Duterte serious... contingencies eyed

Transcription

1 rugby Page 33 THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Established in 1977 / SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 11, 1439 AH emergency number 112 NO PAGES 150 FILS Duterte serious... contingencies eyed Opinion Syria lost between Assad s seekers... interest seekers By Ahmed Al-Jarallah Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times THE Syrian blood has been touring between capitals of foreign countries for the past seven years in search for a solution. Someone from the involved international parties does not want a solution, because the issue at hand is flowing towards their interests. From the meetings in Geneva, Astana, Sochi and Vienna recently; the face of the Syrian opposition changed several times, whereas the ruling regime in Syria is still the same. In other words, the regime has never been toppled militarily or those seeking for Assad s removal have not found a successful political solution. As the opposition s demands continue to shrink from one meeting to another, the number of countries involved in spilling blood of Arabs increases starting from Iran which sneaked under the cover of every type of foreign militias and gang beginning with Hezbollah and it will definitely not end with Afghan fighters. This is in addition to Russia which came under the pretext of weakening the Persian influence but became the latter s partner instead, and not forgetting the United States of America that is currently putting its bases in the ruins of towns under the pretext of fighting DAESH the organization manufactured in the dark intelligence chambers of Iran, US and Israel. Turkey is also encroaching on Syrian meat and bones in a bid to foil the Kurds pursuit of independence for fear that they will reach its land and divide it. In all of these international involvements, Syrians are displaced in four directions of the wind. They are asking: Who is causing their misery? Who pushed the regime into this onslaught? Until when will it continue? Perhaps, it has become boring to talk about what transpired under the Arab Spring rhetoric and how an isolated incident in Tunisia was capitalized to topple President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Today, Tunisians are lamenting about revolting against his rule. This is exactly the case in Libya which is currently witnessing whittling of the State, whereas regret is consuming Libyans who gruesomely killed Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and they are still looking for someone to replace him. At the height of the revolution rhetoric, the extremist group ravaged several countries including Syria. Iranians, Arabs, Westerners and Israelis all of them interfered under the patronage of the US; the bearer of the rhetoric creative chaos and new Middle East order. They were Continued on Page 31 ahmed@aljarallah.com Follow me on: ahmedaljarallah@gmail.com Newswatch KUWAIT CITY: The Amiri Diwan on Friday issued the following: On behalf of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Gracious Al-Sabah Family, the Amiri Diwan extends deep gratitude to all citizens and residents of the country who expressed condolences on demise of Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak Al-Hamad Al- Mubarak Al-Sabah. We pray to His Almighty to reward you with His mercy that may also embrace soul of the deceased. (KUNA) ADEN: Yemen s internationallyrecognized government said on Saturday it had banned public gatherings in Aden ahead of a deadline given by southern separatists to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to dismiss the cabinet. Tensions have risen in the southern port city since the United Arab Emirates-allied Southern Continued on Page 31 Taleban suicide bomber kills 95 in Kabul KABUL, Jan 27, (RTRS): A bomb hidden in an ambulance killed at least 95 people and wounded about 158 in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday when it blew up at a police checkpoint in a busy part of the city that was crowded with pedestrians at the time of the attack. The Taleban claimed responsibility for the suicide blast, a week after they claimed an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in which more than 20 people were killed. An interior ministry spokesman blamed the Haqqani network, a militant group affiliated with the Taleban which Afghan and Western officials consider to be behind many of the biggest attacks on urban targets in Afghanistan. As medical teams struggled to handle the casualties pouring in, some of the wounded were laid out in the open, with intravenous drips set up next to them in hospital gardens. It s a massacre, said Dejan Panic, coordinator in Afghanistan for the Italian aid group Emergency, which runs a nearby trauma hospital that treated dozens of wounded. Hours after the blast, a health ministry spokesman said the casualty toll had risen to at least 95 killed and 158 wounded. Continued on Page 31 Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli forces near the Israel-Gaza border, east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, on Jan 26. (AFP) Turks press offensive, urge US pullback AZAZ, Syria, Jan 27, (AFP): Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to withdraw personnel from a Kurdishheld town in northern Syria after Washington told Ankara it would stop arming a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey is fighting. As Turkey s offensive in Syria entered its second week with new air strikes and artillery, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was necessary for them (US) to immediately withdraw from Manbij, where Washington has a military presence. Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People s Protection Units (YPG) militia in its western enclave of Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the offensive against the YPG to Manbij, east of Afrin. Relations between NATO allies Ankara and Washington have worsened since Turkey launched an operation, with the United States urging restraint and fearing an impact on the fight against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group. One of the issues marring relations was the US supplying the YPG militia which has spearheaded the anti-jihadist fight with arms since last year in battles against IS. Manbij itself was retaken from IS by the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in 2016 as part of a push that would later recapture the city of Raqqa from the jihadists. The Turkish presidency said US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster confirmed to Erdogan s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin in a phone call late Friday that Washington would no longer give weapons to the YPG. Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is proscribed Continued on Page 31 Terms of release not clear Prince Alwaleed released RIYADH, Jan 27, (RTRS): Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was released from detention on Saturday, family sources said, more than two months after he was taken into custody in the kingdom s sweeping crackdown on corruption. His release came hours after he told Reuters in an interview at Riyadh s opulent Ritz-Carlton hotel that he expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing and be freed within days. A senior Saudi official said Prince Alwaleed s release had come about after a financial settlement was reached with the attorney general. The attorney general has approved this morning the settlement that was reached with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, and the prince returned home at 11:00 am, the official told Reuters, without giving details on the terms. But the decision to free him, and the release of several other well-known tycoons on Friday, suggested the main part of the corruption probe was winding down after it sent shockwaves through Saudi Arabia s business and political establishment. He has arrived home, one source in Prince Alwaleed s family told Reuters. Outside Prince Alwaleed s Riyadh palace, dozens of cars lined the entrances, as a huge Saudi flag flapped above. Guards cracked jokes and drank coffee. His office said the prince was out visiting family, but declined to give any details. Prince Alwaleed had been confined at the Ritz-Carlton since early November, along with dozens of other senior officials and businessmen, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman s plan to reform oil superpower Saudi Arabia and consolidate his power. Earlier this week the attorney general said 90 detainees had been released after having their charges dropped, while others had traded cash, real estate and other assets for their freedom. Authorities were still holding 95 people, he said. Some are Continued on Page 31 Syrian Kurds take part in a funeral for Kurdish People s Protection Units (YPG) militia fi ghters and civilians, who died in clashes with Turkish-backed rebels and in supporting air strikes respectively, in the northern Syrian city of Afrin in the enclave of the same name, on Jan 27. (AFP) Human rights panel takes Bedoun issue By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The parliamentary Human Rights Committee will discuss the situation of Bedouns, including the humanitarian and social consequences of the issue, on Sunday. MP Adel Al-Damkhi will preside over the meeting, with Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh in attendance. Meanwhile, the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee will meet on Sunday to tackle the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) draft law in the presence of the KCCI chairperson. This came after Committee Rapporteur MP Saleh Ashour received the response of Al-Saleh to his question about the draft law, disclosing the latter said the government referred the draft law to the National Assembly. Moreover, the Education, Culture and Guidance Affairs Committee will discuss on the same day the policy and plans of the Ministry of Education with Minister of Education and Higher Education Hamed Al-Azmi. In addition, the Handicapped Affairs Committee approved the proposal to issue disability certificate only once and cancel the re-evaluation process. The committee also approved the proposed establishment of branches of the Public Authority for Handicapped Affairs (PAHA) in service centers or cooperative societies to process transactions for people with special needs in order to reduce workload at the headquarters. This is in addition to obligating officials at the authority to allot one day per week to look into the complicated cases of people with special needs and their families. It endorsed as well the proposal to establish an advanced autism center which will be called Kuwait International Autism Center consisting of experts in the fields of Psychiatry, Behavior Modification and Occupational Therapy as well as speech, communication and vocational trainings. The center will include behavior modification, diagnosis, evaluation, behavioral skills development and speech therapy units. Amid series of citizen-centered bills surfacing each passing day and the widened gap between the legislative and executive authorities, MP Khalil Al-Saleh has decided to submit a draft bill this week to grant married Kuwaiti women paid maternity leave up to three years. The lawmaker affirmed that the bill is to ensure support for Kuwaiti women, indicating it s a way of fulfilling the pledge of overcoming obstacles against them at work. He explained the bill favors Kuwaiti families, and it s considered a form of relief to the burden of child Continued on Page 31 Ban with plan KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Philippines Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III said President Rodrigo Duterte is serious in considering a total deployment ban of workers to Kuwait, reports Al-Anba daily. In a statement Thursday, the DOLE chief noted that such action would depend if the investigation on the recent deaths of overseas Filipino workers were caused by maltreatment and abuse. The major concern of the President is the welfare of our overseas Filipino workers, and he is serious about his threat of total ban if the investigation would point to violent maltreatment and exploitation as the cause of death, he added. We have alternative markets in China, Canada and UK and our country has also an increasing demand for workers, Bello said. Protection We have to ensure full protection and security of our overseas Filipino workers before sending them that s why we ordered the suspension. The result of the investigation will be out after 15 days, Bello said. Bello said his office received reports of 1,447 cases of maltreatment, 2,959 cases of contract violation, 227 sexual abuses and 63 cases of rape of Filipino workers for just a period of one year from The President threatened to withdraw all overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait if another migrant Filipina worker dies from abuse. The decision of Duterte to suspend the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait would likely do more harm than good, forcing workers to take greater risks to seek overseas employment while cutting off a critical source of income for families in the Philippines, says Rothna Begum a researcher from the Women s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a report published by rappler.com Saturday, Begum was quoted as saying that based on the experience of other countries like Indonesia; deployment bans do not end these abuses. Instead, people desperate to work still migrate, but through unsafe and unregulated channels, leaving them more exposed to abuse and trafficking and making it more difficult to address abuses once they are working in the Middle East, she explained. Instead of a ban, Begum said the Philippines should demand for stronger protections. She pointed out the country should advocate an end to the abusive kafala (visa sponsorship) system wherein workers are prevented from leaving or changing jobs without the permission of the current employer. Enforcement The Philippines should also call for better enforcement of labor protections and improved cooperation from Middle East governments to work with the Philippines embassy to help rescue workers in distress and conduct investigations into worker deaths, Begum added. On the other hand, Senator Joel Villanueva, who currently heads the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development, called on the labor department to prepare a contingency plan for the affected workers. We support the President s deployment ban to Kuwait, but we believe that this move must be accompanied with review and implementation of strict regulation, said Villanueva. His statement came after Duterte mulled banning the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait upon learning about cases of sexual abuse in the Gulf state. Following the deaths of seven Filipinos in Kuwait, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) stopped Continued on Page 31

2 LOCAL 2 CMA to host conference of AMERC early next year: Al-Eseimi Capital markets pivotal to socio-economic development RABAT, Jan 27, (KUNA): Kuwait s chief delegate to the 40th conference of the Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee (AMERC) highlighted the role of market authorities in socio-economic development. The Kuwaiti Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has had outstanding contributions to the realization of the targets set by AMERC and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), Mishaal Al-Eseimi told KUNA on the sidelines of the conference on Thursday. He cited the detailed studies, developed by CMA, on financing for major development projects. CMA will be hosting the 42th conference of AMERC early next year, he said, noting the event will give impetus to Kuwait s drive to become a regional financial and economic hub. Al-Eseimi is the Vice-Chair of CMA Board of Commissioners and acting CMA s CEO. On her part, Vice-Chair of IOSCO Nezha Hayat, of Morocco, highlighted the importance of capital market authorities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in cementing integration and boosting economic development. The two-day event will review a report from AMERC Arunma Oteh on the activities and the developments in the jurisdictions Iraq eager to boost cultural and media ties with Kuwait Over 400 firms to attend upcoming donors confab: US envoy of the 22-member countries of AMERC. The report also examines the region s achievements and the challenges it faces meeting international best practices and complying with the IOSCO Principles and Objectives of Securities Regulations. Led by Al-Eseimi, Kuwait s delegation to the event includes Vice- Chair of CMA Board of Commissioners Nawaf Al-Saleh and director of CMA s international relations office Abdulrahman Mohammad. More than half million students on Sunday will start classes for the second semester of academic year 2017/2018 amid intense preparations by various sectors in the Ministry of Education, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources. Sources disclosed the ministry will distribute books to students on the first day of classes. On the other hand, Kuwait Teachers Society has announced the start of registration for primary level students in leadership centers, as well as the intermediate and secondary level students in progress centers in Dasma, Omariya and Qosor. Secretary of the society Emad Al- Sinan said the teachers in these centers use the special group system and each group consists of not more than eight students. BAGHDAD, Jan 27, (KUNA): Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Firyad Rawanduzi said that the joint cultural and media activities contributes to bridge relations between Iraq and Kuwait. Rawanduzi made his remarks on Thursday during a meeting with the Kuwaiti media delegation visiting the capital Baghdad, adding, "media and culture can play an important role in improving the relationship between the two nations." He said that the year of 2018 will witness Nottingham British School organized an educational day for students of grades 1, 2 and 3 at Kidzania in order for the students to become acquainted with future professions and the nature of their work. According to a press release, the young students had the opportunity to practice their preferred professions. They enjoyed impersonating doctors, fi re fi ghters, journalists, newsreaders, dentists, veterinary surgeons, cashiers, chefs, and businesspersons among other professions envisioned and preferred by the young students.the educational day comes in line with the school administration s keen interest to ensure their students are acquainted with future professions and the nature of their practice. a remarkable growth in mutual cultural activities, as many of the Iraqi cultural delegations will visit Kuwait in the next few months. He stressed the importance of activating the social relations between Kuwaiti and Iraqi people, noting the historical depth of this relationship, which is based on common history and neighborhood. The Iraqi minister appreciated the visit of the Kuwaiti media delegation, stressing that it has reflected Kuwait's interest in Iraq in the post-saddam Hussein era. The Kuwaiti delegation ended its visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where they met with a number of government officials and heads of political parties to consider the Iraq reconstruction conference to be hosted in Kuwait in mid-february. The Kuwaiti delegation includes Secretary of the Kuwaiti Journalists Association Adnan Al-Rashed, KUNA Deputy General Director for the Editorial Department and Chief Editor Saad Al-Ali, Undersecretary of the External Media at the Ministry of Information Faisal Al-Mutallqem and Editor-in-Chief of the daily newspaper, Al-Anbaa. It also includes Abdulrahman Al- Alayan, chief editor of the Englishlanguage daily Kuwait Times, Hassan Al-Sayegh from the Premier Diwan and other renowned journalists and media figures. The conference for rebuilding Iraq is due on Feb in Kuwait. It will bring together a number of donors, regional and international organizations namely the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank. The Kuwaiti media delegation visit to Baghdad reflected Iraqi government and people s care towards Kuwait and the journalists mission was successful by all standards, Kuwait Journalists Association Secretary Adnan Al- Rashed said on Friday. Al-Rashed, who is also the visit coordinator, added in remarks to KUNA today, The mission comes as an extension to the Kuwaiti official efforts exerted to boost and enhance bilateral ties with Iraq. The visit included meetings with local senior officials in the cabinet, parliament, media institutions, and political parties, he added. Al-Rashed thanked Iraqi Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Information, as well as the Iraqi Embassy in Kuwait, Iraqi Journalists Syndicate (IJS), and Iraqi media institutions that intensively followed up on the Kuwaiti delegation visit. The Kuwaiti media figures met the Iraqi Premier, Parliament Speaker, Vice-Presidents, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, Planning, Industry, Oil, and Culture, along with other senior officials. During the meetings, they tackled the security and political stability in Iraq, as well as discussing preparations for the upcoming Iraq s reconstruction conference, and means of attracting Kuwaiti investors to boost Iraqi trade and industry. The Kuwaiti delegation included Deputy Director General for Editorial Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Saad Al-Ali, Secretary of Kuwait Journalists Association Adnan Al- Rashid and senior officials in the Ministry of Information and Kuwaiti newspapers. The international donor conference to rebuild Iraq will be held from Feb 12-14, chaired by the European Union (EU), Iraq, and Kuwait, the UN and the World Bank, with the participation of donors countries as well as regional and international organizations. In another development, more than 400 international companies will take part in an upcoming Kuwait-hosted donors conference for the reconstruction of Iraqi cities freed from the clutches of Islamic State, US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Suleiman revealed on Thursday. During a meeting with Iraq s Minister of Trade Suleiman Al-Jamili, the ambassador said that these include over 100 large US firms that are ready to invest in Iraq. The US is strongly committed to the event and would work to mobilise adequate international support for Iraq, he underlined. The event will host businesses alongside governments in Kuwait between Feb 12 and 14. KUNA photo Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Firyad Rawanduzi receives the Kuwaiti media delegation. KUNA photo NATO-ICI meeting in Kuwait Kuwait communicating with NATO via two levels Recent NATO partners meet boosts coop Kuwaiti envoy BRUSSELS, Jan 27, (KUNA): Kuwait s Ambassador to Belgium, Head of the mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU) Jassim Al-Bdaiwi praised on Saturday results of Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Policy Advisory Group Meeting. The meeting took place at NATO- Kuwait ICI Regional Center in the Gulf country on Jan He added in remarks to KUNA today that this meeting aimed at evaluating the cooperation framework of ICI and means of boosting coordination among the member states. The ICI meeting was in its fourth session. It was hosted by Kuwait for the second time since Kuwait s hosting of the meeting reflected its commitment to the partnership with NATO by continuing negotiations among all sides at all levels, he added. Kuwait is communicating with NATO via two levels; the bilateral and multilateral tracks. The diplomat added that this meeting News in Brief Kuwait donates to UN: The State of Kuwait announced late Friday voluntary donations amounting to USD million for aid programs of the UN agencies. According to a statement by the Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, the contribution was delivered to several UN programs including the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, (CERF), UN Development Program (UNDP), UN Human Settlements Program, UN Children s Fund (UNICEF), UN Environment Program (UNEP), and UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. Moreover, the Kuwaiti aid will also fund the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the UN housing fund, and the UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control, it added. Separately from the abovementioned sum, the Kuwaiti permanent mission delivered $900,000 to the bureau of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), $100,000 for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and $50,000 to the UN Children s Fund (UNICEF), the statement added. (KUNA) CSC to coordinate with ministries: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) will continue to coordinate with all ministries and state institutions to cover their need for employees, reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources. They denied about any intention to postpone the announcement of the new batch for appointment until adoption of the state budget, stressing that the 62nd was the first such event organized by NATO-Kuwait ICI Regional Center, indicating that it hosted previously a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and ICI member countries in Such meetings contribute to boosting dialogue between NATO and ICI member states in fields of arms non-proliferation, holding diplomatic events and enhancing military communication between both sides, he said. NATO-Kuwait ICI Regional Center, which commenced its activities last year in cooperation with local bodies, will cooperate this year with ICS states and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on various issues of common interest. The meeting was attended by Ambassador alejandro Alvargonzalez, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy 29 NATO and ICI members, namely: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, as well as officials from non-member states, namely Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as GCC Secretariat General. phase for registration of candidates who desire to work in the public sector will begin in March. Malaysian FM invited to meet: Malaysian Foreign Minister Hanifa Aman received an official invitation from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah to attend the US-led International Coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS) ministerial meeting scheduled for February 13 in Kuwait. In a statement to KUNA, Kuwait s Ambassador to Malaysia Saad Al- Assousi said on Friday that he handed over the invitation to Malaysian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Raja Reza who stressed the importance of attending the meeting, as Malaysia is a participant in the 74-member international coalition. In a separate context, Ambassador Al-Assoussi discussed during his meeting with Reza a proposal to hold the first meeting of the Kuwaiti-Malaysian Joint Commercial Committee in April to tackle the joint trade issues between the two countries. (KUNA) Tourism collapsed under MoCI: Former undersecretary of Ministry of Tourism Nabila Al-Anjari says the ten years when she was working in the tourism sector was a golden era for Kuwait, lamenting that the sector collapsed after it was transferred to Ministry of Commerce and Industry, reports Al-Shahed daily. She indicated that she, given an opportunity to run the portfolio again, would revive the sector within two years, adding that interpellations would not stand in her way as long as she is leading the right call.

3 LOCAL 3 Kuwait and Lebanon keep relationship on track: Aoun Lebanese president appreciates supportive stances of HH Amir KUNA photo Lebanese President Michel Aoun with the Editor-in-Chief of KUNA, Mohammad Al- Bahr. Governor Sheikh Fawaz with the Turkish ambassador. Ahmadi governor receives Turkish envoy Kuwait Today Prayer Timings Fajr... 05:17 Sunrise... 06:40 Zohr... 12:01 Asr... 15:02 Maghrib... 17:23 Isha... 18:44 Weather Expected weather for the next 24 hours: By Night: Cold with light to moderate freshening over coastal areas north westerly wind, with speed of km/h and some scattered clouds will appear. By Day: Fair and scattered clouds over some areas with light variable wind becoming light to moderate freshening later on north westerly wind, with speed of km/h with a chance for rising dust over open areas and a chance for drizzle. Station Max Min Rec Exp Kuwait City Kuwait Airport Abdaly Bubyan Jahra Failaka Island Salmiyah Ahmadi Nuwaisib Wafra Salmy days forecast - Weather Sunday, Jan 28 Expected weather...fair Max Temp...20C Min Temp...08C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Monday, Jan 29 Expected weather...cool Max Temp...19C Min Temp...07C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Tuesday, Jan 30 Expected weather...cool Max Temp...18C Min Temp...07C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Wednesday, Jan 31 Expected weather...cool Max Temp...19C Min Temp...06C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Marine Forecast Station Max Min Sea Today s Rec Exp Surf Waves Ht Dirn South Dolphin ft NW Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah recently received in his office the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Kuwait Ayse Hilal Sayan Koytak in respect of her official resumption of duty. The two officials exchanged pleasantries, followed by formal introduction and later deliberated on several issues of mutual interest, especially bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. They agreed on the need to consolidate the existing cordial relations in all ramifications. KU s Workers Syndicate denounces message Faculty dean abusing power KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Workers Syndicate of Kuwait University (KU) has denounced the message sent by the Dean of Faculty of Medicine to the Department of Safety and Security to ban the entry of a staff member into the building and facilities of the faculty, reports Al-Qabas daily. Deputy Head of the syndicate Dr Manal Bouhaimad said the syndicate rejects such messages, indicating that it tries to justify the ban with the use of the words for the public interest. She said the dean is not authorized to ban employees who are not under his jurisdiction from entering the facilities, especially since it was the employee s workplace. Dr Bouhaimad indicated that the use of the phrase for the public interest is rubbery and contains several interpretations, adding that she wonders how public interest will be affected by the presence of an employee at their workplace. She stressed that the university administration should take appropriate action against the dean for abuse of power and violating Article No. 54 of civil service system. Umm Mudayrah ft NW Beacon M ft NW Beacon N ft NW Qaruh Island ft NW Umm Al-Maradim ft NW Sea Island Buo Salmiyah ft NW 4 days forecast - Marine Sunday, Jan 28 Expected weather...fair Sea state... Slight to moderate rough at times Wave height ft Max Temp...20C Min Temp...08C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Monday, Jan 29 Expected weather...cool Sea state...slight to moderate Wave height ft Max Temp...19C Min Temp...07C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Tuesday, Jan 30 Expected weather...cool Sea state...slight to moderate Wave height ft Max Temp...18C Min Temp...07C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Wednesday, Jan 31 Expected weather...cool Sea state...slight to moderate Wave height ft Max Temp...19C Min Temp...06C Wind Direction... NW Wind Speed km/h Tide times at Shuwaikh Port 1st high tide:... 08:10 2nd high tide:... 19:01 1st low tide:... 13:07 2nd low tide:... 02:59 Sunrise:... 06:40 Sunset:... 17:22 Recorded yesterday at Kuwait Airport Max temp...25c Min temp...14c Max Rh...46% Min Rh...21% Max Wind... NW 50 km/h Total Rainfall in 24 hrs... 0 mm Recorded yesterday at South Dolphin Min/Max/ Air Temp...16/21C Min/Max Rel Hum...31/74% Wind Direction/Wind Speed...S/52 km/h Prev Wave Dir/Max Wave Ht... N/- ft Min/Max Sea Surface Temp... -/- C Sea Current...Downdraft Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Dept. deaths Ghanima Mubarak Khalaf Al Salem, wife of Faleh Baraak Mubarak Al Qaimar Al Azemi, 65 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: Jaber Al Ali, St. 8, block 2, house 25 Tel Bader Mohammad Jaber Al Shamali, 83 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) West Mishref, Block 3, St. 324, House 29 Tel (Women) Zahra, Block 2, St. 224, House 30 Tel Hasan Ahmad Othman, widow of Safah Shanoof Al Rashed, 75 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) Andalous, block 13, St. 3, house 14 Tel (Women) Sulaibikhat, block 3, Haneen St. 115, avenue 7, House 12 Tel Nasser Haidar Abbas Husein, 69 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) Al Haj Abbas Merza Husein Mosque Tel (Women) Hiteen, Block 4, St. 414, House 12. Mohammad Aaman Nemat Allah Ismail Moqadam, 79 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men) Mubarak Al Abdullah, Jasem Al Wazan Mosque St. Tel (Women) Dasma, Diwan Al Zalzalah, block 2, St. 25( at Asr Only). Sulaiman Abdullah Al Zaid Al Nasser, 78 years old, to be buried on Sunday after Asr prayers. Condolences: (Men) Abraq Kheitan, Block 5, Nasser Al Jabri St. House 106, Diwan Nasser Al Zaid Al Nasser Tel (Women) Yarmouk, Block 4, St. 1, House 59. Maryam Jalal Mansoru Al Ramah, widow of Fahad Musa Al Saad. 79 years old to be buried on Sunday after Asr prayers.condolence: (Men) Qadisiya, Block 6, St. 67, House 8 Tel (Women) Salam, Block 6, St. 608, House 33 Tel Haya Thahwi Al Azemi, widow of Fetaim Awaath Al Azemi, 56 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: (Men)Qurain, block 5, St. 4, House 30 Tel Zahra Khethayer Al Offee, wife of Abdullah Ali Abdullah, 85 years old, buried on Saturday. Condolences: Rumaithiya, Block 10, Abu Hanifa St. Avenue 101, House 16 Tel Jan 27, 2018 KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27, (KUNA): Lebanese President Michel Aoun said his country and Kuwait maintained identical stances and exemplary relations on the state-to-state and people-to-people levels. The distinctive nature of the relationship is that both countries have contradictions in neither views nor targets, he said in an interview with KUNA and Kuwait TV. President Aoun, who was on a state visit to Kuwait recently, said the bilateral ties are based on mutual respect, which opens new horizons for the constantly growing cooperation in such areas as economic development, education and culture. He appreciated the supportive stances of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah towards Lebanon, saying that Kuwait, under the leadership of His Highness the Amir, offered essential financial assistance to various development projects in Lebanon in the recent years. The loans and grants, offered by Kuwaiti financial institutions such as Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), helped shore up the economy and rehabilitate the infrastructure in Lebanon. These assistances helped Lebanon to shift from an interestbased economy to a productionbased one, he pointed out. Regarding the talks he has had in Kuwait, President Aoun said they reviewed a range of bilateral issues as well as the latest developments of the situations in the region. Identical The cordial and candid discussions proved once again that both countries hold identical views on all issues of common concern, he affirmed. He called on the Lebanese community in Kuwait to continue working hard and contributing to the amicable relations between both countries. Dealing with Lebanon s domestic affairs, President Aoun said his country was able to restore security and stability in the recent months thanks to the great efforts of the army and the security forces. The security services managed to eradicate the elements of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the Lebanese territories dismantle several terrorist cells through preventive measures, he stressed. The conflict in the region had had serious impacts on the security and political situations in Lebanon, he said, noting that he has been able, since he assumed office in October 2016, to reduce the domestic conflicts to the political aspect only. He ruled out the possibility of prosperity and development without genuine national partnership involving all components of the society. There is a national consensus on the need to focus on exploitation of the oil and gas resources in Lebanon in the coming stage. Another priority of Lebanon is to set the stage for parliamentary elections, due in this May, he revealed. Blamed He blamed the security and economic difficulties seen by Lebanon over the last six years, on the mass exodus of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, saying that nearly 50 percent of the Syrian refugees fled to Lebanon, thus adding burdens on the Lebanese budget. He extolled His Highness the Amir for his great efforts to cement the Arab unity, promote joint action and mediate in disputes in the region. The Lebanese leader also commended the humanitarian initiatives of His Highness the Amir that helped alleviate the suffering of many people inside and outside the Middle East region. In recognition of Kuwait s generous contributions to the relief efforts, the United Nations conferred the titles of Humanitarian Leader on His Highness the Amir and Global Humanitarian Center on Kuwait, he went on. Above: Some photos from the Republic Day celebration. Hundreds of Indians gather to mark 69th Republic Day President Aoun called on the international community to nominate His Highness the Amir for the Nobel Peace Prize. In this regard, he recalled the role of His Highness the Amir in the tripartite committee on political solution to the Lebanese Civil War ( ). His Highness the Amir - the then foreign minister of Kuwait, offered a proposal to the meeting of the committee in Tunis in 1989 which was acceptable to majority Photos by Rizk Tawfiq Indian ambassador unfurls tricolor By Paul Francis X. Fernandes Arab Times Staff KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Braving the cold weather, hundreds of Indians gathered at the Indian Embassy compound to salute the nation on its 69th Republic Day. The function began with His Excellency the Ambassador of India, K. Jeeva Sagar garlanding the statue of India s Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. This was followed by the unfurling of the Indian tricolor and singing of the national anthem. The ambassador then addressed the community and read a message from the President of India. The band performance by members of the Bohra Community gave a scintillating start to the event. Students from various Indian schools in Kuwait Including the Carmel School, Indian Community School, etc performed various patriotic songs. The ambassador extended warm greetings to all members of the Indian community in Kuwait and also conveyed his best wishes to His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness the Prime Minister and the friendly people of the State of Kuwait with which India enjoys a close multi-faceted relationship. I am glad to be here and it is my responsibility as an ambassador to look after our community and use our community to create a good relationship with this country. It is an endorsement of our wonderful culture that Kuwait has accepted around a million of our people here, Ambassador Jeeva Sagar told reporters after the celebration. We have a friendly government here and will work with them. There are positive developments. The recent orders from the Ministry of Interior shows that we are in the right direction, he added. Thousands of Indian citizens from all walks of life including Indian families, representatives of Indian associations, businessmen, doctors, engineers, other professionals, domestic workers and Embassy staff with their families participated in the open-air function with joy and enthusiasm. An open house reception was held for all present at the conclusion of the celebration. of parties to the Lebanese crisis, the president added. During his stay in Kuwait on Jan 23-24, President Aoun held talks with His Highness the Amir on a range of bilateral and regional issues.

4 LOCAL 4 Ahmadi Governor organises meeting for young Kuwaitis Under the patronage of Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Ahmadi Governorate organised an awareness meeting for young Kuwaitis who own small enterprises and will participate in the exhibition that will be held on the sidelines of the festival Um Al-Khair 2018 as part of the National Day celebrations. Some of the young Kuwaitis who attended the event. In this regard, Director of Technical Office at Ahmadi Governorate Ibrahim Al-Foudri stressed the keenness of Ahmadi Governor to encourage the youth entrepreneurs 12 Public institutions comply with CSC regulations, no violations found Plan to merge Youth Affairs with Ministry of Youths unveiled KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has recorded 12 public institutions which comply with its regulations and the Employment Monitoring Sector, reports Al-Anba daily quoting a reliable source. The source affirmed these institutions took into consideration the comments of CSC so there were no violations recorded against from Jan 1 to Dec 31, He said these institutions did not commit violations concerning important matters like decisions on filling up supervisory positions and delegation of authority; as well as creating, canceling, reforming or merging organizational structures. According to the source, these institutions include the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MoSAL), Public Authority for Handicapped Affairs (PAHA), Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), Central Statistics Bureau, Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), National Center for Education Development, Ministry of Oil, State Ministry for Service Affairs, State Ministry for National Assembly Affairs, Ministry of Defense and Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD). Minister of Commerce and Industry and State Minister for Youth Affairs Khalid Al-Rawdan has unveiled a plan to merge the Public Authority for Youth Affairs with the State Ministry for Youths, reports Al-Anba daily. Speaking on the sidelines of the Human Wealth Forum recently, the minister pointed out this is part of measures being taken to rationalize expenditures in public institutions. He also stressed the need to nurture the cultural and creative ideas of individuals, pointing out that training youths should be the main objective of the government for them to greatly contribute to national development. Director General of Kuwait Municipality Eng Ahmad Al-Manfouhi issued an administrative circular regarding the travel permits for the staff, reports Al-Qabas daily. Al-Manfouhi explained he took this step because some sectors in the Municipality recently issued travel permits to their staff without coordinating with the Personnel Affairs Department. He urged all the sectors to strictly company with the rules on travel permit issuance, which should be done only by the Personnel Affairs Department as it has the sole authority to liaise with the Interior Ministry. and support their projects. He praised the social contributions made by a number of companies of public and private sectors including Commercial Bank of Kuwait. Al-Qurain fest concludes Jan 29 Amir, govt encourage arts, cultural festivals in Kuwait KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait has placed all possible resources for boosting the cultural sector, with continuous support by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. For its part, the Government has played a pivotal role, supporting and launching various cultural and literary establishments and activities, namely Kuwait International Book fair, held for the first time on Nov 1, Latest fair was held in November, grouping 500 publishing houses, including 50 houses that participated in the cultural event the first time. Al-Qurain Cultural Festival, due to conclude on Jan 29, was first launched on Nov 23, 1994, in response to the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah s desire. The festival is held annually and proceeds for three weeks, featuring various workshops, musical concerts, fairs, cinematic and theatrical shows as well as seminars. March 27, 1989, marked launch of Kuwait Theatrical Festival, coinciding with the World Theatre Day. The Kuwaiti theater dates back to 1921 with establishment of Al-Mubarakiah School. Encouraging arts, the state has established the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts, the Higher Institute for Musical Arts and the Musical Studies Institute and the Institute of Academic Art and Musical Sciences. Kuwaiti holds, in March every year, the Arab Child Theater Festival, in addition to the Adults Festival featuring workshops, training courses, artistic shows, in addition to the Summer Cultural Festival aimed at helping the young citizens in investing in time in a constructive manner. The International Musical Festival is organized in June. In March 2017, the Kuwait Cinematic Festival was held the first time, as part of an approach to encourage the youngsters be active in this realm.

5 LOCAL 5 The bicycle race in progress. KUNA photo Kuwait Oil Company organizes bicycle race Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) organized on Friday a bicycle race across bumpy terrain in Al-Ahmadi, with 300 cyclists contesting. Maasouma Nasser, the head of the KOC public relations, told KUNA that the race involved cyclists of various ages, also noting that the tournament was the first of its kind to be organized in the country. The 5.5-km-long route of the race, dotted with snaking alleys and sharp curves, matches internationally recognized tracks. Anas Al-Hemaidani, the chief referee, said winners would be awarded. For his part, Ayed Al-Mutairi, in charge of roads management department at the company, said organizers had labored for two months to demarcate the track. (KUNA) Kuwait to reconstruct water pumping stations in Sanaa Over 50,000 people in 8 residential areas to benefit KUNA photo Kuwaiti Ambassador Al-Asousi with the Malaysian delegation led by Ministry of Higher Education Undersecretary Emran Abdullah. Malaysian education team meets Kuwaiti envoy A delegation from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education led by its Undersecretary Emran Abdullah and Director General Noor Azizi Thursday paid a courtesy call on the Ambassador of Kuwait to Malaysia Saad Al-Asousi. The Malaysian undersecretary expressed readiness of his country to collaborate with Kuwait in the Happy to leave but worried about future 15,447 illegal Lankans in Kuwait KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: There are about 15,447 Sri Lankans in violation of the residency law in Kuwait, as per a press statement issued by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait. Recently, Ministry of Interior declared an amnesty period from Jan 29 to Feb 22 for expatriates who do not possess residency or have expired residence permits to either legalize their status or leave the country without being blacklisted. The Sri Lankan Embassy considers this amnesty period as a rare opportunity for about 15,447 Sri Lankans who live illegally in Kuwait to either resolve their residency issues and stay in the country or leave the country without being blacklisted. It said those with further inquiries in this regard can contact the embassy via its hotline No Elaborating further on the decision taken by Ministry of Interior to grant amnesty, it stated that illegal residents in Kuwait have two options. First option is that they can legalize their status to continue living in Kuwait by paying all the fines and obtaining a valid visa without being referred to the investigation department. Second option is that they can leave the country during this amnesty period through any port without paying any fines. Those who leave during this amnesty period will not be blacklisted and will be allowed to re-enter Kuwait if they are not banned from entry for any other reason and if they meet the required conditions. Those who are banned from travelling or are subjected to court cases should visit the Residency Affairs Department to discuss the possibility of getting a valid visa during the amnesty period. If area of higher education and scientific research in order that many Kuwaiti students may opt for Malaysian universities. In response, Ambassador Al-Asousi said he has held series of meetings with relevant higher education authorities to discuss possible areas of bilateral cooperation to improve relationship in that regard. any illegal resident is caught during the amnesty period, he or she would be referred for immediate deportation. Residency violators who do not leave the country during the amnesty period would face legal penalties, denial of valid visa, deportation and denial of reentry into Kuwait. Even though the general amnesty granted by Kuwait government -- from Jan 29 to Feb 22 is likely to benefit thousands of illegal immigrants from India stuck in the Gulf nation, their misery is unlikely to end on their return to India. For most of them who went from Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Nirmal and Karimnagar districts have no opportunities for alternative employment back home. However, they will be deported during the amnesty period and their future hangs in the balance, reports The New Indian Express. The general amnesty period can be used by immigrants who have illegally entered Kuwait or overstayed their visa period to return home without taking permission from any authority or paying any penalty amount. Most immigrants from Telangana stuck in the Gulf country are those who were cheated by travel agents and recruiters. For instance, Prashant from Kamareddy, who works in Al Raqib, was not allowed to take leave or visit India since he went there three years ago. My mother has cancer and I want to see her but I have no promise for jobs back home, he told Express over phone from Kuwait. I had to do tough labour to make money for my mother s treatment, but I am not sure if the firm will call me back if I go home during the amnesty period. KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27, (KUNA): Living up to its UN-bestowed status as an International Humanitarian Center, Kuwait continued responding to natural and man-made emergencies across the Middle East and beyond over the justended week. On Sunday, Jan 21, Kuwait launched a new campaign aimed at reconstructing water plants in the Yemeni capital Sanaa with total costs of 80 million Yemeni riyals. The campaign called Kuwait beside you is part of efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct water pumping stations to insure flow of water to citizens of the capital Sanaa and alleviate their suffering. Over 50,000 people in eight residential areas will benefit from the project, which consists of a fully equipped station building, a 300-kilowatt power generation unit and a 200-kilowatt pumping unit. The state of Kuwait is keen on rehabilitating the Yemeni water sector, extensively damaged due to the war, beside its effort to reconstruct other sectors namely the food industries, education and health. Furthermore, a Palestinian charity launched an endeavor to refurbish some 380 Palestinian homes financed by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, at a cost of $4 million. The project is geared towards impoverished Palestinian domiciles across the Gaza Strip, the chairman of the Al-Rahma Charity Association Imad Kaheel said in a ceremony with Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Dr Mufeed Al-Hassanieh in attendance. He pointed out that the project was a genuine effort to assist the Palestinian people, many of whom are mired in sheer penury as a result of a rigid Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Kaheel revealed that a comprehensive survey of Gaza was carried out to determine the beneficiaries of the humanitarian program, thanking Kuwait for its unyielding support for the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, the Palestinian minister lamented the plight of around 4,200 Palestinian families who live well below the poverty line, saying that their misery is likely to intensify. He urged Arab and Islamic nations to ratchet up aid for these hapless families in order to improve their living conditions, expressing his gratitude to the Kuwaiti people as well. Panel on moderation has mandate of Council of Ministers Some makeshift mosques promote extremism KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: On the issue of demolition of makeshift mosques, some of which are being used as shelter to promote extremist ideas, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Secretary-General of the Higher Committee for the Promotion of Moderation Farid Asad Emadi said, the committee which has been tasked to carry out this work has the mandate of the Council of Ministers, reports Al-Rai daily. He added, the committee comprises men from the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, the Kuwait Municipality and the Committee for Demolition. He added at the heart of the issue are 115 unlicensed makeshift mosques some of which promoted extremism. Emadi said according to the decision issued by the Council of Ministers, all encroachments on government land must be demolished including the makeshift mosques. He said imams or muezzins working in these mosques do not have permission from the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. He added, the Ministry of Awqaf suggested addressing this issue by allocating a site licensed by the Municipality taking into account the need for a mosque in the area. In the event if these makeshift mosques are licensed, they will be built with concrete each of which will cost approximately KD 60,000, Emadi pointed out. News in Brief Kuwait, Saudi ties deep rooted : Saudi Arabia s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Political and Economic Affairs Dr Adel Murad has affirmed the depth of relations and continuous cooperation between his country and Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily. Murad made the statement during his meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sheikh Thamer Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Saudi Middle East Agency has reported that Murad met the Kuwaiti ambassador in his office recently, during which they discussed rumors aimed at straining relations between the two countries. Both officials affirmed that the latest controversy between Chairperson of Saudi Olympics Committee Sheikh Turky Al-Sheikh and Kuwait s State Minister for Youth Affairs Khalid Al-Rawdan does not go beyond the usual practices in the sports field, away from policy and protocols. PAHW to build new housing cities: The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) will build new housing cities in the southern part of the country in response to the request of the Cabinet, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources. Sources revealed the previous recommendations include allocating land for this purpose in Shuaiba, indicating the layout will be presented to technical and design committees.

