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03 They are watching you
04 Riding the crypto wave
05 Stop antibiotic overuse
10
Head keeps Aussies alive16SPORTS
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‘Vice’ leads Golden Globe nominations“Vice,” a biopic about DickCheney starring ChristianBale as the former US vice president, on Thursdayearned the most Golden Globe nominations with six including best comedy film, as the race to the Oscars ramps up. | P13
SATURDAYDECEMBER 2018
200 FILS ISSUE NO. 7954
White House was aware of Huawei Meng’s arrest
End of an era 6 WORLD
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Saudi launches two satellites
Al Arabiya
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technol-
ogy (KACST) in the Saudi capital Riyadh, announced the successful launch of the Saudi Sat 5A and the Saudi Sat 5B satellites yes-terday at 12:12 pm Beijing time on the Long March 2D from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of the Peo-ple’s Republic of China.
Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, President of King Abdulaziz City for Sci-ence and Technology said the two satellites Saudi Sat 5A and Saudi Sat 5B will be used to provide government agencies with high-resolu-tion satellite images similar to those in developed coun-tries for use in various fields of development.
US fails in UN bid to condemn Hamas movementUnited Nations, United States
A US resolution championed by Ambassador Nikki Ha-
ley to condemn the Palestinian Hamas movement at the United Nations for firing rockets at Isra-el failed to win enough votes for adoption on Thursday.
The proposed measure won 87 votes in the General Assem-bly, falling short of the required two-thirds majority. Fifty-eight countries opposed the measure and 32 abstained.
Haley, who steps down from her post at the end of the year, has repeatedly accused the Unit-ed Nations of having an anti-Is-rael bias.
It was the first proposed res-olution condemning Hamas to be presented to the 193-nation
assembly, which has been meet-ing since 1946.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Haley said the measure “would right a historic wrong” and “put the General Assembly on the side of truth and balance in the effort to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
Hamas praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a “slap” to President Donald Trump’s administration which has taken a firm pro-Israeli stance in ad-dressing the Middle East peace process.
“The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US ad-ministration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resist-ance,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri wrote on Twitter,
using a phrase commonly used to refer to armed groups that oppose Israel.
Kuwait had asked the assem-bly, on behalf of Arab countries, to require a two-thirds majority, which was narrowly endorsed by a vote of 75 in favour, includ-ing EU countries, 72 against and 26 abstentions.
The United States had won crucial backing from the Euro-pean Union, with all 28 coun-tries supporting the US measure that would have condemned Ha-mas for firing rockets into Israel and demanded an end to the violence.
The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group.
The assembly also adopt-ed by a wide margin of 156 to
six with 12 abstentions a Pal-estinian- drafted measure, presented by Ireland, calling “for the achievement, with-out delay, of a comprehen-sive, just and lasting peace in
the Middle East” based on UN resolutions.
The United States, Israel, Aus-tralia, Liberia, Marshall Islands and Nauru voted against that measure.
Hodeida: Yemen weights options including military
AFP | Rimbo, Sweden
A government offensive on Yemen’s Hodeida is still an option if rebels refuse
to withdraw from the port city, a minister said yesterday, as the warring sides met for UN-bro-kered talks.
“We are now in negotiations in response to calls by the inter-national community, the UN and the UN envoy. We are still look-ing into means towards peace,” said Agriculture Minister Oth-man al-Mujalli.
“But if they are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness,” he said in response to a question on the city. “And we are ready.”
The Sweden talks mark the first meeting between the two sides in two years. The last round of talks, in 2016, broke down after three months.
While the days leading up to the gathering saw the govern-ment and Huthis agreeing on a prisoner swap deal and the evac-uation of wounded insurgents for medical treatment in Oman, both parties dug in on their de-mands as the talks began.
The talks are expected to cov-er the fate of Hodeida, a city on Yemen’s western coastline that houses the country’s most valuable port.
The two sides have not yet met face-to-face.
The government accuses the Huthis of arms smuggling through Hodeida -- also a con-duit for 90 per cent of food im-ports -- and has demanded the rebels withdraw from the port.
Negotiations will also cover a prisoner swap between the two sides and the potential reopen-ing of Sanaa airport, located in the rebel-held capital and large-
ly shut down for three years. The Saudi-led government camp controls Yemeni airspace and maritime borders.
Meanwhile, in a later state-ment, Huthis said will not hand over the Red Sea city of Hodeida. “This is not on the ta-ble,” Abdulmalik al-Ajri, a mem-ber of the rebel delegation said after the Yemeni government said it was seeking a full Huthi
withdrawal from the flashpoint port city.
UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths, who has pushed for months for the Yemen talks, urged both parties to spare Ho-deida as the talks opened on
Thursday. Government representatives,
rebel spokesmen and UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths have all said the talks are not aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict.
More than half of global population now onlineGeneva, Switzerland
Some 3.9 billion people are now using the Internet,
meaning that for the first time more than half of the global population is online, the United Nations said yesterday.
The UN agency for informa-tion and communication tech-nologies, ITU, said that by the end of 2018 a full 51.2 per cent of people around the world will be using the Internet.
“By the end of 2018, we will surpass the 50/50 milestone for
Internet use,” ITU chief Houlin Zhou said in a statement.
“This represents an impor-tant step towards a more inclu-sive global information socie-ty,” he said, adding though that “far too many people around the world are still waiting to reap the benefits of the digital economy.”
He called for more support to “technology and business inno-vation so that the digital revolu-tion leaves no one offline.”
According to ITU, the world’s richest countries have been
showing slow and steady growth in Internet use, which has risen from 51.3pc of their populations in 2005 to 80.9pc now.
The gains have meanwhile been more dramatic in devel-oping countries, where 45.3pc of people are currently online, compared to just 7.7pc 13 years ago.
Africa has experienced the strongest growth, with a more than 10-fold hike in the number of Internet users over the same period, from 2.1pc to 24.4pc, the ITU report showed.
Hezbollah financier pleads guilty in US
Washington, United States
Lebanese businessman Kassim Tajideen, des-
ignated by US authorities as an important financial supporter of Hezbollah, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges related to evading sanctions against him, a Jus-tice Department statement said.
Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty before a Washington court and faces five years in prison and a forfeiture of $50 million if his deal with prosecutors is accepted.
He was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2009 by the Treas-ury Department over his links to Hezbollah, a Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley addresses the UNSC during a United Nations Security Council meeting
Supports reopening Sanaa airport: official
Rimbo, Sweden
Yemen’s government sup-ports the reopening of
Sanaa international airport, shut down for years in the country’s brutal war, but only under supervision, an official said.
“We are keen on the open-ing of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa
airport and we know that the Yemeni citizen should have the right to reach any coun-try in the world through Sa-naa airport,” said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni gov-ernment delegation at UN-bro-kered peace talks in Sweden.
“But... we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa air-port.”
Othman al-Mujalli
By end 2018, a full 51.2pc of people around the world will be using the Internet
02SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
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Try out our Indian platter- Super delicious and great value for money
Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi participating in the “Bahrain Merits” national sport festival. The Directorate of Physical Education, Scouts and Guides held the event at the Dohat Arad Park and Reserve as part of festivities marking Bahrain’s National Day and the Accession of His Majesty the King to the throne. More than 3000 students from different educational levels and a number of ministry officials took part in the festival which included sport and popular games, in addition to other activities and contests aimed at fostering the values of citizenship, human rights and school health.
Minister of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning Essam Khalaf receiving Noor Abdul Shahid Abu Hassan, the Head of the Development Group at the ministry’s Drainage Projects and Planning Directorate, on the occasion of obtaining a Master’s Degree in engineering management from the University of Bahrain. Noor Abdul Shahid Abu Hassan gave a brief synopsis on the thesis of her Master’s Degree which revolves around evaluating the smells from the Tubli treatment plant. The meeting was attended by Works Affairs Undersecretary Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Khayat, Assistant Undersecretary for Drainage Asma Jassim Murad and Drainage Projects Planning Director Nozha Abu Hindi.
Arab Family Day held TDT | Manama
Bahrain yesterday marked Arab Family Day, which
falls on the 7th of Decem-ber, every year, highlighting Bahrain’s drive to promote families and ensure their well-being.
In a statement on the occa-sion, Labour and Social De-velopment Minister Jameel Humaidan commended the efforts exerted by the Govern-ment of Bahrain to develop Bahraini families and ensure their well being.
Highlighted programmes and initiatives developed to promote families, the minister stressed that they represent the cornerstone for building societies and bolstering eco-nomic and social development.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain ranks among the pioneer-
ing countries in the region and Arab World for its fami-ly-centred strategic vision”, he said, highlighting the leg-islation, which was passed in the prosperous era of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
Jameel Humaidan
Keeping abreast of change crucial: Binfalah
TDT | Manama
Staying abreast of the lat-est trends and sharing best
practices is crucial for the growth and development of the region, said a top BAC of-ficial.
Mohamed Yousif Al Binfa-lah, the Chief Executive Of-ficer of Bahrain Airport Com-pany (BAC), said it is possible to increase the competitiveness of any industry by focusing on maintenance, reliability, and asset management. This, Al Binfalah said, will reduce as-sets costs of ownership and downtime while improving output and safety.
The CEO was presenting a keynote speech discuss-ing the Airport Modernisa-tion Programme’s (AMP) asset management strategy during the 5th Middle East Maintenance and Reliability Conference and Exhibition (Maintcon) 2018.
Explaining more about AMP, Al Binfalah told participants that sustaining operational excellence is a pillar of BAC’s strategy for Bahrain Inter-national Airport (BIA) and, through the Airport Mod-
ernisation Programme, “We are taking significant steps to enhance BIA’s efficiency for the benefit of passengers and stakeholders alike.”
The AMP, he said, is a me-ticulously planned project from start to finish and our comprehensive asset man-agement strategy will play a key role in ensuring its overall success.
A number of industry pro-fessionals from around the world gathered for the bien-nial event, which provides a platform to discuss the latest maintenance, reliabil-ity, and asset management trends.
Held under the patronage of Minister of Oil Shaikh Mo-hammed bin Khalifa Al Khal-ifa, Maintcon 2018 took place from 25 to 28 November. It was organised by the Gulf Society for Maintenance & Reliability (GSMR) in coordination with the Bahrain Society of Engi-neers (BSE).
The theme for Maintcon 2018, which is the only event of its kind in the region, was ‘Innovative Solutions in Main-tenance, Reliability & Asset Management’.
BAC Chief Executive Officer giving a Speech at the MAINTCOM
Higher Education Council (HEC) Secretary-General Dr Abdul Ghani Al-Showeikh visiting the Applied Science University (ASU) to inspect work procedures and ensure compliance with the academic regulations. Accompanied by a delegation from the HEC General Secretariat, Dr. Al-Showeikh discussed with ASU officials cooperation with high-ranked international universities to enhance academic programmes.
3000 triathletes from 84 nations to vie in Ironman
TDT | Manama
Under the patronage of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the
Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, the main event of the Middle East Ironman 70.3 Championship will take place today, featuring 3000 triath-letes representing more than 84 countries.
On this occasion, HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of HM the King for Charity and Youth Affairs, President of the Supreme Coun-cil for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic
Committee welcomed the par-ticipants, anticipating a close-ly-contested and exciting event thanks to the presence of many world’s champions.
It’s worth noting that the event consists of three com-petitions, namely swimming, cycling and running. The swim-ming race will cover 1.9 km, which will be followed by a 90 km cycling race, through which the contestants will pass on the most prominent landmarks of the modern Bahraini renais-sance. At the end of the event, the competitors will take on a 21.1 km running race.
Shaikh Nasser won’t take partHH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad
Al Khalifa decided against par-ticipating in the event which he won last year. He, however, will be among the spectators cheer-ing the competitors. Bahrain Endurance 13 Team’s triathlete Daniela Ryf won’t take part in the event too as she decided to rest after the World Ironman Championship in Kona. How-ever, several co-triathletes in the team are set to take part in the event, including last year’s winner Holly Lawrence, David Plese and the resurgent Terenzo Bozzone.
IronKids and IronGirlsHH Shaikh Nasser witnessed the aquathlon, IronKids and IronGirls events which were
held yesterday on the side-l ines of the Middle East Ironman Championship 70.3 Bahrain.
The aquathlon saw the par-ticipation of HH Shaikh Nas-ser’s children; Shaikha Shee-ma, Shaikh Hamad and Shaikh Mohammed along with many other children. Shaikh Nass-er crowned the winners of the event; his children.
Opening CeremonyThe opening ceremony of t h e C h a m p i o n s h i p t o o k place on Friday and was at-tended by the newly-ap -pointed Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Tawfeeq Al Moayed.
HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa witnessed the aquathlon, IronKids and IronGirls events which were held yesterday. Above, a presentation ceremony
03
big story
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
They are watching youInitiative on way to monitor the performance of the newly elected parliament
TDT | Manama
Mohammed Zafran
A new initiative to monitor the performance of the newly elected parliament
will be launched next weekThe initiative ‘Bahraini Parlia-
mentary Observatory’ is being launched by the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS).
