THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018 / RABEE’ AL AWWAL 24, 1440 AH emergency number 112 NO. 16941 32 PAGES 150 FILS

soccer

Page 31 & 32

1924 - 2018

(George H.W. Bush) tried to “create a new international order based on justice and equality among

nations” … he never “forgot the Kuwaiti people

and will remain in their memory.” — Kuwait’s HH the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

tributes

HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ah-mad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah with former President George H.W. Bush at the Cenotaph for the fallen US soldiers in the liberation of Kuwait.

Condolencebook opens

Newswatch

KUWAIT CITY: His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Sa-bah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable on Saturday to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayid Al-Nahayyan congratulating him on his country’s 47th na-tional day.

His Highness the Amir praised achievements in various fi elds made by UAE, expressing best wishes and prosperity to its leadership and people.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables, on the occasion. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY: Higher Edu-cation Ministry on Saturday announced that Kuwait’s national Saad Mishal Al-Saihan has passed away in a traffi c accident in the Mis-souri state, US, where he was studying.

The ministry received the death news of Al-Saihan with great sorrow, Minister Hamed Al-Azmi said in a press statement.

He prayed to Allah the Almighty to bless the soul of Al-Saihan with mercy in Paradise and bring solace to his family.

He stressed that the min-istry, through the cultural at-tache, followed up the health condition of the other student who was also wounded in the same accident.

The cultural attache in-formed the ministry that the student left hospital after his conditions had improved, the minister said.

Al-Azmi wished the safe-ty to all Kuwaitis studying aboard, noting that the cul-tural attaches in all countries have spared no efforts in fa-cilitating required measures, through coordination with the concerned bodies, in any emergency facing Kuwaitis abroad. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: The UN Gen-eral Assembly approved on Friday with an overwhelming

Continued on Page 8

In this Feb 6, 2007, fi le photo, former President George H.W. Bush arrives at the 2007 Ronald Reagan Free-dom Award gala dinner held in his honor in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bush has died at age 94. Family spokesman Jim

McGrath says Bush died shortly after 10 pm Friday, Nov 30, 2018, about eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. (AP)

Amir mourns death of liberator BushKuwait pays tribute to former US President

See Also Pages 13 - 17

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (Agencies): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable of condolences Saturday to US President Donald Trump, ex-pressing his sincere sympathy over the passing of former president George H.W. Bush.

In his cable, His Highness the Amir said on behalf of the Kuwaiti govern-ment and people, he expressed sincere condolences on the passing of President George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States of America.

His Highness the Amir recalled George H.W. Bush’s historic stands and support to Kuwait and his rejection of the Iraqi occupation in its early hours, including the decisions taken by the American administration under the leadership of Bush and his pivotal role in forming an international coalition, mandated by the UN to liber-ate the State of Kuwait.

His Highness the Amir sent similar cables of condolences to President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States of America and the deceased president’s family.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to Trump, marking the occasion.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah also sent cables of condolences on Saturday to Trump over the death of US 41st President George Bush, as well as to the family of the de-ceased president.

Kuwait paid tribute to former US president George H.W. Bush on Saturday, say-ing his support during the fi rst Gulf War “will not be forgotten”.

Kuwaitis have long expressed their gratitude to the late 41st president for back-ing the tiny Gulf country following Iraq’s 1990 invasion.

In the wake of the war, many stuck bumper stickers on their cars of Bush stand-ing in front of an American fl ag, and a few even named their children after him.

“Bush was an icon,” said Farida al-Habib, a cardiologist who says she smuggled medicine to Kuwaiti forces during the invasion.

“I cried when I heard the news about his death,” she added.Bush died on Friday at the age of 94.In a letter to Trump, HH the Amir praised Bush’s “historic and courageous

stance ... and his rejection of Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait from the early hours”.His support “will remain in Kuwait’s collective memory and will not be forgot-

ten,” he added.“On behalf of the Kuwaiti government and people, I express my deepest condo-

lences and utmost sympathy.”After dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990,

Bush deployed hundreds of thousands of US troops to the neighbouring Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – urging other countries to do the same.

A US-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in a lightning campaign at the beginning of 1991.

Abu Fahad, a Kuwaiti army offi cer during the invasion who declined to give his

Continued on Page 8

Statement by the Offi ce of George H.W. BushThe Honorable George H.W. Bush

June 12, 1924 - November 30, 2018

George Herbert Walker Bush, World War II naval aviator, Texas oil pi-oneer, and 41st President of the United States of America, died on No-vember 30, 2018. He was 94 and is survived by his fi ve children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and two siblings. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Barbara; his second child Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush; and his brothers Prescott and William or “Bucky” Bush.

Funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as is practical.

WE regret to announce the passing of former US President George H.W. Bush yesterday, November 30, 2018, in the United States, at 94 years of age, says a press release from the US Embassy in Kuwait.

US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman and the entire staff of the US Embassy express their deepest condo-lences to the family of former President Bush.

The Embassy will open a condolence book for all those who would like to visit the Embassy to express their sym-pathies and honor his memory. The book will be open begin-ning on Sunday, December 2, from 1:00 pm to 4:00pm, Mon-day, December 3 from 10 am to 2 pm and Tuesday, December 4, 10 am to 2 pm.

President George H.W. Bush dedicated his life to serving his country and the American pub-lic in the military, in domestic politics and foreign affairs. He was truly a “point of light” who inspired others to public ser-vice. He was a devoted husband and dedicated father, grandfa-ther and great-grandfather.

Sworn in as the 41st President of the United States on Janu-ary 20, 1989, George Herbert Walker Bush helped usher in a more hopeful geopolitical era marked by the spread of free-dom. Throughout his presidency, George Bush worked closely with his international counter-parts in ways that advanced America’s interests in peace and economic opportunity.

Kuwait fi gured prominent-ly in Mr Bush’s presidency. When President Bush learned of the invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, he quickly re-sponded, “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait. The legitimate government of Kuwait will be restored to its rightful place, and Kuwait will once again be free.”

After the Coalition that he had helped build achieved that goal, President Bush proudly

Continued on Page 8

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

2

KUNA successful in chairing FANA, says OANA president

46th FANA confab to focus on culture, economic and tourismBy KUNA Team, Abdullah Al-

Dabbous and Ammar LariKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) will hold its 46th annual conference in Kuwait on Sunday, and discussions for the next two days will focus on regional and international devel-opments along with other topics in the fields of culture, econom-ics, and tourism.

The heads of FANA during the 45th Conference in Jordan endorsed Kuwait in holding the 46th Conference and recommended the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director-General of KUNA

Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Sabah as the Chairman of FANA for a second consecutive term in the framework of the new extended two-year term policy.

The 46th Conference is being held under new recent develop-ments in the region, which calls for an opportunity for open dialogue and strengthening of relations between Arab News Agencies.

The meetings of the General Assembly of FANA will take place on the course of two days with events scheduled to cover many topics including the activities of the Presidency and Secretariat during the last session and the issues female journalists’ face and ways

of solving them. Promoting a workshop to better

the editor’s skills in the economic sector is on the agenda in addition to another workshop to build and develop media content through social media.

The federation will also review the results and proposals of last year’s regional and international conferences that FANA attended and the invitation to participate in a media conference in the Cuban capital Havana in 2019.

In addition there will be a num-ber of discussions revolving around the economy, culture, and tourism along with women’s services reports and topics related to techni-

cal affairs to develop the website of FANA to intensify the volume of news exchange between agencies.

It is also possible that ideas pro-posed by the General Secretariat regarding a newsletter for kids to be published in the form of reports in FANA will be brought up.

FANA commenced operations in January of 1975 within the frame-work of the League of Arab States (LAS) in Beirut with the goal to create a professional connection between news agencies to exchange their experiences and hold special-ized conferences for the 18 news agency members.

Meanwhile, the positive impact of the Federation of Arab News

Agencies (FANA) globally repre-sents KUNA’s success in chairing the federation, said chairman of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

OANA’s Chairman Aslan Aslanov, also Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan State News Agency, made the remarks to KUNA upon his arrival in Kuwait on Saturday, to attend FANA’s 46th General Assembly on Sunday.

He noted that FANA Chairman and Director General of KUNA Sheikh Mubarak Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah provides great support for Arab and international news agencies.

Aslanov said he is willing to

cooperate with FANA and KUNA in providing transparent and neu-tral coverage of news. He added that inaccurate or untruthful news and social media are among the biggest challenges facing the media field now.

FANA, established in 1975, is headquartered in Lebanon and includes 18 Arab news agencies. The federation is under the Arab League and aims to boost media ties and share experience between the members.

Sheikh Mubarak was elected as FANA Chairman during the 43rd conference held in Kuwait in 2015 and was re-elected for another two-year term in Jordan last year.

MP Ali Al-Deqbasi and Khalil Abul, the Kuwaiti consul to Istanbul Mohammed Al-Muhammad during the conference.

Chairman of the Asia-Pacific News Agency (OANA) Director of Azerbaijani News Agency (Aztraj) Aslan Aslanov arrived in Kuwait to participate in the 46th General

Assembly of the Union of Arab News Agencies (FANA)

BRUSSELS, Dec 1, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait has once again stressed its support to the global prohibition of chemical weapons and to the activities of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons (OPCW).

This position was stated by Kuwait’s Ambassador to The Netherlands and the Permanent Representative to OPCW, Abdurrahman Al-Otaibi, at the 23rd Session of the Conference of the States Parties of OPCW which concluded at The Hague Friday evening.

“My delegation stresses the impor-tance of the organization and its role in achieving the noble goal of a world free of chemical weapons and urges those countries that have not acceded to the Convention to join them as soon as possible to achieve universal-ity,” Al-Otaibi said.

“In this regard, the State of Kuwait welcomes the accession of the State of Palestine to the Convention and the exercise of its full membership as an active party in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” he said.

The Kuwaiti ambassador stressed that the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states should refrain from political differ-ences, not politicize the functions of the organization and focus on efforts of its objectives, the most important of which is the elimination and destruction of chemical weapons.

Kuwait, he noted, was one of the first countries to condemn the use of chemi-cal weapons in Syria as well as the Salisbury incident in the UK and called for the prosecution of those responsible for these crimes, whether they are states or people, and to bring them to trial.

The Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the review confer-ence was held at The Hague from 19-30 November.

Kuwait’s Ambassador to The Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi addresses the Fourth Ordinary Session of the

Conference of States Parties of OPCW.

KUNA photo Kuwait Development Fund delegation participates in the Global South-South Expo 2018.

Kuwait Fund participates in Global South-South Expo ’18Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) was participating in the Global South-South Expo 2018, held at the UN headquarters in New York.

KFAED seeks to explore cooperation methods with countries of the south, and to seek solutions to speed up

progress towards sustainable development, Abdullah Al-Musaibeeh, Regional Director for Arab Countries at the Fund, told KUNA Friday.

KFAED, he added, resem-bled a mechanism of coopera-tion among countries of the south, and was keen on imple-menting the 2030 Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs).Al-Musaibeeh said KFAED

was at the forefront of bodies offering aid to development projects in countries around the globe. Kuwait’s contribution to development, he noted, exceeded the internationally-agreed percentage. (KUNA)

Kuwait stresses support to globalprohibition of chemical weapons

Kuwait’s envoy to The Netherlands speaks at conclusion of confab

Invention concerning mechanical trailer puller device

KU registers new Kuwaiti patent at USPTOKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): Kuwait University (KU) announced the registra-tion of a new patent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), through a Kuwaiti invention concerning a mechanical trail-er puller device.

In a statement, KU said Saturday the invention is a graduation project of the Department of Mechanical Engineering students at the Faculty of Engineering and Petroleum, and was under the supervision of Dr Khaled Al-Hazzaa.

The statement noted the research team included gradu-

ates from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Al-Hussein Osman, Mahmoud Hussein, Abdul-Jalil Al-Shamouti, and Abdullah Al-Enezi.

The idea for the device addresses the difficulty faced by people when load-ing boats and trailers, and pulling occurs, the installed device is located on the ball towing behind the pulling cars or trucks, the statement added.

The statement pointed to the suffering of many people, especially the trailers when pulling heavy loads, and can not be lifted or moved easily,

causing financial losses in some cases.

To solve this problem, a two-way moving mechanical device was invented to parallel the ball with the trailer in an easy way without the need to manually lift the trailer, the statement added.

The statement noted the device moves horizontally and vertically by means of mechan-ical rollers that greatly facili-tate the towing process and lift the trailer to the level of the towing car.

The device also has the mechanism of locking to ensure safety during move-ment.

Kuwait’s Al-Nisf affirms diverse income policy

Kuwait active member of AsianParliamentary Assembly – MPISTANBUL, Dec 1, (KUNA): Member of Kuwait’s parliamentary caucus MP Ali Al-Deqbasi said here on Friday that Kuwait, represented by its Parliament, is an active member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and an active member of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA).

Al-Deqbasi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the Kuwaiti Parliamentary Caucus plays a major role in drafting decisions in the APA, pointing out that this role extends to other parliamentary gatherings.

The Kuwaiti MP affirmed that Kuwait, as usual, with its balanced policy that promotes international peace and security and through encouraging international organiza-tions to carry out their humanitarian missions and to implement interna-tional law, has achieved numerous successes, thanks to efforts of His Highness the Amir in this regard.

He added: “It is our responsibility as parliamentarians to support the state’s political policy and promote its interests in order for Kuwait to have an influential role at the interna-tional parliamentary level.”

He pointed out that the strengthen-ing of Kuwait’s parliamentary rela-tionship goes in harmony with enhancement of communication with people and other friends and brothers in Asia.

He added: “Our aim is to highlight Kuwait’s civilized, cultural and humanitarian image in these gather-ings,” he noted.

He said that the Kuwaiti delegation participating in the conference today recommended a proposal in the Special Committee for Women Parliamentarians to combat any dis-crimination against women, as well as recommendations to denounce vio-lence against women in Asia and traf-ficking in human beings and to empower and support Asian women to reach democratic parliamentary life.

Meanwhile, a leading Kuwaiti leg-islator has affirmed that the Gulf country is seeking to diversify resources of its gross national income and developing development strate-gy.

Rakan Al-Nisf, head of the Kuwaiti delegation partaking in the 11th ses-

KUNA photo Head of the Kuwaiti parliamentary del-egation MP Rakan Al-Nisf during his speech at the meeting of Asian

Parliamentary Assembly.

sion of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), themed “Boosting economic prosperity in Asia”, was speaking during the conference.

He was alluding to Kuwait’s major strategy of multiplying income resources and minimizing depen-dence on oil, so far the major finan-cial source.

At the external level, Kuwait is seeking to bolster economic coopera-tion with various nations, particularly Asian states, a key market for (oil-producing) Kuwait.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has engineered a visionary strategy, transforming the North Gulf country into a regional business hub.

Turning to Asian nations, Al-Nisf opined that their quest to attain eco-nomic prosperity has become neces-sary in shadow of speedy global eco-nomic mergers.

Such an approach, at the Asian level, cannot bear fruits in absence of a lucrative and secured business envi-ronment and applicable plans, in shadow of global economic changes.

Al-Nisf however noted that some of the Asian nations have already made strides in developing human resources, calling for “a collective vision” at the regional level for effec-tive future cooperation.

The conferees are discussing pro-motion of economic prosperity in Asia. The Kuwaiti delegation include MPs Khalil Abul and Ali Al-Deqbasi.

Al-Arabi mag marks60th ’versary today

By Mousa AhmadKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Al-Arabi magazine is to mark its 60th anniversary on Saturday with hopes to carry on its tradition of preserving communication bridges among Arab readers through explor-ing the world and disseminating human thought, civilizations, cul-tures, arts and literature.

Since the publication of its first issue in 1958, Al-Arabi magazine adopted a national approach to pro-mote Arab nationalism and the Palestinian cause, believing strongly in knowledge as a powerful tool that can build people and nations.

The monthly Arabic magazine focuses mainly on the culture, litera-ture, art, politics, society, and eco-nomics of Arab countries. It encour-ages public participation through the readers’ post page, in which readers share their views, messages, and expe-riences whether inside or outside their homelands. In addition, the magazine makes use of photography and free-lance work to enrich its pages.

The Kuwaiti government founded the magazine in an effort to promote Arabic literature and public awareness on vari-ous causes. The Ministry of Information continues to back it financially.

Dr Ahmad Zaki worked as the magazine’s first Editor-in-Chief when it was first published in December 1958. Since then, the mag-azine has addressed various impor-tant political, social, economic, health, and humanitarian issues in Arab and international societies.

Over the years, Al-Arabi has also become an intellectual forum for renowned Arab writers, poets, and novelists to share their views on sev-eral national issues, particularly the suffering of Palestinian people and violations of the Israeli occupying foe, contributing significantly to the maga-zine’s growth, development, and pop-ularity among readers through their articles, columns, and reports.

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

3

Prayer TimingsFajr ............................................................................. 05:01Sunrise ....................................................................... 06:25Zohr ............................................................................ 11:37Asr ............................................................................... 14:30Maghrib .......................................................................16:49 Isha ............................................................................ 18:11

WeatherExpected weather for the next 24 hours:By Day: Partly cloudy with light to moderate southerly wind to

south easterly wind, with speed of 10-35 km/h with a slight chance for scattered light rain.

By Night: Cool with light to moderate south easterly wind to light variable wind, with speed of 06-28 km/h with a chance for light fog forming over some areas and some scattered clouds will appear.

Station Max Min Exp RecKuwait City 23 18Kuwait Airport 25 15Abdaly 23 17Bubyan – –Jahra 24 15Failaka Island 23 18Salmiyah 22 19Ahmadi 23 20Nuwaisib 24 15Wafra 25 15Salmy 24 15

4 days forecast - WeatherSunday, Dec 02

Expected weather ........................................................ Mostly sunnyMax Temp ....................................................................................25CMin Temp .....................................................................................15CWind Direction .....................................................................VRB-NWWind Speed .....................................................................06-26 km/h

Monday, Dec 03Expected weather .........................................................Partly cloudyMax Temp ....................................................................................24CMin Temp .....................................................................................14CWind Direction ..............................................................................NWWind Speed .....................................................................10-28 km/h

Tuesday, Dec 04Expected weather ..............................Clouds will increase graduallyMax Temp ....................................................................................24CMin Temp .....................................................................................13CWind Direction ...................................................................... VRB-SEWind Speed .....................................................................06-24 km/h

Wednesday, Dec 05Expected weather ............Cloudy to partly cloudy with a chance for scattered rain later onMax Temp ....................................................................................26CMin Temp .....................................................................................16CWind Direction ...............................................................................SEWind Speed .....................................................................12-38 km/h

Marine ForecastStation Max Min Sea Today’s Exp Rec Surf Waves Ht DirectionSouth Dolphin - - - 4ft NUmm Mudayrah - - - 4ft NBeacon M28 - - - 4ft NBeacon N6 23 - - 4ft NQaruh Island 23 - - 4ft NUmm Al-Maradem 23 20 - 4ft N

Sea Island Buoy - - - - -Salmiyah 22 19 - 4ft N

4 days forecast - MarineSunday, Dec 02

Expected weather ........................................................ Mostly sunnySea state ..............................................................Slight to moderateWave height ...............................................................................1-3 ftMax Temp ....................................................................................25CMin Temp .....................................................................................15CWind Direction .....................................................................VRB-NWWind Speed .....................................................................06-26 km/h

Monday, Dec 03Expected weather .........................................................Partly cloudySea state ..............................................................Slight to moderateWave height ...............................................................................1-3 ftMax Temp ....................................................................................24CMin Temp .....................................................................................14CWind Direction ..............................................................................NWWind Speed .....................................................................10-28 km/h

Tuesday, Dec 04 Expected weather ..............................Clouds will increase graduallySea state ..............................................................Slight to moderateWave height ...............................................................................1-3 ftMax Temp ....................................................................................24CMin Temp .....................................................................................13CWind Direction ...................................................................... VRB-SEWind Speed .....................................................................06-24 km/h

Wednesday, Dec 05Expected weather ............Cloudy to partly cloudy with a chance for scattered rain later onSea state ..............................................................Slight to moderateWave height ...............................................................................2-5 ftMax Temp ....................................................................................26CMin Temp .....................................................................................16CWind Direction ...............................................................................SEWind Speed .....................................................................12-38 km/h

Tide times at Shuwaikh Port1st high tide: ............................................................................. 19:282nd high tide: ............................................................................ 06:261st low tide: .............................................................................. 12:222nd low tide: ............................................................................. 01:05Sunrise:..................................................................................... 06:24Sunset: ..................................................................................... 16:49

Recorded yesterday at Kuwait Airport

Max temp ....................................................................................24CMin temp .....................................................................................13CMax Rh .....................................................................................100%Min Rh ........................................................................................53%Max Wind .......................................................................SE 18 km/hTotal Rainfall in 24 hrs .............................................................. 0 mm

Recorded yesterday at South DolphinMin/Max/ Air Temp ......................................................................-/-CMin/Max Rel Hum .......................................................................-/-%Wind Direction/Wind Speed ................................................ N/- km/hPrev Wave Dir/Max Wave Ht ...................................................... N/-ftMin/Max Sea Surface Temp .......................................................-/- CSea Current .......................................................................Downdraft

— Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Dept.

deathsLolwa Bader Nasser Bu Teban, 73 years old, buried. Condolences: Al-Rawda, Block 4, Street 48, House 22, Tel. 99012627/99041391 Fatima Abdullah Muhammad Al-Awadi, 79 years old, wife of Ali Mullah Ahmed Al-Mullah, buried. Condolences: (Men) Mishref, Block 6, Street 1, House 1, (Women) Mishref, Block 6, Street 6, House 4, Tel. 99825521/50888751 Faisal Abdulaziz Al-Husain Al-Khamees, 61 years old, buried. Condolences: (Men) Jaber Al-Ali, Block 2, Street, 29, House 52, (Women) Al-Qadsiya, Block 3, Messlon Street, House 12, Tel. 66018555/65544004 Ali Ahmed Has-san Al-Qabandi, 83 years old, buried. Condolences: (Men) Al-Salaam, Block 6, Street, 611, House 33, (Women) Adan, Block 7, Street 15, House 13, Tel. 66622405/66077789 Sultan Ahmed Abdullah Al-Rashidi, 15 years old, buried. Condolences: (Men) Jaber Al-Ahmed, Block 2, Street 243, House 183, (Women) Al-Qairawan, Block 2, Street 213, House 12, Tel. 66661021. Ali Husain Mubarak Al-Fehad, 37 years old, to be buried on Sunday after Asr Prayer, Sabhan Graveyard. Condolences: (Men) Diwaneat Al-Fehad, Hadiya, Block 2, Street 2, House 11, Opposite to Umm Al-Ala’a Al-Ansariya Secondary School, (Women) Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Block 3, Street 39, House 4, Tel. 25444142 Ismael Saeed Hameed Ali Husain Al-Tahw, 25 years old, buried. Condolences: (Men) Al-Rumaithiya, Aqsa Mosque Street, House 30, (Women) Hussaineat Aqilat Al-Talebeen, Salwa, Block 6, Street 8, House 8, Tel. 67089544 Sultan Majid Sultan Al-Ejail, 43 years old, to be buried on Sunday at 9.00 am, Sabhan Graveyard. Condolences: (Men) Al-Surrah, Block 6, Street 2, House 4, (Women) Southern Khaitan, Block 3, Bin Tufail Street, Behind Khaitan Sports Club, House 114, Tel. 99242444/98897782Fatima Abdullah Ejail Al-Ejail, 91 years old, Widow of Sa’ad Salman Abdullah Al-Ghanem, to be buried on Sunday, after Asr Prayer. Condolences: (Men) Diwan Al-Ejail, Al-Rawda, Block 1, opposite to Damascus Street, (Women) Al-Surrah, Block 1, Ali Bin Talib Street, House 307, Tel. 60025500

Dec 1, 2018

KDIPA showcases investmentsopportunities in Silicon Valley

‘Discover the Opportunities in a Transformed Economy’ roadshow held

By Sherouq Sadeqi

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 1, (KUNA): Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) pre-sented Thursday in Sili-con Valley, in cooperation with the Financial Times Live and the Magazine, Kuwait Investment Out-reach Roadshow under the theme “Discover the Opportunities in a Trans-formed Economy.”

The event featured interactive discussions and keynotes from leading players in Kuwait busi-ness world who provided valu-able insights into the role of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Kuwait, developments in Ku-wait Fintech market and the im-pact of the Information and Com-munication Technologies (ICT) sector to Kuwait future.

The panel discussions focused on the new Kuwait, as the panelists shed light on the objectives of Kuwait’s economic plan and why FDI is an es-sential part of the plan and what chal-lenges does Kuwait still face and how they are being overcome.

Another panel also discussed the ICT sector and Kuwait, focusing on the relationships between industry, technology and the economy in Ku-wait, as well as how Kuwait business environment evolving from develop-ments in the IT and ICT sector.

The panelists highlighted what makes Kuwait attractive for invest-ment and what sets in apart, saying investors look for a stable political system, a strong legal background with the protection of rights, in ad-dition to Kuwait enjoying one strong banking sector.

RegionThey also agreed that Kuwait en-

joys a strategic location and is con-sidered a hub for many businesses to expand into the region, as well as the Kuwait youth whom are considered an added value.

For his part, Sheikh Dr Meshaal Al-Sabah, Director General of KDI-PA, stressed that we are working to diversify our economy and to fulfill and reach our goals.

He noted that the current aim is to attract new technologies and innova-tions to create job opportunities and growth. In an interview with KUNA, Dr Meshaal said that the Silicon Val-ley Roadshow is the second in three roadshow series, where last year it was held in London and next year it is scheduled to be held in Singapore.

The idea of these roadshows, he noted, is to try to showcase all the lat-est developments in Kuwait econo-mies, legal infrastructures and how Kuwait is working very hard to di-versify its economy through creating new sources of income.

He added that the aim of the event is for both the public and private sec-tors in Kuwait to shed light on their experience in the country and show-case how foreign investors in Silicon Valley can benefit from all the op-portunities happening in Kuwait and help with the Kuwait Vision 2035.

He stressed that his message is that Kuwait is changing, Kuwait is work-ing towards diversifying the econo-mies. Kuwait is letting the private sector lead the economy along with all the legal changes the government and parliament have been working on the past few years.

This is a great chance for compa-nies to participate in our 2035 vision, he remarked.

In an interview with KUNA, Sec-retary General of General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development Dr Khalid Al Mah-di praised the Silicon Valley Road-show, saying the audience showed that they want to be engaged that ac-tually helped to achieve the objective of the roadshow.

He affirmed that there are great opportunities in transforming the economy in Kuwait, noting because we have challenges, there are oppor-tunities and our opportunities come from the actual needs and challenges we are facing right now, such as the transfer of knowledge and technol-ogy to the country.

He added that the most important issue right now is the fourth revolu-

KUNA photo A group of participants at the Kuwait Investment Conference in Silicon Valley.

Minister of Amiri Diwan Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah during the opening of the Sabah Al-Ahmad Heritage Village festival.

Kuwait Group in our hearts provides a 30-meter long fl ag on the opening of the Sabah Al-Ahmad

Heritage Village festival.

KUNA photos Minister of Amiri Diwan Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah during the opening of the Sabah Al-Ahmad

Heritage Village festival.

tion that will cause the disappear-ance of jobs and the creation of oth-er jobs. We need to be ready for the job creation with the skillset that be suitable for our little ones (enter) the market space. The only way is to ac-tually live the vision by creating this hub and allowing more open inter-action with our partners around the world, he affi rmed. Kuwait being neutral, using preventive diplomacy will make it very easy for Kuwait to it to make successful relations and partnerships with others.

Group CEO of the Kuwait Fi-nance House Mazen Al-Nahed who gave a keynote speech focusing on Kuwait Fintech Market, told KUNA that he thinks the main purpose of the roadshow is to show the partici-pants of the Silicone Valley about the vision of Kuwait 2035 or the new Kuwait.

He praised the presentations that were delivered, saying they portrayed a signifi cant amount of knowledge that has been transferred from the participants to the audi-

ence and I think that the questions that followed have been very posi-tive in terms of trying to understand further what are the challenges of operating in Kuwait versus operat-ing in other jurisdictions.

He stressed that Kuwait has a lot of capital, be it human, be it regula-tory. I think this is one of the key strengths of Kuwait is that we have a strong judicial system and a regu-latory system that protects the rights of any investor who is coming to Kuwait.

Kuwait’s new Central Bank lending guidelines contrast two previous approaches

Kuwait, NATO discuss bilateralties & developments in region

Banks implement new CBK loan guidelines since mid-November

BRUSSELS, Dec 1, (KUNA): Bilateral rela-tions and the region’s latest developments were the focus of a meeting on Thursday between Kuwait Na-tional Security Bu-reau President Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah and NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller.

This came on the sidelines of Sheikh Thamer’s attendance of an event marking the 60th anniversary of es-tablishing the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme.

The two sides also discussed the activities

of NATO’s Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre in Kuwait.

Speaking to KUNA and Kuwait TV, Sheikh Thamer said that he suggested hold-ing a ceremony next year to mark the 15th anniversary of establishing the centre, set up in 2004. He said that the centre’s presence in Kuwait strengthens relations between NATO and the region’s countries.

Regarding contributions to the SPS pro-gramme, Sheikh Thamer said that Kuwait has presented more than six plans covering various topics. He also visited Kuwait’s dip-lomatic mission to NATO that has recently been launched. The bureau’s head of infor-mation security Sheikh Fawaz Mishal Al-Sa-bah delivered a speech during a ceremony on Kuwaiti-NATO relations and the role of the SPS in supporting ICI activities in Kuwait.

By Fawaz Karami

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): Banks in Kuwait started mid-November to implement the new Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) instructions on rules and foundations for granting loans and per-sonal fi nance operations, which lifted the cap ceiling of the “consumer” loan from 15 times the net monthly salary to 25 times and a maximum of 25,000 Ku-waiti dinars ($82,500).

The new Central Bank’s instruc-tions on the maximum limits of the “housing” loan (previously fi xed) were kept at 70,000 dinars ($231,000). The total amount that the customer can ob-

tain from loans or Islamic fi nancing is 95,000 dinars ($313,000) instead of 85,000 dinars ($28,000).

While the new instructions came in the context of the CBK keenness on reg-ular reviews (updating) of issued guide-lines, the latest in 2004, the bank stated in a statement published on its website that the instructions took into account changes in indicators of the gross do-mestic economy (2004-2017).

The past period has seen dramatic changes in the domestic and global economic landscape, most notably the global fi nancial crisis of 2008, the dra-matic drop in world oil prices in 2014 and the 60 percent decline in state rev-

enues, which has led the country to bor-row from international markets by issu-ing international bonds.

The past years also witnessed signifi -cant developments in global monetary policy. Most major economies aban-doned their monetary easing policies af-ter the fi nancial crisis and began to raise interest rates on their currencies.

The US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates eight times since 2015, while Kuwait’s central bank raised them only four times in order to stimulate the local economy.

While raising central banks interest rates contributes to reducing consump-tion and stimulating savings, it also

leads to a low rate of demand for indi-viduals and companies to borrow and then reduce the volume of credit, includ-ing loans to the real estate, investment and consumer sectors and securities.

The stabilization of interest on any national currency in return for raising the interest rate on the US dollar in-vested to deposit in the US currency to achieve greater returns, which loses the national currency attractive-ness and thus resort to central banks to stimulate local banks by raising interest rates on deposits in local cur-rency in return for raising the rate of “Repo” leading to an increase in the deposits volume.

Kuwait’s new Central Bank lending guidelines contrast the two previous ap-proaches as a monetary instrument used to stimulate the growth of economic sec-tors.

The indicators adopted by the Central Bank in its recent instructions to achieve the rate of growth in the average month-ly salary of Kuwaitis (2004 - 2017) about 12 percent, while the composite infl ation rate for the mentioned years about 67 percent.

Among the indicators, the annual compound average growth of the loan portfolio in Kuwaiti banks was 14 per-cent from one billion dinars (about $3.3 billion) in 2000 to 12 billion dinars

($39.6 billion) in 2017.Former minister of commerce and in-

dustry Dr Amani Boresli told KUNA on Saturday that such instructions issued by the Central Bank come after evaluating the economic situation and conducting a thorough and specialized study.

Boresli said that the new regulations would contribute to increasing the vol-ume of cash in the local market.

The concerns associated with any de-cision to increase the volume of credit rising consumer price index (infl ation) and low purchasing value of the cur-rency, but it contributes to stimulate the growth and economic activity of the country, she added.

Events to run until March 1, 2019

Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah opens Gulf Popular Heritage festivalKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah in-augurated on Friday the Gulf Popu-lar Heritage festival in Sabah Al-Ahmad Heritage Village amid wide participation by state, private, and public bodies.

Following the opening cer-emony, Sheikh Ali A-Jarrah, along with Amiri Diwan Advisor and the Village’s Supervisor Mohammad Sharar, toured the village and in-spected many pavilions belonged to the participating bodies, including Kuwait’s cultural pavilion, Artisan Heritage Youth Center; affi liated with Youth Public Authority, and Kuwait shooting club arena.

The three-month event is held

under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as part of his keenness to provide Kuwaiti and Gulf citizens with the opportunity to enjoy and take part in the festivity’s various activities and events, the Village’s Director Saif Al-Shallahi told reporters.

Al-Shallahi valued His Highness the Amir’s sponsorship of the festi-val, which became one of the major heritage forums in the Gulf region, noting this year’s edition sees wide participation by thousands of con-testants in the festival’s contest cat-egories such as camels, birds, hors-es, and sheep, in addition to other popular contests with the participa-tion of a number of folklore troupes.

The village has seen notable developments in its buildings and squares, particularly the old Kuwait village, he said, adding the place has also expanded its green spaces and enhanced its visitors’ break areas, residencies, and services.

The Village’s supervising com-mittee has provided all facilita-tions, possibilities, and convenience means to the guests and visitors to enjoy the festival, Al-Shallahi said, noting the village is known for host-ing several heritage museums, mar-kets, restaurants, and cafes.

He called on the public to visit the village and spend fun times with the festival’s cultural and herit-age events and contests, noting the events will last until March 1, 2019.

Sheikh Thamer

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

4

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Need to overhaul governance system’

‘Ill-planning leads to failures’“THE capital expenditure in any country over the years, on contracts, represents the actual accumula-tion of the national wealth and as such it requires the utmost patronage and care simultaneously,” the Kuwaiti columnist, consultant and an economic re-searcher Amer Diab Al-Tamimi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“For its part, the State of Kuwait represented by its private and public sectors, has spent billions of dinars since the beginning of the oil era in the late 1940s and until today on infrastructure projects such as roads, extensions, distillation plants, power plants, govern-ment buildings and land reclamation, as well as the facilities and buildings owned by the private sector and individuals.

“At several times it has become clear that a num-ber of these projects or works have not been founded and built under appropriate engineering criteria and requirements. This may be due to poor design, inef-fi cient implementation or inadequate supervision.

“Add to this the selection of non-prosperous engi-neering offi ces or may be the selection of these offi ces were not based on appropriate technical conditions.

“Likewise, it may be possible that some of the im-plementation authorities such as the contracting fi rms were unqualifi ed or maybe they were selected just be-cause their lowest bid price was the lowest without ascertaining operational ability, solvency or experi-ence balance.

“In addition to the above, there may be supervi-sory factors that may not have been consistent with the nature of the project. We must also refer to the humbleness of the government departments or the eli-gibility of projects, and their lack of familiarity with details or negligence intentional or unintentional attitudes of the managements.

“There is no doubt that the large amounts of money spent to meet the requirements of the projects from the capital ex-penditure has exceeded tens of billions of dinars, and may have exceeded the real costs of these projects as a result of waste and ineffi ciency and perhaps admin-istrative corruption.

“This may also be due to the lack of accountability for default to bring the corrupt people to book and so these people have accumulated wealth at the expense of public money.

“These facilities, including roads and infrastruc-ture services, are of great importance for economic work. No economic activity can be accomplished without the availability of different roads and exten-sions, electricity, water, etc. When infrastructures are exposed to obstructions or are disrupted, various eco-nomic activities and opportunities are lost.

“Of course, the country, or any country, may be af-fected by natural disasters or security factors. Kuwait has also been exposed to the brutal Iraqi invasion that has crippled economic and social life.

“However, rain causes complete disruption of work time and over again due to faulty roads or public and private facilities. This requires signifi cant revisions in basic data, including design processes and their suit-ability to the climate environment in the country and this is applicable to both the executive and supervi-sory authorities.

“In this connection, we would like hereby to point out that the State of Kuwait, is currently facing a signifi cant problem either in terms of implementing the projects or in terms of their high costs in addition to the delay in implementing these projects and this gives an importance to confrontation of the relevant complications and eventually defi ning its reasons and how to overcome the same.

“As such, it will not be possible to summarize the grounds and hold the performance of the relevant minister or his undersecretary or any administrative offi cial or any manager of company or engineering bureau accountable for the relevant problems, rather the concerned authorities must deal with the overall system and set different criteria when thinking about any project before proceeding from design to fi nal completion.”

Also:“Our beloved State of Kuwait participated in the

Third International Summit for Woman and Justice that was recently held in Istanbul, Turkey,” columnist Ajwan Hamad Al-Enezi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The Kuwaiti delegation to the summit was led by the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and the Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh. The min-ister was keen to project the experiment of the State of Kuwait in the fi eld of enabling the family to play its role on both the legislative and executive levels. This is in ad-dition to the minister’s keenness to enable the woman to play her role in all various fi elds either at the economic, social, cultural or political levels.

“In this context, we say the history of the Kuwaiti woman is full of giving in spite of the obstructions and the diffi culties facing her. It is needless to say the successes of the Kuwaiti women have resulted in them playing a pioneering role and a testimony of this is the many posts have been awarded to her, in addition to many other successes in representing the Kuwaiti women in many international forums.

“On the other hand, we say the role of the State of Kuwait in terms of supporting women to enable her to participate in the decision-making process in addition to the occupation of many leading posts in both the public and private sectors.

“Not just that, the State of Kuwait had prepared a lot of programs, activities and workshops to support women and boost their role.

“In this context, we say many delegations had par-ticipated in the workshop organized by ‘The Gulf Woman in the Eyes of the World – Creativity and Distinguishing’ and this actually projected the experi-ment of the Kuwaiti woman which was full of giving and success in addition to her ability to overcome the obstructions and the challenges in the area of practic-ing her functional work.”

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“The good rains exposed the bad conditions of our roads. Some of these have been destroyed, while many are now dusty with loose gravel on them. The good rains also exposed the bad design of the new cities, which were fl ooded, such as Sabah Al-Ahmad City. The good rains exposed the bad contracts signed by Kuwait with coalition countries in the past to re-move all landmines from Kuwait,” Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah.

“The good rains revealed to us that the landmines planted in the Kuwaiti land by the army of Iraqi in-vaders are still present in Kuwait, and they have not been removed. Some armies just buried the landmines

and remnants underground, and then assured the Ku-waiti army that the lands have been cleared and are free of mines. However, that is not the case.

“The recent fl oods affi rm the great deal of manipu-lation in those contracts, which were implemented as they should have. We see victims falling dead or be-coming seriously wounded because of the explosion of the mines and remnants left behind the Iraqi army. This has even happened to some children and visitors to the deserts who have no knowledge about strange objects and end up either losing their lives or sustain-ing serious injuries.

“It is clear that there is no solution other than to stay away from strange objects, contact emergency team in case of suspicion of a strange body or organize a national campaign to clear the mines again using ar-mies and companies that had participated in the past for removal of mines, but this time for free.

“One thing we have to talk about is the truth in his-tory. The areas cleaned by the Bangladesh Army are the only ones where there are no mines left behind.”

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“It is through a columnist that I came to know only Muslims can be naturalized in this country. This topic has been dominating the political and social scene for several weeks. This columnist stressed that Muslims are considered as racists and religious partisans be-cause of this discrimination in naturalization,” Ezzat Al-Ghamdi wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“People have different reasons for seeking the na-tionality of any country. It could be because of patri-otic sentiment and honor of being part of the Kuwaiti society, or due to pre-existing misconception that the taps of wealth will open up as soon as they become a citizen of this country.

“I do not have a radical solution concerning issues related to naturalization. However, on a personal note, I do not see the urgency in naturalizing either Mus-lims or non-Muslims on equal ground apart from what is stipulated in the Constitution. No one wanted to live on this land 400 years ago due to its hardship, which many families endured for generations. After the dis-covery of oil, people started seeking Kuwaiti nation-ality in the hope of the goodies that came with the oil.

“Therefore, the introduction of a clause that would al-low non-Muslims to get naturalized is unpopular. How-ever, if naturalization is something that needs to happen, the Bedoun community have priority in this regard, as they have been waiting for more than eight decades. Their identity is Kuwaiti in all aspects apart from one which the government needs to offi cially endorse in or-der for them to become 100 percent Kuwaitis.”

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“Oil has lost 30 percent of its value in the recent weeks due to increased production by OPEC and Russia, and abundance of US oil reserves after reports came out about the oil market’s recovery and rise in oil prices above $80 per barrel few months ago. It is a hard lesson for us to try and fi nd alternative sources of income instead of oil,” Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Nahar daily.

“However, this is not the fi rst alert and will defi -nitely not be the last if we continue to completely de-pend on oil revenues, link the fate of the state and its citizens with salaries, money in the oil market, and its thorny fl uctuations based on political intrigues, plots and cold wars between countries that do not show any concern for ordinary citizens.

“The Venezuelan situation can be regarded as an example of what might happen if a country continues to be dependent on oil income only. Venezuela, which has a huge stock of oil, has become a poor banana republic plagued by political divisions and starvation because it is affected by the decline of the oil market years ago. This was because it was relying completely on oil revenues without building a real national econ-omy.

“Meanwhile, the government cannot adopt the aus-terity policy because of falling oil prices, lift subsi-dies on basic commodities for citizens, cancel some bonuses for public employees as suggested years ago, or increasing the fuel prices as it did two years ago.

Real reform starts with bringing an end to favorit-ism and nepotism mainly when it comes to tenders which are given to senior infl uential citizens who drain billions of dinars from the State Treasury with little benefi t.”

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“From time to time, the social media and other plat-forms are saturated with citizen-oriented question-naires whose source and scientifi c accuracy nobody knows,” Dr Hassan Abdullah Jowhar wrote for Al-Jaridah daily.

