CELEBS 8 @newsofbahrain OP-ED The trouble with Ethiopia’s … · 2019-01-07 · LINKEDIN newsofbahrain INSTAGRAM /nobmedia RING TALE ... tias because of their irrespon - sible practices,”

Couple reunited with engagement ring dropped in sewer• The diamond ring was dropped down a sewer grate Thursday near Times Square.

New York

Police in New York City say they helped a couple ring in the new year by reuniting them with their

missing engagement ring.NBC New York reports the diamond

ring was dropped down a sewer grate Thursday near Times Square.

Officers noticed the ring in a grate on Eighth Avenue and 48th Street and recovered it with the help of the FDNY and a police emergency services unit.

The NYPD says in a tweet the couple was reunited with their ring Friday.

While it was the first engagement ring recovered in 2019, the NYPD found another engagement ring last month that was given back to the couple on “The Ellen Show.”

02Space sector awareness programmes on the anvil

04Weekly farmers market to feature children’s festival

05 Alert over VAT violations

8

Sisi to inaugurate Coptic cathedral 6WORLD

OP-EDC E L E B S

Bradley Cooper feared failing miserably Hollywood star Bradley Cooper says he was worried his directorial debut “A Star Is Born” would “fail miserably”. P13

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The trouble with Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism

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Ministry receives 224 VAT related complaints TDT | Manama

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (MOICT) yesterday con-

firmed that it has responded to a total of 224 VAT related com-plaints in addition to more than 1,130 VAT inquiries, since its in-duction on January 1st, 2019.

The Ministry’s ‘Companies Control’ and ‘Consumer Protec-tion’ directorates have success-fully inspected more than 430 vendors across the Kingdom to ensure the correct application of the VAT.

The Ministry is committed to continue monitoring the move-

ment of all goods and service in accordance with the new-

ly published list of basic food items that are not subject to

VAT, it said in a press release issued.

“All sales outlets are required to comply with the Kingdom’s VAT Law and its executive reg-ulations.”

Consumers can report viola-

tions by calling 80008001, the ministry added.

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) on Saturday reiterated its commitment to continue monitoring all financial insti-tutions to ensure the correct implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT).

Interest payments on loans, deposits, currencies trading, is-sue or transfer of ownership of securities (equities or debt), and life insurance and reinsurance contracts are not subjected to VAT, the CBB highlighted.

As many as 94 goods and ser-vices have been exempted from VAT, according to authorities.

Ministry staff carry out VAT inspections at one of the supermarkets.

All sales outlets are required to comply with the

Kingdom’s VAT Law and its executive

regulations. COMMERCE MINISTRY

Selective silence? UN accused of being silent over Houthi aid theft

• Silence over Houthi crimes will only encourage them, he added, urging UN organisations to speak out.

• The theft of food aid in Yemen by Houthi rebels might be only the tip of the iceberg, officials believe.

Jeddah

The Saudi ambassador to Yemen has accused some UN organisations

of silence regarding crimes and violations by Houthi militias,

including stealing and hindering the distribution of humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people.

Many officials in the Arab coa-lition supporting Yemen’s inter-nationally recognised govern-ment had previously informed senior UN officials about Houthi violations regarding aid, Mo-hammed bin Saeed Al Jaber told the Associated Press.

Houthi militias have for years been looting aid and hindering its distribution, he was quoted by Arab News.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have contributed $1.25 billion to the UN’s humanitarian response plan in Yemen.

“We’ve told UN Under-Secre-tary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and the humanitarian coordinator of the UN in Yemen, Lise Grande, that

only 40 per cent of those funds have been spent in areas under the control of the Houthi mili-tias because of their irrespon-sible practices,” Al Jaber said.

Silence over Houthi crimes will only encourage them, he added, urging UN organisations to speak out.

Also on Saturday, Houthi fighters seized 72 World Food Programme (WFP) relief tracks headed to the province of Ibb, minister of local administra-tion and chairman of the Higher Committee for Relief in Yemen said.

The theft of food aid in Yemen by Houthi rebels might be only the tip of the iceberg, officials believe, as questions multiply over international relief efforts in the famine-ravaged country.

It has emerged that aid of-ficials have been aware for months that armed groups – most prominently Houthi rebels in the capital, Sana’a – have been diverting food aid into the key

areas they control, including by manipulating data in malnutri-tion surveys used by the UN.

Officials concede that dif-ficulties with access to many areas in Yemen under Houthi control, and aid agencies’ reli-ance on Houthi officials to col-lect much of the hunger data, have left them vulnerable to falsification.

Houthi militias have for years

been looting aid and hindering its

distribution. MR AL JABER

1.25billion American dollars is the total contribution

by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait towards the UN’s

humanitarian response plan in Yemen.

National Guard Commander promoted to General rank Manama

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yes-

terday issued Royal Order 2/2019, promoting the Na-tional Guard Commander, Lieutenant-General Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa bin Sal-man Al Khalifa, to the rank of General.

The promotion marks the National Guard Day, and the 22nd Anniversary of the Na-tional Guard.

Thanking His Majesty, the National Guard Com-mander took pride in the royal order on his pro-motion to the rank of Gen-eral, reiterating allegiance to HM the King and commit-ment to exert utmost efforts to implement his national duties in the interest of the homeland in conformity with the royal directives to promote the reform and de-velopment march.

He highlighted that the royal honour forms a fur-ther impetus for bringing out more modernisation and development to the National Guard military system for the protection of the homeland.

02MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

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His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister yesterday received the newly-appointed Tunisian Ambassador Salim Ghariani, at Riffa Palace. HRH the Crown Prince and the Ambassador discussed the close ties between Bahrain and Tunisia, and highlighted the importance of continuing to advance bilateral co-operation. They also reviewed recent regional and international developments.

Space sector awareness programmes on the anvil

NSA to launch series of initiatives to boost capacity-building in the sector

• The UAE Space Agency has helping Bahrain to boost its space programme.

Manama

As part of the National Space Agency (NSA)’s knowledge conveyance

programmes and concerted ef-forts to raise awareness about the importance of the space sector, the NSA is organising a training course for relevant governmental and higher edu-cational institutions.

The course will take place under the patronage of Trans-portation and Telecommunica-tions Minister Kamal Ahmed, in collaboration with one of the leading international firms in this field.

The CEO of the National Space Agency, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Al Aseeri, said that the NSA Strategic Plan 2019-2023 launched a series of initiatives to achieve its objectives includ-ing national capacity-building in the space field in general and “knowledge transfer” in

particular. He added that the NSA aims

to enable the concerned de-partments to achieve the ideal utilisation of space images and data provided by the NSA.

The agency invited the rele-vant departments to nominate their representatives to join this training course which be-gins tomorrow and will con-tinue for several days, he said.

The course aims to familiar-ise the participants with latest technologies and programmes used in space-related data and image analysis to covert them into usable data for their work field and link them with the various projects and servic-es rendered by these depart-ments, according to NSA chief executive.

Dr Al Aseeri said the course will qualify the participants to present the views of their nom-inating departments regarding the space-related data suitable for their work field to fulfil their aspirations so that the Agency will lead the efforts to achieve its diversified projects.

He asserted the importance of the space sciences in order to achieve the comprehensive development goals of coun-

tries via boosting the scientific research and supporting crea-tivity and innovation.

He praised the close co-oper-ation between the NSA and the University of Bahrain (UoB), the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), and Bahrain Polytechnic (BP) as well as with regional, Arab and international special-ised research centres and space agencies.

The UAE Space Agency has helping Bahrain to boost its space programme.

Mushaira and Kavi Samelan

Hindi poetry stood tall highlighting all its glory as Sir Syed Education and Cultural Society, Bahrain, organised an international Mushaira and Kavi Samelan at the Cultural Hall Thursday evening. Legendary poets including Dr Rahat Indori, Dr Kumar Vishwas, Dr Asim Wasti, Iqbal Ashhar, Saba Balrampuri, Dr Nadeem Shaad, Syed Sarosh Aasif, Faizi Azmi and Kapil Batra took part in the event. LuLu Hypermarket Regional Director and Board Member Juzer Rupawala was guest of honour.

In line with the company’s efforts to support the Kingdom’s sports sector and its desire to be present at important sports forums representing the Kingdom, Batelco chartered a plane to transport fans to the opening match of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The opening match between the Bahrain national team and the UAE national team took place on Saturday at Zayed Sports Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The match ended in a draw (1-1).

Renewable energy policies praisedManama

The Shura Council ’s Bureau yesterday con-

vened, under the chairman-ship of the Shura Council Chairman, Ali Saleh Al Saleh.

The council’s bureau praised the governments’ efforts and plans to boost the renewable energy sec-tor, as part of the kingdom’s endeavours to achieve sus-tainable development.

The bureau made the comments while review-ing a missive addressed to by the Parliament Affairs Minister regarding the let-ter of the Electricity and Water Affairs Minister on an audio-visual presenta-tion by the Electricity and Water Affairs Ministry about renewable energy in Bahrain.

The Shura Council’s Bu-reau also reviewed another missive from the Parliament Affairs Minister regarding a letter from the Foreign Af-fairs Ministry on the resolu-tions and statements issued by the third session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, held in Cairo on September 11.

The bureau also ap -proved the agenda of the next meeting of the Shura Council.

MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 201903

@BahrainNBTwww.nbt.gov.bh

Learn how VAT is collected at each phase of the supply chain, from production to the �nal sale of the

good or service - applied at a standard rate of %5

Input tax: VAT paid on all purchasesOutput tax: VAT collected on sales

Income of BHD 15

Distributor

End customer

BHD 5 remitted

Product sold to customer for BHD 300 + BHD 15 VAT (5% VAT)

Product sold to retailerfor BHD 200 + BHD 10 VAT(5% VAT)

Product sold to distributorfor BHD 100 + BHD 5 VAT

(5% VAT)

Net VAT BHD 5 remitted (BHD 15 Output Tax –

BHD 10 Input Tax)

Net VAT BHD 5 remitted (BHD 10 Output Tax – BHD 5

Input Tax)

Supplier

2

Retailer

11 3

4


15 years jail for terror convict TDT | Manama Ali Tarif

The First High Appellate Criminal Court has upheld the 15 years jail sentence handed down to a Bah-

raini convicted of attacking police officers. According to court details, the convict

along with others targeted police officers by hurling Molotov cocktails and other

explosives at them.One police officer suffered serious inju-

ries in the incident with burns to his face and legs, the prosecutors said.

The prosecutors added that it was the first accused, who recruited other mem-bers of the terror group.

All of them were charged with attack-ing police officers, possessing weapons and rioting by the Public Prosecution.

One police officer suffered serious

injuries in the incident with burns to his

face and legs. PROSECUTORS

Five-year sentence for blocking road upheld

TDT | Manama Ali Tarif

The Fifth High Criminal Court has upheld the five years sentence handed

down to three Bahrainis, accused of blocking one of the major roads in Sehla by burning tyres.

The incident that led to the case occurred in September 2015 and according to Public

Prosecutors, a group of rioters gathered under the leadership of three convicts in Northern Sehla with an aim to violate laws and harm the public life.

“They burnt tyres and blocked the road, which led to huge traf-fic jam in the area.”

The accused were charged with illegally blocking road apart from putting the public’s lives at risk.

They burnt tyres and

blocked the road, which led to huge traffic

jam in the area.

PROSECUTORS

Visa trade case adjourned TDT | Manama Ali Tarif

The First High Criminal Court has adjourned the case in which a Bahraini

woman is accused of trading vi-sas.

The woman is accused of sell-ing visas each for BD200 by mis-using the electronic signature system at her workplace.

The case was adjourned for the officials of Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to present their details on the visas that were traded by the accused.

The accused was employed a school, whose management filed a complaint with police after coming to know about the illegal act, said prosecutors.

According to prosecutors, the

crime was discovered after a Mo-roccan woman, who was on the school visa obtained through the accused, tried to change her sponsor.

“When the new sponsor ap-proached the school to get her visa transferred, the school au-thorities got perplexed as they were totally unaware about her identity.

“This led to a suspicion against the accused and subsequently a case was filed.”

It is learnt that the accused sold 17 visas to expatriates, char-ing them BD200 for each visa.

The accused was employed a school,

whose management filed a complaint with police after coming to know about the illegal act.

PROSECUTORS

Police attack case adjourned

TDT | Manama Ali Tarif

The Fourth High Criminal Court has adjourned the case in which a Bahraini

man is accused of stabbing a po-lice officer while offering prayers.

According to court details, the

officer was praying beside the police vehicle when the attacker pounced on him. The incident oc-curred in Diraz last year. “Another police officer also got injured in the incident,” the prosecutors said.

The Public Prosecution has charged the accused with attempt-ed murder.