Commenting on the move, Faisal Fulad, General Secretary of the Society told Tribune that initiative is to monitor how the representatives are fulfilling their electoral promises and serving the people.
He said that an open letter by the society to the parliament details plans to monitor the MP’s performances.
The letter, which Tribune re-ceived a copy of, urges the MPs to take action on a number of issues of public interest.
The letter reads : “Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society would like to draw your atten-tion to the important issues in
the Kingdom of Bahrain, such as the rejection of any orders and dictates of any parties over you, the promotion and pro-tecting citizens, the promoting freedoms and human rights; as well as protecting the political, economic, cultural and social interests of Bahrainis; and the protection of the pension fund and the rights of the pensioners
and not to prejudice; but need to be developed, increase wages, reduce the high prices and not to pass the public budget except by consensus and promote the interests of the poor and middle class people in the kingdom of Bahrain.”
The letter urges parliamentar-ians to give “serious attention to and follow up the government’s
monitoring of the implementa-tion of Bahrain’s obligations to the Human Rights Council and international bodies.”
It further calls on to enhance the role of the independent supervisory board, develop the national economy, diversi-fy sources of income, protect public rights and funds, combat corruption and discrimination.
Moving on, the letter reminds the MPs to promote the rights of women, children, elderly and people with special needs. It highlights the need to support young people, fishermen, farm-ers as well as the development of services in villages and preserva-tion of marine wealth.
BHRWS letter places prime importance on health care. MPs are requested to take care of the rights of Bahraini citizens including that for treatment, health insurance, housing rights, education and all the other so-cial services citizens need.
The society also calls on the House of Representatives to play
an important role in monitor-ing and handling public debt as well as the policy of distribut-ing wealth to citizens in a fair manner.
MPs are requested to play a key role in legislating laws that are valid and necessary for the protection of citizens as well as for strengthening the rule of law and institutions in Bahrain.
Combating terrorism and ex-tremism get a special mention in the letter. MPs are required to take extreme care against Irani-an interference and ambitions, combating terrorism and ex-tremism that threaten the secu-rity and stability of Bahrain and its allied countries.
A Parliament session (file)
Faisal Fulad
BHRWS names new General Secretariat
The General Secretariat of the Bahrain Human
Rights Watch Society for the Session (2019 - 2021) has been formed.
Faisal Fulad will remain as the Secretary-General, Naima Hassan the Deputy Secre-tary-General while Maryam Ibrahim, Maria Abdullah and Manashi K make up the rest of the team.
The meeting was attended by delegations from human rights organisations, such as the Gulf European Centre for Human Rights (London), the International message for Human Rights Organi-sation (Dublin), the Yemeni Coalition for Human Rights (Aden) and representatives of Bahraini Trade Unions, associations, personalities and media.
04SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
Riding the crypto wave Bahrain is emerging as a leader in the crypto-currency world with the launch of first-ever digital exchange in the region
TDT | Manama
Mohammed Zafran
Bahrain could become a leader in the crypto-cur-rency space with the ex-
pected launch of crypto-cur-rency exchanges in the country, according to a senior EDB official
David Parker, Executive Di-rector of Financial Services at Economic Development Board, said he expects Kingdom to take the lead in crypto-currency and crypto-currency exchange space regionally and even internation-ally in the future
Bahrain, Parker told Tribune, has so far taken all the right steps by allowing crypto-ex-changes to test their products in the country.
“There are a number of cryp-to-exchanges currently testing at the Central Bank of Bahrain sandbox, he said. “If we can get this right, we can emerge as not only as a regional leader but also an international leader.”
“I think there are so many ways in which Bahrain in terms of its financial industry and its wider economy be embracing blockchain technology for the good of the economy,” he told Tribune.
Explaining, the goals put for-ward by EDB in terms of eco-nomic diversification, Parker said, “We think blockchain can be right at the heart of that and drive the country’s ambitions in this space. “
He praised the steps taken by the Central Bank of Bahrain in supporting the boom of fintech in the Kingdom. “The central bank has been supportive, and is working towards building regu-lations to support this.”
“What the central bank’s sand-box allows companies to do is test certain parameters. This allows the central bank to have the ability to better understand the space before putting in place regulations. So the sandbox is a stepping stone to strong robust regulations in this space,” he added.
CBB, earlier announced reg-ulations to create a regulatory sandbox that will allow start-ups and fintech firms to test and experiment their banking ideas and solutions. “I think
the CBB has always been very well respected regionally and internationally as a very robust regulator. They have done the right thing by allowing a hand-ful of regulators to test while it monitors and better understands this place.”
Rain to hit Bahrain soon Bahrain’s first ever crypto-cur-rency exchange, Rain is all set to launch in Bahrain.
The exchange has already opened its waiting list on its website after spending a year in Central Bank of Bahrain’s regu-latory sandbox.
The exchange will facilitate the purchase, sale and storage of crypto-currencies.
Rain, founded in 2016 by four entrepreneurs – Yehia Badawy,
Abdullah Almoaiqel, AJ Nelson and Joseph Dallaga, is backed by big names in the industry in-cluding Bitcoin core developer Jimmy Song and Cumberland Mining founder Mike Koma-ransky.
Once launched, the company will also become the first regu-lated digital currency exchange in the region.
Representative picture showing cryptocurrencies
Different Types of CryptocurrenciesBy Cryptocurrency facts Although there are technically over 2000 cryptocurrencies, only a handful are relevant. Of those, even less have a market cap above $1 million.Below is a list of important cryptocurrencies and additional resources you can use to learn more about all the different cryptocurrency types.• Bitcoin: Bitcoin was the first major usable cryptocurrency; it has the highest
market cap; its coins trade at the highest cost of all cryptocurrencies (about USD 225 as of June 2015, but as high as $5,000 during early Septem-ber 2017). Despite the big increase in price, Bitcoin seems to be the best choice for anyone entering the cryptocurrency space. It is the most familiar and invested-in coin.
• Litecoin: Litecoin is probably the second most important digital coin. It had the third-highest market cap as of June 2015, but today it sits closer to 7. Litecoin uses essentially the same technology of Bitcoin, and it costs about 1/50th – 1/100th of what Bitcoin does (depending on the day).
• Ethereum: Is probably the third most important coin. Ethereum doesn’t have the longevity at the top like Litecoin, but it has some unique features and a market cap that make it a real contender. Most ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) use Ethereum.
• Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Forks: Bitcoin Cash is a spin-off of bitcoin, meant to have faster transactions, voted on and implemented by the Bitcoin community. Bitcoin Cash was probably the most successful Bitcoin fork in history, but there are always new forks popping up.
• Ripple (XRP): Ripple (properly known as XRP) tends to have a steady price due to its large supply. It has had staying power over time. Its a popular and speedy alternative to Bitcoin that often is less volatile than other coins toward the top of the list.
• IOTA: IOTA is a popular coin with a large supply (meaning there are many MIOTAs out there). It has one of the highest market caps today due to the tech behind it being embraced by some big-name companies like Cisco Systems Inc, Volkswagen AG, and Samsung Group.
• Darkcoin (Dash): Darkcoin, known as Dash as of March 25, 2015 (dash=dig-ital cash), but previously known as XCoin, has unique functionality. XCoin was developed by Evan Duffield who wanted to improve on Bitcoin but didn’t have the pull to do so. Thus, he developed his own coin. It takes less power to mine Dash than most coins.
• Tether and other stable coins: Tether is meant to reflect the price of the US dollar.
David Parker
Malloy confirmed as 5th Fleet commanderManama
Vice Adm. Jim Malloy has been confirmed as the
new head of 5th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Central Com-mand, according to a report.
The decision came follow-ing a confirmation by Con-gress and the death of former commander Vice Adm. Scott Stearney.
Malloy was nominated and quickly confirmed Thursday for the Bahrain-based post, which also includes the helm of the Combined Maritime Forces command, a multina-tional effort to combat terror-ism and piracy.
Malloy, a career surface warfare officer, was already in Bahrain on temporary orders as senior liaison officer while awaiting Senate confirmation. Malloy will officially assume command within the next week, a 5th Fleet spokesman told Stars and Stripes.
Malloy was serving as depu-ty chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategy at the Pentagon when Stear-ney, 58, was found dead in his home on Dec. 1.
CBS News and USNI News have reported that the death was an apparent suicide, citing unnamed defense of-ficials, but the Navy has de-clined to confirm a cause of death until an investigation is complete.
Stearney’s death reverberat-ed throughout the Navy’s com-munity of admirals, said Adm.
Bill Moran, vice chief of naval operations, who spoke with Stars and Stripes on Thursday while visiting Bahrain to con-sole sailors and reassure allies. Moran said he “was crushed” when he heard the news.
“It’s a very personal thing … when we lose one of our own so early in anybody’s life,” Mo-ran said.
Stearney assumed command of 5th Fleet in May. A month later, Malloy was nominated by Defense Secretary Jim Mat-tis for a third star. He began his position at the Pentagon in August.
Malloy is no stranger to the 5th Fleet area of operations. The 1986 US Naval Academy graduate previously served as the Central Command “friend-ly forces” coordinator follow-ing the 9/11 attacks.
Other previous tours in-clude a destroyer squadron command with Middle East Task Force 55 and command of Coalition Task Group 152, operating at sea from Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Jim Malloy
Officials and participants during a group photo session following a MoI executive training course
Indian aviation professional mournedTDT | Manama
Veteran aviation profession-al Govind Assandas Bha-
tia who was also a long-time Bahrain resident passed away on 6 December 2018 at the age of 93.
A Bahrain resident for 60 years, he started his career at BOAC (now British Airways) in Delhi before joining Gulf Avi-ation company (precursor of Gulf Air) in 1958 as Assistant
Accountant. He was then promoted to
Chief Accountant in 1969 and was instrumental in training Bahrainis in Accounting & Fi-nance. In 1977, Bhatia was ap-pointed as Financial Advisor & Chairman of Tender Commit-tee, positions he held till his retirement on 31 July 1991 after 33 years of dedicated service.
Bhatia was the founding member of the Indian Fine Arts Society (IFAS) with three stints,
as Honorary President between 1976 and 1986 and at the time
was the longest serving honor-ary president.
He was also the honorary ac-countant for Indian Ladies As-sociation (ILA) from circa 1980 to 1987. His wife Sarla was the founding and an active member of ILA.
Bhatia is survived by his wife Sarla, son Ashok, daughter-in-law Susan, daughter Meena, son-in-law Kant and grand-children Kavan, Jayesh, Tara & Dhiresh.
Late Govind Assandas Bhatia
The Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) sponsored a group of students of Bahrain Universities to take part in the 13th Annual Forum of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) in Dubai, UAE. The event was held on the theme, Achieving Transformation and Investment, at the Madinat Jumeirah, between November 27 and 29. Above, officials and students during a photocall
05SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
Misusing antibiotics
leads a patient to have
antimicrobial antagonists,
increasing the chance
of resistance to treatment
and difficulty to treat the
patients DR JAMEELA AL-SALMAN,
CONSULTANT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AND CHAIRPERSON
OF THE ANTIBIOTICS COMMITTEE OF THE SUPREME
COUNCIL OF HEALTH
Stop antibiotic overuse
Antibiotics misuse in Bahraini kids alarmingly high, a research report says
• Abusing the life-saving drug will lead to antibiotics resistance
• Study finds that 25 to 30 per cent drug usage are incorrect
• Misuse is alarmingly high in children compared to other countries
• Research part of a global study tracking 310 hospitals
TDT | Manama
A new research report in Bahrain has raised alarming concerns re-
garding the consumption of an-tibiotics, especially by children.
The report, part of a global study that tracked the consump-tion of antibiotics in 310 hos-pitals around the world, found that the usage of antibiotics in Bahrain among children are alarmingly high here.
The award-winning report, by Dr Jameela Al-Salman, Con-sultant of Infectious Diseases, and Chairperson of the Anti-biotics Committee of the Su-preme Council of Health, found that 25 to 30 per cent usage of the life-saving drugs here in the Kingdom are incorrect leading to antibiotics resistance.
“It is called misusing either because the type of antibiotics is not suitable or the quanti-ty to be taken is incorrect, or the duration and the method is incorrect,” said Dr Jameela Al-Salman. The data was based on a sample collected from 372 patients.
“Misusing antibiotics leads patient to have antimicrobial an-tagonists, increasing the chance of resistance to treatment and difficulty to treat the patients,” the report warns.
The report also shares the concerns raised by the World Health Organisation saying that some countries are probably overusing antibiotics, risking a rise in antimicrobial resistance, while others do not have access to these crucial drugs.
WHO uses a measurement called a defined daily dose (DDD) – the average dose a pa-tient needs every day – to com-pare drug consumption rates between countries.
This came during an award ceremony held at the Training and Development and the Public Relations Department of King Hamad University Hospital to honour the winners of medical research winners.