6 LOCAL 6 DIWANIYA A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION KUNA photo Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Sabah returned home following an official visit to Qatar late Jan 25. The visit came at the invitation of Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, and to attend the graduation ceremony of a new batch of Ahmad bin Mohammad Military College. (KUNA) KUNA photo Kuwait s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mansoor Ayyad Al-Otaibi during his speech at the UN. Kuwait raps Israel aggressive policies Occupier violating UN rules NEW YORK, Jan 27, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait on Thursday renewed its strong condemnation of Israel s persistence in its aggressive policies and violating the UN Security Council resolutions. Addressing a UNSC session on the Situations in the Middle East, Kuwait s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi said Israel, as an occupying power, persists in its provocative measures and unilateral actions in contravention to the UNSC resolutions, particularly the resolution No This is the first time for Ambassador Al- Otaibi to participate in a Council session on the Palestinian issue since Kuwait become a Council member early this month. No party could be allowed to avoid implementation of binding Council resolutions through unrealistic excuses, he stressed. Yet, Israel was in breach of resolution 2334 (2016), as it continued its aggressive policies, unilateral measures and provocations in the absence of any serious call by the Council to end its aggressions and comply with its 1949 Geneva Convention obligations. Its unprecedented settlement expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had become a daily routine for Palestinians, confirming the need to end that situation through a two-state solution, Al-Otaibil Funding terror KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Court of Appeals has sent to prison seven people accused of financing terrorism, reports Al-Anba daily. The daily added, one of them has been sentenced to 15 years and the rest to 10 years with hard labor. The accused are found guilty of violating Law 106 of 2013 on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. stated. He welcomed the demand by the General Assembly and the Council to end the occupation, reaffirming the importance of the land-for-peace initiative and the Arab peace initiative. He cited United Nations principles, including not to infringe on Jerusalem s special status, and regarding the importance of measures that sought to do so. It was unacceptable to think that unilateral decisions would ease the conflict. He encouraged all donor States to provide UNRWA with funding, noting that Kuwait had offered $7.9 million in December 2017 and January He reaffirmed East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, and expressed support for all legal and peaceful efforts by the Palestinians at the national and international levels to exert sovereignty over Al- Quds Al-Sharif. Arabs must fight their own battles Dominate world with less losses THE domination of the world with minimal losses is one of the behind-the-scenes policies adopted by the US politicians, columnist and former MP Abdulmohsen Yusuf Jamal wrote for Al-Qabas daily. This policy was skillfully championed by the administration of former president Barack Obama and successfully implemented by the then Secretary of State John Kerry. As a matter of fact through this policy Obama wanted to withdraw his forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, and was committed not to send his armies into new wars but rely on the use of troops of other countries and organizations in America s next wars, and not to bring US troops into new battlefields. The Americans began implementing this policy in Libya and succeeded and continued in Syria and other Arab arenas and till this day avoid sending their troops to these countries. Today, President Donald Trump added other conditions to this policy saying whoever wants US support, even political, has to pay huge sums of money, meaning America will not work for free. Thus, the threats from American officials there are no longer taken Jamal seriously in different parts of the world. America under Obama and Trump is the same, both committed to behind-the-scenes strategy. Therefore, the US will not send troops to the conflict areas in the world, including the Arab world, which at the moment is witness to horrendous scenes of killing and destruction currently done by the people of these countries with their own funds and wealth. This happens, while the Americans stand behind it all to issue orders, instructions without direct involvement. Today, the Americans are in more than one place throughout the Arab world such as Syria at the moment supporting the Kurdish troops, but they will not interfere in the event of a fight between the Turks and the Syrian Kurdish troops. Therefore, the Arab countries must fully realize that the American statements will revolve only around its presence and how to invest this presence in the locations of the relevant struggles without any need to dispatch its forces or deplete their assets. Also: At the beginning of last Saturday, Turkish- US relations entered an important and dangerous phase that could lead to total collapse, columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily. This happened following the launching of a large-scale military offensive by Turkish forces Operation Olive Branch inside the Syrian territories against the Kurdish People s Protection Units with support from the US in the form of arms and training. Not just that, these units had started occupying a big plenum from the Washington concern since two years. However, this support was crowned by dominating many strategic areas by the Kurds inside Syria and this development constituted a threat to Turkish security, as Ankara claimed. In the meantime, it seems the Turkish move, came following an agreement between Ankara and Moscow when the latter moved its troops away from the Kurdish areas and the latter are currently subjected to Turkish shelling. This happens although Moscow had called on Ankara for self restraint. Returning to Turkish-American relations, we have seen ups and downs in this relationship since the entry of both countries into the Syrian arena and precisely during the reign of the former US president Barack Obama. Moreover, the tempo of this swing increased after Trump came to power in the White House and as a matter of fact both countries have failed to reach a mutual agreement on Syria. In other words, Washington supports the Kurdish units and provides them necessary coverage, while Ankara considers this support a threat to its security, simply because for Turkey this support shall give the Kurds legitimacy and that too by a big power like America, while Turkey was and still is in a war against the Kurdish organizations the organizations they have been fighting for several decades either inside Turkey, or elsewhere including north of Iraq. Not just that, Ankara sees the American support in question shall cause headache for it with the Kurds while the latter who are currently living in exodus in many countries are looking for an independence and found their state, but they have failed to achieve the same in North Iraq, for instance, and as such they are currently striving to achieve this objective in Syria by dominating some areas to renew their dream. However, amid the struggle between two countries (Turkey and America) it looks like this struggle will not end in the near future, but it is needless to say the price for what has happened will be paid by the Syrian people who are currently caught up in the firing line of the ruling regime and the struggling regional powers on its land and the expense of the sovereignty of Syria. Such being the case, this represents a unified factor that would have never occurred were it not for the behavior of the ruling regime which has resulted in the Syrians reaching such a situation just for the sake of remaining in power at the expense of millions of people who have been displaced inside and outside the country in addition to the people killed who have yet to be counted. What is the use of the elections in Iraq if loyalty is for sects and not for the entire nation? What does resorting to the ballot boxes mean if corruption is the target of the candidates, Hesham Al-Diwan wrote for Al-Shahed daily. Neither sectarianism nor ethnicity can help a nation that has suffered wars for a long time because of their former and present leaders. The domination of a specific sect with the backing of a particular country that is in enmity with all its neighbors and seeks to control them cannot help a country like Iraq reach success. It does not make sense that the Kurds belong to Iraq when they do not consider themselves as Iraqis. The Christians, Jews, Sabeans and Yazidis are Arabs and belong to the land they lived on. However, Kurds say they are a different nation. Once the former Iraqi president Jalal Talbani who is Kurdish said their roots belong to Yemen and lived on the mountains, which is why they are called the people of mountains in some countries. Irrespective of the roots of the Kurds, they are human beings just like others around the world. Ali Bin Abi Taleb, in the letter he sent his agent who was ruling Egypt Malek Bin Al-Ashtar, wrote, Fill your heart with mercy when you deal with people. Make them realize your love for them. Be kind to them and never act like a lion that attacks them. Make sure that your citizens can either be a brother in religion or your counterpart in humanity. I am sure the clerics can be reformative but they cannot rule. Civil governance requires legislations, equality and social justice. Citizens in Iraq or any other country seek dignity, freedom and respect. Religion and sects are matters between man and his Creator. That is why there is a doomsday. In the box specified for religion in the ID of Abdullah Ochalan, it is mentioned atheist, Dr. Hamoud Hattab Al-Enezi wrote for Al- Seyassah daily. The reason is that he is a communist Marxist who does not believe in any religion, not even the existence of a God who created the universe. He believes life happened by chance and is nothing more than particles. He believes history is the biggest lie. According to him, socialism should be the economic law of the state he wants to belong to. This actually means poverty for all citizens except the leaders of the Socialist Party who will enjoy the state treasures. Children are the state s property and they will be brought up based on the principles of the party. The most loyal among them will be chosen as a member of the party. The above is a brief summary about the principles of Abdullah Ochalan the Kurdish war criminal who killed more than 40,000 Turkish citizens including women, children, elderly, youth, securitymen, and army officers. He had been trying to avoid arrest by moving from one country to another. He was hiding in the Greek Embassy in Kenya when he was arrested, and he was handed over to the Turkish forces in He was taken to court where he was convicted of treason against Turkey. He was sentenced to death but the verdict was not executed because of Turkey s commitment to the European laws which ban death penalty. Now he is in the prisons of Turkey. His arrest was a major blow to his party, which is categorized as a terrorist group by all countries worldwide except Egypt and Syria. Life circumstances, employment of Kuwaiti women in various sectors and increase in burdens have forced Kuwaiti families to seek assistance of domestic helpers including babysitters, cooks, cleaners and drivers. The need for helpers is no longer a luxury. Every household requires a minimum of one or two of such helpers in order to keep up with daily household requirements, Adel Nayef Al-Mezel wrote for Al-Anba daily. Most of the families in Kuwait treat their helpers fairly, and some even treat them like family members. But there are a few cases that tarnish the image of Kuwait in the field of human rights by physically and emotionally abusing these helpers and not paying their monthly salaries. This contradicts Kuwait s pioneering role in the fields of justice and human rights as well as the teachings of Islam which calls for fair treatment of workers. Because of a few rotten apples, Kuwaiti families have fallen prey to the greed of domestic labor offices and embassies whereby the cost of bringing a single helper has reached KD 1,500 or more in addition to the monthly salary of KD 110 or KD 120. This has in turn increased the burdens of Kuwaiti families. The questions we have to ask are - Why should a citizen pay such exorbitant amounts to the domestic labor offices? Where is the Durra Company? Where is the government and why is it silent about this broad-daylight robbery? It has reached such an extent that a helper does not care anymore about the repercussions of running away from her sponsor to go to their embassy or shelter that have been established by who else but the government to impress human rights organizations. What about the right of the citizens, especially after they pay exorbitant amounts and deal with any problem that arises only to end up with the helpers running away to their embassies or secret hideouts while the citizens end up roaming from one office to another and from one embassy to another in order to find a replacement? Compiled by Zaki Taleb News in Brief Municipality crackdown: The division in charge of shops and advertisements within the Control and Monitoring Department of Capital Municipality launched a campaign on commercial shops in various areas which resulted in the issuance of 32 citations and removal of 72 advertisements from roads and public places, reports Al-Seyassah daily. In a statement issued on Thursday, Director of Municipal Services Control and Monitoring Department Eman Al-Kandari said the campaign was aimed at ensuring shop owners have valid advertisement licenses and are abiding by the municipality s rules and regulations. She explained that 32 out of the 92 shops that were monitored were issued citations for violating regulations related to advertisements including nonrenewal of relevant licenses and display of advertisements without the required license. Also, 72 advertisements were removed from public places. KD 500 fine for trucker: The Environment Police issued a citation worth KD 500 against a heavy vehicle that toppled on Seventh Ring Road in Kabad area, reports Al-Seyassah daily. According to sources, the heavy vehicle was carrying some construction materials which fell on the road when it toppled. In addition, petrol had also leaked from the heavy vehicle. These fallen construction materials and leaked petrol were left on the road and not removed, which was in violation of the environmental law. The citation has been referred to the Environment. Four drifters arrested: Four youths were arrested in Kabad area for performing stunts, and their vehicles were seized, says al-seyassah. According to security sources, officers from public security sector rushed to the location after receiving information about a number of youths who gathered to perform stunts. They managed to disperse the crowd, arrest four motorists and seize their vehicles. Wanted for fraud: Farwaniya securitymen arrested an Arab expatriate who is wanted by law for three cases of breach of trust, says Al-Seyassah. According to security sources, securitymen were on routine patrol duty when they stopped a motorist who appeared nervous and uneasy after spotting the police.

7 LOCAL 7 MoE readies list of expat teachers to be terminated 30-year supervisors, admin staff to go Photo by Mohammad Salem A. Rahman Private yachts sitting peacefully at the Al-Kout Marina, Fahaheel in South Kuwait. By Rana Salem Al-Seyassah Staff KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Undersecretary of Ministry of Education Dr Haitham Al-Atari has approved the list of expatriate teachers whose contracts will not be renewed by the ministry for the academic year 2018/2019. The list includes names of 88 Egyptian and Syrian teachers and administrative employees as well as a number of supervisors. This step was taken in line with the Decision No. 17/2016 of Civil Service Commission (CSC) concerning contracts of expatriates who completed one-year term that cannot be renewed under any condition. In this regard, Assistant Undersecretary for Administrative Affairs and Development Fahad Al-Ghais asked Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Fatima Al-Kandari to inform the affected teachers about the decision by handing them written letters. In his letter, he explained that the decision includes teachers and other employees who completed 30 years of service or more. They include teachers of Physics, Mathematics, Arabic, English, French, Fine Arts and Social Studies, heads of departments, and supervisors of subjects including Physics, Mathematics, Arabic and Science at different educational zones. Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Installations and Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Sector Dr Khalid Al-Rasheedi affirmed the readiness of all educational zones to receive students of all stages for the second semester. He revealed that the total number of students in elementary, intermediate and secondary levels is 338,192. Dr Al-Rasheedi indicated that textbooks will be distributed on the first day itself, adding that the ministry took advantage of the spring vacation to complete all urgent maintenance works. Meanwhile, former Kuwait University Vice-President for Planning Dr Emad Khorshed called on the university administration to concentrate on the weak points of past years in the new strategic plan for to proffer appropriate One dead in Salmi mishap Indian stabs self in suicide attempt KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: An Indian, who stabbed himself with a pair of scissors and ruptured his bowels, was rushed to the Adan Hospital where doctors were able to save his life, reports Al-Anba daily. According to a security source, the suspect was behind bars at the Fintas Police Station and when the guards heard cries, they rushed to the prison and saw the man in a pool of blood. solutions to problems or at least palliative measure to alleviate their effects, reports Al-Qabas daily. Dr Khorsheed buttressed his point, saying low budgets for some faculties and administrations are among the major problems the university is facing right now, in addition to inadequate space to accommodate student, shortage of buildings, over and above faculties and administrations scattered across various locations instead of being located in a single campus, while the number of academic staff is inadequate amid weak research funding. He expressed surprise at the manner in which many people react on social media to low ranking of the university by various international ranking institutions within the Arab World and at the global level. He reiterated the complainants failed to consider the current situation of the university, as regards the problems and negative aspects. He was arrested for allegedly violating the residence law and reported absconder by his sponsor. The Ministry of Interior has opened an investigation into the incident. However, his condition is listed as critical. In the meantime, a case of suicide attempt has been registered. One dead: An unidentified person died on the spot and another was seriously injured following a traffic accident, reports Al-Anba daily. The victims reportedly crashed into the rear of a water tanker in Salmi. Both men had to be pulled out by firemen from the wreck of the car. The injured man did not carry any identification papers. The dead man is believed to be a Kuwaiti. Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) will soon complete a national project concerning compilation of the list of essential medicines, reports Al-Jarida daily. The daily quoting a source noted WHO requested the ministry to accelerate steps to complete the project, noting the list will be kept with the organization to facilitate measures in case of unforeseen emergency or natural disasters such as earthquake and leadership change. He said the Acknowledgment and Quality Department is responsible for coordination between the ministry and the organization. He stated the department has since contacted several concerned departments to expedite action on compilation of the list as soon as possible to ensure submission to WHO on time. Al-Rai photo A tent in the Ahmadi desert was converted into a bar for a wild party. Bar in desert tent To the surprise of the Kuwait Municipality workers, they found empty bottles of whisky and vodka when they were to dismantle a camp in the Ahmadi desert, reports Al-Rai daily. The daily added, this happened when some expatriates advertised the holding of a singing concert in the desert in another camp (next to the camp where bottles were found and the door of which was clearly marked bar ) following which the Director-General of the Kuwait Municipality issued orders to pull down the camp. The daily did not say if any arrests have been made. Egyptian gang caught Fake dollars mystery solved By Munaif Nayef Al-Seyassah Staff KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Police have managed to unravel the mystery concerning the emergence of fake dollars in money exchange bureaus in Farwaniya area. Investigations conducted by them resulted in the arrest of four Egyptian expatriates who are part of a five-member gang. The officers are currently in search of the fifth suspect. They also confiscated five million counterfeit U.S. dollars in the possession of this gang. According to security sources, the gang kept the fake dollars in an apartment in News in Brief Jabriya area in order to hide their movements and avoid suspicions that might arise in areas where their compatriots gather. The police identified one of the gang members and arrested him after monitoring his movement. When questioned, he revealed the names of the other members of the gang. They arrested three other suspects and are on the lookout for the fourth one. They raided the apartment in Jabriya area and found fake dollars of value five million. Investigations are underway to determine how much of these counterfeit dollars have entered the market so far, the source of the money and the way it was smuggled into the country. Complaint shelved: Informed sources said the Public Prosecutor s Office has decided to shelve a complaint that was filed a year ago by the Army Chief-of- Staff Lieutenant-General Mohammad Al-Khiddr and a number of officers who had requested to investigate the issue of existence of checks in their names that had aroused suspicion of bribery, reports Al-Jarida daily. The decision is based on the fact that investigations have failed to reach the source of those checks. Moreover, the checks are believed to be fake. Al-Khiddr The Prosecution found the checks were what it called improper after taking into account the complaints that were filed by banks that had issued these checks and came to the conclusion that the source of the checks was unknown. About a year ago, the Prosecution had received complaints from Al-Khidhr and a number of military officers to investigate the issue for fear of tarnishing their reputations and protecting public property. Four Kuwaitis held: A Kuwaiti citizen was arrested in Salwa area for consuming and possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia, says Al-Seyassah. According to security sources, securitymen were patrolling Salwa area when they suspected a motorist and ordered him to pull over. However, the latter fled from the scene, forcing securitymen to follow him. During the chase, they noticed him throw an item out of the car. Eventually securitymen forced him to stop. They noticed his disoriented state and arrested him. When questioned, he confessed that he threw a lamp which is used for consuming drugs as well as a sachet of methamphetamine. He was arrested and referred to the Drugs Control General Department for further investigations. Meanwhile Private Taskforce officers arrested three Kuwaiti citizens in Kabad area in possession of drug paraphernalia and a cleaver. Doing drugs in car: Police have arrested two Kuwaitis for consuming hashish inside a car parked car in front of a school in Jahra, reports Al-Rai daily. A security source said the arrest came after a compatriot informed the Operations Room of the Interior Ministry. At the time of arrest the men were disoriented. One of them was also wanted by law in a case of drug abuse. Durg addict asleep: The Farwaniya police have arrested an unidentified Egyptian for possessing and consuming drugs, reports Al-Rai daily. According to security sources the man was slumped behind the steering wheel of his vehicle which had collided into a tree on the side of the road. When paramedics and police rushed to the area, they found the man was not injured but was fast asleep and looked drowsy.

8 LOCAL Court Cases Case against ex-mps adjourned Court acquits sports TV presenter in libel charge By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Criminal Court acquitted the presenter, producer and guests of a sports program on a TV channel of charges of offending the Secretary General of Kuwait Football Association. According to the case file, the Public Prosecution had charged the first, second and third defendants of broadcasting a sports program that broadcasted false statements and fake events which offended the plaintiff, the Secretary General of Kuwait Football Association. The sports Haidar program was prepared and presented by the first defendant and directed by the second defendant. The third defendant is the owner of the TV channel and the fourth defendant had agreed with the defendants to broadcast the program on that TV channel. During the court session, the defense counsel of the fourth defendant Lawyer Ina am Haidar highlighted the lack of material or moral crime, stressing that her client has been denying the allegations since the start of the investigations. She insisted that the case file does not contain any evidences in support of the allegations, affirming that his statement was issued based on the freedom of sports criticism, which is guaranteed and legal. She added that his statement did not contain any insults or threats. Case adjourned: Under tight security at the Justice Palace, the Criminal Court adjourned to March 13 the case filed against former MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Mubarak Al-Walaan and Salem Al-Namlan and political activist Abbas Al-Sha abi, who are allegedly accused of offending the King of Jordan, for cross-examination of witnesses. The Public Prosecution had charged three suspects of spreading fake news concerning the internal situation of Kuwait with the intention to harm the national welfare of the country. Al-Barrak was accused of claiming that there are 3,500 Jordanian security personnel in Kuwait during an interview in a French TV channel. They were also charged of participating in an illegal gathering with others, and failing to adhere to the orders issued by securitymen to disperse. The defendants had denied all the charges. Refund KD 10,500 : Civil Section at the Court of First Instance chaired by Judge Khalid Al-Rushdan ordered a Kuwaiti woman to refund KD 10,500 in favor of her compatriot ex-husband for making use of a sold property illegitimately. Lawyer Mohammad Khalil Al- Qattan representing the plaintiff narrated before court that his client was married to the defendant. He explained that his client sold his property at Oyoun area, Jahra, but the defendant used the same property for over 10 months after the sale. He stressed the action made the plaintiff to pay the buyer KD 700 monthly, citing Article 262 of civil law, which stipulates that whoever enriches himself at the expense of another person should compensate the affected person for damages. Decision cancelled: The Cassation Court presided over by Judge Dr Jamal Al-Enezi cancelled a decision to delegate and promote a holder of PhD in Law to the position of director of Legal Affairs Department of State Ministry for National Assembly Affairs. Ayed Al-Mutairi had filed a lawsuit against the State Minister for National Assembly Affairs in his capacity, demanding the cancellation of decision No. 20/2010 dated Jan 25, 2010 that bypassed him from delegation and promotion to the abovementioned post. He also demanded cancellation of Decision No. 69/2011 issued in February 2011 that bypassed him from delegation and promotion to the same post. Heroin capsules, thousands of liquor bottles found on Asians KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Hawally police have arrested three army officers, a First Lieutenant and two lieutenants for driving under the influence of alcohol, insulting police on duty and misusing the telephone, reports Al-Anba daily. A security source said a police patrol on routine duty stopped the officers for reckless driving in Salmiya and two of them attacked a police man while the third used his cell phone to film the incident. Several police patrols rushed to the scene of the incident and referred the three officers to the area police station for interrogation following which they were referred to the military police. The source said the three officers looked disoriented. Police have also seized from the men bottles containing some liquid believed to be alcohol and referred them to Forensics for a blood test. Upon instructions of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant-General Mahmoud Al- Dosari, a detailed report shall be sent to the Defense Ministry. Meanwhile, in a similar story, a Kuwaiti man seen beating a police officer in a now-viral video was arrested late on Thursday, Al Anba newspaper reported. The footage captured a car chase that had ensued on a highway. In it, the policeman can be seen cornering the reckless driver, who then stepped out of his car... and came after him. The video sparked outrage on social media, with hundreds calling on authorities to take action. Amid the intense backlash towards the man s actions, authorities announced he was arrested. According to Al Anba, the defendant is now in police custody and will soon be referred to prosecution. Heroin seized: Customs officers at the Al-Nuwaiseeb border post recently foiled the attempt of a Pakistani truck driver to smuggle 114 capsules of heroin, approximately one kilo, into the country, reports Al-Rai daily. According to security sources, police acting on a tip-off from a secret source waited for the truck to arrive Drunk trio insult cop; one held for assaulting officer KFSD photo Four individuals were trapped in the wreckage of a vehicle that toppled on the Sixth Ring Road and suffered various degrees of injuries as a result, says Al-Seyassah. Acting on information, the Operations Room of the Interior Ministry dispatched a team of rescue men to the scene to deal with the incident. Firemen cut the wreckage to remove the four victims. They were referred to a hospital via ambulance amid severe injuries, while traffic men remove the debris from the road. A case was registered. from an unidentified Gulf State and in coordination with the General Department for Drugs Control seized the man and his vehicle. The contraband was professionally hidden in a secret compartment of the truck. The contraband and the suspect have been referred to the General Department for Drugs Control. Bootleggers nabbed: Acting on a tip-off the Farwaniya police raided an apartment in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and arrested two Asians for bootlegging, reports Al-Anba daily. According to police sources the bootleggers had turned the apartment into a mini factory to manufacture booze. Police have confiscated from the men 7,000 bottles of local booze, manufacturing equipment and barrels filled with brew. They have been handed over to the General Department for Drugs and Alcohol Control. Meanwhile, the Farwaniya police have arrested an Indian who was caught in Khaitan with 336 bottles of locally-manufactured booze, reports Al-Anba daily. The suspect was caught when he was seated next to his vehicle. He has been handed over to the concerned authorities. Drugs with royal : Police have arrested two young Kuwaitis, one of them a member of the ruling family, for possessing and consuming drugs, reports Al-Rai daily. According to the daily, the addicts were fast asleep inside their car on Damascus Street with the car engine on. Police have seized from the men 12 narcotic pills and four sachets of meth. They have been referred to the General Department for Drugs Control. Worker summoned: The Supervision and Inspection Department of the Ministry of Interior has summoned for interrogation one of its employees working at the Kuwait International Airport for questioning about prior entries and exits of a Kuwaiti through the airport, reports Al-Rai daily. As per the law the employee has no right to check such data and the Kuwaiti filed a complaint with the concerned authority. The daily added, the employee will be interrogated next week to know on what basis he checked the passport of the Kuwaiti and inquired about his earlier travels. The employee has been identified on the strength of the user ID. 8

9 INTERNATIONAL 9 World News Roundup Shooting Senator beating the drum Shooting fuels debate over guns in schools FRANKFORT, Ky, Jan 27, (AP): Hours after authorities say a 15-year-old student shot and killed two classmates at a western Kentucky high school, a Republican senator in the state s Capitol rushed to file a bill intended to prevent future tragedies by putting more guns in schools. The legislation from state Sen. Steve West would let local districts hire armed marshals to patrol public schools, make citizen s arrests and protect people from imminent death or serious physical injury. Marshals wouldn t have to be police officers, but school district employees in good standing who have a license to carry concealed weapons. I m going to be beating the drum again. We had this shooting this week. If we do what we West did last time and nothing is done, this will come back again, West said of Tuesday s violence. As school shootings become more commonplace, debates are raging in Kentucky and state legislatures nationwide about how to prevent them. Some pursue laws that would make it harder for teenagers and others to buy guns and bring them onto school grounds. Others, including some Democrats, want to increase the number of people allowed to carry guns in schools, believing that will deter shootings from starting and quickly stop the ones that do. In Kentucky, West s bill is one of at least two that would allow more guns into Kentucky s public schools and on college campuses. They reflect sentiments that have found bipartisan support in a conservative state whose politicians routinely pose in ads with guns, and where the National Rifle Association held its 2016 national convention. The NRA has an outsized influence in many state elections and the resulting gun policy debates in those legislatures. You know, we re in Kentucky, said Ralph Alvarado, a Republican state senator and medical doctor who co-sponsored West s legislation. This debate always comes up, restricting gun use in the state. I m just adamantly opposed to it. It s a constitutional right that we have. It s one of those things that it s going to be tough to ever get that kind of a concept through. Some Democrats think the GOP push for more guns in schools is misplaced. State Rep Attica Scott from Louisville said she is definitely an advocate for gun safety and to me more guns is not the answer to gun violence. Muslims pray following a protest to mark the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration s executive order banning travel into the United States from several Muslim majority countries, in Washington Square Park, on Jan 26, in New York City. After numerous legal challenges, the travel ban is now in its third iteration. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Trump vs Hawaii case concerning the travel ban this spring. (AFP) America Ginsburg won t retire soon: In different circumstances, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg might be on a valedictory tour in her final months on the Supreme Court. But in the era of Donald Trump, the 84-year-old Ginsburg is packing her schedule and sending signals she intends to keep her seat on the bench for years. The eldest Supreme Court justice has produced two of the court s four signed opinions so far this term. Outside of court, she s the subject of a new documentary that includes video of her working out. And she s hired law clerks to take her through June 2020, just four months before the next presidential election. Soaking in her late-in-life emergence as a liberal icon, she s using the court s monthlong break to embark on a speaking tour that is taking her from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah to law schools and synagogues on the East Coast. One talk will have her in Rhode Island on Tuesday, meaning she won t attend the president s State of the Union speech that Ginsburg Sherman night in Washington. She has a standard response for interviewers who ask how long she intends to serve. She will stay as long as she can go full steam, she says, and she sees as her model John Paul Stevens, who stepped down as a justice in 2010 at age 90. I think that Justice Ginsburg has made clear that she has no intention of retiring. I am sure she wants to stay on the court until the end of the Trump presidency if she can, said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley, and a liberal who called on Ginsburg to retire in 2014, when Barack Obama was president and Democrats controlled the Senate. (AP) Suits over tax overhaul plan: New Jersey and Connecticut are joining New York in planning to sue Washington over the Republican-led federal tax overhaul, the Democratic governors of the three states announced Friday. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Dannel Malloy of Connecticut and Phil Murphy of New Jersey said they re talking to leaders of other states that stand to be hurt by the federal tax plan that s expected to cost taxpayers in their states billions of dollars. We re going to be working together to form a multi-state coalition to challenge this in court, said Cuomo, a potential 2020 White House contender who announced his intention to challenge the tax overhaul earlier this Cuomo month. The three governors made their joint announcement on a teleconference with reporters. Murphy said he expects the suit to be filed within weeks. No decision has been made on where the action will be filed, Malloy said. The new tax code passed by Republicans in Congress and signed into law last month by Republican President Donald Trump caps a deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000. That deduction had been popular in high-tax, Democratic states like New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, where many homeowners now face big increases in their federal tax bill. (AP) Canadian billionaire, wife murdered: Police said Friday they believe Canadian drug-company billionaire businessman Barry Sherman and his wife were both murdered. Det. Sgt. Susan Gomes said investigators came to the conclusion after six weeks of investigation, but said there are no suspects. The founder of generic drugmaker Apotex and his wife, Honey, were found dead in their mansion on Dec 15. Police said then the deaths were suspicious, but said there were no signs of forced entry and they were not looking for suspects. Gomes said the two were found hanging by belts from a railing that surrounds their indoor pool and were in a semi-seated position on the pool deck. We have sufficient evidence to describe this as a double homicide investigation and that both Honey and Barry Sherman were in fact targeted, Gomes said. She said they were last seen alive in the evening hours of Wednesday Dec 13 and were not heard from again until their bodies were found late Friday morning. Gomes said there are no signs of forced entry at access points of the home. She declined to discuss the evidence, possible motives or suspects. (AP)

10 INTERNATIONAL 10 World News Roundup Immigration Citizenship path slammed Allies bash Trump as Amnesty Don NEW YORK, Jan 27, (Agencies): Fearing betrayal on a signature campaign issue, President Donald Trump s loyalists are lashing out against his proposal to create a path to citizenship for nearly 2 million Dreamer immigrants. Trump-aligned candidates from Nevada and Virginia rejected the notion outright. A loyal media ally, Breitbart News, attacked him as Amnesty Don. And outside groups that cheered the hardline rhetoric that dominated Trump s campaign warned of fierce backlash against the president s party in November s midterm elections. There s a real potential for disaster, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the far-right Center for Immigration Studies. The president hasn t sold out his voters yet. But I think it s important that his supporters are making Trump clear to him that they re keeping an eye on him. The public scolding is aimed at a president who has changed course under pressure before. It presents Trump with a significant test on an issue that dominated his outsider candidacy and inspired working-class voters who propelled his rise. Now, barely a year into his presidency, Trump can bend either to the will of his fiery base or to the pressure to govern and compromise. His leadership may determine the fate of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants and whether his party can improve its standing among surging numbers of Hispanic voters. There s a Trump movement. And It s not necessarily about Donald Trump, said Corey Stewart, a Republican Senate candidate in Virginia and a vocal Trump ally. It s about the things that Donald Trump campaigned and stood for during his campaign. Ultimately, every elected leader needs to stay true to the message that they ran on, otherwise people will leave them. The passionate response underscores the Republican Party s dilemma on immigration under Trump. Raised Much of the country, including independents and moderate Republicans, favor protections for thousands of young people brought to the country as children illegally and raised here through no fault of their own. But a vocal conservative faction emboldened by Trump s anti-immigrant rhetoric will never accept anything viewed as amnesty. And many view legal protection for these young immigrants as just that. Trump s proposal includes billions for border security and significant changes to legal immigration long sought by hard-liners. Several Democrats and immigration activists rejected it outright. But his supporters focus on amnesty for Dreamers highlights how dug in the base is and how little room Trump has to maneuver. The president told journalists this week he favors a pathway to citizenship for those immigrants, embracing a notion he once specifically rejected. Legal protection for roughly 700,000 immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, has emerged as a driving priority for Democrats, who forced a government shutdown over this issue last week. The businessman president appears to have set out to cut a deal. It is concerning why anyone would attempt to repeat history by granting amnesty, said Mississippi state Sen Chris McDaniel, who is mulling a primary challenge against Republican Sen. Roger Wicker. McDaniel likened the Trump proposal to the amnesty granted in 1986 immigration overhaul backed by President Ronald Reagan. Policy Such a policy, McDaniel said, would harm American workers and invite more illegals, while emboldening liberals in future debates. Making a deal now would ensure that a future Congress will be held hostage by open border advocates. In Virginia, Stewart agreed with McDaniel that any amnesty, including an extension of DACA, would lead draw millions of new immigrants into the country illegally. I m not happy about it, he said. Brian Kemp, a leading Republican candidate for Georgia governor, said Republicans must use their Washington monopoly to end DACA, which he characterized as an open the borders philosophy. Meanwhile, two dozen immigrants who came to the United States illegally will be in attendance Tuesday when President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress. The move comes as the White House prepares to unveil its new immigration framework Monday, one that offers a pathway to citizenship for up to 1.8 million undocumented Dreamers who were brought to the country as children. At least 23 Dreamers will be in the public galleries in the House of Representatives chamber as guests of Democratic lawmakers, according to a list provided Friday by a congressional aide. Republican Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida, a state with a substantial immigrant community, said he too will bring a Dreamer to the speech. House Democrat Scott Peters of California said he was honored to have Karen Bahena, who was brought by her parents across the border from Mexico in 2001 when she was eight years old, as his guest to Trump s speech. Bahena, protected by the previous administration s deferred action that is set to expire on March 5 absent a fix by Congress, graduated from San Diego State University and aspires to be a nurse. Outstanding contributors to society like Karen should not be forced out of our country, Peters said in a statement. Instead, they should be embraced and celebrated for making the United States a better place. Half a dozen other immigration-related guests will also attend, including congresswoman Debbie Dingell s guest Cindy Garcia, the wife of a father of two who was deported last week. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), graduation ceremony for new Special Agents, on Jan 26, 2018 in Quantico, Virginia. (AFP) Britain s Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Minister) David Davis delivers a speech outlining the UK s ambitions for an implementation period after Brexit, during a visit to PD Ports at Teesport in Teesside, north west England on Jan 26. (AFP) Britain Trump apologises over retweet: US President Donald Trump has apologised for the first time for retweeting a British far-right group s videos apparently showing Islamist violence, in an ITV interview aired in Britain on Friday. If you re telling me they re horrible racist people, I would certainly apologise if you d like me to do that, he told Good Morning Britain s Piers Morgan during the interview, conducted in Davos on Thursday. Trump sparked outrage in Britain in November when he retweeted, in quick succession, three anti-muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First who was in 2016 convicted of religiously aggravated harassment of a Muslim Brexit Davis vows host of new trade deals for Britain Ministers unite to calm eurosceptics LONDON, Jan 27, (Agencies): Britain s Brexit, finance and business ministers displayed a united front on Friday with a letter seeking to reassure eurosceptics worried over the country s path out of the European Union. Publication of the letter late Friday followed a speech by Brexit minister David Davis, in which he admitted there were different views within the government over Britain s departure from the bloc. Davis joined forces with finance minister Philip Hammond and business secretary Greg Clark to assert that Britain will continue to follow EU rules for a strictly time-limited transition period after it leaves the bloc. During the implementation period, we are clear that the UK s and the EU s access to one another s markets should continue on current terms, the trio wrote. Pro-Brexit MPs have expressed concern at proposals to continue following European Union rules after Britain leaves in March 2019 in return for market access, while having no policymaking power. The ministers sought to allay such fears woman (AFP) Liberalise abortion laws : Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday that he would campaign for a liberalisation of the country s restrictive abortion laws ahead of a referendum in the coming months, adding that his views on the issue had evolved. Varadkar s government plans to hold the referendum as soon as May to loosen some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the by saying the transition period of around two years was only intended to give people, businesses and public services time to get ready for the full EU exit. The show of unity presented in the joint letter comes after Prime Minister Theresa May rebuked Hammond for saying Britain would stay closely aligned to the bloc. On Thursday the finance minister raised eurosceptic hackles in Davos when he expressed hope that the British and EU economies would move only very modestly, apart. On Friday, Hammond told Sky News television that Britain needed a middle way to protect businesses and jobs outside the customs union, but refusing to sever our trade links with the EU. Davis conceded in his speech that in politics, there were different views, adding: There will be arguments about the tactics but they will change, the options available to us will change throughout the course of the negotiations. In his speech on Friday, the Brexit minister said Britain would negotiate its own trade deals during the transition period world. His Fine Gael party has agreed to let individual members campaign on either side of the debate. While the country remains overwhelmingly Catholic a complete ban on abortion was only lifted in 2013 public opinion has become far more socially liberal in recent years. (RTRS) Radar against Russian threat: Britain s defence minister Gavin Williamson said a new and seek to sign them, even if they could not come into effect until afterwards. Britain s top Brexit official said Friday that the UK would be able to strike new trade deals outside the European Union as soon as it leaves the bloc next year even though it will remain bound to EU customs and market rules for some two years after Brexit Secretary David Davis said that during a post-2019 transition period Britain would be free to negotiate new trade deals with old friends and new allies around the world. He said, though, that they would not enter into force until the transition period is over, likely by early That plan may face resistance from the EU, which says Britain can t sign new trade deals until it fully leaves the bloc. Davis is trying to placate pro-brexit lawmakers in Britain who accuse the government of being too timid in negotiations with the EU. Conservative legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg said Thursday that British negotiators had been cowed by the bloc. radar off Scotland s Shetland Islands would help tackle the severe and real threat from Moscow. In a return to the Cold War days when Shetland had hosted an early warning radar, the new Royal Air Force facility is being built to track unidentified military or civilian aircraft. We will always protect our skies from Russian aggression, Williamson said Friday, describing the radar as vital to British defences. (AFP)

11 INTERNATIONAL 11 EU 5-Star to respect 3pct limit Eastern EU states tell Brussels to back off BUDAPEST/BRUSLS, Jan 27, (Agencies):The four eastern European Union states who are often at loggerheads with the bloc s executive told Brussels on Friday not to overstep its mandate in policing national capitals. Meeting in Budapest, the leaders of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic agreed a joint stance for talks among all EU leaders on how to reform the bloc following Britain s departure next year. The four ex-communist countries are pushing back as leading, western EU powers Germany and France, backed by the European Commission in Brussels, are floating proposals for more integration among the remaining 27 EU states. Europe needs a new blueprint. We must speak about an alliance of free nations, said nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He was echoed by Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki who said a strong, integrated Europe should be based on a group of sovereign, national member states rather than an increasingly centralised federation as some western states want. Orban Warsaw and Budapest have become the enfants terribles of the EU under right-wing populist leaders who promote Catholic, conservative values and often clash with Brussels as it singles out deviations from EU standards on democracy and rule of law. Poland has drawn the sharpest criticism from Brussels since the conservative, nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party won election in late 2015 and swiftly acted to tighten control over publicly-owned media, as well as the judiciary. Punitive The bloc has taken unprecedented punitive steps against Warsaw, the largest, ex-communist EU state, for violating the rule of law and democratic principles. Warsaw has lashed back, accusing Brussels of double standards and saying its judicial overhaul is ridding Poland of lingering communist influence. All four Visegrad countries have repeatedly rebuffed requests from Brussels and western EU states to host some of the hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim refugees that have streamed into the EU since The bitter row has undermined trust between the bloc s members and weakened their unity. Such differences were redolent in a joint document issued by Bratislava, Prague, Budapest and Warsaw on Friday. EU institutions should treat all member states equally and act strictly within the remits of their respective... competencies. The right of member states to carry out domestic reforms within their competences should be respected, it said. On migration, the four restated their focus on effective, responsible and enforceable (EU) external border protection to avoid obligatory quotas (being) applied, which are ineffective and have already divided Europe. All parties in the EU agree the quotas have proven divisive but have stuck to sharply divergent views on how to mend the bloc s failed asylum system by a June deadline. The four Visegrad premiers also said they should not be punished for having different opinions within the bloc. I reject any criticism of us just because we have a different opinion... about the (migration) quotas. We are not black sheep, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. 5-Star reverses stance on limit: The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said on Friday that if it wins power at Italy s March 4 election it will respect the European Union s budget deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product, reversing an earlier stance. 5-Star s leader Luigi Di Maio had repeatedly said the party would exceed the 3 percent limit to fund public investments. Five-star said on its website that even with billion euros of deficit spending per year, it would remain comfortably below the antiquated and stupid 3 percent level. A 5-Star spokesman confirmed this meant they no longer planned to exceed 3 percent. 5-Star is Italy s most popular party, according to opinion polls, but it is not expected to win enough seats to form a government alone. The maverick party has steadily moved away from unorthodox economic positions in a bid to reassure investors and Italy s partners that it can be trusted with power. Di Maio had already backtracked on a pledge to hold a referendum on Italy s membership of the eurozone. The latest shift on the deficit brings 5-Star broadly into line with the positions of two of its main rivals at the election. Centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Renzi, leader of the ruling Democratic Party, have both said they would not exceed the 3 percent limit, but Renzi has said he wants to raise it to 2.9 percent for the next five years. However, the EU s Stability Pact does not only require Italy to hold the deficit below 3 percent, but to reduce it steadily towards a balanced budget. The outgoing centre-left government has targeted the deficit to fall from 2.1 percent in 2017 to 1.6 percent this year and 0.9 percent in Greece gets disproportionate burden : Greece shouldered a disproportionate burden of the EU s asylum applications last year, taking 8.5 percent of the bloc s total requests, the Greek Asylum Service said Friday. The country of 11 million people recorded 58,661 applications in 2017, putting Greece in first place among the EU member states when it comes to the proportion of asylum seekers to the inhabitants of the country, the service said in a statement. Nearly half of Greece s 2017 asylum requests were received on five hotspot Aegean islands, the service added. The Aegean Sea had been the main point of entry to Europe but the flow of migrants has been sharply cut after the EU signed a controversial deal with Turkey in 2016 to send back migrants. The agreement included measures to limit the number of migrants processed by Greece, however of the 25,814 applications received on the Aegean islands last year, 20,377 were ruled eligible to be moved to the mainland, with 5,437 rejected. A picture taken on Jan 26 shows the fl ooded banks of the river Seine with the Eiffel Tower in the background in Paris. Leaks were starting to appear on Jan 26 in the basements of Paris buildings as the Seine inched higher, with forecasters warning that the river could stay high throughout next week, especially if more rain is dumped on France. The Vigicrues fl ooding agency scaled back its peak predictions for the river in the capital, saying it will top out at 5.8 to 6 metres (19 to 19.7 feet) between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, compared with 6.2 metres previously. (AFP) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a wreath laying ceremony in front of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw on Jan 27. (AFP) Merkel Europe Zeman Anti-Semitism rising : German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of rising anti-semitism in her country on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, calling the need to protect Jewish buildings shameful. It is important to remember the millions of Holocaust victims because anti-semitism, racism and the hatred of others are more relevant recently, Merkel said in her weekly podcast on Saturday. It is inconceivable and shameful that no Jewish institution can exist without police protection, whether it is a school, a kindergarten or a synagogue, she said. The chancellor also reaffirmed her support of creating the position of anti-semitism commissioner in the next German government, if her party can finalise tortuous negotiations to forge a coalition. Czechs vote for president: Czechs were casting ballots for a second day in the presidential runoff on Saturday, with a science professor new to politics challenging the pro-russian incumbent in a tight race. President Milos Zeman and Jiri Drahos advanced to the second round of voting after none of the nine candidates seeking the largely ceremonial post received a majority in the first round two weeks ago. Zeman, 73, is favored to win another fiveyear term but polls suggest a tight race in the ballot, which ends later Saturday. Zeman won the first round with 38.6 percent of the vote, a commanding lead over Drahos 26.6 percent. Most of the other candidates have endorsed Drahos in the runoff. 1 dead in Amsterdam shooting: A shooting in downtown Amsterdam on Friday night left one person dead and two injured, Dutch police said. One person has died and two wounded, a man and a young woman, were taken to hospital after a shooting on Grote Wittenburgerstraat, in the city centre, Amsterdam police spokesman Leo Dortland told AFP. While police refused to name the victim, Dutch media reported that he was a 17-year-old boy of Moroccan origin. He was reportedly shot near a children s playground in front of a community centre where children were taking cookery and kickboxing classes. A wave of fear spread quickly throughout the Dutch capital, very popular with tourists, but Dortland said: This is clearly not a terror attack, but a criminal incident. (AFP) Shots were fired from an automatic weapon, according to shocked witnesses who said they saw a hooded man run away Dutch spies watched as Russians hacked US Democrats: report Russia slams absurd US sanctions MOSCOW, Jan 27, (AFP): Russia s foreign ministry on Friday condemned the United State s new economic sanctions against Moscow, labelling them absurd and reserving the right to a response. This absurd sanctions campaign has not succeeded and will not lead to any results, the ministry said in a statement. If the American authorities prefer to break economic ties... with Russia, it is their right, as it is ours to reserve the right to a response. The fresh sanctions, which were announced by the US Treasury earlier on Friday, target Russian officials who supplied turbines to a power plant in annexed Crimea, as well as several ministers from the breakaway region in eastern Ukraine. A total of 21 people and nine companies were hit with the sanctions, some of them over the turbines, which were built by German engineering giant Siemens for delivery to Russia but were later sent on to Crimea which Russia seized from Ukraine and annexed in Moscow said the new sanctions were imposed under the pretext of inventing Russia s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, adding that the US is merely showing the whole world its own powerlessness. Washington cannot shed the illusion that it is possible to scare us by refusing US visas or by trade bans, the statement said. Washington could release reports as early as Monday laying out the possibilities for expanded sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, an accusation the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Leading Leading Democrats in the US Congress wrote to Trump on Friday, demanding that the administration use Monday s deadline to retaliate for what they described as cyber attacks intended to influence other countries elections. A Treasury Department spokesperson said the department is actively working on reports required under the Countering America s Adversaries Through Terrorism Act and aimed to release them consistent with timelines in the legislation. Russia is already under US sanctions over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and support for separatist rebels fighting in eastern after his victim fell to the ground, Dutch media reported. Many rumours are circulating, we must be very careful what people say, and not give in to the emotion, the police spokesman added. (AFP) Bid to block Puigdemont: The Spanish government on Friday turned to the courts to try to stop Catalonia s ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont from returning to power despite facing arrest. Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium after the Catalan parliament declared independence in October, was earlier this week chosen as its candidate to lead Catalonia again after December elections saw separatist parties win an absolute Puigdemont Russia majority of seats. Catalonia s regional parliament is scheduled to debate and vote on Tuesday whether to reinstall Puigdemont, who faces arrest for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds over his attempt to break Catalonia from Spain as soon as he comes back. (AFP) Ukraine. The Ukraine-related sanctions represent one of many areas of tension between the United States and Russia, including over how to end the Syrian civil war and whether to hold to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, despite US President Donald Trump s campaign emphasis on improving ties with Moscow. One person added to the list was Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Cherezov, who was put under sanctions by the European Union over his role in the delivery of turbines to Crimea last year. Also added was Sergey Topor-Gilka, head of the Russian engineering company Technopromexport, as well as multiple subsidiaries of oil producer Surgutneftegaz. A spokeswoman for Rostec, which is already subject to US sanctions and is the parent company of Technopromexport, said the company regretted that the main US main tool in international relations was pressure and not dialogue. Declined The Russian Energy Ministry declined immediate comment. Daniel Fried, a former US State Department expert, said he viewed Friday s announcement as sanctions maintenance essentially targeting individuals and entities that have taken the place of others who have earlier been sanctioned. To make sure a sanctions regime is effective, you need to update it periodically. You don t simply target people and let it sit, because other people fill in and do the same bad deeds that you targeted the first ones for, Fried said. RIA news agency quoted Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia s upper house of parliament, as saying: This is not a policy of sanctions, it is a policy of containing a growing Russia as much as possible. The Americans declared war on us. We draw conclusions from this and move on. Separately, the United States could release reports as early as Monday outlining the scope for expanding sanctions against Russia, including a list of prominent oligarchs and potential restrictions on the holding of Russian government debt. The sanctions law Trump signed on Aug 2 requires Treasury to prepare a list of the most significant Russian oligarchs as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth. This will be accompanied by a report describing in detail the potential effects of expanding sanctions... to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products. Both reports are due to be sent to Congress by the end of January, weeks before Russia is due to vote in a presidential election that President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win. Also: THE HAGUE: Dutch intelligence services have provided crucial evidence to US counterparts about Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, Dutch media reported Friday. After penetrating the network of Russian hackers known as Cozy Bear, the Dutch agents alerted US spy chiefs as they watched the Russians transfer thousands of Democratic Party s ahead of the presidential vote. The Dutch national intelligence service (AIVD) had been watching the notorious group since 2014, according to the respected Volkskrant daily, and a Dutch TV news programme Nieuwsuur. They have provided crucial evidence of the Russian involvement as well as technical proof in the hacking of the US Democratic Party, the reports said, citing anonymous US and Dutch sources. After digging themselves by chance into the Russians computer network run out of a university building near Moscow s Red Square, the Dutch agents also gained access to the security cameras surveilling the room. Not only can the intelligence service now see what the Russians are doing, they can also see who s doing it, the Volkskrant said. The AIVD alerted its US counterparts when in 2015 it became a witness to the Russian hackers harassing and penetrating the leaders of the Democratic Party, transferring thousands of s and documents, it said. Yet, it will be months before the United States realise what this warning means: that with these hacks the Russians have interfered with the American elections. And the AIVD hackers have seen it happening before their very eyes. Pictures obtained from the security cameras, led the AIVD to conclude that Cozy Bear is directed by Russia s external intelligence agency, the SVR. Cozy Bear has been widely blamed for meddling in the American elections won by Republican President Donald Trump.