Weekly farmers market to feature children’s festival

Five months long market provides a platform for local farmers to sell their fresh produce

• More than 40 farmers are participating in the market this year.

• The market is being held every Saturday from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and will end on April 27.

• The Hoorat A’ali market is organised by the the National Initiative for Agricultural Development with the co-operation of Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) and the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture and Urban Planning and has also been a huge success since launching.

TDT | ManamaMohammed Zafran

A children’s festival will be organised as part of the ongoing weekly farmers

market, which will be held next on coming Saturday.

The Agriculture and Marine Resources Directorate of the Ministry of Municipalities Af-fairs and Agriculture and Urban Planning confirmed that special activities will be held for chil-dren, adding special attraction to the market.

“Along with the regular activ-ities of the farmers market, the

market will observe a special festival for children on January 12,” the ministry spokesperson said.

“The farmers market has been highly successful with a huge participation every week.”

The farmers market got off to

a packed start on December 8 as thousands of people visited the market which opened its seventh edition.

The extremely popular mar-ket has been packed every week and is bigger and better than previous years, according to or-ganisers.

The five months long market provides a platform for local farmers to sell their fresh pro-duce to the public.

The market is set up at the Agriculture Centre in Budaiya Botanical Garden.

The market was established to promote Bahrain’s homegrown agricultural produce and to sup-port local farmers.

Over the years, it has become extremely popular with thou-sands visiting to purchase at the market every week from De-cember to April every year.

More than 40 farmers are participating in the market this year.

Apart from the Agricultural produce, it also features a sec-tion for traditional crafts, res-taurants, and an entertainment activities for children.

The market is being held every Saturday from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and will end on April 27.

Another farmers market is being organised at Hoorat A’ali.

The Hoorat A’ali market is organised by the the National Initiative for Agricultural De-velopment with the co-opera-tion of Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) and the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture and Urban Planning and has also been a huge success since launching.The market has emerged a weekly destination for many families to buy vegetables.

The farmers market has been highly

successful with a huge participation

every week. MINISTRY

Many visitors have been flocking to the market.


Kingdom of Bahrain

The Bahrain Petroleum Company BSC (Closed) hereby invites tender for the following:

Tender Title Tender No. Initial Bond(BD)

TenderFees (BD)

Tender Submission

Day Date Time

PURCHASE AN AMBULANCE FOR

AWALI HOSPITALQ101675 (11) 500/- 15/- 29th Jan 2019

3:00 pm

Interested Contractors with proven experience in providing the above services may contact Bapco Procurement Department at the Refinery on Telephone 17752995/ 17755845/ 17755438 to obtain the appropriate tender documents after depositing the non-refundable tender fees as specified above in Bapco’s bank account. Tender Documents can be collected from Porta Cabin No.118 (Procurement Department – Tendering Unit) located outside the Refinery, on the corner of the road, close to the Contractor’s Gate from Monday 7 th Jan 2019 to Tuesday 22 nd Jan, 2019 between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm (Sunday to Wednesday only). Vendors should deposit full contact details with the Procurement Department. An Initial Bond should be enclosed for the amount specified above or 1% of the bid value, whichever is lesser, payable by a Certified Cheque, Manager cheque, letter of guarantee or insurance policy. The bond shall remain valid throughout the tender period specified in the relevant tender documents.

• Quotation should be deposited in the tender box provided at the Bapco Refinery North Gate Security Office Reception, before 03.00 pm on the tender submission date.

• This tender is subject to the provisions of Legislative Decree No.36 of 2002 with respect to Regulating Government Tenders & Purchases and the Legislative Decree No.37 of 2002 with respect to the Tender Law’s implementing regulations.

• The following conditions shall be complied with:

1. Enclose a copy of the Commercial Registration Certificate valid for the current year, and be in conformity with the subject tender.

2. Submit quotations on Form No.Bapco3. Enclose a copy of Certificate of Compliance with the Employment Percentage for Bahraini Manpower

issued by the Ministry of Labour.4. Ensure to stamp with the official seal on all the original documents and copies thereof, which form

part of the offer.5. Award of Purchase Agreement to a Contractor who is not on Bapco’s Approved List of Contractors will

be subject to successful pre-qualification.

• This announcement is to be read as part of the Tender Documents.

Alert over VAT violations Customers urged to ensure that VAT rate doesn’t exceed 5pc on goods they purchase

• The Consumer Protection Directorate affirmed that the inspection campaigns would cover all outlets and sectors nationwide, calling on everyone to comply with the laws and regulations.

• Meanwhile, products being offered VAT free despite the legal requirements to impose the tax had become a topic of controversy in the past few days.

TDT | ManamaMohammed Zafran

Consumers in the King-dom have been urged to ensure that they don’t

overpay for goods and services to businesses who may take advantage of the current con-fusion in the market and charge extra bucks for goods and ser-vices.

Taking advantage of the ex-isting confusion in the market, certain businesses may swin-dle the customers by charging extra and many customers are worried over being cheated in the name of VAT.

The National Bureau of Tax-ation (NBT) has warned busi-nesses against overcharging VAT and consumers to ensure they don’t pay in excess of 5 per cent for VAT.

“To ensure a smooth imple-mentation of VAT, make sure that VAT rate does not exceed 5pc on items subjected to VAT,”

the National Bureau of Taxa-tion stated.

It also urged customers to be vigilant. “Make sure VAT is not applied on items not subject-ed to the tax. To find the list of items not subjected to VAT, please visit our website www.nbt.gov.bh,” it highlighted.

“To report any violations or complaints regarding the im-plementation of VAT, please call consumer protection on 80008001,” the NBT said, add-ing that consumers do not need to register for VAT.

The Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry has stressed that the teams of its general inspection centre and Consum-er Protection Directorate will

continue their inspection of commercial outlets and mar-kets across the Kingdom to en-sure the sound implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

The inspection teams aim to ensure that VAT is not levied on basic commodities and ser-vices that are exempted from it, the Ministry said, pledging deterrent measures against vi-olators, including fines, closure or referral to the Public Pros-ecution, in line with the laws and regulations in force in the kingdom.

The Consumer Protection Directorate affirmed that the inspection campaigns would cover all outlets and sectors nationwide, calling on everyone to comply with the laws and regulations.

Meanwhile, products being offered VAT free despite the le-gal requirements to impose the

tax had become a topic of con-troversy in the past few days.

According to widespread re-ports, various businesses mar-keted such VAT free offers on social media, creating a confu-sion in the market.

However, Tribune has learnt that the stores bore the cost of VAT as a promotional offer rather than offering completely VAT free items.

“Many stores advertised that they are offering products com-pletely free of VAT. This led to a confusion as many believed that the stores are avoiding VAT,” a source said.

“Even though VAT amount may not be charged on custom-ers, it is shown on their system

and the tax is paid to the gov-ernment by the business,” the source added.

The NBT yesterday highlight-ed its ongoing efforts to en-hance consumer protection and compliance with the VAT laws and its executive regulations in preparation for its induction on January 1, 2019.

The NBT has introduced various initiatives to enhance transparency and increase con-sumers’ awareness in regards to their rights.

In this context, consumers are reminded that they are not required to register for VAT nor are they expected to go through the registration certificate pro-cedures.

To report any violations or complaints

regarding the implementation

of VAT, please call consumer protection on

80008001. NBT

NBT is running many campaigns to secure customers from VAT violations. Electricity and water charges are subjected to VAT.

New project set to safeguard nature

Manama

Chief Executive Director of the Supreme Coun-cil For Environment, Dr

Mohammed Mubarak bin Dai-na, yesterday chaired a meet-ing with a number of leading national companies including Bapco, Tatweer, Alba, GPIC and Asry, to brief them on the SCE’s new supervisory project to safeguard nature.

As per the project, special-

ised consulting companies ac-credited to the SCE will inspect the industrial companies’ con-trol and verification data to en-sure their compliance with the local environmental standards and legislations.

The programme is still vol-untary at the present stage, it will contribute to the promo-tion of the industrial compa-nies’ environmental compli-ance, ensuring the effective use of resources and energy,

the search for solutions for the management of waste, chemi-cals and air emissions, in ad-dition to supporting the com-panies’ environmental policies and management systems, the meeting observed.

The companies welcomed joining the SCE’s voluntary programme and expressed readiness to co-operate with the SCE to implement the pro-gramme before it is officially adopted.

Dr bin Dina chairs the meeting.

06

world


Malaysia’s king abdicates: palace

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malaysia’s king has ab-dicated, royal officials

said yesterday, ending weeks of speculation about his future after he took a leave of absence and amid rumours he mar-ried a Russian former beau-ty queen. Sultan Muhammad V’s decision marks the first time a king has abdicated in the Muslim-majority country since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.

“The National Palace in-forms that his majesty has resigned as the 15th king ef-fective January 6,” said a state-ment from the palace.

It did not give any reason for the 49-year-old royal’s move.

But there had been a ques-

tion mark over the reign of the king, who ascended to the throne in December 2016, since he took a leave of absence for medical treatment in No-vember.

Reports then circulated on-line that he had married a for-mer Miss Moscow in Russia -- although royal officials in Malaysia have so far not com-mented on the rumours.

Speculation intensified about his future this week when the country’s Islamic royals reportedly held a special meeting.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with an unique ar-rangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the nine Ma-laysian states headed by centu-ries-old Islamic royalty.

The 15th king of Malaysia, Sultan Muhammad V, saluting a royal guard of honour

Three dead during cold snap in Greece

Athens, Greece

Three people have died in Greece as stormy weath-

er and freezing temperatures gripped most of the country, officials said yesterday.

The bodies of two elderly men were found Sunday, two days after their car was swept away by flood waters near Ath-ens, the fire department said.

A day earlier, rescue crews had found a 66-year-old wom-an dead inside the same car in the rural area of Keratea.

Greece is battling a pro-longed cold snap that has seen temperatures fall to below -18

Celsius (-0.4 Fahrenheit) in some areas and covered parts of the country in snow.

The rescue services have re-ceived dozens of calls-outs to help people trapped in their cars or homes by heavy snow-fall. On Saturday, firefighters rescued a pair of French hikers stranded in a forest on the is-land of Lesbos.

The poor weather has also disrupted travel, forcing high-way closures and coastal ferry and intercity train cancella-tions. On Friday, a Ryanair flight bound for Thessaloniki was rerouted to Timisoara, Romania, because of poor vis-ibility.

People take pictures next to the sculpture “Umbrellas”, by late Greek sculptor George Zongolopoulos, during a heavy snowfall in Thessaloniki

30 killed in gold mine collapse in Afghanistan

Kunduz, Afghanistan

At least 30 people were killed when a gold mine

collapsed in northeastern Af-ghanistan on Sunday, officials said, in the latest tragedy to strike the war-torn country.

Another seven were injured in the incident in Kohistan dis-trict of Badakhshan province, district governor Mohammad Rustam Raghi said.

Villagers had dug a 60-metre (200-feet) deep shaft in a river bed to search for gold. They were inside when the walls fell in.

“The people were using an excavator to dig a big hole in the river when it collapsed, trapping dozens of workers,” Raghi said.

“At least 30 people have been killed and seven wounded.”

It was not clear why the shaft collapsed, but the pro-vincial governor’s spokes-man Nik Mohammad Naz-ari said the miners were not professionals.

“The villagers have been in-volved in this business for dec-ades with no government con-trol over them,” Nazari said.

“We have sent a rescue team to the area, but villagers have already started removing bod-ies from the site.”

Badakhshan is a remote, mountainous province in northeast Afghanistan bor-dering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. The region is prone to landslides, particularly in the colder months when heavy snow blankets the province.

Picture courtesy of anewsCaci fighters duel with whips in Surabaya, East Java province

Masked warriors

Surabaya, Indonesia

Dressed in bright colours and lunging at each other with long, looping whips, martial arts fighters in Indonesia

were cheered by spectators as they dueled during a traditional festival yesterday.

A martial art practised by the Manggarai people from south-ern Indonesia, Caci bouts typically involve two men wearing masks while wielding shields and whips made out of rattan.

A fighter wins by hitting his opponent in the face or the head. The duels are full of symbolism -- the leather-handled whips

represent masculinity and the sky, while the round shields stand for femininity, the womb and the earth.

The festival -- which took place in Subaya, Indonesia’s sec-ond largest city -- aims to preserve and promote Caci and the Manggarai culture, the organiser said.

It is held so “the tradition won’t be eroded by time and the modern life”, said organiser Tarius, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

In ancient times, the fighters -- in the Manggarai peoples’ province of East Nusa Tenggara province -- were men from different villages who competed against each other to celebrate the harvest season.

Death toll from Philippine storm, landslides climbs to 126Manila, Philippines

The death toll from a storm that devastated

the Philippines shortly af-ter Christmas rose to 126, authorities said yesterday, adding landslides caused by torrential rain were the top cause.

