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THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017 / RABI AL AKHAR 15-16, 1438 AH

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Panel takes up aid to women with foreign husbands By Abubakar A. Ibrahim

First-degree relatives may get e-visas KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Interior Ministry is considering granting visit visa to the first-degree relatives through the automated visa system (e-visa), reports Al-Rai daily quoting security sources. The same sources said the first degree relatives include the parents, wife and children. However, the sources said the e-visa system in future will be expanded within the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Interior to activate the e-government services and relieve the pressure on all government departments.

US soldier in base suicide

Meanwhile, the Info Systems General Department of the Ministry of Interior continues its efforts in coordination with the Public Authority for Civil Information approval for finding a special secret number to each citizen and resident called the (pki) that can provide access to the electronic services website of the Interior Ministry. Citizens and residents then can log in by using the civil ID number, followed by the pki to complete transactions electronically.

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (AFP): An American soldier stationed in Kuwait shot and killed himself on Thursday at a US military base, the interior ministry said. The ministry said in a statement on Twitter that the soldier, who was not named, used his personal gun to kill himself while on duty. The Pentagon confirmed the death of a US soldier in a “non-combat related incident” in Kuwait, without elaborating. The interior ministry said the soldier was rushed to a

Continued on Page 37

Continued on Page 37

Defense pick Mattis wary of Iran ‘Eager for fight’ WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (Agencies): In November 2012, shortly before the White House ended his tenure commanding US forces in the Middle East, Marine Gen James Mattis delivered an urgent message to his boss: An Iranian fighter jet had fired errantly on a US drone flying over the Arabian Gulf. In considering how the US should respond, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta took into account a central feature of Mattis’ reputation — his nerve. “I could sense that Mattis did not want to back down,” Panetta recounted in his memoir, “Worthy Fights.” “And that the White House was wary of his resolve. As I already knew, the White House didn’t fully trust Mattis, regarding him as too eager for a military confrontation with Iran.”

Faded That crisis faded. But Mattis now stands on the brink of becoming Pentagon chief for a president-elect, Donald Trump, who has pledged to toughen US policy toward Iran. That could have broad implications as the incoming Trump administration weighs trying to modify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reconfigure the American posture in the Middle East after complaints from US allies that President Barack Obama yielded too much ground to Tehran. Mattis told Congress on Thursday the United States must be ready to confront Russian behavior in areas where the two countries cannot cooperate, even as he backed Trump’s bid to engage with Moscow. Mattis, poised to become the first career military officer to lead the Pentagon since the 1950s, said Thursday he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to “break” the NATO alliance that has anchored American and European security for more than half a century.

Threats At his Senate confirmation hearing, Mattis portrayed Russia as a strategic adversary and placed it at No. 1 on his list of security threats. He said the history of US-Russian relations is short on successful efforts at lasting cooperation, something President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to pursue. Mattis said he agrees with thrust of Trump’s plan to increase the size of the US military, but their views on Russia appeared at odds. Trump has repeatedly emphasized his hope for good relations with Putin, even as US intelligence agencies have accused the Russian leader of orchestrating a campaign of interference in the 2016 US election. Of Putin, said Mattis, a former NATO military leader: “He is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance.” He said he has explained to Trump his views on Russia, which include a deep worry that Moscow is determined to create a sphere of unstable states on its periphery through intimidation. Mattis said he supports the Obama administration’s moves to reassure European allies after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and military activity in eastern Ukraine. While the US should Continued on Page 37

Defense Secretary nominee retired Marine Corps Gen James Mattis arrives at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, on Jan 12, in Washington, DC. Gen Mattis will need a waiver from Congress to bypass a law prohibiting recently retired military officers from serving as defense secretary. (AFP)

16,000 Iraqis killed in 2016

Iraqi forces link in Mosul BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq, Jan 12, (Agencies): Iraqi forces joined flanks in northern Mosul and drove back Islamic State militants in the southeast on Thursday in a renewed push that has brought them closer to controlling the eastern half of the city. Forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) took control of 7th Nissan and Sadeeq districts, linking up with army troops that had pushed through al-Hadba neighbourhood, CTS spokesman Sabah alNuman told Reuters. “This is considered contact between the troops of the northern front and CTS. This ... will prevent any gap between the axes which the enemy could use,” he said by phone. “The enemy is now located only in front of the troops, not at their sides.” Numan said more than 85 percent of eastern Mosul was now under control of pro-government forces, up from nearly 75 percent a week ago. Brett McGurk, Washington’s envoy to the US-led coalition backing the Iraqi offensive with air strikes, training and advice, called the link-up a “milestone” and said in

a tweet that Islamic State’s defences were weakening. The campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State’s last major stronghold in Iraq and the largest urban centre anywhere in the sprawling territory it once controlled, has pushed ahead with renewed vigour since the turn of the year after troops got bogged down inside the city in late November and December. New tactics, including a night raid, better defences against suicide car bomb attacks and improved coordination between the army and security forces operating on different fronts, have helped forge momentum, US and Iraqi officers say. When it launched the offensive in October, the Iraqi government hoped to have retaken the city by the end of 2016, but Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in December it could now take another three months to drive the militants out. Iraq’s militarised federal police and rapid response division, an elite Interior Ministry unit, are also battling Islamic State inside Mosul. Continued on Page 37

Newswatch MOSCOW: Russian investigators on Thursday launched a probe after a shootout in a village in Chechnya ended with six people dead including two soldiers, and many people arrested. The clashes in the village of Tsotsi-Yurt, not far from the region’s main city Grozny, happened on Wednesday. The Investigative Committee’s branch in Chechnya said Thursday that a security raid in the village led to a shootout that killed four suspected militants and two soldiers from the Russian national guard. The region’s chief Ramzan Kadyrov on Tuesday said “dozens of bandits and their accomplices” had been

Continued on Page 37

US eyes tech-visa overhaul WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (AFP): Facebook announced Wednesday the creation of a Journalism Project aimed at fostering “a healthy news ecosystem” and curbing the spread of fake news. The move comes with the world’s leading social network under intense pressure for allowing misinformation to flourish and sometimes go viral, with some critics claiming fake news affected the US presidential election. While Facebook has dismissed claims that it is a “media company,” the social network said its new effort aims to boost credibility of information it circulates. “We know that our community values sharing and discussing ideas and news, and as a part of our service, we care a great deal about making sure that a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive,” project director Fidji Simo said in a blog post.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 12, (RTRS): President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has been actively considering ways to revamp a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill highskilled jobs, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Possibilities for reforming the distribution of H-1B visas, which are used largely by the tech industry, were discussed at a meeting last month with chief executives of tech companies at Trump Tower, said two sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to talk about the closeddoor talks. Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller proposed scrapping the existing lottery system used to award the visas. A possible replacement system would favor visa petitions for jobs that pay the highest salaries, according to the sources. H-1B visas are intended for foreign nationals in “specialty” occupations that generally require higher education, which according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) includes, but is not limited to, scientists, engineers or computer programmers. The government awards 65,000 every year.

Continued on Page 37

Continued on Page 37

‘Facebook’ will fight fake news

Syria ceasefire holding

Ahmad Suroor — KUNA

Full moon overtakes the sky in Kuwait.

GENEVA, Jan 12, (Agencies): The ceasefire in the Syria war is holding for the most part but humanitarian aid is still not getting through to besieged areas where food is running out, the UN envoy said on Thursday. Envoy Staffan de Mistura voiced

concern that 23 buses and Syrian drivers used in recent evacuations were being stopped from leaving the villages of Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province by armed groups. He called for them to be allowed to leave. Continued on Page 37

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The parliamentary Women and Family Affairs Committee discussed Thursday the alleged suspension of assistance granted to Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis. During the meeting, Committee Rapporteur MP Safa Al-Hashem called on the Ministry of Social Affairs to reconsider its decision to stop supporting these women. She asserted the ministry should refer those proven to have committed forgery to the Public Prosecution rather than canceling support for the whole sector. She added the committee will invite Credit Bank officials to a discussion on the housing loan for women, while arrangements have been made with the Central Prison administration for the committee to visit the women’s prison. Proposal Meanwhile, MP Ahmed Nabil Al-Fadel presented a proposal for taxi companies to prioritize Bedouns in hiring drivers. He called on the Interior Ministry to facilitate the issuance of driving licenses to Bedouns in order to stop exploitation of these people just because of difficulties in obtaining a license. In the same vein, MP Khalid Al-Shatti expressed deep regret for Bedouns’ suffering which has been going on for decades. He stressed the need to address the issue quickly. He pointed out that Bedouns have been in a difficult situation for a long time, urging the government to take the necessary action to grant citizenship to deserving Bedouns. He voiced objection to what he considers continuous abuse of Bedouns who deserve citizenship, especially those included in the 1965 Census. On the other hand, AlShatti called for naturalization of children born to Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, explaining the Constitution does not discriminate between men and women in terms of their rights. He said the executive and legislative authorities have agreed on granting citizenship to this category. Confirmed In another development, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee MP Adel Al-Damkhi confirmed that they will conduct a thorough investigation on observations made during prison visits soon after receiving official instruction from the National Assembly. He disclosed the situation in the women’s prison is much better than the men’s prison. He said they discovered that 24 out of 190 female prisoners are citizens, adding that they will also address issues related to conjugal visits particularly the suggestion to allow prisoners to spend private time with their spouses in the family home. He added the Deportation Center is crowded due to the long process stressing the need to solve this problem.

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US$/KD 0.30540/50

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Euro/KD 0.325

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Yen/KD 0.0027

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British £/KD 0.3719

▲ KSE +77.27 pts at closing Jan 12 See Page 35

▼ Dow -100.27 pts at 21:40 Jan 12 See Page 36

▼ Nasdaq -32.20 pts at 21:40 Jan 12 ▲ FTSE +1.88 pts at closing Jan 12 ▼ Nikkei -229.97 pts at closing Jan 12 ▲ Gold $1,205.05 per oz (London) ▲

NYMEX crude $53.01 pb

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Brent crude $56.08 pb 3-month $ LIBOR rate 1.02178%

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

LOCAL

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Headmistress of kindergarten school issues decision to transfer 4 top officials

CSC urged to reconsider ban on MoE staff’s periodic vacations KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Following the news report published recently about the ban of Ministry of Education on providing periodic vacations to Bedoun employees who are working on wage system, a survey was carried out by the Al-Seyassah daily on “Twitter” social networking website in this regard. About

90 percent of the educational personnel who participated in the survey rejected the decision, describing it as “inhumane” and stressing that this category of employees should have the right to take emergency leaves, maternity leaves and so on, reports AlSeyassah daily. The participants urged the Civ-

il Service Commission (CSC) to reconsider its decision. Meanwhile, informed sources from the educational sector revealed that the headmistress (of undisclosed identity) of a kindergarten school affiliated to Farwaniya Educational Zone took some illegal actions against four executive officials of the school

and issued a decision to transfer them from Al-Jawzaa Kindergarten School in Sabah Al-Nasser to another school in Khaitan. They revealed that the four executive officials have filed a complaint with the relevant supervisor against the headmistress, demanding that she be referred for investigations.

Experts slam law obliging expats to deal with 3 ‘private hospitals’ ‘Differentiating private-public sector employees violates A 29 of Constitution’ By Najeh Bilal Al-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Politicians and legal experts have criticized law obliging expatriates working in private sector to deal with three specific private hospitals as a violation of the Kuwaiti Constitution.

A photo from the event

‘Jatiya’ honors president, vice-president for being elected executive members of central committee KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Jatiya Party — Kuwait Chapter hosted a public reception in honor of the President and Vice-President of the party Haji Mahmud Ali and Faruk ul Islam respectively for their outstanding achievement in being elected as the executive members of the Central Committee of Jatiya Party Bangladesh. According to a press release, the reception was held at Gulshan Hotel in Kuwait City on Dec 1, 2016. It was presided over by the Senior Vice-President Lutfur Rahman (Ludai Miah) and presented by the General Secretary Hazrat Ali Mallik. The program commenced with recitation of verses from the Holy Quran by Moulana Kaiser Ahmed. The honorable personalities on the podium were the newly elected executive members of the Central Committee of Jatiya Party Bangladesh Haji Mahmud Ali and Faruk ul Islam, Vice-President Mohammad Ismail, VicePresident Nasiruddin, Convener of Jatiya Party Fahaheel Branch Asaduddin, renowned educationalist Dr Shahjahan, journalist and Ajker Surjodoy Bureau Chief Mohammad Yakub, renowned businessman Alhaj Juber Ahmed, leading businessman Shahidul Is-

lam (Papul), Director of N.R.B. Bank and Morning Glory School Chairman Sheikh Akramuzzaman Bangabandhu Parisad’s president, Awami League leader Faiz Kamal, businessman Sultan Ahmad and literary Mohammad Ali Azam. Crests of honor were presented to Haji Mahmud Ali and Faruk ul Islam by the head of the program and the distinguished individuals. Speakers at the event highly commended the achievement of Haji Mahmud Ali and Faruk ul Islam and wished them the best. They also expressed hearty gratitude to the former president and Party Chairman “Palli Bandhu” Hossain Mohammad Ershad — one of the pioneers of the economic development of Bangladesh. In response, Haji Mahmud Ali gave an emotional speech in which he thanked everyone especially the Party Chairman “Palli Bandhu” Hossain Mohammad Ershad. He committed his “up-to last breath” dedication in honor of the trust and responsibility bestowed on him by the party especially the honorable party chief. He demanded the present government of Bangladesh to free “Palli Bandhu” Hossain Moham-

mad Ershad from all false and fabricated legal allegations, adding, “There is no alternative to that for ensuring a fair political atmosphere in Bangladesh”. The event ended with a speech delivered by the president which was followed by a celebratory feast. Organizing Secretary of the party Faruk Ahmed, Haji Aftab Ali, Amzad Hosen, Mohammad Hasan, Shifat Mallik, Convener of Jatiya Jubo Sanghati Fazlul Haque, executive members — Abdur Rouf Khan (Titu), Saiful Islam and all leaders, activists of Jubo Sanghati, Jatiya Party Kuwait Chapter and all its branch committees were present at the auspicious ceremony. The attendees also included President of Sylhet Divisional Writers’ Forum M.A. Malik, Probasi Sahittya President Murshed Alam Badal, Zafar Ahmad Chowdhury, Awami League leader Ashrak Ali (Ferdous), Nazrul Islam, Abdus Salim, Azad Miah (member), Hosen Murad Chowdhury, Mohammad Zahedul Haque, Samsul Islam, Kamal uddin, Ala Hosen, Sumon, Taz uddin and other leaders of Bengali community, heads of political, social and cultural organizations and online and print media leaders.

Chairman of Kuwait Society for the Development of Democracy Nasser Al-Abdali said it’s not acceptable to force expatriates to deal with three specific private hospitals as long as they pay health insurance fees to the State, and “it’s up to the expatriate to choose the hospital he wants to visit whether in the private or public sector”. Lawyer Hamdan al-Namshan said obliging expatriates who work in private sector and their families to receive medical treatment in three hospitals operated on Public Private Partnership will fortify monopoly to the detriment of the masses. He pointed out that differentiating private sector employees and public sector employees violates Article 29 of the Constitution that states “all people are equal before the law and there is no difference between them based on gender, origin, language or religion”. Al-Namshan objected to the decision to raise the cost of the health insurance for expatriates from KD 50 up to KD 130, stressing the current fee of KD 50 is too much and constitutes burden to expatriates. He wondered about the sudden decision to raise health insurance fees for expatriates, especially as the money will land into the pockets of few people owning three specific hospitals. For his part, Chairman of the International Islamic Organization for Human Rights Mubarak Al-Mutawa said the decision violates Article 29 of the Kuwaiti Constitution, and that the three private hospitals must be closely monitored to prevent any abuse of expatriates.

Kuwait Mopar Club, which is affiliated to the Historical, Vintage and Classical Cars Museum, organized the vintage and classical vehicles exhibition in the College of Aviation Technology. The exhibition was held in coordination

with Head of Student Affairs Department Eng Ayman Al-Jumuah. Several owners of vintage and classical vehicles participated in the event which attracted a large number of students in the college.

mp profile getting to know you Voting Record ■ Electricity and Water Tariffs (2016), approved ■ Financial Controllers (auditors) Talal Jallal Al-Sahli (2016), approved (Tribal/ Independent) ■ Domestic Workers and Domestic Workers Recruitment (2015), Fifth Constituency approved TALAL JALLAL AL-SAHLI was ■ Consumer Protection (2015), born in 1972 and holds a bachapproved ■ Anti-Corruption (2015), apelor’s degree in Law. He is a lawproved yer, member of the Central Tenders ■ Cyber Crime (2015), approved Committee and deputy secretary ■ Surveillance Camera (2015), general of the Gulf Union of Lawapproved yers. He was a member of the 2013 ■ Military Service-conscription Parliament. (2015), approved Al-Sahli is a second■ DNA Law (2015), aptime MP and he belongs proved ■ Granting Citizenship to to Al-Suhoul Tribe. In 4,000 Bedouns Bill (2013), the November 2016 elecabsent tion, he won fourth place ■ Anti-Money Laundering in his constituency with and Financing Terrorism Bill 4,299 votes; ahead of his (2013), absent rival Faisal Al-Kandari ■ Writing-off Loan Interests who got 4,114 votes. In of Citizens Bill (2013), abthe previous Parliament, stained Al-Sahli was a member ■ Unemployment Insurance Al-Sahli Bill (2013), approved of the Petitions and Com■ Small and Medium Enterprises plaints and Public Utilities comBill (2013), approved mittees while in the current parlia■ One Vote Decree Bill (2013), ment, he was elected member of the rejected Health, Social Affairs and Labor ■ National Unity Decree Bill and Housing Affairs committees. (2013), rejected ■ Amendment Decree of the Statement Sport Law (2013), rejected In his first statement after win■ Anti-Corruption and Financial Disclosure Decree (2013), rening a parliamentary seat in 2013, jected Al-Sahli said he appreciates the ■ Annual Plan for 2011/2012 level of honor bestowed on him (2013), rejected by the people who voted for him. ■ Foreign Agreements (2013), He urged HH the Prime Minister approved to select competent and qualified ■ Amendment of Housing Care personalities for his government, Law (2013), approved hoping the incoming government ■ Privatization of Kuwait Airways will enjoy cordial relationship with Corporation Law (2013), approved

the lawmakers. He added that citizens wish the two authorities will work towards development of the country. He also wished for a better relationship between the two authorities as this will guarantee success

in the next stage, especially after several years which were marred with negligence and anarchy at all levels.

Municipality not to engage services of top officials KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Kuwait Municipality will not engage the services of top officials who retired with Cabinet’s approval, reports Al-Rai daily. The daily quoting a source added the top officials in question have filed grievances with Civil Service Commission (CSC) con-

cerning failure to rehire them as assistant ministry undersecretaries, and CSC has since referred their grievances to Kuwait Municipality. He indicated the Municipality in a previous letter had said that Cabinet knew of the minister’s desire to renew appointments.

Kuwait Today Prayer Timings Fajr .................................................................... 05:20 Sunrise ............................................................... 06:44 Zohr .................................................................... 11:57 Asr ....................................................................... 14:51 Maghrib ............................................................. 17:11 Isha .................................................................... 18:32 By Night: Partly cloudy with light to moderate freshening gradually at times north westerly wind, with speed of 15-40 km/h. By Day: Sunny with light to moderate freshening gradually at times north westerly wind, with speed of 15-40 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear later on. Station Max Min Exp Rec Kuwait City 21 12 Kuwait Airport 22 10 Abdaly 22 07 Bubyan 21 09 Jahra 22 10 Failaka Island 20 09 Salmiyah 19 12 Ahmadi 19 13 Nuwaisib 22 10 Wafra 22 10 Salmy 22 06

4 days forecast - Weather Friday, Jan 13 Expected weather ............... Sunny + scattered clouds Max Temp.............................................................. 21C Min Temp............................................................... 10C Wind Direction ........................................................ NW Wind Speed ................................................ 12-35 km/h Saturday, Jan 14 Expected weather ...............................................Sunny Max Temp.............................................................. 20C Min Temp............................................................... 09C Wind Direction ........................................................ NW Wind Speed ................................................ 15-35 km/h Sunday, Jan 15 Expected weather .................................... Mostly sunny Max Temp.............................................................. 19C Min Temp............................................................... 09C Wind Direction .................................................VRB-SE Wind Speed ................................................ 08-26 km/h Monday, Jan 16 Expected weather ................ Sunny + scattered clouds Max Temp.............................................................. 21C Min Temp............................................................... 12C Wind Direction ......................................................... SE Wind Speed ................................................ 08-28 km/h

Marine Forecast Station South Dolphin South Dolphin

Max Min Rec Exp 19 18

12 12

Sea Surf 15 15

Ht 4ft 6ft

Today’s Waves Direction SE SE

Umm Mudayrah Beacon M28 Beacon N6 Qaruh Island Umm Al-Maradem Sea Island Buoy Salmiyah

19 20 18 19 19

15 11 15 15 13

17 -

6ft 6ft 6ft 6ft 6ft 6ft

SE SE SE SE SE SE

4 days forecast - Marine Friday, Jan 13 Expected weather ............... Sunny + scattered clouds Sea state ........................................Slight to moderate Wave height.........................................................2-5 ft Max Temp............................................................. 21C Min Temp.............................................................. 10C Wind Direction .......................................................NW Wind Speed ...............................................12-35 km/h Saturday, Jan 14 Expected weather ..............................................Sunny Sea state ......................................................Moderate Wave height.........................................................3-5 ft Max Temp............................................................. 20C Min Temp.............................................................. 09C Wind Direction .......................................................NW Wind Speed ...............................................15-35 km/h Sunday, Jan 15 Expected weather ...................................Mostly sunny Sea state ........................................Slight to moderate Wave height.........................................................1-4 ft Max Temp............................................................. 19C Min Temp.............................................................. 09C Wind Direction ................................................VRB-SE Wind Speed ...............................................08-26 km/h Monday, Jan 16 Expected weather ............... Sunny + scattered clouds

Sea state ........................................Slight to moderate Wave height.........................................................1-4 ft Max Temp............................................................. 21C Min Temp.............................................................. 12C Wind Direction ........................................................ SE Wind Speed ...............................................08-28 km/h

Tide times at Shuwaikh Port 1st high tide: .......................................................12:41 2nd high tide: ......................................................23:10 1st low tide:.........................................................17:50 2nd low tide: .......................................................06:55 Sunrise: ..............................................................06:44 Sunset: ...............................................................17:09

Recorded yesterday at Kuwait Airport Max temp .............................................................. 21C Min temp ............................................................... 11C Max Rh .................................................................57% Min Rh ..................................................................24% Max Wind.....................................................N 28 km/h Total Rainfall in 24 hrs ........................................0 mm

Recorded yesterday at South Dolphin Min/Max/ Air Temp .......................................... 13/18C Min/Max Rel Hum ............................................40/69% Wind Direction/Wind Speed.........................N/38 km/h Prev Wave Dir/Max Wave Ht .............................. N/1 ft Min/Max Sea Surface Temp ........................... 14/15 C Sea Current ................................................. Upwelling

— Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Dept.

deaths Shah Zanan Ali Murtatha Al-Safaar, 85 years old, widow of Abdul Latif Mulla Juma Al-Khateeb, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Al-Wazzan Mosque, West Mishref, Opp International Ground Fairs, Tel: 99031068 / 99101922. (Women) Da’iya, Block 2, of 2nd. Ring Road Huseiniyat Abu Al-Fathel Al-Abbas, Tel: 99155420. Fatima Bezai Al-Yaseen, 95 years old, widow of Yasin Mhalhal Al-Yasin, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Shuwaikh, Diwan Al-Qanaat, Block 3, Khawla Street, Tel: 24843681. (Women) Shuwaikh, Block 5, Street 55, House 6, Tel: 24844316. Haji Husein Husein Al-Meqaisseed, 65 years old, buried on Thursday. Condolences: (Men) Bneid Al-Gar, Husainiyat Ahmad Ashour, Tel: 65990077. (Women) Bneid Al-Gar, Huseiniyat Sayed Ali Al-Musawi, Tel: 66966222. Naema Mohammad Othman Al-Othman, 87 years old, widow of Khaled Othman Al-Sheqaih, to be buried on Friday at 09:00 am. Condolences: (Men) Rawda, Block 2, Street 24, House 35, Tel: 66267200. (Women) Hiteen, Block 1, Street 102, House 18, Tel: 50200103. Badriya Ahmad Al-Abdullah, widow of Ghanim Saqer Al-Ghanim, 95 years old, to be buried on Friday, after Asr prayers. Condolences: (Men) Faiha, Diwan Al-Ghanim, Tel: 66038884 / 97693395. (Women) Sabah Al-Salem, Block 4, Street 10, House 15, Tel: 97289404. Noora Methker Humoud, 72 years old, widow of Jasem Faris Al-Faris Al-Shamari, to be buried on Friday after Asr prayers. Condolences: (Men) Qairawan, Block 3, Street 311, House 6, Tel: 98004000. (Women) Andalus, Block 6, Street 9, House 14, Tel: 99616124.

Jaunary 12, 2017

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

LOCAL

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Al-Shall Report Real estate market liquidity drops in 2016

‘Corruption, waste two devastating pests’ 2015). Number of active accounts in the end of December 2016 scored 15,603 or 4.2% of total accounts, versus 25,844 accounts in the end of December 2015, or 7.1% of total accounts.

Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority etween the first establishment of B the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority on 19/11/2012 and the talk today about referring its Board of Trustees to retirement or to a probing committee, i.e. the option of killing it by the knockout blow or its defeat by points, as in wrestling, there are about 4 years and two months (50 months). During this period corruption peaked despite the numerous entities fighting it such as the State Audit Bureau, Financial Controllers, the parliamentary Protection of Public Funds Committee and the private Protection of Public Funds Committee, which are supporting entities to the work of the Anti-corruption Authority. Before November 2012, the government dismissed most of the Capital Markets Authority members and suspended its work for several precious years. After that, the Constitutional Court revoked the mandate of two National Assemblies because of governmental procedural errors. Before and after that, all development plans failed and all financial and economic reform policies despite the huge expenses of consulting that the government received, says Al-Shall Economic

Boursa Kuwait Performance vis-à-vis Foreign Financial Markets

Report prepared by Al-Shall Consulting Co headed by Jassem Al-Saadoun. Over and above what have been said, the government was responsible for the foregoing, however, everything else changed and it remained firm. The procedural error or choice error is its creation. Unless authority is associated with responsibility for accountability there is no hope for the stability or completion of any of these authorities and there is no use from advice or consulting. We are not in a position to defend the Anti-corruption Authority neither are we in belligerency with it. But after 50 months of its founding, it cost the public treasury a lot of funds. No achievements in confronting corruption. Nevertheless, the mechanism of transforming its management has become so simple by the same government and what value do all similar institutions have? The basic principle is to maintain the prestige of such institutions, while the aim of criticizing it and from the highest authorities is only to put those institutions in self-defense mode rather than being in an offensive mode to achieve its ends. In France and Italy, a President and a Prime Minister were jailed; in South Korea and Brazil, two Presidents were dismissed; in Germany and Britain two Ministers of Defense were dismissed due to indirect accusations, all of them were accused with corruption. There are no watch dogs in all these countries or supervision institutions as in Kuwait. But they have good values systems and interchanging governance governments. The reason for this severity in these states is not vengeance from a corrupt person but a real belief that responsibility begins from the top to be a lesson and example and that development and growth cannot be built on corrupt bases. Its remedy begins from the top of the administrative pyramid. While in Kuwait we overdraw building structures then we take off their teeth and claws while insisting on keeping them as a form without content. And later on to be developed to load and cost and quotas in appointing its leaders and some big corruptors have a major stake therein. During the prosperity of the oil market, it was possible to conceal many sins like the lack of relationship between appointment and the need of work in the public sector or the lack of relationship between wages and productivity and like the exaggeration in the cost of bargaining political loyalty or allegiance, etc. That has become almost impossible in our present times and in the visible future. Corruption and waste are two devastating pests and the country’s future may not stabilize unless they are confronted firmly. The way that Anti-Corruption Authority is treated is a wrong pattern that will keep it paralyzed and will recur with similar entities. If there is hope about development and reform, the responsibility should be respected and kept alongside with the power. Reward and punishment should not exclude anyone. Hostility among the Authority’s Board of Trustees is the outcome of corruption institution’s superiority and the result of the abusive quota style of the government forming its board of trustees. If reform is the target, it

Photo by Bassam Abu Shanab

Kuwait bourse staged a strong rally during the week lifting the price index to a 16-month high amid bullish sentiment even as volume turnover hits multi-year peak.

should start with the government, the crises maker.

Local Real Estate Market 2016 2016 ended with negative liquidity outcome. According to available data, released by the Ministry of Justice -Real Estate Registration and Authentication Department-, market liquidity dropped to KD 2,499.2 million, i.e. -24.7% of 2015 liquidity which was in the amount of KD 3,317.8 million. Liquidity in the second half of the year scored KD 1,121.7 million (KD 1,377.5 million for the first half), this indicates a likely trend of continued drop in 2017 especially if the rise in the interest rate is sustained. The above graph shows the performance of the real estate market in the past 15 years. Its rise began in 2002-2003 and its liquidity then scored KD 2,828 million. Weakness indicators began to appear in 2004 and 2005 and liquidity scored KD 2,231 million. Once again, liquidity began to improve in 2006 though it was a correction year in the regional capital markets and Kuwait stock exchange. It continued to rise until liquidity scored KD 4,447 million in 2007. But it dropped again in 2008 and continued to retreat in 2009 which achieved the lowest level since 2002 without calculating the impact of inflation. It recovered in 2010 and continued until 2014 and liquidity scored its highest figure during the period 2002-2016. It began to decline in 2015 and liquidity scored KD 3,318 million and continued in 2016 and scored KD 2,499.2 million. Private housing liquidity dropped in 2016 and scored for both contracts and agencies about KD 1,022 million. Its relative contribution to liquidity formed 40.9%, less than 44.4% of its 2015 contribution. Drop percentage vis-à-vis 2015 scored -30.7% compared with 2015. Likewise, trading of the investment housing dropped to about KD 861.9 million, which was coupled with a drop in its contribution to liquidity to 34.5% in 2016 (41% in 2015). Drop in the liquidity of investment housing scored -36.6% compared with 2015. Housing of both private and investment captured 75.3% of real estate market liquidity in 2016, leaving about 24.7% of liquidity to the com-

mercial activity and warehouses. Commercial activity rose and achieved KD 600.1 million, 31.8% rise. The contribution to total market liquidity increased to 24% in 2016, while its contribution to liquidity was 13.7% of market liquidity in 2015. This is logical because it was not affected by price inflation during oil market prosperity era. Average value of one deal in the end of 2016 for private housing dropped to KD 332,000 down from KD 352,000 in 2015. Likewise, the average value of one deal of investment housing dropped sharply to about KD 644,600 from KD 862,600. The average price of the commercial deal is KD 5.715 million up from KD 4.509 million in 2015. The general per deal average dropped in all real estate sector trading in 2016 by -2.1%. We note that the second half of 2016 witnessed drop in the market liquidity and liquidity may contain in dropping in the first half of 2017. Its liquidity will be affected negatively by the contracting monetary policy as we mentioned, but it may be supported by improved oil market conditions and cooling down geopolitical events.

Trading Features at Boursa Kuwait 2016 Kuwait Clearing Company issued its report titled “Trading Volume According to Nationality” for the period of 01/01/2016 to 31/12/2016, which was published on Boursa Kuwait official website. The report indicated that individual investors are still the prevailing group though their share is declining; they captured 46% of total value of sold shares (48.9% for 2015) and 42.1% of total value of purchased shares (45.4% for 2015). Individual investors sold shares worth KD 1.325 billion and purchased shares worth KD 1.213 billion with a net trading, more selling, by KD 111.692 million. Corporations and companies sector captured 32.4% of total value of purchased shares (30% for 2015) and 26.2% of total value of sold shares (26.5% for 2015). The sector purchased shares worth KD 933.330 million while sold shares worth KD 754.078 million with a net trading, more purchasing, by KD 179.251 million. The third contributor to market liquidity is the clients’ accounts sector (portfolios), which captured 18.7% of total value of sold shares (15.6% for 2015) and 16.3% of total value of purchased shares (14.9% for 2015). The sector sold shares worth KD 538.107 million and purchased shares worth KD 469.305 million, with a net trading, selling, by KD 68.802 million. The last contributor to liquidity is the investment funds sector which captured 9.2% of total value of purchased shares (9.8% for 2015) and

9.1% of total value of sold shares (9% for 2015). This sector purchased shares worth KD 264.544 million and sold shares worth KD 263.302 million, with a net trading, purchasing, by KD 1.242 million. Boursa Kuwait continues to be a domestic boursa with Kuwaiti traders forming the biggest trading group and purchased shares worth KD 2.501 billion capturing 86.8% of total value of purchased shares, (84.9% for 2015), and sold shares worth KD 2.481 billion, capturing 86.1% of total value of sold shares (85.9% for 2015). As such, their net trading, purchasing, by KD 19.755 million. Other investors share, out of total value of sold shares scored 10.8%, (10.4% for 2015), worth KD 311.731 million and they purchased shares worth KD 268.843 million, or by 9.3% of total value of purchased shares (10.7% for 2015); thus, their net trading value, the only one selling, by KD 42.889 million. GCC Investors’ share, out of total value of purchased shares scored 3.8% (4.4% for 2015), worth KD 110.771 million, while their total value of sold shares scored 3% (3.7% for 2015), worth KD 87.638 million. Their net trading was, more purchasing, by KD 23.133 million. Relative distribution among nationalities changed slightly from the previous period; 86.5% for Kuwaitis, 10.1% for traders from other nationalities, and 3.4% for GCC traders versus 85.4% for Kuwaitis, 10.6% for other nationalities and 4.1% for GCC traders, for 2015. This means Boursa Kuwait remained domestic though with more trading by foreign and investors from outside the GCC than from the GCC with trading prevalence to individuals. Number of active accounts between the end of December 2015 and the end of December 2016 dropped by -39.6%, (dropped by -57.6% between the end of December 2014 and the end of December

The performance of World markets indices during 2016 mingled by 2016 performance for the (Morgan Stanley Capital International, the “MSCI”) index. The world index rose by 2.4% in the end of the year versus a drop in the indicator itself in 2015 by -2.7%. The “MSCI” increased also for American market by 8.4%. The weight of the American market and its impact are quite extensive on the rest of other markets. The comprehensive index for the two Americas rose by 6.6%. But MSCI index including Europe dropped by -8.5%. And if we exclude UK, the index itself dropped by -5.6%. The situation of Asia was similar to most European markets. MSCI index for Asia/the Pacific dropped by -2.1% compared with -4.3% drop for 2015. The Japanese index rose by 8.2%. Global markets index dropped to about -5.6% if we exclude the US market. This reflexes the weight of the US market in making the index as reference above. The Graph (1) shows the performance of the continents, according to the “MSCI” indexes until the end of 2016, and comparing this performance with it in the end of 2015. Graph (2) displays the comparative performance of growth (or decline) indicators, to a select group of financial markets, (16 financial markets), during 2016, according to the latest available from the “Financial Times”, including Boursa Kuwait, without taking exchange rate movements into account. When compared to 2015 year, 11 markets raised out of 16 markets, while the Boursa Kuwait index fell, according to AlShall index and occupied the 13th place, with a slight decrease of about -0.8%, (-17.6% and in the 16th place -the last- among these markets in the end of 2015). It should be noted that the average rise of all markets listed on the graph, scored 4.7% in the end of 2016 compared with a rise by 0.6%, during 2015. Graph (3) indicates the performance of 12 selected financial markets in the Middle East where all markets achieved positive growth except for Boursa Kuwait which

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Thu Thu Company Name 12/01/’17 05/01/’17 The National Bank Of Kuwait 368.7 368.7 The Gulf Bank 195.0 195.0 Commercial Bank Of Kuwait 362.5 358.2 Al-Ahli Bank Of Kuwait 196.4 196.4 Kuwait International Bank 220.9 212.6 Ahli United Bank 356.6 356.6 Burgan Bank 283.4 283.4 Kuwait Finance House 1270.0 1196.6 Banking Sector 390.0 384.1 Commercial Facilities Co 119.8 114.0 International Financial Advisors 324.2 259.4 National Investments 133.4 122.1 Kuwait Investment Projects 1114.2 1114.2 Coast Investment & Development 62.2 54.0 Investment Sector 324.0 313.5 Kuwait Insurance Company 63.9 61.7 Gulf Insurance Company 410.6 382.1 Al-Ahleia Insurance Company 170.9 170.9 Warba Insurance Company 83.6 83.6 Insurance Sector 151.0 145.0 Kuwait Real Estate Company 114.9 106.7 United Realty Company 197.8 197.8 National Real Estate Company 261.4 256.8

The Weekly Performance of Boursa Kuwait The performance of Boursa Kuwait for the last week, was more active compared to the previous one, where all indexes showed an increase, the traded value index, the traded volume index, number of transactions index, and general index, AlShall Index (value weighted) closed at 374.6 points at the closing of last Thursday, showing an increase of about 5.1 points or about 1.4% compared with its level last week and it increased by 11.6 points or about 3.2% compared with the end of 2016. The following tables summarize last week’s performance of Boursa Kuwait. Description

Week 2 12/01/2017 Working days 5 AlShall index (38 Companies) 374.6 Boursa Kuwait index (price) 6,107.7 Value Trade (KD) 197,282,900 Daily average (KD) 39,456,580 Volume Trade (Shares) 2,755,320,551 Daily average (Shares) 551,064,110 Transactions 44,127 Daily average (Transactions) 8,825

Week 1 Diff 05/01/2017 % 4 369.5 1.4% 5,831.2 4.7% 80,726,974 20,181,743 95.5% 885,556,523 221,389,131 148.9% 18,070 4,518 95.4%

Most Active Sectors & Companies Description Value Traded % of Total Companies KD Market Human Soft Holding Co. K.S.C.C 14,886,958 7.5% Kuwait Finance House 13,278,052 6.7% Alimtiaz Investment Co. K.S.C.C 12,391,129 6.3% Agility Public Warehousing Co. 7,708,489 3.9% Kuwait Food Company (Americana) 6,084,274 3.1% Total 54,348,903 27.5% Description Value Traded % of Total Sectors KD Market Financial Services Sector 59,039,101 29.9% Real Estate Sector 40,219,893 20.4% Industrials Sector 33,976,740 17.2% Banks Sector 30,821,483 15.6% Consumer Goods Sector 10,374,953 5.3% Alshall Index Week 2 Week 1 12/01/2017 05/01/2017 Increased Value (# of Companies) 19 18 Decreased Value (# of Companies) 5 5 Unchanged Value (# of Companies) 14 15 Total Companies 38 38

Jan 5 to Jan 12, 2017

Al-Shall Index # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

achieved the last position within 12 markets in the ME and achieved losses in its index according to AlShall index without adjusting the impact of currencies exchange rate against the US dollar. The un weighted rate of growth/loss scored 16% after declining by around -11.5% in 2015. The Egyptian market came first throughout 2016 rising by about 76.2% without accounting the impact of the floating of the Egyptian pound. The Pakistani market came second by 45.7% rise, and then the Moroccan market which rose by about 30.3%.

Diff Close % 2016 0.0 362.9 0.0 195.0 1.2 349.7 0.0 196.4 3.9 214.7 0.0 361.0 0.0 283.4 6.1 1172.1 1.5 379.3 5.1 112.6 25.0 251.3 9.3 119.5 0.0 1114.2 15.2 52.6 3.3 311.7 3.6 61.7 7.5 382.1 0.0 170.9 0.0 83.6 4.1 145.0 7.7 100.1 0.0 191.7 1.8 238.5

Diff % 1.6 0.0 3.7 0.0 2.9 (1.2) 0.0 8.4 2.8 6.4 29.0 11.6 0.0 18.3 3.9 3.6 7.5 0.0 0.0 4.1 14.8 3.2 9.6

21 Salhiah Real Estate Company 1453.6 Real Estate Sector 207.3 22 The National Industries 119.7 23 Kuwait Cement Co 648.2 24 Refrigeration Industries Co 107.0 25 Gulf Cable & Electrical Industries 163.9 26 Contracting & Marine Services Co 33.6 Industrial Sector 182.8 27 Kuwait National Cinemas 728.2 28 Kuwait Hotels Company 145.8 29 The Public Warehousing Co 2561.4 30 Mobile Telecommunications Co - ZAIN 572.3 31 Safat Energy Co 12.2 Services Sector 862.0 32 Livestock Transport & Trading Co 181.7 33 Danah Aalsafat Foodstuff Company 90.0 34 Kuwait United Poultry Co 65.3 35 Kuwait Food Co 2561.9 Food Sector 888.1 36 Sharjah Cement Co 358.3 37 Gulf Cement Co 322.6 38 Umm Al-Qaiwain Cement Industries 588.6 Non Kuwaiti Companies 228.0 General Index 374.6

1473.8 205.1 112.6 618.1 110.5 153.9 40.3 174.7 740.7 145.8 2522.6 603.6 11.8 874.3 178.3 88.0 65.3 2561.9 887.1 358.3 298.4 588.6 223.8 369.5

(1.4) 1433.4 1.4 1.1 195.8 5.9 6.3 109.0 9.8 4.9 618.1 4.9 (3.2) 110.5 (3.2) 6.5 149.9 9.3 (16.6) 39.1 (14.1) 4.6 172.4 6.0 (1.7) 778.4 (6.4) 0.0 145.8 0.0 1.5 2406.1 6.5 (5.2) 541.1 5.8 3.4 11.1 9.9 (1.4) 822.1 4.9 1.9 178.3 1.9 2.3 89.0 1.1 0.0 65.3 0.0 0.0 2561.9 0.0 0.1 887.2 0.1 0.0 358.3 0.0 8.1 302.4 6.7 0.0 551.8 6.7 1.9 222.6 2.4 1.4 363.0 3.2

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Photo from the event

Faculty of Law at Kuwait University honours debate winners Faculty of Law at Kuwait University held an event in honor of winners of the students’ debates series for 2016/2017 under the patronage and in the presence of Professor Lamal

Faker Al-Nekas. The winners include Dari Adnan Al-Salamah, Rashed Waleed Al-Ibrahim, Ahmed Adel Klendar and Muhammad Waleed Al-Shehab.

At the same event, the participants of Kuwait University Golden Jubilee celebration were honored alongside members of the Law Faculty teams and supervising

teachers. In an address, Professor Al-Nekas expressed joy meeting with the students and teachers outside the academic atmosphere. He

extended appreciation to the participants and organizers of the event, and congratulated the winners on their success. For his part, Assistant Dean of

Students Affairs Dr Abdullah Al-Remaidi said the extracurricular activities improve the practical ability of students and their character development.

Panel formed to hire teachers from Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia Al-Hajri refutes rumors of History Dept shutting down

Proposal allows citizens juggle between 2 jobs KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: MP Majid Al-Mutairi has presented a proposal on allowing citizens to juggle between two jobs in order to help them cope with the rising cost of living, reports Al-Anba daily. Al-Mutairi explained his proposal aims to motivate qualified national workers, invigorate the labor market and achieve social and economic prosperity. Assistant Undersecretary for

Financial Affairs in the Education Ministry Yousef Al-Najaar said the ministry needs 30 female Kuwaiti officers under security contracts in schools and buildings with an estimated total value of KD 240,000, reports Al-Rai daily. In a letter to the State Audit Bureau undersecretary, Al-Najaar disclosed the Central Tenders Committee has agreed to increase the contract value by 14.460 percent.

Meanwhile, Education Ministry Undersecretary Dr Haitham Al-Athari sent a letter to the Civil Service Commission on the ministry’s need for 895 male and female electronic field technicians for the next five years — 85 of whom should have specializations in maintenance, control systems and robotics while the remaining 810 should be specialized in electronic security systems.

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Minister of Education and Higher Education Mohamed Al-Fares recently announced that the ministry will form overseas recruitment committees to hire teachers from Egypt, Jordan and Tunis to teach Math and Physics for academic year 2017/2018, reports AlRai daily. He affirmed that the ministry will hire the needed specialties locally after completion of the overseas recruitment. Educational sources revealed that Syrian teachers may also apply, and that local recruitment committees will welcome Arab nationals in their various specialties to fill vacancies but priority will be given to teachers from the GCC countries before Bedouns and then expatriates. They also revealed the ministry’s intention to appoint Kuwaitis who did not graduate from education colleges, notably those with degrees in Arabic language, science, social studies, kindergarten administration. Intention Meanwhile, Head of the History Department of College of Arts in Kuwait University Dr Abdulhadi Al-Hajri denied the rumors about the intention to close down the department after Ministry of Education refused to appoint graduates from the department to work in the ministry, reports Al-Anba daily. He stressed that, “The History Department is a main pillar of the College of Arts and no one can obscure or cancel its vital role”. Dr Al-Hajri revealed that the academic council agreed to mandate Dr Bunyan Al-Turki to meet Minister of Education and Higher Learning to convey the standpoint of the history department in protest against the ministry’s refusal to appoint its graduates as teachers. He indicated that distinguished universities worldwide consider specializations in humanities as important and vital sections that address thoughts far from the labor market. Dr Al-Hajri explained that, “This is the vision of the department which attempts to instill in the conscience of students the importance of history as a vessel of proper nationality and the principle of national identity and unity through general cultural courses and specialized ones”. He said the declared mission of the department is to prepare generations that possess historical awareness and its subject, so that they are able to preserve the history of its community and its memory at a time when the history of nations are being targeted. Dr Al-Hajri stressed that one of the missions of the history department is to prepare and qualify specialized cadre in historical studies for establishing a Kuwaiti history school which strives to prepare genuine historical studies and researches.

Top: Sheikh Faisal Al-Hamoud with Nabeel Al-Fadhli and (above), with Egyptian parliament ex-Speaker Dr Ahmad Fathi Sorour.

Farwaniya Governor receives visitors Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Al-Hamoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah Thursday received in his office a member of the National Assembly Ahmad Nabeel Al-Fadhli. According to a press release, the two discussed the need for cooperation and coordination between the new members of the legislative authority and the governorates in a manner that reflects positivity on the level of services in order to meet the aspirations and hopes of citizens. They also discussed the need to present ideas and proposals for eliminating obstacles and providing better services in various aspects in a practical manner for Farwaniya Governorate and its residents, as well as for working closely to enhance the role of governorates to achieve the desired objectives. The governor assured MP Al-Fadhli

that he will invite the Members of Parliament in the same way he invited the members of the Cabinet with the aim of enhancing services in Farwaniya Governorate. Meanwhile, Sheikh Faisal Al-Hamoud also met Dr Muthanna Al-Sartawi to honor him for his medical accomplishment — invention of an artificial knee and joints replacement surgery procedure without the need to cut the muscles and ligaments. In addition, the governor received the former speaker of Egyptian Parliament Dr Ahmad Fathi Sorour who is currently on a visit in Kuwait. The two exchanged friendly talks and discussed important cases and issues of mutual interest for both countries. They both agreed that the relations between Kuwait and Egypt is historic, strong and a model to be followed by every country.

No extra charges on Municipality services

Some 3,148 Kuwaitis join govt workforce, says CSC KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (Agencies): Kuwait’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) has employed some 3,148 citizens to work in the government sector, CSC announced Thursday. In a statement to the press, the CSC’s Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Nahla Bin Naji said that the applicants had previously registered with the CSC in search of government jobs. Moreover, she added that the CSC will continue to meet the employment needs of all applicants. On the new group of employees, Bin Naji noted that they will be assigned to government institutions and ministries and are due to begin their service starting Tuesday, Jan 17. Meanwhile, Director of the Civil Service and Public Relations Department Jasim Al-Ruwais noted that the CSC is available to answer any queries regarding the employment process. Meanwhile, Director General of

Kuwait Municipality Engineer Ahmad Al-Manfouhi has said “no extra tariffs will be imposed on services the Municipality renders to citizens”, reports Al-Rai daily. He noted the Ministry of Finance had earlier requested government bodies to conduct a comprehensive study on service charges, and study is underway in that concern. He also said several services will be exempted from tariff prior to the application of e-service project in February. Further more, execution of future development projects that will transform Kuwait to a global commercial and financial hub include the establishment of the largest logistics service center in the Gulf region and creating an environment conducive for business, reports Al-Shahid daily. It contains five programs and 32 development projects to improve air transport system while raising capacity of Kuwait international from 7million passengers to 11.5 million passengers.

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PHF sends medical team to treat injured Syrian refugees in Turkey Kuwait delivers fuel to displaced Iraqis ANKARA, Jan 12, (KUNA): Kuwaiti Patient Helping Fund Society (PHF) is sending a medical team to Reyhanli town in Hatay Province, south of Turkey, to treat wounded Syrian refugees.

Kuwait’s PHF medical team leaving for Turkey.

KUNA photos

KRCS volunteers delivering aid to displaced Iraqis.

Al Masoudi

Dr Souad

Competition entries classified Director of Suad Al-Sabah Publishing and Distribution House Ali Al-Masoudi revealed the entries for the literary and scientific competitions have been classified and edited. He said these entries are now in the hands of judges for evaluation and then the winners will be announced. He added the participants this year are diversified while delegations from some countries competed for the first time. He explained that Sheikh Abdul-

lah Al-Mubarak Scientific Innovation Competition focused on researches about eye illnesses, children’s addiction to computer games and ways to cure it. He added Suad Al-Sabah Literary Competition included three categories – Best Poetry, Best Novel and History of Kuwait Broadcasting Corporation. The competition started 30 years ago and many famous Arab writers took part in it during the earlier stages of their career.

Arab meet examines joint programs

Kuwait to deliver GCC’s message to Iran: Jarallah KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled AlJarallah announced on Thursday that the State of Kuwait would relay a message to Iran from the Gulf Cooperation Council member States. In a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Al-Jarallah said contacts were underway “with the Iranian brothers to set a proper date to deliver that message.” He however stopped short of elaborating on its contents. Al-Jarallah, in December following the GCC summit hosted by Bahrain, declared that Kuwait had conveyed an identical message to Iran “expressing the GCC States’ view regarding the dialogue” with the Islamic Republic. On prospected opening of a NATO bureau in Kuwait, he underscored significance of such a step, “which also signals the alliance concern for security of Kuwait and the region.” The NATO has proposed establishing a center in Kuwait, which has applauded the idea, he said, affirming the country’s readiness to open it soon. NATO has expressed keenness on promoting the relationship with Kuwait. The office in Kuwait will be the first of its kind for the alliance abroad. It will serve the country and regional states, with courses, seminars and workshops and aiding interns. The planned bureau will be result of

an initiative taken by Kuwait in 2011 to set it up in the country. It will be specialized for the Istanbul Initiative states. Meanwhile, the consultancy committee of the Arab Health Council examined at its second meeting, chaired by the State of Kuwait on Thursday, a number of joint schemes in the health sector. Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Kuwait’s assistant undersecretary for legal affairs, said in a statement post the meeting that the participants in the session discussed agenda of the 47th session of the council due on February 28-March 1st. They also examined topics related to the joint health action, pending submission to the joint meeting of the Arab health and environment ministers due on March 2nd. Today’s talks also addressed main topics for the next session of the Arab health council for combating aids (2014-2020) and designating an Arab capital as the Health Capital of 2017. They also dealt with prospected establishment of joint monitors, data base for monitoring epidemics and noncommunicable diseases. The conferees also discussed the Arab Health Day for 2017, combating tobacco, psychological illnesses, fighting narcotics, health of mothers, female adolescents and children in the Arab region.

PHF head of public relations and leader of the team, Hamad Al-Omairi, told KUNA on Thursday that his team will spend three days in Turkey to where they will treat Syrian refugees who have been seriously injured due to airstrikes against Syria’s Aleppo. In addition to medical care, the Kuwaiti team will give moral support to the Syrian refugees and will try to bring cheers to their hearts under these critical circumstances. The Kuwaiti team will pay various visits to medical and psychosocial clinics in the province. Reyhanli is a town and district of Hatay Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, near the country’s border with Syria. Syrian refugees in this town amounts to 130,000, while its local population is merely 90,000. The Turkish government only allows 20 injured Syrian refugees to cross its border daily to receive medical treatment. Meanwhile, Kuwait Red Crescent Society on Thursday distributed 30,000 liters of white fuel to Iraqis who have been displaced from Mosul and taken up refuge in Hassan Sham camp near Irbil. Rezkar Obaid, in charge of the shanty town, told KUNA that the society teams today delivered the white fuel to 1,500 families; 20 liters for each one. Gratitude Obaid expressed gratitude to the State of Kuwait for securing the fuel for the relocated Iraqis, at a time the northern regions are gripped with a cold wave. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Immigration declared that number of the relocated Iraqis has exceeded 17,000 since launch of Ninawa operation in October. Kuwait had previously delivered 30,000 liters of fuel, 300 heaters and 600 mattresses to the displaced in Al-Khazer and Hassan Sham camps since last year. The aid included 170,000 food parcels. Kuwait has distributed food items to around 25,000 Iraqi displaced from Mosul and taken up refuge in Depkh camp, near Irbil. Barazni Charity Foundation, under the supervision of Kuwait general consulate in Irbil, has handed over 3,500 food packages to around 3,500 displaced families (about 25,000 persons). Head of distribution at Barazani Charity Foundation Mohammad Bahaldeen expressed appreciation to the Kuwait for its humanitarian assistance. Kuwait gave out more than 170,000 food baskets last year.

Aviation service charges hike eyed KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Deputy Director General of Aviation Safety and Air Transportation at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (GDCA) Imad AlJalawi disclosed the intention to increase aviation service charges with the state revenue declining to KD 22 million from KD 100 million, reports Al- Anba daily. Speaking to the daily, AlJalawi noted the new charges will cover take-off and landing, security services, building maintenance and aircraft fueling. He added the first phase of e-boarding passenger service will be activated for GCC nationals with their civil ID cards.

Al-Ghanim receives manifesto KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim said on Thursday he had received the government manifesto for the 15th legislative term. Al-Ghanim, in a statement to journalists, said he had submitted the platform to the relevant parliamentary committee. Kuwait Constitution’s Article 98 stipulates that a cabinet, immediately after formation, must submit its manifesto to the National Assembly which in turn could make remarks on it.

Photos by Rizk Toufiq

Colonel Abdulrahman Bin Majid Fateem Al-Dousari held a lunch banquet in Al-Riyadh City to celebrate the recovery of Sheikh Saleh Bin Ghanim Al-Sadlaan from illness, reports Al-Seyassah daily. Present at the event were Dean of Journalism and Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times and Al-Seyassah newspapers Ahmed Al-Jarallah, a number of dignitaries from the city, and several citizens.

Al-Ghanim receives Ambassador Al-Sharekh, trainees KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim received on Thursday Director General of Saud Al-Nasser Al-Sabah Diplomatic Institute Ambassador Abdulaziz

Al-Sharekh, who was accompanied by a number of the institute’s trainees. Al-Ghanim heaped praise on the efforts of the Kuwaiti diplomatic institute, saying it possesses the exper-

tise and efficiency needed to develop diplomatic work. The Parliament Speaker also met with 24 diplomatic hopefuls as they near the completion of their training period.

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DIWANIYA A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION Who will listen to voice of reason?

‘Oman strikes peace chord’ KUNA photo

Mutlaq Al-Sane receives the UAE delegation.

Projects authority receives 3 tenders The Public-Private Partnership Projects Authority is assessing offers it has received for three lucrative projects, the authority’s Director General Mutlaq Al-Sane said on Thursday. Speaking to KUNA while meeting with an economic delegation from the UAE capital of Abdu Dhabi, AlSane noted that the three projects deal with the Al-Zour power station, waste disposal in Kabd area and

renovations in Um-al Haiman station. Moreover, he also revealed that the authority received offers for a recreational center in Aqaila area, which comprises an entertainment complex along with nutrition stores. On other projects, Al-Sane said that the authority has laid the groundwork for a project to revamp nine schools, including nurseries.

Meanwhile, on the UAE delegation’s visit, he said that it was part of efforts to boost bilateral economic ties, which will prove beneficial for both nations. Head of the UAE delegation Khalifa Al-Mansouri said that he was impressed with the success of the partnership between Kuwait’s public and private sectors, adding that the UAE is looking into similar endeavors. (KUNA)

Amir ‘genuinely’ supports humanitarian issues: ICRC Maurer meets leadership on Kuwait trip KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): His tarian issues for his own image,” Maurer, who heads International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sa- the said in an interview with KUNA. bah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is “genMaurer was on a visit to Kuwait yesterday and met with uinely interested” in humanitarian issues, His Highness the Amir, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and believes action in this domain has to Foreign President of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Dr Hilal be detached from politics, ICRC President Al-Sayer, and Chairman of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and Advisor to the Amiri Diwan Peter Maurer said late Wednesday. Dr Abdullah Al-Maatouq. “His Highness the Amir is a leader who is genuinely interested in humanitarian issues. He is not one of those leaders who pretends to be interested in humani-

He thanked His Highness Sheikh Sabah for the great contribution of Kuwait over the last four years particularly in Syria and Iraq. Kuwait hosted three conferences and co-chaired a fourth one, helping Syrians affected by the ongoing crisis in their country since 2011, said the official, adding that Kuwait contributed over US$ three billion to help them. Kuwait has also been offering humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people, affirmed the ICRC President. His Highness the Amir has a “very clear conviction that humanitarian action has to be distinct from political action, and this is immensely helpful today because many actors are politicizing the conflicts,” asserted Maurer. He said that he provided detailed account of how ICRC spent the funds offered by Kuwait over the past three and half years, and His Highness the Amir emphasized “such a clear commitment to humanitarian values and principles, which is a strength to the ICRC.” Maurer said Kuwait, whose relations with ICRC are 26 years old, understood the importance of respecting the law, reunifying families, searching for the missing people and humane treatment of detainees, principles that ICRC followed. Maurer, who flew to Kuwait from Iraq, also said he discussed with the Kuwaiti officials ICRC’s keenness to provide educational services in Somalia, as Kuwait was preparing to host an international conference on education in the African country.

Photos by Bassam Abu Shanab

Top: Deputy FM Khaled Al-Jarallah (left), visits the UAE embassy for condolences as diplomats from other countries (middle and above), pen their sentiments in the condolences book at the embassy.

Deputy FM expresses condolences Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled AlJarallah on Thursday visited the UAE embassy building, expressing condolences on fall of the UAE martyrs. The UAE on Wednesday declared five of its diplomats were killed in a terrorist attack which hit Kandhar, Afghanistan, Tuesday evening. President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan expressed ‘deep sorrow and grief” over the death of the dip-

lomats.’ The UAE victims have been named as Mohammed Ali Zainal AlBastaki, Abdullah Mohammed Essa Obaid Al-Kaabi, Ahmed Rashid Salim Ali Al-Mazroui, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Ahmad Al-Tunaiji and Abdul Hamid Sultan Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Hammadi. They were on a mission to carry out humanitarian, educational and development projects in Afghanistan. (KUNA)

“IT IS needless to say the Sultanate of Oman joining the Islamic Military Coalition to fight terrorism can be seen as a victory for peace in the region, particularly if there are real intentions to halt the current destructive war in Yemen,” columnist and Attorney Hassan Al-Issa wrote for Al-Jarida daily Thursday. “Many people actually wrote about the justifications and the grounds that have resulted in Oman lately joining the Islamic coalition to such an extent we wonder if the Omanis are at last determined to take off the Swiss cloak and relinquish its absolute non-alignment attitude in terms of dealing with the conflict in Yemen? “In other words, would Oman like to embrace the bosom of the GCC amidst some enthusiasm shown by some media which intentionally or unintentionally takes pleasure in pouring oil on fire refer without paying concern to the future of the region — the future of the humans and economy — which is suffering because of the war in Yemen. “As a matter of fact, the Sultanate of Oman is actually called upon at the moment to commit to this Swiss cloak to play its presumed role to narrow the gap of difference between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the war in Yemen. “This war in ‘sad Yemen’ seems to be futile because the attrition of this poor country’s resources is no longer feasible. Yes, it is a poor country in terms of its economic resources, but certainly it is a very rich country in terms of its history. “Such being the case, it looks like all parties which are currently involved in the war of Yemen have at last come to a conviction that it would be impossible for any of the warring parties to achieve overwhelming victory. “Yemen at the moment is facing a catastrophe by all means in the form of a choking famine and shortage of all of basic requirements and the children of the country are paying the price. “This happens while the world is busy with its own problems. Such being the case, we have observed that Yemen as a Al-Issa country and people is in an imperative need of a new initiative based on achieving reconciliation among the warring parties. “In this context, we say the failure of negotiations that were held earlier in Kuwait for reconciliation between the warring parties should not mean that the good offices to be exerted in this regard must be stopped, particularly under the current difficult circumstances and particularly because if the Islamic Republic of Iran with other parties sit around the table of negotiations, we suggest the these talks can take place in the Sultanate of Oman. “In this connection, we implicitly perceive a spirit of optimism to achieve peace in Yemen through the Omani statement that has been issued recently indicating the Sultanate shall spare no efforts in cooperation with the sisterly and the friendly countries to create a regional environment of security and peace. “Given the above, we infer that Oman has clearly emphasized its readiness to play the role of a neutral middleman to achieve peace in Yemen. Based on this neutrality, the Sultanate of Oman will be qualified more than any other country to be the appropriate venue for holding the peaceful negotiations among the warring parties in Yemen. “In the meantime, we should keep in mind that should the war in Yemen continue it will aggravate the depletion of financial resources of the Gulf although these countries are in a dire need of rationalizing their expenditure in view of the collapse of oil prices. “It is evident, sole beneficiary of the war in Yemen are the weapons manufacturers and traders, be they from our countries or foreigners some of whom look like bloodsuckers, sucking the blood of the Yemeni children. “In this connection, we say it is sad and painful to see some Western media talking about the war in Yemen as a war waged by the richest country in the region against the poorest. “I think we at the moment are in an imperative need to speak the language of peace and get the latter supersede the address of the war. But the question is: who will listen to the voice of reason.”

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Maurer, meanwhile, said his visit to Iraq helped create an understanding of the ICRC mission. The visit aims at solving some practical problems with the Iraqi authorities regarding the facilitation of ICRC work, draw attention of the international community to the fact that there is a gap between needs of people and readiness of the international community to help, he said. In Iraq, said Maurer, there were people displaced by violence, returnees who lost their homes and belongings, and all of them went to host communities which cause a strain on social services, hospitals, water supply systems and schools. “Everything is happening at the same time, which increases challenges on our organization,” he said. Maurer met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, President of Iraq’s Kurdistan province Masoud Barzani and Shiite religious leader Ali Sistani and discussed how could those fighting on the ground avoid civilians, and to engage political, religious and military leaders to achieve this objective. He said Kuwait Red Crescent Society donated food parcels that ICRC was distributing in Iraq, part of KRCS’s humanitarian contributions to the needy throughout the region. Iraq is ICRC’s second largest operation worldwide with US$ 127 million worth of funding. Syria is first with US$ 180 million. On Yemen, Maurer said the local community was the poorest in the region, with 70 percent of the population fully dependent on assistance.

