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

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019 / ZUL HIJJAH 22-23, 1440 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17161 24 PAGES 150 FILS

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Pages 22 & 24

TEHRAN SAYS TALKS USELESS IN DEALING WITH U.S.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a cer-emony on Thursday unveiled the indigenous Bavar-373 missile defense system, FARS news agency reported. The unveiling ceremony was held in Tehran on the occasion of National De-fense Industry Day on Aug 22. Bavar-373, with a range of 200 kms and a height of 27 kms,

is known as the Iranian S-300 of Russia. Ac-cording to the president’s order, Bavar-373 joined Iran’s air defense system Thursday. The agency quoted Defense Minister Colonel Amir Hatemi as saying that this new missile system would be used against any air targets at high altitudes. (AP)

A Marine Heritage Committee member watches approaching sailboats at the shores of Kuwait Sea Club. – Ahmad Darwish-KUNA

Dangerous confessions from ‘cell’KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: The eight members of the Muslim Brotherhood cell who were arrested in Kuwait upon a request of the Egyptian Inter-pol and deported to Egypt at the re-quest of the Egyptian government are said to have made ‘dangerous con-fessions’ and revealed the names of terrorist elements operating in three Egyptian governorates of Al-Beheira, Al-Fayoum and Dakahlia, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting Egyptian secu-rity sources.

The source pointed out that one of the elements is said to have admitted in detail how the network transferred money from Kuwait without having access to the exchange companies and banks in Kuwait and Egypt which af-fected the Egyptian economy before Egypt took decision to fl oat the pound.

The sources stressed that the inves-tigations with members of the Kuwait cell headed by Abu Bakr al-Fayoumi have dropped a bombshell by revealing they were in contact with the ‘Brothers’ of Yemen, and that Al-Fayoumi was in contact with one of the members last April.

The cell leader admitted that he planned to travel to Turkey to meet the Brotherhood members to receive infor-mation – according to his confessions – about the Egyptians and Tunisians living in Kuwait. He said the goal was to recruit as many of them as possible to join the group.

Al-Fayoumi confirmed he was about to migrate to Turkey and not return to Kuwait again and that the members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey were in contact to hire spe-cific elements to work in the field of charity.

The cell members revealed one of the Egyptians, identifi ed only as Ayman T., joined the group and then left Kuwait for Turkey and from there to Syria to join the terrorist organizations.

‘Grace not headed for Greece’

TEHRAN, Iran, Aug 22, (Agencies): Iran’s president struck a muscular tone on dealings with the US, saying Thursday that “talks are useless” as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers crumbles further.

President Hassan Rouhani made the comment in a speech in Tehran during the unveiling of the Bavar-373, a long-range surface-to-air missile system that he described as an improvement to the Russian S-300.

Iran opens to French N-deal proposal

Militia revisesUS accusation

UN warns of severe aid cuts

US confirms Yemen drone lossWASHINGTON, Aug 22, (Agencies): US Secretary of Defense Mark Es-per confirmed that the US did lose an MQ-9 over Yemen.

In his first interview since assuming post, Esper told Fox network “we did lose an MQ-9 over Yemen and once we determine that and sort out the facts, then we’ll figure out the next steps as appropriate.”

Meanwhile, National Security Coun-cil (NSC) spokesperson Garrett Mar-quis said in a statement that President Donald Trump has been briefed.

“This attack is only possible because of Iran’s lethal aid to the Houthis and serves as yet another example of the regime’s relentless efforts to escalate conflict and threaten regional stability,” Marquis stressed.

The US Central Command (CENT-COM) said Wednesday it is “investi-gating reports of an attack by Iranian-backed Houthi forces on a US unmanned aerial system (UAS) operating in autho-rized airspace over Yemen.”

Forces of Coalition Supporting Le-gitimacy in Yemen intercepted and shot down on Thursday two drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia from Amran province towards the Kingdom.

Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman of the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, said that the coalition forces man-aged to intercept two drones launched by the Houthi militias from Amran province towards Khamis Mushait.

Colonel Al-Maliki pointed out that all attempts by Houthi militia are doomed to fail and the coalition takes all operational procedures to deal with

these aircraft to protect civilians, and that repeated attempts reflect the de-spair of the terrorist militia and those behind them.

The UN humanitarian chief in Ye-men warned Wednesday that unless significant new funding is received in the coming weeks, food rations for 12 million people in the war-torn country will be reduced and at least 2.5 million malnourished children will be cut off from life-saving services.

Lise Grande said the UN was forced to suspend most vaccination campaigns in May, and without new money a “staggering” 22 life-saving programs in Yemen will close in the next two months.

At a UN pledging conference in Feb-ruary, donors pledged $2.6 billion to meet the urgent needs of more than 20 million Yemenis, but Grande said that to date, less than half the amount has been received.

“When money doesn’t come, people die,” she said in a statement Wednes-day.

The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sa-naa, by Iran-backed Houthi Shiite reb-els who control much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led coalition that in-cludes the United Arab Emirates allied with Yemen’s internationally recog-nized government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015. The fighting in the Arab world’s poorest country has killed thousands of civilians and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and push-ing the country to the brink of famine.

BAGHDAD, Aug 22, (AP): The head of Iraq’s paramilitary Shiite forces supported by Iran on Thursday walked back a statement by his deputy the day before in which he blamed Is-raeli drones and held the US re-sponsible for a series of attacks on bases run by the militia.