12 INTERNATIONAL 12 World News Roundup Philippines Mudflows threaten residents We are not Wild, Wild West of Asia Cayetano MANILA, Philippines, Jan 27, (Agencies): Manila s top diplomat accused Human Rights Watch on Friday of deceiving the international community by making it appear that the Philippines has become the Wild, Wild West of Asia. Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano demanded an apology from the US-based rights group mainly for reporting a larger number of drug suspects killed in President Rodrigo Duterte s crackdown on illegal drugs to back up a statement that human rights in the Philippines is at its worst since the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos s time. On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said Cayetano has a record of serving as Duterte s chief denier of the growing evidence linking state-sanctioned killings to the antidrug campaign. It added that the Duterte administration has pursued a distraction strategy, which appears aimed at sidelining domestic and international demands for accountability for the drug killings. The group cited an estimate by private groups and media organizations of the drug war death toll as having surpassed 12,000 over the past 18 months. Cayetano said that was a false assertion because the Philippine national police have recorded 3,968 deaths of suspects in more than 80,600 antidrug operations from the time Duterte took power in 2016 until last November. At least 119,023 drug suspects were arrested in those operations. Facts In making such a conclusion, Human Rights Watch is creating the impression that the Philippine government is engaged in the wholesale slaughter of innocent people, Cayetano said in a statement, in which he demanded the group back up its claim with facts. There is no perfect law enforcement system, Cayetano said. He added that while law enforcers strive to ensure that the rights of people are respected, including crime suspects, drug syndicates have unleashed violence against the enforcers. At least 86 police officers and soldiers have been killed and 226 others wounded when drug personalities chose to fight back, he said. Cayetano declared at the United Nations General Assembly last September that the government s drug campaign is a necessary instrument to preserve and protect the human rights of all Filipinos. Phelim Kine of Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that the statement did more than add gross insult to injury for the families of slain suspects under the crackdown. It also airbrushed Human Rights Watch and the investigative journalists demonstrating that many of those deaths amount to extrajudicial killings by Philippine National Police personnel and their agents, he said. Human Rights Watch joins a growing list of institutions and people, including United Nations officials, targeted for harassment and intimidation for demanding accountability for abuses linked to the drug war, Kine said, citing the jailing of opposition Sen Leila de Lima, who has questioned the legality of Duterte s campaign. Crimes have declined under Duterte, Cayetano said. In its rush to condemn the Philippine government, Human Rights Watch... set aside the countless stories of victims of the unspeakable crimes committed by those who sell and use illegal drugs such as the gang rapes and killings by methamphetamine-crazed individuals of children and even their own family members. Rights He said Human Rights Watch had made it appear that the Philippines has become the Wild, Wild West of Asia where we just kill people left and right. The government s hostility to accountability underscores the need for a UN-led international investigation of the killings to help expose the extent of the abuses and to determine possible targets for a criminal investigation, including possible prosecutions for crimes against humanity, Kine said. Duterte has denied he condones extrajudicial killings, although he has openly threatened drug dealers with death for years. He credits his harsh approach to crime for an improvement in law and order in southern Davao city, where he served as mayor for more than two decades before becoming president. Last week, Duterte said about 600 criminals were killed during his time as mayor, but added, It was all legit. Millions of tonnes of ash and rocks from an erupting Philippine volcano could bury nearby communities due to heavy rain, authorities said Saturday, as tens of thousands flee over fears of a deadly explosion. The official Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued the warning as heavy rains lashed the area surrounding the Mayon volcano, which has been emitting flaming lava and giant clouds of superheated ash for about a week. Rainwater could combine with the volcanic ash and rock to form deadly, fast-moving mudflows called lahars that could sweep away entire settlements, authorities said. If there is ash fall and heavy rain, it can be converted into (a) lahar, Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum told AFP. The important thing is to move out in case of heavy rains... this is a precautionary measure. The institute earlier said in an advisory that 25 million cubic metres (about 883 million cubic feet) of ash and other volcanic material had recently been emitted by Mayon, settling on its slopes and the surrounding area. It warned that this could result in lahars flowing into waterways and called on officials to move residents near rivers to higher ground. An explosion of the 2,460-metre (8,070-foot) Mayon in August 2006 did not directly kill anyone but four months later, a typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from its slopes that claimed 1,000 lives. Molten rocks and lava flow down the slopes of Mayon volcano as it erupts anew as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Philippines on Jan 27. Mayon s lava fountaining has flowed up to more than 3 kms (1.86 miles) from the crater in a dazzling but increasingly dangerous eruption. (AP) Pakistani Rangers (black uniforms) and Indian Border Security Force personnel (brown uniforms) take part in the daily beating of the retreat ceremony during India s 69th Republic Day celebrations at the Indian Pakistan Wagah Border post about 35kms from Amritsar on Jan 26. (AFP) Fumiaki Asia Suu Kyi Japanese min resigns: A junior member of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s government resigned on Friday after making a gaffe seen to make light of the burden borne by people on the southern island of Okinawa as a reluctant host to the US military, media said. The resignation of Fumiaki Matsumoto, deputy minister of the Cabinet Office, will likely give Abe a fresh headache as the scandal comes ahead of a key mayoral election in Okinawa. When an opposition lawmaker asked Abe in Thursday s parliamentary session about a recent series of emergency landings by US military helicopters in Okinawa, Matsumoto heckled by saying, How many people died from that? Kyodo news agency said. Matsumoto on Friday tendered a letter of resignation, which Abe accepted, Kyodo said. No one was immediately available for comment at Matsumoto s office or at the Cabinet Office. In the Feb. 4 election in the city of Nago, incumbent Susumu Inamine, a staunch opponent of a plan to move the US Marines Futenma airbase, located in another part of the island, to his city, is set to fight a candidate supported by Abe s Liberal Democratic Party. Abe s government and Okinawa authorities have been at loggerheads for years over the relocation plan as resentment has simmered among residents who say they bear an unfair burden in supporting the US military presence in Japan. Many Okinawa residents associate the US military presence with crime, pollution and accidents. A window fell from a US helicopter onto a school sports field on the island last month, fanning safety concerns. (RTRS) Suu Kyi told to ignore: Philippine president said he pities Myanmar leader Aung San Suu North Korea Diplomacy should impose reason on Kim: Mattis NKorea condemns latest US sanctions SEOUL, Jan 27, (Agencies): North Korea on Saturday condemned the latest US sanctions announced this week aimed at curbing the isolated nation s development nuclear weapons. The US sanctions are a manifestation of heinous intention to throw a wet blanket over the inter-korean exchange and cooperation and to aggravate the situation, an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a report by the Korean Central News Agency. It also said the United States should stop such anachronistic policy towards North Korea. The United States announced new sanctions on Wednesday aimed at stopping North Korea s nuclear weapons development and urged China and Russia to expel North Koreans raising funds for the programs. The US Treasury imposed sanctions on nine entities, 16 people and six North Korean ships it accused of helping the weapons programs. It said two Chinabased trading firms were involved in exporting millions of dollars worth of metals and other goods used in weapons production. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stressed diplomacy as the way to deal with the North Korean crisis on Friday during talks with his South Korean counterpart in Hawaii, a day after Seoul s top diplomat said a military solution would be unacceptable. Diplomacy should (impose) reason on Kim s reckless rhetoric and dangerous provocations, Mattis said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He added that the response to the threat remained diplomacy led, backed up with military options available to ensure that our diplomats are understood to be speaking from a position of strength. The administration of US President Donald Trump has said all options are on the table when it comes to North Korea s pursuit of a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the United States. But Mattis has consistently stressed Kyi for being the focus of international criticism over her country s handling of the Rohingya refugee crisis. President Rodrigo Duterte said he told Suu Kyi to ignore human right activists, describing them as a noisy bunch. Suu Kyi and Duterte met in New Delhi this week at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders on the Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera (left), and French counterpart Florence Parly inspect an honor guard at Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Jan 27. (AP) non-military actions, including international sanctions. He renewed that message as he met South Korean Minister of Defence Song Young-moo at the US Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii. Song said he expected to discuss North Korea with Mattis, but noted firm coordination between the two militaries. We both understand each other well and that as an alliance, we always go together, he said, speaking through a translator. The exchange came a day after South Korea s Foreign Minister Kang Kyungwha said the standoff over North Korea s nuclear program must be resolved diplomatically, and added that she was certain Washington would consult her government first if a military option were to be considered. She declined to comment if Washington had given Seoul clear assurance but added: This is our fate that is at stake. Any option that is to be taken on the Korean Peninsula, cannot be implemented without us going along. North Korea poses the most immediate threat to global security, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger told Congress Thursday, stressing that denuclearization of the regime must be a fundamental American foreign policy goal. Kissinger also pointed to Iran as a primary challenge, and said that opposing the Islamic republic s hegemonic expansion and pursuit of nuclear weapons should remain high Washington priorities. Kissinger, who at age 94 continues to advise on foreign policy matters, joined two other foreign policy heavyweights former secretary of state George Shultz, 97, and ex-deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, 72 in testifying before a Senate panel about global security challenges. The elder statesmen presented a picture of mounting international threats, including nuclear proliferation, Chinese authoritarianism, and Russia s interference in US elections and its interventions in Eastern Europe. 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India ties. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar s Rakhine state for Bangladesh since the beginning of August, after Myanmar security forces began clearance operations in their villages in the wake of attacks by Rohingya insurgents on police posts. The UN has described the campaign as ethnic cleansing. Though Suu Kyi has been the de facto head of Myanmar s civilian government since her party swept elections in 2015, she is constitutionally limited in her control of the country and the military is in charge of the operations in Rakhine. Still, Suu Kyi has faced widespread international criticism for Hospital fire in S. Korea kills 37 SEOUL, South Korea, Jan 27, (AP): A hospital fire that killed 37 people in South Korea was most likely caused by an electrical fault in the first-floor emergency room, police said Saturday. A joint investigation carried out by police, fire services and forensic experts concluded that a fault in the electrical system in the ceiling of the emergency room s pantry most likely sparked Friday s blaze in the southern city of Miryang. The most immediate challenge to international security is posed by the evolution of the North Korea nuclear program, Kissinger told the Senate Armed Services Committee, describing an unprecedented scenario. North Korea, like Iran, has advanced its nuclear capability at the very time an international effort sought to prevent a radical regime from developing such capacity. For the second time in a decade, an outcome that was widely considered unacceptable is now on the verge of becoming irreversible, he said. Inability to curb Pyongyang s nuclear efforts could prompt a new arms race in Asia, Kissinger said. Denuclearization of North Korea must be a fundamental goal... and if it is not reached, we must prepare ourselves for proliferation of nuclear weapons to other countries, he said. Kissinger warned against forcing a military confrontation, but said he supported pressure on Pyongyang. Also: MOSCOW: North Korea shipped coal to Russia last year which was then delivered to South Korea and Japan in a likely violation of UN sanctions, three Western European intelligence sources said. The UN Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal last Aug. 5 under sanctions intended to cut off an important source of the foreign currency Pyongyang needs to fund its nuclear weapon and missile programmes. But the secretive Communist state has at least three times since then shipped coal to the Russian ports of Nakhodka and Kholmsk, where it was unloaded at docks and reloaded onto ships that took it to South Korea or Japan, the sources said. A Western shipping source said separately that some of the cargoes reached Japan and South Korea in October last year. A US security source also confirmed the coal trade via Russia and said it was continuing. not speaking out in defense of the Rohingya, especially given her history as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Former New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson resigned suddenly from an advisory panel on the crisis this week, calling it a whitewash and a cheerleading operation for Suu Kyi. I pity her because she seems to be caught in the middle being a Nobel Prize winner for peace and this, Duterte said Friday at a meeting of the Philippines-India Business Forum in New Delhi. (AP) Ferry with 50 missing: A search was under way Saturday for a ferry with 50 people on board that has not been seen for more than a week in the tiny island nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific. New Zealand search officials, who have been called in to assist Fijian authorities, said the interisland ferry MV Butiraoi was reported missing late Friday. The 17.5 metre wooden catamaran left from Nonouti Island for Betio Tarawa in the Kiribati Islands on Jan 18. The 260 kilometre voyage was expected to take two days. (AFP)

13 INTERNATIONAL 13 Lat/Am Macron calls for more sanctions Madrid kicks out Venezuelan ambassador in tit-for-tat move MADRID, Jan 27, (Agencies): Spain on Friday ordered Venezuela s ambassador to leave in a tit-for-tat move, escalating a row a day after its top diplomat was kicked out by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro s regime. The government responds proportionally, and therefore has decided in the principle of reciprocity, to declare persona non grata Venezuela s ambassador to Spain, government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told a news conference. Venezuela s ambassador to Spain, Mario Isea, was on Wednesday summoned for consultations by his government and is not in Spain, he added. Maduro Spain and Venezuela have had tense diplomatic ties since the late Socialist leader Hugo Chavez came to power in He was succeeded on his death in 2013 by Maduro. Venezuela on Thursday declared Spain s ambassador to Caracas, Jesus Silva, persona non grata and accused Madrid of masterminding recent European Union sanctions on seven of Maduro s key allies. Macron calls for more sanctions: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for harsher European sanctions against Venezuela and urged the South American country s trading partners to follow suit in a bid to increase pressure on the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Following a court decision to exclude the Venezuelan opposition from upcoming presidential elections in April, Macron denounced the unacceptable authoritarian slide of the oil-rich and once prosperous country. It will be at the European level that we will coordinate to see if we want to increase our sanctions. I am in favour, he told a press conference with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri. Brazil s Lula appeals: Lawyers for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday appealed a decision to seize the former president s passport, on the heels of an appeals court ruling upholding his corruption conviction. The seizure was approved on Thursday, a day after appellate court judges voted to uphold Lula s convictions for taking a bribe and money laundering, in a major blow to the popular politician s plans to run again for the presidency this year. Lula was planning to travel to an African Union conference in Ethiopia. The lawyers claimed the passport seizure violated his constitutional right to freedom of movement. Ex-court president killed: The expresident of the Guatemalan Supreme Court was shot dead Friday during an incident on the outskirts of the capital Guatemala City, according to emergency personnel. Jose Arturo Sierra, who presided over the high court between 2013 and 2014, was attacked by unknown perpetrators while traveling by road, and was taken to hospital where he died, authorities announced on Twitter. While officials have not confirmed the circumstances surrounding the attack, local press reported witness accounts of two people firing at Sierra, 72, from a motorcycle. Demos at Hernandes swearing in: Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was set to be sworn in for a second term Saturday as the opposition vowed mass protests over claims he fraudulently won November elections. The leftist Alliance in Opposition against the Dictatorship has called for street protests during the inauguration in Tegucigalpa. Thousands of extra police and troops have been drafted in to the capital of the Central American country to ensure security for the event, scheduled to begin around 1500 GMT. A Mexican citizen deported from the United States works at Deportados Brand serigraphy workshop stamping T-shirts, to sell for a living in Mexico City on Jan 20. Three times a week the airport s N door opens and deported migrants arrive back to their native country against their will, leaving behind their families and dreams. Deportados Brand is a small company founded by migrants who have faced this plight and found a way to make a living and help fellow migrants start from scratch. (AFP) Africa US drones hit Somalia: Drone strikes by the United States military are wiping out Shebab militants in Somalia, the head of the African Union mission in the country told AFP in an interview Friday. The US has stepped up its operations in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, targeting the al- Qaeda linked Shebab, which has fought for the last decade to topple Somalia s internationally backed government, and a separate self-proclaimed branch of the Islamic State. These drone attacks and others are wiping out al-shebab in good numbers. And that is good to finish with the terrorism, said Francisco Madeira, the chief of the 22,000-strong African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on the sidelines of the AU s summit in the Ethiopian capital. In recent months, US special forces and the Somali national army have killed scores in air strikes and ground assaults targeting Shebab, including a Christmas Eve strike that left 13 dead. (AFP) 14 Mali soldiers killed: Unidentified gunmen overran a military camp near Timbuktu in northern Mali early on Saturday, killing at least 14 soldiers, two army officers said. Around 6 am (0600 GMT), unidentified armed men attacked the post in Soumpi. The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing, one of the sources said. (RTRS) Chad reshuffles ministers: Chad s President Idriss Deby Itno on Friday evening reshuffled the government, including the replacement of its public security minister, officials said. In office since a reshuffle on Dec 25, public security minister Amadai Abdelkerim is to be replaced by Ahmat Mahamat Bachir, it was announced on national radio. Bachir held the strategic position from 2014 until he was replaced in late December. Mahamat Moctar Ali was appointed public service minister, taking over from Mahamat Allahou Taher, according to the radio. (AFP) Kenya opposition wins : Kenya s opposition released what it called authentic election results showing its leader Raila Odinga won the August vote, but it refused to say Friday how it obtained the information from the electoral commission s servers. Kenya s electoral commission quickly called those results fake as the opposition prepares to hold a so-called inauguration of Odinga next week in protest of President Uhuru Kenyatta s new term. The US has advised against the event, and Kenya s attorney general has called it treasonous, while East Africa s economic hub tries to move beyond months of deadly election turmoil. The August election in which Kenyatta was declared the victor was nullified by the Supreme Court after Odinga filed a petition claiming that hackers infiltrated the electoral commission s system and changed results in favor of Kenyatta. Odinga Kenyatta In the ruling, the first time a court had overturned a presidential election in Africa, the court cited irregularities and illegalities. It noted that the commission declined to open its servers for court scrutiny. The court ordered a fresh vote in October that Kenyatta won. Odinga boycotted while claiming a lack of electoral reforms. (AP) 2,300 prisoners pardoned: A restive region in Ethiopia says it has pardoned 2,345 prisoners as part of the government s recent pledge to release jailed politicians and others after the most serious anti-government protests in a quarter-century. Oromia region spokesman Addisu Arega says in a Facebook post that more than 1,500 of the prisoners had been convicted, while the rest had been under investigation. They were accused of taking part in violent protests. The government says those pardoned are expected to be released in a few days after taking rehabilitation courses. The East African nation this month released a leading opposition figure and 115 others. The government has said it wants to widen the democratic space for all, but some critics have expressed concern it could be a ruling party tactic to buy time. (AP) Spanish tourists raped, robbed : A group of Spanish tourists were robbed and raped in Senegal s restive Casamance region by armed men, a security source and state media said on Friday. The tourists vehicle was stopped near the village of Karonge, around 60 kms (37 miles) from the regional capital Ziguinchor, a security source told AFP. There were four Spanish tourists. A man and three women were being driven by a Senegalese driver. They were kidnapped and (the women) raped before being let go, local police chief Mamadou Samba told the public APS agency. (AFP)

14 INTERNATIONAL 14 World News Roundup Abdelkarim al-kafaran, a Palestinian resident of Beit Hanun, collects pottery fragments at a freshly-discovered cemetery in the garden of his house in the town in the northern Gaza Strip, on Jan 26. (Inset top): A picture shows recovered small pottery items found at a freshly-discovered cemetery in the garden of a house in Beit Hanun. (Inset above): This top undated photo provided by researcher Gerhard Weber shows a portion of the upper left jaw and teeth from the Misliya-1 fossil. Researchers found the jawbone in an Israeli cave, indicating that modern humans left Africa as much as 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. (AFP/AP) Heavy rains unearth ancient graves in backyard in Gaza A Palestinian says he has discovered an ancient burial ground in the backyard of his house in the Gaza Strip. Abdelkarim al-kafaran said Friday he found a tomb consisting of nine burial holes with bones and some clay pots. Archeologists in Gaza believe the site is about 2,000-year-old, dating back to the Roman era, when the territory was part of the far-flung Roman Empire. But they say further tests are needed to determine the exact age. Al-Kafaran said he found it by accident after heavy rains this week unearthed parts of the underground chamber. Gaza, now ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, is on the route between Egypt and ancient Levantine civilizations. It is packed with ancient archaeology endangered by urban sprawl, conflict and years of neglect. Also: MIAMI: The oldest remains of a modern human outside Africa have been dug up in Israel, offering evidence of what genetic studies have already suggested -- that humans migrated out of Africa some 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. Facial fragments, including a jawbone and several teeth, were found at a site called Misliya Cave in Israel, one of several prehistoric cave sites located on Mount Carmel. The bones date to between 174,000 and 188,000 years old, said the report in Thursday s edition of the US Journal Science. Until now, the earliest modern human fossils found outside of Africa were estimated to be between 90,000 to 120,000 years old. Misliya is an exciting discovery, said co-author Rolf Quam, an anthropology professor at Binghamton University. It provides the clearest evidence yet that our ancestors first migrated out of Africa much earlier than we previously believed. The fossil, named Misliya-1, exhibits teeth that are in the upper size range of what s seen in modern humans, but that otherwise shows clear patterns and features of our species, said the report. Other archaeological evidence in the cave showed that the inhabitants hunted large game species and used fire. (Agencies) Climate Disaster Climate change opportunity Cities facing more deadly heatwaves LONDON, Jan 27, (RTRS): Scorching summer days are growing hotter in the world s big cities at a significantly faster pace than the average rise in world temperatures a trend that could mean more deadly urban heatwaves in years ahead, scientists said. In cities such as Paris, Houston, Moscow and Beijing, the level of heat on the hottest summer days is growing two or three times as quickly as general temperature rises linked to climate change over the last 50 years, said researchers at the University of California-Irvine. The trend is particularly pronounced in Europe, East Asia and parts of Australia, they said in a report released this week in the journal Earth s Future. Worsening heat extremes are already one of the world s biggest health threats, health officials say. With more than half of the world s population now living Papalexiou in cities - and more than 65 percent of people expected to live there by rising city heat extremes could put billions at risk, particularly the poor, the researchers said. There are more than a billion people living in extreme poverty, with many of them living in megacities and large urban centres. These are people struggling to survive, said Simon Michael Papalexiou, an environmental engineer and the lead author of the study. Most such people have no access to air conditioning or other alternatives to protect themselves, he said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With global income inequality on the rise, that suggests the number of urban poor without the resources to cope with extreme heat will continue to grow, Papalexiou said. The study, which looked at data from 9,000 weather stations around the globe, found that average global temperatures have risen an average of 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade over the last 50 years. Meanwhile, businesses should seize a $6 trillion opportunity to invest in tackling climate change over the next two decades, the head of an Indian multinational said at Davos on Thursday. Climate change is the next century s biggest financial and business opportunity, Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, a $19 billion conglomerate, told the World Economic Forum (WEF), an annual meeting of global business and political leaders held in the Swiss Alps resort of Davos. Mahindra likened the transformation to when cars were first introduced and the industry that developed around them. Climate change will also bring new appliances, technologies and retrofitting of old ones, he said. Members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists take their seats after moving their Doomsday clock 30 seconds closer to the end of the world on Jan 25, in Washington, DC. (AFP) Israel Discovery Forson Sats not in right location: Two commercial satellites have been placed in orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket but have yet to reach their correct position, Arianespace said Thursday, after mission control briefly lost contact with the craft in a rare malfunction. The usually reliable European space workhorse blasted off at 7.20 pm (2220 GMT) from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana carrying satellites for Luxembourg s SES and the United Arab Emirate s Yahsat in the first launch of the year for Arianespace. For nearly 30 minutes mission controllers were left on tenterhooks when the rocket lost contact in what CEO Stephane Israel described as an anomaly. But the team later received good news when the satellites chirped back into radio contact. Both satellites were confirmed separated, acquired and they are on orbit, Arianespace said in an updated statement after the initial lift-off scare. The French-headquartered company said a tracking station in Brazil was unable to locate the craft shortly after ignition of the rocket s upper stage. (AFP) US region under-prepared: The US region most vulnerable to tsunamis - the massive waves of water unleashed by undersea earthquakes - is dangerously under-prepared, experts and officials in Oregon and Washington state said after a magni- tude 7.9 earthquake this week. The quake that struck in the Gulf of Alaska late Monday, triggering a tsunami warning for Alaska and a tsunami watch for the US West Coast, rekindled concerns that a seismic sea wave along the northwest coast could kill, injure or displace tens of thousands of people and cause billions of dollars in damage. In this week s quake, the warnings and watches were quickly lifted, and there was no damage This handout picture released by Ariane Espace on Jan 25, shows an Ariane 5 rocket blasting off from the Kourou Space Centre (Europe spaceport), in Kourou, French Guiana. (AFP) Concerns over nuke, climate up Doomsday Clock moves closer to apocalypse WASHINGTON, Jan 27, (Agencies): Mounting concerns about the possibility of a nuclear war, along with US President Donald Trump s unpredictability have pushed the symbolic Doomsday Clock to two minutes before midnight, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said Thursday. The clock which serves as a metaphor for how close humanity is to destroying the planet was moved forward by 30 seconds, to as near as it has ever been to the hour of the apocalypse. In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago and as dangerous as it has been since World War II, said a statement by the group of intellectuals across the fields of international affairs, science, environment and security. Clock The last time the clock was at two minutes to midnight was in 1953 when the United States and Soviet Union were testing hydrogen bombs. In this year s discussions, nuclear issues took center stage once again, Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, told reporters. She described 2017 as perilous and chaotic, a year in which we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations. She mentioned the series of tests by North Korea, an enhanced commitment to nuclear weapons in China, Pakistan and India, and unpredictability embodied by the US president in tweets and statements. The Doomsday Clock was created in Its time has changed 20 times since then, ranging from two minutes to midnight in 1953 to 17 minutes before midnight in Moved Last year it moved from three minutes before midnight to two-and-a-half minutes. North Korea s nuclear program made remarkable progress last year, the group statement said. Meanwhile, hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both the United States and North Korea have increased the possibility of nuclear war. Robert Rosner, professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics at the University of Chicago, singled out the Trump administration for its inconsistency, which he said worsens nuclear risks and constitutes a major challenge for from the slight change it caused in the ocean. But experts worry that in some parts of the region there is too little information about where tsunamis might occur, and in others too much infrastructure built in locations known to face a threat. NASA honors seven killed astronauts CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, (AP): NASA is honoring the seven astronauts killed aboard shuttle Columbia 15 years ago, with a special musical tribute by the son of Israel s first astronaut. Singer and songwriter Tal Ramon traveled from Israel for Thursday s ceremony at Kennedy Space Center. It was just his second trip back since his father was killed on Feb 1, All seven astronauts including Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (EE-Lahn Ruh-MONE). deterrence... and global stability. Our allies and adversaries alike are being forced to negotiate a thicket of conflicting policy statements from a US administration weakened in its cadre of foreign policy professionals and unable to develop, coordinate and clearly communicate a coherent foreign much less nuclear policy, Rossner told a press briefing. Increase He added that the US administration which is set to unveil its nuclear policy next week appears likely to increase the types and roles of nuclear weapons in US defense plans and to lower the threshold for nuclear use. The nuclear ramp-up is not limited to the United States and North Korea. We are seeing that all the major weapons states are investing in nuclear arsenals, and these arsenals are being updated and imbued with enhanced capabilities, said Rossner. Strained US-Russian relations are also a threat, said Sharon Squassoni, professor of practice at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at The George Washington University. For the first time in many years, in fact, no US Russian nuclear arms control negotiation are under way, she said. There s still a lot that needs to be done, said Corina Forson, Washington s chief hazards geologist. Scientists in the state have pinpointed just half the locations where a destructive tsunami triggered by the Cascadia subduction zone off the northwest coast might come ashore, and about 10 percent of sites that might be hit by a wave emanating from the Seattle fault zone, Forson said. (RTRS) 200 days in lunar lab: Chinese students spent 200 continuous days in a lunar lab in Beijing, state media said Friday, as the country prepares for its long-term goal of putting people on the moon. Four students crammed into a 160-square-metre (1,720-squarefoot) cabin called Yuegong-1 Lunar Palace on the campus of Beihang University, testing the limits of humans ability to live in a self-contained space, the official Xinhua news agency said. The volunteers lived in the sealed lab to simulate a long-term space mission with no input from the outside world. (AFP)

15 Film Dunkirk, Tonya, Black-ish win ACE editing awards From refugee to chef, Berlinale to showcase Syrian cook BERLIN, Jan 27, (RTRS): A Syrian refugee will be cooking dishes from Damascus and Aleppo for VIP guests at the opening of the Berlinale International Film Festival next month. The choice of Malakeh Jazmati reflects the mission of the festival, which was set up in 1951 to showcase films that address urgent social and political issues in the world. The festival devoted its programme to refugees and migration in 2016 after Europe s politics were convulsed by the arrival of more than a million refugees from the Middle East and Africa, including Jazmati herself. At the Berlin Film Festival opening reception in February, the 30-year-old chef, who runs a catering business in the German capital with her husband, will be cooking for more than 400 guests attending the opening reception. When I went and saw it s not just any film festival but the Berlinale, I was more than happy, she said of her reaction on learning she had been chosen. It s like getting to fulfill your dreams. She will be working under the management of Berlinale s chef Martin Scharff and cooperating with the Lebanese-American cook Barbara Massaad, known for her Syrian cookbook. Her menu will range from Aleppo stuffed aubergine to a Damascene Syrian pasta, seasoned with tamarind sauce and pomegranate molasses. People think about our food that we only have falafel and hummus, but after that they see it s a very big kitchen, Jazmati told Reuters TV. The festival will open on Feb 15 with the world premiere of Wes Anderson s animated film Isle of Dogs, staring Hollywood actors such as Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton. The cascading timeline structure of Christopher Nolan s Dunkirk and the manic assemblage of I, Tonya were among the editing feats that wowed the American Cinema Editors organization this year. The two films won the dramatic and comedy prizes, respectively, at the 68th annual ACE Eddie Awards. Honors Coco won the animated feature film prize, while Oscar-omitted Jane took the documentary feature award. Netflix s Five Came Back won in the non-theatrical documentary category. On the television side, ABC s Black-ish and HBO s Curb Your Enthusiasm won in the comedy fields, while drama honors went to FX s Fargo and Hulu s The Handmaid s Tale. NatGeo s Genius won for miniseries/tv motion picture, and VICE News Tonight took the non-scripted series gong. Both Dunkirk and I, Tonya received Oscar nominations for film editing this year, along with Baby Driver, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The 2018 Berlin Film Festival s Panorama section has completed its lineup with the addition of films including Yardie, Idris Elba s directorial debut; The Silence of Others, a documentary produced by Pedro Almodovar; and Lemonade, produced by Cristian Mungiu. Rolling off its world premiere at Sundance, Yardie is an adaptation of Victor Headley s British cult novel about a young Jamaican who drifts into the drug-dealing underworld of 1980s London. The movie is being represented in international markets by Studiocanal. Directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar, The Silence of Others portrays survivors of crimes of Spain s 40-year Fascist dictatorship, who seek justice and attempt to prosecute perpetrators. The documentary feature, which was filmed over four years and is produced by Almodovar, follows survivors and human rights lawyer on a journey to build an international lawsuit. The Silence of Others also explores how divided Spanish society remains over the Franco era, even after nearly four decades of democracy. Lemonade, directed by Ioana Uricaru and mainly produced by Palme d Or winning director Mungiu at Mobra Films, tells the tale of Mara, a 30-year-old Romanian single mother who marries an American man while in the US on a temporary work visa. The process of getting a green card veers unexpectedly off course, and Mara is faced with stereotypes and abuses of power on every level. The role of Mara is played by Malina Manovici, the Romanian star of Graduation, which competed at Cannes in 2016 and earned Mungiu a best director prize (shared with Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper ). Variety Features SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018 LOS ANGELES: The Society of Camera Operators is awarding Meryl Streep its President Award for Lifetime Achievement for her body of work, and her commitment to the craft of camera operating. The group noted that Streep has been nominated a record breaking 21 times for an Academy Award and has won three times. She received a Best Actress nomination on Jan 23 for The Post. (RTRS) LOS ANGELES: Bleecker Street has bought North American distribution rights to director Debra Granik s Leave No Trace following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Granik ( Winter s Bone ) directed from a script she co-wrote with Anne Rosellini, based on the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock. (RTRS) LOS ANGELES: Friday s opening ceremony of Sweden s 41st Goteborg Film Festival belonged to local girl made good Alicia Vikander. I haven t had the possibility to come home as much as I have wanted in the last few years; it means a lot to be on this stage tonight, and I have therefore made the decision to continue this speech in Swedish, said Swedish international actress Alicia Vikander on Friday at Goteborg s Draken cinema, where she received the Nordic Dragon Award at theopening ceremony of Sweden s 41st Goteborg International Film Festival. (RTRS) LOS ANGELES: Oscar winner Natalie Portman will officially join Jude Law in Vox Lux, Variety has learned. In addition, Bold Films, which is backing the project and helped develop the film, has joined forces with Andrew Lauren Productions to finance and produce the picture. Vox Lux is written and directed by Brady Corbet, an accomplished actors whose credits include Mysterious Skin and Funny Games. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2015 with The Childhood of a Leader, a kind of portrait of a fascist as a very young man that won two awards at the This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Kaya Scodelario (left), and Patricia Clarkson in a scene from Maze Runner: The Death Cure. (AP) Venice Film Festival. (RTRS) LOS ANGELES: Trevor Stevens Rock Steady Row and Pablo Bryant s Mr. Fish: Cartooning From the Deep End have won the Sparky Awards for grand jury prizes at the 24th Slamdance Film Festival. Rock Steady Row won the grand jury narrative feature award Film Death Cure to outpace Jumanji Maze Runner s forward motion stalls By Jake Coyle Moviegoers who come late to the Maze Runner franchise, which now numbers three, will doubtless have one very reasonable question: Where, pray tell, are all the mazes I was promised? Alas, the maze of Maze Runner referred to as the Glade by the few dozen teenagers who were mysteriously dropped into it has been in the rearview since the first 2014 installment, a modestly budgeted YA adaption and a bit of a Hunger Games knockoff. But what the two sequels, first Maze Runner: Scorch Trials and now Maze Runner: The Death Cure, have lacked in labyrinths, they have made up for in running. Literal running but also a genuinely kinetic forward movement. The Maze Runner films, which have all been directed by former visual effects supervisor Wes Ball, move better than the average dystopia. So many fantasies bog themselves down with backstory and world-explaining, but the chief pleasure of the Maze Runner films is that the characters are perpetually grasping their predicament right along with the audience. And like the previous chapters, Maze Runner: The Death Cure picks up right in medias res. Thomas (Dylan O Brien) and his close-knit crew of escapeesturned-rebel fighters (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Rosa Salazar, Barry Pepper) speed after a train on a desolate plain, hop aboard, and when security guards for the nefarious organization called WCKD (short for World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department, and pronounced wicked ) start swarming, they outwit them, and, somehow, fly away with a train car full of kids. They are among the few left on Earth immune to a virus that turns all into zombies. In Maze Runner, they escaped the enormous concrete maze they were plopped into with their memories erased. By Scorch Trials, they realized the institution that sheltered them (WCKD, under the command of an icy scientist played by Patricia Clarkson and a severe commander played by Aidan Gillen) wasn t to be trusted. They broke out and Streep joined with a band of resistance fighters. In The Death Cure, they try to free the remaining lab rats, including their pal Minho (Ki Hong Lee), who are housed in the last remaining city, a walled-in cluster of skyscrapers. The Maze Runner trilogy has essentially skipped from high school (the Glade) to college (WCKD) and finally into the urban workplace. Just one with, you know, zombies and poor health care options. But these are very sincere movies about the fellowship of friends trying to survive together and figure out just who they can trust. There is a drinking game s worth of moments where a character vows not leave their buddy behind. Overlong The Death Cure is the biggest budgeted, most bloated and longest running entry for the franchise. It maintains the movies quick pace before stalling in an overlong finale. It should be a mutually understood condition that if you re going to name your movie Maze Runner: The Death Cure, you ve got to turn in a cut under two hours. Think too much about the plot and it will surely spoil the fun of The Death Cure. WCKD may be an imperfect organization, but then again, the fate of the human race hangs in the balance. WCKD s chief motivation is to study the blood of the immune so that an antidote can be discovered. Literally millions of lives would be saved if only a millennial listened. But if the Maze Runner films have chronicled major stages of young adulthood, they have graduated a few along the way. O Brien has shouldered the films well, even as much of their enjoyment derives from the scattered ensemble of characters actors (Giancarlo Esposito, Will Poulter, Walton Goggins). But Ball s command of the camera and his ability to hurtle his character through science-fiction realms has visibly grown through the three movies. For too long The Death Cure stays in one place; it s best when on the move. And now, it s probably time for Ball to move on, too. The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, a 20th Century Fox release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for for intense sequences of Vikander and the audience narrative feature award. It focuses on a college freshman who, after his bike is stolen, is compelled to take action against the university s reigning fraternities and the dean. Rock Steady Row is a shining star in genre, young adult themes, and save the day filmmaking, the jurors said, done creatively in a comic book meets sci-fi violence and action, language, and some thematic elements. Running time: 142 minutes. Two stars out of four. Also: LOS ANGELES: Fox s Maze Runner: The Death Cure is heading for $22 million at 3,768 North American locations, dethroning three-time champ Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, early estimates showed Friday. The sixth weekend of Jumanji will likely finish at around $14 million at 3,553 sites, giving it a stunning $335 million domestically after 40 days topping Sony s Spider-Man: Homecoming for 49th place on the all-time list. Five films are battling for third place in the $8 million to $10 million range: Fox s sixth weekends of the sturdy musical The Greatest Showman and Steven Spielberg s The Post, Warner Bros second frame of Afghan war drama 12 Strong, STXfilms second weekend of Den of Theives and Entertainment Studios expanded Christian Bale drama Hostiles. The Maze Runner franchise has been a reliable performer for Fox since 2014 when it opened the original Maze Runner with $32.5 million on its way to grossing $102 million in US receipts. The 2015 follow-up, The Scorch Trials, opened with $30 million and tallied $82 million in domestic box office. Dylan O Brien stars as the lead in the finale of the dystopian trilogy, which saw its opening delayed for a year after he sustained injuries on the set two years ago. Kaya Scodelario and Thomas Brodie-Sangster also star. Wes Ball directed all three films. Sony s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was overshadowed during its first two weeks by Disney-Lucasfilm s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which has gone past $606 million domestically. The action-comedy has consistently over-performed forecasts during its run and is unique in having finished in second for two weekends, then notching box office victories in its third, fourth and fifth weekends. The Dwyane Johnson-Kevin Hart vehicle has also led the international box office for four weekends and amassed $450 million overseas. (Agencies) George Miller meets John Carpenter universe. Sharply directed by Trevor Stevens and written by Bomani Story. With strong ingenuity not commonly seen at this budget and experience level, Rock Steady Row stands tall. Mr Fish won the grand jury documentary award. The film follows a political cartoonist as he struggles to provide for his family and stay true to his creativity. Crafted with the same rugged earnestness and political incorrectness as its subject, this fast paced, exceptionally told portrait creates a complex, funny and layered depiction of a cartoonist who embodies the principles of free speech while revealing the trappings of such an existence, the jury said. (RTRS)

16 NEWS/FEATURES 16 People & Places Obits Ski filmmaker dead Sherlock Holmes of Himalayas dies at 94 KATHMANDU, Jan 27, (Agencies): American journalist Elizabeth Hawley, whose 50 years chronicling summits and tragedies in the Himalayas earned her the moniker the Sherlock Holmes of the mountaineering world, died Friday aged 94. Hawley built a reputation as one of the most authoritative voices on Himalayan mountaineering after moving to Nepal in 1959 as a journalist, where she continued to live up to her death. She had a very peaceful death, doctor Prativa Pandey, who looked after Hawley at the end of her life, told AFP. She passed away at a hospital in Nepal s capital Kathmandu in the early hours of Friday, a week after falling ill with a lung infection. She later likely suffered a stroke, Pandey said. Hawley founded the Himalayan Database, a meticulous archive of all mountaineering expeditions in Nepal that she managed until five years ago. Known for ferreting out the truth from climbers claiming to set new records, her word on summits in the fabled mountains was considered final, Hawley though she never climbed any peaks herself. Every climbing season Hawley behind the wheel of her 1965 sky-blue VW Beetle would drive to mountaineers hotels in Kathmandu to grill them before and after their expeditions. I guess I am quite forceful, I come to the point and if someone thinks they can evade my questions, they can think again, she told AFP in a 2014 interview. Accuracy Billi Bierling, a journalist and climber who took over managing the Himalayan Database in recent years, remembered Hawley as a stickler for accuracy who would keep calling a source until she was satisfied she had the answer. The mountaineering world today has lost of its most important pillars. Even though Liz Hawley was never a climber, she never wore crampons, she was interested in the people, Bierling said. Tributes for Hawley poured in from mountaineers around the world. Kathmandu will be a lesser place without her and her original VW beetle, wrote 12-time Everest summiteer Kenton Cool on Twitter, describing her as the Oracle of Himalayan climbing. Elizabeth Ann Hawley was born on Nov 9, 1923 to a Chicago-based chartered accountant and a suffragist. She attended university in Michigan and promptly moved to Manhattan after graduation in 1946, landing a job as a researcher with Fortune magazine. The job bored her and she took off to see the world in 1957, finally ending up in Nepal in February 1959, then a Hindu kingdom which had only recently opened its gates to foreign visitors. Hawley eventually became a correspondent for the Reuters news agency in Nepal and landed her first major scoop during the 1963 US expedition to Everest. The American military attache offered her access to secret radio communication between Everest base camp and the embassy, enabling her to be the first to file when they reached the summit. In 2014, Nepal named a 6,182-metre (20,328-foot) mountain in her honour: Peak Hawley in the country s northwest. I retire when I die. It might be the same thing, Hawley said in her book The Nepal Scene, a collection of monthly dispatches she wrote until Also: LOS ANGELES: Warren Miller, an adventure filmmaker who made more than 500 films focused largely on skiing, died at his home in Oscas Island, Wash., on Wednesday. He was 93. Miller became a fixture in the skiing community with his Warren Miller Entertainment films, and for 60 years produced one feature-length ski movie a year, which he would show in theaters near ski resorts. The films were conceptualized, directed, and narrated by Miller from 1949 until the 1990s. While he focused heavily on snow sports, he also had a passion for surfing and sailing, according to his website. He sold WME in 2007, and hasn t been actively involved in its films since Miller was also an artist and author, having written 11 books and 1,200 columns. In a statement posted to Miller s Facebook page, his family wrote that While this is a time of profound loss, we are comforted that Warren s life touched so many. Warren made the extraordinary seem accessible, and his legacy of freedom, humor, and adventure endures through all of you. Whether you saw his movies, read his books or met him on the slopes, he considered you to be part of his family. Your love meant the world to him, the post continued For those who are able, ski your favorite run or do something else you love in Warren s memory. As Warren might say: I ll see you same time, same place next year, only I ll be watching from a different mountaintop. ELKINS PARK, Pa: The founder of the Dead Poets Society of America suffered a fatal heart attack little more than a month after commissioning his own tombstone. Walter Skold enlisted the son of novelist John Updike to carve a unique tombstone that will be topped with a dancing skeleton and a quill. Michael Updike, who received the poet s deposit last month, said he never expected to be carving the monument so soon. There was no indication of any premonition of an untimely death before Skold s passing at age 57 on Jan 20 in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, Updike said Friday. He was a sweet soul, said Updike, of Newbury, Massachusetts. He was a kind person with this quirky predilection to poets graves and death and the macabre. Known as the Dead Poets Guy, Skold visited the final resting places of more than 600 poets after launching the Dead Poets Society in 2008 in Maine, drawing inspiration for the name from the 1989 Robin Williams movie. Along the way, Skold drew attention to bards and poetry while producing a massive repository of information on poets final resting places. Musician Miley Cyrus performs onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall on Jan 26, in New York City. (AFP) Lorde performs at the 2018 Musi- Cares Person Of The Year gala at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Jan 26. The 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year award was presented to Fleetwood Mac at the 28th annual MusiCares Gala Tribute dinner and concert ahead of Sunday s 60th Grammy Awards, marking the first time the benefit has honored a band. Proceeds from the event go towards MusiCares. (AFP) Cardi B Variety Winfrey NEW YORK: Tell Cardi B she s nominated for a Grammy and the breakthrough rapper will quickly remind you: She s actually nominated for two. The chart-topping rapper performed late Thursday at a pre-grammy party held by her record label s parent company, Warner Music Group. And when the DJ said she got nominated for a Grammy, she corrected him. Two of them, she said. The 25-year-old performer celebrated her first pair of Grammy nominations at The Grill in New York City with a performance of her five hit songs, also giving the audience a dose of her humor and likable personality. (AP) WASHINGTON: Chat show icon Oprah Winfrey has brushed off speculation she might run for US president in 2020, saying in an interview published Thursday she lacks the DNA for it. When Winfrey delivered a rousing speech at the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month it rekindled longstanding speculation over the billionaire s political ambitions and a possible run for the Oval Office. Some Democrats still reeling from Hillary Clinton s shock loss to Donald Trump have embraced the idea of having their own celebrity candidate the next time around. But in an interview with InStyle, carried out three weeks before the Globes and published in the fashion magazine s March issue, the 63-year-old downplayed the idea of a presidential run, saying: That s not for me. I ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not, said the self-made entertainment tycoon. (AFP) PARK CITY, Utah: Jada Pinkett Smith is praising Jessica Chastain for fighting for pay equity in Hollywood. Music An interesting science project Space, final frontier... for nightclubs NEW YORK, Jan 27, (AFP): Bringing a new meaning to dancing on air, a nightclub operator is throwing a party in zero gravity, with top DJs playing in an aircraft used to train astronauts. The nightclub, billed as the first of its kind in conditions resembling space, will take off Feb 7 in Frankfurt with 20 clubbers representing all continents dancing, or at least floating, to the beats. The party, however, will be brief. The modified Airbus A310, which helps European astronauts adapt to weightlessness, will return to Frankfurt airport after 90 minutes, with only 25 minutes spent in zero gravity. The head of BigCityBeats, a Frankfurt company known for setting up nightclubs in unlikely places, said he pursued the idea because, well, it hadn t been done. Since we are doing a lot of things which are unique, everybody was asking me when do you fly to the moon? said Bernd Breiter, CEO of BigCityBeats. That will take awhile, if it s possible. But we are coming a little bit closer, he said. The artists on the mission, dubbed World Club Dome Zero Gravity, will include Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren, one of the top names in trance music, and Los Angeles-based Steve Aoki, a major producer and DJ of electronic dance music. A total of 55 people will be on the flight including crew and two veterans of zero-gravity environments European Space Agency astronauts Jean- Francois Clervoy of France and Pedro Duque of Spain. Van Buuren said that space travel has been something I want to experience at least once although he acknowledged that he had jitters even with conventional flying. The DJ, accustomed to seeing fancy footwork on the ground, said he would eagerly watch the dance possibilities in zero gravity. I think it will look really funny, During a diverse storytelling panel at the Sundance Film Festival, Pinkett Smith on Sunday relayed the story that Chastain negotiated raises for both her and actress Octavia Spencer, who are co-starring in an upcoming comedy. Jessica stood up for Octavia and I want you to know because they stood together, Juanes performs onstage at the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute honoring Fleetwood Mac at the Radio City Music Hall on Jan 26, in New York. (AP) Women big customers of music Being a female artist a lonely field NEW YORK, Jan 27, (AP): A new survey of top pop charts over the past six years finds that men overwhelmingly dominate the ranks of artists and songwriters and that only 2 percent of producers in music are female. The University of Southern California study shows women comprised just 22.4 percent of artists and 12.3 percent of songwriters on the Billboard Hot 100, a singles chart that crosses musical genres. Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift dominated the charts during this period but the survey found that relatively fewer other women in the music industry are employed behind those superstars. For women, pursuing music as an artist is largely a solo activity, and appears to be a lonely one, the researchers wrote. They noted that the numbers were surprising because women are big customers of music, making up 53 percent of digital music buyers in The university s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative researchers examined 600 songs appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 end-of-year charts from 2012 through A total of 1,239 solo performers, duos and bands were included. Some of the more eye-popping numbers include that only two women of color were among the ranks of the 651 producers listed in the charts while nine male songwriters were responsible for onefifth of the songs in the sample. What s really problematic about this is that those many men and their views of the world are setting an agenda for pop culture, Dr Stacy L. Smith, founder and director of the Inclusion Initiative, said in an interview Thursday. She called the handful of powerful men in music gatekeepers who may not reflect the dynamic world in which we live. The Inclusion Initiative has also previously examined gender disparity in films and found that a bias in favor of men seems to be the reason female directors aren t tapped to helm major motion pictures. he told AFP. You can make really unique dance moves, like twists in the air, that you wouldn t normally be able to do on a dance floor. Unlike actual space, which is silent, the plane will have oxygen and therefore sound. The DJs have access to a designated area if they want to remain stationary. Nonetheless, Van Buuren said he was curious how weightlessness would affect his gear and music. Known for his marathon vinyl sets, he will be safe and go digital for zero gravity. It s an interesting science project, let s put it that way, Van Buuren said. BigCityBeats selected the 20 clubbers from contestants who submitted videos on social media. Hoping to be as representative as possible, winners were selected from each continent. The trip will be free, including travel expenses to Frankfurt. BigCityBeats is relying on support from partners including the operator of Frankfurt airport and is promoting its signature event, World Club Dome, a mega-party in June in Frankfurt which the company calls the biggest club in the world. Breiter said that the zero gravity trip also had a more serious message, with people of all backgrounds coming together. they got three times what they were asking for as a unit, she said. (AP) LOS ANGELES: Much of the talk at this year s Sundance Film Festival revolves, almost obsessively, around the idea that it s a weak year. On the heels of an edition that gave us The Big Sick, Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, and Mudbound, the drop in cabin pressure is bound to be palpable. There is certainly nothing approaching an awards-contending breakout quartet like that this time around. There is, however, a crater-leaving performance in the Midnight lineup that certainly deserves to be in the Oscar conversation, even if it comes in a brutal genre movie that s unlikely to find traction with Academy voters for a variety of reasons. But then, a year after Get Out, what does that even mean anyway? The performance is Toni Collette s in newcomer Ari Aster s bone-chilling Hereditary, and it is a staggering work conveying torment of the most lived-in kind, as Variety critic Owen Gleiberman put it in his review. As a mother swept up in a dark family history (which is...putting it lightly), the Oscar-nominated actress gives a powerhouse portrayal full of pain, terror, regret, compulsion just a fireworks display of raw commitment. (RTRS)