“The purpose of these questionnaires is to monitor people’s position on dissolution of the National As-sembly and the call for fresh elections. Those behind these questionnaires could be individuals or research centers, but they do not provide effective directions or make any impact on political decisions.

“This is because the Constitution determines the nature of relationship between the two authorities, while it gives political mandate on dissolving the As-sembly to the government.

“However, these efforts are signifi cant in ascertain-ing position of the electorate towards the elected au-thority amidst indications of poor parliamentary per-formance. It has been steadily declining along with grave weaknesses since the one-man one-vote was ap-proved. The Assembly has become the absolute tool of the government!”

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“His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attended and patronized the open-ing of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital – the biggest hospital in the country in terms of capacity and po-tentials,” columnist Abdurahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“It will provide citizens with good medical services – an addition to the achievements of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his keenness to see the health sector implementing vital health projects.

“Sheikh Jaber Hospital is one of the biggest hos-pitals in the Middle East and the sixth biggest in the world. It was built on space measuring 720,000 square meters, while the total size of the buildings reached 660,000 square meters.

“The hospital includes fi ve towers of patients’ rooms and each tower has nine fl oors. The hospital is expected to expand in the future to add the sixth tower. There are buildings for dental services, nurs-ing facilities, kitchen equipment, central unit and maintenance works. The hospital has three helipads in addition to 5,000 parking spaces for vehicles and 50 for ambulances and protection shelter.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Tamimi

MP seeks minister’s removal,hints at ‘interpellation’ of PM

Follow Constitution, says Boushehri

the premier.Earlier, the National

Assembly agreed to refer the grilling motion sub-mitted by MP Shu’aib Al-Muwaizri against HH the Prime Minister to the Le-gal and Legislative Affairs Committee for review in order to determine its con-stitutionality.

Al-Mutair urged Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak to imme-diately dismiss State Minis-ter for Housing and Services Jinan Boushehri for her fail-ure to deal with the fl ood crisis, labor demonstrations in Al-Mutla’a and delayed operation of the new termi-nal building (T4) at Kuwait International Airport; imply-ing that an interpellation will be underway if his demand is not addressed.

In response, Boushehri pointed out that if the MP is adamant on using his con-stitutional tools, it should be done in accordance with Ar-ticle 101 of the Constitution; hence, the interpellation must be against Boushehri, not the premier.

Talking about the issues raised by the MP, Boushehri affi rmed major maintenance works are underway to repair damages caused by the fl ood, especially in Sabah Al-Ah-mad Housing City. She said all concerned contracts are under investigations, even those terminated before she assumed the post.

Confi rmedOn the demonstrations,

Boushehri confi rmed the is-sue has been resolved while the new terminal building (T4) is now fully operational for Kuwait Airways fl ights.

In another development, the Financial Affairs Com-mittee will meet on Sunday to discuss several items on its agenda – the most important of which is the government’s proposal on temporary sei-zure and reappropriation of properties for improvement of public utilities.

Minister of Finance Naif Al-Hajraf and Minister of Public Works and State Min-ister for Municipality Affairs Husaam Al-Roumi will at-tend the meeting in order to consolidate articles of the proposal to ensure that no property will be seized and reappropriated for public ser-vices development unless it is done in accordance with the law. Since the current law that governs this area is rid-dled with crippling articles, the government’s bill neces-sitates thorough deliberation.

The explanatory note of the bill states that no property will be seized temporarily and reappropriated unless it is for the development of public utilities and services, and that the owner will be fairly com-pensated as per the articles of the law while the compensa-tion will be paid one-time.

KUNA photoThe Kuwait Towers were affected by the thick fog in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Air traffi c normal despite fogAir traffi c at Kuwait International Airport is normal on Sat-urday, despite heavy fog, said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Director of the DGCA’s Depart-ment of Air Traffi c Eng Emad Al-Sanousi said the current visibility level at Kuwait Airport allows takeoffs and land-ings in compliancy with the airport standards.

Heavy clouds spread across the country last night and until the early hours of Saturday, causing decline of visibility to less than 1,000 meters.

During the early hours, little of sun shine and clouds merged and formed an excellent portrait during this time of the year. (KUNA)

MoI photoCartons of cigarettes seized by the Customs at the Saudi border.

Jinan Boushehri

‘Priority for Kuwaitis’

Rain comp demands rise to 761KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): Minister of Social Affair and Labour, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh announced on Saturday that the rains’ compensations demands reached 761 cases, including real estate, vehicles and furniture losses claims.

She added in press remarks that process of receiving the people affected by the heavy rains is well organized at the com-pensations’ committee headquarters in Al-Shamiya area.

The committee offers priority to Ku-waitis, and to those having damaged houses and vehicles, Minister Al-Sabeeh added.

She denied offering any fi nancial com-pensations to the affected people yet, indi-cating that this stage is only for receiving inquires and checking that they are meet-ing all requirements and in accordance with the legal procedures followed.

The government is offering the rains’ compensations matter an extra care, mak-ing sure to offer them the suitable pay-ments that cope with the damage they suffered.

This committee will not ensure justice toward the compensation demands, assur-ing those who incurred losses due to the recent delgue that they would receive the appropriate recompense.

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: MP Mohammad Al-Mutair has hinted on submitting an interpel-lation motion against HH the Prime Minister

Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sa-bah despite the instruction of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to refrain from taking such a step if the grilling points are beyond the jurisdiction of

Bid to smuggle cigarettes foiledCustoms offi cers at Al-Nuwaiseeb bor-der post recently foiled the attempt of a Saudi man to smuggle out of the country 21 cartons, reports Annahar daily.

The daily added, the cigarettes were found hidden under the front seats of his Jeep. The contraband and the smuggler have been referred to the authorities.

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

5

ACCIDENT: A Kuwaiti citizen sustained injuries when his vehicle over-turned after colliding with another vehicle.

According to security sources, when the Op-erations Room of Min-istry of Interior received information about the traffi c accident, securi-tymen, paramedics and fi refi ghters rushed to the scene. The citizen who was trapped inside his wrecked vehicle was rescued after which para-medics referred him to Adan Hospital.

The vehicles were removed from the road, and traffi c was organ-ized. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the accident.

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DRUGS: Three youths were arrested in Jahra area in possession of il-licit drugs including methamphetamine.

According to sources, Jahra securitymen were patrolling the governo-rate when they came across the three youth and checked them to fi nd the aforementioned drugs.

They were arrested and referred with the confi scated drugs to the concerned authorities for necessary legal action.

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MUNICIPALITY: Di-rector of Public Hygiene and Road Occupancy at Jahra Municipality Fahd Al-Qeraifah announced that the sector in October removed 150 abandoned vehicles and 128 thou-sand cubic meters of solid waste.

In a statement, Al-Qe-raifah said 1082 garbage bins have been replaced.

He also said inspec-tors issued 849 viola-tions and warnings, placed 266 stickers on violating structures, ac-complished 73 transac-tions, and collected KD 8948 in fees.

Briefs

Court Cases

Manager acquitted of forgery

Pay dowry to wife: courtBy Jaber Al-Hamoud

Al-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Jafari Circuit of the Family Court ordered a Kuwaiti citizen to pay delayed dowry of KD 5,000 to his wife as well as the legal charges of the case. This verdict was is-sued despite the fact that mar-riage still continues.

Representing the wife was Lawyer Da-lal Al-Mutairi who presented at the court a portfolio of d o c u m e n t s which prove the right of her client to receive the dowry even though the marriage is still ongoing as per article 11 of the family law No. 12/2015.

Lawyer Al-Mutairi also pre-sented documents to affi rm that the marriage has been consum-mated due to which her client de-serves the full dowry as per the Jafari jurisprudence.

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Verdict nullifi ed: The Court of Cassation nullifi ed the verdict of the Court of Appeal that sen-tenced a Lebanese expatriate- manager of a trading company- to three years in prison with hard labor and deportation after serv-ing the term over the allegation of forging certifi cate for transfer of workers’ salaries. The apex court thereby refrained from pronounc-ing penalty against the defendant and obliged him to be of good moral conduct.

The Public Prosecution De-partment accused the defendant of forging official documents with which he purportedly fab-ricated salary transfer certificate of the company for April 2015, while he claimed the document was issued at the Labor Inspec-tion Department. He also forged

work permit for a worker ex-ploiting innocence of the con-cerned employee who accepted it as a genuine document.

Defense Lawyer Nasser Al-Ba-shir affi rmed that his client was guilty of both allegations but ex-onerated him of perpetrating the offense with criminal intent. He argued that forgery is not consid-ered a crime until the suspect uses the document to alter the truth. He explained the documents were used for a true situation, which did not affect the true position of its usage.

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Embezzlement case: The Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the Appeals Court to acquit some Kuwaiti and expatriate officials and employees in the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, in addition to a compa-ny manager, of forging official documents to facilitate embez-zlement of about KD 2.714 mil-lion from maintenance contracts for mosques.

Previously, the Criminal Court sentenced two of the accused to seven years in jail with hard la-bor, and dismissed one of them from his post and banned him from assuming any duty in the government sector. The court also fi ned them KD3,000 each.

Another accused was sentenced to three years and four months in jail, fi ned KD 3,000 and dis-missed from public work.

The court did not issue a ver-dict on one of the accused, 16 others were fi ned KD 1,000 each and the remaining defendants were acquitted.

The Public Prosecution charged the accused with fa-cilitating embezzlement of the ministry’s funds by forging documents with the intention of using these documents to misap-propriate money through one of the defendants who abused his position as supervisor of mosque maintenance projects in Ahmadi Governorate.

Dalal

Material loss in Shuhada fi reKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Pub-lic Relations Department at Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) announced that firefighters from Mishref and Subhan fire stations ex-tinguished a fire which engulfed a building in Shuhada without spread-ing to nearby structures, while the losses were limited to materials only, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Security operatives at the Opera-tions Unit signaled the concerned sta-tions to dispatch firefighters as soon as they received a distress call con-cerning the incident. The officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Ayman Al-Mefreh, evacuated occupants of the building and embarked on the fire-out operation, which they completed in record time.

Thousands of drug pills seized atAbdali border; Arab expat caught

Marijuana detected in parcel from abroad

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: An Arab expatriate was arrested at Abdali border checkpoint for attempting to smuggle 24,000 Captagon pills into the country, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In a press statement, Director of Land Customs at General Customs Administration Mishaan Al-Saaedi explained that advanced devices introduced for enhancement of cus-toms duties had contributed to the discovery of the drugs which were hidden in a secret compartment un-der the truck’s radiator.

The truck, driven by the Arab ex-patriate, arrived at the border check-point from a neighboring country. The infrared machine showed an abnormal congestion of a substance under the truck’s radiator. Customs officers checked to discover large quantity of narcotic pills which were packed and hidden under the radiator in order to avoid detection.

The truck driver was arrested and referred with the confiscated Capta-gon pills to the concerned authorities for necessary legal action.

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Two hurt in mishap: A tanker car-rying highly inflammable substance toppled on King Fahad Road, toward Kuwait City, after a collision with a truck. Two individuals were injured in the incident.

A security source said the Opera-tions Room of the Ministry of Interior received a call about a collision be-tween a fuel tanker and a truck, and firemen accompanied by paramedics went to the location. They managed to remove two injured people who were trapped in the tanker and truck respectively and referred them to Adan Hospital.

The officers dealt with the incident and prevented certain disaster by se-curing the location before removing the tanker from the road.

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Marijuana found: Officials at the Parcel Section of Sadeeq Police Sta-tion detected a certain quantity of marijuana in a parcel sent to the coun-try. The parcel has since been referred to the concerned department and ef-forts are ongoing to apprehend the recipient who ordered for the parcel from abroad.

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Kuwaiti arrested: The Pakistani security authorities at the New Islam-abad International Airport Wednes-day arrested a Kuwaiti and charged him with money-laundering, reports Annahar daily quoting Pakistan’s The Express Tribune newspaper.

The Kuwaiti, identified only as K.B. was off loaded from a Flight No 206 for attempting to travel with more than $46,000.

According to Customs officials the money, which has been confiscated, was discovered during the screening

of the baggage. The Kuwaiti claimed diplomatic immunity but could not produce a legal document either in this regard or the money he was carrying.

❑ ❑ ❑

Pigeons stolen: Police are looking for unidentified burglars who broke into a livestock pen belonging to a citizen of an unidentified GCC coun-try and stole 170 pigeons worth KD 2,500, reports Al-Anba daily.

Personnel from the Criminal Evi-dences Department lifted fingerprints

from the area to identify the culprits.❑ ❑ ❑

Citizen’s car missing: A Kuwaiti man lodged a complaint with the po-lice, saying his car was stolen at the Friday Market. The complainant said he parked the car at the parking lot and went shopping, and he was surprised to find the car missing upon returning to the same location. He provided the police with full description of the car and investigation commenced almost immediately when it became obvious

the car had been stolen.❑ ❑ ❑

Son robs mother: Police have kept in custody a young Syrian for stealing KD 1,000 cash and jewelry worth KD 3,000 from his mother, reports Al-Rai daily.

A security source said the arrest came after the mother filed a com-plaint with the police accusing an unidentified burglar of stealing her money and jewelry when she was vis-iting her relatives with her son.

Kuwaiti relief trucks in Aden released

Kuwaiti relief trucks which were detained by the authorities there recently for unspecified reasons in Aden have been released, reports Al-Rai daily quot-ing reliable sources.

Kuwait’s Peace Society for Humanitarian and Charity Works said that the Kuwaiti aid trucks that were sent to Yemen last week were allowed to proceed to the inland areas and the aid was being distributed in the provinces except for those which

arrived in Aden.The society noted the trucks that arrived in Aden

were ‘stopped’ by the military authorities citing some security issues.

The sources indicated, the society works to coor-dinate with the military authorities and the Yemeni Embassy in Kuwait to accelerate the release, for distribution to refugees and displaced persons and the poor according to the approved plan.

The trailer trucks waiting in a yard for clearance.

Orders for CSC, ministry’s merger

‘Private sector will not pay national labor subsidy’KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Reports being circulated about assigning the private sector the responsibil-ity of paying national labor subsidy are incorrect, reports Al-Anba dai-ly quoting informed sources.

They affirmed that the govern-ment has no intention to obligate the private sector to deal with the budget allocated for paying sub-sidy to Kuwaiti employees of the private sector.

Meanwhile, they revealed that Civil Service Commission (CSC) will announce a new batch of ap-pointments by the beginning of 2019 after completing all proce-

dures related to registration of ap-plicants of batch No. 65.

The sources indicated that the registration of applicants of batch No. 65 will begin on Friday, De-cember 7 and continue until Friday December 21.

They explained that those who have been allocated dates by the automated system must visit the CSC headquarters during the work-ing hours from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm during the week days, and they must bring the necessary docu-ments.

❑ ❑ ❑

Merger ordered: Decree No. 350/2018 has been issued to merge Civil Service Commission (CSC) to State Ministry for Economic Af-fairs, reports Al-Anba daily.

As per the decree, the Prime Minister and ministers are respon-sible for enforcing this decree.

It will come into force from the date it is published in the official gazette.

Another decree was also issued to merge Kuwait Studies and Re-searches Center to the Cabinet un-der the supervision of state minister for Cabinet Affairs.

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

6

KUNA photoThe prize winners with the Kuwaiti Ambassador, Foundation’s Representative,

and the organizing committee’s chairwoman

KUNA photoKuwaiti Ambassador to Austria Maherfi poses for a photograph at an offi cial

ceremony honoring Kuwait Cancer Control Center.

Ambassador Marafi said that it was the fi rst honoring in its kind, and a new and unique achieve-ment of Kuwait that shows fruit-ful and constructive cooperative relations between the agency and Kuwait in this fi eld.

“It is an honor for me to dedi-cate this international accolade to His Highness the Amir, His High-ness the Crown Prince, the gov-ernment and the Kuwaiti people as an additional achievement to Kuwait,” he told KUNA.

He noted that the country has made several accomplishments in various fi elds, and this enhances its regional and international sta-tus.

In a similar statement to KUNA, Al-Refaie said the Min-istry of Health’s strategy works on backing medical centers and hospitals through appointing pro-fessional staff and using technical equipment to cope up with inter-national standards.

The strategy’s results have been shown on international level due to regional and international de-pendence on the KCCC, he added.

He referred that the ministry has unlimited ambitions to be promi-nent in all fi elds.

For her part, head of KCCC Dr Kholoud Al-Ali said the honor-ing refl ects fruitful cooperation between the agency and Kuwait mainly in the nuclear medicine.

She pointed out that the nuclear medicine department of KCCC has been selected to be a regional training center for Arab countries in the Asian region.

This step stresses technical and scientifi c effi ciency of Kuwaiti staff that boosts the country’s po-sition, she said.

Furthermore, head of nuclear medicine department Fariha Al-kandari said it has been a pioneer-ing section, since its establishment in 1968, in diagnostic and thera-peutic services through using ra-dioactive materials.

She noted that the department includes specialized units like the unit of radioactive materials, the unit of nuclear medicine physics and the central storage of radioac-tive waste.

More than 8,000 patients ben-efi ted from the department’s ser-vices last year, she made clear.

Dr Nader Al-Awadhi, Kuwait liaison offi cer with IAEA, said honoring the center is evidence of several experiments and progress-es made by Kuwait is this fi eld.

This honoring establishes a start of a key scientifi c coopera-tion between the institutions and the centers of nuclear medicine in Asia through the current coopera-tion between Kuwait and the agen-cy, he said. “The IAEA has great experience and we hope it would have a bigger role in the future.”

Established in 1968, KCCC has several sub-centers containing 200 beds that offer services for cancer patients across the country.

Arab-British ties lauded

Abdullah Al-Mubarak Foundationawards prizes for best ME books

IAEA honors KCCC in recognitionof its efforts in nuclear medicine

By Khaled Al-Daihani

LONDON, Dec 1, (KUNA): The Brit-ish-Kuwaiti Friendship Society held a Book Prize Award ceremony for the best scholarly books on Middle East-ern studies, written in English.

The Award, sponsored by the Ab-dullah Al-Mubarak Foundation, is based on the historic value of research and information regarding the Middle East region.

Names of winning books were an-nounced during the ceremony, which was held at the British Academy in London last night and coincided with the 20th anniversary of Abdullah Al-Mubarak Foundation’s establishment.

LaudedFor his part, Kuwait Ambassador

Khaled Al-Duwaisan lauded, in his speech at the event, Abdullah Al-Mubarak Foundation’s role in boost-ing Arab-British ties, particularly on scientifi c and cultural domains.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of launching the award, the attendance of a large number of writers and academ-ics has refl ected the event’s success, he said.

Al-Duwaisan added the initiative was prompted by the belief that culture could help handle major global issues, extending bridges of understanding among nations and supporting dia-logue of civilizations.

Initiatives have a signifi cant role in increasing British institutions and organizations’ interest to understand Middle Eastern nations, the Kuwaiti diplomat said, adding they also con-

tribute effectively in the efforts aimed to narrow the gap between Middle Eastern and Western countries.

Such efforts would eventually lead to achieving peace and stability in the world, said the Kuwaiti diplomat.

The British-Kuwaiti relationship continues to grow and fl ourish, Al-Duwaisan mentioned, pointing out the solid bilateral ties that date back to nearly 200 years.

Furthermore, he thanked Abdullah Al-Mubarak Foundation for sponsoring such pioneering annual cultural initia-tive, lauding, as well, the Foundation’s Representative Sheikh Mubarak Abdul-lah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah’s role in that regard, and the organizing committee’s efforts in choosing the best books.

For his part, Sheikh Mubarak Abdul-lah Al-Sabah said the goal of the award is to support the English valuable stud-ies focusing on Arab and Islamic issues, which contributes to deepening the un-derstanding between the Arab and Is-lamic cultures and the West.

Such intellectual and cultural ini-tiatives will have a positive effect on bridging the gap and the cultural mis-understanding between the two sides, he added.

Over the past 20 years, the Founda-tion’s committee had reviewed more than 1,000 books, mostly by British and US writers, Sheikh Mubarak Ab-dullah Al-Sabah noted, expressing his pride and appreciation of their keen in-terest to shed light on several issues in the Middle East region.

Hundreds of authors took part in the book prize award since its inception in 1998.

Regional training center for Arab states

By Abdelwaheb Al-Gueyed

VIENNA, Dec 1, (KUNA): The International Atom-ic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday honored Kuwait Cancer Control Center (KCCC) in recognition of its distinguished efforts in nuclear medicine, thanks to the use of the latest therapeutic and diagnostic techniques

in this fi eld.In an offi cial ceremony held at its headquarters in Vienna, the agency

lauded the KCCC as an outstanding center of fruitful cooperation be-tween the two sides.

IAEA’s Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Techni-cal Cooperation Dazhu Yang delivered Kuwaiti Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Sadeq Marafi and Health Ministry’s assistant undersecretary Fawaz Al-Refaie the agency’s plaque in recognition of big efforts made by the KCCC.

RIHS holds spring camping lectures: The Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) in Jahra inaugurated on Thursday the 27th spring camping with a series of cultural activities and lectures at the Pilgrims Relaxation Area (Behind Selil Jahra Park).

According to a press release, a lecture titled “Ideologi-cal Perversion … Causes and Cure” was delivered on the fi rst day at 7:30 pm by Sheikh Professor Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al-Tayyar from the College of Education, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia.

This was followed by several other lecture series span-ning a period of four months to be delivered by scholars from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia every Thursday. The soci-ety declared that the Da’awah and Guidance Committee always strives hard to spread Islamic religion and preach the message of Allah with the best mannerism. This is the reason why notable eminent scholars with verifi ed knowledge and moderation are invited to deliver lectures.

Recreational activities were also be organized. A hall in Jahra was dedicated for women to receive the lectures.

❑ ❑ ❑

KU hosts ABET team for evaluation: Department of Information Science at the College of Computing Sci-ences and Engineering (CCSE) in Kuwait University hosted a team of Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) on Nov 18-20.

In a press release, the interim Dean of the college Prof. Mustafa Abdul-Barri explained that the team carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the information science program as a prelude to granting global accreditation for general computing. They verifi ed the academic efforts of the department to ascertain whether or not it complies with the academic accreditation prerequisites in terms of adherence to the international criteria for the academic program, as well as consistent evaluation and improve-ment in the program. The team will submit a report to ABET, which will in turn study it and take an appropriate decision accordingly.

❑ ❑ ❑

Ahmadi holds power conservation drive: Under the auspices of Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Ahmadi Governorate recently launched the 3rd power conservation campaign in col-laboration with the Ministry of Electricity and Water to ensure sustainability of electricity and water, as part of the long-term developmental project titled “My governo-rate is the most beautiful”.

According to a press release, the event was held at Essa Al-Hawli Boys School in Egaila area.

News in Brief

LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

8

Condolence bookContinued from Page 1

majority five draft resolutions in support of the Pales-tinian cause.

The draft on the status of Jerusalem, jointly ta-bled by several Arab, Asian and Latin American countries, was passed by 148 votes against 11 with 14 abstentions.

It warns against recognition of any unilateral mea-sures Israel might take to change the status of the oc-cupied of Jerusalem, citing the US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.

The other four drafts renew the authorizations of the UN committees on Palestine, including the Palestin-ian media program, the Palestinian Rights Committee, and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

BUENOS AIRES: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday he should hold another summit to discuss the situation in Syria’s Idlib province where the two countries are try-ing to create a sustainable demilitarised zone.

Erdogan made the suggestion during a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

BEIRUT: US-backed forces said Friday they had cap-tured a leader of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria where the Kurdish-led fighters have been battling the jihadists.

A statement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) identified the suspect as Osama Oweid Saleh and de-scribed him as “one of the most dangerous terrorists of the DAESH (IS) group”. (AFP)

❑ ❑ ❑

DUBAI: Iran’s navy on Saturday launched a domesti-cally made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth properties, as tensions rise with arch-enemy, the United States.

In a ceremony carried live on state television, the Sa-hand destroyer – which can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply – joined Iran’s regular navy at a base in Bandar Abbas on the Gulf.

The Sahand has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities, state television re-ported. (RTRS)

Continued from Page 1

Newswatch

told the US Congress, “We declared that the aggression against Kuwait would not stand. America and the world have kept their word. It is a vic-tory for the rule of law and for what is right. Kuwait is liberated. Kuwait is once again in the hands of Kuwaitis in control of their destiny. The Kuwaiti flag flies above the capital of a free and sovereign nation.”

He and Mrs Barbara Bush visited Kuwait on several occasions, and a piece of Kuwaiti history marking the bonds between our two countries sits proudly in the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. Today, visitors to the Library can see a letter from 104 Kuwaiti children to President Bush in 1991 to thank him for the liberation of their country and to wish him Happy Birthday.

swamped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005. During their wide-rang-ing travels, the political odd couple grew close.

“Who would have thought that I would be working with Bill Clinton, of all people?” Bush quipped in October 2005.

In his post-presidency, Bush’s pop-ularity rebounded with the growth of his reputation as a fundamentally de-cent and well-meaning leader who, although he was not a stirring orator or a dreamy visionary, was a steadfast humanitarian. Elected officials and celebrities of both parties publicly ex-pressed their fondness.

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in Au-gust 1990, Bush quickly began build-ing an international military coalition that included other Arab states. After liberating Kuwait, he rejected sugges-tions that the US carry the offensive to Baghdad, choosing to end the hostili-ties a mere 100 hours after the start of the ground war.

“That wasn’t our objective,” he told The Associated Press in 2011 from his office just a few blocks from his Hous-ton home. “The good thing about it is there was so much less loss of human life than had been predicted and indeed than we might have feared.”

But the decisive military defeat did not lead to the regime’s downfall, as many in the administration had hoped.

“I miscalculated,” acknowledged Bush. His legacy was dogged for years by doubts about the decision not to remove Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader was eventually ousted in 2003, in the war led by Bush’s son that was followed by a long, bloody insurgency.

George H.W. Bush entered the White House in 1989 with a reputation as a man of indecision and indetermi-nate views. One newsmagazine sug-gested he was a “wimp.”

But his work-hard, play-hard ap-proach to the presidency won broad public approval. He held more news conferences in most months than Rea-gan did in most years.

The Iraq crisis of 1990-91 brought out all the skills Bush had honed in a quarter-century of politics and public service.

After winning United Nations sup-port and a green light from a reluctant Congress, Bush unleashed a punish-ing air war against Iraq and a five-day ground juggernaut that sent Iraqi forces reeling in disarray back to Baghdad. He basked in the biggest outpouring of pa-triotism and pride in America’s military since World War II, and his approval ratings soared to nearly 90 percent.

The other battles he fought as presi-dent, including a war on drugs and a crusade to make American children the best educated in the world, were not so decisively won.

He rode into office pledging to make the United States a “kinder, gentler” nation and calling on Americans to volunteer their time for good causes – an effort he said would create “a thou-sand points of light.”

PledgeIt was Bush’s violation of a differ-

ent pledge, the no-new-taxes promise, that helped sink his bid for a second term. He abandoned the idea in his second year, cutting a deficit-reduction deal that angered many congressional Republicans and contributed to GOP losses in the 1990 midterm elections.

An avid outdoorsman who took Theodore Roosevelt as a model, Bush sought to safeguard the environment and signed the first improvements to the Clean Air Act in more than a de-cade. It was activism with a Repub-lican cast, allowing polluters to buy others’ clean-air credits and giving industry flexibility on how to meet tougher goals on smog.

He also signed the landmark Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act to ban work-place discrimination against people with disabilities and require improved access to public places and transporta-tion.

Bush failed to rein in the deficit, which had tripled to $3 trillion un-der Reagan and galloped ahead by as much as $300 billion a year under Bush, who put his finger on it in his

inauguration speech: “We have more will than wallet.”

Seven years of economic growth ended in mid-1990, just as the Gulf crisis began to unfold. Bush insisted the recession would be “short and shal-low,” and lawmakers did not even try to pass a jobs bill or other relief measures.

Bush’s true interests lay elsewhere, outside the realm of nettlesome do-mestic politics. “I love coping with the problems in foreign affairs,” he told a child who asked what he liked best about being president.

He operated at times like a one-man State Department, on the phone at dawn with his peers – Mikhail Gor-bachev of the Soviet Union, Francois Mitterrand of France, Germany’s Helmut Kohl.

Communism began to crumble on his watch, with the Berlin Wall coming down, the Warsaw Pact disintegrating and the Soviet satellites falling out of orbit.

He seized leadership of the NATO alliance with a bold and ultimately successful proposal for deep troop and tank cuts in Europe. Huge crowds cheered him on a triumphal tour through Poland and Hungary.

Bush’s invasion of Panama in De-cember 1989 was a military precursor of the Gulf War: a quick operation with a resoundingly superior American force. But in Panama, the troops seized dicta-tor Manuel Noriega and brought him back to the United States in chains to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.

Months after the Gulf War, Wash-ington became engrossed in a dif-ferent sort of confrontation over one of Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court. Clarence Thomas, a little-known federal appeals court judge, was accused of sexual harassment by a former colleague named Anita Hill. His confirmation hearings exploded into a national spectacle, sparking an intense debate over race, gender and the modern workplace. Thomas was eventually confirmed.

StruggleIn the closing days of the 1992 cam-

paign, Bush fought the impression that he was distant and disconnected, and he seemed to struggle against the younger, more empathetic Clinton.

During a campaign visit to a gro-cers’ convention, Bush reportedly ex-pressed amazement when shown an electronic checkout scanner. Critics seized on the moment, saying it indi-cated that the president had become disconnected from voters.

Later at a town-hall style debate, he paused to look at his wristwatch – a seemingly innocent glance that be-came freighted with deeper meaning because it seemed to reinforce the idea of a bored, impatient incumbent.

In the same debate, Bush became confused by a woman’s question about whether the deficit had affected him personally. Clinton, with apparent ease, left his seat, walked to the edge of the stage to address the woman and offered a sympathetic answer.

Bush said the pain of losing in 1992 was eased by the warm reception he received after leaving office.

“I lost in ‘92 because people still thought the economy was in the tank, that I was out of touch and I didn’t understand that,” he said in an AP interview shortly before the dedica-tion of his presidential library in 1997. “The economy wasn’t in the tank, and I wasn’t out of touch, but I lost. I couldn’t get through this hue and cry for ‘change, change, change’ and ‘The economy is horrible, still in recession.’

George Herbert Walker Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Mas-sachusetts, into the New England elite, a world of prep schools, mansions and servants seemingly untouched by the Great Depression.

His father, Prescott Bush, the son of an Ohio steel magnate, made his for-tune as an investment banker and later served 10 years as a senator from Con-necticut.

George H.W. Bush enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday in 1942, right out of prep school. He returned home to marry his 19-year-old sweet-heart, Barbara Pierce, daughter of the

publisher of McCall’s magazine, in January 1945. They were the longest-married presidential couple in US his-tory. She died on April 17, 2018.

Lean and athletic at 6-foot-2, Bush became a war hero while still a teen-ager. One of the youngest pilots in the Navy, he flew 58 missions off the car-rier USS San Jacinto.

He had to ditch one plane in the Pacific and was shot down on Sept 2, 1944, while completing a bombing run against a Japanese radio tower. An American submarine rescued Bush. His two crewmates perished. He re-ceived the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery.

After the war, Bush took just 2-1/2 years to graduate from Yale, then headed west in 1948 to the oil fields of West Texas. Bush and partners helped found Zapata Petroleum Corp in 1953. Six years later, he moved to Houston and became active in the Republican Party.

CommitmentIn politics, he showed the same

commitment he displayed in business, advancing his career through loyalty and subservience.

He was first elected to Congress in 1966 and served two terms. President Richard Nixon appointed him am-bassador to the United Nations, and after the 1972 election, named him chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush struggled to hold the party together as Watergate destroyed the Nixon presidency, then became ambassador to China and CIA chief in the Ford administration.

Bush made his first bid for president in 1980 and won the Iowa caucuses, but Reagan went on to win the nomi-nation.

In the 1988 presidential race, Bush trailed the Democratic nominee, Mas-sachusetts Gov Michael Dukakis, by as many as 17 points that summer. He did little to help himself by picking Dan Quayle, a lightly regarded junior sena-tor from Indiana, as a running mate.

But Bush soon became an aggressor, stressing patriotic themes and flailing Dukakis as an out-of-touch liberal. He carried 40 states, becoming the first sit-ting vice-president to be elected presi-dent since Martin Van Buren in 1836.

He took office with the humility that was his hallmark.

“Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that,” he said at his inauguration. “But I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds.”

Bush approached old age with gusto, celebrating his 75th and 80th birthdays by skydiving over College Station, Texas, the home of his presidential library. He did it again on his 85th birthday in 2009, parachuting near his oceanfront home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He used his presidential library at Texas A&M University as a base for keeping active in civic life.

He became the patriarch of one of the nation’s most prominent politi-cal families. In addition to George W. becoming president, another son, Jeb, was elected Florida governor in 1998 and made an unsuccessful run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

The other Bush children are sons Neil and Marvin and daughter Doro-thy Bush LeBlond. Another daughter, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953, a few weeks before her fourth birthday.

US President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Saturday mourned the passing of H.W. Bush, remember-ing him as a man of “sound judgment, common sense and unflappable leader-ship.”

In a statement issued hours af-ter Bush’s death on Friday night, the Trumps said that Bush had “inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service.”

Bush, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, was 94.

The White House announced Sat-urday morning that the Trumps would attend a state funeral for the former president at Washington’s National Cathedral.

In this June 12, 2012 file photo, former President George H.W. Bush, and his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, arrive for the premiere of HBO’s new documentary on his life near the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush has died at age 94. Family spokesman Jim McGrath says Bush died shortly after 10 pm on Nov 30, 2018,

about eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. (AP)

Amir mournsContinued from Page 1

full name, said he was “very saddened” by Bush’s death.

“He stood by us even though he was not a Muslim,” he said.

Bush visited Kuwait in 1993 and was hailed as a “guest of honour”.

Tributes have poured in online for Bush following news of his death.

“We will never forget you,” Twitter user Manal wrote.

Lights at the landmark Kuwait Tow-

ers were set to be shut off Saturday evening and replaced with an image of Bush with Kuwaiti and American flags, the State’s information ministry said.

The Gulf nations of Qatar, the Unit-ed Arab Emriates and Oman also sent letters of condolence to Trump and Bush’s son, former president George W. Bush.

George H.W. Bush, a patrician New Englander whose presidency soared with the coalition victory over Iraq in Kuwait, but then plummeted in the throes of a weak economy that led voters to turn him out of office after a single term, has died. He was 94.

The World War II hero, who also presided during the collapse of the So-viet Union and the final months of the Cold War, died late Friday night at his Houston home, said family spokesman Jim McGrath. His wife of more than 70 years, Barbara Bush, died in April 2018.

Bush will be honored with a fu-neral at Washington’s National Ca-thedral, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Saturday. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will attend, she said.

The son of a senator and father of a president, Bush was the man with the golden resume who rose through the political ranks: from congressman to UN ambassador, Republican Party chairman to envoy to China, CIA di-rector to two-term vice-president un-der the hugely popular Ronald Reagan. The 1991 Gulf War stoked his popu-larity. But Bush would acknowledge that he had trouble articulating “the vi-sion thing,” and he was haunted by his

decision to break a stern, solemn vow he made to voters: “Read my lips. No new taxes.”

He lost his bid for re-election to Bill Clinton in a campaign in which busi-nessman H. Ross Perot took almost 19 percent of the vote as an independent candidate. Still, he lived to see his son, George W., twice elected to the presi-dency – only the second father-and-son chief executives, following John Ad-ams and John Quincy Adams.

The 43rd president issued a state-ment Friday calling the elder Bush “a man of the highest character.”

“The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad,” the statement read.

After his 1992 defeat, George H.W. Bush complained that media-created “myths” gave voters a mistaken im-pression that he did not identify with the lives of ordinary Americans. He decided he lost because he “just wasn’t a good enough communicator.”

Once out of office, Bush was content to remain on the sidelines, except for an occasional speech or paid appear-ance and visits abroad. He backed Clin-ton on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which had its genesis dur-ing his own presidency. He visited the Middle East, where he was revered for his defense of Kuwait. And he returned to China, where he was welcomed as “an old friend” from his days as the US ambassador there.

He later teamed with Clinton to raise tens of millions of dollars for vic-tims of a 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and Hurricane Katrina, which

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

9

Hacking

Info will be protected: AG

‘500 million’ guests fall victim to hack: MarriottNEW YORK, Jan1, (AFP): As many as 500 mil-lion guests at Marriott International hotels may have been victims of a hack that in many cases pilfered passport numbers, birthdates or other identifying data dating back to 2014, the company announced Friday.

The hack is among the largest ever disclosed, prompting a big drop in Marriott shares and investigations in at least three states including, New York, where Attorney General Barbara Underwood said on Twitter that “New Yorkers deserve to know that their personal information will be protected.”

Marriott said it was alerted on Sept 8 that there had been an attempt to hack their reservation database in the United States. A subsequent probe concluded on Nov 19 “that there had been unauthor-ized access to the Starwood network since 2014” which compromised per-sonal and financial infor-mation.

Hotel brands in the Starwood network include Sheraton, Westin, Four

Points and W Hotels. Marriott completed a $13.6 billion acquisition of Starwood in 2016.

“We deeply regret this incident happened,” Marriott chief Arne Sorenson said in a statement. “We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves.”

The investigation determined that for about 327 million guests, the hacked information included items such as names, addresses, passport numbers and dates of birth. Marriott also could not rule out that hackers were also able to access some encrypted credit card information.

For the other guests, the information was lim-ited to names and sometimes other data such as mailing and email addresses or other information, the company said.

After reaching the deal with Marriott in November 2015, Starwood disclosed that it suf-fered a hack on some hotels in North America, later determining that malware affected restau-rants and gift shops but that there was no evidence the infiltration had netted key consumer data, such as social security numbers or debit card codes.

Marriott’s statement did not mention the ear-lier Starwood disclosure.

Marriott said it would reach out to victims of the hack and was offering support to those affect-ed including free, one-year enrollment in WebWatcher, a service which monitors internet sites where personal data is shared.

Marriott also is working with law enforcement and security experts to tighten security on its sys-tem.

Besides New York, prosecutors in Pennsylvania and Maryland are probing the incident. Federal officials also are monitoring the episode.

Underwood

Workers inspect an off-ramp that collapsed during a morning earthquake on Nov 30, in Anchorage, Alaska. (inset): Merchandise fell from shelves and racks at Andy’s Ace Hardware on Muldoon Road after the eartquake. (AP)

Powerful quake rattles Anchorage, hitting roads, bridges hardestA powerful earthquake jolted southern Alaska on Friday morning, buck-ling roads, disrupting rush-hour traffic and jamming telephone service in and around Anchorage, the state’s largest city, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

The 7.0 magnitude quake struck about 8 miles (13 km) north of Anchorage, a city of 300,000 residents accounting for about 40 percent of Alaska’s population, and was followed by dozens of aftershocks that continued to rattle nerves throughout the day.

Public schools and many businesses across Anchorage closed early, and an eerie quiet settled over the city’s largely deserted streets by nightfall. At least two local television stations were briefly knocked off the air by the tremor, which some people said sounded like a roar of gunfire.

Roads and bridges appeared to have been hardest hit, but Anchorage was otherwise mostly spared from major structural damage, authorities said. Power outages and disruption of phone service were widespread.

City Fire Chief Jodie Hettrick said two small, older buildings had col-

lapsed, and that her department responded to several structure fires. Emergency medical personnel answered 56 calls in the hours imme-

diately after the temblor, although none involved serious injuries, Hettrick said. “The fact that we went through something this significant with this minimal amount of damage says that we’re a very well-pre-pared community, that our building codes and our building professionals have done a terrific job,” Mayor Ethan Berkowitz told an earlier news conference. (RTRS)

A US Border Patrol agent pats down Honduran migrants after they crossed onto US territory from Tijuana, Mexico, Nov 30. Thousands of migrants who traveled via a caravan mem-bers want to seek asylum in the US but may have to wait months because the US gov-ernment only processes about 100 of those cases a day at the San Ysidro border cross-

ing in San Diego. (AP)

Zinke Mueller

Row over subpoena: James Comey’s lawyer urged a judge Friday to block a subpoena requir-ing that the former FBI director submit to a private interview before a House panel, arguing that Republican lawmakers want to take shots in a “dark alley.”

But a lawyer for Congress said committees are free to conduct investigations as they please and that Comey, who is concerned that statements from a closed-door interview would be selectively leaked, had no right to refuse a subpoena and demand a public hearing.

“No federal district court judge in the history of the republic has granted the type of relief that Mr Comey seeks,” said Thomas Hungar, general counsel for the House of Representatives. (RTRS)

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$17m for Vegas survivors: The US government is allocating nearly $17 million to help people affected by the Las Vegas Strip mass shooting that became the deadliest in the nation’s modern

N. America

In this Nov 29, 2018 photo, Michael Cohen walks out of federal court in New York. A pattern of deception by advisers to President Donald Trump, aimed at covering up Russia-related contacts dur-ing the 2016 campaign and transition, has unspooled bit by bit in

criminal cases from special counsel Robert Mueller. (AP)

history, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Friday.

The money from the Justice Department will defray costs of

counseling, therapy, rehabilita-tion, trauma recovery and legal aid for thousands of people affected by the Oct 1, 2017, mas-

sacre, Whitaker said in Cincinnati.

Fifty-eight people died and more than 850 were injured when

a gunman opened fire from a high-rise hotel into an open-air country music concert crowd of 22,000 people. (AP)

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Zinke called to resign: US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke unleashed a scathing personal attack Friday against a congress-man who had called on him to resign, accusing the Arizona Democrat of drunkenness and using taxpayer money to cover up inappropriate behavior.

Zinke sent his tweet after Rep Raul Grijalva wrote an opinion column, published in USA Today on Friday, saying that Zinke must resign because of what Grijalva called “ethical and managerial failings.”

“It’s hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle,” Zinke tweeted. “This is coming from a man who used nearly $50,000 in tax dollars as hush money to cover up his drunken and hostile behavior. (AP)

New ‘destroyer’for the US NavyBOSTON, Dec1, (AP): The US Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer was being named for a Navy pilot from Massachusetts who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Korean War.

The commissioning cere-mony for the USS Thomas Hudner was scheduled for Saturday in Boston.

The Maine-built Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was being named in honor of Thomas Hudner, a Fall River native and longtime Concord resident.