The event was held under the patronage of Minister of the Royal Court, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and in the presence of top professionals from various medical fields.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Ab-dullah Al Khalifa, the Chair-man of the Supreme Council of Health told the Daily Tribune that despite lacking a budget dedicated to medical research in Bahrain all is done to support researchers from their end as
well as by their friends at the University of Bahrain and the University of Ireland.”
“We were pleased with what we saw today,” Sheikh Moham-med said adding: “We had 30 research papers which were published in the Bahrain Med-ical Journal, and this is the 11th celebration that is held by the Supreme Council of Health on this occasion.”
Scientific research, he said, is a systematic investigation to de-
velop knowledge and contribute to things that can be general-ized. “We aim to encourage re-search and drive the growth and development of the medical and health services sector in Bahrain and the Arab region.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Nouf Al Sheibani, Consultant Breast Surgery and Rehabilita-tion and one of the award win-ners in King Hamad University Hospital, said that her research was based on one of the mod-
ern equipment’s available in the hospital, “PET CT Scan”. It is used to minimise the method of surgeries and to identify lymph nodes infected with cancer. The method is compared with anoth-er technique, which is a surgical technique by taking a sample of the armpit to ensure if the breast cancer tumour has spread or not.”
Officials, winners and participants during a group photo session held at King Hamad University Hospital to honour the winners of medical research winners.
The honouring ceremony held at King Hamad University Hospital
Key facts » Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to
global health, food security, and development today. » Antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, of any age, in
any country. » Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of
antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.
» A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are be-coming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.
» Antibiotic resistance leads to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs and increased mortality. (WHO)
Prevention and controlTo prevent and control the spread of antibiotic resistance, individuals can:• Only use antibiotics when prescribed by a certified health professional.• Never demand antibiotics if your health worker says you don’t need
them.• Always follow your health worker’s advice when using antibiotics.• Never share or use leftover antibiotics.• Prevent infections by regularly washing hands, preparing food hygien-
ically, avoiding close contact with sick people, practising safer sex, and keeping vaccinations up to date.
• Prepare food hygienically, following the WHO Five Keys to Safer Food (keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures, use safe water and raw materials) and choose foods that have been produced without the use of antibiotics for growth promotion or disease prevention in healthy animals. (WHO)
What is antibiotic resistance?
WHO
Antibiotics are medi-cines used to prevent
and treat bacterial infec-tions. Antibiotic resist-ance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines.
Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiot-ic-resistant. These bacte-ria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mor-tality. The world urgently needs to change the way it prescribes and uses antibiotics. Even if new medicines are developed, without behaviour change, antibiotic resistance will remain a major threat. Be-haviour changes must also include actions to reduce the spread of infections through vaccination, hand washing, practising safer sex, and good food hygiene.
06
world
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
End of an eraMerkel passes torch to new leader
AFP | Hamburg, Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hand off leadership of her party after nearly two decades at the helm, with the
race wide open between a loyal deputy and a longtime rival.
The contest’s outcome is expected to be cru-cial in deciding whether Merkel, Europe’s most influential leader, can realise her stated goal of completing her fourth term in 2021 and then leaving politics.Merkel, 64, is quitting the helm of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after a series of poll setbacks rooted in controversy over her lib-eral refugee policy.
“ I ’ m v e r y grateful that I could be
party chairwoman for 18 years -- it is a very, very long time and the CDU of course had its ups and downs,” Merkel said as she arrived at the conference venue in Hamburg.
“But we won four national elections together... and I am happy I can remain chancellor.”
Merkel has led Germany since 2005, and moved the party and country steadily toward the political centre. More generous family leave, an exit from nuclear power and an end to military conscription were among her signature policies.
The two main candidates, CDU deputy leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (known as AKK) and corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz, are locked in a battle over whether to embrace or break with the veteran chancellor’s legacy.
A third contender, Health Minister Jens Spahn, 38, an outspoken critic of Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome more than one million asylum seekers to Germany, is seen as being in a distant third place.
‘Seek his revenge’While AKK, 56, is viewed as a keeper of the
flame and similar to Merkel with an even tem-per and middle-of-the-road policies, Merz, 63, has become the torchbearer for those seeking a more decisive break with the chancellor.
“The Merkel era is palpably coming to an end,” political journalist and AKK biographer Kristina
Dunz said. “Merz could be tempted to see his revenge and lunge for power (as
soon as next year).”This week Merz, who has
insisted in the face of wide-spread scepticism that he could work well with Merkel, won the backing of powerful former finance minister Wolfgang Schae-uble, now the parliamen-tary speaker.
Both men are seen as harbouring longstand-ing grudges against the chancellor, af-ter she thwarted Schaeuble’s am-bition to become German president and Merz’s desire to remain CDU par-liamentary group leader several years ago. “Schaeuble’s
manoeuvre shows: the CDU of the old Germany
is trying to make a comeback,” news weekly Der Spiegel said.
“It is the CDU of the (for-mer chancellor Helmut) Kohl years, in which men like Schaeuble and Merz barked orders like military officers and women usually made the coffee.”
National broadsheet S u e d d e u t s c h e Z e i -tung said Schaeuble’s move signalled that the CDU’s long-fester-ing divisions, thinly veiled by unity behind
Merkel, could well break out in the open after the conference.
“The CDU of the Merkel years is falling apart,” it said. “Opposing camps are form-
ing.”Few observers have dared
to predict how the 1 ,000 delegates -- polit ical and party office holders -- will
vote.
Modi fights key state electionJodhpur, India
The Indian state of Rajasthan voted yesterday in an elec-
tion that is a key test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with a local princess representing his party facing a tough fight to stay in power.
The vote in the western state famous for its palaces, forts and deserts, home to 47 million peo-ple, is one of five state elections before Modi runs for a second term in national polls in 2019.
Results from Rajasthan, as well as for Telangana, also voting on Friday, plus from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram -- which have already cast ballots -- will be published on December 11.
The most closely watched will be the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where 73 mil-lion people live.
The contests are seen as a dry run for 2019, with Modi and his likely rival from the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi -- scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty -- both campaigning actively.
Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan’s chief minister and a charismat-ic “Maharani” or female Maha-raja representing Modi’s BJP, swept to power in a landslide in 2013.
Rajasthan is one of India’s few regions where local royal families going back centuries -- and outlasting British rule -- have successfully transitioned to democratic politics since In-dia’s independence in 1947.
Raje, 65, is the daughter of a
former Maharaja who married an erstwhile ruler of another dynasty. Her main challenger in her constituency is Man-vendra Singh, another blue blood from a family in western Rajasthan.
Ayodhya Prasad Gaur, author of a book on one of the state’s leading royal families, said that the nobility’s popularity had to do with their “permanence” compared to ordinary politi-cians who just “come and go”.
File picture shows Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje (C) being greeted by an official during an election rally
Battered solo yacht woman awaits rescue• Mountainous seas upended her yacht “DHL Starlight” early Thursday
• Chilean rescue authorities had diverted a Chinese container ship “Tian Fu” to pick up Goodall
AFP | Wellington, New Zealand
A British solo around-the-world sailor whose yacht was crippled in a
ferocious storm as she crossed the Pacific has stabilised her battered vessel and is await-ing rescue, race organisers said yesterday.
Susie Goodall was briefly knocked unconscious when mountainous seas upended her yacht “DHL Starlight” ear-ly Thursday, tearing off its mast and trashing much of her equip-ment. Goodall was attempting to navigate the southern Pacif-ic’s notorious Roaring Forties at the time as part of the Golden Globe Race.
The 29-year-old, the young-est competitor in the race and the only woman, sent frantic text messages to race organisers throughout her ordeal.
“Taking a hammering! Won-dering what on Earth I’m do-ing out here,” she texted as the storm hit.
When concerned organisers finally managed to contact her by satellite phone several hours later, she confirmed her boat had been dismasted but said the hull had not been breached.
“The boat is destroyed. I can’t make up a jury rig,” she said. “The only thing left is the hull and deck which remain intact.
“We were pitchpoled (rolled end over end) and I was thrown across the cabin and knocked out for a while.”
Race organisers said Chilean rescue authorities had diverted a Chinese container ship “Tian Fu” to pick up Goodall as she patched up her crippled vessel.
They said that while “beaten up and badly bruised” she was safe and had managed to bring flooding under control and get her engine going, giving her some manoeuvrability when the rescue ship arrives.
In text updates, Goodall said she endured “a looong night”.
“In need of a good cuppa tea! But sadly no cooker,” she mes-saged.
The Golden Globe Race in-volves a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe in yachts similar to those used in the first race 50 years ago, with no modern technolo-gy allowed except the commu-nications equipment.
Entrants set off from France on July 1 and are expected to finish in April next year.
British skipper Susie Goodall waves from the helm of her boat “DHL Starlight” as she leaves Les Sables d’Olonne Harbour on July 1, 2018
07SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
AFP | Kabul, Afghanistan
At t h e crack of d a w n in
Kabul, dozens of girls and women bounce along a path leading up a barren, rocky mountain on the edge of the Afghan capital, relishing every step of freedom.
The all-female Free to Run group hits the city’s trails and parks several times a week, braving disapproving looks, verbal abuse and even physical violence to enjoy the rare pleas-ure of exercising outdoors.
“When I run, I feel free,” says Zahra, 26, whose family name, like that of other female runners interviewed, has not been used for security reasons.
“I like to run because it moti-vates me, it gives me a meaning for living.”
But it is not easy.Running in public is some-
thing many in ultra-conserv-ative Afghanistan consider shameful for women, who are largely treated like second-class citizens.
It is not unusual for people to stare and hurl insults, says
Zahra, who began run-ning a year ago and
has already
completed two marathons and a half marathon.
“I just laugh at them,” she says dismissively.
The marathons take place in safer cities, such as Bamiyan or Mazar-i-Sharif.
For those in war-torn Kabul, where bombs and suicide at-tacks are frequent, training ses-sions start at daybreak -- even through the colder months when temperatures fall below zero and the air thickens with smoke from wood and coal stoves.
Minivans, whose male drivers double as chaperones for the team, collect the girls and wom-en from their homes and drive them to relatively safe running spots.
As the sun peeks over the mountains that surround Ka-bul, the runners -- wearing tracksuits and headscarves or stretchy bandanas over their hair -- begin their workout with the men in tow.
Running at their own pace, the girls and women smile and giggle even as their noses run and lungs burn from Kabul’s cold, dry and dusty air.
“I feel good when I’m run-ning,” says Marmar, 17, who has won three races and fin-
ished second twice in the two years she has been competing.
“My family wants me to be a professional (runner). I am proud of myself. So is my fam-ily.”
‘It changed my life’Free to Run started in 2014,
the brainchild of Canadian hu-man rights lawyer and ultrarun-ner Stephanie Case.
The non-profit organisation aims to empower girls and wom-en in conflict zones through sports like running, hiking, ski-ing, cycling and kayaking.
So far it has more than 380 members in Afghanistan.
Recruiting girls and women to the team is hard.
While the early-morning starts may deter some, the big-gest challenge is getting per-mission from families, says Kubra, Free to Run’s country programme manager.
“Families are worried about the security situation and won’t let their girls join the team,” she explains.
And many think it is not ap-propriate for girls to run, “espe-cially in an open place”.
For that reason, many of the runners are from the Hazara ethnic group, which is widely
considered to
be the most open and progres-sive in Afghanistan.
“I feel powerful when I run,” says Jamila, 18, whose family is “open-minded” and encourages her to exercise.
“Running gives me a good feeling, I forget all my stress.”
Around one-third of the team are serious runners, training for marathons and ultra-marathons in Afghanistan and abroad, in-cluding Mongolia and Sri Lanka.
Others turn up to training ses-sions when they can, appearing to enjoy catching up with their friends as much as the physical exercise.
As well as building fitness, Kubra says running has helped the girls and women manage anxiety and develop self-con-fidence.
On a recent hike in the moun-tains, they cheerfully walked or ran as they listened to music, sang, chatted and took selfies.
“It changed my life,” says Fa-tima, 26, who began running seven months ago after sensing “something was missing in my life”.
“I feel healthy,” she says.“I want to encourage (other
girls) to run. This is the easiest sport -- just run and feel free.”
Afghan members of the all-female Free to Run group hike during a training session at the Haje Nabi hilltop on the outskirts of Kabul.
As the sun peeks over the mountains that surround Kabul, the runners -- wearing tracksuits and headscarves or stretchy bandanas over their hair -- begin their workout with the men in tow.
‘I feel powerful’
Afghan members of the all-female Free to Run group hike during a training session
CNN offices evacuated after bomb threatNew York, United States
CNN’s New York offices were evacuated Thursday night
after a bomb threat, but no explosive was found and po-lice later gave the all clear, the network said.
The roughly 90 minute drama recalled a similar evacuation in October after an explosive device was dis-covered at CNN’s New York headquarters.
