIDA, short for PatrioticEuropeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident. Theright-wing “Citizens Movement Pro Chemnitz”, which had

also shared the warrant, complained on Facebook that “theinternet police” had deleted the document which it saidshowed how the suspects had “slaughtered” the Germanman. State premier Michael Kretschmer, who has defendedthe police force against charges of being ill-prepared todeal with the far-right rallies, promised that “we will clarifythe matter,” speaking to regional public broadcaster MDR.

New protests planned Saxony has been a stronghold of far-right parties and

groups that bitterly oppose Chancellor Angela Merkel for her2015 decision to keep openGerman borders to a mass influxof migrants and refugees. Policein the state have also comeunder fire for the alleged sym-pathies of some officers withmovements like PEGIDA and theanti-immigration Alternative forGermany (AfD) party.

Saxony police last weekapologized for obstructing aTV crew at a rightwing anti-Merkel rally at the instigation

of a nationalist protester who turned out to be an off-dutypolice employee. Dulig said that “it has got to be clear thatcertain things will no longer be tolerated in the policeforce”. The latest controversy comes as the mood remainshighly charged following what have been labeled as“pogrom-like” scenes in Chemnitz on Sunday in whichextremists assaulted immigrants from Afghanistan, Syriaand Bulgaria. On Monday night some 7,000 protesters,most of them football hooligans and rightwing nationalists,again took to the city’s streets and clashed with anti-fascistprotesters, leaving some 20 people injured. Police said theywere investigating 10 incidents of protesters making theillegal Hitler salute. Police, who were initially overwhelmed

by the mobs on Sunday, then also faced criticism for havingonly deployed 591 officers on Monday, leaving them out-numbered more than 10 to one.

The small deployment came despite a warning by thedomestic intelligence service that thousands of extremists,including from the hardcore hooligan and martial artsscenes, were heading to Chemnitz. The service, in its situa-

tion report, spoke of a “nationwide mobilization” via socialmedia, especially by the hooligan groups “Kaotic” and “NSBoys”, short for “New Society Boys”. Pro Chemnitz hasannounced a new demonstration today while AfD andPEGIDA have called for a rally Saturday, with a silent marchthrough Chemnitz in memory of the stabbing victim andagainst Germany’s “enforced multi-culturalism”. — AFP

Germany’s police under fire after far-right mob violence

Police in eastern Germany accused of stoking tensions

Arrest warrant leaked to far-right

groups

Corruption trial of senior Kenyan judge suspendedNAIROBI: The corruption trial of Kenya’sdeputy chief justice, the country’s second-highest judge, was suspended yesterdayamid a barrage of legal petitions at variouscourts. Philomena Mwilu, one of sevenmembers of the Supreme Court, wasarrested on Tuesday after Kenya’s directorof public prosecutions, Noordin Haji,accused her of abusing her office for per-sonal gain. Mwilu was among the judgeswho annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’sinitial election win in August 2017, leadingto the controversial holding of a fresh vote.

She was due to be formally charged at aNairobi magistrates’ court yesterday butHigh Court judge Chacha Mwita suspend-

ed the case until October 9 to hear a con-stitutional challenge brought by herlawyers. Mwilu’s lead lawyer JamesOrengo, a prominent opposition figure andelected senator who played a key role inoverturning last year’s election result, saidthe move against her was “an attack on thejudiciary”.

“These charges have been brought notto secure justice but to secure the removalof the deputy chief justice from office,” hesaid before launching his legal challenge.“There is no factual foundation for institut-ing these proceedings,” he said, insistingon her innocence. After his initial victorywas annulled, Kenyatta publicly warnedthat he would “fix the judiciary” and somejudges subsequently faced threats andintimidation.

Political undercurrentsIn October 2017, Mwilu’s bodyguard

was shot dead the day before the SupremeCourt was to hear a petition to postponethe re-run. As a result, Mwilu did not

attend the hearing and the lack of a quo-rum meant the election went aheadunchallenged. “This is an intensified waron the Supreme Court,” Orengo said yes-terday. Mwilu was appointed to theSupreme Court in 2016 and shot into thelimelight for her role in annull ingKenyatta’s first poll win.

She was accused Tuesday of acceptingmoney as a gift in dubious circumstances,failing to pay taxes and using false pre-tences to carry out a transaction involvingan asset belonging to the Imperial Bank,which collapsed in 2015. Mwilu appearedin court later that day and was released onbail of five million shillings($50,000/42,000 euros).

But Haji denied accusations the arrestwas politically-motivated. He said Mwiluwas targeted as part of an ongoing crack-down against corruption, which has seenseveral high-ranking officials hauled intocourt, a rarity in graft-wracked Kenyawhose citizens rarely see justice done. “Weare an independent institution and we are

not being directed by anyone,” he said.“This decision has not been taken lightly.The dignity and independence of the judi-ciary is dear to us.” — AFP

PARIS: France’s beloved bread loaf, the baguette, maybe about to lose some of its bite, with politicians look-ing into the health risks of additives set to propose leg-islation forcing bakers and processed food makersmore generally to slash salt content. After months ofinvestigation and hearings, a parliamentary committeehas come to the conclusion that voluntary agreementson the reduction of high salt levels have not beenrespected and that it is time to impose healthier normsvia legislation.

That committee is due to present its proposals inSeptember but the drift of what is on the way wasmade clear yesterday by key people involved in thedeliberations. “It’s a real public health problem,” saidLoic Prud’homme, one of a 20-member parliamentarycommittee looking into the matter. Michele Crouzet,another committee member, said the daily intake of saltin France, at about 10 to 12 grams, is still double thelimit recommended by the World Health Organization.Excessive salt levels are linked to cardiovascular trou-ble, which in France is the second-biggest killer amonghealth problems.

Crouzet said the committee could propose a tax onsalt like one already introduced in France on the sugarcontent of fizzy drinks. But some say that levy has beenineffective because manufacturers are shifting to otherforms of sweetener. “What we can now say is that volun-tary agreements do not work and it’s now time to switchto binding constraints,” Prud’homme said. In the case ofthe baguette, and bread more generally, voluntaryagreements struck in 2002 had sought to limit the saltlevel to 18 grams per kilo of flour within five years, hesaid. Some 16 years later, that goal had still not been met.

“In any event what’s certain is that it’s now time tomove via sturdy legislation, which could involve settingconstraints in gram terms for salt,” he said in a separateinterview on a public service radio station, francinfo. Areport to be presented by the committee will also seekto tackle excessive use of other additives in processedfood and pre-prepared meals, and seek curbs onadvertising that aims to promote less-than-healthy foodamong children, said Prud’homme. — Reuters

French baguette faces pinch from anti-salt MPs

NAIROBI: Kenya’s deputy chief justicePhilomena Mwilu, the country’s second-highest judge, appears at the MilimaniLaw Court in Nairobi yesterday. Mwiluwas arrested after Kenya’s director ofpublic prosecutions, Noordin Haj i ,accused her of abusing her office forpersonal gain. — AFP

EU urges ‘amicable’ end to scallop warBRUSSELS: The European Commission yesterday urgedFrance and Britain to find an “amicable” solution after fish-ermen from the two countries clashed in the EnglishChannel over a hoard of scallops. Brussels insisted howev-er that it could not get involved in the fight as arrange-ments for trawling for the prized shellfish were madebetween individual countries, not at a European level. “Wesaw the reports of incidents involving French and Britishfishermen off the coast of Normandy,” EuropeanCommission spokesman Daniel Rosario told a daily brief-ing in Brussels.

“Scallop fishery is regulated at national level and overthe past years common management measures have beenagreed between France, the UK and Ireland,” thespokesman added. “So it is in the interest first and fore-most of the fishermen that this agreement is in place. Andwe invite the national authorities to resolve any dispute inan amicable way as has been done in the past.” As a years-long dispute boiled over, five heavily outnumbered Britishscallop boats sailed into battle with around 35 French ves-sels in the incident on Tuesday.

Fishermen from both sides hurled stones and insults at

each other while some of the boats also rammed each oth-er, according to video footage. The skirmish took placemore than 12 nautical miles out to sea where the British arelegally allowed to fish all year round.

But their French counterparts, restricted to fishing forscallops between October 1 and May 15, have accused

the British of depleting stocks and want them to face thesame rules.

The issue is doubly sensitive given the uncertainfuture of arrangements for fishing in the area after Britainleaves the EU in March 2019, particularly if Britain crash-es out without a withdrawal deal. — AFP

Rebels kill four police officers in Indian Kashmir SRINAGAR: Suspected rebels shot dead four police offi-cers while security forces killed two militants in IndianKashmir yesterday as tensions rose before a majorSupreme Court hearing on the troubled region. Fivepolice officers who had stopped near the southernKashmir town of Shopian to repair their vehicle wereambushed, Inspector General of Police Swayam PrakashPani told AFP.

“Four of the police were killed. One who was insidethe vehicle at the time of the attack is safe,” Pani said.Separately, two suspected rebels were killed in a gun-fight with government forces not far from the attack onthe police, officials said. The Muslim-majority Himalayanregion, divided between India and Pakistan since theirsplit in 1947, has seen a resurgence of hostilities in thepast two years. Security officials say at least 144 militants

have been killed this year, while more fighters havejoined rebel ranks. There are an estimated 250 activeunderground fighters, they say.

Separatist groups have called a general strike forThursday and Friday before the Supreme Court hearing,which they fear could allow Indians from outsideKashmir to buy property in the state and get governmentjobs. The court will hear arguments on Friday on a legalchallenge against a 1954 constitutional provision, Article35A, that reserved the special privileges for Kashmirpermanent residents. Separatist groups seekingKashmir’s independence or merger with Pakistan, alongwith business and civil society groups have opposedscrapping Article 35A.

Incorrect rumors this week that the article had beenscrapped caused protests and clashes in Kashmir. Theruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi wants to annul the constitution-al provisions that grant special status to Kashmir. A BJPspokesman this week said Article 35A had become anobstacle to outside investment in the region. Rebelgroups have for decades fought hundreds of thousandsof soldiers and police deployed in Indian Kashmir.Pakistan controls a separate part of the former Himalayankingdom and like India claims the region in full. — AFP

SAXONY: Riot police cross the street as a city festival was cancelled in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, after a 35-year-old German national died in hospital following a ‘dispute between several people of different nationalities’. — AFP

LA to pay $14.3m to family of man mistakenly shot LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles County has agreed to pay$14.35 million to the family of a man mistakenly shot bypolice during a search for a wanted gang member, thefamily’s attorney said. The settlement, one of the highestever paid by the county, was reached earlier this year butthe amount had not been made public. Frank Mendoza, 54,was fatally shot on August 1, 2014 by a sheriff’s deputywho mistook him for Cedric Ramirez. Ramirez, 24, aparolee wanted on felony charges, had broken into theMendoza home during a police chase in LA’s Pico Riveraneighborhood.

Several members of the family managed to escape fromthe house. But when Mendoza tried to flee through thefront door, a deputy mistook him for Ramirez and shot himonce in the forehead and once in the leg, according to areport of the incident.

“This is the worst nightmare of any citizen, wherethey’re under the suspicion that they’re being protectedby law enforcement and instead, law enforcement ends uptaking their life,” Garo Mardirossian, the family’s attorney,told reporters on Monday. Mendoza’s family had filed awrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County andthe Sheriff’s Department after the shooting, claiming thatofficers had been negligent. — AFP

HERAULT: A boat is moored at the Etang de Thau lagoon near Sete, southern France. — AFP

KASHMIR: Kashmiri protestors clash with Indian gov-ernment forces after E id prayers in downtownSrinagar. — AFP

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Thursday, August 30, 2018

9

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court ordered policeyesterday to put five prominent rights campaignerssuspected of links to Maoist guerrillas under housearrest as outrage grew over their detention. Critics ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s government have dis-missed the allegations against the activists, who weredetained a day earlier, and said the crackdown waspart of ongoing attempts to stifle all dissent. Policedetained the campaigners, seized their laptops andmobile phones, in raids on their homes in differentcities, triggering protests and a petition in theSupreme Court challenging the action.

Sudha Bharadwaj, who has been fighting for therights of workers in parts of India such as Chhattisgarhwhere left-wing guerrilla groups operate, said theaction against her was part of a broader crackdown onopponents of the government. “The effort is whateveris the opposition to this regime, whether it is workersrights, tribal rights, everybody who in the opposition isbeing rounded up,” she told reporters outside herhome in Faridabad, a short distance from New Delhi.The arrests follow months of tensions between rightwing nationalist groups and advocates of free speechthat has played out in college campuses and spilledover into the streets.

Critics also say several top journalists have beenforced out of their jobs for their critical reporting of thegovernment. The others detained on Tuesday includedwere Varavara Rao, a prominent poet from the south-ern city of Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonsalves andArun Ferreira from Mumbai and civil liberties activistGautam Navlakha from New Delhi. Modi’s Hindunationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led government hasfaced mounting criticism from activists and academics,who accuse it of undermining the secular and pluralis-tic principles of India’s constitution.

The BJP denies these allegations but says it isopposed to appeasement of any community and haslong advocated tough action to protect national securi-ty. “These five are no threat to anyone,” said PrashantBhushan, a lawyer for a group of leading academicsthat has petitioned the Supreme Court to release theactivists. “The charges against them on the face of itappear indiscriminate, unwarranted, part of a maliciouscampaign to threaten human rights defenders, inde-pendent journalists, writers and thinkers in the countryfrom critiquing the government and its policies, and anattempt to muzzle dissent,” the petition said.

Intellectual forcePolice have also accused the five of inflammatory

speeches at a rally in western India last year which ledto violent clashes between Dalits, the lowest in theHindu caste hierarchy, and right wing organizations. Apolice officer said the main case relates to speechesmade during a rally held in the city of Pune on Dec 31,2017 commemorating the velour of Dalits. The follow-ing day, violent clashes broke out between members ofthe lower caste and hardline Hindu groups.

The police officer, who could not be named becausehe was not authorized to speak to reporters, saidpolice had seized documents relating to the long-run-ning Maoist insurgency afflicting parts of the country.The guerrillas are fighting for the rights of the landlessin parts of eastern and southern India, dubbed “the RedCorridor”. The police officer said the five activists gaveintellectual force to an insurgency in which thousandsof people have been killed over the years.

Modi faces an election next year and oppositionparties are trying to forge an alliance to stop his Hindunationalists from coming back to power. The SupremeCourt headed by the chief justice Dipak Misra said itwould hear the petition challenging the arrests of theactivists next week and until then they would beplaced under house arrest, and not police custody.Judge DY Chandrachud, one of the judges on thebench said the right to criticise was a crucial fordemocracy. “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy.If dissent is disallowed, then the pressure cooker mayburst,” he said. — Reuters

Indian court places activists under house arrest amid outrage

HONG KONG: A University of Hong Kong (HK) pro-fessor was yesterday charged with murder after policefound his wife’s decomposing body stuffed in a suitcasein his office, the latest grisly murder to transfix thecrowded city. Officers discovered the woman’s body,wearing only underwear and with electric wire aroundher neck, hidden in the suitcase inside a large woodenbox in the office of 53-year-old Cheung Kie-chung.The associate professor from the Department ofMechanical Engineering had reported his wife missingon August 20, saying she had not returned home afteran argument three days earlier.

Police said they becamesuspicious of Cheung afterCCTV footage failed toshow his wife leaving theirhome, while Cheung wasseen moving a large woodenbox out of the premises. OnTuesday afternoon policesearched Cheung’s office, afive-minute drive from thedormitory where he liveswith his wife and children.“There was blood seepingout from the suitcase and itstank,” Superintendent Law Kwok-hoi told reportersTuesday night. He said the victim might have beenstrangled, but the cause of death still needed to be

confirmed by a post-mortem.Law said Cheung, who will make his first court

appearance today, had told investigators he had a dis-pute with his wife on the night she disappeared overfamily toilet hygiene. Cheung is also the warden of thedormitory where his family lives and a member of theuniversity’s governing council. Zhang Xiang, the univer-sity president, said yesterday he was shocked and sad-dened at the murder and described it as a tragedy. Hesaid the university would offer support to students andcolleagues affected. Another Hong Kong academic iscurrently on trial for using a yoga ball filled with carbon

monoxide to kill his wife anddaughter inside a car. Thesouthern Chinese city, famedfor its cramped housing butlow crime rate, is occasional-ly rocked by high-profilemurders that often involvegruesome attempts to hide ordispose of bodies. In 2016British banker Rurik Juttingwas jailed for life for the mur-der of two Indonesian womenin Hong Kong. He stuffed oneof their bodies in a suitcase

and placed it on his balcony. The year before, a localman was jailed for chopping up his parents and storingtheir body parts in a freezer. — AFP

Professor charged with murder; wife’s body found in a suitcase

The latest grisly murder to transfix the crowded city

Officers discover body with

electric wireon her neck

HONG KONG: Students walk in front of the University of Hong Kong’s Wei Lun Hall, the residential block where universi-ty professor Cheung Kie-chung and his family lived, in Hong Kong’s Pok Fu Lam area yesterday. A University of HongKong professor has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife after police found a body stuffed into a suitcase inhis office, the latest grisly murder to transfix the crowded city.—AFP

BAGO: A major effort was under way to reach thou-sands of people trapped in their homes after a damswollen by monsoon rain overflowed early Wednesdayin central Myanmar, officials said. A surge of waterinundated the rural flatland in Bago region after theSwar Chaung dam spillway, which regulates the releaseof water, collapsed due to heavy seasonal rain. AFPreporters in Kayin village described how some peoplewaded through chest-deep water to get to higherground. Many others remained trapped in their half-submerged homes as rescuers worked into the night totry to ferry residents out.

No casualties have yet been reported but more than12,600 people have taken shelter in about 30 tempo-rary camps, Ministry of Social Welfare director PhyuLae Lae Tun said. “There are more than 14,000 house-holds and some 63,000 people affected by the waters,”she said. The torrent also fractured part of a bridge on

the Yangon-Mandalay highway linking Myanmar’s twobiggest cities. Deputy Minister for Construction KyawLinn told reporters the bridge’s supporting towers weresinking. “We will get divers to go down and check afterthe water levels recede,” he said.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, under mounting inter-national pressure to face international justice followinga damning UN report this week on the Rohingya crisis,was quick to arrive at the scene on Wednesday morn-ing. “We have to work together,” he said. “The spillwaywill not be able to be controlled until the water flowstops.” The deluge comes just weeks after heavy mon-soon rains pummeled Myanmar, causing widespreadflash floods that forced some 150,000 people to fleetheir homes. Southeast Asia’s annual monsoon seasonruns from around June to November.

Regional neighbor Laos was hit badly last monthwhen heavy rainfall caused the collapse of a dam. Atleast 35 people were killed, scores went missing andthousands more languished in shelters. The $1.2 billionXe-Namnoy dam - a joint venture between SouthKorean, Thai and Laotian firms - collapsed on July 23after heavy rains, unleashing a barrage of water thatswept away entire villages in the country’s south. Thecommunist country has since suspended its hydropowerstrategy to become the “battery of Asia” by dammingrivers and selling electricity to its neighbors.—AFP

LAHORE: An Islamist party in Pakistan called for the expul-sion of the Dutch ambassador yesterday as it launched aprotest against a far-right Dutch politician’s plan for a cartooncompetition featuring caricatures of the Muslim ProphetMohammed (PBUH). Several thousand activists gathered inthe eastern city of Lahore for the demonstration organized byTehreek-e-Labbaik, a party that amassed the fifth largestnumber of votes in a general election last month having cam-paigned as a defender of the laws and punishments for crimesof blasphemy.

Party leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi set out from Lahore’shistoric centre at the head of a protest he aims to take throughthe towns of Punjab province to the capital Islamabad, whereprotesters will stage a sit-in to pressure Pakistan’s new PrimeMinister Imran Khan to cut diplomatic ties with theNetherlands. “The Dutch ambassador should be immediatelydeported,” Labbaik spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters. “Wewill only stop when the government meets this demand.”

Pakistan has already complained to the Dutch governmentabout far-right parliamentarian Geert Wilders’ plans for a car-toon contest that will upset and provoke Muslims. Wildersintends to display the cartoons on the walls of his political par-ty’s room in parliament. He says he’s had “hundreds” of entries.“The Foreign Office called the charge d’affaires of theNetherlands and issued him a Demarche’ to record a protest,”the Pakistani prime minister’s office said in a statement yester-day.

The Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said last weekthat the cartoon competition “was not something I would do”and his government was not associated with it. Pakistan’sForeign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he planned totake up the issue with the United Nations and several worldleaders. “They don’t understand how much they hurt us whenthey do such acts,” Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, said onTuesday, a day after the upper house of parliament con-demned the proposed cartoon competition.

Officials from the Punjab provincial government met withLabbaik leaders in Lahore in a vain attempt to persuade themto call off their protest. “We told them to stop the protestsbecause the Pakistan government is taking up the issue effec-tively,” an official involved on the talks told Reuters, addingthat Labbaik representatives insisted the protest would onlyend once the Dutch envoy was expelled.Last year, in a stand-off with the previous government, Labbaik shut down a mainhighway leading into Islamabad for nearly three weeks over asmall change in wording to an electoral law changing a reli-gious oath to a simple declaration. —Agencies

Pakistan party call for Dutch envoy’s expulsion over cartoons

Myanmar damoverflows asthousands displaced

BAGO: A village is flooded in Yedashe township, Bago region after rampaging flood waters from Swar Chaung dam sub-merged large areas in central Myanmar yesterday. — AFP

DUBAI: Malabar Group has announced a contributionof total 7crore Indian rupees to the Kerala flood relief.The flood that swept away almost half of Kerala has costmany life and property. The overall loss is yet to be esti-mated, however honorable Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan and government is leading a very commendablerehabilitation work. To support the activities of ChiefMinister, MP Ahammed Chairman-Malabar Group hand-ed over a cheque of INR 2 crore yesterday atTrivandrum, Kerala. He also committed a financial help ofINR 5 crore for rebuilding and repairing houses lost anddamaged in the flood.

This includes RS 1 crore collected from the employeesof Malabar Group. Hence, the total relief from MalabarGroup is 7 crore Indian rupees. The entire relief activitieswill be routed through Malabar Housing Charitable Trust.Malabar Gold & Diamonds is always at forefront when itcomes to CSR activities. The group sets aside a fixed per-centage of its net profit for the benefit of the needy in the

respective markets it operates in. They undertake socialwelfare activities all year long, focusing on five priority

areas such as medical, educational sector, environment aswell as housing and women empowerment.

M P Ahammed, Chairman of Malabar Group handing over the cheque and commitment letter to honorableChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Minister for Industries and Sports EP Jayarajan and Malabar Gold andDiamonds International Operations Managing Director M P Shamlal Ahamed were also present.

Malabar Groupoffers 7 crorerupees to Keralaflood relief

Cameroon cocoa exporters, farmers flee crisis in Anglophone region

Cocoa firms operating in Cameroon have movedstaff out of the Anglophone region of the coun-try and farmers are abandoning their crops in

the area, as violence between separatists and securityforces intensifies, exporters and farmers told Reuters.Sources say the deepening conflict has started dent-ing cocoa output and flow from the southwest, strip-ping the region of its mantle as Cameroon’s topcocoa-growing area. Telcar Cocoa, Olam andTheobroma are among the firms that have moved themajority of their staff out of southwest Cameroon dueto safety concerns, according to several sources withknowledge of the matter.

Some cocoa farmers have also abandoned theirplantations and fled, driven out by a rise in kidnap-pings, extortion and fighting between insurgents andsecurity forces. “Producers have fled into the bushand elsewhere, and can no longer take care of theirplantations,” said James Mosima, president of theunion of southwest cocoa farmers. “The situation isreally very difficult.”

Cameroon has been gripped by violence since Nov2016, when government forces crushed a movement ofAnglophone teachers and lawyers protesting againsttheir perceived marginalization by the country’sFrench-speaking majority. The protests morphed intoan insurgency of separatists seeking independence forthe Anglophone southwest and northwest regions,which were controlled by Britain during colonialism.

The crisis has intensified ahead of elections in October,with the increasingly bloody clashes hitting cocoa tradein what was once the key cocoa region of Cameroon,the world’s fifth-largest producer.

Worsening violenceIn recent months, insurgents have abducted and

killed soldiers while security forces responded byburning villages and opening fire on fleeing residents,according to witnesses. The army denies such accusa-tions. Sources say deteriorating security has made itincreasingly difficult for cocoa buyers and exportersto operate in the area. At least one warehouse belong-ing to Telcar, the largest buyer in the region, wasburned, according to several sources with knowledgeof the matter.

The crisis has led major cocoa firms - includingTelcar Cocoa, Theobroma and Olam - to relocate mostof their staff from the region, according to sources.Telcar Cocoa is a joint venture between Cargill andCameroonian businesswoman Kate Kanyi Fotso Tometi.Theobroma is part of ECOM Group. The sources saidTheobroma has relocated its staff some 150 km south,from the Mamfe region to Kumba. Olam, meanwhile,has moved staff out of Mamfe and Kumba to the eco-nomic capital, Douala, the sources said.

Most international companies had small teams sta-tioned in the region, they said, with one of the sourcesestimating 15-20 people were moved altogether. Cargilldeclined to comment. Olam and ECOM did not immedi-ately respond to a request for comment. Cameroon’strade minister and Fotso also declined to answer ques-tions about the crisis in the Anglophone regions. Mostinternational export firms now use local buying agentsas intermediaries to source cocoa from the affectedareas, exporters said. “At one point, if the effort or therisk is too much ... you leave it to the buying agents,”one source at an international firm said.

Bullets and extortionSome farmers also said they had fled, fearing vio-

lence and threats from separatists demanding paymentsto allow cocoa to move out of the southwest. Severalcocoa farmers who had left that region told Reutersarmed groups had been targeting “rich men” anddemanding money to allow the flow of goods out of thearea. In June, Peter, 59, abandoned his cocoa farm andsought refuge in Douala with his wife and four children.“Since (the) beginning of this year ... not a week haspassed without an exchange of fire between army andseparatist fighters,” said Peter, who declined to give hislast name for security reasons. “I had three hectares ofcocoa and I gave up everything. I could not staybecause, apart from bullets, the separatists extortedmoney from us.”