Faleh al-Fayyadh said the statement by his deputy, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, did not represent the view of the main-ly Shiite paramilitary group known as Popular Mobilization Forces – or the view of the Iraqi government. Al-Fayyadh’s statement alleged the attacks on the bases over the past weeks “were the result of an act orga-nized by a foreign side,” but re-frained from naming that side.

The statements highlight divisions within the militia force, which is headed by al-Fayyadh but practically run by his deputy, a powerful military commander known for his anti-American sentiments. The mi-litia group’s website published only al-Muhandis’ statement on Thursday.

Iraq’s fragile government is walking a fine line trying to manage its alliances with both the United States and Iran amid rising tensions between the two.

Iran wields powerful influ-ence through its support of the militias, which are sanctioned by the Iraqi government and which were a major force in the fight against the Islamic State group.

“Now that our enemies do not accept logic, we cannot respond with logic,” Rouhani said in the televised speech.

He added: “When the enemy launches a missile against us, we cannot give a speech and say: ‘Mr Rocket, please do not hit our country and our innocent people. Rocket-launching sir, if you can please hit a button and self-de-stroy the missile in the air.’”

On Wednesday, Iran’s state TV reported that the Bavar-373 is able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and con-front them with six different weapons.

Since 1992, Iran has devel-oped a homegrown defense industry that has produced light and heavy weapons ranging from mortars and torpedoes to tanks and submarines.

Iran is prepared to work on French proposals to salvage the international nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015 but it will not tolerate US interference in the Gulf, its foreign minister said on Thursday.

In an effort to prop up the agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Wednesday to either soften sanctions on Iran or provide a compensation mechanism “to enable the Iranian people to live better” in return for full compliance with the pact.

Iranian Foreign Minis-ter Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking at the Norwegian In-stitute of International Affairs, said he was looking forward to having a serious conversation with Macron in Paris on Friday.

“There are proposals on the table, both from the French and the Iranian side, and we are go-ing to work on those proposals tomorrow,” he said

Zarif also warned against US efforts to create a security mis-sion, which so far Britain, Aus-tralia and Bahrain have joined, to guard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital gateway for global oil supplies.

“It’s clear that the US’ in-tention ... (of having a) naval presence in the Arabian Gulf is to counter Iran ... Don’t expect us to remain quiet when some-body comes to our waters and threatens us,” Zarif said.

Several international mer-chant vessels have been attacked in the Gulf in recent months in incidents that have rocked global commodity trading. The United States has blamed Iran, which denies the accusations.

Adding to the fraught mood, British forces seized an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar in July then Iranian Revolutionary Guards detained a British vessel in the Gulf.

In his speech in Oslo, Zarif said Iran would not start a war in the Gulf but it would defend itself.

“Will there be a war in the Arabian Gulf? I can tell you that we will not start the war... but we will defend ourselves.”

An Iranian tanker which the United States wants seized is not heading towards Greece as it sails through the Mediter-ranean, Greek Prime Minister Kyrikos Mitsotakis told France 24 TV on Thursday.

The Adrian Darya, formerly called Grace 1, left Gibraltar on Sunday. Ship-tracking data on Tuesday showed it was heading toward the Greek port of Kal-amata on the southern coast of the Peloponnese and was sched-uled to arrive next Monday.

“The ship is not heading to-wards Greece. We have not re-ceived a request for it to dock in a Greek port,” said Mitsotakis, who was in Paris for a meeting with French President Emma-nuel Macron.

The tanker was detained by Gibraltar after British forces seized it in July on suspi-cion of breaking sanctions on Syria, but it was released on Sunday.

The United States wants to detain it again on the grounds it has links to Iran’s Revolution-ary Guards, which it deems a terrorist organisation.

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Newswatch

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s interna-tional airports are the scene of the latest “fi rst” for women citizens, who can now leave the country with-out permission from a male relative as the Kingdom chips away at its heavily criticised guardianship sys-tem.

Salma, a 40-year-old mother of three, travels abroad regularly with authorisation from her legal guard-ian – formerly her then-husband and now her father. But those rules were cancelled this month, so when she went to Riyadh airport on Thursday, she crossed passport control on her own authority.

“You just feel like you’re human, you’re a complete human,” she told Reuters from the gate. “Not half, not part of, but you’re a complete hu-man.” (RTRS)

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ANKARA: Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Thursday se-curity forces have “neutralized” 635 PKK militants in over 81,000 opera-tions in 2019.

“We have neutralized 635 PKK ‘terrorists’ in 80,570 operations since the start of this year,” Soylu was quoted by Anadolu news agency as telling reporters.

The minister claimed that there is a network giving money, strategy, and psychological support to the PKK. (KUNA)

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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Three Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey near the borders with Syria and Iraq, the local gover-nor’s offi ce said on Thursday.

Three militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were “neutralised” in the fi ghting, the Sirnak governor’s offi ce said in a written statement.

It said the soldiers were maintain-ing security for state energy compa-ny Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) near the town of Silopi in Sirnak when the clash broke out on Wednesday. (RTRS)

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ISTANBUL: Syrian army advanc-es in northwest Syria are putting Turkish troops in the fi ring line and threaten Ankara’s hopes of prevent-ing a new wave of refugees on its southern border.