The storm hit central and eastern Philippine islands on December 29 and caused massive flooding and land-slides. More than 100 peo-ple died in the mountainous Bicol region southeast of Manila, regional disaster officials said.

While the Bicol region is often hit by deadly ty-phoons, many people failed to take necessary precau-tions because the storm was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government’s storm alert system, ac-cording to civil defence officials.

Officials also said that many residents were reluc-tant to leave their homes during the Christmas hol-idays.

“In two days alone, Us-man poured more than a month’s worth of rainfall in the Bicol region,” national disaster agency spokesman Edgar Posadas told AFP, us-ing the local name for the storm which had weakened into a low pressure area.

Sisi to inaugurate Coptic cathedral

AFP | Cairo, Egypt

Egypt’s president will in-augurate the country’s biggest cathedral on

Coptic Christmas Eve, a day after a deadly bomb blast near a church in a country where jihadists have repeatedly tar-geted Christians.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sat-urday’s explosion on the east-ern edge of Cairo that killed a policeman who was trying to defuse the device and wounded two other officers.

It had been hidden inside a bag that was searched by police. The policeman who was killed, Mustafa Abid, was a specialist in mine clearance.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, denounced “the terrorist operation that target-ed... the church in the Ezzbat al-Haggan neighbourhood of Nasr City”, on his official Face-book page. More than 100 Copts have been killed in jihadist at-tacks since December 2016.

On Sunday evening Presi-dent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was due to inaugurate the Cathe-dral of Nativity in Egypt’s new administrative capital, 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Cairo.

The president will also in-augurate the Al-Fattah al-Alim

mosque in the new administra-tive capital.

A general view of the newly-built al-Fattah al-Alim mosque in Egypt’s new administrative capital, 45 kilometres east of Cairo.

Workers walk outside the newly-built Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Egypt’s new administrative capital, 45 kilometres east of Cairo


AFP | Washington, United States

During the Cold War, US eyes were riveted on the Soviet Union’s rockets

and satellites. But in recent years, it has been China’s space programmes that have most worried US strategists.

China, whose space effort is run by the People’s Liberation Army, today launches more rockets into space than any other country -- 39 last year, compared to 31 by the United States, 20 by Russia and eight by Europe.

O n T h u r s d a y i t l a n d -ed a space rover on the dark side of the Moon -- a first by any country -- and plans to build an orbiting space station in the coming decade. In the decade after that, it hopes to put a Chinese “taikonaut” on the Moon to make the first moonwalk since 1972.

China now spends more on its civil and

military space programmes than do Russia and Japan. Al-though opaque, its 2017 budget was estimated at $8.4 billion by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

That’s far less than the $48 billion the United States spends on its military and civilian space programs, says analyst Phil

Smith of consulting firm Bryce Space and Technology. But it is more than dou-ble Russia’s civil-ian space budget, which has been slashed to $3 bil-lion.

Overcoming a lag of several decades, China’s leaders have very methodically replicated the stages of space development achieved by other great nations: a first satellite in 1970, its first manned space mission in 2003, the first docking of a manned spacecraft to an orbiting mod-ule in 2012, and activation of the BeiDou satellite navigation system, China’s answer to GPS.

“If they continue on this tra-jectory, they’re going to quickly eclipse Russia in terms of their space technology capabilities,” said Todd Harrison, an expert on military space programs at the Center for Strategic and Inter-national Studies in Washington.

Lunar resourcesChina currently poses no

threat to the commercial satel-lite launch market, which re-mains dominated by companies including US-based SpaceX and Europe’s Arianespace, and Rus-sia.

Nor has China’s progress in space exploration eclipsed that of the US.

NASA’s head congratulated China on its Chang’e-4 Moon landing but a 2011 US law bars

space cooperation with Bei-jing, although Congress

could lift that restriction.The real rivalry is in

two areas: in the short term, military uses of

space; and long-term,

the exploitation of resources in space.

The mining of minerals or water on the Moon or on aster-oids, notably to produce fuel for rockets, is still a long way off, but American start-ups are already working on it.

Unlike the Cold War, the new conquest of space is unfolding largely in a legal vacuum.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Wash-ington and Moscow negotiated several treaties on space, prin-cipally to guarantee scientific cooperation and to ban weapons of mass destruction in space.

“The treaties are too vague to be really certain what the le-gal result is for something like space mining,” said Frans von der Dunk, a professor of space law at the University of Nebras-ka-Lincoln.

War in space Moreover, they have been

overtaken by new military tech-nologies: anti-satellite lasers, cy-berattacks, electronic jamming, and land-based anti-satellite missiles -- like the one China tested in 2007.

Laws of war govern conflicts on Earth, but there is no equiv-alent for space. And unanswered questions abound.

If one satellite collides with another in space, does that con-stitute an “attack”? What would be a proportional response? Ci-vilian satellites should be pro-

tected from reprisals but what about satellites with dual civil-ian and military uses? How does a nation respond to a cyberat-tack of uncertain origin?

“It’s very hard to distinguish between weapons and non weapons in space,” said Jack Beard, a professor in the Uni-versity of Nebraska’s space law program.

“It’s unfortunately hard to envision any major armed con-flict on Earth not extending into space,” he added. “The Chinese have been preparing for whatever eventuality may be in the future, and... they have been experi-menting with systems to interfere with our communi-cations, our transmissions from satellites to drones.”

Harrison concurs: “The Unit-ed States has not been keeping pace with the threats against our space systems,” and that has left the US vulnerable.

Meanwhile, US dialogue with Beijing is virtually nil, in contrast with Washington’s exchanges with Moscow during the Cold War.

“If there’s a crisis in space involving China, it’s not clear our military knows who to call,” said Harrison.

But other observers take a more skeptical view of portray-ing China as an aggressive adver-sary of the United States.

Brian Weeden, of the Wash-

ington-based Secure World Foundation, said some propo-nents of the China-as-threat argument wield it as a way to get money for NASA out of a tight-fisted Congress.

They “think that will motivate the US to go off and do the stuff in space that they want to do,” he said.

“They see the competition with China as a key to unlock-ing the political will and money to fund the projects they want to see.”

Trump (Courtesy of Yeo Cartoons

The war above

our heads

A robotic lunar rover of China on the “dark side” of the moon (file)

A Long March 3B rocket, transporting the Chang’e-4 lunar rover, lifting off from the Xichang


Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Editor-in-Chief Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 38444698/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

MAHMOOD MAMDANI

Abiy Ahmed, the 42-year-old prime minister of Ethiopia, has dazzled

Africa with a volley of politi-cal reforms since his appoint-ment in April. Abiy ended the 20-year border war with Eritrea, released political prisoners, removed bans on dissident groups and allowed their members to return from exile, declared press freedom and granted diverse political groups the freedom to mobilize and organize.

Abiy has been celebrated as a reformer, but his trans-formative politics has come up against ethnic federalis-menshrined in Ethiopia’s Con-stitution. The resulting clash threatens to exacerbate com-petitive ethnic politics further and push the country toward an interethnic conflict.

The 1994 constitution, intro-duced by Prime Minister Me-les Zenawi and the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Dem-ocratic Front governing coa-lition, recast the country from a centrally unified republic to a federation of nine regional ethnic states and two feder-ally administered city-states. It bases key rights — to land, government jobs, representa-tion in local and federal bodies — not on Ethiopian citizenship but on being considered ethni-cally indigenous in constituent ethnic states.

The system of ethnic federal-ism was troubled with internal inconsistencies because ethnic groups do not live only in a discrete “homeland” territory but are also dispersed across the country. Nonnative ethnic minorities live within every ethnic homeland.

Ethiopia’s census lists more than 90 ethnic groups, but there are only nine ethnically defined regional assemblies with rights for the officially designated majority ethnic group. The nonnative minor-ities are given special districts and rights of self-administra-tion. But no matter the number of minority regions, the fiction of an ethnic homeland creates endless minorities.

Ethnic mobilization comes from multiple groups, includ-ing Ethiopians without an ethnic homeland, and those disenfranchised as minorities in the region of their residence, even if their ethnic group has a homeland in another state.

Ethnic federalism also un-leashed a struggle for suprem-acy among the Big Three: the Tigray, the Amhara and the Oromo. Although the ruling EPRDF is a coalition of four parties, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front representing the Tigray minority has been in the driving seat since the 1991 revolution. The Amhara, dom-inant before 1991, and the Oro-mo, the largest ethnic group in the country, complained they were being treated assubordi-nate minorities.

When the government an-nounced plans to expand Addis Ababa, the federally run city-state, into bordering Oromo lands, protests erupted in 2015. The Amhara joined and both groups continued to demand land reform, equal political representation and an end to rights abuses.

Prime Minister Haile Mari-am Desalegn, who took office in 2012 after the death of the long-term premier and Tigray leader Zenawi, responded bru-tally to the protests.

Security forces killed be-tween 500 and 1,000 protest-ers in a year. Faced with a spi-ralling crisis, the ruling EPRDF coalition appointed Abiy, a former military official and a leader of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation — a constituent of the ruling coali-tion — as prime minister.

Abiy’s reforms have been applauded but have also led to greater ethnic mobilization for justice and equality. The EPRDF’s achievement since 1991 was equal education for girls and boys, rural and urban, leading to greater prominence of women, Muslims and Pente-costal groups.

The recent reforms of Abiy, who was born to a Muslim Oromo father and an Ortho-dox Amhara mother and is a devout Pentecostal Christian, have further broadened politi-cal participation to underpriv-ileged groups.

Mobilization of ethnic mili-tias is on the rise. Paramilitar-ies or ethnic militias known as special police, initially established as counterinsur-gency units, are increasingly involved in ethnic conflicts, mainly between neighbouring ethnic states. A good example is the role of the Somali Special Force in the border conflict with the Oromia state, accord-ing to Yonas Ashine, a histori-an at Addis Ababa University. These forces are also drawn into conflicts between native and nonnative groups.

Nearly a million Ethiopians have been displaced from their homes by escalating ethnic vi-

olence since Abiy’s appoint-ment, according to Addisu Gebregziabher, who heads the Ethiopian Human Rights Com-mission.

Fears of Ethiopia suffering Africa’s next interethnic con-flict are growing. Abiy himself is constantly invoking reli-gious symbols, especially those linked to American Protestant evangelical megachurches, and has brought a greater number of Pentecostals into the higher ranks of government.

Ethiopians used to think of

themselves as Africans of a special kind, who were not col-onised, but the country today resembles a quintessential Af-rican system, marked by ethnic mobilisation for ethnic gains.

In most of Africa, ethnicity was politicized when the Brit-ish turned the ethnic group into a unit of local administra-tion, which they termed “in-direct rule.” Every bit of the colony came to be defined as an ethnic homeland, where an ethnic authority enforced an ethnically defined customary

law that conferred privileges on those deemed indigenous at the expense of nonindigenous minorities.

The move was a response to a perennial colonial problem: Racial privilege for whites mo-bilized those excluded as a ra-cialized nonwhite majority. By creating an additional layer of privilege, this time ethnic, in-direct rule fragmented the ra-cially conscious majority into so many ethnic minorities, in every part of the country set-ting ethnic majorities against ethnic minorities. Wherever this system continued after in-dependence, national belong-ing gave way to tribal identity as the real meaning of citizen-ship.

Many thought the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, representing a minority in the dominant coalition, turned to ethnic federalism to dissolve and fragment Ethiopian socie-ty into numerous ethnic groups — each a minority — so it could come up with a “national” vi-sion. In a way it replicated the British system.

But led by Zenawi, the TPLF was also most likely influenced by Soviet ethno-territorial federalism and the creation of ethnic republics, especially in Central Asia. Ethiopia’s 1994 Constitution evoked the clas-sically Stalinist definition of “nation, nationality and peo-ple” and the Soviet solution to “the national question.”

As in the Soviet Union, every piece of land in Ethiopia was inscribed as the ethnic home-land of a particular group, constitutionally dividing the population into a permanent majority alongside permanent minorities with little stake in the system. Zenawi and his party had both Sovietized and Africanized Ethiopia.

Like much of Africa, Ethio-pia is at a crossroads. Neither the centralized republic in-stituted by the Derg military junta in 1974 nor the ethnic federalism of Zenawi’s 1994 Constitution points to a way forward.

Abiy can achieve real pro-gress if Ethiopia embraces a different kind of federation — territorial and not ethnic — where rights in a federal unit are dispensed not on the basis of ethnicity but on residence.

Such a federal arrangement will give Ethiopians an even chance of keeping an authori-tarian dictatorship at bay.

(Mahmood Mamdani is the director of Makerere Institute of Social

Research in Uganda, a professor of government at Columbia

University.)