“Where will tribalism lead us to particularly given the negative role played by the State?” columnist Dr Ali Al-Zuabi mused for Al-Shahed daily Thursday. “However, what the tribes people, except the tribal politicians have yet to realize shows tribal isolation and augmentation of the tribal spirit is the big danger that shall threaten these people and this can be ascribed to many grounds such as the illusion that the competition should be confined only among the tribal/tribal rivalry either in terms of competition during the Parliament or Municipal elections or even elections to the cooperative societies because this type of competition shall deprive the tribal from any type of competition in the economic or professional field. “For instance, the tribal/tribal rivalry will not enable the parties to ingrain the principles of the social justice and efficiency because the latter contravene the tribal tendencies. “Consequently, we suggest the commitment to the notion of the ‘Civil State’ is the sole security for all Kuwaitis — tribes, clans and sects — because the State is the secure fence to protect Kuwait’s democratic and constitutional acquirements. “Not just that, the State represents a fertile ground that shall help achieve the desires of the citizens and legitimate ambitions. In other words, anyone who sees that a tribe, a sect or a family represents a secure harbor, and then we suggest the relevant person is definitely mistaken and daydreaming. “As such the current economic situation in the country and the security disorder and divisions which currently prevail in the region entail that all of us must relinquish all tribal and sectarian tendencies, particularly since we know the latter will achieve nothing on the ground except pit the citizens against each other. “In the meantime, all of us must keep in mind that Kuwait is bigger than all of us and as such all efforts should be united for the good of the country at all levels before it is too late and keep in mind also that the accumulation of the mistakes will constitute something too painful in the future.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “In November 2015 while I was at an event of

the American Student Association, I accidentally sat beside the Head of the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority. During our conversation, I told him that his mission was but if they managed to succeed, the country will definitely leave the dark tunnel that it is heading towards”, Khalid Ahmad Al-Tarrah wrote for Al-Qabas daily. “He then affirmed that they are going ahead with the plan and that we soon will see and hear good news. However, luck was not in our favor as we did not see or hear that glad news. “The Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority was dissolved based on a court decision. It underwent some obstacles and was torn apart due to internal and external disputes until it reached the extent of the government on the verge of committing the crime of referring the leaders of Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority for retirement. “Why is the significance of Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority that led to most of the people losing their confidence in both the government and the parliament? Actually this authority could have been called successful if we had seen some of the corrupt being referred to their right destination which is the prison. Our confidence in the government and Parliament would have then been restored. “We did not see any achievements of the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority except for some advertisements and few press conferences. Corruption in Kuwait despises the human brain. Everybody is criticizing corruption including the corrupt people. We live in a country where there is corruption without any corrupt people. “Of course we have many other problems that hinder the development of the country. However, corruption is the main issue that the citizens are concerned about. Establishing important bodies for fixing the bad administrative situation in the country, then turning them into mere buildings, granting them lots of benefits and then limiting their power have become an absurd hobby in Kuwait. There are many examples of the outcomes of such a hobby such as the Competition Protection Authority, Public Authority for Human Rights, Public Authority for Elections and Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “While I was watching the interview of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Saad on a French TV channel, I couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to remain as a president when his country is in ruins and half of his people have become refugees while the other half have lost their homes and are suffering from starvation”, Faisal Al-Daham wrote for AlSeyassah daily. “Syria, which Al-Assad pretends he rules, is actually controlled by sectarian militants belonging to Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. Unfortunately, the Omayyad capital is dominated by these mercenaries. “Al-Assad has tried to deceive the world by claiming that he is the real ruler of Syria, neglecting the truth which everyone has already seen. In his interview, he had some slips of the tongue which confirm that he and his forces are involved in committing horrible acts in Syria. “He keeps ignoring the revolution’s request for him to step down and give the Syrian people the right to choose their own ruler. Let the Syrian Constitution be the judge. He used to boast about this constitution even though he has committed most number of violations against this Constitution. He reached power not because of the constitution but due to his lineage. He launched his regime by violating the constitution which he changed within 15 minutes to suit his purpose while tanks were surrounding the parliament. “Bashar Al-Assad is really separated from reality. In this miserable period, Al-Assad is trading with the blood of Syrians and even their right to live with dignity. If he had minimum level of patriotism, he would have stepped down immediately and allowed the people to decide their destiny. It is apparent that the decision is currently not in the hands of Al-Assad but with Tehran and Moscow.” ❑ ❑ ❑ “Two containers disappeared from Shuwaikh Port recently. Was it by coincidence or was it a planned operation that has been in the pipeline for long? Smuggling of the containers into the country without anyone’s attention especially in this time of the year draws suspicions. It sheds light on the criminal activities that are ongoing in the country”, Dr Hamad Al-Asaidan wrote for Al-Rai daily. “Let’s be optimistic that the containers contained illicit items such as beer and alcoholic drinks. Let us not be drawn to doubt that the shipments contained items that threaten the security and stability of our society! Let’s take into consideration the weapons which were discovered after they were brought into the country and stored professionally, awaiting directives from abroad. “Smuggling of the containers is a big security breach, despite the announcement made by Ministry of Interior about securing all entry and exit points. Shuwaikh Port is considered the biggest entry/exit point, so how did this incident occur far away from security eyes? Does it make sense that a trailer carrying gigantic containers comes out of the port without anyone stopping it and verifying documents? “This is very dangerous case that needs to ponder over by the top governmental leadership in order to know the fate of the containers, how it entered the country and who is behind the operation?” ❑ ❑ ❑ “From time to time, two or three lawmakers participate in shameful brawls which harm their personalities, their representatives, our democracy and the image that the world has about the type and quality of our politicians”, Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily. “Despite Kuwait not being the only country where such brawls occur, as they happen in many countries including developed countries, there is no justification for what happened recently between two honorable MPs who are supposed to allocate their time for serving Kuwaiti people instead of wasting their time bickering, and misusing and harming the National Assembly sessions which are held in order to ensure control and legislation. “The National Assembly Speaker had cancelled the parliamentary session due to the sparring between MPs Jama’an Al-Harbash and Hamad Al-Harshani in order to stop the problem from getting aggravated. Such kind of struggles and problems is unacceptable.”

– Compiled by Zaki Taleb

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Photos by Rizk Taufiq

Top: Minister Sheikh Salman in a group photo, and (above), some of the winners being honored.

Sheikh Salman opens 23rd Qurain Cultural Festival Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah opened the 23rd edition of Qurain Cultural Festival on Wednesday evening with honoring the winners of the state incentive and recognition awards for 2016. The festival, being organized by the National Council for Culture, Art

and Letters (NCCAL) under auspices of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, lasts until January 28. Sheikh Salman, who doubles as president of NCCAL, said at the opening ceremony that Kuwait is proud of its innovative thinkers and artists who contribute to the coun-

try’s high status and civilization. Through honoring the pioneers in arts and letters, Kuwait is doing its duty towards not only its citizens but its ambitious cultural project as well, he said. Kuwait believes in the role of the intelligentsia in boosting enlightenment, and the values of tolerance, coexistence and opening up to the

cultures of other nations, he pointed out. Sheikh Salman spoke highly of the contributions of state award laureates to the cultural movement in such areas as literature, theater and formative art. Among the prize winners is Dr Morsel Al-Ajmi who delivered a speech on behalf of all laureates.

The winners of the state awards of recognition are Laila Mohammad Saleh (literature), Ibrahim Al-Sallah (theatrical arts), and Mahmoud AlRadhwan (formative arts). The 13 winners of the incentive awards are; Samar Al-Bader (painting), Maytham Bader (TV drama), Ahmad Al-Awadhi (theatrical drama), Dr Mubarak Al-Mez’al

(theatrical direction), Osama AlMezei’l (radio direction), Bader Al-Haddad, (music composition), Raja’ Al-Qahtani and Jaber AlNi’mah (poetry), Taleb Al-Rifa’ei (novel writing), Dr Mohammad Belal and Dr Morsel Al-Ajmi (criticism), Abdul-Rahman Al-Ibrahim (historical studies), and Dr. Ali AlJaafar (education). (KUNA)

Kuwait urges UNSC to exercise its mandate to tackle conflicts Support expressed to Sec-Gen’s vision for preventive diplomacy

Al-Ramzi (second right), with the officials.

Al-Ramzi earns Master’s degree Jumana Abbas Al-Ramzi has earned her Master’s in Medical Laboratory Science from the Faculty of Allied Medical Services at Kuwait University with thesis on ‘Bladder Cancer Examination’. Dean of Faculty Professor Soud AlUbaidi, Assistant Dean of Scientific Research, member of the Medical Laboratories Department Dr Anwar Al-Banai

and Professor Mathieu had supervised the thesis. Al-Ramzi said she got help from some medical centers in Kuwait, including the Amiri hospital and Kuwait Center for Cancer Treatment and looks forward to fulfill her career by pursuing a PHD from Britain through scholarships arranged by Kuwait University.

Top officials visit school after ‘fire’

Education minister to discuss with CSC issue of ‘leave’ for Bedouns By Rana Salem Al-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohammed Al-Fares will soon discuss with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) the issue of leave days for Bedoun employees in the ministry. In a statement to the press, the minister affirmed he is exerting efforts to ensure restoration of human rights such as emergency and maternity leave days for this segment as the CSC refused to grant them any leave. Meanwhile, Undersecretary Dr Haitham Al-Athari and Assistant Undersecretary Fatma Al-Kandari on Thursday visited Farhan AlKhalid High School in Bayan after fire erupted in the school. The visit was aimed at ascertaining the security situation and work flow, especially since the fire incident occurred during high school examinations for the first semester. Hawally Educational District Director Mansouri Al-Dhufairi con-

firmed the situation is now under control, indicating the examinations went well and public order was maintained despite the emergency situation. He disclosed the fire caused damages to the office of the school head and it did not spread to other facilities. Al-Dhufairi added the minister asked Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) to conduct a thorough investigation and submit its report on the fire incident immediately. Al-Fares also visited Latifa AlFares High School for Girls in Ahmadi Educational District as one of the school’s roofs collapsed for the third time on Tuesday. The area where the roof fell has been cordoned off for maintenance works and investigations to uncover the flaws which made the roof collapse repeatedly. The minister made sure that the work flow and examinations went on smoothly. He then called for a thorough inspection of the entire school in order to avoid recurrence of the problem.

NEW YORK, Jan 12, (KUNA): Kuwait envoy to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities for ending the conflicts around the globe, particularly in the Middle East, expressing support to the UN Secretary-General’s vision for preventive diplomacy. Abdulaziz Al-Jarallah, charge d’affaires of the permanent mission of the State of Kuwait to the UN, recalled that more than 128 million people around the globe were currently affected by conflicts, displacement and other emergencies. Al-Jarallah was addressing the UNSC open debate on “the Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace.” “Today’s debate was an opportunity to work towards making 2017 a year for peace,” he said. Solutions

Calling for creative solutions to today’s complicated conflicts, in line with the principles of preventive diplomacy, he said the international community should learn from the lessons of the past. “The Security Council, in particular, must shoulder its responsibility to prevent conflicts, and not simply respond to them after they erupt,” he stressed. He cited the Palestinian question, which had remained on the Council’s agenda for seven decades, and the ongoing Syrian conflict as two examples of the Council’s inability to end conflicts. The humanitarian appeal, launched by the UN for raising $2.22 billion for relief effort in

Women’s Social Cultural Society team members during open day to raise awareness about the disease.

Women’s society raises awareness on Alzheimer’s disease Awareness team for Alzheimer’s disease at the Women’s Social Cultural Society held an open day to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease at the Gate Mall in Egaila area in cooperation with Elderly Care De-

partment in the Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Board member of the society Mudhi Al-Sagheer said the activities of the event included a documentary film on the services rendered to Alzheimer

patients. They also distributed pamphlets to guide the caregivers of patients living with Alzheimer’s. The activities included free blood sample analysis, blood pressure check, and tests for diabetes and cholesterol.

2017, represents an all-time record high and signals the depth of the crisis facing the international community, he went on. The efforts being made by the UN so far to prevent conflicts are still below the expectations for sustainable peace. Over the last 70 years the Security Council failed to reach a fair and mutually-acceptable settlement to the PalestinianIsraeli conflict and failed to settle the Syrian crisis that entered its sixth year and claimed more than 400,000 lives, he regretted. Al-Jarallah urged adoption of an innovative and more comprehensive approach to tackling the armed conflicts taking into account the social and economic causes of conflicts such as poverty, unemployment, social in-

justice and human rights abuses. It is crucial to remove all hurdles to the Secretary-General’s use of Article 99 of the UN Charter which entitles the UN chief to alert the Security Council members to any threat to the international peace and security, he said. Article VII of the UN Charter sets clear-cut rules for resolving the conflicts peacefully before resorting to force to end the conflicts, he pointed out. Al-Jarallah highlighted the need of providing the necessary resources for the UN Secretary General and the Secretariat to enhance their early-warning capabilities in order to adopt the preventive measures in collaboration with regional organizations and partners.

It’s also of crucial importance to realize the targets of sustainable socio-economic development which represents a prerequisite for stability and sustainable peace, he noted. He affirmed that Kuwait is looking forward to working closely with the new UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for promoting peace and security in the Middle East and the world at large. Guterres has delivered his first address to the Security Council open debate where he emphasized that more must be done to prevent war and sustain peace, saying: “People are paying too high a price,” he said. “You, the Member States, are paying too high a price. We need a whole new approach.”

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Court Cases/Crime Court dismisses expat comp case

Top official suspected as containers probe still on KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Public Prosecution reportedly continues investigations in the case of containers which were smuggled out of the Shuwaikh port in breach of security breach which has seen laxity over the past months, reports Al-Rai daily. A source close to the Prosecution investigations said the Kuwaiti suspect is a senior official at the port and has the authority to release all containers. The source pointed out according to investigations the containers that have disappeared from the Shuwaikh Port have left behind no trace of evidence and were reportedly allowed to leave the port on forged documents in the name of other containers. The source explained there were several containers belonging to the Amiri Diwan carrying equipment and furnishings for the Jaber Cultural Center and a container for a member of the ruling family which contained furniture and special belongings. The source pointed out the accused citizen used copies of the Civil ID and documents of the containers of the Amiri Diwan, and the member of the ruling family to smuggle the suspicious containers out of the port. ❑ ❑ ❑ Case dismissed: The Court of Appeals recently overturned the verdict of the lower court and dismissed a lawsuit which was filed by an expatriate seeking KD 100,000 compensation from the ministries of Interior and Justice and the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) for allegedly keeping him behind bars after accusing him of committing a crime related to drugs, reports Al-Rai daily. The daily added the plaintiff filed the case after the court acquitted him of the charge and proved his innocence. However, the court ordered PACI to pay him KD 3,000 compensation. Case papers indicate the expatriate

was arrested upon arrival at the Kuwait International Airport and detained for two months. It was proved later that an unidentified person agreed with an employee working at the PACI to issue him a civil ID carrying his photo and the name of the expatriate and he was arrested for trafficking in drugs. ❑ ❑ ❑ Why reports shelved?: Legal sources disclosed that the head of the Anti-Corruption Authority, counsel Abdul Rahman Al-Namash has formed a committee to verify the integrity of shelving 100 reports received by the Authority, reports Al-Jarida daily. The sources indicated the committee comprises four assigned prosecutors and several investigators from the Authority. The sources said the commission will examine the reasons for shelving such reports. The sources added, the reasons should include lack of documents, lack of seriousness in the evidence and a verdict issued by the Constitutional Court to drop the complaints which were filed under the old unconstitutional law. ❑ ❑ ❑ ‘Fake’ dollar bills seized: The Air Freight men at the Kuwait International Airport recently foiled an attempt by unidentified ‘people’ to smuggle into the country five $500 bills hidden inside a parcel, reports Al-Rai daily. The daily added, the parcel (a magazine) arrived from China in the name of an Asian who looked confused seeing the dollar bills and promptly denied knowledge of the currency bills. According to a reliable source, these bills may be fake and these bills could have been sent to push in the market on trial basis. The parcel has been sent to the Kuwait General Authority for Customs before it is referred to the competent authorities.

Other Voices

A world of disparities New Year as a holiday worthy of celebration with the rest of the world. This is was influenced by non-Muslim infi- another strange example of the extent of del environment at the bank for more our determination that we are right and than half a century where I worked others are wrong. with 100 employees of different backTwenty or thirty years ago, I and others grounds, races, nationalities and reli- used to receive hundreds of greeting gions. cards on the occasion of the New Year, I had always celebrated the New Year and most of them carried innovative and Eve until someone drew my attention and beautiful pictures, but they gradually disof millions others, through the platforms appeared with the onset of the mobile which they control, that celebrating New smart phones, the fastest, cheapest and Year Eve was the work of disbelievers. most accurate than those cards. If we ask these people about their birth This year, on the occasion of New dates, the day they are paid their monthly Year I received a number of greeting salaries, dates and arrangements of their messages on WhatsApp and these mestravel, medical appointsages by far exceeded what I ments, graduation years, was receiving over the past ages of their children, validfew years. ity of their passports and This is perhaps due to the driving licenses and much widespread use of smart more, they will answer using phones and the feeling that Gregorian dates which we want to be part of this means they contradict world and not marginal figbetween thinking and pracures. tice. The number of greeting Muslims are not the best messages increased inevitacreatures, neither their govbly due to the increasing ernments are better than the belief in the importance of governments of dozens of Al-Sarraf this day in our lives, in addiother countries in the world, tion, of course, to the recent or billions of human beings, positive change in Saudi Arabia which who have voluntarily given up their calendar, often Lunar, and follow the announced that the Gregorian calendar Gregorian calendar which is the most will be used in official transactions and accurate to organize their practical, perthe payment of salaries of millions of sonal, political, historical and commeremployees and the military on the basis cial lives. of 365 days. The Japanese, the Chinese, and the This decision has saved a lot of money Hindus, for example, also have their for the Saudi Treasury. If it was not for pride, their history, customs and religious Saudi Arabia that has taken this decision, occasions but they put aside all these we would be hearing people shouting at considerations and follow the global calthe top of their voices, but this time the endar which brings together the entire backward people have preferred to human race. remain silent. We alone, or some of us, stick to the ❑ ❑ ❑ world of backwardness, refusing to catch up with the world, or considering the email: [email protected]

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

I

News in Brief Live Air Force drill: The Air Force will carry out shooting with live ammunition at Al-Udaira’ range northwest of the capital on January 14-17, said the Ministry of Defense on Thursday. The ministry said in a statement that the exercise will begin at 6 am and proceed till 1 pm. During this period of time, citizens and residents are advised to abstain from approaching the zone for safety. (KUNA) ❑ ❑ ❑

Warning issued: The Public Relations and Media Department of Kuwait Municipality revealed that the emergency team of shift A from Jahra Municipality issued ten warnings against violating buildings during an inspection campaign held against constructional violations and trespassing into state properties in Saad Al-Abdullah City, reports Al-Seyassah

daily. Director of Jahra Municipality Eng. Mohammad Al-Aradi affirmed that such field campaigns will be held throughout the governorate especially in Saad Al-Abdullah City where such constructional violations and trespassing into state properties has become common. ❑ ❑ ❑

Customs denies reports: The Kuwait General Administration for Customs (KGAC) has denied reports that a right-hand-drive car imported by a Kuwaiti has been released by the KGAC prior to getting permission from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the General Traffic Department, reports Al-Rai daily. However, the authority said the Kuwaiti attempted to drive out of the customs from Gate No 5 which is designated for use by trucks and heavy vehicles.

MoI photo

MoI Undersecretary Sulaiman Al-Fahad and other senior officials at the meeting.

Interior Ministry vows foolproof security The Ministry of Interior (MoI) will not allow any security breaches to take place and will ensure that the security apparatus is fully equipped to protect the nation, the MoI’s Undersecretary Sulaiman Al-Fahad said on Thursday. The MoI’s Undersecretary pre-

sided over a broad meeting involving senior officials to survey security conditions in the country, a statement by the ministry noted. Moreover, the statement added that the meeting also tackled a plan that has been set to uphold

the nation’s security at a critical juncture rife with challenges and obstacles. On the meeting, the statement pointed out that it underscored the need of extra efforts to boost the security forces’ capabilities of dealing with any situation deemed

detrimental to national security. Al-Fahad also conveyed Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah’s warm greetings to security forces, wishing them success and prosperity, the statement added. (KUNA)

Tons of spoiled foodstuff, 45 kilos fish destroyed in raids Man dies in bathroom; Indian held with liquor KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Monitoring and Follow-up Department affiliated to Capital Municipality carried out campaigns against traders of spoiled foodstuffs. It raided a warehouse in Shuwaikh area and confiscated and destroyed 1.523 tons of spoiled foodstuffs. It also held a campaign in Souk Mubarakiya during which it confiscated and destroyed 45 kilograms of spoiled fish, reports Al-Seyassah daily. Director of the department Eman Al-Kandari affirmed that the inspectors of the department will periodically inspect all areas of the governorate to identify any violations and ensure relevant regulations are applied on violating shops and restaurants. Al-Kandari revealed that the 1.523 tons of spoiled foodstuffs confiscated from the warehouse in Shuwaikh included Swiss-made, Holland-made and Italian-made chocolates and milk that were expired. She urged owners of shops and warehouses to verify the expiry dates of foodstuffs. ❑

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Man found dead: The remains of an unidentified person who was found dead inside the bathroom of his apartment in Farwaniya yesterday have been referred to Forensics, reports Al-Anba daily. The daily added, the corpse was found by firemen after someone complained the man had locked himself inside the bathroom. Personnel from the Criminal Evidences Department are working to determine the cause death. ❑

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Liquor with Indian: An Indian expatriate was arrested in Farwaniya Governorate in possession of 1,190 liquor bottles. In a press statement issued by Ministry of Interior, the General Department for Public Relations and Media Security explained that Farwaniya securitymen were patrolling the area when they ordered the expatriate to pull over based on suspicions. However, when the motorist panicked and tried to flee, securitymen stopped him. They searched his vehicle and found 1,190 bottles of liquor. The suspect was arrested and referred with the liquor bottles to the concerned authorities where necessary legal measures were taken against him. ❑

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US citizen molested: A female US citizen, believed to be in her 40s, has filed a complaint with the Fintas Police Station accusing a European orthopediatrician working for a private hospital of molesting her, reports Al-Anba daily. In her complaint, the woman told police she is suffering from pain in her legs and the doctor taking advantage of the absence of the nurse touched her private parts.

KFSD photos

Top: Smoke billows from the warehouse. Above: Senior KFSD officer talks to the firemen.

Firemen hurt battling warehouse blaze Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) has put out a fire that broke out at an electric equipment warehouse in Amghara area on Thursday. The firemen were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings, head of KFSD’s Public Relations Department Khalil Al-Amir told KUNA. He added that two firemen were injured at the site. Al-Amir noted that a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire was underway, adding that the affected ware-

house stretches over 5,000 square meters. Meanwhile, a fire broke in a school for boys and a hallway ceiling partially collapsed in another school for girls this morning, with no report of casualties, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Mohammad Al-Faris said Thursday. Al-Faris told KUNA as he was touring these schools to find the cause of the accidents that students were fine and examinations went as normal. When fire broke out in the

administration offices at Farhan Al-Khaled High School for Boys in Bayan, the fire department was immediately notified. Investigation was opened to find the cause of this fire. Meanwhile, the ceiling which partially collapsed at Latifa Al-Faris High School for Girls in Fahaheel did not result in any casualties nor did it interrupt undergoing examinations. The minister promised to follow up on these two indicants and to swiftly request reparation to the damage.

When the doctor was summoned, he denied the allegation. However, the Ahmadi Public Prosecutor is said to have insisted on filing a case of indecency against the doctor.

desert in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They reportedly pitched their tent and drove to a short distance. After their vehicle got caught in the moving sand, they used another vehicle to put it out and the other vehicle also met the same fate. It was difficult for the young men to send distress call because the telecom service was not available where they had pitched their tent. The men added, they saw the military vehicle passing in the area and they sought help of the military men.

answer the calls and is said to have changed his cell phone number.

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Cop in binge drinking: Securitymen have arrested a policeman and an Iranian for consuming alcohol, reports Al-Anba daily. A security source said a police patrol on duty in the Jahra Industrial Area suspected a motorist for reckless driving. While issuing a citation, the patrolman discovered the man behind the wheel was under the influence of alcohol and also the man in the passenger seat. They have been referred to the Sulaibiya Police Station. ❑

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Soldiers to the rescue: Saudi soldiers recently rescued five young Kuwaitis after their vehicle got stuck in moving sand as darkness enveloped the desert where they were driving, reports Al-Rai daily. It has been reported the youngsters were camping in the Al-Zalfi

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Kuwaiti swindled: Police are looking for a Lebanese for swindling a Kuwaiti man, reports Al-Anba daily. According to security sources the Lebanese convinced the victim to join his business – to purchase cars sold by the General Traffic Department and then sold them for profit. The Kuwaiti told the Maidan Hawalli police he gave the man KD 6,500 and the latter after receiving the money refused to

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Airport thief nabbed: The Kuwait International Airport police have arrested an Arab for stealing bags of passengers, reports Al-Anba daily. The arrest came after a Kuwaiti complained to the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Police Station about the theft and the man was arrested after securitymen checked the CCTV cameras installed at the airport. Police records show the man was wanted by law in connection with another crime. ❑

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Bedoun arrested: Acting on information and armed with a search and arrest warrant, personnel from the General Department for Weapons Investigation raided a stable belonging to a bedoun, arrested him and seized an unlicensed revolver and 25 rounds of ammunition, reports Al-Anba daily. The detectives have also seized a quantity of hashish from his house in Jahra.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

LOCAL/GULF

9

Minister expresses gratitude to Emirati leadership, people

UAE grants Jordan $200 mln to enhance medical services AMMAN, Jan 12, (KUNA): The UAE has granted Jordan $200 million to implement a strategic project aims to enhance the royal medical services at King Hussein Medical Center, Jordanian government announced Tuesday. The grant is as part of UAE’s commitment in the GCC’s $five billion package pledged in 2011 to finance development projects in the Kingdom, Jordanian Planning and Inter-

national Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said in a press conference, in presence of Mohammad Al-Suwaidi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. With this grant, the UAE has fully completed its $1.25 million share of the package, Fakhoury noted, expressing great gratitude and appreciation to the Emirati leadership, government, and people for their continued support of Jordan through-

out decades of bilateral ties, historic and strategic partnership. He also said pointed out UAE’s effective contribution in the GCC package in helping Jordan finance priority and strategic projects during a time when the Kingdom faced severe economic difficulties due to the political turmoil in the region. Fakhoury also mentioned that the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has been a key partner in supporting

his country’s development efforts, most notably financing 11 priority social and economic projects in the Kingdom. For his part, Al-Suwaidi reiterated his country’s supportive stand by the Kingdom in overcoming the challenges it faces due to regional circumstances, affirming Emirati leadership’s keenness on enhancing and boosting ties with Jordan in various fields.

Kuwait eager to participate in Mideast peace confab in Paris (Left to right) HE Ms Dominique Mineur, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United Arab Emirates, and Vinay Malhotra, COO – Middle East & South Asia, VFS Global, inaugurating the Belgium Visa Application Centre in Abu Dhabi.

UAE residents can apply now

2nd Belgium visa center launched in Abu Dhabi ABU DHABI, Jan 12: Residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can now apply for visas to Belgium at a new visa application centre launched in Abu Dhabi. The centre was inaugurated by HE Ms Dominique Mineur, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United Arab Emirates, on Jan 10, 2017. Abu Dhabi is the second city in the Middle East, after Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where applicants can apply for a visa to Belgium. The launch of a Belgium Visa Application Centre in Dubai will follow at a later date. As part of our focused commitment towards the global rollout of Belgium Visa Application Centres, VFS Global launched the centrally located and modern centre in Abu Dhabi, for increased convenience and ease of visa applicants travelling from the UAE. VFS Global currently serves the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium in 10 countries from 45 visa application centres, globally. The new centre in Abu Dhabi is located at the Joint Visa Application Centre, Level 25, Shining Tower, Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street, Adjacent to Khalidiyah Mall, Abu Dhabi. Services at this location commenced on the Dec 12, 2016. VFS Global offers visa services for 25 client governments in the UAE, since commencement of operations in the region in 2004. Speaking at the launch, Ms Dominique Mineur, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to United Arab Emirates said, “The launch of the new Visa Application Centre is a step forward in Belgium’s goal to serve our clients in a better and quicker way. Abu

Dhabi is the first step and Dubai will follow. Our collaboration with VFS Global is also part of a more global plan to promote Belgium as an interesting country for tourism and business. Our collaboration with VFS Global is a long lasting and based worldwide, and I am convinced that together we can achieve these goals.” Added Vinay Malhotra, COO – Middle East & South Asia, VFS Global, “We are honoured to partner with the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and further extend visa services in Abu Dhabi. It is also a great privilege to be a part of the journey towards advancement of travel between the beautiful country of Belgium and the UAE. We are confident the centre will help us achieve our common goal of providing added convenience and accessibility to UAE residents applying for a visa to Belgium.” The key features of the centre include: ■ Convenient and centrally-accessed location ■ Professional staff with local language capability to handle queries and applications ■ Well-appointed centre for enhanced comfort of applicants ■ Automated queue governance for smooth flow of applicants ■ Dedicated website for easy access to information including visa categories, requirements, check-list and applicable fees ■ 100% secure handling of passports, documents and personal information ■ Door-step delivery of passports ■ Premium Lounge for personalised and comfortable service

A photo from the event.

OIC and King Salman Center sign aid program for Somalia JEDDAH, Jan 12: The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, and Advisor at the Saudi Royal Court and Supervisor General of King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, signed at the Center’s headquarters in Riyadh on Tuesday, 10 January 2017, an agreement to implement an executive program for distributing assistance to those affected by the drought in the Republic of Somalia consisting of 30,000 food baskets for 180,000 beneficiaries in Somalia. The OIC Secretary General

thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the establishment of this Center which represents a huge leap and great renaissance in the global relief work, and for the executive program the Center intends to do for Somalia adding that the first batch of aid is on its way for distribution. The OIC Secretary General further appreciated the diversity of aid work done by the Center, including education and health, pointing to the group of initiatives agreed to which would cover all the regions needing assistance such as Somalia and Gaza.

No ‘magic potion’ for flying stones: Al-Mutawa KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): Kuwait is looking forward to participate in a forthcoming international conference in Paris on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which aims to establish peace in the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said on Thursday. In a statement to KUNA, AlJarallah said that “Kuwait is pinning hopes on this conference that is solely devoted to this issue and aims to maximize potential for peace.” Moreover, he noted that First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah will head Kuwait’s delegation to the conference, where he is expected to deliver a speech. He also thanked the French government for “its concern over this urgent issue.” An international conference for peace in the Middle East is due to kick off in the French capital on Sunday. Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works Dr Abdulrahman AlMutawa affirmed that there’s no “magic potion” to make the flying stones on Kuwaiti roads disappear instantly but the ministry is researching durable surface materials to enhance the quality of asphalt, reports Al Rai daily quoting a source. According to the same source, Al-Mutawa said the issue of flying stones is not only with the concrete mixture, and there’s need to intensify monitoring and reinforce the terms of contract with highly qualified contractors fit for the job. He also proposed raising the bank guarantee of contractors with the duration, adding the aforementioned solutions combined will contribute to resolve the problem. He noted the mixture remains part of the problem and so the ministry has tested several mixtures in the making for areas such as Nuzha and dealt with observations made in that concern. In another report, General Council of Progressive Bloc urged civil society organizations to openly declare their refusal of the government’s economic reform document due to the inclusion of some laws and procedures that will harm the social rights of citizens, reports Al-Rai daily. The bloc stressed that the document has to be rejected as it includes economic decisions that are not in favor of citizens such as reduction of subsidies and increased privatization. The bloc also called for suggestions to rectify the defect in the public budget through rationalization, eliminating corruption and bringing an end to the phenomenon of beneficiary. It also suggested increasing tax on the large profits of banks and companies, and obligating the private sector to offer more job opportunities for the youth in order to reduce the employment inflation in the public sector. The Progressive Bloc, following a meeting headed by its General Coordinator Anwar Al-Fekr to discuss a number of current issues, released a statement in which it announced its support of the employees of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) for defending their rights. In the statement, the bloc expressed surprise over the expected hike in the medical charges of expatriates. It stressed that the employers must bear these costs and not expatriates who earn lowincomes. The bloc also criticized the reduced budget for scientific researches. In addition, it expressed concern over the spread of news concerning cancelation of internal scholarships in private universities during the second semester due to lack of budget.

Winners and finalists in the Global High Schools category of the 2016 Zayed Future Energy Prize joined singer, songwriter and businessman Akon on state during the Student Exclusive, an ADSW event, in Abu Dhabi last January.

HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces (7th right) and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (8th right) stand for a group photograph with winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, during the World Future Energy Summit 2016, part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

Abu Dhabi sustainability week to open Jan 16

Zayed Energy Prize to be announced ABU DHABI, Jan 12: The Zayed Future Energy Prize will announce the winners of its ninth cycle during the awards ceremony, which follows the opening of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) on Jan 16. To date, 48 winners have been recognised by the Zayed Future Energy Prize for their continued commitment to delivering a sustainable future, positively influencing more than 289 million lives. This includes providing over 25 million people in Africa and Asia with access to modern, clean energy, off-setting over 1 billion tons of carbon emissions, and ensuring 17 million children of school age can study at night using innovative solar-powered utilities. Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, Dr Nawal Al-Hosany said: “The Zayed Future Energy Prize embodies the growing global momentum behind efforts to achieve accessible, secure and sustainable energy. Our ninth cycle entrants represent the diversity of organisations and people that are taking leadership in this field and providing a strong benchmark for future applicants to follow.” Dr Al-Hosany continued: “2016 was a truly exceptional year for the Zayed Future Energy Prize. Not only did we receive a record 1,676 entries from across 103 countries, but we passed another important milestone — a lifetime total of more than 10,000 submissions and nominations.” The finalists in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) category are silicon wafer manufacturer 1366 Technologies and energy storage firms, sonnen and 24M. These three companies

represent two intertwined and growing markets: solar photovoltaics and battery storage technology. In the NonProfit Organisation (NPO) category, We Care Solar, Practical Action and Solar Sister, organisations that aim to alleviate energy poverty and empower women in developing countries, are vying for the award. The prize will also reward five of 15 school finalists from across five worldregions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) in the Global High Schools category. In the remaining two categories the prize will announce the recipients of the Large Corporation category and the Lifetime Achievement awards. Last year, Former Prime Minister of Norway Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland received the Lifetime Achievement award for her long-term and steadfast commitment to sustainability and sustainable development. The Large Corporation category award was presented to Chinese electric vehicles manufacturer BYD. Tanzanian energy access business Off-Grid Electric was the winner in the SME category, while Indonesian non-profit organisation Kopernik was announced as the winner in the NPO category. Joining them were five schools spanning five regions of the globe, whom were the winners in the Global High Schools category. Moreover, on Jan 17, delegates from two of last year’s Global High Schools category winners will represent the prize at the second Student Exclusive, a unique youth-oriented event to inspire students’ involvement in renewable energy advancement. Later that

day, the Zayed Future Energy Prize will host the annual Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) conference in partnership with Masdar. The half-day session will see leaders from across government, business and academia discuss methods for maximising women’s roles in pushing the boundaries of innovation. The following day, Jan 18, the prize will host a roundtable discussion entitled ‘The role of social enterprises and NPOs in delivering a sustainable future for all.’ Jonathon Porritt, Founder of Forum for the Future, will moderate the event which will involve representatives from former Zayed Future Energy Prize winners Off-Grid Electric and Kopernik, and current finalist We Care Solar, amongst others. At the same time, the visiting finalists of the Global High Schools category will participate in workshops hosted by the Petroleum Institute, as part of their week-long programme of activities in the UAE. The Zayed Future Energy Prize activities during ADSW will conclude with the participation of two former Global High Schools category winners in ‘The Festival at Masdar City’. Hosted at Masdar City, the festival is the last event of ADSW 2017. Students from the 2016 award-winning schools will discuss the progress of their Zayed Future Energy Prize-funded sustainability projects. ADSW is the annual global gathering that brings businesses and nations together to address challenges and celebrate achievements in sustainable development and clean energy.

Lebanon’s Aoun sees thaw in ties with Gulf BEIRUT, Jan 12, (KUNA): Lebanon’s strained relations with the Gulf as a result of regional turmoil have started to improve, Lebanese President Michael Aoun said on Thursday. In a statement to the press, the Lebanese President said that he was

content with discussions held in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, noting that ties with the Gulf region are starting to normalize. Moreover, he foreboded an influx of Gulf visitors to Lebanon, a nation long frequented by Gulf nationals. Aoun also noted that he dis-

cussed issues of mutual concern with the Saudi and Qatari leaders, talks he described as constructive and fruitful. The Lebanese President was in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, on his first official foreign visit since claiming the presidency on Oct 31.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

10

World News Roundup

A resident walks through floodwaters on Jan 11, in Guerneville, California. A new round of storms are bringing heavy rains and flooding to Northern California just days after rain and snow storms pounded the region bringing much needed water to drought stricken California. (Inset): A resident named Kayte paddles her canoe through floodwaters on Wednesday, in Guerneville, California. (AFP)

Flooded Calif residents rescued as major storms recede Rescue workers used boats and firetrucks to evacuate dozens of Northern California residents from their flooded homes Wednesday as a drought-busting series of storms began to move out of the region after days of heavy rain and snow that toppled trees and

created havoc as far north as Portland, Oregon. Reports of the flooding started about 2 am Wednesday as water from a quickly rising creek in the small rural town of Hollister deluged homes on a two-lane stretch of road called Lovers Lane.

Torrents of rain gushed down the street even after rescuers finished evacuating residents more than seven hours later. Some homes had mudlines about five feet high, marking how far the water rose. The water by that time was receding but still waist-deep in places.

Education

“It’s just a lot of water,” said Kevin O’Neill, emergency services manager for San Benito County. “Fields that look like lakes. The ground just can’t soak it up. Vehicles that are partly submerged, homes have water damage.” Hollister resident Richard

Sanchez said he didn’t evacuate because he wanted to look after his animals after seeing his yard flood. “My yard is just an ocean,” Sanchez said. “I decided to stay because I have animals. I wasn’t being hardheaded. I just wanted to make sure they were safe.”

Forecasters said precipitation would continue through Thursday, but the brunt of the back-to-back systems fueled by an “atmospheric river” weather phenomenon had passed after delivering the heaviest rain in a decade to parts of Northern California and Nevada. (AP)

Healthcare

SC may put bite into law

1st step in dismantling law

‘Offer more services to disabled students’

‘Obamacare’ repeal measure OK’d

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (AP): The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed willing to put more bite into a law that requires public schools to help learningdisabled students. Most of the justices indicated during arguments that school districts must offer more than the bare minimum of services to children with special needs. But they struggled over how to clarify the law without inviting even more litigation between frustrated parents and cash-strapped schools. The court is considering an appeal from the parents of an autistic teen in Colorado who say their public school did not go far enough in helping their son. They want to be reimbursed for the cost of sending him to private school. The case could have major implications for millions of disabled students who rely on schools to make special arrangements. School districts warn that imposing higher standards will be too costly and encourage parents to make unrealistic demands. “If we suddenly adopt a new standard, all over the country, we’ll have judges and lawyers and people interpreting it differently,” Justice Stephen Breyer said. The debate centers on the InBreyer dividuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law that requires a “free and appropriate public education” for disabled students. The Supreme Court last considered the issue in a 1982 case that said the law requires schools to come up with a plan that gives the student “some educational benefit.” But lower courts have disagreed over exactly what that phrase means and how far a school must go. Some courts say it can be anything greater than a trivial effort, while others have required schools to do more. Advocacy groups say the confusion has left wide disparities among states in the level of educational benefits that schools offer to children with special needs. Chief Justice John Roberts told Neal Katyal, representing the Douglas County School District near Denver, that the standard seems to require more than just a minimum effort from schools.

Benefit “It says ‘some benefit,’ but you’re reading it as saying ‘some’ benefit and the other side is reading it as saying some ‘benefit,’” Roberts said, to laughter, as he switched his emphasis on the words. In the case before the court, the boy known only as Endrew F. attended public school outside Denver from kindergarten through fourth grades, where he received specialized instruction to deal with learning and behavioral issues. In 2010, Endrew’s parents decided to send him to private school after saying they were frustrated by his lack of progress. They want to be reimbursed for his tuition — about $70,000 a year — because they claim public school officials didn’t do enough to comply with the law.

Protesters with Witness Against Torture participate in rally at the Supreme Court in Washington on Jan 11, calling for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison, marking the 15th anniversary of the first Afghan prisoners arriving at the detention center. (AP)

America Judge sets trial for Ohio man: A judge has set an August trial date for an Ohio man arrested for allegedly attempting to join the Islamic State. Investigators say Aaron Daniels planned to fly from Columbus to Houston in hopes of traveling to Libya to join the group. The 20-year-old Daniels was taken into custody at John Glenn Columbus International Airport in November after a months-long investigation. Daniels has pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges. His attorneys have said in court documents that he may be suffering from mental health issues. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Terror charges not dismissed: A federal judge has refused to dismiss charges against a former Ohio hospital worker who the FBI says threatened US military members online on behalf of the Islamic State. Judge Dan Polster denied a motion to dismiss 15 terrorism-related charges against 26-year-old Terrence McNeil on Wednesday in Cleveland federal court. Defense attorneys had argued that the indictment against McNeil is not based on facts. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (Agencies): The Senate early has passed a measure to take the first step forward on dismantling President Barack Obama’s health care law, responding to pressure to move quickly even as Republicans and President-elect Trump grapple with what to replace it with. The nearly party-line 51-48 vote early Thursday came on a nonbinding Republican-backed budget measure that eases the way for action on subsequent repeal legislation as soon as next month. “We must act quickly to bring relief to the American people,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The House is slated to vote on the measure on Friday, though some Republicans there have misgivings about setting the repeal effort in motion without a better idea of the replacement plan. Trump oozed confidence at a news conference on Tuesday, promising his incoming administration would soon reveal a plan to both repeal so-called Obamacare and replace it with legislation to “get health care taken care of in this country.” “We’re going to do repeal and replace, very complicated stuff,” Trump told reporters, adding that both elements would pass virtually at the same time. That promise, however, will be almost impossible to achieve in the complicated web of Congress, where GOP leaders must navigate complex Senate rules, united Democratic opposition and substantive policy disagreements among Republicans. Passage of Thursday’s measure would permit follow-up legislation to escape the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats. Republicans are not close to agreement among themselves on what any “Obamacare” replacement would look like, however. Republicans plan to get legislation voiding Obama’s law and replacing parts of it to Trump by the end of February, House Majority Leader Kevin

US business lobby wants ‘smooth’ Obamacare repeal, warns on trade WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): The largest US business lobby group on Wednesday said it could be a mistake to quickly repeal Obamacare without developing a replacement healthcare insurance plan and urged the Trump administration not to erect trade barriers. The US Chamber of Commerce faces challenges with the incoming Trump administration, including overcoming deep divisions on key issues like trade while trying to work together on common goals like repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The group opposed the healthcare law, which extended medical coverage to millions of Americans, as an unnecessary burden on business. The Republican-controlled Congress earlier this month began working to repeal it. “As a new healthcare plan takes shape, it’s important to remember things were far from perfect before we started, before Obamacare,” Chamber President Tom Donohue said in his annual address outlining the group’s priorities. “Repeal alone is not going to fix our health care, there should be a smooth transition.” The lobby group has historically been tightly aligned with Republi-

cans, especially during the Obama administration when it fought against the healthcare law and criticized what it saw as heavy-handed regulation of the financial sector. But it has clashed with US President-elect Donald Trump over his positions on trade and immigration. Trump has threatened large taxes against companies that produce goods in other countries and import them into the United States — a move that would be counter to the US Chamber’s desire to allow for free trade across international borders. Many in corporate America worry that if the Republican businessman-turned-politician begins to levy taxes against imported goods, nations like China will in turn impose large taxes and fees against US goods that are exported there. “It’s important that the new administration does not add to the burdens facing our exporters or the thousands whose jobs depend on exports by erecting barriers to trade,” Donohue said. The Chamber will continue to press Trump on supporting the framework of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement that the incoming president frequently vowed to tear up once taking office, Donohue said.

McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” a conservative radio program. Other Republicans have said they expect the process to take longer. The 2010 law extended health insurance to some 20 million Americans, prevented insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and steered billions of dollars to states for the Medicaid health program for the poor.

Republicans fought the effort tooth and nail and voter opposition to Obamacare helped carry the party to impressive wins in 2010, 2014, and last year. Thursday’s Senate procedural vote will set up special budget rules that will allow the repeal vote to take place with a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, instead of the 60 votes required to move most legislation.

Deputy suspended over attack video: A law enforcement official has been suspended on suspicion of leaking a video of the moment when a gunman opened fire at a Florida airport in a shooting spree that left five people dead, the local sheriff said Wednesday. Michael Dingman, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was suspended with pay on Tuesday pending an investigation into the leak of images of Friday’s attack to the TMZ news website. “Tomorrow I could put him back to full duty, I could suspend him without pay, he could get arrested,” Sheriff Scott Israel told local radio station 610 WIOD. The video posted by TMZ on Sunday

showed the alleged killer, Esteban Santiago, pull a handgun from his waistband and fire twice in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Officials name 5th person killed: Authorities have identified a woman from Ohio as the fifth person killed in last week’s shooting at the Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport. Broward County spokeswoman Kimber-

Santiago

Daniels

ly Maroe released the name of 69-year-old Mary Louise Amzibel of Ohio in an email Wednesday night. Maroe confirmed the names of the other four victims, who had already been identified by the media. They are 70-year-old Shirley Wells Timmons of Ohio; 57-year-old Michael John Oehme of Council Bluffs, Iowa; 84-year-old Olga M. Woltering of Marietta, Georgia; and 62-year-old Terry Michael Andres of Virginia Beach, Virginia. (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

11

A construction worker walks through the inside of a viewing platform near the Capitol, for the presidential inauguration for incoming US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, DC on Jan 11. (AFP)

Politics

Politics ‘Bombshell story’

Tillerson sets potential confrontation with Beijing

‘Dossier’ on Trump circulated for mths

‘Deny China access to islands’

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (AP): It was a bombshell story, emerging on the eve of Donald Trump’s first news conference as president-elect: US intelligence officials had presented Trump with unsubstantiated claims that Russia had amassed compromising personal and financial allegations about him. The purported Russian efforts were described in a newly released and uncorroborated dossier produced in August. But they had circulated more widely in Washington in October — following early reports and opaque warnings from elected officials that something was afoot involving the Kremlin and Trump. In October, Mother Jones magazine described how a former Western spy — assigned to look into Trump’s Russian ties for a private American firm — had presented his findings to the FBI in August. Those findings, the magazine said, were proTrump duced for political opposition research and said that Russian intelligence had compromised Trump during his visits to Moscow — information that, if true, could be used to blackmail him or undermine his presidency. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday identified the dossier’s author as Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd, whom the Journal said declined repeated requests for interviews through an intermediary. Another Orbis director told the Journal he wouldn’t “confirm or deny” that Orbis had produced the report. Christopher Burrows, co-director of Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd declined comment when questioned by ITN. “.. I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to make any comments at the moment on what happened, whether Orbis has been involved or not, and we’ll review that situation in the next couple of days,” he told ITN. There was no listed number for Steele’s address in Runfold, outside Farnham, Surrey, about 35 miles southwest London. Neighbor Mike Hopper said Steele had lived there for about 18 months with his wife and four children. Hopper is looking after the family’s cats. “He did not say where he was going or when he was coming back,” he said.

Findings CNN reported Tuesday night that Trump had been briefed in a classified setting about a summary of the investigator’s findings. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed published the 35-page dossier Tuesday night. The website defended publishing the report because it said Americans “can make up their own minds about allegations about the president-elect.” Other news outlets withheld publishing most details about the unverified claims because they couldn’t confirm them. Shortly after reports were published late Tuesday about the dossier, Trump tweeted: “Fake news - a total political witch hunt!” The president-elect said at a combative news conference Wednesday that the allegations were “phony stuff” leaked by “sick people.” Trump hasn’t said whether he believes Clapper’s claim on the source of the leaks. He tweeted Thursday: “James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated. Made up, phony facts. Too bad!” The Kremlin, meantime, said that Russia and the United States can overcome the current diplomatic strain based on mutual respect once Trump takes office. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Thursday that “Moscow hopes that our presidents will get along well.” He added that while Moscow and Washington can’t agree on everything, they can normalize their strained ties if they show “mutual respect.”

Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan 11, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AFP)

America Trump taps Giuliani: Donald Trump on Thursday tapped former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to advise his incoming administration on cyber security following outcry over Russian hackers’ apparent attempt to meddle in the election. Giuliani, 72, dubbed America’s mayor for his leadership in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, said last month he had taken himself out of the running for a cabinet job after coming under scrutiny in the US media over business dealings that could post conflicts of interest. Thursday’s announcement from the president-elect called cyber intrusion “the fastest growing crime in the United States and much of the world” and said it was a “major threat” to national security. The New York billionaire and incoming Republican president said “immediate attention” and “input from private sector leaders” was required to “help the government plan to make us more secure.” Trump said he had asked Giuliani to initiate this process “because of his long and very successful government career in law enforcement” and his experience providing security solutions in the private sector. Trump on Wednesday admitted for the first time that Russia was behind the hacking of Democratic Party computers during the election campaign. He has promised that as soon as he takes office on January 20 he will give a team 90 days to come up with a plan to halt cyber attacks. But the announcement stopped short of giving Giuliani a formal title, leaving unclear the remit of the former US attorney, who forged a tough reputation in the 1980s for indicting members of the New York mafia. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Intell director denounced report: US President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday that US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called him to denounce the “false and fictitious” report about a dossier that makes salacious, unverified claims about him in Russia. Clapper, in a statement on Wednesday, said he had spoken with Trump that evening and expressed “dismay” over media leaks about the report, while saying he did not believe the leaks came from intelligence agencies. In the statement, Clapper did not say the document was false. He said he emphasized to Trump that it was not produced by the US intelligence community and that intelligence officials had not judged whether the information was reliable.

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (Agencies): US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state has set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing, saying China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. In comments expected to enrage Beijing, Rex Tillerson told his confirmation hearing on Wednesday before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that China’s building of islands and putting military assets on those islands was “akin to Russia’s taking Crimea” from Ukraine. Asked whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China, he said: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the islandbuilding stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.” The former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands it has built up from South China Sea reefs, equipped with military-length airstrips and fortified with weapons. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

Comments When asked repeatedly about Tillerson’s comments on blocking access to islands, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he couldn’t make any guesses as to what Tillerson was referring to and would not answer hypothetical questions. China’s right to carry out ‘normal activities’ in its sovereign territory in the South China Sea is ‘indisputable’, Lu said, speaking at a daily briefing on Thursday. He did not elaborate. Tillerson also said Washington needed to reaffirm its commitment to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, but stopped short of Trump’s questioning of Washington’s long-standing policy on the issue. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging that China takes the position that there is “one China” and Taiwan is part of it. But the United States is also Taiwan’s biggest ally and arms supplier. “I don’t know of any plans to alter

“James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated. Made up, phony facts. Too bad!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, blamed US intelligence agencies for the leaks during a news conference on Wednesday, before he spoke to Clapper. “I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. ... that’s something that Nazi

CIA nominee includes ‘Russia’ in the list of global challenges WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (Agencies): US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA portrayed multiple challenges facing the United States on Thursday, from an aggressive Russia to a “disruptive” Iran to a China that he said is creating “real tensions.” Diverging from Trump’s stated aim of seeking closer ties with Russia, Pompeo said that Russia is “asserting itself aggressively” by invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and “doing nearly nothing” to destroy Islamic State. Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the House of Representatives and a former US Army officer, was speaking at the start of his confirmation hearing in the US Senate. In his prepared opening statement, Pompeo noted that the CIA does not make policy on any country, adding, “it is a policy decision as to what to do with Russia, but it will be essential that the Agency provide policymakers with accurate intelligence and cleareyed analysis of Russian activities.” His testimony came at a time when Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, has openly feuded with US intelligence agencies. For weeks, the president-elect questioned the intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia used hack-

ing and other tactics to try to tilt the 2016 presidential election in his favor. Trump said on Wednesday that Russia was behind the hacking but that other countries were hacking the United States as well. This week, Trump furiously denounced intelligence officials for what he said were leaks to the media by intelligence agencies of a dossier that makes unverified, salacious allegations about his contacts in Russia. Pompeo, a conservative lawmaker from Kansas who is on the House Intelligence Committee, listed challenges facing the United States, saying “this is the most complicated threat environment the United States has faced in recent memory.” This included what he called a “resilient” Islamic State and the fallout from Syria’s long civil war. Pompeo also included North Korea, which he said had “dangerously accelerated its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.” He said China was creating “real tensions” with its activities in the South China Sea and in cyberspace as it flexed its muscles and expanded its military and economic reach. He called Iran an “emboldened, disruptive player in the Middle East, fueling tensions” with Sunni Muslim allies of the United States.

the ‘one China’ position,” Tillerson said. Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity “extremely worrisome” and that it would be a threat to the “entire global economy” if Beijing were able to dictate access to the waterway. He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate US response. “The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing the envelope on this,” Tillerson said. “The way we’ve got to deal with this is we’ve got to show back up in the region with our traditional allies in Southeast Asia,” he said. Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration conducted periodic air and naval patrols to assert the right of free navigation in the South China Sea. These have angered Beijing, but seeking to blockade China’s manmade islands would be a major step further and a step that Washington has never raised as an option. Under his strategic “pivot” to Asia, Obama has increased the US military presence in the region, and Trump has

vowed a major naval buildup. Tillerson’s words also went beyond Trump’s own tough rhetoric on China. Regional military sources said while the US navy had extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blocking operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against China’s growing naval fleets would risk dangerous escalations. Obama has sought to forge a united front in Southeast Asia against China’s pursuit of its territorial claims, but some allies and partners who are rival claimants have been reluctant to challenge Beijing. Tillerson called China’s South China Sea island-building and declaration of an air defense zone in the East China Sea it contests with Japan “illegal actions.” “They’re taking territory or control, or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” he said. The response was muted from the Philippines, a traditional US ally that last year won an international arbitration case that included a challenge to China’s island-building within its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Giuliani

Clapper

Germany would have done and did do,” Trump told reporters. In an interview on NBC’s “Today” program on Thursday, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway declined to say whether Trump agreed with Clapper that the leak did not originate from intelligence agencies. “The president-elect was very happy to receive the call from Mr Clapper, very happy that Mr. Clapper agrees with him ... that there should be no leaks,” Conway said. (RTRS)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

12

World News Roundup

In a video still image taken from footage broadcast by the UK Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) on Jan 11, British Prime Minister Theresa May (left), answers questions during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons in central London on Jan 11. (AFP)

Britain

Britain

‘Cost-effective’

Stay united on Brexit: Merkel

Cash transfer schemes help alleviate ‘poverty’

‘UK heading for muddled Brexit’

LONDON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Cash transfer programmes funded by the British government are cost-effective ways to alleviate global poverty, an aid watchdog said on Thursday, rejecting concerns from critics that giving cash to poor communities is a misuse of taxpayers’ money. The Department of International Development (DFID) spends an average of 201 million pounds ($243.55 million) a year on programmes that give cash to poor families to help them cope in times of conflict or natural disasters. The department has come under increasing scrutiny over how it spends its budget, which rose by 4 percent to 12.1 billion pounds last year, as the government grapples with public debt at its highest level in nearly 50 years. But the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), which scrutinises taxpayerfunded aid, said DFID was making a “good impact” with cash transfers. “The department has reached millions of people, providing strong value for money, and helping deliver on the commitment to leave no one behind,” said Alison Evans, ICAI’s chief Guttmann commissioner who led the review. DFID says their cash transfers are secure, since many recipients are paid electronically, including through biometric systems which uses eye scans or thumbprints to verify identities before cash is transferred.

Taxpayers “Cash transfers get aid to those who need it, when they need it, and achieve value for taxpayers’ money - and this independent report recognises that,” a DFID spokesperson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “They empower people to make decisions about what they need, cut out the middle man, and reduce waste.” Recent media reports criticising a DFID-funded scheme in Pakistan prompted a lawmaker from the ruling Conservative party to question in parliament the merits of cash transfer programmes. Aid agencies welcomed the ICAI report, saying cash transfers gave families autonomy and choice. “Cash transfers have the potential to be one of the best, fastest and safest ways to help people raise themselves out of poverty by investing in their own, and their family’s future,” said Tim Livesey, Oxfam’s head of UK policy and government relations. Nick Guttmann, head of Christian Aid’s humanitarian division, said: “The flexibility of cash, over say bags of food, means it can target the problems that local people know they have rather than rely on decisions made by bureaucrats thousands of miles away.” Cash transfers account for only about 6 percent of global humanitarian aid, yet studies show school attendance and access to healthcare significantly improve when people receive cash. Recipients also tend to save or invest the money, which promotes income generation instead of reliance on food aid. Earlier, Britain’s government announced plans on Monday to build 17 new towns and villages across the English countryside in a bid to ease a chronic housing shortage.

Britain’s Prince William (right), and his wife Kate the Duchess of Cambridge prepare to cut a cake to celebrate theone year anniversary of the charity’s branch, during their visit to a Child Bereavement UK Centre in Stratford in east London, Jan 11. (AP)

Britain William speaks of ‘anger’: Britain’s Prince William has comforted a young girl who lost a parent and spoken out about his feelings when his mother, Princess Diana, died two decades ago. During a visit to the charity Child Bereavement UK in London on Wednesday, William was seen speaking quietly to a 9-year-old girl, Aoife, about the loss of her father. “Do you know what happened to me? You know I lost my mummy when I was very young, too. I was 15 and my brother was 12. So we lost our mummy when we were young as well,” he told her, according to the Daily Telegraph. Lorna Ireland, a parent at the event, said William told her 12-year-old son that as a teenager, he was “very angry and found it very difficult to talk about” Diana’s death. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Heathrow cancels flights: Heathrow has cancelled 80 flights due Thursday on forecasts of heavy snow, Britain’s biggest airport announced. A Heathrow spokesman told AFP that it had axed six percent of 1,350 flights arriving at and departing the hub, which lies to the west of the capital. “The latest forecast is for snow ... which will reduce the number of aircraft able to take off and land each hour,” the spokesman said. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Defendant hospitalized: Police and paramedics raced to a British courthouse after a defendant reportedly cut his own throat in the dock. The Western Telegraph newspaper says its reporter was at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court in Wales when Lukasz Robert Pawlowski asked to go to the toilet, returned, then “started slashing at his throat.” Pawlowski was in court Wednesday for sentencing after admitting sexually assault-

LONDON, Jan 12, (Agencies): London Mayor Sadiq Khan was to say on Thursday that urgent action is needed to prevent Britain slipping towards a “muddled Brexit”, arguing that the capital needs more control over its economic policy to cope with leaving the European Union. Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party, was elected to the influential position of mayor last May on a promise to stand up for the city’s businesses. He has called for the government to avoid the uncertainty of a messy divorce from the EU, saying it would damage confidence in the city. “It’s deeply concerning that we still appear to have ‘muddled thinking’ at the heart of government so soon before the negotiations are set to start,” Khan was to say in a speech later on Thursday according to a statement from his office. His words echo those of Britain’s former ambassador to the EU, Ivan Rogers, who resigned last week saying that Prime Minister Theresa May government was “muddled” in its approach. May refuted the suggestion, saying she would set out her strategy over the coming weeks. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday told the European Union it must keep a united front in negotiations with Britain over its exit from the bloc. “We are absolutely in agreement that we cannot let ourselves be divided,” she told a news conference after talks with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. “The 27 (member states) must act together in the negotiations, but first we await the answer about how Britain wants to design its exit.” Merkel will visit neighbouring Belgium later Thursday, where she will receive an honorary university doctorate and hold talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Britons voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June last year, but the rest of the bloc has refused to hold any negotiations on their future relationship until Britain formally triggers its departure. Meanwhile, Britain’s deal for leaving the European Union must be worse

Northern Ireland ‘political’ crisis could delay PM May’s Brexit plans BELFAST, Jan 12, (RTRS): Britain’s plan to trigger Brexit talks by the end of March could be delayed by a political crisis in Northern Ireland if the British Supreme Court rules that Belfast’s regional assembly must approve an EU exit, a lawyer for a Brexit challenger said. Northern Ireland’s High Court ruled in October that the province’s laws did not restrict British Prime Minister Theresa May’s ability to trigger an exit from the European Union, and that the consent of the regional parliament was not required. But human rights activist Raymond McCord appealed against the ruling to Britain’s highest judicial body, which will consider the argument when it rules in the next couple of weeks on whether May can begin the process without the approval of parliament in London. A likely snap election in the British-run province that may be followed by lengthy renegotiations on the terms of the power-sharing regional government could delay May’s plans to begin the talks by

the end of March, McCord’s lawyer told Reuters. “In the current circumstances, where there is a potential suspension of the institutions, the approval of the devolved institutions would not be possible,” Paul Farrell, a partner at McIvor Farrell Solicitors, said in a telephone interview. “Devolution has obviously added a layer of complexity to the constitutional arrangements within the United Kingdom and this case is addressing those complex relationships now.” The risk of political paralysis in the region as Britain plans its exit from the EU resulted from Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness’ resignation on Monday, effectively collapsing the devolved government. If the British government loses its appeal to the Supreme Court, then May’s timetable would come under pressure as lawmakers in London would get a vote on whether she should trigger formal Brexit talks by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

than the terms of its membership, said Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country has just taken on the sixmonth EU presidency. “We want a fair deal for the United Kingdom but that fair deal has to be inferior to membership,” Muscat told a press conference on Wednesday in Valletta with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Lords committee the charge is “something that’s been suggested to us that could apply” to EU workers. Britain has already approved such a levy for foreign workers from non-EU nations. It takes effect in April. Currently, citizens of the 27 other EU member states have the right to live and work in Britain. But that freedom of movement is likely to end once Britain quits the bloc. The government has set a goal of reducing net immigration to Britain below 100,000 people a year. It’s currently more than 300,000 a year. After mentioning the 1,000-pound charge, Goodwill said it was far from certain. EU exit talks have yet to begin and “we are not in a position to really

Also: LONDON: Britain is considering charging employers 1,000 pounds ($1,200) a year for every skilled worker they recruit from the European Union after the UK leaves the bloc, the country’s immigration minister said Wednesday. Robert Goodwill told a House of

ing a shop assistant. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

‘Harris groped blind woman’: Veteran Australian entertainer Rolf Harris groped several women and girls in public, including a blind and disabled victim, British prosecutors said Wednesday. The former television star, 86, is on trial for seven counts of indecent assault and one of sexual assault which allegedly took place between 1971 and 2003.