The offensive around Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, has already forced tens of thousands of civilians to fl ee towards Turkey.

It has also cut off a Turkish mili-tary post deep inside Syria as the deal to limit fi ghting in the region, which the Turkish troops were sup-posed to be monitoring, collapses. (RTRS)

Remittances from Kuwait up 23% by mid-’19KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Bank data reveals a 23 percent jump in remittances from Kuwait by the end of the first half of 2019 or $8.6 bil-lion, compared to $7 billion in the first half of 2018, reports Al-Wasat daily quoting Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed.

According to statistics issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait, remittances during the second quarter increased by 15 percent compared to the first quarter of this year, reaching to $4.6 billion,

compared to $4 billion in the first quarter.The number of expatriate workers in Kuwait

is about 3.4 million, which constitutes about 70.5 percent of the total population of 4.8 mil-lion people.

The Asian countries have remained at the forefront of the list of countries that transfer money from Kuwait, such as India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, while the Arab countries follow topped by Egypt and Lebanon.

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

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16 resignations registered: The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) registered the resignation of 16 employees in the last few days as they moved to the private sector and other governmental bodies due to certain work circumstances, reports Annahar daily quot-ing reliable sources.

Sources revealed this number will increase once the new school year begins; indicating that most of those who resigned cited lack of privileges, cancellation of committees and bonuses, and extension of working hours until 2:30 pm as reasons for their resignation. Sources said the employees explained these circum-stances will affect their children’s study schedule.

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Actor Al-Salal not happy with industry: Actor Ibrahim Al-Salal has announced that he has currently stopped participating in any artistic activity due to dete-rioration of script, direction and performance in the Kuwaiti entertainment industry, reports Al-Rai daily.

He expressed regret over the deterioration of the qual-ity of TV series and drama, insisting that the subjects covered in the works, irrespective of whether they are tragedies or comedies, are not up to par and do not suit the Kuwaiti art.

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Workers Union chief threatens strike: Chairperson of the Workers Union in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Jabber Al-Azmi has threatened that the union will organize a strike at the end of this month if the unified allowance for employees at Kuwait International Airport is not granted and if the union fails to reach an agreement with DGCA officials, reports Al-Anba daily.

He went to say the union took this decision after the DGCA officials closed their doors to the union, in addi-tion to their empty promises.

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MoE prepares training programs: The Devel-opment Department of the Ministry of Education has prepared an administrative plan comprising training pro-grams for the academic year 2019-2020, which consists of 58 programs, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The programs target a segment of the middle classes and administrative, educational, technical and educa-tional functions, including technical directors, heads of departments, science students, engineers, assistants and financial personnel.

News in Brief

‘Practice of extortion linked tosocial media are not over yet’

Investigators busy tracking down fugitives

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: The practice of extor-tion in addition to other accusations linked to ‘Twitter’ and social media users is not over yet, because there are still issues which have not been disclosed, yet issues which contain a lot of hidden secrets about how this network oper-ates, and how its mem-bers continue to black-mail their target, which is usually is either a poli-tician, a parliamentarian or senior officials, reports Al-Rai daily.

These social media users pound their targets with criti-cism, humiliation and other means through multiple accounts, before communicat-ing with them and subjecting them to extortion, which is usually money and sometimes through other means, includ-ing disclosing information, providing them with informa-tion and documents about oth-ers, and placing them on the target list.

Sources disclosed that the investigations are continuing and the ‘men at work’ have yet to uncover the hidden facts and also busy tracking down the fugitives.

The sources disclosed file people are in custody, while a sixth person (believed to be a bedoun) is at large, hiding somewhere in Kuwait. They are charged with incitement and extorting money from a parlia-mentarian.

Some sources said two bedoun also are at large and believed to be living in an European country. They, with those arrested in Kuwait, man-age the same account called ‘Atij al-Messian’, and other accounts for the purpose of extortion.

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22, (KUNA): Al-Shawi is an Arabic-inspired word meaning the shepherd who wandered around the desert for sheep, since Kuwaitis in the past relied on goats and sheep to provide them with milk.

People in Kuwait used to take their sheep to the Shawi every morning to rid of them during the day as to avoid dirt and reduce the expenses of feeding them.

While on this subject, Mohamad Jamal, a Kuwaiti heritage researcher, explained in his book “The Old Crafts, Trades, and Commercial Activities in Kuwait,” that Al-Shawi usually kept sheep in a spacious courtyard to graze outside, located in Kuwait City, in which each Shawi had their own adjacent neigh-borhoods.

Jamal explained that Al-Shawi trans-ported essentials through a bag woven from wool, fixed at the back of the don-key and rode it when walking was tire-some.

Outside of Kuwait springtime, there was a land with grass and water wells where Al-Shawi was spotted sending off the sheep to graze from the grass or bringing water in a large pot for them to drink until the day ends, then at the start of sunset the sheep became full of milk, he added.

Shepherds in the east go behind the Darwazat Al-Buraisi in the area now called Mansouriya, while the shepherds in Qibla region headed to Shamiya, Jamal mentioned.

Some of the most prominent herbs that grow in Kuwait’s desert help to increase the amount of milk in cattle to give milk, butter, ghee, as well as providing flavor-ful sheep meat, he noted.