Fire alarm bells rang inside the newsroom to signal an evacuation shortly after 10:30 pm, CNN said on its website, as the network went to pre-taped programing.
An hour later the network was broadcasting from Skype.
“People just tuning in won-dering why you’re seeing me on Skype, why there’s such technical difficulties, it’s be-cause we have been taken off the air because a bomb threat was called in to CNN,” said host Don Lemon.
“We were evacuated and we know as much as you do.”
“Due to a police investiga-tion at Columbus Circle, West 58th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue is closed to vehi-cle and pedestrian traffic,” the New York Police Department tweeted, referring to the ad-dress of the news organiza-tion’s offices. “Please avoid this area. Update to follow.”
Around midnight, CNN said police had given the all clear for people to go back into the building.
The bureau was previously evacuated in October after a package with an explosive de-vice was discovered.
CNN was targeted amid a wave of pipe bombs sent to opponents of President Don-ald Trump.
A Florida man named Cesar Sayoc was arrested for alleg-edly sending them and was indicted on 30 federal counts. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Google moves to curb gender bias in translationWashington, United States
Google said Thursday it was tweaking its translation
application with the goal of reducing gender bias.
The move comes amid crit-icism that Google Translate often defaulted to masculine names when it converted text to another language.
“Over the course of this year, there’s been an effort across Google to promote fairness and reduce bias in machine learning,” product manager James Kuczmarski said in a blog post.
Up to now, the translate program provided only one translation for a query, often choosing the masculine word
for terms like “doctor,” and the feminine word for “nurse,” for example.
“Now you’ll get both a fem-inine and masculine transla-tion for a single word -- like ‘surgeon’ -- when translating from English into French, Ital-ian, Portuguese or Spanish,” he said.
Google said it was planning to extend gender-specific translations to more languag-es, “and address gender bias in features like query auto-com-plete.”
“And we’re already thinking about how to address non-bi-nary gender in translations, though it’s not part of this initial launch,” Kuczmarski added.
Bus carrying people with disabilities crashes in PolandWarsaw, Poland
A charter bus carrying peo-ple with disabilities in-
cluding children crashed in southwest Poland on Thurs-day, leaving one passenger dead and 20 others injured, rescue services said.
The bus was carrying 51 people when it overturned, landing on its side in a ditch near the town of Kazimierzow, local Polkowice county rescue services said on their Facebook
page. “One person is dead... the
total number of participants in the accident is 51... around 20 are injured including five in a serious condition,” rescue services said.
“Preliminary findings show that the driver lost control of the vehicle.”
The group had been on an excursion to a Christmas market in the southern city of Wroclaw, according to the Polish PAP news agency.
US sends flight over UkraineWashington, United States
A US Air Force observation plane flew over Ukraine
on Thursday in a mission to show US support for Kiev following Russia’s seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov, officials
said.The November 25 confron-
tation was the first open mil-itary incident between Kiev and Moscow since 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and a conflict erupt-ed in eastern Ukraine.
08 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
society
The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) has won the Silver award in the Regional Awards for the Middle East region at the Reimagine Education QS conference held in November at San Francisco, USA. Reimagine Education is an annual international competition rewarding innovative initiatives aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes and employability. AGU’s submitted project “Lucina – AR” was one of the 125 projects shortlisted for final rounds of judgement from over 1150 educational innovative projects submitted from all over the world. Lucina-AR project was presented at Reimagine Education 2018 by Dr. Rima Abdulrazzaq, Head of Physiology Department at AGU’s College of Medicine and Arpan Stephen, E - Learning Specialist at AGU
Al-Iman Secondary Boys School students during a tour to the Arabian Gulf University (AGU). They were briefed about the various activities taking place on campus. Students visited the autopsy museum at the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences and learnt about human anatomy, methods of diagnosis and treatment
‘Colour Splash’, the kindergarten Sports Day of the Indian School Bahrain saw over 1600 students presenting a colourful pageant of drill displays and track events at the Riffa campus. The event held last Saturday was inaugurated by Chief Guest Royal Charity Organization (RCO) Secretary-General Dr Mustafa Al Sayed. ISB Chairman Prince S Natarajan, Secretary Saji Antony, Vice Chairman Jayafar Maidani, Assistant Secretary Premalata NS, Member – Academics Mohammad Khursheed Alam, Member – Finance Adv. Binu Mannil Varughese, Member – Sports Rajesh MN, Member – Transport Saji George and Mohammad Nayaz Ullah, Principal V R Palaniswamy, Riffa Campus Principal Pamela Xavier and other community leaders attended the function. Above, scenes from the event
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) played host to its annual Alumni Reception at the University’s St. Stephen’s Green restaurant in its Busaiteen campus. Over 40 guests attended the University’s Alumni Dinner event, with cohorts of alumni from the very first graduating class of 2010, right up to the most recent – and biggest ever – class of 2018, in attendance. RCSI Bahrain’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Harrison-Mirfield, welcomed the guests and provided former students with an overview of the University updates. Above, scenes from the event
The Rotary club of Sulmaniya holding a lunch meeting to discuss the club’s strategy to win the Rotary district awards. Vice President Osama Muien is leading the initiative this year. The Rotary district consists of nine countries namely Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Armenia, Palestine and Bahrain
As part of its CSR activities for the year, Myna (Bahrain’s lowest sodium 5USG drinking water) organised a blood donation drive at the AMA Building Materials Sector offices in Askar. Above, scenes from the event
The Minister of Health Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh honouring Dr Tariq Al Shibani, Director of the Community Service, Consultancies, Training and Education Centre at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) and Dr Hamad Al Zayani, Public Health Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences of AGU in a special ceremony organised by the Capital Governorate marking the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognition of Umm Al Hassam as the first “Health City” in the Kingdom of Bahrain
09
society
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
Al-Iman Secondary Boys School students during a tour to the Arabian Gulf University (AGU). They were briefed about the various activities taking place on campus. Students visited the autopsy museum at the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences and learnt about human anatomy, methods of diagnosis and treatment
BKS Job cell and BKS Ladies Wing members during a seminar jointly conducted at BKS Baburaj Hall in Segaya. A presentation on the topic “How to earn and spend free time” was given by young lady entrepreneur Harsha Sreehari, CEO, Web Me S.P.C. The workshop organised by the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam at the society’s premises for Ladies focused on developing Self-skills
‘Colour Splash’, the kindergarten Sports Day of the Indian School Bahrain saw over 1600 students presenting a colourful pageant of drill displays and track events at the Riffa campus. The event held last Saturday was inaugurated by Chief Guest Royal Charity Organization (RCO) Secretary-General Dr Mustafa Al Sayed. ISB Chairman Prince S Natarajan, Secretary Saji Antony, Vice Chairman Jayafar Maidani, Assistant Secretary Premalata NS, Member – Academics Mohammad Khursheed Alam, Member – Finance Adv. Binu Mannil Varughese, Member – Sports Rajesh MN, Member – Transport Saji George and Mohammad Nayaz Ullah, Principal V R Palaniswamy, Riffa Campus Principal Pamela Xavier and other community leaders attended the function. Above, scenes from the event
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) played host to its annual Alumni Reception at the University’s St. Stephen’s Green restaurant in its Busaiteen campus. Over 40 guests attended the University’s Alumni Dinner event, with cohorts of alumni from the very first graduating class of 2010, right up to the most recent – and biggest ever – class of 2018, in attendance. RCSI Bahrain’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Harrison-Mirfield, welcomed the guests and provided former students with an overview of the University updates. Above, scenes from the event
The Rotary club of Sulmaniya holding a lunch meeting to discuss the club’s strategy to win the Rotary district awards. Vice President Osama Muien is leading the initiative this year. The Rotary district consists of nine countries namely Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Armenia, Palestine and Bahrain
Tharol CC, who beat SCCB in the finals of Juffair Cricket T20 cup, a tournament organised under Bahrain Tennis Ball Cricket(BTC), celebrate whih their medals. Nayif was the Man of the match while Praji was the Best Bowler of the tournament. Rafi was the Man of the Series while Prasant Kurup was the Most Valuable Player. Sooraj was the Best batsman and Sajin Best keeper of the tournament
KNOW WHAT
10
business
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
W House was aware of Huawei Meng’s arrest• Bolton said he did not know if Trump was also aware of the operation
• Bolton declined to discuss specifics over the arrest of Meng
AFP | Washington, United States
The White House said Thursday it knew in advance that Canada
planned to arrest an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei on the same day as a summit be-tween Washington and Beijing.
National security advisor John Bolton said he did not know if President Donald Trump was also aware of the operation to detain Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a US request as she was changing planes in Vancouver.
“I knew in advance. This is something that we get from the Justice Department,” Bolton told National Public Radio.
“And these kinds of things happen with some frequency. We certainly don’t inform the president on every one of them,” he said.
Trump held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping over dinner Saturday on the sidelines of a summit in Argen-tina in a long-awaited meeting aimed at resolving rising trade tensions.
Trump flew back to Washing-ton calling the meeting “amazing and productive,” with the Unit-
ed States agreeing to hold off on a new round of tariff hikes as the two sides open three months of trade negotiations.
The arrest has cast a shadow over the summit, with China demanding Meng’s release and saying she has not violated any laws.
Bolton declined to discuss specifics over the arrest of Meng, the daughter of Hua-wei founder Ren Zhengfei, saying it was a matter for law enforcement.
“But we’ve had enormous concerns for years,” Bolton said, “about the practice of Chinese firms to use stolen American in-tellectual property, to engage in forced technology transfers, and to be used as arms of the Chi-nese government’s objectives in terms of information technology in particular.”
Google launches AI-driven audio news feedSan Francisco, United States
Google said Thursday it was launching a ra-
dio-style, on-demand au-dio news feed available on smart speakers, personal-ized with the help of artifi-cial intelligence.
The technology giant said it had partnerships with more than a dozen news organizations to deliver an audio feed in the same manner as its smartphone news feed.
“This new experience will bring you an audio news playlist assembled in that moment, for you,” Goog-le product manager Liz Gannes said in a blog post. “It starts with a briefing of top stories and updates on topics you care about, and extends into longer-form content that dives deeper into more stories.”
Google Assistant, the AI program developed by the company, will manage the feed, allowing users to skip a story, go back or stop.
The project aims to transform audio news into a Netflix-like experience, available on demand with personalized recommen-dations.
Cuba finally rolls out mobile 3G, though too costly for mostHavana, Cuba
Cuba became one of the last countries in the world to get
3G mobile internet services on Thursday, though most citizens on the communist-run island won’t be able to afford it.
Cuba’s internet provider Etec-sa rolled out its 3G service from 8:00 am to answer pent-up de-mand, though initially only for clients with numbers beginning
with a 52 or 53 prefix. Others will have to cool their
heels for a few more days be-fore they can connect to the 21st Century.
At $30 dollars for 4 gigabytes per month -- an average monthly wage -- the convenience will be too costly for most.
The roll-out left Idalmist Mendoza a little frustrated on a Havana street.
“The prices are a little bit high. But well, maybe with time, if there are a lot of people signing up, prices will go down,” said the bureau de change employee.
According to government fig-ures, some 5.3 million people on the island use mobile phones, a little under half the population of 11.2 million.
Cubans have relied for years on WiFi zones in public parks
and squares. There, it’s com-mon to see hundreds of people talking, laughing and crying into their phone screens, keeping in touch with some of the two million Cubans in exile.
Etecsa’s home internet ser-vice, Nauta Hogar, only has 60,000 clients. Their connec-tions costs are often paid by fam-ily members aboard, as a means of keeping in touch.
Fiat Chrysler to open new plant in Detroit: reportWashington, United States
Fiat Chrysler will open a new car factory in De-
troit, adding up to 400 jobs to produce a popular SUV, according to a news report.
The company, which has been bucking the industry trend with strong sales, will retool an idle engine plant to serve as the first new auto assembly line to open in the Motor City in 27 years, The Detroit News reported.
The report said the facto-ry would turn out the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV for the 2021 model year, adding at least 100 and as many as 400 positions.
The news comes after General Motors announced plans to shutter several US plants -- including its De-troit-Hamtramck facility, which will close by June 1 -- due to waning demand.
Japan to ban govt use of Huawei, ZTE products : report Tokyo, Japan
Japan is to ban government use of telecoms products
made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE on concerns about cybersecurity, reports said yesterday.
The government plans to re-vise internal procurement rules to exclude products made by Huawei and ZTE as early as Monday, the mass circulation Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Jiji Press agency also reported the expected move.
The ban comes after a US re-quest to allies to avoid products made by the two companies over fears they contain viruses used for cyberattacks, the Yomiuri said, citing unnamed govern-ment sources.
Domestic products that use parts made by the two Chinese firms will also be excluded from government use, it said.
The Yomiuri said the govern-ment was not expected to name the companies directly, so as to avoid angering China.
Asked about the report, top
government spokesman Yoshi-hide Suga declined to comment.