US to cut troops along border but extend deployment

3 die in immigrant smuggling attemptSAN DIEGO, Dec 1, (Agencies): An attempt to smuggle immigrants into the country illegally ended with three people dead and eight seriously injured in a remote, rugged area of California near the Mexican border.

The incident began Thursday afternoon when agents discovered tire tracks for several cars that ran from the international border north into the US. The agency calls such incidents “drive-throughs,” or instances in which cars illegally enter the US, often through remote areas that don’t have border fencing.

They found a piece of a vehicle that they recognized as likely being from a pickup truck spotted nearby 10 minutes later. Agents tried to stop the pickup, but it fled, entering and exiting Interstate 8 twice and weaving through traffic at speeds of up to 100 mph, according to witnesses.

Agents then deployed a tire deflation device, and the truck lost control within a minute, crashing and rolling over.

California authorities say one woman and two men were killed in the crash on westbound I-8 about 60 miles (96 kilome-ters) east of San Diego.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Travis Garrow says a male driver and a female passenger were believed to be seated in the cab of the truck, and nine men were in the bed.

Meanwhile, hundreds of mostly Central American migrants poured into a new

Judge in US refuses to immediatelyallow Trump to enforce asylum banSAN FRANCISCO Dec 1, (AP): A US judge on Friday refused to immediately allow the Trump administration to enforce a ban on asylum for any immi-grants who illegally cross the US-Mexico border.

Judge Jon Tigar rejected the Justice Department’s request to suspend his earlier order temporarily blocking the ban. The administration had still not shown that the ban was legal, or that any harm would come from continuing to implement existing immigration laws, Tigar said in his order.

“Nor have Defendants rebutted the significant harms that will be suffered by asylum seekers with legitimate

claims and the organizations that assist them,” he said.

An email to a spokesman for the Justice Department was not immedi-ately returned.

At issue is President Donald Trump’s Nov 9 proclamation that barred anyone who crossed the US-Mexico border between official ports of entry from seeking asylum. Trump issued the proclamation in response to caravans of migrants approaching the border.

Tigar on Nov 19 sided with legal groups who argued that federal law is clear that immigrants in the US can request asylum regardless of whether they entered legally.

shelter on Friday as bus loads fled a filthy, flooded sports complex on the eve of a presidential inauguration in Mexico that could recast the border crisis with US President Donald Trump.

Earlier in the day, streams of migrants laden with heavy backpacks, tents and blankets, much of it soaking wet, loaded buses leaving their original migrants shel-ter within sight of the border.

Helicopters swooped down nearby a

few times and lines of people formed quickly when bottles of water were passed out. Diapers and milk for children were also distributed.

For those among the at least 6,000 migrants who have descended upon the Mexican border city of Tijuana, just south of San Diego on the US side, the move to a former outdoor concert venue after torrential rains a day earlier reduced the old shelter to a muddy, smelly mess was a welcome relief.

Immigration

World News Roundup

LONDON,Dec 1, (Agencies): The latest minister to quit British Prime Minister Theresa May’s govern-ment because of Brexit said Satur-day that the prime minister’s com-promise agreement would leave Britain outnumbered and outmaneu-vered in future negotiations with the European Union.

Ex-Universities and Science Min-ister Sam Gyimah likened the agree-ment to playing soccer against opponents who “are the referee and they make the rules as well.”

May is bat-tling to per-suade British lawmakers to back the agree-ment when Par-liament votes on it Dec 11. She and EU leaders say rejecting the divorce terms, endorsed by the EU last weekend, would leave the UK facing a messy, economically damaging “no-deal” Brexit on March 29.

But many lawmakers on both sides of the Brexit debate oppose the deal – Brexiteers because it keeps Britain bound closely to the EU, pro-EU politicians because it erects bar-riers between the UK and its biggest trading partner.

The two-part agreement includes the legally binding terms of the UK’s departure and an ambitious but vague declaration on future relations between the two sides.

Gyimah, who backed remaining in the EU during Britain’s 2016 ref-erendum, said the agreement was “a deal in name only.” Gyimah is the seventh member of the government to quit over the Brexit deal.

His resignation came after May said Britain was abandoning efforts to re-tain access to the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system after Brexit.

Britain has been a major player in developing the system, but the EU says only member states can work on developing high-security encrypted parts of Galileo for use by the military and critical infrastructure sectors.

May said that given the EU’s deci-sion “to bar the UK from being fully involved in developing all aspects of Galileo, it is only right that we fi nd alternatives.” She said Britain would develop its own sat-nav system, at an estimated cost of several billion pounds (dollars).

Gyimah said that “what has hap-pened with Galileo is a foretaste of the brutal negotiations we will go through that will weaken our national interest, make us poorer, less secure.”

May has acknowledged the Brexit deal is not perfect, but says it deliv-ers on voters’ decision to leave the EU while retaining close ties with the bloc, a key trading partner and ally.

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Murders below NY levels: The number of murders in London has fallen below that of New York City but could still hit a 10-year high if it continues at the current pace, police data analysed by Reuters shows.

Provisional fi gures for February and March released earlier in the year suggested that the murder rate in London had overtaken New York for the fi rst time in modern history.

But the number of murders in New York so far this year is now double the number in London, according to fi gures from the NYPD and London’s Metropolitan (Met) Police.

There had been 112 murders in London to October this year, com-pared to 238 in New York. But with more murders in London in Novem-ber, the total for the year stands at 127, on pace to reach the highest number since 2008, when there were 154.

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Lawmaker HIV positive: A British lawmaker came out as HIV positive in a speech to parliament on Thursday, saying he wanted to tackle the stigma and encourage others to get tested.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who rep-resents the opposition Labour party, is only the second British lawmaker to reveal he is HIV positive, and the fi rst announce it in parliament.

“Next year I will be marking an anniversary of my own - 10 years since I became HIV positive,” he told the lower house of parliament in a speech ahead of World Aids Day on Saturday.

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Take this to heaven?: A 7-year-old Scottish boy who sent a birthday card to his father in heaven has re-ceived a heart-warming reply.

A Royal Mail offi cial responded to Jase Hyndman after seeing the card addressed: “Mr Postman, Can you take this to heaven for my dad’s birthday.”

The Royal Mail’s Sean Milligan wrote back, saying, “This was a dif-fi cult challenge avoiding stars and other galactic objects on route to heaven. However, please be assured that this particular important item of mail has been delivered.”

Jase’s mother, Teri Copland, posted images of the letters on Face-book, which have been shared more than 260,000 times.

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

10

Asia

N. Korean soldier defects

5 dead, 32 injured in H. Kong coach crashHONG KONG, Dec 1, (Agencies): Five people were killed and 32 injured when a coach carrying Cathay Pa-cifi c staff whose CEO is Rupert Hogg to Hong Kong’s airport collided a taxi on Friday, police said, with passen-gers thrown from the coach’s windows on impact.

The back half of the taxi was completely crushed and both sides of the bus were damaged with traces of blood on the outside following the crash on the island of Tsing Yi.

Police said the collision had happened in the left lane of the main road – the taxi had stopped with its hazard lights on and the coach ploughed into it.

“We believe the taxi was broken down and stopped in the left lane of the road. Around 40 seconds later,

a coach hit it from behind,” police superintendent Yip Siu-ming said.

The coach then lost control, Yip added, hitting the right hand side crash barrier and then the left one and throw-ing three passengers out of the coach. The 62-year-old driver was also hurled from the vehi-cle and injured.

The taxi driver, two men and two women coach passengers were killed, according to police.

Hong Kong’s hospital authority said one person remained in critical condition and another in serious condition.

The rest of the injured were either stable or had been released from hospital.

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Japan prince issues govt criticism: A senior Japanese prince has issued rare public criticism of the government over plans to spend state funds on reli-gious rites related to the enthronement of a new em-peror next year.

Prince Akishino, the younger son of the emperor, will become crown prince in 2019 when his father steps down and his brother Crown Prince Naruhito takes over.

He took the highly unusual step of wading into a controversy about whether using state funds for an en-thronement ritual would violate a constitutional prin-ciple separating state and religion.

Speaking at a press conference last week that was made public on Friday, he said the Daijosai ritual that will take place in November next year “has a highly religious nature.”

“I wonder if it is appropriate to fi nance this highly religious thing with state funds,” he said, adding that he had expressed his opposition to the government’s Imperial Household Agency chief but he “didn’t listen to me.”

Local media said agency chief Shinichiro Yamamoto reacted by apologising, but saying the agency had clearly explained its decision-making process to the prince.

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N. Korean soldier defects to South: A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea on Saturday across their heavily fortifi ed land border, which the two sides have begun to demilitarise as relations be-tween the Cold War-era foes warm, the South’s mili-tary said.

The rare defection came as the two Koreas push ahead with a process of reconciliation in an effort to ease tensions, despite talks between Pyongyang and Washington on the North’s nuclear weapons pro-gramme stalling.

The incident did not trigger any gunfi re, unlike last year when a North Korean soldier ran across under a hail of bullets from his own side.

“A North Korean soldier was detected crossing the military demarcation line” by South Korean troops us-ing surveillance equipment, the military Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

“Related agencies plan to investigate him regarding the details of how he came to the South,” it said.

❑ ❑ ❑

1 killed, 2 hurt in S. Korea copter crash: A South Korean fi refi ghting helicopter crashed into a river in Seoul Saturday, killing one and injuring two others on board, rescue authorities said.

The chopper was hovering over the Han River in eastern Seoul to draw water into its tank when it went down, they said.

The craft had been deployed to fi ght a bushfi re on nearby hills.

Two pilots survived with injuries but a mechanic was killed.

The wildfi re on Mount Yeongchuk has since been under control. Police said they were investigating.

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Quake strikes off Tanimbar Islands: A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Tanim-bar Islands on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake was centered 279 kilometres (173 miles) west of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands, the USGS said.

There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.Indonesia sits on the Pacifi c Ring of Fire and is reg-

ularly hit by earthquakes. In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, includ-ing more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

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Manhunt for 87 Indonesia inmates: Indonesian soldiers and police joined a manhunt on Friday for 87 inmates still on the run after escaping from a prison in the western province of Aceh, offi cials said.

The 113 inmates who escaped from the Lambaro prison in Banda Aceh on Thursday had hurled water bottles laced with chilis at guards, and used barbells to smash windows, said Sri Puguh Budi Utami, Indone-sia’s director of prisons.

Prison authorities quickly recaptured 26 inmates and 87 others were still at large, Utami said.

“We are still chasing the escapees along with the police and military,” she told reporters.

Jailbreaks and riots are common in Indonesian pris-ons, many of which struggle with overcrowding and a lack of funding.

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9 sentenced to death in Vietnam: Nine drug smugglers were sentenced to death in Vietnam on Friday for selling methamphetamine and heroin in a country with some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

Heroin has long been the drug of choice among us-ers in Vietnam, mostly older men, but synthetic drugs use is on the rise especially among a growing class of hard-partying youth.

The sentences handed down Friday were among the toughest in years and came after a four-long trial in northern Ha Nam province.

Hogg

A recovery worker looks at the damaged front section of a coach window after it collided with a taxi in Hong Kong on No-vember 30, 2018. Five people were killed and 32 injured after a coach on its way to Hong Kong’s airport collided with a

taxi, police said, with passengers reportedly thrown from the coach’s windows on impact. (AFP)

Demonstrators destroy cars during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs, near the Champs Elysees in Paris, on Dec 1. Thou-sands of anti-government protesters are expected on Dec

1, 2018 on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, a week after a violent demonstration on the famed avenue was marked by burning barricades and rampant vandalism that French president compared to ‘war scenes’. (AFP)

Macron won’t be bounced by thugs

Paris protest rages, 122 heldPARIS, Dec 1, (RTRS): Police fi red tear gas, stun grenades and water can-non in battles with “yellow vest” pro-testers around the Champs Elysees in Paris on Saturday, marking the third weekend of demonstrations across France against high living costs.

Police said 122 people had been arrested amid concerns that violent far-right and far-left groups were infi l-trating the “yellow vests” movement, a spontaneous grassroots rebellion over the struggle of many in France to make ends meet.

For more than two weeks, the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests) have blocked roads in protests across France, posing one of the largest and most sustained challenges Emmanuel Macron has faced in his 18-month-old presidency.

In Paris, masked and hooded protest-ers picked up and hurled crowd barriers and other projectiles in running battles with police around the world famous Champs Elysees boulevard.

Six policemen and 14 protesters have been injured, Paris police said.

“We are attached to dialogue, but also the respect for the law,” Ed-ouard Philippe told reporters. “I am shocked by the attacks on the sym-bols of France.”

Singing Several hundred yellow vests sat

down around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the avenue, singing La Mar-seillaise, France’s national anthem, and chanting, “Macron Resign!”

On the facade of the towering 19th-century arch, protesters scrawled in big black letters: “The yellow vests will triumph.”

After several hours of skirmishes in the morning, police had appeared to clear the area around the Arc, but riot-ers and peaceful protesters subsequently returned. Clashes in adjacent streets also broke out where barricades were put up, car windows were smashed and at least two vehicles set alight.

Along the Champs Elysees, peaceful demonstrators held up a slogan reading, “Macron, stop treating us like idiots!”

Macron said on Tuesday he under-stood the anger felt by voters outside France’s big cities over the squeeze that fuel prices have put on households, but insisted he would not be bounced into changing policy by “thugs”.

Philippe said across France there were some 36,000 protesters and 5,500 in Paris. Police unions said there were 582 road blockages in France. Nantes airport in western France was briefl y closed after protesters reached the tarmac.

Organised A week ago thousands of protest-

ers, who have no leader and have largely organised themselves online, converged on Paris for the fi rst time, turning the Champs Elysees into a battle zone as they clashed with police fi ring tear gas and water cannon.

“What message do the yellow vests want to pass today? That we set France on fi re, or fi nd solutions? I fi nd this (violence) absurd,” Jacline Mouraud, a prominent activist within the yellow vests movement, told BFM television.

But a retired yellow-vest protester said: “The government is not listen-ing. Revolution cannot happen with-out violence.”

The outburst of anger is strongest on the outskirts of smaller provincial towns and villages, and underlines the gap between metropolitan elites and working class voters that has boosted anti-establishment politics across the Western world.

The immediate trigger for the pro-test wave was Macron’s decision to raise tax on diesel fuel in a move to encourage the driving of less-pollut-ing cars.

The yellow vests, who enjoy wide-spread public support, get their name from the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France must carry in their vehicles.

When they began, the protests caught Macron off-guard just as he was trying to counter a fall in his popularity rating to 30 percent. His unyielding response has exposed him to charges of being out of touch with ordinary people.

France

This handout picture taken on Nov 25, 2018 and provided by the Impe-rial Household Agency of Japan on Nov 30, 2018 shows Japan’s Prin-cess Aiko (right), talking with her fa-ther Crown Prince Naruhito about her school trip at Togu Palace in Tokyo. Princess Aiko celebrates her 17th

birthday on Dec 1, 2018. (AFP)

Regeni Poroshenko

Catalans start hunger strikes: Two jailed Catalan separatist leaders awaiting trial for their role in the region’s failed bid to secede from Spain said on Saturday they were starting a hunger strike to protest over their treatment by Spanish courts.

After Catalonia declared independence last year, Madrid took direct control of the region and brought charges including mis-use of public funds and rebellion against Catalan leaders, nine of whom are in jail awaiting trial.

Two of the leaders in custody – Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull – announced in a joint statement that they had started refus-ing food to protest at the failure of Spanish courts to process numerous appeals in rela-tion to their cases. (AFP)

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Italy summons Egypt envoy: Italy’s foreign minister summoned Egypt’s ambas-sador on Friday and urged Cairo to respect its commitment to move quickly and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Giulio Regeni, a statement said.

Regeni, a 28-year-old PhD student, was killed in Cairo in January 2016. Despite months of cooperation between Egyptian and Italian prosecutors, nobody has been arrested or charged over the killing.

“Minister (Enzo) Moavero expressed Italy’s need to see concrete investigative developments,” said the foreign ministry statement. It added that there was “strong disquiet” in Rome over the way the case was being handled. (RTRS)

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Ukraine bars 100 Russians: Ukraine’s border service says that around 100 Rus-sian citizens have been denied entry into the country since an entry ban for adult Russian males was announced.

Border guards’ spokesman Andrei Demchenko has told Ukrainian television Saturday that “the vast majority of (them) couldn’t confi rm the purpose of their trip to Ukraine.”

He said that “some of them didn’t have the necessary documents to enter Ukraine and others had exceeded the period of stay in our country.”

President Petro Poroshenko announced Friday that all Russian males aged 16 to 60 would be banned from entering Ukraine during a 30-day period of martial law ap-proved Monday. (AFP)

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Europe

NATO exercises cyber defences: In a nondescript brick building on the snowy edge of Estonia’s second city Tartu, soldiers in camoufl age tap silently at computers. They are troops manning the 21st century’s front line.

With its harsh lighting and partitioned desks, the room could be any soulless offi ce. But this is NATO’s “cyber range” and these men and women are running the alliance’s biggest cyber warfare exercise, an electronic defensive drill dubbed Cyber Coalition 2018. (RTRS)

May

Britain

Murders fall

May faces ‘woes’as minister quits

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

11

Khan vows whistleblower law: Pakistan’s recently elected prime minister says his govern-ment will introduce a new law that will reward whistleblowers who help authorities iden-tify corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and private citizens who stash money in Pakistan and in foreign banks.

Imran Khan made his remarks Thursday as he completed his fi rst 100 days in offi ce after July’s parliamentary elections.

In his televised speech, Khan claimed that rich Pakistanis have kept $11 billion in banks in 26 foreign countries without declaring it to tax authorities and that he will try to get the money back to Pakistan.

Khan also said his government will do what-ever is possible to provide citizens better health, education and housing.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, since coming into power in August, has arrested several politicians, businessmen and offi cials on corruption charges. (AP)

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Pak lawmakers briefl y held: Two lawmak-ers who are vocal critics of Pakistan’s powerful military and have alleged widespread abuses

by the armed forces say they have been barred from leaving the country, in the latest crack-down on dissent in the South Asian nation.

Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, two parlia-mentarians from the violence-ravaged North Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, were due to leave for United Arab Emirates on Friday, when authorities at the airport in the northwestern city of Peshawar intercepted them and briefl y detained them. (RTRS)

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Indian farmers march: Tens of thousands of farmers and agricultural workers marched towards the Indian parliament Friday demand-ing debt waivers and higher crop prices, putting pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of 2019 elections.

More than 300,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves in the last two decades mainly because of poor irrigation, failed crops and be-ing unable to pay back loans.

Farmers from across the country fl ooded by train and bus into Delhi since Thursday to mass in the capital city’s Ramlila Grounds before marching to parliament. (AFP)

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Lanka parliament halts salaries: Sri Lanka’s parliament on Friday voted to halt pay-ment of ministers’ salaries and travel expenses, but it remained unclear how the move would impact the disputed government of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse whose ministers boycotted the vote.

The South Asian island has been locked in political gridlock for over a month since

President Maithripala Sirisena replaced former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Rajapakse, who was then twice sacked by parliament but has refused to resign.

Foreign countries have yet to recognize the new government. Friday’s motion, which passed 122 to none in the 225-member parlia-ment, followed a similar vote on Thursday to cut the budget to the Prime Minister’s offi ce. Rajapakse loyalists also skipped that vote, argu-ing the motion was illegal. (RTRS)

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23 civilians killed in US air strike: At least 23 civilians, including women and chil-dren, were killed by a US air strike in southern Afghanistan earlier this week, according to an UN investigation, as ordinary Afghans continue to bear the brunt of the 17-year confl ict.

“Initial fi ndings indicate that the vast major-ity of the victims were women and children,” the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a report received by AFP late Thursday, adding that at least three people were also injured in the attack. (AFP)

AMLO takes power in Mexico: Veteran leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assumed the Mexican presidency on Saturday vowing to champion the poor and contain business elites he says have conspired with politicians for years to fuel corruption and lawlessness.

After a busy fi ve-month transition that has spooked fi nancial markets, Lopez Obrador will take responsibility for fi xing escalating gang violence, chronic poverty and widespread dis-content with the political class in Mexico.

To do that, the anti-establishment former Mexico City mayor plans to increase pensions, create a militarized Guardia Nacional nation-wide police force, change the penal code to amnesty lesser criminals, and hold referendums to back his policies. (AP)

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Brazil probes Guedes for fraud: Brazil’s federal police opened an investigation into incoming Economy Minister Paulo Guedes for alleged fraud tied to pension funds of state-run fi rms, lawyers for the future minister said on Friday, confi rming an earlier report from Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

The probe will try to fi nd out if Guedes, a University of Chicago-trained economist cred-ited with nudging President-elect Jair Bolsonaro toward market-friendly policies, misman-aged hundreds of millions of reais that public pension funds put in his investment vehicles starting in 2009. (RTRS)

Subcontinent Lat/Am

KhanIn this Oct 25, 2018 file photo, Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador casts his vote on whether to continue with the construction of an airport to replace the current Benito Juarez International Airport, in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador boasts of listening to the people and has submitted his pet projects to a series of unofficial ‘refer-endums’, winning overwhelming support, though with the participation of only about 1

percent of registered voters. (AP)

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

12

Environment

79 Chinese cities trigger alerts

Cities plant trees to cutextremes, boost healthMANTUA, Italy, Dec 1, (Agencies): From Ath-ens to Melbourne and Seoul to New York, big cit-ies are increasingly turning to trees to help protect them from heatwaves and fl oods, and to boost people’s physical and mental health, urban offi -cials and environmental experts say.

South Korea’s capital Seoul recently planted more than 2,000 groves and gardens, and Mel-bourne in Australia plans to nearly double its canopy cover to 40 percent by 2040

Athens is looking at planting more trees to low-er temperatures and protect the Greek capital from sudden downpours. “We have real problems with urban heat islands and fl ash fl oods. We know we have to take trees very seriously, and we haven’t up to now,” said Eleni Myrivili, deputy mayor of urban nature and Athens’ chief resilience offi cer.

Athens is still recovering from the 2008 eco-nomic crisis and lacks the staff to maintain its trees, which include bitter or-ange, japonica and Judas trees, she told the World Urban Forestry Forum, taking place in the north-ern Italian city of Mantua this week.

Milan, which plans to plant 3 million trees and expand its green spaces by 2030, has experienced a 2-degree Celsius tempera-

ture rise and increasing heat-related deaths in the past 20 years, as well as worsening fl oods, said the city’s chief resilience offi cer, Piero Pelizzaro.

More trees should “reduce air pollution, im-prove the quality of the urban space ... and reduce the impact of climate change”, he told the Thom-son Reuters Foundation.

“Nowadays there’s no difference between the city’s energy consumption in the winter and sum-mer” because of the rising demand for air-condi-tioning, he added.

Cities in Niger and Senegal in Africa are plant-ing trees to create jobs and provide fruit for fami-lies to eat, as well as provide much-needed shade.

Trees and green spaces lower stress levels and encourage people to exercise and socialize more, experts at the forum said.

But with urban populations projected to in-crease by 2.5 billion people by 2050, demand for more housing and transport is putting pressure on green spaces, they said. And a lack of expertise, data or the ability to attract funds means cities tend to opt for “grey” infrastructure projects over “green” ones to fulfi ll the same job, according to a report by New York-based 100 Resilient Cities network, published on Wednesday.

That could mean building a concrete wall to protect a coastal city from fl ooding instead of planting mangroves, which are effective, less costly, more visually pleasing and improve air quality, said 100 Resilient Cities, which produced the report.

“What makes nature-based solutions so ap-pealing is that with one intervention, such as an urban forest, a city can address multiple shocks and stresses at once – from fl ooding and heat waves to air pollution and public health – which is something that grey infrastructure is rarely able to do,” the report said.

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79 Chinese cities trigger alerts: A total of 79 Chinese cities have triggered air pollution alerts as severe winter smog covers wide swaths of the country, the offi cial Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

As of Nov 30, fi ve cities had issued red pol-lution warnings, the most severe in China’s pol-lution warning system, 73 had issued orange warnings, the second-most severe, and one city had issued a yellow warning, triggering the imple-mentation of emergency management and control measures, Xinhua reported.

Myrivili

In this April 14, 2010 fi le photo, a shepherd walks with a herd of sheep as he crosses a dried water bed in the outskirts of Hyderabad, India. Studies have shown climate change has worsened droughts, downpours and heat waves that have killed thousands of people. (Inset): In this July 26, 2011 photo, a melting iceberg fl oats along a fjord leading away from the edge of the Greenland ice sheet near Nuuk, Greenland. Massive ice sheets in western Antarctica

and Greenland are melting much faster than scientists fi gured a quarter century ago. Greenland has lost more than 5 trillion tons since 1992. International talks to fi ght global warming are set to start in Poland next week. (AP)

Sense of urgency as UN talks start next week in Poland

Grim tidings from science on climate changePARIS, Dec 1, (AFP): Scientists monitor-ing the Earth’s climate and environment have delivered a cascade of grim news this year, adding a sense of urgency to UN talks starting next week in Poland on how best to draw down the greenhouse gases that drive global warming.

The 2015 Paris Agreement calls on hu-manity to block the rise in Earth’s tempera-ture at “well below” 2ºC (3.6ºF) compared to pre-industrial levels, and 1.5ºC if possi-ble.

Here is a summary of recent fi ndings:■ 1 degree – Earth’s average surface tem-perature from January to October 2018 was 1ºC (1.8ºF) higher than the 1850-1900 base-line.

Long-term warming is caused by the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) cast off when fossil fuels are burned to produce energy.

Seventeen of the hottest years on record have occurred since the start of the 21st cen-tury, with 2018 ranking as the 4th warmest.■ 405.5 ppm – The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reached 405.5 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, the highest in at least three million years and a 45 percent jump since the pre-industrial era.

The last time CO2 was at that level, oceans were 10-20 metres higher.

Concentrations of the second most im-portant greenhouse gas, methane (CH4), have also risen sharply due to leakage from the gas industry’s fracking boom and fl atu-lence from expanding livestock.■ Emissions – After remaining stable for three years, carbon pollution increased more than one percent in 2017 to 53.5 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, a measure which includes all main greenhouse gases. Emis-sions are on track to climb again in 2018.

At that pace, Earth will pass the 1.5ºC marker as early as 2030.

To cap global warming at 2ºC, emissions must decline a quarter within a dozen years. To stay under 1.5ºC, they will have to drop by more than half.■ Melting ice – Arctic summer sea ice shrank in 2018 to a low of 4.59 million square kilometres (1.77 million square miles), well above the record low of 3.39

million square kilometres set in 2012. But long-term trends are unmistakable:

Arctic sea ice cover is declining at a rate of more than 13 percent per decade, relative to the 1981-2010 average.

Climate models predict the Arctic Ocean could, in some years, be ice-free as early as 2030.■ Extreme events – The World Meteoro-logical Organization (WMO) says there are clear links between climate change and increases in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather.

The number of climate-related extreme events – such as droughts, wildfi res, heat-waves, fl oods and cyclones – has doubled

Coal is still king in global power production

Big energy ‘undermining’ UN climate talksPARIS, Dec 1, (AFP): Oil and coal giants are exploiting a lack of confl ict-of-interest protection at UN climate talks to push for continued fossil fuel use despite its contri-bution to harmful climate change, several sources have told AFP.

As policymakers from around the world prepare to gather in Poland for the COP 24 summit to fi nalize the Paris climate promises, offi cials and campaigners said that groups representing big energy are free to lobby with little or no oversight at the negotiations.

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFC-CC), non-state actors may apply to join the process, some in the form of so-called business-interest NGOs.

They may then participate in sessions as observers, walking the same corridors as the very policymakers who must de-cide on the future of our planet.

Under the Paris Agreement, the world’s nations agreed to limit global warming to “well below” 2ºC (3.6ºF). The UN’s top science panel concluded last month that the rise in temperature should be capped at 1.5ºC to avoid severe impacts.

Its report called for a radical draw-down in fossil fuel usage, starting as soon as 2020, and said it would need to be halved by 2030 to meet the 1.5ºC target.

And yet, despite the scientifi c consen-sus that greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed in order to avoid climate dis-aster, the world’s only international action plan still reserves a seat for major pollut-ers.

Meanwhile, coal remains the most widely used means of electricity produc-tion in the world. It also happens to be the biggest emitter of climate-changing car-bon dioxide of any fuel.

Despite efforts to tackle global warm-ing, worldwide demand for coal was up one percent last year, mainly due to de-mand in Asia.

China is by far the biggest consumer of coal which is mainly used to produce electricity.

However even in China there is now political pressure to improve air quality in urban areas, with a new trend towards us-ing natural gas and renewables.

In 2017, after two years of declines, International Energy Agency fi gures showed global coal demand rising to 5.357 million tonnes of coal equivalent (TCE).

While many advanced economies, such as Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom are considering how to phase out coal use in power generation, the same is not true everywhere.

since 1990, research has shown. The inten-sity of typhoons battering China, Taiwan, Japan and the Korean Peninsula since 1980 has increased by 12 to 15 percent.

Natural disasters drive more than 25 mil-lion people into poverty every year, accord-ing to the World Bank, and cause annual losses in excess of half a trillion dollars (440 billion euros).■ 84.8 millimetres – Water that expands as it warms and runoff from ice sheets atop Greenland and Antarctica currently add about three millimetres (0.12 inches) to sea levels per year. Since 1993, the global ocean watermark has gone up by more than 85mm (3.3 inches).

Climate

This handout image obtained on Nov 29, 2018 shows an Old-owan core (stone tool) freshly excavated at Ain Boucherit from which sharp-edged cut-ting fl akes were removed. Ar-chaeologists have discovered in Algeria cut stone tools dating back 2.4 million years, much older than those found in this region so far, which could chal-lenge East Africa as a cradle unique of humanity, according to work published on Nov 29, 2018 in the prestigious Journal

Science. (AFP)

Pavlovich Trump

US OKs seismic tests: The US government Friday took a big step toward opening oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean by approving seismic airgun tests that experts warn are harmful to dolphins and whales.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand offshore drilling, and or-dered federal agencies to fast track permits for seismic airgun blasting.

Environmental groups have staunchly opposed the use of seismic airgun blasting, which research has shown can cause loud, far-traveling noise in the ocean that disrupts marine life, including fi sh and sea turtles. (AP)

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Port of Olbia explored: Stretch-ing over four sandy kilometres Al-manarre beach in southern France is a mecca for sun lovers and kite surfers. But its greatest treasure – a 2,000-year-old underwater archaeological site – lies just a few feet offshore.

Welcome to the port of the ancient Roman city of Olbia, which fell victim to a slow rise in Mediterranean waters, but is still open for visits from explorers equipped with a snorkel mask and pair of fl ippers. A collection of rectangular limestone blocks, some perfectly aligned, others scattered about on the seafl oor, make up the watery remains of the dock of the city of Olbia, a fortifi ed trading post founded by the Greeks in the 4th Century BC on the outskirts of the modern-day Riviera town of Hyeres. (AFP)

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Stone tools discovered: Archaeologists in Algeria have dis-covered stone tools and cut animal bones that may be up to 2.4 million years old, bringing into question

Discovery

In this photo released by New Zealand Department of Conserva-tion, the department’s workers clear perished pilot whales after a stranding in Owenga, Chatham Islands, New Zealand on Nov 30, 2018. Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass strand-ing in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated strand-

ings. (AP)

East Africa’s title as the cradle of humanity, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science.

The artifacts – more ancient than those discovered in the region until now – were found in Setif,

some 200 miles (300 kilometers) east of Algiers, by a team of international researchers, including Algerians. (AFP)

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Moon rocks sell for $855K:

Three moon rocks brought to Earth nearly half a century ago and the only known documented lunar samples in private hands, sold for $855,000 in New York on Thurs-day, Sotheby’s said.

The rocks, collected by an

unmanned Soviet Luna-16 Mission in 1970, went for nearly double the $442,500 last paid for them by the present-day US sellers in a Sotheby’s Russian space history sale in 1993. They were originally the property of Nina Ivanovna Ko-roleva, widow of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev – the former director of the Soviet space program – who was given them by the Soviet Union in honor of her husband’s work. (RTRS)

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Over 50 whales dead: More than 50 pilot whales have perished in another mass stranding in New Zealand, taking the death toll of beached marine mammals to over 200 in the past week, wildlife authorities said Friday.

A pod of 80-90 whales were spotted late Thursday on the shore of remote Chatham Island, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the South Island, the Department of Conservation said.

It is the fi fth stranding in New Zealand in less than a week, includ-ing 145 pilot whales which all died after they beached last weekend at Stewart Island, off the southern coast of the South Island. (AFP)

3 more landerseyed for ‘Mars’CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Dec 1, (AP): As Mars’ new-est resident settles in, Planet Earth is working on three more landers and at least two orbiters to join the sci-entifi c Martian brigade.

NASA’s InSight space-craft touched down on Mars on Monday.

InSight – the eighth suc-cessful Martian lander – should be wrapping up two years of digging and quake monitoring by the time rovers arrive from the US, Europe and China.

13

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

In MemoriamA TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

1924 - 2018

HOUSTON, Dec 1, (AP): He was the man who sought a “kinder, and gentler nation,” and the one who sternly invited Americans to read his lips — he would not raise taxes. He was the popular leader of a mighty coalition that dislodged Iraq from Kuwait, and was turned out of the presidency after a single term. Blue-blooded and genteel, he was elected in one of the nastiest campaigns in recent history.

George Herbert Walker Bush was many things, including only the second American to see his son follow him into the nation’s highest offi ce. But more than anything else, he was a believer in government service. Few men or women have served America in more capacities than the man known as “Poppy.”

“There is no higher honor than to serve free men and women, no greater privilege than to labor in government beneath the Great Seal of the United States and the American fl ag,” he told senior staffers in 1989, days after he took offi ce.

Bush, who died at age 94 — nearly eight months after his wife of 73 years died at their Houston home — was a congressman, an ambassador to the United Nations and envoy to China, chairman of the Republican National Committee, director of the CIA, two-term vice president and, fi nally, president.

He was no ideologue — he spoke disparagingly of “the vision thing,” and derided the supply-side creed of his future boss, Ronald Reagan, as “voodoo economics.” He is generally given better marks by historians for his foreign policy achievements than for his domestic record, but assess-ments of his presidency tend to be tepid.

“Was George Bush only a nice man with good connections, who seldom had to wrest from life the honors it frequently bestowed on him?” journalist Tom Wicker asked in his Bush biography.

Wicker’s answer: Perhaps. But he said Bush’s actions in Kuwait “refl ect moments of courage and vision worthy of his offi ce.”

The Persian Gulf War — dubbed “Operation Desert Storm” — was his greatest mark on history. In a January 2011 interview marking the war’s 20th anniversary, he said the mission sent a mes-sage that “the United States was willing to use force way across the world, even in that part of the world where those countries over there thought we never would intervene.”

“I think it was a signature historical event,” he added. “And I think it will always be.”After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Bush quickly began building an international mili-

tary coalition that included other Arab states. After freeing Kuwait , he rejected suggestions that the U.S. carry the offensive to Baghdad, choosing to end the hostilities a mere 100 hours after the start of the ground offensive.

“That wasn’t our objective,” he said. “The good thing about it is there was so much less loss of human life than had been predicted, and indeed than we might have feared.”

But the decisive military defeat did not lead to the regime’s downfall, as many in the administra-tion had hoped.

“I miscalculated,” Bush acknowledged. The Iraqi leader was eventually ousted in 2003, in the war led by Bush’s son that was followed by a long, bloody insurgency.

Unlike his son, who never served in the military, the elder Bush was a bona fi de war hero. He joined the Navy on his 18th birthday in 1942 over the objections of his father, Prescott, who wanted him to stay in school. At one point the youngest pilot in the Navy, he fl ew 58 missions off the carrier USS San Jacinto.

His wartime exploits won him the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. He was shot down on Sept. 2, 1944, while completing a bombing run against a Japanese radio tower. Eight others who were shot down in that mission were captured and executed, and several were eaten by their captors. But an American submarine rescued Bush. Even then, he was an inveterate collector of friends: Aboard the sub Finback, “I made friendships that have lasted a lifetime,” he would write.

This was a man who hand wrote thousands of thank you notes — each one personalized, each one quickly dispatched. Even his political adversaries would acknowledge his exquisite manners. Admonished by his mother to put others fi rst, he rarely used the personal pronoun “I,” a quirk exploited by comedian Dana Carvey in his “Saturday Night Live” impressions of the president.

Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. His father, the son of an Ohio steel magnate, had moved east to make his fortune as an investment banker with Brown Brothers, Har-riman, and later served 10 years as a senator from Connecticut. His mother, Dorothy Walker Bush, was the daughter of a sportsman who gave golf its Walker’s Cup.

Competitive athletics were a passion for the Bushes, whether at home in Greenwich, Connecti-cut, or during long summers spent at Walker’s Point, the family’s oceanfront retreat in Kenneb-unkport, Maine. Bush, along with his three brothers and one sister, had lives of privilege seem-ingly untouched by the Great Depression.

Young Bush attended Greenwich Country Day School and later Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, where he was senior class president and captain of the baseball and soccer teams. It was there, at a dance, that he met Barbara Pierce, daughter of the publisher of McCall’s maga-zine. George and Bar would marry when he left the Navy in January 1945. They were together for more than seven decades, becoming the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history. She died on April 17, 2018.

Out of the service, Bush resumed his education at Yale. Lean and 6-foot-2, he distinguished

Bush visits US troops

DALLAS, Texas: “Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died. George H.W. Bush

was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or a daughter could

ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens”— Statement by President George W. Bush

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obituary

Bush with the former Amir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah

Continued on Page 16

Sought a ‘kinder and gentler nation’

Courage and vision worthy of his offi ce

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

In MemoriamA TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

1924 - 2018

“George H.W. Bush’s life is a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling. And he did tremendous good along the journey.” — Former President

Barack Obama

“The legacy of George H.W. Bush will be forever etched in the history of America and the world. It is a lifelong record of selfl ess patriotic service to our nation.” — James A. Baker III, secretary of state in the Bush administration

“Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service — to be, in his words, “a thousand points of light” illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world.” — President Donald Trump

“I will be forever grateful for the friendship we formed. From the moment I met him as a young governor invited to his home in Kennebunkport, I was struck by the kindness he showed to Chelsea, by his innate and genuine decency, and by his devotion to Barbara, his children, and their growing brood.” — Former President Bill Clinton

“The world has lost a great leader; this country has lost one of its best; and I have lost one of my dearest friends. I am heartbroken.” — Brent Scowcroft, Bush’s national security adviser

“Texans are genuinely honored that he (Bush) called the Lone Star State home and we collectively grieve this monumental loss.” — Texas Gov Greg Abbott

“Remembering President George H.W. Bush and the Americans With Disabilities Act. Millions of with Disabilities and who are Deaf or HOH (hard of hearing) lives have been changed for the better as a result of his signing this landmark legislation. My condolences to his entire family RIP georgehwbush.” — Actress Marlee Matlin, who herself is deaf, via Twitter

“President George H.W. Bush was the real deal. We fought but he was gracious enough to accept my apology. Through his daughter Dorothy, my friends Ron Kaufman and Mary Matalin, I got to know him. Rest in Peace georgehwbush” — Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile, via Twitter

“I will never forget George H.W. Bush and President Clinton meeting me in my old hometown of New Orleans to show support and raise money after Hurricane Katrina. I send my love to his family tonight.” — Ellen DeGeneres, via Twitter

“As an American envoy to Beijing, as CIA Director, as Vice President for eight years and then four years as President, George H.W. Bush’s statesmanship played a key role in helping to end the Cold War, which bought democracy to millions of people in Europe and diminished the threat of nuclear war. George H.W. Bush was a strong supporter of the international rules-based

system, the rule of law and democratic values.” — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

“It was a time of great change, demanding great responsibility from everyone. The result was the end of the Cold War and nuclear arms race. (My wife, Raisa, and I) “deeply appreciated the attention, kindness and simplicity typical of George and Barbara Bush, as well as the rest of their large, friendly family.” — Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

“He was in fact the fi rst American President that I was privileged to meet. I recall being deeply touched by your father’s concern for the Tibetan people and the situation in Tibet. It is truly admirable to have lived over 94 years. While nothing can replace the loss of a father, we can rejoice in the fact that his was a meaningful life, dedicated to public service. I commend your parents for encouraging their children, including you my dear friend, to devote yourselves to the service of others.” — Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama

(President George H.W. Bush was) “a great statesman and a true friend of our country” whose “ethos of public service was the guiding thread of his life and an example to us all ... in navigating a peaceful end to the Cold War he made the world a safer place for generations to come.” — British Prime Minister Theresa May

(He) “saw America’s obligation to the world and honored it. I feel privileged to have worked with him, and even more privileged that he became a lifelong friend. He was, quite simply, one of the most deep-down decent people I have ever known.” — John Major, British Prime Minister from 1990-1997

“We are mourning a great statesman and a friend of Germany ... (Bush) courageously seized the opportunity to end the Cold War ... he is also an architect of German unity. He supported it from the beginning without reservations. We will never forget that.” — Heiko Maas, German foreign minister

“The Palace is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of

former President George Herbert Walker Bush of the United States of America. Mr. George Bush, Sr. ... was credited for his foreign policy which saw the end of the Cold War. He stood for freedom and his words about the subject ring a bell until this day when he said, “The anchor in our world today is freedom, holding us steady in times of change, a symbol of hope to all the world. On behalf of the Filipino nation and people, we wish to convey our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Mr. Bush, as well as to the government and the people of the United States of America.” — Salvador S. Panelo, chief presidential legal counsel and presidential spokesperson

“Former President George H. W. Bush was passionate about strong relations between India and USA. His presence will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace.” — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, via Twitter

“The President’s life was one of service, to his country and to his family ... President Bush was the embodiment of the values of the United States, standing up for what was right and fi ghting throughout his life for freedom from tyranny and oppression in any guise. In fi ghting for these values so cherished by both our nations, he was a true friend to Australia and it was Australia’s honour to host him at the Australian Parliament in 1991. The President’s civility, charm and warmth endeared him to his nation and to people everywhere, making him loved as much as he was admired and respected. We join with the American people to mourn his passing.” — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

“Rosalynn and I are deeply saddened by the death of former President George H.W. Bush. His administration was marked by grace, civility, and social conscience. Through his Points of Light initiative and other projects, he espoused a uniquely American volunteer spirit, fostering bipartisan support for citizen service and inspiring millions to embrace community volunteerism as a cherished responsibility. We again extend our heartfelt condolences to the Bush family.” — Former President Jimmy Carter

“A distinguished man has passed away. One who served his country for his entire life, with a weapon in his hands during wartime and in high offi ce during peacetime.” — Russian leader Vladimir Putin, via the Kremlin website

“Beginning with his posting as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1971 and continuing through his appointment as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the South Asia Earthquake Disaster in 2005, George H. W. Bush worked productively with and through the United Nations. Across the years I was consistently impressed by his compassion, instinct for moderation and commitment to public service.” — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

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Bush with Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah

14

15

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

In MemoriamA TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

1924 - 2018

Above and below: Bush visits Kuwaiti troops

AL-JAHRA, Kuwait, Dec 1, (AP): On the outskirts of Kuwait City, the love Kuwaitis have for former US President George H.W. Bush could be seen in 2016 on a billboard one Bedouin family put up to announce their son’s wedding.