These plants are usually less in the summer but are not eaten by sheep and the number of sheep Al-Shawi has ranges between 150-250 domesticated animals, mostly goats, as the majority preferred to raise goats over ewes, Jamal said.

Al-Shawi was paid half a rupee for each sheep taken care of, by time it increased to one rupee in the fifties along with one rupee for each goat vaccinated, he pointed out.

Jamal went on to say that the Shawi knows all the sheep he took care of and vice-versa, as the herd of sheep followed Al-Shawi around, noting that when the sheep returned in the evening to the city, the owners go to Al-Shawi to receive them and some of them returned to their owners’ homes.

The most well-known professional Shawis in the past are Shawi Zuweid in Derwazat Al-Abdulrazzaq, Shawi Obeid in Sawabir and others, he said.

Participants honored at the summer camp held to memorize quran organized by Al-Najat.

Summer activities at Al-Najat Charity successfulDirector of “Waratel” department for serving and memorizing quran at Al-Najat Charity Organization Waleed Al-Kandari affirmed that the department has successfully

finished its summer activities.In a press release, he revealed

that 989 individuals participated in the activities this year, which were held in 16 centers in different parts

of Kuwait.Al-Kandari thanked the donors

who contributed to the success of the department’s summer activi-ties.

Amir receives congratulatory cable from Speaker Al-Ghanim

His Highness the Amir receives greeting on recuperationKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22, (KUNA): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Thursday received a cable from Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said, congratulat-ing him on recovery following a recent health problem.

In the cable, the Sultan of Oman wished His Highness the Amir well and Kuwait further advancement and prosperity under his wise lead-ership.

In reply, His Highness the Amir sent

a cable to Sultan Qaboos, voicing thanks and appreciation to him for his good sentiments and sincere prayers, and wishing the Sultanate of Oman and its well-regarded people much progress and development under his judicious steering.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Thursday received a cable from Tunisian President Mohammad Ennaceur, commending recuperation from his recent health trouble.

In the cable, the Tunisian leader wished His Highness the Amir perpet-ual wellbeing and Kuwait further prog-ress and prosperity under his sagacious guidance.

In a reply thank-you cable penned to the Tunisian leader, His Highness the Amir expressed thanks and apprecia-tion to him for these warm sentiments and sincere supplications, and wished him well and Tunisia and its people more progress and development.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Thursday a congratulatory cable from Chairman of the Jordanian Senate Faisal Akef Al-Fayez over his recovery from a recent minor health setback.

Al-Fayez uttered his sincere con-gratulations over His Highness the Amir’s recovery and he wished him a good health.

His highness the Amir addressed a cable to Al-Fayez, expressing his grati-tude for his kind words.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Thursday a congratulatory cable from Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister Fahad bin Mahmoud Al-Said over his recov-ery from a recent minor health setback.

Al-Said uttered his sincere congrat-ulations over His Highness the Amir’s recovery and wished him a good health.

His highness the Amir addressed a cable to Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister, expressing his gratitude for

his kind words. Furthermore, His Highness the Amir

Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Thursday a congrat-ulatory cable from National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, on recovery from the recent health set-back, wishing His Highness Sheikh Sabah well being.

In reply, His Highness the Amir sent a cable to Speaker Al-Ghanim, thank-ing him for his kind sentiments.

KUNA photoKuwaiti Al-Shawis herding sheep in the olden days.

Shepherds prefer goats over ewes

‘Al-Shawi’ profession in Kuwaitfading as a result of modernism

Kuwaiti cultural days events.

Ukrainian cultural week in Kuwait next JanKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22, (KUNA): Ukrainian Ambassador to Kuwait Dr Oleksandr Balanutsa said on Thursday that a Ukrainian cultural week will take place in Kuwait next January.

In a statement for KUNA, the

Ukrainian ambassador said this fes-tivity reflects the strong bilateral ties between the two countries.

The statement came ahead of Ukraine’s celebrations of Independence Day, Ukraine’s largest State holiday, which commemorates

the adoption in 1991 of the “Declaration of State Sovereignty” of Ukraine.

The Ambassador noted that his embassy would organize a “Ukrainian cultural week in Kuwait on this occa-sion between January 19-23.”

Govt keen on collecting unpaid duesKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: The govern-ment is keen on collecting unpaid dues, asserting these are public funds which should be protected as they are the assets of all Kuwaitis, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources.

Sources affirmed the Ministry of Finance is in the process of determining cases that took a long time for litigation, indicating the ministry assigned this task to its Legal Affairs Sector. Sources dis-

closed that the assignment includes lay-ing down a mechanism to speed up litiga-tion procedures, in cooperation with the Fatwa and Legislation Department, in order to protect public funds and ensure the collection of unpaid dues.

Sources said the ministry tackled 45 percent of the comments of the State Audit Bureau and settled 38 percent, while 17 percent remain in disagreement with the bureau.