EVERY TIME YOU TEAR A LEAF OFF A CALENDAR, YOU PRESENT A NEW PLACE FOR NEW IDEAS AND PROGRESS.CHARLES KETTERING

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Ethiopians used to think of themselves as Africans of a special kind, who were

not colonised, but the country today resembles a quintessential African

system, marked by ethnic mobilisation for ethnic

gains.

The trouble with Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism

The reforms by the country’s new prime minister are clashing with its flawed Constitution and could push the country towards an interethnic conflict

C I V I L I A N ’ S T R I B U N E


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

There’s no doubt in my mind that the

Accidental Prime Min-ister was a lot better for our country than the “Acchedin”tal Prime Minister

@ShashiTharoor

It’s pretty clear that what’s driving Trump

now isn’t a governing strategy. It isn’t a re-elec-tion strategy. It’s a “hold enough of your base to stop the Senate from con-victing when the House impeaches” strategy. Trump must expect that the Mueller report will be very bad for him.

@BillKristol

It’s a shame that the president of @INCIn-

dia is spreading lies nd misleading the country.HAL has signed contracts worth 26570.8Cr (Be-tween 2014 & 2018) nd contracts worth 73000Cr are in the pipeline.Will @RahulGandhi apolo-gise to the country from the floor of the house nd resign?

@nsitharamanoffc

Ayushman Bharat has revolutionised

our health sector and is being widely praised all over. It has enabled a healthier life for the poor and downtrodden. I once again appeal to the Odi-sha Government to be a part of this scheme. They should forget politics and think of the poor.

@narendramodi

Disclaimer: (Views expressed by columnists are personal and need not necessarily reflect our

editorial stances)

1999The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.

2005Crevalcore train crash in Italy: 17 dead and dozens injured.

2012A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.

2015Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

What a French doctor’s office taught me about health care?

Moved to Europe because I couldn’t afford to be a cancer patient in America. I’d rather have been able to stay home

ERICA REX

A dozen of us sit expect-antly in the orthopaedic surgeon’s waiting room.

We’re here for follow-ups. Some, like me, have had bunions re-moved. Others have had hips or knees replaced. Most are older women.

The copies of Paris Match and Le Monde on the table are at least six months old. The only artwork is a framed print of Claude Mon-et’s “Poppy Fields Near Argen-teuil.” Since I’m only two weeks out from surgery and can’t drive, I came by taxi. The fare was un-derwritten by the French social security system, known familiar-ly as la Sécu, which also provides health insurance for all residents.

The woman seated opposite me tells me she’s on her second bunion surgery. Her doctor, a top orthopaedic surgeon, charges more than the normal Sécu com-pensation, as do many specialists. Most French people purchase a supplementary insurance plan to cover costs not picked up by la Sécu. As a French resident and taxpayer, I have one too.

Another woman is recovering from a hip replacement. Med-ical chat is common in French waiting rooms. If the wait is long, everyone comes to know everything about one another’s complaints.

To my friends in the United States, this casual attitude seems foolish, even risky. But in France, medical privacy is irrelevant. No one will lose her job because of a lengthy convalescence. There is no possibility that pre-existing conditions will make insurance unaffordable. Unemployed peo-ple still receive treatment. Huge medical bills do not reduce ordi-nary citizens to a state of existen-tial terror.

The absence of unease over health care alters the texture of French experience. We get cozy in waiting rooms.

A woman in her late 60s sits next to me. She fidgets and ap-

pears close to tears. She leans over and asks in a low voice how long it has been since my surgery. She’s wearing the orthopaedic boot, but unlike the rest of us bunion ladies, she’s still using crutches. She tells me she had surgery four weeks ago and be-lieves something is wrong.

The woman across from me leans forward.

“Que s’est-il passé?” What hap-pened? My neighbour describes a “sensation de craquement” — the feeling that the bones in her foot are crunching when she puts weight on it.

Three other women reassure her: The bone crunching is nor-mal. Those bones had to be bro-ken and realigned to reshape her foot.

Yes, but the physical thera-pist told her that the doctor had botched something. Now she’s frightened. The therapist was completely wrong, we tell her. She seems relieved, but grows worried again when she realises she should have restarted physi-cal therapy sessions a month ago.

Then the doctor appears and calls the woman’s name. Even

rock-star orthopedists here don’t have nurses helping them in their offices. The doctor changes his own examining table paper. His staff consists of two foul-tem-pered office assistants who make appointments, take payments and hand out prescriptions.

The woman picks up her crutches. He raises his hands in question. The crutches? Still? She fights back tears. We reas-sure her it will be fine. She limps after him into the examining room, dragging the crutches in

one hand.I am an accidental European. I

developed breast cancer in 2009. With no continuing medical cov-erage in the United States, and in desperate need of it, I moved to Britain. Under the sponsorship of an acquaintance, I was grant-ed “indefinite leave to remain” and received care through the National Health Service. When I moved to France four years ago, the French system quickly took over covering me.

It has taken me nine years to grow accustomed to the idea that my health care won’t suddenly evaporate at the whim of a new government. Doctors here of-ten ask how I landed in Europe. When I tell them, they shake their heads. American values are deranged, they say.

Sometimes I encounter Amer-icans for whom visiting France is like a trip to Disneyland, only with foie gras, and they’ll ask about medical care.

One such visitor, on learning I have a “carte vitale,” a social security card, asked, “How did you score that?” as if health in-surance was like box seats at a

Yankees-Red Sox game.I don’t live in the promotional

brochure version ofFrance those Americans are touring. France for me was not a vacation se-lection.

Moving to Europe was a choice weighed against other, grimmer options for health care, which included the strong possibility of being bankrupted by cancer treatment and winding up at the mercy of New York state’s wel-fare system.

In France I can rest assured I will not be refused care for any treatable condition, including a painful bunion — or yes, even a recurrence of breast cancer. All the same, I’d rather have been able to get coverage without em-igrating.

Too many Americans do not realise how much better off they would be if they felt safer about access to medical care. Imagine what might happen if everyone felt safe — safe enough to talk about ailments in waiting rooms.

(Erica Rex is a columnist; now working on a book about the use of

psychoactive drugs to treat depression and PTSD.)

I am an accidental European. I developed breast cancer in 2009.

With no continuing medical coverage in the United

States, and in desperate need of it, I moved to

Britain.

Protesters not devotees

The entry of women into the Saba-rimala temple is as far-reaching a change as any other social movements

in Southern India like the Channar revolt that won Nadar women the right to wear upper-body clothes and the consecration of a Shiva temple at Aruvippuram by Sri Narayana Guru.

It is very clear from the ongoing protests

that it is not the male Ayyappa devotees who are against the judgment, but those who are trying to foment unrest in a bid to gain some relevance in Kerala politics.

What is shameful is that the Congress in Kerala has become the mirror image of the BJP and is making common cause with the latter to perpetuate a discriminatory custom.

David

C I V I L I A N ’ S T R I B U N E


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

There’s no doubt in my mind that the

Accidental Prime Min-ister was a lot better for our country than the “Acchedin”tal Prime Minister

@ShashiTharoor

It’s pretty clear that what’s driving Trump

now isn’t a governing strategy. It isn’t a re-elec-tion strategy. It’s a “hold enough of your base to stop the Senate from con-victing when the House impeaches” strategy. Trump must expect that the Mueller report will be very bad for him.

@BillKristol

It’s a shame that the president of @INCIn-

dia is spreading lies nd misleading the country.HAL has signed contracts worth 26570.8Cr (Be-tween 2014 & 2018) nd contracts worth 73000Cr are in the pipeline.Will @RahulGandhi apolo-gise to the country from the floor of the house nd resign?

@nsitharamanoffc

Ayushman Bharat has revolutionised

our health sector and is being widely praised all over. It has enabled a healthier life for the poor and downtrodden. I once again appeal to the Odi-sha Government to be a part of this scheme. They should forget politics and think of the poor.

@narendramodi

Disclaimer: (Views expressed by columnists are personal and need not necessarily reflect our

editorial stances)

1999The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.

2005Crevalcore train crash in Italy: 17 dead and dozens injured.

2012A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.

2015Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

What a French doctor’s office taught me about health care?

Moved to Europe because I couldn’t afford to be a cancer patient in America. I’d rather have been able to stay home

ERICA REX

A dozen of us sit expect-antly in the orthopaedic surgeon’s waiting room.

We’re here for follow-ups. Some, like me, have had bunions re-moved. Others have had hips or knees replaced. Most are older women.

The copies of Paris Match and Le Monde on the table are at least six months old. The only artwork is a framed print of Claude Mon-et’s “Poppy Fields Near Argen-teuil.” Since I’m only two weeks out from surgery and can’t drive, I came by taxi. The fare was un-derwritten by the French social security system, known familiar-ly as la Sécu, which also provides health insurance for all residents.

The woman seated opposite me tells me she’s on her second bunion surgery. Her doctor, a top orthopaedic surgeon, charges more than the normal Sécu com-pensation, as do many specialists. Most French people purchase a supplementary insurance plan to cover costs not picked up by la Sécu. As a French resident and taxpayer, I have one too.

Another woman is recovering from a hip replacement. Med-ical chat is common in French waiting rooms. If the wait is long, everyone comes to know everything about one another’s complaints.

To my friends in the United States, this casual attitude seems foolish, even risky. But in France, medical privacy is irrelevant. No one will lose her job because of a lengthy convalescence. There is no possibility that pre-existing conditions will make insurance unaffordable. Unemployed peo-ple still receive treatment. Huge medical bills do not reduce ordi-nary citizens to a state of existen-tial terror.

The absence of unease over health care alters the texture of French experience. We get cozy in waiting rooms.

A woman in her late 60s sits next to me. She fidgets and ap-

pears close to tears. She leans over and asks in a low voice how long it has been since my surgery. She’s wearing the orthopaedic boot, but unlike the rest of us bunion ladies, she’s still using crutches. She tells me she had surgery four weeks ago and be-lieves something is wrong.

The woman across from me leans forward.

“Que s’est-il passé?” What hap-pened? My neighbour describes a “sensation de craquement” — the feeling that the bones in her foot are crunching when she puts weight on it.

Three other women reassure her: The bone crunching is nor-mal. Those bones had to be bro-ken and realigned to reshape her foot.

Yes, but the physical thera-pist told her that the doctor had botched something. Now she’s frightened. The therapist was completely wrong, we tell her. She seems relieved, but grows worried again when she realises she should have restarted physi-cal therapy sessions a month ago.

Then the doctor appears and calls the woman’s name. Even

rock-star orthopedists here don’t have nurses helping them in their offices. The doctor changes his own examining table paper. His staff consists of two foul-tem-pered office assistants who make appointments, take payments and hand out prescriptions.

The woman picks up her crutches. He raises his hands in question. The crutches? Still? She fights back tears. We reas-sure her it will be fine. She limps after him into the examining room, dragging the crutches in

one hand.I am an accidental European. I

developed breast cancer in 2009. With no continuing medical cov-erage in the United States, and in desperate need of it, I moved to Britain. Under the sponsorship of an acquaintance, I was grant-ed “indefinite leave to remain” and received care through the National Health Service. When I moved to France four years ago, the French system quickly took over covering me.

It has taken me nine years to grow accustomed to the idea that my health care won’t suddenly evaporate at the whim of a new government. Doctors here of-ten ask how I landed in Europe. When I tell them, they shake their heads. American values are deranged, they say.

Sometimes I encounter Amer-icans for whom visiting France is like a trip to Disneyland, only with foie gras, and they’ll ask about medical care.

One such visitor, on learning I have a “carte vitale,” a social security card, asked, “How did you score that?” as if health in-surance was like box seats at a

Yankees-Red Sox game.I don’t live in the promotional

brochure version ofFrance those Americans are touring. France for me was not a vacation se-lection.

Moving to Europe was a choice weighed against other, grimmer options for health care, which included the strong possibility of being bankrupted by cancer treatment and winding up at the mercy of New York state’s wel-fare system.

In France I can rest assured I will not be refused care for any treatable condition, including a painful bunion — or yes, even a recurrence of breast cancer. All the same, I’d rather have been able to get coverage without em-igrating.

Too many Americans do not realise how much better off they would be if they felt safer about access to medical care. Imagine what might happen if everyone felt safe — safe enough to talk about ailments in waiting rooms.

(Erica Rex is a columnist; now working on a book about the use of

psychoactive drugs to treat depression and PTSD.)

I am an accidental European. I developed breast cancer in 2009.

With no continuing medical coverage in the United

States, and in desperate need of it, I moved to

Britain.

Protesters not devotees

The entry of women into the Saba-rimala temple is as far-reaching a change as any other social movements

in Southern India like the Channar revolt that won Nadar women the right to wear upper-body clothes and the consecration of a Shiva temple at Aruvippuram by Sri Narayana Guru.

It is very clear from the ongoing protests

that it is not the male Ayyappa devotees who are against the judgment, but those who are trying to foment unrest in a bid to gain some relevance in Kerala politics.