17 NEWS/FEATURES 17 Xuan RVDK Ronald Van der Kemp Fashion PARIS: As Paris haute couture week ends Thursday, we look at the five things we learned from the elite fashion extravaganza: Genius is a word that gets thrown around in fashion like confetti at a wedding, but many who witnessed John Galliano s two shows for Margiela over the past 12 days believed that in his case the feathered hat fits. The British designer may never live down the notorious drunken anti- Semitic rant that cost him his job at Dior in Yet fashion would be far less fantastical without him. His haute couture collection using transformative fabrics which look completely different to the naked eye than through the lens of smartphone, was not just inspired use of cuttingedge tech, but deft commentary on seeing at the world through the lens of Instagram. Karl Lagerfeld Even geniuses make mistakes. Just ask Karl Lagerfeld who is no doubt stroking his chin over whether he will persist with his new wispy white beard. Reaction to the Kaiser s first major change in image in two decades was generally negative and almost drowned out his very girly Chanel show. Vogue s legendary critic Suzy Menkes did her best to soften the blow by referring to the growth as an exciting facial accessory. Dior Dior under Maria Grazia Chiuri loves nothing better than a good slogan. She began her reign at the fabled label with her We should all be feminists T-shirt and by plastering Christian Dior J adore on just about everything, from bras to sandal straps. This week she wrote lines from Andre Breton s Surrealist Manifesto across her models collar bones as part of a homage to Italian artist and protofeminist Leonor Fini. Which was unfortunate, as critics quickly pointed out, because Breton was a notorious misogynist who Fini abhorred for writing that the problem of woman is the most marvellous and disturbing problem in all the world. Never write a note using the N- word and send it to someone who puts their entire life on Instagram. The Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko learned that the hard way this week when she sent flowers to her friend the Moscow socialite Miroslava Duma when she arrived in Paris for the shows. Both women insisted it was meant as a term of endearment between friends, but the fashion world was not in a forgiving mood. Paul Gaultier While catwalks are more and more gender fluid with co-ed shows and androgynous and trans models, they could not have been more binary when Roberto Verino PARIS: Models (above), present creations by Maison Rabih Kayrouz, RVDK and Xuan during the Paris Fashion Show, in Paris, Jan 25. MADRID: Models (below) display creations by Roberto Verino; Agatha; Hannibal Laguna and Maria Escote during the Fashion Week in Madrid, Jan 26. (AFP/AP) Agatha Ruiz de la Prada it came to colour this week. Black and white dominated from John Paul Gaultier s two-tone tribute to Pierre Cardin to Dior s surrealist checkerboards and Clare Waight Keller s much-praised debut at Givenchy. That couture fixture the femme fatale cut a black and silver swathe through the Azzaro, Alexandre Vaultier and Maison Rabih Kayrouz Galia Lahav collections, with shoulders exaggerated 1980s-style to emphasise killer glamour. Chanel and Valentino swam against Agatha Ruiz de la Prada the austere tide with a sweetshop assortment of sugary pinks and greens, while Viktor & Rolf also went for a bolder palette, giving their quirky RVDK Ronald Van der Kemp creations an extra sheen by making the complete collection in satin duchesse. Models in brightly coloured pant suits and ankle-length dresses graced a Paris catwalk this week in what organisers said was the city s first show of modest fashion that highlights styles popular with Muslim women. The event was part of the Oriental Fashion show held on the sidelines of the city s haute couture fashion week, which showcases designers from Asia and the Middle East. Organisers said modest fashion had met resistance in France because of its Maison Rabih Kayrouz PARIS/madrid Hannibal Laguna Agatha Ruiz de la Prada religious associations but there was demand for the styles in the country and beyond. We re French and in France we want to address this French demand, because firstly there s a French market for this and also an export market, Oriental Fashion Show general director Hind Joudar told Reuters. France s resistance to modest fashion has nothing to do with the fashion itself it has to do with religion, Joudar said. Modest fashion conforms to conservative social standards common in the Middle East. In recent years, it has attracted mainstream interest and brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Uniqlo and Burberry have entered the sector. Spending by Muslims on clothing and apparel is projected to reach $368 billion by 2021, according to the 2017 Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy report. France, under former conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, was the first European country to pass a law banning burqa and niqab garments that conceal the face in public. Belgium later followed suit, as did the Swiss canton of Ticino. Authorities said the full-faced veil is a security risk because it inhibit identification. France has the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, and some of Europe s most restrictive laws about expressions of faith in public. (Agencies) Maria Escote

18 18 French students bring laurels to FAIPS Le Frehindi, Paris, organized the prestigious Inter-School International Concours d orthographe 2017 (International French Spell Bee Competition 2017), an event open to school students of French in non-francophone countries. The success of this contest lies in its unique concept, quality and popularity among thousands of school students. The French students of Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School, Kuwait took active participation in the fi rst two rounds topping their zone. They won the Zonal Topper Trophy in Round 2. Three students were selected to take part in the fi nals of the International French Spell Bee competition held in New Delhi, on Jan 16, They represented Kuwait in three different levels: Debutant, Intermediate and Advanced. Around 130 contestants were there for the fi nals from 11 different zones and from all Photos from the event over India. Rohita Mahesh, Class 9, representing FAIPS, Kuwait moved into the grand fi nale in the advanced category with an excellent show. Sreya Premugh, Class 7, marched into the grand fi nale category Debutant with a breath taking performance. The grand fi - nale was held in the afternoon of Jan 16. Rohita Mahesh impressed everyone with her presentation, and command of the language. She was placed second in the Advanced level category. Shreya was unstoppable in her category (Debutant) and came out winner by an outstanding performance. This was a maiden effort at the International French Spell Bee competition and the French students of FAIPS did an excellent job and impressed all with their outstanding show. Thanks to the Principal, Vice-Principal and French teachers of FAIPS for their support and training. contract bridge By Steve Becker click Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confidential. rohsecretary@gmail.com Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 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: fightingwithcancer.webs.com/ Latest Feb 1 YMCA extravaganza 2018: YMCA Kuwait conducting a Musical Evening at Indian Community School, Salmiya, Kuwait on Thursday, Feb 1, 2018 from 6 pm onwards. Musical Evening will be led by melodious Idea Star Singers, Joby John (Season 4) and Merin Gregory (Season 6) along with rising star of Kuwait, Anna Elizabeth Raju. All are welcome to this event. For more details please contact: , Feb 2 CASS Kuwait Onattukara Fest 2018 : Chettickulangara Amma Seva Samathi Kuwait (CASS Kuwait) conducting Onattukara Fest 2018 at Indian Central School, Abbasiya, on Friday, Feb 2, 2018 from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm onwards. The whole day celebration is a collection of Onattukara traditional cultural programs that includes Kuthiyottam Kuthiyotta Achariyan Vijayaraghava kurup and team, Sangeetha Sudha Kayamkulam Babu the famous Idea Star singer frame,thayampaka Neeleswaram Marar Brothers, Pancharimelam-Chamayam Brothers and traditional Kanji Sadhaya. For more details please contact: Anil , Pramod , Haneesh , Jothy Raj General Q8BBall Season 13: Q8BBall is beginning our 13th season with Boys U13 (ages 10-13) and U17 (ages 14-17). We train three times a week and play regular games throughout the year with schools and clubs. In June 2018, we plan to travel for camp and tournaments in the US. Contact Coach T for information. Invitation to Grand Mosque: The Visits Department is pleased to invite you to visit the Grand Mosque, which is one of Kuwait s most treasured religious and cultural landmarks to discover the beauty of Islamic arts and architecture. Free guided tours are available all year round A flyer of the event N E W Y O R K T I M E S CROSSWORD 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); Arabic- Eng- Conceptis Sudoku The grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3 box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive lish- 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: / / gmvisits@gmail.com Fax: Continued on Page 19 Challenger A beverage 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. THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION. Yesterday s solution Answer to yesterday s puzzle Today s Challenge Time 4 Minutes 18 Seconds Your Working Time Minutes Seconds Word by Word Spirit Rooh The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Al rooh tawaqa walaken al jasad daeef. Numbers Scratch pad 7772 Seven thousand seven hundred seventy two Sabat alaf wa sabou maah wa ethnan wa saboun

19 19 TEF 2018 organizes 1st technical seminar Photos from the event. TEF-2018 organized first technical seminar on Jan 23, at New Park Hotel, Maidan Hawalli, Kuwait. It was a nice evening, good ambience with great participation. Program started at 6.10 pm with Tamil Thai Vazhthu and Engr Sathish Kumar J. sharing safety moment. Engr Sethu Madhavan, General Secretary TEF 2018 shared Kural (Sacred Verses) from the sacred book of Tamil Thirukkural. TEF-2018 Vice-President Krishna Jegan welcomed the TEFians and guests speakers to the first technical seminar of the year Also, explained about the importance of continuous professional development in individual s career and TEF s commitment to add value to TEF members. He stressed the importance of active participation of all members in all the technical seminars, conference and engineering excellence award program. Two sessions were conducted. First session focused on engineering and consultancy and the other session focused on finance and Investments. Engr Raja Rathinam introduced the first speaker, Prashanth Sreenivasan, Director, M/s Petrocil Engineers and Consultants to the audience. Sreenivasan has been instrumental in the design, construction and commissioning of various oil and gas facilities in India, UAE and Kuwait. In the first session, Sreenivasan, shared his vast experience on the topic Engineering & Consultancy in the field of oil and gas. The session was interesting and interactive. Engr Manikandan introduced the speaker of the second session Mrs Lalitha Thamaraipandy, Consultant- Finance and Investments to the audience. She is a prolific writer and has published many articles on finance & investments and author of the book: Mutual Funds The Money Multiplier. Mrs Lalitha shared her vast experience in the field of finance and investments. She enriched the audience about mutual funds, advantages over other investments and the risk involved. Question & Answer session was highly interactive and useful to all. As a token of appreciation, the speakers were felicitated with mementos. Vote of thanks was shared by Engr Ashok, Joint Secretary TEF-2018 Anchoring was done by Engr Bala Subramanian and the program came to an end with a delicious dinner. click General Continued from Page 18 Share your story with Amricani: Do you or any of your family members, acquaintances or friends happen to have a story with the American Missionary hospital in Kuwait (Mustashfa Lemraicani) during the years from , 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 address: Mystory@ darmuseum.org.kw Notes: 1. Please send your story only to the above mentioned . 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. Photos from the event. Kuwait Muthamizh Kalai Mantram celebrates Thai Pongal Tamil association Kuwait Muthamizh Kalai Mantram celebrated Tamil harvest festival Thai Pongal and the Indian Republic day in a grand manner on Jan 19th at Kohinoor hall, Fahaheel, Kuwait. The function commenced with the recitation of Tamil Anthem by Smt Ranimohan and team. The program hall was named as Ayyan Thiruvalluvar to honour the ancient Divine Tamil poet, who has written Thirukural. The Thirukural, (literally Sacred Verses), is a classic Tamil text consisting of 1330 couplets, dealing with the everyday virtues of an individual. Dr K. Kumar Founder President of Kuwait Muthamizh Kalai Mantram, whose main objectives are to promote and cultivate the music, dance, drama among the Tamizh community living in Kuwait, welcomed the guests and participants. President Kalifullah of KMM and I am confident that your contributions will be an essential part of the history of Amricani. Share with us! 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 Chandrasekaran of Thaiman Elakiya Peravai were invited to the dais to preside over the function. KMM s Secretary Karthikeyan and Treasurer Smt Ranimohan managed the programme schedule. Well known child artist Selvan Harshid Sunil Kumar, mesmerized the audience with his keyboard notes and the familiar Veena child artist in Kuwait Selvi Akalya Meenakshi has rendered profusely on Indian Carnatic classical concert and she was accompanied with the famous Mridangam artist Sanees and the Gadam artist Sheeraj. Engr Inbathamizh Ilangovan, AGM from National Bank of Kuwait and Dr Krishnan, former Prof of Tamilnadu Agricultural University and the eminent cricket coach, Krishnakumar, father of Indian cricket player Dinesh Karthik also graced the occasion as guests of honour. Tamil association presidents and representatives Messrs. available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by protecting individuals as well as the society has become obligatory. In this current situation, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed President Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details contact: or at kiffkuwait@gmail.com. NYF offers free yoga classes: Semponmari Sethu, Rajasekar, Natarajan, Gangai Gopal, Somasundaram, Sunil Kumar, Raman, Vasuramanathan, Sambath Kumar, Anbarasu, Arivazhakan, Makizhan, Hameed, Pinnaloor Manikandan, Hassan Mohamad, Mathivanan, Veldon Haneef, Rajarajan and Ghandi graced the occasion as special guests. Mrs Kala Yoganathan generously offered the Pongal ingredients. Smt Revathi Tamilselvan, Athimoolam and Raghav Yoganathan offered a scintillating note on the significance of Pongal festival. Poet Sivamani and Poet Thara recited their special poems to enthrall the audience with essence of the literary works. The programme was well coordinated by Mrs Mannai Raja and Aranthai Ganesan with splendid support from Dr Mathan, Er Prabu, Shri Ramalingam, Shri Ravinder, Shri Pandimuthu and Shri Ahok Kumar. 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: 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 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 or call / AWL registration: If you would like to join the American Women s League (AWL), please call or or kuwaitawl@yahoo. com. All American women and wives of Continued on Page 20

20 20 Firm continues to foster young talents Zain strategic partner of 10th Int l Invention Fair ME KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced its strategic partnership of the 10th International Invention Fair Middle East. The event is held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, and runs from Jan 28-31, 2018 in Arraya Ballroom at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. Zain will be participating in the opening ceremony through its own booth, which will serve as a platform for all visitors wishing to know more about the company s latest offerings and promotions. Zain s support of this major event since its inception is part of the company s Corporate Sustainability and social Responsibility Chairman of Kuwait Science Club Talal Al-Kharafi with Zain s representative Ahmed Abdul during the press conference to announce the launch of the exhibition. strategy, which aims at supporting the scientific arena and contribute Show to return bigger, better Realty India Expo 2018 postponed KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Realty India Expo 2018, which was scheduled to be held on Jan 26 and 27, in Kuwait, has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances and will now be organized on a bigger scale at a later date, said the show s organizers. Expressing their utmost regret at the inconvenience caused to potential property buyers, investors and others interested in the realty exhibition, the organizers said the delay was due to unexpected exigencies. However, they assured everyone that the postponement was temporary and that a bigger show with greater participation of developers and builders was now being planned and would be announced shortly. Realty India Expo 2018, an eagerly anticipated event among the Indian community in Kuwait, was slated to highlight prime properties from over 40 cities and towns across India. The show was specifically conceptualized to cater to the NRI s living in Kuwait, by showcasing the wide availability and choice of properties in Indian cities and towns, as well as the enormous investment potential that the Indian real estate market has in terms of growth. With the real estate sector in India continuing on an upward trajectory, and considering the lucrative potential for investment in this rapidly growing market, the Indian community in Kuwait is likely to enthusiastically welcome realty exhibitions that bring together under one-roof the best of Indian properties. The organisers express their thanks for the understanding and support from community members. to the further development of the scientific field in Kuwait and the region. The Invention Fair Middle East brings together a large number of local, regional, and international inventors who jointly exchange knowledge and experiences. Performance Zain s Corporate Communications and Relations Director, Waleed Al-Khashti noted that the private sector role is important in supporting such scientific activities and encouraging the Kuwaiti youth by raising the level of performance and refining skills to reach international levels. He also pointed out that the company was one of the first supporters of the International Inventions Fair in the Middle East since previous years. Al-Khashti appreciated the pioneering role of the scientific club and the participation of Kuwait in the scientific and international forums. He added that Kuwait has no less experience and knowledge in its scientific level than its counterpart in the world, and it is capable of being the first in the world in the field of scientific inventions when it is provided with sufficient support from the private sector. Exhibition The International Invention Fair is one of the most significant and largest specialized exhibitions of inventions in the Middle East, and is considered as the second largest exhibition of its kind in the world. The event is part of the International Exhibition of Geneva, and offers an opportunity for inventions from different cultures to be exhibited and the strengthening of relationships among inventors and investors. Zain is keen on encouraging Kuwaiti and Arab talents, especially Kuwaiti inventors, in the fields of science and innovation side by side with international experts. Zain supports such areas as it believes it offers a valuable opportunity for young inventors to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of international inventors. The company will continue to foster young talents, believing that the current generation of youngsters holds the keys to the future development of Kuwait. A photo from the event TMCA guest Dr Sultan Ahamed Ismail conducts lecture at IPS Eminent Soil Biologist and Ecologist, Dr Sultan Ahamed Ismail, Chariman, Eco-Science Research Foundation, Chennai and former HoD, Department of Zoology, New College, Chennai, had a teaching experience of more than 40 years, who was in Kuwait at the invitation of Tamilnadu Muslim Cultural Association (TMCA), had a classroom type session for Science stream teachers at Indian Public School auditorium on last Saturday, Jan 20, 2018 between 12 noon and 1:30 pm. Dr Kenneth Alexander Rodrigues, Principal of IPS, welcomed our guest, had a mutual introduction. TMCA officials Dr Hidayathullah, Education Secretary, Abdul Kadir, former Executive Coordinator along with Zahiruddin, Principal Coordinator were at the venue undertaking full arrangements for the lecture. It was a very useful session for the teachers of IPS who attended at large, conducted pictorial cum interactive lecture session on topic Teachers have CLASS, effective classroom communication topics ranging from children, classroom climate, communication, difficulties, science teaching, simple science experiments, food & nutrition, environment, team work and self-appraisal. Teachers expressed their thanks and gratitude, for having had a session with outstanding academician, noting down his contact information for future communication. He may be reached at their website and mail id: sultanismail@gmail.com All praise to Almighty for make it happen such an useful event. KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: National Bank of Kuwait believes in educating children in financial literacy and savings and works through its Zeina Savings Account to promote responsible saving and spending habits. On Jan 23, 2018, NBK announced the final winners of the Zeina Save & Win Campaign, held in collaboration with KidZania. Ten lucky children won cash prizes of KD 250 each, deposited into their Zeina Savings Account. The winner s names were announced live on Nabth Al Kuwait radio program on 88.8 FM. The draw was held in the presence of senior NBK officials and officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Zeina Save & Win was a successful campaign that raised awareness among parents and children Promotes responsible saving Children win KD 250 with NBK s Zeina Save & Win Al Duwaisan the importance of financial literacy, explained Amal Al-Duwaisan, Senior Manager Consumer Banking Group, National Bank of Kuwait. NBK strives to develop our future generations and offers products and services specifically tailored to suit their needs and develop their potential. Winners for the fourth and final Zeina Save & Win campaign draw: 1. Hamad Mohammed Hamad Alhaddad 2. Abdullah Rakan Abdullah Alrefaei 3. Bader Fahad Abdulaziz Al Qattan 4. Dana Abdulla Bader Alshemal 5. Nour Loay Abdulhamid Al Qattan 6. Mahdi Hasan Ismail Hussain 7. Fatima Mohammed Abdullah Shehab 8. Yousef Yaqoub Yousef Haidar 9. Faisal Sabah Sami Abdulsalam 10. Fay Mohammad Ismaeil Sadeqi The Zeina Savings Accounts encourages children to learn about banking. It serves as an excellent tool for parents to teach children about saving and spending responsibly and how to utilize digital tools like NBK s awardwinning website, NBK.com or the NBK mobile app to manage their account. Children under 15 years old with an NBK Zeina savings account in their name received one entry into the quarterly draw for every KD 10 that was deposited into their account during the campaign period. Parents who set up a standing deposit order doubled their child s chances of winning. A total of 40 young winners were awarded the KD 250 cash prize. The Zeina Save & Win Campaign ended Dec 31, 2017 and the Jan 23 announcement is the final 10 winners. National Bank of Kuwait, a leading Kuwait bank, has been listed among the World s Safest Banks 12 consecutive times by Global Finance magazine. NBK enjoys the highest credit ratings by international credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor s, Moody s and Fitch Ratings. Customers can benefit from NBK s Rewards Loyalty Program network, the largest in Kuwait. The NBK Rewards program includes more than 700 partner outlets restaurants, fashion brands, lifestyle shops, hotels, travel and entertainment for children. Parents can set up a Zeina account for their children by visiting a local branch or NBK.com website. Sarrah Alrasheedi wins weekly grand prize of KD 25,000 AUB reveals 26 new winners in Al Hassad draw KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Ahli United Bank recently conducted its Al Hassad Islamic account weekly draw, Kuwait s leading Shari ah compliant rewards program that offers a broad range of prizes to the largest number of winners, on Jan 17. The account provides 26 weekly prizes that are comprised of KD 25,000 as a grand prize and 25 other prizes valued at KD 1,000 each. AUB also offers four quarterly prizes that are valued at KD 250,000 to each winner allowing them to achieve their dreams of travelling, studying abroad, or owning their dream home or car. On this occasion Ahli United Bank announced, With this draw, we are click Continued from Page 19 General 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 adding 26 new winners and prizes to the Al Hassad Islamic account whereby, the total number of winners annually will include more than 1,300. The weekly grand prize winner of KD 25,000 is Sarrah Shebeeb Atwan Alrasheedi. Twenty-five other winners won prizes of KD 1,000 and are as follows: Zelfi Zaid Fahad Al Zaid, Taherah Y.J. Boulbanat, Rabeh Mohd Abdulrahman Juhail, Hamad Eid Ali Alshabow, Ali Obaid Ali Alshamari, Yousef S.E. AlSh an, Mozah Saad Humoud Alazmi, Fahad Fawaz Fahad Almekhled, Mohammad Mesehel Mesfer Dughaileeb, Ahmad Ibrahem Haji Abas Hussan, Hashem Mazen Hashem 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 International Hindi Divas 2018 was celebrated at Bhavan s School on Jan 15. A plethora of events was presented to showcase the students talents. As part of this celebration, a street play (Nukkad Natak) based on the theme Kahi kho na jaye bachpan was staged. Students of FAIPS - DPS participated in the Nukkad Natak Competition and bagged the First prize mesmerizing the audience with their superb acting skill. It is indeed a proud moment for FAIPS as it is their fi fth consecutive victory in this category. A huge credit goes to the tireless and dedicated efforts of the teachers. Truly a performance worth emulating. Alnajar, Shahzad Ahmad Ilam Deen, Turki Ahmad Lafi Almutairi, Abdulaziz Humoud Saud Aljeaib, Ayesh Ammash Munawer Alazmi, Reem Ibrahim Ali AlKandari, Sabiha Najeeb Mahmoud, Abd Alrasoul Ali Bader Khan, Ahmed Abdulrehem Mahmoud Abdulrehem, Zahra Hssan Suleman Mohd, Mohamed Husain Abdulla Abdulhusain, Fareed Ghulam, Ahmed Shawqi Abdulnabi Alqassab, Farooq Ameen Mohamed and Noorjahan Hatam A.Qader Hatam. Al Hassad Islamic account s customers in Kuwait and Bahrain are eligible to participate in the draw in line with the program s terms and conditions. association or if you are interested in registering, then please send us an at ugandansinkuwait@gmail.com. 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: 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 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 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 Ahli United Bank added, There are increased opportunities that await our current customers and those who are interested in opening an Al Hassad Islamic account to benefit from the wide range of prizes and opportunities offered this year. Individual customers can open their accounts with a minimum deposit of KD 100, qualifying them to enter the draw. For more information on Ahli United Bank s products and services, customers are invited to visit any of the Bank s branches or dial the customer service Hayakum on , or log on the Bank s website 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 - spdcindia.gov.in/login/index.php. Last date for submission of applications was extended till Oct 14, Nodal officer for SPDC is P. Bharadwaj, Deputy Secretary (OIA-II), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Tel: , dsoia2@mea.gov.in 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 education@darmuseum.org.kw TIES Center classes: TIES Center is conducting a series of classes about some of the Prophets and Messengers of God who strove very hard to spread monotheism and teach their respective peoples how to worship God. Their message was not only spiritual; they also taught people how to conduct their daily Continued on Page 22

21 21 Encourages new ideas Trashy literature? No such thing for Turkish refuse collectors ANKARA, Jan 27, (AFP): Many would prefer probably not to dwell on what becomes of books thrown into the rubbish bin when their onetime reader declutters their shelves. In the Turkish capital Ankara, however, discarded books need not necessarily end up heading for a papery oblivion. Instead, a surprising life after death is now in store for them thanks to a rather unconventional library. A group of the city s rubbish collectors has set up the library boasting thousands of works that would otherwise have been swallowed up by landfill. The books had been left out on residential streets together with other refuse for collection, sparking the idea to recycle them for a whole new readership. Opened more than seven months ago by one district s garbage collectors and their manager, the library is housed in a disused brick factory that was already serving as a base for the workers. The once decaying plant, abandoned 20 years ago, is now a thriving space where staff can spend their break perusing the shelves Books stacked with some 4,750 books. Rescued Originally intended just for the refuse workers and their families so they could borrow books for up to 15 days, it is now open to the public too, said Emirali Urtekin, the site s manager, whose office is equipped with other rescued items like magazines and a typewriter. There are another nearly 1,500 books yet to be placed on the shelves as more are rescued and now donated, he added. No book goes to waste, with some of the nonusable books employed as shelves for the others. The renovated building where even copper pipes find a use as lights is also home to a barber s shop, cafeteria, social area and offices for administrative staff. The books have so far been sorted into 17 categories, and counting, ranging from romance novels, economics textbooks, thrillers and children s fiction. The library boasts a variety of works by top foreign and Turkish authors, including JK Rowling, Charles Dickens, JRR Tolkien, Orhan Pamuk and Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James. It s accessible 24 hours a day for the refuse workers and has its own librarian, paid by the municipality: 20-year-old Eray Yilmaz. Up until now Yilmaz said a total of 147 books had been borrowed from the library, whose members can potentially include the up to 700 rubbish collectors working for the Cankaya district. According to the municipality, the new service is the only kind of library in the district open to the public. Reading books develops a person s intelligence, encourages new ideas... and here we introduce those new ideas from books to people, enthused Yilmaz. This is something that makes a person beyond happy. I take books to my mother too. Malik Ercan, one of several disabled staff members, said he took books home to his wife and child and that the library was drawing those outside of the city as well. Recently I showed my cousin around who had come from (the central Turkish province of) Sivas. They had heard about it in the news. They wanted to see it. Garbage collectors read books in a library created by the municipal employees by collecting thrown-out books at the Cankaya district of Ankara on Jan 9. (AFP) More friends are calling and saying they want to see it after seeing the news, let us see it... it s very different, they say, added Ercan, who has been working for the municipality for two and a half years. Attention The library has received plenty of local and international attention, leading to the arrival of more books and not just from rubbish bins. People from other Turkish cities now even pay the postal costs to send books to the library, Urtekin said, while refuse collectors continue to gather unwanted books on their daily rounds. We re getting many visits from members of the public but also donations. They say: This is such a good project, we want to support it as well, Urtekin said. We have given a new lease of life to those books that have been thrown away... and the books are available for free. Although there are no plans to expand the current space, the library has sparked further projects for discarded books. The manager told AFP that later in the year they will create a mobile library and visit some Ankara schools every 15 days so more children have access. It will serve schools without libraries or with a limited choice on their shelves. Students will also benefit during the visits from musical performances by Tin Group made up of 11 workers using broken rubbish containers and discarded metal objects. The group started around the same time as the library opened, Urtekin said. We are happy, the manager said. It has given us a different identity. This cover image released by William Morrow shows The Weight of an Infinite Sky, by Carrie La Seur. (AP) This cover image released by Harper shows The Wife, by Alafair Burke. (AP) Burke s Wife is solid domestic thriller This cover image released by Grand Central shows City of Endless Night, a novel by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. (AP) When by Daniel Pink uncovers secrets of timing By Rasha Madkour hen: The Scientifi c Se- of Perfect Timing Wcrets (Riverhead Books), by Daniel H. Pink It s January; time to make room in the self-improvement section of your bookcase. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink perfectly executes the tried-and-true formula for social science books. Start with a compelling anecdote, tease it apart with some science and suggest ideas on how applying the underlying principle can better your life. It fits right in next to The Power of Habit. Pink sets out to unearth the hidden science of timing to uncover it as a significant if unrecognized player in our lives and he largely succeeds. He highlights a study of Danish schoolchildren that found that those who took their yearly standardized test in the morning performed better than those who took it in the afternoon. The p.m. slump is real, which is why Pink advises against scheduling a doctor s appointment later in the day. According to a study, doctors found an average of more than 1.1 polyps during colonoscopies performed at 11 am By 2 pm, it dropped to barely half that number, even though the patients were no different. What helps mitigate the slide, Pink explains, are breaks. Judges rule in favor of prisoners about 65 percent of the time early in the day, but by late morning, that rate drops to nearly zero, regardless of the facts of the case, researchers have found. Immediately after the judges take a break, they become more forgiving again, Pink writes, only to sink into a more hard-line attitude after a few hours. Earlier isn t always better, however. Teenagers changing circadian rhythm means they become night owls, making early school start times particularly challenging. Pink ticks off the consequences of teens not getting enough sleep: they re at higher risk for depression, suicide, substance abuse and car crashes. Being sleep deprived is also correlated with obesity and a weakened immune system. The evidence of harm is so massive, Pink writes, that the American Academy of Pediatrics has called for middle and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 am, and the CDC has also pushed for delaying start times. Schools that have followed this recommendation have noted higher grades, better attendance and increased graduation rates. Still, less than one in five schools has made the change, Pink notes. We simply don t take issues of when as seriously as we take issues of what, he writes. Imagine if schools suffered the same problems wrought by early start times stunted learning and worsening health but the cause was an airborne virus that was infecting classrooms. Parents would march to the schoolhouse to demand action and quarantine their children at home until the problem was solved. Every school district would snap into action, Pink writes. But because the school start time is a when problem rather than a what problem, he concludes, too many people find it easy to dismiss. The breadth of the book s scope is impressive. It explains why people whose age ends in 9 are overrepresented in first-time marathoners and why singing in a group boosts endorphins and immunity. Pink makes a point to end each chapter with takeaway points that readers can apply to their own lives. When is engaging, conversational and tightly edited, making it an easy yet important read. The Wife (Harper), by Alafair Burke The issue of sexual harassment and assault gets a new spin in Alafair Burke s gripping new novel, The Wife. With a fine eye for believable characters and what motivates people, Burke sculpts a solid domestic thriller that s fresh and timely. Angela Powell is the wife of Jason Powell, a highly respected economics professor and best-selling author. Her pampered, predictable life gives Angela a sense of control and peace that she needs. When she was a teen, Angela was held captive for several years until she and her year-old baby were released. She has kept that past a secret from most people, fearful she would be fodder for media scrutiny. Then Jason is accused of sexual harassment. His account of what happened seems plausible, but soon after, a second woman comes forward with a claim that he raped her. Angela wonders just how well she knows her husband. Burke keeps readers off-kilter regarding the characters reliability and motives. Is Angela a reliable narrator or are her views tainted by her own experiences? Not only does she worry about Jason, she also worries about her own life and losing her shroud of privacy. The author also enhances the brisk plot with solid details about police procedures and legal maneuverings. The Weight of an Infinite Sky (William Morrow), by Carrie La Seur For young dreamers who long to escape the sleepy town where they grew up for a more exciting and fulfilling life, the question of roots versus wings is a constant internal struggle. Author Carrie La Seur tackles this familiar trope by weaving an elegant thread of Shakespeare and poetry throughout her sophomore novel, The Weight of an Infinite Sky. Anthony Fry is the product of several generations of ranchers. His family s name is respected in Montana, and as the only son to Dean and Sarah, it s expected that he will one day take over the family business. When Anthony chooses to move to New York City to pursue a career in the arts, the ripple effect is felt not only by his immediate family, but also by the entire community. Heads turn and spines stiffen the day Anthony returns home to take a job at a theater camp for kids. The big city had been cruel to the budding artist and after three years away, Anthony has nothing to show for his acting career. And the timing couldn t be worse. After losing his father to a freak horse riding accident, Anthony knows his mother is going to pressure him into staying in Montana and taking over his rightful duty of running the ranch. Desperate times call for desperate measures, especially when there is no money in the bank. Anthony steels his mind with alcohol, does his best to wrangle his emotions and counts down the days until the camp is over so he can return to being a penniless player in New York. Unfortunately, old memories and bad decisions come back to haunt Anthony the minute he returns to his hometown. His cheerful cousin is now a brooding cowboy. His longtime crush is working on saving her marriage. Anthony s Uncle Neal is pressuring his mother to sell the family s land to miners, and Anthony can t shake the feeling that his dad s death wasn t accidental. Through a cloud of booze and lines from Shakespearean plays, Anthony stumbles his way through the startling details of a personal family crisis and the town drama. People who have known Anthony his entire life walk alongside him because they understand that the cavalier attitude is actually a facade to cover the pain of heartbreak. The Weight of an Infinite Sky is a leisurely Western, full of nuanced characters. Anthony teaches readers that the weight of expectations and the pull of one s dreams can sometimes find a healthy middle ground. We only have to open our minds to the possibilities. City of Endless Night (Grand Central), by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast returns to assist the NYPD with a baffling case in City of Endless Nights, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child s latest thriller. A terrified father demands that his missing daughter be located, and as a tech billionaire who regularly dominates the headlines in the New York tabloids, he has the money and power to be a nuisance. Soon her headless body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse. NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D Agosta takes the lead, and with the extra scrutiny he expects because of the high profile of the case, he asks Pendergast for assistance. The course of the investigation immediately goes in the wrong direction when D Agosta realizes that Pendergast seems distracted and not himself. To solve the crime, he needs Pendergast at the top of his game, especially when another decapitated body appears. The murders seem unrelated, making it difficult to uncover a motive. As the murderer continues his spree becoming bolder and bolder in his methods D Agosta will have to shake some sense into Pendergast quickly, or they both might not survive. Preston and Child continue to write tense and compelling tales while also invoking the feel of Sherlock Holmes or other gothic stories of the late 19th century. The mystery this time is somewhat straightforward, but the focus is on the growth of the characters, with emotional turmoil for Pendergast and D Agosta s search for courage. When the focus shifts to the murders, it can be somewhat gruesome and diabolical. The villain is not only faceless, but almost a magician when it comes to what he is able to accomplish in plain sight. It borders on being unrealistic, but the marvelous writing overcomes those obstacles. (AP) Need to Know (Ballantine Books), by Karen Cleveland The domestic thriller melds with the spy novel in Karen Cleveland s entertaining and quite plausible Need to Know. Espionage novels don t usually deal with family issues, child-rearing and money woes while tacking national security, treason and sleeper cells. But Cleveland, a former CIA analyst, pulls together a tight tale. Analyst Vivian Miller spends her long workday searching the computer for evidence of sleeper cells as part of a CIA team in the Counterintelligence Center, Russia Division. The job is stressful, as is her home life. Fortunately, her husband, Matt, works mainly from home, so he can pick up the kids, make dinner and oversee homework. Then Vivian finds Matt s photograph buried deep in a sleeper cell file, and her life as she knows it blows up. Is Matt a spy? Is their marriage a sham? Is he really the doting husband and father who seems to love his family unconditionally?

22 22 h o r o s c o p e By Jacqueline Bigar Happy birthday for Sunday, January 28, 2018: This year you will have the opportunity to express a hidden talent or gift. Reveal more of your assets, and work with them more often. You could be overwhelmed by everything that could be occurring around you. If you are single, know that your status could change at the drop of a hat. Do not settle; instead, wait until you know that you have found The One. If you are attached, the two of you often opt to hide away from others. Make plans to make a much-discussed trip together. CANCER seems to irritate 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) **** Your ability to get past a hassle frees up your day to join a loved one. You really do not need to do anything more but be available for some spontaneous fun. Whether you re at the movies or at brunch, you enjoy the company of your close friends. Tonight: Be a bit wild. This Week: Creating harmony could be difficult at best. Aquarius - (Jan 20 - Feb 18) *** You could be up for a change of plans. By midafternoon, you might settle in to watch a favorite sport or a good movie. Communication could be somewhat confusing, especially when it comes to discussing your potential and/or actual expenses. Tonight: Know when to call it a night. This Week: Make sure to network. Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20) **** Your sixth sense emerges in the afternoon. You know you are right, but someone else might feel the need to challenge you. Do not allow this person to interfere with your plans for a fun and spontaneous happening with a child or loved one. Tonight: Let it all hang out. This Week: Imagine the possibilities and the path they might put you on. Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19) *** Your instincts let you know what is going on and where someone else is coming from. Trust your sixth sense. You might be more withdrawn than usual. Others are likely to react differently to this facet of your personality. You might be amused by a child s antics. Tonight: At home. This Week: The unexpected marks the next few days. Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20) **** A friend might push you in a certain direction because he or she sees multiple possibilities for you. This friendship is inspirational at times, but at other times, this person s energy could be overwhelming. Know that you might be misinterpreting someone s decision. Tonight: All smiles. This Week: Speak your mind. Gemini - (May 21 - June 20) ***** Others might be less likely to say no to you in the morning. Your positive attitude carries into the remainder of the day, though you might experience an unexpected happening. Do not misread someone else s actions. Evaluate what is happening. Tonight: Be more sensitive. This Week: Do not try to push a good idea forward right now. Cancer - (June 21 - July 22) *** Cocoon at home with your newspaper in the morning. By the afternoon, you won t be able to resist a key companion s invitation. You might be overwhelmed by what is happening with a loved one at a distance. You easily identify with this person. Tonight: Zero in on what you want. This Week: Visit with friends. Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22) *** A friend could present an exciting invitation. Examine what is going on with a child. The information you receive will highlight someone s caring attitude. You can t say no to this person, so don t even try. You ll delight in hearing a friend s news. Tonight: Go with the flow. This Week: A loved one s perspective will give you some insight. Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22) **** You have a tendency to be overly attentive when you decide to pursue a certain project. Whatever you are handling in the morning could come with some fussiness. By the afternoon, you will need to relax if you are going to benefit from the weekend. Tonight: Accept an offer. This Week: Use Monday to materialize an important goal. Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22) **** Take off in the morning, as you might want to enjoy a day trip. Exploring a favorite area recharges your energy and gives you an opportunity to take time off from the daily grind. You might want to head home before sunset. Tonight: Make a point of touching base with a parent. This Week: Take charge, but expect little agreement right now. Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21) **** Your ability to handle a key person on an individual level emerges once more. This person depends on your more-active personality. Reach out to a loved one at a distance as well, as he or she will be visiting with you soon. Tonight: Be willing to try something new and adventurous. This Week: Ask for feedback from a trusted source. Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21) **** You are naturally assertive and straightforward. Today, you will be sought after by someone who wants your company. Can you be accepting of this person s adventurous spirit? If so, the two of you will have fun this afternoon. Tonight: Dinner out with a favorite person. This Week: Try to minimize any controversy. Born today: Painter Jackson Pollock (1912), actor Elijah Wood (1981), singer/ songwriter Sarah McLachlan (1968) home decor indoor gardening beauty tips taste buds mercury glass commelina diffusa hip exercise cilantro chicken enchiladas Supplies: Mirror-like spray paint Cheap glass containers Vinegar Spray bottle Paper towels Instructions: Paint the outside of the glass, after which spray the outside with a combo of one part vinegar to one part water, gently wipe down random areas with a wet paper towel, soaked in the water/vinegar solution. Repeat the same process for the inside of the glass. Commelina diffusa, sometimes known as the climbing dayflower or spreading dayfl ower. It spreads diffusely, creeping along the ground, branching heavily and rooting at the nodes, obtaining stem lengths up to 1 metre. Flowers are bright blue with three petals and three yellow stamens. Flowering occurs during spring, summer and especially during autumn. The fruit (i.e. capsules) are about 5 mm long. Site: Prefers bright indirect sunlight and high humidity. Temperature: F. Water: Keep the soil evenly moist and use warm water. Oblique lying single leg raises technique: Lie on your left side on the fl oor, both legs in line with the torso and left leg slightly bent. Rest your head on your arm and place right hand on the floor in front of your chest for support. Keeping your torso stationary, life tour right leg high as you can without rolling forward or backward. Lower leg to starting position. Perform one set of repetitions and then repeat with the opposite side. Ingredients: 1 pound chicken breasts; 3 cups water; 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp ground pepper; 1 onion, chopped; 1 bay leaf; 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup fi nely chopped onion; 1 cup milk; 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro; 2 eggs; 1/2 tsp salt; 11-ounce tomatillos, drained; 4.5-ounce chopped green chilies; 16 flour tortillas. Method: Add first six ingredients to pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove chicken and shred. Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine chicken with cheese and onions. In blender, process milk, cilantro, eggs, salt, tomatillos, and chilies. In a baking dish add 1/4 cup of sauce covered with a few tortillas. Take the tortillas and spoon in 1/2 cup or so and roll tightly and place in dish. Pour sauce over enchiladas and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake until cheese melts. Dear Abby Family silently horrifi ed by sister s midlife crisis By Abigail Van Buren Dear Abby: My middle-aged younger sister is 12 months into a midlife crisis. She has divorced her husband and abdicated her role as a mother, preferring instead to be a buddy to her teenage sons. She has started smoking pot and drinking a lot. Needless to say, our family is very concerned. This behavior is nothing like her. When she does take our calls, she lies about what she s doing. We have caught her doing it, and so far we have just held our tongues. I m unsure whether confronting her about her behavior would help or hurt her. I love my sister and always Abigail will, but I have lost a lot of respect for her, and our relationship has been damaged. Should I tell her I know she is acting reckless and being dishonest? Helping or hurting in the South Dear helping or hurting: Yes! By remaining silent you are enabling her to continue. Dear Abby: My husband, Ken, decided to have his mother move in with us without first asking me how I felt about it. I don t want to be insensitive. I know she has nowhere else to go. The problem is, she s the most domineering person I have ever known. If she enters a room and doesn t like a picture, she ll move it or get rid of it without asking. When I tried to warn my husband that this wouldn t be easy, his response was, You just don t like my mother. I do like her, but I don t know that I can live with her. I feel like my marriage is hanging by a thread. Any advice? Seriously stressed-out Dear seriously stressed: Your mother-inlaw is acting like YOUR house is HER house. Set her straight. And if your husband tells you, You just don t like my mother, tell him that it isn t that you don t like her; it s that you don t like the way she s acting and you will no longer tolerate it. Dear Abby: When is it appropriate to correct someone s spelling and/or punctuation errors? Our pastor writes a message in our church s monthly newsletter and invariably makes several grammar or spelling mistakes. The church secretary also makes mistakes in our weekly bulletin and never catches the pastor s errors. In addition, the day care personnel at our church make mistakes in the written lessons for the children. I have offered to proofread for our pastor and secretary, but they never take me up on my offer. I grew up in a time when accuracy mattered, but nowadays many folks think that if one can make oneself understood, that is good enough. I m interested in what you would advise. Fussy writer in Maryland Dear writer: You were kind to volunteer to edit the bulletins and newsletters, but you can t force the pastor and church secretary to accept your generous offer. However, because young children model the behavior of the adults around them, my advice to the parents would be to remove theirs from any program in which the day care personnel are so poorly educated they can t use proper English. 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 or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA (Source: Universal Uclick) click what s on today emergency General Continued from Page 20 lives and develop the living conditions on earth. In this series, we will focus on the following prophets: Adam, Nouh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Ayoub (Job), Yousuf (Joseph), Mousa (Moses), and Eisa (Jesus) may peace, mercy and blessings of Allah (to Whom all might and majesty is ascribed) be upon them all. We will not only focus on historical facts, but will also deduce some important lessons whose application in our daily interactions and chores determine our success and salvation. Join us every Thursday at 7 pm to learn about the life and times of those messengers of firm resolve. Site for checking travel ban The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for English Speaking Muslims in Kuwait. For more information, please call or info@tiescenter.net or visit Sports Chess Round Robin Challenge: Registrations are open for chess coaching and the Annual Round Robin Challenger Series. Send your name, Civil ID No., mobile number, age, rating to saviosgomes@gmail.com with CCR in the subject. No entry fee. Kwt-Brits football supporters: A new football supporters website for British expats A flyer of the events A flyer of the event living and working in Kuwait has been set up by an Everton supporter, Trevor Powell. The Kuwait Brits Football Supporters Association (KBFSA) site aims to provide contact information for supporters of each others whereabouts and also in the future hopes to organise social events such as quizzes and even five-aside 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 Free fitness classes: Free fitness classes at B.FIT studio in Salmiya! Classes include Zumba, Masala Bhangra workout, aerobics, toning & much more. Contact for further information. Hurry and number 112 Civil ID info: Items for the What s On page can be sent directly to the Arab Times, P.O. Box 2270, 13023, Safat or faxed to or 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. 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 & 10 11:30am; every 5-6:30pm. The TIES Center is the social and educational hub for English Speaking expats in Kuwait. For more information, please call or info@tiescenter. net or visit Bridge game: Bridge tournament is being held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. Interested Bridge pairs or individual players please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: , , IPC Islamic Courses: Say: O my Lord, let me grow in knowledge. IPC is offering Islamic courses in English (for ladies only). Muslims and non-muslims are welcome. 1. Tilawa Surah Ar-Rad and Surah Ibrahim Sundays at 5:30-7:00 pm; 2. Principles of Tafsir (part 2) - Sundays at 7:00-8:30 pm; 3. Tajweed 3 - Tuesday, at 5:30-7:00 pm; 4. Jesus in Surah Mariam (part 2) - Tuesdays at 7:00-8:30 pm. Instructor: Sr Zeinab Hassan Ashry Place: IPC - Women Section Al-Rawdah, Area 3, Street 30, House 12, opp 4th Ring Road. ipc_sch@yahoo.com, Telephone: St Paul s Church weekly activities: English worship services on Fridays at am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm. The Friday English service has separate sessions for children and youth. A Mandarin language speaking congregations meets separately on Fridays at am in the Youth Centre at St Paul s. A combined service with the English and Mandarin language congregations is held on the first Friday of every month. A family service is held on the second Friday of every month with presentations from different organs of the church. The Church of Pakistan has services in English every Thursday at St Paul s at 5.35 pm and for Urdu language speaking members every Friday at Diwaniya of the NECK Centre, Kuwait City at 5.45 pm. Please contact Fr Michael Mbona on mobile or call at Church house on or to chaplain@stpaulskuwait.com or mrmbona@gmail.com For Mandarin speaking congregation contact Revd Zhu Peijin on and her address is greenolivettc@hotmail.com Contact person: Fr Michael Mbona Mobile: mrmbona@ gmail.com Redeemed Christian Church: The Redeemed Christian Church of God (HOD Parish) worship in English. Celebration Service: Friday 9 am 11 am; Divine encounter: Sunday, 6:30 pm 8:30 pm; Digging Deep (Bible studies): Tuesday, 6:30 pm 8:30 pm; Night vigil every last Friday of the month from 10 pm. Venue: New Mishref. For more information and direction please call , rccghouseofdavidq8@gmail.com enroll now! 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 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 Kaifan Sports Complex-Karate Gym. Text or call # Herms.