As many as 200,000 people have fled the English-speaking regions since late last year, according to theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs. As farmers flee the southwest,sources say the conflict has started to hit cocoa outputand flow. The southwest accounted for 45 percent ofCameroon’s production in 2016/17, but its sharedropped to 32 percent last season, according to CICC,the country’s cocoa regulator. Cameroon produced253,510 tonnes of beans in the 2017-2018 season.

The conflict has made it more difficult to move beansout of the Anglophone region and into the main port inDouala, the sources said. Cameroon’s cocoa stocksbuilt up to 21,159 tonnes in 2017-2018, from 7,212tonnes in the prior season, according to the NationalOffice of Cocoa and Coffee (ONCC). “The vast majori-ty of this stock is in the English-speaking regionbecause the fighting paralyses everything,” a source atthe ONCC said.

However, trade sources said cocoa was still findingits way out of the southwest, as more beans were beingsmuggled into Nigeria instead. One trade source esti-mated that volumes flowing across the border rose to30,000-40,000 tonnes last season, from about 10,000in previous years. “At the end of the day, cocoa is mon-ey for the locals,” the source said. “It’s like water - italways finds its way out.” — Reuters

An apparent Iranian influence operation targetingInternet users worldwide is significantly biggerthan previously identified, Reuters has found,

encompassing a sprawling network of anonymouswebsites and social media accounts in 11 different lan-guages. Facebook and other companies said last weekthat multiple social media accounts and websites werepart of an Iranian project to covertly influence publicopinion in other countries. A Reuters analysis has iden-tified 10 more sites and dozens of social mediaaccounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter andYouTube.

US-based cyber security firm FireEye Inc andIsraeli firm ClearSky reviewed Reuters’ findings andsaid technical indicators showed the web of newly-identified sites and social media accounts - called theInternational Union of Virtual Media, or IUVM - was apiece of the same campaign, parts of which were takendown last week by Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc andAlphabet Inc. IUVM pushes content from Iranian statemedia and other outlets aligned with the government inTehran across the internet, often obscuring the originalsource of the information such as Iran’s PressTV, FARSnews agency and al-Manar TV run by the Iran-backedShiite group Hezbollah.

PressTV, FARS, Al-Manar TV and representativesfor the Iranian government did not respond to requestsfor comment. The Iranian mission to the UnitedNations last week dismissed accusations of an Iranianinfluence campaign as “ridiculous”. The extended net-work of disinformation highlights how multiple state-affiliated groups are exploiting social media to manip-ulate users and further their geopolitical agendas, andhow difficult it is for tech companies to guard againstpolitical interference on their platforms.

In July, a US grand jury indicted 12 Russians whomprosecutors said were intelligence officers, on chargesof hacking political groups in the 2016 US presidentialelection. US officials have said Russia, which hasdenied the allegations, could also attempt to disruptcongressional elections in November. Ben Nimmo, a

senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital ForensicResearch Lab who has previously analyzed disinfor-mation campaigns for Facebook, said the IUVM net-work displayed the extent and scale of the Iranianoperation. “It’s a large-scale amplifier for Iranian statemessaging,” Nimmo said. “This shows how easy it is torun an influence operation online, even when the levelof skill is low. The Iranian operation relied on quantity,not quality, but it stayed undetected for years.”

Further investigationsFacebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow said the com-

pany is still investigating accounts and pages linked toIran and had taken more down on Tuesday. “This is anongoing investigation and we will continue to find outmore,” he said. “We’re also glad to see that the informa-tion we and others shared last week has prompted addi-tional attention on this kind of inauthentic behavior.”

Twitter referred to a statement it tweeted onMonday shortly after receiving a request for commentfrom Reuters. The statement said the company hadremoved a further 486 accounts for violating its termsof use since last week, bringing the total number ofsuspended accounts to 770. “Fewer than 100 of the770 suspended accounts claimed to be located in theUS and many of these were sharing divisive socialcommentary,” Twitter said.

Google declined to comment but took down the

IUVM TV YouTube account after Reuters contactedthe company with questions about it. A message on thepage on Tuesday said the account had been “terminat-ed for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service”.IUVM did not respond to multiple emails or socialmedia messages requesting comment. The organizationdoes not conceal its aims, however. Documents on themain IUVM website said its headquarters are inTehran and its objectives include “confronting withremarkable arrogance, western governments andZionism front activities”.

App store and satirical cartoonsIUVM uses its network of websites - including a

YouTube channel, breaking news service, mobilephone app store, and a hub for satirical cartoonsmocking Israel and Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia -to distribute content taken from Iranian state mediaand other outlets which support Tehran’s position ongeopolitical issues. Reuters recorded the IUVM net-work operating in English, French, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu,Pashto, Russian, Hindi, Azerbaijani, Turkish andSpanish.

Much of the content is then reproduced by a rangeof alternative media sites, including some of thoseidentified by FireEye last week as being run by Iranwhile purporting to be domestic American or Britishnews outlets. For example, an article run by inJanuary by Liberty Front Press - one of the pseudo-US news sites exposed by FireEye - reported on thebattlefield gains made by the army of Iranian allySyrian President Bashar Al-Assad. That article wassourced to IUVM but actually lifted from two FARSnews agency stories.

FireEye analyst Lee Foster said iuvmpress.com,one of the biggest IUVM websites, was registered inJan 2015 with the same email address used to registertwo sites already identified as being run by Iran.ClearSky said multiple IUVM sites were hosted onthe same server as another website used in theIranian operation. — Reuters


10A n a l y s i s

Established 1961

The arrest this month of a 35-year-old leg-islator who calls himself “GhettoPresident” has sparked fierce street

protests in Uganda. Musician-turned-MPRobert Kyagulanyi represents a new challengeto President Yoweri Museveni, in power since1986. Museveni has won praise in the West forhis support against militant Islam and his role aspower broker in the volatile Great Lakes Region.Uganda has also welcomed foreign investorssuch as France’s Total, China’s CNOOC andBritain’s Tullow as part of a plan to start pump-ing oil from 2021.

But the 74-year-old leader’s move to sign alaw scrapping a 75-year age limit has promptedmany Ugandans to believe he wants to remain inpower indefinitely. Opposition to him has beengalvanized by Kyagulanyi, who according to hisbackers was beaten and tortured after he wasarrested on Aug. 14 for his role in the stoning ofMuseveni’s convoy. He was unable to stand with-out help when he appeared in a military courtlast week to face charges, subsequentlydropped, of illegal weapons possession. He wasthen charged with treason in a civilian courtbefore being granted bail.

Though many Ugandans have long complainedof worsening government services, rising crimeand widespread corruption, there has not been apolitician broadly popular enough - especiallyamong the young - to challenge the status quo.

Who is ‘Bobi Wine’?“Bobi Wine” is the stage name of Kyagulanyi,

who entered politics last year with a landslidevictory as an independent candidate in a parlia-mentary by-election. He was already well-knownamong young Ugandans for his songs about cor-ruption, poor government services and poverty.“Why de price of electricity too high? Why deprice of education is too high?” Kyagulanyicrooned in one song. His music videos frequentlyportray the life of everyday Ugandans in neigh-borhoods with unpaved roads and poor infra-structure. Kyagulanyi has become a leading crit-ic of unpopular measures including a tax onsocial media used by many Ugandans. Despitehaving an active Twitter account himself,Museveni says social media is used to spreadgossip and lies.

How has the government responded?Street protests against government policies

have broken out repeatedly in recent years.Rights groups say Museveni has reacted with amix of force and cash handouts. The governmentdenies the use of heavy-handed tactics and saysthe country is a thriving multiparty democracy.Last week, during two days of anti-governmentdemonstrations in the capital Kampala and otherparts of the country over Kyagulanyi’s detention,police said they arrested dozens of people inKampala and fired tear gas to quell “riots”. OnTuesday, soldiers involved in the alleged beatingof Kyagulanyi, four other MPs and civilians whohave been charged with treason, the army said.That came after the Parliament Speaker calledfor the arrest of security forces involved in thebeatings in a letter to Museveni on Aug. 27.

Is he a threat to Museveni’s grip on power?Nearly 80 percent of Uganda’s population of

41 million people is under the age of 30, accord-ing to Youth Policy Labs, a Berlin-based think-tank. Though new to politics, Kyagulanyi hassucceeded in mobilising youth discontent. The#FreeBobiWine hashtag has become a rallyingpoint on Twitter. This is something veteranopposition politicians such as Kizza Besigye,who at 62 years old is considered part ofMuseveni’s generation, have failed to do so.Besigye has lost three consecutive, disputedpresidential elections.

The energy behind Kyagulanyi comes in con-trast to signs of declining support for Museveni, aformer guerrilla fighter and one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers. At an Independence Day party in hishome region last year, uniformed security outnum-bered a small crowd of bored spectators. For now,the protests have abated. But independentKampala-based analyst Anna Reuss said themovement around Kyagulanyi still had the potentialto be a game-changer. “What has happened overlast two weeks has changed the country andchanged the conversation,” she said. “It’s lit a firethat even if it just keeps smouldering, the govern-ment can’t fully put it out again.” — Reuters

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State-affiliated groups are exploiting

social media

‘Ghetto President’ shakes up Ugandan politics

Albayrak sees no big risk to Turkisheconomy, Moody’s sounds alarm

Maduro’s economic reforms fail to convince Venezuelans

Russia’s Kalashnikov branches out from rifles to robots, e-cars1512 14

BusinessEstablished 1961


MUMBAI: Bargain-basement fares, high oil prices and a tum-bling rupee are causing turbulence in India’s hyper-competi-tive aviation market, virtually wiping out airlines’ profits andleaving them scrambling to cut costs to survive.

India’s aviation sector is expected to become the world’sthird-largest by 2025, with passenger numbers increasingsix-fold over the past decade as a growing middle class takeadvantage of better connectivity and inexpensive flights. Butexperts warn cheap tickets and an over-reliance on favorablefuel pricing is unsustainable.

India’s top two airlines by market share, IndiGo and JetAirways, and debt-laden state carrier Air India are all suffer-ing financial woes, while SpiceJet’s boss has said the industryis in “great stress”. “The rise in the price of Brent fuel, adepreciating rupee and a resulting mismatch between highfuel prices and low fares have adversely impacted the Indianaviation industry, including Jet Airways,” Jet CEO Vinay Dubesaid this week. Brent crude has risen 50 percent over the pastyear, while the impact has been exacerbated by the rupeerecently touching a record low of 70 to the dollar.

Then they must pay taxes of up to 44 percent on jet fuel,the highest in Asia according to Bloomberg News, all the

while stumping up billions for new planes to keep up withpassenger demand.

Profits nosediveOn Monday, Jet Airways reported a loss of 13.23 billion

rupees ($189 million) for thethree months ended June 30,compared with a profit of 535million rupees for the same peri-od a year earlier.

“The key challenge faced byIndian airlines is on the cost frontas 60-70 percent of expenditureis exposed to fluctuations in oilprices and currency markets,”Binit Somaia, South Asia directorat the Centre for Aviation(CAPA), said. Millions of dollarshave been wiped off the value of Jet’s stock this year and itsfinancial situation has been the subject of furious speculationin Indian media in recent weeks. That intensified after the car-rier failed to release its first-quarter earnings as scheduled

earlier this month, before finally releasing them on Mondayshowing a second successive loss. In July, it denied a report inthe Economic Times that it needed to make major cost cuts orface having to shut down operations within 60 days.

But the carrier announced with its earnings Monday that itwould implement a “comprehen-sive cost reduction program”amounting to 20 billion rupeesover the next two years and seekinvestment to help turn around itsfortunes.

“Airlines can’t solely rely onoil prices being low to bring inprofitability. They need to becareful with pricing and managecosts better,” said AmritPandurangi, an independent avi-ation expert. Jet’s struggles are

not unique. IndiGo’s profits plunged 97 percent on-year inApril-June, sending its stock plunging. And Air India, oncethe country’s monopoly airline and known affectionately asthe “Maharaja of the skies”, has been haemorrhaging mon-

ey for years and losing market share to low-cost rivals.

‘Ongoing crisis’ Air India is about $8 billion in the red and reported losses of

almost 58 billion rupees for the financial year ending March2017. In June, it sought an urgent loan of 10 billion rupees tomaintain day-to-day operations and last week, local mediareported it was defaulting on bank loan payments and hadsought a $5 billion bailout. A handful of carriers, most notablyfugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, have alreadygone bust. Airlines have to navigate a fiercely competitive mar-ket, with a host of budget airlines offering steep discounts toattract passengers. Some tickets, before taxes, are as low as 999rupees. Analysts agree that Indian airlines cannot hold off pass-ing on the rising operating costs to customers much longer.“Pricing has been irrational and unsustainable. Airlines will haveto raise fares in the coming months to match costs even if itmeans a subsequent passenger crunch,” Devesh Agarwal, editorof the Bangalore Aviation website, said. They also say carriersmust lobby the government to reduce taxes. “Indian airlinesneed to avoid price wars... and provide a much unified front totackle the ongoing crisis,” said Pandurangi. — AFP

India’s airlines go into a tailspin Cheap fares, costly fuel and sinking rupee cause turbulence

Airlines underpressure to

cut costs

MUMBAI: In this file photo, an Airbus A330 of India’s Jet Airways landing during rain showers in Mumbai. Bargain-basement fares, high oil prices and a tumbling rupee are causing turbulence in India’shyper-competitive aviation market, virtually wiping out airlines’ profits and leaving them scrambling to cut costs to survive. — AFP

Canada and US resume NAFTA talks amid rising optimismWASHINGTON: Canada has three days totackle contentious issues when it resumestalks with the United States yesterday to sal-vage the trilateral North American FreeTrade Agreement amid signs Ottawa wasopen to taking a more conciliatory approach.

After more than a year of talks, Mexicoand the United States announced a bilateraldeal on Monday, clearing the way for Canadato rejoin talks to update 24-year-old NAFTAwhich accounts for over $1 trillion in annualtrade between the three nations.

But despite obstacles, Canada and theUnited States could reach an in-principledeal by the Friday deadline. “We are opti-mistic about having some very good, pro-ductive conversations this week,” CanadianForeign Minister Chrystia Freeland said yes-terday told reporters as she entered the USTrade Representative’s Office.

Freeland said on Tuesday that Mexico’sconcessions on auto rules of origin and laborrights was a breakthrough. Ottawa is alsoready to make concessions on Canada’s pro-tected dairy market in a bid to save a dis-pute-settlement system, The Globe and Mailreported late on Tuesday.

“We’re hearing that there’s a lot ofprogress being made and that it’s possiblethat ... we’ll be able to see something some-time soon,” Kevin Hassett, Chairman of theWhite House Council of Economic Advisers,told Fox Business Network yesterday.

“Absolutely, the Friday deadline is a realthing ... and we hope that Canada will be partof that,” Hassett said. The three countries areaiming to seal a trade pact by Friday to allowMexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tosign it before he leaves office at the end ofNovember. The timeline accommodates a 90-day waiting period under US trade law beforePresident Donald Trump can sign the pact.Republicans also face mid-term elections inNovember and Prime Minister Justin Trudeaua national one expected by October 2019.After being sidelined from the talks for morethan two months, Freeland will be under pres-sure to accept terms the United States andMexico worked out. The US Congress alsowants a deal that includes Canada. “The factthat agreement on those difficult issues for

Mexico was able to be reached definitelyclears the way for us to have significant, sub-stantive, and I hope productive, conversationswith the US this week,” Freeland said after abrief meeting with US Trade RepresentativeRobert Lighthizer.

Sticking points Freeland dodged questions on Tuesday on

what points Canada would be willing to con-cede on, noting that Ottawa’s key issues arewell known. US President Donald Trumpwarned he could proceed with a deal withMexico alone and levy tariffs on Canada if itdoes not come on board with the revisedtrade terms. One of the issues for Canada inthe revised deal is the US effort to dump theChapter 19 dispute resolution mechanismthat hinders the United States from pursuinganti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases.Lighthizer said on Monday that Mexico hadagreed to eliminate the mechanism.

To save that mechanism, Ottawa plans tochange one rule that effectively blockedAmerican farmers from exporting ultrafil-tered milk, an ingredient in cheesemaking, toCanada, the Globe and Mail reported, citingsources. Canadian government officials werenot available for an immediate comment onWednesday. On Tuesday, Trudeau said hewould defend Canada’s dairy farmers.

Other hurdles include intellectual proper-ty rights and extensions of copyright protec-tions to 75 years from 50, higher thresholdthan Canada has previously supported.

“I think that what they probably need byFriday is some indication from Canada to theAmericans that it’s ready to play ball, that

they’re ready to negotiate in good faith,” saidMark Warner, a trade lawyer with MAAWLaw, which specializes in Canadian and USlaw. “If Chrystia Freeland goes down thereand she starts going on and on about redlines again, then I think it’s all over,” headded. — Reuters

WASHINGTON, DC: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland walks to the waitingmedia on Tuesday in Washington, DC. Freeland arrived in Washington to rejoin trilateraltrade negotiations, after interrupting a trip to France, Germany and Ukraine. — AFP

French business leaders want more from ex-banker MacronJOUY-EN-JOSAS, France: When he wonthe presidency 15 months ago, EmmanuelMacron charmed company chiefs with apromise to make it easier to do business inFrance. But the economy remains sluggish,and bosses’ patience is waning.

A former investment banker, Macron hadpledged to run France more like a start-up,moving swiftly to shake-up the country’sfamously complex labor laws to make it eas-ier to hire and fire people.

He vowed to attract foreign investment,kickstart slow growth and slash unemploy-ment which had been stuck at around 10percent under his Socialist predecessorFrancois Hollande. But tax cuts intended tospur spending and investment have yet tobear much fruit: his government has beenforced to reduce this year’s growth forecastfrom 2.0 percent to 1.7 percent.

This prompted Prime Minister EdouardPhilippe to announce at the weekend that hewas dropping targets for reducing thedeficit. Lackluster economic results add to agrowing pile of problems on Macron’s desk,including the resignation of his popularenvironment minister Nicolas Hulot and ascandal involving a top security aide.Unemployment is edging down only slowly-it remains at 9.1 percent-and Macron’s pop-ularity ratings are hovering at record lowsaround 36 percent.

‘Hasn’t all been terrible’For now, the 40-year-old centrist can still

count on widespread support in the businesscommunity, although bosses warn that willchange unless Project Macron yields betterresults. “We have to acknowledge that ithasn’t all been terrible. Reforms that hadnever been taken have been put in place in ayear,” said Jacques Letort, head of a con-

struction company.His view was widely shared at the sum-

mer gathering of employers’ organizationMEDEF, which wrapped up in the Paris sub-urb of Jouy-en-Josas yesterday.

Business leaders were impressed thatMacron managed to push through the laborreforms in the face of repeated massprotests led by trade unions. “Macron hasmade very strong decisions,” FrancoiseCattalan-Johnson, head of a real estaterental company, told AFP at the conference.

In a survey of business leaders byOpinionWay last month, 54 percent saidthey were satisfied with Macron’s actions —13 percent more than in May when he wasstruggling with public sector protests androlling rail strikes. And 65 percent agreedthe government was keeping up the pace ofthe reforms in the face of protests.

But the corporate world is starting toshow signs of impatience. Macron’s govern-ment has “given confidence back to entre-preneurs”, MEDEF chief Geoffroy Roux deBezieux said Tuesday, but “this regainedconfidence remains fragile”.

“We’d prefer proof of his love over decla-rations of love,” he said.

‘Too much fat’ In particular businesses hoped cuts to

public spending-which represents 57 per-cent of GDP in France, against 46 percent onaverage in Europe-would create privatesector opportunities. Macron promised onthe campaign trail to slash 120,000 ofFrance’s 5.6 million public sector jobs by theend of his five-year term, an issue that hascontributed to angry street protests.Philippe said on Sunday that only 4,500public sector jobs will be axed in 2019 andsome 10,000 in 2020 — figures seen as toolow to allow Macron to keep his promise.

Some business leaders say the govern-ment should not be using slow growth as anexcuse for delaying public sector cuts.Philippe Marty, who runs a consultancy, saidthere was “too much fat” in the French pub-lic sector, which employs 80 staff for every1,000 people-significantly higher than theEuropean average of 61.

“Yes, Macron is more pro-business, butthere are still things to do,” Marty said.“Macron has said he wants to deliver for busi-nesses. That’s great, but I’m waiting for action,”he added. “Business leaders still have faith inhim but watch out, it won’t last.” — AFP

ISTANBUL: Turkey does not expect a bigrisk to the economy or financial system, thecountry’s finance minister was quoted assaying yesterday, illustrating the deep dividebetween Ankara and global investors over aworsening currency crisis.

The comments from Finance MinisterBerat Albayrak, who is President TayyipErdogan’s son-in-law, come as ratingsagency Moody’s sounded more alarm aboutthe outlook for the banking sector and asdata showed economic confidence at itslowest in nearly a decade.

The lira has lost around 40 percent of itsvalue this year, driving up the cost of fueland food and heightening concern about therisk to banks and the broader economy.Initially sparked by worries about Erdogan’sinfluence on the central bank, the crisis hasworsened over a rift with Washington.

“We do not see a big risk about Turkey’seconomy or financial system,” Albayrak toldreporters on his flight back from Paris earli-er this week, according to the newspaperHurriyet. He cited low levels of net publicdebt and household debt, and the strengthof the financial system, as reasons for hisconfidence, it said.

Investors are less sanguine. Moody’s

downgraded its ratings on 20 financial insti-tutions on Tuesday, citing the increased riskof a deterioration in funding. The operatingenvironment is now worse than previouslyexpected, it said.

“The downgrades primarily reflect a sub-stantial increase in the risk of a downsidescenario, where a further negative shift ininvestor sentiment could lead to a curtailingof wholesale funding,” Moody’s said. It cutthe ratings for some of Turkey’s top banks,including Isbank, the biggest listed lenderby assets. The lira weakened as far as6.4029, its weakest since Aug. 15. It was at6.3850 to the dollar at 0951 GMT. Bankingstocks fell 1 percent.

‘Deep recession’Around $179 billion of Turkey’s external

debt matures in the year to July 2019, equiv-alent to almost a quarter of its annual eco-nomic output, JPMorgan estimates. Most ofthat - around $146 billion - is owed by theprivate sector, especially banks, it said.“Financing needs over the next 12 monthsare large and access to markets has becomeproblematic,” it said in a note.

For years Turkish companies have bor-rowed in dollars and euros, drawn by the

lower interest rates. But the decline in thelira has driven up the cost of servicing thoseloans, and raised the possibility of balloon-ing bad debt for banks. Official data yester-day showed economic confidence fell thismonth to its lowest since 2009.

“Staggeringly bad economic confidencereading for August,” said Timothy Ash ofBlueBay Asset Management in emailedcomments. “Harbinger of a deep recessionlooming. Rebalancing full throttle.”

Albayrak has signalled that Turkey wantsto mend its ties with the European Union asit faces what he said are moves by theUnited States that threaten the global econ-omy. His trip to Paris this week, where hemet with France’s finance minister, appearedto be part of that effort.

However, Ankara has so far found littlehelp from overseas partners, apart fromQatar, which has pledged $15 billion in sup-port. A German official on Tuesday denied areported that Berlin was considering pro-viding a financial lifeline to help Turkeyavert a crisis.The Hurriyet also quotedAlbayrak as saying that steps would be tak-en to prevent foreign currencies from beingused for real estate and shopping-mall storerents and sales.

Retailers in Turkey’s malls, which oftenpay their rent in dollars, have also said theirbusinesses were suffering due to the ailinglira. Separately, the central bank said it

would re-impose limits on overnight trans-actions, but at twice the limit that applieduntil Aug. 13, when it said it would provideall the liquidity needed. — Reuters

B u s i n e s s Thursday, August 30, 2018

12 Established 1961

Putin softens controversial pension reformMOSCOW: Russian PresidentVladimir Putin yesterday proposed aseries of measures to soften a deeplyunpopular pension reform, in anapparent attempt to stem a major fallin his approval ratings.

In a rare televised address, Putinsuggested raising the state pensionage by five years to 60 years forwomen, instead of the earlier proposedeight years to 63, among other meas-ures. “The treatment of women in ourcountry is special, gentle,” Putin said inthe 30-minute speech.

However, he stuck to the overallplan, saying the proposed increase inthe retirement age for men would stillbe by five years to 65, as originallyplanned. The Russian leader, who is 65,also suggested early retirement formothers with large families. He saidcompanies that fire or refuse to hireemployees because they are nearingpension age should face administrativeor criminal liability.

The proposed reform-alreadyapproved by parliament’s lower housein a first reading last month-hassparked a rare outburst of publicanger, with tens of thousands rallyingacross Russia in recent weeks. Putinhad sought to distance himself fromthe unpopular measures and had beenwidely expected to soften the pro-posals to buttress his falling approvalratings.

Most Russians have been againstthe proposed hike and critics said thereform would essentially rob ordinarypeople of their earnings. Unlike insome western countries, pensions inRussia are meager and many have to

work past their state pension age tosurvive, while others rely on financialhelp from their children.

‘Hard but necessary’ Putin insisted yesterday that tough

measures were needed, citing “seriousdemographic problems” stemmingfrom the country’s huge losses duringWorld War II and the fallout from thecollapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.“We will have to make a hard, difficultbut necessary decision,” Putin said,adding his proposals would soon besent to the Russian parliament’s lowerhouse, the State Duma.

“I ask you to treat this with under-standing,” he said.

The state pension age in Russia isamong the lowest in the world and theproposed reform will be the firstincrease in nearly 90 years. But givenRussians’ low life expectancy — 65years for men and 76 for women-manywill not live long enough under theproposed reform to receive a statepension. However, the government saysthe burden is simply too great for itsstretched finances as the economystruggles under Western sanctions.

Putin said that unlike a decade ago,the country’s economy was ready forsuch reforms, pointing to the lowestunemployment rate since 1991 andincreasing life expectancy.

Putin said that before announcingthe amendments he had studied all“constructive proposals”, includingthose put forward by the opposition.Ahead of the televised address, aMoscow court jailed Putin’s top critic,Alexei Navalny, for 30 days onMonday, just days before he plannedto stage a rally against the reform.

Putin said the reform would allowauthorities to better adjust pensionsfor inflation, bringing the average pen-sion to around 20,000 rubles ($353) amonth in 2024 from some 14,000rubles now. — AFP.