That son being Bush al-Widhan, born in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War that saw US-led forces expel the occupying Iraqi troops of dictator Saddam Hussein.

“He was a real man, a lion,” said Mubarak al-Widhan, the father of the Kuwaiti Bush, of the American president. “He stood for our right for freedom, and he gave us back our country.”

With Bush’s death , his legacy across the Middle East takes root in that 100-hour ground war that routed Iraqi forces. That war gave birth to the network of military bases America now operates across the Arabian Gulf supporting troops in Afghanistan and forces fi ght-ing against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

However, Bush ultimately would leave the Shiite and Kurdish insurgents he urged to rise up against Saddam in 1991 to face the dictator’s wrath alone, leading to thousands of deaths. That mixed picture only extends to the presidency of his son, George W. Bush, who ordered the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that overthrew Saddam, whom he once famously described as “the guy who tried to kill my dad one time.”

“I feel tension in the stomach and in the neck ... but I also feel a certain calmness when we talk about these matters,” the elder Bush once said about the 1991 Gulf War, according to biographer Jon Meacham. “I know I am doing the right thing.”

Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, angry that the tiny neigh-bor and the United Arab Emirates had ignored OPEC quotas, which Saddam claimed cost his nation $14 billion. Saddam also accused Kuwait of stealing $2.4 billion by pumping crude from a disputed oil fi eld and demanded that Kuwait write off an estimated $15 bil-lion of debt that Iraq had accumulated during its 1980s war with

Iran.A World War II fi ghter pilot shot down fi ghting against the Japa-

nese, Bush came to view Saddam as similar to Adolf Hitler, a mad-man who seized neighboring Kuwait and could plunge the world into confl ict if he continued into Saudi Arabia. With Vietnam still a potent memory, Bush rallied together a coalition of nations to back the US as it deployed troops to the region and began bombing runs. He talked Israel out of retaliating for Iraqi Scud missiles attacks for fear of alienating Arab allies.

“This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait,” Bush famously warned.

And it didn’t.On Feb. 24, 1991, US troops and their allies stormed into Ku-

wait. It ended 100 hours later. America suffered only 148 combat deaths during the whole campaign, while over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed.

In the aftermath of the campaign, some called for Bush to con-tinue into Iraq and topple Saddam. Bush in speeches encouraged Iraqis to rise up against the dictator, while privately hoping some-one within his own military would depose him.

“To occupy Iraq would shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us, and make a broken tyrant into a latter-day Arab hero,” Bush later said. “It would have taken us way beyond the imprimatur of international law, ... assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fi ght in what would be an unwinnable urban guerrilla war.”

That hesitation allowed Saddam to regain the upper hand against insurgents and caused a refugee crisis in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. The dictator tauntingly installed a tile mosaic of a scowling likeness of the president at the door of Baghdad’s al-Rashid Hotel, which forced entering foreign dignitaries to often step on his face just above its “Bush is criminal” caption.

Even Iran, which hated Saddam for starting their 1980s war, re-mained suspicious of Bush despite his pledge of “good will begets good will.” Iran leaned on Lebanon’s Shiite militants to help win the release American hostages like Terry Anderson of The Associ-ated Press, but relations went no further. One of Bush’s last acts as president, pardoning former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and others for their role in the Iran-Contra scandal, an offshoot of that hostage crisis.

Still, Bush’s decisions in the 1991 war and its aftermath echo even now. The Kurdish crisis gave birth to the US-imposed no-fl y zone in northern Iraq that allowed the Kurds to fl ourish into the semi-autonomous region now demanding independence. Defense agreements with Gulf nations grew into a series of major mili-tary installations across the region. And the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia, home to the Muslim world’s holiest sites, served as a chief complaint of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

His son would launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq after 9/11 and become so hated in the Arab world an Iraq journalist would even throw a shoe at him during a news conference. But the elder Bush remained beloved, perhaps nowhere more than Kuwait, where Americans even today can get hugged while walking down the street. A group of Kuwaiti offi cials including the country’s Na-tional Assembly speaker met with the former president in October 2017 to wish him well.

The former president’s Kuwaiti namesake Bush al-Widhan end-ed up working in the country’s National Guard. His name fasci-nated others.

“I went with my father to Cleveland, Ohio ... and the passport control clerk asked me about the name,” al-Widhan recounted. “I couldn’t tell him the story. My English is bad. I said: ‘George Bush, George Bush. Kuwait war.’ Everyone thought it was a great name.”

‘He was a real man … a lion’

Gulf war looms large over Mideast legacy

obituary

16

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

In MemoriamA TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

1924 - 2018

himself as fi rst baseman and captain of the baseball team, which went to the College World Series twice . He took just 2½ years to graduate Phi Beta Kappa.

But rather than joining his father on Wall Street, in 1948 he loaded his wife and young son George W. into the family Stude-baker and drove to the hot, dusty Texas oil patch to take a job as an equipment clerk for the International Derrick and Equip-ment Co.

He did everything from painting oil pumps and selling oil-fi eld equipment to discovering a taste for Lone Star beer and chicken fried steaks. At fi rst, the family lived in Odessa in a two-apartment shotgun house with a shared bathroom; by 1955, they would own a house in Midland, and Bush would be co-owner of the Zapata Petroleum Corp.

By the turn of the decade, the family — and Bush’s business — had moved to Houston. There, he got his start in politics, the traditional Bush family business. A handsome and well-spoken war hero, he was sought as a candidate by both parties. He chose the Republicans.

Bush lost his fi rst race, a 1964 challenge to Sen. Ralph Yar-borough, but won a seat in the House in 1966. He won re-elec-tion in 1968 without opposition. In Congress, he generally sup-ported President Richard Nixon and the war in Vietnam.

In 1970, he tried for the Senate again. Yarborough was upset in the Democratic primary by Lloyd Bentsen, and Bentsen de-feated Bush in the general election. Eighteen years later, Bent-sen would be the Democratic vice-presidential nominee on the ticket that lost to Bush and his running mate, Dan Quayle.

Nixon appointed Bush ambassador to the United Nations and, after the 1972 election, named him chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bush struggled to hold the party together as Watergate destroyed the Nixon presidency. He urged Nixon to quit one day before the president resigned in August 1974.

Denied the vice presidency by Gerald Ford in favor of Nelson Rockefeller, Bush was given his choice of jobs and surprised Ford by asking to head the small mission in Beijing. Then, in 1975, Ford put Bush in charge of the Central Intelligence Agen-cy, beset by congressional probing and allegations of assassina-tion plots and domestic spying.

Bush returned to private life when the Republicans lost the presidency in 1976, but he quickly began planning his own run for the White House.

He won the fi rst contest of 1980, the Iowa caucuses, and boasted that he had the “big mo,” his slang for momentum. But Reagan, who had led the conservative movement for more than a decade, won the New Hampshire primary and the nomination. His choice of Bush as his running mate was a near thing. Rea-gan — still smarting from Bush’s ridicule of “voodoo econom-ics,” fi rst wanted to pick Gerald Ford, and asked Bush only after negotiations broke down. They went on to defeat Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

In 1988, many Democrats assumed Bush would be easy pick-ings. He was the man “born with a silver foot in his mouth,” as fellow Texan Ann Richards jibed at the Democrats’ convention in Atlanta. He trailed Michael Dukakis by as many as 17 points that summer. Bush did little to help himself by picking Quayle, a lightly regarded junior senator from Indiana, as a running mate.

The campaign was bitter and muddy. Advised by campaign

manager Lee Atwater, Bush became an aggressor, wrapping himself in patriotic themes and settings — even visiting a fl ag factory — while fl aying Dukakis as an out-of-touch liberal. Commercials hammered Dukakis for a prison furlough policy that allowed murderer Willie Horton to rape a woman while out on a weekend pass.

Bush won by a landslide, with 40 states and a nearly 7 million vote plurality, becoming the fi rst sitting vice president to win the White House since Martin Van Buren in 1836. He entered offi ce with a reputation as a man of indecision and indetermi-nate views. A wimp, one newsmagazine suggested.

But his work-hard, play-hard approach to the presidency won broad public approval. He held more news conferences in most months than Reagan did in most years.

He pledged to make the United States a “kinder, gentler” na-tion and called on Americans to volunteer their time for good causes — an effort he said would create “a thousand points of light.”

It was Bush’s violation of a different pledge, the no-new-tax-es promise, that helped sink his bid for a second term. He aban-doned the idea in his second year, cutting a defi cit-reduction deal that angered many congressional Republicans and contrib-uted to GOP losses in the 1990 midterm elections.

He also set out to be “the education president,” but did little more than call on states and local communities to stiffen their school standards.

Bush, an avid outdoorsman who took Theodore Roosevelt as a model, sought to safeguard the environment, signing the fi rst improvements to the Clean Air Act in more than a decade. It was activism with a Republican cast, allowing polluters to buy others’ clean air credits and giving industry fl exibility on how to meet tougher goals on smog.

He also signed the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act to ban workplace discrimination against people with disabilities and require improved access to public places and transportation.

Months after the Gulf War, Washington became engrossed in a different sort of confrontation over one of Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court — Clarence Thomas, a little-known federal appeals court judge. After a former colleague named Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment, Thomas’ confi rmation

hearings exploded into a national spectacle, sparking an intense debate over race, gender and the modern workplace. He was eventually confi rmed.

Seven years of economic growth ended in mid-1990, just as the Gulf crisis unfolded. Bush insisted the recession would be “short and shallow,” and lawmakers did not even try to pass a jobs bill or other relief measures.

Bill Clinton took advantage of the nation’s economic fears, and a third-party bid from independent Ross Perot added to Bush’s challenge in seeking a second term.

In the closing days of the 1992 campaign, Bush fought the impression that he was distant and disconnected and seemed to struggle against his younger, more empathetic opponent.

During a campaign visit to a grocers’ convention, Bush re-portedly expressed amazement when shown an electronic checkout scanner — a damaging moment that suggested to many Americans that he was disconnected from voters. Later at a town-hall-style debate, he paused to look at his wristwatch — a seemingly innocent glance that became freighted with deeper meaning because it seemed to reinforce the idea of a bored, im-patient incumbent.

In the same debate, Bush became confused by a woman’s question about whether the defi cit had affected him personally. Clinton, with apparent ease, left his seat, walked to the edge of the stage to address the woman and offered a sympathetic answer.

“I lost in ‘92 because people still thought the economy was in the tank, that I was out of touch and I didn’t understand that,” he said. “The economy wasn’t in the tank and I wasn’t out of touch, but I lost. I couldn’t get through this hue and cry for ‘change, change, change’ and ‘The economy is horrible, still in reces-sion.’

“Did I hurt when I lost the election? Sure. There’s a feeling of letting others down.”

This was not the fi rst heartbreak in Bush’s life, or the worst. In 1953, his 3-year-old daughter, Robin, died of leukemia. Sixty years later, he teared up when he talked about her with biogra-pher John Meacham. “Normally I push it away, push it back,” he said.

Barbara and George Bush had four sons and another daughter: John, known as Jeb, the former Florida governor who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016; Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy; and George, president 43 to his father’s 41. The day George W. Bush took offi ce, the elder Bush signed a letter “the proudest father in the whole wide world.”

Mostly, he stayed out of the public eye. Summoned by his son, Bush joined with Bill Clinton to raise money for relief after the Southeast Asian tsunami in 2004. He piloted his speedboat, played tennis and golf. On his 72nd, 80th, 85th and 90th birth-days, he reprised his World War II parachute jumps.

Quietly, occasionally, he counseled his son, the president. Mostly, he served as a cheerleader.

On the day George W. sent forces to attack Iraq, he also sent his father a letter. “I know what you went through,” he wrote.

The senior Bush responded that his son was “doing the right thing,” a decision made “with strength and compassion.” But he ended his note with the words of a little girl, dead a half-century.

“Remember Robin’s words ‘I love you more than tongue can tell,’” he wrote. “Well, I do.”

In this Feb 24, 1991 fi le photo, Kuwaiti troops wear gas masks and protective suits as they roll through southern Kuwait in an armed motor convoy, the fi rst full day of ground confl ict in Operation Desert Storm. The inverted ‘V’ painted on vehicles is the allied recognition symbol. In February 1991, after months of build-

ing an international coalition, US forces entered Kuwait to end the Iraqi occupation of its smaller, oil-rich neighbor. (AP)

Continued from Page 13

Sought a ‘kinder and gentler nation’

Courage and vision worthy of his offi ce

obituary

Bush with HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

17

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

In MemoriamA TRIBUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH

1924 - 2018

Above and below: Bush tours sites of Kuwait City

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1, (KUNA): When the name of former US President George H.W Bush is mentioned, Kuwaitis recollect his great contributions to liberating their homeland from the Iraqi inva-sion and his determination to expel the invading forces and restore legitimacy to their country.

With the demise of this personality that has had a great impact on the march of Kuwait and the lives of Kuwaitis at the age of 94 years, the biography of a man who made fi rm decisions in the his-tory of the United States has had important effects on the march of Kuwait, its history and the Arab Gulf and the Middle East.

The entire world recalls the decision made by the late President on January 16, 1991, to launch an international air strike against Iraqi forces to liberate Kuwait after the United Nations and the rest of the world exhausted their efforts to persuade the invading forces to withdraw voluntarily from Kuwait.

In implementation of that resolution and in pursuance of the Security Council resolution of 29 November 1990 by 12 votes to 2, with one abstention permitting the use of force if Iraq does not withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January, 1991, coalition forces have

struck Iraqi forces to force them to withdraw by force.The Kuwaitis also recall when late president addressed the US

Congress, American people and the world on 26 February, 1991 in the presence of Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States of America at the time, Sheikh Saud Nasser Al-Sabah, with a histori-cal message which was instilled in their hearts that Kuwait had be-come completely free of invading forces.

On January 30, the International Coalition forces launched a ground offensive on Iraqi targets inside Kuwait for 15 continuous hours, while the late US president announced on February 23 that Baghdad would be given a chance to withdraw its troops from Ku-wait without conditions, but Iraq rejected all these conditions, thus, forcing Bush on February 24 to give the green light to coalition commander General Norman Schwarzkopf to launch a ground of-fensive to liberate Kuwait.

President Bush had made numerous contacts with the countries concerned to fi nd a peaceful solution to liberate Kuwait and to per-suade the invading forces to withdraw, but all the attempts of the late President and other heads of brotherly and friendly countries,

as well as the efforts of the United Nations, were met with an in-surmountable block of defi ance and stubbornness by the invading forces and with a sense of superiority over all peaceful efforts.

After exhausting most of the peaceful solutions, the late presi-dent began his decisions to force invading troops to withdraw by sending US ground, sea and air forces on November 6 that year, estimated at 200,000 troops.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sa-bah said in a cable of condolences to US President Donald Trump, that he recalled the deceased’s honorable and courageous attitudes towards Kuwait and his rejection of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait from the early hours.

He also recalled the crucial decisions made by the American administration under the leadership of the late president and his pivotal role in forming the international coalition with the mandate of the United Nations to liberate the State of Kuwait until it was liberated. His Highness said that these positions will remain in the memory of the people of Kuwait and will not be forgotten.

‘Never forgets’

Kuwaitis recollect liberation with gratitude

obituary

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

18

More than 230 employees from Gulf Bank volunteer at different schools across Kuwait

Gulf Bank reaffi rms commitment to INJAZ Al-Arab and youthKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Gulf Bank reaffi rmed its commitment to supporting youth through its partnership with INJAZ Al-Arab. As a platinum sponsor, Gulf Bank was honoured during the 12th Annual Young Arab Entrepre-neurs Competition, which was held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, represented by Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al Roudhan, last Wednesday.

The bank participated in the event with a group of top executives, lead by the Chairman of Gulf Bank Omar K. Alghanim and CEO Tony Daher. More than 450 representatives from different government entities, private sector and educational institutions were also present at the event. Also attending the event were the Chairman of Alghanim Industries Kutayba Y. Alghanim, Chairperson of INJAZ Al-Arab Sh. Hanadi Al-Thani, and CEO of INJAZ Kuwait Laila Al-Mutairi.

This year’s competition saw more than 80 students from 11 countries across the MENA region compete over 12 categories, including the ‘Company of the Year’ and ‘Social Impact’ award. Each award was presented to one high school and one university team by an esteemed judging panel.

The winners of the competition’s highest title, Company of the Year, consisted of Nawa

Company from Oman, and Contrive Company from Bahrain. The Kuwaiti team, Re-Al, also won two awards, including Product of the

Year in the high school category.Speaking at the award ceremony, Chair-

man of Gulf Bank and INJAZ Kuwait, Omar

K. Alghanim said: “I want to thank the INJAZ Al-Arab and INJAZ Kuwait teams for delivering another stellar programme. It takes

enormous care and commitment to do this and their impact is undeniable. I’m passionate about INJAZ, so as Chairman of Gulf Bank, I’m proud we are a Platinum Sponsor again this year. Gulf Bank provided nearly a quarter of the volunteers helping with INJAZ Kuwait initiatives over the last year. Regionally, over 3 million students have been through INJAZ programs, since its inception. That’s incred-ible. That’s making a difference.”

Addressing the competing students during the ceremony, Alghanim added: “Young entrepreneurs represent the greatest asset so-ciety has. They question, they scrutinize, they problem-solve and they don’t accept the status quo. I know how hard you have worked, and regardless of the competition results, you have already started your journey to success.”

The bank continues to sponsor INJAZ Kuwait as part of its commitment to encour-age and develop professional business skills amongst youth. To date, Gulf Bank has par-ticipated in four INJAZ Al-Arab programs, 47 INJAZ Kuwait Job Shadow Days, 69 INJAZ Kuwait Innovation Camps and 120 INJAZ Kuwait Entrepreneurship Master Class work-shops. The bank’s volunteers have positively impacted over 1,800 students. INJAZ Kuwait is a non-profi t organization dedicated to the advancement of young business talent.

Omar K. Alghanim’s keynote address dur-ing the INJAZ Al-Arab competition.

From left to right: Laila Hilal Al-Mutairi, Kutayba Y. Alghanim, Sh. Hanadi Al-Thani, and Omar K. Alghanim with the Re-Al team from Kuwait.

Bank holds comprehensive drive for diabetes prevention

US ambassador praises KFH campaignKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: US Ambassa-dor in Kuwait Lawrence Silverman has praised Kuwait Finance House’s (KFH) Diabetes awareness campaign, reiterat-ing the importance of the Bank’s active partnership with Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI), and its sponsorship of the Institute’s activities. This plays an important role in enhancing the aware-ness of a large segment of society for different group ages, thus contributes in preventing diabetes or safely managing to live with it to sustain a healthier life.

On the occasion of celebrating the World Diabetes Day sponsored by KFH, in the presence of a number of ambas-sadors, offi cials and about 400 diabetic patients, Silverman expressed his appre-ciation for the efforts of “KFH” in the social fi eld and its continuous sponsor-ships of the institute’s activities.

“KFH” participated in the launch of diabetes events at Dasman Diabetes Institute, marking launch of the aware-ness campaign that includes various medical and nutritional examinations and consultations as part of the Bank’s social responsibility and efforts to raise health awareness among the community members to reduce the occurrence of diabetes and to learn how to manage it in case of being diagnosed.

AwarenessThe annual campaign organized by

KFH, includes orientation meetings and lectures that cover the different stages of the disease and the best methods of prevention not to mention the ways of dealing with diabetes appropriately. KFH used different platforms and tools including social media, direct meetings, and other PR activities in collaboration with consulting doctors and specialists. The campaign also includes aware-ness messages and competitions for the public on social media.

The campaign included employees of KFH, as an advertising campaign was launched within the bank to spread health awareness of diabetes among em-ployees in order to highlight the disease, deliver an awareness message to pa-tients, and educate them on the methods and skills to deal with the disease and to know the risk factors, how to prevent it, and the importance of conducting medi-cal examinations of diabetes, pressure and weight measurement, foot screening and cumulative blood sugar levels for attendees, as well as medical advice and nutrition tips.

Dr Qais al-Dawiri, Director General of Dasman Diabetes Institute, said, KFH has continuously proved its support to health initiatives stemming from its leadership in social responsibility, thanking the Bank for its support and sponsorship of the Institute’s activities, and appreciating its efforts towards the community in various fi elds, including the health fi eld.

The campaign emphasizes the impor-tance of the role of “KFH” in the health fi eld and cooperation with the health authorities and their participation in the framework of contributing to the build-ing of an integrated society, especially that the state of health of the individual and society is directly linked to sustain-able development in its overall concept, and plays a key role in the advancement of the economy and the community development as well.

KFH signed an international agree-ment with the International Diabetes Federation IDF to serve millions of pa-tients with diabetes. KFH is the world’s fi rst Islamic institution that took this initiative. In addition, KFH sent many diabetes specialists to International health centers, including one of the af-fi liate centers of Harvard University to learn about the latest developments and global studies on methods of preven-tion of diabetes and modern methods of treatment of infected people, as well as to promote close cooperation with the authorities and offi cial institutions that treat diabetes, such as Dasman Diabetes Institute, Amiri Hospital, Kuwait Diabe-tes Association, Al Salam International Hospital and others.

Burgan Bank concludes fi rst‘Awaken Festival’ in Kuwait

ACK Business students completeinternship in ‘Al-Babtain Group’

KUWAIT, Dec 1: A leading contributor to progress in society, Burgan Bank con-cluded the first “Awaken Festival” in partnership with en.v, an organization dedicated to fostering social develop-ment and civic engagement in the Middle East. The three-day festival took place on 15-17 Nov 15-17 at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Yarmouk Cultural Centre, and united 800+ participants from vari-ous sectors in Kuwait, including 50 local civic initiatives, academics, artists and international speakers.

Burgan Bank remains committed to bolstering civil society’s capabilities across Kuwait and continues to invest in strategic partnerships with innovative organizations. The latest collaboration with en.v, brought ‘Awaken Festival’ to Kuwait, an inspirational community-building initiative. The festival supports civil society organizations become more effective in addressing societal challeng-es, unite diverse community members to untap the potential of everyone in

Kuwait, ultimately contributing to a brighter future.

Loulwa Al-Ayoubi, Acting Group Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications at Burgan Bank said, “Partnering with an influential organiza-tion like en.v and sponsoring the ‘Awaken Festival’ delivers on Burgan Bank’s com-mitment to social development, by enhancing social structure and networks, and the standards of social responsibility. We aim to promote the spread of knowl-edge through innovative platforms and to engage with different sectors of society to create a community spirit and bolster local capabilities to address society’s most pressing challenges “

Attendees engaged in meaningful dis-cussions and explored community-driv-en approaches through interactive work-shops, activities, and events, all featuring forward-thinking collaborations, encour-aging open dialogue and exploring new ways to look at our individual roles in society.

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Two Business students from the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) had a great experi-ence as they completed an internship program with “Al-Babtain” Group.

Headquartered in Kuwait, Al Babtain Group is one of the flagship companies being the main distributor for several renowned brands in the automotive industry as well as known for its investment and real estate proj-ects locally and regionally.

The internship program consisted of work opportunities at Al-Babtain’s Nissan in their Customer Call Center. Students spent 80 hours on-site assist-ing customers and were given training on how to manage both inbound & outbound calls.

Commenting on their experience, Interns said: “it was an invaluable

experience as it enhanced our interper-sonal skills and helped us to learn how to deal with customers”. From her end, Mrs. Sonar Al Hajj, Group Recruitment Manager at Al Babtain’s commented: “I am very happy with the level of maturity that ACK students displayed and gladly we will be offering more internships in the future.”

ACK delivers a unique mix of voca-tional and theoretical curriculum, therefore the College strongly believes in providing internship opportunities, to its students, such as this, to experi-ence things taught in the classroom and how they are applied in a profes-sional setting, while also providing them with invaluable skills and knowl-edge to further their development and prepare them for their professional careers.

Conceptualized in Kuwait, developed in Silicon Valley

COFE App, 1 of top 50 startups to watch for: ForbesKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: COFE App, an online coffee-centric marketplace, was the only Kuwait-based startup listed as one of the “Top 50 Start-ups to Watch in the Arab World” by FORBES Middle East. Conceptualized in Kuwait and developed in Silicon Valley, the app connects coffee house chains and speciality coffee roasters with coffee lovers through a seamless, easy and effi cient user-interface.

Created by a multinational team of technology professionals who are also coffee enthusiasts, the app has quickly penetrated the market. COFE App has carved itself a niche among coffee lov-ers and early adopters in a marketplace where coffee is an essential part of daily life and local culture.

COFE App Founder and CEO Ali Al Ebrahim said: “We would like to thank Forbes Middle East for believ-ing in our app’s potential. Though it’s always nice to be recognized, today we are more focused than ever on growing both our range of vendors and our cus-tomer base in Kuwait, the Middle East, and beyond. COFE App brings togeth-er tradition and technology in a unifi ed platform serving a region where coffee is more than just a beverage. We are excited about the next phase of our journey and helping coffee lovers get their daily fi x of java from their fa-vorite coffee brewers delivered right to their door with a tap on our app.”

COFE App features: – Saves time through a quick, easy, seamless and simple coffee purchasing experience. – Extensive menu options that enable drinks customization (for example: sugar, milk type, and other add-ons). – Multiple delivery options, including fast delivery to offi ce or home, store pick up, and in car delivery service. – Catering services for meetings and pri-vate banquets, with on-site kiosk and barista service. – Multiple payment op-tions, including cash-on delivery, debit cards and credit on the account.

COFE App was Beta launched in February 2018 in Kuwait, and will soon be available in other countries.

A photo from the event.

A photo from the event

US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman with KFH team.

Pay 3 minutes

PEP conference on Dec 11

Zain launches‘Say It Slower’

Knowledge Club 2018 presentsdedicated platform for leaders

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Zain, the lead-ing digital service provider in Kuwait, announced the launch of its latest offer-ing for prepaid (eeZee) customers entitled “Say It Slower”. The new offer allows prepaid customers to enjoy voice calls on Zain’s network while only paying for the fi rst three minutes of the call and enjoy-ing the rest (up to an hour) for free. Zain specifi cally designed the new offer for its prepaid (eeZee) customers with the aim of enabling them to enjoy more voice calls on its network with a more competitive price. The company is keen on meeting its customers’ needs and aspirations to offer them an amazing experience on its biggest and most advanced network in Kuwait.

The new offer, which continues for one month, allows prepaid (eeZee) cus-tomers to enjoy voice calls on Zain’s net-work (Zain line to Zain line) while only charging them for the fi rst three minutes of the call. After the fi rst three minutes, customers can enjoy the remaining min-utes (57 minutes) for free at no cost for a total of one hour (60 minutes). Customers can subscribe to the new offer for free by sending “357” to 999. The new offer was specifi cally designed to complement the needs and aspirations of Zain’s prepaid customers. By launching this new pre-paid offer, the company aims at creating a new concept for the services it offers, as well as offering convenience with fl exible plans that meet the different personal and professional needs of its customers.

Zain is committed to offer the most fl exible and competitive offerings in the market for both prepaid and postpaid cus-tomers, reinforcing its leadership position and its pledge in offering the best services and offers to the largest family of sub-scribers in Kuwait.

members of The Institution of Engineers (India).

IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefits of its members. Please watch for further details in your registered e-mail or an-nouncement in media. The chapter has science club activities for members’ children, and ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait Chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE Examination for those interested in pursuing career enrichment.

Continued on Page 22

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The primary purpose is to promote self examination and screening mammography as the most effective way to save lives by detecting breast cancer at early stage. For more information visit: http://fi ghtingwithcancer.webs.com/

Latest

IEI Kuwait membership: The Institution of Engineers (India), Kuwait Chapter invites all its members to update their membership information for the year 2018-19 and actively participate in the chapter activities. Indian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 750,000 engineers by becoming corporate or non-corporate

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Vigor Events will conclude the Knowledge Club™ 2018 with a 1-day confer-ence titled “Productivity, Engage-ment & Peak Performance” (PEP) on Dec 11 in Al Dorra ballroom in Hilton Resort Kuwait.

In this a captivating conference, leaders and managers will gain valu-able insights from the best practices of progressive companies that are revolutionizing the way organiza-tions and teams are managed nowa-days leading to a rise in productivity, profi ts and employee engagement.

The highly practical conference is designed to help attendees know the missing piece to solve the puzzle of productivity, engagement and peak performance, gain insights to the lat-est employee engagement trends that are affecting every business across the world, and why disengagement has become a global epidemic and also to learn new strategies that fo-cus on successful outcomes while managing the stress of overwhelm and complexity at work.

The Productivity, Engagement and Peak Performance “PEP” Con-ference is presenting the best-selling authors, International keynote speak-ers, and sought-after trainers on the subjects from around the globe such as Jason W. Womack, MED., MA, best-selling author of his books “Get Momentum” and “Your Best Just Got Better”, Valerie Cade, MA, workplace-bullying expert & best-selling author, David Zinger founder of Employee Engagement Network, Ali Derisavi, Management Consult-ant and founder of Utopia Republic Consulting Group, and Jodi Wom-ack, MA, the CEO and founder of Get Momentum.

The conference, part of the Knowledge Club™ 2018 – the leading development platform for top organizations in Kuwait, is at-tended this year by Warba Bank/Burgan Bank as Gold Members, Commercial Bank of Kuwait/Ku-wait Oil Company/Hadi Clinic as Corporate Members and with the media support by the International Advertising Association (IIA) – Kuwait Chapter.

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ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

19

h o r o s c o p eBy Jacqueline Bigar

Happy birthday for Sunday, Dec 2, 2018: This year you have an insatiable curiosity about life and certain individuals. As you get to know and understand a set of key people in your life, you might choose to reveal more of yourself. If you are single, make sure that you get to know each potential suitor well before deciding whom to date. You could meet someone of signifi cance this year. If you are attached, you and your sweetie will experience the vicissitudes of life together. The two of you will live your life with intensity. Libra sees you as romantic.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

**** You might want to consider making a change. You often feel restricted. Consider how you feel, and fi gure out what you need to do in order to change those feelings. Do not be fearful of facing an ongoing issue. You will handle it soon enough. Tonight: Go over the possibilities.

This Week: Socialize and schedule meet-ings through Tuesday.

Aquarius - (Jan 20 - Feb 18)

**** Your mind sometimes moves too quickly. Consider some of the potential is-sues and goals that come from your inner thoughts, as they might have tremendous strength and validity. A close loved one could open up the door to a new path. Tonight: Try a new type of cuisine.

This Week: Find your friends, and network.

Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20)

*** You attract the attention of a co-work-er or boss. You have all kinds of shopping and errands to do for the holidays. Do not for-get a loved one who would love to join you. Stop for a hot chocolate or eggnog together. You’ll be happier as a result. Tonight: Could go till the wee hours.

This Week: Read between the lines when people speak.

Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19)

*** A loved one could be challenging. You might be more irritated by this person’s behavior than you realize. For the sake of peace, you could be swallowing your anger. The source of your irritation dates back sev-eral months. Tonight: Let someone else take the lead.

This Week: You might try to bypass real-ity.

Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20)

**** Pace yourself, knowing full well that you need a break from your demanding schedule that is likely to continue for a while. A partner might change his or her tone, which could be a relief. Respond to a demanding friend who wants your attention. Tonight: Don’t push too hard.

This Week: Allow others to make the fi rst move.

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)

*** Tension builds around you. A loved one could be cranky and diffi cult to deal with. A boss might interfere with your Sunday rou-

tine. A partner becomes challenging over money. You will need to have a discussion about this, like it or not. Tonight: Express your playful side.

This Week: Someone intriguing will come along.

Cancer - (June 21 - July 22)

*** You instinctively know that you need to stay close to home in order to follow through on some of your to-do list for the holidays. Whether it’s decorating the house, writing cards or wrapping presents, you feel happiest in your own environment. Tonight: Bake some goodies.

This Week: Use Monday and Tuesday to the max for interpersonal matters.

Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22)

**** You can make waves and bypass cantankerous people with ease. What you discover is that you need to honor certain priorities involving your home and/or family. Your day will not fl ow until you do just that. Later on, let the fun begin. Tonight: Hang out

with a close friend.This Week: You will want to lie low until

midweek.

Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22)

**** Your creativity mounts, and you reach a new level of effectiveness. You could be reorganizing and rethinking your holiday gift list. The more you funnel your creativity into your choices, the more your thoughtful-ness will be appreciated. Tonight: Make it your treat.

This Week: Speak your mind, but do not be surprised if someone ignores you.

Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22)

**** You wake up energized and ready to accommodate most people, and you’re also ready to have a good time. Someone close to you wants more time with you; make it your pleasure. Refuse to get caught up in a petty discussion that could last awhile. Tonight: Avoid a power play.

This Week: Use caution with funds and fi nancial dealings.

Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

*** Do not allow someone else to mini-mize your plans. You might need a timeout before you can fully experience and embrace the holiday spirit. Do your best not to lose control of your schedule. You will enjoy the holidays more if you rest up now. Tonight: Not to be found.

This Week: You enter the week on cruise control.

Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

**** You can make a difference with a friend, if you so choose. This person will be delighted to be your focal point today. Be more open to the high energy of those around you. Know that you will feel better for the ex-perience of loosening up. Tonight: Go where the action is.

This Week: You might not feel up to snuff until Wednesday.

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pvc wall art dendrobium messy hairdos avocado, chickpea salsaSupplies: PVC pipes, spray paint, hot glue gun, mirror, hanging hinges, cutter

Instructions: Make 1/2 inches markers along the pipe and cut them. Now spray paint the pipe whatever color. Once they are completely dry, lay them out into whatever desirable decor piece you would like. Glue them together. Finally place the mirror in the center of the design and glue it too.

Dendrobium is terrestrial orchids from India and SE Asia to New Guinea, Australia, and the Pa-cifi c Islands. Flowers are borne in racemes, from nodes along the stems, usually from spring to summer. The name means “living on a tree”.

Site: They need an abundance of light, but not direct sun. A lightly shaded south window is best.

Temperature: They do best when the temper-ature is between 65°F and 75°F in the day and between 55°F to 60°F at night.

Water: Misting is necessary when the humidity is low.

Step 1: Scrunch mousse through hair and blast with the hairdryer as you work the hair between your fi ngers.

Step 2: Ruffl e the front layers to keep it messy but fl at. Tease a bit at the crown and then take back lengths.

Step 3: Part hair into several, uneven pieces. Twist together and secure at the nape of the neck with bobby pins.

Step 4: Finish the look with hairspray and pin in rhinestone or jeweled hair clips or a thin head-band for a casual look.

Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados, chopped; 125g tin chickpeas, rinsed, drained; 250g cherry toma-toes, chopped; 1/2 cup coriander leaves; 1 tbsp lime juice

Method: Combine the avocado, chickpeas, tomatoes, chilli, coriander and lime juice in a me-dium bowl. Taste and season.

Dear Abby

Sameer Mohammed delivers a speech. The audience

what’s on todaywhat’s on today emergency number 112

Civil ID info: 1889988Site for checking travel ban www.kuwaitcourts.gov.kw/mojweb/NGeneral/Main.jsp

■ 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 con-tact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287.

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■ 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) - Sun-days 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 AshryPlace: IPC - Women Section Al-

Rawdah, Area 3, Street 30, House 12, opp 4th Ring Road.

Email: ipc_sch@yahoo.com, Tel-ephone: 22512257.

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■ St Paul’s Church weekly activities: English worship services on Fridays at 10.30 am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm. The Friday English service has separate sessions for children and youth. A Mandarin language speaking congrega-tions meets separately on Fridays at 10.30 am in the Youth Centre at St Paul’s. A combined service with the English and Mandarin language congre-gations is held on the first Friday of every month. A family service is held on the second Friday of every month with pre-sentations 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 65960781 or call at Church house on 23985929 or email to chaplain@stpaulskuwait.com or mrmbona@gmail.com For Mandarin

speaking congregation contact Revd Zhu Peijin on 99551783 and her email address is greenolivettc@hotmail.com

Contact person: Fr Michael Mbona Mobile: 65960781 Email: mrmbona@gmail.com

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■ 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

9927-6603, 6557-7482. Email: rccg-houseofdavidq8@gmail.com

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■ PGMK service: Praise God Ministry of Kuwait (PGMK) holds services in Telugu and English in the NECK Compound, Lighthouse Church.

Fridays and Saturdays — 11.30 to 1:00 pm in English / 1:15 to 3:00 pm in Telugu.

Sundays services in the Hall of Hope from 3.30 to 5 pm and then in Lighthouse Church from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.

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■ KTCC activities: Worship service – every Wednesday 7:00-9:00 pm at North Tent, NECK.

Children’s Bible School – every Wednesday 7 to 9 pm at Activity Building, NECK.

Overnight prayer – every 1st Thursday from 10 pm – 4:00 am at Diwaniya, NECK.

Communion Service – every 3rd Wednesday.

The Following meeting are held at our KTCC Prayer House:

1) Children Bible School Teacher’s Prayer – 1st Saturday 7 to 9 pm.

2) Children’s Prayer – 2nd Friday 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

3) Bible Study – every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

4) ISOM – Batch 1 Class Tuesdays – 7 to 9 pm and Batch 2 Class Fridays – 4 to 6 pm.

5) Choir Practice – Mondays – 6 to 8 pm.

6) Men’s Fellowship – 4th Friday – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

7) Women’s Prayer – (Abbasiya) – 3rd Sunday – 6:30 to 8:30 pm and (Salmiya) 4th Tuesday – 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

8) Fasting Prayer – every 3rd Friday from 12:00 Noon – 3:30 pm.

9) Cottage Prayers – every 2nd and 4th Week.

10) Baptism Service – every 4th Friday.

Welcome to all Tamil known people to participate in our regular activities to worship the Lord in our own mother tongue and be blessed!

For details or for any prayer needs contact Tel No: 66920350 / 99432849.

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

A fl yer of the events

Stay-at-home momseeks adult contact

By Abigail Van BurenDear Abby: I am a shy, 30-year-old woman. I stay

at home with our 10-month-old, primarily because of our family’s fi nancial situation.

I am gifted in the visual arts, but because I don’t have an art degree, I’m unable to pursue a profes-sional job in the arts. Instead, I have been advertising to teach private art lessons at home. One month in, I have one student.

The past months have been lonely, and I am aching for friendship. My husband doesn’t seem to under-stand this. We know one family, but we are not close. I am considering offering free lessons to their kinder-

gartner because it would not only help me to develop profession-ally, but also give me some adult interaction, which I desperately need. Again, my husband doesn’t understand this, and doesn’t want me to teach this child for free. How can I make him see?

— Unfulfi lled Artist in Penn-sylvania

Dear Artist: Your husband appears to be unusually controlling. Have you told him the reason you want to give the fam-ily free art lessons is so you can have some much-needed adult interaction? If you haven’t, you should, rather than keep silent.

He should not be isolating you the way he appears to be, which strikes me as worrisome. Is his motivation for keeping you in the house and away from others the money or something else?

I think you should try doing what you have in mind and see how it works out. And if there are other young mothers in your area who gather so their children can socialize, perhaps you could attend and make some friendships there. If your husband continues to be as pos-sessive as he appears to be, consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233 for suggestions.

P.S. I encourage you to go for that degree as soon as you are fi nancially able.

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Dear Abby: My grandson is 16, a good student, a great athlete and popular. We are very proud of him. The problem is, he has terrible acne and picks at his face constantly.

His mother, my daughter-in-law, is a nurse prac-titioner and a germaphobe. I’m constantly surprised that she doesn’t take him to a dermatologist and re-mind him to keep his hands away from the sores on his face. I know it isn’t my place to correct him or suggest a dermatologist. She certainly is aware that he has a problem, but she acts like it doesn’t bother her.

While I realize this is a stage many teenagers go through and it will pass, his constant picking keeps his face red and looking irritated. Is there anything I can say or do to help without intruding in their space?

— Caring Grandma in TexasDear Grandma: Yes. Your grandson would

not be picking at the pimples if they didn’t bother him. Point out to your daughter-in-law that while your grandson’s acne may be “just a phase”, there are things that can be done to clear it up, and the solution is to consult a der-matologist before he gives himself scars that may last a lifetime. This would not be intrud-ing. It would be acting like the loving, caring grandparent that you are.

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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Bu-ren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Con-tact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

(Source: Universal Uclick)

Abigail

Kokkur Puthanpurakkal holds family meetKokkur Puthanpurakkal family that has had its pres-ence in Kuwait since the 1960s conducted the fi rst family meet at Al Mashooth Farm in Wafra.

The inauguration session chaired by Puthanpurak-kal Ummer commenced with the beautiful recitation from the Holy Quran by Nihal Abdul Rasheed followed by the welcome speech by Jishab P.K. Puthanpurak-kal Ahmedunni, who was on a family visit to Kuwait. A

brief history about the roots of Puthanpurakkal family was explained by Sidheeq.

Sameer Mohammed delivered the main speech about the importance of maintaining family ties and stressed on the importance of such family gather-ings. Everyone should strive to be united with their family even in the hereafter for which all members play an equal role. Proper upbringing of children,

balanced parenting, imparting and setting up Islamic values in families are pivotal elements in supporting family ties.

Abdul Rasheed T.M., Suhail Mohammed, Abdul Rauf, Jameela Ahmadunni, Regi Sidheeq and Nashee-da Rasheed delivered felicitations. The session con-cluded with the vote of thanks by Amjad Ahmedunni.