23 23 Vaccine injuries on the rise Measles? Bring it on, says US vaccine choice movement MIAMI, Jan 27, (AFP): Joe Accurso, a 47-year-old chiropractor, refused to vaccinate his daughter against polio, measles or whooping cough because he believes that getting sick wouldn t be dangerous and might even be good for her. I am actually disappointed that she doesn t have the opportunity to get the chicken pox, to get diseases that make her body stronger in the future. That is our big reason, he told AFP. Don t call them anti-vaxxers. Joe and his wife Cathy, a physical therapist, see themselves as part of a vocal minority that believes in vaccine choice. These parents many of whom are white, educated and upper middle class choose not to immunize their children against diseases which collectively used to kill millions children per year around the world. They say these illnesses aren t so bad, compared to vaccines, the risks of which they believe are being withheld from the public in the name of pharmaceutical profits a belief now shared by millions of people across the developed world, from the United States to Europe and Australia. They are also swayed by purported medical whistleblowers who claim that vaccine effectiveness data has been skewed, that vaccine injuries are on the rise, and that dubious ingredients have been concealed. Fueled by distrust of the medical establishment, more than seven million people follow various US-based Facebook pages that question vaccines, wrote Richard Stein, a New York University cardiologist, last month in the journal Germs. Conspiracy Conspiracy theories on social media are alive and thriving, rejoicing their golden age, Stein said. Endemic measles was eradicated Victim of success Modern medicine infected by the virus of mistrust from the United States in 2000, and nationwide only about two percent of kindergarteners have gone unvaccinated in recent years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the danger comes when large pockets of people do not vaccinate and an area loses herd immunity. In Minnesota, for example, child vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in the Somali- American community plummeted to 42 percent in 2014, down from 92 percent in PARIS, Jan 27, (AFP): A rising tide of suspicion amplified by social networks has eroded public trust in modern medicine, leaving scientists and health officials scrambling for ways to shore up its credibility, experts say. Especially in rich nations, faith has waned in vaccines that have saved millions from the ravages of polio, tetanus, small pox, infl uenza and many other once rampant and deadly diseases. The level of confidence is not what it was twenty years ago, French immunologist Alain Fischer told AFP. It is crumbling. The scale of scepticism is startling. A survey conducted by the British Academy of Medical Sciences last year found that only 37 percent of Britons trusted evidence from medical research. Two-thirds cited friends and family as more reliable. A quarter of 1,500 parents polled in the United States in 2017 believed that vaccines can cause autism in healthy children, despite a complete lack of credible evidence. One-in-ten had refused to give their offspring at least one vaccine. In France, meanwhile, more than 40 percent of adults have expressed doubt about vaccine efficacy or safety. These opinions have consequences. Whooping cough, measles and mumps communicable diseases that had effectively disappeared have all seen a resurgence in the United States in the last decade because the number of parents refusing to innoculate their toddlers rose above the threshold needed to ensure what scientists call herd immunity. In France, health authorities were forced to take action: as of this year, any child that has not been vaccinated for 11 specific diseases will not be admitted to kindergarten or school. Many factors account for this upsurge in mistrust, experts say. Most damaging, perhaps, are a series of scandals involving inadequately vetted drugs, poor oversight by health officials, and attempted cover-ups. France was profoundly shaken a blood scandal in which nearly 4,000 people were infected with the HIV virus in the 1980s after receiving contaminated blood transfusions. In 2010, off-label use of a diabetes drug called Mediator was shown to cause fatal heart problems. And last fall, thousands of severe malformations in newborns were attributed to the epilepsy medication Valproate. Similar scandals relating to EpiPens for anaphylaxis and cancer drugs, as well as price gouging, and concerns about the overprescription of opioids has shaken public confidence in doctors and Big Pharma. In a recent survey in Britain, 82 percent of doctors and 67 percent of adults agreed that clinical trials funded by drug companies were often biased to produce a positive outcome. A medical misstep of another kind was the publication in 1998 by The Lancet, a respected medical journal, of research that drew a causal link between vaccines and autism in children. When it was later revealed that evidence underlying this claim had been falsified, the study was withdrawn and its author Andrew Wakefield barred from the profession. But the damage was done. Vaccines and other medicines are also a victim of their success. We no longer see the diseases, just reports about possible sideeffects, said Cornelia Betsch, a researcher at the University of Erfurt in Germany who has written extensively about vaccine policy. That leads us to over-estimate the risks of vaccination, and underestimate the risks of the diseases. The result: 65 cases of measles in 2017, most of them unvaccinated Somali children the largest single outbreak in a year that saw 120 cases nationwide, the CDC said. Fears about autism spread after British anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield whose 1998 research alleging that vaccines trigger autism was found to be fraudulent spoke to local Somali community groups in 2010 and One of the pseudoscience phony central tenets of the anti-vax movement is to claim that measles is a benign illness or even good for you, Peter Hotez, director of the Texas Children s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told AFP. Such ideas are deliberately misleading and false, and have real-world consequences, he added. Measles can cause hearing loss, blindness, brain swelling and pneumonia. The CDC says that for every 1,000 children infected, one or two will die. In the United States, recent measles outbreaks include one in Ohio s Amish community in 2014 (383 cases), and a nationwide 2015 outbreak that infected 188 and is believed to have started with a visitor to California s Disneyland amusement park. A vaccinated elderly woman was the sole measles fatality that year. Social media may be perpetuating the anti-vaccine movement, said Naomi Smith, an Australian researcher. Smith just completed a three-year study on how Facebook appears to have created a filter bubble around the fraught issue so vaccine skeptics see their ideas reinforced on pages they follow. When it comes to convincing hesi- tant parents to vaccinate their kids, Smith said both sides are at a total impasse. Evidence People who hold strong anti-vaccination beliefs tend to believe personal testimonies, and use a different standard of evidence than what the medical community uses, she told AFP. To bridge the divide, some doctors, like Arizona pediatrician Tim Jacks, occasionally share their own personal stories with vaccine-hesitant parents. In 2015, Jacks daughter Maggie was battling leukemia, had recently finished a round of chemotherapy, and was exposed to measles while getting blood drawn at a Phoenix clinic. Also exposed was his younger son, Eli, just 10 months old then and too young for the MMR shot. The experience was scary, and required the family to spend two weeks in quarantine. Fortunately neither child fell ill, and Maggie, now six, is in remission from her cancer. We don t live in bubbles. So even going to the store and getting groceries, going to church, going to the park, you are interacting with other people and you are potentially exposing other people, Jacks said. Who is really at risk? It is the family that has a newborn that has no protection. It is the grandmas. For Hotez, solutions include more engagement from scientists and laws that eliminate the personal choice to vaccinate, as now exist in 18 states. After the Disneyland outbreak, California changed its laws to allow only medical exemptions for children who attend school, and vaccinations climbed. It is no longer simply a small cult, said Hotez. This is a well-organized movement that needs to be taken on directly.

24 24 Vance, Parker to star in Compliance Magnum P.I., Cagney reboots among 6 pilot orders at CBS LOS ANGELES, Jan 27, (RTRS): CBS picked up six pilots for the season, including reboots of Cagney and Lacey and Magnum P.I. Magnum P.I. is described as an updated version of the original series that follows Thomas Magnum, a decorated ex-navy SEAL who, upon returning home to Hawaii from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. Tom eck played the mustachioed Magnum in the original series. Peter Lenkov, the writer and producer behind current CBS reboots of Hawaii Five-O and MacGyver, will serve as the writer and executive producer on the new version of the classic 1980s series, which had previously gotten a pilot production commitment at the network. Eric Guggenheim, an executive producer and writer on Lenkov s Hawaii Five-O, will also write and executive produce. John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment will also executive produce. CBS Television Studios will co-produce with Universal Television. The original Magnum P.I. aired from for eight seasons and 158 episodes on CBS. Cagney and Lacey will follow the titular female police detectives and friends as they keep the streets of L.A. safe. Bridget Carpenter will serve as writer and executive producer. CBS Television Studios will produce with MGM Television. Carpenter, who is under an overall deal at CBS Television Studios, recently worked as a consulting producer on HBO s Westworld and has previously produced and written shows like Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. She also developed the Hulu series The original Cagney and Lacey ran for seven seasons and 125 episodes on CBS from 1982 to The series also spawned four made-for-tv movies in the mid-90s. Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly played the title roles for the vast majority of the series, though Loretta Swit played Cagney in the original two-hour pilot and Meg Foster played Lacey for the first season. Successful CBS also picked up one other drama with this batch of pilot orders, titled Chiefs. The project explores the professional and personal lives of three driven, successful, but very different women who are each Chiefs of Police of their own precincts in L.A. County. David Hudgins will write and executive produce Chiefs with Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz also executive producing. Sony Pictures Television will produce with CBS Television Studios. Hudgins, who is under an overall deal at Sony, previously developed the NBC series Game of Silence. He also produced and wrote for Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, and Everwood. Mendelsohn was also an executive producer on Game of Silence and served as an executive producer on every iteration of the CSI franchise. CBS has also ordered three multi-camera comedies to pilot. The first is titled Here Comes the Neighborhood, and would follow the nicest guy in the Midwest who moves his family into a tough neighborhood in L.A. where not everyone appreciates his extreme neighborliness. Jim Reynolds will write and executive produce, with Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor, and Wendi Trilling also executive producing. CBS Television Studios will produce. Reynolds has worked on Big Bang since Season 3. In addition to writing, he has worked on the show as a producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, and now executive producer. His other credits include Samantha Who?, That s So Raven, and Rodney. The next project is called Fam. In the show, a woman s dreams of an upstanding life with her new fiance and his upstanding family are dashed Couch slouch when her younger train wreck half-sister comes to live with her to escape their train wreck of a father. Corinne Kingsbury will write and executive produce. David Rosenthal will also executive produce with Kaplan, Honor and Trilling also executive producing. Finally, the comedy Pandas in New York follows a family of Indian doctors with a successful group practice in New York City who embark on a project to arrange their youngest son s life, unaware he s made plans of his own. Ajay Sahgal will write and executive produce. CBS Television Studios will produce. Sahgal has previously wrote for and co-executive produced The Carmichael Show. Courtney B. Vance and Mary-Louise Parker have been cast in the lead roles of the FX pilot Compliance, Variety has learned. The series is described as a half-hour comedy centered around a private equity manager (Vance) and his government-appointed compliance monitor (Parker). Sarah Burgess will write and executive produce. Scott Rudin will executive produce alongside Garrett Basch and Eli Bush, with Sam Gold serving as director and producer. Scott Rudin Productions will produce in association with FX Productions. Rudin is currently under first-look deal at Fox Networks Group. Parker is perhaps best known for starring in the Showtime series Weeds, which was created by Jenji Kohan. She was nominated for four Golden Globes for her performance on that series, winning one. She was also nominated for three Emmys for her time on Weeds. Parker also won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her role in the HBO miniseries Angels in America. She has recently appeared in the Audience Network series Mr. Mercedes and on the Showtime drama Billions. Vance won an Emmy for his portrayal of attorney Johnnie Cochran in the criticallyacclaimed FX limited series The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, a role for which he was also nominated for a Golden Globe. Vance recently appeared in the films The Mummy and HBO s adaptation of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. He has previously appeared on shows like ER, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Scandal. Also: LOS ANGELES: Jemele Hill, the up-and-coming SportsCenter anchor who drew extra scrutiny to ESPN after making pointed remarks about President Donald Trump, will leave the program and focus on assignments in other parts of the Walt Disney-owned company, according to people familiar with the situation. These people characterized the move as one requested by Hill. Michael Smith, her co-anchor in the 6:00 pm hour of SportsCenter, is expected to continue to anchor the hour on his own, according to one of these people. Hill s last day on the program is expected to take place next week, just a few days before Super Bowl LII takes place. She is expected to, among other things, join ESPN s The Undefeated, an ESPN digital-news outlet that analyzes sports, race and culture. The pair launched their new edition of SportsCenter, known as SC6, in February of last year. In September, Hill sparked controversy by posting a tweet that referred to President Trump as a white supremacist. The White House called for her to be fired. At the time, ESPN said her views did not represent those of the network. After Hill subsequently tweeted a suggestion that her followers boycott the Dallas Cowboys because of his stance relating to his players and protests during the playing of the national anthem, ESPN suspended her for two weeks. Visitors look at the exhibition of Swiss comic series Titeuf for its 25th anniversary in front of the town hall on the occasion of the 45th edition of the Angouleme International Comics Festival in Angouleme, southwestern France on Jan 24. (AFP) Kutner s book named one of the best comics of 2017 Conan writer probes president s brain with Shrinkage LOS ANGELES, Jan 27, (RTRS): You don t have to love mainstream comics to create a comic book. Rob Kutner, a comedy writer for the TBS late-night series Conan, says he was never heavily interested in comics for the simple reason that he doesn t love superheroes, which comprise the bulk of the storylines of most mainstream comics. But he was compelled to create the comic book Shrinkage to tell a very different kind of story. Shrinkage focuses on the efforts of neuroscientist Lana to save the world from World War III after the president of the United States brain is taken over by tiny, nuclear-war-prone aliens. The eight-episode book was recently named one of the best comics of 2017 by prominent comics website The Beat. Kutner, whose writing credits include The Daily Show with Jon Stewart which won five Emmys for writing during his time at the show said writing for late night and writing a comic book aren t too dissimilar. When you write comics, you have the write these panels with basically word limits, otherwise there s no room for the art, he explained. You have to really think of the pithiest possible way to express things and if you re writing a late night joke, you re trying to get efficiency in phrasing and the maximum power to each word choice. He did have to flex different muscles in planning the entire story and character arcs, he said. He first conceived the story around five years ago, which he says is probably why the president looks a bit like Mitt Romney. The political landscape of the comic came second, however, as the first seeds of the idea stemmed from his interest in the brain and brain science. Might as well put to a background, like an interesting, crazy story, he said. So Japanese manga cartoonist (mangaka) Hiro Mashima poses on Jan 25, in Angouleme, in front of a statue of one of his characters. (AFP) I thought of aliens taking over someone s brain, tiny aliens, and then I thought, I have to make the stakes higher, so I put them in the brain of the most powerful person in the world. Kutner had no idea that the crux of his story would become so relevant, however, in the Trump era. Action This administration has outstripped anything anyone could have thought of, Kutner said. So we re all playing catchup. In some ways, I prefer the idea of the aliens in the comic book. At least they have a rational plan of action, I m not sure the current guy does. He spent some time shopping the idea to the major publishers, but didn t find any takers until he discovered Farrago, a now-defunct Spotify of Comics that was also interested in commissioning its own series, which is where Shrinkage came in. Farrago helped Kutner find John Lucas, who s worked for Marvel and DC Comics, to draw Shrinkage, and organized crowdfunding to get the series to print. The story also became personal for Kutner. The main heroine, Lana, is motivated throughout the book by the search to find a cure for Alzheimer s, a plotline Kutner had created before his own father was diagnosed with the disease while Shrinkage had stalled due to lack of funding. There was this period where ran out of money, so it was sort of so close and not really manageable, and my dad passing away sort of inspired me to regroup and get it done, Kutner explained. Once it was printed, Kutner managed to get table space for Shrinkage at San Diego Comic Con through his TV writing contacts, and nabbed himself a badge by offering an interview to an SDCC podcast. Now, Kutner says, the sky s the limit on Shrinkage s future. Available for purchase at robkutner.com, the comic is also currently on the shelves at Golden Apple, Los Angeles largest comic book retailer, and is available in digital form on ComiXology. Kutner says he d love to do a second volume, but that just getting a first one to print is rewarding. Especially because I work in late night, so much of what we do is so ephemeral, it s washed away with the day s news, he said. To have something that s tangible and evergreen is a big perk that you don t really get to enjoy with what I do normally. tv highlights Cinema Cinema programme from Thursday 25/1/2018 to Wednesday 31/1/ Strong :45, 14:25, 17:00, 22:10, 00:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30 (Fri) 14:25, 17:00, 22:10, 00:45 (Fri) Fanar 20:10 Muhalab 23:45 Avenues 13:05, 18:15, 23:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 18:50 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 18:55 (Fri) 18:15, 23:15 (Fri) Marina 22:15, 00:30 Grand Hamra 2 15:30, 18:30, 21:00, 23:30 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 6 14:45, 17:30, 20:15, 22:45 All The Money In The World :55, 15:35, 18:20, 21:05, 23:40 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:40, 18:20, 21:05, Bairaq 23:40 (Fri) 12:30, 15:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:20 (Fri) Fanar 11:30, 14:00, 16:35, 19:10, 21:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:00, 16:35, 19:10, 21:45 (Fri) Muhalab 11:45, 16:15, 19:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:15, 19:00 (Fri) Sharqia 12:30, 17:15, 20:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:15, 20:00 (Fri) Avenues 11:35, 13:50, 16:30, 16:35, 19:10, 21:50, 00:15, 00:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:50, 16:30, 16:35, 19:10, 21:50, 00:15, 00:35 (Fri) Marina 12:45, 15:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:30 (Fri) Grand Gate 2 14:45, 17:15, 19:45, 22:30 Grand Hamra 3 14:30, 17:15, 19:45, 22:15 Bunyan And Babe :50, 16:40 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:40 (Fri) Bairaq 13:30 (Fri) Fanar 14:45 Sharqia 15:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 15:20 (Fri) Avenues 14:50 Grand Gate 3 14:00, 16:00, 18:00 Coco :10 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 15:10 (Fri) Fanar 15:45 Avenues 15:20, 18:30 Dead Awake :45, 00:15 (Daily Exc Fri, Sat, Mon) 13:35, 15:45, 00:15 (Fri) 11:35, 13:35, 15:45, 00:15 (Sat) 00:15 (Mon) Fanar 22:00, 00:05, 01:15 Sharqia 22:45, 00:45 Avenues 20:45, 01:05 Downsizing :45 Ferdinand :45, 19:20 (Daily Exc Fri, Sat, Mon) 13:30, 17:45, 19:20 (Fri, Sat) 19:20 (Mon) Bairaq 12:45, 15:00, 17:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:00, 17:15 (Fri) Fanar 11:35, 18:00 (Daily Exc Fri) Muhalab 18:00 (Fri) 11:30, 16:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:30 (Fri) Sharqia 14:30, 16:45 Avenues 11:55, 14:10, 16:20, 19:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:10, 16:20, 19:00 (Fri) Laila 17:30 (Tue) Marina 11:30, 16:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:30 (Fri) Grand Hamra 5 14:15, 16:30 Guardians Of The Tomb :10, 17:20, 21:35, 23:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:20, 21:35, 23:35 (Fri) Fanar 13:45, 01:00 Muhalab 14:20, 21:45 Avenues 11:30, 13:30, 17:35, 00:10 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 17:35, 00:10 (Fri) Habbet Caramel (Lebanese Arabic) :55, 20:10 Avenues 21:45 Marina 20:15 Insidious: The Last Key :55 Fanar 00:20 Grand Gate 3 20:00, 22:15, 00:30 (Thu, Fri) Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle :15 11:55, 13:45, 14:15, 19:00, 21:30, 23:50, (Daily Exc Fri) 13:45, 14:15, 19:00, 21:30, 23:50 (Fri) Bairaq 11:30, 13:50, 16:15, 18:45, 21:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:50, 16:15, 18:45, 21:15 (Fri) Fanar 12:00, 14:30, 17:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:30, 17:00 (Fri) Muhalab 15:00, 17:30 Sharqia 12:40, 15:05, 17:45, 00:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:05, 17:45, 00:15 (Fri) Avenues 13:00, 17:40, 22:30, 00:55 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:40, 22:30, 00:55 (Fri) Laila 18:15 (Daily Exc Tue) Marina 12:30, 17:15, 19:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:15, 19:45 (Fri) Grand Hamra 8 14:45, 17:30, 20:00, 22:30 Grand Gate 8 14:15, 16:45, 19:15, 21:45 00:15 Maze Runner: The Death Cure :50 13:05, 16:00, 18:50, 21:40, 00:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 12:00, 12:10, 14:45, 15:00, 17:30, 20:15, 20:40, 23:00, 23:30, 00:25 (Daily Exc Fri) 12:25, 18:05, 20:55, 23:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:45, 15:00, 17:30, 20:15, 20:40, 23:00, 23:30, 00:25 (Fri) 16:00, 18:50, 21:40, 00:30 (Fri) 18:05, 20:55, 23:45 (Fri) Ajial 22:15 (Daily Exc Thu) 15:30, 22:15 (Thu) Bairaq 18:00 20:45, 23:30, 00:30 Fanar 12:30, 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Fri) Muhalab 13:45, 18:45, 21:30, 00:15 Sharqia 11:45, 19:00, 21:45, 00:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 19:00, 21:45, 00:30 (Fri) Avenues 15:45 13:10, 16:00, 21:40, 00:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 12:10, 15:00, 17:50, 20:40, 23:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 12:55, 18:35, 21:25, 00:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:00, 17:50, 20:40, 23:30 (Fri) 16:05, 21:40, 00:30 (Fri) 18:35, 21:25, 00:15 (Fri) Laila 15:30, 22:30 (Daily Exc Tue) 22:30 (Tue) Marina 13:45, 18:45, 21:30, 0:15 Grand Hamra 5 18:45, 21:45, 00:30 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra 6 14:00, 16:45, 19:30, 22:15, 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Hamra GC 14:15, 17:00, 19:45, 22:30, 01:15 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate 1 14:00, 16:45, 19:30, 22:15 01:00 (Thu, Fri) Grand Gate GC 15:00, 18:00, 21:00, 00:00 Okdat El Khawaga (Arabic Film) :45, 12:45, 14:45, 19:15, 19:25, 21:15, 23:15, 01:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:45, 19:15, 19:25, 21:15, 23:15, 01:15 (Fri) Ajial 18:15, 20:15 Bairaq 19:30, 21:30, 23:40 Fanar 19:20, 21:15, 23:15 Muhalab 20:00, 22:00 Sharqia 20:15, 22:15 Avenues 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00, 22:05, 22:15, 00:05 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00, 22:05, 22:15, 00:05 (Fri) Laila 20:35 (Daily Exc Tue) 15:00, 20:35 (Tue) Marina 18:15, 22:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 18:15, 22:30 (Fri) The Commuter :45 Fanar 12:15, 16:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:45 (Fri) Muhalab 12:45, 00:05 (Daily Exc Fri) 00:05 (Fri) Avenues 14:20, 15:25 13:30 (Fri) Marina 15:00, 00:45 Grand Hamra 1 15:00, 17:45, 20:15, 22:30 Grand Gate 7 14:15, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45, 23:00 The Death Of Stalin :25, 00:40 Avenues 16:45, 00:20 Grand Hamra 7 14:15, 16:30, 19:00, 21:15, 00:00 Grand Gate 4 14:30, 16:30, 18:45, 21:15, 23:30 The Florida Project :55, 22:05 Avenues 19:35, 22:50 Grand Gate 5 14:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:00 The Greatest Showman :50 Grand Hamra 4 14:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:00 The Post :35 Fanar 22:40 Avenues 15:40, 20:50 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:35, 15:55, 20:50 (Fri) Tiger Zinda Hai (Hindi Film) :40, 16:25, 20:55, 21:25 Ajial 15:45 (Daily Exc Thu) 15:45, 18:45, 21:45 (Thu) Fanar 19:00 Avenues 11:50, 19:15, 21:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 19:15, 21:15 (Fri) Wonder :35 Avenues 20:10 Aadu 2 (Malayalam Film) Ajial 21:45 (Daily Exc Thu) 15:30, 18:30, 21:30 (Thu) Plaza 16:00 (Daily Exc Thu) 15:30, 18:30, 21:30 (Thu) Ajial Bhaagamathie (Telugu Film) 18:45 (Daily Exc Thu) Bhaagamathie (Tamil Film) Ajial 15:55, 21:35 (Daily Exc Thu) Nimir (Tamil Film) Ajial 15:30, 19:00 (Daily Exc Thu) 16:15, 19:00, 21:35 (Thu) Street Lights (Malayalam Film) Ajial 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 (Daily Exc Thu) Plaza 19:00, 21:30 (Daily Exc Thu)

25 Arab Bank 2017 net profit unchanged at $533m new strike severely grounds Algeria air traffic Jordans largest lender, Arab Bank Group, said on Saturday its 2017 net profit came to $533 million, barely changed from $532.7 million with revenues coming mainly from core banking activities. The bank, one of the Middle Easts major financial institutions, said in a statement that operational profits rose 12 percent, without factoring exchange-rate fluctuations. Total loans rose 6 percent to $25.1 billion while deposits rose slightly to $33.8 billion at the end of last year compared with $33.6 billion in the same period the previous year. Arab Bank is one of the regions largest privately owned banks and operates in 30 countries. It owns 40 percent of Saudi Arabias Arab National Bank ANB. Arab Bank CEO Nemeh Sabbagh said liquidity continued to be robust and the banks provisions coverage ratio for non-performing loans stood in excess of 100 percent. The statement said the banks board of directors recommended the distribution of a 30 percent cash dividend on its 2017 results. (RTRS) Air traffic was severely disrupted in Algeria on Thursday due to a strike by Air Algerie crew, grounding the airline s fl eet for the second time this week, state media said. The strike caused the cancellation of the majority of the Algerian fl ag carrier s fl ights from the capital Algiers, state television reported. Air Algerie was forced to charter planes from French airline Aigle Azur to ensure some of its fl ights abroad, it added. This new strike has caused disruptions to all domestic and international fl ights from the airport, the offi cial APS news agency reported. The airline announced on Thursday that it had taken administrative measures against seven people who had instigated an illegal strike on Monday for commercial cabin crew. An Algerian court declared Monday s strike illegal, prompting the cabin crew trade union SNPNCA to suspend industrial action. But the next morning the union announced its intention to strike again. The union is demanding the restoration of a pay rise schedule agreed in January last year but withdrawn the following month after a change of management. The airline said it had been unable to increase salaries due to fi nancial diffi culties which left six planes grounded last month because the company could not afford spare parts. (AFP) Market Movements Change Closing pts S. KOREA - KRX 100 (Jan 26) , PHILIPPINES - All Shares (Jan 26) , HONG KONG - Hang Seng (Jan 26) , GERMANY - DAX (Jan 26) , FRANCE - CAC 40 (Jan 26) , EUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 (Jan 26) , Change Closing pts INDIA - Sensex (Jan 26) , AUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries (Jan 26) , JAPAN - Nikkei (Jan 26) , Business HSBC side-steps Qatar deals in Gulf gauntlet DUBAI/LONDON, Jan 27, (RTRS): A boycott of Qatar by its neighbours has prompted HSBC to turn down a leading role on Doha s new dollar bond as the bank treads a political tightrope in the Gulf, four banking sources familiar with the decision told Reuters. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, which they accuse of backing terrorism. The move initially hit Qatar s growth but by the end of 2017 its economy had largely recovered. The Qatari government, which denies the allegations, is now planning its first international bond since the crisis began and has approached banks in recent weeks to arrange the deal. But HSBC, which has led almost every sovereign bond issue in the Gulf over the past two years, will not do so this time, reflecting a more cautious approach by banks in the region. This is not a problem of HSBC only, it s a problem of all international banks with a strong presence in the region. Each bank solves it in its own way, one of the sources said. An HSBC spokesman said: We never comment on market rumour and speculation, while a spokesman for DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27, (RTRS): US President Donald Trump took his America First message to the world s elite on Friday, telling a summit of business and political leaders that the United States would no longer turn a blind eye to what he described as unfair trade practices. Trump became the first sitting US President to address the annual conclave of the rich and powerful at the Swiss ski resort of Davos for 18 years, closing the summit with a mostly upbeat speech that declared the United States open for business. Now is the best time to bring your money, your jobs, your businesses to America, he said, singling out tax cuts and curbs to regulation as boosting the investment climate. The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America. He said he would always promote America First, as he expected other world leaders to do on behalf of their own countries, but added: America First does not mean America alone. When the United States grows so does the world. But he swiftly turned to a theme of demanding tougher enforcement of trade rules, accusing unidentified countries of unfair practices, including stealing intellectual property and providing state aid to industry. We will enforce our trade laws and restore integrity to the trading system. Only by insisting on fair and reciprocal trade can we create a system that works not just for the United States but for all nations, Trump said. The United States will no longer turn a blind eye to unfair trade practices, he said. We cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others. His speech was mostly met by polite applause, although he drew some jeers and whistles during a question and answer session, when he attacked the news media: It wasn t until I became a politician that I realised how nasty, how mean, how vicious and how fake the the government of Qatar did not respond to a request for comment. When Riyadh launched its boycott, it said it would seek understandings with international firms to cut ties with Doha. Banks from the four Arab countries have pulled deposits from Qatar and reduced, though not ended, other business with it. While the Gulf allies have not publicly warned banks to avoid business in Qatar, bankers have told Reuters that it is clear close ties with Doha could hurt business relations. The UAE central bank has blacklisted some Qatari individuals and organisations and told its own banks to apply enhanced due diligence in their dealings with six Qatari banks. This has made many foreign banks more cautious and in some cases prompted them to handle Qatari business from Europe or the United States, rather than regional headquarters in Dubai. When Qatar sold its last international bond in 2016, raising $9 billion, HSBC took a leading role alongside JP Morgan, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Qatar National Bank. Qatar is now close to choosing which banks will run its latest bond issue, which could be for around $9 billion, and has provisionally chosen some of them, bankers familiar with the process told Reuters. Although HSBC decided not to undertake high-profile roles in major Qatari debt transactions after it was approached for the dollar bond in November, it is unclear whether the bank Bankers point to political sensitivities in region could still play a smaller part. Bankers said the move did not mean any disengagement from the country, where HSBC retains a branch. However, in another indication of its new approach, HSBC has not pitched for a bookrunner role on a separate $3 billion loan refinancing by Qatar National Bank, the first such deal by a Qatari government-owned firm since the crisis began. HSBC was one of the top banks in QNB s original loan and a banker close to the matter said the decision not to take a top role in the refinancing was a result of the political situation and a repositioning of its Qatar business. The Gulf s diplomatic rift is forcing banks to tread cautiously in order to maintain relations on both sides. Saudi Arabia is opening up to foreign investors as part of economic reforms pushed forward by its new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, including the sale of a stake in oil giant Aramco. Banks compete to obtain top roles in public bonds not so much President warns Davos on unfair trade Trump declares US open for business Turkey central bank aims to rein in inflation in 2018: governor ANKARA, Jan 27, (RTRS): The Turkish central bank s main goal this year is to increase the effectiveness of its monetary policy and rein in double-digit inflation, Governor Murat Cetinkaya told Reuters in an interview. Cetinkaya, speaking by telephone from the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, also said the bank would take all necessary monetary policy steps to bring inflation down to single digits as swiftly as possible. Turkey s annual inflation stood at percent at the end of 2017, far above the bank s official target of 5 percent. At its most recent policy-setting meeting, the bank this month left its top rate steady at percent, in line with US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Jan 26, in Davos, eastern Switzerland. (AFP) press can be, he said. While he has a record of opposing trade agreements involving multiple countries, he said the United States would seek bilateral deals with individual states. That could include members of a Trans-Pacific trade agreement from which he has withdrawn, he said, adding he would consider negotiating with them collectively if it was in the US interest. Before his trip to Davos, Trump imposed 30 percent tariffs on imported solar panels, among the first unilateral trade restrictions made by the administration as part of a broader protectionist agenda. The Trump administration s debut at Davos also caused a storm because of expectations. Our fundamental goal is to increase the effectiveness of monetary policy and accelerate the disinflation process, Cetinkaya said when asked about his priorities for I want to emphasise again that we will maintain a tight monetary policy decisively until the inflation outlook displays a significant improvement, independent of base effects and temporary factors, and becomes consistent with the targets. Our goal is to lower inflation to single digits in the shortest time and then to bring it towards targets. To achieve this, all the necessary monetary policy steps will be taken decisively, he said. But investors have been sceptical Move to redress its debt-riddled economy Cost of bread doubles in Jordan as subsidies lifted comments by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said earlier this week the United States benefited from a lower dollar, which would make its exports cheaper. Those remarks sent the US currency tumbling and drew sharp rebukes from the European Central Bank chief and other figures, who view countries talking down their own currencies as a violation of unwritten rules to keep trade balanced. Mnuchin told CNBC television on Friday he was absolutely not trying to talk down the dollar and that his remarks had been taken out of context. What I said was actually very evenhanded and consistent with what I said before. On Thursday, Trump said he ultimately wanted the dollar to be strong. US officials said there was no disagreement between Trump and Mnuchin, and the Treasury Secretary had been making a factual observation about the impact of a lower dollar, not announcing a policy preference to drive it down. Despite Trump s tough trade talk, those in the audience mostly noted the upbeat tone of his speech. I think he came here to make not just American but global business comfortable about where America is now, said IHS Markit s chief economist, Nariman Behravesh. He wasn t trying to convert people to his own views, but saying we are a great economy, come and invest in the US about the bank s ability to bring down inflation, given that it faces the challenging task of balancing volatile prices with President Tayyip Erdogan s demands for cheaper credit. Erdogan, who has described himself as an enemy of interest rates, has repeatedly called for lower rates to fuel bank lending and boost the economy. Cetinkaya said the government s fiscal policy was supportive of the bank s efforts to fight inflation. Reflecting the coordination of monetary-fiscal policy, we see an increase in the support which public finance is giving in the fight against inflation. There are joint efforts towards making this coordination permanent and systematic, he said. Erdogan s comments, and the bank s reluctance to use traditional policy tools to tighten it uses a complex system of multiple rates - have reinforced investor concern that the central bank is less than independent, and this has weighed on the lira currency. Monetary policy has persistently proven unable to bring inflation near to target and a complex policy framework undermines transmission mechanisms, ratings agency Fitch said last week. Turkey s economy has rebounded strongly from a downturn that followed a 2016 coup attempt. Helped by a series of government stimulus measures, it grew by 11.1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, its fastest expansion in six years. AMMAN, Jan 27, (AFP): Jordan on Saturday increased the price of bread by up to 100 percent after lifting subsidies on the staple in a bid to redress its debt-riddled economy. The move is expected to affect low income Jordanians, for whom flat pitta-like bread is an essential part of meals. Past price hikes have sparked riots in the cash-strapped country which has few natural resources. The price of a kilo of white bread was raised by 100 percent from 16 piastres to 32 piasters ($0.45), while the price of smaller flat bread rose by more than 67 percent. Flat bread known as taboon, a staple on the dinner tables of low-income Jordanians, rose 90 percent. The price of other breads remained unchanged. The official Petra news agency, quoting the trade and industry ministry, said the new prices will remain in effect until Dec 31. This decision will undoubtedly affect Jordanians, said shopper Ahmad Ramadan as he queued at an Amman bakery. Someone paid 300 dinars ($423) a month who spends a dinar a day on bread will end up having to allocate 30 dinars a month for bread alone, he said. Everything will increase, even the price of sandwiches. God help everyone, he said. Abdullah al-hamawi, head of the union that represents around 1,700 bakeries across the country, said Jordanians consume some eight million loaves of bread a day and 16 million in winter. Jordan has a population of 9.5 million, 6.6 million of whom are Jordanians. The others include refugees from the wars in Syria and Iraq and Palestinians. The country has a public debt of some $35 billion, equivalent to 90 percent of its gross domestic product. The government decided earlier this month to raise the prices of bread and fuel and increase value added tax for the fees they yield, but rather to establish or strengthen relationships with the borrowers in order to obtain more profitable mandates on future transactions. Earlier this week Saudi Arabia said it had requested offers from banks to organise a range of its own international debt deals, including a bond and refinancing a $10 billion loan. These plans have complicated matters for banks in the region as, depending on the timing, Saudi Arabia and Qatar could end up in direct competition for funds from international investors. For HSBC, which was bookrunner last year on 42 bond deals in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which comprises Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, this could present a particularly tricky juggling act. HSBC arranged $14.8 billion of bond issuance out of a total of $90.4 billion, the largest share of bond bookrunning for the GCC region in 2017, Thomson Reuters data shows. Output cuts strategy working so well Oil price above $71: Is it good news for producers? By Kamel Al-Harami Independent Oil Analyst Of course, oil price above $71 level is good news for all oil producing countries, as they are enjoying higher income, closing the gaps of borrowing money, and witnessing an increase in the value of their currency particularly the Russian rubles against other foreign currencies. Most importantly however is for them Al-Harami to push for stronger economic growth and more domestic investments. This is the main lesson that oil producing countries should learn from the three years of weak oil prices and depressed economy of those countries. The current level of $70 and above may not last long as it was too much of a jump within a short time. In other words, the oil price jumped from around $50 per barrel by $20 in less than one year, which means that it can come down at the same speed. However, this time may not happen again thanks to the real coalition between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The two oil allies represent the cornerstone for the success behind improvement in the oil prices and pursuit for achieving their main strong objective of maintaining oil production under strict control by DOHA, Jan 27, (RTRS): Airbus will deliver the first ever A jet to an airline to Qatar Airways between Feb 15 and Feb 20, the carrier s chief executive said on Saturday. Delivery of Europe s largest twin-engined passenger jet to launch customer Qatar Airways had been delayed from late last year to some time next month due to issues with installing business class seats. We are progressing very well to receive our aircraft somewhere between the 15th and 20th, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-baker told reporters in Doha. Qatar Airways has ordered 37 A s. The major Middle East airline is known to be a demanding customer on goods including cigarettes, fizzy drinks and jewellery. It hopes to increase tax revenues by $761 million, and has pledged a financial aid package to struggling families affected by the price hikes. On Tuesday, the finance ministry began compensating low-income families, allocating each member 27 dinars ($38) for the year. Last year, price rises affecting an array of goods and services sparked protests during which there were calls for the cabinet to resign. In 2016, Jordan secured a $723-million three-year credit line from the International Monetary Fund to support economic and financial reforms. sacrificing their own production volume if the situation demanded so. The current strategy of oil volume cuts is working so well that it might be extended beyond The volume cut shared between OPEC and non-opec countries since last year is 1.8 million barrels and they are determined to push the oil prices to reach $60 per barrel. Today however it is $10 more than what the two strategic partners had in mind, but they still maintain grip on the direction of the oil prices without losing track or control of it. When addressing the current oil situation, the fact that the world economy is stabilizing with growth above four percent annually is a good sign particularly for the oil market which should insist for the demand to be more than 2 million extra barrels. This can satisfy shale oil producers as well as the rest of the producers. It may perhaps give more freedom of volume to play, increase and may be just reduce production cuts, should it be necessary, in order to prevent the oil prices to reach a higher crazy level of $80 and above within a short period. Certainly, the current level of barrel price is good news for all, but will it be used wisely for improving the employment rates? Will it lead to economic prosperity, more economic reforms and less wastage of monetary resources? naftikuwaiti@yahoo.com Qatar Airways A to be delivered Feb 15-20: CEO when reviewing aircraft for quality defects before delivery. Qatar Airways has in the past refused to take delivery of aircraft over what it said were quality issues, and has also cancelled some deliveries. Airbus looks forward to delivering the world s first A to Qatar Airways in the coming weeks, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier said in a press release issued by the airline. The complex seat configuration of Qatar Airways Qsuite, business class which features seats that face each other, and lie-flat double beds, had delayed the delivery of the A , until February, Baker said on Monday without detailing a specific date.