EXCHANGE RATES

BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.383147 0.397047Czech Korune 0.005777 0.015077Danish Krone 0.043478 0.048478Euro 0. 347092 0.360792Georgian Lari 0.117157 0.117157Hungarian 0.001003 0.001193Norwegian Krone 0.032289 0.037489Romanian Leu 0.059409 0.076259Russian ruble 0.004460 0.004460Slovakia 0.009060 0.019060Swedish Krona 0.029160 0.034160Swiss Franc 0.304043 0.315043

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.213928 0.225928New Zealand Dollar 0.197031 0.206531

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.229577 0.238577US Dollars 0.299450 0.304750US Dollars Mint 0.299950 0.304750

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.002997 0.003798Chinese Yuan 0.043102 0.046602Hong Kong Dollar 0.036583 0.039333

Indian Rupee 0.003845 0.004617Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002644 0.002824Korean Won 0.000263 0.000278Malaysian Ringgit 0.070866 0.076686Nepalese Rupee 0.002624 0.002964Pakistan Rupee 0.001955 0.002725Philippine Peso 0.005615 0.005915Singapore Dollar 0.217055 0.227055Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001519 0.002099Taiwan 0.009758 0.009938Thai Baht 0.008966 0.009518

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.790071 0.806571Egyptian Pound 0.014332 0.020050Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000200 0.000260Jordanian Dinar 0.423836 0.432836Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000150 0.000250Moroccan Dirhams 0.022415 0.046415Omani Riyal 0.782123 0.787803Qatar Riyal 0.079088 0.084028Saudi Riyal 0.079860 0.081160Syrian Pound 0.001287 0.001507Tunisian Dinar 0.105934 0.113934Turkish Lira 0.043899 0.055399UAE Dirhams 0.081220 0.082920Yemeni Riyal 0.000987 0.001067

Albayrak sees no big risk to Turkisheconomy, Moody’s sounds alarm

No-let up in Turkey lira slide after Moody’s downgrades

Italian bond yields fallon report govt eyesECB supportLONDON: Italian government bond yields fell yester-day, with analysts citing a La Stampa article sayingthat Italy may try to secure help from the EuropeanCentral Bank.

The newspaper said the government was worried bywhat might happen in September when it unveils newpublic spending targets. The budget, expected to con-tain welfare spending measures and tax cuts, will beapproved by the cabinet late October and sent to theEuropean Commission by Oct. 31.

“If the ECB covers you, markets can’t speculatebecause they don’t make money,” La Stampa cited agovernment source as saying. “And in this way the rat-ing agencies can’t downgrade your debt,” the sourcesaid. Italy’s bond market has faced selling pressuresince a new anti-establishment coalition came to pow-er in June.

Italy’s economy ministry declined to comment onthe article. Two-year yields were last down 4 basispoints (bps) at 1.24 percent. Ten-year yields fell 2 bpsto 3.17 percent, narrowing the gap over German Bund

yields to 277 bps from 280 bps late on Tuesday.“It seems like the move in Italian bonds is about

this story,” Rabobank head of rates strategy RichardMaguire said. “But in terms of the likelihood of theECB intervening to help Italy with QE (quantitativeeasing), the political hurdle for the ECB would beextremely high.” La Stampa said the ECB’s supportcould come in the form of a new quantitative easingprogram.

Italy has been searching for allies to support its bat-tered bond market in recent weeks. Italy’s EconomyMinister Giovanni Tria said on Tuesday that theChinese government had no concerns about a recentwidening of Italian yield spreads, following reports lastweek that US President Donald Trump told PrimeMinister Giuseppe Conte that the US was ready tohelp Italy with its debt next year.

“At the end of the day the Italian government islooking for allies everywhere, they are cornered tosome degree and eager to look for support,” DZ Bankrates strategist Christian Lenk said. Analysts wereskeptical about the impact of the article, which theysaid lacked details, pointing out that if Italy wantsassistance from the ECB, Rome would have to apply tothe ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT)program. Under the OMT, the ECB could buy a coun-try’s short-term bonds in the secondary market. ButItaly must be in a macroeconomic adjustment programwith strict lender supervision to qualify for thescheme. — Reuters

ANKARA: The Turkish lira showed no sign of recovery as it slid further against the USdollar yesterday.

COPENHAGEN: French President Emmanuel Macron (second left) and French Ambassadorto Denmark Francois Zimeray (left) greet people during a visit at the Confederation ofDanish Industry (DI) headquarters yesterday in Copenhagen. — AFP

WASHINGTON: US economic growthwas a bit stronger than initially thought inthe second quarter, notching its best per-formance in nearly four years and puttingthe economy on track to hit the Trumpadministration’s goal of 3 percent annualgrowth. Gross domestic product increasedat a 4.2 percent annualized rate, theCommerce Department said yesterday inits second estimate of GDP growth for theApril-June quarter. That was slightly upfrom the 4.1 percent pace of expansionreported in July and was the fastest ratesince the third quarter of 2014.

The slight upward revision to growthlast quarter reflected more businessspending on software than previouslyestimated and less imports of petroleum.Stronger software spending and a small-er import bill offset a downward revisionto consumer spending. Compared to thesecond quarter of 2017, the economy grew2.9 percent instead of the previouslyreported 2.8 percent. Output expanded 3.2percent in the first half of 2018, rather thanthe 3.1 percent estimated last month. TheTrump administration has set a target of 3percent annual growth, which economistssay is unsustainable because of structuralconstraints.

Robust growth in the second quarterwas driven by one-off factors such as a $1.5trillion tax cut package, which provided ajolt to consumer spending after a lacklusterfirst quarter, and a front-loading of soybeanexports to China to beat retaliatory tradetariffs. There are signs some of the momen-

tum was lost early in the third quarter. Thegovernment reported on Tuesday that thegoods trade deficit jumped 6.3 percent to$72.2 billion in July as a 6.7 percent plungein food shipments weighed on exports.

While consumer spending has remainedstrong early in the third quarter, the hous-ing market has weakened further withhomebuilding rising less than expected inJuly and sales of new and previously owned

homes declining. The Trump administra-tion’s “America First” policies, which haveled to an escalation of a trade war betweenthe United States and China as well as tit-for-tat tariffs with the European Union,Canada and Mexico, pose a risk to theeconomy.

Economists had expected second-quarter GDP growth would be reviseddown to a 4.0 percent pace. The economygrew at a 2.2 percent rate in the January-March period.

The US dollar held near a session highagainst a basket of currencies after thedata. US stock index futures were largelyflat while prices of longer-dated USTreasuries were slightly higher.

Income growth slowsAn alternative measure of economic

growth, gross domestic income (GDI),increased at a rate of 1.8 percent in thesecond quarter, slowing from the firstquarter’s brisk 3.9 percent pace. The aver-age of GDP and GDI, also referred to asgross domestic output and considered abetter measure of economic activity,increased at a 3.0 percent rate in theApril-June period. That followed a 3.1 per-cent growth pace in the first quarter.

The income side of the growth ledgerwas restrained by after-tax corporate prof-its, which grew at an 2.4 percent rate lastquarter, decelerating from the 8.2 percentpace logged in the first quarter.

Growth in consumer spending, which

accounts for more than two-thirds of USeconomic activity, was lowered to a 3.8 per-cent rate in the second quarter instead ofthe previously reported 4.0 percent pace.Consumer spending increased at a 0.5 per-cent pace in the first quarter. — Reuters

B u s i n e s s Thursday, August 30, 2018

13Established 1961

Imports revised

down

US Q2 GDP growth raised to 4.2%; consumer spending cut

World stocksslip asuncertainty overNAFTA nagsLONDON: Global stocks eased yester-day on uncertainty over Canada’s posi-tion in NAFTA, and with investors alsonervous ahead of a deadline for the nextround of China-US tariffs next week.

Talks to renew a NAFTA trade agree-ment between the United States, Mexicoand Canada - after Monday’s US-Mexicodeal - hinge on Canada. Uncertainty overwhen a final agreement might pass theUS Congress also kept trade muted.

MSCI’s world equity index, whichtracks shares in 47 countries, eased 0.1percent from the 5-1/2-month high hitafter Mexico and the United States strucktheir deal.

“The market is quite right to say afterthe knee-jerk reaction higher in theMexican peso and equities, a) there wasremarkably little detail, and b) what is thestate of Canada?” Aberdeen StandardInvestments head of global strategyAndrew Milligan said.

“It helps this rebound in risk assetswe’re seeing but it is an erratic rallybecause we need a bit more fuel to thefire,” he said. US stocks were set for acautious open with eMini futures for theS&P 500 giving back gains to trade flatwhile Dow Jones futures fell 0.1 percent.

European stocks drifted either side offlat, with the index of top 50 companiesdown 0.02 percent by 1247 GMT. USPresident Donald Trump threatened toproceed with Mexico alone and levy tar-iffs on Canada if it does not come onboard with revised trade terms. But atrade deal might struggle to win approvalfrom Congress unless Canada comes onboard.

“The final decisions are unlikely until2019 at the earliest,” Goldman Sachs ana-lysts wrote in a note to clients, saying thatcontrol of the majority in Congress mighthave gone to the Democrats by then,which could make agreement more diffi-cult. Currencies reflected investors’ lin-gering uncertainty.

Against the US dollar, the Canadiandollar fell 0.1 percent while Mexico’speso declined 0.3 percent. Europeanautos stocks also slid 0.3 percent asdetails of the agreement on autosemerged. Auto executives and sourcestold Reuters a side agreement wouldallow the US to slap punitive tariffs of upto 25 percent on imports of Mexican-made cars, sport utility vehicles and autoparts above certain volumes.

On another front of the global tradeconflicts, a deadline for public commenton Trump’s increased tariffs on $200 bil-lion of Chinese goods was less than aweek away on Sept. 5. “End-of-monthflows could start to take hold into the endof the week, and combined with lightnews flow and the risk of impending tradewar escalation could result in convictionremaining light,” JPMorgan analystswrote in a note. — Reuters

CBK receives winners of ‘YourTrip As You Like’ campaignKUWAIT: The Commercial Bankof Kuwait (CBK) received winnersof the second draw for “Your Tripas you Like” campaign. Ticketsand cash prizes topped with onekilogram gold which the banklaunched at the start of the travelseason to reward the customers ofthe bank when they use Al-Tijaricards. Head of Cards Center atCBK Abdulaziz Essa Malakreceived the winners and congrat-ulated then on their win addingthat there is still a chance for thecustomers to win in the comingdraw. Four customers could win atravel voucher each worth KD1,750 to 2,750 in addition to adraw to pick the winner of onekilogram of pure gold, he said.

Economy back on track to hit Trump’s goal of 3% annual growth

ALHAMBRA: In this file photo, a property for sale is seen in Alhambra, California.US sales of newly-built single-family homes fell to a nine-month low in July 2018,marking the second straight decline and underscoring weakness in the housingsector. — AFP

Britain’s May takestrade-touting tour to NigeriaABUJA: Britain’s Theresa May landed in Nigeria’scapital yesterday on the second leg of her maidenAfrica tour aimed at drumming up post-Brexittrade deals outside the European Union.

The prime minister had kicked off her three-nation visit in Cape Town on Tuesday where shepledged to prioritize investment in Africa-although it was her diffident dance moves ratherthan her diplomacy that captured the headlines.The tour, which will also take her to Kenya, is partof a campaign to promote Britain’s global ambi-tions after Brexit.

With just seven months until Britain formallyleaves the EU, May is under pressure back homefrom those skeptical of her ability to forge post-Brexit trade deals, with British officials eyeing adoubling of trade with Nigeria over the nextdecade or so.

“Bilateral trade between Britain and Nigeriawas up to £4.2 billion [$5.42 billion, 4.64 billioneuros], in 2017 and we expect to more than dou-ble this figure by 2030,” Laure Beaufils, Britain’sdeputy high commissioner to Nigeria, told a pressconference ahead of May’s arrival in Abuja.

China is currently Nigeria’s biggest tradingpartner with Abuja importing some $7 billion ingoods from Beijing. — AFP


14B u s i n e s s

Maduro’s economic reforms fail to convince Venezuelans

CARACAS: President Nicolas Maduro has launched a raftof economic reforms aimed at injecting life into his coun-try’s dying economy, but Venezuelans aren’t convinced andcontinue to flee in the thousands. Among the bare super-market aisles and pharmacy shelves, interminable bankqueues to withdraw scarce cash and buses that havegrounded to a halt, the feeling of disillusionment, increduli-ty and haplessness is palpable in the streets of Caracasand beyond.

“It’s a disaster, we don’t have basic foods. The meas-ures are pure lies, they’ll bring more hunger and unem-ployment,” 34-year-old doctor Marielsi Ochoa told AFP.Shelves are filled with cleaning materials and fizzy drinksbut meat, chicken, eggs and corn flour-what used to bethe Venezuelans’ staple diet-have disappeared. Maduro’sgovernment has been busy recently, trying to generatecapital and reverse the recession and hyperinflation thathave gripped a country in which the InternationalMonetary Fund is predicting inflation will reach one mil-lion percent this year.

The minimum wage got a 3,400 percent increase,while the currency was redenominated-removing fivezeros-devalued to the tune of 96 percent and fixed tothe value of Venezuela’s largely discredited cryptocur-rency, the petro.

There’s also been an increase in the value added tax(VAT) and reduced petrol subsidies-Venezuelans pay thelowest prices in the world for fuel.

But experts say this won’t solve the greatest economiccrisis in Latin America’s recent history. “I cannot see howMaduro’s latest financial package can possibly address thehuge inflation problem confronting Venezuela,” said PeterHakim, president emeritus and a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank.

‘Not coherent’ David Smilde from the Washington Office on Latin

America said Maduro’s “plan is not coherent.” One of themain problems centers around the new bolivar beinganchored to the petro, “which is backed by oil, which isitself calculated in dollars,” said Smilde.

“This by itself could work, since one necessary task for

getting out of hyperinflation is to emit a new currency.”However, Hakim said that in reality “the new currency hasno backing beyond Maduro’s rhetoric: no dollars, no gold,no increase in oil earnings, no nothing!”

Some experts have described the petro as nothingmore than a tactic to circumvent US economic sanctionsthat Maduro blames for his country’s woes.

Jesus Gonzalez, a 58-year-old bricklayer, said the “sac-rifice” of standing in line for hours waiting to withdraw thedaily limit of 20 bolivars from a cash point is barely worthit. “It’s not enough for anything,” he said. That sum will justabout buy a cup of coffee. “I’m no economist, butMaduro’s measures seem to be the same song with a dif-ferent chorus,” he added.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have given uphope of seeing normality or stability return to their coun-try and have joined the southward exodus throughColombia and on to Ecuador, Peru, Chile and evenArgentina. Many have traveled thousands of kilometers(miles), mostly on foot, carrying just a bundle of clothesand often forced to sleep outside in the street.

‘You’ve got to go’Genesis, a 27-year-old lawyer, hopes to soon cross

with her husband and three-year-old daughter into Colombiawhere she has a promise of work as a waitress. “I don’t haveenough to buy the child her school uniform. Everyone aroundme is saying: ‘You’ve got to go,’” she told AFP.

According to the United Nations, some 2.3 millionVenezuelans live abroad, of which 1.6 million have emigrat-ed since 2015. Hakim can see no end to the exodus.

“How can ordinary people remain in Venezuela withmassive food shortages, medicines and medical care virtu-ally unavailable, jobs scarce or badly paid, schools withoutteachers, escalating crime rates and no signs of relief?” heasked. Maduro’s socialist government insists the reformswill work this time and brands the exodus a “right-wingcampaign.” On Monday, the government flew 89Venezuelans back home from Peru where it said they hadsuffered “xenophobia” and “harassment.”

“Stop cleaning toilets abroad and come live in the

fatherland,” Maduro said Tuesday evening at a ceremonyin which he signed agreements with foreign oil firms toboost oil production by a million barrels a day. OPEC saysit stands at 1.5 million barrels a day, way down from 3.2million in 2008.

In another reform, the banking regulator Sudeban saidVenezuelans sending remittances back home must do sothrough authorized currency traders, not between privateparties, and thus pay taxes on these transfers. Earlier thisweek Maduro ordered banks to adopt the petro as a unit

of account and launched an offer of bonds backed by goldbullion in a bid to inject optimism into the public.

“It will be the most appealing Christmas gift,” he said ofthe bonds, due to be rolled out in two weeks, and backedby miniature gold ingots that come in pieces of 1.5 and 2.5grams (0.05 and 0.09 ounces.)

“This is another farce,” said Laura Lopez, a 64-year-old housewife who is weighing leaving the country as well.Industrial output in Venezuela has dropped dramatically tojust 30 percent of its capacity. — AFP

Warba Bank to hold Al-Sunbula weekly drawKUWAIT: Warba Bank, “the Best Investment Bank” and “BestCorporate Bank” in Kuwait, will be organizing the 30th and 31st Al-Sunbula Account weekly draws in parallel as the 30th draw was post-poned due to Eid Al-Adha holidays. The draw to announce the 10 luckywinners will be held on Thursday at 11 am in presence of representa-tives from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Bank officials.

Al-Sunbula Account is the perfect choice for all customers whowish to save money and achieve steady returns while simultaneouslyhave the opportunity to win cash prizes throughout the year. Due tothe high traffic on this account, for its offerings of unparalleled oppor-tunities, Warba Bank has worked on enhancing Al-Sunbula account toprovide customers with more benefits. Such enhancements includeincreasing the number of winners and the frequency of the draws.Now, on every Thursday the Bank holds draws for 5 weekly winners ofKD 1,000 each. In addition, the bank continues its monthly draws heldon the first Thursday of every month, with cash prizes of KD 30,000divided amongst 4 winners: two winners getting KD 10,000 each, andtwo winners getting KD 5,000 each.

Thus, the new development of Al-Sunbula account has increasedthe total number of winners to 24, and the total amount of prizes to50,000 KD instead of 30,000 KD. As for the chances for winning,each customer is eligible to enter the draw against each KD 10. It isnoteworthy, that Warba Bank has recently launched the Al-SunbulaFixed Deposit, which provides depositors with high returns of up to 3percent, as well as getting monthly chances to win in Al-SunbulaAccount draws.

Furthermore, Warba Bank has launched its latest CustomerOnboarding solution, in line with its ambitious five-year strategy thatenables non-Warba Bank customers to request opening Al-Sunbulaaccount in an easy electronic manner through the Bank’s website with-out having to visit any of the Bank’s branches, by following 5 simplesteps that might take up to 5 minutes. New customers will be able torequest opening the account at anytime, anywhere, and the Bank willreceive, process and pass the new application for approval throughwhole new and unique electronic system used to implement this service.Warba Staff will then contact the customer to determine the appropri-ate time to visit the branch to get required signatures, verify the cus-tomer’s identity, deliver his/her debit card, and activate the account.

In the streets of Caracas, a feeling of disillusionment and haplessness is palpable

NBK announces winner of KD 125,000 in Al-Jawhara draw KUWAIT: Rami Taiser Jabren was announced asthe winner of KD 125,000 by the National Bank ofKuwait during the monthly draw of Al-Jawharaaccount for the month of August. The name of thewinner was announced live on air on radio FM 88.8and in the presence of a representative from theMinistry of Commerce & Industry and NBK repre-sentatives.

Since 2012, the National Bank of Kuwait hasrewarded loyal customers with a total worth of

prizes up to KD 2,200,000 annually with weekly,monthly and quarterly draws. For every KD 50deposited in Al-Jawhara account, customers receivea chance to enter these draws.

“Customers not only enjoy the many featuresand benefits of Al-Jawhara account, but are alsoautomatically enrolled into the draws to win KD5,000 weekly, KD 125,000 monthly and KD250,000 quarterly,” said Suresh Varadarajan, Headof Liabilities & Insurance, Consumer BankingGroup, National Bank of Kuwait. “Customers canalso double their chances to win when they simplynot withdraw or transfer amounts from theiraccount during the required period.”

Al-Jawhara account can be opened with anopening balance of KD 400 by visiting the nearestNBK branch or through NBK Online and MobileBanking services. Varadarajan added: “Al-Jawharaaccount continues to reward customers with greatprizes and easy ways to enter the draws. This comesas part of our commitment to give back to our cus-

tomers and ensurethat they enjoy everystep of their bankingexperience.” Benefitsof Al-JawharaAccount include afree Visa debit cardwith access to morethan 650,000 ATMmachines around theworld; access to NBKOnline Banking andNBK Mobile Bankingfor viewing and man-aging your accountwherever you are in

the world. Customers always have access to NBK’s24 hour, seven day a week call center and SMSnotice service by request. Al-Jawhara account hold-ers also have unlimited withdrawals (terms and con-ditions apply).

CARACAS: A feeling of disquiet is palpable on the streets among people at bare supermarket aisles and pharmacyshelves and interminable bank queues .

JTC acquires 102 new Cummins dual-frequency generator sets KUWAIT: Jassim Transport & Stevedoring Co K.S.C.C.(JTC) Kuwait announced that its Power Rental Divisionsuccessfully completed the procurement of 102 new unitsof Cummins diesel generators, thereby taking its total fleetstrength to over 700 units with capacities ranging from100 KVA to 1250 KVA. The landmark purchase of thesegenerator sets is primarily aimed at meeting the marketdemand in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and is part of JTC’songoing initiatives for maintaining a strong foothold withinthe Power Generation rental market.

The new generators feature noise attenuation and areperfect for installations where keeping noise to a minimumis required. Additionally, the generators are manufacturedwith the latest and highest safety standards allowing themto be utilized in critical oil and gas applications. With itsfar-reaching logistics network, JTC can rapidly mobilizethese generators to any location in the region.

Commenting on the recent acquisition, Adel Kohari,Chief Executive Officer of JTC said, “For around 10 yearsJTC has been one of the premier suppliers of power rentalsolutions for Kuwait and the region providing custom andturnkey solutions for commercial, industrial and govern-ment clients, with one of the best safety records in theindustry. We are pleased to receive the new generators

which, in addition to JTC’s existing fleet, will improve ourcapabilities to provide reliable and continuous power tomeet the continuous demand of our clients. These genera-tors have been designed specifically for the harsh operat-ing environment of the Middle East rental market and fin-ished to the highest standards. This groundbreaking deal

that we’ve completed reflects the rapid development of themarket that we operate in.” JTC has continuously earnedthe confidence of clients across all industry sectors byproviding services that exceed client expectations andthereby positioning JTC as a major player in the PowerRental markets in Kuwait and the GCC region.

Singapore-Chinafree trade talks at ‘critical stage’SINGAPORE: Talks on a China-backed free-tradepact have reached a “critical stage”, Singapore’sleader said yesterday as he urged regional econom-ic ministers to seal the deal by the end of the year.The 16-nation Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP), which will be the world’sbiggest free-trade accord if it is agreed, has takencenter stage as Washington embarks on a unilateral,protectionist agenda. Covering about half theworld’s population, the RCEP notably excludes theUS, which had been leading another regional pact-the Trans-Pacif ic Partnership (TPP) — unti l

President Donald Trump abandoned it on coming tooffice early last year.

“The RCEP negotiations have continued forsome time, and have now reached a critical stage,”Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he openeda five-day meeting of economy ministers from theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Singapore meeting will be joined later in theweek by top trade officials from ASEAN’s maintrading partners, including China, Japan, Australiaand the US.

“After a great deal of work, the possibility ofsubstantively concluding the RCEP negotiations isfinally in sight,” he said. Lee also warned aboutescalating tensions between the US and China-who have been locked in a spiralling trade row-and other major economies including the eurozoneand Canada.

“The RCEP will be an important signal to theworld that ASEAN members and our partnersplace high value on free trade, regional integration

and international cooperation,” he said. The pactwill group the 10 ASEAN members plus China,India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and NewZealand, and will cover a third of the world’s grossdomestic product.

A diplomatic source said Singapore, this year’sASEAN chair, is pushing for an agreement on theRCEP before handing over the chairmanship toThailand in 2019.

Another source involved in the talks said ASEANleaders hope to announce the “substantial conclu-sion” of negotiations during a summit in Novemberwith their main trading partners, and they expectthe pact to be implemented in 2020.

Beijing is keen to use Washington’s rejection ofthe TPP to build enthusiasm for its own deal andincrease influence in the region. RCEP is a moremodest deal that prescribes lower and more limitedregulatory standards. The 11 remaining TPP mem-bers signed a slimmed down version of the agree-ment in March. — AFP

Brazil GDP seen as slower in second quarterRIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s economy posted much slowergrowth in the second quarter due to a truckers strike andelectoral uncertainty that could fuel investor jitters at leastuntil October’s presidential voting. GDP in Latin America’slargest economy grew just 0.1 percent in the April-Juneperiod compared to the first quarter of this year, accord-ing to a poll of 23 financial firms conducted by the news-paper Valor. Official numbers are due out Friday.

The economy has lost steam since the first quarter,when GDP growth was 0.4 percent. Brazil emerged from apunishing two-year recession in 2017, posting yearlyexpansion of 1 percent. Government forecasts for 2018have been scaled back from a GDP rise of nearly 3 per-cent, down now to 1.5 percent. Market watchers expectexpansion of 1.47 percent, according to a survey by theCentral Bank. Uncertainty over the election is rattling mar-kets and encouraging the decline of the real, which has lost20 percent of its value against the dollar since January.

Hopes for faster economic growth took a severe hit inlate May with an 11-day truckers strike that shut downsupplies of fuel, food and other goods in this vast countrywith a very limited rail network. “We have an electioncampaign that is completely undefined, and the possibilityof a dispute between extreme positions (in a runoff) hasfueled uncertainty and reduced consumption and invest-ment plans,” said Carlos Langoni, former chairman of theCentral Bank and currently director of World EconomyCenter at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. — AFP

Suresh Varadarajan

MOSCOW: A recent pledge by Kalashnikov to com-pete with Elon Musk’s Tesla with a Russian retro “elec-tric supercar” drew chuckles, but the legendary gunproducer has long been trying to branch out into prod-ucts from drones to yachts.

The remarkable transformation by the manufacturermost famous for the AK-47 automatic rifle is withoutprecedent in its 200-year history. Kalashnikov pro-duces 95 percent of all Russian-made light arms andexports to some 27 countries.

The rifle, designed by the brand’s namesake MikhailKalashnikov just after World War II and described bythe company as “the greatest weapon of the 20th cen-tury”, is now in its fifth generation.