What is shameful is that the Congress in Kerala has become the mirror image of the BJP and is making common cause with the latter to perpetuate a discriminatory custom.

David

10

business


Gulf markets rise• Al Rajhi jumps 5.1 pct in Saudi

• Dubai, Abu Dhabi close higher

• Oil rose nearly 2 per cent on Friday

Reuters | Dubai

Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose yesterday on positive investor sentiment, high-

er oil prices and solid gains by blue chips, led by Al Rajhi Bank which announced a capital in-crease, while other regional markets also closed higher.

Oil rose nearly 2 per cent on Friday after proposed trade talks between the United States and China eased some fears about a global economic slowdown.

The Saudi index, the Middle East’s biggest, rose 1.3pc to al-most a three-week high.

Al Rajhi, the kingdom’s sec-ond-largest lender by assets, jumped 5.1pc amid heavy trade after it announced plans to in-crease capital to 25 billion riyals ($6.7 billion) from 16.25 billion riyals through distributing 7 bo-nus shares for every 13 shares owned.

“US market closed 700 points higher on Friday leaving a posi-tive sentiment across the board.

The announcement by Rajhi bank helped maintain that (mo-

mentum) giving the regional markets a push higher,” said Marie Salem, director capital markets at FFA Private Bank Dubai.

Petrochemical giant Sabic rose 1.4pc, Saudi Arabian Min-ing Co. jumped 3.3pc, and the Gulf ’s largest dairy company Almarai jumped 5pc.

Elsewhere in the region, Du-bai’s index, one of the world’s worst-performing stock mar-kets last year, closed 0.2pc high-er as Dubai Islamic Bank added

1.4pc and Emirates NBD gained 0.6pc. Developer DAMAC Prop-erties rose 1.3pc.

In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.1pc with First Abu Dhabi Bank up 0.6pc and Dana Gas gaining 1.7pc.

The Qatar index was flat at 10,352 points.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) closed 0.8pc higher and Qatar Insurance Co. rose 1.4pc.

Conglomerate Industries Qa-tar closed down 0.6pc and Com-mercial Bank shed 1.2pc.

SAUDI p 1.3 pct » 7,932 pts

DUBAI p 0.2 pct » 2,531 pts

QATAR n » 10,352 pts

ABU DHABI p 0.2 pct » 4,904 pts

EGYPT p 0.6 pct » 13,338 pts

KUWAIT p 0.7 pct » 5,377 pts

OMAN p 0.6 pct » 4,302 pts

BAHRAIN p 0.4 pct » 1,331 pts

Traders on the floor of Saudi Stock exchange (file)

Ghosn to ‘vigorously’ defend himself in Japanese court: son

Paris, France

Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn will “vigorously”

defend himself in a Japanese court this week after refusing to sign a confession in return for being released from custo-dy, his son said.

The auto tycoon who has been held since his shock ar-rest in November on allega-tions of financial misconduct is due to appear in a Japanese court on Tuesday to hear the reasons for his detention.

He will give his version of events for the first time, his son Anthony told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD).

The father-of-four has gone from heading a powerful inter-national auto alliance to lan-guishing in a Tokyo detention centre, where his stay has been repeatedly extended.

Anthony told the JDD that

his father would be released if he signed a confession.

He can “tell the prosecu-tor that he is contesting the charges or instead he could confess and be released. For seven weeks his decision has been quite clear,” he said.

“The paradox is that the confession he has been asked to sign is written only in Jap-anese,” adding that his father does not understand it.

He added that the defence do not yet have a complete file.

Authorities are pursuing three separate lines of enquiry against the 64-year-old Fran-co-Lebanese-Brazilian execu-tive, involving alleged financial wrongdoing during his tenure as Nissan chief.

“He is ready to defend him-self vigorously and is very fo-cused on the goal of respond-ing to the accusations against him. He is particularly calm,” said Anthony, who has not spo-ken directly with his father.

BisB names Ameer Dairi as new CFOTDT | Manama

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB has announced the ap-

pointment of Ameer Abdul Ghani Dairi as Chief Financial Officer.

Hassan Jarrar, Chief Execu-tive Officer of BisB, said, “His appointment comes in line with our existing framework and ongoing plans to continue to invest in and develop our Bahraini pool of talent.”

Dairi holds a BSc in Ac-counting from the University of Bahrain and joined BisB in 2007 with over 19 years of experience in financial man-agement at a number of com-

mercial banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Ameer Abdul Ghani Dairi

China plans carrier relocation Reuters | Beijing

China’s aviation regulator published on Thursday

plans for airline relocation to Beijing’s new mega-airport set to open this year and said it would let foreign carriers decide which of the capital’s airports they will use.

Beijing Daxing International Airport, due to open in Sep-tember, will accommodate 72

million passengers a year by 2025 and is expected to be-come one of the world’s busi-est airports upon completion.

Foreign airlines, along with those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, can choose which airport they want to operate in. Chinese carriers, except China Postal Airlines, will have to use only one airport, according to the Civil Aviation authority.

May says UK will be in uncharted territory if parliament rejects dealReuters | London

Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday that Britain

would be in uncharted territo-ry if her Brexit deal is rejected by parliament later this month, despite little sign that she has won over sceptical lawmakers.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 but May’s inability so far to get her deal for a man-aged exit through parliament has alarmed business leaders and investors who fear the country is heading for a dam-aging no-deal Brexit.

May said the vote in parlia-ment would be around Jan. 15, as expected, contrary to reports she could delay it.

May has already delayed the vote once, in December, when it became clear she would lose unless extra reassurances from the EU were agreed.

Describing what would hap-pen if she was defeated, May told the BBC: “We’re going to be in uncharted territory. I don’t think anybody can say exactly what will happen in terms of the reaction we’ll see in par-liament.”

Amid the uncertainty over Britain’s next steps - which range from leaving without a deal to not leaving at all - a poll showed more Britons want to

remain a member of the EU than leave, and voters want to make the final decision themselves.

May’s party itself is divided over its support for her deal, with many fearing that an in-surance policy designed to avoid the re-emergence of a hard bor-der between Ireland and North-ern Ireland could leave Britain subject to EU rules indefinitely.

One of those leading that

opposition, lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, said in a newspa-per article that it was “wishful thinking” that time away from parliament over the Christmas holiday could persuade him to change his mind and back the deal.

WORK TO DOWith the parliamentary de-

bate on her deal due to begin on

Jan. 9, May said there was still work to do to get reassurances over the backstop from the EU. She also promised parliament would have a greater say in the rest of the Brexit process and warned that rejecting her deal could prevent Britain’s exit.

“Don’t let the search for the perfect become the enemy of the good, because the danger there is actually we end up with no Brexit at all,” May said.

She did not answer whether she would, if defeated, make a second attempt to get the deal passed by parliament.

May also did not directly re-spond, when asked, if she was leading the country toward a no-deal Brexit, but repeated her objections to holding a fresh public vote on the deal.

She said a second referen-dum would be divisive and dis-respectful to those who voted to leave in the initial vote, and also highlighted the lack of time available to hold a new referen-dum.

“Practically, actually you couldn’t get a referendum in time before the 29th of March - you’d be talking about ex-tending Article 50,” she said, referring to the two-year exit notice Britain sent to the EU in March 2017.

Theresa May (Courtesy of Sky News)

Carlos Ghosn


US to see push to regulate Big TechAFP | Washington, United States

The newly installed US Con-gress is expected to see

a fresh effort to develop new regulations for big technology firms, with a focus on tougher enforcement of privacy and data protection.

The wave of data scandals that have hit Facebook and other on-line platforms has prompted growing calls for action by law-makers looking to curb abuses of how private information is used and give consumers more clarity.

Significantly, most tech com-panies are pledging to willingly accept new regulations to set a uniform standard in the United States following a sweeping set of rules that went into effect in the European Union in 2018, al-though few have offered details.

Federal regulations could pre-empt the enforcement of legisla-tion enacted in California, which was modeled after the EU’s Gen-eral Data Protection Regulation.

“Whether big tech and little tech like it or not, 2019 will be a year of regulation,” said Doug Clinton of the investment firm Loup Ventures, in a recent blog post.

The analyst said he expects the US to consider “the most important points” of GDPR in-cluding consent, access, port-ability and erasure of personal information.

Protecting dataSenator Brian Schatz and 14

other Democrats have endorsed a bill aimed at requiring online firms to safeguard personal in-formation and stop the misuse of data.

“People have a basic expecta-tion that the personal informa-tion they provide to websites

and apps is well-protected and won’t be used against them,” Schatz said in a statement last month.

“Just as doctors and lawyers are expected to protect and re-sponsibly use the personal data they hold, online companies should be required to do the same.”

Another proposal unveiled in December by the Center for De-mocracy & Technology, a digital rights group in Washington, in consultation with industry and activist groups, covers consumer

rights to access and correct data held by online firms, data port-ability, and limits on third-party access to data.

Significantly, it limits the kinds of data that companies can collect to what is needed for their services.

“Many apps collect your loca-tion information even if it has nothing to do with the service they are providing,” said Mi-chelle Richardson, head of data and privacy for the organization.

“We want to fundamentally change how companies collect

and use data.”Since the revelations over the

hijacking of personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users by the political consultancy Cam-bridge Analytica, tech firms have come under heightened scrutiny from lawmakers and privacy ac-tivists.

Cooperation, or not?Instead of pushing back, big

tech firms have offered to co-operate with lawmakers on a national privacy bill -- although skeptics say this may be an ef-

fort to limit the reach of tougher state laws.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told a hearing in mid-De-cember, “I’m of the opinion that we are better off with more of an overarching data protection framework for users, and I think that would be good to do.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook early this year called for federal privacy legislation, while assailing the “weaponized” used of private data that is bought and sold on-line.

Alan McQuinn, policy analyst

at the Information Technolo-gy and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, said that following the passage of a California privacy law, “the tech sector is now trying to get out in front of having segmented privacy rules.”

Yet details of any new priva-cy bill are likely to be complex, with battles looming on how far legislation should go.

McQuinn said there may be consensus on a need to boost transparency, consumer access and enforcement over misuse of personal data, but that many other issues are thorny.

He said there may be consen-sus on need for more transpar-ency, data portability and con-sumer access and new enforce-ment mechanisms for abuse of private data.

But he maintained that GDPR has proven “incredibly burden-some” and caused some busi-nesses to quit the EU or block their online presence.

“People don’t realize that leg-islation doesn’t just affect the internet giants, it affects your local grocery store and creates costs throughout the system,” McQuinn said.

The analyst said requiring “opt in” consent for any type of data could have unintended con-sequences -- hurting innovation and strengthening the biggest firms that have the resources to comply.

One possible solution is to create “tiers” of data catego-ries requiring opt-in consent only for the most sensitive categories.

Despite broad agreement on the need for privacy rules, Mc-Quinn said a divided govern-ment and hyperpartisan political environment will mean “this will be a difficult process.”

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (C) stands with all the female House Democratic members of the 116th Congress for a photo opportunity outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC

Record: Alba production exceeds 1 million metric tonnes 2018 production volume of 1,011,101 mtpa is the highest-ever achieved in Alba’s history

TDT | Manama

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said it achieved a break-

through record by exceeding its 2018 Production Target of 1,000,000 metric tonnes per an-

num (mtpa) to mark 1,011,101 mtpa.

2018 production volume of 1,011,101 mtpa is the highest-ever achieved in Alba’s history - up by 3 per cent Year-over-Year versus 981,016 mtpa in 2017.

Commenting, the Chief Exec-

utive Officer, Tim Murray said: “Exceeding 1 million metric tonnes for the 1st time in Al-ba’s history and making Bah-rain proud is a testament to our dedicated workforce. We also look forward to successfully complete the commissioning

of Line 6 in 2019, which will take our production capacity to 1,500,000 mtpa and make Alba the largest smelter in the world.”

A ceremony to mark the mile-stone production was held on 06, January 2019 at Alba Oasis,

which was attended by Alba Ex-ecutive Management, Directors, Managers and employees from various departments.

It is noteworthy that this is the seventh year in a row that Alba has been surpassing its annual production -- 2012 production

record of 890,217 mtpa; 2013 production record of 912,700 mtpa; 2014 production record of 931,427 mtpa; 2015 production record of 960,643 mtpa, 2016 production record of 971,420 mtpa and 2017 production re-cord of 981,016.

Alba officials and employees during a group photo opportunity marking the milestone production record exceeding 1,000,000 metric tonnes per annum


KNOW WHAT

KNOW WHAT

‘Yellow vests’ storm ministry• 50,000 protestors took to street on Saturday

• Smashed cars and windows at Interior Ministry

• The movement began in rural France over plans to increase fuel taxes.