China said it was “seriously concerned” about the reports, adding that Huawei and ZTE have been operating legally in Japan for a long time.
“We hope that Japan will provide a level playing field for Chinese companies to operate in Japan,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing.
“Do not do anything that would undermine mutual trust and cooperation.”
Arrest a ‘despicable rogue’ action, say Chinese mediaBeijing, China
Chinese state-run media yesterday condemned the
arrest in Canada of a top exec-utive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a “despicable rogue’s approach” to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions.
The arrest of Meng Wan-zhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, has angered the Chi-nese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world’s two biggest economies.
“The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal pro-cedures to suppress China’s high-tech enterprises,” said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial.
“Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue’s approach as it cannot stop Huawei’s 5G advance in the market,” it said.
The China Daily warned that “containing Huawei’s expan-sion is detrimental to China-US ties.” US authorities have not disclosed the charges she fac-es following a publication ban sought by Meng, but “one thing that is undoubtedly true and
proven is the US is trying to do whatever it can to contain Hua-wei’s expansion in the world simply because the company is the point man for China’s competitive technology com-panies,” the daily said.
Australia, New Zealand and Britain have followed suit this year by rejecting some of the company’s services over secu-rity concerns.
Huawei agrees to UK security demands: report
Huawei has agreed to British intelligence demands over its equipment and software as it seeks to be part of the coun-try’s 5G network plans, the FT reported yesterday.
Huawei executives met sen-ior officials from Britain’s Na-tional Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), where they accepted a range of technical require-ments. The NCSC said in a state-ment that it was “committed to the security of UK networks, and we have a regular dialogue with Huawei about the criteria expected of their products.
“The NCSC has concerns around a range of technical issues and has set out im-provements the company must make,” it said.
An illustration shows a journalist reading a news page about tech giant Huawei in The Globe and Mail in Montreal, Canada
Huawei is one of the world’s largest
telecommunications equipment and ser-vices providers. Its
products are used by carriers around the world, including in Europe and Africa.
A Huawei logo in a shop in Shanghai
A woman uses her mobile phone to connect to internet in Havana
11SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
The Nile is shrinking. The water doesn’t reach us anymore. We’ve been forced
to tap into the groundwater and
we’ve stopped growing rice
TALAAT AL-SISI
A FARMER WHO HAS GROWN WHEAT, CORN AND OTHER CROPS FOR 30 YEARS IN THE SOUTHERN DELTA GOVERNORATE
OF MENOUFIA
Nile delta shrinking!Egypt’s Nile Delta, the country’s agricultural heartland and its vital freshwater resources, is threatened by climate change
AFP | Kafr al-Dawar, Egypt
Lush green fields blanket northern Egypt’s Nile Delta, but the country’s
agricultural heartland and its vital freshwater resources are under threat from a warming climate.
The fertile arc-shaped basin is home to nearly half the coun-try’s population, and the river that feeds it provides Egypt with 90 per cent of its water needs.
But climbing temperatures and drought are drying up the mighty Nile -- a problem com-pounded by rising seas and soil salinization, experts and farm-ers say.
Combined, they could jeop-ardise crops in the Arab world’s most populous country, where the food needs of its 98 million residents are only expected to increase. “The Nile is shrink-ing. The water doesn’t reach us anymore,” says Talaat al-Sisi, a farmer who has grown wheat, corn and other crops for 30 years in the southern Delta governo-rate of Menoufia.
“We’ve been forced to tap into the groundwater and we’ve stopped growing rice,” a cereal known for its greedy water con-sumption, he adds.
By 2050, the region could lose up to 15 percent of its key agri-cultural land due to salinization, according to a 2016 study pub-lished by Egyptian economists.
The yield of tomato crops could drop by 50 percent,
the study said, with staple cere-als like wheat and rice falling 18 and 11 percent respectively.
‘Innovation’In Kafr al-Dawar in the del-
ta’s north, Egypt’s irrigation ministry and the United Nations are working on eco-friendly tech-niques like so-lar-powered watering that e x p e r t s say emit l e s s
greenhouse gases and could help improve crop yields.
On site, two farmers wear-ing traditional galabiya gowns show off shiny new solar panels framed by row after row of corn, barley and wheat.
Sayed Soliman, eyes bright and cane in hand, runs a group of about 100 farmers who work a plot of more than 100 hectares (around 250 acres).
The seasoned farmer is de-lighted. He can now power the pumps that water his field without relying on Egypt’s faulty electricity grid and expensive fossil fuels like diesel that are responsible for climate change.
Diesel-powered generators are now only used “when nec-essary”, he says, such as after sunset.
After his success, a neighbour-ing village is also switching to solar-powered irrigation.
“One of the pri-orities is inno-vation... so
that Egypt can make the most of its water,” says Hussein Gadain, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representa-tive in Egypt.
“The delta plays an impor-tant role in the country’s food security.”
Ibrahim Mahmoud, head of the irrigation ministry’s devel-opment projects, said plans were in place to modernise watering systems across the country by 2050.
The strategy, he says, is in-tended to improve farmers’ “en-vironmental conditions, stand-ards of living and productivity”.
‘Life or death’But in a country in the tight
grip of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Nile Delta and its resources remain an ultra-sensi-tive topic.
In front of officials, farm-ers stuck to well-worn talking points about the delta’s bounty but politely skirted questions on water scarcity.
Sisi has made the Nile’s water a “life or death issue” for Egypt, particularly in the framework of negotiations with neighbouring Sudan, as well as Ethiopia.
Cairo fears Addis Ababa’s con-troversial Grand Renaissance Dam will bring consequences downstream.
For water management con-sultant Dalia Gouda, Egypt cur-rently has two priorities when it comes to combatting its wa-ter scarcity dilemma: tackling overpopulation and defending the country’s interests against Ethiopia’s dam.
“There are many interesting projects under way to improve water efficiency,” says Gouda.
“Although they are not nec-essarily designed to combat the effects of climate change, they
can only prepare the au-thorities to deal with
them.”
A farmer uses his horse for transportation and load lifting in Kafr al-Dawar village in northern Egypt’s Nile Delta
Farmers observe water pumping in Kafr al-Dawar village in northern Egypt’s Nile Delta
A picture shows a water basin used for field watering in Kafr al-Dawar village in northern Egypt’s Nile Delta
The fertile arc-shaped basin is home to nearly half the country’s population, and the river that feeds it provides Egypt with 90 percent of its water needs.
12SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
Unless we act, we risk waking up five years from now to find that
facial recognition services have
spread in ways that exacerbate societal issues. By that time,
these challenges will be much more difficult to bottle
back up
BRAD SMITH
MICROSOFT PRESIDENT
Microsoft unveils facial recognition principles, urges new lawsWashington, United States
Microsoft said Thursday it was adopting a set of prin-
ciples for deployment of facial recognition technology, calling on industry rivals to follow suit and for new laws to avert a dys-topian future.
Microsoft president Brad Smith made the announce-ment at a Brookings Institution speech and an accompanying blog post, saying it was urgent to begin placing limits on facial recognition to avoid the surveil-lance state described in George Orwell’s “1984.”
“We must ensure that the year 2024 doesn’t look like a page from the novel ‘1984,’” Smith said.
“An indispensable democrat-ic principle has always been
the tenet that no government is above the law. Today this re-
quires that we ensure that gov-ernmental use of facial recogni-
tion technology remain subject to the rule of law. New legisla-tion can put us on this path.”
Earlier this year, Microsoft said it saw a need for some kind of regulation of facial recognition, and on Thurs-day Smith outlined princi-ples that the company sees as important.
Smith said the tech firm will press for legislation to be passed as early as 2019 that would re-quire transparency, human re-view and privacy safeguards for any deployment of facial recog-nition.
He said Microsoft would begin adopting these principles itself, while urging other tech firms to do the same.
“This is a global issue and the industry needs to address these
issues head on,” he said.Smith said an important ele-
ment would be to require “mean-ingful human review” when fa-cial recognition algorithms are used to make key decisions that can affect a person’s privacy, hu-man rights or freedom, and to safeguard against discrimination or bias.
Additionally, he said new laws should set limits on police use of facial recognition, so it may be used only with a court order or in the case of an imminent threat.
“We believe it’s important for governments in 2019 to start adopting laws to regulate this technology,” he said.
“The facial recognition ge-nie, so to speak, is just emerging from the bottle.
Nissan to recall 150,000 cars due to improper checksTokyo, Japan
Nissan yesterday an-nounced plans to re-
call approximately 150,000 vehicles owing to improper tests on new units, dealing a fresh blow to the Japa-nese car giant following the shock arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.
“Nissan has recently found several non-conform-ities that may have caused inaccurate pass/fail judge-ments during the inspec-tion process,” the company said in a statement, adding it would “promptly” recall as many as 150,000 units in Japan.
It confirmed that improp-er tests were carried out on brakes, speedometers and other systems before ship-ment at its domestic assem-bly plant.
Nissan plans to notify authorities of the recall on Thursday, it added.
In a separate case that erupted in July, Nissan admitted data on exhaust emissions and fuel economy had been deliberately “al-tered”, hampering its efforts to recover trust after the inspection scandal.
Trump administration’s fuel efficiency rollback ‘deeply flawed’, says new study• Economists argued that actually, the only way fleet size would shrink is if more stringent standards were implemented
Washington, United States
The Trump administration’s move earlier this year to roll
back fuel efficiency standards was based on a “deeply flawed” analysis that went against evi-dence and basic economic the-ory, US scientists said Thursday.
In August, the Environmental Protection Agency and Nation-al Highway Traffic Safety Ad-ministration proposed relaxing the tough standards favored by former president Barack Oba-
ma, saying they “are no longer appropriate and reasonable” beyond 2020.
The Trump administration said less strict efficiency stand-ards -- freezing standards at model year 2020 levels through 2025 -- would have a “negligea-ble” effect on air quality.
Meanwhile, they argued that the Obama-era mandate to dou-ble fuel efficiency between 2012 and 2025 would add $2,340 to the cost of owning a new car, thereby forcing more people to drive older cars and risk dying in traffic accidents.
“If adopted, the proposed rule’s preferred alternative would save more than $500 bil-lion in societal costs and reduce highway fatalities by 12,700 lives,” said the NHTSA.
But when Antonio Bento, a professor of public policy and
economics at the University of Southern California and col-leagues examined that logic, they found several holes.
“It appears federal officials cherry-picked data to support a predetermined conclusion that the clean-car standards will lead to too many highway deaths,” said Bento, lead author of the study published in the journal Science.
“We do not support that con-clusion and the data does not support that conclusion.”
The Trump administration’s analysis “mistakenly concludes that relaxation of the rule will shrink the vehicle fleet by six million cars by 2029, which greatly skews the bottom line,” said the report.
The revision “is simply in-consistent with basic economic theory,” the study said.
Microsoft president Brad Smith speaks on the centre stage at the 2018 edition of the annual Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon. Microsoft
World ‘off course’ to curb warmingGraphic News
Global carbon emissions will jump to a record
high in 2018, dashing hopes a plateau seen in recent years would be maintained. Emis-sions’ growth in China, India and the US is largely to blame.
CO2 missions are estimat-ed to have risen 2.7 per cent from 2017 to 2018, accord-ing to three studies released Wednesday from the Global Carbon Project, an interna-tional scientific collaboration of academics, governments and industry that tracks green-house gas emissions. The cal-culations, announced during negotiations to put the 2015 Paris climate accord into ef-fect, puts some of the land-mark agreement’s goals nearly out of reach, scientists said.
The studies concluded that this year the world would spew 37.1 billion tonnes of car-bon dioxide, up from last year. The margin of error is about one percentage point on ei-ther side.
T h e G l o b a l C a r b o n
Project uses government and industry reports to come up with final emission figures for 2017 and projections for 2018 based on the four biggest polluters: China, the United States, India and the European Union.
The US, which had been steadily decreasing its carbon pollution, showed a signifi-cant rise in emissions — up 2.5pc — for the first time since 2013. China, the globe’s biggest carbon emitter, saw its largest increase since 2011: 4.6pc.
For the US, it was a combi-nation of a hot summer and cold winter that required more electricity use for heat-ing and cooling. For China, it was an economic stimulus that pushed coal-powered manu-facturing.
Scientists say global emis-sions must start to fall by 2020 if the world is to meet the temperature goals of the Paris agreement.