Diana

Harris

A judge ruled in December that Harris did not have to attend the trial in person due to his age and health. He watched the hearing at a London court via video link. Harris has been a household name in Britain for more than 50 years as a much-loved television presenter, musician and songwriter. One alleged victim, an adult at the time who is blind and suffers from cerebral palsy, claims Harris touched her breasts when he was a guest on a hospital radio show that she presented in 1976. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

13

France Runoff in May

Poll sees Fillon beating Le Pen PARIS, Jan 12, (Agencies): French conservative Francois Fillon will beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen by 63 percent to 37 percent if they meet head to head in a presidential election runoff in May, a poll showed on Thursday. The POP 2017 poll was in line with the findings of other surveys showing Fillon, a former prime minister, losing momentum with his share of the vote in the first round, falling to 24 percent from as much as 27.5 percent a month ago. The poll showed him trailing National Front (FN) leader Le Pen by one or two percentage points in the first-round vote on April 23, but picking up enough votes from other defeated candidates, including from centrists among the Socialists, to defeat her comfortably in the May 7 knockout. However, the poll also appeared to confirm that Emmanuel Macron, a popular former economy minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande who is running as an independent, might still be in a position to pull off a surprise. Fillon Macron is seen as coming in third place in the first round with 16-20 percent of the vote, the poll showed, depending on which candidate the Socialists pick for the party ticket in their primaries this month. But he might be able to count on scooping up much of the 5 percent of the votes that the poll attributed to centrist Francois Bayrou if the latter decides not to run. Bayrou, a former education minister and currently mayor of Pau, has social policies which are close to those of Macron and so his supporters may throw their weight behind the former investment banker. Bayrou has not yet said whether he will run. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.3 percent, was conducted by Internet from Jan. 6-8 and was based on a sample of 946 people registered to vote. Meanwhile, France is partnered with the United States and Russia in a global battle against Islamic militants. Francs, not euros, fill the pockets of French citizens. Borders are so secure that illegal immigration no longer fuels fears of terror attacks or drains public coffers. That is France as envisioned by far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a leading candidate for president in the spring election: no globalization, no European Union, no open borders. The nation is its own master. It’s a vision that holds increasing appeal for voters once put off by the image of Le Pen’s anti-immigration party as a sanctuary for racists and anti-Semites. A series of deadly extremist attacks, 10 percent unemployment and frustration with mainstream politics have helped make the party she has worked to detoxify a potentially viable alternative. Early polls place her as one of the top two contenders. The other is former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a conservative who would slash the ranks of civil servants and trim state-funded health care — an untouchable area for Le Pen whose campaign slogan is “In the Name of the People.” Le Pen believes her chance of victory has been bolstered by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s election to the U.S. presidency, for her revelatory signs of a world in transition with nationalism and protectionism the new watchwords. She speaks with confidence of winning, saying “I will” change France. “This page in the history of the world is turning. We will give back to the nations reasoned protectionism, economic and cultural patriotism,” she said last Friday at a meeting with the Anglo-American Press Association. She assured such an approach won’t stop a deepening of international ties. Like Trump, Le Pen, 48, a mother of three and lawyer by training, envisions improved relations with Russia, which she and other National Front officials have visited. But she takes it further. “I want an alliance to emerge between France, the United States and Russia to fight Islamic fundamentalism because it’s a gigantic danger weighing on our democracies,” she said at a meeting last week with the Anglo-American Press Association. “Terrorism is a pistol in the hand of the guilty” and only an alliance can defeat it. “I don’t only fight the pistol. I fight the ones who hold it,” she said. For Le Pen and her supporters, “massive migration,” notably from Muslim North Africa, is supplanting French civilization and at the root of many France’s modern woes. “On est chez nous” (“We’re in our land”) is a mantra at National Front rallies. French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said he was sure the United States under President Donald Trump would maintain close ties with the European Union but said Europe would respond if Trump acted to weaken NATO. Trump has called for better relations between the United States and Russia and during the presidential election campaign rattled U.S. allies, especially in eastern Europe, by saying he would consider a country’s contributions to the NATO alliance before coming to their aid. French opinion polls show Macron, who is running as an independent in the April-May presidential election in France, is gaining on the frontrunners, conservative candidate Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen. “I want to at least give the new U.S. president a chance, but the signals from Trump up to now have been going in another direction. He doesn’t rule out the dismantling of NATO,” Macron told Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain in an interview published on Thursday. “I’m convinced it’s in America’s interest to cooperate with the EU. We have common values and similarly structured economies. I doubt that Trump would defend U.S. interests without working with the EU or dealing with climate change,” he said.” Asked about Trump’s comments on NATO, Macron said: “We would react if it came to that (weakening of the alliance). But I am warning against developing premature scenarios,” he said, without elaborating. France’s ruling Socialist party hold their first televised debate Thursday seeking a presidential candidate who can save the party’s blushes in an election race currently being led by the right.

The Katharinen Church, one of Frankfurt’s most popular churches is seen through thousands of rain drops on a glass railing in central Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan 11. (AP)

Extremism Travel restricted for minors over jihadi fears

Belgium charges 2 over Paris attacks

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades arrives for Cyprus peace talks on Jan 12, at the United Nations Offices in Geneva. New UN chief Antonio Guterres, foreign ministers from Cyprus’ so-called guarantor powers Britain, Greece and Turkey attend peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending decades of stalemate in a divided Cyprus. (AFP)

Jourova

Trump

Europe EU says scanning not enough: The United States has not satisfied the European Union’s concerns about Yahoo’s scanning of all customers’ incoming emails for US intelligence purposes, the bloc’s justice chief told Reuters in an interview. The European Commission, the EU executive, asked the United States in November for clarifications on the secret court order served to Yahoo as part of its monitoring of a new transatlantic pact facilitating the exchange of personal data by businesses. To clinch an agreement on the EU-US Privacy Shield, as the data transfer framework is known, Washington pledged not to engage in mass, indiscriminate surveillance. That allayed Commission concerns for the privacy of Europeans’ data stored on US servers raised by disclosures of intrusive US surveillance programmes in 2013 by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. “I am not satisfied because to my taste the answer came relatively late and relatively general, and I will make clear at the first possible opportunity to the American side that this is not how we understand good, quick and full exchange of information,” EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said in the interview. While Yahoo is not signed up to the Privacy Shield and the scanning took place before the framework existed, the issue is a first test case of how the new system, which underpins $260 billion of trade in digital services, and the US commitments on spying work in practice, an EU official said. The Privacy Shield allows businesses to seamlessly move Europeans’ personal data across the Atlantic, whether for completing credit card transactions, hotel bookings or analysing browsing habits to serve targeted ads, while complying with strict EU data protection rules. “I understand that the American side, when it comes to national security issues, cannot be fully concrete,” Jourova said. Nevertheless, she said, she still expects more detailed information on what happened and the reasons for which Yahoo was asked to scan customer emails. Reuters reported in October that Yahoo scanned all incoming emails for a digital signature linked to a foreign state sponsor of terrorism at the behest of an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The Privacy Shield foresees an annual

BRUSSELS, Jan 12, (Agencies): Belgium has charged two suspects with providing false documents to a man linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks, who later blew himself up on a crowded Brussels metro, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The pair, a man and a woman, were “suspected to have provided Khalid Bakraoui with the false documents afterwards used in preparation of the Paris attacks,” which were claimed by the Islamic State group and killed 130 people, prosecutors said. Bakraoui was the suicide bomber at a Brussels metro station while his brother Ibrahim and another man attacked Brussels airport in coordinated suicide attacks that killed 32 people on March 22 last year. Belgian press reports said the suspects identified Thursday as Farid K. and Meryem E.B. were the same people who were arrested during an anti-terror raid on a home in the Brussels district of Laeken on Tuesday. Farid K. has “been charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, falsification of documents and use of false documents,” the prosecutor’s office said. Meryem E.B. “has been charged with falsification of documents and use of false documents,” it said. Farid K. has been placed in police custody while Meryem E.B was released under “strict” conditions, it added. Some 20 people have been charged in Belgium in connection with the Paris attacks. Investigators say the Paris and Brussels attacks were carried out by the review to ensure the United States is abiding by its commitments and that the framework is effective. The first annual review will take place this summer, under now President-elect Donald Trump. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

12,000 stopped illegally migrating: Egyptian border patrol and coast guard forces stopped more than 12,000 people of various nationalities from illegally entering or leaving the country in 2016, the military said on Wednesday, Migrants have tried to cross to Italy from the African coast, particularly from Libya, where people traffickers operate with relative impunity. But boats have increasingly departed from Egypt. The military listed “The arrest of 12,192 people of various nationalities and a total of 434 cases of illegal migration,” in a statement on its achievements last year. Egypt passed legislation in October to crack down on people traffickers linked to a surge in the numbers of migrants departing from its Mediterranean coast on sea

same cell. Investigators said Bakraoui used a false name to rent an apartment in the southern Brussels district of Forest that was raided one week before the metro and airport bombings. A French woman police officer and three Belgian colleagues were wounded in the March 15 shootout at the apartment in which an Algerian Islamist suspect was killed. Police found in the apartment the fingerprints of Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam, the only known jihadist to have survived the massacres there, and arrested him three days later in central Brussels. Prosecutors also believe Bakraoui used a false name and Belgian identity card to rent a flat in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi which served as a base for the Paris attackers. ❑ ❑ ❑ France’s government has quietly backtracked on a policy that allowed children to leave the country without their parents’ permission, after years of complaints from families of radicalized teens who left to join extremist groups. The new rules requiring parental permission go into effect Sunday, five years after the government lifted the restriction with little fanfare, citing a need to streamline bureaucracy. At the time, the war in Syria was picking up and France became Europe’s largest source of recruits in the war zone, notably for the Islamic State group. Families said they were blindsided when their teenage sons and daughters were aljourneys to Europe. A boat carrying about 450 people capsized off the Egyptian coast in September. About 202 bodies were subsequently recovered from the sea and 169 people rescued. Some 320 migrants and refugees drowned off the Greek island of Crete in June and survivors said their boat had set sail from Egypt. A Reuters investigation published in December found that a fishing boat carrying hundreds of migrants that capsized in April had set sail from Egypt, not Libya as previously reported. About 500 people died, the largest loss of human life in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Berlin to return asylum seekers: Germany will begin returning asylum seekers to Greece from mid-March, an interior ministry spokesman told AFP Thursday, essentially lifting a five-year suspension on such transfers because of poor conditions there. Under the EU’s so-called Dublin rules,

American soldiers are pictured during a welcome ceremony at the Polish-German border in Olszyna, Poland on Jan 12. US troops are being deployed in Poland under Operation Atlantic Resolve. Armoured brigade numbering around 4,500 soldiers will be deployed mainly in western Poland, but will conduct exercises across the country. The troops will be followed by around 2,800 tanks and other pieces of military equipment which are being transported by land from Germany. (AFP)

lowed to pass through border control no questions asked and even leave Europe’s passport-free zone for Turkey. “We have to do everything we can to prevent minors from going into the terrorist zone,” lawmaker Patrick Hetzel told France 3. But critics say the reversal comes far too late. Samia Maktouf, a lawyer for two families that sued the government over their teenagers’ departures for Syria, has called for this policy shift for years. “Unfortunately, they’re taking action rather late,” she told The Associated Press. “Four hundred French minors are now at the gates of Hell.” ❑ ❑ ❑ Dozens of militants were detained and four of them killed in a security operation in Russia’s southern region of Chechnya on Wednesday, the provincial head was quoted by local news agencies as saying. Moscow has waged two wars against separatists in its predominantly Muslim region since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The province is now governed by Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel fighter now loyal to President Vladimir Putin. The security situation in the North Caucasus region remains volatile as unemployment and corruption is rife, pushing some young men to embrace radical versions of Islam. “Four militants were annihilated during a special operation on Wednesday evening,” Kadyrov is quoted as saying by TASS news agency. He said one of the local security personnel was killed. would-be refugees must file for asylum in the first member-state of the bloc they enter, often the Mediterranean nations of Greece and Italy. If asylum seekers have travelled on to other EU nations, they are to be returned to their first port of call. But that requirement had been halted for Greece, which together with Italy has been the main point of entry for the more than one million migrants who have entered the bloc since 2015 fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. A German interior ministry spokesman told AFP that Germany would reinstate the Dublin rule in two months’ time and return newly arrived asylum seekers to their first EU port of call. “In line with the recommendation from the European Commission, Germany believes that such transfers will be possible from March 15,” said the spokesman, Tobias Plate. The EU recommended on December 8 that member states resume sending asylum seekers back to Greece from March next year, after such transfers were halted since 2011. Athens has criticised the EU’s assessment, with Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas saying the current legal framework was “unable to respond to the historic migration flows and leaves the burden to the member states that migrants first arrive in”. German refugee relief group Pro Asyl has also raised concerns, warning that the measure would put the asylum system in Greece, a country still recovering from a deep debt and economic crisis, under further pressure. Germany’s 2015 decision to open its doors to Syrian refugees, and to effectively suspend Dublin rules for them, brought 890,000 asylum seekers in that year alone. But the move by Chancellor Angela Merkel has proved controversial, and the government has since sought to bring numbers down. Last year, the figure dropped sharply to 280,000 arrivals, largely due to the closure of the Balkan overland route and a fragile EU-Turkey deal to limit the mass influx. The plan to return asylum seekers to Greece could further slash new arrival figures, ahead of general elections expected in September, when immigration is set to figure as a key issue. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

14

World News Roundup Turkey AKP warns of polls

Fists fly as Turkey MPs debate Erdogan powers ISTANBUL, Jan 12, (Agencies): Turkish lawmakers on Thursday brawled and threw chairs as parliament approved three more articles in a hugely controversial bill bolstering the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Lawmakers have since the start of the week been debating the first reading of the 18-article bill to change the constitution to create an executive presidency. The articles approved covered lowering the minimum age limit of members of parliament from 25 to 18, stipulating parliamentary elections be held every five years, instead of four, and on the parliament’s own powers. Five of the 18 articles have now been approved with the three-fifths majority required for the new constitution to be submitted to a referendum expected in April. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has mustered sufficient votes in an alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). But the changes are vehemently opposed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), whose lawmakers boycotted the vote. A brawl erupted in the chamber as the voting took place in an overnight session, with lawmakers punching each another and chairs being thrown, television Erdogan pictures showed. Dozens of lawmakers crowded around the speaker’s rostrum with one MP held in a chokehold and another kicked in the shins. Another was seen being led away, apparently bleeding from the head, while the lectern from which MPs deliver speeches was also badly damaged in the fracas. Female MPs meanwhile shook their heads and waved their hands in despair. Despite the tensions, all articles have mustered sufficient support so far and Erdogan on Thursday voiced confidence that the draft constitution would be approved by parliament and sent to a referendum. “Nothing is gained from hindering and delaying the works in the parliament,” he said during a meeting with local officials in Ankara.

Ruling Justice and Development Party and main opposition Republican People’s Party lawmakers scuffle at the parliament in Ankara during deliberations over a controversial 18-article bill to change the constitution to create an executive presidency on Jan 11. Turkish lawmakers on Thursday approved three more articles in a hugely

controversial bill bolstering the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as lawmakers brawled and threw objects in a session of high tension. A brawl erupted in the chamber as the voting took place in an overnight session, with lawmakers punching each another and chairs being thrown, television pictures showed. (AFP)

Mideast Settlements block two-state solution: Obama

People “No matter what you do ... I believe (the draft constitution) will be handed to the people,” he said. Some commentators had suggested that dissent from within the AKP could give the draft bill a rocky ride in the days to come when votes are made on the most contentious articles. Other key changes will include giving the president the power to name and fire ministers as well as abolishing the post of premier but creating vice presidents. The two readings are expected to take two weeks, with parliament working without a break. Three more articles will be voted overnight Thursday. The CHP blamed the AKP for the fighting and said it would stand its ground by maintaining the boycott. “I am proud of my CHP deputies who showed resistance despite all the attacks from the AKP,” the CHP faction’s deputy chairman Ozgur Ozel said. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) also boycotted the vote in protest at the arrest of its two co-leaders and several other MPs over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). A senior AKP lawmaker, Mustafa Sentop, warned that a failure to pass the draft constitution would push Turkey to a snap election. “It could be in the spring, autumn or whenever. No one can stop the elections,” Sentop told Anadolu news agency. While critics say the move is part of a power grab by Erdogan for a one-man rule, supporters say it will put Turkey in line with France and the US and is needed for efficient government. Along with a slew of terror attacks, the political uncertainty has been one of the factors pressuring the Turkish lira, which has slid 18 percent against the dollar over the last three months.

72 countries to attend ME summit

File photo shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), and his wife Sara attend an inauguration ceremony of the Hahemek rail line in the train station in Afula, Israel. Israel Radio and other media outlets reported on Jan 12, that Sara Netanyahu was interviewed by police the night before. Police had no immediate comment. (AP)

Elections Meanwhile, Turkey will hold elections if parliament fails to approve a constitutional reform package expanding President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers, a ruling AK Party lawmaker was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu agency on Thursday. His comments came after lawmakers threw punches and shoved one another in parliament overnight in a debate on the reform package, adding to the sense of political and economic unease that has helped pushed the lira to record lows this week. The AKP, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation that Erdogan says will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past. “If the proposal does not pass in the general assembly, even if nobody wants it, Turkey will have to hold elections,” said Mustafa Sentop, an AKP lawmaker and head of parliament’s constitutional commission. Under the current reform plans, presidential and general elections will be held in 2019. The reform will enable Erdogan to appoint and dismiss government ministers, take back the leadership of the ruling party and govern until 2029. The main opposition CHP and the pro-Kurdish HDP, the second largest opposition party, fear these changes will fuel authoritarianism. Lawmakers from the AKP and CHP came to blows as they crowded around the assembly’s podium during heated debate overnight. Despite the standoff, the third, fourth and fifth articles of the 18-article bill were approved in the parliamentary session, which continued until the early hours of Thursday. Debate was scheduled to resume on Thursday afternoon. The bill needs the support of at least 330 deputies in the 550-seat assembly to go to a referendum, expected in the spring. The AKP has 316 deputies eligible to vote and the MHP 39. The three articles were each passed with 341 to 343 votes in favour. Turkish lawmakers came to blows in a brawl in parliament overnight, as tempers boiled over in a debate on a constitutional reform package to expand the powers of President Tayyip Erdogan. MPs from the ruling AK Party and main opposition CHP threw punches and shoved one another as they crowded around the assembly’s podium. The AKP, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation that Erdogan says will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past. The opposition CHP and pro-Kurdish HDP fear the reform will fuel authoritarianism. During the row, CHP deputies objected to AKP members casting votes without entering the cabins set up to ease what was a secret ballot. AKP lawmakers then tried to grab the mobile telephone of a CHP deputy filming the scene.

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Mideast Israel, Egypt ties strong: An Israeli defense official on Wednesday confirmed that the country has developed a new policy in recent years to allow Egypt to quickly beef up its forces in the volatile Sinai peninsula as part of a shared struggle against Islamic militants. The official spoke days after Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi said there are about 25,000 Egyptian troops operating in Sinai. It was the first time an Egyptian leader has commented on the number of troops battling militants there. His comments, made Monday night in a telephone call to a live TV talk show, underlined the depth of his commitment to the fight against militants, but also reflected the immense challenges Egypt faces. In addition to the troops, Egypt’s military is also known to have deployed F-16 fighter jets as well as Apache helicopter gunships and tanks in northern Sinai. (AP)

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PARIS, Jan 12, (Agencies): French authorities are expecting 72 countries to attend Sunday’s Middle East peace conference in Paris — but not Israel or the Palestinians. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Wednesday both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been invited to come to France after the conference to be informed of its conclusions. Netanyahu has declined the invitation — saying only direct negotiations will produce a solution. Abbas is expected to visit the French capital at the end of the week on the sidelines of the conference. It was unclear whether he would meet French President Francois Hollande. Participants will include US Secretary of State John Kerry. France wants “to restart the (negotiation) process at a moment when it has been largely abandoned,” Le Foll said. Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande sought to play down the prospects of Middle East peace talks in Paris on Sunday, saying only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians could resolve the long-standing conflict. France has over the last year tried to breathe new life into the peace process, holding a preliminary conference in June where the United Nations, European Union, United States and major Arab countries gathered to try to revive moribund talks. Some 70 countries and organisations are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as “futile”. Hollande, giving his last speech to the foreign diplomatic corps before stepping down in May, said the objective was to reaffirm the support of the international community for a two-state solution and ensure that it remained a reference. “I can see that this has been weakgifts from high-powered Hollywood and business figures. Much of the details of the spiraling scandal have emerged from media reports. (AP)

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Hamas sets ‘honey traps’: Using photos of young women and Hebrew slang, the Palestinian militant group Hamas chatted up dozens of Israeli soldiers online, gaining control of their phone cameras and micro-

ened on the ground and in the minds. If we let it whither away then it would be a risk for Israeli’s security to which we are resolutely attached. “However, I am realistic on what this conference can achieve. Peace will only be done by the Israelis and Palestinians and by nobody else. Only bilateral negotiations can succeed.” France, which had invited Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to meet Hollande to discuss the results of the conference, believes that with uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue it is important to push the sides back to talks. Abbas is due in Paris on Sunday, although a meeting with Hollande has yet to be confirmed.

Draft A draft communique for the meeting seen by Reuters calls on both sides to “restate their commitment to the twostate solution and to disavow official voices on their side that reject this solution. It also asks the protagonists to “refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations in order to rebuild trust and create a path back to meaningful direct negotiations.” Netanyahu said in public remarks on Thursday: “It’s a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances. This pushes peace backwards. “It’s not going to obligate us. It’s a relic of the past, it’s a last gasp of the past before the future sets in.” US President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he would be more favourable toward Israel than President Barack Obama, who said on Tuesday Netanyahu’s policy backing settlements in occupied territory was making a future Palestinian state impossible. phones, the military said on Wednesday. An officer, who briefed reporters on the alleged scam, said the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip uncovered no major military secrets in the intelligence-gathering operation. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum declined to comment. (RTRS)

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‘Vision’ official charged: Israel on

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in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip arrested a Palestinian singer-comedian Wednesday, a source said, after he made a video about the electricity crisis in the enclave. Adel Meshoukhi was summoned by police and arrested, an interior ministry source said. On Wednesday Meshoukhi published an online video about the ongoing shortages of electricity and employment in Gaza which included the line “Hamas enough”. It has been viewed more than 150,000 times. (AFP)

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Haftar visits Russian aircraft: A

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Police questions Bibi’s wife: Israeli media are reporting that police questioned the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of an investigation into allegations that he improperly accepted gifts from wealthy supporters. Israel Radio and other media outlets Thursday reported that Sara Netanyahu was interviewed by police the night before. Police had no immediate comment. The prime minister has been questioned twice by police over allegedly receiving

Wednesday announced new charges against the Gaza head of a major US-based NGO accused of diverting millions of dollars in aid to Hamas. Mohammed al-Halabi, the Gaza director of Christian humanitarian charity World Vision, is alleged to have funnelled aid money to the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip. He is due in court again in the southern city of Beersheba on Thursday. (AFP)

Gaza comedian arrested: Authorities

Israel frees UN worker: A Palestinian UN worker sentenced by Israel to seven months for aiding Hamas was released Thursday and returned to Gaza, calling his prosecution “unjust” and hoping to resume his job. Waheed Borsh, 39, arrived at his home in the southern Gaza Strip and was greeted by dozens of well-wishers handing out sweets and singing songs. Israeli forces detained Borsh, an engineer, on July 16, causing a major stir in the aid community. (AFP) ❑

Washington did not exercise its veto in December to stop a UN Security Council resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlement building. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama, in an interview aired on Israeli television on Tuesday, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy backing settlements in occupied territory is making a future Palestinian state impossible. “Bibi says that he believes in the twostate solution and yet his actions consistently have shown that if he is getting pressured to approve more settlements he will do so regardless of what he says about the importance of the two-state solution,” Obama said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. Some 570,000 Israelis now live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem, together home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally. Obama, who leaves office on Jan 20, said that in the past few years both he and US Secretary of State John Kerry had “countless times” personally appealed to Netanyahu to stop settlement activity, but that those pleas were ignored. “Increasingly what you are seeing is that the facts on the ground are making it almost impossible, at least very difficult, and if this trendline continues — impossible, to create a contiguous, functioning Palestinian state,” Obama told Channel Two’s Uvda programme. Israel expects to receive more favourable treatment from Obama’s successor, President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has denounced the Obama administration’s Israel policy and has vowed to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, riling the Palestinians.

File photo shows Palestinians pray in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Palestinians are ringing alarm bells over Donald Trump’s stated intention to relocate the US Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, fearing quick action once he takes office as US president next week. They say an embassy move would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian border deal and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city. (AP)

Libyan military chief has visited a Russian aircraft carrier off the coast of the troubled North African country. The Russian Defense Ministry says Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar visited the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier Wednesday. The carrier and accompanying ships are coming home from a mission off Syria’s coast. The ministry said Haftar was given a tour of the ship and had a video call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss “acute issues of fighting international terrorist groups in the Middle East.” (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Asia HK deputy announces bid

Taiwan slams Nigeria, China over office snub TAIPEI, Jan 12, (Agencies): Taiwan protested Thursday after Nigeria asked it to shut down its trade office in the capital, in what it said was an attempt by Beijing to push it out of Africa’s largest economy. The island’s foreign ministry said Nigeria had asked Taiwan to move its trade office out of the capital Abuja in a show of support for Beijing. Chinese leaders see the self-ruling island as a renegade province which is still part of “one China”. Ties have deteriorated since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took the leadership in May and have worsened further in recent weeks since Tsai made a congratulatory call to United States Presidentelect Donald Trump and later transited through the US despite protests from Beijing. The US is Taiwan’s most powerful ally and main arms supplier. Taiwan says Beijing is leaning on other countries as a pressure tactic on Tsai. “The foreign ministry protests and condemns Nigeria for collaborating with China’s political goal to engage in unreasonable, barbaric, rough and violent political manipulation,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The island’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which Tsai handles relations with Beijing, expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over what it called an “unreasonable and provocative action”. Beijing said Nigeria had taken the decision to ask the trade office to move out of Abuja, and to make sure its government had no official contact with Taiwan, in order to show its backing for the “one China” principle. ❑ ❑ ❑ Lam resigns, announces bid: Hong Kong’s tough pro-Beijing number two Carrie Lam announced her bid to lead the deeply divided city Thursday after stepping down from her current post. Lam is deputy to Hong Kong’s unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying and rose through the ranks as a career civil servant before taking public office. The city has become sharply polarised under Leung, whose term has been marked by anti-Beijing protests. Opponents cast him as a puppet of the Chinese government squeezing the semi-autonomous city’s freedoms. While Lam is less hated than Leung, critics fear she will take a similar hard line if she wins the leadership at elections in March. Lam, who has worked in government since 1980, would become the city’s first woman chief executive. She said Thursday she was stepping down as deputy leader in order to stand for the top job. If her resignation is accepted by Beijing, she will run for chief executive she said. ❑ ❑ ❑ China launches electronic intel naval ship: China’s Navy has launched a new electronic reconnaissance ship, state media said on Thursday, the latest addition to an expanding fleet and as Beijing’s new assertiveness to territorial claims in the South China Sea fuels tensions. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) now operates six electronic reconnaissance vessels, the official English-language China Daily newspaper said, noting that the PLA “has never made public so many details about its intelligence collection ships”. Last year, the PLA Navy commissioned 18 ships, including missile destroyers, corvettes and guided missile frigates, the paper said. ❑ ❑ ❑ China muted after Tillerson remarks: China offered a muted response Thursday after Donald Trump’s secretary of state pick Rex Tillerson warned the US would stop it from using its artificial islands in the South China Sea. Tillerson’s comments, during his confirmation hearing in the US senate, are the latest salvo the Trump team has aimed at Beijing. “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first the island building stops, and second, your access to those islands is also not going to be allowed,” Tillerson told the panel. Beijing has fuelled regional tensions by turning tiny, ecologically fragile reefs and islets in the strategically vital South China Sea into artificial islands hosting military facilities. ❑ ❑ ❑ ‘Carrier leaves Taiwan Strait’: China’s sole aircraft carrier sailed out of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday morning, a day after Taiwan scrambled fighter jets and navy ships to shadow the carrier group through the narrow waterway separating China from the selfruled island. China’s Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier, returning from exercises in the disputed South China Sea, had “meticulously operated” during the navigation of the Strait, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy spokesman Liang Yang said. Taiwan said the carrier group did not pose a threat. The Taiwan Straits passage and naval drills comes at a time of heightened tension between the two sides, due to Beijing’s suspicion that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wants formal independence from China. Taiwan had said the Chinese ships did not enter its territorial waters but did sail into its air defence identification zone. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949 when Mao Zedong’s Communists drove Chiang Kai-shek’s defeated Nationalists to the island. ❑ ❑ ❑ China detains 720, imposes $21.8m fines: China detained 720 people and Beijing imposed $21.8 million of fines for violating environmental protection laws in 2016, according to domestic media on Thursday. China is in the third year of a “war on pollution” aimed at containing the damage done to its air, soil and water after decades of rapid economic growth. Just last week, Beijing faced severe pollution alerts, which forced people to stay indoors. In 2016, 720 people were detained in China for damaging the environment, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing information disclosed at a national environmental work conference. The agency added that Beijing rejected 11 projects worth 97 billion yuan ($14 billion) due to environmental concerns last year. Meanwhile, Beijing filed 13,127 environmental protection cases last year, with fines totalling $21.8 million, the Shanghai Daily said in a separate report citing local environmental authorities.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left), and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (center), inspect an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on Jan 12. Abe arrived in the Philippines on Monday, becoming the first foreign leader to visit since Duterte took office last year and launched his deadly war on crime. (AFP)

Diplomacy Talks will also focus on territorial row with China

Abe offers Duterte drug war support

Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon waves as he arrives at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul on Jan 12. (AFP)

Asia Ban hints at presidential bid: Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he’ll soon announce whether to run for South Korea’s top job as he returned home and strongly hinted at his political ambitions before hundreds of cheering supporters. Ban’s return will likely heat up local politics as he’s considered as the only major conservative contender in a possible early election to replace impeached President Park Geun-hye. Dozens of lawmakers already bolted from Park’s conservative ruling party and want to align with Ban, while the main liberal opposition party is escalating political offensive against him. As his supporters shouted his name, Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said he’ll get diverse opinions about his return to South Korean politics. “Based on my talks will people, I will make a decision that will be free from selfish motives. That decision won’t take long,” he said. (AP) ❑

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Samsung heir quizzed: Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong was grilled by South Korean prosecutors Thursday after becoming a criminal suspect in the corruption scandal engulfing impeached President Park Geun-Hye. Lee, chairman of Samsung Electronics and the son of the Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-Hee, was being questioned over allegations of bribery, prosecutors said Wednesday. He is also accused of committing perjury during a parliamentary hearing last month into the affair, they said. “I am sorry for causing concern among the people over this incident”, Lee said as he arrived at the office of the special prosecutor investigating the case. Lee and his lawyer were greeted by scores of journalists as well as dozens of protesters waving banners and chanting “arrest Lee immediately” and calling him a “co-culprit” in the scandal. Prosecutor’s office spokesman Lee KyuChul said they would decide whether to seek a court warrant to arrest him formally when his questioning is completed. Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified investigator as saying the likelihood of prosecutors seeking an arrest warrant was “high”. Lee was named a criminal suspect in the widening investigation on Wednesday. (AFP)

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US deploys high-tech radar: A high-tech sea-based US military radar has left Hawaii to monitor for potential North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test launches, a US defense official said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the isolated, nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the radar, known as the Sea-based X-band radar (SBX), left on Monday and would reach its destination, about 2,000 miles (3,218 kms) northwest of Hawaii, towards the end of January. The radar is able to track ICBMs and differentiate between hostile missiles and those that are not a threat. On Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Ash

MANILA, Jan 12, (AFP): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered support for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial drug war on Thursday as the pair met in Manila for talks that also focused on territorial disputes with China. Abe’s two-day visit to the Philippines is the first by a foreign leader since Duterte took office in the middle of last year, highlighting Japan’s importance as the Southeast Asian nation’s top trading partner and foreign aid donor. Abe is also intent on maintaining Japan’s strong ties with the Philippines as Duterte shakes up his nation’s foreign policy with a shift away from the United States, both nations’ longtime ally, in favour of China and Russia. The trip began with a warm welcome by Duterte at the presidential palace, with the Philippine leader then winning much sought-after backing for his drug war that has claimed about 6,000 lives and raised concerns of mass extrajudicial killings. “On countering illegal drugs, we want to work together with the Philippines to think of relevant measures of support,” Abe said afterwards, according to an interpreter. Facilities Abe said Japan would help with unspecified drug “facilities” and treatment programmes. Duterte, who has railed against US President Barack Obama and European politicians for criticising his drug war, highlighted Abe’s offers of support. “As the Philippines pursues its campaign to destroy the illegal drug trade apparatus, we welcome the expression of interest of Japan to support measures to address the tremendous social cost of drug addiction,” Duterte said. Duterte won last year’s elections in a landslide after vowing that 100,000 people would be killed in an unprecedented crackdown against illegal drugs. Since then police have reported killing 2,180 people in anti-drug operations. More than 3,000 others have been killed in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures. Often masked assailants break into shanty homes and kill people who have been tagged as drug traffickers or drug users. Rights groups have warned of a breakdown in the rule of law with police and hired assassins operating with complete impunity. While using foul language to hit back at Obama and other critics, Duterte has praised the leaders of China and Russia for “not interfering” in his drug war. Trade between Japan and the Philippines was worth $18 billion in 2015, according to official figures, and Abe said Thursday he was committed to more. With a severely under-equipped military and coast guard, the Philippines has also looked to Japan to boost maritime security as the two nations face separate sea disputes with China.

Surrender or die: police chief

German hostage abducted in Philippines appears in video MANILA, Jan 12, (AFP): Philippine Islamic militants have released a video showing an elderly German sailor abducted at sea late last year is alive, according to a security group that monitors jihadist activity. The Abu Sayyaf, a notorious kidnap-for-ransom gang based in the southern Philippines, released the video of Jurgen Kantner on Wednesday along with photos that had a date stamp of Dec 26 last year, SITE Intelligence Group reported. The military on Nov 7 last year reported finding Kantner’s yacht, Rockall, adrift off the southern Philippines. The body of a woman with a bullet wound, later identified by the hostage as his partner, Sabine Merz, was found on board the vessel. In Berlin, German authorities declined to comment on the video. “As a matter of policy, the government does not comment on cases of kidnapping and hostage taking of German citizens abroad,” said a source from the German foreign ministry. The Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, later claimed the abduction and the killing. The group is made of up several small armed bands based in the mainly Muslim southern islands of Basilan and Jolo, where they are also holding a Dutchman and foreign crew members of several other vessels. It is blamed for the Philippines’ deadliest bombing attacks as well as dozens of kidnappings-for-ransom. The Abu Sayyaf murdered two Canadian hostages last year after ransom demands were not met. Meanwhile, the Philippine police chief on Thursday warned an “idiot” policeman accused of kidnapping a South Korean businessman that he would die unless he surrendered. The businessman disappeared from his home in the northern city of Angeles in October last year, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom for his release, authorities said. Police said earlier this week an officer with an anti-drug taskforce was suspected of involvement, that he had been placed under “restrictive custody” and that criminal

charges would be filed against him. But police chief Ronald Dela Rosa revealed Thursday the accused officer had not been detained as part of his “restrictive custody”. He said the policeman was meant to just report to his officers, but that he had stopped doing so and gone missing. “I hope you surrender because if you don’t, you will really die. You son of whore, you will die if you do not surrender,” Dela Rosa said in an interview with DZMM radio. The case has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and local media as an example of corrupt policemen expanding their illegal activities after being given freedoms by President Rodrigo Duterte to prosecute his war against drugs. Duterte has encouraged police to kill drug traffickers and addicts, and vowed to shield them from prosecution. About 5,700 people have died in Duterte’s drug war since he took office in the middle of last year. “Now cops appear to have upped their game by venturing into kidnapping for ransom in the name of the drug war,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which has reported critically on the crime crackdown, said in an editorial on Tuesday. Dela Rosa, picked by Duterte to lead his war on drugs, last year urged drug users to kill traffickers and burn down their homes. He later apologised for his “emotional outburst”. The Daily Inquirer newspaper on Monday quoted the missing man’s wife as saying the abductors had kidnapped him in a bid to extort a ransom. The wife said she had already paid five million pesos ($100,000) but the kidnappers wanted another 4.5 million pesos, according to the newspaper. Dela Rosa said he had ordered a “manhunt” for the officer, whose lack of cooperation he took as a sign of guilt. “There is a big chance this idiot is really guilty,” Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa said he met with the businessman’s wife and the South Korean ambassador on Wednesday, assuring them the case would be quickly resolved. “But honestly I doubt the Korean is still alive,” Dela Rosa said.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running row over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, while Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Japan last year gave the Philippines two large patrol vessels and said it would lease training aircraft, on top of 10 coast guard ships that Tokyo pledged to Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino. However unlike Aquino, Duterte has played down the maritime dispute with China while focusing on economic concessions and Chinese help in his drug war.

Abe said Thursday he welcomed Duterte’s overtures to China, but emphasised the South China Sea was a concern for all nations in the region. “The issue of the South China Sea is linked directly to regional peace and stability, and is of concern to the entire international community,” Abe said. Abe will on Thursday night travel to Duterte’s home town of Davao in the southern region of Mindanao, where Japan has supported the peace process with Muslim rebels through development and poverty eradication programmes.

Carter said the US military might monitor a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test and gather intelligence rather than destroy it, as long as the launch did not pose a threat. (RTRS)

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26 N. Koreans rescued: Japan rescued 26 North Koreans after they abandoned their sinking cargo vessel in the East China Sea, the coast guard said Thursday.

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Japan Coast Guard patrol boats plucked the ship’s entire crew out of the water in the early hours of the morning after they had abandoned the vessel and taken to life boats. A distress signal was received Wednesday from the 6,558-tonne Chong Gen which began sinking about 60 kms (37 miles) southwest of Fukue island in Nagasaki prefecture, the spokesman said. The ship finally sank before dawn some 27 kms from the island. (AFP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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World News Roundup Lat/Am Mexico stakes talks with Trump: Mexico said on Wednesday it would throw its relationship with the United States wide open in talks with the incoming Trump administration, putting security, migration and trade on the table as it seeks to avoid a major economic shock. US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to tear up a trade agreement that underpins Mexico’s export model if he cannot renegotiate its terms in his favor, battering the peso currency and fueling uncertainty over foreign investment. President Enrique Pena Nieto said Mexico would take a broad approach to the challenge, seeking a settlement that would benefit both Mexico and the United States as he looks to carve out a platform that gives him room for maneuver in talks. “All the issues that define our bilateral relationship are on the table, including security, migration and trade,” Pena Nieto said in a speech to diplomats in Mexico City, sketching out his negotiating posiNieto tion for the first time. Reuters reported last month that Mexico’s government aimed to use security and migration to gain leverage over the United States in its talks with Trump, and could offer to reinforce its borders to get a better deal on trade. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Greek envoy’s widow denies guilt:

In this file photo, Afghan villagers gather around several victims’ bodies who were killed during clashes between Taleban and Afghan security forces in the Taleban-controlled, Buz-e Kandahari village in Kunduz province, Afghanistan. In a statement released on Jan 12, the US military in Afghanistan said the results of its investigation into the November firefight with the Taleban in Kunduz province show that American troops had fired on Afghan homes, killing 33 civilians. (AP)

Pakistan

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Temple inaugurated

Hostages appear on Taleban video

Sharif reaches out to minority communities

‘33 civilians killed in Nov’

KATAS, Pakistan, Jan 12, (RTRS): Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday inaugurated the restoration of an ancient Hindu temple complex in Punjab, a symbolic gesture that may appeal to the Muslim nation’s minority communities and soften the country’s image abroad. However, the visit and other recent overtures to minority faiths and women, including the passing of pro-women legislation, could also alienate powerful religious hardliners opposed to social change. Sharif’s visit to the 900-year-old Katas Raj temples, one of the holiest sites in South Asia for Hindus, comes at a time when relations with Pakistan’s Hindumajority neighbour India are at a low ebb and show few signs of improving. “In my personal view, we are all are equal – Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians – and people belonging to other religions; we are all one,” Sharif told Reuters after a Hindu ritual was performed at the temples, located in the village of Katas some 110 km (70 miles) south of the capital Islamabad. At the ceremony, attended by senior Christian, Sikh and Hindu leaders, Sharif chastised hardline Muslim scholars who use “strange interpretations” of Islam to preach hate against other religions. “I believe this is not lawful. No one should try to teach this sort of lesson, nor should anyone heed such lessons,” Sharif said. Critics say Sharif’s governSharif ment has not done enough to tackle hardline religious groups inside Pakistan, including some with militant links, and accuse members of the ruling PML-N party of maintaining links with sectarian hardliners. Pakistani officials want to improve the country’s image, marred by religious violence and the persecution of minorities, in a bid to lure Western investors who are reluctant to come despite healthy economic growth and improving security. “Pakistan’s image, economy, foreign investment, security – they are all interlinked,” said an aide to the prime minister. Political analysts say Sharif’s visit to the Katas Raj temples was part of an effort to reach out to minority groups ahead of a general election scheduled for 2018, and would also appeal to more liberal, urban voters in Pakistan. Non-Muslims make up only about three percent of the 190 million population, but they are clustered and their votes could swing some seats in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Last month, Sharif re-named a university in honour of Abdus Salam, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who was shunned for decades as he hailed from the small Ahmadiyya community. A mob of about 1,000 people attacked and burned an Ahmadiyya mosque a few days after the renaming, although it is not clear whether the two events were related. Sharif’s attempt to burnish progressive credentials comes at a time when his party is confident it can retain power next year, boosted by the economic benefits from China’s $57 billion investment in road, rail and energy infrastructure. The government has in the past year passed a bill that removed a loophole in existing law that allowed people convicted of so-called “honour killings” to walk free if they were pardoned by family members. The provincial government of Punjab, which is run by Sharif’s brother Shebhaz, also enacted the Women’s Protection Act, giving women legal protection from domestic, psychological and sexual violence. “Only a person who is secure about his vote bank can do that,” said Nadeem Paracha, a columnist for the English-language Dawn newspaper. Huma Yusuf, an analyst for London-based Control Risks, said Sharif was “testing the boundaries” by pushing a more progressive agenda on issues that appeal to young urban voters, but added this would not herald drastic changes.

Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama offers a special ritual prayer during the 34th Kalachakra in Bodhgaya on Jan 12. (AFP)

Subcontinent Indian soldier kills four colleagues: A paramilitary soldier from one of India’s elite security units shot dead four of his senior officers on Thursday in an apparent row over leave, police said. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) soldier fired indiscriminately at the officers at the barracks in Aurangabad district in eastern India’s Bihar state before trying to flee. “He shot 32 rounds before he was overpowered by his colleagues and is suspected to be suffering from some mental illness.” Prakash said the dispute appeared to be over leave. All the victims were unarmed and were off-duty when the incident took place at a thermal power plant where they were stationed. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Battle over bicycle emblem: The humble bicycle has taken centre stage in a bitter battle for control of the party that runs India’s most populous state, underscoring the enduring importance of symbols in the politics of the world’s biggest democracy. India’s myriad political parties are all represented in the polling booth by pictoral symbols — a system that dates back to the first elections after independence, when fewer than one in five voters could read. Party names do not appear on the electronic voting machines in poll booths, which show only the name of the candidate alongside the party symbol. That makes the bicycle a hugely valuable commodity ahead of elections in Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest state, whose youthful chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, famously cycled around the campaign trail last time around. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑ Amazon withdraws doormats: Amazon said Thursday it has withdrawn doormats featuring Indian flag from sale after New Delhi called them “insulting” and threatened to expel the company’s foreign workers. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted late Wednesday that the mats, available only on Amazon’s Canadian site, were an “unacceptable” insult to the national flag and demanded an apology. On Thursday the company said it had responded by removing them from sale. Swaraj, an avid tweeter with nearly seven million followers, issued her ultimatum after a Twitter user sent her a screengrab of the doormats on sale. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Pakistan stays execution: A rights group says that a Pakistani court has stayed the execution of a mentally ill convict who was sentenced to death in 2003 for murdering a fellow police officer.

KABUL, Jan 12, (AFP): NATO confirmed Thursday that US forces in Afghanistan killed 33 Afghan citizens “in self-defence” in Kunduz last November in a single incident highlighting civilian casualties, one of the most contentious issues of the 15-year campaign. The incident on November 3 saw US and Afghan troops call for air reinforcement as they engaged with Taleban forces hiding in civilian houses in a village in the volatile northern province. Civilian men, women and children were “likely inside the buildings from which the Taleban were firing”, the report said. Two US forces and three Afghan commandos also died in the firing. The civilian deaths sparked outrage at the time, with victims’ relatives parading the mutilated bodies of dead children piled into open trucks through the streets of Kunduz city. “The investigation determined, regretfully, that 33 civilians were killed and 27 others wounded,” NATO’s Afghan mission Resolute Support said in a statement. “To defend themselves and Afghan forces, US forces returned fire in self-defence at Taleban who were using civilian houses as firing positions,” the statement added. “Regardless of the circumstances, I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives,” said General John Nicholson, commander of US forces - Afghanistan. The United Nations has also launched an investigation, calling any loss of civilian life “unacceptable”, with its findings due to be released by the end of this month. The carnage underscored worsening insecurity after the Taleban in October 2016 overran Kunduz city for the second time in a year, as NATO-backed Afghan forces struggle to rein in the insurgents. Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most divisive issues in the 15-year battle against the insurgents, prompting strong public and government Wassam Waheed, a spokesman at Justice Project Pakistan, says Thursday’s court order came just days ahead of the execution of expolice officer Khizar Hayat, due next week. He says the court asked the government to provide a new report on the convicted man’s health by Jan 30. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Pakistani activist missing: A fifth Pakistani rights activist has gone missing, his colleagues said Thursday, as the United Nations raised concerns over shrinking freedoms for campaigners. Samar Abbas, a middle-aged IT worker and head of the anti-militancy Civil Progressive Alliance, disappeared under

criticism. Errant air strikes contributed to a 42 percent jump last year in casualties caused by pro-government forces compared to last year, according to the UN. Meanwhile, an American and an Australian have appeared in a Taleban hostage video, five months after they were kidnapped from Kabul. Gunmen wearing police uniforms abducted American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weekes, both professors at the American University of Afghanistan, on August 7, seizing them from their vehicle after smashing the passenger window. The 13-minute, 35-second video circulated by Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Wednesday offers the first apparent proof that they were still alive. Australia said Thursday it “has been working closely with other governments to secure the release” of the hostage, but would not elaborate citing his family’s wishes and safety concerns. The video comes after US Special Operations forces conducted a failed secret raid in August to rescue them. President Barack Obama authorised the raid in an unspecified area of Afghanistan but the hostages were not there, the Pentagon said in September. The elite American University of Afghanistan, which opened in 2006 and has attracted a number of faculty members from Western countries, called on the Taleban to release them immediately. “Kevin and Tim came to Afghanistan as teachers, to help Afghanistan,” the university said in a statement. “These innocent people have done nothing to harm anyone.” The abductions highlighted the growing dangers faced by foreigners in Afghanistan. The Afghan capital is infested with organised criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, sometimes handing them over to insurgent groups. mysterious circumstances after arriving in the capital Islamabad from the southern port city of Karachi on Saturday, Jan 7, according to Talib Raza, a colleague from his organisation. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Nepal fires ‘quake’ chief: Nepal fired the head of its earthquake reconstruction agency and named his predecessor to the job in a game of musical chairs that critics say is only making conditions worse for the survivors of the 2015 disaster. Thousands of homeless people remain in temporary shelters after the 2015 quakes that left 9,000 people dead and destroyed more than 626,000 homes, monuments and other structures. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ Chinese guilty of murder: A former

Yadav

Swaraj

surgeon was Thursday found guilty of murdering five members of a ChineseAustralian family in Sydney, including two children, in a gruesome case that shocked the country. Robert Xie, 53, was charged with killing his Chinese-born brother-in-law Norman Lin, Lin’s wife Lily, their sons Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, and Lily’s sister Irene. Their bodies were found in their northwestern Sydney home in July 2009. (AFP)

The widow of Greece’s ambassador to Brazil, arrested as an alleged accomplice in his murder last month, denied guilt over his death in a letter published Wednesday. Brazilian police last month said de Souza and her 29-year-old lover, police officer Sergio Gomez Moreira, arranged to murder the 59-year-old Kyriakos Amiridis. The diplomat went missing just after Christmas Day. His charred body was soon found in his burned-out rental car under a Rio bridge, a day after de Souza declared him missing. Police initially became suspicious of de Souza after she took nearly two days to alert the authorities to the ambassador’s absence. Under questioning, de Souza and Moreira then both admitted to having an affair, police said. Reports in Greece have suggested that de Souza was not formally married to the slain diplomat. In the letter she refers to him as “my companion”. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Colombia rebels could to disarming: After some delays, Colombia’s FARC rebels could begin disarming in the coming weeks and the laying down of weapons under the historic peace deal could be completed by early June, a UN envoy said Wednesday. Some 5,700 fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are to lay down their weapons under the agreement signed in November to end more than five decades of conflict in the South American country. Jean Arnault told the Security Council that the main focus of the peace effort now was setting up 26 UN-monitored camps where the rebels will gather to hand over their weapons. Once the camps are set up, this “will hopefully allow the arms laydown process to begin in the next few weeks,” said Arnault, the head of the UN political mission in Colombia. Colombia’s government and the rebel leadership are determined “to do everything possible to meet the original goal of the comprehensive laydown of weapons by early June,” he added. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Odebrecht cost country $283 mln: Irregularities detected in contracts awarded to Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA, a family-owned conglomerate at the center of a growing graft scandal in Latin American, have cost Peru at least $283 million, the comptroller said on Wednesday. Authorities in Peru have been scrambling to gauge damages that Odebrecht may have wrought in the Andean country since the company acknowledged bribing unnamed officials there and in other countries in the region in a record $3.5 billion global plea deal signed in the United States. Odebrecht won 23 public work contracts worth at least $16.94 billion in Peru between 1998 and 2015, including 16 that have been audited over the years, the comptroller’s office said. Irregularities detected include unjustified cost overruns, improperly forgiven penalties for breaking contractual obligations and higher price tags for projects that competitors offered to do cheaper, Comptroller Edgar Alarcon told a news conference. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

Fake watches seized in Puerto Rico: Authorities in Puerto Rico have seized $2.6 million worth of fake luxury watches they say were illegally imported from China. US Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday that they confiscated 20 watches that claimed to be brands including Cartier and Patek Philippe. It is the fourth such multimillion-dollar seizure of counterfeit goods that federal authorities in the US territory have made in recent months. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Venezuela arrests activist: Venezuela intelligence agents on Wednesday detained an opposition activist and accused him of planning violence though his party said the arms were placed in his car to frame him as part of an ongoing wave of government repression. In a familiar pattern of recent months against opposition activists, Gilber Caro, a substitute legislator for the hardline Popular Will party, was arrested on Wednesday at a roadway toll in Miranda state, the government said. “It’s a matter of capturing and breaking up those who persist on the path of violence,” said Vice-President Tarek El Aissami, recently designated by socialist President Nicolas Maduro to head a new “anti-coup” unit within the government. The vice president said Caro was carrying a gun, bullets and explosives, adding that the opposition politician had a previous criminal record, including charges of murder and drug trafficking. (RTRS)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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based politics, rules out at least one leading presidential candidate. The re-election of former speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari took place at a heavily-guarded police academy in the capital Mogadishu where he won 141 votes from 259 MPs, enough for a first-round victory, according to Osman Elmi Boqore who chaired the session. Fears that Somalia’s Shabaab insurgents might target the election meant the area close to the voting was on lock-down with many other roads around the city also closed to civilian vehicles. Clan is the organising principle of Somalia’s politics with influential roles such as speaker, prime minister and president divided among the main clans. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Africa Nigeria considers asylum for Jammeh: Nigerian lawmakers are to discuss whether Gambian President Yahya Jammeh should be given asylum, a member of parliament said on Thursday. Emmanuel Yisa Orker-Jev, head of the rules and business committee in the House of Representatives, said the motion would be discussed later on Thursday. It asks whether Jammeh should be given “safe haven as part of the reconciliation process of the crisis going on in Gambia”, Orker-Jev told state television channel NTA. Jammeh lost December 1 elections to opposition candidate Adama Barrow but despite initially accepting the result has since vowed to challenge it in the courts. He has said he will not step down until his complaint is heard, raising the prospect of months of political deadlock Jammeh because Gambia lacks Supreme Court judges to handle the case. Orker-Jev said the debate would consider whether asylum for Jammeh would allow Barrow “to take over power, as the majority of Gambians would wish”. The motion, if passed, is not binding on the government. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is leading a delegation of West African leaders to Banjul on Friday to try to end the standoff. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

26 dead in DR Congo clashes: Over two dozen people have been killed since the start of the year in clashes pitting the Democratic Republic of Congo’s security forces against supporters of a slain tribal chief, a local governor said in a statement. “The death toll since the start of 2017 is 26

Five Malian soldiers killed: Five Malian

Chinese Foreign Ministers, Wang Yi (left), is welcomed by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (right), at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria on Jan 11. The Chinese Foreign Minister is in the country as part of his African trip that will take him to the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Madagascar and Zambia. (AP) people killed including four civilians, nine members of the security forces and 12 militia fighters,” Kasai-Central provincial governor Alex Kande said in a statement seen by AFP on Wednesday. The wife of one of the militia leaders was also killed, Kande added. The United Nations mission in the country responded by saying it would send at least 100 peacekeepers to the Kasai-Central region. The latest casualties add to a soaring toll of at least 140 dead in spiralling clashes in central DR Congo since tribal chief Kamwina Nsapu was killed in mid-August, according to the UN. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

ANC ready for female leader: South African President Jacob Zuma has said the ruling ANC party is ready for its first female leader, days after his former wife was named by the party’s influential women’s league as its choice to succeed him. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has four children with President Zuma, is the head of the African Union Commission and a leading candidate to take office as president at the 2019 general election. Zuma is expected to step down as African National Congress (ANC) party leader at the end of this year. His successor is likely to become national president at the election. Dlamini-Zuma, 67, has not declared her

candidacy, but the ANC women’s league last weekend gave her a major boost by publicly declaring its support. “It is no longer a discussion in the ANC whether a woman can take a high leadership position or not,” Zuma said. “The ANC is ready for that’ in fact the party has been ready for some time. “It will depend on the integrity that she possesses and whether members see her fit for the position.” (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Somalia speaker poll narrows field: Somalia’s newly-installed lawmakers chose a speaker of parliament on Wednesday in a vote that, according to the country’s clan-

soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in the centre of the country on Wednesday, military sources told AFP. The explosion occurred between the central Segou and Mopti regions. “We have lost five men. Their vehicle set off a mine. They were all in the same vehicle,” a Malian military official said. Another Malian military source confirmed the blast and blamed “terrorists” for the killings, without naming any group. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Grace denies seizing properties: Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe has denied seizing three properties from a Lebanese businessman who she claims duped her in a messy $1.35 million diamond ring deal. President Robert Mugabe’s wife was taken to court by Zimbabwe-based Jamal Ahmed who says she allegedly seized three of his properties late last year, demanding he pay back the money for a ring she later decided she did not want. In court papers seen by AFP on Wednesday, Grace Mugabe stated that Ahmed’s properties were being guarded by police officers who were investigating him for alleged crimes. “I therefore deny forcibly taking over the said properties,” she stated. (AFP)

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World News Roundup

In this Jan 9, handout photo, Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency photographed the Rocky Mountains from his vantage point in low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. (AFP)

Botany

Science

Unique seed bank

Oxygen another potential candidate: experts

‘Vavilov’ is guardian of world’s lost plants

‘Silicon, Earth’s core mystery element’

SAINT PETERSBURG, Jan 12, (AFP): Stacked high beneath vaulted ceilings in a tsarist-era building, cabinets store the seeds of thousands of plant varieties, many long gone from their original areas of habitat or cultivation. Staff in white lab coats carefully ensure other samples in the unique seed bank in Saint Petersburg are kept frozen so they are capable of germinating for 50 years. The Russian institute, established a century ago by a visionary botanist Nikolai Vavilov, has preserved thousands of forgotten plants from the ravages of war and industrialisation. With climate change, industrial agriculture and globalisation now posing new threats to the world’s biodiversity, the role of the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources is more important than ever. “In Europe, local varieties have been lost almost entirely due to World War II and industrialisation,” the institute’s director Nikolai Dzyubenko said during a visit last month. “Local species that remained after the war were destroyed Dzyubenko by more productive varieties imported from the United States.” “But thanks to our collection, the world still has a chance to rediscover the forgotten species.” The institute’s collection of 345,000 varieties does not just include European grain crops but many more exotic plant species such as Ethiopian wheat, which disappeared following civil wars in the 1970s.

Samples The government of Ethiopia later asked the Soviet Union to send seeds from samples collected during an expedition in 1930 by the institute’s founder and was able to reintroduce the wheat in the country, said agronomist Igor Loskutov, who teaches at the institute. Born in 1887, Vavilov was a botanist and one of Russia’s first geneticists. He went on trips all over the world to visit centres of cultivation and added some 250,000 plant samples to the collection. In the Joseph Stalin era, Vavilov and many other geneticists were prosecuted and their work banned as the Soviet leader supported a young agronomist Trofim Lysenko, whose ideas have since been discredited as pseudo-science. Although internationally respected and head of the Soviet Agricultural Academy for six years, Vavilov was arrested in 1940 in a probe based on fabricated evidence that he was seeking to undermine Soviet agriculture. He died of malnutrition in prison three years later and his name was erased from Soviet science until Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev, also a supporter of Lysenko, lost political power and Vavilov was rehabilitated under Leonid Brezhnev in the 1960s. An enormous portrait of Vavilov now hangs proudly in the institute, while Russia’s Institute of General Genetics in Moscow also bears his name. The collection miraculously survived World War II and particularly the Siege of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), when starving scientists kept guard over the vast seed stocks to prevent them being eaten during food shortages. Eighty percent of the seeds in the collection are the only remaining samples of the varieties in the world. In October, the institute sent 30 samples of lost varieties to agronomists in France. In his most active years between 1921 and 1940, Vavilov headed expeditions to 64 countries to collect seeds from both wild and cultivated varieties of plants.

A file picture taken on Dec 20, 2016 shows an employee of Russia’s Institute of Plant Genetic Resources checking frozen seeds and grafts stored in metal vats in the institute’s seed vault in Saint Petersburg. (AFP)

Moisik

Boe

Discovery

TOKYO, Jan 12, (AFP): Japanese scientists say that silicon is likely the mystery element in the Earth’s inner core, claiming progress on solving one of the planet’s deepest secrets. Consensus has long been that the centre of the planet is composed of about 85 percent iron and 10 percent nickel, with sulphur, oxygen and silicon prime candidates for the other five percent. But geophysicist Eiji Ohtani at Tohoku University in northern Japan and his research team suggest that silicon is the most likely candidate. Ohtani’s team conducted experiments on iron-nickel alloys mixed with silicon, subjecting them in the lab to the kinds of high temperatures and pressure found in the inner core. It discovered that the data for the mixed material observed with X-rays matched seismic data -- namely, sound velocity, or seismic waves -- obtained for the inner core. “Our latest experiments suggest that the remaining five percent of the inner core is composed mostly of silicon,” Ohtani told AFP on Wednesday.

Element Voice of humans in baboon calls: Baboon grunts and mating calls may hold secrets about human speech, according to a new study suggesting that the origins of human language could reach back as much as 25 million years. The barks, yacks and wa-hoos of the Guinea baboons reveal distinct human-like vowel sounds, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Plos One by scientists from six universities in France and Alabama. The authors, led by Dr Louis-Jean Boe of Grenoble Alpes University, studied the acoustics of 1,335 baboon sounds and the animals’ tongue anatomy. They cast doubt on theories that language developed only after the appearance of humanoids with a low larynx. Instead, they say their research suggests that the human vocal system developed from abilities already present in ancestors such as the Guinea baboon. They also found similar muscles in baboon tongues as human tongues — which are key to our ability to make vowel sounds. “Language is a key difference between humans and the rest of the natural world, but the origin of our speech remains one of the greatest mysteries of science,” the scientists wrote. “The evidence developed in this study does not support the hypothesis of the recent, sudden, and simultaneous appearance of language and speech in modern Homosapiens,” the study says. “It suggests that spoken languages evolved from ancient articulatory skills already present in our last common ancestor ... about 25 million years ago.” The authors say the findings “reveal a loose parallel between human vowels” and baboon vocalizations produced in such communications as sounding alarm or calling to copulate. A similar study on monkeys published last year also identified five vowels suggesting a link to the origins of human language. Professor Scott Moisik of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the new study, said its findings fit with other research — and his own experience listening to primates in zoos and online animal

He said that the finding helps understand whether the Earth’s surface was rich in oxygen in its early formation before photosynthesis began as oxygen has been another potential candidate for the mystery element in the Earth’s inner core. Ohtani cautioned that more work needs to be done to confirm his findings on silicon. Some scientists say that if the Earth’s inner core contains silicon then it means the rest of the planet must have been relatively oxygen rich at the time of its formation, because oxygen that they believe existed when the planet was formed was not confined to the inner core. videos. “When I hear a cat on YouTube produce a vocalization that very much sounds like ‘oh long Johnson,’ or the ‘no

Moon over the hill at 4.51 billion years old – experts CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Jan 12, (AP): It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old. That’s the newest estimate, thanks to rocks and soil collected by the Apollo 14 moonwalkers in 1971. A research team reported Wednesday that the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system. Previous estimates ranged within 100 million years, all the way out to 200 million years after the solar system’s creation, not quite 4.6 billion years ago. The scientists conducted uranium-lead dating on fragments of the mineral zircon extracted from Apollo 14 lunar samples. The pieces of zircon were minuscule — no bigger than a grain of sand. “Size doesn’t matter, they record amazing information nonetheless!” lead author Melanie Barboni of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an email.

She noted that the moon holds “so much magic ... the key to understand how our beautiful Earth formed and evolved.” The moon was created from debris knocked off from Earth, which itself is thought to be roughly 4.54 billion years old. Some of the eight zircon samples were used in a previous study, also conducted at UCLA, that utilized more limited techniques. Barboni said she is studying more zircons from Apollo 14 samples, but doesn’t expect it to change her estimate of 4.51 billion years for the moon’s age, possibly 4.52 billion years at the most. “It would be more a doublechecking than anything else,” she explained. She and her colleagues — whose work appeared Wednesday in the journal Science Advances — are eager to learn more about the moon’s history and, in turn, the evolution of early Earth and the entire solar system.