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

20

tv highlights

Drastic changes in ‘Marvelous’

‘Nightflyers’ a space horrorstory ginning up terror, fear

Couch slouch

By Daniel D’Addario

‘Nightflyers’ begins with a compelling se-quence taken from late in its story’s ac-

tion, in which Dr Agatha Matheson (Gretchen Mol) is fighting for her life on a space journey gone horribly wrong. She’s fleeing an assailant who seems compelled by something unearthly, and goes on to send a warning to whomever out there is listening not to bring her ship back to Earth but to leave it where it lies, a vessel too compromised to breach our familiar atmo-sphere. She goes on, within the show’s first five minutes, to kill herself.

It’s a striking opening to a show that doesn’t quite earn it. “Nightflyers”, based on the pre-Westeros writing of George R. R. Martin, is a fine addition to an onscreen canon that’s already well-stuffed – that of the space horror story. But it flails when it comes to doing anything new with a metaphor that’s been worn thin, that of space travel as an escape from grief.

Both Mol’s character and Eoin Macken’s astrophysicist protagonist, we come to learn, have suffered through loss; both are using the journey towards the unknown and away from a dying 2090s earth as both a means of escape and a way to discover something potentially more fruitful. That both encounter a ship bent on destroying their wills – one that is both occupied by a dangerous psychic (Sam Strike) and imbued with a computer encoded with the worst sort of human hostility – is bitter, if easy, irony indeed.

HelpThe show follows lines of reasoning that

shimmer with obviousness: Macken’s Karl D’Branin fought, hard, for the idea that his mission to space might yield first contact with intelligent life that could help earthlings, all while fleeing his life at home. (In this, he’s not dissimilar from Sean Penn’s character in this year’s Hulu series “The First” – a space adventurist fleeing trauma at home – among many other astronauts of fiction.) That he ended up having boarded a ship controlled by a computer determined to not merely thwart his mission but to evoke his worst memories is the consequence to his adventurism.

“Nightflyers” is propulsive enough, ginning up fear and terror even as it relies on hoari-ness. (Does David Ajala’s mysterious and reclusive corporate head onboard the ship need to be as mysterious and reclusive as he is before the point is made? Must the computer have had a big red eye just like “2001’s” iconic HAL?) But space, in its infinite capac-ity, can give us more. We know of Martin’s ability to not merely use genre but to bend it towards radical novelty. This series falls short of that admittedly lofty goal, which is perhaps not flaw but simple acknowledgment of most series’ limitations. (Not every new show can be “Game of Thrones.”) But the gap between potential and reality is emphasized as “Nightflyers’” characters soar between the stars and as we’re trapped in their neuroses from familiar soil.

Also:LOS ANGELES: When “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” returns with its second season, the Amazon hit is going to have the same humor,

picture-perfect wardrobe and rat-a-tat-tat lingo that viewers have come to love, but Season 2 will showcase some major changes.

After the first season left Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) at the top of the comedy world and Joel (Michael Zegen) at rock bottom, the split couple will have a rocky relationship, the actors tease.

“We have two kids together, so we’re al-ways going to be in each other’s lives, whether it’s romantic or otherwise,” Zegen told Variety at the New York City premiere of “The Mar-velous Mrs Maisel”, held at the Paris Theater in midtown Manhattan.

“I’m excited for people to see the way that our relationship evolves. We go through a lot together,” Brosnahan chimed in, though the Emmy-winning actress had lost her voice after a long week of press gearing up for the new season’s launch.

Show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino promised that Season 2 is bigger and bet-ter – literally, with an increased order of 10 episodes.

“Now that Midge has decided to blow up her whole life and make this drastic change, it’s going to have a ripple affect and affect everybody else, so everybody else is going to be feeling the tsunami waves,” Sherman-Palla-dino said, referring to Midge’s decision to dive in head-first to standup comedy, essentially leaving behind her prim and proper Upper West Side lifestyle.

Alex Borstein, who plays Midge’s comedy manager Susie, said that her relationship with Midge will be front and center in the season, jokingly likening their new dynamic to a mar-ried couple that goes through ups-and-downs.

On the topic of couples, last season ended with Midge’s parents, Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Rose (Marin Hinkle), on the rocks. This season, the pair will have to work hard to work things out.

“Abe and Rose really have to re-assess their relationship,” Shalhoub said. “They perhaps have become quite complacent over the years, and now they have to look at each other with fresh eyes and figure out if their marriage can survive.”

After the red carpet on Thursday night – actually, the hot pink carpet – the cast was ushered into the Paris Theater by Mrs Maisel-esque attendants, who were dressed up in pale pink jackets and pearls, emulating the show’s title character. The screening of the first episode was met by enthusiastic applause from the cast, crew, producers, executives and crit-ics, who have given Season 2 rave reviews.

When the screening let out, shuttles were waiting to take guests to the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. Tinsel-draped pink Christmas trees lined the hot pink carpet at the entrance to the party, while edible trees of macarons adorned the soiree, which had a live jazz band and a fortune teller, giving a nod to one of the show’s plot points.

Production headed on location to Paris this season, and a new character will be intro-duced in scenes in the Catskills for summer vacation – Zachary Levi, who plays a doctor, though the actor was coy about his character’s relationship with Midge.

When asked to elaborate on his dynamic with Midge, he smiled and simply stated, “We know each other.”

10x10 360° 14:10, 21:55, 23:50 (Daily Exc Sat) 12:10, 14:10, 21:55. 23:50 (Sat)Avenues 11:40, 18:05, 00:10 (Daily Exc Thu, Fri, Mon) 18:05, 01:00 (Thu, Mon) 13:45, 18:05, 01:00 (Fri)

2.0-Hindi360° 14:15 (Daily)Al-Bairaq 15:30, (Daily Exc Fri) 15:40 (Fri)Al-Fanar 18:15 (Daily)Al-Kout 18:30 (Daily)Al-Sharqia 16:00 (Daily)Ajial 16:00, 19:00, 22:00 (Daily)

2.0-Tamil360° 15:30, 21:30 (Daily) 18:30 (Daily)Ajial 15:30, 16:15, 18:30, 19:15, 21:30, 22:15 (Daily)Al-Kout 17:30, 20:30 (Thu) 14:30, 17:30, 20:30 (Fri, Mon) 14:30, 17:30 (Sat) 17:30 (Sun)Avenues 16:00, 19:00, 22:00 (Thu, Fri, Mon) 13:45, 18:05,01:00 (Fri)Plaza 15:45, 18:45, 21:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:45, 21:45 (Fri)

Beautiful Boy360° 14:30 (Daily)Avenues 14:20, (Daily Exc Fri) 13:35 (Fri)

Creed II360° 11:35, 13:35, 16:15, 17:15, 19:00, 20:00, 21:45, 22:35, 00:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 00:30, 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:35,6:15,17:15,19:00, 20:00, 21:45, 22:35,12:30 (Fri) 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Fri)

Al-Bairaq 11:30, 14:05, 16:45, 19:20, 21:00, 22:00, 00:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:05, 16:45, 19:20, 21:00, 22:00, 00:35 (Fri)Al-Fanar 11:30, 14:05, 16:50, 19:25, 21:00, 22:00, 23:35, 00:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:05, 16:50, 19:25, 21:00, 22:00, 23:35, 00:35 (Fri)Al-Kout 13:30, 16:15, 19:00, 21:45, 12:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 11:40, 14:30, 23:30 (Thu) 12:15, 17:20, 20:15 (Thu, Mon) 13:35, 16:15, 19:00, 21:45, 00:35 (Fri) 17:20, 20:15 (Fri) 23:30 (Fri) 11:40, 20:30, 23:30 (Sat) 12:15, 17:20, (Sat, Sun) 11:40, 14:30, 20:30, 23:30 (Sun) 11:40, 23:30 (Mon) 11:40, 14:30,17:30, 20:30, 23:30 (Tue, Wed) 00:15 (Tue, Wed)Al-Muhallab 13:15, 16:00, 18:35, 21:15, 23:55 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15, 23:55 (Fri)Al-Sharqia 12:45, 15:25, 18:05, 20:45, 23:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:25, 18:05, 20:45, 23:30 (Fri)Avenues 12:00, 14:45, 17:30,19:30, 20:15, 22:15, 23:00 (Daily Exc Fri, Sat) 12:45, 15:30, 18:15, 21:00, 23:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:30, 18:15, 21:00, 23:45 (Fri) 14:45, 17:30, 19:30, 20:15, 22:15, 23:00 (Fri, Sat)Laila 20:00, 22:35 (Daily) Marina 13:45, 16:20, 18:55, 21:35, 00:15 (Daily)

Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer (Arabic)

360° 19:45 (Daily)Al-Fanar 17:15 (Daily)Al-Kout 15:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:50 (Fri)Avenues 16:25 (Daily)

Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer(Japanese)

360° 12:35, 15:00, 17:20, 22:10 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:00, 17:20, 22:10 (Fri)Al-Fanar 12:30, 19:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 19:45 (Fri)Al-Kout 13:15, 18:15, 20:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 18:15, 20:45 (Fri)Avenues 11:35, 14:00, 18:50, 21:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:00 18:50, 21:15 (Fri)

El Diesel (Egyptian-Arabic) 360°` 22:55 (Daily)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

360° 13:00, 18:45, 21:35, 00:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:00 (Daily) 18:45, 21:35, 00:15 (Fri)Al-Fanar 12:45, 15:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:30 (Fri)Al-Kout 21:15 (Daily) 12:00, 19:20, 23:10 (Daily Exc Fri) 19:20, 23:10 (Fri)Al-Muhallab 15:00 (Daily)Avenues 13:30, 16:15, 19:00 (Daily Exc Thu, Fri, Mon) 17:00 (Daily) 12:30, 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:15 (Thu, Mon) 15:15, 18:00, 20:45, 23:30 (Fri)Marina 11:45, 14:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:45 (Fri)

Guardians360° 14:20 (Daily)

Hunter Killer360° 00:25 (Daily)

Incident in a Ghostland360° 13:30, 01:15 (Daily Exc Sat) 11:35, 13:30, 01:15 (Sat)Al-Fanar 21:10, 01:00 (Daily)Al-Kout 23:00, 01:00 (Daily Exc Tue, Wed) 17:40, 23:00, 01:00 (Tue) 17:40, 20:00, 23:00, 01:00 (Wed)Al-Sharqia 22:15, 00:15 (Daily)Avenues 22:00, 00:55 (Daily Exc Thu, Fri, Mon) 00:55 (Thu, Fri, Mon)

Instant Family360° 12:10, 17:00, 19:30, 22:00, 00:20 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:00, 19:30, 22:00, 00:20 (Fri)Al-Bairaq 18:30, 23:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 18:30, 23:45 (Fri)Al-Fanar 14:40, 17:00, 19:15 (Daily)Al-Kout 11:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 21:30, 23:50 (Thu, Mon, Wed) 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 21:30, 23:50 (Fri) 11:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 20:15, 21:30, 23:50 (Sat, Sun) 11:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 20:00, 21:30, 23:50 (Tue)Al-Muhallab 12:30, 20:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 20:00 (Fri)Al-Sharqia 11:30, 13:45, 19:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:45, 19:00 (Fri)Avenues 11:50, 16:50, 19:15, 21:45, 00:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:50, 19:15, 21:45, 00:15 (Fri)Marina 17:45, 22:30

Johnny English Strikes Again360° 16:10, 01:15 (Daily)

Malicious360° 18:10, 20:05 (Daily)Al-Fanar 23:10 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:45, 23:10 (Fri)

Al-Kout 22:10, 23:55 (Daily)Avenues 17:40, 22:05 (Daily)

Overlord360° 00:35 (Daily)Al-Kout 15:15 (Daily)

Ralph Breaks The Internet 360° 11:30, 13:45, 16:00, 18:15, 20:35 (Daily Exc Fri) 11:45, 19:05 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:45, 16:00, 18:15, 20:35 (Fri) 19:05 (Fri)Al-Bairaq 13:00, 15:20, 17:40 20:00 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:20, 17:40, 20:00 (Fri)Al-Fanar 11:45, 16:30, 18:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:30, 18:45 (Fri)Al-Kout 14:10,18:50 (Daily) 12:30, 14:55, 17:25, 19:50 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:55, 17:25, 19:50 (Fri)Al-Muhallab 14:30, 19:15 (Daily Exc Fri)Al-Sharqia 15:00, 19:45 (Daily)Avenues 12:10, 19:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 12:35, 15:00, 17:15 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:00, 17:15 (Fri) 19:45 (Fri)Laila 17:45 (Daily)Marina 12:45, 15:00,19:40 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:00, 19:40 (Fri)

Robin Hood360° 16:40, 21:20, 23:45 (Daily) 00:45, 15:05, 17:30, 19:55, 22:20, 00:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:05, 17:30, 19:55, 22:20, 00:45 (Fri)Al-Bairaq 13:10, 22:20, 00:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 22:20, 00:45 (Fri)Al-Fanar 12:00, 14:15, 21:40, 00:05 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:15, 21:40, 00:05 (Fri)Al-Kout 14:40, 17:00, 22:00, 00:25 (Daily) 11:45, 16:30, 00:05 (Daily Exc Fri)

14:30, 00:05 (Fri)Al-Muhallab 11:45, 16:50, 00:25 (Daily Exc Fri) 22:25, 00:45 (Fri)Al-Sharqia 12:35,17:25 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:25 (Fri)Avenues 14:35, 22:10, 00:35 (Daily) 11:55, 12:25, 15:10, 16:50, 19:40, 21:30, 00:05 (Daily Exc Fri) 15:10, 16:50, 19:40, 21:30, 00:05 (Fri)Laila 15:30 (Daily)Marina 11:30, 20:10, 00:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 20:10, 00:45 (Fri)

The Girl in the Spider’s Web360° 12:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 (Daily Exc Fri) 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 (Fri)Al-Fanar 14:55, 22:15, 00:45 (Daily)Al-Kout 12:45, 17:40, 20:00, 22:25, 00:45 (Daily Exc Fri) 17:40, 20:00, 22:25, 00:45 (Fri)Al-Muhallab 17:45, 22:15, 00:35 (Daily)Al-Sharqia 21:30, 00:05 (Daily)Avenues 13:15, 14:25, 15:40, 19:10, 20:05, 22:30, 23:55, 00:50 (Daily Exc Fri) 14:25, 15:40, 19:10, 20:05, 22:30, 23:55, 00:50 (Fri)Marina 17:20, 22:00, 00:30 (Daily)

The Grinch360° 11:40 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:40 (Fri)Avenues 12:00 (Sat)

Thugs of Hindostan360° 15:40 (Daily)Avenues 23:40 (Daily)

2.0-TeluguAjial 15:45, 18:45, 21:45 (Daily)Al-Muhallab 21:30 (Daily Exc Fri) 13:30, 16:30, 19:30 (Fri)Avenues 13:30 (Fri)Plaza 18:45 (Fri)

Cinema programme from Thursday 29/11/2018 to Wednesday 05/12/2018

Cinema

EU4YA, Clover IV, Unifour make it

Pinoy Arabia ‘Quatropella’ grand finals on Dec 7By Michelle Fe Santiago

Arab Times Staff

The auditions of “Quatropella” singing competition organized by Pinoy Arabia

FM took a crescendo as talented students from the New Kuwait Philippines Interna-tional School (NKPIS) in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh sang their hearts out on Friday to make it to the grand finals.

Pinoy Arabia FM, the most listened to In-ternet-based community service radio station catering to the Filipinos in Kuwait, the Mid-dle East and across the globe has launched “Sing Quatropella”, a quartet acappella sing-ing competition on the radio in celebration of its fourth anniversary.

This week, three groups accepted the “Quatropella” challenge and successfully hurdled the audition making it to the grand fi -nals on Friday, Dec 7, 2018 at 1:00 pm sharp at the Kuwait Boy Scouts Association Audi-torium in Hawally.

The fi rst group “EU4YA” comprised of Via, Nova, Nathalie and Alyssa had a mellif-luous rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to The Moon” while the second group “Clover IV” comprising of Nadia Adam, Hyacinthe Nabo, Chloe Gilbuena and Christianne Fran-cisco gave Pentatonix a run for their money with their version of “White Winter”. The third group dubbed “Unifour” comprised of Chloee Zabala, Samuel Belen, Aimee Borja and Angela Ilocto crooned “When I was your man”, popularized by Bruno Mars. Other fi -nalists are the 4Tunes and Kacao band.

The board of judges rated the contestants based on the following criteria: harmony/blending (40%), Voice Quality (30%), Mas-tery/Stage Presence (20%) and Audience Im-pact (10%).

The Quatropella sponsored by Kabay-an Hyper Market, Al Mulla Exchange, Yaazeemir International Manpower Agen-cy, City Centre, Souffl e Beauty, LBC, JVR Placement Co, Bacolod Chk-n-BBQ House, CEE Network, Malacanang Garage Restau-rant and Party Boutique is open to all talented Filipino citizens or of Filipino descent, age 13 and above who want to showcase their sing-ing prowess.

The grand prize winner will get KD1,000 cash, trophy and other valuable gifts. Plaques and other valuable gifts will be awarded to the two runners-up in the competition.

Auditions are still on until Dec 5, 2018. For inquiries and other details, please call 99047504.

Pinoy Arabia FM now on its fourth year continues to sizzle and conquer the airwaves with its new programme offering to its listen-ers. Broadcasting live from the Marina FM studio in Kuwait, Pinoy Arabia FM, since its launch on October 30, 2014 has generated a sensational following and a great number of listeners not only in Kuwait but in the GCC countries and beyond.

Pinoy Arabia FM fully fully supported by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait and pow-ered by Marina FM plays Filipino and Eng-lish current and old hits 24 hours with regular guests from the Philippine Embassy and other visiting Philippine government offi cials. It caters to Filipino community events and other vital announcements.

Pinoy Arabia FM has become a reliable source of information for Overseas Filipinos and a venue of pure entertainment. The Pi-noy Arabia FM team is composed of Maxxy Santiago, Ben Garcia, Randy Mendoza, DJ Darling Dude, DJ Red and DJ Spark.

“See you all on Friday. Let’s have fun and celebrate with us,” stated DJ Randy, Pinoy Arabia FM General Manager.

The Clover IV

The Unifour

The EU4YA

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

21

A fi le photo taken on Sept 14, 2015 at a pharmacy in Paris, shows an HIV self-testing kit. France could be more effective in the HIV testing by spreading the new tools available such as self-testing, according to several organizations and associations on the occasion of the 30th World AIDS Day, held on Dec 1. (AFP)

Measles cases rise 30 percent worldwide: UN

Are docs, teachers confusing immaturity with ADHD?WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (AFP): The youngest children in a given class at school are more likely to be diagnosed with an attention defi cit disorder than those older than them, according to an American study triggering renewed debate on over-diagnosing.

The topic is a heated one in the United States, where fi ve percent of children aged two to 17 took prescrip-tion drugs for attention defi cit/hyper-activity disorder (ADHD) in 2016.

The youngest are those most af-fected, with a 50 percent increase in diagnoses for children aged two to fi ve between 2007 and 2012.

Around 400,000 children aged four to seven were surveyed for the study, published this week in the New Eng-land Journal of Medicine.

In an innovative approach, the re-searchers compared children born in August to those born in September liv-ing in US states that have a strict age limit demanding that children be at least fi ve years old by Sept 1 in order to enter school that year.

In those states, children born in Au-gust are systematically the youngest

in their class, while those born in Sep-tember are the oldest.

The researchers noticed that chil-dren born in August had a 34 percent greater chance of an ADHD diagnosis than those born in September.

Signifi cant The differences were not signifi cant

in states without the cutoff dates. “My view is that they’re probably be-

ing over-diagnosed,” said co-author An-upam Jena, associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School.

“If the child is born in August, maybe we should wait before they make that potential recommendation... A doctor should say well, maybe we can wait fi ve to six months to allow the child to mature a little bit before we initiate any medical therapy.”

Teachers are often the fi rst to report attention problems, but the youngest children can show symptoms similar to ADHD – such as lack of concentration and distraction – that are simply due to their immaturity.

There is no absolutely objective test for ADHD. The diagnosis is based on

a subjective analysis, which explains why teachers’ opinions are important.

The study backs similar prior fi nd-ings in the United States and other countries.

The study’s authors therefore urge teachers to use caution and patience.

❑ ❑ ❑

Measles cases worldwide jumped more than 30 percent last year com-pared to 2016, with increases recorded in wealthy European countries like Germany where vaccination coverage has historically been high, the UN said Thursday.

The World Health Organization said the worrying trend of resurgent measles cases was a near global phenomenon, but the causes varied among regions.

Blamed In Europe, experts blamed the prob-

lem in part on complacency and misin-formation about a vaccine proven to be both effective and safe.

Martin Friede, WHO’s director of immunisation, vaccines and bio-logicals told reporters that “supposed

experts making accusations against the vaccine without any evidence” has had an impact on parents’ decisions.

He specifi cally cited medically base-less claims linking the measles vaccine to autism, which have been spread in part on social media by members of the so-called “anti-vax” movement.

But cases have also spiked in Latin America, partly due to “a collapsing health system in Venezuela,” the head of the vaccine alliance Gavi, Seth Berkley, said in a statement.

A crippling political and economic crisis in Venezuela has triggered mas-sive infl ation, with hospitals struggling to maintain stocks.

“What is more worrying than the in-crease in the cases reported is that we are seeing sustained measles transmis-sion in countries that had previously not seen measles transmission for many years,” Friede said.

“This suggests we are actually re-gressing.”

Multiple countries – notably Ger-many, Russia and Venezuela – have had their measles elimination certifi cate withdrawn over the last 12 months.

Health

LONDON, Dec 1, (Agencies): A new generation of drug buyers’ clubs like those set up at the height of the AIDS epidemic is seeking to combat a “crisis” in preventing new HIV infections by providing access to cheap generics of a breakthrough prophylactic.

The original buyers’ groups, made famous in the film “Dallas Buyers Club”, were set up in the 1980s to import experimental drugs not approved by US authori-ties when AIDS treatments were in their infancy and the disease was a death sentence for many.

Treatment rates have risen dra-matically since then, but 1.8 mil-lion people became infected with HIV in 2017 and the United Nations has warned high infection rates threaten to derail efforts to defeat the disease.

InfectionPre-exposure prophylaxis

(PrEP) is a groundbreaking daily pill that can prevent infection, but for many at risk, the cost puts it out of reach – leading to a re-emergence of the buyers’ clubs.

“History may not repeat itself, but it sure rhymes a lot,” said Mitchell Warren of the US-based AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC).

“This is a really remarkable example of the rhyming. There is a prevention crisis, we need oral PrEP as part of our prevention programmes.”

The commercially available Truvada brand produced by Gilead Sciences can cost more than $1,000 for a three-month supply and access remains patchy.

Last year fewer than 400,000 people obtained PrEP through mainstream health programmes, pilots, and trials, according to data collected by AVAC.

The unmet demand has led some campaigners to set up clubs to help those at risk to import generic drugs produced in devel-oping countries for a fraction of the branded price.

Among them is Alex Smith, who set up the Davie Buyers Club in 2016 while working as a sexual health nurse in Canada after repeatedly seeing patients

infected with HIV. “These were patients I had talk-

ed to about PrEP, but they weren’t able to access it, and within six months or so in some cases they were exposed to HIV,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“I found those particularly dis-tressing because it was a very pre-ventable situation.”

The new buyers’ clubs do not sell drugs. Instead they provide details of trusted online pharma-cies and manufacturers based in countries such as India, which sell generic drugs for as little as 19 pounds ($24) per month.

The clubs exploit a loophole in World Trade Organization patent rules that allows small-scale imports of medicines for personal use.

For users in many countries, the process can be completed legally, and several small-scale trials have found no evidence of fake drugs among the generics.

Experts say the buyers’ clubs appear to be most used in Europe, but can also be found from North America to Australia.

Joshua Edward, 44, who got his PrEP through a Canadian buyers’ club for several years until his province introduced coverage last year, called it a game-changer.

“For a lot of us it felt like a ticking bomb,” he said.

“One of the things that stands out most is how long I can go without even thinking about HIV, which previously, especially when I was single, was something I would think about constantly.”

Niche PrEP buyers’ clubs remain

niche in the United States, but their use is growing, said Leslie Hall, a spokesman for the LGBT+ rights group Human Rights Commission (HRC).

“I’m enthusiastic about any programme that allows folks to who live on the margins of society to have access to life-saving drugs,” he said.

“If you don’t have the top-of-the line healthcare plan it can real-ly get expensive for you ... For some people a buyers’ club is the only way they will have access to this drug.”

A game changer

‘Drug buyers’ clubs’ seek totackle HIV prevention crisis

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

22

bridgebridgeBy Steve Becker

contract bridgebridge

Challenger

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.

Today’s ChallengeTime 8 Minutes

7 SecondsYour Working

Time __ Minutes__ Seconds

Friday’s solution

Eugene Sheffer Crossword

Latest

For more information and on chapter member-ship, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait Chapter on Mob: 90098667 or through email to ieikwt@hotmail.com

Dec 21AICA presents Int’l Mushaira: All India Cultural Association (AICA) — Kuwait, is organizing an International Mushaira “Ba Yaad-e-Kaifi Aazmi” on Dec 21 in Kuwait. This year’s Mushaira is dedicated to one of the greatest Urdu poet “Kaifi Aazmi” who is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures.

This signature event would be the fi fth Mushaira in succession and all the previous ones were highly successful events appreciated by the diaspora from the Indian Subcontinent. This year apart from the accomplished poets, two prominent Indian media personalities will also be a part of the event namely Vinod Dua, an eminent media personality decorated with the Padma Shri and Anubhav Sinha, an outstanding professional from the entertainment industry known for his work in many fi lms. It was also notifi ed that the Mushaira will be attended by some of the contemporary eminent Shayars including the much-celebrated Rahat Indori and Ifthikhar Arif. The list also includes Manzar Bhopali, Haseeb Soz, Shaukat Fahmi, Iqbaal Ashhar, Liyaqat Jafri, Abrar Kashif, Usman Minai, Vijay Tiwari, Aleena Itrat and Nadeem Shaad.

The event will be held at the Jabriya Medical Association Auditorium from 5.30 pm.

All interested can contact the below numbers for entry passes: 50858786,98984635,99637021,67008279

❑ ❑ ❑

UP NRI Forum health camp: As a part of our responsibilities to the society, we the members of UP NRI Forum in association with Indian Doc-tors Forum (IDF) Kuwait are going to organize a free Mega Health Check-up Camp on Friday, Dec 21 from 07.00 am to 12.00 pm (noon) at Salmiya Indian Model School (SIMS), Salmiya, Kuwait.

The camp will consist of two sessions:1. Care & Awareness Session (07:00 am to

08:00 am)A renowned Cardiologist and speaker Dr

Hasan Ali Khan will conduct an awareness session about obesity and related complications, prevention and its treatment.

2. Health Check-up Session (08:00 am to 12:00 noon)

Around 40 Hindi/Urdu speaking qualifi ed and experienced doctor’s team from various special-ties will be conducting health check-up and consultation sessions free of charges.

The Health Check-up Camp is open for all but pre-registration is mandatory. Please fill-up online registration form using the following link.

https://tinyurl.com/upnri-medical-camp-2018

GeneralCall for Indian writers and poets: As you are aware, Writers’ Forum, Kuwait is a literary organization which provides an equal plat-form to the Poets and Writers of all the Indian languages without any prejudice of the gender, caste, creed and religious background. Writers’ Forum, Kuwait is registered with the Embassy of India under registration no. INDEMB/KWT/ASSN/140. Primarily the Writers’ Forum, Kuwait is an Indian, a non-political, non-religious, non-governmental, non-profi t literary organization in Kuwait.

Since its inception on Nov 3, 1995, Writers’ Forum, Kuwait has organized several Multilin-gual Kavi Sammelan and Mushaira which in-cluded many renowned Poets from various Indian languages, Published Navratna in nine languages with English translations, felicitated writers and poets for their works etc. During this journey of the Writers’ Forum, Kuwait so far, many of the members have published their works / composi-tions. Writers’ Forum, Kuwait conducts monthly meetings on the 3rd Friday of each month during which literary works composed by the members are discussed.

In order to reach out to the Indian literary person who are capable of writing poems, essays, articles, short stories on any topic / subject in any Indian language, we invite such individuals to contact following offi ce bearers for further details.

❑ ❑ ❑

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 97128884 for information.

click

Continued from Page 18

Word by Word

Contentment Qana’ahContentment is an exhaustible treasure.Al-qana’ah kanz la yafnaa.

Numbers

8030 Eight thousand and thirty

Thamania alf wa thalathuun

Conceptis SudokuThe grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3

box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive

Answer to Friday’s puzzle

Friday’s answer 12-1

Friday’s

Market Movements 31-11-2018

Business Change Closing ptsJAPAN - Nikkei +88.46 22,351.06INDIA - Sensex +23.89 36,194.30

Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries -86.40 5,749.30GERMANY - DAX -40.99 11,257.24FRANCE - CAC 40 -2.93 5,003.92EUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 -1.03 3,173.80S. KOREA - KRX 100 -44.54 4,367.55PHILIPPINES - All Shares -2.05 4,441.33PAKISTAN - KSE 100 -142.80 40,496.03

Higher supply likely to be led by US shale next year

Slowing demand and a supply glut to drain oil’s gains in 2019LONDON, Dec 1, (RTRS): Oil analysts are increasingly pessimistic about the prospect of a price rally next year, when the outlook for demand is uncertain and supply is growing at breakneck speed, even though the market expects OPEC to cut output, a Reuters poll showed.

A survey of 38 economists and ana-lysts forecast Brent crude to average $74.50 a barrel in 2019, lower than the $76.88 outlook last month. The poll predicted Brent would average $73.20 in 2018, mostly in line with the $73 av-erage for the global benchmark so far this year.

“In the fi rst half of next year we expect upward price pressure result-ing from OPEC production cuts,” said Adrià Morron Salmeron, economist at CaixaBank Research.

“Then, we expect downward price pressures from an uptick in US shale production in the second half, as bot-tlenecks will disappear, and a decelera-tion of global growth.”

Of the 32 contributors who partici-pated in both the October and Novem-ber polls, 16 cut their 2019 average price forecast for Brent.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as Russia and other producers meet in Vienna on Dec 6/7 in an attempt to support crude prices, which have fallen by over 30 percent from early October’s four-year high of $86.74.

The group could announce cuts of anywhere between 1 and 1.4 million barrels per day, analysts said.

“The oil market is definitely over-

supplied at the moment. Therefore, OPEC will decide to cut output in December,” said Frank Schallen-berger, head of commodity research at LBBW.

“The recent drop in prices was so strong that I think the non-OPEC members will either agree to freeze production or join in the cut.”

A slowing global economy could erode oil demand growth next year, when supply from non-OPEC countries is forecast to expand at a record pace.

Citi had the lowest 2019 forecast for Brent at $57 a barrel, while ABN Amro and Raymond James had the highest, at $90.

The US decision to grant waivers to countries that buy crude from Iran, hit by sanctions on its energy exports, has changed the dynamics in a market already under pressure from soaring output from the world’s top three oil producers, the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia, analysts said.

“Uncertainty over US sanctions against Iran had made the market fi x-ated with supply. The waivers changed the arithmetic, raising the possibility of a supply glut developing in 2019,” said Konstantinos Venetis, senior econo-mist at TSL Research.

Non-OPEC output could rise by 1.5 to 2.2 million bpd in 2019, led by US shale, a few of the analysts said.

“Sharp increases in US production will be a key impediment in upside potential for oil prices in 2019,” said Benjamin Lu, commodities analyst at Phillip Futures.

Gulf OPEC members ‘cover’most of Iran oil loss: survey

Compliance with output targets rises to 120 pct

LONDON, Dec 1, (RTRS): OPEC oil supply has fallen in November from a two-year high due to US sanc-tions on Iran, a Reuters survey found, although most of the output gap left by Iran was plugged by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in response to calls from US President Donald Trump.

The 15-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped 33.11 million barrels per day this month, the survey on Friday found, down 160,000 bpd from Octo-ber, which was the highest by OPEC

as a group since December 2016. The survey adds to indications that

OPEC output remains ample despite US sanctions imposed on Iran this month. Oil prices have slid 30 percent since early October on worries a new glut may emerge. OPEC and its allies including Russia meet on Dec 6-7 in Vienna to discuss cutting supply.

With Saudi Arabia and Russia pump-ing at record rates, US output surging and forecasts pointing to lower demand in 2019 due to a slowing economy, some analysts are sceptical the produc-ers will avoid generating a surplus.

“The most likely outcome of next week’s OPEC meeting is a fudge,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. “Russia and Saudi Arabia will agree to curb production but by less than is needed to prevent a supply imbalance

in early 2019.”OPEC, Russia and other non-mem-

bers agreed in June to return to 100 per-cent compliance with output cuts that began in January 2017, after months of underproduction in Venezuela and An-gola that had pushed adherence above 160 percent.

In November, the 12 OPEC mem-bers bound by the supply-limiting agreement boosted compliance to 120 percent as production fell in Iran, from a revised 110 percent in October, the survey found.

The biggest drop in OPEC supply this month has come from Iran, accord-ing to the survey.

Exports fell at times below 1 million bpd as returning US sanctions discour-aged companies from buying Iranian oil, although volumes rose later in the

month, sources in the survey said. Sanctions waivers granted to eight buy-ers could lead to higher exports in De-cember, analysts have said.

The second-biggest decline was in Iraq, where exports from southern Iraqi terminals were curbed by bad weather, despite the resumption of some Kirkuk exports in the north after a one year halt.

There were small falls in production in Libya and Nigeria, both exempt from the supply pact. OPEC is discussing in-cluding one or both of the African pro-ducers in a 2019 supply deal.

The biggest rise was in Saudi Ara-bia, where supply hit a record 11 mil-lion bpd. Trump has been urging Saudi Arabia and other producers to pump more oil to curb rising prices and make up for losses from Iran.

The more we get rid of expats, the worse the situation will become Move to lure investment

Our national performance is on decline UAE to expand recognition of fund licencesBy Kamel Al-Harami

Independent Oil Analyst

The performance of all our govern-mental departments, institutions

and corporation are declining. They are not serving the national interest of this young nation which is full of am-bitions and great objectives. Almost every day, we are faced with bad news from every sector of the government and its corporations.

In the past six months, we have just been going from one scandal to another – from fake university cer-tifi cates, theft of court documents, distribution of so-called agricul-tural lands, rain disaster and fi nally broken car windshields every day because of solid concrete gravel hitting our cars on main streets and highways. Nobody is trying to do anything.

In addition, the daily drama or nightmare of traffi c congestion is not being solved despite bridges and wide fi ve-lane roads being built. The prob-

lems remain unsolved especially with the growth in population and more ve-hicles entering the already-busy roads.

Nobody is taking a serious look at any alternatives to cars such as building metros or underground trains, which are more serious choice and better alternatives, to ease our daily nightmare.

R e p o r t s about the a f o r e m e n -tioned keep appearing on daily basis on social me-dia and local newspapers . Our MPs talk about them during one or two sessions

but then disappear without doing much constructive work, eventually to be repeated after one whole year.

Of course, we have the fi nancial

resources to rectify the situation but the solution lies within ourselves. The roles of the government leaders, min-isters, deputy ministers and the rest of the people in the top six-seven posi-tions need to be improved but they instead choose to delegate such roles to others. This has been causing un-derperformance in every sector of the government and its corporations.

The more we get rid of expatri-ates, the worse the situation will be-come. Now, most of the government and 85 percent of its employees are Kuwaiti, but are we witnessing any improvements? Perhaps the time has come to address the ratio and come up with better solutions, as Kuwait is losing the needed experience and hard-workers.

Our performance will not improve. The decline will continue. Let us see what tomorrow will have in store for us in terms of further bad news.

❑ ❑ ❑

email: naftikuwaiti@yahoo.com

DUBAI, Dec 1, (RTRS): United Arab Emirates regulators said they would expand their recognition of investment fund licences in an ef-fort to persuade more funds to base themselves in the country, in the face of competition for the busi-ness from other states in the region.

Funds can be licensed in three UAE jurisdictions: the Dubai Inter-national Financial Centre (DIFC), the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), or onshore in the UAE. At present a fund licensed in one area faces restrictions on how it can be marketed and sold in the other two areas, slowing sales and raising costs.

Authorities agreed to remove those barriers by recognising a single licence across the country, regard-less of where it was issued, regula-tory agencies for the three jurisdic-tions said in a statement this week.

The reform “encourages foreign-licensed fi rms in fi nancial free zones

based in other countries to move to the UAE market,” said Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, UAE economics minister and chairman of the Securi-ties and Commodities Authority.

Regulatory obstacles have helped to slow growth of the UAE’s asset management industry; it had assets under management of just $1.6 bil-lion in 2016 compared to $18.3 bil-lion in Bahrain, according to a report by the Dubai International Financial Centre, although the study predicted

rapid growth.Competition for funds is increas-

ing as nearby countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, seek to develop their fi nancial industries through regulatory reforms and steps to deepen their capital markets.

Details of how the UAE’s reform will work in practice still need to be decided, and regulators for the DIFC and ADGM issued consultation pa-pers this week requesting public comment on the proposed changes.

Nov trade defi cit $0.6bn

Turkey’s economic confi dence climbsANKARA, Dec 1, (RTRS): Turkey’s economic confi -dence index rose to 73.7 points in November, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Thursday, after hitting a 10-year low last month.

The index indicates and optimistic economic outlook when above 100 and a pessimistic one when below 100. It had fallen to its lowest since January 2009 in October.

It rose 9.1 percent month-on-month in November.Turkey’s trade defi cit plunged 90 percent year-on-year

in November to $0.6 billion, data from the Customs and Trade Ministry showed on Saturday, with exports rising and imports declining.

Exports rose 9.49 percent to $15.53 billion and imports decreased 21.47 percent to $16.14 billion in the same pe-riod, the data showed.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s infl ation is expected to get gradu-ally nearer to the central bank’s targets, Central Bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya said on Friday, after consumer prices last month surged to a 15-year high of 25.2 percent.

A Reuters poll on Thursday showed annual infl ation is forecast to fall to 22.6 percent in November. Economists said infl ation was still expected to remain around 20 per-cent until the middle of next year, well above the central bank’s target of 5 percent.

“By closely monitoring the factors that impact infl ation, monetary policy tools will continue to be used effectively in line with the price stability objective,” said the text of a pres-entation by Cetinkaya, published on the bank’s website.

The lira slumped in August, at one stage as much as 47 percent weaker since the start of the year, on investor concerns about the central bank’s independence and a de-terioration in US-Turkish ties.

It has since recovered some ground after a mammoth 6.25 percentage point rate hike in September and an im-provement in relations with the United States.

The central bank last month sharply raised its infl ation forecast for end-2018 to 23.5 percent from a previous 13.4 percent, acknowledging the impact of a lira sell-off that has shaken confi dence in the economy.

“The increase in infl ation was driven by developments in forex prices. Infl ation is expected to gradually get closer to targets,” the presentation said.

Al-Harami

Eni in talks to grow presence in the Gulf: source

Italian major Eni is in talks to grow its footprint in Oman and the Unit-ed Arab Emirates as part of plans to build its asset base in the oil-rich Gulf and offset its reliance on Africa, a source close to the mat-ter said.

The international oil company has a limited presence in the Middle East, where some of the world’s biggest oil and gas re-serves lie, producing more than half its output in Africa.

“Eni is in talks with Oman for various opportunities,” the source told Reuters, adding recent geo-political tensions in the area had not curbed its interest.

Last year Eni sealed its fi rst deal in Oman, winning a majority stake in offshore acreage and selling on part to Qatar Petroleum.

This year it took a fi rst step into Abu Dhabi, paying $875 mil-lion for stakes in two oil conces-sions and then buying part of the

giant Ghasa gas fi eld from state oil group Adnoc. The source said Eni had submitted an expression of interest for a minority stake in Adnoc’s refi nery business, con-fi rming an earlier Reuters report.

Abu Dhabi has put on sale 40 percent of Adnoc’s refi ning unit val-ued at $8 billion but will never sell to a single company, the source said, adding many others were inter-ested including Chinese and Indian fi rms and France’s Total. (RTRS)

Iran hails oil-for-goods deal with S. Korea

Iran said Saturday it had fi nalised a deal with South Korea to trade oil for goods, skirting renewed US sanctions.

“A mechanism has been devised for returning oil export revenues from South Korea, by which Iran’s oil export revenue will be bartered with imported goods,” Hossein Tanhayi, head of the Iran-South Korea chamber of commerce, told state news agency IRNA.

Washington unilaterally reim-

posed a crippling oil embargo on Iran last month following its with-drawal in May from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. South Korea – a close political ally of the United States – has cut Iranian oil pur-chases to zero from an estimated 285,000 barrels per day in the fi rst six months of the year, ac-cording to Bloomberg fi gures.

The sanctions also target Iran’s banking sector and its ability to bring dollars into the country, but

leave open the possibility of trade in goods. Tanhayi did not give details of the mechanism, but said a “joint fund” could be opened between their respective central banks.

South Korea is Iran’s third larg-est trade partner after China and the United Arab Emirates.

Bilateral trade has dropped from $12 billion in 2017 to $5.7 for the fi rst 10 months of 2018, according to the chamber of com-merce. (RTRS)

Hundreds of Jordanians protestAMMAN, Dec 1, (RTRS): Hundreds of Jordanians protested on Friday in central Amman in the fi rst demon-stration against a new, IMF-backed tax bill that parliament passed this month.

Around 300 people chanting anti-government slogans gathered near a parking lot where police had im-

posed a cordon to prevent them from marching to the offi ce of Prime Min-ister Omar Razzaz.

Scores chanted “Go away Raz-zaz!”, “Government of robbers!” and accused the government of failing to tackle high-level corrup-tion and to end the squandering of public funds.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

24

A flyer of Al Hassad Islamic account cam-

paign

AUB announces 26 new winners of Al Hassad Islamic account draw

Ahli United Bank recently con-ducted its Al Hassad Islamic ac-count weekly draw, Kuwait’s lead-ing Shari’ah compliant rewards program that offers a broad range of prizes to the largest number of winners, on the 28th of November 2018. 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 allow-ing them to achieve their dreams of travelling, studying abroad, or own-ing their dream home or car.

On this occasion Ahli United Bank announced, “With this draw, we are adding 26 new winners and prizes to the Al Hassad Islamic ac-count whereby, the total number of winners annually will include more than 1300.

The weekly grand prize winner of KD 25,000 Abdullah Salem Alali.