CO2 emissions set to hit record highGlobal carbon emissions will jump to a record high in 2018, dashing
hopes a plateau seen in recent years would be maintained.Emissions’ growth in China, India and the U.S. is largely to blame
Source: Global Carbon Project © GRAPHIC NEWS
Global CO2 emissions in 2018: 37.1 billion tonnes Rise of 2.7%
China10.3
4.7%
EU283.5
-0.7%
U.S.5.4
2.5%
India: 2.6 6.3%
Rest ofworld15.3
1.8%
China: Coal consumptionexpected to rise 4.5%in 2018 with naturalgas consumptionsurging 18% U.S.: Surge in emissions mainly due to
weather – unusually cold winter andwarm summer
Europe: Set to reduce emissions by 0.7%,compared with 1.4% growth in 2017
India: Emissions set to rise by 6.3% due toincreased demand for coal, gas and oil
40
35
30
25
2000 2005 2010 2015 2018
2018: On track to rise2.7% above 2017 levelsto record high of37.1 billion tonnes
GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS(billion tonnes)
GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS(billion tonnes)
Scientists say global emissions muststart to fall by 2020 if world is to meettemperature goals of Paris agreement
Scientists say global emissions muststart to fall by 2020 if world is to meettemperature goals of Paris agreement
2008-17: Increaseof 1.5% per year
Opec agrees 1.2m bpd oil output cutAFP | Vienna, Austria
OPEC and partner countries includ-ing Russia agreed
yesterday to cut oil out-put by a combined 1.2 million barrels a day in the hope of boosting prices, Iraq’s oil minis-ter said.
“We’ll cut 1.2 million bpd total,” Thamer Ab-bas al-Ghadhban told reporters after a meet-ing in Vienna.
He said the amount -- equivalent to just over one percent of global production -- would comprise an 800,000 bpd reduction by the 14 members of OPEC and 400,000 by non-cartel partners, including Russia.
The cut will be based on October output and will be subject to re-view in April, said a
spokesman for the Vi-enna meeting, Tafal al-Nasr.
OPEC and its part-ners, which together account for around half of global output, say a glut in the market has led to oil prices falling by more than 30 per-cent in two months.
The price of Brent, the European bench-mark, surged five per-cent yesterday after reports emerged that
OPEC and its non-mem-b e r p a r t n e r s h a d agreed to cuts.
B l o o m b e r g n e w s agency reported that producers had together agreed to cut output by a combined 1.2 million barrels per day.
E m i r a t i E n e r g y Minister Suhail Mo-hamed al-Mazrouei, speaking at the start of the meeting at OPEC headquarters in Vien-na, said that the or-
ganisation’s member countries had a “final draft” to discuss with non-members, indicat-ing that members had made progress since a meeting on Thurs-day broke up without agreement.
Also speaking at the start of the meeting between OPEC and partner countries, Rus-sian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said he was “confident that our resolve to achieve results is as strong as ever”.
“It is important to send a strong mes-sage to the market to act with resolve”, he added. Novak held bi-lateral meetings with several counterparts, including Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh before the full meeting.
President of the OPEC conference UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei
13 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
MORTAL ENGINES (PG-13) (ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILL-ER) NEW
HUGO WEAVING, HERA HILMAR, ROBERT SHEEHAN
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (ATMOS): 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM DAILY AT (VIP): 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT (IMAX 2D): 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM DAILY AT: (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)DAILY AT (ATMOS): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MNDAILY AT (VIP I): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + (11.00 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM
THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH
GRACE (18+) (THRILLER/HORROR) NEW
SHAY MITCHELL, STANA KATIC, LOUIS HERTHUM
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 12.15 + 4.45 + 9.15 + 11.15 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)SAAR DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + (11.30 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + 11.30 PM
GREEN BOOK (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW
VIGGO MORTENSEN, MAHERSHALA ALI, LINDA CARDELLINI
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 6.00 + 11.00 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 3.15 + 8.30 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 5.00 + 10.30 PM
BEN IS BACK (15+) (DRAMA) NEW
JULIA ROBERTS, LUCAS HEDGES, COURTNEY B. VANCE
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 9.00 + (11.15 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.00 + 4.45 + 9.30 PM
KEDARNATH (PG-15) (HINDI/DRAMA/ROMANTIC) NEW
SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT, SARA ALI KHAN, NITISH BHARADWAJ
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 4.00 + 8.45 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM
FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (15+) (DOCUMENTARY) NEW
DAVIUD HOGG, MICHAEL MOORE, ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 3.15 + 8.15 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 1.00 + 5.15 + 9.30 PM
WHITNEY (15+) (DOCUMENTARY/MUSICAL/BIOG-RAPHY) NEW
WHITNEY HOUSTON, BOBBY BROWN, CISSY HOUSTON
DAILY AT: 12.45 + 5.45 + 10.45 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM
CATS (G) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) NEW
LI YUFENG, YANG WEI, ZHOU HUAIJAN, ZHANG WEI
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 10.30 AM + 12.15 + 2.00 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 +
3.30 PM
ROBOT 2.0 (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER/SCI-FICTION/DRAMA)
RAJINIKANTH, AKSHAY KUMAR, AMY JACKSON
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (HINDI): 11.30 AM + 5.00 + 10.30 PM DAILY AT (3D) (TAMIL): 10.30 AM + 1.15 + 4.15 + 7.15 + 10.15 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT (3D) (HINDI): 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMDAILY AT (3D) (TAMIL): 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT (3D) (HINDI): 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMDAILY AT (3D) (TAMIL): 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT (HINDI): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 4.00 + 7.00 + 10.00 PMDAILY AT (TAMIL): 10.30 AM + 4.30 + 10.30 PM DAILY AT (TELGU): 1.30 + 7.30 PMAL HAMRA DAILY AT (TELGU): 12.00 + 3.00 PM DAILY AT (TAMIL): 6.00 + 9.00 PM + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT (3D) (HINDI): 2.00 + 7.30 + 11.00 PM
CREED II (PG-13) (DRAMA/ACTION/SPORT)
TESSA THOMPSON, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, SYLVESTER STALLONE
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MNSAAR DAILY AT: 12.30 + 5.45 + (11.00 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COM-EDY)
JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOT
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 PM
ROBIN HOOD (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE)
TARON EGERTON, EVE HEWSON, JAMIE FOXX
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 2.30 + 8.00 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MN
INSTANT FAMILY (PG-15) (COMEDY)
MARK WAHLBERG, ROSE BYRNER, OCTAVIA SPENCER
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 3.30 + 8.30 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MNDAILY AT (VIP II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 1.30 + 6.30 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 2.15 + 7.00 + 11.45 PM
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (15+) (MUSICAL/DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY)
RAMI MALEK, LUCY BOYNTON, GWILYM LEE
OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 2.15 + 6.45 PM
JOHNNY ENGLISH
STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE)
ROWAN ATKINSON, OLGA KURYLENKO, EMMA THOMPSON
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 3.15 + 7.15 + 11.15 PM
HUNTER KILLER (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER)
GERARD BUTLER, GARY OLDMAN, COMMON
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM
WIDOWS (15+) (CRIME/THRILLER/DRAMA)
VIOLA DAVIS, MICHELLE RODRIGUZ, ELIZABETH DEBICKI
DAILY AT: 2.00 + 6.45 + 11.30 PM
16-FANTASTIC BEASTS:
THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD (PG-13) (ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY)
EDDIE REDMAYNE, KATHERINE WATERSTON, DAN FOGLER
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM
VENOM (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE)
TOM HARDY, MICHELLE WILLIAMS, RIZ AHMED
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 4.30 + 9.15 PM
NIGHT SCHOOL (PG-15) (COMEDY)
KEVIN HART, TIFFANY HADDISH, ROB RIGGLE
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.15 + 4.30 + 8.45 PM
EL BADLAH (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY)
TAMER HOSNY, AKRAM HOSNI, MAJED EL MASRY, AMINA KHALIL
CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 2.30 + 6.45 + 11.00 PM
COLETTE (18+) (CRIME/THRILLER/DRAMA) NEW
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, ELEANOR TOMLISON, DOMINIC WEST
SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 2.00 + 6.45 + 11.30 PM
BERNIE THE DOLPHIN (PG) (ADVENTURE/FAMILY) NEW
LOLA SULTAN, LOGAN ALLEN
SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.15+3.15 + 5.15 PM
WEDY ATKALAM (PG) (ARABIC/KUWAITI/COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW
KHALID AL-BURAIKI, LAILA ABDULLAH, JASIM AL- NABHAN
SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 3.30 + 7.45 PM + 12.00 MN
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY)
JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOT
SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 +6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM
THE GRINCH (G) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY)
ANGELA LANSBURY, BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, RASHIDA JONES
SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 1.15 + 5.15 + 9.15 PM
THE POSSESSION OF
HANNAH GRACE (18+) (THRILLER/HORROR) NEW
SHAY MITCHELL, STANA KATIC, LOUIS HERTHUM
SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)
KEDARNATH (PG-15) (HINDI/DRAMA/ROMANTIC) NEW
SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT, SARA ALI KHAN, NITISH BHARADWAJ
SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM
AANAKALLAN (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW
BIJU MENON, SIDDIQUE, SURAJ VENJARAMOODU
SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 3.00 + 8.45 PM
EVANUKKU ENGEYO MATCHAM IRUKKU (15+) (TAMIL) NEW
MIYA RAI, VIMAL, ASHNA ZAVERI
SEEF (I) STARTING FROM FRIDAY 7TH: 12.15 + 6.00 + 11.45 PM
‘Vice’ leads Golden Globe nominationsAFP | Los Angeles
“Vice,” a biopic about Dick Cheney starring Chris-tian Bale as the former
US vice president, on Thursday earned the most Golden Globe nominations with six including best comedy film, as the race to the Oscars ramps up.
The nominations, announced in the pre-dawn hours in California, are the first major bellwether of momentum going into the Acad-emy Awards, which take place in February.
“Vice” -- which only opens in US theaters on Christmas Day -- bucked some predictions, earning one more nod than popular music romance reboot “A Star Is Born,” but both are now well placed for Tinseltown awards glory.
“I did not know which way ‘Vice’ would land... But I think it just got a major push for the Oscar race,” wrote Sasha Stone, the founder of specialized industry website
Awards Daily.Tied with “Star” -- a
hit both with critics and at the box office, star-ring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper -- at five nomina-tions were bawdy royal tale “The Favourite” and offbeat civil rights dramedy “Green Book.”
Right behind them were Spike L e e ’ s “ B l a c K -kKlansman,” the true story of a black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white part-ner, and hotly-anticipat-ed Disney sequel “Mary Poppins Returns.”
Beyond its best come-dy film nod, “Vice” -- a searing look at George W. Bush’s powerful
vice president -- picked up a trio of acting nominations for a nearly unrecognizable Bale, co-star Amy Adams as Cheney’s wife Lynne
and Sam Rockwell as Bush.Filmmaker Adam McKay
picked up a pair of nomina-tions for best director and screenplay.
Also winning double nom-inations were Cooper -- for acting and directing in “Star” -- and Lady Gaga, for acting and best original song (“Shal-low”).
But co-star Sam Elliott, who plays the brother of
Cooper’s aging rocker, was no-tably snubbed.
Vying with “Star” for best dra-ma film are “BlacKkKlansman,” Marvel blockbuster “Black Pan-ther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and black love story “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
This year has been one of the best of my career: Grande IANS | Los Angeles
Singer Ariana Grande says this year has been one of the best
of her career and the worst in her life
The “No Tears Left to Cry” singer, 25, was honoured at Thurs-day night’s Billboard’s Wo m e n i n M u s i c event, where she was presented with the prestigious Woman of the Year award, re-ports people.com.
During her accept-ance speech, Grande struggled to hold back tears as she t o u c h e d u p o n
her very tumultuous year, which included the death of her ex-boy-friend Mac Miller and her failed whirlwind romance with Pete Davidson.
“I want to say that I find it interesting that this has been one of the best years of my career and the worst of my life,” she said.
Added the singer, “I’m not saying that for sym-pathy, I’m just saying that because I think a lot of people would look
at someone in my position right now and think, ‘She’s really got her s- together,’ Ya know? Like, ‘She’s really on
it.’ Like, ‘She’s got it all.’ “
Jada Pinkett Smith resented her fatherIANS | Los Angeles
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has opened up about the
“resentment” she had for her drug addict father when she was growing up.
Speaking with her half-broth-er, Caleeb Pinkett, and her “Red Table Talk” co-stars, her daugh-ter Willow and mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones, Smith said: “We had a lot of resentment.
“We had that feeling like we had to be responsible for him (father), but he never had to be responsible for us, and that was a hard pill for me to swallow. He told me at seven, ‘I can’t be your father. I’m a criminal, I’m an addict and that’s just what it is.’”
Kevin Hart quits as Oscars host Reuters | Los Angeles
Comedian Kevin Hart stepped down on Thursday from hosting the 2019 Oscar ceremony after
“insensitive words” about gays he tweeted in the past resurfaced online.
The 39-year-old comedian and “Ride Along” actor had announced on Tuesday that he would host the Academy Awards, the film industry’s highest honors.
“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s ... this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” Hart said in a tweet late on Thursday.
“I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,” he tweeted.
In one of the old tweets, Hart described an actor’s picture as a “gay billboard for AIDS”. In another he said if his son were playing with a doll’s house, he would break it over his head and tell him to stop being gay.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc-es, which organizes the Oscars, was not immediately available for comment.