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

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deaths

Prayer TimingsFajr .......................................................... 03:57Sunrise ..................................................... 05:20Zohr .......................................................... 11:51Asr .............................................................15:25Maghrib ................................................... 18:21Isha .......................................................... 19:42

August 22, 2019

Hussein Mohammad Hussein Al Baghli, 81 years old, buried. Condolences: (Men) Mansouriya, Husseiniyat Al Awhad, Tel. 66535557 (Women) Jabriya, Block 7, Street 5, House 8. Riyadh Mohammad Hussein Al-Asousi, 56 years old, buried. Condo-lences: (Men) Sharq, Diwan Al Asousi, Arabian Gulf Street, Tel. 99748800 (Women) Faiha, Block 4, Street 41, House 2, Tel. 22542971. Abdul Ameer Abdullah Hussein Al Arbash, 90 years old, buried. Condolences: Bneid Al Gar, Husseiniyat Al Arbash, Block 1, Al Shareef Al Redha Street, behind Al Salam Hospital, Tel. 97899844, at Asr time only. Badriya Ahmad Al Humoud, 86 years old, widow of Saleh Nasser Allah Al Nasser Allah, to be buried on Friday at 9am. Condolences: (Men) Abdullah Al Sa-lem, Block 1, Rashed Bourosli Street, House 21, Tel. 99061303 (Women) Abdullah Al Salem, Block 1, Abdul Wahab Al Othman Street, House 19, Tel. 99287227. Mo-hammad Ibrahim Rashed Al Shatti, 63 years old, to be buried on Friday after Asr prayers. Condolences: (Men) Yarmouk, Block 4, Street 3, House 10, Tel. 99602246 (Women) Rumaithiya, Block 7, Street 76, House 9.

WeatherExpected weather for the next 24 hours:

By Day: Very hot with light to moderate fresh-ening at times over some areas north westerly wind to variable wind, with a speed of 10-45 km/h and some high clouds will appear.

By Night: Hot to relatively hot and relatively humid over coastal areas with light to moderate north westerly wind, with a speed of 12-38 km/h.Station Max Min Exp RecKuwait City 48 34Kuwait Airport 48 32Abdaly 48 31Bubyan – –Jahra 49 35Failaka Island – –Salmiyah 44 33Ahmadi 41 37Nuwaisib 46 31Wafra 48 27Salmy 47 32

4 days forecast - WeatherFriday, Aug 23

Expected weather: Hot and relatively humid over coastal areasMax Temp.....................................................45CMin Temp......................................................29CWind Direction ........................................ NW-SEWind Speed ...................................... 10-32 km/h

Saturday, Aug 24Expected weather: Hot and humid specially over coastal areasMax Temp.....................................................43CMin Temp......................................................27CWind Direction ........................................ NW-SEWind Speed ...................................... 10-30 km/h

Sunday, Aug 25Expected weather: ........Hot and relatively humid specially over coastal areasMax Temp.....................................................46CMin Temp......................................................28CWind Direction .......................................VRB-SEWind Speed ...................................... 08-28 km/h

Monday, Aug 26Expected weather: .................................Very hotMax Temp.....................................................48CMin Temp......................................................29CWind Direction .......................................VRB-SEWind Speed ...................................... 06-28 km/h

Marine ForecastStation Max Min Sea Today’s Exp Rec Surf Waves Ht DirnSouth Dolphin - - - 4ft SEUmm Mudayrah - - - 4ft SEBeacon M28 - - - 4ft SEBeacon N6 - - - 4ft SEQaruh Island 40 33 - 4ft SEUmm Al-Maradem 46 33 - 4ft SE

Sea Island Buoy - - - - -Salmiyah 44 33 - 4ft SE

4 days forecast - MarineFriday, Aug 23

Expected weather: Hot and relatively humid over coastal areasSea state ...............................Slight to moderateWave height................................................1-4 ftMax Temp.....................................................45CMin Temp......................................................29CWind Direction ........................................ NW-SEWind Speed ...................................... 10-32 km/h

Saturday, Aug 24Expected weather: Hot and humid specially over coastal areasSea state ...............................Slight to moderateWave height................................................1-3 ftMax Temp.....................................................43CMin Temp......................................................27CWind Direction ........................................ NW-SEWind Speed ...................................... 10-30 km/h

Sunday, Aug 25 Expected weather: ........Hot and relatively humid specially over coastal areasSea state ...............................Slight to moderateWave height................................................1-3 ftMax Temp.....................................................46CMin Temp......................................................28CWind Direction .......................................VRB-SEWind Speed ...................................... 08-28 km/h

Monday, Aug 26Expected weather: .................................Very hotSea state ...............................Slight to moderateWave height................................................1-3 ftMax Temp.....................................................48CMin Temp......................................................29CWind Direction .......................................VRB-SEWind Speed ...................................... 06-28 km/h

Tide times at Shuwaikh Port1st high tide: .............................................. 15:502nd high tide: ............................................. 04:011st low tide:................................................ 09:522nd low tide: .............................................. 22:10Sunrise: ..................................................... 05:20Sunset: ...................................................... 18:23

Recorded yesterday at Kuwait AirportMax temp ......................................................49CMin temp .......................................................27CMax Rh ........................................................32%Min Rh .........................................................06%Max Wind.........................................SW 36 km/hTotal Rainfall in 24 hrs ............................... 0 mm

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

— Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Meteorological Dept.

Awqaf facilitates Hajj procedures for several benefi ciaries of ‘halfway house’ project

‘New formula for curricula to be adopted soon’KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: The Assistant Undersecretary for the Educational Research and Cur-riculum Sector at the Ministry of Education, Salah Dabshah an-nounced that the new national reference framework for curricula will be adopted soon, reports Al-Jarida daily

The senior offi cial told the daily the ministry “did not cancel the curriculum based on competen-cies, but will be implemented in

the new year (2019/2020), accord-ing to the plan.”