• The latest opinion poll, published on Thursday by Odoxa Dentsu, indicated 55 per cent support the protests

AFP | Paris, France

“Yellow vest” protesters returned in force to the streets of France

this weekend, clashing with po-lice in several cities and smash-ing their way into a government ministry in Paris with the help of a forklift truck.

The interior ministry put the number of protesters who took to the streets on Satur-day at 50,000, compared with 32,000 on December 29 when the movement appeared to be weakening after holding a se-ries of weekly Saturday protests since mid-November.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, who was evacuated from his ministry in central Paris when a handful of protesters in high-visibility vests smashed down the large wooden door to the ministry compound, denounced the break-in as an “unacceptable attack on the Re-public”.

“Some yellow vest protest-ers and other people dressed in black ... got hold of a con-struction vehicle which was in the street nearby and smashed open the entrance gate to the

ministry,” he said.They briefly entered the

courtyard where they smashed up two cars, broke some win-dows then escaped, he add-ed, saying police were trying to identify them from security footage.

President Emmanuel Macron did not specifically refer to the incident, but tweeted his con-demnation of the “extreme vio-lence” against “the Republic, its guardians, its representatives and its symbols”.

‘Agitators’ strike back Griveaux had on Friday criti-

cised the yellow vest movement, describing those still involved as “agitators” who were seeking “to overthrow the government”.

Police said some 3,500 dem-onstrators turned up on the Champs-Elysees on Saturday morning.

Some then made their way south of the river to the wealthy area around Boulevard St Ger-main, where they set light to a car and several motorbikes and set up burning barricades,

prompting police to fire tear gas to try and disperse them.

Police said 35 people were ar-rested.

Demonstrators took to the streets of several other cities across France, with up to 2,000 people in Rouen northwest of Paris, where some set up burn-ing barricades. One protester was injured and at least two oth-ers were arrested, police said.

Some 4,600 protesters hit the streets of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, with some hurling stones at police who answered with tear gas and water cannon.

Five police were hurt and 11 people arrested, local authori-ties said, adding that several cars were torched and shop windows broken. Further south in Tou-louse, 22 people were detained following clashes that erupted after 2,000 people turned out to demonstrate.

And in the central-eastern city of Lyon, several thousands took to the streets, blocking access to the A7 motorway and causing traffic jams for those returning from Christmas holidays in the

mountains.

Brigitte Bardot backs protesters

The yellow vest movement began in rural France over plans to increase fuel taxes.

But it later ballooned into a wider revolt against Macron’s pro-market policies and govern-ing style, with 282,000 people joining the first Saturday rally on November 17.

Macron initially refused to make any concessions, but in mid-December, after weeks of violence, he scrapped the planned fuel tax hike and prom-ised extra cash for minimum wage earners as well as tax cuts for pensioners.

The protests have turned into the biggest political crisis of Ma-cron’s 20-month presidency and brought his popularity ratings to an all-time low.

Although public anger ap-peared to abate following his concessions and over the holi-day period, the brief arrest on Wednesday of Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the movement, appeared to rekindle resentment among his supporters.

The latest opinion poll, pub-lished on Thursday by Odoxa Dentsu, indicated 55 per cent support the protests -- a figure which, although lower than the 75 percent back in November, is still important enough to sug-gest the anti-austerity move-ment retains political clout.

Former cinema icon Bri-gitte Bardot, who is known today for her rightwing views and animal rights activism, on Sunday said she understood what motivated the yellow vest movement.

“When I see the millions spent on incredibly trivial things, when I see politicians using private planes and chauf-feur-driven cars to get around (...) all this money spent is un-acceptable,” she told the Midi Libre newspaper.

“It should be given instead to people in need.”

Women march during a rally of the Women’s Yellow Vest protest movement (Femmes Gilets jaunes) near Place de la Bastille in Paris

Macron initially refused to make any concessions, but in

mid-December, after weeks of violence, he scrapped the planned

fuel tax hike and promised extra cash for minimum wage

earners as well as tax cuts for pensioners.

Shutdown: Trump says little progress• Under the previous Republican-controlled Congress, the Senate unanimously passed a measure to fully fund the government until February 8

Washington, United States

President Donald Trump stood firm yesterday on his

demand for billions of dollars to fund a border wall with Mexico, which has forced a shutdown of the US government now enter-ing its third week.

“We have to build the wall,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat, while conceding that the barrier could be “steel instead of concrete.”

“It’s about safety, it’s about se-curity for our country,” he said. “We have no choice.”

An impasse with lawmakers over funding for the border wall has partially shut down the federal government since December 22.

Talks aimed at ending the

shutdown were to continue Sunday, after discussions a day earlier between Vice President Mike Pence and representatives of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the top two Democrats in Congress, made little headway.

Democrats, who now con-trol the House of Representa-tives, seem in no mood to make

concessions to the president on a border wall Pelosi has de-scribed as an “immorality.”

“This shutdown could end tomorrow and it could also go on for a long time,” Trump said. “It really depends on the Dem-ocrats.”

Both Democrats and Republi-cans have attempted to pin the

blame for the shutdown on the other side.

Building a wall along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilome-ter) US-Mexico border was a central plank in the 2016 elec-tion campaign of Trump, who has sought to equate immi-grants with crime, drugs and gangs.

The president has described the situation at the border as a “national emergency,” and has said he is looking into ways to get a wall built without congres-sional approval.

While the US military and oth-er major agencies are still ful-ly funded, the impasse has left 800,000 government workers from other departments fur-loughed or working without pay.

Those on the job and not being paid include airline security officers from the Transportation Security Ad-ministration, FBI agents, and others.

The shutdown has left the Smithsonian museums, a major tourist draw, shuttered, garbage piling up at national parks, and workers concerned about pay-ing their bills.

The shutdown has left the Smithso-nian museums, a major tourist

draw, shuttered, garbage piling up at national parks, and workers concerned about paying their

bills.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House

Iran’s central bank proposes slashing zeros from falling currency - IRNAReuters | Dubai

Iran’s central bank has pro-posed slashing four zeros

from the rial, state news agen-cy IRNA reported yesterday, after the currency plunged in a year marked by an eco-nomic crisis fuelled by US sanctions.

“A bill to remove four zeros from the national currency was presented to the govern-ment by the central bank yes-terday and I hope this matter can be concluded as soon as

possible,” IRNA quoted cen-tral bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati as saying.

The currency was trading at about 110,000 rials per US dollar on the unofficial market yesterday, according to foreign exchange websites.

After approval by the gov-ernment, the proposed cur-rency plan would have to be passed by parliament and ap-proved by the clerical body that vets legislation before it takes effect.

Dubai airport’s traffic fallsReuters | Dubai

Dubai International Air-port’s monthly passenger

numbers dropped in Novem-ber, leaving the world’s busiest airport for international trav-ellers needing a record month to meet its full-year target.

The number of passengers using the airport fell 0.8 per-cent to 6.9 million in Novem-ber, said operator Dubai Air-ports yesterday.

For the first 11 months of the

year, 81.4 million passengers have used the airport, up 1.3 percent.

That means the airport needs a record 8.9 million passengers in December to meet its previously stat-ed full-year target of 90.3 million.

The highest number of pas-sengers to travel through Du-bai airport in a single month was 8.37 million in August 2018.

Philippine court orders arrest of Japanese casino mogul Okada

Reuters | Manila

A Philippine court has ordered the arrest of

Japanese pachinko billion-aire Kazuo Okada, about a month after the country’s Department of Justice rec-ommended the filing of charges against him over three counts of fraud.

The DOJ has found cause to indict Okada for three counts of swindling after he acquired “through mis-take or fraud” $3.15 million (£2.5 million) in salary and consultancy fees during his tenure as chief executive of Manila casino operator Tiger Resort.

Okada had filed a motion for reconsideration at the DOJ, dismissing the accusa-tions against him as base-less.

Judge Rolando How of the Paranaque City Regional Trial Court Branch 257 or-dered the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to present Okada to court. The warrant of arrest was issued on Friday and made public on Sunday.

Okada last year was oust-ed as chairman of Tiger Re-sort’s parent, the Japanese gaming group Universal En-tertainment Corp (6425.T), after Universal’s board ac-cused him of misappropri-ating $20 million.

Kazuo Okada

13 MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

BACKTRACE (PG-15) (CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER) NEW *- SYLVESTER STALLONE, RYAN GUZMAN,

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + 11.30 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 PM + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)SEEF (II) DAILY AT: (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 +

9.30 + 11.45 PM SAAR DAILY AT: 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + (11.30 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM

THE SISTERS BROTHER (15+) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW *- JOHN C. REILLY, JOAQUIN PHOENIX, JAKE

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 3.30 + 8.30 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MNSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 2.30 + 7.00 + 11.30 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + (11.15 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.45 + 6.15 + 11.45 PM

KGF (PG-15) (HINDI/ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA) NEW*- YASH, SRINIDHI SHETTY, RAMACHANDRA

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM

THATTUM PURATH ACHUTHAN (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW*- KUNCHACKO BOBAN, NEDUMUDI VENU

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM

5-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) *- JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PM OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (VIP): 10.30 AM + 1.30 + 4.30 + 7.30 + 10.30 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT (ATMOS): 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00 MNCITYCENTRE DAILY AT (VIP I): 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT (VIP II): 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT (IMAX 3D): 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)SAAR DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 5.30 + (11.30 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00 MN

SIMMBA (PG-15) (HINDI/ACTION/COMEDY/DRAMA)*- RANVEER SINGH, AJAY DEVGN, SARA ALI

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.00+ 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00 MNSAAR DAILY AT: 2.30 + 8.30 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PM

MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G) (ADVENTURE/MUSICAL/FAMILY)

EMILY BLUNT, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA,

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.15 + 5.00 + 7.45 + 10.30 PMDAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 12.30 NOONCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MNSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00+ 11.45 PMSAAR DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + (11.00 PM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY)

JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOTOASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 3.00 + 7.45 PMCITYCENTRE DAILAY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 + 8.00 + 10.15 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM

ZERO (PG-15) (HINDI/DRAMA/ROMANTIC)

SHAH RUKH KHAN, ANUSHKA SHARMA,

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 5.00 + 10.45 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 3.00 + 8.30 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 3.15 + 8.45 PM

BUMBLEBEE (PG-13) (ACTION /ADVENTURE/SCI-FICTION)*- HAILEE STEINFELD, JOHN CENA, JORGE

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 1.00 + 6.00 + 11.00 PMCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM

SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) *- HAILEE STEINFELD, NICOLAS CAGE,

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 5.15 + 10.00 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PM

THOMAS & FRIENDS: BIG WORLD! BIG ADVENTURES! THE MOVIE (G) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE) NEW*-DONA ADWERA, PETER ANDRE

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 10.45 AM CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM

JOSEPH (PG-15) (MALAYALAM) *- JOJU GEORGE, MALAVIKA MENON

OASIS JUFFAIR DAILY AT: 2.15 + 8.00 PM

3-THE CLEANING LADY (18+) (THRILLER/HORROR) NEW *- ALEXIS KENDRA, STELIO SAVANTE,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 1.30 + 5.30 + 9.30 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 3.30 + 7.30 + 11.30 PM

4-PROSPECT (15+) (THRILLER/SCI-FICTION) NEW *- SOPHIE THATCHER, PEDRO PASCAL

CITYCENTRE DAILAY AT: 11.45 AM + 3.45 + 7.45 + 11.45 PM

SEEF (II) DAILAY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 5.00 + 9.30 PM WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 1.30 + 5.30 + 9.30 PM

DEAD IN A WEEK: OR YOUR MONEY BACK (15+) (COMEDY/CRIME) NEW *- TOM WILKINSON, ANEURIN BARNARD,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 3.30 + 7.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 2.45 + 7.00 + 11.15 PM

MIA AND THE WHITE LION (PG-13) (ADVENTURE/DRAMA/FAMILY) NEW *- DANIAH DE VILLIERS, MELANIE LAURENT,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 3.30 + 7.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT: 1.00 + 5.15 + 9.30 PMAL HAMRA DAILY AT: 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE) *- ROWAN ATKINSON, OLGA KURYLENKO,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 + 6.30 + 8.30 + 10.30 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)

HUNTER KILLER (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) *- GERARD BUTLER, GARY OLDMAN,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 6.00 + 11.30 PM

EL BADLAH (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY)

*- TAMER HOSNY, AKRAM HOSNI, MAJED EL MASRY, AMINA KHALILCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I) DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 + 4.45 + 6.45 + 8.45 + 10.45 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)

CREED II (PG-13) (DRAMA/ACTION/SPORT) *- TESSA THOMPSON, MICHAEL B. JORDAN,

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM

ROBIN HOOD (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE)

*- TARON EGERTON, EVE HEWSON, JAMIE FOXXCITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM

THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE (18+) (THRILLER/HORROR) *- SHAY MITCHELL, STANA KATIC, LOUIS HERTHUM

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 1.45 + 5.45 + 9.45 PM

SECOND ACT (PG-15) (COMEDY) *- JENNIFER LOPEZ, VANESSA HUDGENS, MILO VENTIMIGLIA

CITYCENTRE DAILY AT: 1.30 + 5.30 + 9.30 PM

GIRLS OF THE SUN (18+) (KURDISH/FRENCH/WAR) NEW*- GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI, EMMANUELLE

SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 4.45 + 9.00 PM

AURORA (15+) (FILIPINO/HORROR/DRAMA) NEW *- ANNE CURTIS, MERCEDES CABRAL,

SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 3.00 + 7.15 + 11.30 PM

Bradley Cooper feared failing miserablyIANS | Los Angeles

Hollywood star Bradley Cooper says he was worried his directorial debut “A Star Is Born” would “fail miserably”.