But if the mystery element in the core is oxygen then the rest of the Earth was oxygen-poor in the beginning. Ohtani said he does not think oxygen now exists in the inner core, citing the difficulty for silicon and oxygen to co-exist in the same place. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the planet was oxygen rich because there is a possibility that oxygen did not exist as an element of the

Earth at its formation in the first place.” The Earth is believed to be made up of three main layers: the solid outer layer where creatures including humans live, the mantle which is made up of hot magma and other semi-solid materials, and the core at the centre. The core comprises an outer layer of liquid iron and nickel, and an inner layer -- a hot dense ball of mostly iron.

no no’ cat, or a dog that gets prettydarned close in imitating ‘I love you’ ... I am led to believe that, to use the words of Boe and company, ‘speech precursors’

(however rudimentary or limited) go back further than 25 million years ago,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. He and colleague Dan Dediu noted that vowels are just part of the equation — and called for more research on tougher-tomake consonants. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

Gibbon species named Skywalker:

This file photo taken on July 23, 2016 shows a baboon feasting on frozen food to beat the summer heat at the Bioparc zoo in Valencia. Baboons produce vocalizations comparable to vowels, which prefigure a speech system in our distant ancestors, according to a study published on Jan 11, in the American journal PLOS One. (AFP)

Researchers in China claim they have identified a new species of gibbon in the remote forests along its border with Burma — and have named it after Star Wars character Luke Skywalker. Scientists studying hoolock gibbons on China’s Mount Gaoligong concluded there were two, not one, species based on both the primate’s distinctive brow and a genetic analysis. The study was published in the American Journal of Primatology. The proposed new species is called the Skywalker hoolock gibbon or Gaoligong hoolock gibbon. The Chinese characters of its scientific name mean “Heaven’s movement”. Outside experts are split on whether it’s enough to justify new species status. Actor Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker in the film, tweeted: “So proud of this! First the Pez dispenser, then the Underoos & US postage stamp ... now this!” (AP)

Dinklage eyed for a key role in ‘Avengers’

A community disarms terrorism in ‘Patriots Day’ By Jake Coyle

Film

ombs detonated in the center of Boston are disarmed by bonds of B family and community in Peter Berg’s “Patriots Day,” a stirring ode to civic life in the age of terrorism. “Patriots Day,” which recreates the 2013 Boston Marathon and the subsequent four-day manhunt, is the third in a string of docudramas for Berg, following the Navy SEAL drama “Lone Survivor” and the recent oil rig disaster film “Deepwater Horizon.” In tales of real-life American heroes, Berg has found a potent balance of fact and fiction, mixing expert big-budget filmmaking with realism. Following the all-around disappointment of “Battleship,” he has made his muscular, masculine tales leaner and truer. In each, a skillfully visceral chronology culminates cathartically in moving codas of the real people from the movie. “Patriots Day,” coming just over three years after the bombing that killed three and maimed many, could easily seem like typical Hollywood exploitation of a tragedy, or, on the other side of the coin, simple-minded rah-rah patriotism. That it’s neither is due in part to the detail of Berg’s many-peopled portrait of American life. Everyone here is an individual, a family member, someone doing their job. The film, from a screenplay by Berg, Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer, weaves together a spectrum of characters from across the city — police detectives to victims to the bombers. While Berg gravitates toward tough-guy realms like the battlefield and the gridiron, he’s most at home in the home. His films are grounded in quotidian family life, of husbands kissing wives goodbye and

parents making breakfast for their kids. (The tremendous home life of Berg’s TV series, “Friday Night Lights,” is the best example of this.) He has surely made a close study of John Ford Westerns and their tender lingering on the hearth.

Bombs Beginning in the hours before the pressure-cooker bombs explode, Berg visits the home or workplace of the characters he’ll stitch together throughout the film: newlyweds planning to watch the race (Rachel Brosnahan and Christopher O’Shea), an MIT officer (Jake Picking) flirting with a student (Lana Condor), and others. The final stop is the Tsarnaev brothers home, which, aside from the jihadist video playing, isn’t so different from the others. The characters are all based on real people except for one: Boston police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg, who starred in Berg’s last two). He’s a composite invented to connect the movie’s many parts, a movie-star MacGuffin who happens to be there for every plot turn. His presence isn’t jarring, though, in the superlative ensemble that includes Kevin Bacon (as the FBI team leader), John Goodman (as the Boston police commissioner), J.K. Simmons (as a Watertown sergeant) and, in one blistering scene, Khandi Alexander as a government interrogator. The Tsarnaev brothers are played by Themo Melikidze (as Tamerlan) and the especially good Alex Wolff (as Dzhokhar) who’s presented here as a frivolous, foolhardy teenager most concerned with an iPod jack to play tunes in the carjacking of Chinese student Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang). “Patriots Day” has too little curiosity for the motives of the bomb-

ers; its street-level perspective doesn’t go beyond Boston. Berg’s film isn’t seeking answers; it’s seeking solace. “Patriots Day” puts forth a vision of a multicultural society that rises up to reject the fear of terrorism. Its heroes are of all colors, immigrants and Southies, alike. “Patriots Day,” a CBS Films/Lionsgate release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “violence, realistically graphic injury images, language throughout and some drug use.” Running time: 133 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Also: LOS ANGELES: Are Tyrion Lannister and Tony Stark about to cross paths? Sources tell Variety that “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage is in early talks for a key role in Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War.” Marvel had no comment. Production on the seventh season of “Game of Thrones” recently wrapped. Since the schedule for the show has moved from a summer shoot to a fall shoot, Dinklage’s schedule allowed him to board the latest “Avengers” pic which is expected to shoot sometime in early summer. The plan is shoot the next two “Avengers” films (“Infinity War” and a yet untitled sequel) back-to-back. Sources indicate Dinklage is expected to appear in both. Plot details are vague, other then the superhero team returning to face the Marvel mega-villain Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin). Dinklage’s role is also unknown at this time. Dinklage is one of the few new cast members to be added to the franchise. Previous stars like Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans are on board to return. (Agencies)

Features

Variety

This image released by Warner Bros Entertainment shows Gal Gadot in a scene from ‘Wonder Woman’, in theaters on June 2. (AP)

Film Will a coastal contender prevail again?

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

LOS ANGELES: Actor Woody Harrelson will be heading to a galaxy far, far away for his next movie, playing a role in the second anthology “Star Wars” film focused on a young Han Solo. Lucasfilm said Wednesday in a statement that the 55-year-old Oscar-nominated actor will join Alden Ehrenreich, who will play the younger version of the smuggler and space pirate Han Solo. The cast will also include Donald Glover, as a young Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke, of “Game of Thrones,” in an undisclosed role. “We couldn’t be more excited to work with an artist with as much depth and range as Woody,” said Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, directors of the film due out for release next year. “His ability to find both humor and pathos, often in the same role, is truly unique. He is also very good at ping pong.” (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Kate Mara’s “Megan Leavey” has been acquired for US distribution by Bleecker Street, which plans a June 9 release. Bleecker Street bought the truelife story directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite from LD Entertainment. In the film Mara portrays Leavey, a young marine corporal in the K9 unit whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. The film also stars Edie Falco, Ramon Rodriguez, Bradley Whitford and Common. Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) directed from a screenplay by Pamela Gray and the team of Annie Mumolo and Tim Lovestedt. Producers are Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon and Jennifer Monroe. The film recounts Leavey’s life following the death of her best friend to enlisting in the Marine Corps. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, she identifies with a particularly

East vs West at the Oscars LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (RTRS): The East Coast and West Coast have been playing tug of war over the top Oscar the past dozen years, and this year the regional divide is especially pronounced. “La La Land” and “Manchester by the Sea”, two of the awards season’s earliest and enduring favorites, represent each other’s coastal opposite: Kenneth Lonergan’s prototypically New England “Manchester by the Sea” is as wintry and repressed as Damien Chazelle’s retro Los Angeles musical is sun-drenched and yearning. It’s impossible to imagine either movie set elsewhere: the chill is palpable from the moment Casey Affleck’s handyman starts shoveling snow at the outset of “Manchester by the Sea.” “La La Land”, by contrast, opens with a gridlock-defying dance routine on a freeway, establishing Emma Stone’s Mia as a wannabe actress driving a Prius, the eco-friendly car popular with the city’s creative class. Both movies hope to inherit best picture mantle from last year’s winner, the decidedly Bostonian “Spotlight,” but they’re not the only coastal players vying for Oscar gold. “Jackie”, “Paterson” and “Sully” are deeply rooted in the northeast, while Santa Barbara-based “20th Century Women” and Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” radiate yet more California sun. The Miami in Barry Jenkins’ crack-ravaged “Moonlight” provides a grittier counterpoint in the coastal matchups, while Virginia period trio “Loving”, “Hidden Figures” and “Hacksaw Ridge” draw deeply on southeast settings in their storytelling; “Captain Fantastic” begins off the grid in the lush Pacific Northwest before hitting the road. There are plenty of worthy contenders outside these regions — consider “Hell or High Water” and “The Handmaiden,” for starters — but the odds favor coastal contingents, at least when it comes to the Academy Awards’ biggest prize: Over the past dozen years, the majority of best picture winners have been set along the Atlantic or Pacific corridor.

The presidential election may have demonstrated the voting power of people outside these regions, but the Academy has been tilting toward the coasts more often than not. This year’s East Coast contingent has momentum on its side, thanks to back-to-back victories for “Spotlight” and Gotham-set “Birdman”, while the West Coast has the overall advantage: Four movies rooted in LA have won the best picture Oscar dating to “Million Dollar Baby” in 2004. “Crash” followed Clint Eastwood’s boxing tale in 2005, and Boston mob drama “The Departed” took the trophy for the East Coast in 2006. After a fouryear break, Hollywood tale “The Artist” topped all contenders, followed by “Argo”, the 2012 victor whose rescue plot hinged on a fake Hollywood production.

Command L.A.’s recent command over the top spot is all the more noteworthy considering “Million Dollar Baby” is the first movie set in the city to win best picture. Movies set in New York and Chicago have won the top trophy over the years, but seminal movies about LA, including “Sunset Boulevard”, “Double Indemnity” and “Chinatown”, had to settle for best picture nominations before “Million Dollar Baby” finally broke through. Showbiz movies set in New York’s theater world, such as 1950’s “All About Eve” and 1929’s “Broadway Melody”, won best picture honors long before. As the recent Oscars for “Argo”, “Birdman” and “The Artist” display, showbiz-flavored movies continue to resonate with Academy voters regardless the coast. “La La Land” fits squarely in the tradition of movies about showbiz wannabes desperate for their big break. Mia wants to make it so badly she serves coffee on the Warner Bros. lot between auditions, while Ryan Gosling’s Sebastian visits jazz haunts between piano gigs. Chazelle jams the movie full of iconic L.A. settings, from Griffith Observatory to the Angels Flight railway. Up the coast in Santa Barbara, Annette Bening’s

aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Will Smith is in early talks to star in Disney’s liveaction adaptation of “Dumbo.” Sources tell Variety that a deal is far from closed, but if Smith were to take the role, it will likely

Harrelson

Mara

have a significant effect on the future of the upcoming “Bad Boys” sequel, “Bad Boys for Life.” Sources indicate that both films would shoot at the same time. If Smith is leaning toward “Dumbo,” the start date for “Bad Boys 3” would be pushed back or the film could be shelved entirely. If a deal closes, Smith would

Dorothea is primarily concerned with making sure her son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) finds his way in “20th Century Women.” Director Mike Mills wrote the movie, set in 1979, as a tribute to his free-spirited mother; her on-screen counterpart is depicted as a nurturing woman who creates an unconventional family in her constantly under-repair home. Chiron’s circumstances are much more constrained in “Moonlight.” He’s gay, poor, and his mother develops a raging crack addiction in 1980s Miami. The elegiac coming-of-age tale follows him as he grows from a picked-upon little boy (Alex Hibbert) befriended by a drug dealer (Mahershala Ali) and his girlfriend (Janelle Monae) into adulthood. He doesn’t have the same choices as the dreamers in “La La Land” or “Rules Don’t Apply,” but he finds a way to survive. Affleck’s handyman is barely managing that in “Manchester by the Sea.” After tragedy draws Lee back to his hometown north of Boston, we learn why he is so haunted and angry. The hard-drinking New Englander can’t forgive himself for bad choices made under the influence; nor can he fully express himself, even to his beloved nephew (Lucas Hedges). The same chill permeates Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie” and Natalie Portman’s performance as the recently widowed first lady. The movie jumps around among Cape Cod, the White House, and a fateful trip to Dallas, recreating an elliptical meeting between the widow and a Life magazine journalist portrayed by Billy Crudup in Hyannisport, Mass. Never mind that those scenes weren’t actually filmed in Massachusetts; they made me homesick for the East Coast and New England in particular. “Sully” and “Patriots Day,” meanwhile, present a warmer view of New York and Boston, drawing vitality from first responders rushing toward disaster scenes. And Adam Driver infuses his “Paterson” bus driver with poetic grace as he goes about his everyday routines in the New Jersey suburb of the same name.

play the father of the children who develop a friendship with the lovable elephant after seeing him at the circus. Insiders also indicate that Tom Hanks has been offered a role as the villain. He may, however, choose instead to star in the World War II drama “The Grey Hound.” Tim Burton is attached to direct

from Ehren Kruger’s script. Justin Springer, who worked on “Tron: Legacy” and “Oblivion,” is producing with Kruger. The original story followed a ridiculed baby circus elephant, who, with the help of a mouse, worked to achieve his full potential. Burton’s film will be a mix of live action and animation. (RTRS)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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People & Places Film Docu on Buffett’s life

Top movies to look forward to in 2017 LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (Agencies): Hollywood might still be patting itself on the back for its 2016 films, but there’s a lot to look forward to in film this year — in all genres. Here are 10-ish films to put on your radar for the year. John Wick: Chapter 2 (Feb. 10), The Fate Of The Furious (April 14) Two franchises, both unlikely, both silly and both endlessly watchable get new installments this year. Keanu Reeves is back as the vengeful hit man John Wick in the sequel to the 2014 sleeper hit. And the Fast and Furious crew is joined by Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren in movie No. 8, directed by “Straight Outta Compton’s” F. Gary Gray. Beauty And The Beast (March 17) “Harry Potter’s” Emma Watson stars as the beautiful, bookish Belle in director Bill Condon’s live-action, musical adaption of the fairy tale, which he promises will include nods to both Disney’s animated feature as well Jean Cocteau’s black and white classic. “Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens plays the Beast Reeves opposite a strong supporting cast of Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Emma Thompson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5 ), SpiderMan: Homecoming (July 7), Thor: Ragnarok (Nov 3) What superhero fatigue? The studios have assembled some formidable talent behind some of the year’s most high profile sequels (and reboots). Taika Waititi will bring his comedic edge to the “Thor” world, while James Gunn tries to recreate that mixtape magic with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” One film that doesn’t require any catch-up work is “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” yet another reboot of the web-slinging teen, but a promising one — star Tom Holland upstaged even the likes of Robert Downey Jr. when introduced in “Captain America: Civil War.” Director Jon Watts says his “Spider-Man” will be in the vein of classic high school films. Alien: Covenant (May 19), Blade Runner 2049 (Oct. 6) Ridley Scott is back to playing his old hits this year, with a twist. Scott directs the sixth installment in the “Alien” universe with “Alien: Covenant,” about a crew traveling to a remote part of the galaxy in search of paradise, only to find something much more horrifying. Katherine Waterston stars with Michael Fassbender. As for “Blade Runner 2049,” Scott’s only producing — “Arrival” and “Sicario” director Denis Villeneuve is directing the longtime-coming sci-fi sequel, set 30 years after the original film. Ryan Gosling stars as a new LAPD officer who needs to find Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard. Wonder Woman (June 2) Gliding by the crazy fact that it’s taken until 2017 for one of the most popular characters in comic book history to get her own feature film, this one also looks like it packs the potential to define this whole modern era of DC Comics adaptations (“Justice League,” out Nov 17, could too). “Wonder Woman” has the promising team of “Monster” director Patty Jenkins at the helm and Gal Gadot wielding the iconic lasso in this World War I-set origin story. The Beguiled (June 23) Sofia Coppola is making a Western, and not just any Western — a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1971 film (itself an adaptation of “A Painted Devil” by Thomas P. Cullinan) about an injured Union soldier in an all-girls Confederate boarding school whose presence causes rifts among the women. Kristen Dunst, Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell and Elle Fanning star. Dunkirk (July 21) Christopher Nolan is perhaps the only filmmaker working on this level whose movies are events in and of themselves. He doesn’t need the stamp of Intellectual Property to make his a must-see (regardless of what you think of “Interstellar”). “Dunkirk” takes us to the beaches of France early in WWII when the Allied forces were surrounded and evacuated. Newcomer Fionn Whitehead leads the cast, which includes Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance and even Harry Styles (yes, that Harry Styles). Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (July 21) Most Americans probably aren’t familiar with the French comic source material Valerian and Laureline, but don’t let that dissuade you from checking out Luc Besson’s (“Lucy,” “The Fifth Element”) wildly ambitious sci-fi epic starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as a pair of space and time travelling agents. Baby Driver (Aug 11) So Edgar Wright didn’t get to do “Ant-Man.” The maestro behind “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End” has his own action pic up his sleeves, and an original one at that, about a getaway driver (Ansel Elgort), the girl he wants to leave it all behind for (Lily James) and the crime boss (Kevin Spacey) who might destroy it all. Star Wars: Episode VIII (Dec 15) At the rate of one new Star Wars film (spinoff or otherwise) a year for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to imagine that The Force Awakens-level excitement can be sustained, but “Episode VIII” has its own credentials separate from the nostalgia of that galaxy far, far away. Simply: It’s a Rian Johnson film, the mind behind “Looper” and “Brick,” and he’s setting the story for the final two films of the main trilogy (he’s writing Episode IX but ceding directing responsibilities to Colin Trevorrow). There’s also the bittersweet knowledge that it’ll feature one of Carrie Fisher’s final performances, fittingly in her most iconic role.

Also: NEW YORK: “I like numbers,” Warren Buffett says in an upcoming HBO documentary about his life. “It started before I could remember. It just felt good, working with numbers.” Success with numbers has helped the billionaire become one of the world’s most admired investors and top philanthropists, despite spending most of his 86 years far from Wall Street in Omaha, Nebraska, where he has run Berkshire Hathaway Inc since 1965. That life is now the subject of “Becoming Warren Buffett,” which is being previewed for journalists this week ahead of its Jan. 30 airing on Time Warner Inc’s HBO. Directed by Peter Kunhardt, whose film subjects have included US president Richard Nixon and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, the documentary was largely narrated by Buffett and contains interviews with people close to him, including his sisters, three children, Berkshire Vice-Chairman Charlie Munger, and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates.

Actress Amy Adams attends her star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Jan 11 in Hollywood, California. (AFP)

Film Actress on emotional weight of ‘Arrival’ role

Adams ‘arrives’ on Walk of Fame

Indian Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan poses as he attends the launch of Daboo Ratnani’s ‘Celebrity Calendar 2017’ in Mumbai late Jan 11. (AFP)

Affleck

Portman

Variety LONDON: Ben Affleck is an optimist. The Hollywood star thinks the next four years will at least be interesting after watching President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference. “I didn’t get to watch the entire news conference although what I did see of it, I was quite entertained by. I think it will be an entertaining four years,” he said at the London premiere of his latest directorial effort “Live by Night” Wednesday. Actor Chris Messina, who joined Affleck and co-star Sienna Miller on the red carpet, didn’t seem as upbeat as Affleck. “I think we’re all a little scared and we’re going to take deep breaths. Meryl Streep said it best the other night at the Golden Globes. I don’t think anyone can be any more eloquent as her. Yeah, I was sad today. Obama said goodbye. We’re going to miss him,” Messina said. Affleck was also somewhat miffed at Trump’s Twitter reaction to Streep’s Golden Globes speech. The actress made the Republican a big topic of her speech without naming him directly and Trump fired back calling her “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood.” (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (RTRS): Actress Amy Adams may have missed out on a Golden Globe win this year, but her career was recognized on Wednesday with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame landmark. Adams, 42, received the plaque in honor of her latest role in the Paramount Pictures sci-fi film “Arrival,” which has been earning her nominations during the current awards season in Hollywood. She also starred in Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals,” which has garnered her critical praise. The actress, who was joined by her husband, daughter and “Arrival” costar Jeremy Renner, recalled her early years in Hollywood and her journey so far. “When I first drove on to the Disney lot, I think it was January 21st 1999 not that I’m keeping track - that was my first-ever audition in Los Angeles and I never, ever expected that it would lead me to this moment to receive this honor,” she said. “I never expected when I got a call that Steven Spielberg wanted to meet me, that he would actually give me a job. And when I fully expected to leave the industry, Phil Morrison showed up with ‘Junebug.’” Adams made her breakout role in Spielberg’s 2002 crime film “Catch Me If You Can” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, and received her first Oscar nomination for her role as a troubled pregnant woman in 2005’s “Junebug.” The actress will soon reprise her role as Princess Giselle in “Disenchanted,” the sequel to Disney’s 2007 live action film “Enchanted.” The Hollywood Walk of Fame, a mile-long strip of plaques on Hollywood Boulevard, has honored influential figures in the entertainment industry since 1960, most recently awarding stars to Viola Davis and Jeff Bridges. There’s a scene midway through “Arrival,” Denis Villeneuve’s ethereal meditation on alien life and human

As part of an interview for her cover story with Marie Claire UK, Portman said that she knew about the pay gap during her time working with Ashton Kutcher on the 2011 film “No Strings Attached,” but

loss, in which Amy Adams, who plays a world-renowned linguistics professor named Louise Banks, is forced to contend with the fact that her young daughter, Hannah, senses all is not right in her adolescent world. While Hannah doesn’t fully grasp to what extent her life will come crashing down, Louise does, and that maternalheld knowledge of the impending doom is what makes the moment so crushing, so devastating. It’s a scene that Adams, herself a mother, had to orchestrate very carefully so as to not completely lose herself in the heartbreak of it all. “Anytime you’re dealing with the loss of a child it’s a place that nobody wants to visit, especially a parent,” says Adams, nominated for both SAG and Golden Globe awards for her lead performance in the critically touted sci-fi drama — an intoxicating melding of arthouse cinema and big-budget, mainstream studio fare.

Meditative “The way I deal with it is that I get into a very meditative state, so I can access, and be able to move freely in and out of it, so that I’m not stuck in it,” says Adams, who is receiving a star Jan. 11 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Shooting a scene like that I can feel my body sort of resist going there, so I have to get really relaxed and meditative in order to create that emphatic response. And it was challenging because it’s not in our psyches to want to even flirt with that imagining.” Louise, recruited by the US military to decipher the inscrutable language of extraterrestrials hovering just above earth in shell-like pods, is not only coming to terms with the knowledge of what’s happening to her daughter, but what’s happening to her — and it’s a mystery that unfolds in a time-bending, non-linear fashion that makes the resulting plot twist all the more stunning. “The flashback/flash-forward scenes had a lot of emotional weight to them

revealed that she wasn’t as troubled about the issue as she now believes she should have been. “I knew and I went along with it because there’s this thing with ‘quotes’ in

LOS ANGELES: The “xXx” franchise could expand beyond a trilogy, at least according to star Vin Diesel. Diesel told Variety at the London premiere of “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” on Tuesday night that Paramount has already expressed interest in continuing the story in a fourth film. “Well, it’s funny,” Diesel said when asked about future sequels. “I was in the middle of an interview and Brad Grey — who runs Paramount — calls me and says, ‘Will everybody come back to work in May?’ I’m like - everyone’s in interviews right now!” The returning co-stars in question would be talent from across the globe, who assembled for the “Return of Xander Cage” premiere, including Deepika Padukone, Ruby Rose, Donnie Yen, Nina Dobrev, and martial artist Tony Jaa. Paramount didn’t respond to Variety’s request for comment. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ LOS ANGELES: In a new interview, Natalie Portman said she was paid a third of what one of her male co-stars earned.

because I’m playing them with the knowledge that Louise has,” says Adams, who looked to Villeneuve for theatrical and spiritual guidance throughout the shoot. “Denis very smartly put that all together, and we shot those [flashback/flash-forward] sequences first, which was so helpful to understand emotionally what she was experiencing. It was really helpful to know not only is she being pulled in and out of these physical experiences, but she’s also being pulled in and out of the emotional experience — and not understanding what that means. It creates a lot of confusion inside of her and kind of a sense of vertigo, which is what we wanted it to feel like.” With five Oscar nominations to her name — and a stirring, starring role in Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals,” another 2016 awards contender — Adams has certainly proved herself an actress with considerable artistic range, whether it’s playing a perky, pregnant Southern belle in “Junebug,” the street-smart girlfriend of a Boston boxer in “The Fighter,” or a stripperturned-con artist in “American Hustle.” But never before had Adams been tasked with playing a woman experiencing two starkly different realities at once — all while struggling to come to terms with what is happening to her. “I played the performance in a linear fashion,” Adams says. “I prepared the performance in a non-linear fashion. In playing it, Louise is going through what the audience is going through, for the majority of the film, and then she sort of starts to figure it out as the audience is starting to figure it out. So, we’re learning it at the same time.” Acting opposite inky, amorphous aliens, dubbed Abbot and Costello, presented a different sort of predicament since they don’t speak a lick of any human language. Space exploration: Adams worked closely with director Denis Villeneuve to ground the sci-fi of “Arrival.”

Hollywood,” Portman told the magazine. “His was three times higher than mine so they said he should get three times more.” “No Strings Attached” was released in January 2011, just before Portman won an Oscar for her performance in “Black Swan.” At that point she had already been nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for “Closer” and was a household name after appearing in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy. Portman added, “I wasn’t as pissed as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy.” (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Anna Kendrick is in

British actress Sienna Miller poses upon arrival at the European Premiere of the film ‘Live By Night’ in London on Jan 11. (AFP)

talks to star in the untitled Disney Santa Claus film from “Miss Congeniality” scribe Marc Lawrence. Currently going by the running title “Nicole,” the story revolves Santa’s daughter who is forced to take over the family business when her father decides to retire and brother ends up getting cold feet prior to his first big Christmas Eve flight. Lawrence has penned the script and would direct the film. Susanne Todd is producing while Louie Provost is overseeing for the Disney. The pic marks Lawrence’s first directing gig since the Hugh Grant pic “The Rewrite.” (RTRS)

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This picture shows an inside view taken during the opening concert of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, northern Germany on Jan 11. (AFP)

Music

Film ‘Ray ambitious, authentic’

Brahms’ birthplace, Beatles’ cradle

Keaton on Founder, playing the bad guy LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (RTRS): Among his many accomplishments, Michael Keaton has the rare distinction of starring in back-to-back best picture Oscar winners with “Birdman” and “Spotlight.” He is currently on screens now in “The Founder,” directed by John Lee Hancock (“Saving Mr. Banks”, “The Blind Side”) and written by Robert D. Siegel (“The Wrestler.”) The film tells the story of Ray Kroc, who went from selling milkshake machines to franchising McDonald’s restaurants and creating the fast food empire we know today. Up next, the former “Batman” star will switch sides to play bad guy Vulture in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and appear in Michael Cuesta’s “American Assassin.” Question: Did you know the story of Ray Kroc or even the name Ray Kroc before this script came to you? Answer: I knew the name Ray Kroc, and it’s one of those things you kind of know by osmosis. McDonald’s is so omnipresent and ubiquitous, it’s woven into the fabric. When one would walk up to someone and say, “Ray Kroc, who is that?” I’d go, “He started it or, he was a guy who ...” and then you kind of go, “I’m not sure I really know much.” Then, when you start to learn about it, which I did and had to do, there was so much I didn’t know, and I really didn’t know there were McDonald’s brothKeaton ers, their story is so interesting. That story alone is so interesting. Q: And Ray was a divisive figure. A: Ray was more than a divisive figure. Ray was the following: great, ambitious, authentic, pull yourself up by your bootstraps guy, quintessential American go-getter, and almost sadistic in the end in his terms of what he brought down on the brothers. I mean, cold hearted and brutal. That for an actor, or for me anyway, makes it really interesting, because the front half of Ray, I dig. I respect his work and I think this was not a guy who was given anything, he went out and got it himself. He brought people in. Kind of turns his back on his country club friends. (In the film there’s a scene with) a guy selling bibles, I think he’s doing it on a weekend or something. He tells him his name and Ray says, “Are you Jewish?” He goes, “Yeah.” Ray goes, “I like this guy. Come work for me.” I just really like that about him. Then, when the greed gets deep, not so much. The movie had so much to say about the American free enterprise system and capitalism and America, and for me, even immigration. Q: You’ve played real people before, such as Robby Robinson in “Spotlight.” And you actually did spend time with him? A: That’s a case where I was with him and he was right there to say, “Hey, what happened when this went down?” Or, “How do you say that again?” That was great to have. I mean, I could go days and days, where we’re just mostly talking about life or what’s going on politically, or life, you know, and then there were times where I really needed his assistance, and we’re pals. Q: In the case of Ray Kroc, who passed away in 1984, you obviously didn’t have that. So where did you start? A: Really, from what John started to tell me and what the writer had given me. I watched a documentary on Ray and I wasn’t into it long — seven or eight minutes — and I went, “I got it.” It’s not like, “Oh, I got it, I understand everything.” It was that I locked into what I thought the essence of the guy was. It immediately put me on the general highway. Then I had to narrow it down, and narrow it down and winnow it down, and get into the details. You never do an impression, and yet I felt somewhat obligated to kind of simulate his attitude and his sound. You know, that Illinois-ish, not quite Chicago-ish Midwest kind of thing. Then once you start looking in his wardrobe and then you start to put on the wardrobe.

Dazzling German hall premieres

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer pose for a photo prior to the opening of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, northern Germany on Jan 11. (AFP)

Variety LOS ANGELES: Richard Carpenter, representing the singer-songwriting duo The Carpenters, claims that Universal Music Group and A&M Records have only paid him and the estate of his sister, Karen, only a “miniscule fraction” of digital royalties owed to them, according to a lawsuit he filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday. The Carpenters contend that accountants they hired to examine the record label books found multiple errors and that the defendants rejected the claim of royalties. He is seeking compensatory damages of at least $2 million. Among other things, according to the lawsuit, the record labels “improperly classified” revenue from digital downloads of Carpenters’ music as sales of records as opposed to licensing revenue — short-changing them from a higher royalty rate. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

MANCHESTER, Tenn: Bono’s U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Weeknd are set to headline the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in June. Festival organizers announced the 2017 festival lineup on Wednesday. U2’s set will include its 1987 album, “The Joshua Tree.” Other artists set to perform during the four-day event include Chance the Rapper, Major Lazer, The xx, Tove Lo, Lorde and Cage the Elephant. The 16th annual Bonnaroo festival will be held June 8-11 at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, about 60 miles south of Nashville. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Drake is paying tribute to President Barack Obama by sharing am image from a popular meme of the Canadian rapper’s face mixed with the president’s. Drake shared the picture on his Instagram on Tuesday night following Obama’s farewell address to the nation. The image shows Obama standing at a podium, but sporting Drake’s signature beard and hairdo. In the caption Drake writes, “As a Canadian that calls America home for part of the year I will always carry your words and the memory of your time in office with me as inspiration. Big up yaself O.” (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ SCOTTSDALE, Ariz: A Ferrari custombuilt for Justin Bieber is on the auction block. Barrett-Jackson auctions has listed what it calls a “once-in-a-life opportunity” to purchase Bieber’s 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia

HAMBURG, Jan 12, (AFP): Germany late Wednesday opened a spectacular concert house in Hamburg to the strains of Beethoven and Wagner that has been touted as a new global attraction, albeit after a cost explosion. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck joined 2,100 guests at the inaugural concert under tight security in the grand hall of the Elbphilharmonie, which has electrified critics with its audacious design and world-class acoustics. The three-hour-long programme met with a long standing ovation. Billed as a cultural monument ready to rival the Sydney Opera House, the building came in more than six years overdue and at 10 times the initial budget, with a cost to the venerable northern port city of 789 million euros ($829 million). Gauck said he was “awed” by the “incredibly beautiful” architecture and its “wonderful sound” but acknowledged its turbulent beginnings. “The Elbphilharmonie has been called a dream and a nightmare, a global star and a joke, an embarrassment and a wonder,” he said. But the enormous project’s success would come from “the magic of its contrasts”, he said.

Culture “The Elbphilharmonie can become what many people in Hamburg hope for: the symbol of a cosmopolitan metropolis that is open to the world, and a jewel in the crown of Germany as a nation of culture.” Merkel, a passionate classical music fan, later told NDR public television the opening had been historic as the dawn of a national landmark. “One day we will all be very proud that something was built in our lifetime that people will still refer to in 50 or 100 years, saying ‘look, that was what happened on Jan 11, 2017’.” Jutting out from the city at the end of a pier on the Elbe River, the Elbphilharmonie has a boxy brick former cocoa warehouse as its base, with a breathtaking glass structure recalling frozen waves perched on top. Sandwiched between the two levels, a public plaza protected by giant curved glass windows offers stunning views of the harbour, the spires of the charming old trade centre and Hamburg’s temperamental skies. Earlier Mayor Olaf Scholz defended the project, saying that its sold-out concerts through July and the more than 500,000 visitors who have already flocked to the building proved the Elbphilharmonie was winning hearts. “It was a difficult birth but they

F1. The car was modified for Bieber by famed car outfitter West Coast Customs. The listing touts a “factory custom interior created to Justin’s specifications.” The Ferrari isn’t without its flaws, however. Barrett-Jackson notes that a vehicle damage report shows it was involved in a rear-end collision at one point. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ MIAMI: US rapper Pitbull’s $1 million

Peppermint Club opens

NJ to host Sprinsteen archive WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ, Jan 12, (Agencies): A university in Bruce Springsteen’s native New Jersey will become home to the rocker’s personal collection of written works, artifacts, photographs and other memorabilia from his decades-long career. The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University will curate the works, Springsteen and the university announced during a Tuesday event where he was interviewed about his career. The university, in West Long Branch, has been the home of the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection since 2011. The new archive will promote and preserve the legacy of Springsteen as well as other music icons, including Frank Sinatra and Woody Guthrie. “Monmouth University is excited by the opportunity to grow our relationship with Bruce Springsteen,” said university President Paul Brown. During the Tuesday night event at the university’s Pollak Theatre, Springsteen, 67, chronicled his life story as part of an “intimate conversation” moderated by Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli. While it takes the Boss close to

four hours to effectively revisit the four-plus decades of his career in concert, he needed just 90 minutes to chronicle his life story. He spoke about his youth as a bar band singer on the Jersey shore, writing his classic album “Born To Run” and the importance of political activism in music moving forward, NJ.com reported. “I tend to believe music is important to activism in the sense that it stirs passion, it stirs interest, it stirs curiosity, it moves you to question your own beliefs, it strikes straight to your emotions. And it stirs you up inside,” Springsteen said. ❑ ❑ ❑

have adopted the child,” Scholz, who inherited the scandal-plagued boondoggle from his predecessor, said of the 1.7 million residents of Germany’s second city who have footed the bill. Officials say the Elbphilharmonie is the kind of sparkling jewel, like Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, with the power to boost a city’s international profile overnight. This month, the New York Times cited Hamburg among its top 10 tourist destinations for 2017 thanks in large part to the opening of the Elbphilharmonie. Scholz insisted that the Elphie, as the two-hall concert house has been nicknamed, would be a building for the people, with diverse events appealing to visitors beyond the well-heeled classical music set. “It is my aim that every pupil in a Hamburg school will see a concert here,” he said. Scholz said the building would embrace the long musical tradition of

Hamburg, the birthplace of Brahms and Mendelssohn and the cradle of the Beatles’ early stardom, and soon host concerts by the world’s top orchestras. Musical director Christoph Lieben-Seutter promised eclectic programming, including a series of concerts featuring Syrian music in the spring honouring the thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived in the city. The Elbphilharmonie’s completion marks a rare urban development success story in Germany, which has been plagued by planning disasters such as Berlin’s international airport, now five years behind schedule and counting. To claw back some of the investment, Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who also designed Beijing’s “bird’s nest” Olympic stadium and the Tate Modern gallery in London, added posh apartments, restaurants and a luxury hotel complete with an in-house meditation consultant.

Carpenter

Drake

The h.wood Group and Interscope Records have opened a new live music concept venue called The Peppermint Club. The ’60s-inspired space — which caters to music artists and aficionados — takes over the former Henry’s in West Hollywood. It’s the second h.wood Group opening in three months; the group is behind the wildly successful Delilah, which hosted Kendall Jenner’s 21st birthday, Drake’s 30th, and a recent post-Globes bash that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Jon Hamm, and the cast of “Atlanta”, among others.

contract to promote tourism in Florida, including his video with swimsuit-clad women frolicking on beaches, unleashed a political scandal that has toppled the state’s tourism chief. Visit Florida, the state tourism marketing agency that is funded by taxpayers, confirmed Wednesday to AFP that its chief executive Will Seccombe had agreed to a $73,000 severance. (RTRS)

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Taco Bell going national with fried chicken taco shell

Something ‘fishy’ going on at LA sushi restaurants LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (Agencies): Next time you order halibut, red snapper or yellowfin tuna at a sushi restaurant in the Los Angeles area, you may want to ask for proof of what’s on your plate. According to a four-year study published on Wednesday by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University, nearly half of the fish served at more than two dozen highly-rated sushi restaurants in the city is mislabeled. “Half of what we’re buying isn’t what we think it is,” said Paul Barber, a UCLA professor who led the study published in the journal Conservation Biology. “Fish fraud could be accidental, but I suspect that in some cases the mislabeling is very much intentional, though it’s hard to know where in the supply chain it begins.” Demian Willette, a researcher and co-author

of the study, said that while mislabeling of food is nothing new, what was surprising was that it would be so prevalent, especially in a food-conscious market like Los Angeles. “We didn’t really expect that because Los Angeles is a very foody culture and in general people are very conscious about what they eat,” he told AFP. Willette said the study, conducted between 2012 and 2015, looked at 26 sushi restaurants that were highly rated on the reviewing sites Yelp and Zagat. Biology students at UCLA were sent out to the restaurants over the four years to collect samples of 10 popular varieties of fish used for sushi. The samples were then tested for DNA.

Samples Willette said of 364 samples tested, 47 percent showed that the sushi was mislabeled.

About the only sure bet was salmon, which was mislabeled only about one in 10 times, and bluefin tuna which was never swapped for a different kind of fish, according to the study. “But out of 43 orders of halibut and 32 orders of red snapper, DNA tests showed the researchers were always served a different kind of fish,” the study says. Yellowfin tuna was also swapped on seven out of nine orders, usually for bigeye tuna, a vulnerable and overexploited species. “In some cases, the same restaurant was substituting multiple fish on menus,” Willette said. “So say they would propose three types of tuna when they actually served the same type.” He said halibut was often swapped for cheaper species of flounder considered overfished or near threatened while red snapper was substituted for sea bream.

He added that while price was a factor in the apparent fraud that likely involving wholesalers, attempts to skirt fishing policies also played a part. “Some of it is price, and some of it is regulations,” he said. The study warned that apart from duping consumers, the mislabeling posed a health risk for people with allergies to certain fish and for pregnant women and children who should avoid high-mercury fish. “A common parasite found in raw olive flounder ... has caused ‘rampant’ food poisoning in Japan,” the study noted. A spokeswoman at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which was made aware of the study, said her office had no immediate reaction. As for Willette, he had one piece of advice. “I would say if you’re going to a sushi

restaurant, probably avoid the halibut and red snapper,” he said. “Eat salmon because salmon is almost always salmon.”

Also: IRVINE, Calif: Taco Bell plans to go nationwide this month with its latest concoction: a taco with a shell made entirely out of fried chicken. Taco Bell says the shell of the Naked Chicken Chalupa is made up of all-white seasoned chicken. The rest of the taco is packed with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and avocado ranch sauce. The fast food chain says the taco tested well in markets in Bakersfield, California, and Kansas City, Missouri, over the past two years. It will be available at Taco Bells across the country on Jan 26.

Food click Alcoholics Anonymous: If you know someone who can’t stop drinking and would like to help them please check us out and we promise to try to help at www.aaarabia.org There are no fees. This is a genuine public service. ❑ ❑ ❑ Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confidential. Email: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑

Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 94087800 English/Arabic. ❑ ❑ ❑ Cancer online support group: If you are Cancer patient or family member fighting with this deadly disease, come join our online support group. Best way of dealing with this disease is providing support and share our experience with each other. There are lot of things which even doctors can’t tell so be member of this website and start sharing your experiences which may help others. October is recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The primary purpose is to promote self examination and screening mammography as the most effective way to save lives by detecting breast cancer at early stage. For more information visit: http://fightingwithcancer.webs.com/

Latest Invitation to Grand Mosque: The Visits

This May 22, 2016 photo shows salmon salad in a jar (left), next to the white bean salad and chopped Greek salad on grilled bread in New York. (AP)

High-quality ingredients must for this simple recipe

Bruschetta, 3 ways for a satisfying main dish By Sara Moulton here are few dishes more elemental and satisfying than bruschetta. A mainstay T at many Italian restaurants, it’s an appetizer comprising slices of grilled bread adorned with any number of toppings. I like to make bruschetta on my stovetop grill at home during the colder months. It’s a winning accompaniment to just about any soup or stew and a reliable favorite with the family. Bruschetta is simple to make, but you need to work with high-quality ingredients if you want it to turn out beautifully. Start with a loaf of fresh and crusty rustic bread. Then brush each slice of bread with your very best extra-virgin olive oil. When the bread comes off the grill, and while it’s still hot, rub one side of each slice with a cut clove of garlic. Then top it off with a light sprinkling of sea salt. This recipe spells out three different toppings, all vaguely Mediterranean: a white bean salad with fresh fennel thickened with mashed beans so that the filling sticks to the bread; smoked salmon rillettes — finely chopped salmon flavored with capers, lemon and fresh herbs and bound with sour cream; and a chopped Greek salad. Again, I recommend using your best extra-virgin olive oil for the dressings. Each topping yields roughly two cups, which should be ample to top four large slices of grilled bread. Bruschetta is nothing if not basic, meaning that just about any filling you’d ordinarily put between two slices of bread will also work as a topping for bruschetta: egg salad, tuna salad, runny cheese, hummus, grilled vegetables, you name it. Salmon Rillettes Start to finish: 25 minutes Servings: 4 8 ounces smoked salmon, finely chopped; 1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt; 2 tablespoons minced shallot; 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives, tarragon or dill or a mix; 2 tablespoons welldrained capers, chopped; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; Black pepper to taste

In a bowl combine all the ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Chill until ready to serve. White Bean Salad Start to finish: 25 minutes Servings: 4

A dazzler of pasta dish

Fresh linguine with shrimp and peas By Katie Workman his is a dazzler of a pasta dish. When you combine fresh pasta with big shrimp, T you are quickly telling your guests that they are in for a treat. But its not just the guests who will be happy. The whole dish comes together in about 20 minutes. Really! Truly! Adding some of the pastas cooking water to the dish cuts the heaviness of the cream sauce, plus the bit of starch that stays in the cooking water helps bind the sauce to the pasta. Salt the sauce lightly, if at all, up to the point where you add the pasta cooking water, which will also be salted. Then taste and see if you need more seasoning. Fresh linguine with shrimp and peas in a pink cream sauce Start to finish Serve 6 Kosher salt to taste 2, tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly

crushed, 2 pounds peeled and deveined extra-large shrimp, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 cup heavy cream, Fresh ground pepper to taste, 2 9-ounce packages fresh linguine, Chopped fresh parsley or basil to serve. Directions Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a very large skillet over medium heat, and saute the garlic for 3 or 4 minutes just until it starts to lightly color. Remove the garlic cloves and toss them. Add the shrimp to the skillet and saute for about 3 minutes until they have started to turn pink but are not cooked through, then remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate and set aside. Add the tomato paste to the skillet and stir until the tomato paste has dissolved. Add the parsley, basil, peas and cream and bring to a simmer. Season with pep-

1/3 cup minced red onion; One 15-1/2ounce can white beans; 1/3 cup finely diced fresh fennel or celery; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano; 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional); Kosher salt

lamata olives; 1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil; Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Chill until ready to serve. Bruschetta Start to finish: 10 minutes Servings: 4

In a bowl of ice and water, soak the onion for 15 minutes, drain and pat dry. Drain and rinse the white beans and pat them dry. In a medium bowl, mash the beans using a potato masher, leaving about half in large pieces and the rest mashed. Add the onion, fennel, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, hot pepper flakes, and salt to taste and stir well. Chill until ready to serve. Chopped Greek Salad Start to finish: 20 minutes Servings: 4 1 cup coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes; 1/2 cup 1/4 inch dice seedless cucumber; 1/2 cup finely cubed or crumbled feta; 1/3 cup coarsely chopped pitted Ka-

per. Return the partially cooked shrimp to the sauce and continue to simmer until the peas and shrimp have cooked through, about 2 minutes. While you are making the sauce, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to package directions, about 4 minutes. Remove 1/2 cup of the cooking water and stir it into the sauce, then drain the pasta. Taste the sauce and see if it needs more salt or pepper. Return the pasta to the pot, pour the sauce over it and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with additional parsley or basil if desired, and serve immediately. Nutrition information per serving: 649 calories; 201 calories from fat; 22 g fat (10 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 245 mg cholesterol; 961 mg sodium; 72 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 34 g protein. (AP)

12 slices 1/2-inch thick rustic bread; Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing the bread; 1 garlic clove, halved; Kosher salt.

This October 2016 photo shows linguine with shrimp and peas in New York. (AP)

Preheat a grill pan over high heat. Brush both sides of the bread slices with the oil. Add the bread to the preheated grill, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until bread is nicely browned on both sides (about 1 minute a side). Remove the bread from the pan and, while it’s still hot, rub one side of each slice with a cut clove of garlic, then sprinkle it very lightly with Kosher salt. (AP)

Department is pleased to invite you to visit the Grand Mosque, which is one of Kuwait’s most treasured religious and cultural landmarks to discover the beauty of Islamic arts and architecture. Free guided tours are available all year round on official working days between (9-11 am) and (5-7 pm), within a special tour program designed to cater to the needs of different age groups. The program is as follows: Reception; Auditorium show; (according to age group); Touring the Mosque; Q & A; Art workshops; (according to age group – between 5 and 18 years old); Snack break; Distribution of the Grand Mosque publications and souvenirs; End of tour. According to these age groups: Age group: 5 to 9 years old: Morning: 60 visitors max; Evening: 20; 10 to 15 years: Morning: 100 visitors max; Evening: 45; 16 and above: Morning: 140 visitors max, Evening: 105: Tour language: Arabic- English- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); ArabicEnglish- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); Arabic- English- French: Arabic (English upon prior request) Rules and Regulations: ■ Please arrive in time for your visit. ■ All visitors are kindly required to abide by the mosque’s dress code. Male visitors should wear long pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are not allowed. Female visitors: should wear head cover and long loose clothing (available at the mosque). ■ Foods and drinks are not allowed inside the prayer halls. ■ For school visits, teachers are responsible for their students and are required to cooperate with the staff members of the Grand Mosque. ■ Photography is allowed inside the Grand Mosque (please note that disrespectful poses are strictly prohibited). If you would like to book a tour, please contact us: Tel: 22980813/ 22980815/ 22980812 Email: [email protected] Fax: 22473708 ❑ ❑ ❑

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

IEI Kuwait Chapter membership: The Institution of Engineers (India), Kuwait chapter invites all its members to update their membership information for the year 2016-17 and actively participate in the chapter activities. Indian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 700,000 engineers by becoming corporate or non-corporate members of The Institution of Engineers (India). IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefit of its members. Please watch for the upcoming events in your registered e-mail or announcement in the media. The chapter has science club activities for member’s children, and ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE Examination for those interested in pursuing career enrichment. For more information and on chapter membership, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait chapter office on 22445588 extn. 314 between 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm (Sunday through Thursday) or through email to [email protected]. You may also contact Engr Ashok Kumar (97275974) or Engr Karthikeyan (99840191) for any further clarification. ❑ ❑ ❑ Share your story with Amricani: Do Continued on Page 23

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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click Latest Continued from Page 22 you or any of your family members, acquaintances or friends happen to have a story with the American Missionary hospital in Kuwait (Mustashfa Lemraicani) during the years from 1914-1967, the official period of offering medical services in Kuwait? Please share with us your story or your memory during those old days by writing the event and sending it to the following email address: [email protected] Notes: 1. Please send your story only to the above mentioned email. Story shared in Instagram, Facebook or Twitter will not be considered. 2. Please write your story or memory and sign it with your full name, and your contact number. 3. It will be great if you send us your personal photos or those of the place related to the story (optional). Your story will be part of a new book to be published by DAI. I am confident that your contributions will be an essential part of the history of Amricani. Share with us! Jan 20

Santhwanam Anniversary & AGM: Indian voluntary organization “Santhwanam Kuwait” announces its 16th Anniversary-cum-Annual General Body Meeting on Friday, Jan 20, 2017 at Abbasiya United Indian School Auditorium at 5:00 pm.

A photo from the event

KERA elects new office-bearers Prominent NRI association of Kuwait representing Ernakulam district, the financial capital of Kerala state, the Kuwait Ernakulam Residents Association (KERA) has announced that they have unanimously elected the new office-bearers for the year 2017. Benny K.O. is elected as the President, Bobby Paul Joy will be the General Secretary and Sebastian Peter will serve as the Treasurer. The other office-bearers are as follows: General Coordinators – Prathap M.B. and Anilkumar S.; General Convenors – Subair Elamana and Biju S.P.; Vice-Presidents – Ajo Abraham and Mrs Theressa Antony; Organizing Secretary – Binil Skaria;

Secretary – Anil S.P.; Joint Treasurer – Ajeesh; Social Welfare Convenor – Nazeer Sheikh; Joint Social Welfare Convenor – Jose Peter; Arts Convenor – Dennis John; Joint Arts Convenors – Saleh Ali and Sino Jose; Sports Convenor – Hamsakkoya; Joint Sports Convenors – Anoop Aravind and Jishu Jacob; Auditor – Sasikumar M.; Legal Advisor – M.V. Varghese. The central committee election was held at Poppins Hall Abbassiya, in which the meeting was presided by acting president Sebastian Peter. Binil Skaria welcomed all the attendees. The newly elected unit convenors of KERA Liju M. Gopi (Abbassiya), Rajesh Mathew (Farwaniya),

Sasikumar M. (Fahaheel), Noushad C.P. (Salmiya) and Vanitha Vedhi convenor Mrs Rajani Anilkumar, made their felicitation speeches during the meeting. KERA had conducted earlier their annual unit general body meetings and unit elections during last quarter of 2016 and has formed a 101 member working committee. Various cultural programs were conducted by talent team of KERA during the election meeting and delicious lunch was served. Prathap M.B., Anilkumar, Rajesh Mathew, Anoop Aravind, Mrs Beena Murugan, Hamsakkoya, Sadashivan P.M. Binil Skaria, etc supported in the organizing arrangements of the program.

Since its inception in 2001 the organization has surged forward to a state wide presence with medical relief to more than 8500 poor patients and underprivileged families in India. It has helped many Indian expat patients in Kuwait for repatriation and further support for medical treatment. Every month the organization extends helping hand to an average of 80 poor patients and less privileged people in the society with medical treatment aid, basic living support, self-employment initiatives, etc. Many more are benefitted through other various special social welfare programs designed for each year. These special projects are chosen in view of their beneficial impact to a large number of people to whom the organization cannot reach out directly by themselves. Such humanitarian projects are implemented in association with well known and trustworthy NGOs in India. Its voluntary services are supported by more than 2,700 expat Indians in Kuwait and 50 active volunteers working to reach out the needy. Over the years, “Santhwanam” has risen as a source of valuable support to large number of helpless individuals afflicted by disease, poverty and calamities in diverse ways. It’s noble and timely help to all individuals helped them to recover safely and live more fulfilled lives. The Volunteers welcomed all expat Indians for the Anniversary & AGM event on and thanked everyone for their continued support. Contact volunteers for more information: 97861967, 50533630, 97213475, 66961480, 66461397. Jan 25

Debating Championships: The trials to select the National Schools’ Debating Team which will represent Kuwait at the World Schools’ Debating Championships in Bali in

Continued on Page 24

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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‘Stamped’ rooted in recent events

Prize-winning book chronicles history of racist thinking By Hillel Italie tamped from the Beginning,’ winner of the National Book Award winner for ‘S nonfiction, is a work of history very much rooted in recent events. Ibram X. Kendi’s 600-page narrative traces the origins and justifications for racism in the US from colonial times to the present. Kendi began working on the book shortly before the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, and he felt a special urgency to write about what he calls “stimulations,” individuals “who believe that black people were culturally or behaviorally inferior.” “There are notions that scientists, and journalists, and scholars can be objective,” he says. “And typically those ideas that have connoted that black people are in some ways inferior have been cast as these objective ideas, which then legitimize them and allowed for their circulation.” Kendi, an assistant professor of African American History at the University of Florida, structured “Stamped from the Beginning” around five people, ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Angela Davis, and around the efforts to combat racism, whether the self-help ethic of Booker T. Washington or the moral persua-

This cover image released by Nation Books shows, ‘Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,’ winner of the National Book Award, by Ibram X. Kendi. (AP)

sion of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The book’s title comes from a speech by Jefferson Davis, given the year before he became president of the Confederate states. “This country was created by white men for white men, and inequality between the white and black races was stamped from the beginning,” Davis said. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kendi discussed his findings on racist ideas, why some breakthroughs in American history were not such breakthroughs after all and whether he would have made any major changes had he completed the book after the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. On the origins of racist ideas: “I chronicle a history in which we’ve been taught this notion that it’s ignorance and hate that lead to racist ideas about black people, and then it’s these people with these racist ideas that are the people who create racist policies. And I actually find, through my research, that line of thinking is a historical, and it’s actually been quite the opposite. Racist policies have been created typically out of self-interest and those policies have bred racist ideas to justify those policies, and then the circulation of those

racist ideas has led to ignorance and hate.” On why Brown v. Board of education, the supreme court decision that deemed segregation in public schools unconstitutional, was also an affirmation of racist thinking: “Most Americans have not read the actual majority opinion written by Chief Justice Warren, and in that opinion, he states very clearly, and I’m quoting him, that ‘The segregation of the white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon colored children,’ and not white and colored children, but colored children, and his decision was based on all of these psychological and social science studies that were making the case that segregational poverty was literally making black children inferior. ... These studies then suggested that what black children need is to be closer to white children.” On similarities he sees between today and the early 20th century: “One hundred years ago a wealthy New Yorker by the name of Madison Grant published a best-selling book called ‘The Passing of the Great Race,’ and this book was translated into several languages, including German, and it became the bible of somebody by the name of Adolf Hitler, and this ‘Passing of

the Great Race’ author made the case that the ‘great race,’ of course an Anglo-Saxon white race, was basically under attack by everyone else. By immigrants from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, by non-white immigrants, by civil rights activists ...”

Also: NEW YORK: In the face of heavy criticism, Simon & Schuster is moving forward with plans to publish a book by the conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos writes for Breitbart News, considered by many a platform for the so-called “alt-right” movement, an offshoot of conservatism that mixes racism, white nationalism and populism. Yiannopoulos’ Twitter account was suspended earlier this year after a series of racially insensitive tweets aimed at “Ghostbusters” actress Leslie Jones, who is black. Yiannopoulos has denied he is a white nationalist. While many in and outside of the publishing industry criticized Simon & Schuster, the book, which is available for preorder, was at the top of Amazon.com’s best seller list last week. Simon & Schuster said Friday that it does not condone discrimination or hate speech and said the book, which is titled “Dangerous,” is about free speech. (AP)

AUK

Heading Global Conference

‘Sun Chaser Robot’ bags first prize

3 AUK teams win at Smart Kuwait Competition

click Latest Continued from Page 23 August 2017 will take place from 3:30 pm-7:30 pm on Feb 1 at the British School of Kuwait. Interested parties must register their intention to attend no later than Jan 25, 2017 in order to be considered. To register your interest and to receive further details please contact Abigail Bartholomew at [email protected] Feb 16

‘Intimate Reflections’ at Dar Al Funoon: Dar Al Funoon will open a solo exhibition by Nurieh Mozaffari ‘Intimate Reflections’ on Jan 16 at 07:00 pm. The artist will be present. Nurieh Mozaffari was born in Iran. She became seriously interested in painting at the age of 18 and soon after embarked on a BA majoring in Art in Iran. Later, she completed a Masters degree in painting at the Art University in 1996. Teaching in the Faculty of Art at a university was a natural next step. In between and subsequent to her studies her work has appeared in many exhibitions — both joint and solo. Nurieh’s work has been exhibited internationally since 1984. She had more than 20 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions among them — Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran, Institut Du Monde Arabe — Paris Art Gallery Vancouver Museum — Canada. Her works have been exhibited four times in the Iranian paintings biannual. The exhibition will run until Feb 2. Gallery hours: Sunday to Thursday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Saturdays by appointment. For details contact 22433183. ❑ ❑ ❑

IHGF Delhi Fair Spring 2017: The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), an apex organization under Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, is organizing the 43rd edition of Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair “IHGF Delhi Fair” Spring 2017 from 16 – 20 February 2017 at India Exposition Mart Ltd, Greater Noida Expressway (National Capital Region of Delhi), India. IHGF is one of Asia’s largest handicrafts & gifts fair with over 2750 exhibitors displaying their products. The IHGF event is an ideal business platform for international buyers, agents, wholesalers, potential franchises and fashion designers to source from India’s finest offerings in handicrafts, gifts and lifestyle products. Some of the product categories that will be on display are; Home furnishings, house ware, tableware, kitchenware, hotel ware, bathroom accessories, furniture, furniture hardware and accessories, garden ornaments and accessories, handcrafted garments like Chikankari & Zardozi, carpets, rugs and flooring, handmade paper, fashion

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Three AUK teams from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department were declared winners of the first, second, and third place in the Smart Kuwait Competition organized by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). The competition was held for the first time in Kuwait — as part of the Heading Global Conference — whereby students from universities around the GCC presented projects in the categories of Smart Design, Smart City, Smart Learning, Smart Manufacture, and Smart Agriculture, to a panel of judges that comprised of faculty members from different institutions. The winning projects were announced at the Heading Global Conference in November and received prizes that totaled KD 10,000 in value. Listed below are the categories and projects of the three winning teams: 1st Place Winner of the Smart City Category Project Name: Sun Chaser Robot Description: This project aims to increase the efficiency and usability of solar energy. It is a tracker system that can detect the best position of the sun in order to extract the maximum amount of sunlight using four sensors. It rotates the solar panels toward the angle of the maximum sunlight using servomotors and generates power to charge batteries to be used for different applications. Team: Manal Al-Enezi and Esraa Al-Qattan Supervisor: Dr Seyed E. Esmaeili 2nd Place Winner of the Smart Industry Category Project Name: Giving Hands Description: The idea behind this project jewellery, bags and educational toys. More details about “IHGF Delhi Fair” Spring 2017 are available on EPCH’s website: www.epch.in.

General IEI Kuwait membership: The Institution of Engineers (India), Kuwait chapter invites all its members to update their membership information for the year 2016-17 and actively participate in the chapter activities. Indian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 700,000 engineers by becoming corporate or non-corporate members of The Institution of Engineers (India). IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefits of its members. We have upcoming technical seminar in August and a mega workshop in September. Please watch for further details in your registered e-mail or announcement in media. The chapter has science club activities for member’s children, and

Manal Al-Enezi displaying her project, ‘Sun Chaser Robot’

Photos courtesy of Heading Global Conference

The ‘Giving Hands’ Team

is to solve two problems using one solution, the Smart Refrigerator. The project aims to reduce food waste by donating it to the needy, while at the same time provide a smart and accessible solution for those who need food supplies. People can donate certain types of food items and keep them in a smart refrigerator available to the public. The Smart Refrigerator will then send an

SMS message for the users in the database informing them of the available items. The Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a temperature sensor to get rid of items in case of a malfunction and is also provided with a mechanism to discard expired items. Team: Maha Al-Mari, Anwar Al-Khalaf, and Wed Al-Smiran Supervisor: Dr Seyed E. Esmaeili

ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait Chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE examination for those interested in pursuing career enrichment. For more information and on chapter membership, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait Chapter office on 22445588 extn 314 between 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm (Sunday through Thursday) or through email to [email protected]. You may also contact engr Ashok Kumar (97275974) or engr Karthikeyan (99840191) for any further clarification. ❑ ❑ ❑

tecting individuals as well as the society has become obligatory. In this current situation, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed President Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details contact: 55062071 or email at [email protected]. ❑ ❑ ❑

KIFF anti-drugs campaign: As part of the Fraternity fest, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum (KIFF) is conducting Anti-Drugs Campaign among Indians living in Kuwait. According to the available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by pro-

NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breathing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825. ❑

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Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The

3rd Place Winner of the Smart Home category Project Name: NOAH Description: NOAH (NOA’s house) is a modernized smart house that will solve multiple problems and make life easier and more luxurious. NOAH –just like the human sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems– can detect both dangerous and peaceful situations. NOAH approaches safety by detecting dangerous behaviors and symptoms. So, it can detect the elder’s emergency behaviors such as falling or calling out for help, or observe the movements of a child if it comes near any of the house’s hazardous locations such as electric plugs or windows. In addition, it can detect fire or smoke, call the fire department and notify other residents to evacuate the place. Moreover, NOAH can recognize faces for security issues to distinguish between residents and outsiders. Team: Omar Abbas, Amr Lotfy, and Ahmed Abdel-Basset Supervisor: Dr Mohammed El-Abd The 2016 Heading Global Conference has the vision of organizing and delivering a dynamic conference contributing effectively to the advancement of the Kuwaiti Knowledge Economy and Society including theories, policies and practices promoting smart sustainable and inclusive growth. Its mission is to harness the knowledge, experience, expertise and talent of key Knowledge Economy and Society stakeholders to address critical challenges, identify emerging opportunities and help formulate and implement successful smart sustainable and inclusive growth strategies, policies and practices. More information about the event could be found in: http://heading-globalpaaet.org/smart-kuwait-competition/ LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next. The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Understand the purpose of our lives and learn to live that purpose with confidence 3. Understand the importance of connecting to Allah and learn how to do it 4. Understand how to leverage your strengths and overcome weaknesses 5. Understand how to articulate your life goal and create a road map to achieve it. For more information please visit www. leckuwait.com or call 99514995 / 66363310. ❑ ❑ ❑

AWL registration: If you would like to join the American Women’s League (AWL), please

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ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Homes Tips on using sunny, cheerful color well

Yellow having its moment in home decor By Melissa Rayworth orgeous shades of yellow have become G increasingly popular in home decor, a trend that seems set to continue in the coming

click General Continued from Page 24 call 99039723 or 94067999 or email: [email protected]. All American women and wives of Americans are welcomed. ❑ ❑ ❑

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

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

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

Dramatic touches of yellow bring warmth and energy to contrast with the crisp whites and soft, natural wood tones in this relaxing sunroom, designed by New York-based interior designer Young Hub. (AP)

Left: Ben Soleimani pillow covers. Right: A squooshy faux fur bean bag chair. (AP)

‘Candles truest expression’

Scrabble sessions are back: Scrabble sessions are back for all to come, learn and play with us at Better Books, Salmiyah, Bldg 19, next to Badur Travel, opposite the Ministry of Private Education, on Friday afternoons from 2:30-5:30 pm. Inviting all kids aged 8 and above to join me and play competitively with me Rohaina. Classes are held every Saturday from 12-1.30 pm. Bknelled, Euphuize, Waqf, Zooeae are some of the lovely words and there are 200,000 more you can learn with us. But the fun part is playing this wonderful game competitively. So come and see us and call me @66634224, Rohaina Tanweer. ❑ ❑ ❑

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

Bridge game: Bridge tournament is being

Hygge: Winter trend has its heart in home By Kim Cook earch the term online and nearly 10 million Swinter’s results roll in. It’s being touted by this shelter magazines, decor retailers and lifestyle mavens. What’s so huge? It’s hygge. Often mispronounced “higgy”, it’s actually more like “hewgah”. To understand the term’s meaning, just burrow into a big comfy pile of phrases synonymous with “well-being”. Coziness, ease, conviviality and, above all, a warm glow. According to author Meik Wiking in “The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well” (Penguin 2016), hygge originated from a Norwegian word. The Danes appropriated the term to some extent, but it’s common throughout Scandinavia, as well as a good bit of the United Kingdom. In the truest expression of hygge, the warm glow should come from a candle. “No recipe for hygge is complete without candles. When Danes are asked what they most associate with hygge, an overwhelming 85 percent mention candles”, says Wiking, who also heads Copenhagen’s Happiness Research Institute, a think tank studying societal satisfaction. And forget scented candles, he says. If you don’t have a candle, go with a lowwattage lamp, Wiking suggests. Harsh, bright lighting is anathema to the hygge vibe. There are a few other decor elements that bring hygge home. “A warm, neutral color palette is best”, says Kayleigh Tanner, a writer in Brighton, England, who hosts a blog called Hello Hygge. Think beige, “greige”, terracotta, tan, warm

white, orange and copper. Textures are important for hygge, too, she says, “so I like to go for very tactile fabrics like velvet, chunky knits, silk and faux fur. These can be mixed and matched to help create a cozy nest in the home.