He explained, the new national curriculum will begin from where others have reached and comes as a complement to earlier efforts in the national curriculum, and taking advantage of regional and interna-tional expertise in this area, it will be applied in early 2020/2021 after the adoption of the new framework.

He pointed out that the ministry is in the process of establishing

a comprehensive e-learning plat-form that includes interactive edu-cation, through exchanges with international bodies in this area, pointing out that “the global trend is moving in this direction”.

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The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs facilitated this year’s Hajj procedures for sev-eral benefi ciaries of the ‘halfway house’ project which aims to tack-le drug addiction, in cooperation

with Awqaf Secretariat-General that shouldered the cost while the ministry supervised the project, reports Al-Rai daily.

Speaking to the daily, Under-secretary Fareed Emadi affi rmed that the ministry gave a number of repentant persons a chance to per-form Hajj as per the rehabilitation program designed for those keen on overcoming their addiction and raising awareness on the dangers of consuming drugs.

Panel to study proposed changes to bylaws& laws to regulate Hajj, Umrah procedures

Amiri Diwan Advisor in Grozny for mosque opening

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and State Minister for Mu-nicipal Affairs Fahad Al-Shu’ala has formed a committee to study the proposed amend-ments to the bylaws and laws that regulate Hajj and Umrah pro-cedures, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to sources, the committee is headed by the Undersecretary of Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Fa-reed Emadi and has nine mem-bers including representatives of Hajj Caravans Union.

The law states that committee will study the bylaws regulating the Hajj law and reach a legal opinion in this regard in order to develop it by submitting the amendments required to expedite development.

The sources indicated that the committee will submit to the minister Al-Shua’la a number of mechanisms to reduce the prices, adding that the aim of the amend-ments is to defi ne a number of mechanisms that will make Hajj available for all especially the limited-income individuals based on arrangements with the Hajj Caravan Union and charity or-ganizations.

Agencies add: Kuwait’s Amiri Diwan Advisor

and Chairman of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) Dr Abdullah Al-Maatouq arrived Thursday in Chechnya capital, Grozny, to attend the in-auguration of the largest mosque in Europe.

Al-Maatouq and his accompa-nying delegation were received by Mufti of Chechnya Salah Mezhiev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sultan Tagayev, Minister of Transport and Communications Ramzan Cherkhigov, MP of the Russian State Duma Adam Delimkhanov and Kuwait’s Ambassador to Rus-sia Abdulaziz Al-Adwani.

During his visit, Al-Maatouq is due to meet with Chechen Presi-dent Ramzan Kadyrov.

Privatization of postal sector in good hands: Al-Azmi

Minister urged to emulate Qatari counterpartKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: “When we say we are moving backwards while the world has reached the moon we are still the same,” this example ap-plies to the reality of the com-parison between Kuwait and Qatar in the issue of asphalt roads, reports Al-Rai daily.

While our brothers in Qatar have built asphalt roads we are still pondering over how to re-pair the potholes on our roads which are signifi cantly visible everywhere on highways and interior roads.

As Qatar fi nished the chill asphalt coating yesterday, Ministry of Public Works of-fi cials are still looking for so-lutions on how to fi ll potholes on Kuwait’s roads – potholes created by the last November rains, leaving everyone won-dering what is missing and why the Kuwaiti Ministry of

Public Works cannot emulate its Qatari counterpart.

The daily published yester-day about the ‘cooled asphalt’ in Qatar, while the streets of Kuwait are still on the ‘muz-zle’ of digging, and a number of MPs are worried that the deadline for repairing roads damaged by last year’s rains will not be completed while the new rainy season is just around the corner.

The Ministry of Public Works, which confi rms its readiness each year for the rainy season, is to be blamed because every time we see the opposite with each rain show-er and each time the ministry vows to follow up the matter while the MPs like the issue to a case of administrative lazi-ness.

Meanwhile, the head of the workers union in the Ministry

of Communications Nasser Al-Azmi said the union is con-fi dent of reform steps taken by the Undersecretary Engineer Khulood Al-Shehab concerning privatization of the postal sec-tor, indicating that the privati-zation of this sector is in good hands, reports Al-Jarida daily.

Al-Azmi told the daily the country has witnessed excel-lent examples of privatization of government services sectors such as the management of the new passenger terminal at the Kuwait International Airport (T4) which is operated by a Korean contractor.

He added the union does not mind the privatization of the postal sector, provided the rights of the employees of the sector are not compromised in terms of fi nancial privileges and that their future is not jeop-ardized.

KUNA photo Khaled Al-Jarallah meeting with Ambassador Lawrence Silverman.

Deputy FM meets US ambassadorKuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah met on Thursday with US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilat-eral ties between both countries, ways to enhance them, as well as the latest regional and international developments.

The meeting was attended by Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Assistant Foreign Minister for the Deputy Foreign Minister’s Offi ce Ambassador Ayham Al-Omar and Deputy Assis-tant Foreign Minister for Americas’ Affairs Salah Al-Haddad. (KUNA)

The newly-opened school in Sri Lanka.