26 BUSINESS 26 US fines BNP Paribas $90 mn for price fixing Intel shares hit dotcom-era highs after bumper results BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix the foreign exchange market and agreed to pay a $90 million criminal fine to settle the case, the US Justice Department announced Friday. The big French bank worked to fix prices of the currencies of Central and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and African countries, coordinating bids and offers and agreeing to quote rates to specific customers, the government said. The antitrust division is committed to uncovering and prosecuting wrongdoing in all corners of the foreign currency exchange market, US assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim said. The division s investigation aims to root out and eradicate the manipulation that has plagued this industry. BNP Paribas agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department s ongoing probe of the foreign exchange market as part of a guilty plea, according to information filed in US District Court. BNP Paribas admission follows a succession of indictments and pleas from a variety of financial institutions and employees for fixing the forex market. In January 2017, former BNP Paribas trader Jason Katz pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy that ran from January 2007 to July (AFP) Intel Corp s shares rose 7 percent on Friday to their highest in almost two decades, after strong results offered the clearest sign yet that its years-long effort to shift away from a slowing PC business was paying off. Shares of the company were trading at $48.50 on Friday, adding nearly $15 billion to its market value and hitting highs last seen in September 2000 during the dotcom boom. Investors were also comforted by Intel s assurances that it does not expect any material impact from the recent disclosure of security flaws Spectre and Meltdown in billions of its chips. The Santa Clara-based company helped found the personal computer industry and became one of the world s biggest chipmaker on the back of growing demand for PCs. But, in the last few years, falling PC demand has pushed Intel to focus on making chips for data centers to offset revenue loss. Revenue from the company s higher-margin data center business jumped about 20 percent to $5.58 billion. Intel is successfully navigating the transition from a PC-centric to data-centric company specifically, Intel s data-centric businesses now comprise about 47 percent of revenue, Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer said. (RTRS) Decision sends Canadian plane maker shares up 15 percent US trade body backs Canada s Bombardier against Boeing MONTREAL/WASHINGTON, Jan 27, (RTRS): A US trade commission on Friday handed an unexpected victory to Bombardier Inc against Boeing Co, in a ruling that allows the Canadian company to sell its newest jets to US airlines without heavy duties, sending Bombardier s shares up 15 percent. The US International Trade Commission s unanimous decision is the latest twist in US-Canadian trade relations that have been complicated by disputes over tariffs on Canadian lumber and US milk and President Donald Trump s desire to renegotiate or even abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump, who did not weigh in on the dispute personally, took his America First message to the world s elite on Friday, telling a summit that the United States would no longer turn a blind eye to what he described as unfair trade practices. The ITC commissioners voted 4-0 that Bombardier s prices did not harm Boeing and discarded a US Commerce Department recommendation to slap a near 300 percent duty on sales of the company s 110-to-130-seat CSeries jets for five years. It did not give a reason immediately. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement that the commission s finding shows how robust our system of checks and balances is. Boeing s shares closed flat. It s reassuring to see that facts and evidence matter, said Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. This part of the trade policy process works unimpeded despite President Trump s protectionist rhetoric. The decision will also help Bombardier sell the CSeries in the United States by removing a huge amount of uncertainty, at a time when its Brazilian rival Embraer is bringing its new E190-E2 jet to market, a source familiar with the Canadian plane and train maker s thinking said. The ITC had been expected to side with Chicago-based Boeing. The company alleged it was forced to discount its 737 narrow-bodies to compete with Bombardier, which it said used government subsidies to dump the CSeries during the 2016 sale of 75 jets at absurdly low prices to Delta Air Lines. Bombardier called the trade case self-serving after Boeing revealed on Dec. 21 that it was discussing a potential combination with Embraer. Boeing denied the trade case was motivated by those talks. The dispute may not be over. This can still be appealed by Boeing, Andrew Leslie, parliamentary secretary to Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, told reporters in At NAFTA talks, Canada hails jet case as victory for free trade MONTREAL, Jan 27, (RTRS): Canadian plane maker Bombardier Inc won a major US case on Friday, which government officials said showed the importance of free trade at a time when talks to modernize the NAFTA pact are moving slowly. A US tribunal unexpectedly dismissed a complaint by Boeing Co against alleged dumping by Bombardier in the case of 75 jets it sold to Delta. The ruling allows the Canadian firm to pursue other orders in the lucrative US market. Canada-United States trade is important to the prosperity of both our countries. This decision will support well-paying middle-class jobs on both sides of the border, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement. The United States, which has taken a more isolationist stance under President Donald Trump, wants big changes to the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement. Jerry Dias, the head of a union which represents some Bombardier workers, told reporters the ruling represented a slap across the face of the Trump administration because it showed that taking protectionist stances at a time when the two nations economies are so tightly linked was foolish. Montreal. Boeing said it would not consider such options before seeing the ITC s reasoning in February. But Boeing said it was disappointed the commission did not recognize the harm that Boeing has suffered from the billions of dollars in illegal government subsidies that the Department of Commerce found Bombardier received and used to dump aircraft in the US small single-aisle airplane market. Bombardier, Delta and the US consumer advocacy group Travelers United all called the ITC decision a victory for consumers and airlines. The decision may end up helping Trump s goal of boosting US jobs as the CSeries jets for US airlines will be built in the United States rather than Canada. Through a venture with European planemaker Airbus SE, which has agreed to take a majority stake in the CSeries this year, Bombardier plans to assemble CSeries jets in Alabama to be sold to US carriers starting in Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders He spoke in Montreal, where teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico have gathered for the sixth of seven planned rounds on how to revamp the 1994 pact. Progress is slow, prompting Mexico to suggest the talks could be extended to give officials more time to address disagreements threatening to undermine the $1.2 trillion treaty. Dias, who speaks regularly to chief Canadian negotiator Steve Verheul, said the talks were going nowhere, thanks to a series of contentious US proposals. As the negotiations grind on, officials are looking at an extra round promised to push ahead full throttle with the Alabama plans. Nothing is sweeter than a surprise, a surprise victory, he said. The case had sparked trade tensions between the United States and its allies Canada and the UK. Ottawa last year scrapped plans to buy 18 Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing. The well-paid jobs associated with the CSeries are important both to Ottawa and the British government. Bombardier employs about 4,000 workers in Northern Ireland. in Mexico at the end of February, according to sources close to the process. Although the process was initially scheduled to finish by the end of March to avoid clashing with Mexican presidential elections in July, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said the timeline could be extended. This negotiation has a window of opportunity to reach a deal between February and the end of July, he told Reuters. Canada, which this week presented a series of suggestions on how to unfreeze the talks, quickly welcomed the idea. The British prime minister s office said it welcomed the decision, which is good news for the British industry, while Canada s innovation minister said the ITC came to the right decision on Bombardier. Former ITC chairman Dan Pearson praised the decision. Not a single commissioner was willing to buy Boeing s arguments, he said. I think America First is a policy of the White House and the Commerce Department. But it s not the policy of an independent agency (like the ITC). Unions file labor complaint against Mexico Business groups optimistic on NAFTA breakthrough MONTREAL, Jan 27, (Agencies): Business leaders expressed cautious optimism Friday for a breakthrough in North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Canadian, US and Mexican negotiators were gathered in Montreal for a sixth round of crucial talks to revamp the 1994 NAFTA pact, which US President Donald Trump has threatened to kill. I m encouraged, said Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. If you compare where we are today to where we were a couple of weeks ago, it appears there is some incremental movement. That s positive, he said, noting that no proposals put forth had yet been rejected out of hand. If there is a political will to make this happen, it s eminently possible, eminently doable, Beatty concluded. Maryscott Greenwood, chair of the Washington-based US-Canada Business Council echoed the view, saying: Key policymakers in the United States are now focused on how important this is and they are paying attention. She noted that a US congressional delegation was for the first time in Montreal for the NAFTA talks. These members of Congress are starting to realize that it s not just important to Canada, it s not just important to Mexico, but it is important in their own district, in their own states and that s a very good development, she said. The Montreal round of talks are due to end Monday with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer holding a joint press conference. Meanwhile, two major US and Mexican labor federations said they have filed a complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement against Mexican laws that allow companies to sign contracts with employer-friendly unions before they even open a plant in the country. The complaint by the AFL- CIO and Mexico s UNT was filed Thursday with the US National Administrative Office of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, known as NAALC. The office was created under the NAFTA sidebar agreements, but has been criticized as having little power. The heart of the problem is the protection contract... signed between an employer and an employer-dominated union without the involvement or even the knowledge of the workers, according to the complaint. In some cases, contracts are signed even before a company hires its first worker. Mexican autoworkers have protested against contracts signed by automakers like BMW and Audi years before they opened plants here, which allow the companies to pay workers as little as $1.40 per hour. In the case of Audi, the company apparently hired around 20 people, including pro-company union leaders, who signed a contract in 2014 specifying low wages. When the plant opened in 2016, the over 5,000 workers eventually hired had no say on the contract or their leaders. The complaint says the procompany contracts were the reason that the enormous wage disparity between Mexico and the United States has not changed during the 24 years since NAFTA was ratified. While Mexico has in theory passed a reform law requiring secret-ballot votes in union elections, the ruling party has proposed secondary legislation that would basically erase that requirement, and allow pro-company, pro-government unions undue power in certifying union representation. Auto industry officials fretting about hardline US NAFTA demands with the potential to turn a globally integrated industry upside down now are hopeful that a Canadian compromise plan could avert disaster. The officials, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of NAFTA talks here, said strenuous lobbying efforts on behalf of the industry were starting to sink in with some key members of the Trump administration. Automakers and their suppliers are worried that the US demands will cause the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement to collapse, or render its tariff-free benefits unusable. Either outcome would wreak havoc on supply chains that have auto parts and vehicles regularly crisscrossing North American borders Industry trade groups have estimated that a full reversion to World Trade Organization tariff levels would cost the industry some $10 billion a year and cause the loss of up to 50,000 US auto parts jobs. The Trump administration, which blames NAFTA for killing off US manufacturing jobs, wants the requirement for the value content, or net cost, of autos sourced from the three NAFTA countries boosted to 85 percent from 62.5 percent for tariff-free trade. It also insists that 50 percent of the content of every vehicle produced in the region come from the United States, an option that Canada and Mexico have dismissed as unworkable. In a bid to keep the talks alive Canada is now suggesting that North American content in autos known as rules of origin should be calculated to also include the value of software, engineering and other high-value work, which currently is not counted toward the regional content targets. The plan got a boost from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne on Thursday, who called it a defensible concept and a step in the right direction. Within the structure proposed by the Canadians, there appears to be the beginnings of a solution to this problem, Marchionne said on an earnings conference call. US economy cools in Q4 Consumer, business spending contribute to GDP growth WASHINGTON, Jan 27, (AFP): The world s largest economy slowed in the final quarter of 2017, bringing US GDP expansion for the year below President Donald Trump s ambitious three percent target, according to data released Friday. The slowdown underscored the difficulty the administration faces in This file photo shows a sign indicating a site has been sold in a new home development in Nashville, Tenn. If you re in a committed relationship but nuptials are on the back burner, just know your dream of buying a home doesn t have to be. (AP) Do these 3 things Buying a home as an unmarried couple? By Beth Buczynski NerdWallet Love and marriage don t always go together, no matter what Sinatra says. If you re in a committed relationship but nuptials are on the back burner, just know your dream of buying a home doesn t have to be. Sixteen percent of first-time homebuyers in 2017 were unmarried couples, an annual National Association of Realtors report found, the highest share the organization has recorded since 1981, says Jessica Lautz, managing director of survey research and communication for NAR. But many couples don t realize how risky buying a home with an unmarried partner can be. Here s how to deal with these risks using some planning, a good lawyer and a slightly awkward conversation or two. Buying a home as an unmarried couple 1. Sign a prenup. For the house No couple wants to talk about breaking up, but if you re going to be cohomeowners, it s a must, says Renee Bergmann, a real estate attorney and owner of Bergmann Law LLC in Westmont, New Jersey. She recommends unmarried couples create a coownership contract with the help of a legal professional before closing day. The agreement should answer basic questions like: What happens to the property if you split? What if one of you becomes disabled or dies? Who pays utility bills or for major repairs? Don t just wait and see what happens, Bergmann says, because without a written agreement things could get messy very quickly. 2. Choose the right type of title Turns out there s more than one way to own a house, and taking title the right way is especially important for unmarried couples. Options vary from state to state but generally include: Sole ownership: Only one name is recorded on the deed and that person has all the rights and responsibilities of ownership. Pros: Sole ownership may yield tax savings if your incomes are drastically different. And, if your partner has bad credit, applying for a home loan in your name only may help with approval. However, remember ownership rights are determined by names on the deed, not the mortgage, Anna Fabian, vice president of product at lender SoFi, said via . Con: If the relationship ends and you re not on the title, you ll risk walking away with nothing even if you contributed money to the purchase or mortgage payments. Joint tenancy: Each person owns 50 percent of the property. If a tenant dies, that person s share automatically transfers to the other joint tenant. Pro: Joint tenants enjoy right of survivorship, so you won t have to worry making good on an emblematic pledge. The White House believes the massive tax cuts passed last month will energize the economy and offset the $1.5 trillion cost of the tax overhaul, but economists say this is not likely and any growth bump will be modest. After two quarters of expansion above three percent, GDP slowed to 2.6 percent in the October-December period, held down by a big jump in imports and falling business inventories, according to the first growth estimate from the Commerce Department. That was slower than analysts forecast and meant growth for the year was 2.3 percent, better than the 1.5 percent gain in 2016 but well below 2015 s 2.9 percent. But the result is subject to revision as more data become available. Analysts highlighted the positive signs within the report, including strong spending and investment, but cautioned that growth in the first quarter of this year could be below trend, as in recent years. In short, growth was a bit less than generally expected, disappointing hopes for a third consecutive 3 percent-or-better quarter for the first time since 2005, but the details were stronger than the headline figure, Jim O Sullivan of High Frequency Economics said in a research note. Trump rose to power a year ago on a nationalist economic agenda, seeking to energize growth to three percent or even four percent by revitalizing manufacturing and attacking bilateral trade deficits while slashing taxes and regulation and limiting immigration. Making the case for his America First vision at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, Trump said praised the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America. about fighting the estate or relatives for the house in the event of your partner s death. Con: An unfriendly breakup could spell trouble, especially if one partner can t or won t buy the other out. Tenants in common: Allows unequal ownership, so you could own a 75 percent stake while your partner owns 25 percent, for instance. Pro: Ownership shares can be tailored to match financial contributions; if you paid more toward the down payment, for example, you can own a larger percentage. Con: If one tenant dies, the other has no automatic right to that person s share of the property unless named in a will or living trust. No matter which approach you choose, if you tie the knot after buying, consider revising the deed to reflect your new legal status with something called a quitclaim deed, Bergmann says. 3. Leave your parents at home Buying a home is a stressful decision, so younger unmarried couples often involve their parents, but sometimes this only makes things more confusing, says Danielle Moy, an agent with Coldwell Banker residential brokerage in Orland Park, Illinois. I can tell the parents are unsure of the situation, and it causes a bit of an emotional roller coaster when they re looking at homes, Moy says. (AP) America is open for business, and we are competitive once again, he said. The GDP data showed growth in the fourth quarter was bolstered by consumer spending, home buying, and business investments. Exports also had a good quarter as the US dollar continued to weaken, gaining 12.6 percent compared to the prior quarter, the largest jump in four years. But imports, which subtract from GDP, rose an even faster 13.9 percent, the largest quarterly increase in more than seven years. Durable goods orders were another bright spot for the quarter, with sales of large, factory-made items rising by 8.2 percent, the biggest quarterly gain in 14 years. Given the strongest business confidence in decades and expectations of still stronger tax-cut fueled growth to come, companies are almost certain to kick production up a notch in 2018, Chris Low of FTN Financial said in a client note. In a separate report Friday, the Commerce Department said orders for civilian and military aircraft lifted durable goods sales in December for the second straight month while auto sales slowed. Total orders for big-ticket US-manufactured goods rose 2.9 percent compared to November to $249.4 billion, the biggest jump in six months, leaping past economists predictions of a 0.9 percent gain. That left sales of durable goods up 5.8 percent over Military plane sales rose 55.3 percent over November while civilian aircraft orders also gained, with a 15.9 percent increase. But autos gained only 0.4 percent -- giving back some of November s posthurricane bounce, when sales rose two percent as car owners replaced damaged vehicles.

27 BUSINESS 27 court rules that Kushner firm must disclose partners names Colgate-Palmolive shares fall A federal judge ruled Friday that the family company once run by Jared Kushner isn t allowed to keep secret the identity of its business partners in several Maryland properties. A US district judge in the state rejected the argument that the privacy rights of the Kushner Cos. partners outweigh the public interest in obtaining judicial records in a lawsuit before the court. The decision means the company tied to President Donald Trump s son-inlaw might be forced to provide a rare glimpse into how it fi nances its real estate ventures. The ruling backed the argument by The Associated Press and other news organizations that the media has a presumptive right to see such court documents and the Kushner Cos. had not raised a compelling government interest needed by law to block access. US District Court Judge James K. Bredar ruled that Westminster Management, a Kushner Cos. subsidiary, must fi le an unsealed document with the identity of its partners by Feb 9. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by tenants last year alleging Westminster charges excessive and illegal rent for apartments in the state. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for tenants in 17 apartment complexes owned by the company. Westminster has said it has broken no laws and denies the charges. In addition to its privacy argument, the Kushner subsidiary had said media reports of the Maryland dispute were politically motivated and marked by unfair sensationalism. (AP) Colgate-Palmolive Co shares fell Friday after the consumer products maker posted revenue that missed forecasts. The maker of toothpaste, dishwashing liquid and other household goods reported fourth-quarter earnings of $323 million, or 37 cents per share. The latest quarter includes a charge related to tax reform of 31 cents per share. Excluding that and other non-recurring costs, were 75 cents per share. Those results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 75 cents per share. But the New York-based company posted revenue of $3.89 billion in the period, up 4.5 percent from last year but short of Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.92 billion. Stifel analyst called the results disappointing and noted an increasingly challenged environment, including rising costs and more competition. Colgate-Palmolive shares fell nearly 6 percent to $72.73 in afternoon trading. For the year, the company reported a profit of $2.02 billion, or $2.28 per share. Revenue was reported as $15.45 billion. (AP) UK economy unexpectedly picks up speed Consumer-facing sectors see slower growth, construction shrinks LONDON, Jan 27, (RTRS): Britain s economy unexpectedly picked up speed in the last three months of 2017, according to data which showed that the prospect of Brexit was still weighing on the economy, but not as heavily as once feared by investors. Gross domestic product grew at its fastest pace of 2017, rising by 0.5 percent from the third quarter and beating the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists that growth would remain at 0.4 percent. But the Office for National Statistics said the big picture was one of a slower and more uneven expansion in the world s sixth-biggest economy as it approaches its departure from the European Union in March next year. In 2017 as a whole, growth was 1.8 percent compared with 1.9 percent in 2016, the slowest since UK spells out Brexit transition demands as pressure mounts on PM May Britain should retain access to EU deals: minister TEESPORT, England, Jan 27, (RTRS): Britain wants to benefit from European Union trade deals and have a say over EU laws passed during its transition out of the bloc, Brexit minister David Davis said on Friday, seeking to defuse tension between senior ministers over the interim deal. Davis set out the government s position on a transition period, looking to offer something for both those who want to keep close ties with the European Union after leaving and those who want a more radical break. The balancing act, designed to appease both business and Brexiteers, is a taste of things to come for Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been unable to prevent divisions in her party repeatedly spilling out into the open. On Thursday, finance minister Philip Hammond was rebuked by May s office after saying he hoped Britain would diverge from the EU only very modestly after Brexit. He spoke hours before the head of a hardline group of Brexiteer lawmakers urged May to stop accepting negotiating terms set by the EU. It s only by being outside the EU but continuing with the existing structures of rules and regulation that we can meet the requirements for a smooth, orderly and successful exit, Davis said in a speech at Teesport in northeast England. The existing international agreements we are party to should continue to apply during this period. They are an important part of the existing EU structure of rules and regulations, to which we will remain a party during the implementation period. Davis also said there needed to be some mechanism for Britain to query new laws introduced during the transition period, which it would be dutybound to follow, and that the future jurisdiction of regulators needed to be clarified. Concerns We will have to find a way, to agree a way, of resolving concerns if laws that are deemed to run contrary to our interests, and we have not had our say, he said. There is little distance between Britain and the EU to overcome to agree the transitional deal, which will give the two sides time to prepare for the far-reaching impact of the end of more than 40 years of union. Davis said he expected a political agreement on the transition deal at an EU summit on March a target Brussels is also working towards, with plans for fortnightly rounds of negotiations. The EU is willing to be flexible on the duration and other terms of a Brexit transition period, which could include letting London sign trade deals, according to a document due to be formally endorsed by EU ministers on Monday. Davis dismissed a question on whether he could really negotiate for Britain if senior members of the cabinet disagreed about what the transition deal should contain: There is no difference between the chancellor and myself and indeed the prime minister in terms of that we both want a Brexit which serves the British economy and serves the British people, he said. But May, who gambled on a snap election last year that cost her party its majority in parliament, is facing pressure from multiple angles: pro- EU lawmakers, hardline Brexiteers, and another contingent who question her leadership credentials and criticise a dull dull dull domestic agenda. Several newspaper reports have said the number of letters expressing No Confidence in the party leader is approaching the threshold of 48 required to trigger a leadership contest. The actual number is not made public by the party committee that holds them. May is aware that the plan to change little of the current relationship immediately after Britain formally leaves on March 29, 2019, is fuelling anger among Brexit campaigners, who fear their mantra of taking back control is being sold out. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who heads a hardline group of pro-brexit Conservative lawmakers that could have enough members to topple May, has said Britain must stop accepting negotiating terms set by the EU and that current transition plans would render it a vassal state. From left: Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator of the Financial Times newspaper, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan and Callahan Erdoes, CEO Asset and Wealth Management of JPMorgan Chase & Co, attend a discussion during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan 26. (AP) New technology could affect 1.4 million jobs in US alone by 2026: WEF DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27, (AFP): It can topple governments, confer international bragging rights and pretty much obsessed the government of China once the country began its long march back to economic prowess. But is GDP (gross domestic product) outliving its usefulness as a metric of economic size, and is it stoking social and environmental crisis by encouraging growth at any cost? Debate about whether it is time to adopt a more nuanced calculator has been growing in recent years, and featured anew during discussions at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week. There s emerging agreement that the kind of statistics we ve used in the past just aren t working any more, British economist Diane Coyle from the University of Manchester told AFP in Davos. Coyle is one of several experts who have written books on the subject. Others have detailed proposals such as a Human Development Index, and a new addition to the literature comes this week from Financial Times journalist David Pilling, entitled The Growth Delusion. In Davos, Coyle outlined new thinking that would supplement brute economic data with measurements covering human capital (skills and education), physical infrastructure and intangible capital such as computerised data and patents. They would also cover environmental quality, and social capital looking at how united or divided a Data doom: 5 steps from Davos to digital dystopia DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27, (AFP): Intelligent robots and all-knowing online networks threaten to drag hu- GDP: Gross Domestic Problem? manity into a totalitarian nightmare of mind control, mass unemployment and children hooked on smartphones, experts warned at this week s Davos summit. Online retailers and social networks collect so much data about us that they can watch us, control us and will transform us entirely, said Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli author of bestselling books about technology and anthropology. This will be decided by the people who own the data. They control not just the future of humanity but the future of life itself, he told a panel in Davos. If democracy cannot adapt to these new conditions, then humans will come to live under the rule of digital dictatorship. As envisioned by various leaders, business people and thinkers at this year s World Economic Forum gathering, here are five stages through which digital technology will subjugate and dehumanise our race if we are not careful: Robots taking our jobs The first phase of the data revolution is already under way. The robots are taking our jobs. While we plod around with our eyes on our smartphones like digital zombies, buses are starting to drive themselves and machines are ringing our groceries through the cash register. The WEF estimates that new technology could affect 1.4 million jobs in the United States alone by This time it is not just a question of blue- or white-collar workers, said Alain Roumilhac, the head of US recruiter Manpower in France. We are experiencing a revolution in skills, with both manual and administrative tasks likely to be carried out by robots, he said. Car makers are fast developing driverless vehicles. Online retail giant Amazon this week opened a 1,800 squarefoot (170 square-metre) cashier-less convenience store with cameras and artificial intelligence scanning the items remotely. Addiction Karl Marx called religion the opium of the people, but now another powerful drug is taking over. Online firms know how much we like thumbing away at our smartphones and are doing their best to keep us at it, several prominent delegates at Davos warned. They deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide, Soros said. This can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents. Marc Benioff, chief executive of major US cloud software firm Salesforce, said there were a lot of parallels between web apps and cigarettes. Mind control Once the apps have got us physically addicted, experts fear, they will go to work on our minds by logging into our brain waves and bodily functions. We ve reached the point where we can hack not just computers but we can hack human beings and other organisms... Advances in computer science, machine learning and artificial intelligence are giving us the computing power, Harari said. country is. Ascribing a value to data is particularly pressing as companies and customers increasingly transact their lives in the cloud. To take one example, a globally accessible and hugely useful resource like Wikipedia is worth precisely zero in traditional GDP accounting models. Neither does GDP encompass the black market, omitting a huge source of activity and income in many developing countries, including in Africa and Latin America. The politics of GDP Notably, GDP cannot measure the distribution of wealth within a country. So while its total value can go up, gains are all too often skewed to top earners. Those lower down the ladder can fall further behind in relative terms. That is exactly what has been playing out in the United States, powering a populist backlash that elected Donald Trump, and influencing the British people s decision to quit the European Union. Anand Menon, director of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe, wrote after the Brexit referendum campaign that he was trying to explain at one event about the hit to GDP that he felt would come if Britons voted to leave the bloc. He said that one woman in the audience in Newcastle, northern England, shouted back that s your bloody GDP, not ours. Developed in 1934 by economist Simon Kuznets to help the United States chart an escape from the Great Depression, GDP measures the total value of a country s goods and services over quarters and years. Woe betide a government that heads into an election on the back of a recession usually defined as two consecutive quarters of decline in its GDP. But even where there is growth, disenchantment with how it is shared out can be seen vividly in Brexitbound Britain, according to Inga Beale, chief executive of Lloyd s of London, the insurance market. We ve got to find another mechanism to include much bigger parts of the population, and use different metrics to measure success of a country, she told CNBC television. World s richest nation? Norway GDP is widely seen as a blunt instrument to measure growth, and has attracted criticism from Nobel prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, among others. But countries that do execute sustained rises in GDP can use the accreted wealth to transform their standing. Exhibit A is China, which after decades of pell-mell growth is now the world s second-biggest economy as measured by GDP, awarding it the kind of international prestige and influence that it has not enjoyed for centuries. But even in China the GDP debate is intensifying as President Xi Jinping vies to prioritise quality over quantity in the economy s expansion. So what are the alternatives to GDP? Brain activity, blood pressure can be tracked by an algorithm which can appeal to your sexual preference. Algorithms can predict desires, manipulate emotions, take decisions on your behalf. Data dictators The fourth stage will be a political coup albeit a quiet, digital one. The World Economic Forum calls the digital data age the fourth industrial revolution. But what will the new regime be like? Billionaire investor George Soros said social media companies like Facebook and Google risk compromising themselves by cooperating with authorities in Russia and China and creating a web of totalitarian control. Dehumanisation In response to the tech upheaval, a grouping of companies at Davos launched Skillset, a platform to help workers evaluate their job skills and acquire new ones. But while the companies were looking to preserve their human resources, others were casting doubt on the very future of the H in HR. Once technology has taken our data, our political rights, our jobs and our free will, it will come for our souls. For Harari, author of the two-book series Homo Sapiens, the tech shift is an evolutionary one. By hacking organisms, elites might gain the power to engineer the future of life itself, he said. For comparison, the International Monetary Fund expects growth of 2.4 percent in the eurozone last year. Investors took the data as a sign that the Bank of England might move more quickly towards only its second interest rate hike in more than a decade. Sterling added to its recent strong rise against the US dollar and climbed against the euro. The Bank of England said last month it expected the economy might have slowed slightly in late If the UK economy does indeed struggle to move up a gear over coming months, the Bank will likely have to tread carefully when deciding whether to raise rates again this year, James Smith, an economist with ING, said. We don t expect any change in policy from the BoE in February, but a rate hike at the May meeting is an increasingly close call. The BoE s rate-setters are due to announce their next decision on borrowing costs on Feb 8. They raised rates for the first time since 2007 in November. Most economists have said they expect the next rate hike in late 2018 but some think it could come as soon as May. Impact Britain s economy grew more weakly than other big rich nations for much of last year as the impact of the 2016 Brexit vote pushed up inflation and many businesses turned cautious ahead of Brexit. However, Britain has been helped by the recovery in the world economy last year which is expected to carry on in Finance minister Philip Hammond described the figures as excellence, underscoring the resilience of the economy. BoE Governor Mark Carney said on Friday Britain could start to grow more quickly later this year, if there is clarity about its future relationship with the EU. While recruitment agencies, letting agents and office management firms helped boost growth, companies which relied on spending by consumers had a much slower fourth quarter. Manufacturers, who have prospered from demand spurred by the recovery in the global economy, also grew strongly. Separate data published on Friday showed personal insolvencies hit a three-year high, reflecting the financial strain on many households. Given the strength of global growth, Britain s would have grown by about 2.5 percent in 2017 were it not for the Brexit vote, Kallum Pickering, an economist with Berenberg, said. Compared with the same period in 2016, growth between October and December slowed to 1.5 percent, its weakest pace since the first quarter of 2013 and down from growth of 1.7 percent in the third quarter. Dominant The Reuters poll had pointed to growth of 1.4 percent. Friday s data showed Britain s dominant services sector grew by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, gaining pace after growth of 0.4 percent in the third quarter, the ONS said. In November alone, services output growth was the strongest since August 2016, jumping by 0.4 percent from October. The ONS said it was expecting no monthly growth in services in December given the scale of November s increase. Industrial output slowed to show growth of 0.6 percent from 1.3 percent in the third quarter after the Forties oil pipeline, Britain s biggest, was closed for more than two weeks in December after the discovery of a crack. Britain s construction sector shrank by 1.0 percent, its worst quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2012.

28 BUSINESS 28 France retains rating Russian pipeline would threaten European energy security: US France retained its AA credit rating despite its high and rising debt level, Fitch ratings agency said Friday. Fitch noted that persistent budget deficits mean the debt-to-gdp ratio will continue to increase in the coming years and peak at 97 percent in 2019, compared to the median level of 42 percent for AA-rated economies. The high debt burden limits France s ability to respond to future shocks, the agency cautioned in a statement. However, France s prudent debt management strategy helps mitigate the risks from its high public debt. In addition, Fitch said French President Emmanuel Macron s ambitious structural reform program has coincided with solid growth. The outlook for France s debt rating is stable, which means Fitch does not see any developments on the horizon that are likely to lead to a change. (AFP) The United States sees the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as a threat to Europe s energy security, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday. Poland, Ukraine and Baltic states fear the pipeline would increase Europe s dependence on Russian gas and provide the Kremlin with billions of dollars of additional revenue to fi nance a further military buildup on EU s borders. Like Poland, the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. We see it as undermining Europe s overall energy security and stability, Tillerson said at a joint press conference with the Polish foreign minister in Warsaw. The United States has already sanctioned Russian companies over Moscow s involvement in the Ukraine crisis, and foreign companies investing in or helping Russian energy exploration. Poland, an EU member since 2004, sees Russia as its biggest potential threat, especially since Moscow took the Crimean peninsula from neighbouring Ukraine in Russia is also engaged in the long civil war in Syria, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, driven millions from their homes, and fuelled a refugee crisis in the European Union. Nordic nations have already voiced security concerns over the pipeline being laid near their shores under the Baltic. But Germany and Austria have focused more on the commercial benefits of having more cheap gas from Russia. (RTRS) Sector buoyed by low interest rates airline revival Air fi nance titans ponder whether boom will ever end DUBLIN, Jan 27, (RTRS): As the titans of the $140-billion a year aircraft financing industry gathered in Dublin this week to celebrate an unprecedented boom, a few were casting a cold eye on mistakes of the past and whether they could happen again. Ireland owes its dominance of global aircraft finance to the rise and spectacular collapse in 1992 of industry pioneer Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), which demonstrated both the risks and returns possible from financing airplanes. The former GPA executives who now dominate the industry were debating which of the new players and investors that have flooded in the last five years might not have learned from those mistakes and whether the industry had finally broken its cycle of spectacular booms and busts. The five-star venues that every year host the sector s showcase conferences were heaving with hundreds of new investors many from China who have poured in to a once-obscure industry as global investors engage in a desperate search for returns. Throngs of financiers spilled into the street from the 200-year-old Shelbourne Hotel during the Airline Economics conference, whose delegate list has tripled to 3,000 in five years. Sentiment is as positive as I have seen it, Alec Burger the head of No. 2 lessor GECAS formed from the hulk of GPA told a packed second conference, Global Airfinance, where airline executives buoyed by surging air traffic eyed funds to expand their fleets. This will be the fourth year of global airline profits above $30 billion and that is beyond unprecedented, Flight Ascend chief economist Peter Morris said. Optimists insist the flood of Asian money around 20 Chinese lessors have opened Dublin offices since the start of the decade confirms the emergence of air finance as a worthy asset class in its own right. Aengus Kelly, the former GPA employee who is now CEO of the world s largest lessor AerCap, said the number of banks and bond investors willing to lend to his firm has mushroomed from 50 to 500 in two decades. Is it the case that all of them are in for the long haul? Of course not. Have they come in looking for yield? Of course they have, he said in an interview. But I do think on a structural basis the industry is well understood and people are starting to divorce it from airline cyclicality. Domhnal Slattery, head of No. Growth in lending to eurozone businesses slows: ECB FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Jan 27, (AFP): The pace of growth in lending to businesses in the eurozone slowed in December, European Central Bank data showed Friday, in a mild setback for the Frankfurt institution. Credit to businesses grew by 2.9 percent year-on-year last month, adjusting for some purely fi nancial transactions, a drop of 0.2 percentage points compared with the figure for November. Meanwhile, lending growth to 3 firm Avolon, told delegates that those who thought the market must be peaking were cynics and that the cyclical peak was years away. But the money has also caused returns to collapse in the industry s de facto spot market: buying planes from airlines and leasing them back, prompting many big players to abandon it. Leasing giants say they are often left at the back of a queue of two dozen firms for such deals as new players accept tiny some argue non-existent returns. households held steady in December, at 2.8 percent. Overall, lending to the private sector expanded by 2.8 percent last month, down from 2.9 percent in November. Credit growth is a key indicator for the ECB of how its easy-money policy is affecting the real economy. It has set interest rates at historic lows, offered cheap loans to banks and bought tens of billions of euros per month in bonds in a bid to pump cash through the My biggest concern over the past few years has been all the liquidity chasing these assets, Betsy Snyder, Standard & Poor s director, said. What happens if we get into a downturn? The risk for those prepared to wade too aggressively into this market is that rental fees don t cover the cost of paying debt on an overvalued jet, said market veteran Bill Cumberlidge of Aviation Partners. Yet as lease rates suffer, the value of aircraft rises as airlines find a queue of takers, even before they are fi nancial system and to businesses and households. Policymakers hoped the moves would stoke growth and power infl ation towards their target of just below 2.0 percent. But while economic expansion has accelerated in the 19-nation eurozone hitting 2.4 percent last year according to ECB estimates infl ation has remained sluggish, reaching just 1.4 percent in December. There was a glimmer of good delivered. That may have encouraged some airlines to order extra planes in the hope of flipping them into the sale-leaseback market. If so, they could end up getting burned as markets turn against them, warned John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease. As in other branches of global finance, some worry that while a tide of money moved in during an unprecedented phase of low interest rates, it could recede as quickly as rates rise. I think interest rates are a real news for central bankers in an ECB survey of private-sector analysts also published Friday, which found forecasters had slightly upgraded their inflation expectations for the coming years. The professionals predictions now see infl ation hitting 1.5 percent this year, 1.7 percent in 2019 and 1.8 percent in In the longer term, the forecasters see infl ation at around 1.9 percent, exactly in line with the ECB s target. (AFP) risk in the space generally, said Matthew Little, a partner at Castlelake, a private investment firm, adding leverage was also increasing. The test will be whether this pressure topples an inexperienced few or shakes the wider industry. There are a lot of new players and I am sure some of them will thrive and do very well and some of them won t, said Peter Barrett, another GPA alumnus who runs No. 4 lessor SMBC Aviation Capital. Time will tell who the winners and losers will be. Last-ditch efforts German union agrees to talks to avert strikes STUTTGART, Germany, Jan 27, (RTRS): Powerful German union IG Metall will hold lastditch talks with employers over higher wages and the right to shorter working hours for industrial workers, it said on Friday, holding off for now on its threat to call all-out strikes. After discussions among IG Metall s leadership, the union has decided to make a final attempt to reach a deal over pay and working conditions, union chief Joerg Hofmann said at a press conference in Frankfurt on Friday. If these fail to yield a result by lunchtime on Saturday, IG Metall will escalate the dispute with 24- hour strikes. The outcome of talks remains uncertain, Hofmann said, adding that differences of opinion over what constitutes a fair wage had widened during the previous four rounds of talks. Regional wage talks in the southwestern state of Baden- Wuerttemberg, which is taking the lead in this year s national wage round, stalled late on Wednesday, raising the prospect of nationwide strikes. But three people familiar with the talks told Reuters earlier on Friday that union and employer representatives would extend regional wage negotiations. Talks will continue in Baden- Wuerttemberg, home to Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler and sports car brand Porsche as well as auto suppliers Bosch and Mahle, from 1700 GMT. Emboldened by the fastest economic growth in six years and record low unemployment, IG Metall is demanding a 6 percent pay rise for 3.9 million metals and engineering workers across Germany. Twenty-four hour strikes would indeed be painful, a spokesman for BMW said, adding extended walkouts could disrupt production not only at the carmaker but also at suppliers. Three hours of stoppages at BMW s Munich factory on Wednesday resulted in 250 cars not being assembled, BMW said, adding it was working to make up the production shortfall. Premium rival Audi said it too was trying to catch up after around 700 vehicles were not assembled as a result of two stoppages at its Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm factories this week. Daimler said it would similarly try to address any production shortfall as quickly as possible after any strikes. We assume we will be able to deliver all vehicles to our customers that they have ordered, a spokesman said. A big sticking point in the talks is a union demand that workers should have the right to reduce their weekly hours to 28 from 35 to care for children, elderly or sick relatives, and return to fulltime employment after two years. This is IG Metall s first major push for shorter hours since workers staged seven weeks of strikes in 1984 to help push through a cut of the working week to 35 hours from 40 hours. Employers have so far offered a pay rise of 2 percent plus a oneoff 200-euro ($245) payment and have rejected demands for a shorter working week unless employers are allowed to increase hours temporarily as well. More than 900,000 workers have taken part in industrial action this year in support of IG Metall s wage claims. Germany s second biggest union, Verdi, which represents primarily services workers, is expected to publish its wage demand on Feb 8. Verdi and IG Metall together account for around 15 percent of the German workforce, and other sectors tend to broadly follow their agreements. Total set to ramp up Nigerian output LAGOS, Jan 27, (AFP): A gigantic oil tanker arrived in Nigeria as part of a multi-billion dollar project that should allow one of Africa s biggest crude producers to pump out an additional 200,000 barrels a day. The floating production storage and offloading vessel is docked in Lagos after spending three months at sea, project partner LADOL Free Zone said in a statement Thursday. The vessel is part of a $16 billion oil project developed by French giant Total on the Egina field, about 150 kilometres offshore from the oil hub of Port Harcourt in southeastern Nigeria, a company source told AFP. The ultra-deep field was discovered in 2003 by Total and its Chinese and Brazilian partners, Chinese National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and Petrobas Sapetro. By 2018 the field is expected to produce nearly 200,000 barrels per day, or 10 per cent of Nigeria s oil production. The new ship, which is 330 meters long and weighs nearly 220,000 tons, left from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in South Korea at the end of October. Remaining modules on the ship will be assembled in the coming months in Lagos before the ship is sent to Egina field, where it will process and store oil extracted from the ocean. This is a gigantic project that will do good in Nigeria, where production has peaked at about two million barrels per day, said Benjamin Auge, associate researcher at the French Institute of International Relations. The Egina project is currently the largest developed for deep offshore use in the country, according to the energy specialist. Along with Shell, Total is the main oil producer in Nigeria, where crude accounts for 70 per cent of government revenue. Keeping ECB rates steady as all around are raising theirs Central bank warns euro surge a potential risk In this Jan 26 photo, Coincheck President Koichiro Wada (left), answers a reporter s question during a news conference in Tokyo. Japanese media say the Coincheck exchange has lost 58 billion yen ($530 million) in cryptocurrency because of hacking. (AP) Cryptocurrencies fall after hack hits Coincheck TOKYO, Jan 27, (AFP): Cryptocurrencies fell Friday after Japan-based digital exchange Coincheck suspended client deposits and withdrawals for virtual currencies except bitcoin, saying it had been hacked. Coincheck said it was investigating unauthorised access of the exchange that appeared to result in a loss worth half a billion US dollars of NEM, the 10th biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. At 3 am (1800 GMT) today, 523 million NEMs were sent from the NEM address of Coincheck. It s worth 58 billion yen based on the calculation at the the rate when detected, said Coincheck s chief operating officer Yusuke Otsuka late Friday. We re still examining how many of our customers are affected, he said, adding that the exchange was trying to find out whether the breach was from Japan or another country. LONDON, Jan 27, (RTRS): The eurozone s economy could prove to be a shining star again this year, but persistently tepid inflation will probably keep the European Central Bank from following its peers and tightening monetary policy anytime soon. Reports coming on Tuesday are expected to show 2017 was the bloc s best year for growth in over a decade, capped off by a strong fourth quarter. Purchasing managers indexes released for January already suggest that momentum accelerated into this year. Such growth rates are fertile ground for tighter policy but a strong euro, up around 4 percent this year, is exacerbating a battle the ECB is facing in trying to get inflation up anywhere near its 2 percent target ceiling as it makes imports so much cheaper. On Thursday, having left policy unchanged, the bloc s central bank warned the euro s surge was a potential risk and said it might have to review strategy if US comments on a weak dollar led to a change in monetary conditions. The recent volatility in the exchange rate represents a source of uncertainty which requires monitoring with regard to its possible implications for the medium-term outlook for price stability, ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference. Based on today s data and today s projection I see very few chances at all that interest rates will be raised this year. From this month, the ECB has halved the amount of cheap cash it is pumping into the system under its quantitative easing programme to 30 billion euros ($37.3 billion) per month, and currently envisages halting asset purchases in September. Yet the first hike in interest rates and then of the currently negative deposit rate is not predicted to come for at least another year, the Reuters poll found. The refinancing rate probably won t rise until the latter half of next year. We remain confident that there will not be any key policy rate moves this year in light of Draghi s comments, said Simon Wells, chief European economist at HSBC. In contrast, the United States Federal Reserve has already embarked on a tightening cycle and if a Reuters poll is to be believed its change of leadership is unlikely derail it from increasing borrowing costs three times this year. Its economy is expected to grow 2.6 percent in 2018, the best performance in three years, fuelled in part by a sugar rush from the biggest tax overhaul since the 1980s. And a weaker greenback should keep inflation elevated. With momentum in aggregate demand, tightening labour markets, some evidence of a rebound in inflation, and resilient financial conditions, we expect three hikes in 2018 and one more in 2019, analysts at Nomura wrote to clients. Besides Governor (Jerome) Powell as the new chair, significant turnover in Fed leadership is widely expected, but we do not expect this to cause a material change in the near-term trajectory of monetary policy. The Fed has its first meeting of the year in the coming week, but with it being Janet Yellen s last meeting as chair no change is expected. North of the border, the Bank of Canada kicked off 2018 by hiking interest rates, buoyed by robust job growth and having raised rates twice back-to-back last year, even as uncertainty around the fate of the North American Free After the exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals, NEM plunged more than 16 percent in a 24-hour period, according to Coin- MarketCap.com. Major virtual currencies had rebounded slightly by late Friday but were still down, with Bitcoin dropping 2.13 percent to $10,987.70, ripple sliding more than six percent and ethereum flat. Coincheck said it had discovered the breach at am and announced it had suspended trading for all cryptocurrencies apart from bitcoin in a series of tweets. According to its website, which proclaims it is the leading bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange in Asia, Tokyo-based Coincheck was founded in 2012 and had 71 employees as of July last year. In 2014 major Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting that 850,000 coins worth around $480 million at the time had disappeared from its vaults. Bitcoin is recognised as legal tender in Japan and nearly one third of global bitcoin transactions in December were denominated in yen, according to specialist website jpbitcoin. com. The virtual currency is well down from record highs approaching $20,000 in late December, having rocketed 25-fold last year, before being hit by concerns about a bubble and worries about crackdowns on trading it. Billionaire investor George Soros, known for his legendarily successful currency trading, has dismissed bitcoin as a typical bubble. But speaking Thursday at the Davos summit, he said the cryptocurrency would likely avoid a full crash because authoritarians would still use it to make secret investments abroad. Trade Agreement lingers. Two more increases will come in 2018, a poll found. Governor Stephen Poloz said last month he is increasingly confident the economy will need less stimulus over time. We didn t walk into this as if it was a no-brainer, that it was time to move rates. There was a good debate around that. It s not that we were arguing but we were debating the pros and cons... the big cloud over the forecast, as well as our discussion, is NAFTA, Poloz told a news conference. Current negotiations to reform NAF- TA will probably prove successful with only marginal changes, said a large majority of economists in a Reuters poll, despite sabre-rattling from US President Donald Trump s administration. Britain, undergoing its own tricky negotiations as it tries to untangle itself from the European Union, is facing the opposite problem to the currency bloc with a weaker sterling since the Brexit vote driving nflation well above the Bank of England s target of 2 percent. But coupled with that, growth has slowed as businesses and consumers postpone spending decisions to see how divorce talks develop. So although the BoE is expected to raise rates this year it will hold off until at least November as it joins in the wait-and-see game. It then probably won t move again until the dying months of 2019.

29 BUSINESS 29 Walmart, Rakuten unveil alliance on e-books, groceries US official urges regulation of crypto currencies US retail giant Walmart and Japanese internet titan Rakuten unveiled a strategic partnership which will include collaboration on digital books in the United States and grocery delivery in Japan. The two fi rms will launch a new online grocery delivery service in Japan later this year, and have agreed to a retail alliance making Walmart a key partner on e-books and audiobooks using the Rakuten format Kobo, according to a statement late Thursday. The deal comes amid a growing international presence by US online giant Amazon, which offers an array of services in different countries including video, e-books and grocery delivery. Rakuten is a strong e-commerce business and we re excited to collaborate with the top online shopping destination in Japan, said Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon, who met Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani in Tokyo to sign the agreement. We look forward to expanding our grocery footprint in Japan and launching a new offering of e- books and audiobooks for our customers in the US. Mikitani said, As global leaders in e-commerce and offl ine shopping, Rakuten and Walmart are uniquely positioned to empower our customers around the world with innovative services. (AP) A senior US Treasury offi cial touring Asia has urged banks and fi - nancial regulators in the region and elsewhere to do more to tighten oversight of booming trading in bitcoin and other crypto currencies. Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and fi nancial intelligence, said Friday that more needs to be done to prevent money laundering and other criminal activities using such transactions. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo after visiting China, Hong Kong and South Korea, she lauded recent moves to keep closer tabs on such dealings. We feel very strongly that we need to have this kind of regulation all over the world, Mandelker said. She noted that Japan and Australia are already regulating crypto currency trading. The EU, I understand, is moving very quickly in that direction and we think it s very important that similar regulations are happening in a number of other countries. Mandelker said she expects the issue to be discussed at meetings of the Group of 20 industrial economies. She recently told Congress that money laundering related to crypto currencies was an area of high focus for the Treasury Department. (AP) Boursa Kuwait weekly report Bayan Investment Co. Market indices close week on mixed note Boursa Kuwait ended last week with mixed performance. The Price Index closed at 6, points, up Forgot Davos; Dandora holds by 0.19% from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 0.16% after closing at points, the key to inequality: activists whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at points down by 0.12%.Furthermore, the week s average daily turno- NAIROBI, Jan 27, (RTRS): As Mexico feel inequality will not be champagne and caviar wash down solved by the Davos man, but by ver decreased by 12.88%, compared tough talk of world problems in ordinary people mobilising for their to the preceding week, reaching K.D Davos, the stench of rotten rubbish rights million, whereas trading volume lingers over an alternative summit in So events ranging from concerts average was million shares, recording a decrease of 13.74%. Kenya aimed at tackling the chasm to soccer matches, mass meals to between rich and poor. marches are taking place to help The market indices weekly closings fluctuated for the first time in this Welcome to the Kenyan slum of some of the world s most marginalised understand their rights and Dandora: known for its fetid garbage year, as the market witnessed a continued random purchasing operations mountain and for this week only demand action. playing host to campaigners who Located on the outskirts of eastern Nairobi, Dandora slum is a stark on the small-cap stocks, in addition are fed up with top-table talk and say to the quick speculations that concentrated on the stocks of low price val- they see scant action at ground level example of the inequalities faced by where it matters most. millions worldwide. ues, which was positively reflected on The annual World Economic Established in 1977 and partially the Price Index performance to end the Forum (WEF) in the plush Swiss funded by the World Bank, with the week s trading with some gains; on the ski resort of Davos brings together aim of offering a higher standard of contrary, the selling pressures and the politicians and billionaires, corporates and celebrities for four days of Kenyan capital s principal dumping housing, the area has become the profit collection operations executed on some leading stocks, pushed the summitry on the world s most pressing issues issues such as global The sprawling rubbish tip which ground. Weighted and KSX-15 indices to end the week s trading in the red zone, after the good performance it witnessed inequality. residents estimate is at least the size But despite celebrating its 48th of three football fields is a vast since the beginning of the new year. annual meeting, the WEF has failed mountain, composed of everything The market witnessed such performance in light of the continued watch to curb the rising wealth gap, say activists, who are instead lobbying for tles to soiled clothes, rotting food from polythene bags and plastic bot- of the traders for the listed companies the return of the purchasing and collection operations executed on the leading speculating operations on some small- 1.80%, closing at 1, points, fol- week. It is also one of the area s key em- growth as a result to the purchasing and losers list, which index declined by change at their own rival events this and animal faeces. annual financial results, especially that such results will define to a great extent the investment goals of many inent on the performance of the Weightsate all its losses and pushed it to end index closed at 1, points at a inequality as one of the world s ma- For many of Dandora s thousands stocks in particular, which was apparcap stocks, which enabled it to compenlowed by the Insurance sector, as its The WEF has continued to list ployers. vestors for the next period. ed and KSX-15 indices and enabled it the week s trading in the green zone. loss of 0.93%. jor challenges, and the WEF itself of residents eke out a living on the In addition, the Boursa recorded to compensate all its losses recorded in For the annual performance, the says it isn t getting any better. But tip, collecting recyclable waste such market losses of K.D million the previous session, while the Price Price Index ended last week recording 3.81% annual gain compared to its The Real Estate sector dominated ing it, said Ben Phillips, director of about 200 Kenyan Shillings ($2). Sectors Activity also they have an interest in not fix- as plastic bottles for a daily wage of during the last week, as its market Index was able to record limited gains capitalization reached by the end of supported by the random purchasing closing in 2017, while the Weighted a total trade volume of around Global Inequality Alliance, a coalition of 150 charities and trade unions Marita Saie squats by a dirty puddle, Amid the stench, 59-year-old the week K.D billion, down by operations executed on a number of Index increased by 4.24%, and the million shares changing hands during last week, representing 29.93% of in 50 countries. diligently washing a pile of polysty- 0.12% of its level at the previous week, small-cap stocks, to compensate a part KSX-15 recorded 5.54% growth. where it was K.D billion. Also, of its losses recorded earlier in the beginning of week session. the total market trading volume. The It s very nice to go to a fancy rene plates. the market gains since the beginning of Sectors Indices Financial Services sector was second gathering, and over caviar and I manage to make 100 to contracted to reach K.D billion, with a growth of 4.14% compared mixed closings for the three indices, as ended last week in the green zone, tor s traded shares were 24.26% of last child should go to school and why from the rubbish, said Saie, who is The mid-week session witnessed Six of Boursa Kuwait s sectors in terms of trading volume as the sec- champagne talk about why every shillings in a day collecting things to its value at the last trading day of the Price Index continued its upward while the other six recorded declines. week s total trading volume, with a every mother deserves good health the sole provider for her two grandchildren. the last year. (Note: The market cap direction affected by the speculative Last week s highest gainer was the total of around million shares. care. But those same bosses who for the listed companies is calculated performance of the small-cap stocks, Technology sector, achieving 1.63% On the other hand, the Banks sector s stocks were the highest traded taking away money from countries thing like rent and food. Even when lobby for corporate tax breaks are It s not enough to cover every- based on the average number of outstanding shares as per the latest official collection operations on the leading points. Whereas, in the second in terms of value; with a turnover of that would go into health and edu- I am sick, I can t afford to buy medi- while the quick return of the profit growth rate as its index closed at available financial statements). stocks pushed the Weighted and KSX- place, the Real Estate sector s index around K.D million or 39.42% cation. cines, so I look for them in rubbish. Moreover, the Boursa Kuwait initiated its first session of the last week which came in light of the dropped 1.31% increase. The Consumer Ser- value. The Financial Services sector generated last year went to the rich- God. 15 indices to close in the red zone, closed at 1, points recording of last week s total market trading Eighty-two percent of wealth I can t change this life, it s up to with a decline included all its indices, trading levels of both the volume and vices sector came in third as its index took the second place as the sector s est 1 percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people stable economic growth averaging Campaigners say despite Kenya s especially the weighted ones, which the cash liquidity, where the volume achieved 0.57% growth, ending the last week turnover was approx. K.D were affected by the profit collection decreased by 12.42% and the value week at points million representing 16.30% of who make up the poorest half of about 5.6 percent of GDP over the operations witnessed during the session and concentrated on the leading The market did not witness on sector headed the losers list as its index wealth, says the charity Oxfam. rich and poor is on the rise. dropped by 11.24%. On the other hand, the Health Care the total market trading value. the world saw no increase in their last decade, the disparity between stocks, especially after the good increases it witnessed in the previous ses- much of a change compared to Tues- activity at 1, points. The Basic visit our website: annual average of 13 percent since ya is among the fastest growing in Wednesday s and Thursday s sessions declined by 3.93% to end the week s For more information, please Billionaire wealth has risen by an The number of super-rich in Kension. Also, the Price Index decreased day s session, as the market indices Materials sector was second on the vest.com 2010 six times faster than the wages of ordinary workers, which has number of millionaires in Kenya the world, and Oxfam predicts the affected by the selling pressures that continued its fluctuations amid a change the small-cap stocks were subject to, of traders behavior, where the Weighted and KSX-15 indices continued to cent over the same period, according decade. risen by a yearly average of 2.0 per- will grow by 80 percent over next especially the ones that have been traded on with prices less than its par decline in light of the continued profit to an Oxfam report on Monday. Yet while a minority of Kenyans value. On the next session, the Boursa collection operations in controlling the Phillips said communities in are accumulating wealth, the benefits of economic growth have not was able to return to the green zone, leading stocks trading, which pushed it countries such as Kenya, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and trickled down. after its three indices ended the session to end the week in the red zone, while with different increases, supported by the Price Index was able to continue its investment funds Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) National Bank of Kuwait Money Market Funds Watani KD Money Market Fund II NBK Capital Weekly Jan 16, 2018 KD Jan 7, 2018 Watani USD Money Market Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Jan 16, 2018 USD Jan 7, 2018 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Jan 16, 2018 KD Jan 7, 2018 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Jan 16, 2018 USD Jan 7, 2018 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly Jan 11, 2018 KD Jan 4, 2018 Gulf Equity Investment Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly Jan 11, 2018 USD Jan 4, 2018 Regional Bond and Sukuk Investment Fund NBK Capital Weekly Dec 28, 2017 USD Dec 28, 2017 Gulf Bank Al Basha er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly Dec 31, 2017 USD Nov 30, 2017 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Markaz Real Estate Fund Bi-annual Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Burgan Bank Burgan Equity Fund Burgan Bank Monthly Jan 2, 2018 KD Nov 26, 2017 Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund Boubyan Bank Weekly Jan 16, 2018 KD Dec 13, 2017 Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly Jan 16, 2018 KD Dec 13, 2017 Boubyan Capital Investment Co. Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Jan 16, 2018 USD Dec 13, 2017 Boubyan Multi-Asset Holding Fund Boubyan Bank Sept 30, 2017 USD Aug 31, 2017 Kuwait Investment Co. Local Fund Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 18, 2018 KD Dec 7, 2017 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 28, 2017 KD Nov 29, 2017 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly Jan 22, 2018 KD Dec 4, 2017 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 30, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 International Global Bond Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 17, 2018 USD Dec 27, 2017 Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 17, 2018 USD Dec 27, 2017 European Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Dec 29, 2017 Euro Nov 30, 2017 Pacific Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Jan 17, 2017 USD Dec 27, 2017 North American Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Tw. Monthly Dec 29, 2017 USD Nov 30, 2017 National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly Dec 31, 2017 USD Nov 30, 2017 Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 4, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 MIDAF Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 4, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Jan 4, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Nov 30, 2017 KD Oct 31, 2017 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Nov 30, 2017 KD Oct 31, 2017 Markaz Fixed Income Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Jan 4, 2018 USD Dec 21, 2017 Markaz MENA Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Dec 21, 2017 USD Dec 14, 2017 Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV) Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly Nov 30, 2017 KD Sept 30, 2017 Global Investment House Index Funds GCC Large Cap Index Fund Global Weekly Jan 11, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 Equity Funds Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly Jan 11, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly Jan 11, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Bi-weekly Jan 9, 2018 USD Dec 19, 2017 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Bi-weekly Jan 9, 2018 SAR Dec 19, 2017 Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly Jan 9, 2018 USD Dec 19, 2017 Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly Jan 9, 2018 USD Dec 19, 2017 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Monthly Jan 11, 2018 KD Dec 21, 2017 Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC) Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly Jan 10, 2018 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al Basha er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly Dec 31, 2017 USD Nov 30, 2017 KAMCO KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly Nov 30, 2017 KD Oct 31, 2017 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO Dec 31, 2017 USD Oct 31, 2017 Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Dec 31, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Al Aman Investment Al Aman Islamic Fund Al Aman Investment Weekly Dec 30, 2017 KD Nov 30, 2017 Tharwa Investment Co. Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly Dec 21, 2017 KD 1,461 1,480 Oct 31, 2017 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly Dec 21, 2017 KD Oct 31, 2017 Bank Al-Bilad Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily Jan 14, 2018 KD Dec 24, 2017 Commercial International Bank CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 24, 2018 EGP Jan 18, 2018 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 24, 2018 EGP Jan 18, 2018 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 24, 2018 EGP Jan 18, 2018 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 2, 2018 EGP Nov 3, 2017 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 24, 2018 EGP Jan 18, 2018 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 24, 2018 EGP Jan 14, 2018 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly Jan 21, 2018 EGP Jan 18, 2018 KFH Capital Investment Co. Muthanna Islamic Index Fund (MUDX) KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Nov 30, 2017 KD Sept 30, 2017 Muthanna GCC Islamic banks Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Nov 30, 2017 KD Sept 30, 2017 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Weekly June 29, 2017 KD Feb 28, 2017 Noor Financial Investment Co. Noor Islamic Fund Noor Financial Investment Co Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD Sept 30, 2015 CapCorp Investment Co. CapCorp Local Fund CapCorp Investment Company Weekly Sept 28, 2017 KD Aug 30, 2017