25 other winners won prizes of KD 1,000 and are as follows: Ali Hamad Alazemi, Nouf Talal AlGh-aniem, Aesha Mutair Ghadban, NedhAL Mahmmoud Ahmadi, Fa-had Saad Alhumaidi, Shouq Fahad Alduwailah, Mona Mostafa Humod, Jassim Abdulraheem Alholi, Wafaa Mohammad AlMusallam, Veronica Patrick Mills, Abdullah Salem Alali, Abdulmohsen Mohammad AlFadh-li, Ghaida Ali Alsabt, Ali Salem Ha-brout, Nawwaf Abdullah Alenezi,

Eissa Ghanim Al Ofisan, Suad Afar Alkhalaf, Naser Abduljalil Aljeshi, Naeema Badawi Badawi, Hussain Ali Alhaddad, Maysa Abdulmohsin Habib, Mariam Hasan Buabbood, Mahmood Alawi Shober, Khulood Juma Sabah, and Karima Abdul-hussain AlHelli.

Al Hassad Islamic account’s cus-tomers in Kuwait and Bahrain are eligible to participate in the draw in line with the program’s terms and conditions

Asset quality of GCC banks sound: Al Marzouq80% of transactions will be cashless in coming years as use of KFH e-channels keeps growing

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Chairman, Hamad Al Marzouq said that the overall financial position of the GCC banks is posi-tive with solid capitaliza-tion as reflected by their average capital-asset ratio of around 18.7%, which is well above the minimum regulatory requirements.

“The asset quality of the GCC banks is quite sound with non performing financing NPFs ratio at around 3.2%. In Kuwait, for example, this ratio is lower at around 2%. Also, The GCC banks have healthy return on equity delivering around 12.7%,” Al Marzouq added in the inaugural semi-nar of TCB Gulf Center in the Kuwait Chamber of Com-merce and Industry.

He said that one of the most important challenges facing the global markets lies in the increase of debt over a short period of time, indicating that the high level of debt is due to the very loose mon-etary environment. Posing signifi-cant risks at all levels – whether individuals, companies or lenders especially developing countries, the global debt has risen from $87 trillion in 2000 to $ 247 trillion by

the end of 2017. “I have seen companies and

countries with junk quality issues being oversubscribed by about 15 times. I think this will impact the emerging markets,” Al Marzouq added.

“Coming to the key challenges facing the GCC banks, I see that the main challenge lies in the activ-

ities growth. Going forward, I be-lieve that the banks will not be able to achieve similar growth rates to those they recorded over the past decades. The main reason is the lack of government expenditure which is the main engine and the key provider for economic activity in the GCC.” He explained.

Al Marzouq added that when

oil prices were very volatile, GCC governments responded to those developments by tightening up the projects. This has reflected nega-tively on the economic growth in general.

He noted that it is very difficult for the private sector to plan go-ing forward because of the volatile oil prices which in turn impact the

government spending and show a structural imbalance in the GCC economies.

With the large expected partici-pants in the future workforce, Al Marzouq stressed that generating jobs during the coming period poses a major challenge that these GCC countries can handle only through privatization.

“We have seen the privatization law approved by the parliament al-most 8 years ago, but the program has not been activated since then.” He added.

“Another challenge the GCC banks face is that of accommodat-ing the changes in the consumer behavior, in terms of spending through cashless financial transac-tions. There are forecasts that these cashless financial transactions are going to dominate at least 80% of total transactions in the next 5 years. This is quite significant.” Al Marzouq explained.

He recommended that the GCC banks should upgrade their strat-egies and update their payment methodologies in order to adapt to the new reality.

In this regard, Al Marzouq pointed to the growing use of KFH e-channels by customers in recent years.

The Conference Board Gulf Center for Economic and Business Studies (the “TCB GulfCenter”) is part of an expansion program in the GCC region. The Confer-ence Board was founded in May 1916 by some of the most promi-nent business leaders in the United States at that time. TCB has been on the forefront of a century of transformations in economic met-rics, corporate governance and human capital practices that have shaped the global economy we know today.

KFH’s Chairman, Hamad Al Marzouq speaking at the event. KFH headquarters

Photo from the YouLeadQ8 Leadership Forum

KIB sponsors YouLeadQ8 personal development lectureFor the second consecutive year, KIB sponsored a lecture by renowned Emirati counsel-lor and author, Hala Kazim. The lecture took place as part of the YouLeadQ8 Leadership Forum, which was held on 29 Nov 29 at the Regency Hotel. This sponsor-ship aimed at empowering and supporting youth, as part of the Bank’s leading social responsibil-ity program.

During the lecture, Professor Kazim encouraged adopting a more positive outlook towards life, and additionally supported crea-tive thought and self-motivation

among youth. Professor Kazim is the founder of “Journey Through Change”, a positive transformation program dedicated to improving the lives of women. She was also named the Mohammed bin Rashid “Best Businesswoman in the UAE” in 2013.

This sponsorship came as part of KIB’s commitment to support-ing and empowering youth, as a leading financial institution. The Bank engages directly with youth through various events and activ-ities which aim at supporting their ideas and encouraging creative thought and self-motivation. As a

key pillar in its social responsibil-ity program, the Bank focuses on developing the skills and abilities of young, local talents, believing this segment to be the drivers of this nation’s future.

KIB pointed out that these lec-tures aim at supporting youth to discover new possibilities and op-portunities in life by encouraging positive thinking, creative thought and expression, and self-moti-vation in both their personal and professional lives; thereby nurtur-ing future leaders and preparing them professionally to enter the labor market.

44th week Al-Sunbula Account lucky winners. 43rd week Al-Sunbula Account lucky winners.

For customers of KIB’s Savings Accountt with highest return in market

KIB names second draw winners in the ‘Double Your Savings’ campaignKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: KIB an-nounced winners of it’s the second draw in latest campaign, the ‘Double Your Savings’ campaign for Savings Account customers; the fi rst account in Kuwait to combine savings and in-vestment under one account. With the campaign, customers get the chance to enter a monthly draw for every KD 100 deposited in their account, qualify-ing them to win the campaign’s grand prize, doubling their savings up to KD 5,555. Additionally, the campaign of-fers 10 customers the opportunity to win KD 100 every month.

In the second, the lucky grand prize winner was Mohammed Farouq Ra-him Bakhsh, who won up to KD 5,555. Moreover, 10 lucky customers won the KD 100 cash prize: Mohammed Nemr Dawood, Mariam Hussein Al-Kandari, Khawla Mohammed Al-Mesfr, Nam-sha Marzouq Bokharma, Raad Ibrahim Al-Mohammed, Bedour Ibrahim Al-Enezi, Yousef Abdullah Al-Hamidi, Nawras Ahmed Al-Bakawi, Demer-dash Abdelmonem Ibrahim and Qutai-ba Abdullah Al-Rahmani.

Ongoing until Dec 12, this latest KIB campaign refl ects the Bank’s ongoing commitment to rewarding its customers, as well as encouraging them to increase their savings in the account, as it has the highest return in Kuwait at 1.65%. Additionally, each KD 100 deposited into the Sav-ings Account will give customers the opportunity to enter the grand prize monthly draw that doubles the amount

saved up to KD 5,555. This is in addi-tion to KIB’s other cash prizes which allows 10 customers to win KD 100 every month.

On this occasion, General Man-ager of the Retail Banking Depart-ment, Othman Tawfiqi, said: “KIB is committed to providing its cus-tomers with the best offers and most innovative products in the market. The Bank aims at meeting the di-verse needs and lifestyles of all its customers. The ‘Double Your Sav-ings’ campaign reflects KIB’s com-

mitment to rewarding its customers for their continued trust and loyalty in the Bank. For a limited time only, this new campaign allows new and exisiting customers a unique op-portunity in banking. In addition to enjoying the highest return in the market at 1.65%, with the Savings Account, customers can save and win a grand prize, doubling savings up to KD 5,555. Savings Account customers can also enter the draw to win KD 100 for every KD 100 de-posited.”

KIB offers a wide range of benefi ts for its Savings Account customers. The Savings Account is unique in of-fering the benefi ts of both savings and investment combined into one single account. Additionally, customers are able to open the account in Kuwait Di-nar or any other major foreign currency and enjoy a free debit card that can be used all over the world – all with no re-striction on minimum account balance. With the Savings Account, customers can also enjoy a range of features, and comprehensive online banking solu-tions, such as easy money transfers and fast access to account balance and details; allowing them to fulfi l all their banking needs anytime, anywhere.

Tawfi qi added that customers can learn more about this campaign and all benefi ts of KIB’s Savings Account by visiting www.kib.com.kw , con-tacting the customer service center at 1866866, or following the Bank’s so-cial media accounts @KIBpage.

Othman Tawfiqi, GM of the Retail Banking Department.

Al-Sunbula Account is the perfect choice for consumers

Warba Bank announces lucky 10 winnersKUWAIT CITY, Dec 1:Warba Bank, “the Best investment Bank” and “Best Corporate Bank” in Ku-wait, held the 43rd and 44th Al-Sun-bula Account weekly draws in paral-lel as the 43rd draw was postponed due to Prophet Muhammad’s Birth-day (PBUH) holiday. The draw an-nounced the 10 lucky winners in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Bank offi cials.

The bank proudly announces the lucky 5 winners of the 43rd week who received KD 1,000 each are: Sayer Bader Mohammed Al-Sayer, . Anfal Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Enezi, Arash Mehdizadeh, Abdulrahman Abdullah Hussain Abdulkarim & Adel Jawad Mahmoud Jawhar Hayatt.

And the lucky 5 winners of the 44th week who received KD 1,000 each are: Dhuwaihi Ali Saad Al-Sahli, Khaled Saleh Ebrahim Al-Shaban, Sultan Obaid Menwer Al-Maymouni, Hadi Harbi Abdullah Al-Lmaie & Mostafa Mohammad Najeeb Mostafa Arafah.

Al-Sunbula Account is the perfect

choice for all customers who wish to save money and achieve steady returns while simultaneously have the opportunity to win cash prizes throughout the year. Due to the high traffi c on this account, for its offer-ings of unparalleled opportunities, Warba Bank has worked on enhanc-ing Al-Sunbula account to provide customers with more benefi ts. Such enhancements include increasing the number of winners and the fre-quency of the draws. Now, on every Thursday the Bank holds draws for 5 weekly winners of KD 1,000 each. In addition, the Bank contin-ues its monthly draws held on the fi rst Thursday of every month, with cash prizes of KD 30,000 divided amongst 4 winners: two winners get-ting KD 10,000 each, and two win-ners getting KD 5,000 each.

Thus, the new development of Al-Sunbula account has increased the total number of winners to 24, and the total amount of prizes to 50,000 KD instead of 30,000 KD. As for the chances for winning, each customer is eligible to enter the draw against each KD 10. It

is noteworthy, that Warba Bank has re-cently launched the Al-Sunbula Fixed Deposit, which provides depositors with high returns of up to 3%, as well as getting monthly chances to win in Al-Sunbula Account draws.

Furthermore, Warba Bank has launched its latest Customer On-boarding solution, in line with its ambitious fi ve-year strategy that en-ables non-Warba Bank customers to request opening Al-Sunbula account in an easy electronic manner through the Bank’s website without having to visit any of the Bank’s branches, by following 5 simple steps that might take up to 5 minutes. New customers will be able to request opening the account at anytime, anywhere, and the Bank will receive, process and pass the new application for approval through whole new and unique elec-tronic system used to implement this service. Warba Staff will then con-tact the customer to determine the appropriate time to visit the branch to get required signatures, verify the customer’s identity, deliver his/her debit card, and activate the account.

Marriott security breach exposed data of up to 500m guests

Hackers stole information on as many as 500 million guests of the Marriott hotel empire over four years, obtaining credit card and passport numbers and other personal data, the compa-ny said Friday as it acknowledged one of the largest security breaches in history.

The full scope of the failure was not imme-diately clear. Marriott was trying to determine if the records included duplicates, such as a single person staying multiple times.

The affected hotel brands were operated by Starwood before it was acquired by Marri-ott in 2016. They include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, Element, Aloft, The Luxury

Collection, Le Méridien and Four Points. Star-wood-branded timeshare properties were also affected. None of the Marriott-branded chains were threatened.

The crisis quickly emerged as one of the big-gest data breaches on record.

“On a scale of 1 to 10 and up, this is one of those No.10 size breaches. There have only been a few of them of this scale and scope in the last decade,” said Chris Wysopal, chief technology offi cer of Veracode, a security com-pany.

By comparison, last year’s Equifax hack af-fected more than 145 million people. A Target

breach in 2013 affected more than 41 million payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers.

Security analysts were especially alarmed to learn that the breach began in 2014. While such failures often span months, four years is extreme, said Yonatan Striem-Amit, chief tech-nology offi cer of Cybereason.

It was unclear what hackers could do with the credit card information. Though it was stored in encrypted form, it was possible that hackers also obtained the two components needed to descramble the numbers, the com-pany said. (AP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

25

Data signals economy is slowing as the ECB boost comes to an end

Eurozone infl ation slows to 2 percent during NovemberBRUSSELS, Dec 1, (AFP): Eurozone inflation slowed in November, official data showed on Friday, lending support to rising fears that economic activity in Europe is cooling.

Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19-country single currency bloc fell to 2.0 percent in November, right at the target level of the European Central Bank.

The EU data agency said unem-ployment remained stable in October in the euro area at 8.1 per-cent for the fourth consecutive month, its lowest level since November 2008.

The inflation data lands as the ECB is widely expected to end mass buying of government and corporate bonds, known as “quanti-tative easing”, next month.

Over more than three years it has pumped around 2.6 trillion euros ($2.95 trillion) into the eurozone financial system, aiming to fuel

expansion and power price growth towards its target of just below 2.0 percent.

This stimulus programme has largely been deemed a success, but dipping inflation comes after a series of signals that the eurozone economy is slowing just as the ECB boost comes to an end.

ECB chief Mario Draghi on Monday pledged that the end of bond-buying will not leave the economy in the lurch with interest rates set to remain low.

Unemployment meanwhile in the eurozone has fallen steadily since September 2016, when it fell below the symbolic threshold of 10.0 per-cent.

However, it is still much higher than the average rate before the 2007-2008 financial crisis, when it stood at 7.5 percent.

At the worst of the debt crisis, unemployment had reached a record high of 12.1 percent in 2013.

EU ministers to fi nalise watered-down eurozone reform plans

Italy close to recession as GDPshrinks for fi rst time in 4 years

GDP fell by 0.1 pct in July-September due to weaker domestic demandROME, Dec 1, (RTRS): Italy’s economy contracted in the third quarter for the fi rst time in four years, data showed on Friday, and employers’ lobby Confi ndustria said the country may already be heading into recession.

The grim fi gures came as the government negotiates with the Euro-pean Commission which has rejected its big-spending 2019 budget, say-ing Italy should focus on cutting the defi cit rather than fi scal expansion. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone’s third largest economy fell by 0.1 percent in July-September due to weaker domestic demand,

BRUSSELS, Dec 1, (RTRS): Eu-ropean Union fi nance ministers will seek fi nal agreement on Monday on deeper eurozone integration which, after a year of negotiations, is likely to turn out much less ambitious than initially planned.

Championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, the reforms were meant to prepare the 19 euro countries for the next fi nancial crisis and unite the EU around the single currency at a time of growing euro-sceptic sentiment across the bloc.

But the talks ran into many dif-fi culties: Germany did not have a proper government for almost six months, Italy elected a eurosceptic administration and the talks exposed fault lines between the north and the south and even between institutions.

Even though the integration plans

concern only the eurozone, all of the EU’s fi nance ministers except Brit-ain’s will discuss them on Monday because all might adopt the euro at some point in the future.

“It will be long, it will be intense,” one senior eurozone offi cial involved in the preparations of the ministerial discussions said.

“It won’t be as high level (in terms of ambition) as some people expect-ed a year ago, but we may exceed a little bit the low expectations right now,” he added.

The package agreed on Monday will then have to be endorsed by EU leaders on Dec 14.

The initial ideas included the creation of a large eurozone budget fi nanced by dedicated taxes and national contributions, a euro zone fi nance minister in charge of it and a

eurozone assembly in the European Parliament for democratic control.

The ESM eurozone bailout fund was to be transformed into a Europe-an Monetary Fund with wider powers of monitoring eurozone economies and a key role in a sovereign insol-vency mechanism that would man-age potential debt restructuring.

To break the doom-loop between governments and banks that buy large amounts of a single sover-eign’s debt and then collapse as the sovereign becomes insolvent, there were to be limits on the concentra-tion one country’s bonds in a bank’s portfolio.

The banking system was to be strengthened with a European De-posit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) that would guarantee deposits of up to 100,000 euros ($113,000) in any

bank in any eurozone country. Finally a eurozone bank resolu-

tion fund, created in 2014, was to get emergency loans from the ESM if ran out of money during a major banking crisis.

Only some of these ideas sur-vived and many of those that did are a shadow of what they were when proposed in 2017.

There will be no eurozone cau-cus in the European Parliament and no fi nance minister. The eurozone budget, which France initially saw in the hundreds of billions of euros, may not have a set size at all.

“It’s gone from an elephant to a mouse. And the mouse is in a cage,” Dutch fi nance minister Wopke Hoekstra said about the budget, ac-cording to the Financieele Dagblad newspaper.

statistics bureau ISTAT said, the fi rst decline since the second quarter of 2014.

On a year-on-year basis, GDP rose 0.7 percent. Both fi gures were revised down from ISTAT’s pre-liminary estimate last month which pointed to a fl at reading quarter-on-quarter and a 0.8percent annual in-crease.

“It’s a worrying fi gure that could lead us to technical recession in the last quarter of the year,” said Andrea Montanino, Confi ndustria’s chief economist of employers. Recession is defi ned by economists as two con-secutive quarters of falling GDP. “We are forecasting a fl at fourth quarter with downside risks due to falling confi dence indices,” Mon-tanino said.

The opposition blamed the data on the government that took offi ce in June, made up of the anti-estab-lishment 5-StarMovement and the right-wing League. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said his government’s centre-left predeces-sors were responsible.

Slowing“In 2019, with our budget based

on more jobs and lower taxes, Italy will return to growth,” said Sal-vini, who is the League’s leader. WEAK DEMAND The economy has been slowing steadily for the last 18months.

Second quarter growth was unre-vised at 0.2 percent on the quarter and 1.2 percent year-on-year.

The government says its expan-sionary budget, which targets the defi cit to rise to 2.4 percent of GDP in 2019 from 1.8percent this year, is needed to prevent the chronically sluggish economy slipping into an-other recession.

The European Commission says it breaks the promises of the previ-ous administration and is calling for lower spending from highly-indebt-ed Italy.

Negotiations between the govern-ment and the Commission are con-tinuing but the two sides still seem far apart. In the third quarter, the economy was held back by weak domestic demand, with consumer spending falling 0.1 percent from the previous quarter and investments down by 1.1 percent.

Domestic demand subtracted 0.3 percent from growth, while trade fl ows contributed positively by a marginal 0.1 percent. Last month the government cut its full-year 2018 GDP growth forecast to 1.2 percent from a 1.5 percent projection made in April by the previous government. Achieving even the revised target would need a strong acceleration at the end of the year.

Separate data on Friday showed the jobless rate rose in October to 10.6 percent from 10.3 percent the month before. However, employ-ment levels remained stable and more permanent jobs were created instead of temporary ones, which the government has made a major aim of its labour policies.

Among the 19 countries that have adopted the single currency, the

lowest unemployment rate in October was recorded in Germany.

The highest rate was recorded in Greece at 18.9 percent in August,

the latest available figure, and Spain at 14.8 percent.

Big bet on cloud paying off

Microsoft pips Apple as most valuable public coNEW YORK, Dec 1, (AP): Microsoft’s big bet on cloud com-puting is paying off as the com-pany has surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

The software maker’s pros-pects looked bleak just a few years ago, as licenses for the com-pany’s Windows system fell with a sharp drop in sales of personal computers.

But under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has found stability by focusing on software and services over the internet, or the cloud, with long-term business contracts.

That 1990s personal-comput-ing powerhouse is now having a renaissance moment, as it eclipses Facebook, Google, Amazon and the other tech darlings of the late decade.

Apple had been the world’s most prosperous firm since claim-ing the top spot from Exxon Mobil earlier this decade. Microsoft surpassed Apple briefly a few times this week, but didn’t close on top until Friday, with a market value of $851 billion to Apple’s $847 billion. Microsoft hadn’t been at the top since the height of the dot-com boom in 2000.

Microsoft became a contender again in large part because Apple’s stock fell nearly 20 per-cent in November, while Microsoft hasn’t done any worse than the rest of the stock market. But the fact that it hasn’t done poorly is a reflection of its steady focus on business customers in recent years.

Microsoft lost its luster as peo-ple were shunning PCs in favor of smartphones. In 2013, PC sales plunged 10 percent to about 315 million, the worst year-to-year drop ever, according to research firms Gartner and IDC. It didn’t help that Microsoft’s effort to make PCs more like phones, Windows 8, was widely panned.

But a turnaround began when the Redmond, Washington, com-pany promoted Nadella as CEO in 2014. He succeeded Microsoft’s longtime CEO, Steve Ballmer, who initially scoffed at the notion that people would be willing to pay $500 or more for Apple’s iPhones.

DwindlingThat bet paid off. Windows is

now a dwindling fraction of Microsoft’s business. While the company still runs consumer-focused businesses such as Bing search and Xbox gaming, it has prioritized business-oriented ser-vices such as its Office line of email and other workplace soft-ware, as well as newer additions such as LinkedIn and Skype. But its biggest growth has happened in the cloud, particularly the cloud platform it calls Azure. Cloud computing now accounts for more than a quarter of Microsoft’s rev-enue, and Microsoft rivals Amazon as a leading provider of such services.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Azure is still in its early days, meaning there’s plenty of room for growth, especially considering the company’s large customer base for Office and other prod-

ucts.“While the tech carnage seen

over the last month has been bru-tal, shares of (Microsoft) continue to hold up like the Rock of Gibraltar,” he said.

Being less reliant on consumer demand helped shield Microsoft from holiday season turbulence and US-China trade war jitters affecting Apple and other tech companies.

President Donald Trump ampli-fied those tariff concerns when he told The Wall Street Journal in a story published late Monday that new tariffs could affect iPhones and laptops imported from China.

The iPhone maker had already seen its stock fall after reporting a mixed bag of quarterly results in early November amid fears about how the technology industry will fare in the face of such threats as rising interest rates, increased government regulation and Trump’s escalating trade war with China.

SpookedApple also spooked investors

with an unexpected decision to stop disclosing how many iPhones it sells each quarter. That move has been widely interpreted as a sign that Apple foresees further declines in iPhone sales and is try-ing to mask that.

While smartphones caused the downturn in personal computers years ago, sales of smartphones themselves have now stalled. That’s partly because with fewer innovations from previous mod-els, more people choose to hold on to the devices for longer peri-ods before upgrading.

Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager for Synovus Trust, said Microsoft is outperforming its tech rivals in part because of what it’s not. It doesn’t face as much regula-tory scrutiny as advertising-hungry Google and Facebook, which have attracted controversy over their data-harvesting practices. Unlike Netflix, it’s not on a hunt for a diminishing number of interna-tional subscribers. And while Amazon also has a strong cloud business, it’s still more dependent on online retail.

Virtual-and augmented-reality headsets haven’t had much trac-tion in the consumer market, but they’re fi nding a place on the bat-tlefi eld.

The US Army said Thursday that it has awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply its HoloLens headsets to soldiers.

The head-mounted displays use augmented reality, which means viewers can see virtual imagery superimposed over the real-world scenery in front of them. Microsoft says the tech-nology will provide troops with better information to make deci-sions.

The Redmond, Washington, company says the new work ex-tends its longstanding relation-ship with the Department of De-fense.

Military bidding documents say the technology will be used for both training and fi ghting, bringing more situational aware-ness to troops to help them be-come more lethal and mobile.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (second from left), answers a shareholders question while President and Chief Legal Offi cer Brad Smith, Executive Vice-President and CFO Amy Hood and Board Chairman John Thompson listen dur-ing the Microsoft Annual Shareholders Meeting at the Meydenbauer Center on Nov 28, 2018 in Bellevue, Washing-ton. Microsoft recently surpassed Apple, Inc to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. (AFP)

Fed’s grades slip in Wall St report cardDowngrade partly attributable to Powell’s remark

Facebook controversy puts heat on Sandberg

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 1, (RTRS): Wall Street last month gave the Federal Reserve its worst grade since Jerome Powell took the helm of the US central bank earlier this year, docking points for a communications misstep early in October that sent US stocks tumbling.

The report card is included in the New York Fed’s survey of primary dealers that each quarter elicits an as-sessment of the Fed’s communication with markets and the public over the prior six to eight weeks, using a scale of zero, for “ineffective,” to fi ve, for “effective.”

The Fed received an average score of 3.57 in the latest survey, conducted October 25 to 29 and released on Fri-day. That’s down from 3.87 in mid-July, the last time the Fed was graded on its communication prowess. The fi rst grade of Powell’s tenure, in April,

was 3.82. The downgrade is at least partly

attributable to Powell’s remark on Oct. 3 that interest rates were prob-ably a “long way” from neutral, which seemed to contradict his comment a couple of months earlier rejecting a too-rigid reliance on the neutral rate to shape policy because it could lead to costly mistakes. Stocks plummeted in response.

“Several dealers noted that recent communication from Fed offi cials has been clear. However, several dealers noted that they perceived recent com-munication regarding the neutral policy rate and its role in informing monetary policy as being unclear or at times in-consistent with prior Fed communica-tion,” the survey said in the comments section.

Also that month, President Donald

Trump called the Fed “crazy.” This month, Powell and other Fed

policymakers have tried to dispel any perception of hawkishness. Markets have rallied this week after Powell sig-naled he’d be open to taking a go-slow approach on rate hikes.

Still, the Fed under Powell is so far scoring higher than it did when Pow-ell’s predecessor Janet Yellen was in charge.

In October 2015, when the Yellen Fed was navigating the diffi cult transi-tion from years of super-low interest rates to a cycle of rate hikes, she got the worst grade of her tenure – an aver-age 2.27 out of 5.

Will Powell be able to earn enough extra credit with Wall Street to boost his grade?

Stay tuned until February, the next time the report will be released.

WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (AFP): Face-book’s number two executive Sheryl Sandberg, long seen as the “adult” at the youthfully-managed fi rm, has found herself the center of controversy over her role in pushing back at a growing chorus of criticism of the social media giant.

A prominent feminist and author with strong political connections, Sandberg has drawn fi re in particular over an em-barrassing effort to probe George Soros, the billionaire investor, after he assailed the online network as a “menace to so-ciety.”

Facebook acknowledged Thursday that Sandberg asked her staff to con-duct research on the Hungarian-born billionaire following his remarks early this year, out of concern that he held a “short” position that would profi t from a

decline in shares.“Mr Soros is a prominent investor

and we looked into his investments and trading activity related to Facebook,” a spokeswoman said, queried by AFP after a New York Times report on the matter.

“That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr Soros had shorted Facebook’s stock.”

Sandberg previously denied the use of nefarious tactics against Facebook critics with the company under fi re for enabling the spread of misinformation, including Russian-led propaganda, dur-ing the 2016 US election campaign.

Stabilizing force, or not ? The 49-year-old Sandberg has long

been seen as a stabilizing force at Fa-cebook, led by 34-year-old chairman

and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, whose early mantra had been to “move fast and break things.”

Among the tech whiz kids, Sand-berg as chief operating offi cer offered a steadier hand as a result of her back-ground working for former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers and the phil-anthropic arm of Google.

Author of the feminist bestseller “Lean In,” Sandberg also drew attention in 2015 after the sudden death of her husband David Goldberg at age 47.

Earlier this year she was dispatched to testify in Congress to defend Face-book’s efforts in dealing with misinfor-mation and manipulation, in the wake of a scandal over user data hijacked by the Cambridge Analytica consultancy linked to Donald Trump.

A sign marks the location of a JW Marriott

hotel on Nov 30, in Chicago, Illinois. Marriott says their

Starwood guest reservation data-

base was hacked, compromising the security of private information for up

to 500 million hotel customers. (AFP)

S. Korea raises interest rate Club Med owner launches IPO

South Korea on Friday raised its key interest rate for the fi rst time in a year, in a bid to curb snowballing household debts and a housing price hike casting a pall over Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The central Bank of Korea raised the benchmark overnight inter-bank lending rate by a quarter point to 1.75 percent – the fi rst rate hike since Novem-ber last year.

Outstanding household debts at the world’s 11th-largest economy hit a record 1,514 tril-lion won ($1.3 trillion) as of late September, while housing prices have surged, especially in the capital Seoul and its suburb ar-eas.

Housing sales prices in Seoul and its suburb areas – home to a half of the country’s 50 million population – rose three percent from January to October this

year, the highest in three years. The decision came as the

South faces double challenges of growing household debts and economic slowdown as global trade war sapped demand for made-in-Korea cars and high-tech gadgets, raising concerns over the country’s export-reliant economy.

Overseas shipments account for more than half of the coun-try’s economy. (AFP)

The owner of French luxury holiday resort group Club Med on Friday launched an initial public offering in Hong Kong, hoping to raise more than half a billion dollars.

Fosun Tourism, a unit of the sprawling Fosun Group, is offering 214.2 shares for between HK$15.60 and HK$20.00, it said in a prospec-tus and hopes to price the deal by next Friday with a listing a week later. It hoped to raise up to $548 million.

As well as the Club Med brand,

which it bought for more than $1 bil-lion in 2015, Fosun owns the Atlantis Sanya, a high-end hotel complex in China’s popular holiday destination of Hainan island.

The IPO is the latest in Hong Kong, where $33 billion has been raised this year from new listings, more than twice as much as last year, according to Bloomberg News.

However, a number have strug-gled to kick on after their debuts – including phone giant Xiaomi and China Tower – as global equity mar-

kets are hit by uncertainty caused by the China-US trade war, as well as slowing economic growth globally and particularly in China.

Fosun Group is one of China’s “grey rhino” companies – along with Wanda, HNA and Anbang – that have come under scrutiny from mainland authorities wanting to crack down on debt-fuelled foreign acquisitions. The Shanghai-based conglomerate has interests in prop-erty, fi nance, pharmaceuticals, steel and entertainment. (AFP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

26

India’s economic growth slows to 7.1 pctSluggish demand, possible state spending cut pose risk to growth

Japanese court extends detention of Carlos Ghosn

NEW DELHI, Dec 1, (RTRS): India’s economic growth fell to a worse-than-expected 7.1 percent in the July-September quarter, dragged down by a slower consumer spend-ing and farm growth, in a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who faces a national election by May.

India’s growth is still faster than China’s 6.5 percent in the same quarter, but the fi gures were a come-down from the more than two-year high of 8.2 percent set in the June quarter.

A Reuters poll of economists had forecasted growth of 7.4 percent for the quarter.

Having swept to power in 2014 promising to galvanise the economy, Modi has been criticised for failing to create enough jobs for the more than 12 million young Indians entering the labour force each year.

India needs growth of 8-percent-plus to generate enough jobs for those workers.

The unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 6.9 percent in October, with nearly 30 million young people looking for jobs, according to a report released this month by Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai based think tank.

Some economists expect the slow-down to stretch on to the election, or beyond – encouraging the government to raise spending and breach its fiscal deficit target.

“With elections coming up, you will see a ramp-up in spending,” said Teresa John, an economist at Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, a Mumbai based brokerage, who added growth could even be slower in the second half of the fiscal year.

TOKYO, Dec 1, (AFP): A Tokyo court on Friday extended the detention of for-mer Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, local media said, after his arrest on allegations of financial misconduct that have shaken the auto industry.

The extension means Ghosn could remain in a Tokyo cell for another 10 days while prosecutors investigate alle-gations he under-reported his salary by millions of dollars over five years.

The 64-year-old tycoon was arrested on Nov 19 and prosecutors have already extended his detention once, while two of the companies he led – Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors – have voted to remove him.

The extension gives prosecutors until December 10 to decide whether to indict

Ghosn on charges of under-reporting his salary. If he is indicted, he could then be released awaiting trial, or held in pre-trial detention.

Prosecutors could also choose to file additional charges against him, and with each charge they can seek to hold Ghosn for another 22 days.

Ghosn’s detention even before charg-es have been officially filed against him has prompted some criticism abroad, particularly in France, where the execu-tive holds citizenship.

On Thursday, the deputy head of the Tokyo prosecutor’s office rejected the criticism, saying: “We do not unneces-sarily keep people in custody for a long time.”

“I do not criticise other countries’

systems just because they are different,” Shin Kukimoto added.

Ghosn, who denies the allegations against him, faces an array of claims involving hiding money and benefits he received while chairman of Nissan and head of an alliance between the Japanese firm, Mitsubishi Motors and France’s Renault.

Nissan had been investigating Ghosn and close aide Greg Kelly for months after a whistleblower report, and accused the pair of a scheme to misrepresent the Brazil-born chief’s earnings.

Sources have since said Ghosn signed secret documents instructing aides to defer part of his salary, without disclos-ing this to shareholders.

The scheme allegedly involved under-

reporting Ghosn’s income by around $44 million over five fiscal years to March 2015. It allegedly began after new regulations came into force in the fiscal year 2009/2010, including a law requiring any company executives earn-ing 100 million yen ($885,000) or more to declare it.

The same source said Nissan funds were secretly used to pay for residences for Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro and Lebanon, homes that local media said cost “huge sums” and had no legitimate business purpose.

Those sorts of expenses should have been disclosed as compensation but were arranged without shareholder approval and generally in secret, the source added.

Acute balance of payment crisis

Pakistan rupee hits new low,no news on IMF bailout dealKARACHI, Dec 1, (AFP): Paki-stan’s rupee plunged almost fi ve percent to a record low Friday after what appeared to be a sixth devaluation by the central bank in the past year as the country strug-gles with an acute balance of pay-ment crisis.

The unit sank to 143 rupees against the dollar just a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government celebrated 100 days in office with a tel-evised conference boasting of its achievements.

The State Bank of Pakistan has indirectly devalued the state-man-aged unit several times already as it tries to narrow a huge balance of payments defi cit.

But traders are growing con-cerned that neither Khan nor his Finance Minister Asad Umar laid out a comprehensive plan to address the country’s economic woes more than a week after ne-gotiations with the International Monetary Fund ended without a much-needed bailout agreement.

The former cricketer has launched a highly publicised aus-terity drive since being sworn in, including auctioning off govern-ment-owned luxury vehicles and buffaloes, in addition to seeking loans from “friendly countries” and making overtures to the IMF.

“The market was disappointed to see that there was no clear cut direction of the government re-garding raising loans from IMF or

taxation policies for the rest of its term,” said Hamad Iqbal, director of research at Elixir Securities.

The rupee has lost about a third of its value since the start of the year as Pakistan struggles with chronic infl ation as it burns through its dwindling foreign cur-rency reserves, which are down around 40 percent this year.

Pakistan secured $6 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia and struck a 12-month deal for a cash lifeline during Khan’s visit to the kingdom in October.

Despite the pledges, the minis-try of fi nance said Pakistan would still seek broader IMF support for the government’s long-term eco-nomic planning.

With talks with the IMF still ongoing – Pakistan has been a regular borrower from the IMF since the 1980s – Khan’s new government has been searching for ways to rally its struggling economy.

Islamabad has received billions of dollars in Chinese loans to fi -nance ambitious infrastructure pro-jects, but the US – one of the IMF’s biggest donors – has raised fears that Pakistan could use any bailout money to repay its debts to Beijing.

The IMF and World Bank forecasts suggest the Pakistani economy is likely to grow by four to 4.5 percent for the year fi scal year ending June 2019 compared to 5.8 percent growth in the last fi scal year.

An Indian worker works on a railway bridge built over the Ganges River in Allahabad on Nov 30. India’s economic growth fell to a worse-than-expected 7.1 percent in the July-September quarter. (AFP)

A Pakistani money changer counts US dollar bills in Islamabad, Pa-kistan, on Nov 30, 2018. Pakistan’s currency has plunged further as the country is mired in a fi nancial crisis and seeking a $8 billion

bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. (AP)

The Statistics Ministry released data showing a decline in growth of the farm sector and consumer spending, raising fears that slower rural wage growth could hit growth in the second half of the fiscal year ending in March 2019.

The gross domestic product figure was “disappointing”, Subhash Chandra Garg, economic affairs secretary, said in a tweet, adding first half GDP growth of 7.6 percent nonetheless remained robust and healthy - still highest in the world.

On Wednesday, a government panel announced revised growth estimates that made the Modi administration’s record look better than the previous Congress-led governments.

Having estimated back in August that the Congress oversaw an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent dur-ing its decade in power, the Statistics Ministry revised that number down to 6.82 percent for 2005/06 to 2011/12 period, putting it well below the 7.35 percent average for the first four years of Modi’s term.

A fall in food prices has hit rural incomes in recent months, which in turn dampened sales of consumer dura-bles and other products.

Tens of thousands of farmers and rural workers marched to the Indian parliament in the capital, New Delhi, on Friday in a protest against soaring operating costs and plunging produce prices that have brought misery to

many.Farm output grew 3.8 percent year-

on-year in the September quarter com-pared with 5.3 percent the previous quarter.

The construction sector, one of the biggest employers after agriculture, grew 7.8 percent year-on-year, slower than 8.7 percent in the previous quar-ter.

Several factors conspired to hold the economy back during the middle of this year, including a weak rupee and a squeeze in India’s shadow banking sector that hindered both investment and consumption.

The broader NSE share index is up 3.3 percent so far this year. In 2017 NSE had gained 28.6 percent.

National Bank of KuwaitMoney Market Funds Watani KD Money Market Fund II NBK Capital Weekly Oct 2, 2018 KD 1.050 1.049 Sept 25, 2018 Watani USD Money Market Fund NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 2, 2018 USD 10.413 10.400 Sept 25, 2018 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 2, 2018 KD 1.048 1.048 Sept 25, 2018 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II NBK Global Asset Management Co. Ltd. Weekly Oct 2, 2018 USD 10.244 10.240 Sept 25, 2018 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly Sept 27, 2018 KD 0.710 0.713 Sept 20, 2018 Gulf Equity Investment Fund Watani Investment Co. Weekly Sept 27, 2018 USD 12.688 12.505 Sept 20, 2018 Regional Bond and Sukuk Investment Fund NBK Capital Weekly Sept 27, 2018 USD 9.968 9.898 Janu 10, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gulf Bank Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly Sept 30, 2018 USD 7.288 7.280 Aug 31, 2018 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly June 30, 2018 KD 0.676 0.655 May 31, 2018 Markaz Real Estate Fund Bi-annual Sept 30, 2018 KD 1.361 1.362 Aug 31, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Oct 31, 2018 KD 1.009 1.009 Sept 30, 2018 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.842 0.844 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Burgan Bank Burgan Equity Fund Burgan Bank Monthly June 30, 2018 KD 1.866 1.859 April 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund Boubyan Bank Weekly April 17, 2018 KD 1.074 1.074 April 3, 2018 Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly Oct 16, 2018 KD 1.033 1.032 Sept 25, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Capital Investment Co. Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Oct 16, 2018 USD 10.414 10.401 Sept 25, 2018 Boubyan Multi-Asset Holding Fund Boubyan Bank Sept 3 2018 USD 11.336 11.331 Aug 28, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Investment Co.Local Fund Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Nov 15, 2018 KD 1.064 1.050 Oct 18, 2018 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.802 0.811 Sept 30, 2018 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly Nov 19, 2018 KD 0.733 0.732 Oct 22, 2018 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Oct 30, 2018 KD 1.000 1.020 Sept 30, 2018International Global Bond Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly March 21, 2018 USD 26.270 26.350 March 14, 2018 Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Oct 31, 2018 USD 19.260 20.940 Sept 28, 2018 European Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly May 31, 2018 Euro 21.520 21.080 April 30, 2018 Pacific Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly March 21, 2018 USD 33.440 33.210 March 14, 2018 North American Equity Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly March 29, 2018 USD 19.300 19.540 Feb 28, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.618 0.627 Sept 30, 2018 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly Oct 31,, 2018 KD 0.374 0.381 Sept 30, 2018 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly Oct 31,, 2018 KD 0.509 0.513 Sept 30, 2018 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly Oct 31,, 2018 KD 0.751 0.745 Sept 30, 2018 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly Oct 31,, 2018 USD 0.819 0.827 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Oct 25, 2018 KD 4.526 4.489 Oct 18, 2018 MIDAF Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Oct 25, 2018 KD 3.465 3.440 Oct 18, 2018 Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly Oct 25, 2018 KD 1.688 1.674 Oct 18, 2018 FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Aug 31, 2018 KD 1.085 1.085 July 31, 2018 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly Sept 30, 2018 KD 1.361 1.362 Aug 31, 2018 Markaz Fixed Income Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly July 26, 2018 USD 11.710 11.620 May 31, 2018 Mawazeen International Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly March 26, 2018 USD 9.050 9.140 March 19, 2017 Markaz MENA Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly April 12, 2018 USD 11.280 11.280 March 15, 2018

Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou’yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly Oct 31, 2018 KD 1.298 1.334 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Global Investment HouseIndex Funds GCC Large Cap Index Fund Global Weekly Oct 31 2018 KD 1.388 1.355 Sept 30, 2018Equity Funds Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.734 0.720 Sept 30, 2018 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.734 0.720 Sept 30, 2018 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Bi-weekly Oct 31, 2018 USD 164.956 163.830 Sept 30, 2018 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Bi-weekly Oct 31, 2018 SAR 241.205 246.923 Sept 30, 2018Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly Oct 31, 2018 USD 107.025 109.224 Sept 30, 2018Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly Oct 31, 2018 USD 106.647 105.242 Sept 30, 2018 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Monthly Oct 31, 2018 KD 1.365 1.334 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC) Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly Nov 07, 2018 KD 0.461 0.450 Oct 17, 2018 Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly Oct 30, 2018 USD 7.186 7.288 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KAMCO KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly June 30, 2018 KD 1.253 1.144 April 30, 2018 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO Oct 31, 2018 USD 9.020 9.070 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Sept 30, 2018 KD 0.981 0.988 Aug 31, 2018 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Sept 30, 2018 KD 1.036 1.033 Aug 31, 2018 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly Sept 30, 2018 KD 1.084 1.056 Aug 31, 2018 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly Sept 30, 2018 KD 0.773 0.777 Aug 31, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Aman Investment Al Aman Islamic Fund Al Aman Investment Weekly May 31, 2018 KD 0.329 0.326 Dec 30, 2017—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Tharwa Investment Co. Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly Nov 1, 2018 KD 1.217 1.237 Sept 30, 2018 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Monthly Nov 1, 2018 KD 0.691 0.693 Sept 30, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bank Al-Bilad Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily Nov 21, 2018 KD 0.439 0.436 Nov 4, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Commercial International Bank CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 26, 2018 EGP 356.640 352.820 Nov 4, 2018 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 26, 2018 EGP 191.780 183.750 Nov 4, 2018 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 26, 2018 EGP 100.570 96.640 Nov 4, 2018 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 01, 2018 EGP 208.030 210.030 Oct 01, 2018 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 26, 2018 EGP 227.990 226.300 Nov 8, 2018 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 25, 2018 EGP 176.410 174.200 Nov 8, 2018 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly Nov 26, 2018 EGP 24.400 23.870 Nov 4, 2018 —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KFH Capital Muthanna Islamic Index Fund (MUDX) KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.406 0.412 July 31, 2018 Muthanna GCC Islamic Banks Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Daily Oct 31, 2018 KD 0.737 0.753 Aug 31, 2018 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Weekly June 29, 2017 KD 0.930 0.916 Feb 28, 2017—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Noor Financial Investment Co. Noor Islamic Fund Noor Financial Investment Co Monthly Nov 30, 2016 KD 0.374 0.405 Sept 30, 2015—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

CapCorp Investment Co. CapCorp Local Fund CapCorp Investment Company Weekly Sept 28, 2017 KD 1.000 0.991 Aug 30, 2017

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

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

investment funds

police search offi ces of Deutsche Bank board members

Police have searched the offi ces of all the members of Deutsche Bank’s board as part of an investigation into money laundering allegations linked to the Panama Papers, a source told Reuters on Friday.