Familiar “For fragrances, I think familiar, homey scents work well. Comforting, food-based aromas like spices, vanilla or cocoa”. In warmer months, even outdoor spaces can be hygge-worthy, says Tanner, who has fond memories of childhood evenings watching the sunset with friends. “Lighting can completely transform a garden, so think about solar lights and outdoor lanterns”, she says. “These can be placed down paths for a magical journey through the

Teak candleholder by Birch Lane. (AP)

garden, or clustered in areas in which you’ll be entertaining, to maintain an inviting cozy glow”. She suggests gathering simple flower bouquets, and displaying collections of pebbles or shells. Hygge’s appeal is firmly tied to the natural world. “In my mind, hygge is about ambience, intimacy and the right setting”, says Kirsten Maclean, a Dane now living in a hygge-rich rural seaside town in western Nova Scotia. She finds that a day spent reading with a cup of tea and a cat is as hygge-inducing as a friendly get-together. Sometimes there are candles, sometimes not. Birte Lilholt Aret, who lives in Sydney, Australia, grew up just outside Copenhagen. “As a child, I remember visiting my grandparents, who lived in a thatched roof house. We’d be woken up during lightning storms because of the fire danger, and we’d sit in the kitchen in our pajamas, with coffee and candles, while the storm lasted. Making the situation ‘hyggelig’ by being together”, she says. In a conflict-torn world, the idea of a welcoming refuge seems especially appealing. In his book, Wiking recalls the end of a hiking day with friends. “We were all tired . half asleep, sitting around the fireplace in the cabin, wearing big (sweaters) and socks. The only sounds . were the stew boiling; the sparks from the fireplace .Then one of my friends broke the silence. ‘Could this be any more hygge?’” he asked. “‘Yes’, said one of the girls after a moment. ‘If there was a storm raging outside’. We all nodded”. (AP)

year. Yellow is prominent in the Sherwin-Williams color forecast for 2017, while Pantone describes their new “color of the year,” called Greenery, as “a fresh and zesty yellow-green.” “We haven’t seen yellow this popular since the ’80s,” says New York-based interior designer Young Huh. And in the months to come, she says, “we will see more and more of it as accent colors and as whole room colors.” But while yellow is having a moment, many shades of it can be challenging to use successfully. We’ve asked Huh and two other design experts Florida-based interior designer Andrew Howard and Kayla Kitts, managing editor of special projects for HGTV.com to share tips on using this sunny, cheerful color. Where to use it A recent report by Zillow Digs found that homes with white-painted kitchens sell for $1,400 less than homes with yellow kitchens. If yellow walls seem like too big a leap, Howard suggests using yellow for upholstery and pillows or for kitchen cabinets. In addition to kitchens, Huh says yellow is catching on for entries and hallways “because it makes these utilitarian spaces cheerful.” In hallways, it adds a sense of sunshine in a space with little natural light. Kitts suggests using yellow in “small, more compact spaces that you’re looking to make larger,” like a powder room. She also says you might want to reject some conventional wisdom that yellow is too bright and busy for a bedroom, especially if it doubles as a home office. A warm yellow can energize the space, while still feeling relaxing. “The trick with yellow is that most people don’t even know they like it until they see it in a space.” says Howard. “Don’t be afraid to go big. I once painted an entire laundry room yellow and everyone that sees it loves it.” Favorite shades Yellow is “such a fresh color, and instantly adds life to any space you use it in,” says Howard. He suggests starting with a primary yellow and then bringing in other colors for balance: “A room that is yellow by itself will get overwhelming. It needs a blue or green or even a lavender to cool it down a bit.” Kitts and Huh are both fans of more citrusy yellows, and even chartreuse. “I especially like Pantone’s primrose yellow because, like the color of the year, Greenery, there is an acid element which makes the color more exciting and edgy,” says Huh. “It’s a color we see in nature, but in an electric way. This is not your grandma’s yellow. It’s fashion forward and forward thinking.” These colors look great paired with gray or blue shades. “Pale yellow is also a wonderful ground color for extravagant colorful prints,” says Huh. Even in its softer incarnations, “it evokes hope, sunshine and brightness.” Kitts agrees: “Buttery shades are really great for adding a warm glow and making a space feel cozy.” In rooms that get a lot of natural sunlight, she says, even more neutral yellows like cornsilk will offer that optimistic energy that characterizes yellow. Challenges No shade of yellow is impossible to use, but do choose with care. Kitts says that if you’ll be painting walls yellow, test out a shade and view it throughout the day to see how it changes in different types of natural light and with different lamps. You might have to live with a sample of a bright, lemon yellow for a few weeks to make sure it’s something you want long-term. Yet going with paler yellows isn’t always a safer bet. “Yellow can be tricky, because if it is too pale and the room it is in is relatively dark or gets cool, north-facing light, the color will look dingy rather than cheerful or calming,” says Huh. “In England, where the weather can be drab, period rooms are painted bright yellows. Nancy Lancaster’s famous yellow drawing room is perhaps the greatest and most popular example of a striking yellow room.” Contrast can also help: “Yellow needs to be paired with a cooler color to have it work effectively,” says Howard. “It cannot be the only color in a room.” So take time to choose shades that delight you. “The yellows that are trending now are the ones that are not pure yellows, but tertiary colors,” says Huh. “These are not classic yellows that you may have seen in the past. They’re either refreshing or deep moody yellow, and will inspire more emotion than a pure yellow. Because of this, we’ll see these yellows in smaller moments, accents such as contrast pillows or on one upholstered chair in a room.” Despite its challenges, yellow is an easy color to love, says Howard. “In the last couple of years we remembered how much we always loved it,” he says. “I am really excited to see it popping up more and more, and hope that it’s not a trend but a permanent fixture in how we decorate.” (AP)

held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. Interested Bridge pairs or individual players please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287. ❑ ❑ ❑

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

Sports Chess Round Robin Challenge: Registrations are open for chess coaching and the Annual Round Robin Challenger Series. Send Continued on Page 27

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Photos by Mohmad Morse

Photos from the event.

10-day show hopes to outdo past performance

Kuwait Motor Show Automoto 17 opens the past 5 years. Last year was a great success to show. We had over 260,000 visitors to the mall and sold more than 100 cars through the show. We expect more visitors this year since it is a 10 day show. We have more cars in number this year so we expect more sales and hope to outdo our past performance.”

By Cinatra Fernandes Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Kuwait Motor Show Automoto 17 held a grand opening of its fifth installment at 360 mall on Thursday morning under the patronage of HE the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Sheikh Salman Al-Homoud Al-Sabah. Automoto 17 is Kuwait’s only motor show that brings together 30 brands and around 100 cars under one roof. The show will continue through the 21st of January and is open to all mall visitors. The opening was attended by Ambassadors, dignitaries, and VIPs including representatives of the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, local dealers, international companies and sponsors. Guests were given a special tour around the show. Car enthusiasts and casual visitors to the mall will find their interest piqued with an array of new product launches, never seen before vehicles and much more with the world most renowned brands unveiling new models in the country throughout the show. The vehicles on display range from luxury sedans and supercars to mid-range and economy passenger cars, and a mix of motorcycles and ATV’s. Osama Bastaki, CEO of EPR, the organizing company, expressed his delight at the event’s successful opening, “We aim to further expand on our success and progress in all our events, with emphasis on the Kuwait Motor Show being the largest motor show in Kuwait.”

Experience

Brands “The Kuwait Motor Show brings together automotive brands from around the world displaying them to their customers in Kuwait in a drive to support the local dealers in showcasing their newest models. The show is designed to generate traffic translating into sales which in turn reflects on the economy of the country”, he added. Rawiah Alateeqi, EPR GM, remarked “At EPR, we aim to be unique and different. We are very proud of our achievements through

Some of the cars on display

One of the interactive elements in the show not to be missed is the Virtual Reality activation at the Porsche display, a thrilling experience that takes the visitor to the ledge of a skyscraper. Hany Marie, Marketing Manager of Porsche, told the Arab Times, “This is our fourth participation at Automoto and we have a selection of a vehicles showcased here. Among these is a limited series 911 R which is a big beast on the road and on the track, the newly launched Panamera under the theme of courage changes everything, a 718 Cayman launched last September which is a mid-engine concept and a sporty roadster, and from the SUV range, we are displaying the Cayenne GTS and a Macan GTS. Shared that the brand had enjoyed a positive experience at Automoto over the years, “It brings all the car brands together under one roof and it is currently the only automotive show in Kuwait as well so it is an opportunity for us to get together with our colleagues and show our capabilities and our line-up.” “We hope this will prove to be a good start to the year. We are a brand that enjoys a lot of excellent brand loyalty, awareness and equity, events like this help us maintain this”, he added. The Kuwait Motor Show is held in partnership with Kuwait Finance House as a strategic partner for the third year in a row. KFH offers exclusive promotions and a comprehensive range of financial services for those visitors who are planning to purchase new cars. The show is also backed by various sponsors that will add value to the show experience ranging from car cleaning services offered by Pronto Wash, Fuel products and services offered by Oula, and innovative cleaning services by Smart Polish Pro.

Abdullah Al-Omani from Social Media Dept

Show covered thru social media

VIVA participates in CES KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most developed telecom operator, concludes its participation in The International Consumer Electronics Show “CES 2017”, held from Jan 5-8 in Las Vegas, NV. VIVA visited most of the companies’ booths, whether eye-popping TVs, futuristic cars, shiny mobile devices, mind-boggling virtual reality, robots and amazing cameras, and covered their last innovations and products through Snapchat and Instagram, with a comprehensive explanation about the mechanism and specifications. The International Consumer Electronics Show (International CES)

showcased more than 3,800 big international companies, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more; a conference program with more than 300 conference sessions and more than 165K attendees from 150 countries. It is noteworthy that for 50 years, CES has been the launch pad for new innovation and technology that has changed the world. Held in Las Vegas every year, it is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies and where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace.

Monthly market today

Ooredoo supports local entrepreneurs in ‘Murouj’ KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Ooredoo, the fastest network in Kuwait, is proud to continue its partnership with Murouj Market, a monthly weekend market for local entrepreneurs and businesses. The market includes local farm produce, artisanal food products and crafts, with a ‘street food’ section aimed at highlighting the culinary diversity of Kuwait’s local food community. The market also offers a section dedicated for children’s activities. The market is ready to receive customers today, Friday. Commenting on this sponsorship, Ooredoo Kuwait Senior Director of Corporate Communications Mijbil

Alayoub said: “We’re happy with our ongoing support for local businesses and entrepreneurs through this engaging project. This sponsorship comes in tandem with our social responsibility strategy, which in turn is based on our core values of Ooredoo, of caring, connecting and challenging. We look forward to meeting those young enthusiastic small business owners as well as our valued customers at the market today.” Ooredoo is a strategic partner of this event. Updates about the market can be found on Morouj’s official Instagram account @muroujkw as well as our Instagram account @OoredooKuwait.

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By Jacqueline Bigar Happy birthday for Friday, Jan. 13, 2017: This year you often feel as if your social interactions are fated. The new people you meet might be karmically linked to you. As a result, your relationships take on an interesting quality. If you are single, you will meet someone of significance. Your interactions will be natural, and you will see and feel the difference in this bond, as opposed to others. If you are attached, the two of you often discuss key issues in your relationship. Both of you will learn a lot and learn to respect each other more as a result. LEO bottom-lines issues for you. The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult

Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19) ***** Be willing to let a friend or associate run with the ball. You might not feel as sure of yourself as you would like to. In conversations,

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this person keeps you updated and shows respect for your ideas. You learn from his or her progressive style. Tonight: Be part of a duo.

Aquarius - (Jan

20 - Feb 18)

**** Take a stand, but expect to meet with some resistance. The opposition could be severe or annoying enough that you’ll decide to back off. If you can hold out, you will find a more opportune moment at a later date. Waiting will make your life easier. Tonight: As you like it.

Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20) *** You have a lot going on around you. Organization will be pivotal in handling all the information and requests that seem to drop on your lap. Keep your focus, as there might be many moments when you could let go and enjoy what is happening. Tonight: Off to the gym.

home decor

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Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19) **** You can’t help but respond well to someone else’s enthusiasm and interest in a project. You might want to try being more spontaneous. You know how to approach a higher-up to get the desired results. You know your stuff. Tonight: Respond to a loved one with a big smile.

Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20) ***** You don’t often see eye to eye with a loved one, especially if the topic revolves around assets and investments. You might not agree with what the other party says, whereas he or she seems to be very sure of him- or herself. Be more open to discussions. Tonight: Dinner for two.

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)

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**** How you handle someone’s suggestions could be key to improving your relationship. Once you are on a one-on-one level with this person, you will be able to make a better decision. Learn from your mistakes. Tonight: Go along with a friend’s idea about meeting up.

Meanwhile, acknowledge what is happening around you. Get into the moment. Tonight: TGIF!

Cancer - (June 21 - July 22)

*** You might not want to reveal everything, but you do need to share some of what is on your mind. Much of what you see and/or hear could be overwhelming. You are not accustomed to such displays; ask yourself if you could get used to it. Tonight: In the whirlwind of the moment.

**** Curb a possessive streak that could emerge from out of nowhere. Without thinking, you could focus on the negatives rather than give 100 percent to whatever you decide to be involved in. Relax, and this mood will pass soon enough. Tonight: Weigh the pros and cons of a situation.

Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22) **** Review a recent conversation you’ve had. As a result, you might decide not to work or relate as intensely with a certain person. You will be able to get past a problem quickly.

indoor gardening

Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22):

Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22) ***** You recognize the level of support you receive from your friends. They make a big difference in your life. An opportunity to let go of all the day-to-day minutiae and be with those you care about might emerge; take advantage of it. Tonight: Love the moment.

beauty tips

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Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21) **** An older relative or friend assumes command. You might not appreciate being bossed around, but try to get through what you must with a smile, as this person’s attitude is just a passing phase. Don’t try to fight the inevitable. Tonight: Beam in whatever you want.

Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21) **** You would prefer to handle a matter personally. Your perspective changes radically as a result of an ongoing conversation verging on a debate. Others might lift their eyebrows when you express your new views. Let them think what they will. Tonight: Be entertained at home.

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Born today: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961), statistician Nate Silver (1978), actor Patrick Dempsey (1966)

taste buds

dining table décor

jasmine

ingrown toenails

broccoli salad

Materials: Duct tape, table, scissors, custom piece of glass Instructions: This is a two-person job. While each person holds an end, apply your first piece of tape to the centre of the table, allowing about three inches on either end to wrap under the table’s surface. Smooth out any air bubbles. Working from the centre out, overlap each strip by 1/4 inch. To get a smaller width, overlap the strips by half. Place a piece of finished glass on top to protect the surface.

There are many types of jasmine. Many-flowered jasmine (J. polyanthum) and Arabian jasmine (J. sambac) are two of the easiest to grow; just give them plenty of light and moisture. They’ll all bear fragrant pink to white blooms on vining plants. The beautiful pink or white blooms are the some of the most fragrant you’ll find on any houseplant. Growing conditions: Bright to intense light; 6075° F., 40-60° F. in winter; keep soil evenly moist. Size: To 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide.

Ingrown toenails, if caught early, can be treated at home without ever visiting a doctor. If you notice a slight pain and see that your nail is starting to grow into the skin along the side, you can take action to relieve the pain and attempt to avoid infection. Try soaking your affected foot in warm salt water for 20 minutes at a time, 2-3 times a day, to relieve discomfort. To prevent the nail from settling back into the skin, you can try to relieve the pressure by placing a piece of a dry cotton under the semi-ingrown corner of the nail. You can also use antibiotic cream on the irritated area - this can help prevent infection.

Ingredients: 1 -2 head fresh broccoli, 1/2 cup red onion, chopped, 1/2 lb turkey, 2-1/2 tbs vinegar, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup sugar, 1-1/2 cups grated, mozzarella cheese Directions: Cook turkey and crumble into pieces. Chop up top of broccoli into bite size pieces. Mix broccoli, onions, bacon and mozzarella in large bowl. In a separate bowl combine vinegar, sugar and mayo. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss to coat. Best if made a day ahead.

Dear Abby

what’s on today

Friend turned enemy continues her ‘attack’

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

By Abigail Van Buren Dear Abby: I need your help in dealing with an old “frenemy.” “Jenny” and I were friends in high school, but she constantly berated me and accused me of taking advantage of her. She would make herself feel better by putting me down. After she went away to college, she got pregnant by a non-boyfriend. When she had an abortion, she swore me to secrecy because she didn’t tell the father. Shortly thereafter, he came to me and tricked me into telling him. To this day, Jenny still blames me and says I was out to get her and ruin her life. Jenny spread rumors about me around our group of friends, on the internet, and told my mom horrible lies about me. She even threatened a lawsuit. Ten years later, she still pops up out of the blue to attack me. A year ago, she sent me a message saying she wished I had died in a tornado that struck my area. She sends taunts about an old boyfriend of mine who got married and had a kid. Abigail Van Buren I never respond because that’s what she wants. She pops up at the worst times and makes me feel worse. How should I deal with her?

— At a boiling point in Tennessee Dear boiling: Continue to ignore this troubled woman. Block her anywhere you can, and delete any messages that leak through so you won’t have to see them. If you have mutual friends who don’t know the whole story, you should have enlightened them years ago — and the same goes for your mother. Jenny appears to have serious issues. She isn’t a “frenemy.” She is strictly bad news, so recognize it and move on. ❑ ❑ ❑ Dear Abby: While preparing a letter at work, I noticed that it was going to be mailed to a married lesbian couple. Typically, the correct way to address an envelope to a woman would be to Ms., Miss or Mrs. and to a male it’s either Mr. or Master, depending upon his age. What’s the proper way to address a gay couple? Is M/M still used in place of Mr. and Mr. and Mrs. and Mrs.?

— Proper in Illinois Dear proper: According to Steven Petrow’s “Complete Gay and Lesbian Manners,” the correct way to address the envelopes of married gay and lesbian couples should be (in alphabetical order): Mr. Bradley Burch and Mr. Mark Foster Ms. Cecelia Carter and Ms. Diane Grant Or, if the couple shares the same last name: Mr. Bradley and Mr. Mark Burch Ms. Cecelia and Ms. Diane Carter ❑ ❑ ❑

■ St Paul’s Church activities: English Worship Services on Fridays at 10.30 am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm at St Paul’s Church in Ahmadi. The Friday English Service has got separate sessions for Children and Youth. Chinese Worship Services on Fridays at 10.30 am at House No 16, Street 9, Block 11, Salwa. Urdu Worship services on Thursdays at 5.35 pm at St. Paul’s Church, Ahmadi and on Fridays at 5.45 pm at Diwaniya of NECK Campus, Kuwait City. Please contact Fr Harrison Chinnakumar for English and Urdu Congregations and his phone numbers are 66396539 or 239859292 and email address: [email protected]. For Chinese congregation, please contact Zhu Peijin and her number is 99551783 and email address is: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ AECK Smash 2017: Alumini Association of Engineering Colleges in Kerala (AECK) “SMASH-17” for the huge KEF fraternity today at Qadsiya Sports Club. The idea is to have a day long event consisting of multiple programs centred around the main event, which is a Badminton Tournament for the gents & ladies and children. ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ FBC tournament: Filipino Badminton Committee (FBC) is inviting all badminton enthusiast in Kuwait to join their regular badminton tournament being held every Friday from 8 am to 7 pm at Kuwait Disabled Sports Club, Bin Khaldoun Hawalli. Over 10 badminton courts are now available for badminton practices and tournament and it is open for all nationalities and from different badminton organizations. Exclusive-private court are also available on per hour rental. For more information, please contact Dr Chie Umandap – 97197268 ❑ ❑ ❑ ■ Arnis/Eskrima training: Eskrimador-Kuwait a member of Cacoy Doce Pares World Federation now opens a new batch of training. Learn the Philippine national sports, which is Arnis/ Eskrima with the authentic style and techniques. Training schedule will be every Friday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm @ Kaifan Sports Complex-Karate Gym. Text or

Dear Abby: Now that I’m older, I often find it hard to remember all the names and amounts of my prescriptions when I visit my various doctors. To help myself, I now carry in my wallet a small copy of a spreadsheet listing all my medication information. That way, I can give accurate details to the physician. I’d like to pass my solution on to other readers who may have the same need to be precise and up-to-date when visiting the doctor.

Redeemed Christian Church of God (HOD Parish) worship in English. Celebration Service: Friday 9 am – 11 am; Divine encounter: Sunday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Digging Deep (Bible studies): Tuesday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Night vigil every last Friday of the month from 10 pm. Venue: New Mishref. For more information and direction please call 99276603, 6557-7482. Email: [email protected] ❑ ❑ ❑

A flyer of the event

■ Free IFRA coaching classes: Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) will be starting free refresher/coaching classes for existing referees, new recruits, those aspiring to be referees and even those who would like to learn about the laws of the game at IEAS – Salmiya (Don Bosco). Classes will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm every Friday. Those interested may call 99519439 or get in touch with any IFRA member for registration. ❑ ❑ ❑

Ministry of Awqaf, Islam Presentation Committee, & Kuwait Philippine Cultural Center (KPC Center) invites all Filipino Muslim & Muslima to hear Khutba (Sermon) in Tagalog every Friday at Marzouq Al-Badr Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq St (at the back of Ambassador Supermarket and SM Supermarket, near Salhiya Police Station & Kuwait Airways Bldg) in Kuwait City. There will be a community started and lunch after Friday prayers at KPC Center in Farwaniya. For further information, please call KPC Center, Tel 4712574. ❑ ❑ ❑

■ Tagalog Khutba for Filipinos: The

■ Redeemed Christian Church: The

call #50292148-Herms. ❑ ❑

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Sports Continued from Page 25 your name, Civil ID No., mobile number, age, rating to [email protected] with CCR in the e-mail subject. No entry fee. ❑ ❑ ❑

Kwt-Brits football supporters: A new Now that you are five, you made our lives 5 times more blessed, 5 times filled with happiness and 5 times noisier too! Happy birthday Dafhni Apostol! Greetings from your family, relatives and friends.

Civil ID info: 1889988

Items for the What’s On page can be sent directly to the Arab Times, P.O. Box 2270, 13023, Safat or faxed to 24818267 or e-mail to arabtimes@ arabtimesonline.com. All items on this page are published as a courtesy to the public. These announcements can include birthday greetings, weddings, social functions or any other non-commercial events. Photographs of all events are welcome.

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— In good health in Austin Dear in good health: That’s a suggestion worth sharing. And while you are at it, you should also list for your doctor any vitamins, supplements and over-the-counter meds you take on a regular basis. This information can also be stored in your smartphone, if you have one. ❑ ❑ ❑ Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. (Source: Universal Uclick)

emergency number 112

football supporters website for British expats living and working in Kuwait has been set up by an Everton supporter, Trevor Powell. The Kuwait Brits Football Supporters Association (KBFSA) site aims to provide contact information for supporters of each others’ whereabouts and also in the future hopes to organise social events such as quizzes and even

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

five-a-side matches on a home international teams basis. We need expats to register their support and hence we can then start to cast around for a suitable meeting venue. The site can be accessed at www.kbfsa.co.uk. ❑ ❑ ❑

9.30pm. Certificates will only be awarded to coaches attending all 3 sessions. Places are limited - register at Bayan office any evening 5-8pm.

Free fitness classes: Free fitness

Islamic and Arabic courses: Islamic and Arabic courses are being offered at the Enlightenment into Islam Center starting from 5:00-7:00 pm. Registrations can be done at the main office — Women’s Committee in Qurtoba. For more information contact: 24322684, 25362693, 97743327 and 25362681. ❑ ❑ ❑

classes at B.FIT studio in Salmiya! Classes include Zumba, Masala Bhangra workout, aerobics, toning & much more. Contact +965-65077062 for further information. Hurry and enroll now!” ❑ ❑ ❑

Football coaching workshops: Interested in Coaching/professional development? This weekend Everton Academy, Bayan will be welcoming three top coaches from Glasgow Celtic F.C., the Scottish Premier League Champions, including their International Academy Manager, Tony Massie. They will be delivering a certified Celtic Coach Education program on Saturday, 6-8pm, Sunday, 6-8pm and Monday, 8-

Courses

IPC Arabic Course: IPC Rawdah Ladies Section will commence the Arabic Conversation Course. The students must have successfully completed at least 3 levels of Arabic. Placement test will be taken by those who took Arabic class outside IPC. Class is every Friday from 9-11 am. IPC Rawdah-22512257

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

28

Couch slouch ‘24’ to reboot with black hero

Van Jones has hopes for CNN’s ‘Messy Truth’ LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (Agencies): Van Jones seems like a person who keeps in mind the old adage about not being able to make an omelet unless some eggs get broken in the process. “I just want to mix it up a little bit,” says Jones, the author, activist and one-time advisor to President Barack Obama. He was set to unveil at 9 pm this evening the second in a series of “town hall” specials called “The Messy Truth.” A third is set to air on Jan 25. The goal, says Jones, is to get people with different political and personal beliefs talking to each other again. Viewers will see the results of his travels to swing states like Ohio and Michigan, where he chats with voters who once picked President Obama, but more recently voted for Donald Trump. He finds their concerns very different from the issues that are taken up by big media outlets. “There are so many things that we obsessed about in the national media that just don’t seem to have had any relevance to the decision-making of the people who ultimately determine the election, especially in the Rust Belt,” Jones said in a recent interview. Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina took part in the Jan 11 special and took questions from the audience. CNN’s initial push behind the show suggests the network is eager to test new programming ideas to lure a viewership that has been fascinated by the recent presidential election, but could choose to reduce that interest in that event’s aftermath. Jones said he would like to continue doing “Messy Truth” events for CNN for the immediate future. “We could do this a couple of times a month,” he noted. During the first 100 days of the new Trump administration, he suggested, “there are so many topics to get out there and humanize.” Jones likens the shows to what might happen if globe-trotting chef Anthony Bourdian combined his series with Phil Donahue’s oncepopular daytime hot-button topics program. One of the ways people can bring America’s divided populate together, he argues, is to go out to various parts of the US to meet with residents and “bring very strong, very well-known political leaders into a room with ordinary voters and community members, and let the community members really drive what we talk about.” The program aims to show viewers that “listening makes for a better conversation,” says Rebecca Kutler, executive producer of

the program. “People might disagree but they don’t have to be disagreeable.” She said CNN was focusing on the next two specials and declined to say if more might be in the works. ❑ ❑ ❑ The clock is ticking and the nation’s fate again is at stake in “24: Legacy,” a sequel to Fox’s white-knuckle drama series. But this time the hero is African-American and that matters, says the show’s star and producers. “In television, to be a hero and look like I look, that really stuck with me,” said Corey Hawkins, who plays Eric Carter, an ex-Army Ranger who’s drawn into a fierce new battle at home. Now that he’s helping create a character that’s not typically black, the actor said, Carter’s ethnicity will be more than skin deep. We have to honor “where he comes from, not just his skin color but where’s he’s from,” the southeast area of Washington, DC, said Hawkins, who’s also a native of the city. “That’s the authenticity.” There’s pressure in taking over the lead from longtime “24” franchise lead Kiefer Sutherland, who played US counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer, Hawkins acknowledged during a Q&A session with TV critics Wednesday. ❑ ❑ ❑ Lee Daniels and the cast of “Star” spoke to reporters on Wednesday at the Television Critics Association press tour on a panel for the new Fox show, which centers on a girl group’s struggle to rise to the top of the music industry. Though the music-filled “Star” is about a girl group on the surface, the drama explores deeper issues of race relations and classism — subject matter that Daniels described as “stories that are hitting the streets of America right now.” “We’re going deep into what’s happening outside of the rise of the girl group,” Daniels said at one point throughout the Q&A with press members. “We’re going deep into what’s happening right now, as I know it to be in the churches, in the African-American communities, in America’s community.” During the panel, Daniels was questioned about recent comments he made during an interview on “The Real” when he explained casting the character, Star, with a Caucasian actress “because I felt that the country, instinctively, I thought, needed to heal. And I thought that this white girl is so fabulous that black people will embrace her and white people will embrace her.”

A flyer of the event

A flyer of the event

‘You can’t kill the corals … for a theme park’

Dora can’t explore pristine Palawan: Minister MANILA, Jan 12, (AFP): American children’s television network Nickelodeon will not be allowed to build an underwater theme park on one of the nation’s most pristine islands, the Philippine environment minister said Wednesday. Nickelodeon’s parent firm announced Monday it would build a “themed attraction” inspired by its cartoon characters such as Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants as part of a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) development on Palawan, generating alarm from environmentalists. Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said Wednesday she would reject the project. “Lopez says she won’t allow the underwater theme park in Palawan. #environment2017,” the environment department posted on its Twitter account. In an interview with ABS-CBN television, Lopez said she would not allow any project that would damage the environment and the welfare of local communities. “That’s our wealth. It’s not allowed.

You can’t kill the corals. For a theme park? No. No way, man,” said Lopez, who has been a vocal opponent of mining projects in Palawan. “The commitment of the government is first and foremost and always, always to the benefit of our people.”

Diverse Conservation groups call Palawan the nation’s “last ecological frontier” because of its relatively untouched coastlines and forests, which are among the oldest and most diverse in Southeast Asia. Palawan is home to two UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites, a subterranean river and the Tubbataha coral reefs. Monday’s statement by Nickelodeon’s parent firm, Viacom International Media Networks, said its resort would open in 2020 and feature restaurants and lounges six metres (20 feet) below sea level. It also said the Palawan project would “take its place alongside” other Nickelodeon-branded attractions such as

Wet’n’Wild in Australia, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Land in Russia and IMG Worlds of Legends theme park in Dubai. An online petition organised by local environmentalists calling for the project to be stopped attracted more than 125,000 signatures in less than 24 hours. Viacom’s Philippine partner, Coral World Park, issued a statement on Wednesday insisting the development was not a “theme park” and emphasised that it would not all be underwater. The statement also highlighted the project’s “ocean conservation focus” and said it would help fund environmental protection in the area. It referred to plans for a marine sanctuary and said the Coral World Park would “be the largest coral reef conservation program in Asia”. “There has never been any form of communication from our side mentioning a theme park,” said Coral World Park marketing and communications director Susan Lee.

tv highlights Cinema Cinema programme from Thursday 12/01/2017 to Wednesday 18/01/2017

Moana Sharqia 1 Sharqia 3 Muhalab 2 Fanar 2 Marina 1 Avenues 2 Avenues 8 Avenues 10 360° 4 360° 5 360° 15 Al-Kout 2 Bairaq 2 Grand Gate 3

11:45, 14:00,16:15 (No Fri) 13:45, 16:30 (Fri) 14:15 (No Fri) 16:45 16:15 15:30, 17:45 13:15 (No Fri) 15:45, 18:00 20:00 13:45, 16:00, 18:30 12:30 (No Fri) 14:45, 17:15, 19:45 15:15 12:45 (No Fri) 15:15, 17:30 14:15, 16:30, 18:45 15:30, 17:45, 20:00 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45

Grand Hamra 3 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 21:30 00:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra 5 14:45, 20:00 Grand Gate 7 14:15, 16:30, 18:45, 21:00, 23:00

Khaidi No. 150 (Telugu Film) Sharqia 1

15:30 (Fri) 21:30 (No Sun, Tue, Wed) 16:00 (Fri) 19:00 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 13:45 (Fri) 15:30 (Fri) 21:30 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 19:00 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 19:30 (Thu, Fri, Sat, Mon) 22:30 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 13:45, 16:45 (Fri) 15:30 (Fri) 18:30 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 21:30 (Thu, Fri) 15:45, 22:00 15:45, 18:45, 22:00

Muhalab 1 Muhalab 3 Fanar 1 Fanar 3 Avenues 1 Avenues 6 Al-Kout 3

Dangal (Hindi Film) Sharqia 1 Muhalab 1 Fanar 3 Avenues 4 Avenues 7 Avenues 10 360° 2 360° 9 Bairaq 3

18:30 (Tue, Wed) 15:45 (No Fri) 19:00 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 15:30 (No Fri) 18:45 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 22:00 19:00 13:00 (No Fri) 21:00, 00:15 13:45, 17:00, 20:15, 23:30 12:00 (No Fri) 18:00 18:30

The Great Wall Sharqia 1 Sharqia 2 Sharqia 3 Muhalab 1

Fanar 1 Fanar 3 Marina 1 Avenues 2 Avenues 3

Avenues 11 360° 8 360° 11 360° 13 360° 15 Al-Kout 1 Al-Kout 2 Al-Kout 4 Bairaq 2 Laila

21:45 (Sun, Tue, Wed) 00:15 19:30 (Fri) 18:45 (No Fri) 13:00 (No Fri) 22:15 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 13:30 (Fri) 00:45 11:30, 14:00 (No Fri) 18:00, 22:45 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 01:15 13:15 (No Fri) 20:00, 22:15, 00:30 20:15, 22:30 13:30, 16:15 (No Fri) 19:00 (Sun, Tue, Wed) 21:45 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 00:30 21:30 01:00 13:00 (No Fri) 15:15, 17:30, 19:45, 22:00, 00:15 12:15 (No Fri) 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15, 23:30 19:45, 22:00 00:30 12:00 (No Fri) 21:15, 23:30 19:30 13:00 (No Fri) 22:15, 00:30 15:30 (No Sat)

Plaza Ajial 2

Passengers

20:30, 22:45, 01:00 13:15 (No Fri) 15:30, 17:45, 20:00, 22:15 Bairaq 1 12:15 (No Fri) 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15, 23:30 Laila 17:45 (No Sat, Sun) 22:45 Grand Hamra 1 14:15, 16:45, 19:30, 22:00 00:15 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 2 14:30, 17:00, 19:30, 21:45 00:00 (Thu, Fri) Al-Kout 1

Muhalab 2 Fanar 2 Marina 3

Avenues 5

Grand Hamra 7 18:00, 20:15, 22:30 Grand Gate 8 20:45, 23:00

Gautamiputra Satakarni (Telugu Film) Sharqia 1 Sharqia 2 Muhalab 1 Muhalab 2 Fanar 1 Fanar 3 Avenues 3

18:30 (No Tue, Wed) 16:00 (Fri) 22:00 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 14:00 (Fri) 18:30 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 15:45 (Fri) 13:30, 16:15 (Fri) 19:00 (Thu, Fri, Sat, Mon) 21:45 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 18:45 16:15, 19:00, 21:45

Plaza Ajial 1

Avenues 6 Avenues 7 360° 1 360° 8 360° 9 Al-Kout 3

Bairaq 3

15:00, 17:15, 19:00, 21:15, 23:15

A Monster Calls Sharqia 2 Sharqia 3 Muhalab 3 Fanar 4 Marina 2 Avenues 4 Avenues 9 Avenues 11 360° 10 360° 12

12:45, 15:00, 17:15, 19:30 (No Fri) 21:45, 00:05 18:45 (Fri) 12:15, 14:30 (No Fri) 16:45, 19:15, 21:30, 23:45 13:00 (No Fri) 15:15, 17:30, 19:45, 22:00, 00:15 12:15 (No Fri) 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 21:30, 23:45 12:15 (No Fri) 14:30, 22:15, 00:30 16:45 (No Mon) 00:45 12:30 (No Fri) 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 23:45 12:15 (No Fri) 14:45, 17:00, 19:15, 21:30, 23:45 11:30 (No Fri) 13:45, 16:00, 18:15,

13:15, 16:00 (No Fri) 21:00, 23:45 11:30 (No Fri) 19:00, 21:45, 00:30 13:30, 21:45, 00:30 13:00 (No Fri) 15:45, 18:30, 21:15, 00:05 11:45 (No Fri) 14:30, 17:15, 20:00, 23:00 12:30, 15:15, 18:00 (No Fri) 20:45, 23:30 13:30 (Fri) 00:15 13:30, 16:15, 19:00, 21:45, 00:30 12:15 (No Fri) 15:15, 21:15, 00:05 12:45, 15:30 (No Fri) 18:30 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 21:30 (No Thu, Fri) 00:15 21:45, 00:30

16:15 (No Fri) 11:45 (No Fri) 13:45 Avenues 8 11:30 (No Fri) 13:30, 15:45, 18:00 360° 6 13:00 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:00, 19:00 360° 14 16:00 (Sun, Tue, Wed) Bairaq 3 12:45 (No Fri) 14:45, 16:30 Grand Hamra 7 14:00, 16:00 Grand Gate 5 14:30, 16:30, 18:15, 20:15, 22:15

Bairavaa (Tamil Film) Fanar 2 Avenues 9 360° 8 Ajial 3

18:30 15:00, 18:15, 21:30 15:15, 18:30, 21:45 15:30 18:30 (Thu, Fri) 21:30 (Thu) 16:00, 19:00, 22:00

Ajial 4

Warrior’s Gate Avenues 1

12:30 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:30 19:45 (Sun, Tue, Wed) 22:15, 00:30 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 01:15 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 11:30 (No Fri) 11:30 (No Fri) 13:30, 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 22:30, 00:45 23:45 12:30 (No Fri) 15:00, 17:15, 21:45, 00:05

Avenues 10 360° 2 360° 7 360° 14 Al-Kout 4

Hacksaw Ridge

Assassin’s Creed Fanar 1 Marina 3 Avenues 2 Avenues 8 Avenues 9 360° 3

360° 5 360° 15

20:15 (No Thu, Fri, Mon) 01:00 13:30 (Fri) 00:45 22:30, 01:00 12:15 (No Fri) 11:30 (No Fri) 13:45, 18:45, 21:15, 23:45 00:45 00:15

How to find us

Within Grand Gate 6

Surf’s Up 2: Wavemania

Grand Hamra 5 17:15, 22:30 Grand Hamra 8 14:15, 17:00, 19:45, 22:15

Fanar 1 Fanar 3

Patriots Day Sharqia 3

Laila 20:00 (No Sat, Sun) Grand Hamra 6 14:00, 16:45, 19:30, 22:00 00:45 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra 9 14:30, 17:15, 20:00, 22:30 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 1 14:00, 16:45, 19:15, 22:00 00:30 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate GC 15:00, 17:30, 20:00, 22:30 01:00 (Thu, Fri)

1. 360°

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

Cinescape cinema movies inquiries and Fax Back hotline 1803456

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

Grand Hamra 2 19:00, 21:45 00:30 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 4 14:15, 17:00, 19:30, 22:15 00:45 (Thu, Fri)

OK Jaanu (Hindi Film) Avenues 7 360° 5 360° 14

16:15, 21:30 12:30 (No Fri) 14:45 (Thu, Fri, Sat) 17:45 (No Mon) 20:45 21:30 (No Thu, Fri)

Ajial 3

La La Land Avenues 7 19:00 360° 5 17:30, 20:00 Grand Hamra 4 14:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:15

Sing 360° 3 360° 14 Grand Hamra 2 Grand Gate 8

16:15 12:30 (Sat) 14:30, 16:45 14:00, 16:15, 18:30

The Monster 360° 4

22:00, 00:15

Laf Wa Dawaran (Arabic Film) 360° 5

22:30

Taht Al Tarabeza (Arabic Film) 360° 6

21:00, 23:15

Shatamanam Bhavati (Telugu Film) Ajial 3

18:30 (No Thu, Fri) 21:30 (Fri)

IMAX Imax film programme at The Scientific Center

Sunday Humpback Whales 3D

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

Monday Humpback Whales 3D

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

Tuesday Humpback Whales 3D

11:30 am 09:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 12:30 pm, 05:30 pm, 08:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 10:30 am Journey to Space 3D 06:30 pm Mysteries of the Unseen World 07:30 pm

Wednesday Humpback Whales 3D Flying Monsters 3D

05:30 am 11:30 am 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 08:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 12:30 pm Mysteries of the Unseen World 10:30 am Secret Ocean 3D 07:30 pm

Thursday Humpback Whales 3D

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

Friday Humpback Whales 3D Flying Monsters 3D

08:30 pm 02:30 pm, 06:30 pm, 09:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 03:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 04:30 pm Secret Ocean 3D 07:30 pm Mysteries of the Unseen World 05:30 am

Saturday Showtime Available for Groups Humpback Whales 3D

09:30 am 10:30 am 07:30 pm Flying Monsters 3D 11:30 am, 02:30 pm, 05:30 pm, 08:30 pm Kenya: Animal Kingdom 3D 04:30 pm, 09:30 pm Journey to Space 3D 01:30 pm, 06:30 pm Secret Ocean 3D 03:30 pm Mysteries of the Unseen World 12:30 pm Notes: All films are in Arabic. For English, headsets are available upon request. Film schedule is subject to changes without notice. For information call 1 848 888 or visit www.tsck.org.kw

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

HEALTH

29

People with highly active amygdala at greater risk

Study shows the way stress may harm your heart LONDON, Jan 12, (Agencies): People with heightened activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain linked to stress, may be at greater risk of heart disease and stroke, scientists said on Thursday in research that could lead to new ways to treat stress-related heart problems. Publishing their work in The Lancet medical journal, the researchers said the stress signalled in the amygdala is also linked to increased bone marrow activity and to inflammation in the arteries, which can cause heart attack and stroke. Exploring the links, the scientists said a plausible biological mechanism could be that the amygdala triggers the bone marrow to produce extra white blood cells, which then cause the arteries to develop plaques and become inflamed. “Our results provide a unique insight into how stress may lead to cardiovascular disease,” said Ahmed Tawakol of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States, who led the study. “This raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological wellbeing.” Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes are well- established risk factors for heart disease, and anecdotal evidence has pointed to chronic stress as another possible risk. Studies in animals have previously found a link between stress and higher activity in bone marrow and arteries, but until now scientists were unsure if this was the case in people. Other research has found the amygdala is more active in people with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. But before this study, none had found the region of the brain that links stress to heart attack and stroke risk. In this research, scientists gave 293 patients brain and body scans to record their brain, bone marrow and spleen activity and inflammation

Depression rates rising

No new antidepressants in sight, experts warn LONDON, Jan 12, (RTRS): It is likely to be at least 10 years before any new generation of antidepressants comes to market, despite evidence that depression and anxiety rates are increasing across the world, specialists said on Wednesday. The depression drug pipeline has run dry partly due to a “failure of science” they said, but also due to big pharma pulling investment out of research and development (R&D) in the neuroscience field because the profit potential is uncertain. “I’d be very surprised if we were to see any new drugs for depression in the next decade. The pharmaceutical industry is simply not investing in the research because it can’t make money from these drugs,” Guy Goodwin, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, told reporters at a London briefing. Andrea Cipriani, a consultant psychiatrist at Oxford, said such risk aversion was understandable given uncertain returns and the approximately billion dollar cost of developing and bringing a new drug to market.

“It’s a lot of money to spend, and there’s a high rate of failure,” Cipriani said. Treatment for depression usually involves either medication, some form of psychotherapy, or a combination of both. But up to half of all people treated fail to get better with first-line antidepressants, and around a third of patients are resistant to relevant medications. The experts said that since the current generation of SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) antidepressants - including Pfizer’s blockbuster Prozac - are widely available as cheap generics, there is reluctance among health services to fund expensive new drugs that may not be much better. That is partly because existing medications, whilst by no means perfect, are quite effective in more than half of patients, the specialists said, and partly because in this condition in particular, placebo can have a massive impact. That makes it difficult, they explained, to show that a new drug is working above and beyond a positive placebo response and

an already effective generation of available drugs. Depression is already one of the most common forms of mental illness, affecting more than 350 million people worldwide and ranking as the leading cause of disability globally, according to the World Health Organization. And rates are rising. Glyn Lewis, a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at University College London, cited data for England showing a doubling in prescriptions for antidepressants in a decade, to 61 million in 2015 from 31 million in 2005. In the United States too, more people than ever are taking antidepressants. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2015 found that prevalence almost doubled from 1999 to 2012, rising to 13 from 6.9 percent. Yet several major drug companies including GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca have scaled right back on neuroscience R&D in recent years, citing unfavourable risk-reward prospects.

of their arteries. The patients were then tracked for an average of 3.7 years to see if they developed heart disease. In this time 22 patients had cardiovascular events - including heart attack, angina, heart failure, stroke and peripheral arterial disease. The researchers found that those with higher amygdala activity were more likely to have subsequent cardiovascular disease, and more likely

to develop problems sooner than those with lower activity. Emily Reeve, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation charity, said the study’s findings should lead to better understanding of how to prevent heart disease. “The link between stress and increased risk of developing heart disease has previously focused on the lifestyle habits people take up when they

feel stressed such as smoking, drinking...and overeating,” she said. “Exploring the brain’s management of stress and discovering why it increases the risk of heart disease will allow us to develop new ways of managing chronic psychological stress.” The data suggested that stressed amygdala may send signals to the bone marrow to produce extra white blood cells, which may in turn cause

arteries to narrow and become inflamed, causing cardiovascular problems. The potential link “raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological wellbeing,” said lead author Ahmed Tawakol of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Published in The Lancet medical journal, the study entailed PET and CT scans of the brain, bone marrow and spleen activity, as well as artery inflammation, of 293 patients. The group was surveyed for 3.7 years on average, during which time 22 suffered “cardiovascular events” — including heart attack, heart failure, stroke and narrowing of arteries, said the study. “Those with higher amygdala activity had a greater risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease and developed problems sooner than those with lower activity,” said the researchers. In a sub-study, 13 patients with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder were tested separately. “Those who reported the highest levels of stress had the highest levels of amygdala activity along with more signs of inflammation in their blood and the walls of their arteries,” the team found. The amygdala are almond-shaped neuron clusters deep in the brain thought to regulate emotion, fear, anxiety, pleasure and stress. Commenting on the study, Ilze Bot of Leiden University in the Netherlands said the data identified chronic stress “as a true risk factor” for cardiovascular diseases. Given the increasing number of people suffering from job or social stress, doctors may have to include it when they assess an individual’s risk for cardiovascular disease, she said. A 2014 study said chronic stress may trigger an overproduction of white blood cells which clump together on artery walls, restricting blood flow and encouraging clot-formation, to raise heart attack and stroke risk.

Mubadala CEO expects to see more mergers More mergers are likely in Abu Dhabi as institutions there tie up in ways that are positive for their business, Khaldoon Khalifa alMubarak, group chief executive of Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, said on Thursday. “There’s an appetite for more mergers. I expect to see mergers continue in a positive way in Abu Dhabi,” Mubarak told reporters. He did not elaborate on which firms might merge.

Last June, the Abu Dhabi government said it would merge Mubadala and another state fund, International Petroleum Investment Co, responding to the impact of low oil prices by pooling their investment power and consolidating operations. Mubarak said on Thursday that the merger was in its final stages and would be completed within weeks. Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Market Movements S. KOREA INDIA

- KRX 100 - Sensex

Change Closing pts +22.03 4,213.14 +106.75 27,247.16

are also completing a merger. Mubadala may open offices in China and Asia if the need arises, Mubarak said. India has huge growth potential and Mubadala is looking at it seriously, he added. He confirmed that Mubadala was in talks with Japan’s SoftBank to invest in a technology fund of up to $100 billion that the Japanese firm is putting together with Saudi Arabia and other interests. (RTRS)

12-01-2017 AUSTRALIA JAPAN GERMANY FRANCE EUROPE PHILIPPINES HONG KONG

-

Qatar Airways seeks engine guarantees from Airbus

All Ordinaries Nikkei DAX CAC 40 Euro Stoxx 50 All Shares Hang Seng

Change Closing pts -2.10 5,821.60 -229.97 19,134.70 -125.13 11,521.04 -24.74 4,863.97 -21.24 3,286.70 -28.29 4,379.98 -106.33 22,829.02

Qatar Airways is seeking strict guarantees as it talks to CFM International about supplying engines for a revamped order for Airbus narrow-body jets, which it expects to finalise “soon”, its chief executive said on Thursday. The Gulf airline has cancelled four A320neo jets powered by alternative Pratt & Whitney engines and expects to swap the overall aircraft order, which was

originally for 50 jets, to larger A321neo aircraft. CFM, a joint venture of General Electric and France’s Safran, is locked in a fierce battle with Pratt & Whitney to supply engines for new Airbus medium-haul jets. CFM exclusively supplies engines for the competing Boeing 737 aircraft, which Qatar Airways has also ordered. Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker acknowledged Qatar Airways

had received attractive prices when it originally ordered the new Pratt & Whitney engine, but said a decision on whether to keep those or switch to CFM for the upgraded A321neo order would depend on other guarantees. “It is a factor, but what we decide will be based on what sort of guarantees we get on deliveries and at the same time performance,” he told Reuters in an interview. (RTRS)

Business

Kingdom’s financial plans still hostage to oil

Markets cheer Saudi progress in cutting huge deficit Kuwait’s money supply up 0.1% KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): Money supply (M2) rose by 0.1 percent to KD 35.6 billion last November, compared with the previous month, showed latest statistics of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The private sector’s deposits at local banks stabilized at KD 31.1 billion in November, while deposits in foreign currencies climbed by 2.1 percent to KD 2.9 billion, thus bringing the private sector’s total deposits to KD 34 billion. Local banks’ claims on the CBK, involving CBK bonds and related Tawarruq, dropped by 2.3 percent to KD three billion in November, while local banks’ assets increased by 0.1 percent to KD 60 billion. Local banks’ net foreign assets dwindled by one percent to KD eight billion in November, as forward deposits with the CBK dropped by 13.9 percent to KD one billion in the same month. Conventional investment companies’ total assets dropped by 0.1 percent to KD 3.7 billion in November, as Islamic investment firms’ assets rose by 3.3 percent to KD 4.3 billion, bringing these companies’ total assets to around KD eight billion. The balance of utilized cash credit facilities to residents fell by 0.1 percent to KD 34 billion in October, while interest rate (return) on one-year treasury bonds stood at 1.25 percent. The financing of Kuwaiti imports (paid up) fell by 9.4 percent to KD 340 million in November, while the average US exchange rate against KD was 303.6 fils. The CBK’s total assets rose one percent to KD 9.3 billion in November, and net foreign assets went up by 1.2 percent to KD 8.9 billion.

Saudis cut oil output to lowest in 2 years, pledges further cuts Oil minister optimistic about market stabilisation ABU DHABI, Jan 12, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia has cut oil output to its lowest in almost two years, its energy minister said on Thursday, as the world’s largest oil exporter leads OPEC’s drive to eradicate a global glut and prop up prices. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said output had fallen below 10 million barrels per day — more than it had promised as part of a global output cut

deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Such low levels were last seen in February 2015, when Riyadh began to steeply raise production to deal a blow to US shale oil producers, effectively becoming the architect of a prolonged oil price crash. Falih, speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, said output was “not significantly below” 10 million bpd currently and the Kingdom planned to make even deeper cuts in February. This means Saudi Arabia has cut oil production by more than the 486,000 bpd it agreed to late last year under a global deal to curb production and stem a fall in oil prices. Brent crude prices were up 77 cents at $55.87 a barrel by 1230 GMT. Luaibi said Iraq had slashed its exports by 170,000 bpd and was cutting them further by 40,000 bpd this week. He said Iraq was committed to the success of the production-cut agreement “even though it should have been exempted”. OPEC expects global oil inventories to fall by the second quarter of this year in response to the agreement, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said.

Exports

Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih, (middle), next to Jon Meade Huntsman Jr, Chairman of Atlantic Council (right), attend the opening ceremony of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Jan 12, 2017. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said at the forum Thursday that he remains ‘confident’ that the cartel and outside members will stick to an agreement to cut production to help boost oil prices. The comments by Barkindo of Nigeria come as the cartel and nonmembers try to stick to the landmark deal after oil prices collapsed last year. (AP)

Low-cost airline eyes expansion

1st since ban lift

Saudi carrier flynas in $8.6bn Airbus deal

A321 airliner arrives in Iran

RIYADH, Jan 12, (AFP): Low-cost Saudi carrier flynas has concluded an $8.6 billion purchase deal with Airbus, a major shareholder said Thursday, as competition grows in the kingdom’s expanding market. Kingdom Holding Co, which owns a 34 percent stake in the airline, said flynas has finalised the “deal with Airbus for the purchase of new aircraft”. It gave no details of the number or type of planes that flynas will acquire but a source close to the negotiations told AFP they are from the A320 family of single-aisle aircraft. Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that a flynas order for A320 shortto medium-haul jets was imminent, and that the airline had been considering a

deal for 60 planes with an option on 40 more. The 10-year-old airline exclusively operates the A320, with a fleet of 29 as of last February, according to its website. It serves 33 domestic and international destinations in the Arabian Peninsula and immediate vicinity. With new-found cash flow and profitability, flynas is ready to expand its fleet — currently all leased — to more than 100 planes over the next decade, CEO Paul Byrne told arabianbusiness.com in an interview last March. He said flynas passenger numbers were expected to rise from 5.5 million in 2015, and that there was room for growth even as competition increased. “Nobody knows how big the Saudi market is yet,” he was quoted as saying.

Two new entrants, Nesma and SaudiGulf, have launched domestic flights. State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines, known as Saudia, is the dominant player and aims to expand its own fleet to 200 aircraft by 2020. Saudia flew more than 29 million passengers in 2015, and in June last year placed an $8-billion order with Airbus for 50 planes for domestic flights. Under its wide-ranging Vision 2030 plan announced in April, Saudi Arabia aims to diversify its oil-dependent economy. Among the measures is development of the tourism sector, privatisation of state-owned services including airports, and a linking of transport networks to position Saudi Arabia as a regional logistics hub.

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad International Airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jan 12, 2017. The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on Dec 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. (AFP)

ANKARA, Jan 12, (RTRS): An Airbus A321 airliner landed in Tehran on Thursday, the first to arrive out of the 200 Western-built aircraft ordered by IranAir following the lifting of sanctions on Iran last year. “This is a historic moment for Iran, signalling the end of the sanctions era for the country ... This is a prelude to the delivery of other aircraft and the renovation of Iran’s ageing air fleet,” state TV said. Analysts say IranAir flies one of the world’s oldest fleets and has had to rely on smuggled or improvised parts to keep them operational. Iran, which has not directly purchased a Western-built plane in nearly 40 years, has ordered 100 airliners from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 turboprop aircraft from Toulouse-based ATR, which is jointly owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Finmeccanica. The one exception was the sale of a plane to replace an Airbus jet shot down by the US Navy in 1988. The arrival of the Airbus 321 on Thursday comes just over a week before the Jan 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who is opposed to the deal struck by Western powers in 2015 which lifted sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on the country’s nuclear activities. Republicans in the US Congress have also objected to the pact, which was signed by the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China, Germany and Iran. Iran’s pragmatist president Hassan Rouhani’s success in ending international sanctions by reaching the deal has also intensified a power struggle among the country’s faction-ridden elite, who have criticised the deal for a lack of tangible economic benefits since sanctions were lifted.

Kuwait has cut its oil exports by more than 133,000 bpd mainly to customers in North America and Europe while maintaining full exports to Asia, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam Al-Marzouq said. Al-Falih said Thursday he was optimistic about a stabilisation of the oil market following an OPEC deal to cut output. “We believe that the agreement that we refer to between us and OPEC and non-OPEC members will hold,” he said at an energy conference in the United Arab Emirates. Falih said Saudi Arabia had exceeded its pledges to cut production, without giving any figures. “I’m confident that, (with) the commitment of 25 countries and the growth in demand as well as decline (in production), the market will balance and the prices will respond quickly,” he said in Abu Dhabi. “In 2017 we are expecting demand to continue to grow at the pace we have seen lately at about a million barrels” per day, he added. Saudi Arabia and fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE — “want moderation,” the minister said. “We want prices that are supporting continued production as well as continued consumption,” he added, saying he had no specific price target. The agreement to cap production came into force on January 1 but doubts remain about implementation before data is released at the end of the month. Global oil prices fell from more than $100 a barrel in June 2014 to near 13year lows of less than $30 in early 2016. They have rebounded since the OPEC deal was struck in late November, clearing the way for a number of non-member countries to pledge cooperation in the bid to boost prices. The head of OPEC said on Thursday that he remains “confident” that the cartel and outside members will stick to an agreement to cut production to help boost oil prices. The comments by OPEC SecretaryGeneral Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria come as the cartel and nonmembers try to stick to the landmark deal after oil prices collapsed last year. OPEC agreed in late November to cut its production by 1.2 million barrels a day, the first reduction agreed to by the cartel since 2008. Nearly a dozen other countries pledged in December to cut an additional 558,000 barrels a day.

DUBAI, Jan 12, (RTRS): Markets are cheering Saudi Arabia’s progress in cutting a huge state budget deficit, but details of the kingdom’s financial plans show it will remain hostage to swings in oil prices for many years. The cost of insuring against a Saudi sovereign debt default fell this week to its lowest since September 2015. Saudi money rates are edging down, indicating bankers think financing the deficit will be less of a strain this year. Behind these moves is the announcement late last month of the 2017 state budget. Riyadh said it had cut its deficit from a record 367 billion riyals ($98 billion) in 2015 to 297 billion in 2016, and projected 198 billion for this year. Those figures, combined with austerity plans which Riyadh laid out for the next few years, are allowing authorities to say they are well down the road towards eliminating the deficit by 2020, even at current low oil prices. “Gauging the macroeconomic risks through the debt level, adequacy of reserves and financial stability reveals that Saudi is well poised to encounter possible future shocks,” state-owned National Commercial Bank said in a report on the budget. Details of Riyadh’s announcement, however, suggest it remains vulnerable. The 297 billion riyal figure for last year’s deficit excluded 105 billion spent in 2016 to clear debts from previous years. If that is taken into account, the deficit worsened last year. Finance Minister Mohammed alJadaan said the government had now essentially settled all its arrears and was committed in future to pay all creditors within 60 days of the due date. But this pledge did not entirely eliminate the risk of more unpleasant surprises in coming years that could drain state coffers even as the government insists the deficit is falling. For example, there may be costs associated with closing or converting moribund state projects launched in past years.

Revenues Another area of concern is the extent to which Riyadh can increase non-oil revenues to make it less exposed to oil price swings. Non-oil revenues rose 33.1 billion riyals last year to 199.0 billion. But all of that rise was provided by two items that did not appear linked to reforms expanding the permanent revenue base: returns from the central bank, which soared 76 percent to 62.2 billion riyals, and unspecified “returns from other sources”, which totalled 15 billion riyals versus zero in 2015. This year, the government projects total revenues will jump by 164 billion riyals to 692 billion, but 92 percent of that increase is to come from higher oil revenues. A small fraction of the oil revenue rise — about 25 billion riyals, an official document shows — will come from further cuts in state subsidies for gasoline and electricity prices later this year. That means oil export income may need to rise over 35 percent to hit the 2017 revenue target. Even including higher Saudi exports of refined oil products, this may be hard; at $55 a barrel, the Brent crude price is only 22 percent above last year’s average, while a global producers’ deal commits Saudi Arabia to cutting its oil output by about 5 percent. “We believe the oil revenue assumption in the 2017 budget is optimistic,” said Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank chief economist Monica Malik. “Further increases in the oil price are required if Saudi Arabia is to meet its medium-term fiscal objectives.”

IPG holds meeting to discuss result of 2016 KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Administration Board of Independent Petroleum Group held a meeting on Jan 12 to discuss the company’s initial financial result of 2016. According to a press release issued by the Independent Petroleum Group, these results indicate net profit of about KD 5.008 million whereby the profit per share is about 34.63 fils. In comparison, the net profit in 2015 was KD 3.790 million, which is equivalent to 26.20 fils per share.

The board discussed the distribution of profits, based on which it decided on the recommendation for the general assembly to distribute cash profit equivalent to 30 fils per share. This recommendation is subject to official approval of the concerned bodies and the ordinary general assembly of the company. The company, through Kuwait Bourse Company, will announce the final financial results after the audit process.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

31

Secretary of State pick breaks with Trump on trade pact Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday he is not against the recently negotiated Asia-Pacific free-trade deal, putting him at odds with the president-elect who has vowed to scrap it. “I do not oppose TPP,” said Tillerson, the former chief executive of ExxonMobil, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiated by 12 nations including the United States and Japan, which

would encompass some 40 percent of the global economy. “I share some of (Trump’s) views regarding whether the agreement that was negotiated serves all of America’s interests best,” he added during his lengthy confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His brief comments on trade break with the position of his would-be boss. On the campaign

peso hits record low on Trump talk of wall, auto tax

trail last year Trump repeatedly vowed to tear up the TPP and other trade pacts on his first day in office on January 20. In November, two weeks after his victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump released a video in which he reiterated his pledge. On day one, Trump said, “I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the TransPacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country.” (AFP)

The Mexican peso weakened to a historic low of 22.04 per dollar and the country’s stock index fell on Wednesday, after US President-elect Donald Trump warned US auto companies would face a high tax for products made south of the border. Speaking at a news conference in New York, Trump also reiterated that the United States would start building a southern border wall after he

took office next week. He said Mexico would reimburse the cost either through a tax or a payment. The Mexican currency regained some ground after passing the psychological 22 peso barrier to trade at 21.77 per dollar at 13:09 am eastern (1709 GMT). The IPC stock index fell 0.73 pct to 45,550. The peso was the worst-performing major currency last year,

weakening 20 percent against the dollar as Trump closed in on the US presidency. The depreciation has sped up in 2017 after Trump told major automakers last week to expect high taxes on vehicles made in Mexico that are sold in the United States. On Wednesday, Trump congratulated Ford and Fiat Chrysler for announcing plant expansions in the United States. (RTRS)

Ethics experts denounce Trump’s plan for business

Trump says won’t divest from his business while president WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): US President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would maintain ownership of his global business empire but hand off control to his two oldest sons while president, an arrangement that watchdogs said would not prevent conflicts of interest in the White House. Trump told a news conference he would resign from all positions overseeing his hotels, golf courses and hundreds of other businesses and move his assets into a trust to help ensure that he will not consciously take actions as president that would benefit him personally. Trump, a Republican, is under pressure to distance himself from his businesses before he moves into the White House on Jan. 20. Unlike other US government officials, the president is not required by law to steer clear of conflicts of interest. “I could actually run my business and run government at the same time. I don’t like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to,” Trump said. Ethics experts said the arrangement did not go far enough. “Mr. Trump’s ill-advised course will precipitate scandal and corruption,” said Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics adviser under Democratic President Barack Obama. Walter Shaub, director of the US Office of Government Ethics, said on Wednesday in a speech at a Washington think tank that his office recommends Trump “divest his con-

flicting assets” to avoid conflicts. Trump appears to be still involved with his business while preparing to take office, saying he had turned down a $2 billion development deal in Dubai he had been offered over the weekend. The company that made the proposal, DAMAC, confirmed the discussions had taken place. The Trump Organization will not enter into any new overseas deals while Trump is president and will only undertake domestic projects after a company ethics adviser has approved them, said Trump adviser Sheri Dillon. Details of how the ethics adviser would operate, as well as several other aspects of the arrangements, were not immediately clear. Trump will only know of those deals if he hears about them through the news media, said Dillon, a lawyer at Morgan Lewis who focuses on tax and ethics. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, will have no further involvement in managing the organization or her own clothing brand. Ivanka Trump said on her Facebook page that she would take time off to settle her family into their new home in Washington. The president-elect has named her husband, Jared Kushner, to a senior advisory role in the White House. Since Trump sold all his stocks last year, the Trump trust will hold only business assets and liquid assets such as cash, Dillon said.