30 BUSINESS 30 Nutella discounts spark chaos in French supermarkets Goldman, Barclays, SocGen eye EMC Brawls have broken out in French supermarkets as shoppers scramble to get their hands on discounted jars of chocolate and hazelnut spread. Chaotic scenes were fi lmed in several supermarkets across the country operated by the Intermarche chain, which offered massive discounts on jars of Nutella. The promotion, launched on Thursday, reduced the price of more than a million 950-gram jars from 4.70 euros ($5.85) to 1.41 ($1.75). In one video posted on Twitter, customers are seen shoving each other and shouting as they try to get as many jars as possible. According to Le Parisien newspaper, shoppers started to fi ght in the northern town of Ostricourt, prompting police to step in. Intermarche did not immediately answer a message from The Associated Press seeking comments. Ferrero, the company that produces Nutella, decried the incidents and distanced itself from the supermarket chain. We want to clarify that the decision for the special offer was taken unilaterally by Intermarche, the company said in a statement. We regret the consequences of this operation, which created confusion and disappointment in the consumers minds. (AP) Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Britain s Barclays Plc and French lender Societe Generale SA are interested in buying the Equities, Markets and Commodities (EMC) division of Germany s Commerzbank AG, Handelsblatt reported on Thursday. The EMC unit includes Commerzbank s exchange traded funds (ETF) portfolio which many banks have expressed interest in buying, the German newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. However, Commerzbank Chief Executive Martin Zielke wanted to sell the EMC division which also includes equity derivatives and other market making businesses as a single unit, according to the report. Barclays declined to comment on the report. Goldman Sachs, Commerzbank and Societe Generale did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The German bank, which is reducing its staff to 36,000 by 2020 from 43,000 at the end of 2015, has been focusing on expanding its retail customer base. Commerzbank was hit hard by the financial crisis and received an 18 billion-euro ($22.3 billion) state bailout. The lender had reported a 472 million-euro net profit in the third quarter, saying it was expecting a slightly positive net profit for fullyear (RTRS) Commodities Weekly Gold at 17-month high Crude oil rally fades as headwinds loom LONDON, Jan 27, (RTRS): Oil paused on Friday after hitting fresh three-year highs in the previous session, but weakness in the dollar continued to underpin prices. Brent crude futures stood at $70.21 per barrel at 1441 GMT, 21 cents below their last close. On Thursday, the contract climbed to as high as $71.28 per barrel, its highest since US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.61 a barrel, 10 cents higher. On Thursday, they also reached their highest since December 2014, at $66.66 per barrel. Both contracts were set for weekly gains after support from a weakening dollar, which on Friday hit new three-year lows against a basket of other leading currencies. For as long as the US dollar remains on the defensive, no more pronounced price fall on the oil market is likely to ensue, Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said in a note. As oil is traded in dollars, swings in the greenback can impact oil demand as they affect the price of fuel purchases for countries using other currencies. Still, crude prices were capped by seasonally weakening demand. Georgi Slavov, head of research at commodities brokerage Marex Spectron, said despite a generally healthy outlook, there were shortterm oil demand headwinds due to the coming end of winter in the northern hemisphere. Many refiners shut down after winter for maintenance, resulting in lower orders for crude, their most important feedstock. Demand is starting to weaken as... refining capacity was taken out of the market, Slavov said. This is reflecting in oil inventories. US bank Morgan Stanley noted that global oil stocks built up overall in the week ending Jan 19. On the supply side, US oil production is expected to hit 10 million barrels per day (bpd) soon, putting it on a par with top exporter Saudi Arabia. Output has grown by more than 17 percent since mid Only Russia produces more, averaging million bpd in Rising US output threatens to undermine the supply restraint led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, aimed at propping up prices. The cuts, coupled with demand growth, have contributed to a near 60 percent rise in oil prices since mid-2017 as excess crude inventories have been drawn down. Gold rose on Friday, climbing back towards the previous session s 17-month peak as suggestions senior US officials may support a weaker dollar knocked the currency lower. The dollar slipped 0.4 percent against the euro on Friday as comments in favour of a weaker US currency by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led investors to suspect a protracted decline in the greenback may be likely, even though President Donald Trump said he wanted to see a strong dollar. Spot gold was 0.4 percent higher at $1, an ounce at 1505 GMT, up 1.6 percent so far this week. The metal hit its highest since August 2016 on Thursday at $1, Once again it s all about the dollar, Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said, saying gold was threatening to break out to levels not seen since But it is looking overstretched on several technical indicators and there will probably be a degree of short-term profit taking, he said, adding that gold could rise to $1,400 this year if the dollar and interest rates were favourable. Dollar weakness tends to benefit assets priced in the US unit, which become more affordable for holders of other currencies, while ultralow interest rates cut the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. World stocks were set for their 10th straight week of gains on Friday, having rallied over the past year on the back of a synchronised uptick in global economic growth, a boon to corporate profits and stock valuations. Gold could benefit if that scorching run cools, GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters said, predicting that volatility in equities and concerns over global politics could lead to a spike in gold prices above $1,500 an ounce this year. US gold futures were down 0.8 percent at $1,352 an ounce. Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.6 percent at $17.40, having touched its highest in more than four months at $17.69 on Thursday. It was this week s best performing precious metal, climbing 2.4 percent from Friday s close. The US dollar remains in the driving seat of the metal markets, causing a lot of volatility for silver, Julius Baer said in a note. We remain neutral but lift our 12-month price target to $17.50 per ounce due to signs of improving industrial demand. Platinum was up 0.3 percent at $1,013.24, while palladium was down 0.7 percent at $1, After hitting record highs this year, the metal was on track for its second weekly loss, dropping nearly 1 percent so far this week. Earnings boost Wall St to record highs; dollar extends its retreat NEW YORK, Jan 27, (Agencies): Strong earnings from Intel and other companies drove Wall Street indexes to record closing highs on Friday, while the US dollar remained weak after recent comments by the US Treasury secretary. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2 percent, its biggest daily percentage gain since March 1. The S&P and the two other main indexes all notched their best four-week runs since Stocks around the globe also rose. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, climbed for a 10th straight week, its longest weekly winning streak since Shares of Intel Corp jumped more than 10 percent and hit their highest level since October 2000 a day after the company reported quarterly results. The results of Intel and some other companies helped investors shrug off weaker-than-expected US economic growth data. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department reported. Shares of drugmaker AbbVie Inc also climbed 10 percent after the company significantly boosted its 2018 earnings forecast and said it hopes to accelerate dividend growth and share buybacks. Fourth-quarter earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now estimated at 13.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data, up from 12 percent at the start of the year. Also helping equities, the US dollar remained weak against a basket of major currencies, still bruised by comments earlier this week by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in support of a weak dollar and following Friday s US growth data. President Donald Trump s comments on Thursday in favor of a strong dollar, a day after Mnuchin said a weaker greenback would help US trade balances in the short term, failed to keep dollar bears in check. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.33 percent at 89.1 and on track for a weekly fall of 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose points, or 0.85 percent, to 26,616.71, the S&P 500 gained points, or 1.18 percent, to 2,872.87, and the Nasdaq Composite added points, or 1.28 percent, to 7, The pan-european FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.54 percent, and MSCI s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.67 percent. For the week, the MSCI index was up 2 percent. In a weekly note on capital flows, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said that 98 percent of global equity markets are now trading above 50- MSCI global index climbs for 10th straight week Wall St Week Ahead More likely to raise eyebrows Trump speech may not lift stocks NEW YORK, Jan 27, (RTRS): Anybody hoping for a replay of the stock market advance that followed US President Donald Trump s fi rst address to Congress may be disappointed. This time around, shares could suffer if Trump does not tread carefully on hot-button issues. The S&P 500 jumped 1.4 percent the day after Trump s speech last February, as an unexpectedly measured tone from the notoriously abrasive president boosted investor optimism that he would be able to deliver on pro-business campaign promises. But with a new tax law under his belt, Trump is expected to use his late-night State of the Union speech on Tuesday to applaud that victory and broach topics including trade agreements, immigration reform and infrastructure spending. That may not be enough to inspire investors further, after enthusiasm about corporate tax cuts helped push the S&P 500 up more than 19 percent in 2017 and close to 7 percent so far this year. Nothing is going to trump tax reform, said Michael O Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. Since I expect the president to do a victory lap, the typical market reaction would be a sell-the-news reaction in contrast to last year. The S&P 500 has had only 4 daily declines so far this year, and the chances of a Jan 31 selloff are higher if the market does not take a breather before then, O Rourke said. Investors could be rattled by tough talk from Trump on issues including US immigration policy, which has already divided lawmakers in a Republican-controlled Congress and led to and 200-day moving averages, though the pace of the melt-up meant a correction was increasingly likely. World equity markets have rallied over the past year, buoyed by a synchronized uptick in global economic growth in a boon to corporate profits and stock valuations. US Treasury yields climbed after the US GDP data and after the governor of the Bank of Japan said inflation is finally close to reaching the central bank s 2 percent target. Intel s shares surged as high as $49.95, the highest level since October 2000, and were last up 9.81 percent after results indicated that the chipmaker s shift to higher-margin data-center business was working. AbbVie s shares jumped percent to a record after the drugmaker significantly boosted its 2018 earnings forecast with help from US tax reform and said it hopes to accelerate dividend growth and share buybacks. Earnings are driving the bus right now on the backdrop of still-strong economic growth prospects. You have the prospect of getting more economic growth because of tax reform, said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management in Milwaukee. Fourth-quarter earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now estimated at 13.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data, up from 12 percent at the start of the year. Of the 133 companies in the index that have reported through Friday, 79.7 percent have topped expectations. The earnings enabled investors to shrug off a reading on economic growth that came in below expectations. Buoyed by AbbVie, the S&P healthcare index gained 1.62 percent, the best performer among the 11 major S&P sectors and on track for its best day since November Also lifting the index were gains in Pfizer, up 4.14 percent after a European regulator recommended granting marketing approval to a diabetes drug a three-day government shutdown. He s got to tread carefully on the hot-button items, said Phil Blancato, chief executive of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management in New York, citing immigration and trade talks. He noted that a pro-immigration agenda could be the easiest way to expand the US workforce to boost an economy with a tight labor market. Congress agreed to extend funding to Feb 8 and the White House is expected to unveil an immigration legislation framework a day before the speech. Strategists also are wary about how Trump will approach international trade, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in his speech due to his tendency for America First rhetoric. We know historically protectionism is bad for the economy. It s bad for markets. You open a great deal of uncertainty if you hone in on that, said JonesTrading s O Rourke. US offi cials on Thursday probed Canadian proposals for unblocking talks on NAFTA but there were few signs of progress, raising questions about whether any real movement is happening at the penultimate round of negotiations on the treaty. Any trade comments would also come on the heels of Trump approving a steep tariff on solar panels and washing machines, moves those industries have warned could raise prices and endanger jobs. To be sure, Trump could boost sentiment with details on a plan to rebuild US infrastructure. On Wednesday he promised $1.7 trillion in investments over the next 10 years. But any related gains may be limited to sectors like industrials and materials. And in general, big moves like the one seen last year are relatively rare. The market moved more than 1 percent in either direction just 15 times the day after the annual US presidential address since 1965, when it was fi rst televised at night. By comparison, it had a 1 percent or more move 13 times in the session before the speech. Retail investors may be more likely than professional fund managers to let policy comments infl uence their trading, said Blancato, who is not planning to make any asset allocation changes based on the speech. Investors may also be less sensitive to the speech s message this time around. Many now say they largely ignore politics after a tumultuous year with a divided Republican party, heated exchanges with nuclear-armed North Korea, a probe of possible collusion between Trump s election campaign and Russia and the government shutdown. Traders have instead focused on economic data and earnings, which continue to look strong. Analysts expect the S&P 500 s fourth-quarter earnings per share to rise by 12.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data. Short of something truly stupid like a trade war with China or a withdrawal from NAFTA, or something horrifi c like a nuclear confl ict with North Korea, we don t see a scenario where investors are likely to elevate politics to the same level of importance as the global recovery and improving earnings, said Robert Phipps, a director at Per Stirling Capital Management in Austin, Texas. developed by the company and Merck, up 0.82 percent. Starbucks dropped 4.99 percent after it warned 2018 global cafe sales growth would be at the low end of its forecast. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.18-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 96 new 52- week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 141 new highs and 19 new lows. European shares edged up on Friday, helped by a solid update from luxury group LVMH but not enough to counter the impact of a rising euro, which spoiled a strong start to the year and left them broadly flat over the week. The traffic light for dollar sellers is a bit less green, said Anthilia Capital fund manager Giuseppe Sersale. A strong euro typically hurts European exporters whose products become less competitive against rivals producing in a weaker currency. BEC Muzaini Dollarco Commercial Bank Gulf Bank NBK Burgan Bank ABK KFH KBE BEC Muzaini Dollarco Commercial Bank Gulf Bank NBK Burgan Bank ABK KFH KBE BEC Muzaini Dollarco Gulf Bank ABK KFH KBE exchange rates Jan 27 Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy US dollar Danish krone Cyprus pound Sterling pound Indian rupee Yemeni riyal travellers cheques US dollar Sterling Euro local gold BEC Commercial Bank Gulf Bank Al-Ahli Bank BEC Muzaini Exchange Euro Pakistani rupee Thai baht Japanese yen Sri Lanka rupee South African rand Swiss franc Bangladesh taka Korean won Gold 999 kg 12, Canadian dollar Philippine peso Syrian pound Gold tola 1, Gold ounce Swedish krona Australian dollar Iranian Riyal Gold gm 22k Saudi riyal Gold gm 21k Hong Kong dollar Lebanese pound Gold gm 18k UAE dirham Singapore dollar Malaysian ringgit gm Bahraini dinar gm Jordanian dinar Indonesian rupiah Omani riyal Egyptian pound New Zealand dollar All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

31 INTERNATIONAL 31 Syria lost Continued from Page 1 brought about by promises of the approaching fall of Assad s regime, in addition to the slogan: Assad will go either through a political solution or military operation. This still resonates in people s minds. Despite everything, half of the Syrian population had been displaced from their houses and their country; yet the regime is still there. In fact, various opposition factions representing the Syrians are searching for the option of coexisting with the regime. Undoubtedly, the Syrian onslaught has started to pose threat to neighboring Arab countries as the scope of conflict expands. This means further weakening of Arab countries. This is what Assad s seekers should have realized from the beginning to, at least, maintain their unity in the face of the storm. Instead, they decided to kill a fly with a hammer. This was an ill-studied reaction. Infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood Group transformed the entire revolution into its interest by fortifying itself and hiding behind the innocent to realize its well-drawn objective in Western intelligence circles. Today, Syrian factions are preparing for a new round of talks. These talks are controlled by the interests of international stockholders. Therefore, these talks will almost be an extension of further misery since these countries are looking for more gains without caring about the price that Syrians are paying. This is what the Syrians should perceive. They should not bank on unrealistic dreams. They should focus on the joy of their compatriots as they return to their country. They should end fascination over toppling this or that side. They should realize that countries do not seek victory from humanitarian grounds as they rather need funds, weapons and even fighters to achieve their interests. Until when will Syrians bury their heads in the sand? Until when will Arabs, who failed to find less expensive solution to changing the regime, continue to be pushed towards more crises; whereas Turkey is keen on cutting off a portion of Syria, the Iranian plague of Hezbollah and other sectarian militias continue to spread in Syria s body, and Russia fortifies itself with a portion of Syrian land? As all this continues to unfold, the US plants its bases throughout Syria while the opposition is still divided on the gender of angels. Is it not time for Assad s seekers to let go of their rhetoric which seems to have become elusive, if not impossible? The only party which is able to impose solution is the Arabs who need to agree on ending the miserable crisis in Syria, or they can distance themselves and admit their weakness, which means collapse of the entire Arab national security forts. After all these, we say to the people of Syria, All you need to do is to return to your country, just like the people of Aleppo did voluntarily and embarked on reconstruction of their city with their own efforts. Duterte serious Continued from Page 1 processing and issuing overseas employment certificates to all Kuwaitbound workers. Citing DOLE records, Villanueva said that, in just one year, there were reportedly 1,447 cases of maltreatment, 2,959 cases of contract violation, 227 sexual abuses, and 63 cases of rape of Filipino workers. The senator asked the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and Department of Foreign Affairs to double their efforts to protect Filipino workers. He also urged these government agencies to immediately and effectively settle cases of abuse faced by Filipinos abroad. Prince Alwaleed Continued from Page 1 expected to be put on trial. On Friday, an official Saudi source said several prominent businessmen have reached financial settlements with authorities, including Waleed al-ibrahim, owner of regional television network MBC, who was released. Terms of his settlement were not revealed. Saudi authorities have said they expect to raise some $100 billion for the government through such settlements a huge windfall for the state, which has seen its finances squeezed by low oil prices. Allegations against Prince Alwaleed, who is in his early 60s, included money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, a Saudi official told Reuters in November. In his first interview since he was taken into custody, conducted hours before his release, Prince Alwaleed told Reuters that he was continuing to maintain his innocence of any corruption in talks with authorities. He said he expected to keep full control of his global investment firm Kingdom Holding Co without being required to give up assets to the government. The senior Saudi official, asked if the attorney general was convinced of the innocence of Prince Alwaleed, said: I will not negate or confirm what he says. Generally this falls back to those who concluded the settlement, and for sure there is no settlement unless there are violations and they are not concluded without the accused admitting it in writing and promising not to repeat it. The source declined to give further details, but confirmed that Prince Alwaleed would remain head of the Kingdom Holding. KUNA photo Marc Van Peel, President of Antwerp port and Sheikh Yusuf Al Sabah Director General of Kuwait Ports Authority with the Kuwaiti delegation. Belgian Antwerp port honors int l trainees, including Kuwaitis The Belgian port of Antwerp held a reception Friday to honor a group of trainees who completed a 10-day course at Europe s second-largest port. The training course was attended by 41 trainees from 19 countries, which reflects the good cooperation between the port authorities of these countries, Marc Van Peel, Vice-Mayor for the Port of Antwerp and President of the Antwerp Port, said in his speech at the ceremony. Meanwhile, Director General of the Kuwait Ports Authority Sheikh Yusuf Abdullah Al-Sabah, who led the 12-member Kuwaiti delegation, thanked, in his speech, the Board of Directors of the Port of Antwerp for the special session and for the valuable lectures by a number of experts. He also praised the trainees of the Kuwait Port Authority through their active participation in the work of the training program, wishing them success in serving their country Kuwait. The ceremony was attended by Emad Al-Kandari, second secretary at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Belgium. (KUNA) UNESCO chief praises HH Amir for boosting dev, culture in ME PARIS, Jan 27, (KUNA): The UNESCO chief on Friday lauded His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his remarkable role for boosting development and culture in the Middle East. Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Audrey Azoulay, praised His Highness humanitarian role during a meeting with the State of Kuwait Ambassador to France Sami Al-Suleiman. The Kuwaiti envoy handed over to the UNESCO chief an invitation from Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to partake in the planned international conference for reconstructing Iraq. She expressed her keen readiness to partake in the event, due in Kuwait on Feb The two sides discussed UNESCO s support for education and culture in war-stricken regions in Iraq. Meanwhile, two Kuwaiti officials The release of Prince Alwaleed, whose net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at $17 billion, is likely to reassure investors in his global business empire as well as in the Saudi economy broadly. Directly or indirectly through Kingdom Holding, he holds stakes in firms such as Twitter Inc and Citigroup Inc, and has invested in top hotels including the George V in Paris and the Plaza in New York. He described his confinement as a misunderstanding and said he supports reform efforts by the crown prince. There are no charges. There are just some discussions between me and the government, he said in the interview. Prince Alwaleed appeared greyer and thinner than in his last public appearance, a television interview in October, and had grown a beard while in detention. I have nothing to hide at all. I m so comfortable, I m so relaxed. I shave here, like at home. My barber comes here. I m like at home, frankly speaking, he said. He granted the 30-minute interview, including a tour of his suite, partly to disprove rumours of mistreatment and of being moved from the hotel to a prison. The prince said he was able to communicate with family members and executives at his business during his time in detention. Prince Alwaleed showed off the comforts of his gold-accented private office, dining room and kitchen, which was fully stocked with his preferred vegetarian meals. In the corner of his office sat tennis shoes, which he said he used regularly for exercise. A television played business news programmes, and a mug with an image of his own face on it was perched on the desk. After being released, Prince Alwaleed said, he plans to continue living in Saudi Arabia and to return to the challenge of juggling his global business interests. Taleban suicide Continued from Page 1 The latest attack will add pressure on President Ashraf Ghani and his US allies, who have expressed growing confidence that a new more aggres- Officials reiterate Kuwait s cultural role on Saturday stressed the significant role of Kuwaiti cultural institutions in the creation of Gulf and Arab intellectual thought. The Kuwaiti Information Ministry s officials made the remarks to KUNA following the opening of the 49th Cairo International Book Fair. Onoud Al-Said, an official at the ministry s foreign media sector, said the State of Kuwait boasts of great cultural weight, and is home to the most ancient cultural institutions in the Gulf Region. She pointed out that these cultural agencies had greatly contributed to the promotion of intellectual and cultural opening-up nationwide. She spoke highly of the distinguished and comprehensive role of the Cairo International Book Fair in the development of Arab thought involving literary, art and political areas. In this context, the Kuwaiti official reiterated her country s eagerness to partake in various international activities, primarily the book fair. On his part, Basel Al-Shemeri, the head of the Information Ministry s exhibition department, said the Kuwaiti pavilion at the fair showcases the publications and photos of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah marking the 12th anniversary of ascension to power. The pavilion also includes publications pertinent to Kuwait s history, tradition and accomplishments in all domains, together with key Kuwaiti writers publications, he added. He underlined the important role of Kuwaiti cultural institutions in mirroring Kuwait s honorable cultural and intellectual image. The 49th Cairo International Book Fair kick-started in Cairo earlier on Friday, attracting exhibitors from 27 Arab and foreign countries. Furthermore, Moroccan Minister of Culture and Communication Mohammad Laaraj received Abdulaziz Al- Babtain, Chairman of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation, on Friday. Al-Babtain, a celebrated Kuwaiti poet now on a visit to Morocco, is to attend a ceremony in the northern city of Fes to honor him in recognition of his support to the cultural movement in Morocco and the Arab world. In a statement to KUNA following the meeting, he expressed joy for visiting the Kingdom of Morocco which has exemplary relations with the State of Kuwait in various fields, notably the Continued from Page 1 as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. God willing we will crush them (terror groups) like a steam roller, Erdogan said Saturday during a speech in Istanbul. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hit out at critics, explaining the operation was not an option but a necessity. Earlier this month, the US-led coalition fighting IS said it was working to create a 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria. The US must cut its ties with a terror organisation. It must take back the weapons it has given, Cavusoglu said, adding Turkey now wanted to see concrete steps taken. During their call, McMaster and Kalin agreed to coordinate closely in order to prevent misunderstandings. The contact came just days after Washington and Ankara bitterly contested each other s accounts of a telephone conversation between Erdogan and US President Donald Trump. A White House statement said Trump urged Turkey to limit its military actions, but a Turkish official said this was not an accurate reflection of the leaders call. There have been expressions of concern over the offensive from other Western allies including the European Union. German police on Saturday ordered the dispersal of a protest against the ofble, said former deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayub Salangi. People helped walking-wounded away as ambulances with sirens wailing inched their way through the traffic-clogged streets of the city centre. I was sitting in the office when the explosion went off, said Alam, an office worker whose head was badly cut in the blast. All the windows shattered, the building collapsed and everything came down. The Swedish and Dutch embassies as well as the European Union mission and an Indian consular office are also nearby but there were no reports that any of their staff had been hurt in the attack. Turks press cultural one. The bilateral relations kept growing under the leadership of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and King of Morocco Mohammad VI, he said. Al-Babtain highlighted the role of culture in bringing the Arab peoples closer to each other, noting the contributions of his foundation in this regard and in supporting the cultural movement in the region. On his part, the Moroccan minister said lauded, in a statement to KUNA, the historical deep-rooted relations with Kuwait and the growing cooperation in the cultural, political and economic areas. Regarding the role of Al-Babtain Foundation, Laaraj said it organized, and offered essential support to, a range of cultural activities in Morocco and other parts of the Arab world. He commended Al-Babtain as a good example of an Arab intellectual and a dedicated defender of the Arab and Muslim identity. The Kuwaiti poet plays an important role in promoting the values of peace, tolerance and coexistence that constitute the main features of the Arab Muslim civilization, the minister added. sive military strategy has succeeded in driving Taleban insurgents back from major provincial centres. Today s attack is nothing short of an atrocity, and those who have organized and enabled it must be brought to justice and held to account, Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement. The United States has stepped up its assistance to Afghan security forces and increased its air strikes against the Taleban and other militant groups, aiming to break a stalemate and force the insurgents to the negotiating table. However, the Taleban have dismissed suggestions they have been weakened by the new strategy, and the past week has shown their capacity to mount deadly, high-profile attacks is undiminished, even in the heavily protected centre of Kabul. The US-led international force in Afghanistan vowed its support for the Afghan government and armed forces in their difficult and dangerous work, adding that none of its members had been killed or wounded in the blast. Saturday is a working day in Afghanistan and the streets were full when the blast went off at around lunchtime in a busy part of the city close to shops and markets and near a number of foreign embassies and government buildings. Mirwais Yasini, a member of parliament who was nearby when the explosion occurred, said an ambulance approached the checkpoint and blew up. The target was apparently an interior ministry building but the victims were mainly people who happened to be in the street. Buildings hundreds of metres away were shaken by the force of the blast, which left torn bodies strewn on the street amid piles of rubble, debris and wrecked cars. The casualty toll is the worst since 150 people were killed in a truck bomb explosion last May near the German embassy, an attack that prompted a major reinforcement of security aimed at preventing similar vehicle-borne attacks. With much of central Kabul now a heavily fortified zone of high concrete blast walls and police checkpoints, there were angry questions about how the bomber had been able to get through and set off the blast. Officials must be held responsifensive attended by over 15,000 in Cologne because of the presence of PKK symbols, banned in Germany. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group told AFP the fighting was concentrated in the northwest part of the Afrin region. Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels had taken a village and were making progress, albeit slowly because of bad weather, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. An AFP correspondent in the Syrian town of Azaz held by pro-ankara fighters, east of Afrin, could hear sporadic artillery fire. The Turkish military said at least 394 terrorist organisation members were neutralised in the operation. It was not possible to independently verify the toll. The Observatory said 111 Ankarabacked rebels and Kurdish fighters have been killed between both sides since last Saturday. It said 38 civilians have been killed, mainly as a result of Turkish shelling, but Ankara strongly rejects such claims. Health workers in Afrin told AFP they feared the offensive would lead to a humanitarian tragedy. Medication and humanitarian aid necessary to help civilians will soon run out, said Khalil Sabri Ahmed, head of the main hospital in Afrin. The UN children s agency UNICEF said at least 11 children were killed since the operation began. Turkey s AFAD emergencies agency head Mehmet Gulluoglu said they were making plans for a camp to be established in Azaz in the face of a possible refugee influx from Afrin. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will send his Syria peace negotiator to a conference in Russia next week, a spokesman said Saturday, despite the Syrian opposition s boycott of the meeting. Guterres is confident that the congress in Sochi will be an important contribution to reviving the peace talks held under UN auspices in Geneva, a UN spokesman said in a statement. Russia had long sought UN participation in the conference opening Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to lend credibility to its diplomatic efforts to end the six-year war. Hours earlier, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura ended a ninth round of UN- sponsored talks in Vienna, with no sign of progress toward a peace deal. I share the immense frustration of millions of Syrians inside and outside the country at the lack of a political settlement to date, De Mistura said. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric indicated that Guterres had received assurances that the Sochi conference would not seek to sideline the UN talks. Guterres was briefed by De Mistura on the outcome of the Vienna talks, and has taken into account a statement from Russia that the result of the Sochi conference would be brought to Geneva as a contribution to the intra- Syrian talks process under the auspices of the United Nations, the spokesman said in a statement. The UN chief has decided to accept the invitation of the Russian Federation to send a representative to attend the Sochi Congress and has asked De Mistura to go, he added. Russia has invited more than 1,500 delegates to the two-day conference that the West views with suspicion. In Vienna, the Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC) announced it would not be attending the Sochi conference. The main opposition coalition fears that Russia will push a peace deal that will keep President Bashar al-assad s authority intact after six years of bloodshed. Human rights Continued from Page 1 upbringing. He observed that creating work environment that supports women will help improve their role without degenerating family stability, urging all institutions in the country must work toward this objective. He explained the idea is to allow women enjoy paid maternity leave without necessarily restricting them to a maximum of three years benefit during their years in active service. However, the majority of comments on social media frowned at the proposal, which many regard as fleeing upfront after failure to get a nod for the proposed early retirement. Newswatch Continued from Page 1 Transitional Council vowed to overthrow the government of Ahmed bin Daghr unless Hadi dismissed his cabinet within a week. (RTRS) ADEN: A drone strike early Saturday killed seven suspected al-qaeda militants in southern Yemen, a security official said. The US military is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen. (AFP) SANAA: Yemeni security officials and witnesses say fighting between Shiite rebel forces and others loyal to Yemen s internationally recognized government in the southwestern city of Taiz has killed at least 48 people on both sides. They said Friday that fighting intensified earlier this week when forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi attempted to regain full control over the city and expel rebel forces surrounding it. (AP) BAGHDAD: Friendly fire from the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State killed 10 members of the Iraqi security forces and a local official in an air strike west of Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi officials said. Early investigations indicated that Iraqi forces had called in an air strike against a local police force in the town of al-baghdadi, 170 kms (106 miles) northwest of Baghdad, assuming that they were militants, military and security officials said. (RTRS) DAVOS: US President Donald Trump said Friday that USbacked coalition forces had won back almost 100 percent of territory occupied by the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The coalition to defeat ISIS (IS) has retaken almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria, Trump said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AFP) KIRKUK, Iraq: A mass grave containing the remains of dozens of civilians and security personnel apparently executed by jihadists has been found in northern Iraq s Kirkuk province, its governor said on Friday. Rakan Said al-juburi told AFP it was the 14th such discovery in the area. (AFP) WARSAW: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday said he stands by his claim that Russia bears responsibility for recent chemical attacks in Syria, despite strong denials from Moscow. These are just unacceptable deployments of chemicals in ways that violate all conventions which Russia itself has signed up for. It violates agreements that Russia undertook to be responsible for identifying and eliminating the chemical weapons inside of Syria, Tillerson said during a visit to Warsaw. (AFP) UNITED NATIONS: The United States will seek to boost its case for United Nations action against Iran when Security Council envoys visit Washington on Monday to view pieces of weapons that US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Tehran gave to Yemen s Houthi group. (RTRS)

32 SPORTS 32 Cozmo Team Kuwait National Exchange Team Spongky Strikers Dominant Al-Qassem All Stars maintain Cup top spot Swooping Eagles retrieve elite membership, X Strikers ejected KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Three games remaining in the elimination round of the 2018 Philippine Bowling Associations in Kuwait General Members Cup Team Tournament at the Kheifan s COZMO Bowling Center there were indication of teams exclusion and inclusion both on the inner and outer circle of the elite group vying for the final rounds. Swooping Eagles claimed once more its elite membership while X Strikers lost its fortress built from tournament s opening day. Another new team entry from outside might befall if the least team from inside the inner circle played oblivious and enigmatic. Meanwhile, this week winning teams were Swooping Eagles, Haribon Slazers, COZMO, Kuwait National Exchange Co, Asian Air Safari and Al Qassem All Stars. NUSANTARA Team France s Tessa Worley clears a gate during the fi rst of the Women s giant slalom race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup on Jan 27 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. (AFP) Worley edges Rebensburg, wins GS; Shiffrin struggles Feuz claims thundering victory in Germisch LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland, Jan 27, (Agencies): Tessa Worley had perfect timing to win her first World Cup race of the season Saturday in the final giant slalom before the Pyeongchang Olympics. The world champion from France survived a tricky passage through the steep and twisting first three gates of her second run to hold off Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany by 0.07 seconds. "This victory was built on the first run," Worley said. "In the second one there were some errors, but really happy to be able to attack until the end." Unheralded 19-year-old Meta Hrovat placed third, 1.45 behind Worley. Hrovat gave the Slovenia team a firsttime podium finisher for the second straight day. Mikaela Shiffrin, the World Cup overall leader, placed seventh, almost two seconds back. The American star's winless streak is five races after a fiverace winning streak to start the year. On both runs, Shiffrin skied the top section cautiously, sliding into curves where it was risky to let the skis run fast. Shiffrin stood fifth after the first run but, having completed the race out of SKIING the podium places, skied directly out of the finish area. Still, she extended her big lead in the overall standings in defense of her title. Shiffrin earned 36 World Cup points and now leads by 799 from Rebensburg, who rose to take second place from Wendy Holdener of Switzerland, who placed 15th Saturday. Holdener, who won the Alpine combined event Friday when Shiffrin rested, will resume their main rivalry in slalom on Sunday. Worley's 12th career World Cup win all in giant slalom followed three runner-up finishes this season. Her previous victory was taking her second Worlds gold medal, at St. Moritz last February, when Shiffrin got silver. Lenzerheide staged the last GS before the Olympic medal race on Feb 12 the first women's event on the Alpine program in South Korea. Though Worley will likely start favorite, Rebensburg is aiming for a GS medal at a third straight Olympics. The 28-year-old German got gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games and bronze four years later at the Sochi Games. Meanwhile, reigning downhill world champion Beat Feuz of Switzerland set down an Olympic marker on Saturday with a thundering victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The 30-year-old Swiss clocked one minute, seconds in the downhill as Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria and Italy's Dominik Paris took joint second after they both finished at 0.18 secs back. "I was completely at my limits at the end," said a delighted Feuz following his third downhill World Cup win this season. With the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang beginning in two weeks, the Swiss now has a career total of seven Uno settles for 2nd, Brown 3rd Chinese Boyang wins in Taiwan before Olympics TAIPEI, Jan 27, (AFP): China's Jin Boyang won gold at the Four Continents Championships in Taipei on Saturday, saying the medal is a confidence booster as he heads to his first Olympics next month. Jin, 20, was returning after an ankle injury that had forced him to withdraw from the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya last month. He finished with a total score of points Saturday after a free skating programme to a selection of songs featured in the Star Wars franchise, including "Cantina Band" by John Williams. Japan's Shoma Uno, 20, took second place while American skater Jason Brown, 23, won bronze. Speaking at a press conference after his performance, Jin said he hopes to skate even better at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "The results of this competition Jin Boyang of China performs during the Men s Free Skating program at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan 27. (AP) downhill victories, with a further three in the Super-G, on the World Cup circuit. Aksel Lund Svindal was first down the Kandahar course and held the lead until Feuz, fifth down the piste, shaved 0.28 seconds off his time on the lower section. Norwegian veteran Svindal, 35, eventually finished fourth. Last year's downhill winner in Garmisch, Hannes Reichelt of Austria, was 0.12 quicker than Feuz's time at the fourth time check, but faded to finish fifth at Likewise, Germany's Andreas Sander charged down the course and was leading until the final turn, but a mistake cost him nearly a second and he crossed the line in eleventh place. gave me even greater confidence to challenge myself to pull off two perfect performances (in) Pyeongchang," he told reporters. "I'm not thinking too much about placement. I just hope to skate even more perfectly each time, even more than this time," he added. Jin described the training coming back from his injury as the hardest he has ever had. Uno said he kept calm despite being thrown off initially during his free skate number when he stumbled on a quad flip. "What I learned from today is that I still need to and I still have the FIGURE SKATING room to level up the quality of my jumps," he told reporters. North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik stole the show Friday, taking bronze for the pairs competition -- their first international medal. Interest in the pair has skyrocketed since North Korea made a surprise announcement earlier this month that it would send a team to Pyeongchang, even though North and South Korea are still technically at war. Japanese skaters claimed all three medals for the ladies competition, with Kaori Sakamoto taking gold. NEW YORK, Jan 27, (AP): US men's figure skating history at the Olympics is gilded with gold. Nathan Chen has his sights set on some more. At 18 and already a two-time national champion, Chen is among the favorites for the Pyeongchang Games. Some say there are five reasons why: the number of quadruple jumps he has planned for the free skate. And that outrageous agenda puts him in a stratosphere to which his fellow contenders can't soar. There's more to Chen, though, than the four-revolution jump that essentially has become the decider in the men's event. He's improved every aspect of his performance though his triple axel can be wonky from artistry to footwork to spins to overall presentation. "You need the full package," Chen said. "The jumps have come quicker than the rest for me. Maybe its innate, I have a body built to jump. I need to find a purpose in my movements, to feel the program and the music, to analyze what I was doing right and wrong. BOWLING After two consecutive losses the Swooping Eagles taste its new sweet victory over Original Pin Killers 2,858-2,691 while the later continued its downward spiral with their third loss in a row. With the win the Eagles retrieved it elite membership they lost last week elimination round against KNEC. Before the start of the game, Pin Killers habitual flaws happened for the advantage of Eagles winning the first game In the second game the OPK retaliated and outscored the Eagles but the strong will and determination of the Eagles to recover gave them the win and finally secured the victory. Eagles Glen Corbitt scored 545 and Riz Roque added 502 supported by Danny Solis (480), Alonzo Bush (424) and Jessica Balagat (412) while OPK high scorer was Rashid Aker Ali (574), Ishaaq Al Waahid (450), Ali Al Shatti (364), Alma Turley (344) and Keturah Johnson (124). Kuwait National Exchange Co swept the 3-game series and ousted the X Strikers 1, , 1, , (3,052-2,711) from the Super 6 and nursing in eight place behind Asian Air Safari. This is the sixth loses with two wins in eight outings of X Strikers and first time ejection from the elite group despite the numerous defeat. KNEC registered its sixth wins against two losses maintaining the second spot since third day of the eliminations. KNEC prolific scorers were Abdullah Dubayan (587), Mohammad Bowler in action For a while, it had all been done pretty much by feel. "Now, with the help of my coaches and choreographers, I have an understanding of each move. I have felt more passion in my skating and more of a connection to the music." Chen is the American with the best shot at gold in South Korea. Meanwhile, the Maple Leaf could be on frequent display above the medals podium at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Canada heads to South Korea with the strongest overall figure skating team and with medal contenders in all four individual events. That's well ahead of expectations for the United States, which would be doing well to win three medals at the Winter Games. For the Canadians, 2010 champions and 2014 runners-up Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are positioned to add more prizes to their ice dance collection. Meghan Duhamel and Eric Radford are in the mix in pairs, Patrick Chan will try to make his final Olympics more memorable than his previous visits in Karam (561), Neveem Wasel (561), Feras Al Muharab (549) assisted by Ali Al Qattan (347) and Ibrahin Dubayan (145) while X Strikers top pointer was Rocky Castil (521) supported by Joe Presenta (475), Cris Carungay (295), Bima Nitikusumo (279), Reygan Percy (246), Abel Nitikusumo (246) and Imelda Daguio (122). Another mismatch game was between the two outsiders Asian Air Safari and feeble team Spongky Strikers when the former sweeping the three games against the later 1, , , 1, (3,104-2,729). Undaunted Spongky bowlers fought the five classy bowlers of the Asian Air fearlessly and produced points of their average. Asian Air Safari certified top scorers were Aseel Roumi 258, 169, 203 (630), Basil Al Enezi (582), Salem Al Hajras (573) followed by Sandy Panopio (514) and Aqeel Al Farisy (480) while courageous puny Pongky Strikers were Gener Calingasan (499), Imelda Calingasan (468), Mohammad Othman (444), Adolfo Prena (353) and Cathy Fernandes (335). If these slot men and lady bowler of Asian Air Safari continuously played until the last elimination round there is a high probability that they can join the top 6 teams for the final round. Haribon Slazers continued its slashing spree for five consecutive weeks and spoiled NUSANTARA who won game three of their 3-game series 3,026-2,913. In Games 1 and 2 Haribon clawed the Indonesian team , 1, but in the third game the NUSANTARA guys awakened from spell and outscored the mystical Haribon 1, The win of the Nusantara was not enough to snatch the win point and the final score was 3,026-2,913 in favor of Haribon. The Haribon Slazers was led by Moises Amahan (570), Renato Legaspi (503), Mar Evangelista (498), Rudy De Lima (488) and Joel Tizon (469) while Nusantara s top scorer was Saleh Al Faraj (533), Ali Al Qassem (520), Ahmad Fahmi (502), a wide open men's field, and Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman should challenge in the women's event. "Canada is strong in all four disciplines," said Brian Orser, who trains Daleman as well as defending men's champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and two-time world champ Javier Fernandez of Spain. "Especially in the last four years, our two ladies have really risen to top, and that is exciting. "They have the biggest team, I know that, and one of the strongest," Orser said. "They will be in contention with that team of Russian skaters." The Russians, of course, will not be representing their country after the Sochi doping scandal led to sanctions against the nation by the IOC. But they will be on hand, skating under the Olympic flag, and are expected to be quite representative, particularly in women and pairs. For the Americans, Nathan Chen PBAK Executive Board Gantosori Tanjung (471) and Erlisa Gantosori (424). With the win-lose results, notwithstanding with its second defeat Nusantara still held the fifth position while Haribon clawed tightly the third position. Finally, Al Qassem All Stars continued its imperious game style thwarting the SKARZ team second win in an impressive 2,830-2,603 victory. Mousa Abdullah scored 571 points and Ibrahim Al Jadi with 565 points supported by Habeeb Redah (519), Ali Jawli (460) and Hanadi Mezaiek (453) while SKARZ 4-man teamv was led by Amaldo Fernandes (443), followed by John Fernandes (440), Stephen Sequera (415) and Fatima Fernandes (363). COZMO team without sweat easily dumped the cellar dweller Angelfire 2,857-2,411 who showed up with just two bowlers in the first game and three in the second and third game. Ronnel Valencio scored 566 points followed by Bader Malalah (494), Alex Cervantes (476), Neng Cervantes (466), Allen Morais (236) and Lito Michael (155) while the daring Angelfire lady bowlers were Jocelyn Borros (453), Eden Evangelista (374) and Fatima Jassem Mahdi (209). Week/Team Weekly High Series Score 1. Al Qassem All Stars 3,001; 2. Al Qassem All Stars 3,165; 3. KNEC Strikers 3,214; 4. Al Qassem All Stars 3,056; 5. Haribon Slazers 3,022; 6. X Strikers 2,960; 7. Al Qassem All Stars 3,124; 8. Asian Air Safari 3,004. Team/Number Position/No. of Weeks (Consecutive Weeks) 1. Al Qassem All Stars Winner Eight Round Standing: 1. Al Qassem All Stars (24,627); 2. KNEC Strikers (23,915.5); 3. Haribon Slazers (23,593); 4. COZMO Bowling Team (23,201); 5. Nusantara (22,973.5); 6. Swooping Eagles (22,834); 7. Asian Air Safari (22,720); 8. X Strikers (22,716.5); 9. Pongky Strikers (22,432.5); 10. Original Pin Killers (22,195.5); 11. SKARZ Team (21,373.5) and 12. Angelfire (18,632). Ahn wants IOC to explain why he can t go to Pyeongchang Chen favored for Olympic figure skating gold OLYMPICS and his five-quad free skate could be the biggest story of these games. Chen likely is the only gold medal candidate for the US though his nation also has a chance to win a medal in the team competition after taking bronze in Sochi. "The results are not up to me," the 18-year-old Chen said. "When I am doing things the right way, I am healthy, and I clean up mistakes, I think it is possible to win. It's important not to let any distractions get into your head. Enjoy it all, enjoy the process, and that's usually when I skate my best." Also: MOSCOW: Six-time Olympic gold medalist Viktor Ahn wants to know why he has been barred from next month's Pyeongchang Games. Ahn is a short-track speed skater who was born in South Korea but switched allegiance to Russia ahead of the 2014 Sochi Games. Russian officials say the International Olympic Committee has refused to grant Ahn an invitation amid its vetting of the country's athletes for possible doping links.