Chad Griffin, the president of the Washington DC-
based LGBTQ advocacy group, The Human Rights Campaign, responded to Hart on Twitter late Thursday.
“You have a rare opportuni-ty to take responsibility, teach people in this moment, & send a message to LBGTQ youth that they matter & deserve dignity & respect,” Griffin wrote.
Hart, who also starred in the 2017 film “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”, would have followed talk show host Jim-my Kimmel who hosted the Oscars in 2018 and 2017.
Hart, writing on his Insta-gram page this week, called the gig “the opportunity of a lifetime”.
“I am so happy to say that the day has finally come for me to host the Oscars,” he said.
Christian Bale
Ariana Grande
Kevin Hart
iGA manages radiocommunication systems at Bahrain GT FestivalTDT | Manama
The Information & eGovern-ment Authority (iGA) - pre-
sented by the Wireless Licens-ing, Frequency & Monitoring Directorate – took part at the Bapco Bahrain GT Festival 2018 organized by the Bahrain In-ternational Circuit from 30th November to 1st December. Its participation included manag-ing systems, providing and pro-
tecting frequencies from harm-ful interferences.
In this regard; iGA Wireless Licensing, Frequency & Mon-itoring Director Hassan Mo-hamed Hassan stated that the Authority – in line with its ef-forts toward government inte-gration– prepared a technical team fully equipped with the most up-to-date monitoring devices in order to provide the required support in the circuit
before and during the event. He also highlighted the significant
technical impact of the frequen-cy spectrum on the event activi-ties’ systems.
The Director further added that all resources have been provided to make a successful event as the team received 29 requests for radiocommunica-tion systems, licensed 300 radi-ocommunication devices, dedi-cated around 110 frequencies in a range of spectrums and solved two harmful interferences.
Brave CF announces weigh-in results ahead of Brave 19TDT | Manama
Brave Combat Federation has concluded the official
weigh-ins for the pilot edition of the event in South Africa. Brave 19 will be held on 8th December at the Sun City Resort in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa. The official weigh-ins were held in the venue.
Arnold Quero missed the weight and was replaced by Dansheel Moodley. Moodley stepped in just two days ahead of the fight night. All the re-maining fighters made the weight and qualified to com-pete in the first global initiative for Mixed Martial Arts in South Africa.
The main event will feature Adam Townsend competing for the first time in Brave Combat Federation against Mark Hulme who will also be making his pro-motional debut.
The co-main event will show-
case a bantamweight bout be-tween Frans Mlambo and Dan-sheel Moodley. The fight card also features major bouts that are crucial for the welterweight division as Paweł Kiełek will face David Bear and Dino Bag-
attin will face Carl Booth.The fight night will make his-
tory with the highest broadcast coverage for an MMA event held in South Africa. .
Kiwis seal Test seriesWill Somerville’s trio of wickets secured New Zealand’s first away series win against Pakistan after 49 years
• Kiwis complete historic victory with 123-run win over Pakistan
AFP | Abu Dhabi
Debutant Will Somerville grabbed three key wick-ets to guide New Zealand
to their first away series win over Pakistan in 49 years with a crushing 123-run win in the third and final Test yesterday.
The off-spinner took 3-52 and was aided by fellow spinner Ajaz Patel’s 3-42 as Pakistan came up well short after being set a daunting 280-run target in 79 overs.
They crumbled to 156 in 56.1 overs on a weary pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The victory gave Kiwis a 2-1 series win after they had taken the first Test by a narrow four-run margin at the same venue. Pakistan bounced back with an innings and 16-run win in the second Test in Dubai.
New Zealand’s last away se-ries win against Pakistan was a 1-0 victory in matches played in Pakistan in 1969.
Captain Kane Williamson, whose 139-run innings turned the match and the series in his side’s favour, said: “It was fan-tastic. Beating Pakistan in their backyard is very tough.
“It feels pretty special, and this will be one that the guys
remember for a long time. “We know the game can ebb
and flow very quickly but we came out and played very well today.”
It was New Zealand’s fifth Test series win in their last six played since November 2016. They beat Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies and England -- all at home -- with the single loss came against South Africa.
Somerville, who took 4-75 in the first innings to fin-ish with seven wickets in the match, broke a stubborn 43-run sixth-wicket stand between top scorer Babar Azam (51) and skip-per Sarfraz Ahmed, who made 28.
Patel ended Azam’s 114-ball resistance before getting the last wicket when he dismissed Hasan Ali for four, sparking cel-ebrations among the New Zea-land players.
Pakistan were again let down by sloppy batting and Sarfraz rued missed opportunities.
“We had our chances in all three Tests but we could not grab them,” he said.
“It’s very disappointing to lose a series in conditions which are our own.”
Pakistan were off to a disas-trous start when Mohammad Hafeez, in his last innings be-fore he retires from Test cricket, was bowled by fast bowler Tim
Southee for eight.
Match-turning innings Medium pacer Colin de
Grandhomme had first-innings centurion Azhar Ali caught be-hind for five before Somerville’s double strike pushed Pakistan to 55-5 at lunch.
Somerville had Haris Sohail caught off a tentative push in the slip with his third ball of the first over for nine and next ball had first innings centurion Asad Shafiq caught behind off the glove.
In the last over before lunch Imam-ul-Haq, watching four wickets fell at the other end, gave an easy catch to forward
short-leg off Patel for 22.Earlier, New Zealand declared
their second innings on 353-7 after some 45 minutes of batting with Henry Nicholls remaining unbeaten on 126 and Williamson dismissed at his overnight score of 139.
That 212-run stand between Williamson which brought New Zealand back into the game on Thursday, was finally broken with the very first ball of the day.
Medium pacer Hasan Ali trapped Williamson leg before and even a review did not pro-long the New Zealand skipper’s innings.
But his 283-ball knock, con-taining 13 boundaries, turned the match.
Nicholls took a sharp single to complete his third Test hundred and finished with 12 hits to the ropes during his 266-ball knock.
De Grandhomme struck two
boundaries and two sixes as New Zealand added 81 runs in 45 minutes, ensuring they set up a daunting target for Pakistan.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah fin-ished with 4-129 and debutant paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi took 2-85.
KNOW WHAT
KNOW WHAT
New Zealand’s last away series win against Pakistan was a 1-0 victory in match-
es played in Pakistan in 1969
The fight night will make history with the highest
broadcast coverage for an MMA event held in South
Africa
Players of New Zealand celebrates the wicket of Asad Shafiq of Pakistan
14
sports
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
300radiocommunication devices were licensed by the Directorate for
the event
Main card
Adam Townsend (77.4 Kg) vs. Mark Hulme (76.9 Kg)Frans Mlambo (64.6 Kg) vs. Dansheel Moodley (65.9 Kg)
Paweł Kiełek (77.4 Kg) vs. David Bear (77.3 Kg)Dino Bagattin (77.2 Kg) vs. Carl Booth (76.8 Kg)
Under card
Abdul Hussein (57.1 Kg) vs. Sylvester Chipfumbu (57.1 Kg) Gareth Buirski (65.3) vs. Cedric Doyle (65.9 Kg)
Dimitri Fogg (82.5 Kg) vs. Carlos Graca (83.5 Kg) Nkosi Ndebele (66.0 Kg) vs. Ahmed Faress (66.0 Kg)
Hanru Botha (69.7 Kg) vs. Alex Martinez (70.1 Kg)
at Seef District too
Um al Hassan +973 17728699 Seef District +973 17364999
Wembley ‘best place’ for football, says Spurs boss PochettinoAFP | London
Mauricio Pochettino says Wembley is the “best
place in the world” to play football despite the frustra-tions of Tottenham’s long wait to move into their new sta-dium.
Spurs full-back Danny Rose this week voiced his frustra-tion at the club’s extended ten-ure at the national stadium and many Tottenham fans seem to agree, with just over 33,000, rather than the permitted ca-pacity 51,000, turning up to watch the midweek win over Southampton.
B u t Po c h e t t i n o , w h o
played at the old Wembley for Argentina in 2000, has launched a passionate de-fence of the club’s temporary home.
“If you ask me, I am so, so happy to play at Wembley,” he said. “I was born in Argenti-na. When I heard about Eng-land for the first time it was with all the problems in the Falklands.
“Then when I arrived in Europe, when I played in the World Cup against England, when we arrived in Southamp-ton six years ago, of course I changed completely my mind in the way I saw and now see this country.”
New Zealand 1st innings 274 (K. Williamson 89, BJ Watling 77 not out; Bilal Asif 5-65, Yasir Shah 3-75)Pakistan 1st innings 348 (Azhar Ali 134, Asad Shafiq 104; W. Somerville 4-75)New Zealand 2nd innings (overnight 272-4)J. Raval lbw b Shaheen 0T. Latham c Sohail b Yasir 10K. Williamson lbw b Hasan 139W. Somerville lbw b Yasir 4R. Taylor c Asif b Shaheen 22H. Nicholls not out 126 C. de Grandhomme c Asif b Yasir 26BJ Watling b Yasir 0T. Southee not out 15Extras: (b9, lb 1, nb 1) 11 Total: (for 7 wkts dec; 113 overs) 353 Pakistan 2nd inningsImam-ul-Haq c Nicholls b Patel 22 Mohammad Hafeez b Southee 8Azhar Ali c Watling b Grandhomme 5Haris Sohail c Taylor b Somerville 9Asad Shafiq c Watling b Somerville 0Babar Azam c Southee b Patel 51Sarfraz Ahmed b Somrville 28Bilal Asif c Watling b Southee 12Yasir Shah c Patel b Southee 4Hasan Ali c Williamson b Patel 4Shaheen Shah Afridi not out 2Extras (b 4, lb 6, nb 1) 11Total: ( all out; 56.1 overs) 156 Result: New Zealand won by 123 runs
Maurizio Sarri admits he expected challenges at ChelseaAFP | London
Maurizio Sarri said he knew he would face challenges
at Chelsea despite a bright start to the season as he prepares his team to face Premier League leaders Manchester City today.
Chelsea were unbeaten in their first 12 Premier League games but lost 2-1 at Wolves on Wednesday -- their second defeat in their past three league games.
Those dropped points have left them in fourth place, 10 points adrift of leaders City af-ter 15 games.
“I knew very well that sooner or later we have to face diffi-culties,” Sarri said yesterday. “When you change the way of playing, way of football, you need to change the mentality.
“You need to change men-tality in 25 minds, so it’s not a short way. It’s very difficult.”
Pep Guardiola’s City have won 13 of their Premier League games and are unbeaten in the league since April.
Sarri, who has experienced defeat to Guardiola with Napoli and Chelsea in August’s Com-munity Shield, was asked how his side can beat City.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Against Guardiola I lost every match, so I don’t know. You have to ask somebody else.”
Sarri accused his Chelsea players of a collective “black-
out” at the first sign of trouble against Fulham, despite a 2-0 win, and against Wolves.
The Italian said: “We have a problem to manage the match at the moment. In the last two matches we played well for 55,
60 minutes, then (after) the first difficulty we suffered a blackout.
“In the first match (against Fulham) we were lucky because they didn’t score. In the last match (at Wolves) we were a little bit unlucky. For the oppo-nents, five shots, only two on target. We conceded two goals.”
Sarri struggled to explain the reason for the lapses.
“It’s not really very easy to answer,” he said. “We didn’t react as a team, as 11 players. In 11 different ways. So it’s a big problem. We were not able to have the right determination to win the match.”
City, who finished 30 points better off than Chelsea last sea-son, are the best team in Eu-rope, Sarri said, and that is his target for the Blues.
Fred must wait for Utd balance: Mourinho
Manchester United manager reveals why he is not picking Fred in team
• Midfielder who cost $66m is unable to secure first-team place
• Mourinho sees no place for Fred until team tighten up
AFP | Manchester
Jose Mourinho suggested yesterday that Manchester United must get stronger
defensively before he is ready to give Fred more games.
United spent £52 million ($66 million) on buying the Bra-zil midfielder from Shakhtar Donetsk in June but he has made just six Premier League starts.
Fred was left on the bench this week as United drew at Southampton and was dropped from the squad altogether on Wednesday as Mourinho’s side twice fought back from behind to secure a point against Ar-senal.
The midfielder, who has not featured in any of United’s past four league matches, has lost his place in the Brazil squad after struggling to make an impres-sion at Old Trafford.
Mourinho used Marouane
Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba in a three-man midfield for the 2-2 draw at Southamp-ton, with no place in the team for the fourth-most expensive signing in United’s history.
The manager then elected to use Herrera and Nemanja Matic in front of a five-man defence against Arsenal, with Pogba and Fellaini relegated to the bench.
Mourinho has made clear that Fred’s time will come, but does not believe the midfielder is yet ready to play regularly in the Premier League.
“Step by step, you have also
other players in other clubs that needed their time and you have some of them that played even less than what Fred is playing,” said Mourinho.
“I think that when the team is defensively stronger and doesn’t need in midfield people who are more worried about giving bal-ance in the team than creativi-ty, and the day we are stronger defensively, then the horizons change for Fred.”