Visitors to the Kalashnikov stand at a defense tradefair outside Moscow last week were therefore sur-prised when they came across the pale-blue prototypeof the CV-1 electric car, based on a 1970s-era Soviethatchback, standing next to a display of rifles.

Founded in Izhevsk (1,300 kilometers east ofMoscow) in 1807, the Izhmash factory has seen a seriesof upheavals since 2013, when Russia’s state corpora-tion RosTec, the controlling holding, merged it with anearby pistol maker Izhmekh, naming the new companyKalashnikov Concern.

Prior to the merger, the factory looked like it wouldmeet a typical fate of many other Soviet-era industrialtitans: in 2012 Mikhail Kalashnikov and other veteranemployees lamented falling production figures, badmanagement and low salaries.

Out of oblivion After the arrival of private shareholders in 2014, the

company launched new models of assault and huntingrifles, handguns and other types of small arms, alongwith an aggressive re-branding campaign that includedintroduction of a clothing line and accessories includingcaps and umbrellas.

Just a few years later, these efforts seemingly paidoff: in January 2017 the company went on a hiringspree, increasing its workforce by 30 percent to meetthe rising export demand. Following the introduction ofWestern sanctions against it, Kalashnikov Concernchanged a new subsidiary that was meant to work withthe US market into a separate company calledKalashnikov USA. In February 2017, the Russian statebecame a minority shareholder after Rostec sold alarge stake to Kalashnikov’s managing director AlexeiKrivoruchko. In a shift for Russia’s defense industry,Rostec wants civilian merchandise to increase to 50percent of its overall output by 2025.

‘Is this a gag?’Though its CV-1 electric car prototype may never

end up on the production line, it is a step into a grow-ing sector which is still in its infancy in Russia.

This summer, Kalashnikov provided 30 electricmotorcycles and three-wheelers to the Russian policeduring the World Cup. “Next year we will launch salesof our first electric motorbike,” Vladimir Dmitriev, whotook the post of director after Krivoruchko went towork at the defence ministry, said at the Moscowregion defense fair last week.

“We are talking about electric mobility because weunderstand that sooner or later the engine is going todisappear,” said Olga Boitsova, the commercial director

for the company’s civilian products.In 2018-2019, Kalashnikov is set to start exporting

electric cars and motorcycles to Saudi Arabia. Standing next to the vintage-looking CV-1 at the

fair, 27-year old student Dmitry Rodionov said itlooked “funny” while jovial sexagenarian YelenaRazhina was hopeful that it would be “as reliable as theKalashnikov rifle and conquer the world.” — AFP

Te c h n o l o g y Thursday, August 30, 2018

15Established 1961

Russia’s Kalashnikov branches out from rifles to robots, e-cars

Kalashnikov maker comes out of oblivion into aggressive rebranding

When cars fly?Japan wantsvehicles totake offTOKYO: It might sound like pie inthe sky, but Japan’s government isbanking on a future with flying cars,launching an initiative yesterday withthe private sector to develop futuristicvehicles.

The initiative aims to draw up aroadmap by the end of the year oncommercializing flying cars, a conceptthat so far remains largely theoretical.Japanese government officials arepartnering with companies includingBoeing and Airbus, as well as majorJapanese firms like All NipponAirways, Japan Airlines, NEC and theToyota-backed Cartivator.

“(Flying cars) are expected tosolve issues of transportation inremote islands or mountainous areas,or rescue operations and goods trans-port in disaster,” trade ministry officialShinji Tokumasu said.

“We launched the public-private

meeting to cultivate a new industryand make it profitable in the worldmarket.” In Japan, a group of engi-neers working with the Cartivatorproject are already developing athree-wheeled car that relies on dronetechnology to take flight.

Toyota and affiliated companieshave invested about 42.5 million yen($382,000) in the project. Cartivatoris hoping to launch a manned proto-type by the end of 2019 so it can beused to light the Olympic flame whenJapan’s capital Tokyo hosts the Gamesin 2020.

The manned vehicle, dubbedSkyDrive, will have four sets of pro-pellors and be just 2.9 metres (9.5foot) long and 1.3 meters wide. ButJapan is not alone in the flying carmarketplace.

Companies researching the sectorinclude Uber, the Kitty Hawk projectbacked by Google founder LarryPage, Lilium Aviation in Germany,Safran in France, and Honeywell in theUnited States. Last month, Britishengine maker Rolls-Royce revealedplans to develop a hybrid electricvehicle, dubbed the “flying taxi,”while Kitty Hawk in June offered testflights to people interested in buyingits vehicle. — AFP

MOSCOW: In this file handout photo released by Kalashnikov media press office, shows a retro-looking paleblue prototype electric car, the CV-1, produced by Russian arms maker Kalashnikov, in Moscow. —AFP

007 carmakerAston Martingears up for London stock market floatLONDON: Aston Martin yesterday said itplans to float one quarter of the British com-pany on the London stock market, as demandrises worldwide for the luxury brand’s carsfavoured by fictional spy James Bond.

Full details of the initial public offering willbe published on September 20, Aston Martinsaid in a statement, with reports noting thatthe company could be valued up to £5.0 bil-lion ($6.4 billion, 5.5 billion euros). “Today’sannouncement represents a key milestone inthe history of the company, which is reportingstrong financial results and increased globaldemand for its award-winning sports cars,”Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmersaid in the statement.

The century-old carmaker, based inGaydon in central England, is controlled byItalian private equity fund Investindustrialand Kuwaiti investors.

German carmaker Daimler will meanwhilekeep its near 5.0-percent stake in the group,Aston Martin said. While Britain has a strongcar manufacturing industry, the brands havefallen into foreign ownership over recentdecades, with Germany’s BMW buying Rolls-Royce and Mini, Volkswagen taking control ofBentley — and Jaguar-Land Rover fallinginto the hands of Indian giant Tata Motors.

And while the UK’s key car manufactur-

ing has warned about potential Brexit fall-out, Aston Martin boss Palmer yesterdaysaid his company was well shielded ahead ofthe country’s formal EU departure in Marchnext year.

“The benefit of being a luxury company isthat we are relatively impervious to thosekinds of changes,” he told BBC radio.However, he noted that as a precaution, thegroup was increasing stockpiles of itsengines in case of possible border delaysonce Britain exits the EU in March next year.

Earlier this year, Palmer said Aston Martincould in the future supply engines toFormula One under the leadership of newowner Liberty.

‘Carried away by the brand’ Founded in London in 1913, Aston Martin

rose to fame thanks largely to its DB5 sportscar, a favorite of Sean Connery, the original

movie Bond. Analysts said that with a valua-tion of about £5.0 billion, Aston Martin wouldfind itself at the top end of London’s secondtier FTSE 250 index.

“It’s important for potential investors toconcentrate on the company’s financialprospects and not to get carried away by thebrand however, and that means having a thor-ough read of the forthcoming prospectus,”Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at stockbrokerHargreaves Lansdown, said yesterday.

Ferrari has seen its share price soar sincethe group made its own stock market debut inMilan nearly three years ago. Also yesterday,Aston Martin revealed that its revenues roseeight percent in the first six months of 2018 to£445 million.

The performance was driven from sales ofspecial edition vehicles, including theVanquish Zagato family and DB4 GTContinuation models. — AFP

PARIS: In this file photo an Aston Martin DB10 drives down the Champs Elysee in Paris topromote the new James Bond film Spectre. — AFP

Robot teachers invade Chinese kindergartensBEIJING: The Chinese kindergarten chil-dren giggled as they worked to solve puz-zles assigned by their new teaching assis-tant: a roundish, short educator with ascreen for a face.

Just under 60 centimetres (two feet) high,the autonomous robot named Keeko hasbeen a hit in several kindergartens, tellingstories and challenging children with logicproblems.

Round and white with a tubby body, thearmless robot zips around on tiny wheels, itsinbuilt cameras doubling up both as naviga-tional sensors and a front-facing cameraallowing users to record video journals. InChina, robots are being developed to delivergroceries, provide companionship to theelderly, dispense legal advice and now, asKeeko’s creators hope, join the ranks ofeducators.

At the Yiswind Institute of MulticulturalEducation on the outskirts of Beijing, thechildren have been tasked to help a princefind his way through a desert-by puttingtogether square mats that represent a pathtaken by the robot-part storytelling and partproblem-solving.

Each time they get an answer right, thedevice reacts with delight, its face flashing

heart-shaped eyes. “Education today is nolonger a one-way street, where the teacherteaches and students just learn,” said CandyXiong, a teacher trained in early childhoodeducation who now works with Keeko RobotXiamen Technology as a trainer.

“When children see Keeko with its roundhead and body, it looks adorable and childrenlove it. So when they see Keeko, they almostinstantly take to it,” she added.

Keeko robots have entered more than 600kindergartens across the country with itsmakers hoping to expand into Greater Chinaand Southeast Asia. Beijing has investedmoney and manpower in developing artificialintelligence as part of its “Made in China2025” plan, with a Chinese firm last yearunveiling the country’s first human-like robotthat can hold simple conversations and makefacial expressions. — AFP

BEIJING: Children watching a Keeko robot make its way on a path they made from squaremats at the Yiswind Institute of Multicultural Education in Beijing. — AFP

WASHINGTON: President DonaldTrump stepped up attacks on big techfirms Tuesday, warning Facebook, Googleand Twitter to be “careful,” hours afterslamming what he called “rigged” internetsearch results.

Trump offered no details on what if anyactions he might take, but a top WhiteHouse aide suggested the administrationmay look at some type of regulation inresponse to the president’s complaints.

After a pair of early-morning tweetsassailing Google, Trump expanded hiswarnings to other big internet firms incomments to reporters at the WhiteHouse. “I think Google is really takingadvantage of a lot of people and I thinkthat is a very serious thing and it is a veryserious charge,” Trump said.

He went on to cite Facebook andTwitter, in an apparent reference to hisclaims last week of social media suppress-ing conservative voices.

“You can’t do that to people,” he said.“We have literally thousands and thou-sands of complaints coming in.” Trumpadded: “Google and Twitter andFacebook-they are really treading onvery, very troubled territory and theyhave to be careful.”

In his Twitter comments, the US presi-dent complained that Google searches for“Trump news” brought up mostly nega-tive stories about him. “They have itRIGGED, for me & others, so that almostall stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN isprominent. Republican/Conservative &Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?” he wrote.

According to Trump, “96 percent ofresults on ‘Trump News’ are fromNational Left-Wing Media.”

Google strongly rejected any biasclaims. “Search is not used to set a politi-cal agenda and we don’t bias our resultstoward any political ideology,” it said.

“We continually work to improveGoogle search and we never rank searchresults to manipulate political sentiment.”

It was not immediately clear what, ifany, measures Trump envisioned, but histop economic adviser Larry Kudlow toldreporters at the White House that “we’relooking into it” when asked about theclaims on Google. Last week, Trumptweeted that “Social Media is totally dis-criminating against Republican/Conservative voices” and added “wewon’t let that happen.”

Free speech guarantees The president’s claims on Google

appeared to be based on a report fromthe Trump-friendly news site PJ Mediawhich relied on an analysis chart by con-servative news host Sharyl Attkisson thatcategorized major news outlets such asthe New York Times, CBS and CNN as“left wing.”

“Google & others are suppressingvoices of Conservatives and hiding infor-mation and news that is good,” Trumpsaid. Google and other internet firms havelong faced complaints about searchresults, which are based on algorithmsthat can take into account user browsinghistory, location and other factors. —AFP

Trump warns tech giants, steppingup attacks claiming ‘bias’

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16


17H e a l t h & S c i e n c e

Established 1961

Bees gethooked on harmfulpesticidePARIS: Bumblebees acquire a tastefor food laced with a pesticide knownto harm them, according to a studysuggesting the chemicals pose an evengreater threat to pollinators than pre-viously thought. In experiments,researchers showed that bees initiallyput off by sugar water containingneonicotinoids-the most widely-usedclass of insecticide worldwide-soonstarted seeking them out to the exclu-sion of untainted food.

The findings were published yester-day in the journal Proceedings of theRoyal Society B. Neonicotinoids, earli-er research has shown, disrupt theability of bees to reproduce and lowertheir resistance to disease. “At first, itappeared that the bees did avoid thefood containing the pesticide,” saidlead author Andres Arce, a researcherat Imperial College London. “However,as individual bees increasingly experi-ence the treated food they develop apreference for it.”

Even when the position of theirfeeders was switched, the pollinatorsmade a beeline for the one laced withinsecticide. Neonicotinoids targetnerve receptors in insects much in theway nicotine-the addictive ingredientin tobacco-does in humans and othermammals. “Our findings... tick certainsymptoms of addictive behavior, whichis intriguing given the addictive prop-erties of nicotine on humans,” said leadresearcher Richard Gill, also fromImperial.

Unlike contact pesticides, whichremain on the plant surface, neonicoti-noids are absorbed by seeds andtransported to leaves, flowers, roots,and stems as the plant grows. Severalcountries have banned forms of theinsecticide, mainly due to its impact onNature’s little helpers. In the EuropeanUnion, three neonicotinoid-basedproducts will be off-limits in openfields starting on December 19. Francehas banned five chemical variantsstarting Saturday.

Canada recently announced itwould phase out two neonicotinoidsused on canola, corn, and soybeancrops. Widely used over the last twodecades, neonicotinoids weredesigned to control sap-feedinginsects such as aphids and root-feed-ing grubs. In recent years, fears havebeen growing over the declining healthof bees globally, and the possible roleof neonicotinoids. —AFP

Yescarta approved in EU for intractable lymphoma casesLONDON: A cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy forotherwise untreatable forms of blood cancer is tooexpensive to justify its use on Britain’s state-fundedhealth service, the country’s healthcare cost agencyNICE said on Tuesday. Thedecision by the NationalInstitute for Health and CareExcellence (NICE) is a blowto US drugmaker GileadSciences, which wants to getits Yescarta productapproved for use on theNational Health Service(NHS).

The NICE rejectioncomes one day after theEuropean Commissionapproved Yescarta for two aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. That green light cleared the wayfor each European country to decide on whether tofund the treatment. Yescarta is the first CAR-T therapy

to be assessed by NICE. The agency is currentlyappraising Novartis’s rival Kymriah, which also won EUapproval on Monday. NICE experts met last week toconsider initial recommendations on the Swiss firm’s

product, a spokesman said.Both Yescarta and

Kymriah are chimeric anti-gen receptor T-cell thera-pies, or CAR-Ts, whichreprogram the body’s ownimmune cells to attackmalignant cells. The treat-ments represents a brandnew approach to fightingcancer, since the therapyinvolves extraction of infec-tion-fighting cells from a

patient. These cells are then genetically engineered torecognize cancer cells and infused back. The process iscomplex and expensive but it offers hope for peoplewith certain kinds of blood cancer who have exhausted

all other treatment options.Meindert Boysen, director of the centre for health

technology evaluation at NICE, said Yescarta was “anexciting innovation in very difficult to treat cancers,with a promise of cure for some patients” but said itsprice was too high for it to be considered cost-effec-tive. The US list price for Yescarta is $373,000. The UKprice is confidential. NICE said Gilead had proposed a“commercial arrangement” if Yescarta was recom-mended. Typically, drugmakers provide price discountsin exchange for NHS access.

Gilead said it was “in ongoing discussions withNICE to identify appropriate treatment comparatorswhich can clarify how cell therapy may be made avail-able to patients in the UK”. Raj Chopra, head of cancertherapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research inLondon, said the NICE rejection was disappointing forpatients. “If we’re going to see CAR-T therapy widelyavailable on the NHS, we need to find ways to reducethe costs,” he said. Yescarta was approved by the USFood and Drug Administration in October. — Reuters

UK rejects CAR-T cancer cell therapy as too expensive

Find ways to reduce the costs

CALIFORNIA: A Gilead Sciences, Inc. office is shown inFoster City, California. —Reuters

Solar coolersheat up earningsfor Kenya’s dairyfarmers KIBUMBU, Kenya: Four years ago, NjeruKamuru nearly quit dairy farming. But whenhe learned that a solar-powered milk-cool-ing plant was to be built in his Kenyan vil-lage, he changed his mind. Before then,Kamuru said, he struggled to sell more thanhalf of the 12 litres of milk his brace of cowsgave during their morning and evening milk-ing sessions. Selling those six litres earnedhim about a dollar; the rest of the milk wentto his relatives on credit or was drunk by hiswife and four children.

Breaking even was hard, he said, with thekey problem a lack of refrigerated storage.“I could spend the whole day at the farmwaiting to sell milk to my fellow village cus-tomers,” Kamuru said in Kibumbu village incentral Kenya. And if the morning’s milk sup-ply was difficult to sell - and it was - he wasat least able to pasteurize it to ensure it didnot go off. The evening’s milk supply wastrickier. “If there were no customers, it allwent to waste,” he said.

Others in the Kibumbu Dairy FarmersAssociation had the same problem, so theyapproached the governor of Tharaka NithiCounty and demanded that he honour a2012 campaign pledge to construct a milk-cooling plant. In 2015, the solar-poweredfacility opened, using county funds. Thesedays, Kamuru no longer sells milk to the vil-lagers. His family uses two litres a day, whilethe rest goes to the community-owned plant.“The amount I deliver is recorded every day,and then I am paid at the end of the month,”he said.

Access 24/7Kenyans often struggle with the country’s

unreliable electricity supply, with the problemparticularly acute in rural areas. For the coun-try’s dairy farmers - who, according to theUN’s Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), have 3.2 million head of dairy cattle -

it’s a particular problem. Kibumbu’s solar milk-cooling plant ensures that farmers like Kamurucan store their milk safely, day or night, with-out it going off.

The timing is good: demand for dairy prod-ucts is rising fast, particularly in rapidly grow-ing urban areas, according to the KenyaLivestock Producers Association (KLPA).“This means that farmers must have access tostorage facilities that work around the 24-hourclock without interruption,” said PatrickKimani, who heads the KLPA. “Solar-poweredmilk coolers provide such a solution.”

Typically, local governments pay for milk-cooling plants, then hand over ownership todairy associations, Tharaka Nithi CountyGovernor Muthomi Njuki said in a phoneinterview. It is then the responsibility of thefarmers to pay for maintenance, Njuki added.The Tharaka Nithi facility does that bydeducting 10 percent of each farmer’s monthlyearnings. Apart from being community-owned,the KLPA’s Kimani said, solar milk-coolingplants are cheap to maintain and can deal withthe blackouts that continue to trouble Kenya.

Growing solutionThe dairy industry is an important part of

Kenya’s economy, worth about 3.5 percent ofGDP, the FAO estimates, with about 2 millionpeople directly or indirectly working in it.Kimani said the country has about one million

dairy farmers, but just 15 percent can connectto the national electricity grid to refrigeratetheir milk. Some of the rest rely on one of 50solar cooling plants set up in 10 counties since2014, Kimani said.

With the cost of solar technology falling, headded, building more plants will becomeincreasingly affordable in coming years to helpKenya’s 500-plus dairy associations. Withdemand for dairy products climbing, Kimanisaid, there are plans for plants in key produc-tion areas to boost their capacity to processmilk into products such as yoghurt and milkpowder. At the office of the Kibumbu DairyFarmers Association, manager Lucy Muthonidivides her day between monitoring the milkcontainers that farmers bring in, and checkingthat the solar system on the plant’s roof iskeeping the coolers humming.

The plant receives more than 5,000 litres ofmilk a day, she said, with about one-third con-sumed by people in nearby Chuka town andthe rest sent to the capital, Nairobi, for pro-cessing. Solar power and milk make for a goodcombination, she said. “Milk is most likely togo bad when the day is hot. Yet it is when it ishot that the solar system can absorb and storemore energy to keep the coolers operatingduring the day and at night,” Muthoni said.And, she added, the fact that milk can berefrigerated means more local people are turn-ing to dairy farming. — Reuters

KENYA: Motorbike milk delivery boys wait to collect receipts at the Kibumbu Dairy FarmersAssociation’s solar-powered plant in central Kenya. — Reuters

Kid you not: Goats can read your facePARIS: Goats can distinguish smilinghuman faces from frowning ones onphotos, and actively seek out snapshotsof happier individuals, a study said yes-terday. Shown two pictures of the sameperson-one with a happy expressionand the other angry — 20 domesticatedgoats in an experiment were more likelyto approach the smiling image and touchit with their snout, said researchers fromEurope and Brazil.

“Goats looked and interacted onaverage 1.4 seconds with the happyfaces and 0.9 seconds with the angryfaces,” study co-author ChristianNawroth of the Queen Mary Universityof London told AFP. “That means thatgoats spend approximately 50 percentmore time to look and interact with hap-

py images compared to angry ones.”The study, published in the journal RoyalSociety Open Science, claims to providethe first evidence of goats readinghuman emotional expression.

The findings suggested “livestockspecies have very sophisticated minds tointerpret their environment,” saidNawroth, and “likely adapt their behav-ior” based on human facial expressions.Goats, unlike dogs or horses, were notdomesticated because of their ability toread and respond to human moods, butto provide their milk, meat, dung, andcoats.

“The study has important implica-tions for how we interact with livestockand other species, because the abilitiesof animals to perceive human emotionsmight be widespread and not just limitedto pets,” said Nawroth’s colleague AlanMcElligott. The team found goats wereeven more likely to approach happy pic-tures when they were placed to the rightof the angry image, suggesting the ani-mals use the left side of their brain toprocess positive emotion. —AFP

ENGLAND: In this file photo a goat looks out from its pen on the first day of TheRoyal Cheshire County Show at Tabley, near Knutsford, northern England. —AFP

Physicists finally observe ‘elusive’ Higgs decayPARIS: Six years after tracking down theHiggs boson, the subatomic particle that con-fers mass on matter, physicists said Tuesdaythey have “at long last” witnessed it decayinginto tiny bits called “bottom quarks”. Thepredicted decay was observed at the LargeHadron Collider (LHC) famous for the Nobel-capped discovery of the Higgs particle in2012, Europe’s CERN physics lab announced.

“During the early preparations of the LHC,there were doubts on whether this observa-tion could be achieved,” the ATLAS scientificcollaboration said of the “elusive interaction”now documented at the massive particleaccelerator. Because Higgs bosons them-selves are hard to find, and other particlesalso break up into bottom quarks, it has beendifficult to track down those attributedspecifically to Higgs decay.

Researchers say the long-awaited obser-vation serves as further verification of theStandard Model of physics-the mainstreamtheory of the fundamental particles that makeup the Universe and the forces that governthem. Under the model, developed in the ear-ly 1970s, quarks and leptons are the mostbasic building blocks of matter.

There are six types of quarks, of whichbottom quarks-also called beauty quarks-areamong the heaviest. The Standard Model

predicted that Higgs decay would yield pairsof bottom quarks about 60 percent of thetime. But finding these quarks has been“among the most demanding analyses carriedout by ATLAS so far,” the team said in astatement.

New physics? Scientists probing the nature and work-

ings of the Higgs and other particles are onthe lookout for anything that does not fit withStandard Model predictions. This is becausethe model doesn’t explain dark matter or darkenergy, and appears to be incompatible with

the theory of gravity. Some other model of“new physics” is needed to explain these.

Proposed alternatives have included theexistence of extra dimensions, or “supersym-metry” which postulates the existence of asibling of equal mass for every knownStandard Model particle. Evidence for neitherhas yet been found. The latest observationwas also “consistent with” the StandardModel, said the CMS team that worked withATLAS on the project. But it “still leavesroom for contributions from new physics.”“It’s another point for the Standard Model,”physicist Pauline Gagnon told AFP. —AFP

GENEVA: This file photo in Meyrin, near Geneva, shows the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid)Cavern at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). — AFP

Today finds you sympathetic and understanding of the feeling of those close to you.You seem to have thrown your more judgmental attitude out of the window. Youhave learned you thrive when you surround yourself with those who are positive anduplifting. You are becoming the friend to others that you wish them to be for you.This is a great step in the right direction. Your life and all things in it seem to be fullof happiness. You are on a very positive path. Hard work and dedication will leadyou to great reward.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

You may find you tendency to be indecisive may cause conflict with someone you careabout. Consider all the options diplomatically, then make a choice. Recognize thatignoring this situation is not the right choice. Consider consequences, then choose, andact. Someone may find your actions offensive. Pay no attention to anyone who doesn’tseem supportive. They will get over it.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Today may find you a bit unsatisfied with your surroundings. It may besomeone or the physical place you are in that is just not sitting right with

you. You may feel as if someone or something is holding you back or may just feel frus-trated by your life in general. This may be a great time for an evening out and about.Change your surroundings. Clear your head but choose your company wisely to avoidany conflict as this is a time you need to have fun. You have to find a comfortable bal-ance between work life, family, and social life. Gemini, remember it is good for you toget out and enjoy yourself from time to time.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

The company you keep says a lot about you. Make time for your loved ones. Don’twait for a holiday or a special event. What is a little thing to you can make a big differ-ence in the life of someone you care about. You are creative enough to turn a small actinto a big memory. Take the time. Make the effort. The reward will be great.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

You can stop looking for perfect relationships. Since every person is flawed, a rela-tionship between two of those persons can’t be perfect. You just have to decide howmuch imperfection you can tolerate. Limit your relationships to the people whodon’t have the flaws you can’t live with. Surround yourself with people who areaware of your imperfections and love you anyway. Peace is conceived when love andtolerance are united.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

When you hear the phone ring today, answer it. You have a friend in need and you arejust the person to help them out. You are understanding. There is no issue too personalthat your friend feels they can not discuss with you. Your guidance and knowledge arepriceless to this person. The first person they feel they need to run to when things gowrong. Be careful to not take on emotional baggage when offering your advice. This isnot your circus and these are not your monkeys. You have to remember there is a dif-ference between sympathy and empathy. Use caution, Libra. The weight of the worlddoes not belong on your shoulders.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You may find confrontation is right around the corner. Your values don’t seem to be thesame as someone you find yourself bumping heads with. You may find a lack of respectfor this person and they seem to feel the same way about you. Remember, that is whythey make chocolate and vanilla. Not everyone’s taste is the same and this applies topeople’s beliefs as well. Sometimes you may find it is best to agree to disagree andtoday is just one of those days. You may find yourself at a standstill with this person. Donot bother to fight this battle.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Your moods and feelings may reach new levels. You may feel moody andeven dreamy during this time.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Your relationships have taken priority in your life. You value the loveyou have for others and the love you feel from them. Your emotional

needs are being deeply satisfied. There is a vast difference between independenceand loneliness. At this time, you seem to be becoming more of a homebody. You findmore at ease staying in surrounded only by your loved ones or close friends. This iswhere you belong as your feelings are finding you more reflective rather than expres-sive. You crave new beginnings, perhaps this would be a great time for a new experi-ence or a new hobby. Pisces, take the time to reflect and learn from your past andmake plans for your future.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

This is a time you feel more inward. You may be in the mood to only spend time withthose closest to you. A nice evening at home will bring the most peace into your worldtoday. This is a great time to do some soul searching. You have questions about what allhappened in your world the led you to the place you are in today. You may be able toappreciate the hardships you have experienced and the lessons they taught you. This isa point you start to appreciate the wisdom you have gained through your life. You havelearned to look for the positive in all life brings your way. This alone will make you abetter person who others want in their lives.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 1996

ACROSS1. Standard time in the 7th time zone westof Greenwich, reckoned at the 105thmeridian west.4. Brightly colored carnivorous fish ofwestern Atlantic and West Indies waters.12. Inquire about.15. (informal) Of the highest quality.16. Having a margin with rounded scallops.17. Aircraft landing in bad weather inwhich the pilot is talked down by groundcontrol using precision approach radar.18. A percussion instrument consisting of apair of hollow pieces of wood or bone(usually held between the thumb and fin-gers) that are made to click together (asby Spanish dancers) in rhythm with thedance.20. Forced to turn and face attackers.21. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).22. The sixth month of the civil year.23. The Tibeto-Burman language spokenin the Dali region of Yunnan.26. The month following August and pre-ceding October.27. United States neuroscientist noted forhis studies of the neural basis of vision(born in 1926).29. A state in northwestern North America.31. A silvery ductile metallic element foundprimarily in bauxite.33. Unknown god.34. A book of the New Testament.38. Cubes of meat marinated and cookedon a skewer usually with vegetables.40. (used of animals especially a horse) Ofa moderate reddish-brown color n 1.42. An ancient Iranian language.44. A master's degree in fine arts.46. Cultivated in temperate regions.47. Type genus of the Otariidae.50. A cell without a nucleus (as an ery-throcyte).53. The item at the end.55. A guided missile fired from shipboardagainst an airborne target.56. The blood group whose red cells carryboth the A and B antigens.57. (Light Amplification by StimulatedEmission of Radiation) Optical device thatproduces an intense monochromatic beamof coherent light.59. The outermost (and toughest) of the 3meninges.62. A white metallic element that burnswith a brilliant light.64. A silvery soft waxy metallic element ofthe alkali metal group.65. A genus of Platalea.67. A white linen liturgical vestment withsleeves.69. Congenital absence of the heart (as inthe development of some monsters).72. Stairway in India leading down to alanding on the water.75. Lacking or deprive of the sense ofhearing wholly or in part.76. An independent ruler or chieftain(especially in Africa or Arabia).77. A daughter of your brother or sister.78. An associate degree in applied sci-ence.82. A language unit by which a person orthing is known.83. A chronic skin disease occurring pri-marily in women between the ages of 20and 40.84. Caused to be slower or later.85. Chief port of Yemen.