Shares in Germany’s largest bank ended 2.9 percent lower, after hitting a record low earlier in the day, as a raid that began on Thursday at the bank’s towering Frankfurt headquar-ters extended into a second day.

“We will of course continue to ac-

tively support the investigation and work constructively with the authori-ties,” Karl von Rohr, Deutsche’s co-deputy chief executive offi cer, said in a statement on Friday evening.

Deutsche Bank shares have lost around half of their value this year, after the bank endured three years of losses and a series of fi nancial and regulatory scandals. The company is now worth only around 17 billion eu-ros ($19.3 billion).

The raid comes as Deutsche Bank

tries to repair its tattered reputation.Christian Sewing, appointed chief

executive in April to help the bank rebuild, has trimmed the group’s US operations and reshuffl ed its manage-ment board, but revenue has contin-ued to slip.

Investigators are looking into the activities of two unnamed Deutsche Bank employees alleged to have helped clients set up offshore fi rms to launder money, the prosecutor’s of-fi ce has said. (RTRS)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

27

“FAANG’ lost almost $1 tln in Oct

Risks loom if US yieldshold ‘above’ 3 percent(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a col-umnist for Reuters. – Editor)

❑ ❑ ❑

By Jamie McGeever

The outlook for US interest rates has shifted, as inves-

tors bet that recent cracks in the economy and fi nancial markets will force the Fed to slow or even halt its projected path of rate increases next year.

All else being equal this should also be playing out in the bond market, pushing down long-term yields and easing fi -nancial conditions, thereby help-ing to limit the fallout from a weakening economy and fragile stock market.

Yes, yields have come down a bit, but not as much as you would expect, thanks to a steady build up of factors that should push them the other way.

October was the worst month on Wall Street in seven years, the so-called ‘FAANG’ group of top fi ve US tech stocks lost almost $1 trillion in market capitalisa-tion, Apple skidded into a bear market, and some US economic indicators - namely the housing market - began to fl ash red.

If growth slows at this stage of the economic cycle, the chances of recession rise and the Fed puts the brakes on, or maybe even re-verses gear all together. The all-knowing, all-seeing bond market should discount that, and yields should fall.

Fed chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday suggested that in-terest rates are already close to neutral, the level that neither accelerates or restricts the econ-omy. His comments pushed the 10-year yield to its lowest since September.

Only one quarter point rate hike next year is fully discount-ed in money markets, compared with two a couple of months ago. But the 10-year yield remains above 3.00 percent, barely 20 basis points off its peak in early October just before the Wall Street lurch and “tech wreck”.

A growing risk for markets and the economy is that it holds that level and starts trending higher again.

Emerging markets, which are most exposed to US borrowing costs and the dollar, will be vul-nerable. The stickiness of Treas-ury yields and the dollar hover-ing close its highest since June last year aren’t good signs.

Record supply, high hedging costs, the Fed unwinding its bal-

ance sheet and emerging mar-kets potentially selling Treas-uries to support their domestic currencies is a potent mix that could easily keep the 10-year yield above 3.00 pct, even if the historically long economic and market cycles roll over. The Treasury market’s demand and supply balance is looking increasingly short on demand and long on supply. As Luke Gromen at research fi rm FFTT notes, there’s a race going on: will investors’ demand for a port in any coming storm be enough to offset that widening imbal-ance?

Gromen calculates that the Treasury will roll over as much as $8 trillion of debt next year and issue $1.3 trillion in new bonds. In addition, the Fed has already started winding down its portfolio.

That’s a lot of paper for the private sector to buy, especially as the current level of US yields makes it prohibitively expensive for foreign investors to hedge bond purchases.

Fed policy may be too tight already, even before the three or four rate hikes that would take the fed funds rate up to what the Fed still offi cially considers the “neutral” rate of interest around 3.00 pct.

In a recent blog published in the Washington-based Coun-cil for Foreign Relations, Benn Steil and Benjamin Della Rocca say balance sheet reduction and rate hikes have already tightened monetary conditions beyond neutral.

“This suggests that monetary policy will start to contract eco-nomic growth early next year,” they conclude.

Few people think the US economy faces recession next year, far less is already in one. But it’s worth remembering that by the time the Fed slashed rates in late 2008, the economy had been contracting since Decem-ber the previous year.

Most economists think policy is still accommodative and, if an-ything, the risk is not that the US economy slows but it overheats. This will keep the Fed tightening and put natural upward pressure on yields.

The general view is still that the 10-year yield hits 3.50 pct before 2.50 pct. If it does hold above 3.00 pct and drift higher, no matter hot or cold the econo-my is, the Fed will have a deci-sion to make. (RTRS)

S&P 500 and Nasdaq record big weekly gains on Fed dovishness

European shares cautiously dip ahead of G20 meeting

NEW YORK, Dec 1, (Agen-cies): The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their biggest weekly percentage gains in nearly seven years on trade hopes and after the US Fed-eral Reserve hinted this week at a more dovish ap-proach to interest rate hikes.

In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX had its worst run since late 2008, weighed by Deutsche Bank shares falling to an all-time low as police searched the bank’s headquarters for a second day in a money laundering scandal linked to the Panama Papers.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.10 percent, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.17 percent.

November’s real humdingers have been oil and shares of Apple Inc, which have plunged 21 percent and 18 percent, respectively, the biggest declines for both since the fi nancial crisis a decade ago.

Wall Street rose on Friday as investors hoped for progress on trade in a critical US-China meeting over the weekend, and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their biggest weekly percentage gains in nearly seven years.

The Dow saw its largest weekly ad-vance in two years. Investors were en-couraged this week by comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and subsequent minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting that suggested that the Fed will take a data-driven rather than ideological approach to future rate-hikes. All three major US indexes recorded modest monthly percentage gains for November.

A Chinese offi cial said “consensus is steadily increasing” in trade negotia-tions between the US and China as the G20 meeting got underway in Buenos Aires, sparking hopes there would be a positive resolution in the ongoing tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

US President Donald Trump is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday and the outcome could swing stocks for the rest of the year.

USThe Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 199.62 points, or 0.79 percent, to 25,538.46, the S&P 500 gained 22.4 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,760.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 57.45 points, or 0.79 percent, to 7,330.54.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but energy ended the session in positive territory.

Energy stocks fell 0.2 percent as crude prices extended their slide.

But falling oil prices boosted airlines stocks. The Dow Jones Airlines index rose 2.8 percent.

Shares of Marriott International Inc sank 5.6 percent after the hotel operator

said hackers stole about 500 million re-cords from its Starwood Hotels reserva-tion system.

General Electric Co shares slid 5.5 percent following a Wall Street Journal report that former employees are be-ing questioned by federal investigators about the company’s failure to acknowl-edge its insurance business’ worsening results over the years.

Advancing issues outnumbered de-clining ones on the NYSE by a 1.17-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Com-posite recorded 49 new highs and 90 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 8.39 billion shares, compared to the 7.63 bil-lion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Europe Weakened in morning trading by

poor data from China, European shares closed lower on Friday ahead of Sat-urday’s crucial G20 talks between US President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping over trade.

The pan-European STOXX 600 end-ed the session down 0.3 percent and on a 1.2 percent loss over the month after a disappointing earnings season.

Germany’s DAX, the most sensitive to China due to its big exporters, fell 0.4 percent.

German blue chip companies posted their fourth straight month of losses, with a 1.6 percent dip in November – the longest losing streak since 2008.

Investors’ hopes of a partial recovery in stock markets in December – known as a “Santa rally” – hang on the leaders’ discussions resulting in a truce or de-es-

calation of the US-China trade war.China reported its weakest factory

growth in more than two years on Fri-day, reigniting fears about growth ahead of crucial trade talks.

Autos stocks lost 1 percent, on the data and anxiety over tariffs.

German car bosses are fi nalising plans to visit the White House next week to discuss trade policy, German and US of-fi cials said.

“The problem with Europe is that ... quite a lot of our industrial supply chain and capital goods manufacturers have at least some exposure to the autos sector, so you can’t get away from it,” said Ian Ormiston, European smaller companies fund manager at Merian Global Inves-tors. Mining stocks fell 0.9 percent, hit by growth fears over China, the world’s top metals consumer.

Among the biggest drags on the STOXX were also luxury goods con-glomerates Kering and LVMH, down 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. Luxury stocks have been especially sen-sitive to slowing growth in China, high-end brands’ biggest market.

Zalando fell 4.4 percent after Kepler Cheuvreux cut its price target on the stock, saying it has become more scep-tical about the long-term potential for margins at the online retailer.

Asia Asian markets mostly rose Friday

bringing a broadly upbeat week to a pos-itive end as attention turns to the much-anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Energy fi rms enjoyed gains after a ral-ly in oil prices, while high-yielding and emerging market currencies continued Thursday’s advances against the dol-lar as the Federal Reserve shows signs

it will slow down its pace of interest rate hikes. While the outcome of Satur-day’s crunch talks between Trump and Xi hangs in the balance, there are hopes the heads of the world’s top two econo-mies can fi nd a way to ease their trade row that has seen them exchange deep import tariffs.

On Asian equity markets Tokyo closed up 0.4 percent, Hong Kong added 0.2 percent, while Shanghai fi nished 0.8 percent higher, with dealers poring over data showing Chinese manufacturing stalled in November as the effects of Trump’s multi-billion-dollar tariffs be-gin to bite.

Singapore gained 0.5 percent, while Wellington, Taipei and Mumbai also chalked up gains.

However, Seoul was off 0.8 percent after the South Korean central bank lifted borrowing costs for the fi rst time in a year, while Sydney shed 1.6 percent.

On Friday it was down against units that have been beaten down this year on expectations for more Fed rate hikes. Indonesia’s rupiah and the Indian rupee were sharply higher, while the South Af-rican rand and Chinese yuan were also enjoying buying interest. ■ Key fi gures around 0820 GMT

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 22,351.06 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.2 per-cent at 26,506.75 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 per-cent at 2,588.19 (close)

London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,037.84

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2788 from $1.2783 at 2200 GMT

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1390 from $1.1387

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 113.43 yen from 113.45 yen.

In this fi le photo, the headquarters buildings of

Deutsche Bank are pictured in Franfurt am Main. German

prosecutors raided several Deutsche Bank offi ces in

the Frankfurt area on Nov 29, 2018 over suspicions of money laundering based on

revelations from the 2016 ‘Panama Papers’ data leak.

(AFP)

Traders work on the fl oor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average on Nov 28, 2018 in New York. Wall Street stocks rallied Wednesday after investors cheered remarks from the US Federal Reserve chairman which

they viewed as a sign interest rates may not rise much further. (AFP)

US dollar

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Cash.300500.305800.300700.304500.299000.306300

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—

Danish krone

Cyprus pound

BEC MuzainiDollarcoGulf Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BECCommercial BankGulf BankAl-Ahli Bank

BECMuzaini Exchange

BuySellBuySell BuySellBuySellBuySellSell

US dollar.300550.299000.303250.303250

Gold 999 kg— —

Gold 999 10 tola——

Gold ounce——

Gold gm 22k——

Gold gm 21k——

Gold gm 18k——

100 gm 999——

10 gm 999——

Transfer.302250.304600.300700.303850.302450.306050.303200.305300.302700.305800.303100.305200.303200.305300.302200.305300

—

Cash.042439.047439

———————————————

Draft.042395.047439

——

.045848

.046394

.045714

.047105

.045920

.046630

.046319

.046661——

.045751

.046794—

Transfer.042395.047439

——

.045848

.046394

.045714

.047105

.045920

.046630

.046319

.046661——

.045751

.046794—

Cash———————————

Draft——— ————————

Transfer——— ————————

Sterling pound

Cash.382340.396240

— .403000.385000.396000

——————

.384770

.395560

.371647

.407753—

Draft.381840.392840.426390.402301.385941.390535.382853.394539.383220.393560.389316.392166.388240.393290.381588.394783

—

Indian rupee

Yemeni riyal

Transfer.381840.392840.426390.402301.385941.390535.382853.394539.383220.393560.389316.392166.388240.393290.381588.394783

—

Cash.003586.004358.004000.006500.004000.006500

———————————

Draft.004297.004377

—.004094

—.004406

—.004449.004297.004410.004208.004260.004254.004354.004284.004423

—

Transfer.004297.004377

—.004094

—.004406

—.004449.004297.004410.004208.004260.004254.004354.004284.004423

—

Cash.000990.001070

—————————

Draft.000980.001080.001208

————

.001199

.001198

.001232—

Transfer.000980.001080.001208

————

.001199

.001198

.001232—

Euro

Cash.337927.351627.371670.352145.343000.351000

————

.345609

.348156

.340910

.350920

.330584

.364402—

Draft.339926.348926.371670.352145.342782.346862.341118.351510.340570.350480.345609.348156.343990.348910.338917.351675

—

Pakistani rupee

Thai baht

Transfer.339926.348926.371670.352145.342782.346862.341118.351510.340570.350480.345609.348156.343990.348910.338917.351675

—.

Cash.001630.002400

—.002850

—————————————

Draft.002241.002276.002602.023270

—.002240

—.002267

—.002301.002248.002763

——

.002226

.002293—

Transfer.002241.002276.002602.023270

—.002240

—.002267

—.002301.002248.002763

——

.002226

.002293—

Cash.008915.009465

—.009900

———————

Draft.008879.009294.096905.010235

———

.009121

.009032

.009408—

Transfer.008879.009294.096905.010235

———

.009121

.009032

.009408—

Japanese yen

Cash.002619.002799

—.290000

—————————————

Draft.002602.002782.002806.368500.002664.002695.002643.002723.002644.002721.002686.002706.002666.002723.002609.002755

—

Sri Lanka rupee

South African rand

Transfer.002602.002782.002806.368500.002664.002695.002643.002723.002644.002721.002686.002706.002666.002723.002609.002755

—

Cash .001399.001979

—.002250.002000.003500

———————————

Draft .001658.001701.001933.017760

—.001716

—.001736.001670.001718.001710.001726

——

.001674

.001709—

Transfer.001658.001701.001933.017760

—.001716

—.001736.001670.001718.001710.001726

——

.001674

.001709—

Cash——————————

Draft—————

.022622—————

Transfer—————

.022471—————

Swiss franc

Cash.298967.309967

—.310000.303000.313000

———————————

Draft.299967.306967.315860.303775.302980.306587.301125.310368.300540.310080.302978.305230.304230.309160.297529.312936

—

Bangladesh taka

Korean won

Transfer.299967.306967.315860.303775.302980.306587.301125.310368.300540.310080.302978.305230.304230.309160.297529.312936

—

Draft.003534.003629.003593.036300

—.003620

—.003713

——

.003601

.003652——

.003559

.003683—

Cash.003010.003811

— .003800

—————————————

Transfer.003534.003629.003593.036300

—.003620

—.003713

——

.003601

.003652——

.003559

.003683—

Cash.000262.000277

—————————

Draft.000269.000274

—— ———————

Transfer.000269.000274

—— ———————

Canadian dollar

Cash.224099.233099

—.236000.227000.235000

———————————

Draft.222099.232099.238080.235490.227680.230390.225239.23213

.223830

.231770

.230118

.231800

.227860

.230970

.224084

.233321—

Philippine peso

Syrian pound

Transfer.222099.232099.238080.235490.227680.230390.225239.23213

.223830

.231770

.230118

.231800

.227860

.230970

.224084

.233321—

Cash.005665.005965

—.006100.005000.007900

——————————

Draft.005351.005820

—.056220

—.005856

—.005927.005630.005880.005746.005818

——

.005688

.005914—

Transfer.005351.005820

—.056220

—.005856

—.005927.005630.005880.005746.005818

——

.005688

.005914—

Cash.001291.001511

—.000610.002250.001000

—————

Draft.001291.001511

—.159000

— ——————

Transfer.001291.001511

—.159000

— ——————

Swedish krona

Cash.029545.034545

———————————————

Draft.029794.034794

——

.033207

.033603

.032989

.034003

.033260

.033750

.033625

.033870——

.033195

.033855—

Australian dollar

Iranian Riyal

Transfer.029794.034794

——

.033207

.033603

.032989

.034003

.033260

.033750

.033625

.033870——

.033195

.033855—

Cash.215063.227063

——

.220000

.227000———————————

Draft.213062.226062

——

.220940

.223570

.219001

.225693

.221580

.224790

.221596

.223284

.220830

.224270

.215015

.229494—

Transfer.213062.226062

——

.220940

.223570

.219001

.225693

.221580

.224790

.221596

.223284

.220830

.224270

.215015

.229494—

Cash.000205.000265

—————————

Draft.000084.000086

—————————

Transfer.000084.000086

—————————

Saudi riyal

Cash.080140.081440

—.083000.078000.082000

————————

.080432

.081485—

Draft.080640.081280.080240.081920.080640.081600.080309.081987.080780.081540.080680.081456.080100.081640.080432.081485

—

Hong Kong dollar

Lebanese pound

Transfer.080640.081280.080240.081920.080640.081600.080309.081987.080780.081540.080680.081456.080100.081640.080432.081485

—

Cash.037062.039812

———————————————

Draft.036561.039661.038311

—.038669.039130.038358.039521

—————————

Transfer.036561.039661.038311

—.038669.039130.038358.039521

—————————

Cash.000157.000257

—————————

Draft.000191.000211.002000

——

.000204—

.000196

.000197

.000206—

Transfer.000191.000211.002000

——

.000204—

.000196

.000197

.000206—

UAE dirham

Cash.081507.083207

—.083500.082298.083125

————————

.082164

.083227—

Draft.081461.082957.081946.083125.082371.083351.082355.083378.082490.083260.082407.083205.082090.083460.082164.083227

—

Singapore dollar

Malaysian ringgit

Transfer.081461.082957.081946.083125.082371.083351.082355.083378.082490.083260.082407.083205.082090.083460.082164.083227

—

Cash.217036.227036

—.224250

—————————————

Draft.218035.224035.230250.219070.220873.223199.218752.225460.219240.224240.220701.222359.220620.223540.218779.224304

—

Transfer.218035.224035.230250.219070.220873.223199.218752.225460.219240.224240.220701.222359.220620.223540.218779.224304

—

Cash.069229.075229

—.071600

———————

Draft.067877.074877.076905.074120

———

.072089

.071476

.073691—

Transfer.067877.074877.076905.074120

———

.072089

.071476

.073691—

Bahraini dinar

Cash.793387.809887

—.810000.801806.809865

————————

.801124

.815286—

Draft.800887.809387.798990.808025.803192.812752.799057.816419.803070.811110.793403.820375.797270.813110.801124.815286

—

Jordanian dinar

Indonesian rupiah

Transfer.800887.809387.798990.808025.803192.812752.799057.816419.803070.811110.793403.820375.797270.813110.801124.815286

—

Cash.425322.434322

—.432000.420000.440000

———————————

Draft.423844.431344.426910.429830

—.432182

—.436005.422770.436230.426571.430738.426370.433070.425155.431093

—

Transfer.423844.431344.426910.429830

—.432182

—.436005.422770.436230.426571.430738.426370.433070.425155.431093

—

Cash.000016.000022

—— ———————

Draft.000016.000023

—— ———————

Transfer.000016.000023

—— ———————

Omani riyal

Cash .784851.790531

——

.786039

.793938————————

.784466

.793379

Draft.779760.790760.781445

—.786729.796093.782612.799005.787020.794220.777219.803200.783760.796460.784466.793379

—

Egyptian pound

New Zealand dollar

Transfer.779760.790760.781445

—.786729.796093.782612.799005.787020.794220.777219.803200.783760.796460.784466.793379

—

Cash.014624.020342.000000.018500.012000.023000

——————————

Draft.016273.017120.016338.023076

—.017630

—.018080 .016360.017380.016010.017460.016000.017440.016715.017084

—

Transfer.016273.017120.016338.023076

—.017630

—.018080 .016360.017380.016010.017460.016000.017440.016715.017084

—

Cash.203843.213343

—— ———————

Draft.201843.212843

— —

.205827

.212186—————

Transfer.201843.212843

— —

.206858

.211130—————

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

travellers cheques local gold Sterling.382404.386000.385373.386140

exchange rates – Dec 01

Euro.338834.344000.343030.343180

SYDNEY, Dec 1: GAZOO Racing World Rally Team recently claimed the 2018 FIA World Rally Champi-onship (WRC) manufacturers’ title in style,with a rally victory for Jari-Matti Latvala in the No. 7 Toyota Yaris WRC at Kennards Hire Rally Austral-ia. Esapekka Lappi fi nished fourth in the No. 9 Toyota Yaris WRC to enable GAZOO Racing to clinch the manu-facturers’ crown in just the second sea-son since its return to the WRC.

GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Toyota Yaris WRC machines demonstrated their strong performance during the fi nal round of the season, with Ott Tänak and Latvala moving to the top of the leaderboard on the fourth and fi nal day of the race. The victory sealed GAZOO Racing’s fourth manu-facturers’ title in the WRC and its fi rst

since 1999. Latvala, along with co-driver Miikka

Anttilain the No. 7 Toyota Yaris WRC avoided mistakes and took three stage wins on the fi nal day to clinch the team’s fi fth win of 2018by 32.5 seconds. Lappi also won a stage to complete a strong drive in his fi nal event before depart-ing the team. Latvala and Lappi fi nished the season fourth and fi fth respectively in the driver’s standings, with both contributing signifi cantly towards the manufacturers’ title.

Akio Toyoda, President, Toy-ota Motor Corporation, and Team Chairman,said:”Congratulations to Jari-Matti and Miikka for the Rally Australia win! I was very glad to see them on the top of the podium at the end of the year after what has some-times been a tricky season. And with this victory, we could win the manu-facturers’ title. I feel so proud, as Team Chairman, that we could achieve such a great result in the second year of our challenge after returning to the WRC after being away for 18 years. I am so grateful to Tommi, who has kept strengthening the Yaris WRC to win

this title, all the team members who supported Tommi, and the six drivers and co-drivers who kept driving the Yaris towards our goal. Thank you very much and congratulations! I also feel glad that we could share this vic-tory with the fans who kept cheering for us, and also our partners who have fought with us as one team. I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to them for supporting us.”

Tommi Mäkinen, Team Principal, said: “It’s an absolutely amazing feel-ing today. This was the toughest fi nal round of a season that I can remember,

and it was absolutely brilliant that Jari-Matti could win again. Esapekka also helped us score the points we needed. We started this project three-and-a-half years ago and we have devel-oped much faster than we imagined. Last year we were here to learn and to gather data. In the second half of this season we were able to fi nd a lot of improvements with the car. This is the result of the huge effort from eve-rybody in the team, and I am sure this success will just further motivate us all to continue improving in 2019.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, driver of No.

7 Toyota Yaris WRC, said: “I am so happy to win again. It was quite a relief after such a long time! The conditions today were incredibly demanding, and it would have been very easy to go off the road. I was very excited and nerv-ous at the start of the fi nal stage, but we managed to do it. To win the manufac-turers’ title is fantastic. I am so proud of the team and what they have creat-ed. Everybody has worked so hard and they deserve this reward!”

Over the years, Toyota has been participating in many different forms of motorsports, including Formula

One, the World Endurance Champion-ship (WEC), and the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race. Toyota’s par-ticipation in these events was overseen by separate entities within the com-pany until April 2015, when Toyota established GAZOO Racing (GR), to consolidate all of its motorsports ac-tivities under one in-house brand. Representing Toyota’s belief that ‘the roads build the people, and the people build the cars,’ GR highlights the role of motorsports as a fundamental pillar of Toyota’s commitment to making ‘ever-better’ cars. Harnessing years of

experience gained under the extreme conditions of various motorsports events, GR aims to forge new tech-nologies and solutions that bring the freedom, adventure, and joy of driving to everyone.

Race Notes:■ No. 7 Toyota Yaris WRC (Jari-

Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila)Position: 1stTime: 2h 59m 52s■ No. 9 Toyota Yaris WRC (Esa-

pekka Lappi/Janne Ferm)Position: 4thTime: 3h 00m 54.3s

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

28

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec 1, (Agencies): New Zealand won the Dubai Sevens rugby title a record-ty-ing sixth time after beating fi rst-time fi nalists the United States 21-5 on Sat-urday.

The Kiwis easily beat the Eagles on Friday in pool play, but the fi nal was in the balance until two minutes to go, when Andrew Knewstubb’s second conversion to Dylan Collier’s brazen try gave the Kiwis a safe 14-5 lead.

Moments before, the US knocked on and the ball went out. New Zealand had a choice of scrum or lin-eout and chose a quick throw in. The US was caught napping and Collier lumbered 60 meters to the posts.

New Zealand had only two reserves instead of the usual five after a sapping 7-5 win over England in the semifinals. But the Eagles, at full complement, couldn’t expose the tired New Zealanders because they weren’t

able to offload, and were plagued by errors.Matai Leuta was stripped of the ball by Knewstubb

near the tryline, and New Zealand used the turnover to score at the other end, as Tone Ng Shiu powered past Ben Pinkleman.

Another US chance was wasted when Pinkleman’s pass off the floor to Leuta was dropped, then Perry Baker dropped a catch on the right wing to end the half.

New Zealand was reduced to six at the start of the new half when Luke Masirewa was sin-binned for a high tackle, and a Martin Iosefo break drew the Kiwis to free Stephen Tomasin to score untouched for the US.

But then the Eagles knocked on at the restart, Collier caught them sleeping, and to cap a comical phase, they lost possession when they had eight men on the field.

A converted try to Ngarohi McGarvey Black fin-ished the scoring, as the New Zealand men followed their women’s team from a day before in becoming champions. But the men’s last Dubai title was nine years ago.

Far tougher was the semifinals, where New Zealand scored early against England, led 7-5 at halftime, then spent the entire second half on defense, as England remarkably did everything but score. England, which beat defending champion South Africa in the quarter-finals, came from behind against Australia to finish third overall.

The US knocked out Fiji in the quarter-finals and Australia in the semis.

The second leg is next weekend in Cape Town. Meanwhile, in Paris, an outstanding all-round dis-

play from scrum-half Morgan Parra inspired leaders Clermont to a hard-fought 28-23 win at Montpellier on Saturday, moving them eight points clear at the top of the Top 14.

Parra, making his first start in more than seven weeks after suffering a wrist injury which kept him out of France’s November Tests, kicked 10 points as Cler-mont edged a gripping contest to claim their tenth win in 13 games this season across all competitions.

Franck Azema’s side are eight points clear of Tou-louse who welcome Stade Francais on Sunday.

A third home defeat of the season means Montpel-lier, who picked up a defensive bonus point, remain in ninth, two points off the play-off places.

France centre Wesley Fofana, also recently returned from injury, opened the scoring with a scintillating ef-fort after 10 minutes with the lively Parra adding the first of his two conversions.

Montpellier scrum-half Ruan Pienaar scored three penalties within the first half an hour before Parra put Clermont 10-9 up just before the break.

France winger Damien Penaud extended Clermont’s advantage on 46 minutes after catching a cross-kick from former New Zealand fly-half Aaron Cruden on his own line and running the length of the field to score.

Cruden left the field with an hamstring injury at-

tempting to chase him down. The Auvergne outfit touched down for a third time

as Alivereti Raka – playing for a place in the Six Na-tions after receiving his French nationality last month – placed a grubber kick for full back Isaia Toeava to score.

South Africa-born lock Paul Willemse also received his French citizenship on Friday and featured the whole game for Vern Cotter’s side.

Trailing 28-9, Montpellier then staged what prom-ised to be a remarkable comeback as Vincent Giudicelli and Yvan Reilhac dotted down but Clermont held firm to take the win.

Peceli Yato’s late yellow card in injury time for a tip-tackle on Johan Goosen means no visiting side has played at Montpellier this season without seeing a play-er leave the field for disciplinary reasons.

Also:LONDON: A last-minute dropped goal by Elton Jantjies lifted the Barbarians past Argentina 38-35 in a rugby thriller at Twickenham on Saturday.

The teams shared 10 tries, but it was Jantjies’ late in-tervention that decided it after the Barbarians recovered from 28-7 down.

Juan Manuel Leguizamon opened the scoring just three minutes in against his fellow countrymen with Handre Pollard converting.

But Argentina turned things around and tries from Matias Orlando, Ramiro Moyano, captain Pablo Matera, and Sebastian Cancelliere saw them reach 28-7 after 18 minutes.

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Farwaniya Equestrian Club organized horse racing in different categories with a huge turnout of fans and wide range of par-ticipation.

Winner of the Arab House Cup was the horse Fares Al-Bodour owned by Salman Al-Mutairi in the 1,200 meters race, followed in second place by Seif Al-Murasalah owned by Mansour Al-Ajmi, and in third place was Majdi Wisaal owned by Fawaz Al-Saeedi.

In the 1,600 meters category, Hamid owned by Al-

Oweidh Stable won, followed by Tasfeen from Haum Stable, and the third placer was horse Sadaara owned by Zamanaan Stable.

In 1,000 meters, Ez Nasser (Zamai Stable) came first, followed by Shabeeh Al-Reeh (Formawi Stable) in second, and in third place was Majazif (Murshid Stable).

Other races were the 1,200 meters class 1 and class two, and 2,000 meters class 4 won by Tasdar (Sharq Stable). Muhammad Abu Sheiba, Mufreh Al-Saihan and Aweedh Al-Daihani also won in the race.

NZ rout US 21-5 in fi nal toclaim Dubai Sevens crown

Parra guides Clermont past Montpellier to go 8 points clear

New Zealand’s Tone Ng Shiu (left) is tackled by USA’s Ben Pinkleman during the Final of the Men’s Sevens World Rugby Dubai Series Cup between USA and New Zealand on Dec 1. (AFP)

Vonn to delay retirement

Swiss racer Feuz wins WC downhill at Beaver CreekBEAVER CREEK, Colorado, Dec 1, (Agencies): Swiss racer Beat Feuz has no doubt why he wound up on top – the downhill race was moved from the top.

Given the weather conditions, organ-izers elected to start the race from a re-serve spot lower on the hill.

Advantage: Feuz.Feuz found the ideal line through dif-

fi cult conditions to win a World Cup downhill race Friday. He fi nished in a time of 1 minute, 13.59 seconds to hold off teammate Mauro Caviezel by 0.07 seconds.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway wound up third, 0.08 seconds back, as his reign came to an end. Svindal cap-tured the last two downhill races at Bea-

ver Creek before Feuz’s speedy perfor-mance on softening snow.

Last season, when the course was running at full length, it was Svindal who edged Feuz by 0.15 seconds. The approximately 30-second portion of the course removed was a gliding section.

Advantage: Svindal.The changing weather made it dif-

fi cult for everyone. Racers had to deal with falling snow, inconsistent light and fog – sometimes all three – on their way through the demanding Birds of Prey course. There were several big crashes, including one by Thomas Dressen of Germany where he caught an edge and tumbled into the protective fence. Dres-sen hurt his knee and went to the hospi-tal as a precaution.

The fi fth racer to take the course, Svindal was convinced he wouldn’t end up on the podium by the day’s end. Even more so when two racers later Feuz knocked him from the top spot.

But Svindal remained in the top three – bandaged left thumb and all. He hurt it in a recent training crash and can’t hold his ski pole. So he tapes it to his glove instead. He also can’t push out of the start gate.

No matter, he skates out of it.To think, given all his injuries over

the years, the 35-year-old Svindal wasn’t sure how much he had left. But he couldn’t bring himself to leave the slopes. Not yet.

It’s a solid start to the season for the 31-year-old Feuz, who earned bronze in the Olympic downhill last winter in

addition to winning the overall title last season in the discipline. He was sixth in the opening downhill of the season last weekend in Lake Louise, Alberta.

For Caviezel, this was his fi rst po-dium fi nish in a World Cup downhill event. He had two others in the super-G.

With downhill training canceled Thursday, Caviezel was asked if he had a chance to squeeze in some pow-der skiing. American teammates Ste-ven Nyman and Bryce Bennett tied for ninth. Nyman is steadily rounding back into form after knee surgery that caused him to miss the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Vonn will prob-ably delay her retirement to compete at next year’s World Cup stop at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, the Olympic alpine skiing champion said on Friday. Vonn had planned to retire at the end of the 2018-19 season, but her plans have changed after she injured herself in a high-speed crash last week.

The fall will keep the American out of the season-opening downhill at Lake Louise this weekend.

Vonn, 34, said she hyper-extended a knee, sprained a ligament and suffered a bone bruise in her fall and would prob-ably be able to race in a few weeks.

Vonn has 82 career World Cup vic-tories, four short of the all-time record held by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.

RUGBY

HORSE RACING

SKIING

Winner of the Arab House Cup

Al-Kharafi wins Al-Der’eyya horse jumping 2nd round

The Barbarians were awarded a penalty try seven minutes before the break when Matera was penalized for pulling down a maul behind the Argentina tryline.

RIYADH, Dec 1, (KUNA): Ali Al-Kharafi of Ku-wait won the second round of Al-Der’eyya inter-national championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, on Friday.

Saudi Arabia’s Ramzi Dahami and Kuwait’s Ra-kan Al-Hasawi came second and third respectively.

The fi rst round was dominated by the Saudis

winning fi rst, second and third: Saad Al-Ajmi, Saleh bin Omaira and Abdulaziz Al-Haqbani re-spectively.

The championship features more than 93 eques-trians from nine countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Poland and Italy.

Beat Feuz of Switzerland stands on the podium after finishing in first place in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men’s Downhill on Nov 30, 2018 in Beaver Creek, Colo-

rado. (AFP)

GAZOO Racing World Rally Team celebrate after winning the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) manufacturers’ title in style, with a rally victory for Jari-Matti Latvala in the No. 7 Toyota Yaris WRC at Kennards Hire Rally Australia.

GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Jari-Matti Lat-vala, in the No. 7 Toyota Yaris, in action at the

WRC at Kennards Hire Rally Australia.

Team claim manufacturers’ title in second season since return to the WRC

GAZOO Racing win Australia Rally at FIA World Rally Championship

Farwaniya Equestrian Club holds Arab House Cup

RALLYING

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

29

Barkov’s OT goal lifts Panthers past Sabres 3-2

Wilson scores, ejected as Capitals extend win streak to 7WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (AP): Tom Wilson scored again before being ejected, Nicklas Backstrom had a hat trick and the Washing-ton Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Friday night to ex-tend their winning streak to seven games.

Wilson scored his seventh goal in nine games since coming back from a lengthy suspension, extending his career-best goals streak to five games and points streak to seven. The short-handed goal gives Wilson 13 points, but a hit on New Jersey’s Brett Seney late in the second period put him back in the spotlight for the wrong reason.

After Seney released the puck and it had gone into the corner late in the second period, Wilson skated up from behind and hit him with his left shoulder. Wilson was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head, which carries with it an automatic sus-pension that the NHL must review before deciding to rescind. Wil-son, who was given a 20-game suspension that was reduced to 14 for an illegal check to the head in the preseason finale, could avoid being suspended. After review, he did not make principal contact to Seney’s head, it did not look like a predatory play and Deney re-turned at the start of the third.

Backstrom had a hat trick for the first time since Dec 13, 2014, and added an assist for a four-point game. Alex Ovech-kin scored an empty-netter, his 626th goal that put him into sole possession of 15th on the NHL’s career list. Andre Burakovsky also scored for Washington, and Braden Holtby made 33 saves.

Travis Zajac, Nico Hischier and Johansson scored for the Devils.

Panthers 3, Sabres 2, OTIn Sunrise, Florida, Aleksander

Barkov scored at 2:26 of over-time for Florida to hand Buffalo its second loss in two nights fol-lowing a 10-game winning streak.

Jared McCann and Evgenii Dadonov also scored, and James Reimer stopped 20 shots.

Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist and Jeff Skinner also scored for Buffalo. The Sabres were coming off a 5-4 loss at Tampa Bay.

Blues 3, Avalanche 2, OTIn Denver, Colton Parayko

scored 1:34 into overtime to lift St Louis past Colorado.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex-ander Steen scored in regulation, and Jake Allen stopped 27 shots.

Nikita Zadorov and Mikko Rantanen scored for the Ava-lanche.

Flames 4, Kings 1In Calgary, Alberta, Mikael

Backlund had two goals and an assist in Calgary’s victory over Los Angeles.

Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan also scored, and Mike Smith made 13 saves for the Pa-cific Division-leading Flames. Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings, coming off a 3-2 loss at Edmonton on Thursday night.

Ducks 2, Hurricanes 1, OTIn Raleigh, North Carolina,

Ryan Getzlaf scored 1:15 into overtime to lift Anaheim past Carolina.

Pontus Aberg scored the tying goal with 3:50 left in regulation. John Gibson stopped 33 shots to help the Ducks win their third straight and for the fifth time in six games.

Andrei Svechnikov scored an early goal for Carolina.

Rockets rout reeling SpursJames scores 28 as Lakers down Mavs for 2nd straight win

SAN ANTONIO, Dec 1, (RTRS): Clint Capela scored 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds in just three quarters as the visit-ing Houston Rockets rolled to a 136-105 win over the reeling San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

The Rockets, with point guard Chris Paul back in the lineup after sitting out three games with a hamstring in-jury, emphatically snapped a four-game losing streak, tak-ing a 70-47 lead into halftime and never looking back.

It was the second straight blow-out loss suffered by the Spurs, who were defeated 128-89 in Minnesota on Wednesday.

San Antonio has dropped five of its past seven games and eight of the 11 games it has played since beat-ing the Rockets, also on the Spurs’ home court, on Nov 10. It marks the first time since 1987 that the Spurs have lost consecutive games by 30 or more points.

Lakers 114, Mavericks 103In Los Angeles, LeBron James

scored 28 points and Brandon In-gram added 19 as Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half and pulled away for a victory over visiting Dallas.

Kyle Kuzma scored 15 points with 12 rebounds as the Lakers an-swered consecutive defeats earlier in the week with victories on back-to-back days after they built a big lead and held on against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.

Harrison Barnes scored 29 points and Dwight Powell added 17 off the bench for the Mavericks, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Dallas entered with seven victories in their previous eight games.

Grizzlies 131, Nets 125, 2OTIn New York, Mike Conley

scored 13 of his season-high 37 points in the second overtime, and Memphis recorded a wild victory over Brooklyn, which saw its home losing streak reach six games.

Rookie Jaren Jackson scored a career-high 36 points, and his 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds left in regulation forged a 111-111 dead-lock and forced overtime. He had cut the deficit to three just 12 sec-onds earlier by converting a four-point play.

Conley hit the game-tying bas-ket with nine seconds left in the first overtime to forge a 117-117 tie. Then he scored all but one of Memphis’ points in the second overtime. Conley finished one point shy of his career high as he shot 13 of 25 and also handed out 10 assists.

Heat 106, Pelicans 101In Miami, Josh Richardson

scored a team-high 20 points – in-cluding a key drive with 26 seconds left – as Miami snapped a six-game home losing streak by defeating New Orleans.

Pelicans star Anthony Davis scored 41 points, 19 of them in

the third quarter. It was his third game of at least 40 points this season. New Orleans guard Jrue Holiday added 21 points and eight assists.

Miami led by as many as 31 points in the second quarter and then held on to snap its longest home losing streak since 2008. New Orleans got as close as three points late in the fourth quarter. Dwyane Wade provided 18 points off the Heat bench.

Nuggets 113, Trail Blazers 112In Portland, Oregon, Gary Harris

scored 27 points as visiting Denver defeated Portland while Paul Mill-sap contributed 22 points and 10 rebounds and Nikola Jokic added 15 points, eight assists and six re-bounds as the Nuggets won their fifth straight game.

C.J. McCollum bombed in 33 points but missed a jump shot that would have been the game-win-ner at the final horn as the Trail Blazers fell for the sixth time in nine games.

Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in a season-high 20 points for Portland, which trailed by as many as 17 points in the second quarter.

76ers 123, Wizards 98In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid

scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, recording his league-best 22nd double-double, as host Philadelphia dismantled Wash-ington.

Ben Simmons had 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for his 15th double-double this season. Eight Sixers reached double fig-ures in the win, half of them re-serves, as they improved to 12-1 at home and won their third in a row.

Bradley Beal scored 19 points for the Wizards, who fell to 2-9 on the road and dropped their second straight. They played without cen-ter Dwight Howard, who could be lost for several months after under-going back surgery.

Jazz 119, Hornets 111In Charlotte, North Carolina,

Kyle Korver scored 14 points off the bench, 12 of those on 3-point-ers, in his first game back with Utah in helping overpower host Char-lotte to win a second straight to start its three-game trip.