‘Al-Rahma’ opens new school, mosque in Sri LankaHead of Indian Subcontinent Offi ce of Al-Rahma Al-Alamiya Mohammad Al-Qasr revealed that Al-Rahma Al-Alamiya has inaugurated an elementary school of 240-student capacity in Sri Lanka. Offi -cials from Ministry of Education attended the inau-

gural event. According to a press release, Al-Rahma Al-

Alamiya also opened a mosque with capacity to hold 50 worshipers in a nearby area.

Elham Al-Fadhala

Elham youngestgrandmother incinema industryKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Ac-tress Elham Al-Fadala has be-come the youngest grandmother in the entertainment industry, reports Aljarida daily.

She shared the good news to her fans and followers via her social media account, revealing that her granddaughter has been named “Elham”.

It is worth mentioning that Al-Fadala is currently partici-pating in a drama titled “Return of Raya and Sakeena” along with Dawood Hussain, Haya Al-Shuaibi, Nourhan Taleb and others.

The play is written by Haya Al-Shuaibi and directed by Thamer Al-Shuaibi.

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

4

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Iran hotbed of political scenario’

‘Power games in region continue’“THE former US president Barack Obama had defi ned his policy in the Middle East as ‘Leading the Way from Behind’,” columnist and professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department Dr Haila Hamad Al-Mekai-mi wrote for Annahar daily.

“His successor, the incumbent Donald Trump has de-fi ned his policy in the Middle East as ‘Leading the Way from the Front’.

“But anyone who is familiar with these two policies will fi nd the policy of Trump was fruitful in the sense it has given Russians the ‘superiority’. In this context, we elucidate that Obama’s policy in Syria was based on lead-ing from behind had actually opened the door for Russia to impose its domination on Syria.

“While the policy of Trump in the Gulf on leading the way from the front and fi ghting Iran has actually led to the Russian military presence in Syria.

“As a matter of fact, the former American administra-tion (the administration of Obama) was mostly hesitant in terms of early intervention in the Syrian crisis, particularly when this crisis developed into the use of forbidden weap-ons against civilians.

“In the wake of this development, the administration of Obama preferred to call on the Russians to ‘rule the roost’ in Syria, while Obama took the backseat and put the (Rus-sian President Vladimir) Putin in the driving seat to lead the Syrian scene under the slogan ‘Leave the steering in our hands enjoy the trip’.

“However, while Obama was in the backseat, he was convinced about the possibility of signing the ‘Iranian Se-cret Nuclear Deal’, in the belief that by this step he will lead the world to peace.

“Meanwhile, many reports referred that the secret be-hind Obama’s decision to give room for the Russians to lead the Syrian scene was attributed to the fact that the Russians had detected the US plan to use card of ‘Abu Omar Al-Shishani’ to support the Islamic State or the so-called ‘DAESH’ in Syria, particularly since we know that Al-Shishani was one of those who were wanted by Russia for his signifi cant role during the Georgian war against the Russians.

“But it is needless to say the policies of Obama of leading the way from behind, the creation of DAESH, unilateral nuclear deal with Iran without the participation of the Gulf states, had actually led to many events which resulted in the Democrats getting out of the ‘car’ and let Trump take the driving seat, but it looks like the direction taken by Trump favors the Russians.

“However, although Russia is currently passing through one of its most diffi cult times because of the nuclear ‘blast’ in the city of Severodvinsk, the blast that comes to the mind of the people of Chernobyl where the people of Chernobyl and neighboring areas suffered because of the danger of radiation.

“For its part, Iran sees the ideal solution lies in the establishment of Russian military bases in the region to avoid any type of wars or the American-Iranian military confrontation. This happened following the US rejection of the nuclear deal with Iran and Washington’s demand to conclude a new deal that shall guarantee that Iran will not possess nuclear weapons and this can be deemed as a defect in the security system of the Gulf region.

“Such being the case, it is Iran which has tried to obtain consent for granting the two ports of Bushehr and Chaba-har for use by Russia for its ships, war ships and nuclear submarines.

“Given the above, America is afraid this will contrib-ute to the Russian submarines having access to the Gulf waters.

“As a matter of fact, America is not afraid of Iranian nu-clear weapons, it is rather afraid of some other initiatives including those which are likely to be taken by the Gulf states to discuss the possibility of obtaining the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

“But this shall once again push us forward to confi rm the Kuwaiti initiative which wants to declare the Middle East region free from nuclear weapons and establishing a peaceful dialogue among all of the concerned parties with-out exception in addition to a regional dialogue to protect this part of the world from the madness of the confron-tations, weapons hoarding, extremism and terrorism and renew the offer for a roundtable talk involving all parties.”

Also:“Today, we will talk about the most dangerous nuclear

disasters in the 21st Century which occurred recently in Russia this month (August) in 2019,” columnist Dr Ab-durrahman Al-Issa wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“This event, however, is not properly covered by the media and this may be attributed to the fact that the details thereof have been concealed may be because the Mid-dle East is currently witness to a handful of disasters and tragedies which still grip the minds of both the Arab and Western medias.

“The nuclear disaster occurred in the military arena of North Russia near the Arctic Circle at a Russian instal-lation that has been designed for manufacturing both the nuclear missiles and warheads.

“However, according to some press reports, the explo-sion was caused by a mistake during the manufacturing of one of the Russian ‘Vanguard’ missiles which the Russian President Vladimir Putin had once talked about during a show that was to be inducted into the Russian military ar-senal among other things the Supersonic missiles, a hor-rible nuclear submarine and new type of Cruise missiles with unlimited range.