DOWN1. Informal terms for a mother.2. Any of a number of fishes of the familyCarangidae.3. (medicine) A grossly malformed andusually nonviable fetus.4. Being one hundred more than two hun-dred.5. An Arabic speaking person who lives inArabia or North Africa.6. A brittle silver-white metalloid elementthat is related to selenium and sulfur.7. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neu-tralizing.8. Wood of a larch tree.9. A member of the Shoshonean people ofUtah and Colorado and New Mexico.10. A canvas bag that is used to feed ananimal (such as a horse).11. A condition (mostly in boys) character-ized by behavioral and learning disorders.12. Title for a civil or military leader (espe-cially in Turkey).13. Someone who works (or providesworkers) during a strike.14. God of love and erotic desire.19. Any of several tall tropical palms nativeto southeastern Asia having egg-shapednuts.24. Jordan's port.25. Resembling or containing slate.28. A monarchy in northwestern Europeoccupying most of the British Isles.30. An oral cephalosporin (trade namesKeflex and Keflin and Keftab) commonlyprescribe for mild to moderately severeinfections of the skin or ears or throat orlungs or urinary tract.32. Resinlike substance secreted by certainlac insects.35. A state of extreme confusion and dis-order.36. Steady recurrent ticking sound asmade by a clock.37. An internal representation of theworld.39. South African term for `boss'.41. Not only so, but.43. The month following March and pre-ceding May.45. The time during which someone's lifecontinues.48. The elapsed time it takes for a signal totravel from Earth to a spacecraft (or otherbody) and back to the starting point.49. Tropical American tree grown insouthern United States having a whitishpink-tinged fruit.51. A family of Sino-Tibetan languagesspoken in southeastern Asia.52. Capital of Nigeria in the center of thecountry.54. Brazilian tree with handsomely markedwood.58. Hard white substance covering thecrown of a tooth.60. An intensely radioactive metallic ele-ment that occurs in minute amounts inuranium ores.61. An island in the Aegean Sea in theSaronic Gulf.63. Lower in esteem.66. Having the leading position or higherscore in a contest.68. (archaic or Scottish) Faithful and true.70. The work of caring for or attending tosomeone or something.71. The nest of a squirrel.73. The highest level or degree attainable.74. Being of the age 13 through 19.79. A sliver-white metallic element of theplatinum group that resembles platinum.80. A colorless odorless gaseous elementthat give a red glow in a vacuum tube.81. A doctor's degree in religion.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s SolutionDaily SuDoku

Wordsearch Puzzle

You have a tendency to be indecisive at times. This could cause conflict with someonespecial to you. Consider all the options and put much thought into your decisionstoday. Make a choice. This is not the time to procrastinate. Someone may be offendedby or not agree with the choice you make. Remember, Leo, you can not please every-one all of the time. Do what is best for you and yours.

You may find yourself getting mixed signals from someone close to you. You feel as ifyou don’t know up from down. The harder you try to please this person, the more youseem to do wrong. You could find yourself in the company of someone whose valuesare opposite of yours. You do not like what they represent. You have a strong sense ofvalues and morals and are very picky about the company you keep. It is important toremain kind and try to be understanding. This is why they make chocolate and vanilla,not everyone has the same taste.

Yesterday’s Solution


18S t a r s

Established 1961


Established 1961

Lifestyle

Syrian ballerina brings touchof grace to streets of Damascus

A worker carries a board ashe sets up the red carpetarea near the entrance of a screening room ahead of the75th Venice Film Festival atVenice Lido on August 28,2018. Italian actor MicheleRiondino will host the opening ceremony of the festival. — AFP

Agiant statue of a childwearing a radiation suit inthe Japanese city of

Fukushima will be removed after itsparked a huge controversy in thenuclear-hit area. Fukushima citymayor Hiroshi Kohata said thestatue intended to be a symbol ofreconstruction had ended upbeing divisive. “I judged it impos-sible to keep displaying a statuemeant to be ‘a symbol of recon-struction’ when citizens are divid-ed over it,” Kohata said in a state-ment Tuesday. He said the statueon display near the city’s maintrain station would be “removedas soon as possible” and officialswould discuss what to with the6.2-metre (20-foot) figure.

The statue, named “Sun Child”and sporting a yellow protectivesuit with a digital display on itschest showing “000” to symbolizezero nuclear contamination, wasinstalled at the station earlier thismonth. The figure holds a helmetin one hand, showing the air issafe to breathe, and a symbol ofthe sun in the other, representinghope and new energy.

But it prompted a deluge ofcriticism online, with some callingit “creepy” and others arguing itdid little to help Fukushima as it

fights to restore its reputation. “Isincerely apologize to the peoplewhose feelings were hurt,” Kohatasaid, adding that he also felt sorryfor those who had supported thestatue, including children involvedin naming it. Fukushima city is thecapital of Fukushima prefecture,whose Fukushima Daiichi nuclearplant melted down in the 2011tsunami, becoming the world’sworst nuclear disaster sinceChernobyl.

The meltdown affected a vastagricultural region, forcing manylocal residents to give up theirancestral properties-possibly nev-er to return due to severe radioac-tive contamination. The area is bat-tling to restore its reputation andlocal farm produce undergoesradiation checks to ensure it is safebefore being shipped to stores.Nevertheless, many consumers shyaway from buying for fear of con-tamination. The artist, KenjiYanobe, said he had tried to show“bright hopes for the future” bydepicting the child as looking tothe skies. On his website, hedescribed the statue’s removal as“very regrettable” but said he nolonger wanted his work to be asource of controversy inside andoutside the city. — AFP

The statue, named “Sun Child” and sporting a yellow protective suit with adigital display on its chest showing “000” to symbolize zero nuclear con-tamination, was installed at the station earlier this month. — AFP

Syrian ballerina Yara Khudeir is on a mission - tobring some peace and beauty into the lives ofher war-weary compatriots by dancing her way

through the streets and alleyways of Damascus. Mostonlookers welcome the unlikely sight of the slim,graceful 19-year-old with long black hair pirouetting

and twirling through the ancient city. Some stop tofilm her with their mobile phones or take selfies withher. “I want to show the world that Damascus was andwill remain a source of arts and always full of love andpeace. We must end the idea the world has of us, thatDamascus is a place of violence, destruction andkilling,” said Khudeir.

Her initiative began two weeks ago when she waswalking with friends in the old city and started todance in the street. She posted her pictures onFacebook and quickly became something of a celebri-ty in a country that has endured more than seven

years of civil war in which hundreds of thousandshave been killed and millions driven from their homes.

Khudeir, who comes from the southern Syriantown of As-Suwayda, has faced criticism from somepeople for dancing in the streets, but many supporther efforts. “Please do not stop because their (thecritics’) remarks are nonsense,” a university studentwho gave his name as Bisher told Khudeir as shedanced. “What you are doing is very beautiful...”Another passerby, Marah, said Syria needed streetart. “It is a very nice thing... It is art for the soul,” shesaid. Khudeir said she ignored her critics. “Of course Isometimes hear some words. But I do not care muchabout these words. I just think about what I am doing.I do not listen to those people,” she said.

Khudeir began learning ballet aged 10 and thenbecame a member of Syria’s rhythmic gymnasticsteam. Despite the eruption of civil war in 2011, shecontinued to perform in her home town and two yearsago opened her own ballet dancing club there.Khudeir said she had decided to carry out her danc-ing initiative in Damascus because it is the culturaland political heart of the country. “All arts started hereand it is Syria’s centre,” she said. — Reuters

L i f e s t y l e Thursday, August 30, 2018

20 Established 1961 T

G o s s i p

OSN, the region’s leading entertain-ment network, is putting seamlessonline streaming of content at the

very heart of its digital strategy. OSNPlay, the free streaming online catch-upTV service for OSN subscribers, is pro-viding customers with an additional 24live channels, giving viewers nearly 60 liveTV channels, 7,000 hours of On Demandcontent, 400 movies and over 40 com-plete box sets ready to watch at any giventime on any connected screen.Accessible across the MENA region, onany device and absolutely free for OSNcustomers, the new live TV channels offerworld-class quality programming on thego, including BBC First, Sundance TV, NatGeo People HD, Nicktoons, Paramountand TLC channels, to name a few.

As a technological innovator OSN iscommitted to investing heavily in digitaldelivery of content to meet the changingways in which customers consume enter-tainment, offering even more of the greatonline TV experience they want, anytime,anywhere. Emad Morcos, Chief ContentOfficer, said: “OSN Play is changing the

way audiences in MENA consume con-tent. We’ve listened to our customers andstudied the trends and by increasing thestreaming capacity of OSN Play and tak-ing it up to nearly 60 live channels, we aregiving viewers access to the premiumentertainment they know and love, the waythey want it. This is part of our ongoingdigital strategy to elevate content viewingexperiences by providing more live andon-demand options, at no extra cost.”

OSN Play now offers sports, Arabic,kids and general entertainment live-streaming channels - 12 movie and serieschannels, 10 sports channels, 2 Arabicchannels, 7 Kids channels, 8 Pehla chan-nels, 5 Pinoy channels and 12 factual andlifestyle channels. All of this sits alongsidehundreds of fresh new episodes of gener-al entertainment, Arabic Series, and kids’entertainment, which is added everymonth. More live streaming channels willbe added so OSN customers can enjoymore of their favorite entertainment -anytime, anywhere and on any screen. Forthe full list of live channels on OSN Playplease visit osn.com/play.

OSN brings customers 24 new live channels on OSN Play

Nicolas Cage has been announced asa talent ambassador for TheInternational Film Festival & Awards

in Macau. The Hollywood star will attend thefestival’s opening ceremony on December 8and his supernatural thriller movie ‘Mandy’will also be screened during the event. MikeGoodridge, the artistic director of theInternational Film Festival & Awards, said:“Nicolas Cage is a brilliant, iconic actor anda star for the ages. We are proud anddelighted to welcome him to Macau thisyear as our talent ambassador, and to showhis extraordinary new film ‘Mandy’.” TheAcademy Award-winning actor will alsoparticipate in a masterclass event at the fes-tival on December 9. Nicolas, 54 - who isone of the movie industry’s best-knownactors - previously claimed to be a “student

of film performance”. The actor hasappeared in a wide variety of roles duringhis career, and he explained that he’s alwaysbeen keen to challenge himself. He shared: “Isee myself very much as a student of filmperformance and I’m always looking to learnsomething. “That’s why if you look at my fil-mography, it’s so eclectic. I’m always tryingto challenge myself and take those risks andgo for the triple axel, even though I mightfall on my face. It’s still exciting to go for itand you still get points for trying.” Nicolasexplained that he particularly enjoys makingthought-provoking movies. He said: “I don’tlike to make message movies per say, but Ido like to reflect and hold a mirror up tocurrent events and society so that peoplecan make their own decisions about whatthey do and do not believe.”

‘Room’ director Lenny Abrahamson hasbeen named the jury president of thisyear’s BFI London Film Festival. The

world-famous festival is set to begin on October10, and Abrahamson has been official lyannounced as the head of the jury prior to theannouncement of the full schedule of moviestoday. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker said: “Iam delighted to continue my relationship withthe BFI London Film Festival. “It’s an honor to bethis year’s jury chair and I very much look for-ward to deliberating with my fellow jurors onwhat is sure to be some of the most exciting,thought-provoking and original work in thisyear’s selection of films.” Abrahamson and hisfellow jury members are set to oversee an offi-cial competition section of ten movies, including

the world premiere of Ben Wheatley’s ‘HappyNew Year, Colin Burstead’. Of the films in theofficial competition, 50 percent come from afemale director or co-director. Other notablefilms set to feature at this year’s festival include‘The Old Man & The Gun’, which starsHollywood icon Robert Redford, and the crimethriller ‘Destroyer’, which features Australianactress Nicole Kidman. Another anticipatedhighlight of the festival will be the screening ofdirector Peter Jackson’s World War Two docu-mentary. Meanwhile, it was previouslyannounced that Steve McQueen’s crime thriller‘Widows’ will open the annual event in London,while the festival will close with the world pre-miere of ‘Stan & Ollie’, which stars British come-dian Steve Coogan.

Abrahamson named head of London Film Festival jury

‘Mrs Doubtfire’ is being turned intoa Broadway musical. The 1993comedy movie starred the late

Robin Williams alongside the likes of SallyField and Pierce Brosnan, and theatre pro-ducers Fox Stage Productions and KevinMcCollum have now confirmed that the hitfilm is set to be transformed into a stageproduction. McCollum and Bob Cohen ofFox Stage Productions said: “‘MrsDoubtfire’ is such a beloved story, bothlaugh-out-loud hilarious and extremelymoving. Getting this team together andcrafting ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ for the stage hasbeen pure joy. We can’t wait to get intoproduction.” It’s been confirmed, too, thatthe musical will be written by John O’Farrelland Karey Kirkpatrick, with Tony Award-

winner Jerry Zaks set to direct the project.However, casting news and dates for theshow have yet to be announced. The ChrisColumbus-directed movie tells the story ofa struggling actor, played by Williams, wholoses custody of his children. As a result, hedecides to disguise himself as a Scottishnanny called Euphegenia Doubtfire in a bidto get closer to his kids. Meanwhile, come-dian Kevin Hart previously admitted he’dlove to star in a ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ remake. TheHollywood actor - who featured in ‘Jumanji:Welcome to the Jungle’ in 2017 - shared:“I’ll stay on the Robin Williams train and saythat if I could jump into ‘Mrs Doubtfire’.“That was a very amazing performance onboth ends for him. I think that’s one I’d loveto get to play in.”

Elba admits hedoesn’t know

what the MCU is

Idris Elba doesn’t know what the “MCU” is. The45-year-old actor has starred in the ‘Thor’ and‘Avengers’ movies, but he still doesn’t understand

the meaning of the abbreviation, which stands forMarvel Cinematic Universe. During an interview withYahoo, Idris was asked a question about the “MCU”and he admitted to having never heard the term,adding that he thought it concerned an English soccerteam. After the meaning of the abbreviation wasexplained to him, Idris said: “Oh right, I have neverheard that before! I thought it was Manchester United... but don’t worry about it.” Idris’ confession comesshortly after he claimed that the world isn’t ready forthe first black James Bond. The London-born actorhas been heavily linked to the coveted role - currentlyplayed by Daniel Craig - and although he is interestedin playing 007, he doesn’t think cinemagoers aroundthe world want to see a black man play the character.He said: “I think in England we have reached thatstage [of having a black James Bond] because cultur-ally we’re sort of a lot more diverse but the rest of theworld is not like that and I think there is a real sort ofstigma. It’s like, ‘Oh he’s black, can he do it becausehe’s black?’” Idris also rejected claims that peoplewould be more accommodating to the changebecause of recent historical moments, like BarackObama becoming America’s first black president. Heexplained: “Obama can be president because he’s avery smart man and I’m sure he had same feelingslike, ‘Well. I’m not the first black president, I’mObama. I’m the first Obama.’ “So for me, you know, Idon’t like to make a big deal of it, the point is that it’sa great rumor. If it was to ever happen, I think itwould be the will of a nation.”

Ed Sheeran: Drakeduet is ‘inevitable’ Ed Sheeran says it is “inevitable” that he will collaborate

with Drake “at some point”. The 27-year-old singerbelieves his and 31-year-old rapper’s “worlds have to

meet”, but admits he has only met the ‘In My Feelings’ hit-maker a handful of times and doesn’t even know if he feelsthe same way about working together. He said: “I feel like atsome point, me and Drake need to do something, I feel like

that has to happen atsome point. I mean,I’ve been on tour forgod knows how longand he’s been on tourfor god knows howlong and he’s con-stantly releasingstuff. I just think atsome point those twoworlds have to meet,and I don’t know howor what it soundslike, but I feel like it’sinevitable ... I’ve onlymet him a couple oftimes. I don’t evenknow if it’s in thecards. I’d like to thinkhe has the same

mindset as me.” Ed believes it would be “interesting” if heand Drake teamed up together, but he won’t be too devas-tated if a collaboration doesn’t ever happen. When it wassuggested there are “a lot of similarities” between him andDrake, Ed replied: “Yeah, but then we’re very different in alot of ways, which I think would make for an interestingsong. “But it’s one of these things. Like, if it doesn’t happen,it’s not going to be the end of my world-but I just think it’dbe interesting.” However, Ed may have to wait for Drake toapproach him for the duet, because he “feels weird” askingbig-name stars “to do things”. Speaking to EntertainmentWeekly, he added: “I always feel very weird asking peoplethat I know who are famous to do things, because, I don’tknow ... it feels weird. “The Biebers and the One Directionand the Taylors and the BeyoncÈs-I want to be seen as anequal, I don’t ever want handouts, so I don’t feel comfortablegoing, ‘Hey, can you do this?’— Bang showbiz

Roger Daltrey is set to perform at theLegends of Football Awards ceremonyin honor of Frank Lampard. The Who

frontman will be the headline act at the glitzybash on October 8 at London’s TheGrosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, wherethe 40-year-old former England and Chelseamidfielder will be recognized for his careerachievements on the pitch. Speaking abouthis forthcoming gig at the Nordoff Robbinscharity event, Daltrey - who supports rivalLondon team Arsenal - commented: “I’mdelighted to be performing at this year’sLegends of Football event and I’m very muchlooking forward to October 8th. It’s an hon-ors to be involved with such a great causeand to be part of a wonderful night of foot-ball and music to celebrate the career of atrue footballing legend, Frank Lampard, evenif he is a Chelsea hero. “I’m also very excitedto help raise funds for Nordoff Robbins whodo fabulous work to change the lives of vul-nerable and isolated people through music.Having been amongst the first bands to sup-port Nordoff Robbins when The Who playedone of their first events back in 1976, it’swonderful to still be able to help such a greatorganization and a truly worthy cause.”Lampard - who follows in the footsteps oflast year’s recipient of the accolade, StevenGerrard - previously commented on landing

the prize: “It’s a real honor for me to receivethe Legends of Football award this year.“Just seeing my name mentioned amongstthose past winners is something to cherish.I’m looking forward to the dinner on October8th. I hope to see you there.” Supported bythe Premier League, Legends of Football -which was previously known as the HMVFootball Extravaganza - has raised more than£7 million for music therapy charity NordoffRobbins, since its inception in 1996.

Daltrey’s Legends of Football gig

Mrs Doubtfire musical set for Broadway


21Established 1961 T

M u s i c & M o v i e s

The Venice film festival was slammed for its“toxic masculinity” as it opened yesterdaywith just one female director represented

among its most mouth-watering line-up indecades. With Hollywood effectively turning thefestival into its launchpad for the Oscars withnew films by Damien Chazelle, the Coen brothers,Alfonso Cuaron and Lady Gaga’s much-hypedscreen debut, feminists have lashed the organiz-ers for choosing only one film by a female direc-tor. It is the second year in a row that Venice hasfeatured just one film by a woman among the 21vying for the Golden Lion top prize.

Festival director Alberto Barbera declared thathe would “rather quit” than give in to pressure fora quota for women after the Cannes, Toronto andLocarno festivals pledged themselves to genderequality. But his stance-as Venice bids to rivalCannes as the world’s most important festival-waslambasted by an alliance of European womenfilmmakers. “Sorry, but we don’t buy this any-more,” said the European Women’s AudiovisualNetwork in an open letter earlier this month.“When Alberto Barbera threatens to quit, he isperpetuating the notion that selecting films by

female filmmakers involves lowering standards.”Others blamed a streak of Italian “toxic masculini-ty” that saw actress and #MeToo campaignerAsia Argento pilloried in her homeland for accus-ing Harvey Weinstein of rape.

‘I will resign’ Barbera insisted that he chose the films “on

the quality and not the sex of the director”,telling reporters that “if we impose quotas, Iresign.” He was already under pressure forincluding a documentary by Bruce Weber, “NiceGirls Don’t Stay for Breakfast” despite claims ofcoercive sexual behavior by the American fash-ion photographer made by 15 male models.Weber denies any wrongdoing. Barbera alsofaced questions over his decision to invite dis-graced Hollywood director James Toback to pre-miere his film “The Private Life of a ModernWoman” at Venice last year.

Toback has been accused of sexual harassmentand assault by nearly 400 women, includingactresses Julianne Moore, Selma Blair and RachelMcAdams. “I’m not in a position to judge, to decideif James Toback’s behavior was good or bad,”

Barbera said. “I’m not a judge. I’m not a lawyer. I’ma festival director. I knew Mr Toback and I invitedhim,” he said of the director, who denies the allega-tions. “We will see if the courts decide if the accu-sations are true, and if they’re true he’ll go to jail.”But even the row over women directors cannottake the shine off the way Barbera has turnedaround the world’s oldest film festival.

Launchpad for Oscars A host of Oscar winners over the past five years

have been premiered at Venice including “Gravity”,“Birdman”, “Spotlight”, “La La Land” and lastyear’s best film, “The Shape of Water”. Its Mexicandirector Guillermo del Toro is the head of the jurythis year. Barbera has stolen some of the Cannes’thunder and its stars, with his festival’s timing mak-ing it a better launchpad for the American awardsseason. Venice has also profited from Cannes’ feudwith streaming giant Netflix, scooping up all of its

films which might normally have been shown at theworld’s biggest film festival.

Venice’s staggering line-up this year includesnew films by Oscar-winning “Son of Saul” direc-tor Hungarian Laszlo Nemes, Britain’s Mike Leighand Paul Greengrass, Chinese master ZhangYimou, Emir Kusturica and two of France’sbiggest directors, Jacques Audiard and OlivierAssayas, who would usually show at Cannes. Thefestival kicks off late yesterday with “First Man”,with Chazelle teaming up with his “La La Land”star Ryan Gosling. The Canadian actor playsastronaut Neil Armstrong in the years leading upto 1969, when he became the first man to walk onthe moon. Australian Jennifer Kent is the solitarywoman gunning for the Golden Lion with “TheNightingale”. The last time a woman tookVenice’s top prize was 43 years ago whenGerman director Margarethe von Trotta wonwith “Marianne and Juliane”. — AFP

Women directors slam ‘toxicmasculinity’ of Venice film festival

Fans dance in front of a Giant Crown installed to celebrate the 60th birthday of Michael Jackson, on the South Bank in London, Britain yesterday. — Reuters photos

Official Competition jury members (from left) Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, New Zealand’s actor and producer Taika Waititi, British actress Naomi Watts,Polish producer Malgorzata Szumowska, Danish actress Trine Dyrholm, French actress Nicole Garcia, president of the jury and Mexican director Guillermo DelToro, Taiwanese actress and director Sylvia Chang and Italian director Paolo Genovese pose during the jury photocall at the start of the 75th edition of aVenice Film Festival, on August 29, 2018, at Venice Lido, in Venice. — AFP

Fans of Michael Jackson honored the “Kingof Pop” on what would have been his 60thbirthday yesterday by gathering at a tem-

porary monument in the shape of a crown

erected in his honor in London. Braving therain, fans imitated his famed dance and moon-walk moves around the 13-foot (4 meter) white,sparkling crown erected by record label Sony

Music on the south bank of the River Thames.“The first time I saw him in person, I was 18

years old, he came to London and it was justmanic,” said fan Mayah Thomas, now 31.