“I was just hoping that I wouldn’t fail misera-bly. It’s vulnerable, you know, writing, co-writ-ing, telling a story and directing it. I mean I had no idea what was going to happen,” Cooper told etonline.com.

He added: “I just knew that I had to try. So, the fact that it has been well received, I just want

savour it.”Cooper teamed up with

pop star Lady Gaga for the film “A Star Is Born”.

He said he would be keen to turn the film into a Broadway show.

Asked about the pos-sibility, he said: “Yeah, that would be a great idea. I mean, we have the music!”

BSB spend quality time with families in video of ‘No place’IANS | Los Angeles

Backstreet Boys have un-veiled the music video of

their new track “No place”. The video centers around the im-portance of family, as the pop group is shown playing with their children and spending time with their wives.

There are many sweet mo-ments, including the band’s old-est member Kevin Richardson roasting marshmallows with his children, AJ McLean danc-ing around with his daughters, Nick Carter reading to his son and Brian Littrell cooking with his wife and son while they all sing along, reports billboard.com.

T h e l y r i c “ T h e re a i n ’ t no place, ain’t

no place like you” repeats in the chorus, explaining that de-spite all the cities and sights, Backstreet Boys have visited across the globe, nothing com-pares to being with the ones

they love.The single is from their up-

coming album “DNA”. It is the pop group’s 10th studio album and will be released on Janu-ary 25.

Backstreet Boys

Streaming has changed films for better: Sandra BullockIANS | Los Angeles

Actress Sandra Bull-ock, who stars in Net-

flix’s acclaimed thriller “Bird Box”, believes that “streaming has elevated the bar” in terms of op-portunities for actors.

“Cinema is not going anywhere, streaming has

elevated the bar. Before, if you were a superhero,

you were able to get a mov-ie made; anything else was

not getting made. Now, with streaming, we have all kinds of work available,” Bullock told The I Paper.

She added: “The movie busi-ness is changing, and provid-ing so many more opportuni-ties for women and for people of colour.”

The “Ocean’s 8” star went on to explain that she feels the in-

dustry is changing in all ways and said she saw a notable difference

in attitudes towards women before and after filming the all-female heist flick, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She said: “We started that film before #MeToo and we ended it during. I saw a noticeable difference.”

Despite changing atti-tudes, the “Proposal” ac-tress also noticed a differ-ence while filming “Bird Box” due to the presence of a female director, Susanne Bier.

The spine-chill-ing drama fol-lows a pregnant woman in a d y s t o p i -an future, w h e r e p e o p l e are forced t o w e a r blindfolds to avoid wit-nessing their biggest fears.

Kutcher wanted to donate heart to twin brother

IANS | Los Angeles

Actor Ashton Kutcher wanted to give his own

heart to his twin brother Michael when he needed a transplant at the age of 13.

Michael, who is living with cerebral palsy, a per-

manent movement disor-der, has said he has “deep apprecia-tion” for Ashton, as he was willing to give up his own life to save Michael, before another suitable donor was

found, reports femalefirst.co.uk.Recalling the “That 70s Show” alum’s gener-

osity, Michael said: “It’s just ... I can’t find the words. It’s a connection that you can’t explain. In all seriousness, we’re just very connected... It’s an honour or deep appreciation and a deep love for someone who would sacrifice that for you. I really can’t put words to it.”

Ashton had once said that Michael taught him people are not all created equally. But Mi-chael insists he doesn’t want people to “feel sorry” for him, because he doesn’t think he got “the wrong end of the stick” by being born differently.

Bradley Cooper

Sandra Bullock

Ashton Kutcher

India force rare Australia follow-on Rain, bad light delay India’s quest for 3-1 after Kuldeep five-for in Sydney

• Australia 300 all out and 6/0 following on at stumps on day four, still 316 runs behind India

• Less than 30 overs were bowled on Day 4 as rain and bad light combined to call an end to India’s onlsaught on the Australian lineup

• India’s Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers with 5-99, before the visitors forced Australia to follow on

AFP | Sydney

A ruthless India took a stranglehold on the fourth and final Test in

Sydney yesterday, mopping up Australia’s tail and forcing them to follow on at home for the first time in 30 years.

Play started almost four hours late due to rain, with the home team resuming on 236 for six after lunch in reply to India’s thumping first innings 622 for seven declared.

But Australia crumbled to 300 all out, compounding the misery after some soft dismissals by the top order on Saturday as they stare down the barrel of defeat.

Skipper Virat Kohli sent them straight back into bat -- the first time Australia have been asked

to follow on at home since Mike Gatting’s England did the same in 1988, also in Sydney.

Marcus Harris, not out two, and Usman Khawaja, unbeaten on four, survived four overs be-fore tea was taken early for bad light. They didn’t come back with play abandoned for the day.

India’s spinners had picked up five of the six wickets on Saturday, but under overcast skies when play finally began on day four Kohli took the new ball straight away and threw it to his quicks.

It immediately paid dividends with all-rounder Pat Cummins, who scored a gutsy 63 in the Melbourne Test, lasting just three balls, clean bowled by Mo-hammed Shami without adding to his overnight 25.

The recalled Peter Hand-scomb began with purpose, confidently stroking two bound-aries to move to 37 before swip-ing at a Jasprit Bumrah delivery

and dragging it onto his stumps.That brought Nathan Lyon to

the crease but he only lasted five balls, out lbw to a full toss from Kuldeep Yadav.

Hanuma Vihari dropped a sit-ter when Josh Hazlewood was on nought, and it proved costly with the tailender putting on 42 with Mitchell Starc for the last wicket before he fell to Yadav, who was the pick of the bowlers with 5-99.

India lead the four-Test se-ries 2-1 and only need a draw

to clinch a first-ever series win Down Under, with Kohli’s men on the cusp of doing something no Indian team has managed since they began touring Aus-tralia in 1947-48.

It would be a deserved accom-plishment with their batsmen -- spearheaded by stoic number three Cheteshwar Pujara -- a class above, and their bowlers brutally exposing Australia’s weaknesses.

So far in Sydney, none of Aus-tralia’s batsmen have managed to put together the marathon innings needed, with Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine all out in the first innings to poor shots.

Harris’ breezy 79 -- remarka-bly the highest score by an Aus-tralian the entire series -- was the exception.

14

sports


India first innings 622-7 declared (C. Pujara 193, R. Pant 159 no, R Jadeja 81; N. Lyon 4-178)Australia 1st innings (overnight 236-6)M. Harris b Jadeja 79U. Khawaja c Pujara b K. Yadav 27Labuschagne c Rahane b Shami 38S. Marsh c Rahane b Jadeja 8T. Head c & b K. Yadav 20 P. Handscomb b Bumrah 37T. Paine b Yadav 5P. Cummins b Shami 25M. Starc not out 29N. Lyon lbw Yadav 0J. Hazlewood b Yadav 21 Extras (b4, lb2, w5) 11Total (10 wickets, 104.5 overs) 300

Australia 2nd inningsM. Harris not out 2 U. Khawaja not out 4Extras 0Total (0 wickets, 4 overs) 6

at Seef District too

Um al Hassan +973 17728699 Seef District +973 17364999

Australia’s batsman Nathan Lyon (C) is bowled LBW by India’s Kuldeep Yadav, as India’s wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (R) looks on

KNOW

BETTER

India lead the four-Test series 2-1 with wins in

Adelaide and Melbourne

Goerges beats teen sensation Andreescu to retain Auckland crown

AFP | Auckland, New Zealand

Julia Goerges drew on her experience to retain the

WTA Auckland Classic title yesterday as she came from a set down to end the stunning run of Canadian teen sensation Bianca Andreescu.

There were tears from the 30-year-old German in an emotional celebration who took the match 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 with the final point coming when an Andreescu forehand went into the net.

“This win means a lot to me because not everything was working well in the be-ginning,” said the 30-year-old Goerges who needed all her experience and patience to recover from being down 4-5 in the second set after losing the first.

“I used my experience today and really went for it in the important moments. My coach came at 5-4 and helped me find some solutions,” she said.

The ice-cool Andreescu had stunned the tennis world dur-ing the week having arrived in Auckland ranked 152nd and needing to play in the quali-fying tournament to make the main draw.

The 18-year-old then beat three top 50 players on her way to her first WTA final in-

cluding former world number ones Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams.

Her form continued into the final when she raced through the first set and recovered from an early service break in the second to lead 5-4 when her concentration wavered.

“A 5-4 in the second set it was really hard for me to stay in the moment. I was ‘oh my god I’m one game away from winning this tournament’,” Andreescu said.

“But Julia dominated from that point.”

Andreescu broke every serve by Goerges in the first set, at one stage leading 4-0 before dropping her own serve twice.

But the wily Goerges, 30, was not finished, and the mo-mentum began to shift when she broke the Canadian at the start of the second set.

Although she dropped her own serve at 4-4, Goerges gathered herself to break An-dreescu again at 5-5 and held serve to take the set.

She broke three more times in the decider to claim her 15th WTA title.

Although the final set was all Goerges the German said Andreescu deserved praise for the way she had played in only her fourth WTA tournament.

Julia Goerges of Germany hits a return

Sports day meeting setTDT | Manama

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant sec-

retary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) sec-retary general Abdulrahman Askar will chair the first pre-paratory meeting for the third edition of Bahrain Sports Day at Regency Hotel in Manama.

Askar, the organizing com-mittee chairman, will speak

to representatives of national sports federations as well as from different ministries and the private sector, in which he will present detailed back-ground on the previous two editions of the event.

On their part, the Informa-tion Affairs Ministry its own media plan to cover the activ-ities of the 2019 Bahrain Sports Day, which has been scheduled for February 13.

World No.1 Halep fit and rested after back injuryAFP | Sydney

World number one Si-mona Halep yesterday

admitted a back injury that ended her 2018 season early was “very scary”, but she has recovered and is feeling fit heading into the new season.

The Romanian hasn’t played since withdrawing from the WTA Finals in Singapore in October with a herniated disc, and said she did nothing for six weeks to get over it.

“It was very scary because it was below the back, so it’s always dangerous. But I had treatment at home, I rested for about six weeks and I did nothing, just exercises for the back,” she told reporters ahead of the Sydney International this week.

“I didn’t have pain while I was practising this period, off-season. So now I feel confi-dent and it’s okay. But I need to

see during the official match.“I feel relaxed, I feel rested, I

feel healthy with the back. But as I said, I didn’t play a match yet so I don’t know for sure how it’s going to be.”

The early finish to 2018 was a disappointing end to a spec-tacular season, which saw the 27-year-old secure the year-end number one ranking for the second year running.

Simona Halep of Romania hits a return against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during their women’s singles third round match of the WTA Wuhan Open

TransFast edge BullsTDT | Manama

SNCS TransFast defeated Bulls in CBA Division D T-20

league match.Transfast won the toss and

elected to bat first. Openers returned with few runs and then Shakeel (65) scored a bril-liant half century and was well supported by Anu (29) which helped Transfast to score 150 runs at the end of 20 overs. Chasing the target, Transfast bowlers tidy bowling spells restricted Bulls for 86 runs and won the by 64 runs. Shyju took two wickets for Transfasst

Brief Score: SNCS Transfast 150/7 in 20 overs (Shakeel 65, Binoy 2/29) beat Bulls 86/10 (Binoy 14, Shyju 2/14) by 64 runs

Other match scoresAlpha Fire Bahrain 165/9

in 20 overs (Thilina 47, Rafeq 3/22) beat Bharath Legends 90/9 (Santhosh 32, Isuru 2/15) by 75 runs

Hempel Paints 155/7 in 20

overs (Bilal 27, Yogi 2/20) beat Lantern Lions 69/8 (Gautam 17, Balli 2/9, Ahmed 2/11) by 86 runs

Modest XI 101/4 in 16.1 overs (Siby 44, Wilson 2/31) beat COLTS 100/10 (Disbin 30, Ali 2/2, ) by 6 wickets

TISCA stars 125/0 in 12 overs (Bharni 78, Omer 39) beat RUCT 122/6 (Arjun 37, Omer 2/11) by 10 wickets

Kooheji Contractor 95/10 (Vaseem 23, Neeraj 4/21) beat Indian Super Kings 68/8 (Rat-nesh 17, Khan 2/14) by 27 runs

Cebarco CC 136/4 in 18.5 overs (Saravanan 48, Vijay 39) beat Rising Star 131/10 (Poly 36, Laxman 3/14, Iqbal 3/20) by 6 wickets

Challengers 130/6 in 20 overs (Shan .F 27, Majid 2/20) beat Masters CC 129/10 (Sharafudeen 36, Shan .F 3/16, Kishor 3/3) by 1 runs

Fog Printing 137/7 in 20 overs (Vijil 22, Chris 3/23) beat GT Abdulaal 80/10 (Chris 16, Hardeep 3/21) by 57 runs.