Donovan Mitchell led all scor-ers with 30, Jae Crowder came off the bench for 24 points and a team-high seven assists, and Rudy Gobert contributed 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz, who had not won at Char-lotte since December 2013, when the opponents were known as the Bobcats.

Jeremy Lamb had 24 points, Kemba Walker 21 and Tony Parker 20 points and a game-high nine as-sists to pace the Hornets.

Celtics 128, Cavaliers 95In Boston, Kyrie Irving scored 29

points, and six other Celtics scored in double figures as Boston defeat-ed visiting Cleveland.

Irving, the former Cavaliers guard who demanded a trade out of Cleveland before last season, haunted his old team to the tune of 11-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5 for 7 from be-yond the arc. Irving also grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists.

The Celtics were deadly from 3-point range, connecting on 17 of 31 attempts. They recorded season highs in points, margin of victory

and field-goal percentage (53.3 per-cent).

Thunder 124, Hawks 109In Oklahoma City, Russell West-

brook scored 23 points, finish-ing one rebound short of a second consecutive triple-double, to lead Oklahoma City to a win over visit-ing Atlanta.

The Thunder took control with a 38-point second quarter, with Paul George scoring 13 of his 20 points in the quarter to help Oklahoma City turn what was a two-point lead into a 20-point cushion by the break.

Alex Abrines hit a career-high seven 3-pointers, going 7 of 11 from the field with all of his at-tempts coming from long distance to finish with 21 points. Oklahoma City was 43.9 percent from behind the 3-point line, hitting 18 of 41 shots from distance.

Pistons 107, Bulls 88In Detroit, Blake Griffin had 20

points, 10 rebounds and five assists and host Detroit extended its win-ning streak to four games by defeat-ing Chicago.

Reggie Jackson also scored 20 points, while Andre Drummond piled up 19 points, 20 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals for Detroit.

Reggie Bullock added 13 points and six assists, and Ish Smith tossed in 12 points off the bench.

Rookie Wendell Carter Jr’s ca-reer-high 28 points led the Bulls, who have lost five straight and nine of their last 10.

Magic 99, Suns 85In Phoenix, Terrence Ross sin-

gle-handedly broke open a tight game with three consecutive hoops to open the fourth quarter, propel-ling Orlando to victory over host Phoenix.

Nikola Vucevic recorded a 25-point, 15-rebound double-dou-ble, helping the Magic complete a five-game Western swing with a 2-3 record.

Deandre Ayton had a team-high 19 points for Phoenix, which learned just before the start of the game that standout guard Devin Booker would miss the contest with a toe injury. The loss was the Suns’ fourth straight overall and seventh in their last eight games.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (left), shoots as Dallas Mavericks forwards Dwight Powell (center), and Dorian Finney-Smith defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Nov 30, 2018 in Los Angeles. (AP)

WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NBA games on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Dec 1, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NHL games on Friday.

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L PCT GBToronto 19 4 .826 -Philadelphia 16 8 .667 3-1/2Boston 12 10 .545 6-1/2Brooklyn 8 15 .348 11New York 7 16 .304 12

Central Division W L PCT GBMilwaukee 15 6 .714 -Detroit 12 7 .632 2Indiana 13 9 .591 2-1/2Chicago 5 18 .217 11Cleveland 4 17 .190 11

Southeast Division W L PCT GBCharlotte 11 11 .500 -Orlando 11 12 .478 0-1/2Miami 8 13 .381 2-1/2Washington 8 14 .364 3Atlanta 5 18 .217 6-1/2

Western ConferenceNorthwest Division

W L PCT GBDenver 15 7 .682 -Oklahoma City 14 7 .667 0-1/2Portland 13 9 .591 2Minnesota 11 11 .500 4Utah 11 12 .478 4-1/2

Pacifi c Division W L PCT GBLA Clippers 15 6 .714 -Golden State 15 8 .652 1LA Lakers 13 9 .591 2-1/2Sacramento 10 11 .476 5Phoenix 4 18 .182 11-1/2

Southwest Division W L PCT GBMemphis 13 8 .619 -Dallas 10 10 .500 2-1/2New Orleans 11 12 .478 3Houston 10 11 .476 3San Antonio 10 12 .455 3-1/2

Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

Florida 3 Buffalo (OT) 2Washington 6 New Jersey 3Anaheim 2 Carolina (OT) 1

St Louis 3 Colorado (OT) 2Calgary 4 Los Angeles 1

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L OTL GF GA PTSTampa Bay 18 7 1 98 75 3Buffalo 17 7 3 85 76 37Toronto 18 8 0 93 67 36Boston 14 7 4 69 60 32Montreal 11 9 5 77 83 27Detroit 11 11 3 72 83 25Ottawa 11 12 3 92 107 25Florida 10 10 4 78 86 24

Metropolitan Division W L OTL GF GA PTSWashington 15 7 3 90 77 33Columbus 15 8 2 88 80 32Carolina 12 9 4 66 69 28NY Rangers 13 11 2 75 79 28NY Islanders 12 9 3 73 70 27Pittsburgh 10 9 5 81 80 25New Jersey 9 11 4 71 82 22Philadelphia 10 12 2 72 86 22

Western ConferenceCentral Division

W L OTL GF GA PTSNashville 17 8 1 83 64 35Colorado 15 6 5 97 73 35Winnipeg 14 8 2 83 71 30Minnesota 14 9 2 80 71 30Dallas 13 10 3 72 70 29Chicago 9 12 5 73 96 23St Louis 9 12 3 73 79 21

Pacific Division W L OTL GF GA PTSCalgary 15 9 2 88 74 32Anaheim 13 10 5 64 78 31San Jose 12 9 5 80 82 29Las Vegas 14 12 1 81 76 29Edmonton 12 11 2 68 78 26Vancouver 11 14 3 81 100 25Arizona 11 11 2 60 65 24Los Angeles 9 16 1 56 82 19

Boston 128 Cleveland 95Utah 119 Charlotte 111Detroit 107 Chicago 88Philadelphia 123 Washington 98Memphis 131 Brooklyn (OT) 125Miami 106 New Orleans 101

Oklahoma City 124 Atlanta 109Houston 136 San Antonio 105Orlando 99 Phoenix 85LA Lakers 114 Dallas 103Denver 113 Portland 112

NBA Results/Standings

NHL Results/Standings

Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) drives around San Antonio Spurs’ Derrick White during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Nov 30, 2018 in San Antonio. (AP)

Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils and Matt Niskanen #2 of the Wash-ington Capitals go after the puck during the third period at Capital One

Arena on Nov 30, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (AFP)

American Varner III ties for 3rd place on 7-under

Smith extends lead over Leishman on day 3 at Royal PinesGOLD COAST, Australia, Dec 1, (RTRS): Defending champion Cam-eron Smith shot a five-under-par 67 on day three of the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast on Saturday and will take a three-shot lead into the final round.

The Australian started the day with a one-shot advantage and turned in a bogey-free round at the Royal Pines Resort for a 14-under total of 202 after 54 holes to extend his lead over com-patriot and World Cup of Golf team-mate Marc Leishman.

American Harold Varner III, the 2016 champion, was tied for third place on seven-under at the European Tour co-sanctioned event, alongside Australia’s Matthew Millar.

Smith, who could become the first player to successfully defend the title since Robert Allenby in 2001, started off with a par on the first hole and showed good composure to escape a greenside bunker and save par on the second.

He made gains on the fifth and the ninth to turn in 34 and added three more birdies on the back nine to put himself in the driving seat ahead of Sunday’s final round.

Marist defeats LIU Brooklyn 70-53

Barry makes 7 3s in Dartmouth’s win at BelfastBELFAST, Northern Ireland, Dec 1, (AP): Brendan Barry made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points and Dartmouth beat Albany 91-77 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic on Friday.

Barry was 7-of-11 shooting behind the arc in finish-ing a point and a 3-pointer shy of his career highs. James Foye and Chris Knight added career highs of 20 points each. Foye made 5 of 6 3-point shots with the Big Green (4-4) shooting 51.5 percent from the arc by going 17 of 33. The 21 3-pointers were the second-most ever for Dartmouth versus a Division I team, one shy of the 18 they made – also against Albany – in Jan 20, 2001.

Adrease Jackson grabbed 10 rebounds to go with eight points for Dartmouth in the consolation game of the Samson bracket.

Cameron Healy made four 3-pointers and scored 24 points for the Great Danes (2-6) with Ahmad Clark add-ing 23 points and Adam Lulka 14 with nine rebounds.

Dartmouth used a 17-0 run to go up by 20 points 9½ minutes into the game and were ahead by as many as 28 before going into the break leading by 17. The lead remained comfortably in double figures thereafter.

Meanwhile, Brian Parker scored 15 points to lead four Red Foxes in double figures and Marist defeated LIU Brooklyn 70-53 on Friday in the Basketball Hall of Fame basketball Belfast Classic on Friday.

Parker dished out five assists while Isaiah Lamb added 12 points and game-high eight rebounds in the championship game of the Samson bracket. Tobias Sjoberg also scored 12 points with Darius Hines adding 10 for the Red Foxes (3-4), who shot 47 percent. Marist outscored LIU 36-14 in the paint and put in 25 points off 17 turnovers that included 10 steals.

“The last year I’ve been playing some really good golf,” Smith said. “The last three days has been some of the best golf I think I’ve played both mentally and pulling off the shots. I’m feeling really confident and looking forward to tomorrow.

“I did a really good job today when

I was out of position, just taking less risks and putting myself into the centre of the greens and taking a par. It’s what you have to do around here.”

World number 21 Leishman strug-gled with his short game, and had to wait until the eighth hole for his first birdie of the day. He turned in 35 and

birdied the 10th, but dropped a shot on the next hole after landing in a fairway bunker.

Birdies on the 12th and the 17th helped him close with a three-under 69, but the 35-year-old knows he has work to do if he is to have any hope of overtaking Smith.

GOLF BASKETBALL

BASKETBALL

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

30

Level A winners

Level C Higher Men winners

Level B winners

Level C Lower winners

Level C Higher Ladies winners

Level D Higher winners

West Indies stumble in spintrial after Mahmudullah ton

Bangladesh 508 all out in second WI Test

DHAKA, Dec 1, (AFP): Bangladesh spinners took a fi rm grip on the sec-ond Test against West Indies after Mahmudullah Riyad struck a career best 136 to guide the hosts to 508 in the fi rst innings in Dhaka on Satur-day.

Mehidy Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan shared fi ve wickets between them as West Indies were reduced to 75-5 at stumps on the the second day, trailing the hosts by 433 runs in the fi rst innings.

All fi ve West Indies batsmen were clean bowled – only the third time in cricket history and the fi rst time by spinners as Mehidy fi nished with 3-36 and Shakib claimed 2-15.

Shakib struck in the very fi rst over when he fl um-moxed West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite with inward delivery and Kieran Powell (four), Sunil Am-bris (seven), Roston Chase (zero) and Shai Hope (10) followed him in quick succession.

Shimron Hetmyer (32 not out) and Shane Dowrich (17 not out) stemmed the rot to survive the day.

Hetmyer was given out off rookie spinner Nayeem Hasan on 10, but the decision was overturned by tel-evision replay.

The West Indies innings were in complete con-trast to those of Bangladesh, which saw Shakib (80), Shadman Islam (76) and Liton Das (54) making use-ful contribution along with Mahmudullah.

Resuming on 259-5, Bangladesh’s innings re-volved around Mahmudullah, who faced 242 balls and struck 10 fours in his third Test century, on the second day.

Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh build on their overnight score putting on a 111-run with Shakib Al-Hasan for the sixth wicket, 92-run with Liton Das for the seventh wicket, and a 56-run with Taijul Islam (36) for the ninth wicket.

Shakib, who resumed on 55 overnight, added 25 to his overnight score before he gave a catch to Hope at gully off Kemar Roach.

Mahmudullah and Liton maintained the pressure,

helping the home side add 128 runs in 25 overs of the morning session.

Liton – who was making a comeback to the side after being dropped in the fi rst Test – hit Chase a six and a four in one over to bring a quickfi re fi fty off just 50 balls.

Liton, who struck eight fours and a six in his fourth Test fi fty, fell after the lunch break when he attempt-ed a reverse sweep off Brathwaite and missed the line to get bowled.

Jomel Warrican dismissed next batsman Mehidy Hasan, but Taijul and Mahmudullah frustrated West Indies to take their score close to 500-run mark.

Mahmudullah faced 29 balls in nervous nineties before he cut Chase for four to bring his hundred.

Warrican bowled Mahmudullah to wrap-up the Bangladesh innings and fi nish with 2-91, while

Roach, Devendra Bishoo and Brathwaite also claimed two wickets each.

Bangladesh are leading the two-Test series 1-0 thanks to their 64-run win in the fi rst Test in Chit-tagong.

FBC concludes ‘thrilling’ 104thDMDA Cup regular tournament

By Michelle Fe SantiagoArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Filipino Badminton Committee 104th DMDA Cup regular tourney came to a thrilling conclusion on Friday at the Kuwait Disabled Sports Club in Hawally with veteran and amateur badminton players participating in the event.

All players displayed their best form as they battled it out with the best players. The veteran smashers from Levels A & B, the equally aggressive players from Level C and the new and upcoming badminton players of Level D showcased inten-sified performances aiming to bag the championship cup.

FBC would like to thank all the participants for their untiring sup-

port and in making this tourney a success as well as to Darwish & Mariano Design Associates for sponsoring this event, giving away the medals & T-shirts for the win-ners and players.

FBC is inviting all badminton

enthusiasts to register in its regular tournaments from 8 am to 1 pm and adults/kids badminton coaching/tutorial and court rental from 1 pm to 5 pm. For inquiries please call FBC hotline 65606820 or personally come at the Kuwait Disabled Sports Club in Hawally.

Here are the winners in the 104th DMDA Championship Cup:

Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah Riyadh plays a shot during the second day of the second Test cricket match between Bangladesh and West Indies in

Dhaka on Dec 1. (AFP)

Teen quick Afridi set for Test debutABU DHABI, Dec 1, (AFP): Teenage pace sensation Shaheen Afridi is all set to cap his meteoric rise with a Test debut for Pakistan in the third match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi starting on Mon-day. A shoulder injury to medium pacer Mohammad Abbas in the second Test in Dubai has paved way for Shaheen to make his mark in the last act of a gripping series which stands at 1-1.

“If I get a chance I will do my best,” Shaheen told AFP on Saturday. “I always had belief in my ability and in my hard work although I didn’t expect my chance will come in Tests so early.”

The 18-year-old left-arm quick made his mark in a domestic match in Sep-

tember last year, claiming eight wickets for just 39 runs in a Quaid-e-Azam Tro-phy game, the best fi gures by a Pakistan bowler on fi rst-class debut.

The cricket world took notice of the 1.98 metre tall bowler who could hit the 90 miles per hour mark with the ball. Within 15 months he is already being compared to Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc and legendary Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram.

His rise to the Pakistan team began at home in Landi Kotal, a town in the Khy-ber District, close to the border with Af-ghanistan, where his elder brother Riaz who played one Test for Pakistan in 200, gave him his fi rst bowling lessons.

CRICKET

DHAKA, Dec 1, (AFP): Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second Test between Bangladesh and West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday:

BANGLADESH fi rst innings (overnight 259-5)Shadman Islam lbw b Bishoo ......................... 76Soumya Sarkar c Hope b Chase .................... 19Mominul Haque c Chase b Roach .................. 29Mohammad Mithun b Bishoo .......................... 29Shakib Al Hasan c Hope b Roach .................. 80Mushfi qur Rahim b Lewis ............................... 14Mahmudullah Riyad b Warrican ................... 136Liton Das b Brathwaite ................................... 54Mehidy Hasan c Dowrich b Warrican ............. 18Taijul Islam c Dowrich b Brathwaite ................ 26Nayeem Hasan not out ................................... 12Extras (b2, lb8, w1, nb 4) ................................ 15Total (all out; 154 overs) ............................... 508

Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Soumya), 2-87 (Mo-minul), 3-151 (Mohammad), 4-161 (Shadman), 5-190 (Mushfi qur), 6-301 (Shakib), 7-393 (Liton), 8-416 (Mehidy), 9-472 (Taijul), 10-508 (Mahmudullah)

Bowling: Roach 25-4-61-2 (nb1), Lewis 20-2-69-1 (w1), Chase 28-0-111-1 Warrican 38-5-91-2, Bishoo 28-1-109-2 (nb3), Brathwaite 15-0-57-2

WEST INDIES fi rst inningsK. Brathwaite b Shakib ..................................... 0K. Powell b Mehidy ........................................... 4S. Hope b Mehidy ........................................... 10S. Ambris b Shakib ........................................... 7R. Chase b Mehidy ........................................... 0S. Hetmyer not out .......................................... 32S. Dowrich not out .......................................... 17Extras (b4, lb1) ................................................. 5Total (fi ve wickets; 24 overs) .......................... 75

To bat: D. Bishoo, K. Roach, J. Warrican, S. Lewis

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Brathwaite), 2-6 (Powell), 3-17 (Ambris), 4-20 (Chase), 5-29 (Hope)

Bowling: Shakib 9-3-15-2, Mehidy 10-1-36-3, Nayeem 3-0-9-0, Taijul 1-0-10-0, Mahmudullah 1-1-0-0

Toss: BangladeshUmpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) Ruchira Palliyagu-

ruge (SRI)TV Umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

Scoreboard

BADMINTON

SPORTSARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018

31

LONDON, Dec 1, (Agencies): British soccer results on Saturday:

English Premier LeaguePalace 2 Burnley 0H’field 1 Brighton 2 Leicester 2 Watford 0Man City 3 Bournemouth 1Newcastle 0 WHU 3 Saints 2 Man Utd 2

Played FridayCardiff 2 Wolves 1

ChampionshipSheff Utd 0 Leeds 1Birmingham 3 Preston 0Blackburn 4 Sheff Wed 2Bolton 1 Wigan 1Derby 2 Swansea 1Norwich 3 Rotherham 1Nott Forest 2 Ipswich 0QPR 2 Hull 3Reading 2 Stoke 2 M’boro 0 Villa 3

Scottish Premiership Kilmarnock 3 Hibernian 0Livingston 2 Motherwell 0St Mirren 1 Hamilton 3

British Soccer StandingsEnglish Premier League

P W D L GF GA PtsMan City 14 12 2 0 43 6 38Liverpool 13 10 3 0 26 5 33Tottenham 13 10 0 3 23 11 30Chelsea 13 8 4 1 28 11 28Arsenal 13 8 3 2 28 16 27Everton 13 6 4 3 20 15 22Man Utd 14 6 4 4 22 23 22Leicester 14 6 3 5 20 17 21 B’mouth 14 6 2 6 23 21 20Watford 14 6 2 6 17 19 20Brighton 14 5 3 6 16 20 18Wolves 14 4 4 6 13 17 16WHU 14 4 3 7 17 22 15Palace 14 3 3 8 10 17 12Newcastle 14 3 3 8 11 19 12Cardiff 14 3 2 9 13 27 11H’field 14 2 4 8 9 24 10Saints 14 1 6 7 12 26 9

Burnley 14 2 3 9 13 29 9Fulham 13 2 2 9 14 33 8

Championship P W D L GF GA PtsNorwich 20 12 4 4 35 22 40Leeds 20 11 6 3 33 17 39 Boro 20 9 8 3 22 13 35WBA 19 10 4 5 41 27 34Nott Forest 20 8 10 2 32 21 34Sheff Utd 20 10 4 6 32 24 34Derby 20 10 4 6 30 24 34Villa 20 8 7 5 39 30 31Birmingham 20 7 9 4 30 24 30Blackburn 20 7 8 5 26 30 29QPR 20 8 4 8 24 29 28Stoke 20 6 9 5 25 25 27Swansea 20 7 5 8 22 21 26Bristol 19 7 4 8 23 23 25Wigan 20 7 4 9 23 28 25Sheff Wed 20 6 5 9 25 36 23Preston 20 5 7 8 31 35 22Brentford 19 5 6 8 30 28 21Hull 20 5 5 10 19 28 20Rotherham 20 4 8 8 19 30 20Reading 20 4 6 10 26 32 18 Bolton 20 4 6 10 13 26 18Millwall 19 4 5 10 23 32 17Ipswich 20 1 8 11 17 35 11

Scottish Premiership

P W D L F A PtsCeltic 13 9 2 2 30 6 29Kilmarnock 15 8 4 3 22 12 28Rangers 13 8 3 2 35 11 27Hearts 14 8 2 4 19 15 6St Johnstone 14 7 3 4 16 18 4Livingston 14 6 4 4 14 10 22Aberdeen 13 6 3 4 16 13 21Hibernian 14 5 4 5 23 17 19Motherwell 14 4 2 8 15 24 14Hamilton 15 4 1 10 12 32 13St Mirren 15 2 2 11 9 29 8Dundee FC 14 1 2 11 8 32 5Note: Standings read as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points.

British Soccer Results/Standings

Canaries reclaimchamp’ship leadLONDON, Dec 1, (AFP): Norwich displayed battling qualities in coming from behind to beat struggling Rotherham 3-1 and reclaim their place atop the second tier Championship on Saturday.

Second-half goals by Todd Cantwell, Maximilian Aarons and Teemu Pukki saw the Canaries to another three points and their seventh win in eight

matches. Norwich

– who have become a formidable unit in their second sea-son under f o r m e r B o r u s s i a Dor tmund r e s e r v e team coach D a n i e l

Farke – are a point ahead of sleeping giants Leeds United.

The competition is so tight that just 10 points separates the top eight.

However, under iconic Argentinian manager Marcelo Bielsa Leeds have shown that this might be the season they finally return to the Premier League from which they were relegated in 2004.

They had briefly gone top earlier on Saturday after beating promotion rivals Sheffield United 1-0 in a typically gritty Yorkshsire Derby.

A dreadful blunder by Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson – on loan form Manchester United – helped Leeds pick up the three points, their first win at Bramall Lane since they won the old First Division title 26 years ago.

Spanish veteran Pablo Hernandez slotted the ball into an empty net after Henderson had passed the ball to Leeds youngster Jack Clarke, to send Leeds to the top of the table.

The visitors held on for their third successive win despite some nervy moments especially when Conor Washington’s acro-batic overhead kick rattled the crossbar.

Bielsa, who is held in great regard by the likes of the young-er generation of coaches such as Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, said he was satisfied without being over the moon at how his team played.

“The opponents dominated at the beginning of the game and at the end of the game, but between these two moments, without being excellent, we did an inter-esting performance,” said Bielsa.

“It is not convenient to make comparisons with other teams at this moment in the season.

“It was hard for us to find a solution to the project of play from Sheffield United,” added the 63-year-old former Argentina and Chile national coach.

Bielsa, though, will be wor-ried by another influential defender, club captain Liam Cooper limping off injured in the first-half, joining Luke Ayling on the treatment table.

Leeds turned on the pressure in the second-half, Polish inter-national Mateusz Klich forcing Henderson into a smart save as the hour mark approached.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell came to the visitors’ rescue soon afterwards the Northern Irish international goalkeeper saving with his feet from David McGoldrick.

The previously impeccable Henderson gifted Leeds a goal with eight minutes remaining. Desperately trying to save a poor back pass by John Egan from going for a corner, he passed it straight to Clarke.

The 18-year-old forward kept his head and laid it across the area to Hernandez who made no mistake.

Cantwell

Leicester back to winning ways

Newcastle United’s Salomon Rondon (center), shoots towards goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and West Ham United at St James Park sta-dium, Newcastle, England on Dec 1. (AP)

Palace end winless run

LONDON, Dec 1, (RTRS): Leicester City gave their home fans some timely fes-tive cheer by securing their first Premier League win at the King Power Stadium since September with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Watford on Saturday.

Jamie Vardy opened the scoring with a penalty after 12 minutes. The striker had won the spot kick after being brought down by Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster when running on to a through ball.

The home side doubled the lead 11 minutes later after a quick counter-attack ended with James Maddison excellently controlling a crossfield pass from Marc Albrighton on his knee before volleying into the bottom corner.

Watford struggled to contain Leicester’s pacey attack and had Etienne Capoue sent off late on for a reckless challenge on Kelechi Iheanacho.

The result meant Leicester moved up to seventh in the standings, briefly ahead of Manchester United, who were playing later on Saturday, on goal difference.

Watford slipped down to 10th, and have now not won in the league, home or away, since October.

Crystal Palace 2, Burnley 0 Crystal Palace ended their eight-

game winless streak with a 2-0 Premier League victory over struggling Burnley at Selhurst Park.

A goals in each half from James McArthur and Andros Townsend con-demned Sean Dyche’s side to their seventh game without a victory but the scoreline barely reflected the domi-nance of the home side.

McArthur put Palace in front in the 16th minute with a low cross-shot which beat a stationary Joe Hart and went in off the post.

Wilfried Zaha caused the Clarets

defense plenty of problems, forcing two saves out of Hart early in the sec-ond half before he crashed a shot against the crossbar.

Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic wasted a great chance when the ball fell to him alone in the box but he screwed his shot wide.

Burnley, 18th in the table and look-ing short of confidence and ideas, cre-ated little and Palace finally got their second in the 77th minute.

Townsend cut in from the right flank on to his left foot and beat Hart with a magnificent shot from outside the box which flew into the top corner.

Newcastle 0, West Ham 3 Striker Javier Hernandez made the

most of a rare start for West Ham United by scoring two clinical goals which helped the east London side to a 3-0 Premier League win at Newcastle United.

The result, wrapped up with a late goal from Felipe Anderson, lifted West Ham to 13th place on 15 points from 14 games and ended Newcastle’s three-match winning streak as the Magpies, who have 12 points, slipped

to 14th. West Ham’s fast breaks had tooth-

less Newcastle reeling all afternoon and livewire Mexico international Hernandez fired them ahead in the 11th minute with a sweeping close-range finish after a fine cross by Robert Snodgrass.

Hernandez and strike partner Marko Arnautovic continued to tor-ment their markers after the break and the Mexican missed a pair of gilt-edged chances before they combined to devastating effect for the second goal in the 63rd.

Arnautovic superbly headed down a lofted West Ham clearance from their own half into Hernandez’s stride and the 30-year old made no mistake as he drove the ball past Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka inside the near post.

Newcastle threw men forward in the closing stages but failed to create any chances and were caught cold again in stoppage time when Brazilian Felipe Anderson found time and space in the penalty area to bury his shot through Dubravka’s legs.

Cardiff 2, Wolverhampton 1 Forward Junior Hoilett scored a

spectacular winner to earn Cardiff City a comeback 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers and lift them out of the relegation zone.

Cardiff climbed to 15th on 11 points from 14 games, five behind

SOCCER

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (right), leaps high to win the ball ahead of Watford’s Adrian Mariappa during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Watford FC at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England on Dec 1. (AP)

Argentina humiliated by ‘Copa Conquistadores’ final

River reject Copa final in MadridBUENOS AIRES, Dec 1, (Agencies): River Plate have rejected the decision to play the second leg of the postponed Copa Libertadores final against their neighbours and bitter rivals Boca Juniors in Madrid.

“River Plate reject the change of venue,” the club said in a statement on Saturday.

“The club understands that the decision (to play in Madrid)... adversely affects those who bought tickets and also upsets the idea of equal conditions by taking away home advantage.” The first ever Copa Libertadores final between Argentina’s two most popular clubs was supposed to be the “match of the century” and a football festival that would propel the country back into the spotlight following

yet another World Cup debacle.Well, Argentina is back in the spotlight but for all the

wrong reasons and the decision to play the twice-postponed “superclasico” final second leg between Buenos Aires arch rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors in the homeland of Latin America’s colonizers, is a painful humiliation.

All over social media, the prestigious competition – the most important club tournament in South America – has been rechristened the “Copa Conquistadores de America”. In one meme on social media there is a picture of Christopher Columbus landing in South America to initiate the European colonization of the Americas and holding aloft the Copa Libertadores trophy, whereas he’s usually

Southampton’s Mario Lemina (left), and Manchester United’s Ander Herrera fight for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Manchester United at St Mary’s Stadium in

Southampton, England on Dec 1. (AP)

11th-placed Wolves who extended their winless league run to six games, losing five of them.

Hoilett was delighted after the Bluebirds turned defeat into victory for the third time this season.

“Everybody gives 100 percent for the club, the fans and each other,” he told Sky Sports. “We started off a bit slow, but then came out better in the second half. I enjoyed that goal.”

Iceland midfielder Aron Gunnarsson, who scored Cardiff’s equalizer, added: “It’s always good to get a win at home. The first half wasn’t good enough, but in the second half we came out fighting and we deserved that three points.”

Matt Doherty celebrated his 200th league appearance for Wolves when he fired the visitors into an 18th-min-ute lead before Gunnarsson struck on the hour and Hoilett delighted the home fans with a curling shot 13 min-utes from time.

Wolves looked sharper in the open-ing stages and Doherty buried the ball

into the roof of the net from three metres after Cardiff keeper Neil Etheridge parried a Raul Jimenez header into the defender’s path.

The lively Harry Arter, who hit the post on the stroke of halftime, engi-neered the equalizer when he lofted a high ball into the penalty box and Sean Harrison headed it down for Gunnarsson to blast it past keeper Rui Patricio.

With both sides throwing men for-ward, Cardiff forced the final twist after Canadian Hoilett teed himself up to fire an unstoppable shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the net.

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock, who turns 70 on Saturday, was relieved to see his side fight back in a fast-paced clash.

“”I said to the boys it’s about time they gave me something to celebrate,” he said.

“I’m really proud of them. I didn’t think we deserved to be 1-0 down. In the second half we were on the front foot for most of the time.”

depicted with the flag of Spain’s Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella of Castille and King Ferdinand II of Aragon.

“It’s as if we weren’t allowed to dance the tango. We’re destroying football,” lamented Gustavo Alfaro, the coach of Argentine team Huracan.

“We don’t want hooligans or com-plicit authorities. They’ve no right to take River-Boca away from us.” For the first time ever, a Copa Libertadores final will be played outside the conti-nent, with Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium picked as the unlikely venue.

It all came about because last week-end the original second leg clash at River’s Monumental stadium – the first leg finished 2-2 at Boca’s Bombonera ground – was called off after Boca players were injured when their team bus came under attack from their rivals’ fans.

Windows were shattered, spraying players with broken glass while police fired tear gas to disperse the trouble-makers, but that entered the team bus and left Boca’s footballers suffering from smoke inhalation.

Boca refused to play the match and it was postponed 24 hours, only to then be called off indefinitely the next day.

Boca petitioned South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL to be awarded the tro-phy but that was rejected on Thursday.

CONMEBOL, which is headquar-tered in Paraguay, decided Argentina was in no fit state to host such an important match and ordered it played elsewhere, with Real president Florentino Perez jumping on the opportunity and offering use of the Bernabeu for free.

“Why did they accept so easily that this match wouldn’t be played in Argentina?” asked analyst Alejandro Wall on the Tiempo Argentina web-site.

“What they’re doing is stealing from Argentine football. And those who are punished are the 60,000 peo-ple who waited” in the Monumental stadium, not once but twice for hours on end hoping to watch the historic match, but to no avail.

For sports newspaper Ole, “River lost, Boca lost, the country lost the possibility of having a party and we lost the fans: they took away the dream, the desire and the enthusiasm.” Argentine great Diego Maradona, who won the league with Boca in 1981, was enraged.

“If the family of a fan wants to see the match, how does it pay to go to Madrid?” he said.

Evidently, some people have the means. Argentina’s ambassador to Spain, Ramon Puerto told TyC Sports channel that “two airlines sold all their seats in three hours.” As for the match ticket price, it’s expected to cost between $100-$300.

Worse still, some expect the hooli-gans blamed for causing the postpone-ment to be among the 80,000 fans packing out the Bernabeu.

“It would be surprising if they didn’t go in big numbers, from both clubs,” said former player Jorge Valdano, a sociological writer.

‘Friendship with Emery will survive derby outcome’LONDON, Dec 1, (AFP): Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is not going to let the north London derby clash on Sunday affect his friendship with Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

The two old friends will meet for the first time in the Premier League with third-placed Spurs three points better off than the Gunners.

Pochettino is especially touched by the memory of Emery, who at 47 is a year older then the Tottenham boss, recommending he replace him at Valencia when the latter left for Spartak Moscow in 2012.

Pochettino declined the offer, pre-ferring to remain at the less presti-gious La Liga outfit Espanyol, and insists that their roles at the head of such big rivals will not affect their friendship.

“The opposite I think,” said Pochettino. “Of course we are in dif-

ferent clubs and it is a derby we are going to play.

“In the moment we are going to compete, we are going to try to find the way to beat each other but before and after the game (we are) always very good friends.”

Pochettino, who has garnered much praise for the style his young team play although they are yet to win any silverware in his four years in charge, says he is still moved by Emery’s gen-erous gesture.

“I called Unai who was in Spartak Moscow and said, ‘Thank you very much for recommending me’. I chose to stay at Espanyol at the time,” said the Argentinian. “I am loyal.”

“You need to ask him (why he rec-ommended me), I didn’t ask why. You need to say thank you and be grateful when a colleague – and after someone who became a very good friend (does that).

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Dec 1, (AFP): Raheem Sterling kept up a remarkable personal re-cord against Bournemouth as his goal in Manchester City’s 3-1 win helped the champions move fi ve points clear at the top of the Pre-mier League on Saturday.

Sterling struck from close-range in the second half at the Etihad Sta-

dium to restore City’s lead, mak-ing him the fi rst player to score in each of his fi rst six Premier League appear-ances against a single opponent.

The England winger’s fi ne sec-ond-half perfor-mance was crucial

to securing a sixth successive league victory for the unbeaten leaders, who had produced an uneven display in the fi rst half.

Callum Wilson’s header drew Bournemouth level just before half time, following Bernardo Silva’s opening goal for City.

The visitors proved awkward op-ponents even as they fell to a fourth successive league defeat, which was sealed by Ilkay Gundogan’s late goal.

This was the fi rst of nine matches across three competitions during De-cember for City and manager Pep Guardiola is aware of the need for ro-tation to avoid burn-out.

To that end, he gave Gabriel Jesus a fi rst Premier League start for three months and left Sergio Aguero out of the squad altogether, citing a minor muscle problem for the Argentina for-ward.

That was one of fi ve changes made to the line-up that had started the 2-2 Champions League draw in Lyon four days earlier.

THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Published by: Arab Times Publishing House

Editor-in-ChiefAHMED AL JARALLAH

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ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018 32

PR

IME

TIM

E sunday— (all times are kuwait local)

Sports11:30 basketball ............................. bein sports 1hd12:15 handball ..................................... bein sports hd13:30 cricket .................................... bein sports 13hd 15:00 soccer ..................................... bein sports 1hd15:30 soccer ........................................ bein sports hd

16:30 basketball .............................. bein sports 10hd18:15 soccer ....................................... bein sports 3hd22:30 soccer ...................................... bein sports 4hd

Freiburg’s Mike Frantz (left), and Dortmund’s Lukasz Piszczek challenge for the ball during the German Bundes-liga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg in Dortmund, Germany on Dec 1. (AP)

Leipzig vs M’gladbach beIN SPORTS 5HD

17:30 localFrankfurt vs Wolfsburg beIN

SPORTS 5HD20:00 local

United escape in Saints thriller

Sterling sparkles, City extend leadBournemouth fall

Manchester City’s German midfi elder Leroy Sane (right), crosses the ball as Bournemouth’s English defender Simon Francis (left), tries to block during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on Dec 1. (AFP)

Chelsea vs Fulham beIN SPORTS 2HD, 11HD15:00 local

Arsenal vs Tottenham beIN SPORTS 2HD, 11HD17:05 local

Liverpool vs Everton beIN SPORTS 2HD, 11HD19:15 local

Malaysia’s Shahrul Mohd Saad (cent-er), jumps for the ball with Thailand’s Adisa Kraisom (left), during the AFF Suzuki Cup semifi nal soccer match between Malaysia and Thailand at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia on Dec 1. (AP)

ford’s pass in the 33rd minute as the Belgian striker grabbed his fi rst goal in 13 games.

United suddenly had a spring in their step and Ander Herrera equalized in the 39th minute when he met Rash-ford’s low cross with a clever back-heeled effort from close-range.

Results/Standings – Page 31

Malaysia, Thailandin Cup ‘stalemate’KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1, (AFP): The AFF Suzuki Cup semifi nal between Malaysia and defending champions Thai-land remains fi nely poised after the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in the fi rst leg in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Malaysia had the better of the match at Bukit Jalil National Stadium but they were unable to turn their possession into goals with Safawi Rasid, Mo-hamadou Sumareh, and Nor-shahrul Idlan Talaha missing good openings for the hosts.

Five-time champions Thai-land defended resolutely throughout and they will look to advance to the fi nal for a fourth consecutive time when they host the return leg at the Raja-mangala Stadium in Bangkok next Wednesday.

Roared on by a crowd of more than 87,000, Malaysia began the game strongly and could have taken the lead after fi ve minutes when Safawi fi red wide from a good position.

Fernandinho was retained in midfi eld as captain, even though Guardiola has indicated more than once over the past fortnight that the 33-year-old will need to be rested at some point during the month. For the fi rst 20 minutes, it ap-peared as if City would get the job done comfortably, despite so many changes.

Bernardo Silva, restored to the team after missing two matches with a mi-nor injury, swept in the opening goal in the 16th minute.

He struck after Leroy Sane darted in from the left, behind the ball-watching Simon Francis, to reach Oleksandr Zinchenko’s pass and forced goalkeep-er Asmir Begovic off his line to block.

City had dominated the possession up to that point, without making Bego-vic work too hard.

Perhaps it was too easy for Guar-diola’s side, because they started to get complacent; possession was squan-dered as passes went astray too easily.

Manchester United’s problems mounted as they escaped with a 2-2 draw at lowly Southampton.

While City remain the team to beat, their rivals United remain in turmoil after their winless league run extended to three games.

Jose Mourinho’s side desperately needed a victory at St Mary’s to stay in the hunt for a top four fi nish, but they ended up relieved to avoid defeat after falling two goals behind against third bottom Saints.

Southampton had won only once in 13 league matches this season, that solitary success coming at Crys-tal Palace on Sept 1, yet within 12 minutes they had carved open the United defense.

Mourinho sat stern-faced on the bench as Southampton celebrated and his expression was even more vexed eight minutes later as Marcus Rash-ford’s needless foul on Mario Lemina led to Southampton’s second.

Cedric Soares lined up the result-ing free-kick 20 yards from goal and curled a superb effort over the United wall and into the top corner of De Gea’s net.

Romelu Lukaku gave United a life-line when he slotted home from Rash-

every 28 minutes.Dortmund went ahead when Eng-

land teenager Jadon Sancho was brought down and Marco Reus hit his penalty attempt into the middle of the goal fi ve minutes before halftime.

Alcacer came on in the 70th minute and tapped home a minute into added time after brilliant play by Sancho and Lukasz Piszczek.

Hertha Berlin picked up their fi rst win since stunning Bayern in Sep-tember with a 2-0 win at Hanover.

Berlin’s captain Vedad Ibisevic heading home in the second-half after centre-back Jordan Torunarigha put them ahead in the fi rst-half.

Stuttgart escaped the bottom three with a 1-0 win over mid-table Augs-burg after striker Anastasios Donis scored their fi rst-half winner.

Dortmund go nine points clear

Gnabry at the double as Bayern end league bad runBREMEN, Germany, Dec 1, (AFP): Bayern Munich earned their fi rst Bundesliga win for a month as Serge Gnabry scored twice in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Werder Bremen but the defending champions remained nine points behind leaders Borussia Dort-mund.

Bayern’s victory lifted them two places in the table to third, but they will drop back to fi fth if Eintracht Frankfurt earn a fi fth straight win at home to Wolfsburg on Sunday and RB Leipzig beat Moenchengladbach.

Bayern built on their 5-1 mid-week thrashing of Benfi ca in the Champi-ons League, but still lag well behind Dortmund, who won 2-0 at home against Freiburg.

The last time Bayern were so far behind in the table was in 2010/11, when Dortmund won the title, and their bid for a seventh straight Bun-desliga crown is in danger after only their third win in their last nine league games.

NZ complete WC lineupWELLINGTON, Dec 1, (RTRS): New Zealand became the fi nal team to qualify for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France ahead of next weekend’s draw for the 24-team tournament in Paris.

The Kiwis booked a place at their fourth successive World Cup by thrashing Fiji 8-0 on Friday to retain the OFC Nations Cup, sealing the qualifi cation spot reserved for Oce-ania.

The result came soon after Cam-eroon also qualifi ed for the June 7-July 7 fi nals by fi nishing third in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, beating Mali 4-2 in Cape Coast.

The top three teams from Africa

qualify for the showpiece in France so Cup of Nations fi nalists Nigeria and South Africa face each other on Saturday knowing their places are secure.

South Africa, Chile, Jamaica and Scotland will all make their debut at the Women’s World Cup. The Unit-ed States are the defending champi-ons, and record title holders (three), having beaten Japan 5-2 in the fi nal at Canada 2015.

The draw for next year’s tourna-ment, which will be held in Paris next Saturday, will split the teams into six groups of four from four pots based on the FIFA women’s world rankings.

Gnabry, who started for Arjen Robben, put Bayern ahead on 20 minutes in Bremen after Joshua Kim-mich’s chip into the area shortly af-ter the visitors had a penalty appeal

turned down.Thomas Mueller then fi red wide

with the goal at his mercy, but Bay-ern’s defensive frailties returned to haunt them as Bremen equalized 14

minutes later.Centre-back Jerome Boateng was

out-leapt by Japan forward Yuya Osako after a pin-point accurate cross as Bremen drew level after midfi elder Nuri Sahin had gone close.

It was 1-1 at the break, but Bayern grabbed the winner fi ve minutes into the second period when Mueller de-layed his pass into the box for Gnabry to defl ect the ball into the net.

There was more good news for Bayern coach Niko Kovac.

Winger Kingsley Coman came on for his fi rst appearance since tearing ankle ligaments on the opening day of the season in August.

Likewise, Thiago Alcantara played the last 10 minutes after a month out with injury.

In Dortmund, Paco Alcacer contin-ued his phenomenal scoring run by netting his 10th goal of the season to become the league’s top scorer.

The Spaniard also equalled the Bundesliga record for most goals by a substitute in a season – just 13 matches into the 2018/19 campaign – with his ninth goal off the bench in his eighth league game.

The ex-Barcelona forward has so far averaged a goal for Dortmund

Silva