Debt to rise 33 pct in 10 yrs

Trump’s tax cut ‘could’ pressure US top rating LONDON, Jan 12, (RTRS): US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to slash taxes could threaten the country’s triple-A credit rating over the medium term, the head of EMEA sovereign ratings at the Fitch agency said on Thursday. “We do see increasing medium-term pressures (on the US rating),” Ed Parker said at the agency’s annual credit outlook conference in London. “Even before elections the US had the highest level of government debt of any tripleA country. If we add on top of that Trump’s plans to cut taxes by $6.2 trillion over the next 10 years that could add around 33 percent to US government debt,” he added. Trump will take office on Jan. 20 but some of his promised policy changes have already sparked market and economic concern, including tax cuts, a repeal of the healthcare reform enacted under President Barack Obama and a threat to slap tariffs on companies moving jobs overseas. Parker said that in the shortterm Trump did not pose a risk to the US credit rating because the country continues to benefit from strengths such as the role of the dollar as the world’s predominant reserve currency Fitch has a stable outlook on its AAA rating on the United States. Of the other two main agencies, Moody’s also has the top rating for the No. 1 world economy but Standard and Poor’s has it one notch lower at AA+. Other countries around the world could be in line for ratings cuts in 2017. Fitch’s negative outlooks on sovereign ratings currently outweigh positive outlooks by a factor of 6:1. “That is a very clear signal that we see sovereign risks as on the downside and you can expect a further heavy flow of down-

grades in 2017,” said Parker. Emerging markets are particularly vulnerable because higher US interest rates could lure investors away from their bonds, and a stronger US dollar could make it more expensive for them to service foreign debt. Two of the key ratings decisions for Fitch this year in the developing world will be South Africa and Turkey, both of which are on the cusp of a drop into junk territory at BBB- with a negative outlook. South Africa’s economy is barely growing, threatening to leave millions unemployed and potentially fuelling social unrest. With President Jacob Zuma enmeshed in several corruption scandals, there are doubts over whether the country can implement the economic reforms needed to shore up growth. “In terms of what could trigger a downgrade, the key issues we are looking at are...very weak growth...a rising budget deficit... and how politics affects economic performance and economic policies,” said Parker, adding that their next rating review on South Africa would likely be in May or June. Parker said there was also a “risk of a downgrade” for Turkey which the agency reviews on Jan. 27. The Turkish government has imposed emergency rules that enable it to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. It was imposed after an attempted coup in July and then extended for a second three-month period in October. “The coup attempt is going to compound a whole load of political risks in Turkey and we see that weighing more and more on the growth outlook and the public finances,” said Parker.

As they go electric, auto giants vie for tiny US prize DETROIT, Jan 12, (AFP): The auto industry’s push into electric vehicles is turning an important corner in 2017 with the arrival of longer-range, battery-powered cars at more accesible prices. Manufacturers and investors clearly are buying into an electric boom nearterm, pouring billions of dollars into the development of new battery technologies and announcing new lines of alternative drivetrain vehicles. But it remains to be seen if the interest of US consumers justifies the increasing competition for a small sliver of the market. This year could see as many as 20 new and updated electric cars models on US showroom floors, Kevin Riddell of the research company LMC Automotive told AFP. With worldwide pre-orders of nearly 400,000 units, Tesla expects to release its new Model 3 later this year, priced

far below the company’s higher-end models at $35,000. The all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV, with a range of 238 miles (380 kilometers) on a charge, comes in under $30,000 — after a federal tax rebate — and already is on the market in two states with a nationwide rollout expected in the spring. And yet, like a giant doing a high dive into a bucket of water, the auto industry is racing to capture a market that, in the United States at least, is minuscule and not expected to explode anytime soon. “It seems like they’re always adding new competitors in the market and they’re not dropping out at nearly the same rate,” said Riddell said. In a year when American consumers bought a record 17.6 million SUVs, light trucks and internal combustion cars, the share of electric vehicles may in fact have dropped, he said.

Trump’s Treasury pick boosted an investment with TV talk WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (AP): Presidentelect Donald Trump’s choice to become Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, will sell 43 assets to avoid conflicts of interest in office, according to new filings made public Wednesday by the US Office of Government Ethics. Statements Mnuchin made in a November television interview may already have boosted the value of one of them. Mnuchin, an investment banker and financier with a disclosed net worth of at least $166 million, holds investments of between $1 million and $2 million in the Paulson Advantage Fund, a hedge fund managed by fellow Trump supporter John Paulson. Among the fund’s most prominent bets is the common stock of

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-backed housing guarantors that were effectively nationalized as part of a $187 billion bailout during the financial crisis. Speculators such as Paulson have bet heavily that the mortgage giants will be reprivatized. Mnuchin’s exposure to the companies is small in the broader context of his net worth. But Mnuchin — who as Treasury secretary would play a large role in any such privatization process — sparked a rally in the stocks’ price when he told Fox Business News on Nov 30 that privatizing the companies would be a priority for the Trump administration. “It’s right up there in the top 10 list of things we’re going to get done,” he said.

The companies’ respective stock prices rose more than 40 percent each that day. A Bloomberg article credited the companies’ stocks for a 9 percent monthly gain in the value of Paulson’s holdings. The Associated Press asked Mnuchin spokesman Barney Keller whether Mnuchin had anticipated the effect of his comments on Fannie and Freddie stock. In response, Keller sent a link to Mnuchin’s ethics agreement outlining his intended divestitures. Mnuchin pledged to sell a lengthy list of assets, including Paulson’s fund, within 90 days. He also submitted a declaration that he will not participate in any matter that would have “a direct and predictable effect” on the value of his holdings.

A financial disclosure document he filed in May also showed loans from lenders such as Deutsche Bank and Ladder Capital. Trump will not have to file a new disclosure form until 2018. Many other ethics experts, including the US Office of Government Ethics, have urged Trump to completely divest or set up a blind trust for his assets. In a blind trust, the owner does now know what the holdings are or how the assets are managed. Trump’s oldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr., will be running his busi-

ness, so the arrangement does not meet that standard. Dillon said that was not a realistic possibility for a family-owned company and any sudden divestment would hurt Trump financially. Unlike liquid assets like stocks and investment funds, much of Trump’s wealth comes from office towers and other real estate that cannot be sold easily, as well as licensing deals that could be difficult to unwind. Stripped of the Trump name, many of these assets would lose much of their value,

Dillon said. “President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” she said. Dillon dismissed concerns that Trump could violate an anti-bribery provision in the US Constitution, known as the Emoluments Clause. That applies to gifts, but not business transactions like renting a hotel room, she said. Nevertheless, profits generated at Trump’s hotels by foreign governments will be donated to the US Treasury, she said.

US weekly jobless ‘claims’ rise: data

This file photo shows Albert Dorado (center), who served in the Marines, looking over forms while attending the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Job Fair for Veterans in Los Angeles, California. First-time claims for US unemployment insurance benefits rose

slightly in the first week of the year, but sill came in lower than expected, the Labor Department said on Jan 12. Initial claims rose by 10,000 in the week-ended Jan 7 compared to the prior week, to 247,000, adjusted for seasonal factors. (AFP)

Import prices push higher WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, pointing to a tightening labor market that is starting to spur faster wage growth. Other data on Thursday showed import prices posting their largest gain in nearly five years in the 12 months through December, suggesting that inflation could soon push higher. Import prices are being driven by rising oil prices, but a strong dollar could limit some of the impact on inflation. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 247,000 for the week ended Jan 7, the Labor Department said. It was the 97th straight week that jobless claims remained below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller. “Jobless claims remain in a very constructive range and are still evidence of

an environment in which turnover is low and employers are generally content to maintain and expand their payrolls,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Economists had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits rising to 255,000 in the latest week. Jobless claims data tends to be volatile around the holiday season. The four-week moving average, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 1,750 to 256,500 last week. The number of Americans still receiving jobless benefits after an initial week of aid fell 29,000 to 2.09 million in the week ended Dec 31. That was the first decline in the so-called continuing claims since November. US financial markets were little moved by the data amid disappointment over the lack of details regarding US presidentelect Donald Trump’s economic policy on Wednesday during his first press conference since his Nov 8 election victory. Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower, while prices for US government debt rose. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies also as minutes from the European Central Bank’s last meeting revealed a few policymakers

had not backed an extension of the ECB’s bond buying program. During his election campaign Trump pledged to cut taxes, increase spending on infrastructure and relax regulations. While he has offered few details on these election promises, economists are hoping that the proposed fiscal stimulus would boost economic growth this year. The stimulus would come against the backdrop of a labor market that is at or near full employment, with the unemployment rate near a nine-year low of 4.7 percent. With tightening labor market conditions starting to push up wage growth, that could stoke inflation pressures and prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a faster pace than currently envisaged. The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate last month by 25 basis points to a range of 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent. The US central bank has forecast three rate hikes for this year. Average hourly earnings increased 2.9 percent in the 12 months through December, the largest gain since June 2009. In a second report, the Labor Department said import prices increased 0.4 percent last month as the cost of petroleum products surged 7.9 percent. Import prices slipped 0.2 percent in November.

Gulf FDI in EU valued at 73bn euro BRUSSELS, Jan 12, (KUNA): Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stocks held by Arab Gulf states (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen ) in the European Union in 2015 amounted to 73 billion euro or 1.2 percent of FDI in the EU, the EU’s statistical office (Eurostat) reported Thursday. EU FDI in the Arab Gulf states in 2015 totaled 62 billion euro, or 0.9 percent of EU FDI. EU FDI in Maghreb countries (Algeria,

Morocco and Tunisia) totaled 35 billion euro or 0.5 percent, whereas FDI from Maghreb countries in the EU amounted to 3 billion euro or 0.1 percent last year. EU FDI in Egypt totaled 41 billion euro or 0.6 percent and Egypt’s FDI in EU was 0 percent last year. FDI stocks held by the EU in the world amounted to 6894 billion euro at the end of 2015, up by 14.9 percent compared with the end of 2014. Meanwhile, investment stocks held by

the rest of the world in the EU rose even more strongly to 5842 billion euro at the end of 2015 (+22.8 percent). At the end of 2015, the United States absorbed 37.2 percent of the total FDI stocks held by the EU in the rest of the world (2,561bn euro), far ahead of Switzerland (829bn or 12.0 percent), Bermuda (353bn or 5.1 percent), Brazil (327bn or 4. 7 percent), China (288bn or 4.2 percent) and Canada (249bn or 3.6 percent percent).

Move follows US deal

VW shareholders call for ‘reforms’ FRANKFURT, Jan 12, (RTRS): Volkswagen investors demanded greater transparency and reforms at the carmaker after it admitted to criminal offences in rigging US emissions tests and US prosecutors indicted six current and former managers over the scandal. The German company agreed to pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal fines in a settlement with the US Justice Department on Wednesday, the largest ever US penalty levied on an automaker. Volkswagen (VW) admitted about 40 employees at its VW and Audi brands deleted thousands of documents in an effort to hide from US authorities the systematic use of so-called defeat devices to rig diesel emissions tests, a scale of wrongdoing that led some investors to call for deep reforms. “What is most disturbing ... is the pattern of deception, both in developing and perfecting the defeat devices, as well as deliberately obstructing the subsequent investigation,” said Annie Bersagel, an adviser for responsible investments at Norwegian Mutual Insurance company Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP). KLP and KLP mutual funds have small investments in both VW equities and fixed income products. “Going forward we would like to see more truly independent directors. This may change governance at the company where we see some issues, for example the awarding of large bonuses to current and former managers. We would like to see a clawback provision relating to violations.” Ingo Speich, a fund manager at Union Investment which holds about 0.6 percent of VW preference shares, said on Wednesday the company needed to “put everything on the table” about its wrongdoing to regain the trust of investors. VW still faces lawsuits from about 20 US states and from US investors, and will spend years buying back or fixing nearly 580,000 polluting US vehicles. It also faces claims from customers in Europe and Asia, after it admitted in September 2015 that up to 11 million vehicles worldwide could have defeat device software installed. So far, the scandal has cost VW up to $22 billion in the United States alone, in deals with owners, regulators, US states and dealers. Despite the fines, VW has continued to pay bonuses to top managers. For 2015, the year the scandal was uncovered, VW agreed to pay 12 current and former members of the management board at total of 63.2 million euros ($67.2 million) in fixed and flexible remuneration. It said board members would have 30 percent of their variable bonus awards withheld, if the share price remained below 140 euros. VW shares are currently trading at 151.89 euros. In total, six current and former VW managers have been indicted, including Heinz-Jakob Neusser, former head of development for the VW brand. Five of them are in Germany and it is unclear if they will come to the United States to face charges since Germany typically does not extradite its citizens. While senior managers, none of them are - or were - members of VW’s management board. At a press conference in Washington, US attorney general Loretta E. Lynch said US authorities would continue to pursue those responsible for emissions cheating. “This announcement does not mean that our investigation is complete ... We will continue to pursue the individuals responsible for orchestrating this damaging conspiracy,” Lynch said.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

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Alphabet drops dream of ‘drones internet’ Google parent company Alphabet on Wednesday confirmed that it is opting for balloons instead of drones in its quest to deliver internet service from the sky. Alphabet, which not only owns Google but also Google X, which is devoted to creating world-changing new technologies, told AFP that

it gave up on its internet drone project, called Titan, about a year ago. Its staff moved elsewhere at X, including a project called Loon focused on creating a network of high-altitude balloons that would provide internet service to people on the ground no matter how remote. Some people from the team also

shifted to Project Wing, which is creating delivery drones, according to an X division spokesperson. “The team from Titan was brought into X in late 2015,” the spokesperson said in an email to AFP. “We ended our exploration of high altitude UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for internet access shortly after.” (AFP)

Alitalia hits turbulence over Etihad management Alitalia needs “drastic and courageous” action, its chairman said Thursday after a government minister blamed poor management for a looming crisis at the carrier, which is 49 percent owned by Etihad Airways. Reports that the country’s flagship airline is about to announce up to 1,600 new redundancies have turned the spotlight on Etihad’s de facto control of Alitalia, which was rescued from bankruptcy in 2014 by the Gulf carrier. Economic Development minister Carlo

Calenda, who met Etihad and Alitalia executives earlier this week, criticised them for airing the possibility of redundancies without first outlining a strategy to get the long-struggling company back on track. “The situation at Alitalia tells us that the company has been poorly managed,” Calenda told Radio Anch’io. “It is a totally private company that has significant organisational problems.” The minister went on to say that management mistakes should not “fall on the shoulders of the employees.”

Alitalia’s chairman, former Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, said redundancies could not be ruled out. “We need a drastic and courageous plan,” he told reporters in Rome, playing down tensions with the government while also emphasising that Alitalia had to address its high cost base relative to leaner low-cost rivals. “What is important is that after so many years, we have to have the courage to change the business model,” Montezemolo said. (AFP)

S&P affirms company’s ratings at ‘A-’/‘A-2’

Ooredoo outlook revised to positive on stronger cash generation DUBAI, Jan 12: S&P Global Ratings today revised to positive from stable its outlook on Ooredoo Q.S.C., the incumbent fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operator in Qatar. At the same time, we affirmed the ‘A-’ long-term and ‘A-2’ short-term corporate credit ratings on Ooredoo. The outlook revision reflects our expectation that Ooredoo will generate higher FOCF from 2017 following lower capital expenditure (capex) requirements and that it will maintain solid credit ratios in the absence of sizable acquisitions. S&P Global Ratings expects annual capex and license fees to decline gradually to Qatari riyal (QAR) 6 billion-QAR7 billion in 2017 and about QAR5 billion in 2018, from above QAR10 billion in previous years. This is supported by the fact that most of the heavy investment in Myanmar, Indonesia, and Iraq has been completed and that most of the networks have been upgraded. Furthermore, we expect lower license fees from 2017. Ooredoo has a dominant market position and strong operating cash flow generation in fixed-line and mobile telephony in the Qatari telecoms market. It has also established operations in 12 countries, including Kuwait and Oman, and in riskier emerging markets such as Indonesia, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, and Myanmar. These factors support its business risk profile and thus its rating, in our view. That said, the ben-

SWIFT launches PoC to explore blockchain BRUSSELS, Jan 12: SWIFT announces the launch of a Proof of Concept (PoC) to explore whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used by banks to improve the reconciliation of their nostro databases in real time, optimising their global liquidity. Under the current correspondent banking model, banks need to monitor the funds in their overseas accounts via debit and credit updates and end-of-day statements. The maintenance and operational work involved represents a significant portion of the cost of making crossborder payments. This PoC will test whether distributed ledgers may be able

to help banks reconcile those nostro accounts more efficiently and in real time, lowering costs and operational risk. As part of SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) initiative, which seeks to deliver a new standard in cross-border payments, the new PoC was scoped in collaboration with leading correspondent banks. SWIFT gpi member banks can apply to participate in this PoC, set to launch in early 2017. “Whilst existing DLTs are not currently mature enough for cross-border payments, this technology, bolstered by some additional features from SWIFT, may be interesting for the associated

account reconciliation,” says Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Market and SWIFT gpi at SWIFT. “This PoC gives us the opportunity to test DLT and determine if it can be applied to this particular use case.” A number of government and private institutions in the Arab region have already announced the proposed adoption of Digital Ledger Technology, or blockchain. In the UAE for example, the Dubai government has launched a blockchain strategy for 2020. Several banks and telecommunications companies have also unveiled pilot DLT programmes.

efits of diversification are largely offset by Ooredoo’s increasing exposure to above-average country risk in some markets. Ooredoo’s financial risk profile is supported by a conservative net debt to EBITDA target of 1.5x-2.5x, translating into an adjusted debt to EBITDA of below 3x, strong underlying cash flow generation in its home market, ongoing support from the government, and strong liquidity. The financial risk profile is constrained by negative discretionary cash flow (DCF) in recent years,

although we expect it to turn positive in 2017; a track record of acquisitions; and payments of sizable dividends without a clear distribution policy. Additional rating weaknesses include cross-default clauses with some of Ooredoo’s subsidiaries, which could compel it to ensure that no default occurs at these entities. The long-term rating on Ooredoo is three notches higher than the SACP of ‘bbb-’ because we see a high likelihood that the government of Qatar would provide timely and sufficient extraordinary support to the group in the event of

distress. This reflects our assessment of Ooredoo as a government-related entity with an: ■ Important role for Qatar’s government, given its position as the largest telecom services provider in the country. Ooredoo represents a key part of Qatar’s communications infrastructure and is a flagship company for the state. It also contributes to the diversification of Qatar’s economy away from the oil and gas industry; and ■ Very strong link with the government, considering the state’s 69%

Warns on trade barriers

US business lobby wants smooth Obamacare repeal WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): The largest US business lobby group on Wednesday said it could be a mistake to quickly repeal Obamacare without developing a replacement healthcare insurance plan and urged the incoming Trump administration not to erect trade barriers. The US Chamber of Commerce faces challenges with the next US president and his team, including overcoming deep divisions on key issues like trade while trying to work together on common goals like repealing US President Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law. The group opposed that restructuring, which extended medical coverage to millions of Americans, as an unnecessary burden on business. The Republican-controlled Congress earlier this month began working to repeal it. “As a new healthcare plan takes shape, it’s important to remember things were far from perfect before we started, before Obamacare,” Chamber President Tom Donohue said in his annual address outlining the group’s priorities. “Repeal alone is not going to fix our health care, there should be a smooth transition.” At a news conference later in the day in New York, US President-elect Donald Trump said he was going to submit a plan to Congress that would outline a replacement plan. “It’ll be repeal and replace, it’ll be essentially simultaneously,” Trump said. The Chamber has historically been tightly aligned with Republi-

cans, especially during the Obama administration when it fought against the healthcare law and criticized what it saw as heavy-handed regulation of the financial sector. But the lobby group, which says it represents more than 3 million businesses and professional organizations, has clashed with Trump over his positions on trade and immigration. Trump has threatened large taxes against companies that produce goods in other countries and import them into the United States — a move that would be counter to the US Chamber’s desire to allow for free trade across international boarders. Many in corporate America worry that if the Republican businessmanturned-politician begins to levy taxes against imported goods, nations like China will in turn impose large taxes and fees against US goods that are exported there. “It’s important that the new administration does not add to the burdens facing our exporters or the thousands whose jobs depend on exports by erecting barriers to trade,” Donohue said. The Chamber will continue to press Trump on supporting the framework of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement that the incoming president frequently vowed to tear up once taking office, Donohue said. Donohue argued that the agreement, even if recreated under a different name, would bring “significant geopolitical and security benefits.”

President-elect Trump leaves greenback bulls ‘unimpressed’ By Hussein Sayed Chief Market Strategist at FXTM

he long-awaited first press conferT ence by President-Elect Donald Trump left many investors with more questions than answers as he failed to justify the current premium priced in the dollar and equity markets. We already knew that Trump wants to build a border wall with Mexico, bring back US production onshore, and that he’s willing to be the best job creator America has ever known, but what’s his plans on corporate tax reforms? How and when is he planning to spend on roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects? Is he going to impose tariffs on imported goods from China, Mexico and the rest of the world? Unfortunately, no updates were revealed. Thus, the greenback was dragged, falling against all major currencies on Wednesday with the dollar index falling to lowest levels since Dec 14 at 101.28. The selloff continued until early Thursday suggesting that dollar bulls are no more willing to price any additional premium until we get more clarity on his promised fiscal plans. The continued fall in US treasury yields is another factor dragging the dollar. US 10 year yields have been in a down trend since Dec 14, losing 11.8% in value after spiking 42% since the election results were revealed.

US stocks were less impacted, and managed to close higher despite the volatility and sharp selloff in pharma stocks which were attacked by Trump. Whether the rally can be sustained will depend on two factors, earning growth and actions from Trump’s administration as his words and tweets are clearly starting to show less influence. The combination of dollar weakness, lower US yields and doubts in Trump’s policies offered gold a boost, with the yellow metal posting a high of 1,199. So far gold has recovered 6.8% from December lows, and trader higher in 11 out of 13 days. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech will probably decide whether we’re going to see a break and hold above 1,200 today.

Hussein Sayed

KHC consolidates existing exec position to Eng Talal RIYADH, Jan 12: Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud announces that in view of streamlining the decision making process at the level of the executive management, its board of directors decided on 10/01/2017 to consolidate the company’s existing executive management positions consisting of the position of executive director for Development and Domestic Investments, executive (51.6% direct and 17% indirect) shareholding in the company, appointment of board members, and oversight of decision-making processes, particularly those related to prospective investments outside the country. In our base-case scenario, we expect a stable operating performance, but gradually lower capex in 2017 and 2018. We think the group’s FOCF generation in 2017 will be significantly higher than in 2015 and 2016, in the absence of large-scale debt funded acquisitions. This should enable the company

director for International and Private Equity and executive director for Hotel Investments and to transfer all their related powers to Eng Talal Ibrahim Almaiman as the company’s chief executive officer. Founded in 1980, KHC is a publicly traded company which was listed on Tadawul (the Saudi Stock Exchange) in 2007. KHC is one of the world’s most successful and diversified business organizations, highly respected in the field of investments . to maintain credit metrics comfortably in line with the target: adjusted debtto-EBITDA ratio of below 3x for the given rating, and FOCF to debt gradually increasing to more than 10% over the coming two years. The positive outlook reflects our expectation that Ooredoo’s FOCF will strengthen as its capex requirements reduce over the next two years. We also expect the company’s adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio to remain lower than 3x in the absence of sizable acquisitions.

Tehran looking to open foreign funding sources for local firms Western banks opt to stay away SYDNEY/LONDON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Iranian authorities, keen to roll out the red carpet to foreign investors, are taking steps to help local firms sell bonds abroad and Western fund managers are eager to buy.

industry and a well-developed infrastructure.

Investors are eager but more than a year after international sanctions against Iran were removed in exchange for curbs on its disputed nuclear programme, compliance risks may remain. “We would be very interested,” said Lutz Roehmeyer, director at Landesbank BerWhile there could be headwinds from the incoming Trump administration lin Invest. “We have no exposure, and that would be a great first step, but eventually in Washington, Iran offers fertile ground for investors: the World Bank classi- we would actually like to be invested in local currency.” fies the country of 77 million as an upper-middle income nation. Its $425 bilIran’s capital marker regulator, the Securities and Exchange Organisation (SEO), is lion economy is expected to grow by 4.5 percent in 2016-2018, it has diverse nonetheless encouraging local firms to explore alternatives to domestic lending, where rates remain above 20 percent. “There is a big project to help big listed companies or even the government itself to issue bonds in other countries, the first of which is Korea,” said Bahador Bijani, Vice Chairman for International and Foreign Investment Affairs at the SEO. “Additionally, SEO is facilitating the process of listed companies issuing bonds in international markets like London.” Iranian international bond issuance has been virtually non-existent since the late 1970s, the time of the country’s Islamic Revolution. Now, issuing abroad could help Iran alleviate another problem: A lack of expertise in syndicating foreign currency debt after being shut out global capital markets for some two decades. Yet many Western banks afraid of falling foul of remaining Western sanctions may opt to stay on the sidelines. Last year, the SEO approved rules for credit rating agencies and granted its first license. The regulator remains open to more licenses, in particular for the big international rating agencies, said Bijani. The central bank and the SEO are working on currency hedging tools to support cross-border deals, he added. “The stage is set, yet some authorities Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses village administrators in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan 12. Erdogan are more willing to employ the instruhas lashed out at critics of a government reforms bill being debated in parliament that would greatly expand the ment in a unified exchange rate environpowers of his office. (AP) ment.” In December, Iran’s central bank took steps to streamline exchange rates by allowing some lenders to deal in foreign exchange trading at a free-market rate, narrowing the gap with an official rate which is used for some state transactions. Updating regulations is also high on ANKARA, Jan 12, (AFP): President security situation was likely to weigh account, the Official Gazette said. Tehran’s list: In April, the SEO joined Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday on the economy and cause a “general The announcement comes as the global watchdog IOSCO. Since Sepblamed a conspiracy aimed at weakworsening of the investment climate”, country battles a serious slide in the tember, the SEO has met with regulators ening Turkey for the recent plunge putting Turkey’s banks under pressure. lira, with analysts saying the currency from Switzerland, South Korea, India in value of the lira, saying those who Analysts say investors are also inis taking a pounding because of a toxic and Germany. And Iran’s insurance worked to pressure the currency were creasingly worried about interference combination of political and security watchdog, Bimeh Markazi, is set to hold no different from a “terrorist”. in monetary policy under Erdogan who uncertainty and economic woes. talks with officials from Lloyd’s of LonThe lira has plunged to record lows has repeatedly pressured the central In a similar move, last week Turkdon later this year; the heads of both entiin recent weeks against the dollar, losbank to lower interest rates. ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ties met in November. ing almost 10 percent in the last month Meanwhile, the lira has been put said skilled Syrian and Iraqi refugees Foreign debt deals would likely be alone and raising fears over the stabilunder strain by the string of terror atcurrently working on the black market denominated in euros, as this would proity of the economy. tacks in Turkey, doubts about the suswould be granted citizenship if they vide a liquid and market-friendly instruBut addressing a meeting with loyal tainability of growth and worries about pass security tests. ment which would bypass restrictions on local officials in Ankara, Erdogan political instability as Erdogan drives The European Union has called on US dollar transactions, said Jan Dehn, said: “There is no difference between for a presidential system. Turkey to make it easier in general for head of research at Ashmore, a British the terrorist who has a weapon (and) After heavy losses in the last five Syrian refugees to find work, which investment firm with more than $50 bila bomb and the terrorist who is using days pushed it closed to the 4.0 ceilwould in theory make them less likely lion under management. the dollar, the euro and interest rates ing against the dollar, the lira clawed to come to Europe. “There is no doubt whatsoever that for their purpose.” back Thursday 2,0 percent against the It is a key demand in negotiations if there were not major legal issues or “The purpose is to bring Turkey to greenback to trade at 3.8 lira to the dolover Ankara’s decade-long accession questions to do with sanctions and that its knees. Theyre using the exchange lar. process to join the EU, as the bloc big grey area around those current rules rate as a weapon,” Erdogan added. Meanwhile, Turkey will grant cititackles the worst migration crisis since that could shift depending on the geopoErdogan did not say who was to zenship to those who invest or buy the Second World War. litical tide, we would be investing in Iran blame for the purported conspiracy, or valuable property in the country, the At the end of 2015 Brussels and Analready.” While the international banking sysif he was referring to foreign powers or Official Gazette said Thursday, as it kara struck a deal whereby EU leadtem is not yet fully open to Iran businessprivate currency speculators. tries to boost its flagging economy. ers pledged three billion euros ($3.2 es, some are exploring alternatives, said Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s Passports will be granted to foreignbillion) in aid for Syrian refugees Amir Kordvani, who heads the Iran desk both downgraded the country’s credit ers who buy at least $1 million of real on Turkish soil, while Turkey said it and Middle East projects practice for law rating to junk status in 2016. estate in Turkey, invest at least $2 milwould stem the flow of migrants to firm CMS Cameron McKenna LLP. And this week Moody’s warned the lion, or deposit at least $3 million in an Europe.

Big investors in Turkey to be allowed citizenship

Erdogan equates lira fall to ‘terrorism’

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

33 India’s Tata Sons appoints new chairman

India’s salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Sons Thursday appointed Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chief of its IT services unit, as the new chairman of its board, the company said in a statement. Chandrasekaran, who currently heads software giant Tata Consultancy Services, will take charge from Feb 21 — replacing former chairman Cyrus Mistry who was ousted by Tata Sons, the holding company of the sprawling $103 billion Tata Group. “The Board of Directors of Tata Sons,

at its meeting today, appointed Mr N. Chandrasekaran as Executive Chairman,” Tata Sons said in a statement. Popularly known as Chandra, the 53-year-old Tata lifer joined the company in 1987 and has been chief executive of the IT cash cow since 2009. The appointment is the latest step in an ongoing tussle between former chairman Mistry and group patriarch Ratan Tata. Mistry was sacked as chairman of Tata Sons in October and the group sought his ouster from operating companies includ-

ing Tata Steel, Tata Motors and TCS. Mistry resigned from all group companies but had hung on to his seat as director of the board of Tata Sons. Last week, Tata Sons cranked up its legal tussle with Mistry and called for a shareholders’ meeting next month to remove him from its board. The increasingly acrimonious battle saw a fresh twist Friday with Tata’s call for a shareholders’ meeting to remove Mistry as director of the board of Tata Sons, his last remaining foothold within the group. (AFP)

In this photograph, Indian Chief Executive Officer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Natarajan Chandrasekaran speaks during a news conference to announce Q4 results in Mumbai. (AFP)

Reality dawns that full passporting rights likely to go

UK’s finance industry scales back EU market access demand LONDON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Britain’s finance industry has reluctantly given up on efforts to keep full access to the European Union after Brexit and is pushing instead for a more limited trade deal that would potentially exclude some financial products. Banks, insurers and asset managers have concluded there is no realistic chance of maintaining full passporting rights after Brexit that would allow them to sell all their services across the 28-nation bloc from Britain. TheCityUK, the country’s most powerful financial lobby group, instead called on Thursday for limited market access for some finance sectors based on a pact in which Britain and the EU would accept each other’s rules. Such an “equivalence” arrangement would keep the door open for cross-border trading of stocks and bonds, and sales of certain other products. TheCityUK document is the first attempt to condense the industry’s priorities after months of conflicting lobbying and comes just two months before Britain plans EU divorce talks.

“I am confident that this represents in broad shape the key priorities for the industry,” TheCityUK Chief Executive Officer Miles Celic told Reuters. “There are a multiple number of documents out there of stuff at significant length. So there was a sense among our membership to filter down what the key asks were into a single place.” Issues The future of London as Europe’s financial centre is one of the biggest issues in Brexit talks because it is Britain’s largest export sector and biggest source of corporate tax revenue. By pushing for an equivalence deal there is a risk that some financial sectors may be excluded from any final settlement. There is currently no equivalence regime for commercial banking or some forms of insurance. Separately on Thursday, the Financial Services Negotiation Forum of pro and anti-Brexit financiers also said that Britain should seek a “bespoke” form of equivalence to maintain market access.

Schwab warns of dangers of isolationism

Globalisation ‘easy scapegoat’ for global angst — WEF chief GENEVA, Jan 12, (AFP): The man behind the annual Davos forum that for decades has been singing the praises of global trade insists that globalisation is only one factor in dramatic shifts provoking angst and anger. Klaus Schwab, the 78-year-old founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, told AFP in an interview this week he understood that rapid changes in our societies were provoking anxiety, but stressed that globalised trade was not the sole culprit. “It’s not just a backlash against globalisation,” he said, adding that “what we are witnessing is a time of enormous change.” Rapid shifts in technology, economies and social structures have fuelled “a certain anxiety of the people, (who) are looking for an identity in this new world,” he said. This year’s Davos meetings take place next week, and Schwab’s comments come after a wave of anti-establishment populism over the past year which saw Britain vote to leave the European Union and maverick billionaire businessman Donald Trump elected as US president. Other populists have also been gaining ground in many Western democracies, largely by stoking fears about globalisation, immigration and refugee flows. Schwab said the world appeared to be in “emotional turmoil” but said the turbulence was rooted in a range of factors, including deep concerns over how new technologies are threatening jobs. Globalisation, he insisted, is simply “a very easy scapegoat.” But while globalisation is easy to blame, there are no good alternatives to it, he suggested, warning of the dangers of growing isolationism. A more isolationist world would be “different from today’s world,” he said, including a likely return of borders and border controls in Europe “with all the inconvenience for business but also for people that borders represent.”

“But what I’m much more concerned with is the fact that countries become much more egotistical under the pressure of the national electorate,” he said. An isolationist world would be one that is no longer “based on shared values, but a world which will be characterised by interests,” he warned, saying that if global cooperation happened at all it would be based on shared interest alone. “But a global cooperation which is based just on sharing interests will be very unstable because values remain the same, but interests move over time,” he said. “We will be in a much more fragile world,” he said. WEF, which for the past 47 years has been organising the Davos forum of political and business elites, pointed out this week that Schwab had been sounding the alarm on this issue for decades. The organisation pointed to an opinion piece in the New York Times that he co-authored in 1996, in which he warned that the “mounting backlash against (globalisation’s) effects ... is threatening a very disruptive impact on economic activity and social stability in many countries.” Schwab said Davos is the perfect place to begin addressing the problem, with its strong focus on “the need for responsive and responsible leaders.” “Responsive means that if you are a good leader, you have to listen to the people who have entrusted you with leadership,” he said. “But in the end, it’s not enough just to listen. You have to solve the issues. You have to address... the root causes.” “Why the people are angry, and why they are not satisfied. That’s responsibility which needs courage and which needs decision-making and which needs action orientation,” Schwab said. But Davos is not just about political leaders, he said, insisting that the forum offered a unique platform for cooperation across politics, business, civil society and experts.

Europe court upholds French bond for UBS in ‘fraud’ case STRASBOURG, France, Jan 12, (AFP): The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected a challenge by Swiss bank UBS to a 1.1 billion euro ($1.24 billion) bond set by French judges over a wide-ranging tax fraud case. UBS had argued before the ECHR that the record-setting bond, a guarantee against an eventual fine upon conviction, violated its right to the presumption of innocence. But the court, which normally hears complaints from individuals, ruled that the bond was “an interim measure which did not prejudge the outcome of the proceedings,” it said in a statement. It said its ruling was unanimous and “final” against UBS and its French subsidiary UBS France, which face charges of orchestrating a vast system of tax fraud in France. They are accused of setting up dual accounts to hide the movement of capital into Switzerland between 2004 and 2011.

The bond was set in July 2014 on the basis that the alleged tax fraud had cost French state coffers an estimated 10 billion euros. The ECHR ruling stressed “the growing and legitimate concern both in Europe and internationally in relation to financial offences, which constituted socially unacceptable behaviour, and the difficulty of combating such offences.” UBS turned to the ECHR in June 2015 after exhausting efforts in France to reduce the bail amount. In June last year, French prosecutors recommended that UBS face trial for “aggravated laundering of tax fraud proceeds” while its French branch be judged for complicity in these crimes. France opened a probe into UBS after former employees blew the whistle over the bank’s alleged system of setting up dual accounts to hide the movement of capital into Switzerland between 2004 and 2012.

ECB extended stimulus as ‘steady hand’ in turbulent year FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan 12, (AP): Top officials of the European Central Bank wanted to extend stimulus measures in December in part to protect the eurozone economy from what could be a turbulent political year at home and globally. The concerns were recorded in a written account published Thursday about the bank’s Dec. 8 meeting. That’s when it decided to extend its bond-buying stimulus program by nine months until the end of this year, though reducing monthly purchases to 60 billion euros ($63 billion), from 80 billion euros. The bank’s governing council thought more stimulus would provide a “steady hand” to support the

economy of the 19 countries that share the euro against “shocks emanating from the political environment at the global level and within the euro area.” Elections in the Netherlands, France and possibly Italy will give populist, anti-EU and antieuro forces a chance to test their strength with voters. Britain is expected to start talks on leaving the European Union, which could lead to new restrictions in doing business with a major eurozone trading partner. UK voters chose to leave in a referendum last June. The election of Donald Trump as US president has also raised uncertainty about US trade policy and fed expectations that anti-establishment politicians

in Europe may also do better than many expected. The 25-member council also felt there was no convincing upturn in underlying inflation toward the bank’s goal of just under 2 percent. The bond purchases inject newly printed money into the financial system, a step that aims to increase inflation as well as lending and business expansion. The overall inflation rate has picked up noticeably since the meeting, to 1.1 percent annually. And economic data has been relatively upbeat in recent weeks — on Thursday, official figures showed industrial production in the eurozone spiked 1.5 percent in November from the month before. However, so-called core inflation

— excluding volatile fuel and food prices — has remained stuck. The written account — which omits names and vote tallies — said that “a few members” opposed the stimulus extension based on their “well-known general skepticism” about extraordinary stimulus involving printing new money. Those members viewed moneyprinting stimulus through bond purchases as a step to be reserved for times of grave crisis. But stimulus skeptics appear to remain a minority on the council. The council is made up of six top officials at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, led by President Mario Draghi, plus the heads of the 19 national central banks in the countries belonging to the currency union.

The current equivalence regime is not a “silver bullet” solution that can replace passporting in its entirety, it said in a report with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Daniel Hodson, chairman of the forum’s executive committee, said the financial sector was now coalescing around equivalence after

having had time to consider how it could work. “There is considerably increased realism now that people have begun to really focus on the issues and get their mind round them,” Hodson said. Until now, finance organisations have clashed over who should be leading efforts to lobby the gov-

ernment and what their Brexit response should be. After the June vote, business leaders begged for Britain to stay inside the single market, for example, by having a Norway-style deal that would provide full access to Europe’s markets. But EU leaders have repeatedly warned that single market access

is defined by the bloc’s four freedoms — free movement of goods, capital, services and people — and that they cannot be unpicked. TheCityUK proposals call for “clear and upfront transitional arrangements” to bridge the gap between leaving the EU and the start of a bespoke deal, though they do not specify a timeframe.

Eurozone economy registering surprisingly solid growth spurt Move reflected in German GDP, Italian data BRUSSELS, Jan 12, (RTRS): Industries across the eurozone cranked up output in November and Germany ended the year with its strongest growth in five year, data showed on Thursday, pointing to an economic spurt that may be arriving earlier than some ECB policymakers expect. Eurozone industrial output in the 19-country currency bloc surged 1.5 percent on the month and 3.2 percent year-on-year as firms stepped up production before Christmas. Both figures were far better than expected.

That gelled with a surprisingly large increase in Italian industrial production, also reported on Thursday, and similarly robust numbers earlier this month from France. The German statistics office, meanwhile, estimated growth in the eurozone largest economy was around 0.5 percent for the fourth quarter and expanded by 1.9 percent in 2016, the strongest rate in five years. Economists said these figures added to the evidence that eurozone gross domestic product will have picked up in the last quarter of last year. The numbers are also relatively unexpected. Indeed, investment bank Citi ranked the eurozone at the top of its Economic Surprise Index at year-end, higher even than the rating for Britain’s unforseen post-Brexit performance. The strong rise of industrial output “reinforces our belief that eurozone GDP growth could well have reached 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight. Eurozone GDP grew a modest 0.3 percent in second and third quarter of last year, after a 0.5 percent rise in the first quarter. Thursday’s figures add to a jump in the bloc’s economic sentiment which in December reached its strongest level since March 2011.

Consumer

This file photo shows shoppers walking past a window offering merchandise on sale on Kurfurstendamm in Berlin, Jan 12, 2011. Germany booked solid growth in 2016, data showed Thursday, with a sizeable surplus in the public finances of Europe’s economic powerhouse likely to fuel fierce political debate in an election year. (AFP)

Russian auto sales fall 11% in 2016

Russia urged to diversify, attract investors MOSCOW, Jan 12, (Agencies): Russia needs to improve its investment climate, diversify its oil-dependent economy and boost productivity growth if it wants to catch up with the global economy, the World Bank said on Thursday. In a report called “Pathways to Inclusive Growth” the World Bank offered Russian authorities some tips on how to overcome existing economic and financial hurdles to achieve better prospects in the future. “Although the fruits of many policy actions will only be visible in the medium and longer term, now is the time to start,” the World Bank said. After a decade of strong oil-driven growth, Russia’s competitiveness is deteriorating. In 2016, the Russian economy shrank by 0.5-0.6 percent after falling by 3.7 percent in 2015. The economy is seen growing by 1-2 percent a year in the medium term, the World Bank said. This is below a global growth of 2.7 percent projected for 2017 and far below an average annual expansion of 7 percent seen in Russia in the 2000s. Together with Russia’s high vulner-

ability to trade shocks, this raises questions about the country’s ability to retain the social and economic advances made since President Vladimir Putin came to power. “The recent crisis exposed the vulnerability of Russia’s economy and raised questions about the sustainability of past achievements in boosting shared prosperity,” the report said.

Exports As prices for oil, one of Russia’s key exports, have fallen and the West has imposed economic and financial sanctions against Moscow over its annexation of Crimea, the Russian authorities will find it increasingly hard to find a trade-off between social liabilities and fiscal sustainability. To move forward and spur investment activity, Russia needs better infrastructure and regulation, the World Bank said. “To attract investors, particularly in the context of economic sanctions, investment conditions must improve.” Separately, car sales in Russia fell 11 percent in 2016, an industry group said Thursday, while predicting that

the crisis-hit sector would bounce back modestly this year. In 2016 sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles fell by 11 percent, the Association of European Businesses said in a statement. “This year was difficult once again but we saw a light at the end of the tunnel at the end of the year,” the association’s chairman Joerg Schreiber said at a briefing. This year the market “has the potential to end a four-year period of decline and to return to moderate growth,” Schreiber said in a statement, predicting annual sales would be up four percent on 2016 figures. With more than 140 million residents, Russia had long been an extremely attractive market for global carmakers such as Renault, the majority shareholder of Russia’s biggest carmaker Avtovaz, which produces the top-selling Ladas. But the sector, which is highly sensitive to exchange rates, was hit hard by the economic crisis two years ago caused by falling oil prices and Western sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Eurozone consumer confidence also hit a 20-month high in December and has been rising for four consecutive months, European Commission’s estimates showed. Monthly retail sales in the bloc did fall by 0.4 percent in November but only after a rise by 1.4 percent in October, by far the largest in years. The surprising burst in economic activity may fire up criticism from economists and politicians in countries such as Germany that the European Central Bank is hanging on too long to its ultra-easy monetary policy, including asset purchasing. The ECB, however, remains cautious about the outlook and will need sustained evidence before it moves. Indeed, the improved outlook for the last quarter of the year may however not carry over to 2017 in part because it brings with it an increase in prices. “We expect rising inflation to weigh on consumer spending growth, causing overall GDP growth to slow in 2017,” Jack Allen of Capital Economics said. Eurozone consumer inflation in December was 1.1 percent, the highest level since September 2013, as oil prices are going up. It remains under the roughly 2 percent target sought by the ECB, however. In addition, the November eurozone industrial output data confirmed caution is still prevailing among firms, as political uncertainty over the coming months restrains investment. The monthly output rose strongly for non-durable consumer goods, such as clothing or foodstuff, a sign that companies were betting on more consumption ahead of the Christmas shopping. Production grew markedly on the month also for intermediate goods and energy, but it rose only slightly for capital goods, like machineries, a sign of only limited appetite for long-term investment. Output of durable goods, such as cars or refrigerators, was the only component of the indicator to record a drop, by 0.1 percent on the month, confirming firms’ cautious approach as consumers were less keen to purchase more expensive items.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

34

TCS beats expectations

Name: Kuwait Sharia Compatible Indices

India’s biggest IT sourcing firm Tata Consultancy Services reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, boosted by demand for its digital services. The software giant said net profit for the three months to December 31 rose to 67.78 billion rupees ($995 million) from 61.10 billion rupees for the same period last year. A Bloomberg survey of analysts had forecasted the Mumbai-based company to increase its earnings to 64.8 billion rupees. (AFP)

Providers: Al Madar Finance & Investment Co.

Description: Index of Sharia compatible companies traded on the KSE

Website: www.almadar-fi.com

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

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

Today’s value as of January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 January 11, 2017 January 11, 2017

Today’s closing value 172.93 165.70 91.33 278.64 56.04 18.16 52.03 127.64 200.31 380.63 135.43 454.14 6,107.68 2,275.32 2,969.85

Prev closing value 171.95 164.81 88.92 276.09 54.79 17.65 51.83 126.23 200.12 380.63 134.07 448.24 6,030.41 2,268.90 2,958.24

% change 0.57% 0.54% 2.72% 0.92% 2.28% 2.91% 0.39% 1.12% 0.09% 0.00% 1.01% 1.32% 1.28% 0.28% 0.39%

1-week change 2.16% 2.14% 10.94% 3.61% 10.44% 14.42% 4.32% 4.71% -0.56% 0.15% 3.78% 2.56% 4.74% 0.20% 0.91%

3-month change 17.03% 15.84% 35.05% 17.83% 33.38% 37.80% 15.10% 14.63% 18.06% 0.36% 21.28% 47.66% 14.63% 6.69% 1.58%

YTD change 3.63% 3.69% 15.08% 4.70% 19.29% 15.18% 6.74% 5.31% 1.46% 0.13% 4.98% 2.43% 6.26% 1.63% 2.18%

12-month change 15.30% 13.47% 38.30% 5.61% 31.67% -5.33% 7.89% 7.62% 22.05% 26.35% 12.18% 69.16% 14.10% 17.36% 12.40%

24-month change -8.86% -10.64% -8.45% -15.24% -22.91% -39.38% -9.69% -9.11% -7.74% -7.86% -9.17% 63.06% -6.91% 11.27% 4.40%

Tokyo seeks way out of Trump’s bad books on trade

Japan says its active investment is a source of US-Japan vitality TOKYO, Jan 12, (RTRS): Japan’s top government spokesman said on Thursday that its active trade investment in the United States was a source of “vitality” in the economic relationship between the two nations. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also told reporters Americans recognised that Japanese firms were good corporate citizens in the United States. In a news conference, US President-elect Donald Trump mentioned Japan and other countries as having large trade imbalances with the United States. Suga said that the government was analysing Trump’s comments and that it wanted to develop Japan’s economic relationship with the United States further. Meanwhile, armed with fact sheets on jobs created and investments made in America, Japan aims to give Donald Trump a crash course on its contribution to the US economy in hopes of persuading him that Tokyo is different from Trump’s favourite trade target, China. Tokyo wants Trump, who will become president next week, to see the merits of global trade, rethink his threats to impose a “border tax” on imports, and to stick to international trade deals on which Japan Inc bases its investment strategies.

Alter And while Japan’s economy still relies heavily on exports for growth, its officials also want to alter any lingering image Trump may have formed based on trade wars fought with the United States decades ago. “Japan is preparing so that soon after the change in administration, we can ... explain our points in a format persuasive to the American side,” Masahiko Shibayama, an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told Reuters. “Japan is a country that lives by diplomacy and trade.” To make their case with hard numbers, Japan’s government has prepared a briefing paper its officials are using in talks with US counterparts. The document, seen by Reuters, has not been released, and sources would not say if it had been shown to Trump or senior members of his team. Highlights included: ■ 839,000 jobs created by Japanese companies jobs in the United States, second only to Britain and above the 38,000 employed by Chinese businesses. ■ Cumulative Japanese investment of $411 billion, dwarfing China’s $15 billion. ■ Japan’s shrinking share of the US trade deficit to 9 percent from more than half in the early 1990s versus China’s opposite trend. Trump last week added Toyota Motor Corp to the list of multinational corporations he’s threatened with a “big border tax” if they expand factories abroad to export into the United States. Trump repeated that threat on Wednesday in his first news conference since winning the Nov 8 election. He also lumped Japan with China and Mexico as big contributors to America’s trade deficit — a perception that Japanese officials are desperate to correct. “We need to start pointing out very clearly the difference with China,” a senior Japanese diplomat with trade negotiating experience told Reuters. Officials in Tokyo also stressed that what Trump says before taking office next Friday and what he does after that may be different. They also hope some members of his economic team, such as his choice for commerce secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, who has done business in Japan, will temper his harsher views on trade. Tokyo is keen to erase any lingering legacy of US-Japan trade wars fought in autos, steel and semiconductors in the 1980s and early 1990s. Trump’s pick for US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, was deputy US trade representative under Ronald Reagan and took part in some of those trade disputes. Japanese companies, like other multinationals, are also getting into the public relations act.

China bank loans surge in Dec Concerns grow about risks of prolonged debt-fuelled stimulus Technology and scale of industry is still at very early stage

China turns to robots as workers age WUZHEN, China, Jan 12, (AFP): Flat, orange robots glide under stationary cars and ferry them to empty Chinese parking bays, using space more efficiently and, their creators say, reducing driver stress. It is one of a number of elegant — and expensive — mechanical solutions China is turning to as it faces an ageing population, which, even in the world’s most populous country, is making workers harder to come by. With an eye on the rising numbers of cars on Chinese roads, Hikvision has been testing a robotic parking system in Wuzhen, 130 kms (80 miles) west of Shanghai. “The technology and scale of the industry is still at a very early stage,” said Wu Yonghai, the company’s head of robotics. “This is about finding a solution to the car parking problem.” Most firms in the sector focus on industrial robots rather than service robots, the kind which might sweep an apartment floor or act as a companion for elderly people. With China’s labour force shrinking under the impact of the now abandoned one-child policy, the world’s secondlargest economy is turning to machines to try to fill the gap. The working-age population — defined as those from 15 to 59 — fell for the first time in decades in 2012, according to official figures, and has declined ever since. It is expected to carry on falling until at least 2030, and economic growth is also slowing. China decided to allow couples to have a second child starting last year but the looming labour shortage will take

BEIJING, Jan 12, (AFP): Chinese bank lending grew far faster than expected in December, the central bank said Thursday, adding to concerns that a flood of credit is increasing financial risks in the world’s second-largest economy. New loans extended by banks rose to 1.04 trillion yuan ($150 billion), compared to 794.6 billion yuan in November, said the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank.

This picture shows people watching a robotic unit of the smart parking system developed by Hikvision in a garage in Wuzhen Township of Tongxiang City, in east China’s Zhejiang province. Flat, orange robots glide under stationary cars and ferry them to empty Chinese parking bays, using space more efficiently and, their creators say, reducing driver stress. (AFP)

decades to address, if at all. The country is already the world’s largest market for the mechanical helpers and it will only get bigger, according to the International Federation of Robots, which estimates China will account for 40 percent of the global industrial robot market by 2019. “The country is facing lots of problems, one of which is a rapid increase in labour costs,” said Wang Hesheng, a professor of robotics at Shanghai Jiaotong University. “At the entire state level, China takes the robotics strategy very seriously,” he told AFP as half a dozen students tinkered with drones and other devices in a robot laboratory.

The government is investing heavily in robotics research, Wang added, and his students have access to the latest imported robots, including one from leading German robotics firm Kuka. Chinese appliance giant Midea took over Kuka this year in a deal worth $5 billion, despite protests from German politicians that key technology is being lost to China. As demand surges, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the nation’s robot makers to take a larger chunk of the domestic market, currently dominated by foreign players. But it will be a long time before robots become part of everyday life, given the cost and technical challenges.

It was far more than the 676.8 billion yuan estimated in a survey by Bloomberg News. Analysts have been raising alarm bells over the rapid surge in China’s debt levels, as Beijing has flooded the market with credit to prop up economic growth and meet its targets. The December burst in lending was partly driven by companies turning to the banking system for loans after a bond market rout, Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a note. Looking ahead, credit growth was likely to slow, leading to a slowdown of economic expansion “sooner than many are currently anticipating”, he added. Chinese authorities are trying to execute a difficult transition away from dependence on exports and infrastructure spending to consumer-driven growth, but the transition is proving slow. In a separate statement the PBoC said total social financing — an alternative measure of credit in the real economy — remained strong at 1.63 trillion yuan in the month, compared to 1.74 trillion yuan the month before. “The government said it would maintain a neutral monetary policy and curb financial risks, but there is no sign of that in the credit data,” Wang Tao with UBS Group AG in Hong Kong told Bloomberg.

investment funds Funds

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Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Bank of Kuwait Money Market Funds

Watani KD Money Market Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 KD 1.408 1.407 Sept 27, 2016 Watani KD Money Market Fund II NBK Capital Weekly Nov 29, 2016 KD 1.021 1.020 Nov 22, 2016 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Islamic) NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 KD 1.184 1.184 Sept 27, 2016 Watani Foreign Currency Money Mkt Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 USD 1.314 1.314 Sept 27, 2016 Watani Foreign Currency Money Mkt Fund (Euro) NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 Euro 1.246 1.246 Sept 27, 2016 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 USD 1.102 1.101 Sept 27, 2016 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 4, 2016 USD 10.041 10.041 Sept 27, 2016 Watani USD Money Market Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Nov 22, 2016 USD 10.160 10.160 Oct 18, 2016 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Nov 22, 2016 KD 1.019 1.018 Oct 18, 2016 Equity Funds NBK Gulf Equity Fund NBK Capital Weekly Oct 13, 2016 USD 1.193 1.189 Oct 6, 2016 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund NBK Capital Weekly Nov 17, 2016 KD 0.604 0.566 Oct 16, 2016 NBK Qatar Equity Fund NBK Capital Weekly Oct 13, 2016 USD 1.641 1.636 Oct 6, 2016 Gulf Equity Investment Fund NBK Capital Weekly April 7, 2016 USD 9.995 Ijara Fund Thahabi Ijara Fund VI Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly April 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 Feb 29, 2016 Thahabi Ijara Fund VII Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly April 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 Feb 29, 2016 Islamic KD Ijara Fund II Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly May 31, 2016 KD 10.000 10.000 March 31, 2016 Islamic KD Ijara Fund III Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly May 31, 2016 KD 10.000 10.000 Feb 29, 2016 Islamic KD Ijara Fund IV Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly May 31, 2016 KD 10.000 10.000 March 31, 2016 Islamic KD Ijara Fund V Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly May 31, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 March 31, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund I Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 April 30, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund II Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 April 30, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund III Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly July 31, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 May 31, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund IV Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 May 31, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund V Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly July 31, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 May 31, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund VI Wafra Capital Partners L.P Cayman Islands Monthly July 31, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 May 31, 2016 Islamic Equipment Leasing Fund I Ltd Wafra Capital Partners L.P. Cayman Islands Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 10.000 10.000 May 31, 2016 Multi Asset Funds Thahabi Multi Asset Fund – Con Portfolio Frontier Capital Management (Jersey) Ltd Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 96.164 95.710 April 30, 2016 Thahabi Multi Asset Fund – Mo Portfolio Frontier Capital Management (Jersey) Ltd Monthly June 30, 2016 USD 88.490 87.790 April 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gulf Bank Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly Nov 30, 2016 USD 6.626 6.206 Oct 30, 2016 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly Dec 30, 2016 KD 0.615 0.606 Nov 30, 2016 Sanaya Dow Jones Kuwait Index Fund Industrial & Financial Investment Co. Weekly Dec 29, 2016 KD 0.561 0.563 Nov 24, 2016 Markaz Capital Preservation Program 1 Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.917 0.916 Nov 30, 2016 Markaz Capital Preservation Program 2 Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.940 0.938 Nov 30, 2016 Markaz Gulf Real Estate Fund Bi-annual Dec 31, 2016 KD 1.420 1.421 Nov 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.890 0.875 Nov 30, 2016 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.760 0.750 Nov 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Burgan Bank Burgan Equity Fund Burgan Bank Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 1.698 1.627 Nov 27, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund Boubyan Bank Weekly Dec 27, 2016 KD 1.060 1.059 Nov 29, 2016 Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly Dec 27, 2016 KD 1.004 1.003 Nov 29, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Capital Investment Co.

Funds

Fund Manager

Valuation

Valued date

Currency

Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Oct 31, 2016 KD 0.835 0.833 Sept 30, 2016 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Oct 31, 2016 KD 1.438 1.438 Sept 30, 2016 Markaz Fixed Income Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Nov 17, 2016 USD 11.380 11.420 Nov 10, 2016 Mawazeen International Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Nov 20, 2016 USD 8.820 8.850 Nov 13, 2016 Markaz MENA Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Nov 15, 2016 USD 10.050 9.920 Oct 31, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou’yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 1.290 1.262 Nov 30, 2016 Gulf Gate Fund KMEFIC Monthly Oct 31, 2016 KD 0.944 0.918 Sept 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Global Investment House Index Funds Equity Funds

GCC Large Cap Index Fund Global Weekly Dec 29, 2016 KD 1.078 1.072 Dec 22, 2016 Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly Dec 29, 2016 KD 0.581 0.576 Dec 22, 2016 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly Dec 29, 2016 KD 0.581 0.576 Dec 22, 2016 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Bi-weekly Dec 27, 2016 USD 143.430 140.920 Dec 22, 2016 Al-Noor Fund Global Bi-weekly Dec 27, 2016 SAR 201.250 198.040 Dec 22, 2016 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Bi-weekly Dec 27, 2016 SAR 209.340 204.130 Dec 22, 2016 Money Market Funds Global Money Market Fund Global Weekly Nov 20, 2016 USD 1.160 Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly Dec 27, 2016 USD 105.760 104.160 Dec 20, 2016 Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly Dec 27, 2016 USD 96.940 95.460 Dec 20, 2016 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Monthly Dec 29, 2016 KD 1.118 1.115 Dec 20, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC) Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly Jan 4, 2017 KD 0.380 0.370 Dec 21, 2016 Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly Nov 30, 2016 USD 6.260 6.160 Sept 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KAMCO KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.889 0.857 Oct 30, 2016 KAMCO GCC Opportunities Fund KAMCO Monthly July 31, 2016 USD 115.890 114.380 Feb 29, 2016 KAMCO MENA Plus Fixed Income Fund KAMCO Dec 31, 2016 USD 10.260 10.250 Nov 30, 2016 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO Nov 30, 2016 USD 10.220 10.180 Oct 30, 2016 Kuwait Education Fund KAMCO Quartely Sept 30, 2016 KD 1.457 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.764 0.747 Oct 31, 2016 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Dec 30, 2016 KD 1.029 1.025 Nov 30, 2016 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly Dec 30, 2016 KD 0.796 0.762 Nov 30, 2016 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Dec 30, 2016 KD 0.608 0.577 Nov 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Shuaa Capital Co. Emirates Gateway Fund Shuaa Capital Weekly Jan 3, 2017 AED 14.920 14.780 Dec 20, 2016 The Arab Gateway Fund Shuaa Capital Weekly Jan 3, 2017 USD 29.040 28.710 Dec 13, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Aman Investment Al Aman Islamic Fund Al Aman Investment Weekly Nov 1, 2016 KD 0.322 0.294 Oct 31, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Tharwa Investment Co. Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly Nov 10, 2016 KD 1.356 1.361 Oct 31, 2016 Tharwa Arab Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Bi-weekly July 31, 2016 USD 1.977 2.251 June 30, 2016 Tharwa World Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly March 31, 2016 USD 1.024 0.986 March 15, 2016 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.590 0.576 Nov 10, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Dec 27, 2016 USD 10.170 10.000 Nov 29, 2016 Boubyan Kuwait Real Estate Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Dec 31, 2016 KD 1.020 1.020 Sept 30, 2015 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bank Al-Bilad

Kuwait Investment Co.