“(Jackson was) really shy, but also really per-sonable. He would always try and make thefans comfortable.” Jackson, famed for hits like“Bad” and “Beat It”, had been rehearsing for a

series of comeback concerts scheduled inLondon before his sudden death in 2009 at theage of 50. The crown monument will stand forjust one day. —Reuters

(From left) Screenwriter Josh Singer, actress Olivia Hamilton, director Damien Chazelle, actor RyanGosling, actress Claire Foy and actor Jason Clarke pose during a photocall for the film “First Man” yes-terday prior to its premiere in competition at the 75th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido.

Actor Ryan Gosling and actress Claire Foy poseduring a photocall for the film “First Man” yester-day prior to its premiere in competition at the75th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido.

Fans paid their respects en masse Tuesdayto US music icon and “Queen of Soul”Aretha Franklin, whose body lay in a golden

casket while dressed in a red dress and matchingstilettos in Detroit. The 76-year-old singer,beloved by millions around the world, died ofcancer on August 16, closing the curtain on aglittering six-decade career that made her oneof America’s most celebrated artists. Thousandsof people are expected to bid her farewell at theCharles H. Wright Museum for African AmericanHistory on Tuesday and Wednesday, at herfather’s New Bethel Baptist Church on Thursdayand a star-studded funeral on Friday.

White-gloved, sharp-suited pallbearersescorted her casket into the museum for the firstof two days of 9:00 am to 9:00 pm viewing,where she lay in state surrounded by enormousclouds of pink, white and purple roses. “I brokedown when I see her. She was beautiful,” saidnurse Monique Valentine. “It was just an awe-some experience. I was glad to be here.” Thegospel, soul and R&B star influenced genera-tions of female singers from the late WhitneyHouston to Beyonce with unforgettable hitsincluding “Respect” (1967), “Natural Woman”(1968) and “I Say a Little Prayer” (1968).

People camped out through the night to paytheir respects to a woman considered royalty inher Michigan hometown of Detroit, and traveledfrom far and wide, at times breaking into songor wearing Aretha T-shirts. They queued down

the street and around the block, swaying toFranklin tracks or breaking into song and dance,with a steady flow trickling inside.

‘On a cloud’ “Thank you Queen, thank you for all your

years of loving us,” said one woman, dressed ina floral romper suit dancing with her friendsoutside the venue to Franklin’s 1985 hit“Freeway of Love.” In the marble museum, peo-ple gazed at the musical icon, resplendent in herfinery. Outside, they posed for snapshots next toher cream hearse. CNN reported that it was thesame 1940 Cadillac LaSalle that transported thebody of her father and of civil rights icon Rosa

Parks in 2005. Franklin is resting in a 24-karatcasket, the network added. A group of fivefriends told AFP they drove from Chicago,dressed alike in white pants and blue Franklin T-shirts to pay their respects despite heavy rainsweeping parts of the Midwest. “It was beauti-ful, like she’s laying on a cloud,” said ClemeyRobinson. “You can only look that restful andpeaceful when you’re at home with the lord, so Iknow where she is and she’s in a better placeand she looks wonderful,” added one of herfriends, Kim Harrison. Franklin won 18 Grammyawards and provided a soundtrack to the civilrights movement, singing to raise money for thecause and uplifting activists with her phenome-nal voice and upbeat anthems. Her signaturesong, “Respect”-recorded as a feminist anthem-became a rallying cry as African Americans roseup nationwide in the 1960s to fight peacefullyfor racial equality.

Born in the segregated American South inMemphis, Tennessee, she moved to Detroit withher prominent Baptist preacher and civil rightsactivist father. Martin Luther King Jr was a fam-ily friend. She sang at his funeral after he wasassassinated in 1968, as well as at the inaugura-tions of presidents Bill Clinton and BarackObama, the country’s first African Americanhead of state. She was awarded America’s high-est civilian honor by president George W. Bushand tops Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatestsingers of all time. — AFP

Thousands pay respects as Aretha Franklin lies in state

The viewing of Aretha Franklin’s casket is seen at the Charles H Wright Museum of African AmericanHistory in Detroit, Michigan. — AFP photos

Fans of Aretha Franklin attenda viewing for the soul music leg-

end at the Charles H WrightMuseum of African-AmericanHistory in Detroit, Michigan.

Mourners line up to view the body of ArethaFranklin at the Charles H Wright Museum ofAfrican American History.


22 Established 1961

Fe a t u r e s

The gown worn by Meghan Markleat her wedding to Britain’s PrinceHarry will go on display later this

year at Windsor Castle where their lavishmarriage ceremony took place in May.The former US actress, now the Duchessof Sussex, wore a sleek, silk dressdesigned by Givenchy’s Artistic DirectorClare Waight Keller at her star-studded

wedding to Queen Elizabeth’s grandson.The exhibition at Windsor, which

begins on Oct 26 and runs until January,will also feature her five-metre long veil,embroidered with the flora of the 53countries of the Commonwealth, and adiamond and platinum bandeau tiara, lentto her by the queen which has never beenpublicly displayed before. — Reuters

UK royal Meghan’s wedding dress to go on display

With two gold medals to her namealready, Iraqi badminton player HebaAsghar is more determined than ever

as she prepares for next year’s Special Olympicsfor athletes with intellectual disabilities. Still onlyaged 23 now, Asghar won a gold at the 2015games in the United States as well as in Greecefour years earlier. And in March, Asghar, who hasDown syndrome, will fly the Iraqi flag again at theSpecial Olympics World Games 2019 in AbuDhabi. Flicking through magazines featuring herdaughter’s feats, Asghar’s mother, Souad, said thatsport had marked a turning point. “She was neverstable, she was aggressive with family members,”she said, at their Baghdad home.

Then at the age of 10, Asghar started playingtable tennis, winning a silver medal at the SpecialOlympics in Japan, before finding her niche inbadminton. “She worked hard and thanks to that,she overcame her disability, she became a champi-on and that made her proud,” her mother said. Her2015 gold medal victory at the Los Angeles sum-mer Special Olympics earned her a monthly $600(514-euro) grant from the Iraqi Ministry of Youthand Sports. Smiling next to a table covered in herawards and newspaper clippings of her achieve-ments, she dreams of more medals to come.

Scant support At a sports hall for disabled athletes in the

Iraqi capital, 17-year-old Dhai Wadi is alsopreparing for the March 2019 tournament in AbuDhabi. At the last regional Special Olympics inMarch this year, held in the United Arab Emiratescapital too, Dhai, who also has Down syndrome,won gold in the 25-metre sprint and silver in the50 meters. “When Dhai started three years ago,she did swimming, but finally she found herself inthe sprint,” said her father, Ali. “We hope shepicks up the same medals in the World Games,and we will do everything to make her get there,”he said. The 60-year-old has retired from thehealth sector and now looks after his daughter,who goes to a publicly funded school.

But, he said, “unlike most other countrieswhere young people with mental disabilities aretaken care of, nothing is provided for them (inIraq), not even specialized vehicles to take themto training”. Asghar’s father, also aged 60, saidyears of conflict and the country’s attempts atrebuilding had squeezed public funds and leftthe disabled with scant financial support. Thereare no official figures for the number of peoplewith Down syndrome in Iraq, and “no medicinesare available” for the genetic disorder, saidSalah Asghar.

‘You are a champion’ Nevertheless, Iraqi athletes came home with a

total of 52 medals at this year’s regional SpecialOlympics, which gathered competitors from 31nations. As well as badminton, Iraqi competitorsalso won medals in swimming, basketball, athleticsand bocce, a game similar to bowls. Essam Al-Khafaji, who set up the Iraqi team, said the ath-letes were “determined to learn and to go beyondtheir disability”. After regular training, “they growmore independent”, said Khafaji. On all the wallsof the sports centre where the athletes train, theteam’s slogan reads: “Let me win, and if I don’t, letme show my courage in trying.”

Among those training for the Special Olympicsis Ali, a 24-year-old also living in Baghdad whohas twice undergone heart surgery. At the lastregional Special games in March, he won a goldmedal in bocce. Now, with a smile permanently onhis face even if he has difficulty in expressinghimself, Ali is aiming for more success at the 2019Special Olympics, at which some 7,000 athletesfrom 177 countries are to compete in 24 disci-plines. Hussein Ali, 20, who won a gold in athleticsin Abu Dhabi, is proud of his achievement. “Mymother and my father helped me become a cham-pion,” he said.

Iraqi disabled youths walk outside a gym in the capital Baghdad. — AFP photos Iraqi disabled youths line up during a training session at a gym.

An Iraqi disabledyouth runs with abasketball duringa training sessionat a gym.

An Iraqi coach helps a disabled youth during a training session.

An Iraqi disabled youth gestures during a trainingsession at a gym in the capital Baghdad.

Iraqi badmintonplayer HebaAsghar poseswith her medals.

An Iraqi girl plays table tennis during a training session.

Iraqi badminton player Heba Asghar arranges hermedals as her mother stands next to her.

Everyday hurdles However, despite the impressive haul of

medals, the greatest challenge for the cham-pions, like other mentally disabled people inIraq, often remains at home and in everydaylife. “There are people who help young peo-ple with mental disabilities and support them,but unfortunately in Iraqi society there arealso those who don’t understand,” Asghar’s

mother told AFP. Studies show that a largemajority of Iraqis are opposed to childrenwith Down syndrome attending publicschools. “Often, when we go out with Heba,people move out of her way as if they’reafraid. So she asks me, a bit naively, ‘Why dothey do that?’” said Souad. “Sometimes shecries, but I say to her: ‘You are better thanthem, you are a champion.’” — AFP

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

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Arrival Flights on Thursday 30/8/2018Airlines Flt Route TimeMSC 405 Sohag 00:05FEG 441 Asyut 00:05THY 772 Istanbul 00:15KAC 504 Beirut 00:50KAC 102 London 00:50DLH 625 Dammam 00:50SAI 441 Lahore 00:50WAN 976D Baku 00:55PGT 858 Istanbul 01:15JZR 539 Cairo 01:25RJA 642 Amman 01:35UAE 853 Dubai 01:40KLM 446 Bahrain 01:45THY 1464 Istanbul 01:50KKK 1268 Istanbul 02:00AXB 395 Kozhikode 02:00JZR 267 Beirut 02:10GFA 211 Bahrain 02:15ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:15QTR 1086 Doha 02:30THY 768 Istanbul 02:40JZR 553D Alexandria 02:50KAC 418 Manila 03:05ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05OMA 643 Muscat 03:05MSR 606 Luxor 03:05MSC 403 Asyut 03:05RBG 215 Sohag 03:05KAC 382 Delhi 03:10MSR 612 Cairo 03:15PGT 860 Istanbul 03:25QTR 1076 Doha 03:30JAI 572 Mumbai 04:00LMU 510 Cairo 04:00KAC 152 Istanbul 04:15JZR 609 Hyderabad 04:30KAC 784 Jeddah 04:30THY 1414 TZX 05:05FDB 069 Dubai 05:05DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10THY 770 Istanbul 05:15WAN 134 Doha 05:15KAC 544 Cairo 05:20JZR 603 Mumbai 05:25KAC 344 Chennai 05:30KAC 332 Trivandrum 05:40JZR 561 Sohag 05:55KAC 362 Colombo 06:00BAW 157 London 06:10JZR 123 Bahrain 06:15KAC 284 Dhaka 06:25WAN 338 Alexandria 06:25QTR 8511 Doha 06:35KAC 206 Islamabad 06:40KAC 678 Dubai 06:45RBG 559 Alexandria 06:50KAC 302 Mumbai 07:00JZR 605 Ahmedabad 07:05JZR 143 Doha 07:20JZR 529 Asyut 07:30KAC 354 Bengaluru 07:45FDB 053 Dubai 07:50KAC 358 Kochi 08:00KAC 384 Delhi 08:05UAE 855 Dubai 08:25IRA 673 Ahwaz 08:35ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 08:55JZR 503 Luxor 09:00ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00IRA 667 Esfahan 09:05SAW 703 Damascus 09:30QTR 1070 Doha 09:30FDB 055 Dubai 09:40IAW 157 Al Najaf 10:00SYR 341 Damascus 10:00SVA 512 Riyadh 10:00THY 1516 TZX 10:05GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40MEA 404 Beirut 10:55QTR 1074 Doha 11:00JZR 165 Dubai 11:45JZR 541 Cairo 11:45AHY 5101 Baku 11:55KAC 614 Bahrain 12:20SAW 709 Latakia 12:30MSC 411 Asyut 12:30UAE 871 Dubai 12:45THY 766 Istanbul 12:45ABY 121 Sharjah 12:55JZR 239 Amman 13:00MSR 610 Cairo 13:00JZR 357 Mashhad 13:05

JZR 1543 Cairo 13:05AXB 393 Kozhikode 13:10KAC 774 Riyadh 13:30KAC 792 Madinah 13:40FEG 341 Sohag 13:50KAC 672 Dubai 13:55IAW 157A Al Najaf 13:55QTR 1078 Doha 14:10KNE 231 Riyadh 14:10GFA 221 Bahrain 14:15SVA 500 Jeddah 14:15KAC 618 Doha 14:20KAC 516 Tehran 14:20FDB 059 Dubai 14:20KAC 798 Taif 14:40JZR 789 Riyadh 14:45KAC 788 Jeddah 14:50KAC 194 TZX 14:55FDB 8065 Dubai 15:00KAC 304 Mumbai 15:05ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:05KAC 412 Bangkok 15:10KNE 529 Jeddah 15:10KAC 562 Amman 15:20OMA 645 Muscat 15:20KAC 502 Beirut 15:35ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45KAC 118 New York 16:00SAW 705 Damascus 16:00KNE 531 Jeddah 16:05JZR 535 Cairo 16:10MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:15FDB 051 Dubai 16:20NIA 361 Alexandria 16:50JZR 125 Bahrain 16:55KAC 542 Cairo 17:00SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 145 Doha 17:35JZR 177 Dubai 17:40JZR 777 Jeddah 18:05QTR 1080 Doha 18:10JZR 483 Istanbul 18:20MSR 620 Cairo 18:30WAN 966 Tbilisi 18:30RJA 640 Amman 19:00GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05UAE 875 Dubai 19:05FDB 063 Dubai 19:10KAC 744 Dammam 19:10ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20KAC 662 Abu Dhabi 19:25KAC 156 Istanbul 19:25NIA 161 Cairo 19:30KAC 776 Riyadh 19:35RBG 555 Alexandria 19:40KAC 674 Dubai 19:40FDB 057 Dubai 19:50KAC 178 Vienna 19:55KAC 174 Munich 19:55KAC 616 Bahrain 20:00JZR 189 Dubai 20:05DLH 624 Frankfurt 20:05OMA 647 Muscat 20:05KNE 381 Taif 20:10MEA 402 Beirut 20:15KAC 620 Doha 20:15KAC 692 Muscat 20:25QTR 1088 Doha 20:40JZR 553 Alexandria 20:50KLM 445 Amsterdam 21:00UAE 859 Dubai 21:15ALK 229 Colombo 21:15ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:15KAC 168 Paris 21:20THY 764 Istanbul 21:30KAC 676 Dubai 21:35KAC 564 Amman 21:50GFA 219 Bahrain 21:50WAN 884 Sarajevo 22:05QTR 1082 Doha 22:05ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:10KAC 786 Jeddah 22:15DLH 8456 Frankfurt 22:25AIC 981 Chennai/Ahmedabad 22:25BBC 043 Dhaka 22:30JZR 185 Dubai 22:50JAI 574 Mumbai 23:00TRQ 230 KRT 23:00WAN 136 Doha 23:20MSR 2614 Cairo 23:30FDB 071 Dubai 23:35JZR 241 Amman 23:40

Departure Flights on Thursday 30/8/2018Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05MSC 502 Alexandria 00:10JAI 573 Mumbai 00:30MSR 2615 Cairo 00:30FDB 072 Dubai 00:30FEG 344 Sohag 01:05MSC 406 Sohag 01:05JZR 528 Asyut 01:05THY 773 Istanbul 01:45WAN 133 Doha 01:45SAI 442 Lahore 01:50DLH 625 Frankfurt 01:50JZR 502 Luxor 01:55KAC 677 Dubai 02:00KAC 417 Manila 02:00PGT 859 Istanbul 02:45THY 765 Istanbul 02:50AXB 396 Kozhikode 02:55KKK 1269 Istanbul 02:55ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05KLM 446 Amsterdam 03:10JZR 122 Bahrain 03:20UAE 854 Dubai 03:30THY 769 Istanbul 03:35RBG 216 Sohag 03:45JZR 142 Doha 03:45MSC 404 Asyut 04:05MSR 607 Luxor 04:05OMA 644 Muscat 04:05ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05QTR 1087 Doha 04:15MSR 613 Cairo 04:15PGT 7831 DIY 04:25LMU 511 Cairo 05:00JAI 571 Mumbai 05:00QTR 1077 Doha 05:15JZR 540 Cairo 05:20KAC 303 Mumbai 05:35FDB 070 Dubai 06:00THY 1465 Istanbul 06:00THY 771 Istanbul 06:30JZR 1542 Cairo 06:40GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50RJA 643 Amman 07:00JZR 164 Dubai 07:15JZR 356 Mashhad 07:15RBG 550 Alexandria 07:30KAC 167 Paris 07:30KAC 173 Munich 07:35KAC 413 Bangkok 07:40JZR 238 Amman 08:00KAC 193 TZX 08:00KAC 501 Beirut 08:00QTR 8512 Doha 08:05BAW 156 London 08:20KAC 177 Vienna 08:30FDB 054 Dubai 08:35KAC 791 Madinah 09:00KAC 613 Bahrain 09:00KAC 117 SNN/New York 09:05KAC 787 Jeddah 09:05KAC 671 Dubai 09:15IRA 672 Ahwaz 09:35ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40KAC 561 Amman 09:40JZR 534 Cairo 09:45KAC 773 Riyadh 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50JZR 482 Istanbul 09:55ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:00KAC 541 Cairo 10:00KAC 101 London 10:00KAC 515 Tehran 10:00IRA 668 Mashhad 10:05KAC 797 Taif 10:05KAC 617 Doha 10:20KAC 155 Istanbul 10:25SAW 704 Damascus 10:30QTR 1071 Doha 10:40FDB 056 Dubai 10:40SVA 513 Riyadh 11:00SYR 342 Damascus 11:00IAW 158 Al Najaf 11:00THY 1415 TZX 11:05JZR 788 Riyadh 11:20GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35MEA 405 Beirut 11:55QTR 1075 Doha 12:10JZR 776 Jeddah 12:35AHY 5102 Baku 12:55JZR 176 Dubai 13:10

MSC 412 Asyut 13:30SAW 702 Damascus 13:30ABY 122 Sharjah 13:35THY 767 Istanbul 13:40JZR 144 Doha 13:55MSR 611 Cairo 14:00JZR 124 Bahrain 14:00JZR 552 Alexandria 14:05AXB 394 Kozhikode 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15FEG 242 Alexandria 14:50IAW 158A Al Najaf 14:55KNE 382 Taif 15:00GFA 222 Bahrain 15:00KAC 673 Dubai 15:00KAC 661 Abu Dhabi 15:00KAC 691 Muscat 15:00FDB 060 Dubai 15:05QTR 1079 Doha 15:15JZR 188 Dubai 15:35SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45KAC 775 Riyadh 15:55FDB 8066 Dubai 16:00KNE 530 Jeddah 16:00KAC 785 Jeddah 16:00KAC 743 Dammam 16:05KAC 563 Amman 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15KAC 619 Doha 16:15ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20OMA 646 Muscat 16:20KAC 615 Bahrain 16:40KNE 532 Jeddah 16:55MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 16:55SAW 706 Damascus 17:00KAC 675 Dubai 17:00KAC 503 Beirut 17:15FDB 052 Dubai 17:20QTR 1073 Doha 17:25UAE 858 Dubai 17:40KAC 381 Delhi 17:45NIA 362 Alexandria 17:50KAC 283 Dhaka 18:00KAC 343 Chennai 18:00SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 184 Dubai 18:20JZR 608 Hyderabad 18:25JZR 240 Amman 18:30JZR 538 Cairo 18:35JZR 512 Sharm el-Sheikh 18:55JZR 266 Beirut 19:15QTR 1081 Doha 19:20KAC 151 Istanbul 19:25MSR 621 Cairo 19:30WAN 135 Doha 19:30GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50FDB 064 Dubai 19:50RJA 641 Amman 20:00ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00KAC 331 Trivandrum 20:10RBG 556 Alexandria 20:20NIA 162 Cairo 20:30FDB 058 Dubai 20:30UAE 876 Dubai 20:35DLH 624 Dammam 20:50KNE 232 Riyadh 21:00KAC 353 Bengaluru 21:00KAC 357 Kochi 21:00OMA 648 Muscat 21:05KAC 2705 Madinah 21:10MEA 403 Beirut 21:15JZR 602 Mumbai 21:30KAC 301 Mumbai 21:35JZR 550 Alexandria 21:40DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50QTR 1089 Doha 21:50KAC 203 Lahore 22:00ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:05KLM 445 Bahrain 22:10KAC 1543 Cairo 22:15ALK 230 Colombo 22:20THY 1401 ADB 22:25KAC 383 Delhi 22:25UAE 860 Dubai 22:35GFA 220 Bahrain 22:50KAC 783 Jeddah 22:50ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:00QTR 1083 Doha 23:20WAN 337 Alexandria 23:40JZR 560 Sohag 23:45TRQ 231 KRT 23:55

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Established 1961 24

ALEY, Lebanon: In a dimly-lit classroom in a Lebanesemountain town, students of all ages pore over Cyrillicworkbooks and repeat carefully after their blonde instruc-tor. “Privet. Kak dela?” - “Hello, how are you?” Moscowmay have won influence in war-torn Syria through its blis-tering military intervention, but it is adopting a softerapproach in neighboring Lebanon, where France and theUS have held stronger sway. Whether through cultural out-reach, planned business deals or traditional diplomacy,Russia appears to be trying to put down deep roots in thetiny Mediterranean country.

In her classroom at the Russian-Lebanese CulturalCenter, nestled in the town of Aley, instructor Galina Pavlovasays she hopes her native tongue will find more fans amongLebanese, who in addition to Arabic often speak French andEnglish. “We don’t want France and the United States to bethe only ones present in Lebanon - Russia is a very impor-tant country too,” she tells AFP.

The Aley center is one of three new such hubs to haveopened in Lebanon this summer alone, established with thebacking of Moscow’s embassy in Beirut. “This expansionfalls within the framework of a strategy aiming to strengthenMoscow’s presence in the Middle East,” says Imad Rizk,who heads the Isticharia Centre for Strategic andCommunication Studies. Ties between Moscow and Beirutintensified in the 1950s with the rise of Lebanon’s left,before fading after the collapse of the Soviet Union.“Lebanon, still strongly associated to the West, is one cer-tainly symbolic piece of (Russia’s) broader desire to remod-el the world governance,” says Julien Nocetti, a specialist inRussia’s role in the Middle East. The aim, he says, is to has-ten “the coming of a post-West world order.”

As new cultural centers open, Moscow is also boosting to60 the number of university scholarships it gives toLebanese students this year and deepening its economic tiesto Beirut. It nearly doubled the value of its exports to the tinycountry from $423 million in 2012 to $770 million last year,according to Lebanese customs data. The two countries are

in talks over potentially opening a “green corridor” forLebanese agricultural exports to Russia.

And Novatek, one of Russia’s largest natural gas produc-ers, is part of a consortium expected to begin exploring forgas off Lebanon’s coast next year. Lebanon’s top diplomatGebran Bassil travelled to Moscow recently, encouragingmore Russian companies to take part in a new upcomingtender for further exploration. Beirut is relying on externalhelp to revive its struggling economy, and in April a donorconference raised $11 billion in low-interest loans and aid forthe state to improve basic public services.

“We hope to make the Russians participate in the vastproject to modernize Lebanese infrastructure,” says JacquesSarraf, who heads the Lebanese-Russian Business Council.In addition, Sarraf says, “Russian businesses intend to putdown roots in Lebanon’s north ahead of Syria’s reconstruc-tion.” But the process is complicated, with both Syrian andRussian firms facing European and American sanctions thathave left Lebanese banks “reluctant to deal with theirRussian counterparts,” he adds. Lebanon’s banking sector isalready being carefully monitored by the US Treasury, whichis seeking to weaken the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollahmovement by targeting “suspicious” banking.

Lebanon’s growth has slowed to a crawl in recent yearsas political divisions have paralyzed the government andservices have been strained by the arrival of 1.5 millionSyrian refugees. Moscow is looking to lend a helping handthere too, launching an initiative in July to repatriate refugeesfrom around the region. The proposal has been welcomed bythe political class in Lebanon, which hosts some 900,000refugees who could return to Syria, according to PresidentMichel Aoun, who is close to both Damascus and Hezbollah.

Moscow has also proposed a billion-dollar defense con-tract to arm Lebanese troops, but Beirut pulled out at the“last minute”, says Sarraf. Such a deal could have jeopard-ized the sizeable US support Beirut receives from the US,including the $1.7 billion it has received in military aid since2006. Aram Nerguizian, co-director of the CarnegieMiddle East Center’s department on civil-military relations,says Lebanon’s ties to the US were at stake. “If Lebanonaccepts or even insinuates an intent to accept a Russiancredit line for the purchase of Russian defense articles, itwill have significant - and potentially irreversible - geopo-litical consequences on Lebanon’s existing bilateral andmultilateral commitments and partnerships, especially tiesto the US,” he said. — AFP

In Lebanon, Russia uses softer touch to win influence

GAZA CITY: Tens of thousands of Palestinian childrenreturned to United Nations-run schools yesterday after thesummer holidays, though major US cuts have thrown theirfunding into jeopardy beyond next month. Children wearingchequered uniforms and backpacks thronged schools acrossthe Palestinian territories for the first classes of the newschool year, AFP correspondents reported. The UN Reliefand Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said all711 schools it runs for 526,000 pupils in Gaza and the WestBank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria would reopen in the nextfew days despite the $300 million US funding cut.

Fears raised by UN chief Antonio Guterres that theschools might not be able to reopen at all have failed to mate-rialize, but UNRWA warned it might still be forced to closethem again in a month if additional new funding is not found.“At the moment, we do not have enough money to keep theschools open after the end of September,” UNRWAspokesman Chris Gunness told AFP. “At the end ofSeptember, UNRWA will be running on empty for all its serv-ices, including schools and medical facilities.”