33 SPORTS 33 DHAKA, Jan 27, (AFP): Shehan Madushanka became the fourth bowler in history to claim a hat-trick on debut as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by 79 runs to win the Tri-Nation One-Day International tournament in Dhaka on Saturday. The 22-year-old pacer claimed Bangladesh s last three wickets before finishing with 3-26 as Sri Lanka defended their modest score of 221 runs by bowling out Bangladesh for 142 in 41.1 overs. Madushanka took the wickets of Rubel Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza in the last two balls of his sixth over before he removed Mahmudullah Riyad in the next over to complete his hattrick. He joined South Africa s Kagiso Rabada, Bangladesh s Taijul Islam and team-mate Wanidu Hasaranga who have also achieved the rare feat. Mahmudullah staged a valiant fight for Bangladesh with 76 off 92 balls but he lacked support from other batsmen, who missed the batting of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan due to a finger injury he suffered in the game. Medium pacer Dushmantha Chameera and spinner Akila Dananjaya claimed two wickets each for Sri Lanka. We are over the moon... the guys put their heart and soul in the practices and then when they BANGALORE, India, Jan 27, (AFP): England s star allrounder Ben Stokes topped the Indian Premier League auction on Saturday selling for $1.96 million despite a looming court case for assault. On a day in which the eight IPL teams spent over $50m on talent, Stokes s deal with Rajasthan Royals came ahead of Indian batsmen Lokesh Rahul and Manish Pandey and Australians Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell in the top prices paid. But England captain Joe Root and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, and star batsmen Chris Gayle of West Indies and Hashim Amla of South Africa failed to attract bids. Veteran Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga also went unsold but the franchises have the option of getting them back on the auction table Sunday. Rajasthan Royals, returning to the world s wealthiest cricket league from a two-year match-fixing ban, paid $200,000 less than the record laid out for Stokes last year by Rising P u n e Supergiant. However, Stokes was delighted with the deal. Though Stokes Stokes s legal team has assured the IPL that he will be available for the full April 7-May 27 season, all eyes will be on his court hearing on February 13. If he is stopped from playing the whole season then the Royal have the right to find a replacement for Stokes, one of the best performers last season, who attracted bids from several franchises. His new team are desperate for success. The Royals were inaugural IPL champions in 2008 under Australian legend Shane Watson, but were barred for two seasons with Chennai Super Kings in 2015 over a spot-fixing scandal. Stokes edged out Australian batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner as the highest-paid foreigner in the IPL. Smith and Warner were retained by their teams for $1.9 million each to avoid the auction. India captain Virat Kohli secured a record $2.7 million deal before the auction to stay with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rahul and Pandey came just behind Stokes in the bidding war. Sunrisers Hyderabad got Rahul and Kings Xi Punjab picked Pandey for $1.7m each. Among the Australian stars, Kolkata Knight Riders snapped up prolific-scorer Lynn for $1.5m and left-arm paceman Starc for $1.47m. Delhi Daredevils got all-rounder Maxwell for $1.41m. Among other top purchases, England paceman Chris Woakes was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1.16m and Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin went for $1.19 million to Kings XI Punjab. Punjab were thwarted in several bids by the IPL s right to match rule under which a player s former side can match the winning bid to claim him back. Punjab lost Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan to Sunrisers Hyderabad after bidding $818,000 and South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis to Chennai who will have to equal their $250,000 bid. Sunrisers also used right to match to steal Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, 19, from Punjab after they made the highest bid of $1.41m. A total of 578 players are up for auction, hoping for lucrative deals after the IPL recently signed a new $2.5-billion media deal. Pakistan players are kept out of the league as sporting ties between India and Pakistan are frozen because of the tense political relations between the neighbours. Tourists crush hosts by 79 runs Madushanka s hat-trick on debut seals title for Sri Lanka CRICKET go in to the middle they put their heart and soul, said Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal. They had the plans and they executed well, and credit goes to everyone who played the series. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza refused to use Shakib s injury as an excuse. When he fell, we were sure he wouldn t be Veremalua gives Fiji victory over NZ Radradra fi res Toulon romp Action shot taken during the final day of Kuwait Motocross Championship. Kuwait s Al-Fayer wins Motorcross Champ ship KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27, (KUNA): The fourth round of Kuwait Motorcross Championship concluded on Saturday at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad track, amid participation of a large number of Kuwaiti, Arab and foreign competitors. In the open category, the top winner was the Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Fayez, ahead of the French racer, while third came the fellow Kuwaiti national, Barrak Al-Jasmi. Punjab thwarted Sri Lanka s players pose for a group photo while celebrating with the trophy after winning the fi nal match of the Tri-Nation One-Day International cricket series against Bangladesh in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Jan 27. (AP) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Daoud Al- Sabah, chairman of Kuwait Motor Sports Club, in a statement after the tournament, described the competition as a heated contest with participation of top-notch local and foreign racers. The chairman lauded the Kuwaiti champions who recorded excellent results, affirming that the sport has become quite popular among the youth. Stokes tops IPL bidding war despite court date CRICKET playing. We saw his hand. We knew it wasn t possible for him to bat. So we had asked the others not to think about it. I wouldn t use it as an excuse when chasing 220-odd runs, he said. Everyone is disappointed in the dressing room. We expected to win having come this far, he added. PARIS, Jan 27, (Agencies): Fijian powerhouse wing Josua Tuisova was sent off but Toulon still entrenched themselves deeper into a playoff spot with a victory over Bordeaux- Begles on Saturday. Rugby League convert Semi Radradra, another Fijian, bagged two tries and former England international Chris Ashton also crossed the whitewash as Toulon s six-try performance earnt them a bonus point that moved them up to fourth in the French Top 14. Tuisova also scored a try just three minutes before he was dismissed for a dangerous high tackle on Bordeaux s Australian wing Blair Connor. Forwards Juandre Kruger and Raphael Lakafia rounded out the Toulon tries although Francois Trinh-Duc managed to convert only three from six. Connor and Romain Lonca scored consolation tries for the visitors, who had started the day only a point behind their hosts. RUGBY The game was over as a contest before Tuisova was dismissed as Radradra sliced through a porous Bordeaux defence and Ashton finished off a sweeping counter for his 14th try of the season, both inside the first 10 minutes. In Sydney, Jasa Veremalua scored three minutes after the final hooter to give Fiji a win over New Zealand on Saturday and first place in the most competitive group at the Sydney Rugby Sevens. New Zealand led with time up on the clock but a knock on close to the Fiji goal line gave the Fijians a scrum which they won as the fulltime hooter sounded. Fiji carried the ball 95 meters through a series of passes and collisions before Veremalua scored in the arms of two Kiwi tacklers to snatch the most dramatic win of the tournament so far. New Zealand had trailed 14-5 with halftime approaching but a converted try to Regan Ware cut Fiji s lead to at the break. Luke Masirewa scored to give New Zealand its first lead at and it seemed likely to hold on as it dominated possession. But a flawed tactical decision to use a grubber kick to the corner in the last seconds led to a knock on and Fiji showed skill and patience to create a length-of-the-field try. RC Toulon s French flanker Raphael Lakafia (bottom) scores a try during the French Top 14 rugby union match Toulon versus Bordeaux-Begles at the Mayol Stadium on Jan 27, in Toulon, southern France. (AFP) CRICKET JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27, (RTRS): Superb seam bowling allowed India to rip through South Africa s batting line-up and seal a 63-run consolation victory on day four of the third and final Test at the Wanderers on Saturday. Chasing 241 for victory on a wicket with pace, bounce and prodigious lateral movement, South Africa were on top at 124 for one, but lost their last nine wickets for just 53 runs as India roared back into the contest. Opener Dean Elgar (86 not out) and Hashim Amla (52) had given South Africa hope with a 119-run second wicket stand, but the home side lost their way following the latter s dismissal 20 minutes before tea. The wickets were shared between the excellent Mohammed Shami (5-28), Ishant Sharma (2-31), Jasprit Bumrah (2-57) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-39). South Africa claim the series 2-1 after victories in Cape Town and Pretoria. The Test victory will be especially pleasing for India after it was achieved on a treacherous Wanderers wicket. We required some character playing on a pitch that was very difficult to play on, but our guys showed great guts and determination through the four days, India captain Virat Kohli said at the post-match presentation. We took the challenge, we wanted to face it head on. Batting first was something that didn t go down well with a lot of people, but we knew it would get even more difficult to bat as the game went on. The batsmen in particular showed bravery and skill on a surface that at once stage was deemed so dangerous by umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar that they suspended play 20 minutes from the close on day three. Resuming on 17 for one, South Africa played patiently through the rainshorted morning session, but Amla s dismissal sparked a swing in momentum. The key wickets of AB de Villiers (6) and Faf du Plessis (2) followed quickly afterwards, and when the out of form Quinton de Kock was trapped leg before wicket first ball, the home side s chances diminished. At one stage India s rampant seamers picked up six wickets for 17 runs, with only the lone hand of Elgar able to keep them at bay. India outplayed us in this Test, we didn t take our chances and were sloppy. We weren t as consistent as in the first two Tests, South African captain Faf du Plessis said. It s very disappointing standing here after a loss, but if you had offered me 2-1 before this series I would have bitten your hand off. India is a fantastic team, but we have played some really good cricket in this series. India vs South Africa Scoreboard JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27, (AFP): Final scores on the fourth day of the third and fi nal Test between South Africa and India at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday: INDIA, first innings, 187 SOUTH AFRICA, first innings, 194 INDIA, second innings, 247 SOUTH AFRICA, second innings (overnight 17-1) Markram c Patel b M. Shami... 4 Elgar not out Amla c Pandya b Sharma de Villiers c Rahane b Bumrah... 6 du Plessis b Sharma... 2 de Kock lbw b Bumrah... 0 Philander b Mohammed Shami Phehlukwayo b M. Shami... 0 Rabada c Pujara b Kumar... 0 Morkel b Mohammed Shami... 0 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Scoreboard DHAKA, Jan 27, (AFP): Scoreboard of the Tri- Nation One-Day International tournament final between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Shere-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday: SRI LANKA D. Gunathilaka c Tamim b Mehedi...6 U. Tharanga b Mustafizur...56 K. Mendis c Mahmudullah b Mortaza...28 N. Dickwella c Sabbir b Saifuddin...42 D. Chandimal b Rubel...45 T. Perera c Tamim b Rubel...2 A. Gunaratne lbw b Rubel...6 A. Dananjaya c Mithun b Mustafizur...17 S. Madushanka b Rubel...7 S. Lakmal run out...2 D. Chameera not out...1 Extras (lb 5, w2, nb2)...9 Total (all out; 50 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Gunathilaka), 2-42 (Mendis), (Dickwella), (Tharanga), (Perera), (Gunaratne), (Chandimal), (Dananjaya), (Madushanka), (Lakmal) Bowling: Mehedi , Mortaza (w1), Mustafizur (w1, nb1), Mahmudullah , Saifuddin , Shakib , Rubel (nb1) Earlier, fast bowler Rubel claimed four wickets to help Bangladesh dismiss Sri Lanka for 221 runs on a sluggish pitch at the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium. BANGLADESH Tamim Iqbal c Dananjaya b Chameera... 3 Mohammad Mithun run out Sabbir c Gunaratne b Chameera... 2 Mushfiqur c Tharanga b Dananjaya Mahmudullah c Tharanga b Madushanka Mehedi Hasan c and b Dananjaya... 5 Mohammad Saifuddin run out... 8 Mashrafe c Mendis b Madushanka... 5 Rubel Hossain b Madushanka... 0 Mustafizur Rahman not out... 0 Shakib Al Hasan injured absent...- Extras (lb 4, w6, b1) Total (all out; 41.1 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Tamim), 2-17 (Mithun), 3-22 (Sabbir), 4-80 (Mushfiqur), 5-90 (Mehedi), (Saifuddin), (Mortaza), (Rubel), ( Mahmudullah) Bowling: Lakmal , Chameera (w1), Perera , Madushanka (w2), Dananjaya (w2), Gunathilaka (w1) Result: Sri Lanka won by 79 runs Toss: Sri Lanka Umpires: Chettithody Shamsuddin (IND), Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN) TV Umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS) Match Referee: David Boon (AUS) Hossain, who returned with the figures of 4-46, was ably supported by fellow paceman Mustafizur Rahman (2-29) as the hosts made regular strikes after the visitors elected to bat first. India claim consolation victory in 3rd Test vs SA Ngidi c sub (Karthik) b M. Shami... 4 Extras (b7, w6) Total (73.3 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Markram), (Amla), (De Villiers), (Du Plessis), (De Kock), (Philander), (Phehlukwayo), (Rabada), (Morkel) Bowling: Kumar , Mohammed Shami , Bumrah (1w), Sharma , Pandya (1w) Result: India won by 63 runs Series: South Africa won the threematch series 2-1 Toss: India Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Ian Gould (ENG) TV umpire: Michael Gough (ENG) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM) South Africa lost last 9 wkts for 53 runs India s bowler Ishant Sharma bowls on the fourth day of the third cricket Test match between South Africa and India at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on South Africa on Jan 27. (AP) Immediate termination proceedings Full US Gymnastics board of directors to quit over scandal CHICAGO, Jan 27, (AFP): The entire USA Gymnastics board of directors will resign in the wake of a sex abuse scandal, as part of the organization s decision Friday to comply with US Olympic Committee requirements to avoid decertification. After former US Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar was jailed for up to 175 years for sexual abuse of girls and young women under the guise of treatment, USA Gymnastics promised to meet six requirements outlined by the USOC to remain the sport s national governing body. USA Gymnastics will comply with the USOC requirements, read the organization s statement. GYMNASTICS Nassar s victims included Olympic champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney. More than 150 women spoke out over a sentencing hearing in Michigan that lasted more than a week. A trio of USA Gymnastics board of directors top executives chairman Paul Parilla, vice chairman Jay Binder and treasurer Bitsy Kelley already stepped down Monday following stinging criticism by victims of the organization s handling of the Nassar case. USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun outlined Thursday what USA Gymnastics must do to remain a governing body, the first of those mandates being for the entire board to resign by the end of the month or face immediate termination proceedings. An interim board including athlete representatives, and not including any ousted directors, would be appointed in its place, with a permanent board elected within 12 months. USA Gymnastics must invite a USOC liaison to attend every board meeting. The USOC is already conducting an independent inquiry into the scandal, although some of the victims have criticized the USOC as well for inaction that allowed Nassar to abuse girls and women unabated for so long. Every athlete connected in any way with USAG must feel safe, supported and encouraged to speak freely about threats to their safety, Blackmun wrote. US- Parilla AG s culture must foster this in all ways. Other steps included full cooperation with the independent investigation into the Nassar scandal. All staff and board members of USA Gymnastics would also need to complete training courses at the US Center for Safe Sport. Within six months, staff and board members would also need to complete a course in ethics training. We do not base these requirements on any knowledge that any individual USAG staff or board members had a role in fostering or obscuring Nassar s actions, Blackmun wrote. Our position comes from a clear sense that USAG culture needs fundamental rebuilding.

34 SPORTS 34 LeBron s triple-double leads Cavs past Pacers Pelicans hold off Rockets CLEVELAND, Jan 27, (AP): LeBron James had his 63rd career tripledouble overcoming 11 turnovers and Cleveland Cavaliers showed signs of ending their stunning slump with a victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. James finished with 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to help the Cavs, following a minor lineup switch by coach Tyronn Lue, wins for just the fourth time in 11 games. However, James kept Indiana close in the fourth with six turnovers. BASKETBALL J.R. Smith added 23 points for Cleveland. Victor Oladipo scored 25 points for Indiana. Pelicans 115, Rockets 113 In New Orleans, Anthony Davis scored 27 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists before injuring his left Achilles, and New Orleans held off Houston. A fourth straight victory and seventh victory in eight games coming against one of the NBA s top teams should have been reason to celebrate, but there was a lot of concern about Cousins, who could not put any weight on his left foot as he was helped to the locker room with less than 15 seconds left. Team officials said an MRI will determine the severity of the injury. Bucks 116, Nets 91 In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points and 13 rebounds in Milwaukee s victory over Brooklyn. Antetokounmpo returned after sitting out two games to manage chronic pain in his right knee. Khris Middleton added 21 points for the Bucks in their second game since coach Jason Kidd was fired Monday. DeMarre Carroll and D Angelo Russell had 14 points apiece for Brooklyn. Jazz 97, Raptors 93 In Toronto, Ricky Rubio made a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left to lift Utah past Toronto. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Rubio finished with 14 points. With Utah trailing 93-92, Rubio made his 3-pointer for the 14th and final lead change of the game. After DeMar DeRozan missed a jumper, Royce O Neale sealed it with a pair of free throws. Lakers 108, Bulls 103 In Chicago, Brandon Ingram scored 25 points, including eight in the final 3:18, and Los Angeles rallied to beat Chicago after losing a 12-point, fourthquarter lead. Jordan Clarkson had 19 points, and Brook Lopez added 17 for the Lakers. They have won four straight and eight of 10.Nikola Mirotic scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Chicago. Clippers 109, Grizzlies 100 In Memphis, Tennessee, Lou Williams had 40 points and matched his season-high with 10 assists in Los Angeles victory over Memphis. Williams was 12 of 19 from the field and the Indiana Pacers Lance Stephenson (right), drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers Jeff Green during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Jan 26, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won (AP) Clippers shot 49 percent from the field, going 10 of 27 from outside the arc, to snap a three-game skid. Milos Teodosic added 18 points. 76ers 97, Spurs 78 In San Antonio, Ben Simmons scored 21 points, Joel Embiid had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and the Philadelphia held San Antonio to a season-low point total. Simmons added seven assists and five rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points for San Antonio, The Spurs lost for just the fourth time at home this season. Knicks 107, Suns 85 In Phoenix, Enes Kanter scored 15 of his 20 points in the first quarter and New York never trailed in ending its longest road trip of the season with a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. 15 for the Knicks on the final stop of a seven-game trip that ended with games on consecutive nights at Denver and Phoenix. Trey Burke scored 15 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for New York. Hornets 121, Hawks 110 In Charlotte, North Carolina, Kemba Walker scored 29 points and made two key 3-pointers down the stretch to help Charlotte beat Atlanta. Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each added 19 points, and Dwight Howard added 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Jeremy Lamb scored 12 points off the bench. Kent Bazemore led Atlanta with 26 points, and Taurean Prince added 21. Trail Blazers 107, Mavericks 93 In Dallas, Damian Lillard scored 28 points to lead Portland past Dallas. C.J. McCollum added 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 12 for the Trail Blazers (27-22). They have won four of their past five games, beating Dallas twice. Harrison Barnes scored 21 points for the Mavericks. NBA Results/Standings WASHINGTON, Jan 27, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NBA games on Friday: Charlotte 121 Atlanta 110 Cleveland 115 Indiana 108 Utah 97 Toronto 93 LA Lakers 108 Chicago 103 LA Clippers 109 Memphis 100 Milwaukee 116 Brooklyn 91 New Orleans 115 Houston 113 Portland 107 Dallas 93 Philadelphia 97 San Antonio 78 New York 107 Phoenix 85 Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Boston Toronto Philadelphia New York /2 Brooklyn Central Division W L PCT GB Cleveland Milwaukee Indiana Detroit /2 Chicago Southeast Division W L PCT GB Miami Washington Charlotte /2 Orlando /2 Atlanta Western Conference Northwest Division W L PCT GB Minnesota Oklahoma City /2 Portland Denver /2 Utah Pacific Division W L PCT GB Golden State LA Clippers /2 LA Lakers /2 Phoenix Sacramento /2 Southwest Division W L PCT GB Houston San Antonio New Orleans /2 Memphis /2 Dallas China s Haotong takes slim lead over McIlroy in Dubai Michigan St beats Wisconsin on day AD retires EAST LANSING, Michigan, Jan 27, (AP): Miles Bridges looked comfortable, effortlessly making jump shots toward the end of a tumultuous day at Michigan State. Bridges scored 24 points and the sixth-ranked Spartans beat the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday night, less than 12 hours after athletic director Mark Hollis announced his retirement amid the outcry over how the school handled allegations against Larry Nassar. There are a lot of things that happened today that are part of life, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. Bridges was 8 of 13 overall and made four of six 3-pointers. Adding the 3 to his game has made him a harder guard, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. Obviously, he s explosive to the rim and he does a good job of putting it on the floor. The Spartans (19-3, 7-2 Big Ten) have won three straight after losing two of the previous three games. Wisconsin (10-12, 3-6) has lost five of six. DUBAI, Jan 27, (AFP): China s Li Haotong displayed his superstar potential as he outscored Rory McIlroy by four shots in the third round to take a one-shot lead into the final day of the $3 million Dubai Desert Classic. Starting his third round on Saturday trailing leader McIlroy by three shots, the 22-year-old Li put together a superb round of eight-under-par 64 to finish on 20-under after 54 holes. Four-time major champion McIlroy GOLF came back to the course early in the morning to complete his second round and made five birdies in seven holes. However, he could not get going in the third round and found himself one-over at the turn. But a much better back nine gave him a third-round 68 and three-day tally of 19-under 197. Frenchman Alex Levy had a hole in one at the fourth en route to a 65, and he is tied third at 17 under par with South African youngster Haydn Porteous, who also shot 65. England s Andy Sullivan made a big move with a 63 to rise to fifth place at 200. Li made four birdies on either half of the golf course and never looked in trouble because of his impressive ball-striking. Even when he was not hitting it close, his short game saved him on a couple of occasions, including a good up-and-down on the 14th hole. Played really solid. Especially had a couple up-and-downs and was quite happy to shoot eight-under on this course, said Li, who will become the first male Chinese player to crack the top 50 in the world rankings if he goes on to win. I just wanted to play by myself and play my game. I thought if I just stayed patient, I will play Li Haotong of China plays a shot during day three of the Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Jan 27, in Dubai. (AFP) good. So just did that all day. McIlroy, winner of the tournament in 2009 and 2015, is looking to become the second three-time champion here after Ernie Els. A couple of loose drives resulted in a par on the par-5 third hole and a bogey on the par-4 eighth, and there was another dropped shot on the par-3 fourth hole. But the world number 11, who made a comeback to competitive golf after more than 100 days out last week in Abu Dhabi, fought back on the back nine. Hopefully that s the bad one out of the way. I didn t get off to too bad a start, just a couple of loose ones. Missed a short one on the fourth and made bogey on eighth, said McIlroy. That wasn t too good. But to come back with a 5-under back nine was good. It was good to knock that birdie in at the last and stay within one of Li. The court was surrounded by a sea of teal T-shirts worn by students, hoping to raise awareness about sexual violence. Honoring our survivors was really neat that our students did it, Izzo said. Hollis, a close friend of Izzo, is retiring as the latest leader to step away because of a sexual abuse scandal involving a former physician at the school. Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon announced her resignation Wednesday night, hours after Nassar was sentenced to decades in prison this week for molesting girls and young women. Izzo refused to answer many questions related to the scandal, saying the top priority is for our courageous survivors, during the healing process. I m going to worry about my team, I m going to worry about the survivors and I m going to worry about what I do, he said. Izzo, though, said he has no intention on being the next to leave Michigan State.

35 SPORTS 35 Bavarians roar back to floor Hoffenheim Dortmund draw BERLIN, Jan 27, (AFP): Robert Lewandowski netted his 18th Bundesliga goal this season as runaway leaders Bayern Munich came from two goals down to thrash Hoffenheim 5-2 on Saturday. Bayern have won 18 of their last 19 games and are 16 points clear in the table. However, a Lewandowski dreadful start left Bayern 2-0 down at home the first time that has happened since Jan 1977 after just 12 minutes. Leverkusen vs Mainz bein SPORTS 5 HD 17:30 local Hanover vs Wolfsburg bein SPORTS 5 HD 20:00 local Bayern s Joshua Kimmich brought down Serge Gnabry in the area with two minutes gone and the referee pointed to the spot. Gnabry, who returns to Bayern next season when his loan spell at Hoffenheim ends, had his penalty attempt saved by Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich. However, Mark Uth tapped home the rebound with three minutes gone. Bayern s fortunes dived further when Jerome Boateng s poor pass was snapped up by Gnabry who drove the ball into the bottom lefthand corner to stun home fans. However, Bayern were level with 25 minutes gone. Lewandowski began the charge by tapping home Kimmich s shot and Boateng made amends by heading home to make it 2-2 at the break. Kingsley Coman gave Bayern the Al-Ahli Academy in Kuwait win title The football team of Al-Ahli Football Academy in Kuwait won the cup of the championship organized by Public Authority for Sports for footballers born in According to a press release, the Al-Ahli team presented a strong lead for the first time with an hour gone before Arturo Vidal headed home on 66 minutes. To compound Hoffenheim s misery, their ex-striker Sandro Wagner scored his first Bayern goal on 90 minutes to complete the comeback. Arsenal-target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang produced a poor display on his Borussia Dortmund return in their 2-2 draw against Freiburg whose captain Nils Petersen netted twice. Aubameyang was dropped for The victorious Al-Ahli Academy in Kuwait display their medals and the championship trophy as officials look on. performance when confronting Al- Bahr team which included a number of excellent players of Kuwait from Kuwait Sporting Club and Kuwait Junior National Team. The march resulted in a draw with nil score during normal match time, Dortmund s two previous games as his club reportedly rejected a second bid by Arsenal of 58 million euros ($72m). The German club are reportedly holding out for 70 million euros for their top scorer. Dortmund went ahead when Shinji Kagawa volleyed home his second goal in as many games on nine minutes. Aubameyang, who headed over on 32 minutes, was booed by home fans whenever he went near the ball. Freiburg drew level on 21 minutes when Petersen fired home at the near post. Petersen grabbed his second with a spectacular shot after pouncing on a Nuri Sahin mistake and lobbed Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki from 30 metres. However, Germany Under-21 left-back Jeremy Toljan spared Dortmund s blushes with a 93rdminute equaliser. Dortmund are fifth in the table after their third straight draw. Schalke reclaimed second spot from Eintracht Frankfurt, who beat Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday, with a 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart. Brazil centre-back Naldo gave the Royal Blues the lead before Morocco s Amine Harit slotted in a penalty. Fourth-placed RB Leipzig were held to a 1-1 draw at home to second-from-bottom Hamburg, whose new head coach Bernd Hollerbach picked up a point on his first game in charge. Portugal midfielder Bruma gave but in the penalty shootouts that followed, Al-Ahli team won. Al-Ahli team, the coach of which is Hesham Wajdi, has won a number of matches before they reached the fi nal stage of the championship. They previously defeated Real Madrid team by 2-0, Al-Arabi team by 1-0, Al-Yarmouk team by 2-0 and the team from Striker Academy by 3-2 in penalty shootouts. In the fi nal match, it defeated Al-Bahr team. Head of Al-Ahli Football Academy Mohammad Al-Sharqawi congratulated the players for the efforts they exerted, and praised the trainers and administration of the academy. He affirmed that this victory is considered as a great achievement that will be added to the achievements of the academy. Leipzig the lead on nine minutes, finishing a counter-attack when Hamburg s Aaron Hunt lost the ball. However, Hamburg broke their run of four straight defeats when Filip Kostic hit their equaliser on 29 minutes. Bottom-side Cologne were denied a fourth straight victory in their 1-1 draw against Augsburg. Milos Jojic curled in a superb freekick on 40 minutes before Brazilian midfielder Caiuby headed home an equaliser 22 minutes from time. Hoffenheim s Mark Uth (left), and Bayern s Niklas Suele challenge for the ball during the German soccer Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Munich and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Munich, Germany, on Jan 27. (AP) Celtic keep 11-point lead GLASGOW, Jan 27, (AFP): Leigh Griffiths came back to haunt his former club as his first-half strike sealed a 1-0 win for Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic over Hibernian at Parkhead on Saturday. The Scotland striker fired home his 97th goal for the champions whose manager Brendan Rodgers was taking charge of them in a competitive match for the 100th time in the 27th minute before limping off injured shortly afterwards. Hibs, who had claimed draws against the Scottish champions in their two previous league encounters, came Rodgers close through John McGinn late on but the Glasgow giants held on to claim their second successive win. Victory maintains Celtic s 11-point advantage at the top of the table with Aberdeen moving up to second following their 3-1 defeat of Kilmarnock. It was the perfect late birthday present for Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, who turned 45 on Friday, as he recorded a remarkable 73rd win in charge. However, his joy will be tempered by the injuries to Griffiths and goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who was forced off at half-time. The focus before the match had been on the future of Celtic s Moussa Dembele but the French forward was left on the bench for the third successive match as Griffiths was chosen to spearhead the attack. The Scottish striker had grabbed the winner against Partick Thistle on Tuesday after coming on as a second-half substitute and he looked eager to make the most of his first start since Dec 26, Only a superb one-handed save SOCCER from Ofir Marciano kept his curling free-kick from sneaking in with Scott Sinclair somehow sending his shot on the rebound off the post from a couple of yards out before the danger was cleared. It wasn t all one-way traffic and Hibs Brandon Barker used his lightning fast pace to race through on goal only to see his shot blocked by Gordon. Griffiths had never scored against his former club but the striker changed that shortly before the half hour mark. Paul Hanlon s headed clearance from Kieran Tierney s cross from the left only went as far as Griffiths, who showed great reactions to send an angled first-time effort past Marciano. The striker s joy was short-lived however, as he pulled up with injury just four minutes later and limped off to be replaced by Dembele. Chelsea vs Newcastle bein SPORTS 2HD, 11HD 16:30 local Cardiff vs City bein SPORTS 2HD, 11HD 19:00 local Kuwait jet skiers win four trophies at UAE championship DUBAI, Jan 27, (KUNA): Kuwait jet skiers won four trophies in Heat II of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) championship, which concluded in Dubai on Saturday evening. Rashed Al-Dawwas, of Kuwait, told KUNA he was thrilled to win the GP4 race and its trophy and leading the general standing of this category. He said his teammate, Yusuf Al-Abdulrazzaq, came third Mou praises Sanchez after Man U FA Cup stroll Grigg stars as Wigan shock West Ham LONDON, Jan 27, (AFP): Will Grigg scored twice as third-tier Wigan knocked 10-man West Ham out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win on Saturday. Wigan have slumped down English football s ladder since winning the FA Cup in 2013 but the League One leaders rekindled memories of that run to Wembley as they reached the last 16 of this season s edition at the expense of David Moyes s Premier League side. Northern Ireland striker Grigg made it five goals in as many Cup ties this season when he put Wigan ahead as early as the seventh minute with a towering header past England goalkeeper Joe Hart. To make matters worse for the Hammers they were a man down four minutes into the second half when Arthur Masuaku was sent-off, having appeared to spit at Wigan s Nick Powell. Grigg made it 2-0 from the penalty spot shortly after the hour mark following Reece Burke s handball in the box. Newport held Spurs to 1-1 draw. Elsewhere struggling Premier League sides Swansea and Huddersfield played out 1-1 draws with lower-division Notts County and Birmingham City respectively, leading to unwanted replays for teams whose priority is remaining in the top flight. The Swans, bottom of the Premier League, took the lead when Luciano Narsingh scored just his second goal in 31 games for the Welsh club on the stroke of half-time. But fourth-tier County equalised in the 62nd minute through Jon Stead. It was a similar story when a muchchanged Huddersfield side, indicating manager David Wagner s preference for Premier League survival over a Cup run, took an early lead against Birmingham through a Steve Mounie header. Lukas Jutkiewicz, however, drew a Birmingham side battling to avoid relegation from the second-tier Champi- in the GP1 category. Abdulaziz Al-Najdi and Humoud Al-Mudhayyan, also from Kuwait, won trophies of the 3rd and 5th places in the GP2 category, said Al-Dawwas. He added that the races were tough and the jet skiers were talented. He said the next Heat would be held in two weeks and we will continue achieving positive results, God willing. onship level in the 54th minute. Premier League Brighton were also on the verge of a replay until Glenn Murray s 90th-minute goal secured a 1-0 win over Championship side Middlesbrough. Saturday s early kick-off saw Fousseni Diabate score twice on his Leicester debut as the Premier League club won 5-1 at nearby East Midlands side Peterborough. Any hopes third-tier Peterborough might create an upset lasted all of nine minutes, with Diabate s opening goal followed by two more from Kelechi Iheanacho that gave the Foxes a 3-0 lead at half-time. Watford s Daryl Janmaat (top), and Southampton s Sofiane Boufal battle for the ball during the English FA Cup, fourth round soccer match at St Mary s Stadium, Southampton, England, on Jan 27. (AP) Wigan Athletic s English-born Northern Irish striker Will Grigg celebrates after scoring their second goal from the penalty spot during the English FA Cup fourth round football match between Wigan Athletic and West Ham United at the DW Stadium in Wigan, northwest England, on Jan 27. (AFP) Peterborough s Andrew Hughes pulled one back in the 58th minute before Diabate, who arrived at the King Power Stadium from French Ligue 2 club Gazelec Ajaccio earlier this month, scored his second and Leicester s fourth in the 87th minute. Wilfred Ndidi made it 5-1 in stoppage-time. But for Malian debutant Diabate s star showing, Nigeria international Iheanacho would have taken the headlines. It s a lovely competition to play in. It was a good team performance, Iheanacho told BT Sport. Nottingham Forest s FA Cup run ended just one round after they knocked out holders Arsenal courtesy of a 2-1 defeat by Championship rivals Hull. The first of this weekend s all-premier League ties saw Southampton beat Watford 1-0 as Jack Stephens marked his 24th birthday with a goal to ensure Javi Gracia s reign as Hornets manager started with a defeat. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho hailed new signing Alexis Sanchez after he delivered a man-of-the-match performance to fire Manchester United into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win against lowly Yeovil Town. Sanchez was named in the starting line-up just days after he signed for United from Arsenal and was involved in the build-up to the first two goals, scored by Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera. Substitutes Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku added late gloss to the scoreline as United ran out comfortable winners against their fourthtier opponents. Alexis Sanchez is a fantastic addition, everyone is happy that he comes, said a delighted Mourinho. Good players want good players. The question is always which one is going to be left out, it is not about that for us. We have a fantastic group of attacking players and he is another one with more maturity and experience. His choice for the second goal is a choice that a player like Marcus Rashford is too nervous to make that kind of decision. He brings maturity and class. Fresh from signing a contract extension with United, Mourinho put out a much-changed side for the fourthround clash in his 100th competitive match in charge but the visitors still had far too much firepower for Yeovil. Sanchez lined up alongside Michael Carrick at Huish Park, with the veteran midfielder making his first start since September after he received treatment for an irregular heart rhythm. It was the second time the sides have met in the Cup in four seasons and United were desperate to avoid an embarrassing slip-up against a side fighting for their lives in the bottom reaches of League Two. Cavani breaks Zlatan record PARIS, Jan 27, (AFP): Edinson Cavani broke Zlatan Ibrahimovic s all-time goalscoring record for Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, while Neymar scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Montpellier. The Uruguay striker tapped in his 157th PSG goal in the 11th minute at the Parc des Princes to spark wild celebrations, having levelled the Swede s previous mark 10 days ago. Neymar, on his return to the starting XI after a thigh injury, slotted in a 40thminute penalty, before following Angel Di Maria s strike with his second goal to wrap up the win. Unai Emery s men are now 11 points clear at the Ligue 1 summit from second-placed Lyon, who visit Bordeaux on Sunday. Cavani started up front alongside Neymar, with Kylian Mbappe still recovering from injury. Having failed to score in consecutive games, the 30-year-old didn t have to wait long to break the record. Neymar freed Adrien Rabiot down the left-hand side and SOCCER Cavani turned in the midfielder s cutback from close range to score his 27th goal of the season. He celebrated by throwing his shirt into the crowd, with the referee shaking his hand in acknowledgement of the achievement before booking the striker. Cavani s 157th goal came in his Cavani 229th match for the capital club since joining from Napoli for 64 million euros ($79.5 million) in 2013, after Ibrahimovic managed 156 in 180 games during his four seasons in Paris before leaving for Manchester United in He almost grabbed number 158 just minutes later, but Portuguese defender Pedro Mendes managed to toe the ball away from the onrushing striker. Neymar had been booed by the Paris crowd on his previous appearance when he scored four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Dijon, but took a late spot-kick that could have given Cavani the record.

36 PRIME TIME sunday (all times are kuwait local) 10:00 australian open/tennis... bein sports 9hd 14:00 leganes vs espanyol/soccer... bein sports 3hd 14:30 spal vs inter/soccer... bein sports 4hd 17:00 napoli vs bologna/soccer... bein sports 4hd 17:30 leverkusen vs mainz/soccer... bein sports 5hd 18:15 las palmas vs atletico/soccer... bein sports 3hd 20:00 milan vs lazio/soccer... bein sports 5hd 22:45 barca vs deportivo/soccer... bein sports 3hd 36 Sports Latest sports scores at Madrid trim Barca lead to 16 points Ronaldo shines as Real battle to away victory at Valencia MADRID, Jan 27, (AFP): Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties as Real Madrid battled to a 4-1 away win at Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, lifting the recent gloom over the defending Spanish and European champions. The result leaves Madrid 16 points behind top placed Barcelona on 54, Atletico Madrid are second on 43, Valencia third on 40 with Real another two back. Real manager Zinedine Zidane was able to field his favoured forward line of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema for the first time in 279 days. This was a big game in a big stadium and we played with great character, said Zidane. It shows we are still here and that we are ready to fight. There s a long way top go in the league and we will do our best possible. This was no walk in the park for Zidane s men who indeed had to fight until two late strikes from Marcelo and then Toni Kroos relieved the tension. On a sunny afternoon at an animated Ronaldo Mestalla Stadium with it s impeccable turf and rowdy Curva Nord stand, Valencia, a club back on their feet after a decade of turmoil, had only lost once at home this season and gained a 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu in August. Valencia s fast, confident, counterattacking bamboozled Madrid defenders Raphael Varane and Nacho from the off and the home team also looked menacing from corners. From one Valencia Emotional Wozniacki ends long wait for first grand slam title Leganes vs Espanyol bein SPORTS 3 HD 14:00 local Atletico vs Palmas bein SPORTS 3 HD 18:15 local Sevilla vs Getafe bein SPORTS 3 HD 20:30 local Barcelona vs Alaves bein SPORTS 3 HD 22:45 local Celta vs Betis bein SPORTS 3 HD 23:00 local (Monday) corner, however, Bale headed down to Ronaldo who tore down the field, passing to Marcelo and advancing into the Valencia box where Martin Montoya fouled the Portuguese superstar as he collected a pass. Ronaldo sent Neto the wrong way on 17 minutes and added a second penalty, for his eighth league goal of the season, after Montoya fouled him again. Having only lost at the Mestalla to Villarreal this season Marcelino Garcia s collection of loan signings and youngsters showed magnificent will as they fought to get back into the game. Rodrigo missed a gaping open goal for the hosts just before half-time. Just before the hour 22-year-old Spanish striker Santi Mina lost Nacho and stole in at a corner to pull a goal back with a well directed header. It was his third goal in three games. Bale, who showed all his old pace, was then booked for telling the referee he needed glasses. Television replays suggested Bale had a good point. As for Benzema, he was largely reliable in build up play although he seemed reluctant to shoot, but as he trudged off when substituted looking as depressed as the Spanish press claim he is. With tension building, Ronaldo might have scored three times, failing to convert after great work from Bale and Luka Modric and sending a free-kick sizzling narrowly wide. Marcelo finished brilliantly to relieve Madrid nerves after a tearing run and cut in from the left culminated in a fierce low drive into the bottom corner. Zidane, who has been in charge at Madrid since January 2016 after Rafael Benitez was fired after a defeat in Valencia, looked visibly relieved. Real Madrid s Nacho (left), vies for the ball with Valencia s Rodrigo Moreno during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valencia and Real Madrid at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain on Jan 27. (AP) Denmark s Caroline Wozniacki hits a return against Romania s Simona Halep during the women s singles fi nal on day 13 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan 27. (Inset): Wozniacki holds her trophy aloft after defeating Halep. (AFP/AP) Dane edges brave Halep in AO final MELBOURNE, Jan 27, (AFP): An emotional Caroline Wozniacki finally lifted her first Grand Slam title at the 43rd attempt as she beat Simona Halep in three energy-sapping sets to win the Australian Open on Saturday. TENNIS The Dane, who will become the new world number one, burst into tears as she secured the championship 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4 against the battling Romanian top seed on her first match point of a gruelling, epic encounter. I ve dreamt of this moment for so many years, said second seeded Wozniacki after becoming the first player from Denmark to win a Grand Slam. My voice is shaking. I never cry, but this is a very emotional moment. I want to congratulate Simona, I know it s a tough day, she added after receiving the trophy from Billie Jean King. I m sorry that I had to win today but I m sure we ll have many matches in the future and it was an incredible match and an incredible fight and again, I m sorry. Wozniacki, 27, had to overcome bouts of nerves throughout the long match. She wobbled when serving for the first set at 5-3 and had to come through a tiebreak. I want to thank my fiance, she said, looking up to American basketball player David Lee in her box. I was a nervous wreck this morning, I wanted to win so bad, but you calmed me down. Both players needed medical attention on court before the Dane prevailed in 2hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena. For Wozniacki, victory meant shedding at last the unwanted moniker of Uzbekistan s Tursunov Dostonbek (right), competes for the ball with Vietnam s Nguyen Cong Phuong during their AFC Under-23 Championship fi nal football match in Changzhou, in China s eastern Jiangsu province on Jan 27. (AFP) best player never to win a major, having reached the US Open final in 2009 and 2014, and first becoming number one in For Halep, who surrendered her number one status to Wozniacki in defeat, the wait goes on. It s not easy to talk now but first of all I want to congratulate Caroline, said Halep, who was also appearing in her third Grand Slam final and first in Australia. She played amazing. It s been a great tournament for me. Of course I m sad I couldn t win today but Caroline was better than me. But I will fight and hopefully I will face another challenge like I did today. I m sad that I couldn t make it the third time, but maybe the fourth time will be with luck. Wozniacki started the stronger, breaking Halep s opening service game with the early evening temperature still above 30 Celsius (86 Farenheit) before racing into a 3-0 lead. Vietnam dreams dashed Uzbekistan win U-23 AFC Championship HANOI, Jan 27, (AFP): Millions of red-clad Vietnam fans saw their hopes of a fairytale ending dashed Saturday as Uzbekistan snatched a last-minute victory in the final of the Under-23 Asian Cup Championship. The normally low-profile event has been followed with the fervour of a World Cup final in the Southeast Asian nation following the meteoric rise of the young squad who have united a country with few tastes of sporting glory on the world stage. The under-23 team was SOCCER the first Southeast Asian side to reach the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, blowing past regional heavyweights like Iraq and Qatar. The streets were flooded with a sea of red and gold as flag-waving fans, many also wearing red headbands that said Vietnam Wins, filled parks and public squares to watch the final on big screens. Uzbekistan struck in extra time to end their hopes of glory with a 2-1 victory over Vietnam on a snowy pitch in Changzhou, China. Despite the loss, the huge crowd of fans were bursting with national pride as they streamed home, some still chanting Vietnam the champion! THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Published by: Arab Times Publishing House Editor-in-Chief AHMED AL JARALLAH Editorial Office: Airport Road, Shuwaikh P.O. Box 2270, Safat, Kuwait Telephone: & Fax: arabtimes@arabtimesonline.com Advertising: Tel: Ext: 175 Fax: advt@arabtimesonline.com Annual Subscriptions: Individuals KD 45/- Companies and Official Departments KD 75 Airmail charges extra for overseas Tel: Fax: