ISSUE NO: 17963

28 Pages 150 Fils

www.kuwaittimes.net

Established 1961 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf

SAFAR 22, 1441 AHMONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

Kuwait bird watchers soar to a new height

Security operatives arrest, question a ‘Kuwaiti Joker’

India and Pakistan trade barbs over deadly clash

Ronaldo hits 701st goal as Juventus pull clear

Max 38ºMin 21º

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MP Tabtabai files to grill Public Works Minister

‘No signs of dissolution’ of Kuwait National Assembly

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: National Assembly SpeakerMarzouq Al-Ghanem yesterday down-played speculations that the Assemblycould be dissolved, especially with moregrilling - saying that there were no indi-cations for the Assembly dissolution.Ghanem said reports about an imminentplan to dissolve the Assembly are merebaseless rumors and something we havebecome accustomed with ahead of thestart of the new Assembly terms.

Speaking after he and a group of law-makers met with the Amir HH SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, theSpeaker said that the source of therumors is almost one and is known,adding “there is no dissolution”. He saidthe Amir has cautioned us againstregional dangers and the need to beunited in the face of regional challenges.

The Speaker also confirmed that therow between Kuwait and Saudi Arabiaover oil production from the neutral zoneshared equally between the two coun-tries. He said the issue has been resolvedthrough cooperation between the lead-erships of the two countries. Productionat Al-Khafji and Wafra oilfields was halt-

ed about four years ago over a disputebetween the two countries over environ-mental and administrative issues. Beforestoppage, the area was pumping over500,000 barrels per day, equally sharedby the two countries.

Ghanem also said that he receivedyesterday a grilling from MP Omar

Continued on Page 24

MP Omar Al-Tabtabaei

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received the National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and agroup of lawmakers yesterday. —KUNA

ABU DHABI: An 8,000-year-old pearl thatarchaeologists say is the world’s oldest will be dis-played in Abu Dhabi, according to authorities whosaid yesterday it is proof the objects have beentraded since Neolithic times. The natural pearl wasfound in the floor of a room discovered duringexcavations at Marawah Island, off the capital ofthe United Arab Emirates, which revealed the earli-est architecture found in the country.

Continued on Page 24

World’s oldest pearl found in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: A handout picture shows a pearlrecovered from an archeological site on MarawahIsland. — AFP

BEIRUT: Hundreds of thousands ofLebanese took to the streets to condemnpolitical stasis and corruption yesterday,the largest in four days of demonstra-tions that have crippled the country andthreatened the coalition government. Thecapital Beirut, second city Tripoli in thenorth and the southern port of Tyrecame to a standstill, with streets filledwith protesters waving the national flag,chanting “revolution” or “the peopledemand the fall of the regime” - a com-mon refrain of demonstrations in otherparts of the Arab world.

Protests have grown steadily acrossthe Mediterranean country since publicanger first spil led onto the streetsThursday evening in response to a pro-posed tax on calls via WhatsApp andother messaging services. While thegovernment quickly dropped the plan,the leaderless protests morphed intodemands for a sweeping overhaul of thepolitical system, with grievances rang-ing from austerity measures to poorinfrastructure.

More than a quarter of Lebanon’spopulation lives below the poverty line,the World Bank says, while the politicalclass has remained relatively unchangedsince the end of a devastating 15-yearcivil war in 1990. In Beirut, protestersyesterday called out the names of specificpoliticians from across the country’s sec-tarian system, with the crowd respondingwith swear words. Beleaguered PrimeMinister Saad Hariri has urged govern-ment members from different blocs tosupport him but four ministers from aChristian political party quit Saturday.

In Tripoli, Nazih Siraj, 50, said he losthis job after the government removedstalls from the roads. “I can’t afford torent out a place because of the highprices and unfair taxes,” he said, sayinghe was demonstrating for the future ofhis four daughters. “Its time for a change.There is no going back from the streetsafter today.” Lebanon ranked 138 out of180 in Transparency International’s 2018corruption index, while citizens sufferchronic electricity and water shortages.

Lebanon’s political system was set upto balance power between the country’sreligious sects, including Christians,Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims andDruze. But critics say it entrenches polit-ical patronage and pits citizens againsteach other along sectarian lines.

Continued on Page 24

Lebanese take over streets as protests grow

BEIRUT: Lebanese protesters wave national flags during a rally in downtown Beirut onthe fourth day of demonstrations against tax increases and official corruption. — AFP

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: There have been no changes on the groundin the treatment and conditions of many Filipinodomestic helpers in Kuwait despite a new workingarrangement between the Philippines and Kuwaiti gov-ernment. A dispute between Kuwait and the Philippineswas triggered last year over allegations of abuse andmistreatment of housemaids which made thePhilippines President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarilysuspend the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait.

The suspension followed the murder of a youngFilipino maid whose body was found in a freezer inFebruary 2018. The row was aggravated when videossurfaced on social media showing Philippine embassyofficials trying to help domestic helpers abscond fromtheir allegedly abusive employers. PhilippineAmbassador to Kuwait Renato Villa was expelled andsome embassy employees were arrested. About260,000 Philippine citizens live and work in Kuwait,most as domestic servants. (See Page 5)

‘No improvement in maids working conditions’

LUXOR: Egypt has unveiled the details of 30 ancientwooden coffins with mummies inside discovered in thesouthern city of Luxor in the biggest find of its kind inmore than a century. A team of Egyptian archaeologistsdiscovered a “distinctive group of 30 colored woodencoffins for men, women and children” in a cache at Al-Asasif cemetery on Luxor’s west bank, the Ministry ofAntiquities said in a statement on Saturday.

“It is the first large human coffin cache ever discov-ered since the end of the 19th century,” the EgyptianAntiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany was quoted assaying during a ceremony in Luxor. The intricatelycarved and painted coffins, three thousand years old,were closed with mummies inside and were in “a goodcondition of preservation, colors and complete inscrip-tions,” the statement added.

They were for male and female priests and children,said Mostafa Waziri, the excavation team leader, datingback to the 10th century BC under the rule of the 22ndPharaonic dynasty. The coffins will undergo restorationbefore being moved to a showroom at the Grand

Egyptian Museum, due to open next year next to theGiza pyramids, the ministry said.

The discovery is the latest in a series of major findsof ancient relics that Egypt hopes will revive its tourismsector, which has been badly hit by political instability

since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.Earlier this month, Egypt unveiled two archaeologicaldiscoveries in Luxor including an industrial zone at thecity’s West Valley, also known as the Valley of theMonkeys. — Reuters

Egypt unveils biggest ancient coffin find in over a century

LUXOR: Egyptian archeologists open a wooden coffin belonging to a man in front of Hatshepsut Temple at Valley of theKings in Luxor on October 19, 2019. — AFP

L o c a l Monday, October 21, 2019

2

Kuwait’s Amir receives Crown Prince,Premier, Ministers at Bayan Palace

Sheikh Sabah receives cable from First Deputy PM on recuperation

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Cabinet ministers.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palaceyesterday His Highness the Crown Prince SheikhNawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness theAmir also received His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, DeputyPremier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-KhaledAl-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Premier and InteriorMinister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, andDeputy Premier and Minister of State for CabinetAffairs Anas Al-Saleh. His Highness the Amir alsoreceived a number of ministers.

In other news, His Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday acable of congratulations from First Deputy Premier andDefense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-

Jaber Al-Sabah on His Highness’s recovery from therecent health setback. In the cable, Sheikh Nasserwished His Highness lasting well-being with “ourbeloved Kuwait” experiencing further progress andprosperity under His Highness’s sagacious leadership.His Highness the Amir sent a reply cable to the seniorgovernment official, expressing deep gratitude for hissincere sentiments, as well as wishing him and DefenseMinistry staff lasting wellbeing and more progress.

His Highness the Amir received a similar letter fromSheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, whothanked Allah Almighty for His Highness Sheikh Sabah’sreturn home and wellbeing, wishing him a long healthylife. His Highness the Amir sent a letter to SheikhMubarak Al-Abdullah, thanking him for his kind feelings,praying for Allah to protect Kuwait’s peace and security.

His Highness the Amir also received a cable of con-gratulations from Bahraini Crown Prince Salman BinHamad Al-Khalifa on His Highness’s recovery from therecent health setback. His Highness the Amir sent a replycable, expressing deep gratitude for the Bahraini CrownPrince on his sincere sentiments, as well as wishing himand the brotherly people of Bahrain lasting wellbeingand more progress under the wise leadership of KingHamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa.

In addition, His Highness the Amir received a cableof congratulations from Tunisian Acting President ofthe Assembly of the Representatives of the PeopleAbdelfattah Mourou, who wished His Highness last-ing wellbeing. His Highness the Amir sent a replycable, expressing deep gratitude for Mourou’s sin-cere sentiments, as well as wishing him lasting well-

being and more progress. Furthermore, His Highness the Amir was congratulat-

ed by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Moqrin bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on his safe return home after undergoing success-ful medical check-ups abroad. His Highness expressedgratitude and appreciation for the noble gesture, deliv-ered in a telephone call, saying it embodies the closebond between the two neighboring countries.

Moreover, His Highness the Amir received a cable ofcongratulations from Secretary General of theOrganization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr YoussefBin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, who wished His Highnesslasting wellbeing. His Highness the Amir sent a replycable to the OIC chief, expressing deep gratitude for thesincere sentiments, as well as wishing him lasting well-being and more progress. — KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with His Highness the Crown PrinceSheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. — Amiri Diwan photos

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with His Highness the Prime Minister SheikhJaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meetswith Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahmeets with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahmeets with Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet AffairsAnas Al-Saleh.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh NawafAl-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem yesterday. His Highness theCrown Prince also received at Bayan Palace members ofthe Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation which took part inthe 141st Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, held inBelgrade, Serbia during the period 12-17 October 2019.Furthermore, His Highness Sheikh Nawaf received HisHighness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. —KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with members of the Kuwaiti parliamentary delega-tion which took part in the 141st Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference. — KUNA photos

Crown Princereceives parliamentdelegation

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meetswith His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Amiri envoy in Japan to attendEmperor’s enthronement

KUWAIT: Envoy of His Highnessthe Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah, His HighnessSheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, arrived in Tokyoyesterday to attend the enthrone-

ment of Emperor Naruhito. SheikhNasser Al-Mohammad wasreceived by Vice Minister forForeign Affairs Norihiro Okuda andKuwait i Ambassador to JapanHassan Zaman. — KUNA

L o c a l Monday, October 21, 2019

3

KUWAIT: Al-Jahra Nature Reserve. — KUNA photos

By Mike Pope

KUWAIT: eBird is jointly coordinated by the CornellLaboratory of Ornithology and National AudubonSociety and is a real-time, online checklist programthat has revolutionized the way the international bird-ing community reports and accesses information aboutbirds.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology arranges twoGlobal Bird Days each year to coincide with spring(May) and autumn (October) migration. Tens of thou-sands of bird watchers around the world use eBird tolog the birds they see, whereand when they are birding.

The objective of theGlobal Big Day is to concen-trate and condense the bird-ing efforts of bird watchersaround the world into 24-hours. In October 2018,birders globally racked up anincredible 6,331 species on asingle October day, this outof an estimated total of10,000 species worldwide.

On 19th October this year, a small, dedicated andhardy group of local and ex-pat birders decided to putKuwait firmly on the birding map for this Big Day.Why? Kuwait is important to both local and interna-tional birdwatchers, with an impressive list of 413species found here. It is part of the South Western cor-ner of the Western Palearctic and is also on one of themajor South West/North East migration flyways.

Annually, many birders visit Kuwait to observe

some of our special birds - birds that are traditionallymore difficult to see elsewhere in the region - and areoften guided by local birdwatchers.

For October Big Day 2019, a coordinated plan tocover all the known and accessible birding sites inKuwait was put in place (sadly one of the more impor-tant sites, Sabah Al Ahmad Natural Reserve (SAANR)),is not accessible to birders for reasons unknown, butwe had contingency plans for this.

Most of us were at our sites before sunrise and therace against time was on. We kept in touch with eachother with our sightings through WhatsApp and

worked each site hard,before moving to the nextone. At times, visiting aspecific site for just onespecies, like House Crow inthe Free Trade Zone.

Some of our team cov-ered just one key site, for ashort while, or for severalhours, while a few pushedthrough from sunrise tosunset, covering multiplelocations. By the end of the

day, the dedicated and combined efforts resulted inthe highest total ever for a single days’ birding inKuwait - 156 species. In the end, the results and glob-al ranking for the participating GCC countries are asfollows, with Kuwait emphatically in first place;Kuwait (156 total species recorded; 38 worldwide),UAE (133 species; 49 worldwide), Saudi Arabia (44species; 115 worldwide), Oman (33 species; 129worldwide), Qatar (12 species; 136 worldwide), and

Bahrain (10 species; 140 worldwide).We managed to record 37 percent of Kuwait’s total

species in just a single day, an impressive feat!Kuwait has an impressive list of birds that they can

and should be proud of and of which should be better

protected, especially during migration. Kuwait shouldsee themselves as custodians by giving them safe pas-sage when they stop to rest and refuel before continu-ing their arduous migration journeys twice a year,every year.

Kuwait Bird Watchers soar tonew heights on Global Big Day

156 species of birds sighted in Kuwait in one day

Kuwait importantto local, int’l birdwatchers

KUWAIT: Crab-plover, an iconic species of Kuwait that breeds on Boubiyan Island in the summer, seenin Sulaibikhat Bay. — Photo by Mike Pope

Al-Jahra Nature Reserve, a Kuwaitiglobally recognized projectKUWAIT: Al-Jahra Nature Reservegained global recognition for years ofefforts which led to it being included inthe Green List of the International Unionfor Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Afterthe reserve’s recognition, Kuwaiti author-ities are working to register all of thecountry’s reserves in the IUCN’s GreenList to affirm Kuwait’s environmentalcommitments toward the climate change.

The Environment ProtectionAuthority’s (EPA) Deputy DirectorGeneral for Technical Affairs Dr AbdullahAl-Zaidan announced yesterday regis-tering Al-Jahra Nature Reserve is con-sidered an official admission of its effi-ciency. Both of IUCN and EPA arecooperating to evaluate Al-Jahra NatureReserve on 17 criteria and the final cer-tificate will be submitted, he added.

Zaidan hoped that this achievementwould motivate the rest of reserves andits responsible authorities to get theGreen List approval. The criteriaincludes planning management, improv-ing the reserve, and having positiveresults. He mentioned that the EPA is theresponsible authority on setting policiesand programmers in all reserves. TheEPA also is putting efforts to protectanimals and plants that are threatenedby extinction by relocation and preser-vation of their kinds.

Jahra reserve’s size around 18 kilome-ters and it is located west of Kuwait Bay,which led to the biodiversity of its envi-

ronments (plants and wildlife). In addi-tion, it is considered as a great centerfor field studies for all educationalstages, Zaidan added. He mentioned thata periodical maintenance for thereserve’s fence by the EPA. In addition,security guards and EPA’s employeesare always available for any emergences.There are many suggested areas fornature reserves that going to bereviewed by Environment SupremeCouncil, he added. —KUNA

Monday, October 21, 2019

4L o c a l

Photo of the Day

KUWAIT: Skyline of Kuwait City just before sunrise. — Photo by Sudhish Sumanath (KUNA)

WASHINGTON: Kuwait’s Central Bank GovernorMohammad Al-Hashel was given a Grade A ratingamongst his global counterparts for the second year in arow by Global Finance, a magazine specialized in bankingand finance. In recognition of their efforts, Hashel alongwith other governors were handed awards at the maga-zine’s annual ceremony, held in Washington on Saturday,amid World Bank and International Monetary Fund meet-ings. Since 1994, the magazine has been conducting itsassessment, which covers over 94 countries. The evalua-tion is based on several criteria, including the managementof inflation and interest rates alongside measures assumedto achieve economic growth and the stability of the localcurrency.

In its annual report on the occasion, Global Financepraised Hashel’s choice to keep the Central Bank’s policyrate unchanged at 3 percent this year in spite of the USFederal Reserve’s raising of its own rates in September andDecember 2018. “Hashel said that decision was based on adesire to bolster economic growth and improve the compet-itiveness of the dinar, which is pegged to a basket of curren-cies, including the dollar,” the report reads. As a result, it saidKuwait’s economic growth is expected to “accelerate thisyear, supported by government spending and credit expan-sion.” US stock index provider MSCI will likely be upgrad-

ing Kuwait to emerging market status next June, it added.This will offer the prospect of luring billions of dollars-worthof investments into the country’s stock market. — KUNA

Forum discussesUS view onChina-Gulf tradeKUWAIT: Kuwait-based Reconnaissance Research Centerheld a closed-door forum at Arraya Tower entitled ‘Chinaand the Gulf States: The US View.’ The forum featuredhigh-level representation from the US State Departmentand was attended by diplomats, academics, prominentbusinessmen, newspaper editors and opinion writers.

The forum dealt with a number of topics includingregional stability, increasing levels of bilateral tradebetween China and the Gulf, the development of China-Gulf political ties, in addition to the US perspective onKuwait’s Northern Economic Zone (Silk City) project,and the effect of the Gulf dispute on US-Gulf relations.

“Reconnaissance Research Center is working dili-gently to provide a platform through which perspec-tives on various issues that matter can be discussed, Ourforums aspire to become an effective channel that seeksto connect Kuwaiti policy influencers with leaders fromthe US and other parts of the world,” said Abdulaziz Al-Anjeri, the Director of Reconnaissance Research Center.“Our center aims to shed light on rapid changes in glob-al affairs so as to increase awareness both locally andabroad,” he added.

Larry Memmott, Charge d’Affaires at the USEmbassy in Kuwait, said, “The US Embassy thanksReconnaissance Research and its board of members fororganizing this very important forum. We are delightedto have been offered the chance to discuss the UnitedStates’ view on China-Gulf relations. Moreover, we arepleased that this forum is taking place here in Kuwait,our long-standing ally and friend.”

Yousef Al-Ghusain on behalf of the board ofReconnaissance Research said: “we are workingtowards strengthening the bilateral relations betweenthe United States and the State of Kuwait. We stronglybelieve that non-governmental initiatives coupled withprofessionally driven individuals can play a major role inpositive policy changes in both the US and Kuwait.”

As part of its commitment to promote healthy dialogue,several officials from local missions were invited, includingrepresentatives from the Chinese Embassy who attendedthe forum. Next month, Reconnaissance Research plans tohost former US Ambassador to Kuwait Deborah Jones totake part in a closed-forum discussion on the most press-ing geopolitical issues in Kuwait’s future.

Kuwait Central Bank governor ratedamong world’s most successful in 2019

WASHINGTON: Kuwait’s Central Bank GovernorMohammad Al-Hashel (right) is honored during theceremony. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Larry Memmott, Charge d’Affaires at the USEmbassy in Kuwait (right), speaks with Abdul-WahabAl-Wazzan, Vice-Chairman of Kuwait Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (KCCI).

The Chinese Embassy’s delegation.

L o c a l Mon day, October 21, 2019

5

News in brief

No dependent visa for parents

KUWAIT: Expatriates working in Kuwait will nolonger have the option to sponsor their parents,according to a new Interior Ministry decision.Informed sources said the Residency AffairsDepartment stopped the transfer of workers’ arti-cle 18 residency visas to dependent visas (article22) on their children’s sponsorship. This new deci-sion also affects the employee’s mother whose arti-cle 22 visa is on the sponsorship of her husband,which means that both parents would have to leaveKuwait in case the father loses his job, instead ofbeing sponsored by their working child, which wasapplicable as early as last week. The sources didnot provide a clear reason behind the new decision,but explained that it aims at rearranging labor reg-istered on article 22, as it would limit issuance ofdependent visas to spouse and children of theworking spouse. “The decision came afterResidency Affairs Department statistics showedthat many parents transfer their residencies to theirchildren,” the sources said. — Al-Qabas

No drones allowed

KUWAIT: Director of the General CustomsDepartment Jamal Al-Jalawi issued a decision ban-ning the release of drones from customs until afterobtaining Interior Ministry approval. The decisionrelied on an Interior Ministry letter which noted thatremote control drones are widespread in varioussizes and types, and are sold without the need torefer to any official entity. He said these dronesshould not be released from customs to the benefici-ary until after informing the Interior Ministry, statingthe reason for the request, and should be attachedwith a pre-approval for import. Meanwhile, theDirectorate General of Civil Aviation informed allborder outlets to not allow drones into the countrywithout obtaining its permission. — Al-Anbaa

International operator

KUWAIT: An official source at the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it plans tosign a contract with an “international operator” forthe new airport terminal to be completed by 2023.The source said the DGCA will put out a tender incoordination with the Central Agency for PublicTenders for specialized global companies to par-ticipate for the operation and supervision of thisproject. This would follow a similar example inTerminal 4 (T4), which is operated by the SouthKorean company ‘Incheon.’ Meanwhile, the sourcesaid that the number of aviation companies operat-ing in Kuwait is 52, and DGCA does not object toincreasing this number in the new airport which isexpected to handle more than 25 million passen-gers annually. — Al-Anbaa

No improvement in Filipino maids’working conditions despite agreement

Over 260,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, of whom 60 percent are domestic laborersBy Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: There have been no changes onthe ground in the treatment and conditionsof many Filipino domestic helpers in Kuwaitdespite a new working arrangementbetween the Philippines and Kuwaiti gov-ernment being reached in 2019.

A dispute between Kuwait and thePhilippines over the treatment of domestichelpers took place in 2018 whereinPhilippines President Rodrigo Duterte hadtemporarily suspended deployment ofFilipinos to Kuwait over allegations ofabuse and mistreatment. His decision wasbased following the murder of a youngmaid whose body was found in an apart-ment in a freezer in February 2018, whichwas discovered only one year and a halfafter her murder.

The row was aggravated when videossurfaced on social media showingPhilippine embassy officials helping domes-tic helpers abscond from their allegedlyabusive employers. Philippine Ambassadorto Kuwait Renato Villa was expelled andsome embassy employees were arrested.About 260,000 Philippine citizens live andwork in Kuwait, most as domestic servants.

The agreement initially signed betweenKuwait and the Philippines include the right

of workers to keep their passports andmobile phones, which are routinely confis-cated by employers in Kuwait. The agree-ment also guarantees food, housing, cloth-ing and health insurance - and employmentcontracts would be renewed only withapproval from Philippine officials.

Kuwait Times spoke with Filipinodomestic helpers working in Kuwait to seeif any changes had taken place since. “Idon’t see any changes at all. It’s the same asbefore. I don’t have a day off, I don’t holdmy passport and to make it worse I don’treceive salary on time. I don’t know, maybethe changes can be felt only by peopleworking in embassy, but on the ground,from us, we are puzzled as we don’t feel anydifference,” said Anna Sarte who is adomestic helper in Kuwait. “To whom theagreement was crafted for? Is that reallyfor us, or was that a protection for theembassy officials or recruitment agencyonly?” Sarte asked.

Glynn Lanticse said she felt no changesin the treatment of most of her friends inthe house help sector. “I am very fortunateto have a kind-hearted employer. I have aday off although only once in every month,but I am fully satisfied with it, no morecomplaints. Many of my friends in thehousehold sector do not have even one

day off; not even once a month, and nopassport as well. It is good that I have itfor a long time, even way before theagreement was signed,” she noted. “But ifyou were to follow the agreement, theyhave to provide the passport to us; noconfiscation, and the day off must be onceevery week at least,” she said.

Other domestic workers echoed the sen-timent. “The same treatment; no changes. Iam not surprised though and for me, as longas they are not treating us badly in thehouse, I can still stay and work patiently;after all, I came not for the day off but forthe money that I need for the family,” saidCatherine Maganto.

Wilma Blancia said she hoped to see theregular monitoring at the Kuwaiti houses ofagency owners and staff, if not from theembassy of Pinoy workers. “I know there isan issue of sovereignty if the embassy leadmonitoring and visits to Kuwaiti houses, soif that is the case, if they are not permitted,there must be [monitoring] from the localagency’s side, maybe accompanied byKuwaiti civilians or if they allowed to,Kuwaiti police to accompany them. I reallybelieve the need to monitor the conditionof our Pinoy workers working insidehomes. If they do not agree with it, wemust reconsider deploying our workers in

Kuwait,” she said.Marz Gonzales, a Philippine-based

agency owner, who also sends domestichelpers to Kuwait, admitted that there havebeen rampant violations on the part ofemployers. “Yes, I think, very few are fol-lowing that agreement. The governmentshould make it a point to talk to the host

country for the full implementation of whatwas really in the agreement and the con-tract of household service workers,” sheadded. There are more than 260,000Filipinos working in Kuwait, around 60 per-cent of them in domestic labor, according toManila. More than two million Filipinos areemployed across the Gulf.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The court of cassation yes-terday acquitted former MPs MusallamAl-Barrak, Mubarak Al-Waalan, andSalem Al-Namlan, as well as activistAbbas Al-Shaabi from accusations ofslandering King Abdullah II of Jordan.Meanwhile, the court of appeal yester-day upheld a first degree court rulingwhich acquitted all 32 Public Authorityfor Sports employees and others whohad been accused of facilitating embez-zlement of public funds in the JaberStadium’s tender case. Separately, theadministrative court yesterday rejecteda case demanding suspension of movingKuwait University into the new campusin Shadadiya.

MEW staff protestOnce more, scores of Ministry of

Electricity and Water (MEW) employ-ees demonstrated yesterday at MEWquarters in protest of cancelling theiremergency services allowance.

Protestors demanded equality with oth-er colleagues especially since the newlyappointed ones were deprived of theallowance for no particular reason,according to their statements.

Cleaning contractsMunicipal Council member Maha Al-

Baghli yesterday filed a number ofinquiries concerning cleaning contracts,noting that a large number of citizensand expats had been complaining aboutgarbage collection in various areasaround Kuwait. Baghli stressed thatcleaning companies failed in providingthe services they had been contractedfor, and that the municipality’s controlon those companies was ‘very weak.’ Inher inquires, Baghli demanded answersto questions about who is responsiblefor the service deterioration, the value ofthe current contracts, on what groundsare cleaning companies selected, thepenal conditions in those contracts andthe violations filed against cleaningcompanies, if any.

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Cabinet yesterday dis-cussed the gril l ing motion lodged by MPMohammed Hayef against Finance Minister DrNayef Al-Hajraf, which will be debated duringthe parl iament’s forthcoming session.Questioning ministers in parliament is a con-stitutional right of all MPs, the Cabinet empha-sized, saying Minister Hajraf is capable ofresponding to the allegations against him.

During its weekly meeting chaired by HisHighness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Cabinetexpressed joy over His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’sreturn to the country, welcoming him backhome after having underwent successful med-ical checkups in the US. The Cabinet was alsoinformed that the delegation accompanying

the Kuwaiti Premier on his visit to Egyptincludes Deputy Premier and Foreign MinisterSheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah,Deputy Premier and Minister of State forCabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh, CommerceMinister Khaled Al-Roudhan and Minister ofOil Khaled Al-Fadhel, besides other seniorofficials.

Turning to current happenings around theworld, the Cabinet deplored attacks on amosque in eastern Afghanistan, in which multi-ple explosions left scores of worshippers deador injured. Wishing a speedy recovery forthose wounded in the attack, the Cabinet saidthat such “terrorist acts” run counter tohumanitarian principles. — KUNA

Kuwait’s Cabinet expresses faithin minister facing grilling

Court acquits former MPsof monarch’s slander

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Officials from Kuwait’s PublicAuthority for Manpower are expected tomeet soon with Indonesian officials todiscuss the regulations of recruitingIndonesians as domestic helpers inKuwait, to resume a protocol that hadbeen suspended for 11 years, well-informed sources said.

The meeting could be held before theend of the year or by the beginning of2020, said the sources who spoke on thecondition of anonymity, noting that theIndonesian side is expected to suggest a

draft of the contracts to be used in hiringdomestic helpers, which mentions mini-mum wages, leaves and laborers’ rights.

Further, the sources said that foreignministries of both countries are about tosign a memorandum of understanding inthis regard in Kuwait, adding that the dis-cussions were resumed upon Kuwait’srequest. In addition, the sources stressedthat once the agreement was approved andsigned, Indonesian domestic helpers wouldbe expected in Kuwait by the fourth quar-ter of 2020 and that their recruitmentwould be done through Al-Durra Companyfor Domestic Labor Recruitment.

Kuwait, Indonesia to resumetalks on domestic helpers

Police question ‘Kuwaiti Joker’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Detectives identified a manwhose pictures dressed up as ‘Joker’ cir-culated on social media recently, andapprehended him for questioning.Several pictures had gone viral on socialmedia recently showing a man dressedup as the main character of the ‘Joker’

movie roaming around streets of Kuwait.Detectives were notified to investigatethe matter. The man, a social mediacelebrity, said during questioning that headmires the comic-book inspired char-acter, and has taken many pictures ofhimself cosplaying as him, some of whichhe posted online. Interior Ministry offi-cials were informed about the incident.

KUWAIT: A photo circulating on social media shows a Kuwaiti man dressed as‘Joker’ while dancing in a street in Kuwait.

InternationalSpanish PM underpressure over violentCatalan protestsJapan funding for imperial ceremonies sparks rare dissent

Page 9

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

SANTIAGO: Demonstrators set up barricades during clashes between protesters and the riot police. — AFP

SANTIAGO: Three people died in a fire in a supermar-ket being ransacked in the Chilean capital early yester-day, as protests sparked by anger over social and eco-nomic conditions rocked one of Latin America’s moststable countries. Santiago’s Mayor Karla Rubilar toldreporters two people burned to death in the blaze andanother later died in hospital, after the huge store con-trolled by US retail chain Walmart was looted.

They were the first deaths in two days of violentunrest in which protesters have set buses on fire, burnedmetro stations and clashed with riot police in the city ofseven million — despite a curfew imposed overnightuntil 07:00 yesterday. Soldiers were deployed in thestreets for the first time since Chile returned to democra-cy in 1990, following the rightwing Augusto Pinochetdictatorship.

The protests were triggered by an unpopular hike inmetro fares, which President Sebastian Pineraannounced Saturday he was suspending. Pineraappealed to people taking to the streets, saying “thereare good reasons to do so,” but calling on them “todemonstrate peacefully.” “Nobody has the right to actwith brutal criminal violence,” he said. But clashes later

erupted in Plaza Italia, ground zero of Friday’s violence,and outside the presidential palace.

Protesters again set buses on fire in downtownSantiago, leading to the suspension of services. “We’resick and tired, enough already. We’re tired of themscrewing around with us. Politicians only do what theywant to do, and turn their backs on all reality,” saidJaviera Alarcon, a 29-year-old sociologist protesting infront of the presidential palace, which was surroundedby police and military vehicles. AFP video showed secu-rity forces blasting a crowd with water cannon, and riotpolice wrestling young protesters into vans.

“Having analyzed the situation and the appallingactions that occurred today, I have made the decisionto suspend freedoms and movement through a totalcurfew,” said Army General Javier Iturriaga, who isoverseeing security during the state of emergency.Later on Saturday, the mayors of Valparaiso region andConcepcion province also announced states of emer-gency. Dozens of protesters torched a building belong-ing to Chile’s oldest newspaper El Mercurio inValparaiso city on Saturday evening, while elsewherein the port city a metro station, supermarkets and oth-

er stores were burned.The unrest was sparked by a hike in metro fares,

which increased from 800 to 830 peso ($1.13 to $1.17)for peak-hour travel, after a 20-peso hike in January.Pinera announced Saturday he was suspending the farehike, after the entire metro system was shut down theday prior with protesters burning and vandalizingdozens of stations, leaving some completely charred.

The Santiago Metro, at 140 kilometers, is the largestand most modern in South America and a source of greatpride for Chileans. People awoke Saturday to a ravagedcity as burned-out buses, bikes and garbage litteredstreets. Demonstrators shouted “enough with abuse,”while the hashtag #ChileDesperto — Chile awake —made the rounds on social media. Pinera’s conservativegovernment has been caught flat-footed by the worstsocial upheaval in decades. It declared the state of emer-gency late Friday and ordered hundreds of troops intothe streets.

People were infuriated by a photo of Pinera eatingpizza in a restaurant with his family while the city burned.Throughout Friday, rampaging protesters clashed withriot police in several parts of the capital while the head-

quarters of the ENEL Chile power company and a BancoChile branch — both in the city center — were set onfire and heavily damaged. The state of emergency is ini-tially set for 15 days and restricts freedom of movementand assembly.

Government ‘perplexed and dazed’ The unrest started as a fare-dodging protest mainly

by students against the hike in metro ticket prices,blamed on rising oil prices and a weaker peso. There hadbeen several fare-dodging actions in recent days, organ-ized on social media, but the protests escalated Friday,tapping into general discontent among many Chileans.Chile has the highest per capita income of Latin Americaat $20,000, with expected economic growth this year of2.5 percent and just two percent inflation.

But there is an undercurrent of frustration with ris-ing health care and utility costs, low pensions andsocial inequality. The metro fare hike served to wakeup a society that was averse to violence after the hor-rors of the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973-1990,which left more than 3,200 people dead or missing,sociologists say. — AFP

Three dead in Chile protest violenceWhen it comes to Iran, White House seems to be bristling for conflict

Page 8

MONTREAL: Bearing posters of Justin Trudeau’s face,written over with green crosses and the word “pipeline,”students gathered in front of the prime minister’sMontreal campaign headquarters. “Three steps forward,three steps back, that’s government policy,” they chant-ed. They — like many other young Canadians — wererailing against what they consider deficiencies inTrudeau’s environmental policy.

The nationalization of an oil pipeline in 2018 is one ofthe major criticisms leveled against Trudeau, who isseeking re-election in Canada’s election today. TheLiberal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline,which links Alberta to British Columbia, from theAmerican energy giant Kinder Morgan for Can$4.5 bil-lion ($2.7 billion, 2.4 billion euros). The goal was tospeed up the export of oil from Alberta to new foreignmarkets. In exchange, the Canadian government prom-ised to invest the profits in green technology.

Many Canadian environmentalists viewed Trudeau’smove as a betrayal. The deal may cost him crucial voteson Monday, with the prime minister currently pollingneck and neck with Conservative Andrew Scheer. Foractivists, Trudeau, who was a symbol of hope when hetook office in 2015, is no longer a change agent but theman who didn’t do enough for the environment.

‘Huge disappointment’ On university campuses, protesting for the environ-

ment — one of the key issues in the election — is all therage. “We’re seeing an uptick in membership in all sortsof environmental groups at McGill” in recent weeks, saidAudrey Nelles from Divest McGill, a student groupadvocating for the prestigious Montreal university towithdraw funds it has invested in fossil fuels. “I think thatafter the Harper years, there was a lot of hope,” said

Annabelle Couture-Guay, also of Divest McGill, refer-ring to Trudeau’s Conservative predecessor StephenHarper.

But “buying the Trans Mountain pipeline, that was ahuge disappointment. It made a lot of people cynical,”she said. The pipeline issue has also provided Trudeau’srivals with plenty of ammunition. The Liberals “tried toplease everyone, and that drew criticism from the rightfor not having gone far enough in economic develop-ment, and from the left for having bought the pipeline,”said Daniel Beland, a political specialist at McGill.

At the end of September, the New Democratic Party(NDP) — whose leader Jagmeet Singh has risen in thepolls and appeals to the Liberal left wing — issued afive-word statement responding to Trudeau’s climateplan: “You. Bought. A. Pipeline.”

Liberals have pledged net zero carbon emissions by2050, two billion trees planted and the promotion ofclean technology. There have also been a few advances,such as a federal carbon tax plan, the protection of 14percent of marine and coastal areas, and the publicationof major scientific reports on climate change in Canada.Young voters demanding stronger climate policy arefacing a dilemma because of Canada’s first-past-the-post system: voting for smaller parties can split the votebetween the left and the center, opening the door for theConservatives.

But protesters at “Fridays for Future,” a movementstarted by teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg,promise to continue applying pressure — whether ornot they are of voting age. “Since we’re young peoplewho can’t vote, we want to influence people who can,”explained Marlene Gaudreau, 17, co-organizer of aFriday protest outside Trudeau’s campaign office. “Wewould like to have a future too,” she said. — AFP

Trudeau environment policy aletdown for Canadian activists

WASHINGTON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and agroup of US lawmakers arrived in Jordan for talks withKing Abdullah II, her office said Saturday, just daysafter the speaker clashed with President Donald Trumpin a meeting on Syria policy. “With the deepening crisisin Syria after Turkey’s incursion, our delegation hasengaged in vital discussions about the impact toregional stability, increased flow of refugees, and thedangerous opening that has been provided to ISIS, Iranand Russia,” Pelosi said in a statement.

The statement described the visiting American dele-gation as “bipartisan,” though congressman MacThornberry was the only Republican representativelisted as being on the trip. The US visit to Jordan comesafter Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdishforces in northeastern Syria on October 9, followingPresident Trump’s withdrawal of troops from the area.

Trump has defended his move as “strategically bril-liant” but earlier this week 129 members of hisRepublican Party joined Democrats in the House ofRepresentatives denounced the withdrawal. OnWednesday, Pelosi and Senate minority leader CharlesSchumer walked out of an acrimonious White Housemeeting with Trump on Syria, a sign of the deteriorat-ing relations as the House conducts an impeachmentinquiry.

The administration then brokered a ceasefirebetween Turkish and Kurdish forces Thursday, but onSaturday the sides accused each other of violating the

agreement. The offensive has already killed more than500 people, including dozens of civilians, while some300,000 civilians have been displaced within Syria,according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rightswar monitor. More than 650,000 Syrian refugees areregistered with the UNHCR in Jordan, which shares a370-kilometer border with Syria. — AFP

Pelosi leads ‘bipartisan’ US group for Jordanmeetings

WASHINGTON: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)arrives for a closed session before the House Intelligence,Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees October 17, 2019at the US Capitol. — AFP

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Monday, October 21, 2019

7Established 1961

Ocasio-Cortez endorses‘uncle’ BernieSanders NEW YORK: Firebrand Democraticcongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed presidential hopefulBernie Sanders on Saturday with a mas-sive rally that marked the septuagenari-an’s return to the campaign trail follow-ing a heart attack earlier this month. “Icall him ‘tio Bernie’,” Ocasio-Cortez, 30,said at the rally in her Queens, New Yorkconstituency that Sanders said drewsome 20,000 people.

“Tio” means “uncle” in Spanish, thelanguage of Puerto Rico where Ocasio-Cortez has roots. She is the youngestHouse of Representatives member andconsiders herself a “Democratic social-ist,” as does Sanders who has been inCongress since 1991. “We right now haveone of the best Democratic presidentialprimary fields in a generation, and muchof that is thanks to work that BernieSanders has done in his entire life,”Ocasio-Cortez said.

The Democratic primary field consistsof 19 candidates, 12 of whom took part ina debate on Tuesday. Sanders is running

third in polls behind Joe Biden andElizabeth Warren. Battling to catch up inthe polls with Warren, the Sanders cam-paign is hoping for a boost from theshow of support — and also to ward offconcerns about his health. “I am morethan ready, more ready than ever, to car-ry on with you the epic struggle that weface today,” Sanders said when he tookthe stage. “Put it bluntly: I am back!”

Ocasio-Cortez joined her fellow first-year congresswoman Ilhan Omar, anothermember of the new Democratic guard, inendorsing Sanders. Both women aremembers of what they call “The Squad,”an outspoken, leftist group of four rookie,youthful and racially diverse congress-women whom the president has accusedof hating America. Earlier this year, hetold them to “go back” to other countries— though they are all US citizens.

“The only reason that I had any hopein launching a long-shot campaign forCongress is because Bernie Sandersproved that you can run a grassrootscampaign and win,” Ocasio-Cortez saidin her speech. Sanders, 78, is known forconsistently refusing political financingfrom corporations. “When I was a wait-ress, and when it was time for me tograduate college with student debt,Bernie Sanders was one of the only onesthat said no person should be graduatingwith life-crushing debt,” Ocasio-Cortezsaid in an impassioned speech.

Yet some of Sanders’s supporters

acknowledged that his heart attack hasthem considering other options. “I knowthat the Warren campaign at least wouldprovide an alternative, even while I don’tthink she represents all of the values that Ihave,” Romeo Lemba, a 28-year-old engi-neer in the solar panel industry, told AFP.

The support from the two lawmakerscomes as Sanders tries to woo youngerand more racially diverse backers. He’swon the endorsement of rap artist CardiB, who is from the Bronx, another New

York borough that Ocasio-Cortez’s con-gressional district partially comprises.Omar, 38, the first black Muslim womanelected to Congress, said earlier thisweek in her endorsement of the JewishSanders that “Bernie is leading a work-ing-class movement to defeat DonaldTrump that transcends generation, eth-nicity and geography.” The first roundof voting to select a Democratic WhiteHouse candidate will take place inFebruary, in Iowa. —AFP

Firebrand cleric green-lights newprotests in IraqBAGHDAD: Influential Iraqi Shiite leaderMoqtada Al-Sadr has given his support-ers the green light to resume anti-gov-ernment protests, after the movementwas interrupted following a deadlycrackdown. Protests shook Iraq for sixdays from October 1, with young Iraqisdenouncing corruption and demandingjobs and services before calling for thedownfall of the government. Theprotests — notable for their spontaneity— were violently suppressed, with offi-cial counts reporting 110 people killedand 6,000 wounded, most of themdemonstrators.

Calls have been made on socialmedia for fresh rallies on Friday, theanniversary of Prime Minister AdelAbdel Mahdi’s government takingoffice. “It’s your right to participate in

protests on October 25,” Sadr told hisfol lowers in a Facebook post onSaturday evening. Protesters haveopposed any appropriation of theirleaderless movement and the firebrandcleric was restrained on Sunday in com-parison to his previous exhortations for“million-man marches”.

He qualified his support by adding:“Those who don’t want to take part inthis revolution can choose another viathe ballot box in internationally super-vised elections and without the currentpoliticians,” he said. His statementechoed another he made during protestsat the start of the month, in which hecalled on the government — of which hisbloc is a part — to resign and hold earlyelections “under UN supervision”.

In his latest message, Sadr called onhis supporters to protest peacefully.“They expect you to be armed,” he said,alluding to authorities blaming “sabo-teurs” for infiltrating protests. “But Idon’t think you will be.” Sadr’s influencewas on display Saturday during theShiite Arbaeen pilgrimage to the holycity of Karbala, 100 kilometers south of

Baghdad. Thousands of his supportersheeded his call to dress in white shroudsand chanted, “Baghdad free, out with thecorrupt!” October 25 will also mark the

deadline issued by Grand Ayatollah AliSistani, spiritual leader for Iraq’s Shiitemajority, for the government to respondto protester demands. —AFP

Darfur victims say for sake of peace Bashir must face ICCCAMP KALMA: For Jamal Ibrahim, whose sisterswere raped by militiamen in Darfur, only the han-dover of Sudan’s ousted dictator Omar Al-Bashirto the International Criminal Court can bringpeace to the restive Darfur region. “Two of mysisters were raped in front of my eyes by militia-men who stormed through our village, setting ourhouses on fire,” Ibrahim, 34, told AFP at CampKalma, a sprawling facility where tens of thou-sands of people displaced by the conflict inDarfur have lived for years.

“Bashir and his aides who committed thecrimes in Darfur must be handed over to the ICCif peace is to be established in the region.”Ibrahim, who is from Mershing in the mountain-ous Jebel Marra area of Darfur, said his villagewas attacked by Arab militiamen in March 2003soon after conflict erupted in the region. Thefighting broke out when ethnic African rebelstook up arms against Khartoum’s then Arab-dom-inated government under Bashir, alleging racialdiscrimination, marginalization and exclusion.

Khartoum responded by unleashing theJanjaweed, a group of mostly Arab raidingnomads that it recruited and armed to create amilitia of gunmen who were often mounted onhorses or camels. They have been accused ofapplying a scorched earth policy against ethnicgroups suspected of supporting the rebels —raping, killing, looting and burning villages. Thebrutal campaign earned Bashir and others arrestwarrants from The Hague-based ICC for geno-cide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.About 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5mill ion displaced in the conflict, the UnitedNations says.

‘Won’t accept any peace deal’ Bashir, who denies the ICC charges, was oust-

ed by the army in April after months of nation-wide protests against his ironfisted rule of threedecades. He is currently on trial in Khartoum oncharges of corruption, but war victims l ikeIbrahim want the ex-leader to stand trial at theICC, something the northeast African country’snew authorities have so far resisted. Ibrahim saidhis father and his uncle were shot dead whenmilitiamen, riding on camels, rampaged throughtheir village.

“We fled from there... and came to this camp.Since then we have not returned to our village,”Ibrahim told an AFP correspondent who visitedCamp Kalma last week. Established near Niyala,the provincial capital of South Darfur state, CampKalma is one of the largest facilities hosting peo-ple displaced by the conflict. It is a sprawlingcomplex of dusty tracks lined with mud and brickstructures, including a school, a medical centreand a thriving market, where everything fromclothes to mobile phones are sold.

Hundreds of thousands of Darfur victims livein such camps, subsisting on aid provided by theUN and other international organizations. InCamp Kalma, hundreds of women and childrenqueue up daily to collect their monthly quota offood aid. “Often the officials here tell us that wemust return to our village, but we can’t becauseour lands are occupied by others,” said a visiblyangry Amina Mohamed, referring to Arab pas-toralists who now occupy large swathes of landthat previously belonged to people from Darfur.“We won’t accept any peace deal unless we getback our land. We will leave this camp onlywhen those who committed the crimes are takento the ICC.” —AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump saidon Saturday the next G7 summit will not be at oneof his own Florida golf clubs, reversing a decisionthat had sparked corruption accusations. ActingWhite House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney hadannounced the venue for the summit on Thursday,causing a firestorm among Trump’s Democraticopponents in Congress , who ca l led the move“among the most brazen examples yet of the presi-dent’s corruption.”

“Based on both Media & Democrat Crazed andIrrational Hostility, we will no longer consider TrumpNational Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7in 2020,” the president tweeted. “We will begin thesearch for another site, including the possibility ofCamp David, immediately.” Mulvaney had said in hisThursday announcement that the south Florida ven-ue was “the best place” among a dozen US locationsconsidered for the June 10-12 gathering next year.

Critics, including ethic campaigners, said holdingthe event at Doral would violate both the foreignand domestic emoluments clauses that are designedto shield a US leader from outside influence. “He isexploiting his office and making official US govern-ment decisions for his personal financial gain,” JerryNadler, the chairman of the powerfu l HouseJudiciary Committee, said in a statement followingthe Thursday announcement.

Trump is squarely in House Democrats’s sights ashe faces an impeachment investigation into allega-tions that he pressured Ukraine into interfering onhis behalf in the 2020 US election. Even before theDoral announcement, lawmakers were probing

Trump’s suggestion at the most recent G7 gatheringin France in August that the next one could be host-ed at one of his resorts.

On Friday, Congressional Democrats introducednew legislation called “Trump’s Heist Underminesthe G-7 (THUG) Act,” which would have cut off allfederal funding for the move to Doral, and requirethe White House to turn over all relevant documentsthat show how administration officials decided onthe venue. The measure had a chance of passing theDemocratic-controlled House of Representatives,but its prospects of being put to a vote in theRepublican-controlled Senate were slim.

Steep decline Trump National Doral is vital to his organiza-

tion’s finances and was once one of his biggestmoney-makers, but i t has lately been in steepdecline, according to The Washington Post. Thenewspaper reported in May that the resort’s netoperating income — the amount left after expensesare paid — had fallen by 69 percent in two years.

Trump seemed to be aware early on of the alle-gations of impropriety that would follow the Doralannouncement. “We’re going to have it there, andthere’s going to be folks who will never get over thefact that it’s a Trump property. We get that, butwe’re s t i l l going there ,” Mulvaney had to ldreporters. He said Doral would put on the event atcost, which he claimed would be as much as halfwhat it would be at other venues. But he gave noestimates of the cost or comparisons.

An important draw is the club’s size — 900

acres, including three golf courses, according toMulvaney, who said all the foreign delegations andthe press could be housed “on campus.” The US last

hosted the group of world leaders, then known asthe G8 before Russia was disinvited, in 2012. Thevenue was Camp David. —AFP

Trump National Doral is vital to his organization’s finances

After corruption allegations, Trump says G7 summit won’t be at his resort

MIAMI: This file photo taken on April 03, 2018 shows Trump National Doral sign of the golf resort ownedby US President Donald Trump’s company. (INSET) In this file photo taken on October 11, 2019 USPresident Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a “Keep America Great” rally at Sudduth Coliseumat the Lake Charles Civic Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana. —AFP photos

NEW YORK: Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorses Democratic presidentialcandidate, Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at a campaign rally in Queensbridge Park onOctober 19, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. —AFP

KARBALA: Shiite Muslim pilgrims mourn outside the Shrine of Imam Hussein in theholy Iraqi city of Karbala, 100 kilometers south of Baghdad, on October 19, 2019, tomark the peak of the Arbaeen religious festival which ends a period of mourningfor the founding figure of Shiite Islam. —AFP

Swiss count votes in ‘green wave’ electionGENEVA: Switzerland was counting votes yesterdayin an election that could see unprecedented gainsfor parties demanding bold climate action and apossible slip for the anti-immigrant right-wing. In acountry that recently held a funeral march for aniconic glacier that has nearly vanished due to melt-ing, opinion polls indicate that climate change hasdisplaced migration as the top concern among theelectorate.

That marks one of the most significant shifts inrecent Swiss political history, according to theSotomo political research institute, which forecastthat the results could generate a “green wave.” The

Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has repeatedlybeen accused of demonizing migrants, is poised toremain the largest parliamentary party however,with pre-vote surveys giving it over 27 percent sup-port in the wealthy Alpine nation. But that is downfrom the 29 percent the SVP garnered in 2015.

University of Lausanne political scientist OscarMazzoleni told AFP that “even a loss of two tothree percent would be a failure” for the SVP. TheGreen Party, which won a little more than sevenpercent in 2015, is now backed by nearly 11 percentof voters, according to a poll released this monthby public broadcaster RTS. Meanwhile, the GreenLiberals — an environmentalist party with libertar-ian socio-economic policies — has also seen itsfortunes rise, with the RTS poll giving it over sevenpercent support, compared with less than five per-cent four years ago.

Even if the Greens do not manage to secure a

cabinet seat, parties currently in government havepledged to do more to combat climate change,except for the SVP which has denounced “climatehysteria” in Swiss politics. Polls nationwide closed atmidday, although an overwhelming majority of Swisshad already cast ballots by mail.

‘Magic formula’ If the environmentalist parties match or outper-

form their poll numbers, they could, through analliance, force their way into the executive branchfor the first time. Under Switzerland’s unique politi-cal system, the election decides the 200 lower houselawmakers and 46 senators elected to four-yearterms, but the make-up of the executive FederalCouncil will not be decided until December. Thecountry’s so-called “magic formula” sees the coun-cil’s seven cabinet positions divided among the fourleading parties. —AFP

Monday, October 21, 2019

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

BARCELONA: Ahead of next month’s general election,Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez facedsharp criticism yesterday for his handling of violentCatalan separatist protests even as calm returned toBarcelona and other cities overnight. The centre-rightCiudadanos party, which was born out of opposition toCatalan separatism, held a rally in front of Catalonia’sregional government headquarters in Barcelona under theslogan: “That’s enough! Justice and coexistence”.

“We have had enough of seeing how radicals roamfreely and scare millions of Spaniards on their land. Thestreets belong to everyone,” Ciudadanos leader AlbertoRivera tweeted before the rally began. He has called onSanchez to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy just as the cen-tral government did in 2017 after the Catalan parliamentdeclared independence following a banned secession refer-endum. The streets of Barcelona and other Catalan citieshave been rocked by protests since Spain’s Supreme Courtsentenced nine separatist leaders, many of them formerregional government ministers, last Monday to jail terms ofup to 13 years for sedition over the failed 2017 independ-ence bid. Nearly 600 people have been injured in clasheswith police since the protests started. A police officer wasin “very serious condition” and a demonstrator was in “crit-ical condition” according to Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.

‘No dialogue’ In an interview published in top-selling daily newspa-

per El Pais, the leader of the main conservative oppositionPopular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, accused the governmentof “pretending nothing has happened” and promising thateverything will return to normal “with moderation”. “Therecan be no dialogue with those who make Catalonia burn,”

he said in reference to Catalonia’s separatist presidentQuim Torra who on Saturday called for “unconditional”negotiations with Sanchez.

That appeared to be aimed at ensuring that a legal ref-erendum on independence, currently a non-starter forMadrid, was up for discussion. Sanchez, who came topower in June 2018 with the support of Catalan separatistparties, refused to meet with Torra until he “clearly” con-demns this week’s violence and recognizes that half ofCatalonia’s roughly 7.5 million residents do not want inde-pendence. A poll published in July by a public Catalaninstitute showed support for an independent Catalonia atits lowest level in two years, with 48.3 percent of peopleagainst and 44 percent in favor.

‘Increase polarization’ The court’s decision has thrust the Catalan dispute to

the heart of the political debate ahead of Spain’sNovember 10 general election, its fourth in as many years.According to the first poll since Monday’s verdict, the rul-ing Socialists are likely to secure the most votes but againfall short of a majority. The PP was tipped to make signifi-cant gains. Published by the daily El Mundo, the surveypredicted Sanchez’s Socialists would capture 122 seats inthe 350-seat parliament, slightly down from 123 it took inthe last election in April, while the PP would win 98 seats,up from 66. “Order and territory has never been a winningbet for the Socialists,” Pablo Simon, a political scienceprofessor at Madrid’s Carlos III university, wrote in a blogpost on Saturday, adding the Catalan crisis will “increasepolarization” which would benefit parties with moreextreme positions like the far-right Vox and radical sepa-ratists CUP. Barcelona returned to relative calm Saturday

night after six days of demonstrations against the jailing ofseparatist leaders. But on iconic Las Ramblas street, pro-testers set up barricades and lit fires before they were dis-

persed by police firing foam projectiles. Overnight Friday,radical separatists had hurled rocks and fireworks at policewho responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. — AFP

Spanish PM under pressure over violent Catalan protests

‘There can be no dialogue with those who make Catalonia burn’

GABORONE: Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrellafor Democratic Change (UDC), told AFP heexpected his coalition to secure at least 51% ofthe vote. “I think we will win this election and weshould,” said Boko. “We believe we will get a min-imum of 33 constituencies,” he added. The parlia-ment in Botswana has 63 seats - 57 of which aredirectly elected.

The 49-year-old Harvard law graduate, wasspeaking to AFP in Botswana’s capital Gaborone,sporting a white-and-blue tailored suit — the col-ors of the coalition. If his prediction is right, hecould be the country’s next president, as the partythat wins the most parliamentary seats decideswho gets that post. Hailed as a beacon of democ-racy in Africa, Botswana is gearing up for a hotlycontested poll that could see the ruling BotswanaDemocratic Party (BDP) lose seats in parliament.

BDP suffered a drop in popularity during thelast election in 2014, when it secured 47% ofvotes. It was the first time the party, which hasgoverned Botswana interrupted since 1966,dropped below the 50% mark. That year,Botswana’s two main opposition parties — whichhad united under the UDC banner — won 30% ofvotes. And since those elections, the ruling BDPbeen hit by divisions at the top.

Botswana’s current president MokgweetsiMasisi was appointed by Ian Khama — the BDP’sformer leader and son of its founding father —when his term ended last year. But Khama walkedout of the BDP in May this year, accusing Masisiof autocracy. He went on to back a small splinterparty of BDP dissenters, and is even urging votersin some constituencies to back the UDC.

‘Fragmented’ party “(The BDP) is a pale shadow of what it once

was,” said Boko. The “fragmented” ruling partyoffered “no hope to the people of Botswana”, headded. The UDC has promised to create 100,000new jobs within a year and to triple minimumwage to around 3,000 pula ($275). “Decent Jobs,Decent Lives: it’s possible”, says the coalition’selection slogan, which critics have described aspopulist. An early evening UDC rally held at anopen field in Gaborone attracted thousands ofsupporters dressed in blue T-shirts and caps, car-rying blue-and-white umbrellas. They were enter-tained by top hip hop musicians and comedians.

In an hour-long speech Boko charmed thecrowd with promises of jobs and pledges toreduce poverty, and the cheering supportersresponded with hand gestures displaying thecurved shape of an umbrella. “The BDP all alonghas been saying it is going to create jobs. Fromthe time when we gain independence they’ve beensaying the same thing. It’s just the same old song,”said a 37-year-old unemployed UDC supporterChristine Motshidisi, wearing deep-blue lipsticksand blue artificial hair extensions.

“So, this time around we’ve got a leader who isa visionary and .... I believe that we are movingforward and we are doing something differentfrom the past,” she added. Boko said he held nohard feelings against his rival Masisi. “We appre-ciate and love him,” said Boko. “But we will criti-cize him fiercely when we feel that he’s veered offcourse.” The election coverage however had beenunfair, as the state media have overwhelminglyfocused on the ruling party, he argued. “Anybodywho says these elections can even be remotelyfair doesn’t know what fairness looks like,” saidBoko. Just under a million voters are expected tocast their vote on October 23. — AFP

Botswana oppn leader confident after ruling divisions

Let jihadists return, French anti-terror magistrate urgesPARIS: The refusal of the French government to takeback Islamic State fighters from Syria could fuel a newjihadist recruitment drive in France, threatening publicsafety, a leading anti-terrorism investigator has toldAFP. David De Pas, coordinator of France’s 12 anti-ter-rorism examining magistrates, said that it would be“better to know that these people are in the care ofthe judiciary” in France “than let them roam free”.

Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish militia in north-east Syria has sparked fears that some of the 12,000jihadists, including thousands of foreigners, being heldin Syrian Kurdish prisons could escape. Officials inParis say 60 to 70 French fighters are among thoseheld, with around 200 adults, including jihadists’ wives,being held in total, along with some 300 children.

France has refused to allow the adults return home,saying they must face local justice. So far Paris hasonly taken back a handful of children, mostly orphans.This week, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian trav-elled to Iraq to try convince Baghdad to take in andtry French jihadists being held in northern Syria. OnFriday, in a rare interview, De Pas argued that instabil-ity in the region and the “porous nature” of the SyrianKurdish prison camps risked triggering “uncontrolledmigration of jihadists to Europe, with the risk ofattacks by very ideological people”.

The Turkish offensive, which has detracted theKurds’ attention from fighting IS, could also facilitatethe “re-emergence of battle-hardened, determinedterrorist groups.” This in turn could spur the estab-lishment of new jihadist networks to supply “Frenchcitizens drawn to these groups,” he argued. Warningof the risk of “a new vicious circle” of radicalizedyoung French people travelling to Syria, De Pas calledon the government to demonstrate “the political willto repatriate” the fighters. Investigating magistratesare independent of the government, but it is extremelyrare in France for them to publicly challenge policy.Last month, IS chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi urged thegroup’s followers to break jihadists and their familymembers out of prisons in Iraq and Syria.

According to Syrian Kurdish authorities, nearly800 wives and children of foreign jihadists escapedfrom a camp for the displaced on the first weekend ofthe Turkish offensive. — AFP

London insists UK leaving EU on Oct 31, despite delay requestLONDON: A defiant British government doubled downyesterday, insisting it would leave the European Union in11 days’ time despite parliament forcing a reluctant primeminister to request another delay. In a day of high dramaon Saturday, MPs in the House of Commons passed up thechance to decide on the revised withdrawal agreementthat Prime Minister Boris Johnson had negotiated with theEuropean Union.

That defeat leaves Johnson under mounting pressure tofind a way out of paralyzing impasse on when and howBritain would leave the EU bloc after Britons narrowly vot-ed to exit in a 2016 referendum. Late Saturday, Johnsonreluctantly sent European Council President Donald Tuska letter legally imposed on him by parliament requestingan extension — but refused to sign it.

The Conservative leader sent a second, signed letterinsisting he was not seeking an extension to the Brexit dead-line, which has already been postponed twice, warning that“a further extension would damage the interests of the UK

and our EU partners”. Having failed to back a divorce deal,which Johnson had secured on Thursday, they triggered alaw requiring him to write to EU leaders asking to delayBrexit, to avoid the risk that Britain crashes out in less than afortnight’s time. Senior cabinet minister Michael Gove, thegovernment’s Brexit planning chief, was nonetheless adamantthat Britain would leave the EU on schedule. “Yes. We aregoing to leave on October 31. We have the means and theability to do so,” he told Sky News television.

EU ‘fed up’: Raab The government will bring forward this week the

domestic legislation needed to implement the divorce deal,with a first vote as soon as Tuesday. Separately, it is seek-ing a new yes-or-no vote on approving the deal onMonday, although this may fall foul of parliamentary pro-cedure. “If we get the legislation through then there is noextension. October 31 is within sight,” said Gove. He said itwas dangerous to assume that the 27 other EU leaderswould grant an extension.

More than three years on from the June 2016 vote toleave the EU, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told BBCtelevision that from his conversations with other EU capi-tals, “they are fed up with this now — and we are fed upwith it”. Johnson’s number two added that he was “confi-dent” of leaving on October 31. The Labour main opposi-tion has lambasted Johnson’s deal as a “sell-out” and votedfor the delay. — AFP

BELFAST: A picture shows the side of a building decorated with Loyalist pictures of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth IIon the Shankill road. — AFP

BARCELONA: A woman waves a Spanish flag between two police officers outside the Spanish national policeheadquarters, whose windows are decorated with flowers left by people, following a pro-union political partyCiudadanos’ rally. — AFP

As Kremlin scrambles for Africa, Moscow university eyes powerMOSCOW: As the Kremlin seeks to boost ties with Africa,a Moscow university that was a training ground for thecontinent’s elite during the Cold War is once again work-ing to bolster Russia’s soft power. The Peoples’ FriendshipUniversity of Russia, created in 1960 to improve Sovietties with developing nations, counts among its alumni toppoliticians in Rwanda, Uganda, Mali, Chad, Angola,Botswana and other African countries.

But after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,Russia’s interest in Africa declined and the institutionbriefly became better known for skinhead attacks on itsstudents than for building bridges with the continent. Now,as Moscow prepares for the first Russia-Africa summit onOctober 23-24, rector Vladimir Filippov says the universityis reviving its status as a top destination for youngAfricans.

“Our task — and the task of Russia as a whole — is torevive the system that we once had during the SovietUnion” for the advanced training of Russian and foreignstudents, he said. Filippov, a former education minister,told AFP he welcomes two African university delegations amonth, on average, seeking to develop ties with the institu-tion. Around 1,200 African students are enrolled in the uni-versity, which is spread across several campuses in asouthern district of Moscow.

During the Soviet period it was known as Patrice

Lumumba University after the Congolese independenceleader. Today it goes by the Russian acronym RUDN. In ahall of the grey, Soviet modernist main building, Russianand foreign students mingle as members of the Guineansociety dance to traditional music.

Exporting Russian expertise Filippov says the university’s aim is not simply to attract

African students to Russia, but also to export Russianexpertise to the continent and vice versa. Of RUDN’scooperation agreements with 49 African universities, morethan 20 were inked in the last two years. In addition,RUDN has established Russian language centers inNamibia and Zambia.

The rector acknowledged that this increased activitywas tied up with Moscow’s aim to develop its presence in

some African nations. “Of course it’s always a question ofgeopolitical interests and economics,” Filippov said. Theuniversity is meanwhile hoping that some of its Russianstudents will spend time in Africa after they graduate. Atthe end of this month, RUDN will host its first “I Want toWork in Africa” careers fair.

The Soviet Union maintained a strong presence inAfrica as part of its ideological war with the West, backingliberation movements and sending tens of thousands ofadvisors to former colonies that had gained independence.Touting military cooperation, arms deals and investment,Russia is making a comeback on the continent and seeksto rival European countries and even China, analysts say.Chimuka Singuwa, a 23-year-old Zambian who is workingtowards a master’s degree in international relations anddiplomacy at RUDN, said he had the opportunity to studyin Russia or China.

Russia or China? He chose Moscow on the advice of his grandfather, who

was a student at RUDN in the 1970s. Singuwa said he hadno regrets about passing up on a Chinese education. “I’mkind of against the ‘takeover’ of Africa by the Chinese,” hesaid, pointing to the debt Zambia has accumulated withChina, its main investor.

Singuwa will travel to the Russian resort town of Sochito work as a volunteer at the Africa summit, which hedescribed as a “great opportunity” for the regions todevelop their relations. RUDN hit international headlinesin 2003 with a dormitory fire that killed 43 foreign stu-dents. Arson was never ruled out, and witnesses and rightsgroups criticized what they said was a slow response tothe blaze. At the time, foreign students also told media ofracially motivated attacks. But Singuwa said he hadencountered little racism in Moscow. — AFP

MOSCOW: Guinean students dance during a presentationof their country at the Peoples’ Friendship University ofRussia. — AFP

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Monday, October 21, 2019

9

Japan govt funding for imperial ceremonies sparks rare dissent

COX’S BAZAR: Thousands of Rohingya living inBangladesh refugee camps have agreed to move to anisland in the Bay of Bengal, officials said yesterday,despite fears the site is prone to flooding. Dhaka haslong wanted to move 100,000 refugees to the muddysilt islet, saying it would take pressure off the over-crowded border camps where almost a millionRohingya live.

Some 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in August2017 in the face of a military crackdown, joining200,000 refugees already in makeshift tent settle-ments at Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh’s refugee commis-sioner, Mahbub Alam, said officials overseeing therelocation would be posted to Bhashan Char island inthe next few days. “Approximately 6,000-7,000refugees have already expressed their willingness tobe relocated to Bhashan Char,” Alam told AFP fromCox’s Bazar, adding that “the number is rising”.

He did not say when the refugees would be moved,but a senior Navy officer involved in building facilitieson the island said it could start by December, withsome 500 refugees sent daily. Bangladesh has beenplanning since last year to relocate Rohingya to thedesolate flood-prone site, which is an hour by boatfrom the mainland. Rights groups have warned theisland, which emerged from the sea only about twodecades ago, might not be able to withstand violentstorms during the annual monsoon season.

In the past half a century, powerful cyclones havekilled hundreds of thousands of people in the Meghnariver estuary where the island is located. Rohingyaleaders would be taken to Bhashan Char to view thefacilities and living conditions, Alam said. Safety facili-ties built on the island include a nine-feet highembankment along its perimeter to keep out tidalsurges during cyclones, and a warehouse to storemonths-worth of rations, he added.

Rohingya father-of-four Nur Hossain, 50, said heand his family agreed to relocate to Bhashan Char afterthey were shown video footage of the shelters. “I haveagreed to go. The camp here (at Leda) is very over-crowded. There are food and housing problems,” the50-year-old told AFP. There was no immediate com-ment from the UN, although Bangladeshi officials saidthey expect a delegation would visit the island in thenext few weeks. — AFP

Rohingya refugeesagree move toBangladesh island

The government is setting aside millions of dollars in funds

Floating meth sacks in Myanmar sea worth $20m YANGON: Sacks of crystal meth scooped from thesea by Myanmar fishermen who mistook it for adeodorant substance had a street value of $20 million,an official told AFP yesterday, in a country believed tobe the world’s largest methamphetamine producer.The accidental drug haul off Myanmar’s coastalAyeyarwady region occurred when fishermen spotteda total of 23 sacks floating in the Andaman Sea onWednesday.

Each one contained plastic-wrapped bags labeledas Chinese green tea — packaging commonly usedby Southeast Asian crime gangs to smuggle crystalmeth to far-flung destinations including Japan, SouthKorea and Australia. Locals were mystified by thecrystallized substance in the sacks, said Zaw Win, alocal official of the National League for Democracyparty who assisted the fishermen and police.

At first, they assumed it was a natural deodorantchemical known as potassium alum, which is widelyused in Myanmar. “So they burned it, and some of themalmost fainted,” he told AFP. They informed the police,who on Thursday combed a beach and found an addi-tional two sacks of the same substance — bringing thetotal to 691 kilogrammes (1,500 pounds) which wouldbe worth about $20.2 million, Zaw Win said.

“In my entire life and my parents’ lifetime, we havenever seen drugs floating in the ocean before,” hesaid. The massive haul was sent on Sunday to Pyapondistrict police, who declined to comment on it.Myanmar’s multi-billion-dollar drug industry is cen-tered in eastern Shan state, whose poppy-coveredhills are ideal cover for illicit production labs.

Made-in-Myanmar crystal meth — better knownas ice — is smuggled out of the country to morelucrative markets using routes carved out by narcogangs through Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. — AFP

TOKYO: When it comes to Japan’s royal family, anti-monarchy sentiment is almost non-existent. But govern-ment funding for two highly symbolic imperial rituals thisyear has sparked rare dissent. On October 22, EmperorNaruhito will formally proclaim his enthronement, whichoccurred earlier this year after his father’s abdication, andin November he will perform the sacred Daijosai thanks-giving ritual.

The government is setting aside millions of dollars infunds, in particular for the sumptuous October event,which will draw dignitaries from around the world. Butcritics say the two ceremonies are effectively religiousrites, and public funding for them violates a constitutional-ly mandated separation of state and faith. “The Daijosairitual is nothing more than a Shinto ceremony,” the UnitedChurch of Christ in Japan, a leading Protestant group, saidin a statement earlier this year. Public funding for them“violates the principle of separating politics from religion...and infringes on freedom of belief”, it added.

The subject touches on the sensitive history of the role ofthe emperor during World War II. Under Japan’s wartimeconstitution, the emperor was “sacred and inviolable”, hewas supreme commander of the army and navy and wasinvoked as a motivating force for Japanese troops on battle-fields across Asia. After Japan’s defeat, some felt the imperialfamily should be removed altogether, but instead US-ledallied forces stripped the emperor of political power,enshrining his limited role as a state symbol in the newlywritten constitution. The constitution also stipulates that “thestate... shall refrain from religious education or any otherreligious activity”, a rule critics say the government will vio-late by allotting public money to this year’s imperial rituals.

‘Highly religious nature’ The dissent extends beyond the Christian community,

with 300 plaintiffs ranging from Buddhist monks to univer-sity professors filing suits from last year against the gov-

ernment’s plan to fund the ceremonies. “The governmentfunding these religious events means that the emperorepitomizes Japan’s religion and culture, and that the gov-ernment is promoting a state religion,” Koichi Shin, one ofthe plaintiffs, told AFP.

“We think it’s a problem, too, that all the activities ofthe imperial family are financed with public money,” headded. “But the two ceremonies are huge in terms ofsize and expenditure, as well as media attention, sothey have an enormous impact on society.” And thecritics have support from a somewhat unlikely quarter:Crown Prince Akishino. Last November, before assum-ing his new title with his brother’s ascension to thethrone, he publicly questioned the spending, noting theDaijosai ceremony in particular “has a highly religiousnature”. “I wonder if it is appropriate to finance thishighly religious thing with state funds,” he said. Theissue has come up before, with lawsuits also filed overthe enthronement of former emperor Akihito and cere-monies related to the death of his father Hirohito in1989. But the cases were mostly dismissed. One courtruled there were grounds to “suspect” the ceremonieswere religious, but the supreme court rejected suits onthe grounds that the ceremonies were “social conven-tions” not religious activities.

‘Social conventions’ The government says the rituals are “public events” and

therefore eligible for funding. And the spending will not beinsignificant given the price tag for all the enthronement-related ceremonies runs to 16 billion yen ($147.2 million).The government has set aside $64 million in cabinet fundsfor the events, with the remainder split between the impe-rial household — itself funded by taxpayer money — thenational police agency, and the foreign and defense min-istries. Several lawsuits against the spending are workingtheir way through the courts, but none stand much chance.

A hearing on an urgent injunction isn’t even scheduleduntil after the Daijosai event. And there is little sign ofpublic support for the critics, with the imperial familyenjoying high approval ratings. But the plaintiffs, includingSatoshi Ukai, a professor of modern French literature, are

undeterred, insisting Japan’s history makes it important tofight the case. “The Japanese case is different from casesin other countries,” he told AFP.” Japan’s state Shintoism...was used as a foundation to justify invasive wars and colo-nizations.” — AFP

EU officials calls for Afghanistan ceasefireKABUL: European Union officials called yesterday for aceasefire in Afghanistan, saying the breakdown in talksbetween the US and the Taleban presented an opportu-nity to push anew for a truce. US President DonaldTrump last month declared talks with the insurgents“dead”, citing a Taleban attack that killed a US soldier.

Negotiations had been in the final stages for a dealthat would have seen the US pull troops fromAfghanistan after 18 years in return for various Talebanguarantees. But to the dismay of many Afghans andinternational observers, the deal included no immediate,comprehensive ceasefire, rather it would supposedlyhave paved the way for a reduction in violence and latertalks between the Taleban and the Afghan government.

Roland Kobia, the EU special envoy for Afghanistan,said the talks’ collapse provided a chance to push for aceasefire which would, in turn, prove a large enoughchange in Afghanistan for Trump to consider resumingnegotiations. “It’s the right moment and the right oppor-tunity to maybe go one step beyond a simple reductionin violence and explore ways in which a ceasefire ... willtake place,” Kobia told Kabul journalists. “The idea isreally to see how we can move the ceasefire idea for-ward instead of leaving it for later. ... There is an oppor-tunity here today”.

When asked how the EU, which has only a limitedfootprint in Afghanistan, could leverage a truce, Kobiasuggested that the Taleban might return to power in“one form or another” within months so would enter-tain a truce to help normalize future relations with theEuropean bloc. “A ceasefire would be a token, a guar-antee of goodwill and good preparation for the normal-ization of these relationships,” Kobia said. The Taleban,for its part, has steadfastly ruled out an immediateceasefire but last year downed weapons for a three-day truce.

Delayed election results Afghanistan is currently in an uneasy waiting period

following the first round of presidential elections onSeptember 28. Results were supposed to be releasedSaturday but have been indefinitely delayed due to“technical issues”, the Independent ElectionCommission said. Pierre Mayaudon, head of the EU del-egation in Afghanistan, said a delay of a few days tofinalize results was legitimate to ensure votes were fair-ly counted.

“But not many more days that again will go intoweeks and will possibly raise the perception that some-thing is happening,” he told reporters. US DefenseSecretary Mark Esper meanwhile arrived in Kabul onSunday on an unannounced visit. According to FawadAman, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry,Esper was due to meet with “key leaders and receive anoperational update”. US Forces-Afghanistan, headquar-tered in Kabul, did not immediately return a request forcomment on Esper’s visit.

Since Trump ended talks with the Taleban, ZalmayKhalilzad, the US special envoy leading negotiations, hasspoken informally with insurgents in Pakistan, raising thepossibility the US is seeking to resume discussions. Inthe mean time, violence in Afghanistan continues unabat-ed. On Friday, at least 70 people were killed when amosque in Nangarhar province was bombed. — AFP

Jokowi kicks off new term at heavilyguarded ceremony JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo was swornin for a second term yesterday, as helicopters flew over-head and troops kept watch in the capital Jakarta — daysafter Islamist militants tried to assassinate his top securityminister. Foreign heads of state, lawmakers and politicalrivals looked on as Widodo, 58, and Vice President Ma’rufAmin, 76, read an oath to start a five-year tenure leadingthe world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Outside parliament, red-and-white Indonesian flagsdotted parts of the city, but celebrations were muted withsupporters outnumbered by some 30,000 security per-sonnel deployed amid fears of another attack.Demonstrations were also banned on Sunday as extremistviolence continues to plague Indonesia.

Several thousand supporters, many wearing T-shirtsbearing the leader’s image, watched the ceremony on a bigscreen near Jakarta’s national monument. “I was worriedIslamic (hardliners) would take over the country if he lost,”supporter Suprihatini, who goes by one name, told AFP.“I’m Muslim, but I don’t want that kind of movement here,”the 53-year-old added.

Widely known as Jokowi, the president said his finalterm would be aimed at eradicating poverty and catapult-ing the nation of some 260 million into a developed coun-try with one of the world’s top five economies by 2045.“I’m calling on ministers, public officials and bureaucratsto take these targets seriously,” he told parliament, addingthat officials not committed to his goals would be sacked.In Jakarta, supporters carried a 200-metre (655 foot)Indonesian flag along the streets, while Jokowi fans erect-ed a seven-meter tumpeng in his honor — a towering ren-dition of a popular cone-shaped dish — in the country’ssecond-biggest city Surabaya.

‘Critical times’ Jokowi, a popular, heavy metal-loving former business-

man from outside the political and military elite, was hailedas Indonesia’s answer to Barack Obama when he was firstelected in 2014, partly on a roads-to-airports infrastructuredrive. But his leadership has been under mounting criticismafter a wave of crises that threaten to cast a shadow overhis final term. Challenges facing the president range fromnationwide anti-government demonstrations — in whichthree students died — and smog-belching forest fires thatsparked diplomatic tensions with Indonesia’s neighbors, todeadly unrest in Papua province and a slowdown inSoutheast Asia’s biggest economy. It marked a stark rever-sal of fortune just months after Jokowi scored a thumpingre-election victory against a former military general.

“This is the weakest point in Jokowi’s political leadership,”

said Arya Fernandes, a researcher at the Jakarta-basedCentre for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s a test forthe president in critical times.” Protests erupted last monthacross the archipelago that were among the biggest studentrallies since mass demonstrations toppled the Suharto dicta-torship in 1998. Jokowi’s inauguration comes a little over aweek after the country’s chief security minister was stabbedin an attack by two members of a local extremist outfit alliedto the Islamic State group. Two suspects were arrested at thescene, while dozens of suspected militants have since beendetained in a country-wide dragnet following the assassina-tion attempt on Wiranto, a former general who goes by onename. The 72-year-old is recovering in hospital. Jokowi’s newterm also comes amid criticism that Indonesia’s two decades ofdemocratic reforms are being eroded under the watch of a manonce lauded by Time magazine as “A New Hope”. — AFP

TOKYO: In this file photo taken on April 30, 2019 people gather outside the Imperial Palace, where the abdicationceremony for Japan’s Emperor Akihito is taking place. — AFP

Four killed as policefire on BangladeshprotestersDHAKA: At least four people were killed and nearly 50injured yesterday after police fired on thousands ofBangladeshi Muslims protesting a Facebook post by aHindu who allegedly defamed the Prophet Mohammed,officials said. Mob attacks over Facebook posts perceivedto be blasphemous have emerged as a major headache forsecurity forces in Bangladesh, where Muslims make upsome 90 percent of the country’s 168 million people.

Some 20,000 Muslims demonstrated at a prayerground in Borhanuddin town on the country’s largestisland of Bhola to call for the execution of the young Hinduman, who was arrested Saturday over charges of incitingreligious tension. Police said they opened fire in self-defense after some of the crowd threw rocks at their offi-cers. “At least four people were killed and up to 50 peoplewere injured,” police inspector Salahuddin Mia said. Hesaid extra police and border guards were being deployedin the town. The death toll is expected to rise, with BholaSadar Hospital duty doctor Tayebur Rahman telling AFP atleast seven of the 43 people taken to hospital were fightingfor their lives. — AFP

SURABAYA: Supporters of newly sworn-in Indonesian President Joko Widodo build a seven-meter tumpeng,a towering rendition of the country’s popular cone-shaped dish. — AFP

KABUL: EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Roland Kobia(L) and EU Ambassador to Afghanistan Pierre Mayaudon(R) look on during a press conference. — AFP

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Fallout from UStrade wars felt by global economies

The collateral damage of the United States’ tradewars is being felt from the fjords of Iceland tothe auto factories of Japan. Central bank gover-

nors and finance ministers traded grim tales of suffer-ing economies at the International Monetary Fund andWorld Bank fall meetings in Washington this week.Some also noted how far US policy had shifted fromthe 1940s, when Washington co-founded the IMF.

At that time, “the world economy had been ham-mered for over a decade by high tariff barriers,depression and war,” prompting then-US TreasurySecretary Henry Morgenthau to champion a globaleconomic system, World Bank President DavidMalpass told attendees at a session this week. The USmessage then, Malpass said, was: “First, there’s no limitto prosperity. Second, broadly shared prosperity ben-efits everyone.”

As the IMF’s gathering of 189 member-nations drewto a close, the unintended negative impacts of the tradewars were becoming clear, IMF Managing DirectorKristalina Georgieva said. “Everybody loses.” The UnitedStates, the world’s largest importer, started a bitter tariffwar with China, the world’s largest exporter, 15 monthsago. US President Donald Trump is also in the midst ofrenegotiating, and sometimes upending, trade relation-ships with many of Washington’s top trading partners.The fallout will slow global growth in 2019 to 3.0%, theslowest pace in a decade, the IMF estimated this week.This pain is not being shared equally. The United Statesremains the least exposed of the world’s 20 largesteconomies to a drop in exports in part because of itsmassive domestic consumer spending base.

Europe’s painThe damage is being particularly felt in European

countries which “rely on exports and are open totrade,” the European Union’s Economic and FinancialAffairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said. Morethan 40% of Germany’s GDP was derived fromexports in 2018, the most of any major global economy.Uncertainty in the business community is widespread,German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told reporters.

German trade group BGA recently revised down itsgrowth forecast for German exports in 2019 to just0.5%, from 1.5%. As a result, many companies arescaling back their investment plans, something that willhave repercussions for years to come. Scholz said con-cerns over Britain’s impending departure from the EUand the bloc’s trade dispute with the United Stateswere clearly dampening global economic growth. “Themost important problem remains those factors that wecannot measure - specifically the reluctance to invest,”Scholz said. The pain is being felt in countries thatdon’t rely on exports too, such as Iceland, whichbecame the first developed economy to seek aid fromthe IMF after a 2008 banking collapse. Since then, ithas rebuilt its economy in what’s been called a miracu-lous recovery. Now, that is threatened.

“We have become dependent on tourism,”explained, the governor of Iceland’s central bank, withannual visitors growing five-fold to 2.5 million sincethe crisis. Foreign arrivals, however, have plummetedsince the trade wars started, and are down 15.6% thissummer from the year before. Iceland, with a popula-tion of about 300,000, built foreign currency reserveson the back of the increase in visitors, he said, butthose are dropping too. Trade links between countrieshave led to a more peaceful world in recent decades,but recent experience shows “you can never takeglobal trade for granted,” he said.

No American immunityOn Friday, Japan’s Cabinet Office, which helps coor-

dinate government policy, downgraded its assessmentof factory output in October. The softness in produc-tion was largely due to car exports to the UnitedStates turning weaker, after growing steadily until thespring, a government official said at a briefing. “Thepick-up in global growth is being delayed,” Bank ofJapan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said. “Japan’s econo-my is seeing exports weaken significantly and that’saffecting factory output.”

The United States hasn‘t been immune from theimpact of the trade wars. American farmers have beenparticularly hurt by Chinese tariffs on US agriculturalproducts, prompting the Trump administration to givebillions in aid to the farm belt. Washington’s impositionof steel and aluminum tariffs and uncertainty aboutpassage of a new North American free trade deal - theUnited States-Mexico-Canada Agreement - have alsostalled local economic development. The trade tensionsare helping to spur a push among African nations tocreate a more self-reliant continent. “We must take itupon ourselves to grow trade among ourselves,” saidUkur Yatani Kanacho, Kenya’s acting cabinet secretaryfor treasury. — Reuters

The world’s most powerful policymakers are strug-gling to alleviate the pain of a slowing global econo-my with few levers left to pull and growing concern

that one of them, negative interest rates, already is creat-ing problems of its own. In an ideal world, elected officialswould pull more of the weight with fiscal programs andstructural reforms that would improve growth and allowinterest rates to rise.

But over three days of conversation here, the dilemmahas become clear: Whether it is the US-China trade war,tightfisted spending in Germany, or the drawn-out Brexit,broader government policies are moving in the otherdirection - driving central bankers to mount further rescueefforts, and likely leading to even more negative yieldingdebt. “We still have tools which could be used as neces-sary,” said Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. “Idon’t think the effect of monetary policy has declined sig-nificantly or materially.” Still, Kuroda said that a prolongedlow interest rate situation could have “side effects on thefinancial system. You have to be careful.”

Negative interest rates are now a fact of life in Europeand Japan, and multiple other countries including theUnited States are lowering their target policy rates. “It isnot really clear how we are going to get out of this,”Stanford University economics professor John Taylor saidat a meeting of the Institute of International Finance. Hespoke at a central banking panel that showed just howmuch the landscape has shifted in the decade since the2007 to 2009 financial crisis.

Far from debate over whether unconventional policiesare appropriate or not, the discussion is now aboutwhether traditional central banking can even survive - orwhether oddities like negative rates have become self-reenforcing, and whether central banks will need to begin

overtly financing government programs to get the fiscalspending that may provide an exit from them. “We havegot to make it easier for politicians to run fiscal policywhen monetary policy is essentially not operating well,”said former Federal Reserve vice chair Stanley Fischer,now a senior adviser with investment management firmBlackRock.

Tilted to the downsideConversation at the International Monetary Fund and

World Bank meetings this week was dominated by twoconcerns - a global economic slowdown driven by “policyshocks” that might have been avoided, and the risks topension funds, banks, and overall financial stability posedby the roughly $15 trillion, estimated by the IMF, in bondsthat now pay a negative interest rate.

With easier monetary policy being used to dampen theimpact of the trade war and other risks, some analystsworry about the moral hazard of central bankers under-writing the very policies they feel are slowing growth.“There is a kind of benign view that central banks are justkind of doing their best to offset the damage done by oneset of policymakers in one side of the government,” saidBrian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings. “There is areal danger in misplaced faith in the capacity of centralbanks to fix all these growth challenges.”

Yet they may have no choice. IMF economists slashedtheir forecasts for global growth to the slowest pace sincethe 2008-2009 financial crisis, ahead of the conference,setting the tone for a somber mood. In a communiqueissued on Saturday, the IMF’s steering committee saidmember countries should “employ all appropriate policytools, individually and collectively, to mitigate risks.”

With interest rates close to or below zero, asset pur-

chases are now the main policy tool for some centralbanks. The ECB, for example, has cut its key rate to arecord low of minus 0.5% and launched an indefinite bondbuying program that will likely keep it in the market foryears to come. “The risks surrounding the euro areagrowth outlook remain tilted to the downside,” outgoingECB President Mario Draghi said at the IMF meeting onFriday. “The Governing Council continues to stand readyto adjust all of its instruments.”

Beyond the euro zone, the United States and Japan,other nations are also easing rates. The Russian centralbank, which has been cutting rates this year as economicgrowth slowed and inflation waned, will be ready to act“more decisively” when cutting interest rates, GovernorElvira Nabiullina said. Ukraine central bank DeputyGovernor Kateryna Rozhkova said the bank intends to cutthe key policy rate gradually.

Sign of sicknessWhile lower rates support growth, the consequence of

ultra-accommodative policy is that it can breed higher risktaking, as investors search for yield, said experts. “We doworry about the side effect, which is that investors arereaching for yield,” said Tobias Adrian, financial counselorand director of the IMF’s monetary and capital marketsdepartment. “That is ultimately what is driving high yieldbonds into negative territory in some parts of the world.”

Adrian pointed to leverage rising in the corporate sec-tor and said the IMF saw stretched valuations in someequity markets, many corporate bond markets, and gov-ernment bond markets around the world. Negative interestrates may be hiding “deep underlying problems,” said gov-ernor of the Central Bank of Iceland. They’re a “sign ofsickness for developed economies.” — Reuters

A woman jumped on the table - throws papers and confetti as she interrupts a press conference by Mario Draghi (center), President of the European Central Bank, (ECB) fol-lowing a meeting of the Governing Council in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Mario Draghi’s final meeting as European Central Bank president on October 24, 2019 is unlikely tobring surprises after last month’s stimulus package, analysts say, leaving him to patch up a divided governing council as best he can. — AFP

Negative interest rates forever? Central bankers look for an exit

Key challenges forIndonesia’s Widodo in second term

Indonesian President Joko Widodo started his secondfive-year term yesterday pledging faster infrastruc-ture development and more investment opportunities

to create jobs and growth in Southeast Asia’s biggesteconomy. However, he faces fresh challenges after someof the biggest student demonstrations in decades erupt-ed last month opposing new bills parliament had tried topush through that critics say undermine democracy andthreaten basic freedoms. Here some key policy issuesfacing the president:

Economic slowdownHampered by soft commodity prices, Indonesia

has struggled to lift economic growth above 5% inrecent years despite a boom in infrastructure build-ing and attempts to cut red tape hampering invest-ment. Indonesia has attracted investment in mineralsmelting, but has failed to win as much of the manu-facturing investment moving out of China comparedwith some rivals. Widodo has pledged to improve theinvestment climate further by relaxing strict laborrules, opening up more areas to foreign investors andspeeding up trade agreements. But the stakes arehigh given 2019 economic growth is expected toslow for the first time in four years amid risks ofglobal recession.

CorruptionStudent protests may persist amid anger over a law

that they say weakens the war on graft and other contro-versial new bills, including a criminal code that outlawssex outside marriage. Ahead of his inauguration, Widodoapproved parl iament’s bi l l to put the CorruptionEradication Commission under the watch of a new com-mittee and curb its freedom to wiretap suspects. Lastweek, over 40 economists signed an open letter urgingWidodo to revoke the law, arguing corruption hurts effi-ciency and hampers investment.

EducationIn a country where about half the population is under

30, students consistently rank near the bottom of inter-national student surveys. The president has allocated

money for ski l ls training for the unemployed andexpanded a program to pay for higher education for thepoor. Government officials also say a ban on foreignownership in the university sector will be lifted, but pri-mary education, particularly in remote areas, remainsunder-resourced.

PapuaIndonesia’s two easternmost provinces are among

the country’s poorest regions and have seen a spikein violence since August, triggered by racial slursmade against Papuan students on the main island ofJava. Demands by some separatist groups for a newindependence referendum have gained momentumduring the unrest. Some Papuans see a 1969 vote tointegrate the former Dutch colony with Indonesia,which was backed by the United Nations, as illegiti-mate. Widodo has said he is open to holding talkswith separatist leaders to end the unrest, a departurefrom the stance of previous governments and someof his ministers.

Rising conservatism and radicalismIndonesia has the world’s biggest Muslim population

and is often seen as an example of how democracy andIslam can co-exist, but rising conservatism has fannedgreater intolerance in a country with significant religiousand ethnic minorities. At the same time, Indonesia is grap-pling with a resurgence in Islamist militancy after a seriesof suicide bombings in the city of Surabaya last year andthe recent stabbing of the country’s chief security ministerby a suspected militant.

EnvironmentIndonesia recently suffered its worst forest fires since

2015 and as the world’s biggest palm oil producer hasbeen fighting a plan by the European Union to phase outusing the oil as a transport fuel due to links to deforesta-tion. Widodo announced plans in August to move the capi-tal from the crowded, flood-prone city of Jakarta on Javaisland to the forested island of Borneo, triggering ques-tions over how the plan would be financed and its environ-mental impact. — Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (2nd right) and his son Kaesang (3rd right) meet a crowd before he was sworn in for asecond term as Indonesia’s president, in Jakarta. — AFP

SYDNEY: In this handout photo from Qantas shows Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce (center) and crew celebrating in front of a Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane after arriving at Sydney international airport after completing anon-stop test flight from New York to Sydney yesterday.—AFP

Global economy in synchronized slowdown; trade war main reason 1412 13

BusinessEstablished 1961

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

NBK delegation attends Kuwait Banking Association reception in Washington

Jazeera Airways takes delivery of second Airbus A320neo

SYDNEY: The longest non-stop passenger flighttouched down in Australia yesterday morning aftermore than 19 hours in the air, a milestone journey fromNew York that Qantas hopes to parlay into commercialsuccess. Qantas flight QF7879 took 19 hours and 16minutes to fly direct from New York to Sydney in thefirst of three “ultra long-haul” journeys planned by theairline this year.

The national flag carrier is operating the test flights-which also include one from London to Sydney-as itweighs a rollout of regular services on marathonroutes from the United States and Britain to Australia.Just 49 people travelled on the Boeing 787-9 to mini-mize the weight on board and give the plane sufficientfuel range to travel more than 16,000 kilometers

(9,500 miles) without re-fuelling.Qantas CEO Alan Joyce called it “a really historic

moment” for both the airline and world aviation.“This is the first of three test flights that’s going to

come up with recommendations about how we managepilot fatigue (and) how we actually manage passengerjetlag,” he told reporters after arriving in Sydney.“After 19 hours on this flight, I think we’ve gotten thisright. It feels like we’ve been on a flight a lot shorterthan that.” Qantas partnered with two Australian uni-versities to monitor how jetlag affected the health ofpassengers and crew members as they crossed multi-ple time zones.

After boarding the flight, passengers set theirwatches to Sydney time and were kept awake until

night fell in eastern Australia with lighting, exercise,caffeine and a spicy meal.

Six hours later, they were served a high-carbohy-drate meal, told to avoid screens, and the lights weredimmed to encourage them to sleep through the night.Professor Marie Carroll, a researcher from SydneyUniversity who conducted the experiment, told AFPthat she expected the innovative approach wouldresult in “absolutely minimal” jetlag. “I expect that theywill have a normal day today and a normal night’s sleeptonight,” she said, adding that she felt “amazinglygood” considering the flight time.

“It’s all an experiment to see if airlines can adjusttheir schedule of food, beverages, exercise and lightingto be in sync with the destination time.”

The four pilots on board-who rotated between fly-ing duties-also wore devices that tracked their brainwaves and alertness. The Australian and InternationalPilots Association, which represents Qantas pilots, hasraised concerns about whether pilots will get enoughquality rest during ultra long-range flights to maintainpeak performance.

It has called for a “scientific long-term study” intothe impacts on crews. The airline says the test journeysare just one facet of the work it is doing to ensure theflights are operated safely.

Qantas last year introduced the first direct servicefrom the western Australian city of Perth to London,with the 17-hour journey one of the longest passengerflights in the world. —AFP

Longest non-stop passenger jet lands in SydneyQantas flight takes 19 hours and 16 minutes to fly from New York to Sydney

IMF chief says building ‘peer pressure’ to follow trade rulesWASHINGTON: With trade tensionsundermining confidence and global growth,economic leaders are increasingly pushingeach other to fix the shortcomings thatfueled the disputes, IMF chief KristalinaGeorgieva said Saturday. As the UnitedStates and China remain engulfed in a mas-sive tariff battle and with Brexit turmoil con-tinuing on Saturday, trade overshadowedthe discussions of finance officials gatheredfor the annual meetings of the InternationalMonetary Fund and World Bank.

Trade is typically an engine of economicgrowth. But the current disputes have cre-ated uncertainty and growth in internationalcommerce has come to a virtual standstill,Georgieva said, noting that problems gobeyond bilateral disagreements and extendto outdated trade rules.

“We need to look into what are the rea-sons we are not making more progress ontrade and they are not just the relations

between US and China,” Georgieva toldreporters. Among finance officials there wasan understanding on “what are the issuesthat need to be addressed and buildingmore, if you wish, peer pressure for every-body to play by the trade rule book.”

The IMF projects the US-China tradedispute could shave $700 billion off theglobal economy by next year, mostly byundercutting confidence and freezing busi-ness investment. The IMF’s global growthestimate was revised downward to just 3.0percent this year and a slightly better 3.4percent in 2020.

South Africa’s central bank chief LesetjaKganyago, who chairs the IMF steeringcommittee, said the pain of the trade fric-tions are felt everywhere, as the uncertaintyputs the brakes on investment.

“And because the investment is not tak-ing place the economy is not growing, jobsare lost,” he told reporters. “The trade ten-sions are not in the best interest of theglobal economy.” Washington and Beijinghave battled through multiple rounds of tar-iffs, now impacting hundreds of billions ofdollars in trade but there have been recentsigns they might have reached a partialagreement to defuse the tensions.

Expand the trade rule bookIn his first comments since talks with US

president Donald Trump last week, China’stop trade negotiator Liu He said Saturdaythe countries have “made substantialprogress in many aspects and laid animportant foundation for a phase oneagreement.” Trump announced a “substan-tial” deal on October 11 after negotiationswith Liu’s delegation, which he said includ-ed a promise to increase purchases of USfarm products and protections for intellec-tual property. Details were scant, however.

China is “willing to work together withthe US to address each other’s core con-cerns on the basis of equality and mutualrespect,” Liu said, according to a report onTaoran notes, a social media account run bythe Beijing’s official Economic Daily.Protection for US technology and allowingAmerican firms to provide financial servic-es, like insurance and banking, in China arekey features of the US complaints, butthose issues are not clearly covered byexisting rules governed by the World TradeOrganization. Despite being at the center ofthe conflict, US Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin said the fight for “fairer trade” is“preparing a foundation for future growth.”

Georgieva said countries must “be will-ing to expand and improve this (trade) rulebook,” especially to include services and e-commerce which are not covered by tradi-tional agreements for trade in goods, she

said at the close of the IMF meetings.Britain’s finance minister Sajid Javid assuredofficials in Washington that his country hastaken steps to prepare for Brexit, whetheror not they agree on a negotiated exit, butconversely also stressed the need to “rein-

vigorate multilateral cooperation.”“We remain deeply concerned about

the impact of t rade tens ions on theglobal economy, and on the rules-basedtrading system,” he said in a preparedstatement. —AFP

WASHINGTON, DC: Incoming European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde(right) is embraced by International Monetary Fund Managing Director KristalinaGeorgieva (left) at the IMF Headquarters during the 2019 IMF/World Bank AnnualMeetings on Saturday in Washington, DC. —AFP

Monday, October 21, 2019

12B u s i n e s s

Established 1961

EXCHANGE RATES

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 304.050Euro 343.420Sterling Pound 398.150Canadian dollar 233.530Turkish lira 53.810Swiss Franc 312.170US Dollar Buying 296.700

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.804Indian Rupees 4.285Pakistani Rupees 1.986Srilankan Rupees 1.667Nepali Rupees 2.667Singapore Dollar 224.560Hongkong Dollar 38.759Bangladesh Taka 3.574Philippine Peso 5.945Thai Baht 10.097Malaysian ringgit 77.762

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 81.134Qatari Riyal 83.565Omani Riyal 790.253Bahraini Dinar 807.890UAE Dirham 82.836

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 20.900

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

BAHRAIN EXCHANGE COMPANY WLL

Egyptian Pound - Transfer 18.770Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.221Tunisian Dinar 110.560Jordanian Dinar 429.300Lebanese Lira/for 1000 0.203Syrian Lira 0.000Morocco Dirham 31.972

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 304.740Canadian Dollar 230.725Sterling Pound 375.885Euro 333.495Swiss Frank 307.075Bahrain Dinar 810.415UAE Dirhams 83.370Qatari Riyals 84.610Saudi Riyals 82.160Jordanian Dinar 431.105Egyptian Pound 18.729Sri Lankan Rupees 1.672Indian Rupees 4.308Pakistani Rupees 1.949Bangladesh Taka 3.609Philippines Pesso 5.872Cyprus pound 18.130Japanese Yen 3.815Syrian Pound 1.595Nepalese Rupees 2.697Malaysian Ringgit 73.635

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.388007 0.407907Czech Korune 0.005231 0.014531Danish Krone 0.041342 0.046342Euro 0.332752 0.346452Georgian Lari 0.121340 0.121340Hungarian 0.001146 0.001336Norwegian Krone 0.029134 0.034334Romanian Leu 0.065136 0.081986Russian ruble 0.004767 0.004767Slovakia 0.009083 0.019083Swedish Krona 0.027453 0.032453Swiss Franc 0.302910 0.313910

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.200705 0.212705New Zealand Dollar 0.188447 0.197947

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.226477 0.235477US Dollars 0.299950 0.305250US Dollars Mint 0.300450 0.305250

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.002957 0.003758

Chinese Yuan 0.041528 0.045028Hong Kong Dollar 0.036891 0.039641Indian Rupee 0.003685 0.004457Indonesian Rupiah 0.000017 0.000023Japanese Yen 0.002719 0.002899Korean Won 0.000248 0.000263Malaysian Ringgit 0.069096 0.075096Nepalese Rupee 0.002621 0.002961Pakistan Rupee 0.001345 0.002115Philippine Peso 0.005708 0.006008Singapore Dollar 0.217593 0.227593Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001316 0.001896Taiwan 0.009685 0.009865Thai Baht 0.009694 0.010244Vietnamese Dong 0.000013 0.000013

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.800350 0.808404Egyptian Pound 0.018613 0.021353Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000214 0.000274Jordanian Dinar 0.423937 0.432937Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000156 0.000256Moroccan Dirhams 0.020795 0.044795Omani Riyal 0.784612 0.792507Qatar Riyal 0.082859 0.083693Saudi Riyal 0.079993 0.081293Syrian Pound 0.001289 0.001509Tunisian Dinar 0.103243 0.111243Turkish Lira 0.045757 0.055602UAE Dirhams 0.082149 0.082975Yemeni Riyal 0.000988 0.001068

Chinese Yuan Renminbi 43.065Thai Bhat 10.935Turkish Lira 54.365Singapore dollars 220.536

In this file photo, former IMF Managing Director ChristineLagarde talks with ECB president Mario Draghi. —AFP

KAMCO Investment Research

KUWAIT: GDP growth rates for a majorityof economies and for the world was low-ered by the IMF in its latest WorldEconomic Outlook report. The agencyasserted that global economy is in a syn-chronized slowdown due to a number ofreasons and pointed at trade war beingone of the primary reasons for the revi-sions followed by lower demand. The IMFsaid that global manufacturing activity andtrade have been hit hard led by higher tar-iffs in addition to trade policy uncertainty.According to the agency, the announcedtariffs, primarily between the US andChina, could lower global economic outputby 0.8 percent or $700 billion by 2020.

The report said that 1H-19 trade volumegrowth was already down to 1 percent, theweakest level since 2012. On the positiveside, the agency said that the Servicessector continues to remain strong despitethe headwinds although there were signsof softening in the sector in the US andEurope.

In the report, the IMF downgradedgrowth forecasts for both AdvancedEconomies as well as Emerging &Developing Economies. Global growthexpectations were lowered by 20 bps for2019 and 10 bps for 2020. The revisedglobal GDP growth estimates came in 3percent for 2019, its slowest pace since theglobal financial crises and 3.4 percent for2020. The revisions primarily reflected ris-ing trade barriers, elevated uncertaintyrelated to trade and geopolitics, low pro-ductivity and an aging population inadvanced economies and trade anddomestic policy uncertainty in emergingmarket and developing economies.

For the Emerging Market & DevelopingEconomies, GDP growth was reviseddownwards by 20 bps for 2019 to 3.9 per-cent and 10 bps for 2020 to 4.6 percent.The IMF said that the region would remainthe key driver of growth in 2020 by thedownward revision in 2019 and the rela-tively slow growth rate was due to tradeand domestic policy uncertainties, and to astructural slowdown in China. On the otherhand, growth estimates for AdvancedEconomies was lowered by 20 bps for2019 to 1.7 percent, whereas 2020 growthrate was unchanged at 1.7 percent.Growth in the US stayed afloat despitetrade conflict related challenges on theback of policy stimulus. In the Euro Area, adecline in exports has resulted in lowergrowth while Brexit continues to affectUK’s economic growth.

Disparities The report analyzed how regional dis-

parities within a country can limit econom-ic growth in advanced countries vs. othercountries. It placed special emphasis oncountry-specific policy making in reducingtechnology and trade shock-led unem-ployment related issues through open mar-kets. According to the report, a declining

pace of regional convergence with risingdisparities in some advanced economieswithin the countries in terms of labor mar-ket resulted in poor regional performance.As per the findings of the report, nationalstructural policies and place-based poli-cies related to employment should beenforced and one that encourages moreopen and flexible markets, which may nar-row regional disparities.

The report analyzed how the pace ofstructural reforms in emerging markets anddeveloping economies has slowed downduring the early part of this century ascompared to the pace during the lastdecade of the 19th century. This is moreapplicable to in low-income developingcountries in across sub-Saharan Africaregion whereas it may not be as effectivein MENA and APAC regions. The IMFbelieves that a comprehensive reformpackage aimed at six key areas includingdomestic finance, external finance, trade,labor markets, product markets, and gov-ernance could push economic growth by 7percentage points over the next six yearsthereby averaging at more than 1 percent-age increase every year.

It also identifies the timing of imple-mentation of these reforms depending onthe governance structure and the econom-ic cycle the country is in. The report saysthat the earlier a government adopts thesereforms the better as it takes at least threeyears to show the impact of the reforms,although some particular reforms maystart showing results earlier. Also, whenthe when macroeconomic conditions arestrong, the policy changes are more effec-tive as compared to when the conditionsare normal or weak.

On the other hand, the order in whichthe reforms are implemented is also essen-tial to have a profound impact. Accordingto the report, good governance forms thebase for better implementation of the oth-er five reforms, so strengthening gover-nance an essential requirement. Thisshould be simultaneously implemented orsucceeded by a combination of trade,financial , labor, and product marketreforms to have the maximum impact.

MENA growth forecasts revised downwards

GDP growth for the MENA region wasslashed for 2019 by 60 bps and for 2020by 40 bps as compared to the Jul-19 esti-mates to 0.1 percent and 2.7 percent,respectively. The lower growth estimatesby the IMF reflects a steep fall in oil GDPin Saudi Arabia which is projected todecline against the backdrop of the exten-

sion of the OPEC+ agreement and a gen-erally weak global oil market. The recentattacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities addsuncertainty to the near-term outlook. Inthe GCC, Saudi Arabia’s GDP growth waslowered for 2019 and 2020 to 0.2 percent(-170 bps) and 2.2 percent (-80 bps),respectively. The y-o-y growth in 2020for Saudi Arabia is expected to be drivenby a pick-up in non-oil economic activityand projected increase in oil production in2020. Growth estimate for Kuwait for2019 was lowered to 0.6 percent, whileUAE is expected to grow at 1.6 percent.Bahrain and Qatar are expected to lead inthe GCC in terms of real GDP growth of2.0 percent each in 2019. Outside theGCC, Egypt is expected to grow 5.5 per-cent in 2019 and 5.9 percent in 2020, upfrom 5.3 percent in 2018,

driven by a recovery in tourism andimproved confidence indicators. Accordingto the IMF, a number of MENA countriesin the emerging market universe areexpected to show recoveries or lowerrecessions in 2020 including Turkey andIran while others MENA countries areexpected to show faster growth ratesincluding Saudi Arabia.

The synchronized slowdown globallyhad one key characteristic, i.e. weak indus-trial output. This slowdown was reflectedin the automobile production and saleswith global vehicle purchases falling by 3percent in 2018. The trend was profound incountries like China wherein the expiring

of tax incentives on vehicles led to adecline in demand, new emission standardsin the Euro Area led to a decline in thatregion as well as new taxes in India thathas seen record decline in car sales. Onceagain, the US-China trade war was anotherkey factor for the slowdown in industrialactivity and trade.

According to IMF, the volume of globaltrade grew at 1 percent y-o-y during 1H-19, the slowest rate of growth since 2012.This came on the back of a decline ininvestment spending which was affectedby increased impact of trade tensions onbusiness sentiments in the manufacturingsector. As a result, world trade volumegrowth was lowered down by 140 bps to1.1 percent for 2019 and by 50 bps for2020 to 3.2 percent. In terms of regionaltrends, the trading activity was weak inboth Advanced Economies as well asEmerging Market and DevelopingEconomies.

Regional growth revised downwards Growth for Advanced Economies was

lowered by the IMF for 2019, as estimatesfor all the Euro Area countries were low-ered. Growth in Germany and France werelowered to 0.2 percent (-20 Bps) and 1.2percent (-10 bps), respectively. Weakexports have dragged the activity in theEuro Area since early 2018, while domesticdemand has stayed firm. Meanwhile, USreal GDP growth was also revised down-wards by 20 bps amid growing tensions

between the United States and China ontrade and technology. The IMF expectsthat with historically low unemploymentrate and inflation being at almost the tar-get level coupled with a combination ofaccommodative monetary policy and vigi-lant financial regulation would be support-ive for economic growth and limit down-side risks.

In Asia, China’s real GDP growth for2019 was revised down by 10 bps to 6.1percent, as the IMF expects growth will beimpacted negatively by the escalating tar-iffs. India’s real GDP growth was also low-ered for 2019 to 6.1 percent (-90 bps) in2019 mainly from the negative impact ongrowth from an environment of uncertaintycoupled with concerns relating to thecountry’s non-banking financial sector.

Oil price and forecast Oil prices in 2019 have stayed well

above the IMF oil price average for 2018of USD 68.33/bbl. Latest forecasts basedon oil futures by the IMF are estimated atUSD 61.78/bbl for 2019 and USD57.94/bbl. In April-19 the oil pricesreached a yearly peak of $71/bbl and soonfell to $55/bbl by August-19. The intermit-tent surge in oil prices came on the backof supply cuts and geopolitics. KAMCOResearch expects oil prices to remainrange bound in the near term and traded atsub-$70/b levels in the long run owing toa number of fragile factors and persistentoversupply in the market.

IMF lowers growth rates for major economies

Global economy in synchronized slowdown; trade war main reason

Former IMF chief Lagarde takes swipe at Trump’s Twitter habitsWASHINGTON: Former IMF chief Christine Lagardesaid President Donald Trump’s trade offensive againstChina could slash global economic growth and shecritiqued his Twitter habits in an interview with US

television program 60 minutes. Lagarde, who takesover leadership of the European Central Bank onNovember 1, called for world leaders to act likegrownups and negotiate a solution to the trade con-flicts, and called for “rational decisions.”

Newly freed from the restraints of her previouspost, where she would have had to guard her lan-guage, Lagarde said, “market stability should not bethe subject of a tweet here, a tweet there.”

“It requires consideration, thinking, quiet andmeasured and rational decisions,” she said of Trumpin the interview aired last night. Lagarde led theWashington-based crisis lender for eight years andpreviously was more cautious in comments aboutTrump since the United States is the main IMF share-

holder. In the interview, she warned that Trump’strade war with China will give the global economy “abig haircut.”

“My very, very strong message to all policymak-ers is please sit down like big men, many men inthose rooms and put everything on the table, and tryto deal bit by bit, piece by piece, so that we havecertainty,” she said, according to excerpts of theinterview released by CBS News. As she takes onthe new role as central banker, Lagarde also took aswipe at Trump’s barrage of criticism of his ownFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whomTrump has called a “bonehead” among other insults.“A central bank governor does best his job if he isindependent.” —AFP

B u s i n e s s Monday, October 21, 2019

13

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has beenawarded the Best Emerging Markets Bank in theworld for 2019 by Global Finance. Every year, win-ners are selected with input from corporate execu-tives, industry analyst and bankers from around theworld. NBK was selected based on the Bank’s per-formance over the past year and other criteria,including strong management performance and itsleading position in the regional and global bankingsector.

NBK’s name was revealed as part of a number ofglobal honorees featuring some of the biggest namesin the banking industry including Bank of America,Standard Chartered, Societe Generale, Singapore’sDBS, OCBC China and BBVA of Spain.

Global Finance announced its selection for theWorld’s Best Global Banks 2019 Awards including:Best Emerging Markets Bank, World’s Best ConsumerBank, World’s Best Corporate Bank, Best DerivativesBank, Best Bank for Sustainable Finance, Best SMEBank and Best Frontier Markets Bank.

Moreover, an awards ceremony will be held inOctober 2019 during the IMF/World Bank AnnualMeetings in Washington, DC. NBK is the first bank inKuwait to be named Best Emerging Bank in theWorld. Global Finance, headquartered in New York,was founded in 1987 and is one of the leading publi-cations specialized in economic research and analy-sis. The magazine has a circulation of over 50,000and a diverse reader base ranging from corporateand financial institution executives to investment andstrategic decision-makers in 188 countries.

The publication conducts several annual surveysto gage financial services provides’ innovation andprofitability around the world. NBK is the largestfinancial institution in Kuwait with effective marketdominance in the commercial banking sector and hasbeen consistently awarded the highest credit ratingof all banks in the region from Moody’s, Standard &Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings. NBK also stands out interms of its local and international network, whichincludes branches, subsidiaries and representativeoffices in China, Geneva, London, Paris, New York,and Singapore alongside its regional presence inLebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq,Turkey, and the UAE.

Global Finance names NBK ‘Best Emerging Markets Bank’ in 2019

NBK delegation attends Kuwait Banking Association reception in Washington

Reception on the sidelines of annual meetings of IMF and World Bank

KUWAIT: An official delegation from theNational Bank of Kuwait (NBK) attended theKuwait Banking Association reception held onFriday in Washington, D.C. on the sidelines ofthe 2019 Annual Meetings of The Boards ofGovernors of the World Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) that tookplace during the week of October 14-20.

The reception, held in the Four SeasonsHotel, brought together Governor of theCentral Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Dr MohammadAl-Hashel; Managing Director at Kuwait

Investment Authority (KIA), Farouk A Bastaki;the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Washington,Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, inaddition to a number of senior bankers,investors and policy makers.

This event presents guests with an oppor-tunity to meet regional and international deci-sion makers to hear about the latest financialand banking developments in both Kuwait andwider region.

The delegation was headed by NBK GroupChief Executive Officer, Issam Al-Sager;

Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer,Shaikha Al-Bahar; CEO - InternationalBanking Group, Georges Richani; and GeneralManager at National Bank of Kuwait - NewYork, Marwan Isbaih.

Delegates attending the World Bank andthe IMF meetings include central bank gover-nors and ministers of finance and develop-ment. The guest list also includes private sec-tor senior officials in addition to representa-tives of the civil society and academic schol-ars. Participants get together to discuss key

international issues including the world eco-nomic outlook, poverty eradication, and eco-nomic development. Events include meetingsof the Development Committee, theInternational Monetary and FinancialCommittee, the Group of Ten, the Group ofTwenty-Four, the Group of Thirty and variousother constituencies. The InternationalMonetary and Financial Affairs Committee isscheduled to discuss the world economic per-formance as well as future trends and providean update on the international financial mar-kets and the risks impacting performance, inaddition to discussing key polices to mitigatesuch risks. This year’s annual meetings dis-cussed several important topics including theglobal economic outlook report, in addition toshedding light on Fintech innovators as driversof inclusive economies and catalyzing envi-ronmental, social and governance investment.

Other key topics of discussion includeintegrated solar energy plans, unleashing thepotential of women entrepreneurs throughfinance and markets as well as the internation-al development association’s role in compre-hensive development.

The annual meetings bring together a largenumber of officials from member countries,providing opportunities for formal and infor-mal discussions.

A number of seminars are held on the side-lines of the meetings, in addition to the PerJacobsson Lecture on international finance,which is sponsored by a foundation set up inhonor of the IMF’s third Managing Director.NBK is keen to attend global forums andinternational conferences to stay updated ofthe latest global developments, activities andevents on global economy, international devel-opment and the financial system.

Google completes first drone delivery in USWASHINGTON: Alphabet (Google) subsidiary Winghas become the first company in the United States todeliver packages by drone. In Christiansburg, thesmall Virginia town chosen as Wing’s test location,the 22,000 residents can order products normallyshipped by FedEx, medicine from Walgreens and aselection of candy from a local business-all of whichwill arrive via drone.

Wing, which already operates in two Australiancities as well as Helsinki, announced in a statementthat the first drone-powered deliveries had takenplace Friday afternoon in Christiansburg, “paving theway for the most advanced drone delivery service inthe nation.” One family used the Wing app to orderTylenol, cough drops, Vitamin C tablets, bottledwater and tissues, the statement said. An older resi-dent ordered a birthday present for his wife.Although the majority of the delivery was done by aFedEx truck, the last mile was completed by drone.

The yellow and white drones are loaded withpackages at a local center of operations called the“Nest,” where Wing employees pack them with up tothree pounds (1.3 kilograms) of goods, deliverablewithin a six mile (10 kilometer) radius. Once theyhave arrived at their destination, the drones don’tland. Instead, they hover above the house and lowerthe package with a cable. Other companies areworking to launch similar services, most notablyAmazon, UPS and Uber Eats. But Wing was the firstto obtain a license from the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA), authorizing company pilots tofly multiple drones at the same time. — AFP

WASHINGTON, DC: Delegates from Kuwait attending the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank pose for a group photo during theKuwait Banking Association reception held in the Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, DC.

Johnson’s Brexit: A lesser evil for the UK economy?LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexitdeal, which was welcomed by business with a sigh of relief,could limit the damage of a hard EU departure but stillwon’t be painless.

Business leaders see any deal, however imperfect, asbetter than leaving the bloc on October 31 and immediate-ly returning to sky-high customs duties and other restric-tions. If parliament passes Johnson’s agreement onSaturday, the lifting of uncertainty will give renewedmomentum to the economy, boosting potential investment,including from overseas.

Consumption could also increase. But economists EulerHermes warned in a note: “In the short term, the deal willnot help the UK avoid a technical recession.”

Economic activity has slumped because of more thanthree years of uncertainty caused by Brexit talks since the

landmark 2016 referendum on Britain’s EU membership.Growth is sluggish and activity even contracted in the

second quarter of this year. If the deal goes through, fac-tory output and purchases will slow as the stockpiles builtup in anticipation of a possible “no-deal” are reduced,Euler Hermes said. Longer term, Jonathan Portes, of TheUK in a Changing Europe think-tank, said Johnson’s dealwas “significantly worse for the UK economy” than that ofhis predecessor, Theresa May.

“The reason for the significant economic differencebetween May’s deal and Johnson’s proposals is becauseGreat Britain will have no customs union with the EU, nolevel playing field arrangements and a limited, or quitepossibly no free trade agreement,” he told AFP.

“The Brexit proposal by Boris Johnson could reduceUK GDP per capita 10 years after Brexit by between 2.3percent and 7 percent, compared to remaining in the EU,”he added. That chimes with the government’s own estima-tions in a report published one year ago. May’s deal sawmore modest estimates of a 1.9 percent to 5.5. percentreduction.

Fiscal headache? The main sticking point in May’s deal was the so-called

“backstop”, which was designed to keep the whole of theUK in a customs union with the EU to avoid the return of a

hard border between British-run Northern Ireland and EUmember Ireland. The new agreement does away with thatand although Northern Ireland legally leaves the EU withthe rest of the UK, it will remain aligned to the bloc’s cus-toms arrangements.

Northern Ireland will stay part of the UK customs area.Goods imported to the province from outside the EU willbe subject to UK duties, as usual. But if goods from non-EU countries come into the EU via Northern Ireland, it willbe up to Britain to apply EU customs-which could poseproblems. Northern Ireland business leaders have alreadyasked London to help them absorb the cost of the extrapaperwork. Value Added Tax is another sensitive issue. Toprotect the integrity of the single European market, EUrules concerning sales tax on goods will continue to applyto Northern Ireland.

As it stands, businesses are cautious about the dealuntil parliament votes for it, particularly given oppositionfrom lawmakers. If it doesn’t pass, Johnson is legallybound to ask Brussels for an extension, which will againprolong uncertainty surrounding the economy and revivethe prospect of a feared no-deal Brexit. Approval willonly mean the start of a process to negotiate a tradeagreement between Britain and the EU, which could alsobe no easy task. — AFP

Boeing wants it to fly, but travelers fear the 737 MAXNEW YORK: On September 12, Boeing started putting out30-second videos in which employees tout its planes’safety, hoping to reassure travelers about the 737 MAXthat’s been grounded worldwide since two crashes thatkilled 346 people. “Safety is at the core of our business.We have put hundreds of engineers to work to ensure thatthis airplane is 100 percent ready,” says JenniferHenderson, chief test pilot for the 737, in one of the clips.

“When the 737 MAX returns to service I will absolute-ly put my family on this airplane,” she stressed.

But on a Facebook page for Boeing enthusiasts wherethe clip was posted, the response is negative.

“Well, I think she could not say it would be unsafe,” onemember quipped, as Boeing faces the Herculean task oftrying to regain the confidence of civil aviation authoritiesand the public, seven months after the crash of anEthiopian Airlines MAX that killed 157 people. That cameafter the downing of a Lion Air MAX in Indonesia inOctober 2018, killing 189, with the plane’s MCAS anti-stallsystem being blamed in both accidents.

It’s not known when the MAX will return to service.Boeing, which still has not submitted a modified version ofthe MCAS system to regulators, hopes it will be before theend of the year.

“The 737 Max is, for now, an ‘airplane non grata’-aplane passengers do not want to fly,” said HenryHarteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group inSan Francisco. “Travelers aren’t merely scared of the 737MAX, they’re terrified of it.”

‘Irresponsible’ Just 19 percent of business travelers and 14 percent of

leisure travelers would willingly take the 737 MAX withinsix months of returning to the sky, according to anAtmosphere survey. Nearly half of the 2,000 respondentssaid they would pay more to avoid the MAX. Faced withthis distrust, airlines are adapting.

“We will be transparent-and communicate in advance-with our customers who are booked to fly on a MAX air-craft, will rebook those who do not want to fly on a MAXat no charge, and for some time will not swap aircraft to aMAX if a change of aircraft is required,” said a spokesper-son at United Airlines, which owns 14 MAX aircraft.American Airlines, which has 24 MAX planes, has said itscompany brass and employees will be the first to fly on theaircraft once it’s cleared to return to the sky.

The MAX’s setbacks have cast a shadow over a centuryof history at Boeing, a highlight of which was the success

of its 747 jumbo jet, nicknamed the “Queen of the skies.”According to Harteveldt, half of business passengers

and 55 percent of leisure passengers consider Boeing tobe “irresponsible,” “arrogant” and “unsafe.” Boeing’smanagement has addressed the trust issue. “We knowthat trust has been damaged over the last few monthsand we own that and we are working hard to re-earnthat trust going forward,” CEO Dennis Muilenburg saidin August.

The trust may have been tested again on Friday, when itemerged that some potentially significant documents atBoeing were held back from investigators for months.

Boeing says it has conducted 1,447 flight test hours asof October 13 with the modified MCAS, and Muilenburgpersonally took part in two tests. From late September tomid-October, the company also invited airline pilots tosimulator training and information sessions in Miami,London, Istanbul, Shanghai and Singapore. “Boeing has nochoice but to get it right this time, however uncomfortablethat may be for now,” said Tracy Stewart, an editor at air-farewatchdog.com.

If Boeing can take comfort in anything, it may be thatmost travelers do not look up which jet they will fly whenbooking tickets. Most commercial passengers are “worriedabout getting an aisle seat, and hoping the overhead binwill still have space for a carry on,” said John Dekker ofonline travel agency Surf City Travel. Some experts saidone of the best ways for Boeing to regain credibility is torelease a video explaining the changes to the 737 MAX tomake it safer. They must “make sure they have informedthe consumer that it won’t happen again... PERIOD!” saidDekker. —AFP

A first-of-its-kind drone delivery. — AFP

In this file photo, Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are parkedon Boeing property near Boeing Field in Seattle,Washington. — AFP

Monday, October 21, 2019

14B u s i n e s s

Established 1961

NBK Money Markets Report

Last chance to enter Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah account annual draw for KD 1 million KUWAIT: The ten-day countdown has officially begun,marking the last few days customers can open, or depositinto, an Al-Danah account and be eligible for the annualdraw. This year’s annual Al-Danah draw will take place onJanuary 16, 2020 and will culminate in the announcement ofthe 2019 Al-Danah millionaire, who will receive the grandprize of one million Kuwaiti Dinars in one full payment.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah account is open to both Kuwaitiand non-Kuwaiti residents of Kuwait. A minimum of KD 200is required to open an account and the same amount must bemaintained for customers to be eligible for the upcoming Al-Danah draws. If the Al-Danah account balance falls belowKD 200 at any given time, a KD 2 fee will be charged to theaccount monthly until the minimum balance is met. Customerswho open an account and/or deposit more will enter the dai-ly draw within two days. To participate in this year’s quarterlyand annual draws, customers must keep the balance requiredby the Al-Danah account. Terms and conditions apply.

The Al-Danah account is the only account that rewardscustomers for their loyalty by providing loyalty chances.Loyalty chances are the total chances gained at the end ofthe previous year, which are then transferred to the currentyear to reward the customer for their loyalty. In this way, allthe total chances gained by customers who maintained KD200 and above in 2018 were added to their 2019 chances asof January 2019. The same process will take place in 2020, inwhich customers’ chances from 2019 will be added to their2020 chances, increasing the likelihood of winning one of thequarterly draws.

To deposit into an Al-Danah account, you can visit anyone of Gulf Bank’s ATMs or ITMs, as well as any of the 58Gulf Bank branches around the country. You also have theoption to deposit through Gulf Bank’s online and mobilebanking services, including Selfpay, or by creating a freestanding order from other Gulf Bank accounts. Al-Danahalso offers several unique services to its clients, including theAl-Danah Deposit Only ATM card, which allows accountholders to deposit money into their accounts at their con-venience. Account holders can also calculate their daily,weekly and yearly chances of winning the draws through the‘Al-Danah Chances’ calculator available on the Gulf Bankwebsite and app. You can also be notified via a free SMSalert with every transaction, a feature all Al-Danah accountholders can activate by visiting their nearest branch.

KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways, Kuwait’s leading low-costairline, operating regionally and internationally, tookdelivery of its second Airbus A320neo aircraft whichlanded at Kuwait International Airport on the eveningof Friday, October 18.

The fuel-saving and quieter engine aircraft is fittedwith the airline’s new three-cabin configuration, com-prising of the airline’s signature Business Class andEconomy Class, and its new Premium Economy Classavailable for London flights.

Jazeera Airways Chief Executive Officer, RohitRamachandran, said: “We are pleased to welcome oursecond A320neo to our growing fleet as we look for-ward to serving our expanding network of destinationsthat are located 5 to 6 hours away from Kuwait. Thenew single-aisle aircraft allows for an increased rangewhile improving performance and cost savings, and willtake off commercially with our first flight to London onOctober 27.”

The A320neo incorporates the CFM LEAP-1Aengines and fuel-saving wingtip devices known asSharklets. It offers savings in fuel burn, additional pay-load, increased range, lower operating costs and signifi-cant reduction in engine noise and CO2 emissionsbelow the current industry standard.

With the new configuration, flights to and fromLondon will have a Business Class that offers passen-gers a 33-inch seat pitch, 50 kilograms in baggageallowance, priority boarding and a complimentaryinflight hot meal. This is complemented with a PremiumEconomy Class that is exclusively available on the flightto and from London with 40 kilograms in baggage

allowance, additional legroom with a 31-inch seat pitch,a middle seat that is kept free, dedicated check-incounters, priority boarding and a complimentary

inflight hot meal, while the Economy Class offers a29/30-inch seat pitch and a wide choice of meals fromthe Jazeera Cafe menu.

Jazeera Airways operates a fleet of ten Airbus air-craft , eight of the A320 model and two of theA320neo model.

New configuration of three cabins l Supporting expansion with a flight range of 5 to 6 hours

Jazeera Airways takes delivery of second Airbus A320neo

Central bankers forecast grimoutlook for global economy

Global central banks are wasting scarceammunition in an attempt to compensate forthe slowing global economy which is at its

weakest since the deep recession, the InternationalMonetary Fund has warned. In another downbeatassessment, global growth is forecast at 3.0 percentfor 2019 - a 0.3 percent downgrade from its Apriloutlook. Over the past year, broad based weaken-ing has been seen affecting major economies suchas the US and especially the euro area and small-er Asian advanced economies. The weakness ismainly driven by a sharp deterioration in manu-facturing activity and global trade, with highertariffs and persistent trade policy uncertainty hin-dering investment and demand. The IMF warnedthat with central banks having to spend what littleammunition they have to offset policy mistakes,they may have little left when the economy is in atougher spot.

Yet, growth is projected to pick up to 3.4 percentin 2020 as an improvement in economic performancecan be noted in a number of emerging markets inLatin America, the Middle East, and countries inEurope that are currently facing strains. However inits official report, the IMF emphasized as follows:“with uncertainty about prospects for several ofthese countries, a projected slowdown in China andthe United States, and prominent downside risks, amuch more subdued pace of global activity couldwell materialize. To forestall such an outcome, poli-cies should decisively aim at defusing trade tensions,reinvigorating multilateral cooperation, and providingtimely support to economic activity where needed”.

American shoppers curb spendingUS retail sales posted their first decline in seven

months, adding to the narrative of weaker consumersentiment which has been the backbone of the USeconomy. The value of overall sales fell 0.3 percent inSeptember from the 0.6 percent increase seen in theprior month according to the Commerce Department.Looking at core retail sales, the figure also contract-ed slightly in September by -0.1 percent from priorgrowth of +0.2 percent. We can now see that themanufacturing slowdown is gradually spilling intoconsumer sentiment. Despite mostly solid incomegrowth and favorable fundamentals for consumers,people have grown increasingly cautious due todaunting headlines regarding the trade war withChina. Still, the US economy remains vigorous.

The data bolsters the case for a third straightinterest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Weak busi-ness investment and manufacturing, along with thelingering trade war and weaker consumption are fac-tors which may all risk the nation’s longest economicexpansion on record, also complicating matters forPresident Donald Trump who faces re-electionprospects in 2020.

US stocks near all-time highEquities in the US climbed towards all-time highs

amid mostly positive earnings reports and news thatBritain negotiations are nearing an end. Overall,more than 78 percent of the S&P 500 index com-panies reported earnings that topped expectations.The S&P 500 fluctuated around the 3,000 level(near its record high of 3,021) while stocks inEurope rose slightly. Strong earnings fromUnitedHealth Group, JPMorgan Chase and othercompanies helped power the broad gains andnotched investor sentiment higher.

Johnson fails to secure historic accordAn agreement on a new Brexit deal was

announced by EU and UK negotiators hours beforethe start of an EU leader’s summit on Thursday. Themain changes from the previous one concern thecontroversial Northern Irish Backstop which Johnsonhas agreed to scrap. Under the new deal, NorthernIreland will be in the UK custom territory “forever”but will have a “special arrangement”: there will beno hard border on Ireland. Though EU leaders unani-mously endorsed it on Thursday, it still faced opposi-tion in Britain’s Parliament which has so far voteddown three previous Brexit deals.

On Saturday, the decision was postponed byMembers of Parliament and the Letwin amendmentpassed with 322 votes in favor and 306 against. Theamendment withholds approval of Johnson’s dealuntil the legislation to enact it is passed. Movingahead, Johnson is required by law to request anextension beyond the October 31 date from the EU,however he still suggested he would not negotiatewith the EU on a delay and would get Brexit donebefore the deadline.

A strong rally for the British poundThe announcement of a deal on Thursday jolted

the Sterling higher. However, the Democratic UnionistParty’s rejection of the deal and uncertainty aboutwhat happens in case parliament fails to pass it limit-ed the pound’s gains. The GBP/USD surged to1.2989, adding an astounding 200 pips on the newsof an agreement. Many other major pairs were takenaway by the optimism: EUR/USD surged to 1.1172and held on to those gains while the AUD/USD roseto a one-month high also due to optimistic employ-ment data.

Consumer prices in the UK rose 1.7 percent inSeptember - lower than the 1.8 percent forecastedand at its lowest since late 2016. Core inflation, whichexcludes volatile items, increased from 1.5 percent to1.7 percent. Inflation has continued supporting con-sumer spending power as Brexit overwhelminglyclouds the economic outlook. “Motor fuel and sec-ond-hand car prices fell, but were offset by priceincreases for furniture, household appliances andhotel rooms,” said Mike Hardie, ONS head of infla-tion. Growth in average UK house prices jumped to1.3 percent in the year to August, compared with 0.8percent in the year to July. The Bank of England’s tar-get for inflation remains at 2.0 percent.

Worrisome figures While facing prolonged economic ambiguity in

regards to Brexit, the jobs market in the UK hasremained mostly resilient even as other areas such asmanufacturing and construction suffered. However,an unexpected fall in unemployment and drop inannual earnings illustrates the signs of falteringemployment growth. The number of people employedfell by 56,000 in the three months to August com-pared with the previous quarter. That was down fromthe 31,000 increase in the May to July period. Thedrop is said to be driven by a fall in part-timeemployment - a more volatile measure and is the firstsign of a change in sentiment in the jobs market. Totalearnings growth slowed to 3.8 percent in the threemonths to August compared with the same periodlast year, and down from the 4 percent seen in the

three months to July. Looking at retail sales, officialdata reveals stagnation in September after droppingin the previous month. Quantity of goods bought wasunchanged month on month, leaving sales volumes up0.6 percent in the three months to September.

Weak expansion in AsiaChina’s economy has grown at its slowest pace in

three decades at 6 percent for the third quarter of2019 compared to a year earlier. The figure followssecond quarter growth of 6.2 percent which was thelowest on record at the time. Headlines make knownthat the hit to growth reflects the country’s trade warwith the US which is now on its 18th month, and theconsequential effects on manufacturing and invest-ment sentiment. Yet, China’s exports to the US makeup just 5 percent of total exports. So while overallexports fell 3.2 percent in September, the result is notdetrimental to the $13.6 trillion economy.

China’s economy was already struggling withstructural problems that have been building for years,including over-investment, high savings, sluggishconsumer spending, and low industrial productivity.Earlier in the year Beijing announced plans to boostspending and cut billions of dollars in taxes in aneffort to support the economy, meanwhile providinga liquidity boost by reducing the amount of cashbanks must hold in reserve. It appears that PresidentTrump is attempting to seize this era of weakeningexpansion in China. Nevertheless, it is fair to saythere is no need for the markets to panic at thismoment as there is little evidence of major direct hiton overall growth.

Phase One completeThe GDP figures emerged just one week after the

US and China reached a tentative trade truce, whichincludes a “phase one deal” bringing a halt to US tar-iff increases that were supposed to go into effectearlier this week. They agreed to suspend an increasein tariffs on $250bn of Chinese imports from 25 per-cent to 30 percent. Trump added that intellectualproperty, financial services, and agricultural purchas-es are included in the agreement. The trade warbetween the two largest economies is now on its 18thmonth, and with the 2020 election coming up a com-pleted deal would give the President a chance toclaim progress on an issue he has been preachingsince his campaign trail.

Equities & commoditiesCrude oil prices fell sharply after the Energy

Information Administration reported a 9.3 millionincrease in crude oil inventories for the week toOctober 11. The EIA added that the 434.9 million bar-rels were 2 percent higher than the five-year averagefor this season. The report followed a few undesirablereports on the global economy as the IMF revisedglobal growth downwards. Fears are mainly pointedtowards a slowing economy with weak import andexport data out of China. Prices later nudged higheron reports that the US and Turkey reached a cease-fire pact in Syria. Brent crude fell around 1.65 percentin last week’s trading, far below its September peakof 71.95 as it currently sits at 59.70.

Kuwaiti dinarUSD/KWD opened at 0.30320 yesterday

morning.

Burgan Bank announces winners of Yawmi account drawKUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the namesof the daily draw winners of its Yawmi account draw, eachtaking home a cash-prize of KD 5,000.

The lucky winners are: 1. Hassan Bahram Jahromi2. Rosy Charles Anton3. Samiullah Syed Sarmadhullah4. Ahmad Kamel Kanso5. Ameerah Motar SulimanIn addition to the daily draw, Burgan Bank also offers a

quarterly draw with more chances to win higher rewards,offering the chance to one lucky customer to win KD125,000 every three months. The Yawmi Account offersdaily and quarterly draws, wherein the quarterly drawrequires customers to maintain a minimum amount of KD500 in their account for two months prior to the drawdate. Additionally, every KD 10 in the account will entitlecustomers to one chance of winning. If the account bal-ance is KD 500 and above, the account holder will bequalified for both the quarterly and daily draws. BurganBank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi accountand/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances ofbecoming a winner. The higher the level of the deposit, thehigher the likelihood to win.

W h a t ’ s O n

15Established 1961

Monday, October 21, 2019

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa launches lavish wedding showroom

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa furtherenhanced its portfolio with the launch of its luxu-rious new ‘Wedding Showroom’. Home to a lead-

ing team of experts versed in the important traditionsand culinary expectations, the showroom provides anultimate destination for every bride to create herdream wedding. The couple will be able to consultwith dedicated wedding specialists and award-win-ning chefs at the wedding showroom to ensure thattheir day revolves around utter perfection.

The new wedding showroom defines luxury initself, encompassing comfort and glamour with lavishclassy decor. Wedding specialists will plan and takecare of every little detail, from cutlery, cakes, elabo-rate floral arrangements, and menus to recommend-ing top wedding dress designers.

Couples choosing to tie the knot at the BadriahBallroom at Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa,can be rest assured that their wedding day will belike no other. Badriah Ballroom is the largest ball-room in Kuwait, making it the ideal wedding destina-tion. The ballroom can accommodate up to 2,500guests cocktail style or 1,200 seated and is equippedto host a glamorous wedding of all sizes and styles.

A sophisticated space with luxurious fittings, thewalnut paneling with a high ceiling is breathtakinglyadorned by modern chandeliers. The team at thewedding showroom will ensure flawless execution ofservice and personalized attention to detail render-ing each ceremony a once-in-a-lifetime experiencethat enables every bride’s dream to be a night toremember.

Out of its keenness on providing servic-es for autistic children and their par-ents, Kuwait Autism Center was keen

on acquiring the highest educational stan-dards as per international accreditationorganization which condition applying the

best quality educational methods, teachers’professionalism in dealing with students,adding an ambiance of joy throughoutschooldays, providing full support to parentsin facing home-arising problems and settingproper plans to follow up students at all

times. The idea started with subjecting thecenter teachers to annual tests to make surethey are qualified enough to carry on with thecenter then applying the REACH theory pre-pared by the center with the ultimate goal ofimproving education quality.

Kuwait Autism Center looking to raise education standards

TIESannouncement

The TIES Center cordiallyinvites you to our Tafseer class(Divine Wisdom from the Last

Testament) today Monday, 21stOctober, at 7pm. In that class, we willfocus on verses 18 and 19 of Surat Al-Hashr (The Gathering). We will learnthe real meaning of ‘Taqwa’, how toprove we fear Allah (SWT), itsimportance and reward. We will alsodiscuss the significance of preparingourselves for death and how to do it.We will also discuss the two things -

among others - that a human-beinghates, why he hates them, and howthey can be better for him in somesituations. We will also learn moreabout the pillars of worship (acts thatmotivate us to worship Allah), theirsignificance, and how to observethem. Finally, we will examine the fivethings - among others - that will beasked about on the Day of Judgment,their importance, the fate of thosewho forgot Allah (SWT), and ProphetMuhammad’s (PBUH) reply to theBedouin who complained that thelaws of Islam were burdensome.Come and learn more about the Bookof Allah (SWT) in a serene, friendlyand encouraging environment.

CIS Kuwaitdiscuss role ofIndian diasporain nation building

Center for India Studies (CIS)organized a talk on “Role ofIndian Diaspora in Nation

Building” at Kala Auditorium, Salmiya.CIS President Mahadeva Aiyar gave theintroductory speech presided by DrRadhakrishna Panicker (ConsultantPulmonologist, Al-Rashed AllergyHospital, Kuwait). Keynote speech wasdelivered by Nilesh Solanki, DataArchitect and Social Worker from UnitedKingdom. The talk mainly focused onhow the Indian diaspora acts as a sourceof nation branding and soft-poweracross the globe. How diaspora helps toincrease the economic wealth and devel-opment of nation along with their resi-dence country.

Nilesh Solanki highlighted the inspir-ing role models by which Indian diaspo-ra successfully integrates the culturaland heritage value along with hardwork,enterprise and responsibility towards thehost nation. He pointed out that time hascome to broaden connections, connec-tivity and visibility of Indian Diasporathereby increasing the presence andinfluence worldwide. The session wellnoted for informative presentations andattendance from various sections ofsociety concluded with vote of thanksby CIS Salmiya unit president Satish.

9 in 10 Arabsconcerned aboutunemployment:Arab Youth Survey

An overwhelming 89 percent of youngArabs expressed concern about levelsof unemployment in their countries,

according to a new finding from the 2019ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, unveiled atan event organized by the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) during the IMF andWorld Bank Annual Meetings in Washington,DC today.

The event, “Youth Aspirations in theMiddle East and North Africa,” was moderat-ed by Brian Cheung, a reporter with YahooFinance, and featured a presentation of keyfindings from this year’s Survey - now in its11th annual edition - by Sunil John, Founder,ASDA’A BCW, and President, Middle East,BCW, which included new data about youngArabs’ concerns over their careers. JoiningJohn on the panel were Her Excellency SaharNasr, Egyptian Minister of Investment andInternational Cooperation, Jihad Azour,Director, IMF Middle East and Central Asiaand Syrine Chaalala, co-Founder andManaging Director, next Protein.

As the largest demographic group of theMiddle East and North Africa region, manyArab youth face severe hurdles joining thelabor force, with World Bank research indi-cating 30 percent of 18-24 year olds are outof work in the Middle East and North Africa -the highest unemployment rate in the world.The 11th Arab Youth Survey shows that therising cost of living and unemployment arethe top two concerns among Arab youth butindicates a marked divide in opportunitybetween young Arabs living in the oil-richGulf states and their peers elsewhere, espe-

cially when it comes to expectations of theirgovernments to address issues that matter toyoung people.

For example, while 97 percent of youth inUAE are confident their national governmenthas the capacity to battle rising unemploy-ment, 80 percent of youth in Iraq have noconfidence in their governments to do thesame. Young Arabs in the wealthy GulfCooperation Council (GCC) states also lookto their governments as a source of employ-ment. Seven in 10 (69 percent) of youth in theGCC want to work in the public sector -while those elsewhere are more amenable toprivate sector jobs, with just four in 10 youthin North Africa (40 percent) and the Levant(39 percent) preferring government jobs.

Presenting these findings to the panel,Sunil John said, “As a developing region withsome of the fastest growing economies in theworld, Arab youth cannot afford to be leftbehind. Now, more than ever, the region’syoung people require the support of theirgovernments if they are to realize theirpotential and take up the productive, fulfill-ing and rewarding careers which are neededto drive the economies of the region togreater heights.”

Addressing the audience at the event,John said, “We are privileged to present ourresearch at the prestigious IMF and WorldBank Annual Meetings, and to share action-able insights with international governmentsand other decision makers. The Arab YouthSurvey is for a platform for dialogue and Ihope that the dialogue we spark today canbe the basis of policies and actions that canhelp change the future for Arab youth.”

The International Monetary Fund andWorld Bank Group Annual Meetings bringtogether financial experts, government rep-resentatives, private sector executives, aca-demics and other civil society organizationrepresentatives to discuss issues of globalconcern, including the world economic out-look, poverty eradication, economic devel-opment, and aid effectiveness.

The Arab Youth Survey is the largeststudy of its kind into the region’s largestdemographic: its youth. Every year, ASDA’ABCW generates evidence-based insights thatprovide governments, the private sector,media and civil society with critical informa-tion and analysis to inform decision-makingand policy formation and build greaterawareness of Arab youth.

At Kuwait National English School, the student council are greatlyinvolved in a wide range of activities that create awareness and under-standing of key issues that the world is faced with. Students held a

Breast cancer awareness day on 9th October 2019, in order to bring to theforefront the issue of breast cancer. It was a pink day at KNES as all studentsfrom early years, primary, secondary and SEN wore pink. The student mem-bers organized the event and ensured it went well, taking responsibility andworking as a team. Posters were displayed around the school and in general itonce again reflected the school’s philosophy of creating awareness and mak-ing global citizens of our students.

H e a l t h & S c i e n c e Monday, October 21, 2019

16

MADRID: Shepherds guided a flock of around 2,000 sheepthrough the streets of Madrid yesterday in defense of ancientgrazing and migration rights increasingly threatened by urbansprawl. Tourists and local residents lined the streets to watch asthe bleating, bell-clanking parade passed the Spanish capital’smost emblematic locations, cutting traffic. The herd was accom-panied by musicians and dancers dressed in regional costumesthat have been worn by rural workers for centuries.

Shepherds halted at the town hall so the chief herdsmancould hand local authorities 50 “maravedies”-copper coinsfirst minted in the 11th century-as payment for the crossing.

The parade started in the Casa de Campo, a former royalhunting ground that is now Madrid’s largest park, thenmade its way through the Puerta del Sol-the main square-and past the Bank of Spain’s headquarters before ending upat the town hall.

Every year since 1994 sheep farmers have paraded theirlivestock through the city along a route that once cut throughundeveloped countryside on their way to winter grazing pas-tures in southern Spain. Since medieval times, shepherds havehad the right to use herding paths crisscrossing a landscapethat was once woodland and grazing space. — AFP

Spanish shepherds guide hundreds of sheep across Madrid

Rescued circus elephant arrives at Brazil sanctuaryCHAPADA DOS GUIMARAES, Brazil: An Asian ele-phant that spent decades performing in SouthAmerican circuses has started a new life in an open-air sanctuary in Brazil, after travelling thousands ofkilometers by plane and truck from a Chilean zoo.Ramba’s much-anticipated arrival at the 1,133-hectare Elephant Sanctuary Brazil in the central weststate of Mato Grosso late Friday was broadcast liveon Facebook and viewed thousands of times.

The elephant, estimated to be more than 52years old, worked in circuses in Argentina and Chilebefore she was rescued by activists in 2012. Shewas then kept in a roadside zoo in Rancagua, incentral Chile, while her rescuers searched for a newhome. Her ordeal left her with abscesses as well askidney and liver problems. Ramba was flown to theViracopos international airport near Sao Paulo onWednesday-a day before heavily armed gunmenraided the cargo terminal in a daring heist.

She was then transported by flat-bed truck tothe sanctuary in Chapada dos Guimaraes, whichwas opened in 2016 with the help of US-based

Global Sanctuary for Elephants (GSE) — the firstof its kind in Latin America. Ramba joins two otherfemale Asian elephants, Rana and Maia, also for-mer circus performers. Videos of Ramba’s road tripin Brazil were posted online. One shows hermunching on watermelons in a metal crate on theback of a truck.

Ramba was accompanied by GSE chief ScottBlais as well as a veterinarian, volunteers andBrazilian federal police. “Ramba needs a quietplace, one where she feels safe and is not on dis-play, where she is surrounded by others of her kindwho truly understand her and can help her to openher heart fully,” Blais said in a statement. “Sheneeds sanctuary.” — AFP

The elephant Ramba rests after arriving to theBrazilian Elephant Sanctuary located at the munici-pality of Chapada dos Guimaraes, Mato Grossostate, Brazil. — AFP

MADRID: Flocks of sheep and goats are herded in the city center of Madrid. — AFP photos

Monday, October 21, 2019

17

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This is a day for good news, particularly regarding the home. It's likely that some posi-tive changes are occurring or are about to occur. You may be considering a move or amajor renovation. Whatever it is, all signs indicate that the changes are for the better.One way or another, by this time next year you'll be living in a bigger, better house.

CROSSWORD 2338

ACROSS1. A sharp change in direction.4. Any stimulating information or event.12. Lacking in light.15. A flat wing-shaped process or winglikepart of an organism.16. Invest with regal power.17. South American wood sorrel cultivatedfor its edible tubers.18. (Greek mythology) The supreme god ofancient mythology.20. A fine grained mineral having a softsoapy feel and consisting of hydrated mag-nesium silicate.21. Strike with disgust or revulsion.23. City in northwestern Jordan.25. (Norse mythology) One of the Aesirknown for his beauty and skill with bow andskis.28. A mountainous landlocked communiststate in southeastern Asia.29. (Norse mythology) One of the Aesirknown for his beauty and skill with bow andskis.31. A cavity in the mesoderm of an embryothat gives rise in humans to the pleural cavi-ty and pericardial cavity and peritoneal cavi-ty.32. A member of an agricultural people insoutheastern India.35. (of a young animal) Abandoned by itsmother and raised by hand.36. (British slang) An absolute certainty.40. A notice of someone's death.41. A male monarch or emperor (especiallyof Russia prior to 1917).44. A youth subculture that appeared first inEngland in the late 1960s as a working-classreaction to the hippies.47. A city in east central China.50. An argument opposed to a proposal.51. A hotel providing overnight lodging fortravelers.52. A local computer network for communi-cation between computers.53. A program for a race meeting.55. A yellow trivalent metallic element of therare earth group.57. (possibly Roman) Goddess of horses andmules and asses.59. Showily imitative of art or artists.61. An independent group of closely relatedChadic languages spoken in the areabetween the Biu-Mandara and East Chadiclanguages.62. Being or moving higher in position orgreater in some value.63. Fudge made with brown sugar and but-ter and milk and nuts.66. To fix or set securely or deeply.70. An independent ruler or chieftain (espe-cially in Africa or Arabia).72. Type genus of the family Arcidae.74. Leafless East Indian vine.75. A tricycle (usually propelled by ped-alling).78. A resource.79. Toward the mouth or oral region.80. A state in midwestern United States.81. A federal agency established to regulatethe release of new foods and health-relatedproducts.

DOWN1. Empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerat-ed talk.2. Evergreen trees and shrubs having oilyone-seeded fruits.3. Wild ox of mountainous areas of easternIndia.4. A white trivalent metallic element.5. A small amount (especially of a drink).6. A self-funded retirement plan that allowsyou to contribute a limited yearly sumtoward your retirement.7. A group of island in eastern Indonesiabetween Celebes and New Guinea.8. Poorly stated or described.9. A white soft metallic element that tarnish-es readily.10. The local time at the 0 meridian passingthrough Greenwich, England.11. Relating to or characteristic of or occur-ring on the sea or ships.12. Amino acid that is formed in the liver andconverted into dopamine in the brain.13. The United Nations agency concernedwith civil aviation.14. A master's degree in library science.19. Short and thick.22. Free from disturbance.24. A white linen liturgical vestment withsleeves.26. An honorary law degree.27. Fish eggs or egg-filled ovary.30. Wife or mistress of Zeus and mother ofApollo and Artemis in ancient mythology.33. Be abundant or plentiful.34. Any cycad of the genus Dioon.37. Outermost layer of the pericarp of fruitsas the skin of a peach or grape.38. An area where many people go for recre-ation.39. In accord with the latest fad.42. Type genus of the familyZygnemataceae.43. A flat mass of ice (smaller than an icefield) floating at sea.45. French novelist.46. Type genus of the Alcidae comprisingsolely the razorbill.48. Not used in all classifications.49. Low stingless nettle of Central and SouthAmerica having velvety brownish-greentoothed leaves and clusters of small greenflowers.54. Any taillike structure.56. Away from the mouth or oral region.58. An informal term for a father.60. (Jungian psychology) The inner self (notthe external persona) that is in touch withthe unconscious.64. (Roman mythology) God of love.65. A member of the Shoshonean people ofnortheastern Arizona.67. Broken husks of the seeds of cerealgrains that are separated from the flour bysifting.68. Harsh or corrosive in tone.69. An informal term for a father.71. A condition (mostly in boys) character-ized by behavioral and learning disorders.73. The airforce of Great Britain.76. Half the width of an em.77. A soft silvery metallic element of thealkali earth group.

Yesterday’s SolutionDaily SuDoku

Wordsearch Puzzle Yesterday’s Solution

Monday, October 21, 2019

18S t a r s

Established 1961

Yesterday’s Solution

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Today you'll feel inspired to express yourself in fun, creative ways. Don't be afraid to letloose with your wild sense of humor. You could play a prank on a friend that makes him orher laugh and creates good feelings. Or you could share some jokes with others that makethem smile and feel better. You enjoy playing the clown, and you're good at it!

Expect a visitor to put you in touch with people who could make a real difference inyour life. Changes are manifesting more quickly than you realize. Certainly all that'soccurring is exciting, but the speed may have you feeling a little apprehensive. Fearoften accompanies success. You can't move ahead without taking some risk. You're upto this challenge!

Your inbox is probably crammed with party invitations. There's no such thing as a simpleRSVP for you. Every call to accept or decline results in a lengthy conversation as youcatch up with relatives and old friends. It's possible that you'll receive a communicationtoday that turns your life in a new direction. Doors that you've never considered may beopened wide for you.

The planetary energies today are emphasizing family. This may be a good time to dosome research, delving more deeply into your roots. Have you picked your grand-mother's brain about her mother and grandmother? You'll be surprised at what youlearn. You'll feel more connected with your family, and you may learn some facts thatmake you proud of your heritage.

Your hard work is finally paying off. You can expect to receive acknowledgement andadvancement, along with a possible salary increase or substantial bonus. You shouldreceive the good news soon. Celebrate tonight with family and friends. They couldalso have some good news of their own to report, which makes for happiness allaround.

Good news from distant lands could have you feeling good about your life andeagerly anticipating the future. Your thinking is sharp and clear. This is a good day tomake plans, particularly if they involve travel or education. If you have the feelingthat the coming weeks bring some dramatic changes for the better, your instinctsare likely correct. You have reason to celebrate.

When you give your imagination free rein, you have a creative way of expressing yourself.Today you might feel like doing some public speaking or creative writing. You may devise aunique way to make a presentation or put together a proposal. Communicating in a moreintimate way will warm your heart and the hearts of your audience. Don't hold back.

Your mental acuity is high today. A recent innovation of yours could bring yousome much-deserved recognition. Your mind is especially sharp at this point, andideas come thick and fast. You have tremendous talent. If you focus it, you'll makesome positive inroads toward building your success.

Today's celestial configuration may leave you feeling more spiritually inclined thanusual. As your thoughts turn to more positive horizons, you'll be optimistic aboutyour future and the future of humanity. Don't hesitate to express these opinions toothers. They'll be cheered by your point of view.

This is bound to be an interesting day as you meet some new people who have fasci-nating ideas about esoteric subjects. Listen closely and later jot notes on the conver-sation. Don't be surprised if you get some good news about advancing in your profes-sional field. It looks as though a raise or promotion is coming.

It's time to admit that your hectic lifestyle is catching up with you. Today you muststart to get organized. Waiting until the last minute to take care of important tasksonly causes anxiety. Make a list of everything you need to get done and prioritizeit. Consider yourself lucky if you can confine the list to one page!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

Established 1961

Lifestyle

Like most tourists, Patricio Osuna had a list of“must sees” on his trip to New York City: theStatue of Liberty, Times Square and, surprising-

ly, a steep flight of steps in an out-of-the-way neigh-borhood of the Bronx that has become a cult-movielandmark. This fall Osuna and a stream of fellow visi-tors have flocked to the stairway, known as a “stepstreet,” to see the real-life backdrop to a memorablescene in “Joker,” the hit movie that tells the backstoryof Batman’s deranged foe, the Joker.

The scene captures the moment that the lonerArthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, transformsinto the Joker as he dances down the steps to GaryGlitter’s anthem “Rock & Roll Part 2,” his hair dyed amenacing green and his face painted like a clown. “I’mvisiting New York for the first time and I said that Ihave to come visit the stairs,” said Osuna, a 46-year-old bus company owner from Tijuana, Mexico. He thenbroke into a theatrical strut mimicking the Joker’sdance down the stairs.

Until recently not many tourists ventured into theBronx, which has long sought to shake an unfair imageas a crime-ridden backwater. The borough’s biggestdraws are the Bronx Zoo, the New York BotanicalGardens and the New York Yankees, the perennialbaseball powerhouse that makes its home about a milesouth of the steps, located on West 167th Streetbetween Anderson and Shakespeare avenues.

But since the release of “Joker” two weeks ago,many New Yorkers and out-of-towners traveled thereto gawk, take selfies and, in the spirit of the Joker’schoreography, to ham it up. “There’s something abouthis moves. He just killed it. It was in his soul,” said JayGarcia, a 30-year-old radio host from the neighboringborough of Queens. For longtime Bronx residents likeLaura Harry, step streets are a common feature in theborough’s hilly landscape.

“I’ve lived around here for 30 years ... people usethem every day,” said Harry, as she stood at the top ofthe steep stairs with her groceries, gazing at the peo-ple below. “I’m fascinated, because they made thesteps famous.” “Joker,” directed by Todd Phillips anddistributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, has dominatedthe box-office for two weeks. It broke the record forthe largest October opening weekend in movie history,at $96.2 million.

While the borough has struggled with its reputationas a dangerous place, it is perhaps ironic that a threat-ening figure like the Joker may have helped burnish itsimage. “It’s good for us. You know, publicity,” said JoseCruz, a longtime resident who climbs the 131 steps atWest 167th Street daily. “People don’t have to be scaredof the Bronx no more, the way they used to.”—Reuters

No ‘Joker’: Bronx ‘step street’ becomes New York hot spot thanks to hit movie

Francis Ford Coppola jumped into a con-troversy over the Marvel superheromovies Saturday, not just backing fellow

director Martin Scorsese’s critique of thefilms but denouncing them as “despicable”.Earlier this month Scorsese, director of clas-sics such as “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas”,described the Marvel universe films as moretheme parks than cinema, even if they werewell made. His remarks made waves acrosssocial media for days, as fans of his work andthe Marvel hits such as the Avengers films,argued the merits.

But Coppola, speaking to journalists in theFrench city of Lyon, where he has just beenawarded the Prix Lumiere for his contributionto cinema, backed his fellow Italian-AmericanScorsese. “When Martin Scorsese says thatthe Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s rightbecause we expect to learn something from

cinema, we expect to gain something, someenlightenment, some knowledge, some inspi-ration. “I don’t know that anyone gets any-thing out of seeing the same movie over andover again,” the 80-year-old filmmaker said.

“Martin was kind when he said it’s not cin-ema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I justsay it is.” Coppola also said he was workingon his biggest project yet: “Megalopolis”, afilm about a utopia, a project he has nurturedfor two decades. “I wanted to make a filmabout a human expression of what really isheaven on earth. “I would say it’s the mostambitious film (I’ve worked on) — more than‘Apocalypse Now’. That’s the problem,” headded.

“Apocalypse Now”, his 1979 war epicstarring Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando,is notorious for the vast amount of time andmoney it ate up during production. “I think

it would cost more than ‘ApocalypseNow’,” said Coppola. “It would be thebiggest budget I ever had to work with.”Coppola, the director of the “Godfather”

films, joins an illustrious list of film-makersand actors to have received the PrixLumiere, including Scorsese, PedroAlmodovar and Milos Forman.—AFP

Coppola backs Scorsese in row over

Marvel films

The Oscar-winning actress and theNew York City-based art galleristtied the knot in Rhode Island on

Saturday, where they were joined by someof Jennifer’s showbiz pals. A source told‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Among the A-lis-ters in attendance were Adele, CameronDiaz, Nicole Richie and husband JoelMadden, who all enjoyed a late-night biteFriday evening in a private dining room atScarpetta at Gurney’s Newport.” Other big-name stars rumored to have attended theceremony included the likes of Emma Stone,Kris Jenner, Sienna Miller, and directorDavid O. Russell, who has helmed some ofJennifer’s best-known movies, such as ‘SilverLinings Playbook’ and ‘American Hustle’.

Many of the wedding guests were stay-ing at Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marinaprior to the ceremony. An insider previouslyshared: “Guests were so excited to be run-ning into each other ahead of the big event.“Everyone seemed so excited about the

wedding. It’s going to be such a fun party.”Jennifer, 29 - who previously dated actorNicholas Hoult and director DarrenAronofsky - and Cooke got engaged inFebruary, after less than 12 months of dating.However, a source claimed that the loved-upduo struck-up an instant connection.

The insider explained: “When they wereintroduced last spring, the timing was per-fect because they were both single and justenjoying an evening out with friends.“Things couldn’t have worked out any betterbecause they have so much in common andtruly hit it off. They both come from close-knit families, Cooke in Vermont and Jenniferin Kentucky, and then left and built success-ful careers. They both love to travel but alsojust enjoy just being alone together.” In fact,the insider likened their romance to a real-life “fairytale”. The source added: “They hadan instant attraction the moment they metand we tease them it was love at firstsight.”—Bang Showbiz

US film director Francis Ford Coppola, right, speaks next to French filmmakerBertrand Tavernier, left, during the 11th Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, central east-ern France.—AFP

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Mohamed Hamadah during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show in Kuwait City.—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Jennifer Lawrence, Cooke Maroney tie the knot

Monday, October 21, 2019L i f e s t y l e Fa s h i o n

Established 1961 20

‘The Magic of the Orient’ Fashion Show

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Mohamed Hamadah during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show, in Kuwait City.—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Wasmiya al-Harbi during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show, in Kuwait City.

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Shahd al-Sadoun during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show, in Kuwait City.

L i f e s t y l e Monday, October 21, 2019

21Established 1961

Fa s h i o n

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Samira Al-Halawani during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashionshow, in Kuwait City.

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Mashael Al-Anzi during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show, in Kuwait City.

Models present creations by Kuwaiti designer Atelier of La Bourjoisie during the ‘Sehr al-Sharq’ or ‘The Magic of the Orient’ fashion show, in Kuwait City.

Monday, October 21, 2019L i f e s t y l e Fe a t u r e s

22

Replicas of British street artist Banksy’s artworks displayed as part of the exhibition ‘The world of Banksy, the immersive experience’ at the Espace Lafayette-Drouot in Paris. —AFP photos

Why does art matter?

Banksyasks, offering originalsfor the right answer

British street artist Banksy is selling a Union Jackstab vest, riot helmet ‘disco balls’ and a ‘design-er handbag’ made from a brick to randomly

selected buyers who can answer the question: “Whydoes art matter?”. The works are offered in the“Gross Domestic Product” online store, with pricesstarting at 10 pounds ($13) for a Banksy brandedaerosol of paint to 850 pounds for the stab vest asworn by Stormzy at the Glastonbury Festival in June.

Customers can only buy a maximum of one item,according to the rules on the website. Applications willbe randomly selected and then narrowed down by thequestion ‘Why does art matter?’, with the ‘Why’crossed out. The answers will be assessed by an impar-tial and independent judge, namely a professionalstand-up comedian, the website said. The originalproducts, which will be awarded a certification ofauthenticity on the second anniversary of the purchase,are priced far below market value.

“Please refrain from registering at this time if you area wealthy art collector,” the site said. Works by the elu-sive street artist, who has never revealed his name, haverocketed in value. A large Banksy painting of chimps sit-ting in Britain’s parliament sold for more than $12 millionearlier this month, a record price at auction for his work.The products available in the online shop have been ondisplay at Banksy’s temporary homewares store in thesouth London suburb of Croydon.—Reuters

From being “embarrassed” about Brexit to losingsleep over the climate crisis, here’s a look at whatstar authors had to say about the state of the world

at this week’s Frankfurt book fair, which ends Sunday.

Margaret Atwood on Extinction Rebellion“This is our last chance as the human race. If we don’t getit right soon, that’s it for us,” the legendary novelist toldaudiences, adding that her biologist father was alreadysounding the climate alarm back in the 1950s. Atwood,79, who this week co-won the prestigious Booker Prizefor her sequel to the dystopian classic “The Handmaid’sTale”, said she fully supported Extinction Rebellion cam-paigners who use peaceful disruptive action to drawattention to climate change.

“I have watched this unfold over the decades. I wrotea trilogy centering around the extinction of species andthe climate crisis that is now upon us. “So I was veryhappy to see all these young people show up. Like,where have you been all my life!”

Maja Lunde’s sleepless nights Norwegian novelist Lunde, who is working on a quar-

tet of climate fiction books that started with the smash hit“The History of Bees”, admitted to losing sleep about the

environment. “I suddenly wake up and see images of theAmazon burning,” she told the fair. “Right now, I think alot of us know on an objective level that the state of theworld is really bad,” the 44-year-old said.

“But we haven’t really understood with our hearts.And I think literature can be a way into our hearts,”Lunde added, calling for urgent action. “Homo sapiens isan amazing animal. Think of all the things we have done.Of course we can stop the climate and nature crisis if wetruly want to.”

Ken Follett: ‘We still love you’ The 70-year-old British author railed against his

country’s decision to leave the EU and the lost opportu-nities it presented for the nation’s young people. “I amembarrassed because my country is saying to ourEuropean neighbors: we don’t want to be part of yourclub, we don’t like you, and a lot of them are saying ‘we’rebetter than you’. “I want to say: No, no, no.”

Follett, whose global bestsellers include “Eye of theNeedle” and “The Pillars of the Earth”, said he wouldembark on a “Friendship Tour” of European cities nextmonth with fellow British novelists Lee Child, Kate Mosseand Jojo Moyes. “We are just going to make this littletour just to say to our readers: We still love you.”

Colson Whitehead on racism“America is very racist, has been racist since its

founding and will be for all our lifetimes,” saidWhitehead, who won a Pulitzer Prize for “TheUnderground Railroad”, a novel about black slavesescaping the American south. “We are not wriggling freefrom our ignorance and prejudice anytime soon,” the 49-year-old added, decrying efforts in the United States tosuppress the voices of minorities by closing voter

precincts or through voter ID requirements.“There’s a continuum between slavery and Jim Crow

and now. There are people who are up late, mostlyRepublicans, who are thinking up ways to subjugate poorpeople and people of color.” His latest book “The NickelBoys”, set in the 1960s, was inspired by the discovery of55 unmarked graves at a Florida reform school for boys.“It was tough writing these books back to back. So mynext one is going to be about puppies,” he joked.—AFP

Brexit, climate, racism: The Frankfurt book fair in quotes

Norwegian author Maja Lunde is pictured on the openingday of the Frankfurt book fair 2019 in Frankfurt am Main,Germany.—AFP photos US author Colson Whitehead

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Arrival Flights on Monday 21/10/2019Airlines Flt Route TimeFEG 441 Asyut 00:05IGO 1757 Kochi 00:10JZR 1338 Al Najaf 00:10THY 772 Istanbul 00:20JZR 254 Amman 00:20KAC 102 London 00:50DLH 625 Dammam 00:50KAC 504 Beirut 01:00JZR 734 Cairo 01:00JZR 722 Alexandria 01:00RJA 642 Amman 01:20UAE 853 Dubai 01:40KLM 446 Bahrain 01:45ETH 620 Addis Ababa 02:15QTR 1086 Doha 02:40PGT 860 Istanbul 02:50GFA 211 Bahrain 02:50JZR 502 Lahore 02:55ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:05OMA 643 Muscat 03:05JZR 406 Kochi 03:05MSR 612 Cairo 03:15KAC 418 Manila 03:20QTR 1076 Doha 03:30OHY 352 Istanbul 04:00KAC 382 Delhi 04:05IGO 1751 Chennai 04:10KAC 346 Ahmedabad 04:15DHX 170 Bahrain 04:25KAC 784 Jeddah 04:25JZR 404 Hyderabad 04:50IGO 1759 Delhi 05:10THY 770 Istanbul 05:20JZR 402 Mumbai 05:25KAC 352 Kochi 05:25KAC 344 Chennai 05:30KAC 552 Cairo 05:45JZR 112 Doha 05:50BAW 157 London 06:10JZR 702 Asyut 06:10KAC 284 Dhaka 06:15JZR 714 Sohag 06:20KAC 678 Dubai 06:40KAC 204 Lahore 06:45KAC 302 Mumbai 07:05IGO 1766 Mumbai 07:10RBG 211 Luxor 07:25FDB 053 Dubai 07:50QTR 1084 Doha 08:00MSC 401 Alexandria 08:00KAC 384 Delhi 08:10IRA 601 Tehran 08:10JZR 102 Bahrain 08:15UAE 855 Dubai 08:25ETD 9873 Tbilisi 08:25ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 08:50OMA 641 Muscat 09:00ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00KAC 334 Trivandrum 09:00GFA 209 Bahrain 09:05QTR 1070 Doha 09:20GOW 061 CNN 09:30IGO 1753 Ahmedabad 09:40FDB 055 Dubai 09:40SAW 703 Damascus 10:00AXB 889 Mangalore/Bahrain 10:20GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40AXB 395 Kozhikode 10:40MEA 404 Beirut 10:55QTR 1074 Doha 11:00THY 1282 Trabzon 11:05NIA 1401 Sohag 11:35JZR 122 Dubai 11:45AXB 789 CNN/Bahrain 12:10SAW 701 Damascus 12:30RBG 553 Alexandria 12:30THY 766 Istanbul 12:30JZR 1334 Al Najaf 12:35UAE 871 Dubai 12:45KAC 742 Dammam 12:55KAC 774 Riyadh 13:35

JZR 212 Jeddah 13:45UAE 877 Dubai 14:00KAC 672 Dubai 14:00ZAV 4131 BSR 14:00KNE 231 Riyadh 14:10GFA 221 Bahrain 14:15FDB 059 Dubai 14:20QTR 1078 Doha 14:25KAC 364 Colombo 14:35KAC 286 Dhaka 14:35JZR 222 Riyadh 14:45SVA 500 Jeddah 14:45KAC 304 Mumbai 14:45KAC 562 Amman 14:50KAC 618 Doha 14:50JZR 152 Mashhad 14:55KAC 788 Jeddah 14:55KAC 118 New York 15:00KAC 516 Tehran 15:00KNE 529 Jeddah 15:05KAC 412 Bangkok 15:10ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:15OMA 645 Muscat 15:20ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45JZR 1336 Al Najaf 15:50KAC 546 Cairo 16:05JZR 732 Cairo 16:10FDB 051 Dubai 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:15KAC 502 Beirut 16:15SAW 705 Damascus 17:00JZR 116 Doha 17:05SVA 510 Riyadh 17:10GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 214 Jeddah 17:35JZR 124 Dubai 17:40JZR 104 Bahrain 18:00JZR 1339 Al Najaf 18:05KAC 158 Istanbul 18:10QTR 1080 Doha 18:10JZR 302 Istanbul 18:20MSR 620 Cairo 18:30UAE 875 Dubai 19:05RJA 640 Amman 19:05GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05ABY 123 Sharjah 19:20KAC 744 Dammam 19:25KAC 616 Bahrain 19:40KAC 674 Dubai 19:45KAC 776 Riyadh 19:45FDB 057 Dubai 19:50JZR 1340 Al Najaf 20:00KNE 381 Taif 20:00OMA 647 Muscat 20:05NIA 1501 Asyut 20:10DLH 624 Frankfurt 20:10MEA 402 Beirut 20:15KAC 620 Doha 20:30KAC 174 Munich 20:30QTR 1088 Doha 20:40JAV 621 Amman 20:45RBG 219 Sohag 20:55KLM 445 Amsterdam 21:00IAW 157A Al Najaf 21:00ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:10UAE 859 Dubai 21:15ALK 229 Colombo 21:15KAC 168 Paris 21:20THY 764 Istanbul 21:30KAC 164 MXP 21:40KAC 622 Doha 21:50GFA 219 Bahrain 21:50KAC 564 Amman 21:55QTR 1082 Doha 22:05ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15IAW 157B Al Najaf 22:15KAC 786 Jeddah 22:20SVA 514 Riyadh 22:25AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:25SVA 502 Jeddah 22:45JZR 128 Dubai 22:50MSC 411 Asyut 23:15MSR 614 Cairo 23:30

Departure Flights on Monday 21/10/2019Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai 00:05JZR 713 Sohag 00:10MSC 412 Asyut 00:15MSR 615 Cairo 00:30FEG 342 Sohag 01:05IGO 1758 Kochi 01:10KAC 677 Dubai 01:40THY 773 Istanbul 01:50DLH 625 Frankfurt 01:50KAC 417 Manila 02:00KAC 363 Colombo 02:00KAC 285 Dhaka 02:00JZR 111 Doha 02:10THY 765 Istanbul 02:50ETH 621 Addis Ababa 03:05KLM 446 Amsterdam 03:10UAE 854 Dubai 03:30ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:00OMA 644 Muscat 04:05QTR 1087 Doha 04:15MSR 613 Cairo 04:15PGT 861 Istanbul 04:20ZAV 4130 BSR 05:00QTR 1077 Doha 05:00OHY 351 Istanbul 05:00IGO 1752 Chennai 05:10KAC 303 Mumbai 05:15JZR 101 Bahrain 05:50IGO 1765 Delhi 06:10THY 771 Istanbul 06:30GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50RJA 643 Amman 07:00KAC 167 Paris 07:15JZR 121 Dubai 07:15BAW 156 London 07:40KAC 173 Munich 07:45JZR 211 Jeddah 08:00IGO 1767 Mumbai 08:10RBG 214 Sohag 08:15KAC 163 MXP 08:35FDB 054 Dubai 08:35KAC 545 Cairo 08:50KAC 501 Beirut 08:50KAC 561 Amman 08:55MSC 402 Alexandria 09:00KAC 117 New York 09:05JZR 151 Mashhad 09:05QTR 1085 Doha 09:10IRA 666 Esfahan 09:10KAC 787 Jeddah 09:15KAC 671 Dubai 09:15JZR 1333 Al Najaf 09:15KAC 157 Istanbul 09:35ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40KAC 773 Riyadh 09:40KAC 741 Dammam 09:40JZR 731 Cairo 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50JZR 301 Istanbul 09:55ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 09:55OMA 642 Muscat 10:00GFA 210 Bahrain 10:05KAC 101 London 10:05QTR 1071 Doha 10:30GOW 062 CNN 10:30KAC 515 Tehran 10:35KAC 617 Doha 10:40FDB 056 Dubai 10:40IGO 1754 Ahmedabad 10:40ETD 9874 Abu Dhabi 10:55SAW 704 Damascus 11:00JZR 221 Riyadh 11:20AXB 890 Mangalore 11:20GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35AXB 396 Kozhikode 11:50MEA 405 Beirut 11:55THY 1283 Trabzon 12:00JZR 213 Jeddah 12:05QTR 1075 Doha 12:10JZR 1335 Al Najaf 12:30NIA 1502 Asyut 12:35