In 2017, the United States, which is traditionally the largestsingle donor to UNRWA, contributed more than $360 million.But so far this year, it has given just $60 million followingPresident Donald Trump’s decision to withhold aid to thePalestinians. Parents expressed deep concern about theuncertainty hanging over their children’s education. “We areafraid of the schools closing,” Soha Abu Hasara told AFP inGaza City as she dropped her children off for their first dayback in the classroom. Pupil Hala Muhanna, 11, said her “mes-sage to the world is that no-one has the right to closeschools”. “Even if they take away our schools we will bringthem back,” she said.

UNRWA was formed to support 750,000 Palestinianswho fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948

war that accompanied the creation of Israel. With theirdescendants, they now number more than five million acrossthe Middle East. The United States has sought to use its aidto pressure the Palestinian government into resuming deal-ing with it after a nearly nine-month rupture. ThePalestinians have boycotted the US administration since itrecognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last December. Lastweek, Trump cancelled a further $200 million in aid projectsfor Palestinians not funded through UNRWA. SeniorPalestinian official Hanan Ashrawi accused the US presidentof “cheap blackmail”.

Israel and the United States accuse UNRWA of perpetu-ating the Israel-Palestinian crisis by maintaining the idea ofthe right of return - that Palestinians will be able to return tothe homes from which they fled. Palestinians see the USembassy move and efforts to change the mandate of UNR-WA as attempts to strip them of their rights. On Tuesday,Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, said hercountry would want to “look at right of return”.

She cited reports that UNRWA’s school curriculumincluded unjust criticism of Israel and the United States,charges which the agency rejects. “UNRWA can stay there,and we will be a donor if it reforms what it does. If it goes andmakes sure that they’re not doing those teachings in text-books, if they actually change the number of refugees to anaccurate account, we will look back at partnering them.”

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday thatthe US embassy move and pressure over the right of returnwere having a “devastating effect” on the peace process.Gunness pointed out that the US could not force the agencyto change its mandate, as that would need a vote at the UnitedNations General Assembly. “If one member state decides toreduce our funds, that doesn’t change our mandate, it justmeans we have less money to do it,” he said.— AFP

UN schools for Palestinians reopen despite US funds cut

ALEY, Lebanon: A Russian dance teacher gives a ballet class to girls in the Russian-Lebanese cultural centerin this city east of Beirut on July 5, 2018. — AFP

NABLUS: Pupils and teachers gather in front of a school run by the United Nations agency for Palestinianrefugees (UNRWA) in Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank yesterday, on the first day of classesafter the summer holidays. — AFP

Continued from Page 1

Trump meanwhile revealed that his 12-year-old sonBarron was a keen football fan while describing the WorldCup as “maybe the biggest sporting event in the world”.“Soccer is a game, I guess you call it football,” Trumpadded. “But over here, maybe at some point they’ll changethe name, I’m not sure. But we’ll see. It’s working very welleither way.”

Trump meanwhile noted that he would be out of office

by the time the 48-team tournament arrived in NorthAmerica. “I won’t be here. Maybe they’ll extend the term,”he said to laughter, as he gestured towards media.“Because I know they’d love to see that. If they don’textend the term, the media is going to be very boring,they’ll all be out of business I guess.”

Infantino meanwhile said FIFA was confident of helpingproduce a “fantastic” tournament in 2026, before present-ing Trump with two soccer jerseys - one bearing his nameand the number 26 (referring to 2026) and other with thenumber 45, denoting Trump’s status as the 45th US presi-dent. Infantino then handed Trump a pair of referee’s yel-low and red cards, before explaining their meaning. Trumpduly seized the red card and directed it at members of thepress. “So this will be useful, I don’t know, that’s for yournext media session,” Infantino joked. — AFP

Trump warns of violent change if... Continued from Page 1

“Let’s not enter into debate on this issue.” The RBIalso highlighted the upside risks to inflation from globalcrude oil prices strengthening expectations of anotherrate hike. India’s July inflation rose an annual 4.17 per-cent, the ninth straight month in which it surpassed theRBI’s medium-term target of 4 percent. The upside risksto inflation in the rest of the year warrant a “continuousvigil and a readiness to head off those pressures fromgetting generalized”, the central bank added.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee hit fresh lows againstthe dollar yesterday as emerging market currencies

continue to be sold off. The under-pressure currency inAsia’s third-largest economy slid to 70.50 to thegreenback in late morning trade, a record low. Therupee has been steadily falling throughout 2018 afterstarting the year at 63.67. Earlier this month it crossed70 for the first time as India was buffeted by the turbu-lence of the Turkish financial crisis. The rupee was notalone, with the currencies of other emerging economiesheavily dependent on dollar-dominated foreign capitallike Brazil, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil also slip-ping in August.

The rupee slump is widening India’s current accountdeficit, when the value of imports exceeds that ofexports. India is a massive net importer of oil, securingmore than two-thirds of its needs from abroad. High oilprices have been squeezing the rupee, making it lessappealing to investors, analysts say. India’s central bankhas raised interest rates this year in part to helpincrease the value of the rupee. — Agencies

Demonetization ‘a flop’; rupee...

Continued from Page 1

The training was funded in part by Madinah-basedTaibah University, which launched a competition withsupport from the Saudi consulate in New York. Duringtheir two-week stay, the women fine-tuned their busi-ness pitches, built up their strategic networks and par-ticipated in workshops on negotiations, sales and vul-nerability. They got advice from large companies likeAmazon Web Services, other startups and consultantssuch as Deloitte. The program ended with the womenpresenting their fledgling ventures to some 150investors, philanthropists, as well as internationalorganization and embassy representatives.

Despite the optimism, numerous challenges remainin Saudi Arabia. Topping the list is the kingdom’sguardianship system that prevents women from carry-ing out major decisions - including traveling abroad,getting married or divorced and signing contracts -

unless they get permission from a male guardian like ahusband, father or brother. “In a country like SaudiArabia especially that has historically not been open towomen getting access to these kind of opportunities,the fact that they were willing to do this program withall-women founders was very welcome,” said Halcyondirector of policy and international programs JoshMandell. “We expect these women to return to SaudiArabia not just as future leaders for their country andtheir region, but to start successful ventures.”

The women got workspace and housing at one ofWashington’s most illustrious addresses in the tonyGeorgetown neighborhood, Halcyon House, a sprawlingred brick mansion with a sweeping view of the PotomacRiver. Since its inception in 2014, Halcyon Incubator’sfull-time fellowship has supported 61 ventures it sayshave raised more than $56 million and created some500 jobs positively impacting 675,000 people.

Last year, Halcyon became an independent non-profit organization that also encompasses public policyand the arts. It was launched by Kate Goodall andJapanese American biochemist Sachiko Kuno, a co-founder of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and a drivingforce behind the Washington-based, female-led invest-ment fund WE Capital. — AFP

Saudi women grow ventures...

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader warned yesterday thecountry could abandon its nuclear deal with world pow-ers if it no longer served its interests, even as economicand political pressure mounted on the government.“Naturally, if we reach the conclusion that (the nucleardeal) is no longer maintaining our national interests, wewill put it aside,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meetingwith the cabinet, according to his website. He said Iranmust not “pin its hopes” on Europe, despite Europeanefforts to salvage the nuclear deal following the with-drawal of the United States.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani hasbeen battered by the return of US sanctions, which hastriggered a rapid departure of foreign firms and ended hishopes of attracting large-scale investment. His politicalenemies are circling, with parliament announcing that twomore of his ministers could be impeached in the comingdays. The labor and economy ministers have already beensacked by parliament this month and motions have beenaccepted to vote on impeaching his industries and edu-cation ministers in the coming days.

Khamenei insisted the political tumult was a sign of thestrength of Iran’s democracy. He praised the tough ques-tioning Rouhani received in parliament on Tuesday as “aglorious show of the power of the Islamic republic andthe self-confidence of officials”. Differences between offi-cials are “natural”, he added, though he said they shouldnot be covered by the media “because the people wouldbecome worried”. Tuesday’s grilling in parliament was thefirst for Rouhani in five years as president, and lawmakersslammed his handling of five economic issues, rangingfrom unemployment to the collapsing value of the curren-cy. In voting at the end of the session, they declared they

were unsatisfied with four of his responses. Under parliamentary rules, the issues could then have

been referred for judicial review, but parliament speakerAli Larijani - a close ally of Rouhani - said yesterdaythere were no legal grounds for doing so. Parliament cantheoretically impeach Rouhani, but he has the protectionof Khamenei, who has previously said removing the pres-ident would “play into the hands of the enemy”. Instead,Khamenei called on officials to work together “day andnight” to resolve the country’s economic problems.

Iran’s currency has lost around half its value since theUS announced it was withdrawing from the nuclear dealin May, and further pain is expected when sanctions onits crucial oil sector are reimposed in November.Conservative opponents of Rouhani, who have longopposed his outreach to the West, are smelling blood.Next in their sights is his minister of industry, mines andbusiness, Mohammad Shariatmadari, who is accused offailing to prevent high inflation, particularly in the carindustry. A motion was also filed yesterday to vote on theimpeachment of Education Minister Mohammad Bathaei,over a series of issues linked to school budgets, the cur-riculum and alleged mismanagement. — AFP

Khamenei ready to abandon nuke deal if needed

TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(left) speaks during a government meeting yesterday. Tohis right is Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homerin the three-run, ninth-inning rally to help the visitingWashington Nationals defeat the Philadelphia Phillies5-4 Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. RyanZimmerman had three doubles and a stolen base for theNationals, who have won the first two games of thethree-game series. The Phillies, who have lost eight oftheir last 10, had a two-run homer from Jorge Alfaroand a solo shot from Odubel Herrera. Tommy Hunter,who pitched a perfect eighth, walked Bryce Harper tostart the ninth. He was replaced by Pat Neshek (1-1),who allowed Rendon’s 17th homer of the season to givethe Nationals the lead. Phillies starter Aaron Nolaallowed two runs (one earned), four hits and two walkswhile striking out eight in seven innings in a hard-luckno-decision. Nationals ace Max Scherzer pitched fiveinnings before being removed for a pinch hitter. Heallowed three runs and four hits (two homers) andstruck out five.

A’S 4, ASTROS 3Nick Martini hit a tie-breaking double to center field

in the ninth inning and Oakland evened its series withhost Houston. In what amounted to a battle of thebullpens, the Athletics reigned supreme, getting 4 1/3scoreless innings from right-handers Shawn Kelley,Fernando Rodney, Jeurys Familia (8-4), and BlakeTreinen, who recorded his 33rd save with a perfectninth. Oakland closed the gap in the American LeagueWest to two games in the loss column with the rubbermatch set for Wednesday. The Astros had their six-game winning streak snapped.

YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 4Pinch hitter Neil Walker homered in the bottom of

the ninth for a walk-off win, one inning after AaronHicks tied the game with a two-run homer, as host NewYork overcame a four-run deficit to beat Chicago.Walker gave New York its seventh walk-off win whenhe ripped a first-pitch fastball from right-hander DylanCovey (4-12) into the right-center-field seats. It wasWalker’s second career walk-off homer and fifth careerwalk-off hit-his second with the Yankees. Hicks andMiguel Andujar each smacked their 22nd home runs ofthe season for New York, helping the Yankees over-come a 4-0 deficit. Chicago saw its four-game winningstreak stopped and lost for only the fourth time in itspast 14 games.

RED SOX 8, MARLINS 7Marlins shortstop JT Riddle’s throwing error in the

bottom of the ninth gave host Boston a wild 8-7 walk-off win over Miami. Riddle was trying to turn an inning-ending double play. He stepped on second for the sec-ond out of the inning, but a low throw to first spoiledhis bid. Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel (4-1), who blew asave chance in the top of the ninth, earned the win. Thewin snapped Boston’s three-game losing streak. Boston,which trailed 6-4 in the eighth, is the only team in themajors without a four-game skid this year.

BRAVES 9, RAYS 5Tyler Flowers signed a contract extension in the

morning, then delivered a pinch-hit homer in the eighthinning later in the evening to help Atlanta to a win overvisiting Tampa Bay, snapping the Rays’ eight-gamewinning streak. Flowers agreed to a $4 million contractfor 2019 and an option for 2020. On the field, he cameoff the bench to club a two-run homer against ex-BraveChaz Roe (1-3) as part of a four-run rally in the eighth.The homer, his sixth, just cleared the fence in left field.It was his first home run since Aug. 8. Atlanta extendedits lead in the National League East to 4 1/2 gamesover the second-place Phillies.

GIANTS 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0Gorkys Hernandez hit Jake Diekman’s first pitch for a

walk-off single in the ninth inning, giving host SanFrancisco a second straight win over first-placeArizona. The game began as a classic duel betweenDiamondbacks right-hander Clay Buchholz and Giantslefty Madison Bumgarner. The contest ended when SanFrancisco strung together a walk to Steven Duggar andsingles by Nick Hundley and Hernandez with one out inthe ninth to complete their ninth walk-off win of theseason. The fourth-place Giants (67-67) got back tothe .500 mark for the first time since 61-61 and movedwithin six games of first place in the National LeagueWest. The Diamondbacks (72-60) dropped into a tiefor the division lead with the Colorado Rockies, whobeat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2.

ORIOLES 12, BLUE JAYS 5Tim Beckham hit a three-run homer and Craig

Gentry added a two-run shot as Baltimore defeatedvisiting Toronto. Beckham’s homer was the big blow ina four-run third inning that gave the Orioles an early 5-0 lead as Baltimore won consecutive games for the firsttime since July 28-29. Beckham, Gentry and Chris Davisall finished with three RBIs for Baltimore. Adam Joneswent 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Rookielefty starter Josh Rogers (1-0) earned the win in his bigleague debut, giving up three runs on seven hits in fiveinnings. It was the first time the Orioles started a left-hander this season. Toronto starter Thomas Pannone (1-1) gave up seven runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings andtook his first major league loss.

INDIANS 8, TWINS 1Carlos Carrasco tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings and

Cleveland’s offense provided him more than enoughsupport in a blowout home win for the Indians overMinnesota. Overcoming a poor start in Boston that sawhim get pulled after giving up five runs in less than fourinnings, Carrasco (16-7) was a much different pitcheragainst the Twins, striking out 11 batters and allowingjust four hits before giving way to reliever Brad Handwith two outs in the eighth. Francisco Lindor went 4-for-5 with two runs, Jose Ramirez went 2-for-4 withthree RBIs and Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-3 withtwo RBIs to lead Cleveland. Jake Cave broke theshutout for Minnesota when he hit a solo home run offof Indians reliever Dan Otero in the ninth.

CARDINALS 5, PIRATES 2Jose Martinez and Tyler O’Neill hit two-run homers

to boost host St. Louis past Pittsburgh. Greg Garciaadded an RBI single for the Cardinals, who have wonsix of seven and kept hold of the top National Leaguewild-card spot. Colin Moran hit an RBI single forPittsburgh, which has lost six of seven. It was MikeShildt’s first win as the full-time St. Louis manager afterhe went 26-12 as the interim boss following the firing ofMike Matheny. Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (8-6)gave up one run and four hits in seven innings, with fivestrikeouts and no walks. The rookie right-hander is 4-0with a 1.13 ERA in his past five starts.

REDS 9, BREWERS 7Jose Peraza went 4-for-5 with a homer and Scooter

Gennett tormented his former team with his NL-lead-ing 16th three-hit game of the season as Cincinnati beatvisiting Milwaukee. The Reds jumped on Brewersstarter Junior Guerra (6-9) from the get-go as the firstfour batters hit safely, including a Peraza two-runhomer, and Cincinnati brought nine men to the plate ina four-run inning. The top four in the Reds’ order went11-for-17, scoring eight of their nine runs. Brewers out-fielder Christian Yelich hit a pair of homers to drive infive runs for Milwaukee. The home runs gave Yelich 25

for the season in his first career two-homer game.

ROCKIES 3, ANGELS 2Carlos Gonzalez’s first-inning home run gave

Colorado an early lead, and starting pitcher KyleFreeland and two relievers made it stand up in a victoryover host Los Angeles. The victory coupled with theDiamondbacks’ 1-0 loss at San Francisco allowedColorado to tie Arizona for first place in the NationalLeague West. Freeland (12-7) gave up one run on fivehits and two walks in six innings. Scott Oberg allowedone run in two innings, and Wade Davis struck out allthree batters he faced in the ninth for his 36th save.Short on available starting pitchers, the Angels had toemploy a “bullpen game,” stringing together a series ofrelievers, starting with Noe Ramirez.

PADRES 2, MARINERS 1Right-hander Jacob Nix pitched 8 1/3 scoreless

innings before serving up a home run to Nelson Cruzbut host San Diego hung on to defeat Seattle. The 22-year-old Nix, who was the Padres third-round pick inthe 2015 draft, entered the game with a 1-2 record anda 6.17 earned run average. He allowed eight hits with nowalks or strikeouts while throwing 79 pitches with 59going for strikes. Longtime Mariners ace FelixHernandez (8-12) finished with nine strikeouts in allow-ing two runs on four hits over seven innings.

DODGERS 8, RANGERS 4Manny Machado drove in four runs, and Brian

Dozier hit a home run as visiting Los Angeles earned aninterleague victory over Texas Rangers. Machado hasRBIs in five of his last seven games, including multipleRBIs in three consecutive contests. The Dodgers wonfor the fourth straight time after getting swept in athree-game series by the St. Louis Cardinals last week.After trailing by 4 1/2 games in the National LeagueWest at the start of play Friday, the Dodgers are now

one game behind the teams tied for the division lead,the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. TheRangers lost their third consecutive game, all to NLWest opponents.

ROYALS 6, TIGERS 2Jakob Junis recorded the first complete-game victo-

ry of his career and Hunter Dozier drove in two runs,leading host Kansas City to victory over Detroit. Junis(7-12) gave up two runs on six hits and didn’t issue awalk while striking out seven. He tamed the Tigers’attack on just 104 pitches. It was just Junis’ second vic-tory since May 18. Four of his victories this season havecome at the Tigers’ expense. Adalberto Mondesi hit hisfifth homer of the season, while Alex Gordon scoredtwice. Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez each had twohits and scored a run for Kansas City, which had lost sixof its previous eight games. JaCoby Jones, just activat-ed from the disabled list, blasted his ninth homer forDetroit.

METS 1, CUBS 1 (SUSPENDED, 10TH INNING)Jacob deGrom continued to build his National

League Cy Young Award case, but he won’t factor intothe decision as the game between New York and hostChicago was suspended after heavy thunderstormsarrived two pitches into the top of the 10th. The Cubs’Steve Cishek fell behind 2-0 against Mets left fielderMichael Conforto when the storms arrived and forcedthe suspension a little less than an hour later. The gameis scheduled to resume at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, withthe series finale to be played 45 minutes after the con-clusion of the suspended game. DeGrom gave up onerun on eight hits and one walk while striking out 10over eight innings in lowering his major-league-leadingERA from 1.71 to 1.68. Cubs starter Cole Hamels contin-ued his resurgence by giving up four hits and threewalks while striking out eight over five scorelessinnings. — Reuters

Thursday, August 30, 2018S p o r t s

Rendon’s 9th inning HR ruins Nola’s gem as Nats stun Phils

25

Braves snap Rays’ eight-game win streak

PHILADELPHIA: Starting pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals tags out Jorge Alfaro #38 ofthe Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning during a game at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. —AFP

KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and mostdeveloped telecom operator, announced its sponsor-ship for the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) and allits soccer tournaments for the season 2018/2019, afterwinning the tender.

The official partnership announcement took place atVIVA’s Headquarters at Olympia Tower, in presence ofthe President of KFA Sheikh Ahmed Al-Yousef Al-Sabah and VIVA’s CEO Eng. Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Badran, and executives from both parties.

On this occasion, Al-Yousef commented: “We areproud of this partnership with one of the leading com-

panies in Kuwait and the region in Telecommunicationsdomain. We are keen to move the wheel of local sportstournaments and spread the spirit of challenge amongall the Kuwaiti teams with VIVA’s support.”

On his part, Al-Badran commented: “Since theinception, VIVA has given the sport and youth sector aspecial attention due to its positive impact on the nur-ture of youth and society. This sponsorship is a contin-uous cooperation with KFA since 2011. We will ensurethe success of the coming soccer league through ourprofessional team to revive the glories engraved on thegolden record of the KFA.”

VIVA sponsors Kuwait Football Association and the League

MONZA: Sebastian Vettel can tighten the screw onFormula One leader Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari’s homeItalian Grand Prix this weekend and write a new entryin the record books. If he can deliver Ferrari’s firstMonza victory since 2010, Vettel will also equalBritish great Stirling Moss’s unique achievement ofwinning at the ‘Pista Magica’ with three different F1teams in the 1950s.

Vettel, 17 points behind Hamilton after a command-ing win in Belgium last Sunday, has previously tri-umphed at Monza with Toro Rosso and Red Bull andwill fancy his chances of the hat-trick at the super-fasttrack outside Milan. Spa showed Ferrari have the speed,even if Monza’s low-drag characteristics make compar-isons less clear-cut and could again favour Hamilton’sMercedes.

But Vettel is sounding confident. “We have a goodcar that seems to work everywhere,” the four-timesworld champion said jubilantly at Spa. “Hopefully wecan now carry that momentum and speed into the nextrace to Monza.”

Mercedes have won in Italy for the past four years,with Hamilton on pole position ever since 2014 and tri-umphant four times in the last six years-his first comingwith McLaren in 2012. Last year the Briton arrived atthe circuit in the former royal park lagging Vettel byseven points and left with a three-point advantage in aturnaround that ultimately led to his fourth world title.

This season has been as hard-fought as any, with thetwo contenders each on five wins from 13 races and theadvantage ebbing and flowing even if Spa suggestedFerrari might now have the upper hand.

“The next race, with this kind of performance they

have on straights, we might struggle to match themthere,” Hamilton said at Spa. Mercedes boss Toto Wolf,who recognised his car had deficits, felt the jury wasstill out on that.

“Spa was always a bit of a tricky one for us in thepast as well,” he told reporters. “Monza was a goodone. “So I am very curious to see how it’s going to go inMonza. Last year we were very much in control of thewhole weekend and Ferrari had their worst weekend ofthe season, performance-wise. I’m not worried.”

Red Bull will be looking more to Singapore, the raceafter, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo set to take aRenault engine upgrade that will incur engine penaltiesand leave him starting at the back. Dutch team mateMax Verstappen, third in Belgium, will be the mainspoiler hoping to get amongst the Ferrari and Mercedesdrivers to stir things up.

Force India will also be hoping for another strongperformance after Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon fin-ished fifth and sixth at Spa in the team’s first race undertheir new ownership.

Lance Stroll, the 19-year-old Canadian whose fatherleads the consortium that now owns Force India, start-ed on the front row for Williams last year but there isno chance of a repeat of that feat this time. — Reuters

Vettel aims for a triumphant Ferrari homecoming

Sebastian Vettel

Thursday, August 30, 2018S p o r t s

26

BARMAN, SINGH CONTINUE INDIA’S GOLD RUSH INATHLETICSSwapna Barman became the first Indian woman to win theheptathlon event at the Asian Games. The 21-year-old endedthe competition with 6026 points. China’s Wang Qingling wonsilver with 5954 points, while Japan’s Yuki Yamasaki tookbronze with a tally of 5873 points. Earlier, Arpinder Singhbecame the first Indian in 48 years to win the men’s triplejump event after clearing a distance of 16.77 metres in thefinal.

WITA SECURES INDONESIA’S 14th PENCAK SILATGOLDWewey Wita claimed Indonesia’s 14th gold medal in pencaksilat from 16 available at the meet. The 25-year-old crushedTran Thi Them of Vietnam 5-0 in the women’s 50-55 kg final.

WOMEN SWIMMERS WIN CHINA’S 100TH GOLDMEDALChina picked up their 100th gold medal of the Games whentheir team of women won the artistic swimming free routinefinal with a score of 186.9395. Japan took silver after scoring182.8690, while North Korea were third with 170.8475.

VIETNAM ENDS INDONESIA PENCAK SILATDOMINANCEVietnam’s Van Tri Nguyen and Dinh Nam Tran won theirrespective men’s pencak silat gold medal matches to breakIndonesia’s hold on the sport after the host nation won all 11of the previous titles on offer. Nguyen beat Malaysian MohdKhaizul Yaacob 5-0 in the class J 90-95kg final, while Tranbeat Mohd Fauzi Khalid in the class F 70-75kg final.

IKE WINS JAPAN’S THIRD SKATEBOARDING GOLDJapan’s Keyaki Ike won the men’s street final with a score of 31.1to seal his nation’s third gold medal out of four skateboardingevents yesterday. Indonesian Sanggoe Darma Tanjung took sil-ver and South Korean Eun Ju-won clinched bronze.

KIM BEATS ELBERT SIE TO CLINCH SOFT TENNISGOLDSouth Korean Kim J in-woong beat home favour i teAlexander Elbert Sie 4-2 to win gold in men’s soft tennis.South Korea have dominated soft tennis since its introduc-tion in 1994, winning 23 of the 36 gold medals on offer pri-or to this year’s edition.

SASAOKA LEADS JAPAN TO SECOND SKATEBOARDING WINJapanese skateboarder Kensuke Sasaoka has won the men’spark final with a score of 76.00, adding to his nation’s tri-umph in the women’s event earlier yesterday. Indonesian duoJason Dennis Lijnzaat and Pevi Permana Putra took silver andbronze respectively with scores of 68.33 and 67.00.

CHINA CONTINUE GOLD RUSH WITH ATHLETICSTRIUMPHSChina opened the day with gold medals in the men’s and women’s20km race walking events. Yang Jiayu won the women’s race in aGames record time of one hour, 29 minutes and 15 seconds whilecompatriot Qieyang Shijie took silver and Japan’s Kumiko Okadathe bronze. China’s Wang Kaihua and Jin Xiangqian grabbedgold and bronze medals in the men’s race while Japan’sToshikazu Yamanishi finished second. — Reuters

HIGHLIGHTS - DAY 12 OF THE ASIAN GAMES

Vikas makes history for India as ugly scenes mar Asiad boxing

Philippines’ Eumar Marcial breezed to a unanimous points decision over S Korea’s Kim Jin-jea

SNIPPETSJAKARTA: Krishan Vikas made history yesterdaywhen he became the first Indian to win three AsianGames boxing medals, but ugly scenes eruptedafter an Iraqi lost a split decision. BantamweightJaafar Al Sudani’s coach and corner were warnedabout their behaviour by the International BoxingAssociation (AIBA) after “unacceptable” protestswhich led to a supporter leaping barriers into theJakarta International Expo arena and scufflingwith security staff.