Man City score seven in FA Cup strollCallum Lang heads late winner as League Two Oldham humble Fulham

• Phil Foden helps merciless Manchester City put Rotherham to the sword

AFP | London

Premier League champi-ons Manchester City be-gan their FA Cup campaign

with a 7-0 thrashing of Rother-ham yesterday but Fulham, bat-tling to avoid relegation from the Premier League, were beaten 2-1 by fourth-tier Oldham.

Barnet ensured there would be a non-league presence in the fourth round with a 1-0 win away to second-tier Champion-ship club Sheffield United.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola may have made eight changes from the team that beat Premier League leaders Liver-pool on Thursday but still field-ed a strong side for the visit of Championship club Rotherham, with Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus all starting as playmaker Kevin De Bruyne returned from injury.

De Bruyne played in Sterling for a 12th-minute opener and City then scored twice in the closing stages of the first half.

Phil Foden, the England Un-der-21 international, got on the end of a cross from Ilkay Gun-dogan in the 43rd minute before Rotherham defender Semi Ajayi turned the ball into his own net.

Jesus made it 4-0 early in

the second half before Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane added further goals.

Denis Odoi put Fulham ahead in the 52nd minute at Craven Cottage but Sam Sturridge drew Oldham level with a penalty before Callum Lang’s header two minutes from time sealed a comeback win.

Daniel Iversen compounded Fulham’s misery by saving an Aleksandar Mitrovic penalty just moments earlier.

Elsewhere, Barnet beat Cham-pionship high-flyers Sheffield United thanks to Shaquile Coul-

thirst’s 21st-minute penalty.Watford manager Javi Gracia

changed his entire starting side from the team that drew 3-3 at Bournemouth, with Venezue-la forward Adalberto Penaran-da making his Hornets debut against non-league Woking.

But hopes of Woking, 110 plac-es adrift of the Hornets, enjoying a shock win suffered a setback when Will Hughes curled in a 13th-minute shot from the edge of the area.

Watford made it 2-0 16 min-utes from time when Troy Deeney scored from close range.

Millwall came from a goal down to beat Championship ri-vals Hull 2-1, substitute Shane Ferguson scoring twice inside the closing eight minutes.

QPR beat Championship lead-ers Leeds by the same scoreline, Jake Bidwell scoring a 75th-min-ute winner for the west London club.

Fourth-tier Newport County are at home to Premier League Leicester in yesterday’s 1630 GMT kick-off.

On Saturday, FA Cup holders Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in what

seems certain to have been Cesc Fabregas’s final match for the Blues.

It was the same scoreline as Manchester United beat Read-ing to make it five wins out of five under caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Arsenal, the record 13-times FA Cup winners, won 3-0 at Blackpool, West Ham beat Bir-mingham 2-0 but Everton had to work hard to see off Lincoln 2-1.

Saturday also saw Champion-ship club Bristol City beat top-flight basement club Hudders-field 1-0.

Elsewhere, in an all-Premier

League clash, Brighton won 3-1 away to south coast rivals Bournemouth.

Second division Derby, man-aged by former England mid-fielder Frank Lampard, came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Premier League strugglers Southampton.

Newcastle were also held to a draw, 1-1 against second-tier Blackburn.

Premier League leaders Liver-pool will complete a third round that started with Tottenham’s 7-0 thrashing of Tranmere on Friday when they travel to top-flight rivals Wolves on Monday.

Man City score seven in FA Cup stroll

English Premier LeagueFulham 1 - 2 Oldham Athletic

Manchester City 7 - 0 Rotherham United

Millwall 2 - 1 Hull City

Preston North End 1 - 3 Doncaster Rovers

Queens Park Rangers 2 - 1 Leeds United

Sheffield United 0 - 1 Barnet

Woking 0 - 2 Watford

Newport County 1 - 0 Leicester City

Spanish La LigaEibar 0 - 0 Villarreal

Sevilla 1 - 1 Atletico de Madrid

Asia CupAustralia 0 - 1 Jordan

Thailand 1 - 4 India

Syria 0 - 0 Palestine*Scores as of closing

Bahrain excel in Arab Cross Country Championships

TDT | Manama

Bahrain National Athletics Team has won the first

place in the teams category at the 23rd Arab Cross Country Championships that conclud-ed recently in Jordan.

Team members Albert Rob and John Koech also won the first and second places re-spectively in the men’s singles competition while Winfred Mutile Yav and Ponito Idao Robeto came in the second and third places in the women’s contest.

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Ham-ad Al Khalifa praised the achievement attained by Bah-rain National Athletics Team members in the championship and commended on their high and professional performance shown in the race

The First Deputy Chairman

of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the West Asian Athletics Fed-eration and President of Bah-rain Athletics Association also congratulated the Leadership the occasion of the achieve-ment.

“The Bahraini athletics sports continue achieving re-markable results in regional, intercontinental and interna-tional championships and con-tests. Bahraini athletes have overcome all the challenges in order to promote the King-dom in international sports arenas as an incubator of ex-cellent professional athletes. This is the first international participation for the team in 2019 and we are optimistic and look forward for more victo-ries throughout the next 12 months,” HH Shaikh Khalid said.

Bahrain’s Team after being crowned champions

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) member Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa in a meeting with Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Ayman Tawfiq Al Moayyed. Shaikha Hayat commended the results of the meeting which was conducted to boost women’s sports in Bahrain by activating her role within national sports clubs. Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar was also present

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar receives a copy of the calendar from Head of Banking Services at NFH Ali Rida. Askar praised the pioneering role of National Finance House (NFH) in supporting all community programs, especially the youth and sports sectors

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar receives a shield from international Bahraini football referee Nawaf Shukralla. Askar noted the efforts of Shukralla in all past competitions

Federer, Kerber cautious on new Aus Open tie-break ruleAFP | Perth

Star players Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber have

cautiously welcomed new tie-break rules for the deciding set at the Australian Open.

The year’s opening Grand Slam, starting January 14, will for the first time feature an extended tie-break in the final set when the score reaches 6-6, rather than a traditional full set.

To win the decisive tie-break,

a player will need to be the first to 10 with an advantage of at least two points.

The move means all four Slams now use different rules, with only the French Open holding off from introducing a

tie-break in the decider.Speaking earlier this week,

Federer -- who said he had been asked for his opinion on the change by tournament officials -- admitted marathon final sets would be missed by some.

India claim big win at Asian Cup• Socceroos stunned by Jordan as Asian Cup defence gets off to nightmare start

• India off to a stupendous start as the ‘Blue Tigers’ maul Thailand 4-1

AFP | Al-Ain

Australia made a horror start to their title defence and unfancied India

stunned Thailand on a day of up-sets at the Asian Cup yesterday.

The Socceroos had expect-ed to make short work of Jor-dan but Graham Arnold’s men slumped 1-0 in their worst start in four visits to the tournament.

Later, India also sprang a sur-prise when they thrashed Thai-land 4-1 to top Group A, after the 1-1 draw between hosts UAE and Bahrain in the tournament opener on Saturday.

Australia are targeting their third straight final but the Soc-ceroos failed to score despite en-

joying 76 percent of possession against Jordan.

Coach Graham Arnold said he was confident of a quick re-covery in the remaining Group B games against Palestine and Syria.

“If you’re going to lose a game, it ’s better to lose your first game,” Arnold said.

“It’s a wake-up call... it’s all about where we can improve. We’ll get over it very quickly.”

Jordan celebrated wildly with their travelling supporters in Al Ain after Anas Bani-Yaseen’s first-half header was enough to beat the defending champions in Al Ain.

Coach Vital Borkelmans said his players successfully targeted Australia’s midfielders Massimo

Luongo and Mark Milligan, and exploited the space left by their advancing backs.

“I told them today, ‘God gave you something’, and today they were playing for the people of

Jordan,” said Borkelmans. “They were running like they

had three lungs,” he added.Australia had an early warn-

ing when Brighton ‘keeper Mat Ryan had to keep out Yousef

Rawashdeh at his near post after Luongo was dispossessed.

Jordan’s goal came from a corner on 26 minutes, when defender Bani-Yaseen put a thumping header into the top

corner, prompting jubilation in the strongly pro-Jordan crowd.

Ryan kept Australia in it when he tipped Baha Abdelrahman’s free kick onto the bar, and while Australia improved in the sec-ond half, they couldn’t find a way through.

Celtic’s Tom Rogic scooped an inviting shot over and Awer Ma-bil hit the post, before Jordan’s Amer Shafi pulled off a superb double stop in the final action of the game.

In Abu Dhabi, veteran striker Sunil Chhetri scored twice as India unexpectedly thumped Thailand to make a rip-roaring start to their campaign.

Chhetri smashed home from the penalty spot after 27 min-utes before Thai captain Teerasil Dangda’s header from a Theera-thon Bunmathan free kick made it 1-1.

But Chhetri drilled his sec-ond moments into the second half following a lung-bursting run down the right from Udanta Singh.

Anirudh Thapa chipped in India’s third in the 68th minute before substitute Lalpekhlua Jeje completed the rout to leave India as unlikely group leaders.


66goals have been scored by Sunil Chhetri that helped him go past Lionel Messi and

become second highest scorer behind Cristiano

Ronaldo

Thailand’s defender Chalermpong Kerdkaew (R) fights for the ball with India’s forward Sunil Chhetri

Nishikori, Pliskova crowned Brisbane champsAFP | Brisbane

Japan’s Kei Nishikori over-came Daniil Medvedev in

the Brisbane International final yesterday for his first ATP title in nearly three years and the 12th of his career.

Last year’s finalist Nishikori, who prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-2, won 70 percent of points on his first serve and converted five out of 15 break point opportunities to snap a nine-match losing streak in finals.

“This week was one of the best for me,” Nishikori, who beat Denis Kudla, Grigor Dim-itrov and Jeremy Chardy this week, said.

“I’ve never had a week like this to start the season, so it

gives me a lot of confidence.”World number nine Nishikori

started slowly, trailing 3-0 in the opening set but responded in typically determined fash-

ion to win six of the next seven games for an early advantage.

Medvedev saved four break points to take a 3-2 lead in the second set before dragging the match into a decider but his op-ponent, who lost their previous meeting in last year’s Tokyo fi-nal, was not to be denied again.

Breaking Medvedev for a 3-1 lead in the third set, Nishikori held firm to seal the match in a little more than two hours for his first trophy since winning in Memphis in February 2016.

“Great final today, I lost to him last year in the final in Ja-pan, so I’m happy to get revenge today,” Nishikori added.

“I’m happy that finally I’ve won this title, it’s been seven or eight times at this tournament.”

Japan’s Kei Nishikori celebrates with the trophy after winning the final against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev

South Africa ease to series clinching victory over PakistanReuters | Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa reeled off their modest victory target of 41

runs early on the fourth day of the second test against Paki-stan to clinch the series with a comprehensive nine-wicket triumph at Newlands yesterday.

Opener Dean Elgar scored an unbeaten 24 as the home side added to their victory in Pretoria last month and will be looking to sweep the series in the third match at the Wander-ers in Johannesburg, starting on Friday.

The Proteas will have con-cerns over their top-order batting, however, with opener Aiden Markram not taking to the crease in the second innings with a severely bruised right thigh and Hashim Amla retiring hurt after he was struck on the bicep.

Added to that, middle-order

batsman Theunis de Bruyn, deputising for Markram at the top of the order, continued his poor run when he was the only wicket to fall, caught by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed off seamer Mohammed Abbas for four.

“We played very well,” South Africa captain Faf du Plessis,

who was also named man of the match for a first-innings century, said at the post-match presentation.

“There is always something in the wicket here at Newlands and you need to be on form with the bat. We know if we get runs on the board, our bowlers will do the rest.”

South African batsman Dean Elgar (L) celebrates after South Africa won