Commercial International Bank

Local Fund

CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 278.640 278.390 Jan 8, 2017 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 137.080 133.810 Jan 8, 2017 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 79.070 75.700 Jan 8, 2017 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 2, 2017 EGP 166.690 163.750 Dec 1, 2016 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 164.120 163.970 Jan 8, 2017 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 133.750 133.510 Jan 8, 2017 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 11, 2017 EGP 24.920 24.920 Jan 8, 2017 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 5, 2017 KD 0.923 0.916 Dec 31, 2016 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 30, 2016 KD 0.629 0.607 Nov 30, 2016 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly Jan 9, 2017 KD 0.542 0.542 Dec 31, 2016 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 31, 2016 KD 1.098 1.076 Nov 30, 2016 International Global Bond Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 28, 2016 USD 23.770 23.760 Dec 21, 2016 Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 4, 2017 USD 17.710 17.460 Dec 28, 2016 European Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 30, 2016 Euro 19.820 19.120 Nov 30, 2016 Pacific Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 4, 2017 USD 27.410 26.930 Dec 28, 2016 North American Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Tw. Monthly Dec 30, 2016 USD 17.150 17.120 Nov 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.547 0.529 Oct 31, 2016 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.334 0.318 Oct 31, 2016 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.528 0.483 Oct 31, 2016 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.729 0.688 Oct 31, 2016 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly Nov 30, 2016 USD 0.726 0.675 Oct 31, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund MIDAF Islamic Fund Markaz Arabian Fund

Kuwait Financial Center Kuwait Financial Center Kuwait Financial Center Kuwait Financial Center

Weekly Weekly Weekly Weekly

Nov 17, 2016 Nov 17, 2016 Nov 17, 2016 Nov 10, 2016

KD KD KD KD

3.688 2.770 1.387 2.990

3.641 2.735 1.374 2.920

Nov 10, 2016 Nov 10, 2016 Nov 10, 2016 Nov 3, 2016

Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily Jan 1, 2017 KD 0.370 0.371 Dec 25, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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

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

KFH Capital Investment Co. Muthanna Islamic Index Fund (MUDX) KFH Capital Investment Company Daily Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.322 0.306 Nov 30, 2016 Muthanna GCC Islamic Banks Fund KFH Capital Investment Company Daily Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.644 0.620 Nov 30, 2016 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Company Weekly Dec 31, 2016 KD 0.883 0.869 Nov 30, 2016 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

CapCorp Investment Co. CapCorp Local Fund

CapCorp Investment Company

Weekly

Sept 29, 2016

KD

0.713

0.720

July 31, 2016

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

35

Malaysia mulls fund to spur Islamic finance Malaysia’s securities regulator has proposed establishing a fund to invest in the country’s Islamic finance funds and make them more attractive to institutional and foreign investors. The southeast Asian country has carved out a leading role in Islamic finance. Malaysian asset managers hold 132.4 billion ringgit ($30 billion) worth of sharia-compliant assets — among the largest in the world

and comparable to Saudi Arabia — but they have often been overshadowed by a thriving market for Islamic bonds, or sukuk, which are often bought directly by investors. The proposed fund, part of an Islamic fund and wealth management blueprint launched on Thursday by the Securities Commission, would invest in multicurrency Islamic investment products managed by Malay-

sian-based asset managers and including equity products, to increase their size and make them more attractive to investors. The Securities Commission gave no details on the size or timeframe for the launch of its proposed fund, or who would run it and where the money would come from, but a fund acting as a seeder or incubator of Islamic funds would be a first in the industry. (RTRS)

Kuwait bourse extends rally; volume ‘recedes’ Humansoft Holding soars 100 fils; NBK slips By John Mathews Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Kuwait stocks rallied on Thursday to wind up the week on a solid note. The price index climbed 77.27 points to 6,107.68 points extending its bull run to seventh straight day. Some of the mid and small caps shone whereas the heavyweights remained largely subdued. The KSX 15 gauge eased 0.29 pts to 908.68 points while weighted index edged 1.28 pts higher to 392 points. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped close to 500 mln mark after hitting a multi-year highs in last two sessions. 502 million shares changed hands — a 17 pct drop from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in the positive zone. Oil and gas outshone the rest with 2.88 pct gain whereas healthcare shed 1.5 pct, the worst performer of the week. Volume wise, financial services accounted for the highest share of 43.20 pct and real estate followed with 25.3 percent contribution. Among day’s prime movers, Kuwait Finance House gained 10 fils on back of 2.5 million shares and International Financial Advisors took in 2 fils with volume of over 10 million shares. Humansoft Holding vaulted 100 fils to KD 2.980 and Gulf Insurance Co climbed 50 fils. Zain was unchanged at was flat at 420 fils off slight early highs and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.890. Agility stood pat 660 fils while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was not traded during the session. National Bank of Kuwait dropped 10 fils to 660 fils and Gulf Bank seesawed in tight range before closing flat at 240 fils . The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 32.80 million and earnings per share of 11 fils in the Jan-Sept period. The market opened firm and headed north in early trade. The main index continued to rally amid buying in select counters and peaked at 6109.32 pts in the final minutes before closing with hefty gains. Top gainer of the day, Safat Global rallied 8.6 percent to 31.5 fils while International Resorts Co climbed

8.33 pct to stand next. YIACO dived 8.47 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 33.9 million shares. Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 74 stocks advanced whereas 21 closed lower. Of the 144 counters active on Thursday, 49 closed flat. 8487 deals worth KD 36.9 million were transacted – a 5.6 pct fall in value from the day before. National Industrial Group recouped Wednesday’s downtick with a in 2 fils rise to 134 fils and Gulf Cable slipped 5 fils to 410 fils. Kuwait Cement Co rose 5 fils to 430 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement Co held ground at 950 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co gained fils whereas ACICO Industries was unchanged at 285 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co slipped 4 fils to 186 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co inched 1 fils higher to 55 fils.

Stalled NAPESCO gained 30 fils whereas Shuaiba Industrial Co stalled at 290 fils. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 1.66 million and earnings per share of 20.94 fils in 2016, 9M. Jazeera Airways was flat at 700 fils and YIACO slid 25 fils to 270 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co climbed 20 fils to 580 fils and OSOS was up 10 fils at 150 fils. KCPC rose 4 fils to 174 fils and UPAC stood pat at 700 fils. Equipment Holding Co inched 1 fils into red and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co added 10 fils. The company has registered a net profit of KD 10,487,657 and earnings per share of 10.08 fils in the JanuarySeptember period. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co was unchanged at 65 fils while KGL Logistics Co took in 1 fils on back of 4.7 million shares. AWJ Holding took in 2 fils with a volume of 1.4 million shares. Mezzan Holding Co dipped 10 fils to 940 fils whereas Zimah Holding Co dialed up 2.5 fils to settle at 50 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was held the ground at 520 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait rose 5 fils to 425 fils and Ahli United Bank gave up 5 fils to end at 405 fils. Kuwait International Bank edged 2 fils up to wind up at 212 fils. Boubyan Bank paused at 405 fils and Warba Bank followed suit. National Investment Co and KIPCO was flat at 106 fils and 500 fils

respectively while Kuwait Investment Co clipped 2 fils. KMEFIC and Al Mal Investment Co were up 1 fils each while Bayan Investment Co closed 2.5 fils in green. KAMCO fell 2 fils to 94 fils while Al Deera Holding and Ektittanb Holding Co added 1.5 fils each. Noor Financial Investment Co stalled at 51 fisl and Unicap followed suit. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) was down 3 fils at 91 fils. Securities House Co inched 1 fils up to 52 fils whereas Osoul Investment Co paused at 58 fils. Aayan Investment Co added 1.5 fils on back of 19.2 million shares and Al Imtiaz Investment Co gained 6 fils. National Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co were unchanged at 114 fils and KD 0.880 respectively and Mazaya Holding followed suit. Kuwait Real Estate Co and United Real Estate Co stagnated at 70 fils and 97 fils respectively. The market has been bullish during the week. The price index closed higher in all the five sessions and rallied 276 pts week-on-week. It had gained 193 points during whole of December and was up 2.37 pct in 2016. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news, Shuaiba Industrial Co has recorded a net profit of KD 1.66 million and earnings per share of 20.94 fils in 2016, 9M up from net profit of KD 1.33 mln and earnings per share of 16.83 fils in same period of 2015. Aqar Real Estate Investments Co. has registered a net profit of KD 923,223 and earnings per share of 4.34 fils in the January-September period down from net profit of KD 1.72 million and EPS of 7.63 fils in the 9M of 2015. Jeeran Holding Co. has logged a net profit of KD 431,750 and earnings per share of 3.17 fils in the first nine-month of 2016 up sharply from net profit of KD 177,518 and earnings per share of 1.30 fils in the 9M of 2015. Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has registered a net profit of KD 159,204 and earnings per share of 5.3 fils in the January-September period as against net profit of KD 363,059 and earnings per share of 12 fils in the same period last year. Hilal Cement Company has logged a net loss of KD 3,709 and loss per share of 0.04 fils in the January-September period of 2016 narrowing from a net loss of KD 117,151 and LPS of 1.39 fils in same period in 2015.

Mideast Stocks Egypt bourse hits record high

Saudi edges up in volatile trade DUBAI, Jan 12, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia’s stock market edged higher in volatile trade on Thursday but suffered its worst weekly decline since September, while Egypt extended its bull run as international funds accumulated shares. The Saudi index closed 0.4 percent higher at 6,922 points; it remains near a six-week low and lost 3.8 percent over the week. Investors bought shares after Brent oil futures rebounded 2.7 percent overnight and traded above $55.50 on Thursday. Eight of the 14 listed petrochemical producers rose with Saudi Arabia Fertilizers climbing 2.5 percent. But Yanbu National Petrochemical dropped 2.3 percent to 54.00 riyals. On Wednesday, it closed flat after reporting stronger fourth-quarter net income that was in line with analysts’ expectations; its gross profit margin declined. Yansab is trading at a 5 percent premium to analysts’ estimated fair value, according to Reuters data. A little over half of Saudi banks gained, with Al Rajhi Bank , the sector’s chief gainer, up 1.2 percent. Blue chips dragged on Dubai. The main index edged down 0.03 percent but was up 2.6 percent for the week. Amusement park operator DXB Entertainments dropped 2.3 percent. DAMAC Properties lost 1.5

percent after the developer confirmed that US President-elect Donald Trump had declined a $2 billion development deal which DAMAC had proposed over the weekend. However, some small and midsized shares continued to be snapped up; builder Arabtec jumped 6.4 percent and Gulf General Investment climbed 1.3 percent. “Dubai’s strong performance last year helped build confidence in that market and because it is diversified from oil relative to other Gulf economies, investors have been focusing on growth stocks,” said Muhammed Shabbir, an independent Dubai-based investment advisor. Abu Dhabi swung 0.4 percent higher after a weak start. Union National Bank jumped 4.3 percent; it has surged 12.8 percent since the start of the year on speculation it may be the next bank to undergo a merger this year, after National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, which are set to merge in coming months. NBAD closed flat and FGB added 0.8 percent. In Egypt, the blue-chip index gained 1.0 percent to yet another all-time high of 13,224 points as foreign funds were net buyers of shares, according to exchange data. Arabian Cement jumped its 10 percent daily limit for a second

consecutive session to 9.06 Egyptian pounds. Analysts believe the company is trading at a discount to its estimated fair value. Cairo-based Pharos have placed an “overweight” rating on the stock with a fair value of 11.5 pounds, citing a rebalancing in local cement supply, healthy demand growth outlook and higher sales prices. Saudi Arabia ■ The index added 0.4 percent to 6,922 points. Dubai ■ The index edged down 0.03 percent to 3,721 points. Abu Dhabi ■ The index rose 0.4 percent to 4,681 points. Qatar ■ The index edged up 0.1 percent to 10,709 points. Egypt ■ The index rose 1.0 percent to 13,224 points. Kuwait ■ The index rose 1.3 percent to 6,108 points. Oman ■ The index fell 0.6 percent to 5,762 points. Bahrain ■ The index edged up 0.2 percent to 1,212 points.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

BUSINESS

36

Amazon to add 100,000 US jobs over 18 months Amazon announced plans Thursday to add 100,000 US jobs over the next 18 months, to bring its American workforce to over 280,000. The US tech giant unveiled the latest — and largest — job-creation plan amid a push by US President-elect Donald Trump to boost employment and curb outsourcing as he prepares to take office. “These new job opportunities are for people all across the coun-

the

try and with all types of experience, education and skill levels — from engineers and software developers to those seeking entry-level positions and on-the-job training,” a statement from the tech giant said. The move comes with Amazon expanding from its origins as an online retailer to a diversified tech company offering streaming video and music, cloud computing, and home automation through its artificial intelligence program Alexa.

EPA to accuse Fiat of excess emissions

“Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it’s created hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” said Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos. Amazon said that “many” of the new jobs would be in new “fulfillment centers” or warehouses where goods are stored for consumer delivery — and where the company has often faced criticism over working conditions. (AFP)

The US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday will accuse Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV of using software that allowed excess diesel emissions in just over 100,000 US trucks and SUVs sold since 2014, two sources briefed on the matter said. The EPA told the automaker it believes its auxiliary emissions control software allowed vehicles to generate excess pollution in violation of the law. Fiat

Chrysler declined to comment. A person briefed on the matter said Fiat Chrysler does not agree with the EPA’s assessment. An automaker can use an auxiliary emissions control device in limited circumstances to protect the engine from damage, but it must be declared to regulators. Fiat Chrysler’s US-listed shares and Milan-listed shares were each down 14 percent on the news.

The EPA will announce the findings at an 11:00 am ET conference call. It comes amid rising scrutiny by EPA of automaker emissions after Volkswagen AG admitted to cheating diesel emissions tests in 580,000 US vehicles. The EPA has for months declined to certify Fiat Chrysler’s 2017 diesel vehicles for sale in the United States, but the automaker has continued to sell 2016 diesel models. (RTRS)

bottomline Wall Street falls sharply; dollar

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s Union National Bank (UNB) said on Thursday an initial public offer for its new Islamic insurer joint venture Orient UNB Takaful, was more than 13 times oversubscribed. The IPO is set to be the first in the United Arab Emirates since 2015. UNB announced last November it was setting up the insurance venture with Orient Insurance Company, with the pair holding a 70 percent stake and the remaining 30 percent to be offered through an IPO. The shares were priced at 100 dirham ($27.23) each, plus 1 dirham as issuing expenses, UNB said. The IPO subscription was open from Nov. 29 until Dec 15, 2016, it added. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ DUBAI: National Bank of Oman (NBO), the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, posted on Thursday a 19.9 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations. The lender made a profit of 13.68 million rials ($35.5 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, Reuters calculated based on previous financial statements in lieu of a quarterly breakdown. This was down from 17.07 million rials in the same period of 2015.(RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros and Sony have increased their investments in Hooq, a South East Asian video streaming platform. Hooq is raising a total of $25 million of additional capital. The two studios are minority partners in the two-year old venture, which is predominantly owned by Singtel, Singapore’s dominant phone company. The news emerged in a regulatory filing by Singtel. The filing shows that Hooq raised an initial $70 million and that the new funding round lifts that to $95 million. Singtel will continue to hold 65% of the venture, while Warner Bros. and Sony’s AXN each hold unchanged stakes of 17.5%. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ NEW YORK: CVS is now selling a rival generic version of Mylan’s EpiPen at about a sixth of its price, just months after the maker of the emergency allergy treatment was eviscerated before Congress because of its soaring cost to consumers. The drugstore chain says it will charge $109.99 for a two-pack of the authorized generic version of Adrenaclick, a lesser-known treatment compared to EpiPen, which can cost more than $600. CVS Health Corp., the nation’s second-largest drugstore chain, says it cut the price of the generic version of Adrenaclick nearly in half. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ MONTREAL: The Canadian branch of US online retailer Amazon will pay Can$1.1 million ($836,967) over allegedly misleading pricing on its website, the government said Wednesday. The Competition Bureau, after a months-long investigation of Amazon pricing practices between May 2014 and May 2016, concluded that the company’s common practice of comparing its prices to a regular price, or “list price,” suggesting savings for consumers, was misleading.(AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco reported its best quarter of UK underlying sales growth for over five years and more growth over Christmas, continuing a major recovery in its for-

tunes, though it cautioned it would not be immune to inflationary pressures. Tesco, which like rivals has been battling the rise of German discounters Aldi and Lidl and has also had to deal with the fallout from an accounting scandal in 2014, said on Thursday progress across the group meant it could reiterate forecasts for its 2016-17 financial year. Tesco said it was on track to deliver a group operating profit before exceptional items of “at least” 1.2 billion pounds ($1.47 billion) in 2016-17, up from 944 million in 2015-16. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: Marks & Spencer (M&S) soundly beat forecasts for Christmas trading with its first quarterly rise in clothing and homeware sales in nearly two years, delivering a welcome boost for new boss Steve Rowe. After taking the helm in April, Rowe instigated the latest in a long line of M&S recovery strategies, focusing on turning around the underperforming clothing and homewares business, and was rewarded on Thursday with an unexpected 2.3 percent jump in the division’s like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to Dec 31. That beat market expectations of a slender rise of up to 0.2 percent, while food sales also beat forecasts. Food was up 0.6 percent, against predictions of a slight fall. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ LONDON: British staffing company Hays reported a rise in quarterly net fees as growth in continental Europe and Asia offset tough conditions in Britain where firms remained cautious as the country prepares to exit the European Union. The company, which places workers in areas such as finance and IT, said second-quarter group net fees at constant currencies rose 2 percent in the three months to Dec 31. Net fees from its UK and Ireland operations, which account for about a quarter of Hays’ gross profit, fell 10 percent, but remained stable over the preceding quarter, Hays said in its trading update. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑

LONDON: Baby goods retailer Mothercare Plc said third-quarter sales in the UK returned to growth, helped by a rise in online orders. The company, which has been trying to revive its British business that has come under pressure from tough competition, said total sales in the UK for the 13 weeks to Jan 7 rose 0.6 percent, with online sales rising 5.5 percent. Sales at UK stores open over a year rose 1 percent during the quarter and online sales now represent about 40 percent of its total UK sales, the company said. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ ROME: Shareholders at Italian bank UniCredit, which is undergoing a major strategic review, on Thursday voted in favour of plans to raise billions of euros to strengthen the struggling lender’s capital base. The move comes after a nightmare year for Italy’s banking sector, notably for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS), the world’s oldest bank, which is set to be nationalised after a failed recapitalisation bid in December. UniCredit itself, Italy’s biggest bank, saw its share price nearly halved last year although it managed to claw back 25 percent of its value over the past three months, particularly after the unveiling of a new strategic plan in December. (AFP)

drops as Trump optimism wanes Oil gains on OPEC output cuts; gold jumps NEW YORK, Jan 12, (Agencies): Wall Street stocks fell nearly 1 percent and the US dollar dropped to a fiveweek low on Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump’s eagerly awaited news briefing the previous day ignored his fiscal policies, which are expected to boost the economy. Investors were hoping for commentary on the new administration’s plans for fiscal stimulus and tax cuts. Instead, Trump remarked on a broad range of topics such as the Mexican wall, allegations of Russian hacking and his business interests but left out what investors wanted to hear about – fiscal spending. “The lack of focus in Mr. Trump’s first press conference since winning the election fanned worries about the president-elect’s willingness or ability to drive a pro-growth agenda once in office,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst, at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 157.13 points, or 0.79 percent, at 19,797.15, the S&P 500 fell 16.5 points, or 0.725173 percent, to 2,258.82 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 53.70 points, or 0.97 percent, to 5,509.95. The dollar, meanwhile, hit a fiveweek trough against a basket of major currencies and was on track for its worst week since November. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, last traded down 0.7 percent at 101.04. The dollar slid to a five-week low versus the yen and last traded down 1.3 percent at 113.91 yen. Trump did not mention tariffs against Chinese exports, a relief for Asian markets fearing the outbreak of a global trade war. But there was more pain for the dollar as the euro drove higher on ECB minutes showing a split over stimulus. The President-elect’s lack of policy detail also put safety plays such as bonds and gold back in favor. and the retreating dollar brought relief for Brexit-bruised sterling and Turkey’s lira. European shares also fell, bucking gains in Asia overnight and weighed down by a 2 percent slump in healthcare stocks after Trump had said pharmaceutical firms had been “getting away with murder” with their prices. In commodity markets, oil was higher, bolstered by news that Saudi Arabia has cut oil output to its lowest in almost two years, according to its energy minister. The world’s largest oil exporter leads OPEC’s drive to eradicate a global glut and prop up prices. US crude was trading up 1.4 percent at $52.97 and Brent crude was up 88 cents

at $55.98 a barrel, following gains of nearly 3 percent on Wednesday. The weaker dollar also helped metals markets. Gold rose to a seven-week high just shy of $1,200 per ounce while London copper traded up almost 2 percent after electronic trading there was delayed by a five-hour outage. The recently weak Chinese yuan also firmed 0.6 percent.

US The S&P 500 and the Dow were set for their worst day since October as the lack of details on economic policy in Donald Trump’s speech took the wind out of a record-setting post-election rally. The losses were broad-based. All of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the technology, financial and industrial sectors all down 1 percent or more. In his first news conference since election, Trump on Wednesday gave no details on tax cuts or infrastructure spending. He instead lashed out at US spy agencies and media houses over what he called a ‘phony’ Russia dossier. Trump also blasted pharmaceutical companies over high drug prices, causing health stocks to snap a six-day winning streak and a wobble on Wall Street. At 11:06 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 177.03 points, or 0.89 percent, at 19,777.25 and the S&P 500 was down 20.34 points, or 0.89 percent, at 2,254.98. The Nasdaq Composite was down 65.74 points, or 1.18 percent, at 5,497.91, set for its biggest one-day drop since Dec. 1. The CBOE Volatility Index or Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, ticked up 11.6 percent, the most since the US election. The dollar was at a one-month low, while gold rose to its highest since late November. The financial index tumbled 1.5 percent, set for its worst day since Sept. 29. The decline comes one day before a trio of big banks report results, kicking off the fourth-quarter earnings season. Merck, one of the few health stocks that avoided Wednesday’s carnage, gained 2.1 percent after multiple broker upgrades. The drugmaker’s fellow Dow component Disney Co was off 1.7 percent at $107.62 after Pivotal cut its rating on the stock to ‘sell’. Microsoft fell 1.8 percent and Apple dropped 1.2, making them the biggest drags on the S&P and the Nasdaq. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,080 to 728. On the Nasdaq, 2,157 issues fell and 527 advanced. The S&P 500 index showed six new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 16 new lows.

Europe World stock markets retreated Thursday and the dollar sank, amid investor disappointment over a lack of policy detail from United States

President-elect Donald Trump and allegations of emissions cheating at Fiat Chrysler. Fiat Chrysler shares, listed in both Milan and New York, skidded sharply lower after US authorities accused it of cheating emissions tests on diesel trucks and SUVs. On Wall Street, Fiat Chrysler’s stock fell 14.5 percent shortly before 1655 GMT.In Milan, they closed 16.1 percent lower. US stocks had already been heading south by mid-morning after a press conference by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, his first since the summer, failed to deliver policy specifics on anticipated economic stimulus. All was not lost, though, the expert said. Nevertheless, Chris Beauchamp at traders IG was more sceptical. Key figures around 1655 GMT ■ New York - Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 19,786.03 points London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,292.37 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1.1 percent at 11,521.04 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 4,863.97 (close) EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,286.70 (close)

Asia Tokyo tumbled more than one percent Thursday, while the dollar sank as investors were left deflated by a lack of economic detail from Donald Trump at his first post-election press conference. Traders had hoped the real estate tycoon would flesh out some of his campaign promises such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending, but he gave very little away, fuelling uncertainty about his aspiration to boost the US economy. However, he did lash out at drugs companies for “getting away with murder” in offshoring production and overcharging, which in turn hammered the pharma sector across markets. Trump also announced a plan to hand control of his business to his adult sons in a bid to avoid conflicts of interest, and angrily dismissed questions about his relationship with Russia and unsubstantiated claims Moscow has compromising information on him. The disappointment saw traders shift out of the dollar towards the yen, which in turn dragged on Tokyo’s Nikkei. By the end of the day the index was down 1.2 percent. The dollar bought 114.40 yen. The greenback has tumbled from highs around 118.60 yen touched in the wake of Trump’s election win, which had fuelled hopes of a big-spending, tax-cutting programme to boost the economy and in turn fan inflation that would lead to interest rate hikes. The dollar also retreated against the euro and pound as well as emerging market currencies with the Australian dollar up 1.3 percent and South Korean won one percent higher.

Hong Kong fell 0.5 percent following a five-day rally, while Shanghai closed 0.6 percent lower. Sydney slipped 0.1 percent. However, Seoul added 0.6 percent while Singapore also chalked up gains. In early European trade London fell 0.2 percent, Paris shed 0.3 percent and Frankfurt retreated 0.4 percent. Pharmaceutical firms took a battering after Trump’s comments, in which he also said he would push to change the bidding procedures for drugs. In Tokyo, Takeda dropped 2.61 percent and rival Astellas tumbled 4.19 percent, while Daiichi Sankyo eased 1.2 percent. In Sydney, Mayne shed more than four percent and CSL lost 2.8 percent, while ScinoPharm was off almost one percent in Taipei. The losses mirrored a sell-off in bigname firms in the US including BristolMyers Squibb and Pfizer. Key figures around 0800 GMT ■ Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,134.70 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,119.29 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.5 percent at 22,829.02 (close)

Oil Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel on Thursday on news that key OPEC members were cutting production as promised and on forecasts of strong demand growth in China. Brent crude oil rose $1.33 a barrel to a high of $56.43 before easing slightly to trade around $56.20 by 1445 GMT. US light crude was up $1.05 a barrel at $53.30. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in November to cut production to try to reduce a supply glut that has depressed prices for more than two years. Several OPEC members appear to be implementing the deal. “All the focus is now on OPEC compliance, which seems to be moving ahead as planned,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Markets in Oslo. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid alFalih said on Thursday the kingdom had cut production to its lowest in almost two years, a move that would help accelerate a rebalancing of the global oil market.

Gold Gold surged above $1,200 an ounce to its highest in seven weeks on Thursday as the dollar fell following US President-elect Donald Trump’s longawaited news briefing the day before. But analysts warned that gold’s revival since mid-December may be running out of steam as the dollar was likely to rebound once Trump moves ahead with his economic plans. Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,205.02 per ounce by 1515 GMT, after touching $1,206.98, its loftiest since Nov. 23. US gold futures rose 0.7 percent to $1,205.00 per ounce.

exchange rates – Jan 12 US dollar Buy Sell Sell Muzaini Sell Dollarco Commercial Bank Buy Sell Buy Gulf Bank Sell Buy NBK Sell Buy Burgan Bank Sell Buy ABK Sell Buy KFH Sell Sell KBE

Cash .302200 .306600 .305100 .306750 .301000 .307250 .304900 .307000 — — — — .302400 .308500 .303190 .308720 —

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

Cash .040530 .045530 — — — — .043920 .045260 — — — — — — — — —

BEC

Draft .303950 .306300 .306300 .305950 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304650 .307000 .306700

Transfer .303950 .306300 .306300 .305950 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304900 .307000 .304650 .307000 .306700

Danish krone BEC

Draft .040529 .045529 — — .044221 .044749 .043920 .045260 .044130 .045080 .043536 .045929 .045630 .046850 .044029 .044901 —

Transfer .040529 .045529 — — .044221 .044749 .043920 .045260 .044130 .045080 .043536 .045929 .045630 .046850 .044029 .044901 —

Cyprus pound BEC Muzaini Dollarco Gulf Bank ABK KFH KBE

Buy Sell Sell Sell Buy Sell Buy Sell Buy Sell Sell

Cash Draft Transfer — — — — — — — — — .695000 .167849 .167849 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

travellers cheques BEC Commercial Bank Gulf Bank Al-Ahli Bank

Sterling pound Cash .366817 .376817 — .376500 .374000 .380000 .370000 .377470 — — — — .368170 .378220 .371044 .382226 —

Draft .365816 .375416 .376140 .374925 .374295 .376873 .370000 .377470 .375000 .378960 .373502 .376228 .371450 .376070 .373288 .379329 .381500

Transfer .365816 .375416 .376140 .374925 .374295 .376873 .370000 .377470 .375000 .378960 .373502 .376228 .371450 .376070 .373288 .379329 .381500

Euro Cash .318844 .327844 — .328500 .324000 .329000 .321270 .327800 — — — — .319640 .328710 .321018 .331226 —

Indian rupee Cash .000030 .004184 — .004500 .004000 .006500 — .004660 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .004461 .004537 .004484 .004478 — .004547 — .004660 .004470 .004650 .004399 .004667 .004518 .004624 .004492 .004632 .004594 Draft .001364 .001464 .001229 — — — — — .001199 .001229 .001550

US dollar .3063000 .3070000 .3070000 .3070000

Japanese yen Transfer .318844 .325944 .327130 .325885 .324063 .326295 .321270 .327800 .324660 .328280 .324123 .326509 .322490 .326840 .323020 .328613 .329500

Pakistani rupee

Transfer .004461 .004537 .004484 .004478 — .004547 — .004660 .004470 .004650 .004399 .004667 .004518 .004624 .004492 .004632 .004594

Cash .002697 .002987 — .003100 — — — .002960 — — — — — — — — —

Yemeni riyal Cash .001374 .001454 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .318844 .325944 .327130 .325885 .324063 .326295 .321270 .327800 .324660 .328280 .324123 .326509 .322490 .326840 .323020 .328613 .329500

Draft .002869 .002901 .002918 .002916 — .002923 — .002960 — .002950 .002829 .003003 — .002986 .002868 .002934 .002901

Transfer .002869 .002901 .002918 .002916 — .002923 — .002960 — .002950 .002829 .003003 — .002986 .002868 .002934 .002901

Thai baht

Transfer .001364 .001464 .001229 — — — — — .001199 .001229 .001550

Cash .008291 .008841 — .009000 — — — — — — —

Sterling .3754167 .3768730 .3774700 .3760700

Draft .008230 .008645 .008601 .009555 — — – — .008485 .008803 —

Transfer .008230 .008645 .008601 .009555 — — — – .008485 .008803 —

Euro .3259443 .3262950 .3278000 .3268400

Cash .002734 .002914 — .003500 — — .002810 .002890 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .002734 .002914 .002697 .003650 .002837 .002871 .002810 .002890 .002863 .002895 .002792 .002946 .002665 .002724 .002776 .002933 —

Transfer .002734 .002914 .002697 .003650 .002837 .002871 .002810 .002890 .002863 .002895 .002792 .002946 .002665 .002724 .002776 .002933 —

Sri Lanka rupee Cash .001651 .002231 — .002300 .002000 .003500 — .002090 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .002020 .002062 .002062 .002060 — .002065 — .002090 .002010 .002080 .002044 .002066 — .002180 .002033 .002078 .002057

Transfer .002020 .002062 .002062 .002060 — .002065 — .002090 .002010 .002080 .002044 .002066 — .002180 .002033 .002078 .002057

Swiss franc Cash .301657 .312657 — .307000 .306000 .315000 .308020 .317690 — — — — — — — — —

Transfer .302657 .309657 .302970 .302505 .306109 .308233 .308020 .317690 .307200 .310750 .307446 .309736 .299060 .306710 .305609 .311255 —

Bangladesh taka Cash .003383 .003967 — .003950 — — — .003940 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .003827 .003871 .003853 .003881 — .003897 — .003940 — — .003838 .003894 — — .003802 .003914 .003873

Transfer .003827 .003871 .003853 .003881 — .003897 — .003940 — — .003838 .003894 — — .003802 .003914 .003873

Korean won

South African rand Cash Draft Transfer .016426 — — .024926 — — — — — — — — — — — .022540 .022540 .022540 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Draft .302657 .309657 .302970 .302505 .306109 .308233 .308020 .317690 .307200 .310750 .307446 .309736 .299060 .306710 .305609 .311255 —

Cash .000255 .000270 — — — — — — — — —

local gold BEC Muzaini Exchange

Draft — — — — — — — — — — —

Transfer — — — — — — — — — — —

Gold 999 kg — 11,923.390

Canadian dollar Cash .221161 .230161 — .231000 .224000 .235000 .222680 .229520 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .219161 .229161 .230510 .228850 .225454 .227019 .222680 .229520 .225290 .227610 .225799 .227450 .227880 .232590 .224967 .228483 —

Transfer .219161 .229161 .230510 .228850 .225454 .227019 .222680 .229520 .225290 .227610 .225799 .227450 .227880 .232590 .224967 .228483 —

Philippine peso Cash .006142 .006442 — .006750 .005000 .007900 — .006370 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .005800 .006267 .006156 .006145 — .006315 — .006370 .006090 .006260 .006239 .006321 — .007013 .006148 .006328 .006211

Transfer .005800 .006267 .006156 .006145 — .006315 — .006370 .006090 .006260 .006239 .006321 .007013 .006148 .006328 .006211

Swedish krona Cash .029458 .034458 — — — — .033320 .034340 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .001285 .001505 .002182 .002431 — — — — — — —

Gold 999 10 tola — 1,410.410

Transfer .001285 .001505 .002182 .002431 — — — — — — —

Transfer .029458 .034458 — — .033372 .033603 .033320 .034340 .033320 .033630 .033837 .034084 .329400 .336100 .033368 .033799 —

Australian dollar Cash .224322 .236322 — — .229000 .235000 .230110 .234790 — — — — — — — — —

Syrian pound Cash .001286 .001506 — .000980 — — — — — — —

Draft .029458 .034458 — — .033372 .033603 .033320 .034340 .033320 .033630 .033837 .034084 .329400 .336100 .033368 .033799 —

Draft .222322 .235322 — — .228750 .231477 .230110 .234790 .232450 .235440 .228040 .229778 .227640 .230680 .231898 .235376 —

Transfer .222322 .235322 — — .228750 .231477 .230110 .234790 .232450 .235440 .228040 .229778 .227640 .230680 .231898 .235376 —

Iranian Riyal Cash .000084 .000085 — — — — — — — — —

Gold ounce — 381.310

Draft — — — — — — — — — — —

Transfer — — — — — — — — — — —

Gold gm 22k — 10.940

Saudi riyal Cash .079993 .081293 — .081500 .077000 .083000 .080170 .081890 — — — — .079910 .082420 .080090 .081861 —

Draft .080493 .081133 .081654 .082435 .080741 .081301 .080170 .081890 .080610 .081310 .080340 .081115 .080620 .081950 .080518 .081369

Transfer .080493 .081133 .081654 .082435 .080741 .081301 .080170 .081890 .080610 .081310 .080340 .081115 .080620 .081950 .080518 .081369

Hong Kong dollar Cash .037033 .039783 — — — — .038790 .039570 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .036532 .039632 .039456 — .038936 .039400 .038790 .039570 — — — — .038840 .039300 — — —

Transfer .036532 .039632 .039456 — .038936 .039400 .038790 .039570 — — — — .038840 .039300 — — —

Lebanese pound Cash .000147 .000247 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .000181 .000201 .002040 — — — — — .000197 .000206 —

Gold gm 21k — 10.440

Transfer .000181 .000201 .002040 — — — — — .000197 .000206 —

UAE dirham Cash .081357 .083057 — .084000 .082149 .082975 .081890 .083600 — — — — .082677 .083508 .081786 .083591 —

Draft .081300 .082750 .083356 .083610 .082421 .082993 .081890 .083600 .082340 .083030 .082054 .082850 .082370 .083740 .082223 .083088 .082810

Transfer .081300 .082750 .083356 .083610 .082421 .082993 .081890 .083600 .082340 .083030 .082054 .082850 .082370 .083740 .082223 .083088 .082810

Singapore dollar Cash .213951 .223951 — — — — .214770 .221340 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .214951 .220951 .215040 — .216649 .219232 .214770 .221340 .216640 .219340 .218767 .220417 .218470 .221070 .216405 .219743 —

Transfer .214951 .220951 .215040 — .216649 .219232 .214770 .221340 .216640 .219340 .218767 .220417 .218470 .221070 .216405 .219743 —

Malaysian ringgit Cash .068677 .074677 — .076000 — — — — — — —

Gold gm 18k — 8.950

Draft .067416 .074416 .068841 .069290 — — — — .070853 .071672 —

Transfer .067416 .074416 .068841 .069290 — — — — .070853 .071672 —

100 gm 999 — —

Bahraini dinar Cash .799929 .808429 — .812000 .800355 .808399 .797750 .814380 — — — — — — .794037 .816600 —

Draft .799428 .807928 .813070 .810255 .803169 .808742 .797750 .814380 .801620 .808570 .799406 .807107 .793620 .810850 .801697 .808785 .806500

Transfer .799428 .807928 .813070 .810255 .803169 .808742 .797750 .814380 .801620 .808570 .799406 .807107 .793620 .810850 .801697 .808785 .806500

Jordanian dinar Cash .423775 .432775 — .428000 .420000 .434000 — .435960 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .422147 .429647 .431200 .432270 — .432199 — .435960 .424370 .431750 .424741 .428904 .424750 .431970 .424743 .429924 —

Transfer .422147 .429647 .431200 .432270 — .432199 — .435960 .424370 .431750 .424741 .428904 .424750 .431970 .424743 .429924 —

Indonesian rupiah Cash .000019 .000025 — — — .000020 — — — — —

Draft .000018 .000025 — — — .000020 — — — — .002377

10 gm 999 — 126.060

Transfer .000018 .000025 — — — .000020 — — — — .002377

Omani riyal Cash .783320 .789000 — — .784615 .792501 .781220 .797480 — — — — — — .777623 .799556 —

Draft .777819 .788819 .795218 — .786308 .791764 .781220 .797480 .785390 .791970 .782777 .790274 .780080 .792930 .785047 .791970 —

Transfer .777819 .788819 .795218 — .786308 .791764 .781220 .797480 .785390 .791970 .782777 .790274 .780080 .792930 .785047 .791970 —

Egyptian pound Cash .017442 .024695 .023900 .023000 .016000 .024000 — .034920 — — — — — — — — —

Draft .021482 .022251 .017300 .017414 — .034598 — .034920 .033890 .034430 .033796 .034417 — .035740 .017393 .017702 .017995

Transfer .021482 .022251 .017300 .017414 — .034598 — .034920 .033890 .034430 .033796 .034417 — .035740 .017393 .017702 .017995

New Zealand dollar Cash .215304 .224804 — — .215310 .219690 — — — — —

Draft .213304 .224304 — — .215310 .219690 .219260 .226540 — — —

Transfer .213304 .224304 — — .215310 .219690 .219260 .226540 — — —

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

37

Worries that militants have melted into civilians

In Mosul areas retaken from IS, loss and fear linger MOSUL, Iraq, Jan 12, (RTRS): Iraqi soldiers kicked in the gate of a home in eastern Mosul and emerged moments later with two young men whose hands they bound with plastic ties and dragged off towards black Humvees. The men, at least one suspected of belonging to Islamic State, denied ties to the militants who had been pushed out of the neighbourhood a few days earlier. They were pale with fear as they knelt on the ground. Neighbours gathered around, most staring intently but saying nothing. One reaffirmed the accusations and

US soldier Continued from Page 1 public hospital in southern Kuwait but was pronounced dead on arrival. Several thousand American soldiers are stationed at Camp Arifjan, a military base about 70 kms (43 miles) south of Kuwait City.

Defense pick

another called one of the men’s brothers “a dog and the son of a dog”. The soldiers loaded the suspects into their vehicles and drove off. Moments earlier and just a few doors down, a middle-aged widower with a wrinkled face had pleaded with the soldiers’ commander to avenge Islamic State’s alleged murder of his brother, wife and son. “Save us from them, save us from these disbelievers!” he shrieked, waving an Islamic State execution order. The black-clad general listened calmly before embracing the man, who began

to weep on his shoulder. These types of episodes are playing out regularly in the increasing number of areas in eastern Mosul where Iraqi forces have pushed out Islamic State in a threemonth, US-backed offensive to retake the militants’ largest urban stronghold. For ordinary residents, a mix of emotions often accompanies the advance, which has picked up pace since the start of the year. There is often initial relief at the clashes moving past their doorsteps and gratitude to the Iraqi soldiers, whom they ply with sweetened tea and kisses.

The trauma accumulated over 2-1/2 years of the jihadists’ repressive rule also often pours out unprompted loved ones brutally murdered, homes looted and destroyed, livelihoods decimated, dreams extinguished. Some people are unafraid to air their grievances or finger their transgressors, but others are more cautious, fearful that Islamic State supporters remain at large and are watching. While hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fighters have been killed in the Mosul battle, residents and security officials fear some have simply shaved

their beards and melted back into the civilian population. Asked by a Reuters reporter about the two young men detained from their home on Wednesday, an elderly neighbour pleaded ignorance and retreated swiftly into his home. The Mosul campaign, involving a 100,000-strong ground force of Iraqi troops, members of the autonomous Kurdish security forces and mainly Shi’ite militiamen, is the most complex battle in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. With much of the eastern half of the

city now under government control, most residents have stayed in their homes or moved in temporarily with relatives in other neighbourhoods. That has complicated the task of the military, which must fight among civilians in built-up areas against an enemy that has targeted non-combatants and hidden among them. Commanders from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), which has spearheaded the offensive, regularly stop during visits to recently recaptured areas to speak with residents, many of whom know them by name.

Turkey bogged down in Syria as it realigns toward Russia

plies,” he said. De Mistura said he understood that the United Nations would be invited for talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Jan 23, being organised by Russia and Turkey. That meeting was aimed at deepening the cessation of hostilities and forming “some type of political broad lines,” which could contribute to Geneva peace talks he has convened around Feb 8, de Mistura said. But there had been no formal invitations or confirmed dates for Astana. Syrian government air strikes killed at least six civilians, including four children, in Aleppo province on Thursday, despite a fragile two-week-old truce, a monitor said. In neighbouring Idlib province, at least 22 jihadists were killed in air strikes over the past 24 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Some were carried out by government aircraft, others by aircraft of the US-led coalition, the Britain-based monitoring group said. The civilians were killed early on Thursday when a government air strike hit a house in the village of Babka in the west of Aleppo province. It said the death toll could rise because a number of the wounded were in serious condition.

Capturing al-Bab essential to Ankara’s goal in Syria

Continued from Page 1 remain open to working with Russia, Mattis said, the prospects for cooperation are narrowing. The context was clear. As Mattis spoke, Trump’s choice to run the CIA, Rep Mike Pompeo of Kansas, sided with intelligence officials who claim the Kremlin was behind the election cyberattacks, adopting a similarly tough stand against Russia. Ties between the former Cold War foes also have been strained by Syria’s civil war. Mattis appeared to be cruising toward confirmation. He faced no hostile questions from Republicans or Democrats, receiving bipartisan praise for his reputation as a straight-talking, well-read man of integrity and intelligence. “How about Mr Secretary?” Rep Lindsey Graham, R-SC, asked him half-jokingly. William Cohen, a defense secretary for Democratic President Bill Clinton, introduced Mattis as a “humble man with very little to be humble about.” “He’s a man of thought as well as action,” Cohen said. Mattis said the world order was under “the biggest attack since World War II,” blaming Russia, China and international terrorist organizations for its destabilization. Asked by Sen John McCain, the Armed Services Committee’s Republican chairman, if the US military was ready to confront these challenges, Mattis replied: “No, sir.” On cyberattacks, Mattis noted that wars often are started by miscalculation. He said the US needs to set clear boundaries so that adversaries know what the US will not tolerate. A former top commander of US forces in the Middle East, Mattis said he believes Washington must “restore a better relationship” with Israel and Arab partners. Still, he declined to embrace the common Republican assertion that President Barack Obama allowed Israel’s military edge over its regional foes to erode. In prepared testimony, Mattis said he understands his role as the Defense Department’s civilian leader would be different “in essence and in substance” from his four decades in uniform. “The esprit de corps of our military, its can-do spirit and its obedience to civilian leadership reduces the inclination and power of the military to criticize or oppose the policy it is ultimately ordered to implement,” Mattis said. He called civilian control “a fundamental tenet of the American military tradition.” Mattis, 66, retired in 2013 after serving as commander of US Central Command in charge of all US forces in the Middle East.

First-degree Continued from Page 1 Also: KUWAIT CITY: The Council of Ministers has instructed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah to issue the e-passports to any category of citizens without the need to undergo the DNA test, reports Al-Rai daily quoting security sources. However, the Cabinet said it is up to the Ministry of Interior to determine the timing of the issuance of the passport because of the need to put in place the mechanism which is expected to be after the National Day holidays in February. The sources pointed out the Ministry of Interior has received until date nearly 200,000 blank passport forms and is in the process of receiving the third batch next March which will be followed by other batches next May and August. As for the DNA, the sources said the committee which was formed by the Cabinet to discuss and determine the cases that will be subjected to the DNA test will continue to work until it determines the categories and then decide the mechanism of DNA testing away from the project of e-Passport.

US eyes Continued from Page 1 Companies say they use them to recruit top talent. But a majority of the visas are awarded to outsourcing firms, sparking criticism by skeptics that say those firms use the visas to fill lowerlevel information technology jobs. Critics also say the lottery system ben-

BEIRUT, Jan 12, (AP): Nearly two months into the assault, Turkey has become bogged down in an unexpectedly bloody fight to retake the Islamic State group’s last stronghold in northern Syria. It has been forced to pour in troops, take the lead in the battle from its Syrian allies and reach out to Russia for aerial support. The fight for al-Bab underscores the precarious path Ankara is treading with its foray in to Syria, aimed against both IS militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters. The assault on the town had already driven a wedge between Turkey and the United States, and now the realignment toward Moscow — which supports the government in Syria’s civil war — further tests Ankara’s alliance both with Washington and with the Syrian opposition. The battle itself has proven grueling. Nearly 50 Turkish soldiers have been killed in its Syria operation, most of them since the al-Bab assault began in mid-November — including 14 killed in a single day. The militants have dug in, surrounding the town with trenches, lining streets with land mines and carrying out painful ambushes and car bombings against the besieging forces. Each time Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have thrust into the city, they’ve been driven out. More than 200 civilians are believed to have been killed since the attack began Nov. 13. Mud and cold rain have only made it more of a slog. “The battle for al-Bab has been mostly about killing civilians and destroying the city, whether by DAESH or the Turks,” said Mustafa Sultan, a resident of al-Bab and a media activist who has been covering the fight. He used the Arabic acronym for IS. “The town is almost half destroyed. DAESH takes cover in hospitals, schools and these end up getting targeted,” he said. The Turkish military says it takes great care not to harm civilians, halting operations that could endanger non-combatants. Capturing al-Bab is essential to Ankara’s goals in Syria. Turkey, which for years supported the Syrian opposition drive to oust President Bashar Assad, has recalibrated its priorities toward fighting Islamic State militants who turned their terror against the Turkish state and thwarting efits outsourcing firms that flood the system with mass applications. The H-1B visa program tends to be more critical to outsourcing firms than US tech firms. For instance, more than 60 percent of the US employees of Indian outsourcing firm Infosys are H-1B holders, and the company in its annual report has cited an increase in visa costs as among factors that could hurt its profitability. The top 10 recipients of H-1B visas in 2015 were all outsourcing firms, according to government data compiled by the IEEE-USA, a professional organization representing US engineers. Sixty-five percent of H-1B petitions approved in the 2014 fiscal year went to tech workers, mostly from India, according to USCIS. In several high-profile cases, American workers were asked to train H-1B holders to do their jobs before being laid off themselves. The idea advanced by Miller in the tech meeting has also been pushed by the IEEE-USA. Miller previously served as a staffer for Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, who has been an outspoken critic of abuses of the H-1B program. Trump, who has applied for H-1B visas to bring in foreign workers to his own businesses sent mixed messages about the program on the campaign trail. He assailed it for taking jobs from US workers, but during a Republican debate last March said he was “softening” his position “because we have to have talented people in this country.” He later issued a statement on his website saying he would “end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program.” Trump businesses, like Trump National Golf Club and Trump

Newswatch Continued from Page 1

This image made from militant video posted online by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group on Jan 9, purports to show the moment of a Turkish missile strike, in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, in Aleppo province, Syria. Nearly two months into the assault, Turkey has become bogged down in

an unexpectedly bloody fight to retake the Islamic State group’s last stronghold in northern Syria. It has been forced to pour in troops, take the lead in the battle from its Syrian allies and reach out to Russia for aerial support — a move that tests its alliance with the United States and the Syrian opposition. (AP)

No supplier named

‘Iran to buy 130 tonnes of uranium’ TEHRAN, Jan 12, (AFP): Iran has received authorisation from world powers to import 130 tonnes of natural uranium, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Thursday. He said the green light was given by the joint commission overseeing the nuclear deal which Iran struck in 2015 with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. “They have accepted our request to purchase 130 tonnes of (natural) uranium,” Kamalvandi told state television, without naming the supplier. According to Kamalvandi, Iran has already imported 220 tonnes of uranium since the nuclear deal went into effect in January 2016. This and the additional 130

tonnes would provide Iran with “good reserves” for its nuclear programme. But Iran will need bigger stockpiles of uranium to raise its nuclear programme to “industrial” levels and exploration for new uranium mines is underway across the country, he said. Iran and major world powers held talks in Vienna on Tuesday to take stock of the 2015 accord, ahead of next week’s inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. Trump has vowed to “dismantle” the “disastrous” accord, which saw Iran reduce its atomic activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and has so far met its obligations under the deal.

Kamalvandi denied media reports suggesting that Iran had agreed to reduce its stockpile of uranium enriched to less than 300 kilogrammes. An agreement has been reached between Iran and the major world powers on how to calculate Tehran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium, he said. Under this agreement, he said, “it is out of the question for our stockpiles to be under 300 kilogrammes”. The nuclear deal stipulates that there will be no uranium enriched above 3.6 percent and that the stockpile will be capped at 300 kilogrammes. Before the agreement, Iran enriched uranium to nearly 20 percent.

Kurdish aspirations for autonomous rule along Syria’s border with Turkey. If al-Bab is retaken, it would break the IS presence near the border and plant a Turkish-backed presence between Kurdish-held territory to the east and west, preventing them from linking. For the US, the al-Bab assault risks causing direct confrontation between

Turkish troops and Syrian Kurdish forces, which are leading a US-backed offensive toward the de facto IS capital, Raqqa. Washington supports and relies on the Kurds in the fight against IS the past two years. Last month, Ankara protested to Washington that its NATO ally was providing no help in al-Bab. A day later, Turkey said Russia carried out three

airstrikes in the al-Bab area. In the short term, Turkey is likely to sending a message to the United States before President-elect Donald Trump takes office that it has other options if Washington keeps backing the Syrian Kurds, considered by Ankara as terrorists linked to a Kurdish faction that has carried out bombings in Turkey.

Model Management, have received permission to bring in more than two dozen foreign employees on H-1B visas since 2011, according to Department of Labor data.

Baghdad and Nineveh, where Mosul is located, it said. Reuters could not independently verify the figures. Drones Islamic State jihadists are using small commercial drones to attack Iraqi security forces in the battle for Mosul, a US commander said Wednesday. Colonel Brett Sylvia, who commands an “advise and assist” US unit in Iraq, said IS fighters are attaching small munitions to quadcopters in an attempt to kill local forces as they retake Mosul, the last major IS bastion in Iraq.

“training and tools for journalists” that will help them use live video and other ways to connect with audiences. The third element will be public education on “news literacy” and other efforts to help people determine news credibility. “We will work with third-party organizations on how to better understand and to promote news literacy both on and off our platform to help people in our community have the information they need to make decisions about which sources to trust,” Simo said.

Iraqi forces Continued from Page 1 They made gains on Thursday in southeastern districts where advances have been particularly tough. Rapid response units advanced in the Sumer district, which lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and also in neighbouring Sahiroun, according to a military statement. Forces have pressed forward much more slowly in that area than troops in the east and northeast which commanders blamed on the militants’ hiding among civilians and firing at those who tried to flee. The ultra-hardline group’s loss of Mosul would probably spell the end for the Iraqi side of its self-styled caliphate, which it declared after sweeping through parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, though militants will likely still be able to wage an insurgency in both countries and plan attacks on the West. Iraq Body Count (IBC), a group run by academics and peace activists that has been counting violent deaths in the country since 2003, estimated that more than 16,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2016, down about 1,000 from the year before. Around three-quarters of those identified were men, with the rest spilt evenly between women and children, IBC said in a report. More than two-thirds of the fatalities occurred in the capital province of

‘Facebook’ will Continued from Page 1 “That’s why today we’re announcing a new program to establish stronger ties between Facebook and the news industry.” Simo said the project will mean “collaborating with news organizations to develop products, learning from journalists about ways we can be a better partner, and working with publishers and educators on how we can equip people with the knowledge they need to be informed readers in the digital age.” One of the elements will involve development of “new storytelling formats” and other ways to help news partners. Part of this will include “hackathons” often used by Facebook, with developers from news organizations “to collaborate to identify opportunities and hack solutions.” A second element will include

Syria ceasefire Continued from Page 1 “These are not UN officials, these are Syrian buses with Syrian drivers. And that is not to happen because this complicates then tit-for-tat approaches,” de Mistura told reporters in Geneva after the weekly meeting of the humanitarian task force. The ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey last month was largely holding, he said But fighting was still going on in two villages in the Wadi Barada valley, the site of water pumping facilities serving more than 5 million people in Damascus. Five five other villages in the area had reached an agreement with the government, he said. Water engineers are ready to repair the damaged facility, security permitting, he said, although two attempts to do so had been blocked by armed groups. “Military activities in that area means also the potential of further damaging water pumps and water sup-

detained in the operation, which lasted for several days and saw the village blocked off by the national guard, special forces, and police. Kadyrov said several men in the village had been preparing “a series of serious crimes” and that the raid led to the seizure of weapons and explosives. Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which has extensive contacts in the region, published a list of 22 names of people detained in the area adding that total number of arrests could be dozens. (AFP) ❑ ❑ ❑

LUSAKA: A British law firm says one of its lawyers was arrested and held for hours in Zambia after meeting residents who filed complaints about alleged pollution from a copper mine. The Leigh Day firm said Thursday that lawyer Oliver Holland was in the southern African nation to meet communities who say the mine in Chingola is damaging farmland and water sources. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑ CAIRO: In an economic crisis that has led to a shortage of medicines, Egyptians are skipping trips to drug stores and instead turning to herbal remedies to treat every-day illnesses. In the Cairo working class neighbourhood of Basateen, dozens can be seen lining up outside a decades-old herbal spice shop with pyramid-shaped stacks of jars on display, filled with everything from honey and ginger to camel’s hay. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ TEHRAN: An Iranian official says a delegation will visit Saudi Arabia next month to discuss plans for this year’s hajj pilgrimage. The official IRNA news agency Wednesday quoted a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying the Feb 23 visit comes in response to an invitation from Saudi Arabia. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

CAIRO: Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir left hospital after undergoing a cardiac catheterization on Wednesday evening, state news agency SUNA said on Thursday. “The Presidency confirmed that (Al Bashir) ... has undergone an exploratory cardiac catheterization at Royal Care hospital yesterday and the results were very reassuring,” a presidency official told the news agency, adding that the president left the hospital immediately after the procedure. (RTRS) ❑ ❑ ❑ BALTIMORE: Six children were presumed dead and their mother and three siblings were injured after an early morning house fire in northeast Baltimore, a fire official said Thursday. Firefighters found heavy flames coming from all three floors of the home when they answered the call about 12:30 am Thursday, and they attacked the blaze from outside, fire department spokesman Chief Roman Clark said. (AP) ❑ ❑ ❑

WASHINGTON:

The Justice Department inspector general says he will investigate the actions of the Justice Department and FBI in the months leading up to the 2016 election, including whether department policies were followed by FBI Director James Comey. Democrats have blamed Comey’s handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, and his late-October release of a letter about the case, as a reason for her loss to Republican Donald Trump. (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

LEISURE

38

C 2012 The New York Times, distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

Scratch pad

odds ’n’ ends ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Five years ago, in a meeting room in Alaska, two dozen federal wildlife biologists joined other experts to begin formulating a recovery plan for polar bears because the animals’ primary habitat, sea ice, was melting beneath their feet in summer. The planning came with a caveat: It was beyond their control, members said, to recommend rules addressing climate warming — the main threat to the animals — because the agency that oversees polar bears, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, had no jurisdiction over greenhouse gas emissions linked to the warming. The agency on Monday released the final polar bear recovery plan, which includes provisions for tertiary threats, such as oil spills and excessive hunting. However, it does not push for any action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and bluntly acknowledges the likely outcome for polar bears. “Short of action that effectively addresses the primary cause of diminishing sea ice, it is unlikely that polar bears will be recovered,” the plan states. Jenifer Kohout, co-chair of the recovery team, said telling the story of the polar bear’s plight and the connection to climate warming is the main thrust of the plan. “In order to recover polar bears, we believe that we have to address the climate change problem over the long-term,” she said. (AP) A person walks along the beach as waves roll in at New Brighton, northwest England on Jan 11. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of wind and snow for the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (AFP)

Conceptis Sudoku

Challenger

The grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3 box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive

contract bridge By Steve Becker

DIRECTIONS: Fill each square with a number, one through nine. ■ Horizontal squares should add to totals on right. ■ Vertical squares should add to totals on bottom. ■ Diagonal squares through center should add to total in upper and lower right.

Yesterday’s solution

❑

❑

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A deluge of opposition from dozens of American Indian tribes, conservation groups and some scientists is tying up a decision on lifting protections for more than 700 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National park. Officials had planned to finalize by the end of 2016 a proposal to turn management of grizzlies over to state officials and allow limited hunting. But US Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Regional Director Michael Thabault said it could take the agency another six months to finish reviewing 650,000 public comments that have poured in on the proposal. Researchers tallied 106 Yellowstone-area grizzlies killed in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming during the past two years, often by wildlife managers following attacks on livestock and occasionally during run-ins with hunters. That’s the highest number of deaths in such a short time since the animal was listed as a threatened species in 1975. But Thabault said the death rate was sustainable given that the overall population has greatly expanded from 136 bears when protections were first imposed. (AP)

Today’s Challenge Time 14 Minutes 9 Seconds Your Working Time __ Minutes __ Seconds

Word by Word

Enemy

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The United States placed a bee on the endangered species list for the first time, after the rusty patched bumblebee’s population declined sharply due to pesticides, disease and climate change, officials said Wednesday. These once common bumblebees are now “balancing precariously on the brink of extinction,” said a statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “Abundance of the rusty patched bumble bee has plummeted by 87 percent, leaving small, scattered populations in 13 states and one province,” down from 28 states in the 1990s. The final rule listing the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered appeared in the January 11 edition of the Federal Register and takes effect on Feb 10. (AFP)

BILLINGS, Montana:

THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION.

Answer to yesterday’s puzzle

❑

MIAMI:

Adow

Better an open enemy than a false friend. Adow yojaherak be al adaa khair men sadeeq zaef.

Numbers thousand four hundred 7453 Seven fifty three Sabat alaf wa arbai maah wa thalath wa khamsoun

Sunday: Famous Hand

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

SPORTS

39

Sub Coutinho fails to spark Reds improvement

Redmond gives Southampton slim lead over Liverpool SOUTHAMPTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Nathan Redmond’s fine first-half goal gave Southampton a 1-0 win over Liverpool in their League Cup semifinal first leg at St Mary’s on Wednesday, but the tie remains in the balance after the hosts squandered a series of chances. The Saints were deserved winners

Silva nods holders PSG into last 4 of League Cup

SOCCER against a disappointing Liverpool side, who did far less with the greater share of possession. Poor finishing from Southampton, however, and a rehabilitating performance in goal by Liverpool’s Loris Karius left everything to play for in the second leg at Anfield in two weeks’ time. The Saints took the lead against a subdued Liverpool when Redmond darted onto Jay Rodriguez’s through pass to steer the ball right footed past the advancing Karius in the 20th minute. The hosts failed to add to their advantage, however, and a number of opportunities went begging, including two more for Redmond. “We were in good shape when we started (the match) but our reaction (to going behind) was not good,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “We lost our timing ... It will be a completely different game (at Anfield), tonight we weren’t good enough. It was a deserved result (for Southampton).” Only a minute before the goal Karius, who had been dropped after Liverpool’s 4-3 league defeat at Bournemouth last month, blocked a shot from Redmond with his foot. The winger then failed to convert another opportunity shortly before half-

Liverpool’s Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (right), tackles Southampton’s English midfielder James Ward-Prowse during the EFL (English Football League) Cup semifinal first-leg football match between Southampton and Liverpool at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, southern England on Jan 11. (AFP)

time with a shot from his weaker left foot that the young German goalkeeper leapt to push away. Southampton always looked the more likely to score and they were denied by the woodwork five minutes from fulltime when Redmond chipped Shane Long’s cross to the far post onto the bar before it was cleared. Early first-half pressure from Liverpool almost delivered them a goal, but Fraser Forster tipped a shot from Roberto Firmino over the bar. Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho came on for the last half hour in his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury in November but looked rusty and failed to spark the improvement Klopp had hoped for. “We were strong together and had a very good spirit,” Saints manager Claude Puel said. “It was a good performance, it

was important to win and with a clean sheet. I think Liverpool had only one chance in the first half. We were strong together in defence and kept the ball and had good counterattacks.” Manchester United beat Hull City 2-0 in the first leg of their semifinal at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Klopp admitted he was at a loss to explain his side’s lacklustre performance during a 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal “I’ve tried (to explain the performance) in three or four interviews but I cannot,” the Liverpool manager told reporters. “I’m actually not used to a reaction like this from my boys but they have to accept that tonight was not good. We did not have a lot of chances... if we had some (at all).”

PARIS, Jan 12, (Agencies): Captain Thiago Silva showed the wasteful Edinson Cavani how to do it with two crashing headers as holders Paris Saint-Germain surged into the semifinals of the French League Cup with a 2-0 win over Metz. Also into the last four are Nancy, Monaco and Bordeaux, who won their quarter-final 3-2 at home to Guingamp earlier in the evening. Home side PSG were all over Metz, struggling near the bottom of Ligue 1, from the off and should have been 2-0 ahead after a quarter of an hour. Both times it was striker Cavani who was wasteful, heading wide from near the penalty spot and then minutes later seeing his shot from point-blank range saved by the legs of goalkeeper David Oberhauser. Angel Di Maria — who has failed to really win over the fans at the Parc des Princes since his big-money move from Manchester United — was the next one guilty of profligacy, attempting to set up Cavani with a panenkastyle pass when a simple cross would have sufficed. The pressure finally told shortly before the half-hour mark when Brazilian defender Silva, a doubt coming into the quarter-final, rose to thump home a header from a Di Maria corner. Metz offered nothing as an attacking force and had just one shot on goal — a tame free kick that was easily saved — in the first half. The second half was more of the same. Cavani missed another easy header, this time from a Di Maria

piece. There was still time for Uruguayan striker Cavani to miss when he should have scored, volleying over from another Di Maria cross on 78 minutes. PSG coach Unai Emery subbed the 29-year-old Cavani two minutes later. Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery is looking to recruit a striker in the January transfer window to take some pressure off top scorer Edinson Cavani. Cavani has scored 24 goals in all

SOCCER

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian defender Maxwell (left), fights for the ball with Metz’s French forward Opa Nguette (right), during the French League Cup quarter-final football match between PSG and Metz, on Jan 11 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AFP)

clipped cross, on 50 minutes and a minute later the increasingly influential Argentine winger Di Maria had an effort cleared off the line. Di Maria was heavily involved again after the hour, his run ending up with Cavani — the top scorer in French Ligue 1 — having yet another chance saved. On 72 minutes the hosts finally sealed the game with their second — and it was Silva again with the header, this time from a bending Di Maria set

competitions this season, but the only other player scoring regularly is Brazilian winger Lucas, who has 10. Argentina winger Angel Di Maria has struggled to replicate his form from last season, and has only four in 22 games so far this season. “We are looking at a player in attack to give Cavani a breather,” Emery said after PSG’s 2-0 win against Metz in the League Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday. “The club is open to recruiting players who will improve our team and increase competition for places.” Emery added that he would be happy if PSG could sign “one or two good players” during the window. Germany winger Julian Draxler recently joined PSG from Wolfsburg and scored in a 7-0 win against Bastia in the French Cup last weekend. PSG have been linked in the British media with a move for Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez.