United, in eighth place in the Premier League, have already conceded 25 goals this season -- compared with Liverpool’s
six -- and have a goal difference of minus one.
Mourinho has questioned United’s character and compet-itiveness after the disappoint-ment of draws against Crystal Palace and Southampton, asking whether the team had enough “mad dogs”.
However, he felt that they showed far more spirit as they drew 2-2 at home to Arsenal on Wednesday, giving him reason for optimism as bottom-of-the-table Fulham prepare to visit Old Trafford today.
Asked if his players were showing more character, Mour-inho said: “Yes. The numbers, the stats for me are not funda-mental but sometimes they give us, they support our feelings, our ideas.
Arsenal players filmed using ‘hippy crack’
AFP | London
Arsenal said yesterday they will “remind players of
their responsibilities” after a video emerged that appears to show a number of stars inhal-ing nitrous oxide.
Players including Mesut O z i l , P i e r r e - E m e r i c k Aubameyang, Alexandre Laca-zette and Matteo Guendouzi feature in the footage, which appears to come from CCTV footage and was published by the Sun newspaper yesterday.
In a statement Arsenal said: “The players will be spoken to about this and reminded of their responsibilities as repre-sentatives of the club.”
Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas or “hippy crack”, is freely available although it is technically illegal to sell it for recreational purposes.
In the video, which report-edly comes from a London venue shortly before the start of the current season, other Gunners players including Henrikh Mkhitaryan can be
seen rejecting the offer to use the gas.
The footage is the latest to show top players being linked with nitrous oxide. Raheem Sterling was warned by his then club Liverpool after foot-age emerged of him using the substance in 2015.
In the same year, Jack Gre-alish was warned by the then Aston Villa manager, Tim Sherwood, after pictures emerged of him appearing to inhale the gas, and Saido Bera-hino was reprimanded by West Brom for a similar incident in 2014.
When an image was posted of then Tottenham player Kyle Walker in 2013, he apologised on Twitter, writing: “I won’t be doing this again and hope that no one else is influenced into putting their health at risk by my actions.”
Arsenal, under new manager Unai Emery, are currently fifth in the Premier League table and are unbeaten in 20 con-secutive matches in all com-petitions.
15SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
In the first match (against Fulham) we were lucky because they didn’t score. In
the last match (at Wolves) we were a
little bit unlucky. For the opponents, five shots, only two on
target. We conceded two goalsMAURIZIO SARRI
Manchester United, in eighth place in
the Premier League, have already con-
ceded 25 goals this season
KNOW WHAT
Jose Mourinho alongside Manchester United star Fred during training
Arsenal’s Holding faces lengthy spell out with injuryReuters | London
Arsenal defender Rob Holding will be out
for up to nine months after rupturing a ligament in his left knee in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United, the Premier League club said yesterday.
Engl ish centre back Holding, who has played 10 league games for Arsenal this season, left the pitch on a stretcher during the first half of the match with United and is set to undergo surgery in the coming days.
“Further to the injury sustained during our match at Manchester United on Wednesday night, we can confirm that Rob Holding has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee,” Arsenal said.
“Rob will undergo sur-gery to repair this in the coming days. The rehabil-itation process is expected to take between six to nine months.
“Everyone at the club will now be working as hard as we can to ensure Rob is back on the pitch as soon as pos-sible.”
Holding’s injury could speed up club captain Lau-rent Koscielny’s return to the starting team, with the Frenchman fit again after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon in May.
PSG to snatch Ajax star De Jong from City in record 75m euro dealAFP | The Hague, Netherlands
Paris Saint-Germain could pip Manchester City to the
signing of Ajax and Nether-lands midfield star Frenkie de Jong in a record 75 million euro deal, a Dutch newspaper report said yesterday.
“It is almost certain that De Jong, 21, will exchange Ajax for Paris Saint-Germain,” pop-ular tabloid De Telegraaf said.
If the deal goes through, it will be “the most expensive and sensational in the histo-ry of the Eredivisie and Ajax in particular,” the newspaper added.
PSG’s move to secure the talented midfielder, who made his debut for Ajax two years ago, comes after a light-n i n g inter-vention from the club’s technical directors Max-well and Antero Hen-rique.
Top PSG officials met De Jong’s agent Ali Dursun on Thurs-day and, later, Ajax management at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, De Telegraaf said.
Talks between Ajax and Manchester City are believed to have r e a c h e d a n a d -vanced stage after De Jong spent sev-eral hours talking to
City manager Pep Guardiola.But the English champions
“wanted to do business at a later stage and PSG was light-ning-quick to jump on the op-portunity,” claimed the report.
“The dark blue jersey of France’s upcoming champions PSG, not the light blue one of Manchester City, will almost certainly become De Jong’s next summer,” the paper said.
Ajax confirmed to the Dutch daily that talks with PSG have
been held , a l -though the club a d d e d “ t h e r e was no defini-
tive agreement... other clubs
have also shown interest”.
The highest outgoing trans-
fer amount paid so far in the Dutch top
flight was last year when Colombian cen-
tre-back Davinson Sanchez moved from Ajax to Totten-ham Hotspur for 40 million euros (45.5m $US).
In 2015 Memphis Depay moved from PSV to Manches-
ter United for 34 million eu-ros (38.6 $US).
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with Mesut Ozil after scoring a goal (file photo)
Chelsea’s Spanish defender Marcos Alonso (L) challenges Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Mexican striker Raul Jimenez (R)
Frenkie de Jong
Guardiola warns Man City against complacencyAFP | Manchester
Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players
that complacency is the biggest threat to their push for domestic and European domination.
Guardiola’s unbeaten Premier League leaders visit Chelsea on Saturday sitting two points clear of closest challengers Liverpool.
City are well on course to defend the title they won with 100 points in May and are also through to the last 16 of the Champions League with a game to spare.
They have managed all of that largely without the services of last season’s club player of the year Kevin De Bruyne.
City must also go to London without top scorer Sergio Ague-ro, who has missed the past two matches with an adductor mus-cle strain.
Guardiola, who says he does not care about the possibility of City going through the en-tire league season unbeaten, has told his players that maintain-ing their standards is the key to success.
“The biggest danger to us is basically to think that it’s not necessary to improve,” he said.
“I see my team and many things are good but still we can be bet-ter.
“I am proud that we have been consistent for most of the past 15 or 16 months, playing every three days.
“That’s the most difficult thing to achieve in all sports. It’s a big compliment for the players. But I tell them every game that there are many things we can do better, but we could have dropped two points in the final 10 minutes at Watford on Tuesday.”
Chelsea head coach Maurizio
Sarri has suggested that Man-chester City are the best team in Europe but Guardiola has dismissed that claim.
According to the City man-ager, his team need to win the Champions League before they can be classed as the continent’s best.
Chelsea have lost their past two away league matches, at Tottenham and Wolves, but Sar-ri is taking them in the right direction, according to former Barcelona boss Guardiola.
“The job he has done so far is excellent,” he said. “People
don’t know how difficult it is to play in a special way. He needs time.
“Their past two away games were so difficult and things like this can happen. But during pre-season we played them in Community Sheld at Wembley and they were already his team.
“Maybe they are not playing consistently for 90 minutes but when they play well for 50 to 70 minutes, they are excellent.”
Guardiola has played down the likelihood of City matching the Arsenal side of 2003-04 by going through a whole Premier League season unbeaten, ar-guing that it is less important to him than the quality of his team’s performances.
Head keeps Aussies alive Travis Head rescues Australia after top order fails to fire against India in Adelaide
• Head, Ashwin star in fierce battle for lead
• Australia trail by 59 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the innings
AFP | Adelaide, Australia
Travis Head hit a stubborn half-century to keep Aus-tralia in the hunt yester-
day after their top order slumped under sustained pressure from India’s bowlers, leaving the first Test in Adelaide finely poised.
Batting on his home ground, Head kept his cool in the humid conditions to be 61 not out at stumps on day two, with Mitch-ell Starc unbeaten on eight.
His efforts helped steer Aus-tralia to 191-7 in reply to India’s 250.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully to take three wickets, while Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah grabbed two each.
It was Head’s second 50 in his third Test, with the Ade-laide-born 24-year-old playing the sort of gutsy innings that his more experienced teammates couldn’t match.
All of Australia’s top four were back in the pavilion without passing 30, with Aaron Finch (0) and Shaun Marsh (2) notable failures.
It once again reinforced how much Australia are missing Ste-ve Smith and David Warner, who remain banned over their part in the South Africa ball-tampering affair.
“It was nice to do a job for the team and it will be an exciting day tomorrow,” said Head.
“We hung in there. India bowled exceptionally well. It was (a) fantastic little fightback in the end and it will be an im-portant first hour tomorrow. Every run will be valuable.”
Debutant Marcus Harris, who made 26, added: “It was a tough day, it wasn’t easy to score. I think we’re in a decent position.”
Ashwin agreed that the Test match for there for the taking.
“I see it as neck and neck as
far as the game goes right now,” he said.
India resumed on 250-9, but they were unable to add to the total with tailender Mohammed Shami out for six on the first ball of the day, caught behind by Tim Paine off Josh Hazlewood, leaving Bumrah unbeaten on 0.
Hazlewood finished with 3-52. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all took two wickets each.
Horror start In reply, Australia got off
to a horror start with Finch’s credentials as an opener again called into question after he was spectacularly bowled without scoring on only the third ball he faced.
A lovely delivery from Shar-ma took out his middle and off stumps after getting an inside edge as Finch attempted a drive.
Harris looked in good nick and unruffled by the occasion, hitting three fours in his solid 26.
But he was undone by a drift-ing ball from Ashwin, getting an edge to Murali Vijay at silly mid-
off and ending a 45-run part-nership with a slimmed-down Usman Khawaja who was back after knee surgery.
Ashwin’s off spin was causing problems and Marsh needlessly slashed at a wide delivery in the first over after lunch, dragging it onto his wicket.
The woeful shot extended his dire recent Test form and left Australia in trouble at 59-3. Marsh has now slumped to six consecutive single-figure scores, failing to step up in the absence of Smith and Warner.
16SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
KNOW WHAT
Manchester City have won 13 of their Pre-mier League games and are unbeaten in
the league since April
India bowled exceptionally well. It was (a) fantastic
little fightback in the end and it will be an important first hour tomorrow. Every run
will be valuableTRAVIS HEAD
Australia’s batsman Travis Head (C) plays a shot as Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (L) looks on
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gestures during a match
Man City not rattled by Liverpool pursuit: Klopp
AFP | London
Jurgen Klopp does not be-lieve Premier League lead-
ers Manchester City are feel-ing the pressure of Liverpool’s pursuit -- even if his side go top of the table.
An early start at Bourne-mouth today means Liverpool could overtake their rivals, who have an evening kick-off at fourth-placed Chelsea, but the German does not believe that will have much effect.
City have won 13 of their 15 matches -- Liverpool’s best start to a season in their histo-
ry has seen them win 12 games -- and already scored 15 more goals than their fellow unbeat-en rivals.
“I don’t think (Manchester City) feel pressure. They don’t look like they do,” said Klopp.
“That’s not the first target anyway, the first target is to try to perform on the highest level, because it’s needed at Bournemouth. Eddie (Howe) is doing a fantastic job there, and it will be difficult enough.”
Klopp has to deal with a number of injuries with his team two games into a run of 10 matches in five weeks.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp embraces foward Divock Origi (file photo)
India 1st innings (overnight 250-9)M. Shami c Paine b Hazlewood 6J. Bumrah not out 0Extras (lb1) 1Total (10 wickets, 88 overs) 250Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Rahul), 2-15 (Vijay), 3-19 (Kohli), 4-41 (Rahane), 5-86 (Shar-ma), 6-127 (Pant), 7-189 (Ashwin), 8-210 (Sharma), 9-250 (Pujara), 10-250 (Shami) Bowling: Starc 19-4-63-2, Hazlewood 20-3-52-3, Cummins 19-3-49-2, Lyon 28-2-83-2, Head 2-1-2-0 Australia 1st inningsA. Finch b Sharma 0M. Harris c Vijay b Ashwin 26U. Khawaja c Pant b Ashwin 28S. Marsh b Ashwin 2P. Handscomb c Pant b Bumrah 34T. Head not out 61 T. Paine c Pant b Sharma 5P. Cummins lbw b Bumrah 10M. Starc not out 8 Extras (lb9, b6, nb2) 17Total: (7 wickets; 88 overs) 191To bat: Josh Hazlewood, Nathan LyonFall of wickets: 1-0 (Finch), 2-45 (Harris), 3-59 (Marsh), 4-87 (Khawaja), 5-120 (Handscomb), 6-127 (Paine), 7-177 (Cummins)Bowling: Sharma 15-6-31-2, Bumrah 20-9-34-2, Shami 16-6-51-0, Ashwin 33-9-50-3, Vijay 4-1-10-0
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