JZR 123 Dubai 13:10AXB 790 CNN 13:10RBG 554 Alexandria 13:10JZR 115 Doha 13:25SAW 702 Damascus 13:30THY 767 Istanbul 14:00UAE 872 Dubai 14:15JZR 1338 Al Najaf 14:45KNE 382 Taif 15:00GFA 222 Bahrain 15:00KAC 673 Dubai 15:00JZR 103 Bahrain 15:05FDB 060 Dubai 15:05UAE 878 Dubai 15:30QTR 1079 Doha 15:30SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55KAC 105 London 15:55JZR 405 Kochi 16:00KAC 563 Amman 16:00KAC 743 Dammam 16:05KAC 775 Riyadh 16:05KAC 615 Bahrain 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20OMA 646 Muscat 16:20KAC 785 Jeddah 16:20KAC 619 Doha 16:25JZR 1339 Al Najaf 16:40FDB 052 Dubai 17:10QTR 1073 Doha 17:25KAC 361 Colombo 17:35KAC 155 Istanbul 17:35UAE 858 Dubai 17:40KAC 283 Dhaka 17:40KAC 621 Doha 17:50KAC 381 Delhi 17:55SAW 706 Damascus 18:00SVA 511 Riyadh 18:10JZR 721 Alexandria 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 127 Dubai 18:20JZR 403 Hyderabad 18:25JZR 715 Sohag 18:30JZR 733 Cairo 18:35JZR 253 Amman 19:10QTR 1081 Doha 19:20KAC 345 Ahmedabad 19:20MSR 621 Cairo 19:30GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50KAC 331 Trivandrum 19:55ABY 124 Sharjah 20:00RJA 641 Amman 20:05KAC 357 Kochi 20:05FDB 058 Dubai 20:30JZR 401 Mumbai 20:30UAE 876 Dubai 20:35KNE 232 Riyadh 20:50KAC 353 Bengaluru 20:50DLH 624 Dammam 20:55OMA 648 Muscat 21:05NIA 1602 Luxor 21:10MEA 403 Beirut 21:15KAC 301 Mumbai 21:25RBG 210 Sohag 21:35JAV 621 Amman 21:45QTR 1089 Doha 21:50DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50IAW 158A Baghdad 22:00KAC 203 Lahore 22:00KLM 445 Bahrain 22:10ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15ALK 230 Colombo 22:20UAE 860 Dubai 22:35KAC 383 Delhi 22:35JZR 407 Ahmedabad 22:40GFA 220 Bahrain 22:50KAC 783 Jeddah 22:55IAW 158B Al Najaf 23:00KAC 551 Cairo 23:00ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05QTR 1083 Doha 23:20SVA 515 Riyadh 23:25SVA 503 Jeddah 23:45

ClassifiedsMonday, October 21, 2019

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AirlinesKuwait Airways 171Jazeera Airways 177Wataniya Airways 22 066 536Turkish Airlines 1884918American Airlines 22087425 Jet Airways 22924455FlyDubai 22414400Qatar Airways 22423888KLM 22425747Royal Jordanian 22418064/5/6British Airways 22425635Air France 22430224Emirates 22921555Air India 22456700Air India EXPRESS 22438185/4 Sri Lanka Airlines 22424444Egypt Air 22421578Swiss Air 22421516Saudia 22426306Middle East Airlines` 22423073Lufthansa 22422493PIA 22421044Bangladesh Airlines 22452977/8

CHANGE OF NAME

MATRIMONIAL

This is to notify all that I NataliaRaj daughter of Nitesh Raj hold-er of Indian Passport No. N-0420190 (born in Kuwait) wouldlike to change my name fromNatalia Raj to Natalia Nitesh forall my future dealing here after.(C 5463)

I Mathew holder of IndianPassport No. Z3829588 / Civil IDNo, 278122303567 having per-manent address Mankayil,Kazhuthumuttu, House No -17/1619 D, Mundamveli PostOffice, Ernakulam, Kerala, India,Pin-682507. Residing in Kuwaitat present, hereby declare thathenceforth my name will beread as Given name: DennyJoseph and Surname: MankayilMathew. (C 5464)

Old name: Kalla MohammadBurhan, new surname: Kalla, oldgiven name: Mohammad Ilyas,new given name: MohammadBurhan. Address: Esa Qutamistreet, street 8 block - 10, build-ing no. 6, Salmiya. (C 5465)20-10-2019

I, Shaikh Yasmin FaisalMohamed holder of IndianPassport No. J4434237 issued atKuwait on 28/11/2010 havingpermanent address PathanChawal Bldg, 2nd floor,Gunpowder road, Mazgaon,Mumbai 400010 MS and

Goan wellknown Catholic fami-ly for a girl 38 yrs. 5.3 slim, Godfearing, convent educatedBachelor of Pharmacist, she hasgot her own medical shop inGoa. Seek alliance from welleducated & settled CatholicBachelor below 42 yrs. Goodlooking clean habit teetotalerfrom Kuwait/India. Interestedsend details CV with photo-graph to email: tech-noarch43@gmail.com (C 5461) 18-10-2019

32 year old Goan Catholic boylooking for suitable GoanCatholic life partner. He hasgraduated in industrial engi-neering from a reputed univer-sity in the US. He is currentlyemployed in Kuwait and look-ing forward to settle down verysoon. He is 5’10” tall, fair andgood looking. If you think youare the right match please con-tact at 96765696 ASAP. Email:if8016037@gmail.com (C 5454)10-10-2019

presently residing in Kuwait, dohereby declare that henceforthmy name will be read as givenname: Yasmin Faisal Mohamedand Surname: Shaikh.Objections if and may be for-warded to Indian Embassy,Diplomatic Enclave, Safat,Arabian Gulf Street, Kuwait CityPin code 13015. (C 5462) 18-10-2019

Monday, October 21, 2019N e w s

Established 1961 24

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Al-Tabtabai against Minister of Public Works andHousing Jenan Bushehri over alleged violations in someprojects besides failure to repair roads affected by lastyear’s rains. MP Tabtabai said before filing the grilling,he sent some 23 questions to the minister over a varietyof issues, adding that he received replies for some -whereas others were not answered and received falseanswers for the rest.

He charged that there were violations in the appoint-

ments and delay in some housing projects like Mutlaaand South Saad Al-Abdallah. He said the grilling is basedon five main issues: Failure to implement the law, squan-dering of public funds, causing harm to a public utilitywhich is the new airport project, obstructing develop-ment projects and misuse of power and mismanagementof the roads issue. The lawmaker said that his grilling hasbeen ready from August. Two MPs had already threat-ened to grill the minister over similar issues.

In another development, five lawmakers yesterdaysubmitted a draft law calling for amending the electorallaw to increase the number of votes in Assembly elec-tion to two instead of one in the existing law. Theamendment keeps the five electoral districts and witheach district electing 10 MPs each. Under the existinglaw, voters can pick only one candidate and the amend-ment is calling to increase it to two candidates.

‘No signs of dissolution’ of...

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What some have dubbed the “WhatsApp revolu-tion” has support from wide swathes of Lebanesesociety.

The protests have been mostly good-natured, withpeople singing or launching into traditional dabkedances, while others play cards and smoke shisha. Butwhile the demonstrators are largely united on what theyoppose - with many condemning the entire politicalclass as thieves and criminals - they lack a clear set ofdemands. On Friday Hariri did not say what would hap-pen if the government did not back key reforms byMonday night, with the 72-hour deadline widelymocked among protestors and on social media.

Scuppering Hariri’s unity call, Samir Geagea, headof the Christian Lebanese Forces party announcedlate Saturday that his four ministers were quitting thegovernment. “We are now convinced that the govern-ment is unable to take the necessary steps to save thesituation,” Geagea said. Other members of the govern-ment, including Shiite movement Hezbollah and theChristian Free Patriotic Movement, oppose the gov-

ernment’s resignation.Demonstrators hailed Geagea’s announcement but

demanded more wholesale change. Zalfa Aboukais, 27,was hanging signs bearing the names of lawmakers andministers on barbed wire near parliament and the seatof government, saying they were all “thieves”. She saidshe was protesting “against the hooligans who havebeen in power for 30 years”.

Another protester, Dani Mourtada, said the countrywas waking up to reject entrenched sectarianism. “Weno longer want people to beg for legitimate rights andservices that the state is supposed to provide,”Mourtada, 26, said. Sanaa Mallah, 40, said she wasprotesting to bring down the government. “I have a lotof hope in this movement.” Lebanon is one of theworld’s most indebted countries, with a deficit ofaround $86 billion - more than 150 percent of grossdomestic product - according to the finance ministry.

Public anger surged after parliament passed an aus-terity budget in July as part of efforts to make reformsthat are essential if Lebanon is to unlock over $11 billionin economic assistance pledged by international donorslast year. Growth has plummeted in recent years, withpolitical deadlock compounded by the impact of eightyears of war in neighboring Syria. Home to around 4.5million people, Lebanon says it is hosting some 1.5 mil-lion Syrians who fled the conflict with many politiciansblaming the refugees for the country’s woes. — AFP

Lebanese take over streets as...

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“The layers from which the pearl came have beencarbon dated to 5800-5600 BC, during the Neolithicperiod,” Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture andTourism said. “The discovery of the oldest pearl in theworld in Abu Dhabi makes it clear that so much of ourrecent economic and cultural history has deep rootsthat stretch back to the dawn of prehistory,” said itschairman Mohamed Al-Muabarak.

The excavation of the Marawah site, which is madeup of numerous collapsed Neolithic stone structures,has also yielded ceramics, beads made from shell and

stone, and flint arrowheads. The “Abu Dhabi Pearl” willbe shown for the first time in the exhibition “10,000years of Luxury” which is opening on October 30 atthe Louvre Abu Dhabi - the outpost of the famous Parismuseum. Emirati experts believe that the pearls weretraded with Mesopotamia - ancient Iraq - in exchangefor ceramics and other goods. They were also likelyworn as jewelry.

“The Venetian jewel merchant Gasparo Balbi, whotravelled through the region, mentions the islands offthe coast of Abu Dhabi as a source of pearls in the 16thcentury,” the culture department said. The pearl indus-try once underpinned the economy of the United ArabEmirates, but the trade collapsed in the 1930s with theadvent of Japanese cultured pearls, and as conflictsrocked global economies. Instead, the Gulf nationsturned to the oil industry which dominates theireconomies to this day. — AFP

World’s oldest pearl found in Abu Dhabi...

SRINAGAR: India and Pakistan blamed oneanother for cross-border shelling in the dis-puted Kashmir region which kil led andinjured soldiers and civilians on both sidesand made it one of the deadliest days sinceNew Delhi revoked Kashmir’s special statusin August. India said there was heavyshelling by Pakistan across the border innorthern Kashmir’s Tangdhar region late onSaturday night, killing two Indian soldiersand one civi l ian. A spokesman for thePakistani Armed Forces said one of its sol-diers and three civilians had died and thatIndia had violated the ceasefire.

Kashmir has been disputed by the twonuclear-armed neighbors since they bothreceived independence in 1947. The twocountries fought two of their three wars overthe region. Tensions between the two coun-tries have flared and there has been intermit-tent cross-border firing since Aug. 5, when

New Delhi flooded Indian Kashmir withtroops to quell unrest after it revoked theregion’s special autonomous status.

Islamabad has warned that changingKashmir’s status would escalate tensionsbut India says the withdrawal of special sta-tus is an internal affair and is aimed at fastereconomic development of the territory.Reuters was unable to verify independentlythe claims made by both sides on theshelling, which marks an escalation from thesmall-arms fire usually exchanged by thetwo armies. There was an unprovokedceasefire violation by Pakistan, Indiandefense spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kaliasaid. “Our troops retaliated strongly, caus-ing heavy damage and casualties to the ene-my,” Kalia said.

An Indian army source said the shellingwas cover to help militants enter Indiabecause of which a “calibrated escalation of

area weapons was undertaken”. The Indianarmy “retains the right to respond at a timeand place of its choosing” if the Pakistaniarmy continues to do this, he said. Islamabadhas summoned the Indian envoy in protestover the shelling and killings, and offered tohave diplomats from the UN SecurityCouncil’s five permanent members, includingthe United States and Russia, visit the borderand see that no militant camps exist there.

Pakistan said India carried out an unpro-voked attack deliberately targeted at civil-ians. Major General Asif Ghafoor, aspokesman for the Pakistani Armed Forces,said Pakistan responded “effectively”, killingnine Indian soldiers, injuring several othersand destroying two bunkers. Indian forces inKashmir have gone “berserk”, said RajaFarooq Haider, prime minister of Pakistan’sAzad Kashmir region, adding that six civil-ians died and eight were injured. — Reuters

India and Pakistan trade barbs over deadly clash

BEIRUT: An aerial view shows Lebanese protesters rallying in downtown Beirut, on the fourth day of demonstrations against tax increases and official corruption. — AFP

AZAD KASHMIR: A resident stands in front of his damaged house a day after crossborder shelling in Jora, a village of Neelum valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmiryesterday. — AFP

SYDNEY: The longest non-stop passenger flighttouched down in Australia yesterday morning aftermore than 19 hours in the air, a milestone journey fromNew York that Qantas hopes to parlay into commercialsuccess. Qantas flight QF7879 took 19 hours and 16minutes to fly direct from New York to Sydney in thefirst of three “ultra long-haul” journeys planned by theairline this year.

The national flag carrier is operating the test flights-which also include one from London to Sydney-as itweighs a rollout of regular services on marathon routesfrom the United States and Britain to Australia. Just 49people travelled on the Boeing 787-9 to minimize theweight on board and give the plane sufficient fuel rangeto travel more than 16,000 kilometers without re-fuelling. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce called it “a really his-toric moment” for both the airline and world aviation.

“This is the first of three test flights that’s going to

come up with recommendations about how we managepilot fatigue (and) how we actually manage passengerjetlag,” he told reporters after arriving in Sydney. “After19 hours on this flight, I think we’ve gotten this right. Itfeels like we’ve been on a flight a lot shorter than that.”Qantas partnered with two Australian universities tomonitor how jetlag affected the health of passengersand crew members as they crossed multiple time zones.

After boarding the flight, passengers set their watch-es to Sydney time and were kept awake until night fellin eastern Australia with lighting, exercise, caffeine anda spicy meal. Six hours later, they were served a high-carbohydrate meal, told to avoid screens, and the lightswere dimmed to encourage them to sleep through thenight. Professor Marie Carroll, a researcher fromSydney University who conducted the experiment, toldAFP that she expected the innovative approach wouldresult in “absolutely minimal” jetlag.

“I expect that they will have a normal day today and anormal night’s sleep tonight,” she said, adding that shefelt “amazingly good” considering the flight time. “It’s allan experiment to see if airlines can adjust their scheduleof food, beverages, exercise and lighting to be in syncwith the destination time.” The four pilots on board-whorotated between flying duties-also wore devices thattracked their brain waves and alertness. — AFP

Longest non-stop passenger flight arrives in Sydney

JEJU: Justin Thomas won the CJ Cup yesterday for thesecond time in three years, but it took until the closingstretch to see off the dogged challenge of Danny Leeon South Korea’s Jeju Island. The pair, who shared athree-shot overnight lead on 15-under par were lockedtogether until the short par-four 14th.

“I felt like 14 was a pretty big change in momentum,”said Thomas, who got up and down from 65 yards for acrucial birdie, and from that moment was never headedas he finished with a round of 67 and a 20-under partotal of 268.

“Danny made it extremely difficult. I kept trying tohit fairways and greens and give myself a lot of birdiechances, and he just kept getting up and down fromeverywhere,” said world number five Thomas, whopocketed $1.755 million for the win.

Seoul-born New Zealander Lee, who started theday tied for the lead at 15-under par with Thomas,carded a three-under par 69, cheered on by huge gal-leries hoping for a first Korean-born winner of the USPGA Tour event.

There was a three-way tie for third on 15-under parbetween Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (65), US Openchampion Gary Woodland (66) and Australia’s CameronSmith who finished with an eagle for a 69.

But none of them remotely threatened the leadingpair who fought out a compelling head-to-headshootout in perfect conditions under clear blue skies.

American Thomas, from Louisville, Kentucky, hasbeen watched all week by his parents, who flew over tosupport him. “My dad turned 60 last week, so maybeit’s a little 60th birthday gift to him. I’m glad he didn’tcome over here to watch me not play very well,” saidThomas, who won the inaugural 2017 CJ Cup at thespectacular Nine Bridges club, set on the slopes of

South Korea’s tallest mountain, Hallasan.Thomas has now equalled Jordan Spieth and Rory

McIlroy by winning 11 US PGA Tour titles before his27th birthday. Only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus hadwon more by that age, and four of Thomas’s wins havecome from just nine PGA Tour starts Asia — he wonthe CIMB Classic in Malaysia in 2015 and 2016.

“It’s always nice playing, trying to win in a placeyou’ve already won at,” said world number five Thomas.“I’ve only had that opportunity one other time in

Malaysia, but it’s pretty awesome. I don’t know, some-thing about Asia I like.” World number 162 Lee eventu-ally blinked first under relentless pressure with bogeysat 15 and 16. But there was still time for one last twist asThomas’s par putt on the short 17th lipped out and hewent to the 18th two shots up.

There had been a three-stroke swing on the 18th on

Saturday when Lee holed a snaky 60-foot eagle puttwhile Thomas dropped a shot after finding water. Thistime Thomas stayed dry, though Lee came within awhisker of repeating his eagle of the previous day —but this time the long putt horseshoed out and arelieved Thomas was left with two putts for the title. Heneeded only one. — AFP

S p o r t s Monday, October 21, 2019

25Established 1961

Thomas wins CJ Cup for second time after shaking off stubborn Lee

Danielle Kang caps birthday with second Shanghai win

JEJU: Justin Thomas of the US (C) poses with his mother Jani and father Mike after winning the CJ Cup golftournament at Nine Bridges golf club in Jeju Island yesterday. — AFP

Teams arrive topartake in Asianbowling tourneyBy Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The ordinary General Assemblyof the Asian Bowling Federation will hold itsmeeting, on the sidel ines of the 25thChampionship, that will see its competitionstarts today. The meeting will be chaired byInternational and Asian Bowling FederationsPresident Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad with39 countries representatives in attendance.

As delegations of participating countriesarrived, preparations are at their peak, asteams went through their official training,and it will be the prelude to real competitionfor medals, the first of which will be handedtomorrow, for women’s individual gold.

The official bowls will be registered inthe mornings and evenings, while lanes willbe oiled, for teams to carry out officialtraining starting with the first group ofcountries.

Many countries will work hard to end thedominance of South Korea over the last 5championships in 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011,2008. Those countries include Malaysia,Taipei , Hong Kong, Japan, Thai land,Austral ia and Singapore which had amonopoly along with South Korea over themedals during the previous championshipwhich was held in Hong Kong.

Indonesia, India, China and UAE have a

good chance to return to the winning ranks.The Asian countries are placed in the

world scene as S Korea is fourth among themost medals winning countries during worldchampionships, while Taipei comes fifth,

Australia eight, Malaysia 11, Philippines 13and Singapore 15th.

Meanwhile in women’s rankings S Koreais second, Philippines fourth, Malaysia fifth,Japan sixth, Australia sixth and Taipei 11th.

Bahrain team

Australian team

SHANGHAI: Danielle Kang of the US celebrates withher trophy after winning the Shanghai LPGA golf tour-nament in Shanghai yesterday. —AFP

KUWAIT: Juvi team, consisting ofKhaled Al Samer & Khaled Assad,has managed to clinch the title ofchampions at the Mr D0ne’s GameOn Kuwait Final, beating out 7 otherfinal teams.

Mr D0ne’s Game On, is an E-Football initiative comprising of an E-Sports Competition with a com-pelling twist that was held in 3 differ-ent locations across Kuwait inSeptember and October 2019.

Abdulaziz Alshehri, who also goesby the alias Mr D0ne, is a Red Bull E-Sports athlete and the first-ever play-er from the Middle East to win theFIFA eWorld Cup. The Saudi Arabianplayer won what was then the FIFAInteractive World Cup Grand Final inMunich, Germany, in 2015 and hasultimately become an icon of the E-Sports world, acquiring the privilegeto be in the company of lifelong leg-ends, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka andLionel Messi.

With smooth and magnetic skills,Mr D0ne’s now focusing on develop-ing the profile of E-Football in theMiddle East for amateur gamingenthusiasts in the region, startingwith Mr D0ne’s Game On in Kuwait.The event, which started September26 had 5 qualifiers in two differentlocations in Kuwait. Each qualifierregisters teams of two to participatein 16 rounds per qualifier event. Eachqualifier acquired winning teams who

succeeded to the Finals that tookplace on October 17 at 360 Mall.

For the game, the rules are fairlysimple, yet full of intensity and sus-pense: there are 4 players per game,each 2 in a team with one controllerper team. The game begins regularlywith 2 players; however, the gist isthat each team member must tag andswitch with their mate within thegame when:

• A team gets scored on• When a red card is given • At half time Each team is also granted one free

switch when the ball is not in play.Teams who end up in a tie would playa Golden Goal round where it’ll leadto a penalty shootout switching play-ers per shoot. Sounds intense huh?

151 teams battled it out in thequalifiers and only the top eightthrown - thirsty teams made it to theon-ground National Final, held at360 Mall on October 17.

Mr D0ne’s Game On in Kuwait isheld in partnership with by X-cite byAlghanim Electronics, Quality Net,Playstation 4, Acqua Eva, The Hub,Plamo Con, Gamma Game and 360Mall. Media partners, Kuwait Timesand Scope TV covered this popularevent.

To find out more about Mr D0ne’sGame On follow @RedBullKuwait onInstagram & Twitter, and @RedBullon Facebook.

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading digital serviceprovider in Kuwait, welcomed the National JetSki team champions at Kuwait InternationalAirport’s fourth terminal (T4). The team recent-ly received 7 medals as part of their recent par-ticipation in the World Jet Ski Championship2019 held in the United States of America.

The reception ceremony was attended byKuwait Sea Sport Club Chairman RetiredMajor General Fahad Al Fahad, Zain Kuwait’sChief Corporate Communications andRelations Officer Waleed Al Khashti, as well asa number of Sea Sport Club officials, clubstaff, and the team’s sponsors, headed by Zain.

Zain’s support to the World Champions fornine consecutive years falls under its solidCorporate Sustainability and Social

Responsibility strategy towards supportingthe youth and sports sectors as well as sup-porting outstanding Kuwaiti athletes. Theteam received 7 medals (2 golds, 3 silvers, and2 bronzes) as part of their participation in theWorld Jet Ski Championship 2019 concludedrecently in the United States of America.

The National Jet Ski team is authorized bythe Kuwait Sea Sport Club to officially repre-sent Kuwait in regional and international JetSki championships. The team champions wona number of prominent titles during their pastparticipations, most notably last year’s IJSBAWorld Championship title with total points, aswell as many category titles in the UAE Jet SkiChampionship, the Jet Ski King’s Cup inThailand, and many first-place titles in the

World Jet Ski Championship over the years. Zain expressed its pride in all National

teams that raise the Kuwaiti flag high byachieving top international titles, and it furtherstresses its commitment towards Kuwaitichampions, which resembles the company’sendless confidence of the competencies ofyoung athletes and their capabilities inexcelling in different fields.

As a leading digital service provider inKuwait, Zain is constantly looking to identifyand support excellence across the sports sec-tor. The company will continue to put KuwaitiNational teams and individual athletes at theforefront of its priorities and pledges to con-tinue motivating them to achieve all the recog-nition they deserve.

Juvi team crowned championof Mr D0ne’s Game On

Zain welcomes national Jet Ski championsat Kuwait International Airport

NEW JERSEY: Rookie Jack Hughes scored his firstNHL goal, and Mackenzie Blackwood recorded his firstshutout of the season as the New Jersey Devils skated toa 1-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday after-noon in Newark, N.J. A passing sequence betweendefenseman Sami Vatanen and Taylor Hall resulted in anunmarked Hughes receiving the puck on the near side.Hughes, the top pick in this year’s draft, wasted little timein wiring a wrist shot through traffic for his milestonegoal. A large contingent of the Hughes family was onhand to watch the first NHL meeting between Jack andhis older brother Quinn, a Canucks defenseman. Jack’sfirst-period goal held up as the Devils won their secondstraight after going winless in their first six games. Aftererupting for 20 goals (18 scored) over a four-game win-ning streak, the Canucks fell following a lackluster offen-sive performance. Vancouver received seven power-playchances against the Devils but couldn’t convert.

KNIGHTS 3, PENGUINS 0Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves against

his former club, and visiting Vegas topped Pittsburgh.Paul Stastny scored a power play goal, William Karlssonhad a short-handed empty-netter and Mark Stone addeda four-on-four empty-netter for Vegas, which has wonfour of its past five games. Fleury earned his first shutoutof the season, 57th of his career and first againstPittsburgh. He is 3-1-0 against the Penguins. His mostcritical save came with Pittsburgh on a power play in thethird period, when he lunged to his left to get his arm onan uncontested shot from the left circle by Juuso Riikolato preserve a 1-0 lead.

CANADIENS 5, BLUES 2Brendan Gallagher scored a goal just six seconds into

the second period, and Carey Price finished with 32 savesas visiting Montreal handed St. Louis its fourth straightloss. Gallagher’s goal was two seconds shy of the fastestto begin any period in NHL history. Shea Weber had agoal and an assist, and Jordan Weal, Jonathan Drouin andNick Suzuki also scored for Montreal, which knocked offthe defending Stanley Cup champions for the second

time in eight days, outscoring the Blues 11-5 in theprocess. David Perron and Jaden Schwartz scored for St.Louis. Jake Allen, making his first home start since Jan. 8,had 20 saves. It ended a streak of 13 consecutive roadstarts for Allen.

PANTHERS 3, PREDATORS 2 (SO)Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal in the shootout,

and backup goalie Sam Montembeault denied all threeNashville attempts, leading visiting Florida to victory.Trocheck roofed a backhander over Nashville goaliePekka Rinne for the game winner, while Montembeaultstuffed Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris tonail down the victory. Denis Malgin and Brett Connollyscored for Florida, and Montembeault stopped 25 shotsfor his first win this season.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, BRUINS 3 (OT)Morgan Rielly deflected a shot by Mitch Marner for

his second goal of the game at 3:54 of overtime andToronto defeated visiting Boston as Leafs goalie FrederikAndersen stopped 43 shots. Rielly also scored the firstgoal of the game, and Marner picked up his second assistafter taking his shot from the left circle on a pass fromAuston Matthews. Dmytro Timashov and Alex Kerfootalso scored for the Maple Leafs in the first meetingbetween the teams since the Bruins won Game 7 of theirfirst-round playoff series last season. Jake DeBrusk,Danton Heinen and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins,who twice tied the game in the third period.

COYOTES 5, SENATORS 2Kyle Capobianco scored his first career NHL goal, and

Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Lawson Crouse notched theirfirst goals of the season as Arizona defeated Ottawa inGlendale, Ariz. Conor Garland added his fourth of theseason midway through the second period when he col-lected the rebound of a Brad Richardson shot and firedthe puck past Senators goaltender Craig Anderson.Garland’s four goals lead the Coyotes through sevengames this season. Nick Schmaltz assisted on Garland’sgoal, giving Schmaltz eight points in his last five games.

Schmaltz has a five-game point streak, which ties acareer high. Antti Raanta, getting the start in goal,stopped 34 shots for the Coyotes.

AVALANCHE 6, LIGHTNING 2Tyson Jost notched his first career hat trick, Mikko

Rantanen had a goal and an assist and visiting Coloradokept rolling with a sound win over Tampa Bay. PavelFrancouz stopped 44 shots in his second career start, andNazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog also scored for theAvalanche, who remain the only team in the NHL withouta regulation loss. Colorado has won seven of its first eightgames, with the one loss coming in overtime at Pittsburghon Wednesday. Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman scoredgoals, Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists and Andrei

Vasilevskiy had 18 saves for the Lightning. Tampa Baylost despite outshooting Colorado 46-24.