Barca Big Three spark Copa rally Suarez nets 100th Barcelona goal BARCELONA, Jan 12, (AFP): Lionel Messi’s third goal from a free-kick in as many games this year secured Barcelona’s place in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey as the holders beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to edge through 4-3 on aggregate

on Wednesday. Luis Suarez’s 100th Barca goal and Neymar’s penalty cancelled out Athletic’s 2-1 first leg lead, but Enric Saborit’s header six minutes into the secondhalf had the tie headed for extra time. However, just as in the first leg and in a 1-1 draw at Villarreal on Sunday, Messi rode to Barca’s rescue with another exquisite free-kick that clipped the inside of the post on its way past Gorka Iraizoz. “There is a reason why Messi is the best in the world,” Suarez told Barca TV. “He surprises you with something beautiful in every game.” Barca were under huge pressure to deliver their first win of the year as the slip-up at Villarreal left them five points adrift of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, who also have a game in hand. “It is important for our confidence. We wanted and needed a result like that,” added

SOCCER

Barcelona’s forward Neymar celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) round of 16 second leg football match FC Barcelona vs Athletic Club de Bilbao at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Jan 11. (AFP)

Payet wants to leave Hammers LONDON, Jan 12, (AFP): West Ham United playmaker Dimitri Payet has informed the club of his desire to leave and no longer wishes to play for them, manager Slaven Bilic revealed on Thursday. Payet, 29, joined West Ham from Marseille in a reported £10.7 million ($13.1 million, 12.3 million euros) deal in 2015 and had a sensational first season, scoring 12 goals and supplying 12 assists. But with West Ham lying 13th in the Premier League table and amid speculation linking him with a return to Marseille, the France international has decided he wants out. “We have said we don’t want to sell our best players, but Dimitri Payet does not want to play for us,” Bilic told a press conference. But he added: “We are not going to sell him.” Bilic has asked Payet to stay away from training and said he would not feature in Saturday’s home game with Crystal Palace. Payet signed a new five-anda-half-year contract last February and Bilic seemed annoyed by the player’s stance. “We have said hundreds of times we don’t want to sell our best players. He’s definitely our best player,” he said. “That’s why we gave him a long contract and then a new contract four months later. I phoned him with that and he refused to play for us. I have a team to manage.

Suarez. “We are calm, working hard and know that the results will come.” The build-up to the game had been dominated by talk of controversial refereeing calls in the first leg as Athletic ended the game with nine men, whilst Barca had a stonewall penalty claim waived away. And there was more controversy on 26 minutes when Neymar was wrongly flagged offside as he set up Suarez for a tap in. However, the same combination wasn’t to be denied 10 minutes before half-time when Neymar’s cross was hammered into the far corner by Suarez to bring up his Barca century. “The important thing is it contributed to us going through, which is what we wanted,” said Suarez. The former Liverpool man’s strike was also the 300th goal scored by Barca’s fearsome “MSN” forward line since he joined the club in 2014 with Messi netting 124 and Neymar 76. It was 301 just three minutes into the second-half when Neymar was chopped down by Eneko Boveda. Messi handed Neymar responsibility from the spot and the Brazilian ended a 1,023-minute drought for Barca as he sent Iraizoz the wrong way to register his first goal since Oct 19. Barca’s joy was short-lived, though, as with their first serious attack Athletic got the away goal they needed when Saborit’s downward header at the back post beat both Jasper Cillessen and Samuel Umtiti on the line. However, Messi proved the match winner 11 minutes from time as he outfoxed Iraizoz. A week after beating the Athletic ‘keeper to his right, the five-time World Player of the Year pulled his freekick in off Iraizoz’s left-hand post for his 26th goal in 23 games this season. An incredible Messi individual run by Neymar nearly sealed the tie as he hit the outside of the post moments later, but Barca held on to maintain their record of not being eliminated by anyone other than Real Madrid since 2008. “I am very satisfied,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique. “We controlled the game at every moment.” Barcelona will be joined by Real Sociedad, Alcorcon and Alaves in Friday’s draw after they also secured their place in the last eight on Wednesday.

FC Barcelona’s Luis Suarez (right), duels for the ball against Athletic Bilbao’s Benat Etxebarria during Copa del Rey, Round of 16, second leg, between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, Jan 11. (AP)

Pjanic late penalty sinks Atalanta

Juventus scrape into quarter-finals MILAN, Jan 12, (AFP): A late penalty from Miralem Pjanic saw holders Juventus scrape through to an Italian Cup quarter-final clash with either AC Milan or Torino after a nervous 3-2 win over high-flying Atalanta. Atalanta travelled to Turin looking to cause an upset as they enjoy their best season in years under Gianpiero Gasperini, who has steered the Bergamo side to within 10 points of Juve’s lead in Serie A at the halfway point. But Juventus were clinical in an impressive first-half that saw

back for Juventus on 72 minutes with a superb snap shot that beat stand-in Juve ‘keeper Norberto Neto at the far top corner of the net. Although Pjanic fired his spot-kick past Berisha and into

the roof of the net three minutes later following a foul on Stephan Lichsteiner, it was far from over. Emmanuel Latte Lath, an 18-year-old from Ivory Coast, got

SOCCER Paulo Dybala beat Etrit Berisha with a superb first-time strike in the 22nd minute from 25 yards then send Mario Mandzukic on his way to double Juve’s lead 12 minutes later. With one eye on Sunday’s trip to Fiorentina, and with Croatian starlet Mark Pjaca fully recovered from a recent injury, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri rested striker Gonzalo Higuain for the entire game. Pjaca, sidelined for the past two months, replaced Dybala on the hour but it was a nervous last half hour for the hosts. Abdoulay Konko pulled one

Juventus’ Claudio Marchisio (left), is challenged by Atalanta’s Remo Fleuer during an Italian Cup, round of 16 soccer match, at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy, Wednesday, Jan 11. (AP)

past Lichtsteiner to reach a low cross that sneaked past Rafael in the 81st minute. Atalanta should have pushed the match to extra-time but Andrea Petagna’s curler was finally contained by Neto. Remo Freuler pounced on an error by Hernanes but fired over and defender Rafael Toloi fired wide in the final minutes. Earlier, Federico Bernardeschi netted an injury-time penalty to fire Fiorentina into the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Chievo. Chievo looked to have held on for extra time at the Artemio Franchi stadium until the referee pointed to the spot after Bernardeschi was felled from behind by the away side’s Massimo Gobbi. Gobbi earned a caution and Bernardeschi stepped up to send Stefano Sorrentino the wrong way with a crisp low strike into the bottom corner to seal the win. Napoli on Tuesday sealed their place in the last eight with a 3-1 win over second division La Spezia. Inter Milan, Sassuolo, Lazio and Roma all play their last 16 ties next week against, respectively, Bologna, Cesena, Genoa and Sampdoria.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Porte scores 6 goals, 5 in 1st period for a 100 percent success rate

France open world title defence with Brazil rout PARIS, Jan 12, (AFP): France opened the defence of their world handball championships title with a crushing 3116 win over Olympic quarter-finalists Brazil on Wednesday in Paris. The hosts, bidding for a sixth world crown to add to triumphs in 1995, 2001, 2009, 2011 and 2015, had the match virtually wrapped up by half time when they were 17-7 ahead. Top scorer for France was Valentin Porte with six goals — five in the first period for a 100 percent success rate — while Jose Toledo netted five for Brazil, widely regarded as one of the sport’s emerging nations. Adrien Dipanda and Olivier Nyokas added three goals each for France in the second half. Two years ago in Doha the French ran out 25-22 final winners over Qatar but they suffered disappointment at the Rio Olympics in 2016 when they

were defeated by Denmark and missed out on a third consecutive gold. France won the world title on the last occasion the championships were held at home in 2001. Goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, one of the survivors of that run 16 years ago, enjoyed a standout performance making 14 saves in the opening period.

HANDBALL “It was the ideal start to the championship,” said France coach Didier Dinart. “We had three weeks of preparation and the players were desperate to get started.” Dinart saluted their South American opponents and insisted his team will not get carried away by their chances in a 24-team tournament which runs until Jan 29.

France’s William Accambray (left), attempts a shot past Brazil’s Gabriel Jung during the 25th men’s Handball World Championship opening match France against Brazil, in Paris, Jan 11. (AP)

“The last time we played Brazil it was the quarter-finals of the Olympics

(which France won 34-27). They are a quality team and we had to put in the

Ovechkin scores twice, passes 1,000 points as Caps top Pens

Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins moves the puck in front of Dmitry Orlov #9 of the Washington Capitals in the first period at Verizon Center on Jan 11, in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Hamilton’s late goal in 3rd lifts Flames over Sharks 3-2 WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (AP): Alex Ovechkin scored twice to reach and exceed the 1,000-point plateau, leading the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Becoming the 84th player in NHL history to hit the milestone, Ovechkin put the team on his back as Washington won its seventh consecutive game and snapped Pittsburgh’s winning streak at five. Justin Williams, Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller also scored, and Braden Holtby made 30 saves. Evgeni Malkin, who was picked second behind Ovechkin in 2004, and Patric Hornqvist scored for Pittsburgh. Panthers 2, Islanders 1 In New York, Jason Demers scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, Roberto Luongo stopped 29 shots and the Florida Panthers held on against the New York Islanders. Keith Yandle also scored for Florida, which won for the fourth time in six games. Nick Leddy had the Islanders’ goal and Thomas Greiss finished with 22 saves. New York, in the

NHL Results/Standings WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NHL games on Wednesday: Calgary Washington

Chicago Minnesota St Louis Nashville Winnipeg Dallas Colorado

W 27 25 21 18 20 17 13 W 25 22 21 23 20 20 12

3 San Jose 5 Pittsburgh Western Conference Central Division L OTL GF 12 5 124 9 5 123 15 5 117 16 7 114 21 3 122 17 8 109 25 1 79 Pacific Division L OTL GF 15 2 112 13 8 115 15 7 123 19 2 117 17 4 102 19 4 106 22 6 86

2 2

Montreal Florida

GA 107 85 123 111 133 127 130

PTS 59 55 47 43 43 42 27

Montreal Boston Ottawa Florida Toronto Tampa Bay Buffalo Detroit

GA 96 113 118 121 105 123 128

PTS 52 52 49 48 44 44 30

W 26 22 21 19 18 19 16 17

W Columbus 28 Washington 27 Pittsburgh 26 NY Rangers 28 Philadelphia 21 Carolina 19 New Jersey 16 NY Islanders 15 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

San Jose Anaheim Edmonton Calgary Los Angeles Vancouver Arizona

Connor Hellebuyck allowed three goals on seven shots in his sixth straight start before being replaced by Michael Hutchinson late in the first period. Hutchinson stopped 19 of the 23 shots he faced. Mark Scheifele scored twice, Mathieu Perreault had a goal and assist and Bryan Little had his sev-

enth of the season for Winnipeg. Flames 3, Sharks 2 In Calgary, Alberta, Dougie Hamilton scored at 17:41 of the third period to lead the Calgary Flames over the San Jose Sharks. Hamilton and rookie Matthew Tkachuk each finished with a goal and an assist for the Flames, and Michael Frolik also scored. Mikael

ICE HOCKEY midst of a stretch of seven of eight on the road, lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2). The Islanders have managed just one goal in each of their last three games. The Panthers made their first visit to Brooklyn since losing to the Islanders in the second overtime of the series-clinching Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs last April 24. Canadiens 7, Jets 4 In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Phillip Danault and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice and the Montreal Canadiens dominated the Winnipeg Jets. Tomas Plekanec and Sven Andrighetto, with his first of the season, also had goals for the Canadiens. Shea Weber had a pair of assists, and Al Montoya, playing against his former team, made 22 saves.

Mark Scheifele #55 of the Winnipeg Jets tries to get a shot away under pressure from Max Pacioretty #67 of the Montreal Canadiens during NHL action on Jan 11, at the MTS Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (AFP)

7 Winnipeg 2 NY Islanders Eastern Conference Atlantic Division L OTL GF GA 10 6 132 101 17 5 110 108 14 4 99 102 16 8 100 114 13 8 120 116 19 4 118 127 15 9 93 110 18 6 103 119 Metropolitan Division L OTL GF GA 8 4 135 90 9 5 120 86 9 5 141 114 13 1 146 107 16 6 124 133 15 7 109 111 18 8 95 124 16 8 107 119

4 1

PTS 58 49 46 46 44 42 41 40 PTS 60 59 57 57 48 45 40 38

Backlund added a pair of assists. Making his third straight start for the Flames, Chad Johnson stopped 25 shots to pick up his 15th win of the season. Brent Burns had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, while Logan Couture also scored. Making just his sixth start of the season, San Jose’s Aaron Dell made 25 saves in the loss. ❑ ❑ ❑ The Nashville Predators have claimed forward Derek Grant off waivers from Buffalo. The Predators announced the move Wednesday. Grant, 26, has three assists in 35 games for Buffalo this season, and he has six assists in 75 career NHL games with Ottawa, Calgary and Buffalo. But the 6-foot-3 Grant played only 4:07 in a 4-3 win over Winnipeg on Saturday and hasn’t scored a point since an assist Dec 5 in a 3-2 overtime loss at Washington. The native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was an AHL All-Star in 2015-16 with Stockton when he lead the Heat with 27 goals and 18 assists in 36 games. He was drafted No. 119 overall in the fourth round in 2008 by Ottawa before playing two seasons at Michigan State between 2009 and 2011.

necessary work. “We will continue to work as it’s only the beginning of the competition.” French full-back Arnaud Di Panda described the result as “a perfect start”. “There was a lot of emotion, pride and a great connection with the fans. To hear the Marseillaise (French national anthem) with 15,000 people isn’t something you experience every day.” Brazil were hampered in the Group A opener by the absence of influential fullback Thiagus Petrus, who was missing with a shoulder injury. “We didn’t have a good match,” said centre Henrique Teixeira. “When you don’t play well against France, one of the best teams in the world, you sink. “We are making progress but we can’t be happy. We have to study what didn’t work and try to improve for our next matches.”

Seahawks meet Falcons in Atlanta

Texans battling history as New England Patriots loom LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (AFP): The Houston Texans must cast off the weight of history as they attempt to halt the New England Patriots’ march towards another Super Bowl appearance this weekend. The Texans travel to Foxborough on Saturday for a divisional playoff game against a Patriots team who are firm favorites to advance to the AFC Championship game. Houston have never won at Gillette Stadium, have only ever beaten the Patriots once and were trounced 27-0 at the same venue during the regular season. Their last two meetings with the Patriots have been lost by a combined score of 54-6 and they will also be playing in cold conditions when they are more used to the warmth of their own indoor NRG Arena. Those disadvantages are reflected in bookmakers odds which have the Patriots as favorites to win by more than 15 points following their 14-2 regular season campaign. Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, the former Patriots offensive coordinator, acknowledged the scale of the task facing his team. “It’s a big challenge. It’s a team that has done it year in and year out,” said O’Brien, whose team advanced from the wildcard round last weekend with a 27-14 win over a depleted Oakland Raiders. “Last week was only this organization’s third playoff win. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us,” O’Brien added. O’Brien spent five years working with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who has enjoyed yet another impressive season after missing the first four games of the year through suspension. “We’re not going to show him anything that he hasn’t already seen. He’s been doing it for years, 17 years or whatever it is,” O’Brien said of the 39-year-old. “I mean, that’s part of what makes him who he is. He’s seen it all. He’s very well-prepared. He’s played

FOOTBALL against a lot of these players. He’s played against this scheme. We just need to kind of do what we do and execute and play every play. Be very focused on every single play, I think that’s big for us.” Vince Wilfork, the Texans defensive tackle and former Patriots star, believes Houston will need to produce “probably the best game of the season to actually be able to hang with them.” Nevertheless Houston can take comfort from the fact that they boast the league’s number one defense, with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney outstanding in the absence of the injured J.J. Watt. Patriots Pro Bowl safety Devin McCourty meanwhile insisted his teammates would not distracted by the long odds against a Texans victory. Saturday’s AFC divisional game follows the opening NFC divisional round, which sees the Seattle Seahawks head to Atlanta to face the Falcons. Sunday’s games see Pittsburgh travel to Kansas City while the Green Bay Packers face the marquee game of the weekend in their game at the Dallas Cowboys.

In this Dec 17, 2016 file photo, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph talks to players during a timeout in the second quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP)

NFL Roundup Bills hire McDermott

Chargers move to Los Angeles SAN DIEGO, Jan 12, (Agencies): The San Diego Chargers are moving to Los Angeles, where they will join the recently relocated Rams in giving the nation’s second-largest media market two NFL teams for the first time in decades. Team chairman Dean Spanos made the announcement Thursday in a letter posted on the Chargers’ Twitter account. Spanos cited the Chargers’ long history in San Diego. “But today, we turn the page and begin an exciting new era as the Los Angeles Chargers,” Spanos said in the letter. The Chargers’ decision to move comes less than three months after San Diego voters resoundingly rejected a team-sponsored measure asking for $1.15 billion in increased hotel occupancy taxes to help fund a $1.8 billion downtown stadium and convention center.

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The Denver Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as their head coach on Wednesday to replace Gary Kubiak. Joseph signed a four-year deal with the Broncos, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Financial terms were not disclosed. “Becoming head coach of the Denver Broncos is a dream job for many reasons,” Joseph said in a statement. “The Broncos have an unbelievable winning tradition and great fan support.” Joseph, 44, was the last of three candidates to interview for the Broncos following Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub and Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan last weekend.

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Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) scrambles for a first down against Oakland Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards (97) during the first half of an AFC Wild Card NFL football game Jan 7, in Houston. (AP)

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The Buffalo Bills have hired Carolina Panthers no-nonsense defensive coordinator Sean McDermott as their new head coach, NFL.com reported on Wednesday. McDermott, who turned the Panthers into one of the NFL’s top ranked defences, takes over from Rex Ryan who was fired with one game remaining in the regular season. Buffalo finished the season with a 7-9 record, missing the playoffs for the 17th consecutive year. McDermott, who has no previous head coaching experience, spent six seasons as Carolina’s defensive coordinator and before that filled various positions with the Philadelphia Eagles for 12 years.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Murray to play Queen’s for rest of career

Sir Andy to be treated like ‘royalty’ in Melbourne MELBOURNE, Jan 12, (AFP): The men’s world number one is set to be treated as tennis royalty at the Australian Open next week with the official local broadcaster planning to refer to him as “Sir Andy Murray”. The Scot was knighted in Britain’s New Year Honours list after a magnificent 2016 and tennis chiefs have been mulling what to call him, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. It said Channel Seven had decided

TENNIS

Andy Murray of Britain hits a forehand return during a tennis training session in Melbourne on Jan 11. (AFP)

to reference the three-time Grand Slam champion by his new official title when he plays his first match in Australia since being recognised by the Queen. “Not only is he tennis royalty, he’s now a Knight Bachelor, so yes of course we will be showing him the respect he deserves and refer to him as Sir Andy Murray,” the broadcaster’s head of sport Saul Shtein said. Murray’s brother, Jamie, playing doubles at the Sydney International, said it would be “weird” to hear broadcasters and announcers in Melbourne call his sibling “Sir”. “If he is walking out on to court and the

Wild-card entry

Best day ever: Destanee hits with Serena, her ‘inspiration’ MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 12, (AP): Last week, Destanee Aiava became the first player born this millennium to win a main draw match at a WTA event. Next week, the 16-year-old Australian will be the first player born in the 2000s to play in the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament, thanks to a wild-card entry to the Australian Open. This week, the highlight has been hitting with Serena Williams, the 22-time Grand Slam champion and the inspiration for Aiava’s career. Aiava was 5 when she watched one of the Williams’ matches on TV, and told her parents that tennis was going to be her career. Her parents took her seriously, and her mother became her learn-as-she-goes coach. On Thursday, the 35-year-old Williams did a promotional appearance for her racket sponsor on Margaret Court Arena, including a hit up against the

TENNIS Melbourne schoolgirl. Asked what it was like to hit with the six-time Australian Open winner, Aiava paused for a while before Williams chimed in with an answer for her: “Great.” Aiava laughed, admitting she was more nervous meeting Williams than she had been playing in an exhibition tournament earlier in the day. “It’s actually one of the best days of my life,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of fun today, getting to hit with Serena. Hopefully there’ll be more opportunities like this in future.” Williams is seeded No. 2 at Melbourne Park, where she lost the final last year to Angelique Kerber. She lost the French Open final to Garbine Muguruza before winning Wimbledon to equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles. Aiava, who was born on May 10, 2000, and was No. 386 at the start of the season, has already met the long-retired Graf, her prize for winning the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament in Paris in 2012. After her first-round win in Brisbane last week, she lost to two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. So she’s getting more comfortable in elite tennis company. The arena where she hit with Williams carries the name of the woman who holds the record for most Grand Slam singles titles — Margaret Court won 24 from 1960 to 1973 in a career that spanned the amateur and Open eras. Williams is aiming for 23 when the Australian Open starts Monday and, with her competitive spirit, there’s little doubt there’s another target for her in the future. For now, though, she’s not prepared to mention those milestones. “I’m not talking about that,” Williams said Thursday, despite some extra urging. “I said I’m not talking about that, move on.”

Downey resigns as British tennis chief LONDON, Jan 12, (AFP): Michael Downey has resigned as the Lawn Tennis Association’s chief executive after three years in the role. Downey will serve six months’ notice before returning to his previous position as chief executive of Tennis Canada. The Canadian cited his desire to return home to be nearer his two sons as the driving force behind his surprise departure. “I’ve been honoured to have led the LTA over the last three years, as we’ve sought to drive grass-roots tennis,” Downey said on Thursday. “While the opportunity for me to return to Tennis Canada coincided with my personal desire to return to my home country, I am hugely proud of the foundations the team at the LTA have laid in order to turn participation in Britain’s beloved sport around.”

USOC committed only to 2024 Olympic bid LOS ANGELES, Jan 12, (AFP): The US Olympic Committee’s support of a Los Angeles bid for the Summer Games apparently doesn’t extend beyond 2024, according to documents made public on Wednesday. At a meeting late last year it was suggested by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach that the international body could break with tradition and choose two Olympic hosts when it gathers to vote in September in Lima on the 2024 host city. Los Angeles is up against Paris

and Budapest in the race for the 2024 Games. If one of those cities gets the nod, the idea of awarding Los Angeles the 2028 Games instead wouldn’t fly. “The USOC board does not foresee pursuing any bid other than for the 2024 Games,” minutes released from a USOC board meeting in December said. According to the minutes, discussion of the matter led to “general agreement that the LA 2024 bid is specifically configured and calculated for 2024 rather than 2028 activation”. The comments appear to indicate that

the USOC is not interested in pursuing a bid for any upcoming Winter Games after Salt Lake City, Utah, Lake Placid, New York, and Reno, Nevada, showed interest. Los Angeles, which has already organized the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984, was put forward by the USOC as a potential 2024 host after an original bid by Boston foundered. The southern California group trying to the bring the Games to Los Angeles said this week that the Olympics would pump $11 billion into the local economy.

announcer is calling him as Sir Andy Murray, that would be a bit weird, yeah,” he told the Herald. Earlier this week, Murray told British media he wants his rivals on the circuit to keep calling him Andy. “A few of the players have been chatting to me about it and asking how it works, what does it mean and what do we call you,” Murray said. “Andy is fine.” Murray’s stellar 2016 saw him crowned Wimbledon champion, enjoy a successful

Olympic title defence and end the year with the top ranking. He enters the opening Grand Slam of the year as a five-time loser in the Melbourne Park final and determined to end the jinx. World number one Andy Murray has agreed to play in the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s Club for the rest of his career. Murray became the first player to be crowned king of Queen’s five times when he

defeated Milos Raonic in the final last year. The Scot beat Raonic again just a few weeks later as he lifted the Wimbledon trophy for the second time. Having enjoyed so much success on the lawns of west London it is no surprise Murray has decided to commit to appearing in the tournament until he retires. “I’ve always loved playing the event and I’m really happy to know that I will play at Queen’s for as long as my career lasts,” Murray, 29, said on Wednesday.

Konta blasts Bouchard, plays Radwanska in ‘Sydney final’ Isner bounces from Auckland Classic SYDNEY, Jan 12, (AFP): Johanna Konta blasted Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to set up a Sydney International final with Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday.

United States’ Serena Williams (left), talks with Australian player Destanee Aiava during a promotional event on Margaret Court Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan 12. Aiava will be the first player born this century to play in the main draw match at a tennis major. (AP)

‘Corrupt officials’

Corruption cases hit new high in 2016: TIU SYDNEY, Jan 12, (AFP): World tennis’s underfire watchdog dealt with more corruption cases last year than ever before, it revealed Thursday, with the issue back in the spotlight ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season. In its annual report, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) said 11 players and officials were either successfully prosecuted or had appeals dismissed in 2016. It also handled an unprecedented number of match alerts received from the betting industry where unusual or suspicious behaviour was detected. The report’s release comes just days before the Australian Open in Melbourne, which was overshadowed last year by bombshell allegations of widespread match-fixing in the sport. The integrity unit came under fierce scrutiny amid claims it was not doing enough to counter the scourge. It strongly denied covering up any evidence and launched an independent review. “The issue of betting-related corruption in tennis made 2016 a difficult year for the integrity of our sport,” said TIU chairman Philip Brook. “During the year, information received from partners in the betting industry con-

TENNIS firmed an increasing number of matches at the lower levels of the professional game that were the subject of unusual or suspicious betting patterns. “While this was not conclusive proof of corruption, it is an indication of concern that in all cases has to be investigated by the TIU.” The London-based unit successfully convicted and sanctioned nine players and officials during the year, with five cases leading to lifetime bans. Appeals by two players convicted of offences in 2015 were also dismissed, with the 11 cases amounting to its most prolific year since being set up in 2008. The previous highest was six prosecutions in 2015. Among those punished were players from Thailand, Bulgaria, France, South Africa, Mexico, Poland and Greece, involved either in betting or attempting to influence the outcome of a match. Most were low-ranked, with France’s Constant Lestienne the most high-profile having reached a career-high 164. He was slapped with a seven-month suspension for placing bets on 220 matches through an online account. Convicted match officials came from Uzbekistan and Turkey, with the TIU saying it had busted a network that manipulated and sold scoring data to gamblers. “This was the first instance of coordinated corrupt activity among officials,” it said. Already this year, Romanian player Alexandru-Daniel Carpen has been banned for life for match-fixing, while Australia’s Nick Lindahl this week received a sevenyear sanction. Over the course of 2016, the unit dealt with 292 alerts from betting operators, up from 246 the previous year. A full investigation can follow an alert should the TIU believe corrupt activity was likely.

The British sixth seed dominated her evening semifinal with the former Wimbledon finalist, winning 6-2 6-2 in 68 minutes. She will face Polish second seed Radwanska, who is one win away from her second Sydney title after crushing fatigued Barbora Strycova 6-1 6-2 earlier Thursday. Konta lost both her only two matches with Radwanska last year, but she has been in terrific form this week, accounting for Arina Rodionova, Daria Gavrilova, Daria Kasatkina and now Bouchard without dropping a set.

TENNIS It will be 25-year-old Konta’s third career WTA Tour final after winning in Stanford and a runner-up in Beijing last year. Radwanska, the 2013 champion, was too clinical for the 19th-ranked Czech, who was showing the draining effects of the four hours and 22 minutes on court in her Wednesday’s singles and doubles matches. Radwanska, who has reached two Australian Open finals, said she was ready for next week’s first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Strycova has now lost seven straight matches against Radwanska and didn’t win a game on serve until the fifth game of the third set. Radwanska dropped just three points on serve in the second set, wrapping up the contest in an hour and 15 minutes. Radwanska, who has been unbeaten in her past six finals matches, has been in confident form this week with victories over American Christina McHale and China’s Duan Yingying. It was a big night for Britain on Ken Rosewall Arena with Daniel Evans beating the top seed Dominic Thiem to reach Friday’s men’s semifinal before Konta’s smashing win over Bouchard. Meanwhile, Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller reached his third-straight semifinal at the Sydney International with a big-serving straight sets victory over second seed Pablo Cuevas on Thursday. Muller thundered down 17 aces in ousting the Uruguayan 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 and will face two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki in Friday’s semis. Troicki, on a 13-match winning streak in Sydney, advanced to the last four after German Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew before their match

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland hits a return to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in their women’s semifinal match at the Sydney International tennis tournament in Sydney on Jan 12. (AFP)

Johanna Konta of Britain hits a return to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in their women’s semifinal match at the Sydney International tennis tournament in Sydney on Jan 12. (AFP)

citing a lower back injury. Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem went out to British number three Daniel Evans 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in just over two hours in the evening match. It was the 26-year-old Briton’s first win over a top-10 ranked player and it will be his second ATP World Tour semifinal since Zagreb in 2014. Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras have won back-to-back titles in Sydney but no-one has lifted the Sydney trophy in three consecutive years since Australian John Bromwich from 193740. Sixth seed Muller knew he would face a tough test against Troicki to make it to Saturday’s final. Muller knew his best chance was to continue serving well as he had done this week in the tournament. It was not always straightforward for Muller, with Cuevas saving six set points before losing the opening set tiebreaker and then Muller winning on his third match point. Troicki continues his golden run in Sydney and is shaping up for another final. Earlier in the day, German journeyman Kohlschreiber succumbed to lower back soreness that developed a few days ago. Russian Andrey Kuznetsov overcame Spanish fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will face the 67th-ranked Evans in the other semifinal. Two-time champion John Isner joined the exodus of seeds from the ATP Auckland Classic in New Zealand on Thursday, leaving the race for the title wide open. Isner, the winner in 2010 and 2014, was seeded second this year but fell in the quarter-finals to fellow American Steve Johnson. His exit robs the Australian Open warm-up tournament of another drawcard after other top seeds including four-time winner David Ferrer and defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut also departed for Melbourne early. American world number 23 Jack Sock, the fouth seed, was the highest ranked player to make the semis, where he will face Johnson.

The main threat to Sock’s chance of claiming a maiden ATP title is probably enigmatic Cypriot eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis, who faces Portugal’s Joao Sousa in his semifinal.

Leinster to meet Montpellier at home

Giteau back for make or break Toulon match against ‘Sharks’ PARIS, Jan 12, (AFP): Three-time champions Toulon welcome back Australian playmaker Matt Giteau for their make-or-break match against Sale this weekend, when a number of teams could guarantee themselves spots in the European Champions Cup quarter-finals. Toulon trail reigning champions Saracens by eight points in Pool 3 and with a visit to the English giants in round 6, their penultimate round-robin outing against the Sharks has become a must-win encounter. Giteau, a key man in Toulon’s hattrick of titles from 2013-15, is back to fitness after suffering a broken ankle and an additional leg fracture playing for the Wallabies against New Zealand in the Rugby Championship. “We have to show that we are hungry,” insisted Toulon coach Mike Ford, having seen his side hammered 30-6 by Clermont in Top 14 action last weekend. “ J o n n y Wilkinson’s Toulon no longer Giteau exists. We must draw a line under our glorious past. We are no longer at the top of the tree in Europe. Before, Toulon were the ones being chased driven out, but now we are the hunters. “We must approach matches with a different mentality. I think that all teams playing against Toulon are no longer afraid. We must not forget that we didn’t win anything last season.” The beauty of the European Cup is that just the five pool winners are guaranteed of progressing to the knock-out phase, the three other places going to the best finishing second-placed teams. It means there is rude competition throughout pool play to seal one of those eight places. Saracens are the only unbeaten side

left in the competition, while Leinster and French league leaders Clermont, who travel to Top 14 rivals BordeauxBegles, have only lost once and top pools 4 and 5 respectively. Munster and Glasgow, also with one loss apiece, are locked at the top of Pool 1, with Leicester in third and Racing92, last year’s beaten finalists, pointless in fourth. And pool 2 sees a three-way shared lead between Wasps, Toulouse and Connacht, Italian whipping boys Zebre bottom. Leinster have 16 points from their four matches so far and know they will advance to the final eight if they overcome Montpellier at home on Friday. “There’s a lot of us without any medals in our back pockets and you look at the senior guys with a lot of them,” prop Tadhg Furlong said of the Irish province which won European honours in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

RUGBY “As a younger player you try to pay homage to what the lads have done but, in your own way, move it on a bit as well. “For lads to make European debuts last year, and then get knocked out in the pool stages with the tradition that the club has, does hurt and it definitely feeds the desire for this year.” Arguably one of the matches of the weekend will be Munster’s trip to Glasgow on Saturday, with the two teams having hit some great form. The Irish province smashed Racing last week and have already beaten the Warriors, 38-17, in the second round of matches. But Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend said his team knew what to expect, explaining: “Munster will come at us with ball in hand and are very physical. “It will be a real test of how we deal with their high balls and their set-piece challenge. We will have to be better if we want to win.”

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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FIFA risks quality of WCup to bring more teams to party

Asian fringe ready for WC expansion: JFA boss TOKYO, Jan 12, (Agencies): FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams will be a catalyst to soccer’s growth in countries hovering on the fringe of the showpiece tournament, according to Japan Football Association (JFA) president Kozo Tashima. Tashima is a member of the FIFA Council, which voted on Tuesday to add 16 more teams to its current 32 from the 2026 edition of the tournament. Critics fear the expansion will lower the overall standard of the tournament but Tashima cited the example of Japan, which has taken part in the last five World Cups, and said it would be provide an impetus for soccer’s growth globally. “Many teams in Asia are also close to being fully prepared to participate,”

Tashima told Reuters on Thursday. “Japan was the same when we first participated in 1998. We had a taste of what football was at a world level and was able to consistently participate in all five World Cups that followed. This contributed greatly to the development of Japanese football. “I believe countries in Asia, Oceania, Europe, for example Iceland, and other small countries deserve the same chance.” Kashima pointed to Iceland’s Euro 2016 victory over England to further his point. “In the past, tournaments were more about Europe versus South America, but now, many other national teams have become stronger,” he said. “We are now in a generation where even Iceland beat England. Our decision was based on the fact that team

number expansion would be, without a doubt, a progress for football, globally.” The other main talking point in Asian football is the money being splashed out by Chinese Super League clubs to lure top players from abroad. Tashima thought it might ultimately help strengthen Japanese football.

SOCCER “I think it is totally normal that players go to markets that deem them highly valuable,” he said. “So when players go to China, the level of Chinese football goes up. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. All we have to do is develop teams that can counter their strength,

and in that sense, this becomes a good stimulation for us.” He advised China to follow Japan’s model. “Japan did the same thing in the 90s when J-League was first formed. But the important thing was, we made sure we recognised that these players were good and made sure they truly contributed to Japanese football,” he added. “It is important that China does the same.” During a 17-year FIFA presidency packed with madcap ideas and policy on the hoof, not even Sepp Blatter ultimately tinkered with the World Cup format. Blatter inherited a 32-team World Cup when he entered power in 1998 and left — prematurely in disgrace — with that structure intact. Gianni Infantino, though, has barely

put his feet beneath the presidential desk before overhauling the biggest entity under his control: the moneyspinning extravaganza that funds FIFA’s largesse and unites the world’s fans around television screens. Before the first anniversary of his election win, Infantino’s ruling Council rubber-stamped his flagship manifesto pledge on Tuesday. From 2026, 16 more teams will be invited to the World Cup party. Is it unnecessary interference with a successful format? Or an important move to ensure FIFA’s main event grows at a pace with its swelling membership? That debate will continue long after the 2026 trophy is handed over, most likely in a sweltering American stadium. What’s certain is that a bigger World Cup will generate more cash

— nearly $1 billion in additional revenue, according to FIFA estimates. And there will be additional places for under-represented continents like Africa, which only has five slots in Russia in 2018 while Europe will have 14 finalists despite being similar-sized confederations. Despite those benefits, there are many who have criticized the expansion, particularly among the sport’s power nations. Their dismissive response risks giving the impression of an elite trying to muscle out the upstarts and protect their gilded status. Reigning world champion Germany has been at the forefront of the opposition. Former Germany captain Michael Ballack tweeted: “Irresponsible decision by #FIFA !! It’s an attack on #Football !!”

North America firmly in the hunt

Prosecutors mull criminal charges in Hillsborough probe

A 48-team World Cup, but who can host it?

Europe richest clubs growing faster

PARIS, Jan 12, (AFP): FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams starting with the 2026 tournament prompted one major question: who can host the global showpiece in its revamped format? North America is the favourite and in pole position with other former candidates relegated to outsiders. Several harbour ambitions of organising the 2026 World Cup but certain constraints limit the numbers. While the format for the finals faces an overhaul — 16 groups of three before the last 32 — the basic framework will remain similar, with a 32-day timeframe and 12 venues, assured FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, the man behind the reform. The main limitation will be the choice of host countries, with the winning bid to be revealed in May 2020, taking into account FIFA’s rotation principle — it said in October the hosts of the 2026 edition would come from different confederations to those hosting the

bid between neighbours Argentina and Uruguay in 2030 to commemorate the competition’s 100th anniversary, North America are firmly in the hunt. With co-hosting a recent admission, and even encouraged by Infantino, a tandem or tri-nation bid (US, Mexico and Canada) “is a possibility”, CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani confirmed. Also playing in their favour is the fact the World Cup hasn’t visited the North and Central America region since the US hosted the 1994 tournament, while the three countries in question already boast the required infrastructures. “To organise such a World Cup is positive on the condition that there aren’t too many construction costs,” Jean-Francois Brocard, university lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Law and Economics of Sport (CDES), told AFP. “We saw it with Euro 2016. The

SOCCER 2018 and 2022 events, effectively excluding Europe (Russia) and Asia (Qatar). However, a European nation could still be selected “in the case that none of the received bids meet the technical and financial demands”, the FIFA Council added. China President Xi Jinping’s vision of transforming the country into one of the game’s superpowers includes the goal of hosting and one day winning the World Cup, but it too will have to wait its turn. In May 2015 senior Chinese officials spoke of lodging a bid for the 2026 and 2030 events, a source told AFP during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) congress in Bahrain. With Asia and Europe sidelined, and South America eyeing a joint

Atletico Mineiro’s Carlos (left), moves the ball away from Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah during the first half of a Florida Cup soccer match, Jan 11, in Kissimmee, Fla. Leverkusen won 1-0. (AP)

expenses incurred were more than offset by the revenues. When you increase the number of teams, that multiplies the costs, but the revenues as well.” Mexican FA supremo Decio De Maria their intention to bid for for 2026 last March. Mexico has twice hosted memorable tournaments, first in 1970 when a magnificent Brazil side featuring Pele and the late Carlos Alberto waltzed to the title, and the 1986 World Cup won by Diego Maradona’s Argentina. The US fell short in their attempt to land the 2022 showpiece controversially awarded to Qatar, but has since made it known they would be interested in staging the 2026 finals. However, Donald Trump’s election as US President could make negotiating a joint bid trickier after angering Mexicans with his antiimmigrant rhetoric. But other failed 2018 and 2022 contenders appear out of the running due to FIFA’s desire to rotate between continents — removing England, Portugal-Spain, BelgiumNetherlands, South Korea and Japan from the equation. Whether the same applies to Australia is another point of contention. The Socceroos have established themselves as a force in Asia since leaving Oceania in 2006 and on that basis would also be ineligible. But geographically speaking, Oceania is the only continent yet to welcome to the World Cup to its shores. Morocco is also an option. Overlooked on four occasions (1994, 1998, 2006, 2010) it looks the lone feasible African candidate with South Africa having played host to the 2010 World Cup. In November Infantino said Morocco had “all the resources to host a World Cup”, but it still has issues with the number of suitable venues and the repercussions of backing out from hosting the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations over Ebola fears.

ZURICH, Jan 12, (RTRS): Europe’s top clubs are expanding more rapidly than their smaller rivals, European soccer’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday, adding that tighter regulation had helped to prevent teams from running up big losses. In a report based on the 2015 financial year, UEFA highlighted its concerns over the divide between a handful of rich Western European clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United and the rest. “UEFA must remain vigilant and take note of the less positive trends also highlighted in the report, such as a return to high wage growth and the increasing concentration of sponsorship and commercial revenue among a handful of clubs,” said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. The top 15 clubs in Europe had enjoyed growth of 1.51 billion euros ($1.61 billion) in sponsorship and commercial revenue since 2009, compared with growth of 453 million euros for the other 700 top-flight clubs, the report said. For most clubs, sponsorship and commercial revenues came mainly from shirt sponsorship and kit manufacturer deals as was the case a decade ago, the 130-page report said. “But for the dozen or so “global super clubs”, sponsorship and commercial departments are expanding and sponsorship and commercial partnerships are being sliced and segmented into an ever larger and more lucrative number of deals,” it said. “This is enabling those “global super clubs” to monetise their huge supporter bases, which extend around the globe and which can be accessed far better through social media than was ever possible through traditional marketing in the past. English Premier League clubs Ceferin enjoyed a combined revenue of 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion), followed by 2.4 billion euros for Germany’s Bundesliga, 2.0 billion for Spain’s La Liga and 1.9 billion for Serie A in Italy. Real Madrid had the highest revenue among individual clubs, pulling in 578 million euros, followed by Barcelona, Manchester United, Paris St Germain, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Juventus. The top ten clubs, which all earned over 300 million euros, were followed by Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur, Schalke 04 and AC Milan which earned between 200 and 300 million euros. A further 31 clubs had revenues over 100 million euros. “With many concerned about competitive balance within and between leagues, UEFA, together with its stakeholders, will need to continuously review and adapt its regulations to this fast- changing environment,” said Andrea Traverso, UEFA’s head of club licensing and financial fair play. UEFA said that overall, clubs have generated operating profits of 1.5 billion euros in the last two years, compared to losses of 700 million in the two years immediately before

financial fair play rules forcing them to curb losses were introduced. ❑ ❑ ❑ British prosecutors will consider criminal charges against 23 suspects following two separate investigations into the Hillsborough Stadium disaster in 1989 in which 96 soccer fans were killed. The charges under consideration include manslaughter and perverting the course of justice as a result of an alleged cover-up by police. The two inquiries were launched following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012, which exposed the failure of emergency services and public bodies to deal with the tragedy and the extent of the police cover-up. A statement released on behalf of the two investigations — by Operation Resolve and the Independent Police Complaints Commission — said 15 of the suspects came from the inquiry into the causes of the disaster, while eight came from the inquiry into the alleged cover-up. The Crown Prosecution Service has received the files of evidence. The 96 fans were crushed to death in a crowded stand at an FA Cup semifinal match between Liverpool and

SOCCER Nottingham Forest. The original inquest recorded verdicts of accidental death but they were overturned in 2012 after campaigning by relatives of the victims. A jury at a new inquest found last year that police and emergency services were to blame for Britain’s worst sports disaster and that the victims were “unlawfully killed.” ❑ ❑ ❑ Chelsea have been given the green light for a multi-million pound redevelopment of their Stamford Bridge stadium, the Premier League leaders revealed on Wednesday. Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve the proposal for a 60,000-seat stadium, which would reportedly cost around £500 million ($610 million, 576 million euros). “More than a year ago, a planning application for a new stadium at Stamford Bridge with an expanded seating capacity was submitted to our local council, Hammersmith & Fulham,” a statement on Chelsea’s website confirmed. “Over the past 12 months, we have consulted widely with neighbouring residents, local businesses, statutory authorities and continued to work closely with the council. “Tonight the council’s planning committee considered the application and we are grateful that planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of our historic home.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

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Bangladesh 154-3 at stumps on a rain-disrupted opening day

Mominul and Tamim shine in New Zealand gloom WELLINGTON, Jan 12, (AFP): Mominul Haque and Tamim Iqbal plundered the New Zealand attack to have Bangladesh 154 for three at stumps on a rain-disrupted opening day of the first Test in Wellington on Thursday. New Zealand were all smiles when they won the toss and put Bangladesh into bat in prime bowling conditions. But at the end of the day after rain and bad light had restricted play to 40.2 overs, it was Bangladesh with their heads held high. Mominul was unbeaten on 64 at the close and Shakib Al Hasan on five after being dropped on four. Opener Tamim went for 56. “Today was Bangladesh’s day,” New Zealand seamer Neil Wagner conceded, blaming the bowling unit for not making the most of the conditions. “We didn’t do that. We missed a little bit and we got hurt.” Wagner said the New Zealand seamers need to bowl a better line on Friday to get into the match. “We’re going to have to find a way.

We know if we put the ball in the right area for a period of time and build that pressure and bowl consistently in partnerships you can get two, three, four wickets quickly.” Tamim, who led the way for Bangladesh with his aggressive approach, said the tourists were happy with the state of the game. “History says the first innings is really difficult on this wicket and not too many runs have been scored by the best of teams. In that case we handled it pretty well,” he said. “We are very new to this wind so at

Al-Dhufairi to join Sharjah Rally ’17

CRICKET times we had to stop the bowlers because it was too heavy. There were seven, eight occasions when the bails fell down. For us it was difficult because we haven’t faced this situation before but still we played really well.” The overcast weather, strong wind and green wicket at the Basin Reserve suggested a bowler’s paradise at the

Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque bats during day one of the first international Test cricket match between New Zealand and Bangladesh at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Jan 12. (AFP)

start of the day, but the conditions proved not as threatening as first thought. Instead the bowlers, particularly Trent Boult in the early overs, had trouble keeping their balance and control in the

wind — with gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour (74.6 miles per hour).

Scoreboard BANGLADESH first innings Tamim Iqbal lbw Boult ................................... 56 Imrul Kayes c Boult b Southee........................ 1

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): Basel Salem Al-Sabah Motor Racing Club’s racer Salem Al-Dhufairi has confirmed their team’s readiness to participate in Sharjah Rally 2017 which will kick off in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Friday. In a recent press statement, Al-Dhufairi revealed that he and his teammate Nawaf Al-Enezi are eager to represent Kuwait and the club in this championship and other international racing events. He praised the efforts exerted by the club in overcoming challenges to guarantee participaMominul Haque not out ................................. 64 Mahmudullah c Watling b Wagner ................ 26 Shakib Al Hasan not out.................................. 5 Extras (lb2) ...................................................... 2 Total (three wickets; 40.2 overs) ................. 154 Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Imrul), 2-60 (Tamim), 3-145 (Mahmudullah) To bat: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Sabbir

tion in international competitions. He affirmed that he and his team will do their best to bring honor to Kuwait in this international sports event by achieving the best results and getting top positions in order to raise the flag of Kuwait high. He said this is their first time to participate in the Sharjah Rally and it was made possible with the support of the Public Authority for Sports led by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. He thanked Sheikh Ahmad for serving Kuwait’s sports in general and motor sports in particular. Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi Bowling: Boult 12.2-3-53-1, Southee 11-345-1, de Grandhomme 6-0-26-0, Wagner 11-228-1 Toss: New Zealand Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Paul Reiffel (AUS)

Amla bags century in 100th Test, S. Africa take control Proteas 338-3 in first innings JOHANNESBURG, Jan 12, (RTRS): Hashim Amla became the eighth player to score a century in their 100th test as he guided South Africa to a commanding 338 for three at the close of play on day one of the third and final test against Sri Lanka at The Wanderers on Thursday. World Jet Ski champion, Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq

Kuwait’s Al-Abdulrazzaq to join 2017 Emirates Jet Ski competition The World Jet Ski Champion from Kuwait Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq will participate in the first round of the 2017 Emirates Jet Ski Competition, which will kickstart on Friday, Jan 13 in Abu Dhabi. In a statement to KUNA before leaving to Abu Dhabi, Al-Abdulrazzaq said he has com-

pleted the two-week training program in preparation for the competition, adding that the jet-ski that he will be using for the competition has been prepped for the competition. He expressed gratitude for the support of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber

Al-Sabah, revealing that he was honored to meet His Highness the Amir after winning the World Jet Ski Competition for Grand Professionals (G.P). Al-Abdulrazzaq thanked all state bodies for their support including the Public Authority for Sports and the Kuwait Olympic Committee.

Games to highlight to world importance of sport in Turkmenistan

Ashgabat ’17 launches AIMAG5 brand ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan 12: The Executive Committee of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG5) is proud to launch the Ashgabat 2017 brand in the countdown to what will be the greatest event of the year in Turkmenistan. The Chairman of the AIMAG5 Executive Committee, Dayanch Gulgeldiyev, said: “Kicking off the year of the Games with such a significant milestone is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the progress made ahead of Ashgabat 2017 and to get everyone excited for the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. On the Ashgabat 2017 brand he added: “Through the representation of sport and of our beautiful country, the Ashgabat 2017 brand portrays the values of the Games motto: Health. Inspiration. Friendship. It is the aim of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to draw from our rich heritage to inspire people through sport and to welcome all participating countries to Turkmenistan through friendship”. The Ashgabat 2017 brand follows a story of travelling caravans heading through Turkmenistan along the Silk Road over the centuries. The journey will reflect the traditional heritage of Turkmen culture with a use of modern design techniques to represent Ashgabat

OLYMPICS as an advanced and modern city. The iconography used includes traditional ornamental designs and figurative illustrations of heritage representations, natural landmarks of Turkmenistan and some of the most iconic buildings of Ashgabat. This will be an historic moment for the country, as Ashgabat 2017 will be the first major multi-sport event to be hosted in Turkmenistan. The vision after these Games will be for the city of Ashgabat and the wider country to host future major sporting events at an international level. The Games will highlight to the world the importance of sport in Turkmenistan while showcasing both traditional and modern artefacts and buildings, with a brand that takes us on a journey along the silk route. Note: Ashgabat 2017 will run from Sept 17-27, 2017, with 21 sports at 15 venues: Chess, Futsal, Tennis, Muay, Sambo, Kurash, Ju-Jitsu, Bowling, Cycling Track, Short Course Swimming, Basketball 3x3, Weightlifting, Indoor Athletics, Taekwondo, Dance Sports, Kickboxing, Belt Wrestling, Wrestling, Billiard Sports, Equestrian (Jumping), Traditional Wrestling. Visit the website: www.ashgabat2017.com Media Enquiries: Media@Ashgabat2017. com Facebook: Ashgabat 2017 Twitter: @ashgabat_2017 Youtube: Ashgabat 2017

Former acting president of OCA Roy de Silva dies KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: The Olympic Council of Asia is sad to report the demise of Roy de Silva, a former Acting President of the OCA. De Silva took on the role of Acting President of the OCA during a difficult time for the Olympic movement in Asia after the President, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was killed on the first day of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug 2, 1990. The OCA’s 11th Asian Games were only seven weeks away in Beijing, China, and De Silva stepped in to coordinate the final stages of preparation and oversee the success of the Asiad. In the end, 36 National Olympic Committees sent 6,122 athletes to the Beijing Asiad, which ran from Sept 22 to Oct 7, 1990. Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah had served as OCA President from 1982 until the time of his death in 1990, and he was eventually succeeded by his son, the current OCA President Sheikh

Roy de Silva with Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. The President and Executive Board of the NOC of Sri Lanka announced the passing of Roy de Silva on Jan 10. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Roy de Silva, the former President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) of Sri Lanka and a former President of the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation,” said a statement. “De Silva held the position of the President of NOC/CGA Sri Lanka during the period from 1984 to 1997. “De Silva was a Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The crowning glory he achieved during his sport administration career was as an acting President of the OCA and he was the only Sri Lankan who was honoured by such capacity at an Asian Games.” Looking back on De Silva’s time as Acting President of the OCA, the OCA’s Director General and Technical Director, Husain Al Musallam, paid tribute to the Sri Lankan sports administrator. “He was Acting President of the OCA at a difficult time for the Asian Olympic Movement. “The Asian Games in Beijing was less than 40 days away and the OCA operated from Riyadh and London. De Silva managed the success of the Games with the help of the National Olympic Committees and Governments of China and Saudi Arabia.” Al Musallam concluded: “The Olympic Council of Asia will always be grateful for the leadership and the support of Roy de Silva at such a traumatic time and for making sure the Asian Games ran smoothly.”

Amla ended months of frustration as he put behind him some wretched recent form that had seen him without a 50 in his previous 10 test innings to finish the day on 125 not out. The 33-year-old put on 292 for the third wicket with JP Duminy (155), a record for any wicket for South Africa against Sri Lanka, to boost their chances of a series clean-sweep. He will resume in the morning with debutant nightwatchman Duanne Olivier, who has yet to score. “It was never a big thing in my mind, playing the 100th test, I just wanted to get some runs on the board,” Amla told reporters at the close. “You are never in on this wicket. It was just about spending time at the crease. “I am grateful for the 100 games, but also for getting runs for the team. It was frustrating not contributing to the team’s success.” Amla offered a simple chance to gully when on five that was put down

South African batsman Hashim Amla plays a shot during the third Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka on Jan 12, at Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg. (AFP)

CRICKET

South Africa v Sri Lanka Scoreboard by Dhananjaya de Silva and grew in stature as his innings progressed on a wicket that had some life in it. He reached his 26th century off 169 balls, with the second 50 taking just 60 deliveries as he picked the gaps in the field with ease. He joins an elite group of players who have made a century in their 100th test -- the others being Colin Cowdrey, Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamamul-Haq, Ricky Ponting (both innings) and Graeme Smith. Duminy had initially been the aggressor in the partnership and went to his sixth test century off 140 balls, displaying some immaculate timing and straight drives down the ground. He was eventually caught at second slip by Kusal Mendis off the bowling of teenage seamer Lahiru Kumara (2-79) in the penultimate over of the day. The pair wrested the initiative away from Sri Lanka, who had made a bright start in seamerfriendly conditions, having been asked to bowl. South Africa’s openers Stephen Cook (10) and Dean Elgar (27) put on 45 in an hour before both fell at the same score. The home side handed a debut to 24-year-old seamer Olivier, the leading wicket-taker in domestic four-day cricket, in place of spinner Keshav Maharaj.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 12, (AFP): Scores at close on the first day of the third and final Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday: SOUTH AFRICA, first innings S. Cook lbw b Mathews ...................... 10 D. Elgar c Karunaratne b Kumara ....... 27 H. Amla not out ................................. 125 J. Duminy c Mendis b Kumara .......... 155 D. Olivier not out ................................... 0 Extras (b9, lb8, nb1, w3) ..................... 21 Total (3 wkts, 90 overs) ..................... 338 Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Cook), 2-45 (Elgar), 3-337 (Duminy) Bowling: Lakmal 20-3-70-0, Pradeep

Farwaniya Equestrian Club will organize 12th meeting KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12, (KUNA): Farwaniya Equestrian Club will organize its 12th meeting at the Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Racecourse on Friday afternoon. The meeting will be slightly interrupted by Businessperson Mohammad Mut’eb Al-Shallahi Festival. In the competition, which will consist of six race categories, more than 100 jockeys and horses will participate, which is the first time such a high number of participants will be competing in a single meet in Kuwait.

Kuwait Auto Motor Show kicks off KUWAIT CITY, Jan 12: Kuwait Auto Motor Show (Auto Motor 17) kicked off on Thursday, Jan 12 at 360 Mall and will continue until Jan 21. This is the fifth consecutive time the show is being held in Kuwait. The show is considered to be the only one in which accredited vehicle

agents in the country participate to present their new models. In this year’s show, more than 90 vehicles and motorcycles of more than 35 major international models and brands will be showcased. The latest 2017 models will be revealed for the first time in Kuwait.

18-3-58-0 (2w), Mathews 12-4-25-1 (1nb), Kumara 18-1-79-2 (1w), Herath 14-0-67-0, De Silva 8-1-22-0 To bat: F. du Plessis, T. Bavuma, Q. de Kock, V. Philander, W. Parnell, K. Rabada Sri Lanka: A. Mathews, D. Karunaratne, K. Silva, K. Mendis, D. de Silva, D. Chandimal, U. Tharanga, R. Herath, S. Lakmal, L. Kumara, N. Pradeep Match situation: South Africa are 338 for three in the first innings. Toss: South Africa Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS), Rod Tucker (AUS) TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK) Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

Photo taken from the Kuwait Motor Show

They have been distributed to various categories. The first category is 1,600 meters for Class 4 horses in which 16 racers have registered. The second category is 2,400 meters for Class 4 horses in which 15 racers are participating. The third category is 1,000 meters for Class 3 horses with

HORSE RACING the participation of ten racers. The fourth category is 1,800 meters for Class 2 with the participation of 20 racers. The fifth race category is for 1,600 meters for Class 2 horses in which 20 racers will participate. The sixth category is 1,400 meters for Class 1 horses in which 20 racers will participate. In his role, Secretary General of Farwaniya Equestrian Club Mohsin Al-Bitaal expressed his happiness over the fact that the club has broken the record of the highest number of horses participating in a single meet in Kuwait. He said it reflects the ever-growing fame of this ancestral sport in the local level, and is an indication of the success of the club’s board.

44

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 13-14, 2017

Sports Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com

T-wolves halt red-hot Rockets win ‘streak’

Former England manager Taylor dead at 72 LONDON, Jan 12, (AFP): Former England manager Graham Taylor died on Thursday at the age of 72 after suffering a suspected heart attack. Taylor made his name as the mastermind behind Watford’s rise to the English top-flight in the 1980s and also enjoyed a successful spell as Aston Villa boss before spending three years as England manager. “With the greatest sadness, we have to announce that Graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack,” a statement from the Taylor family read. “The family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss.” Leading Watford and then Aston Villa to the runners-up spot in the old First Division established Taylor as one of the brightest managerial minds of his generation. Taylor appeared to have landed his dream job when he took over as England boss in 1990, but his ill-fated reign ended

when he resigned in 1993 after the team failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. That difficult period, which saw Taylor harshly lampooned by tabloid newspapers, couldn’t detract from the respect he was held in across the football world. The news of his death drew a shocked reaction as stars paid tribute to one of the English game’s most memorable characters. “Completely shocked by news of Taylor Graham Taylor. Always held him in the very highest regard - the man who gave me my first england cap. So sad,” former England captain Alan Shearer tweeted. Paul Gascoigne, one of the England players most associated with Taylor’s reign, said: “I’m deeply sorry to hear

about Graham Taylor. His enthusiasm for life and football was incredible. My thoughts go out to his family.” Taylor is most fondly remembered at Watford, who will mark his passing with a minute’s applause before their home match against Middlesbrough on Saturday. A previously unglamourous club lan-

SOCCER guishing in the fourth tier when Taylor arrived from Lincoln in 1977, Watford were utterly transformed as he led them to the top-flight in just five years. It was a remarkable ride that produced Watford’s only FA Cup final appearance in 1984, the club’s first foray onto the European stage and an unlikely alliance with flamboyant pop star Elton John. John was Watford owner for much of Taylor’s 15 years at Vicarage Road and the pair remained firm friends long after their time in football was over.

NBA Results/Standings WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NBA games on Wednesday . LA Clippers Portland Oklahoma City

Toronto Boston NY Knicks Philadelphia Brooklyn

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (left), shoots as Los Angeles Clippers forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Jan 11, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Westbrook posts 18th triple-double of season OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan 12, (AP): Russell Westbrook posted his 18th triple-double of the season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 103-95 on Wednesday night. Westbrook finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for the 55th triple-double of his career. He already has matched his triple-double total from last season less than halfway through this one, and last season’s total was the most for an NBA player since Magic Johnson had 18 during the 1981-82 season. Enes Kanter scored 19 points and Victor Oladipo added 16 for the Thunder, who won their third straight and avenged their worst loss of the season. Oklahoma City lost 11480 in Memphis on Dec. 29, a game Westbrook was ejected from. Mike Conley scored 22 points for

ter and Boston pulled away late to beat Washington. Al Horford added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who won for the fifth time in six games and ended Washington’s three-game winning streak. Jae Crowder scored 20 and Terry Rozier had 11. Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 35 points. Otto Porter Jr. scored 20 and Markieff Morris finished with 14. Boston held John Wall to a season-low nine points. The star guard did have 10 assists for the Wizards, who fell to 19-19 a day after moving above .500 for the first time since November 2015. 76ers 98, Knicks 97 In Philadelphia, T.J. McConnell hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give Philadelphia a victory over New York.

BASKETBALL the Grizzlies. Timberwolves 119, Rockets 105 In Minneapolis, Andrew Wiggins scored 28 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 18 rebounds, and Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 to help Minnesota beat Houston. James Harden had 33 points and 12 assists for the Rockets, who had their nine-game winning streak snapped. Ricky Rubio tied his own franchise record with 17 assists to go with 10 points for the Timberwolves, who used a 17-4 run to build an 8977 lead after three quarters. Celtics 117, Wizards 108 In Boston, Isaiah Thomas scored 20 of his 38 points in the fourth quar-

Dwyane Wade #3 of the Chicago Bulls drives against Andre Roberson #21 of the Oklahoma City Thunder at the United Center on Jan 9, in Chicago, Illinois. The Thunder defeated the Bulls 109-94. (AFP)

Joel Embiid had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Ersan Ilyasova added 16 points to help the 76ers rally from a 17-point deficit. Derrick Rose returned from a onegame hiatus and scored 25 points for the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony had 28. Rose showed why New York needs him on the court, two days after an unexcused absence. He missed Monday night’s loss to New Orleans when he traveled home to Chicago without informing the team first. Trail Blazers 102, Cavaliers 86 In Portland, Ore, CJ McCollum had 27 points and Portland shook off fatigue caused by weather-related travel delays to beat defending NBA champion Cleveland. Allen Crabbe added 24 points off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who have won four straight home games against the Cavaliers. Portland led by as many as 24. LeBron James had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland (28-10). McCollum scored 21 points in the second half. He has had seven straight games with 25 or more. A snowstorm that dumped as much as 14 inches on parts of Portland caused travel problems for both teams late Tuesday. Clippers 105, Magic 96 In Los Angeles, J.J. Redick had 22 points and Los Angeles hit five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to hold off Orlando, improving to 5-0 in the new year. Marreese Speights scored 10 of his 13 in the fourth, including three 3-pointers, on a night when the Clippers committed 21 turnovers. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 20 rebounds (to go with 10 points) for his NBA-leading sixth game with 20 or more. Aaron Gordon had 28 points, 18 in the first half, to lead Orlando, which has lost four in a row and six of seven. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Cleveland Indiana Milwaukee Chicago Detroit Atlanta Charlotte Washington Orlando Miami

105 102 103

Orlando Cleveland Memphis

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L 25 13 24 15 17 22 11 25 8 29 Central Division W L 28 10 20 18 19 18 19 20 18 22 Southeast Division W L 22 16 20 19 19 19 16 24 11 29

96 86 95

Minnesota Boston Philadelphia

PCT .658 .615 .436 .306 .216

GB 1-1/2 8-1/2 13 16-1/2

Utah Oklahoma City Portland Denver Minnesota

PCT .737 .526 .514 .487 .450

GB 8 8-1/2 9-1/2 11

Golden State LA Clippers Sacramento LA Lakers Phoenix

PCT .579 .513 .500 .400 .275

GB 2-1/2 3 7 12

San Antonio Houston Memphis New Orleans Dallas

119 117 98

Houston Washington NY Knicks

Western Conference Northwest Division W L 24 16 24 16 18 23 14 23 13 26 Pacific Division W L 33 6 27 14 16 22 15 27 12 26 Southwest Division W L 30 8 31 10 24 17 15 24 11 27

105 108 97

PCT .600 .600 .439 .378 .333

GB 6-1/2 8-1/2 10-1/2

PCT .846 .659 .421 .357 .316

GB 7 16-1/2 19-1/2 20-1/2

PCT .789 .756 .585 .385 .289

GB 0-1/2 7-1/2 15-1/2 19

McIlroy trails by one in SA JOHANNESBURG, Jan 12, (RTRS): World number two Rory McIlroy marvelled at his long hitting off the tee after producing a fine five-under-par 67 to finish one shot behind leaders Trevor Fisher Junior and Keith Horne after the first round of the South African Open on Thursday. McIlroy carded seven birdies and two bogies at the Glendower Golf Club in his first European Tour event of the year, so honouring a promise to tournament host Ernie Els to play in the second-oldest national open in the world. The Northern Irishman was one of five players to record an opening 67, along with locals Thomas Aiken, Jbe Kruger and Dean Burmester, and England’s Jordan Smith.

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