Local favourite Sunan Agung Amoragam andIraq’s Jaafar Al Sudani had gone toe-to-toe forthree pulsating rounds in their bantamweightquarter-final before the Indonesian edged it 4-1 onthe five judges’ cards. “It is unacceptable. We haveto be good sportsmen and accept the decision ofthe judges,” AIBA executive director Tom Virgetstold AFP after he had read the riot act to the Iraqteam. Vikas, who won gold in 2010 and bronzefour years ago, had to draw on all his experienceafter suffering a nasty cut over his right eye earlyin his middleweight quarter-final against China’sErbieke Tanglatihan.

“It’s quite satisfying to come through that andbe the first Indian to win three medals,” said Vikasafter being guaranteed at least a bronze.“Especially as I suffered a serious injury.” The 26-year-old fought brilliantly on the counter for thelast two rounds as he protected his rapidlyswelling eye to edge the fight 3-2 on a split deci-sion. Earlier India’s women, without five-timesworld champ Mary Kom as she focuses on thisyear’s world championships in Delhi, were leftempty-handed for the first time since their sportwas introduced in 2010. India’s last woman stand-ing, flyweight Sarjubala Devi, failed to emulateKom-who won gold in the same 51kg division fouryears ago-as she lost on points to China’s ChangYuan. Vikas face a tough task in Friday’s semi-finalif he wants a shot at a second Asian Games gold.

KAZAKH THREAT Lying in wait is powerhouse hitter Abilkhan

Amankul of Kazakhstan, who produced the per-

formance of the day to batter Taiwan’s Kan Chia-wei. Kazakhstan were the dominant boxing forceat the last Asian Games, winning six golds, two sil-ver and two bronzes.

But they have punched below their weight inJakarta with Amankul only one other Kazakhreaching the medal bouts. Filipino 2016 worldyouth champion Carlo Paalam, 20, pulled off thebest win of his senior career with a 4-1 split deci-sion over another Kazakh, Temirtas Zhussupov.

Light flyweight Paalam was delighted at secur-ing at least a bronze at his first Asian Games. “Ofcourse it went to a split decision,” said Paalam.“He’s number one in Kazakhstan. He has fought inthe Olympics.” Paalam will now face Amit, whogoes by one name, for a place in the final after the22-year-old became the first Indian fighter to

book a last-four berth by out-boxing NorthKorean Kim Jan Ryong.

Amit said he had drawn from the experience ofveterans in the India camp such as light welter-weight Manoj Kumar, 31, who has been to twoAsian and two Olympic Games. “They motivateme and I learn from them,” he said. “Manoj(Kumar)is my room-mate and he shows me howto go about it.” India’s remaining light welter-weight, Dheeraj Rangi, suffered a unanimouspoints loss to Mongolia’s Chinzorig Baatarsukh.Later the Philippines guaranteed themselves atleast another bronze when middleweight EumarFelix Marcial breezed to a unanimous pointsdecision over South Korea’s Kim Jin-jea. He willtake on Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov for the rightto go for gold. — AFP

JAKARTA: India’s Krishan Vikas (red) fights with China’s Touheta Erbieke Tanglatihan (blue) in theirmen’s middle (75kg) quarter-final boxing match. — AFP

JAKARTA: South Korea’s Son Heung-min moved just 90 minutes away fromthe gold medal that would spare him mil-itary service yesterday as Bahrain’sEdidiong Odiong completed a rare sprintdouble at the Asian Games.

Tottenham Hotspur forward Sonplayed a captain’s role as Korea beatVietnam 3-1 to reach the men’s footballfinal against Japan-his last chance for atitle that would exempt from a career-threatening, 21-month military stint.

“We’re close to winning gold, to mak-ing history, and we will fight for it,” saidthe World Cup star, whose clever passset up Hwang Ui-jo for South Korea’ssecond goal.

Later, Nigerian-born Odiong becameonly the fourth woman to complete the100 and 200 metres double when shewon the half-lap race in 22.96 seconds,ahead of India’s Dutee Chand on 23.20.

It meant a silver sprint double forChand, who missed the last Games in arow over her hyperandrogenism, which

causes elevated testosterone levels andalso affects South Africa’s Olympicchampion Caster Semenya.

“God has given me a lot of troublesince 2014. I suffered a lot. Nobodycould have suffered so much,” saidChand. “But I came back to give twomedals to India-it will be a big celebra-tion back home!”

Japan’s Yuki Koike won the men’s200m in 20.23 after a photo-finish withTaiwan’s Yang Chunhan, while Iran’sEhsan Hadadi won a record fourth title inthe men’s discus.

Shi Tingmao emulated Chinese divinggreats Wu Minxia and Guo Jingjing withher fourth gold medal, in the synchro-nised 3m springboard, as China stayedperfect in the competition with four winsout of four. Vietnam interruptedIndonesia’s clean sweep in the home-grown martial art of pencak silat whenNguyen Van Tri and Tran Dinh Nam wontwo of the total of 16 golds on offer.

And Uzbekistan’s run in anotherdebut martial art, kurash, was haltedwhen Iran’s Elyas Ali Akbari won themen’s -81kg category. Elsewhere,Himalayan nation Nepal won its firstmedal with silver in the men’s teamcross-country paragliding-ending a 20-year podium drought stretching back toBangkok 1998.

China maintained their supremacy onthe medals table, reaching 102 goldsahead of Japan’s 32, South Korea’s 37and 30 for hosts Indonesia. — AFP

Precious goldglitters for Son,Bahraini claimssprint double

BANGKOK: Thai boxer WanhengMenayothin grabbed his 51st straight vic-tory yesterday in a long but lop-sided boutagainst a fighter from the Philippines,defending his WBC title and surpassing theundefeated record of boxing legend FloydMayweather Jr. The 105-pound mini-mumweight champion, nicknamed the“dwarf giant” for his compact build andheavy hitting style, won on points after abruising 12 rounds against Pedro Taduranin the Thai city of Nakhon Sawan .

Wanheng started strong, landing severalhard rights in the early rounds that seemedto daze Taduran and signal a quick route.But the 21-year-old southpaw from thePhilippines lived up to his alias “RattleSnake”, enduring the abuse and biting backin the fifth round with a flurry of punches.

The brief comeback was put down asWanheng kept his composure in the sec-ond half of the bout, delivering clean hitsthat left Taduran visibly tired. Wanheng, 32,shot to unlikely fighting fame in May whenhe dispatched Panamanian Leroy Estrada,

equaling “Money” Mayweather’s winstreak. All three judges scored in his favourafter the final round. Wanheng’s record-busting quest has generated buzz inThailand and in boxing media outlets. But ithas also been shrugged off as a statisticalquirk because of the two very differentcareers of the famous, flashy American andthe soft-spoken Thai.

Wanheng has fought undistinguishedrivals on home turf while Mayweatherdefeated some of the sport’s all-time greatsincluding Manny Pacquiao and Oscar DeLa Hoya. Mayweather’s fights also comewith huge purses, like the $100 million onoffer when he was teased from retirementlast year to take on MMA star ConorMcGregor.

Wanheng’s legal name is ChayaphonMoonsri but he also fights under the alias“Five-Star Grilled Chicken” due to a spon-sorship deal with a Thai food company. Hislatest win brings him level with Mexicanflyweight Ricardo Lopez, who retired with51 wins, one draw and no losses. — AFP

Thai ‘dwarf giant’ boxersurpasses Mayweather record with 51st win

S p o r t s Thursday, August 30, 2018

27

PALEMBANG: From runaway street urchin eating outof a trash can to Thai national skateboard champion,“Oat” Athiwat is a graduate of life’s school of hardknocks. But the 24-year-old, abandoned by his parentsat a young age and beaten by relatives, is daring todream about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after a promis-ing fourth place finish at the Asian Games in Jakarta.

Oat never knew his mother and his father left him topursue a monk’s life in a monastery. At the tender ageof eight, he shuffled around between different relativesliving in Suphanburi, a city a couple of hours fromBangkok. Often the victim of violence by those lookingafter him, he would sleep rough on the street, perma-nently feeling hungry and with nowhere to turn.

“I used to eat anything I could find, even gum on thefloor or the leftovers I found in the trash bin,” Oat toldAFP, his voice faltering as he wipes a tear from hischeek. “I didn’t have any friends.” Oat’s way out ofpoverty came when a university student showed himsome skateboarding tricks one day and he becameinstantly hooked.

“I felt I could be a real skateboarder,” he said.“When I mastered new tricks, I would go to sleep withgood dreams.” A happy twist of fate saw the Thainational team train occasionally in Suphanburi.

Impressed by the boy’s dedication, they brought askateboard for him on their next visit as part of theiroutreach project. “When we travelled throughoutThailand, there were boys like that all the time,” saidApichat Rutnin of the Thailand Extreme SportsAssociation. “It’s a child’s dream to run away withthe circus.”

Waif skater At 11-years-old the waif skater stowed away in a bus

to reach the capital, found his way to the team’s training

park and waited 10 hours for them to show up. “Wewere moved by his tragic story and we took him in,”said Apichat.

“Normally a guy who joins our team must qualify ata certain level but we thought we’d try him out.” Oatwas not the most gifted skater, according to Apichat.But he was confident, determined and disciplined.

“He didn’t watch TV or play games like other kids,”he said. “He was always the first one there and the lastone to leave.” Oat flunked his first competition-comingin last-but it only strengthened his resolve.

By 14, he ranked number one in the amateur skatingranks and joined the top tier. Two years later, he wasThailand’s number one skater, a place he has kept forthe past eight years. Grinning broadly, Apichatdescribed the gamble to take in Oat as a “very gooddecision”.

‘IT’S A REAL SPORT’ At the Asian Games, Oat narrowly missed out on a

medal-appropriately in the ‘street’ category-demon-strating a slick array of tricks on the rails, stairs andramps. But he already has his sights fixed on Tokyo2020 in the hipster sport’s Olympic debut.

The Thai government has paid for the team to trainin California, where Oat “hit a new level”, according tocoach Eric Kirkwood. Skaters in the United States andelsewhere in the West have been able to carve out acareer thanks to sponsorship deals, until recentlyresisting overtures to join the Olympics.

That’s not the case for most skaters in Asia, whichhas few homegrown skate brands with cash to burn.But training for an Olympic sport adds a degree oflegitimacy-for government ministries and concernedparents.

“The same guys that would have had to stop (skate-

boarding) are now being supported by the govern-ment,” said Kirkwood. “They just get to skate.” Oat hasbeen back many times to Suphanburi to train.

One day, he passed his aunt’s house and when hisrelatives heard he was in the national team, they

hugged him for the first time. Gone were the days whenthey used to tell him off for “hanging out with drugaddicts” at the skate park. “They’re not drug addicts,”he would snap back. “They’re athletes-and it’s a realsport!” — AFP

Thai street kid skate champ ‘Oat’ sows seeds for Tokyo Olympics tilt

‘They’re athletes-and it’s a real sport!’

JAKARTA: Thailand’s skateboarder Oat Athiwat seen with his skateboard during the 2018 Asian Games inPalembang on Tuesday. —AFP

MUNICH: Joachim Loew has rejected Mesut Ozil’saccusations of racism within the German FA (DFB) asthe head coach gave his analysis of Germany’s WorldCup debacle yesterday. “Mesut made allegations ofracism, but I can clearly say that in the DFB, therehave never been racist comments,” Loew said whileannouncing his squad to face world championsFrance in Munich on September 6, then Peru threedays later.

“The players with an immigration backgroundhave always enjoyed playing for us and nothing haschanged,” added Loew who has been head coachsince 2006. Arsenal midfielder Ozil retired from inter-national football on July 22 with a stinging three-pagestatement, in which he directly accused DFB presi-dent Reinhard Grindel of racism. This is the first timeLoew has commented on the Ozil saga.

“His advisor called me to inform me that Mesutwould issue the third part of his statement,” addedLoew. “The player himself did not call me, which nor-mally players have done in the past. “Mesut has stillnot called and for the last two weeks I have unsuc-cessfully tried to reach him.

“I am sure there will be a chance for a personalconversation in the future. “He has chosen this path -I have to accept that.” Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan, whowere both born in Germany to Turkish parents,sparked a political storm on the eve of the World Cupby meeting Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

When Erdogan’s office put out pictures of themeeting, the pair’s loyalty to Germany was hotlyquestioned, sparking fierce debate about integra-tion, and they were attacked by German far-rightpoliticians.

Ozil walked away from the German set up after theWorld Cup, complaining of facing “racism and disre-spect” and specifically took aim at Grindel. “In theeyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am Germanwhen we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,”Ozil wrote damningly.

Following Germany’s World Cup debacle, finishingbottom of their group in Russia, Loew announced onWednesday that assistant coach Thomas Schneiderhas been demoted to chief scout. The axe has alsofallen on Sami Khedira, 31, who was part of the teamwhich won the 2014 World Cup.

The Juventus midfielder is the biggest name casu-alty in the new squad, which included Gundogan, aswell as his Manchester City team-mate Leroy Sane,who was dropped for the World Cup. Loew says ‘thebiggest mistake’ he made in Russia was to assumeGermany could reach the knock-out stages by play-ing possession football.

“That was almost arrogant. I wanted to take ourgame to the limit and perfect it,” admitted the 58-year-old. “I ended up taking too many risks and afterthe first game (a 1-0 defeat to Mexico) we had ourbacks to the wall.”

Loew’s new squad has a mix of “experience andyouth” with his 2014 World Cup winning stars MatsHummels, Jerome Boateng, Tony Kroos, ThomasMueller and Manuel Neuer included despite below-par performances in Russia. Paris Saint-Germain cen-tre-back Thilo Kehrer, 21, Hoffenheim left-back NicoSchulz, 25, and Bayer Leverkusen forward KaiHavertz, 19, are called up for the first time. Sane,Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah and Freiburgstriker Nils Petersen, who were cut from the provi-sional World Cup squad, all return.—AFP

Loew rejects Ozil’s accusations of racism in German FA

SOUTHAMPTON: England have recalled Moeen Aliand Sam Curran for the fourth Test against India atSouthampton, skipper Joe Root announced yesterday.

The pair replace top-order batsman Ollie Pope andall-rounder Chris Woakes, ruled out with a thigh prob-lem. Meanwhile Jos Buttler will keep wicket instead ofJonny Bairstow, with the Yorkshireman deployed as aspecialist number four batsman only despite breaking afinger behind the stumps during India’s crushing 203-

run win in the third Test at Trent Bridge.An innings of 219 and figures of eight for 89 against

Yorkshire put Worcestershire off-spinning all-rounderAli’s name in the frame for a match on a ground wherehe took six for 67 during England’s 266-run win againstIndia in the corresponding Test four years ago.

His inclusion means England will field two specialistslow bowlers at Southampton, where the fourth Teststarts today, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid retained.“He’s in fine form, he’s gone back to his county and-what you want from international players is for them togo back and prove a point-and that’s exactly whatMoeen’s done in the last couple of weeks,” Root toldreporters at Southampton yesterday.

England also have concerns over whether all-rounder Ben Stokes will be able to bowl a full quota ofovers because of a knee problem, another factor in Ali’srecall in place of Surrey batsman Pope, dropped afterjust two Tests.

As for England one-day international glovemanButtler, who deputised behind the stumps at Trent

Bridge, replacing Bairstow as keeper, Root said: “It wasa medical call, he (Bairstow) didn’t seem fit to be able tokeep 100 percent in a Test match for five days and thatwas the call that was made.

“He will be disappointed but ultimately we’ve got tomake sure we do the best thing for this team to win thisgame and I believe Jos is the right man to do it thistime.” Victory at Southampton would see England takean unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

“We under-performed last week-that’s the bottomline-and we have a great opportunity to put that rightthis time around,” said Yorkshire batsman Root. “I thinkone of our big strengths as a squad is our strength ofcharacter and, at home in particular, we’re very good atbouncing back after difficult weeks.

“We’ve done it time and time again before and wedon’t expect anything less from the group this time aswell.” England team to play India: Alastair Cook,Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (capt), Jonny Bairstow, BenStokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, AdilRashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson. — AFP

England recall Ali and Curran as Buttler keeps in fourth Test

LONDON: Gareth Bale spearheads Ryan Giggs’s Walessquad for his first two competitive fixtures in chargeagainst the Republic of Ireland and Denmark nextmonth. Bale has been in fine form for Real Madrid, scor-ing in the European champions’ opening two La Ligagames, as he looks to fill the void left by CristianoRonaldo.

The four-time Champions League winner will carryeven more of the attacking burden for his country afterHal Robson-Kanu announced his retirement from inter-national football after a 44-cap career.

Robson-Kanu scored five international goals, mostfamously netting in a 3-1 win over Belgium in the quar-ter-finals of Euro 2016. “I spoke to him yesterday and itwas a difficult decision for him,” said Giggs yesterday.

“He’s had a difficult six months, with the birth of hisbaby, and he wants to focus on his family and his clubcareer. “He’s an icon in Welsh football with the goal hescored against Belgium and I wish him all the best.”

Giggs has recalled Newcastle defender PaulDummett after the 26-year-old choose to end his inter-national exile. Captain Ashley Williams also keeps hisplace despite being sent-off in two of his last threestarts at club level for Everton and Stoke.

Wales kick-off their Nations League campaign athome to Ireland on September 6 before travelling toDenmark three days later.

Squad in full:Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward, Adam

Davies.Defenders: Chris Gunter, Connor Roberts, James

Chester, Ashley Williams, Chris Mepham, Tom Lockyer,Ben Davies, Paul Dummett, Declan John, Ethan Ampadu.

Midfielders: Joe Allen, Matthew Smith, AaronRamsey, Andy King, Joe Ledley, Harry Wilson, DavidBrooks, Tom Lawrence, Ben Woodburn.Forwards: Gareth Bale, Sam Vokes, Tyler Roberts. —AFP

Bale leads Giggs’s Wales squad for Ireland, Denmark

Gareth Bale

LONDON: French defender Kurt Zouma is confidentof playing for Chelsea in the near future despiteagreeing to a season-long loan with Everton in searchof regular first-team football. The 23-year-oldsecured a temporary move to Goodison Park last

month, a year after signing a new six-year deal withChelsea.

“I will go back, yes,” Zouma told British media. “Ihave always believed in myself since I started playingfootball at 16. I have always wanted to show myself atChelsea since I have been there. “I want to show peo-ple I can come back and play there. That’s why I needsome game time at Everton here because they are agood team.”

Zouma, who spent last season at Stoke City, saidnew Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri agreed to the tem-porary switch only because there had been a surplusof centre-back options at Stamford Bridge.

“I knew I needed to play regularly so I didn’t wantto stay on the bench and wait for my chance after two

or three months,” he added. “He (Sarri) agreed withme. I spoke with him and I knew at Chelsea they hadfive central defenders already.”

Zouma will be looking to force his way into thestarting lineup under Marco Silva at Everton, withMichael Keane out having suffered a hairline skullfracture and Phil Jagielka suspended. “I have comehere to play and I want to take the opportunity themanager has given me,” Zouma said.

“We played well in the three games, especiallywith the away games with 10 men. The spirit is good.With the players we have, we can do something.”Everton, who are unbeaten in the Premier Leagueafter three matches this season, host HuddersfieldTown on Saturday. — Reuters

Everton’s Zouma not giving up on Chelsea career

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Sharapova downs battling Schnyder

NEW YORK: Maria Sharapova shattered the fairytalereturn of 39-year-old Patty Schnyder at the US Open onTuesday, winning a roller-coaster first round clash 6-2, 7-6 (8/6). Schnyder, the oldest ever player to make the maindraw of a Grand Slam via qualifying, was outgunned bythe five-time major champion in the first set and for themajority of the second.

However, she bravely battled back from 1-5 down to 6-6, showing the sort of ability and court-craft which wonher 11 titles and once took her to seven in the world rank-ings. She even saved three match points in the tiebreakerbefore Sharapova’s 23rd winner of the night sealed victoryshortly before midnight.

“My average match against her is like two hours and 20minutes so I knew I was in for a battle no matter what mystory is or hers,” said Sharapova who is now 21-0 in USOpen night sessions.

“I knew we’d go out and relive the battles against eachother. “I know what a competitor she is and to come backon the tour is very admirable.” Left-hander Schnydermade her US Open bow in 1997 — the year of the deaths

of Princess Diana in Paris and Mother Teresa in Kolkata.It was the year that Mike Tyson infamously nibbled on

Evander Holyfield’s ear while Twitter was still nine yearsaway. Schnyder made the quarter-finals in New York in1998 and 2008 before retiring in 2011.

Tuesday’s match was her first main draw appearance atthe US Open since 2010 and her first against Sharapova ina decade. “It doesn’t really feel that special,” saidSchnyder. “It doesn’t feel like I have been gone for a whileas tennis is a passion of my life.”

“Times passes really quickly and it doesn’t seem it’seight years since I last played Maria.” Schnyder waswatched on Tuesday by three-year-old daughter Kim.“She enjoyed it. She saw herself up on the big screen,”added Schnyder who does not know if her return to thetour will be permanent.

Her focus, she said, will be on her daughter. “It’s morefun for me to get to know her world rather than her havingto get to know my world of tennis.” Understandably therewere a few nerves on both sides.

Sharapova, the 2006 US Open champion, served up

three double faults in the first game with the opening fourgames of the contest all breaks of serve.

The Russian 22nd seed steadied the ship with two morebreaks, pocketing the first set with Schnyder losing all fourof her service games and failing to hit a single winner.

Schnyder finally held serve for 1-1 in the second setbefore retrieving the breaks to get to 5-5. “She still hasincredible hands and moves incredibly well for being outof the game for so long,” added Sharapova.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic suf-fered in sweltering US Open conditions Tuesday but bat-tled through to the second round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0victory over Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. Djokovic, play-ing his first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium since falling toStan Wawrinka in the 2016 final, received a brutal welcomeback to Flushing Meadows as soaring temperatures andhigh humidity prompted organizers to offer the men a 10-minute mid-match heat break for the first time ever.

“We both struggled. We were not the only ones today.Brutal conditions,” said Djokovic, who called for trainerswho enveloped him in ice packed towels late in the second

set. “I had to find a way to dig myself out of the trouble.”Until late in the third it was “survival mode” said

Djokovic, who endured a rocky start to the season afterelbow surgery before breaking through for a 13th GrandSlam title at Wimbledon. His Cincinnati Masters victoryover Roger Federer stamped him a US Open favorite alongwith defending champion Rafael Nadal, despite his modestsixth seeding.

He certainly looked a contender as he reeled off the last10 games against Fucsovics, showing signs of sharperfocus even before the 10-minute heat break between thethird and fourth sets. Federer, the second seed, escapedthe worst of the conditions as he headlined the night ses-sion on Ashe. Nor did he meet much resistance fromJapan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Up 5-1 in the final set, Federer was unable to close outthe match against Nishioka’s serve, and then was brokenon his first attempt to serve it out. Federer, who claimed his20th Grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, putthe match away two games later, sealing it with a servicewinner.—AFP

‘Survival mode’ sees Djokovic through at steamy US Open

ZURICH: US prodigy Noah Lyles heads the field at thefirst of the two Diamond League finals, in Zurich today,when he comes head-to-head with Turkey’s world andEuropean champion Ramil Guliyev.

Lyles remains the undisputed favourite going into themen’s 200m final, having already clocked up four wins onthe Diamond League circuit this season. But Guliyev, alongwith Aaron Brown and Jereem Richards, will no doubt bebreathing hard down the neck of the American, thedefending Diamond Trophy champion.

“I acknowledge that Ramil Guliyev is running fast,” saidthe 21-year-old Lyles, who ran a personal best of 19.65secin Monaco in July. “I knew I had to get to the Diamond

League Final. Now I’m here, winning is more importantthan running fast.” The 200m is just one of 16 DiamondLeague disciplines to be decided at the sell-outLetzigrund Stadion, with the remaining 16 disciplines to bedecided in Brussels tomorrow.

The women’s blue riband event sees Britain’s newly-crowned European champion Dina Asher-Smith, whostruck triple gold in Berlin after also winning the 200m andtaking the 4x100m relay with her British team, take on astrong field over 100m.

Asher-Smith will line up alongside Dutch sprinter DafneSchippers, Nigerian Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, andproven Ivorians Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Murielle Ahoure.“There’s no place to hide in the Diamond League!” admit-ted Asher-Smith.

“Sometimes it’s not just about winning and losing, it’sabout the journey,” the Briton said, before adding: “I hopeto end my season on a high.” South African CasterSemenya will look to wrap up the trophy in the women’s800m. “My main aim tomorrow is win the trophy,” said the27-year-old, the double Olympic champion (2012, 2016)and three-time world champion (2009, 2011, 2017) who isnow unbeaten over the 800m since her elimination in the

semi-finals of the 2015 worlds in Beijing.But Semenya has also come under the spotlight this

season off the track as she turned to the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS) in her challenge of IAAF ruleson testosterone levels in female athletes to be introducedin November.

Under the new regulations, “hyper-androgynous”, ath-letes like Semenya would have to chemically lower theirtestosterone levels to be able to compete, something the800m runner says is discriminatory and in violation of theIAAF’s constitution and the Olympic Charter.

“I respect my opponents and I expect the same thingfrom them,” Semenya said in Zurich. “My ultimate goal isalways to entertain people.” In the field, Greece’s doubledefending title holder Ekaterina Stefanidi will bid to con-tinue the form that saw her clinch European gold, upagainst American Sandi Morris.

Morris beat Stefanidi in Birmingham, albeit in extraor-dinarily windy conditions, and the American’s season’s bestis also superior to the Greek vaulter’s. Stefanidi, with theworld, Olympic and European titles to her name, is aproven performer, however, making for what should be athrilling contest.—AFP

Lyles, Semenya target Diamond League trophies

Caster Semenya

NEW YORK: Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts after losing a point against Patty Schnyder of Switzerland (off frame) during their 2018 US Open women’s match on Tuesday in New York. — AFP

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