STARS 4, FLYERS 1Corey Perry collected a goal and two assists and Ben

Bishop made 38 saves as Dallas snapped a five-game win-less streak at the expense of host Philadelphia. RoopeHintz scored his team-leading sixth goal and defensemenEsa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen each tallied for the Stars,who recorded just their second win in 10 games this sea-son. Sean Couturier scored 43 seconds into the first periodand Carter Hart turned aside 12 shots for the Flyers, whohave lost four in a row (0-3-1) since winning their first twogames of the season. The setback was just the second intheir last nine home games against Dallas. — Reuters

S p o r t s Monday, October 21, 2019

26 Established 1961

Rookie Jack Hughes nets first NHL goal as Devils blank Canucks

NEWARK: Mirco Mueller #25 of the New Jersey Devils checks Alexander Edler #23 of the Vancouver Canucks dur-ing the second period at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. — AFP

Knights’ Fleury blanks former team as Penguins’ streak ends

Rohit hits double ton asSA struggleNEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma smashed amaiden test double century as he andcenturion Ajinkya Rahane helped Indiareach 497 for nine before declaring onday two of the third and final test againstSouth Africa yesterday.

The hosts then reduced South Africa tonine for two in their first-innings replybefore bad light stopped play, with Indiachasing a series whitewash to consolidatetheir position at top of the World TestChampionship.

South Africa will have to produce anexceptional batting performance to getback into the contest when skipper Faf duPlessis and Zubayr Hamza return to thecrease in Ranchi today. Resuming the dayon 224-3, both Rohit and Rahane contin-ued their largely risk-free accumulation.

India were tottering at 39 for three onSaturday when the Mumbai duo com-bined and by the time Rahane fell for 115in the morning session, their fourth-wicketstand had produced 267 runs to turn theirfirst innings around in Ranchi.

Rohit reverse-swept Dane Piedt for aboundary, while Rahane stepped out tohit the spinner over his head for a four asthey asserted themselves. Rahane dulybrought up his 11th Test hundred beforebecoming debutant George Linde’s maid-en test victim, edging the spinner anddeparting after a fluent knock whichincluded 17 boundaries and a six.

Rohit, the only batsman to have scoredthree ODI double-hundreds, appearedslightly jittery as he approached the 200-mark and nearly dragged a KagisoRabada delivery onto his stumps justbefore lunch.

The elegant right-hander, however,shook off his nerves after the break andbrought up his 200 just as he had reachedhis hundred — with a six, off Lungi Ngidi.

Rohit celebrated the milestone with hissixth six but fell trying to repeat the shotagainst Rabada. Rohit’s sparkling 212 alsoincluded 28 boundaries. Ravindra Jadeja(51) helped himself to his 13th half-centu-ry before tailender Umesh Yadav (31)smacked five sixes, all off Linde’s bowling,in a 10-ball blitz before falling to the tor-mented left-arm spinner who returnedfigures of 4-133. South Africa were joltedimmediately in their reply whenMohammed Shami dismissed Dean Elgarfor a duck with his second ball and, in thenext over, Yadav bounced out Quinton deKock for four. — Reuters

Marc Marquez speeds to third Japan MotoGP winMOTEGI: MotoGP world champion MarcMarquez won the Japan Grand Prix yesterdayto notch his tenth victory of the season andearn Honda its fourth manufacturers’ titlerunning.

The Spaniard ran the race in 42min41.492sec, followed 0.870sec later by Frenchrookie Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha-SRT andDucati’s Andrea Dovizioso 1.325sec later.Marquez was unassailable from the secondlap in his first ever pole start at the MotegiTwin Circuit, with dry conditions after buck-eting rains during practice sessions on Fridayand Saturday. Quartararo managed to edge infront for a brief moment shortly after thestart, but Marquez quickly regained the leadand shot ahead with a one-second gap earlyin the race. “It was not easy. I was pushingfrom the beginning because our strategy wasclear,” Marquez said.

“This time I tried to open the gap from thebeginning because I felt very strong in thewarm up.” He said he lost focus during therace when he realised his bike was burningthrough fuel too quickly, forcing him to “playa lot with switches”.

But Marquez was never directly threat-ened and enjoyed a two second gap ahead ofQuartararo through most of the second half.He had already secured his season victory by

winning the Thailand Grand Prix earlier thismonth.

His victory at Motegi also secured Honda’s25th constructors’ championship overall andits fourth on the trot. Quartararo finished withhis third narrow defeat to the championshipwinner in recent races but was left smilingafter winning the Rookie of the Year award.

“Marc was super fast today,” theFrenchman said. “I really pushed at my 100percent to try to stay with him.” He was also

fending off pressure from Dovizioso, whoselate charge fell just short. “Dovi was unbeliev-ably fast. He was riding more than a half sec-ond faster than me,” Quartararo said.

Dovizioso, marking his 100th career podi-um finish, said he struggled to find his formuntil late in the race, where he could onlycompete for the possible second. “I waspushing so hard, but it was a bit over the limit.I wanted to (win) second, but it was notenough,” the Italian said. —AFP

MOTEGI: Japanese Grand Prix winner Repsol Honda Team rider Marc Marquez of Spain cele-brates on the podium after the MotoGP class Japanese Motorcyle Grand Prix at the Twin RingMotegi circuit in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture yesterday. -— AFP

SCOREBOARD

M. Agarwal c Elgar b Rabada 10R. Sharma c Ngidi b Rabada 212C. Pujara lbw b Rabada 0V. Kohli lbw b Nortje 12A. Rahane c Klaasen b Linde 115R. Jadeja c Klaasen b Linde 51W. Saha b Linde 24R. Ashwin st Klaasen b Piedt 14U. Yadav c Klaasen b Linde 31S. Nadeem not out 1M. Shami not out 10Extras: (b10, lb6, nb1) 17Total: (9 wickets dec, 116.3 overs) 497Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Agarwal), 2-16 (Pujara), 3-39 (Kohli),4-306 (Rahane), 5-370 (Sharma), 6-417 (Saha), 7-450(Jadeja), 8-464 (Ashwin), 9-482 (Yadav)Bowling: Rabada 23-7-85-3 (nb1), Lungi 20-5-83-0, Nortje24.3-5-79-1, Linde 31-2-133-4, Piedt 18-3-101-1.

South Africa 1st inningsD. Elgar c Saha b Shami 0Q. de Kock c Saha b Yadav 4 Z. Hamza not out 0F. du Plessis not out 1Extras: (b4) 4Total: (2 wickets, 5 overs) 9To bat: T. Bavuma, H. Klaasen (wk), G. Linde, D. Piedt, K.Rabada, A. Nortje, L. NgidiFall of wickets: 1-4 (Elgar), 2-8 (de Kock)Bowling: Shami 1-1-0-1, Yadav 1-0-4-1, Nadeem 2-2-0-0,Jadeja 1-0-1-0.

Scoreboard at stumps on day two of the third and final Testbetween India and South Africa in Ranchi yesterday:India 1st innings (overnight 224-3, R. Sharma 117, A.Rahane 83)

Kuwaiti studentselected onSquash advisorycommitteeWASHINGTON: Kuwaiti student atGeorge Washington University (GWU)Mohammad Al-Terki was selected on theCollege Squash Association (CSA) PlayerAdvisory Committee, being the first Araband first Kuwaiti to be chosen for thisposition. Junior student Al-Terki toldKUNA in an interview Saturday eveningthat they are seven players from differentuniversities in the US, including Harvardand Princeton, where they will be serving“as ambassadors to college squash andwill be the voice of college squash play-ers.” “With that, I am not only the firstArab and Kuwaiti to be part of this com-mittee and serve on the Advisory Board,but I am also the only international playerwithin the seven players chosen to be onthe board,” he said. He added “therefore,I will not only be the voice of Arab play-ers, but the voice of all international stu-dents playing squash in college (AllNCAA divisions).”

Al-Terki, who is ranked as one of thetop ten squash players ranked in thecountry, affirmed that he was not select-ed only due to his rank “but alsobecause of other aspects outside thesquash court, such as my ability to com-municate with other teammates andplayers from other teams and the atti-tude I had on and off the court. “He not-ed, “Several other factors were put intothis decision and I am very proud to bechosen on this board as the first everKuwaiti and Arab.” “My goal throughthis position is to help enhance theexperience of every college squash as

much as possible with the help of otherCommittee members.

“Among their mission on the AdvisoryCommittee is to “communicate theirthoughts and concerns when they feelcompelled to do so. “They are also askedto “interact with their peers on theirteam and on opposing teams and takenote on important topics of interest.” Onthis occasion, Al-Terki dedicated thisaccomplishment “to my country Kuwaitfor always being supportive and givingme the recognition I deserve whenever Ibreak a new record and achieve a newaccomplishment” “This gives me con-stant motivation to always keep pushingto break more records and give the bestI can to raise my country’s name and Iam proud to do that,” he remarked.

He noted that “the support of mycountry Kuwait for its youth and athletesin general have truly accelerated mypotential into always striving to be best.“He also thanked his family for believingin him and investing in his squash play-ing talent since a very young age. Al-Terki was named by GWU in May asMost Valuable Player (MVP) for thesquash team in the 2018-2019 season,making him also the first Kuwaiti toreceive such honor and is ranked numberone player at his university. — KUNA

Hussey joins Australia for Sri Lanka, Pakistan seriesSYDNEY: Former middle-order batsmanMike Hussey has been drafted in byAustralian coach Justin Langer to helpmentor the side during their upcomingTwenty20 series against Sri Lanka andPakistan.

He is the latest great to be brought intothe fold after Ricky Ponting joined thebackroom staff at the one-day World Cupthis year and Steve Waugh helped outduring the Ashes series in England.

“I’m very excited actually. I’m reallylooking forward to getting back in around

the Aussie team,” Hussey, who is nick-named “Mr Cricket”, told the SydneyDaily Telegraph yesterday. “They aregoing to be trying to get strategies inplace, develop a style of play and whatplayers they want and I love all that stuff— planning for a big event. “They havefloated the possibility of being involvedcloser to the T20 World Cup (in Australianext year) as well but it’s all pretty looseat the moment.” Australia play back-to-back three-game T20 series against SriLanka and then Pakistan starting nextSunday in Adelaide to kick off their sum-mer season.

Langer has also made former Testspeedster Ryan Harris bowling coach forthe series. He told the newspaper the pres-ence of Ponting, Waugh and now Husseywas enormous for his team. “I can’t tell youhow influential these guys can be on thegroup,” said Langer. “It’s nice to havedifferent voices and different eyes andsee guys of that calibre giving us feed-back on what they see.” — AFP

Mohammad Al-Terki

Haringey chairman Achillea fears for football’s future after racism walk-offLONDON: Haringey Borough chairman Aki Achilleasays football faces a worrying future unless racism isstamped out after his team walked off the pitch follow-ing alleged abuse in an FA Cup tie.

Just days after England’s Euro 2020 qualifier againstBulgaria was twice stopped following racist abuse ofthe visiting players in Sofia, there was another shamefulincident in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.

Haringey goalkeeper Valery Pajetat and defenderCoby Rowe were subjected to what the non-leagueclub claimed was racial abuse from Yeovil Town fans.Achillea said stones were thrown at CameroonianPajetat, who was also allegedly spat at before Yeovilscored a 64th minute penalty at Haringey’s ColesPark Stadium.

After the penalty was scored, Rowe was allegedly

racially abused, prompting the Haringey players towalk off and leading to the match being abandoned.Haringey, who play in the Isthmian League PremierDivision, and Yeovil, who are in the fifth tier NationalLeague, are the latest clubs to be affected by racismin football.

Last season, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterlingand Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bothendured alleged racism from the stands, while therehave been numerous other incidents outside thePremier League this term.

The sight of Bulgarian fans aiming monkey chantsand Nazi salutes at England players including Sterlingand Tyrone Mings eventually led to the resignations ofBulgaria Football Union president Borislav Mihaylovand manager Krasimir Balakov.

But football authorities are seemingly unable to curbthe recuring blight of racism, which was last a majorproblem for the game in the 1970s and 1980s. Achilleasaid he hoped the actions of his players would lead to amajor shake-up in the way the sport attacks racism.

“If the stand we have taken helps other clubs andstops other people from being abused then it’s all beenworth it, whatever the personal cost to all of us,”Achillea told the Guardian yesterday.

“It will be worthless if nothing comes of this thatchanges people’s perceptions and attitudes. “If we areresponsible for playing our part in identifying the prob-

lem, in helping people address the problem and peoplerecognising that they cannot do this at football matchesor anywhere in society, then I’ll be very proud that wecontributed to that, regardless of the massive impact onus. “It’s reached the stage where people have realisedsomewhere something has to be done but unfortunatelyit happened to us in the most prestigious cup competi-tion in the world. It upsets and worries me immenselyabout the future.”

The Metropolitan Police are investigating the allega-tions. The English Football Association said they werewas concerned by events and are working with thematch officials, the clubs and the relevant authorities todetermine appropriate action. — AFP

Real beaten as Barca go top of La LigaMADRID: Barcelona sailed back to the top of thetable on Saturday and trouble returned to Real Madridafter they endured their first La Liga defeat of the sea-son at newly-promoted Real Mallorca.

Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Robinho werein the last Madrid team to lose a league game at SanMoix in 2006 and 13 years later, Mallorca repeated thetrick thanks to a scintillating strike by Junior Lago inthe first half.

Alvaro Odriozola allowed Lago too much room tocut inside and was then sent off late on, even ifMadrid’s attempts at a comeback looked doomed wellbefore they were reduced to 10. “The problem is wehave to show every three days that we are good,” Realcoach Zidane said.

“That is what we don’t do. We have to be consistent.We have to put more life into our game if we want toachieve anything this year.” The 1-0 defeat halts theresurgence of Zidane’s side just as Barcelona’s appearsto be gathering pace, a 3-0 win away at Eibar givingthe Catalans their fifth consecutive victory in all com-petitions. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and AntoineGriezmann scored the goals.

In between, Atletico Madrid were pegged back byValencia as a brilliant Dani Parejo free-kick earned thevisitors a hard-earned 1-1 draw at the WandaMetropolitano. It means Barca will finish the weekendtop of the table for the first time this season as thedefending champions continue to leave their stumblingstart further behind them.

For Real, five games unbeaten and three of them vic-tories had not erased the doubts, but at least seemed tooffer evidence Zidane’s team were turning a corner. ButMallorca, who climb to 14th, deserved their triumph inwhat is their first season back in the top flight since rele-gation ended a run of 16 consecutive years there in 2013.

Lago collected the ball on the left in the seventhminute, drove at the retreating Odriozola before cuttinginside and unleashing a shot into the far corner. Madridlacked purpose and cutting edge, with their hopes allbut dashed when Odriozola capped a miserable nightby flying in late on Lago in the 74th minute and collect-ing a second yellow card.

Zidane will hope to have at least one of the injuredLuke Modric, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos back fortheir crucial Champions League group match away atGalatasaray on Tuesday.

‘MSG’ FIRE FOR BARCA Barcelona’s autumn injury crisis is over and their

‘MSG’ attack is finally clicking into gear as Messi,Suarez and Griezmann all scored in a ruthless win overEibar. Griezmann’s place in the newly-formed attackingtrident has not been secure but the Frenchman openedthe scoring at Ipurua before teeing up Messi and thenplaying the crucial pass for Suarez to make it three.

“There will be good and bad days but we are get-ting to know each other and bit by bit we will do evenbetter,” said Griezmann. Victory also dismissed sug-gestions their players might be affected by Friday’spostponement of next Saturday’s Clasico due toprotests in Catalonia.

Barcelona’s fans chanted in support of the nineCatalan leaders imprisoned last week for a failed inde-pendence bid in 2017. The match against Real Madrid

is now expected to go ahead in December.“It is fashionable not to agree on political issues but

at least let’s agree on the date of the Clasico,” Barcacoach Ernesto Valverde said afterwards. “It doesn’tseem to me that difficult.” The only blot on the resultwas an injury to Sergi Roberto, who will be a doubt forthe Champions League game at Slavia Prague onWednesday after hurting his left knee.

ATLETICO LOSE GROUND Atletico lost ground as they were undone by a late

Parejo free-kick at the Wanda Metropolitano, whereboth sides finished the game with 10 men. Diego Costascored a first-half penalty and in a frantic final 10 min-utes, Joao Felix limped off, with all three of DiegoSimeone’s substitutes already used. Parejo struckmoments later before Valencia’s Lee Kang-in was sentoff in injury-time.

Atletico confirmed Felix suffered a “grade twosprain” in his right ankle. He will now miss theChampions League game at home to Bayer Leverkusentomorrow. — AFP

MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo and Miralem Pjanic sealeda 2-1 win for Juventus over Bologna to consolidate topspot in Serie A on Saturday. Ronaldo was presentedwith a special jersey before kick-off to mark his 700thcareer goal scored playing for Portugal during theweek.

The 34-year-old hit his 701st after 19 minutes, withPjanic adding a second eight minutes after the breakfollowing a blunder by Brazilian defender Danilo, whohad earlier pulled Bologna level.

The defending champions are now four points clearof second-placed Inter Milan, who travel to Sassuolo.Atalanta stay third after throwing away a three-goallead to draw 3-3 with Lazio, with fourth-placed Napoliclosing the gap to just one point after Arkadiusz Milik’sdouble saw off Verona.

“The road is the right one, but we need to work onsome details. It was a good match blighted by three orfour errors,” said Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri whoseside host Lokomotiv Moscow in Champions Leagueaction on Tuesday.

Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic returned to thebench in Turin after his second course of chemotherapyas he battles cancer. And the visitors were given reasonto hope of snatching a rare point against the Turingiants when Danilo responded to Ronaldo’s openerwith a 29th-minute volley.

But Pjanic sealed victory with his third goal in fourgames in the 54th minute amid chaos in front of theBologna goal. Bologna keeper Lukasz Skorupski deniedRonaldo and in-form Gonzalo Higuain late before boththe crossbar and Gianluigi Buffon frustrated FedericoSantander’s push for a last-gasp equaliser for the visi-tors who slip to 12th place.

“We watched the Santander goal again, it was off-

side so VAR would have ruled it out,” said Sarri.“But I told the lads we mustn’t sit back on a lead, we

should attack, otherwise we leave ourselves in theserisky situations to the very end.”

IMMOBILE PUNISHES ATALANTA Serie A leading scorer Ciro Immobile’s late brace of

penalties helped Lazio wipe out a three-goal deficit ina thrilling 3-3 draw with Atalanta. Atalanta, who travelto Manchester City in the Champions League onTuesday, had led 3-0 with 21 minutes to go at theStadio Olimpico.

But Immobile scored from the spot on 69 minutesand less than 60 seconds later set up Joaquin Correafor the second, before capping the comeback two min-utes into injury time with his ninth goal in eight leaguegames this term.

“With penalties, nobody can understand a thingnowadays,” blasted Atalanta coach Gian PieroGasperini. “Immobile went for a walk, felt someonetouch him slightly and dived.

“Even more, on the second penalty, Immobile put hisfoot in front of De Roon.” Colombian Luis Murielscored a first-half double for the Bergamo side as com-patriot and star striker Duvan Zapata was sidelinedinjured.

Alejandro Gomez got the third eight minutes beforethe break in a rematch of last season’s Italian Cup finalwhich the Romans won. But the visitors lost momentumafter the hour mark.

Immobile got one back from the spot after beingbrought down by Jose Luis Palomino and then com-bined with Correa for their second. Immobile earned alate penalty after a Marten de Roon foul, celebratingwildly after converting to grab a dramatic point before

Lazio’s Europa League trip to Celtic next week.“I’m losing years of my life kicking penalties in the

90th minute,” said 29-year-old Immobile, after scoringhis third league goal from the spot this season. Polishstriker Milik scored in either half as Napoli got back towinning ways at the Stadio San Paolo, after a goalless

draw at Torino before the international break, beforetheir Champions League trip to Salzburg.

“I started the season with fitness problems so I’mhungry now for goals,” said Milik, who also scored asPoland qualified for Euro 2020 during the week. Veronadrop to 13th place. — AFP

S p o r t s Monday, October 21, 2019

27Established 1961

Ronaldo hits 701st goal as Juventus pull clear in Serie A

Atalanta throw away three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Lazio

Rooney falls in MLS farewellWASHINGTON: Former England star WayneRooney’s DC United were thrashed in his MajorLeague Soccer farewell match on Saturday asToronto FC won 5-1 in the first round of theplayoffs.

Rooney, who turns 34 on Thursday, assisted ona second-half stoppage time equalizer that forced30 extra minutes, but United surrendered twogoals in five minutes and never recovered. Torontoadvanced to an Eastern Conference semi-final onWednesday at East top seed New York City FC.

Marco Delgado’s goal in the 32nd minute putToronto ahead until Rooney crossed the ball intothe heart of the box, Frederic Brillant got his headon it and Lucas Rodriguez finished in the thirdminute of stoppage time to equalize.

In extra time, Toronto’s Richie Laryea scored inthe 93rd minute, fellow Canadian Jonathan Osorioadded goals in the 95th and 103rd minutes andNick DeLeon netted another in stoppage timeafter the first 15 minutes to seal United’s fate.

United captain and top scorer Rooney arrivedin MLS in the middle of last season and lifted theclub from league doormat to a playoff berth. Butthe former Manchester United player said inAugust he was returning to England after this sea-son to be a player and assistant coach forChampionship club Derby County.

“He has been a big plus for this club,” Unitedmanager Ben Olsen said. “He has helped us in abig way.” While Rooney’s arrival and a new stadi-um created buzz around United, the team floppedin the playoffs, ousted by Columbus last year onpenalties. His exit also comes with Washingtonsports fans focused on baseball’s World Seriesreturn to the US capitol next week for the firsttime since 1933.

Rooney had 11 goals in 28 matches this season,five of them game-winners and four of thempenalties. Last season, Rooney scored 12 goals in20 matches. In other games, Franco Escobarscored in the 70th minute as defending championAtlanta United beat visiting New England 1-0.

The Five Stripes advanced into an East semiThursday against Sunday’s winner between thePhiladelphia Union and New York Red Bulls. Inthe Western Conference playoff opener, Seattlehometown hero Jordan Morris scored his firstMLS hat trick to lead the Sounders over visitingDallas 4-3 after extra time.

“Just being on your toes in the box,” Morrissaid of his feat. “I was on my toes and got somefortunate bounces.” Morris bounced in a header inthe 113th minute for the deciding goal to subduestubborn Dallas.

Peruvian striker Raul Ruidiaz blasted in a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area in the18th minute and set up a Morris goal from the leftwing in the 22nd minute.

Dallas defender Reggie Cannon tapped in agoal in the 39th minute and the Texans equalizedin the 64th minute on a header by Matt Hedges.A fallen Morris directed the ball into the goal inthe 74th minute for a 3-2 Seattle edge, butBryan Acosta’s header in the 82nd minute forcedextra time.

The Sounders will face Real Salt Lake whobeat Portland 2-1 in the other West semi-final.Zlatan Imbrahimovic and the Los AngelesGalaxy will play Minnesota United on Sundaywith the winner meeting Los Angeles FC in theother West semi. — AFP

TURIN: Bologna’s Italian midfielder Andrea Poli (L) and Juventus’ Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt go for the ballduring the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Bologna at the Juventus stadium in Turin. — AFP

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019

TOKYO: South Africa broke Japanese hearts with a26-3 quarter-final victory yesterday to set up a RugbyWorld Cup semi-final against Wales, who needed a latetry to scrape past 14-man France by a single point.

Japan showed their trademark pace and adventure ina promising first half, but they were worn down by thetwo-time world champions who scored 21 unansweredpoints in the second period.

Defeat brought an end to Japan’s marvellous run, inwhich they stunned Ireland and Scotland en route totopping Pool A unbeaten and reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, rising to an all-time high of sixthin the world rankings.Rugby is far from the most popu-lar sport in Japan, but fans have come out in numbers— and watched on TV in their millions — for the firstWorld Cup held in Asia.

Yesterday’s results completed the semi-finals line-upfor next weekend, after defending champions New

Zealand brushed aside Ireland to go on a collisioncourse with England, who convincingly beat Australia.

There were worrying signs for Japan when wingMakazole Mapimpi brushed off fly-half Yu Tamura’stackle to score in the corner in the third minute.

But fleet-footed Japan, dominating possession,were soon giving South Africa the run-around andTamura got them on the board at 3-5 down after asurprising scrum penalty against the heavyweightSpringboks pack.

Handling errors cost South Africa dear in a frustrat-ing first half but they gradually tightened the screwsafter the break as Pollard kicked three penalties beforeFaf de Klerk and Mapimpi delivered late tries.

The Brave Blossoms’ run has captured the Japaneseimagination, with nearly 55 million watching their scin-tillating win over Scotland to make it four wins out offour in Pool A.

MIRROR IMAGE Earlier, Wales scrambled into the semi-finals with a

nail-biting 20-19 win over 14-man France which carriedstrong echoes of their last World Cup meeting in 2011.

Ross Moriarty’s late try clinched it as Wales avengedtheir 2011 semi-final loss to France with a mirror-imageresult — after they also had a man sent off and lost bya point eight years ago.

“I think the better team lost today, but that red cardwas obviously significant. The great thing about ourboys is they don’t give up,” Wales coach WarrenGatland said.

Two tries in three minutes got France off to a flyingstart as Sebastien Vahaamahina and then CharlesOllivon, in glorious style, both crossed inside the first 10minutes of a helter-skelter first half.

Wales’ Aaron Wainwright pounced on a loose balland Dan Biggar stroked the conversion and then a

penalty to make it 12-10, but Virimi Vakatawa divedover after several phases to put France 19-10 up atthe break.

But in the 49th minute, Vahaamahina saw red for hiselbow to Wainwright’s face in a maul — echoing thenWales captain Sam Warburton’s sending-off in the 2011semi-final, won 9-8 by France.

A Biggar penalty reduced the arrears but Francebravely held out until six minutes from time, whenMoriarty bundled over and Biggar knocked over thevital conversion to snatch it for the Welsh.

“It’s ironic that the last time we met in a World Cupwas very similar in a one-point game as well,” saidGatland, who kept his counsel on Vahaamahina’s elbowto the jaw of Wainwright.

“I don’t think anyone could complain about that —the officials dealt with it appropriately. Unfortunatelythat’s what rugby is about,” he added. — AFP

TOKYO: South Africa’s fly-half Handre Pollard (R) reaches for the ball during the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between Japan and South Africa at the Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo yesterday. —AFP

Brutal Boks burst brave Japan’s bubble Wales floor 14-man France to exorcise Rugby World Cup demons

Liverpool strikelate in 1-1 drawat Man UtdMANCHESTER: Liverpool failed to record arecord-equalling 18th straight Premier Leaguewin, but Adam Lallana’s late equaliser saved theEuropean champions from a shock defeat atManchester United in a 1-1 draw yesterday.

Marcus Rashford’s controversial goal handedOle Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling Red Devils a 1-0 half-time lead, but they could not hold out for amuch-needed victory as they left substituteLallana unmarked at the back post to level withfive minutes to play. Liverpool move six pointsclear of Manchester City at the top of the table,but will still feel this was a missed opportunity toinflict more pain on a United side sitting 13th inthe Premier League, just two points off the rele-gation zone.

The two most successful sides in English foot-ball could not have come into the game in morecontrasting form. However, United answered

Solskjaer’s calls to rise to the occasion.Liverpool were without Mohamed Salah

through injury and the Egyptian’s pace and trick-ery was badly missed. The visitors were able towelcome back goalkeeper Alisson Becker for thefirst time in two months after a calf injury, but theBrazilian was rarely tested as United were happyto sit back and counter-attack.

Solskjaer changed his formation to a 3-5-2 inan attempt to limit Liverpool’s flying full-backsTrent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertsonand it was largely effective as the hosts restrictedthe league leaders to precious few chances.

Liverpool’s best opening before the breakcame when Sadio Mane finally found some spaceto counter-attack, but from his cut-back RobertoFirmino fired too close to David de Gea.

United had not scored in their two previousmatches prior to the international break, butfinally produced a moment of quality going for-ward to take the lead, even if fortune was also ontheir side for the goal to stand.

Victor Lindelof looked to have upendedDivock Origi on halfway, but no foul was givenby Martin Atkinson and as United broke forward,Daniel James’s cross perfectly picked outRashford to prod past Alisson.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was furious

on the touchline even before a VAR review failedto overturn the decision. The visitors’ frustrationonly grew moments later when Mane outmuscledLindelof to turn in what he thought was anequaliser, only for VAR to this time rule the goalout for a handball by the Senegalese.

Klopp sprinted down the touchline at thehalf-time whistle, but was unable to change thepattern of the game after the interval asLiverpool continued to dominate possessionwithout creating many chances.

Indeed United could have doubled theiradvantage when Rashford and Fred fired shotsjust wide of Alisson’s goal on the counter-attack.Lallana had played just 10 minutes in the PremierLeague this season prior to coming off the bench20 minutes from time. But he was in the rightplace at the right time to make a telling contribu-tion in the title race as he tapped home at theback post from Andy Robertson’s cross.

United were than camped inside their ownbox for five minutes of stoppage time. AlexOxlaide-Chamberlain was inches away from awinner as his driven shot flew just wide andUnited had another VAR review go their waydeep into added time when Fred was adjudgedto have played the ball with his shoulder ratherthan an arm inside the area. — AFP

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Brazilian midfielder Fred (L) vies withLiverpool’s Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum (R) during the English PremierLeague football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford inManchester, north west England, yesterday. — AFP