“Anyway, there are no more details about the disaster in question, because the Russian government refrains from discussing it further, but the government has evicted all Russian citizens from the surrounding areas and suburbs and even some remote areas to protect them from the ef-fects of radiation particularly since we know the radiation can seriously affect the health of the humans.

“In this context, we say this event is bigger than that of Chernobyl and that of ‘Courseck submarine’ and that of the Japanese ‘Fukuyama’.

“As a matter of fact, Russia has yet to mention details about the preventive measures that have been taken – if any – except that the people have been evicted, given the fact this event will have its negative outcomes on our Arab world and this means we must know that some Arab coun-tries still strive to obtain nuclear energy, some from Rus-sians, and as such we expect these countries to have other thoughts post this event in question.”

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“With the approach of the beginning of every school year in recent years, the country’s schools in all stages of education in various areas are experiencing major op-erational crises due to the negligence of the Ministry of Education and the lack of real monitoring or the supervi-sion and maintenance of schools and their equipment and facilities worth billions,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“The videos are posted in the social media every year about the neglect surrounding these schools, some of which are even inaccessible to enter or pass through, and often strikes by cleaning workers because of their prob-lems with their companies which have contracts with the ministry add insult to injury and ‘someone’ has to work

as cleaners and maintenance workers at the beginning of the school year, which we have seen repeatedly over the past years.

“We fail to track the problems that have occurred dur-ing the past years, related to the maintenance of buildings, some of which are likely to ‘collapse’, despite the budget of billions of dinars allocated to the Ministry of Education each year in addition to the problems of air conditioning and water coolers and furniture and the distribution of textbooks due to the shortage.

“However, this year seems to be a different story, ac-cording to the statements I have read in some newspapers, which said the senior offi cials in the Ministry of Education are ready to receive the students after completion of main-tenance, air conditioning and furniture, which are the main problems which the schools are plagued with each year.

“The ministry said that it has checked the mechanisms of textbooks distribution and organized this process and has also set up a hotline to receive all complaints by teach-ers and principals who are helpless because of the previ-ous failure of the Ministry of Education in this fi le.

“In general, the statements of the leaders of the Ministry of Education and their assurances to the Kuwaiti people seem beautiful and come in the context of avoiding the mistakes of the past, but our experience with the govern-ment administration in general and its repeated promises concerning all fi les are well-known. We can only say time will tell.”

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“The government has fi nally admitted corruption, waste and bureaucracy existing in some state organs and minis-tries, according to a report published in parts by the local press,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“The details of the government report tell about the suffering of state organs – suffering because of bureau-cracy and waste of funds and poor fi nancial performance of some government agencies in addition to the existence of signifi cant defi ciencies and weaknesses in the area of fi nancial control

“The report issued by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to the Ministry of Finance is in rec-ognition of the great role played by the Audit Bureau in detecting corruption and the protection of public money and in addressing corruption and the corrupt people in some government departments especially those who think public money is a kind of booty which must be seized.

“The government recognition of this explicit form rep-resents a dangerous precedent indicating the amount of corruption which has been exposed in some agencies was leaked to the social media and the newspapers and became the talk ‘of the town’ particularly among some offi cials.

“The government recognition has come to confi rm that corruption in Kuwait is not accidental or random, but rather well organized, and committed by thieves who are well experienced in stealing the state coffers are adept at sabotaging government institutions and making citizens lose confi dence in them.

“There is no doubt that the Audit Bureau has closed the gap and protected the state institutions and the state itself from the risk of corruption and the corrupt, by issuing pe-riodic reports on corruption in a ministry or an institution or administration to protect the public funds and preserve the nation’s capabilities from being wasted and putting the ball in the government court to take these necessary action based on these repeated reports submitted to it about its departments and institutions.

“The role of the Audit Bureau today is not only to expose the corrupt and to prosecute them but extends to trying to lay the foundations of the management of the country in accordance with the standards of governance and organization of administrative and accounting work in government organs and ministry.”

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“Our Islamic world, especially the Arab world, is full of confl icts, killings and bloodshed, while the advanced world is full of developments, researches and scientifi c discoveries that are benefi cial to them in particular, and the entire humanity in general,” columnist Dr Moudhi Al-Humoud wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Some of these discoveries were presented in a beauti-ful exhibition at a European country, particularly the great development in the world of robots. I stood stunned in front of this beautiful robot wife doing all the work and speaking tactfully.

“I followed such development in a special report pub-lished by BBC on its website specialized in Science. It highlighted the new obsession with this development, its manifestations and people. It compared our Arab youths, the extremism of some and their quest for de-struction and murder with the extremism of some young people in the developed world, their quest for virtual worlds and the relationship between the people of this world and humans.

“Akihiko Kondo wakes up every day to the sound of his wife’s voice. The wife (Miku) calls him from across the room in her high-pitched, girlish, sing-song voice. She dances and swirls around, urging him to get out of bed. He holds her soft hand and watches her hologram danc-ing clad in her beautiful dress with colored hair. He then prepares to have breakfast, talking to her and bidding her farewell as he goes to work.

“Some, like Akihiko, take their obsession to what some may consider an extreme level, turning away from real-life relationships. It appears that their number is increas-ing.

“A strange world and frightening extremism – both extremes are annoying, the extremism of our youth and their youth, and moderation is the best. A call from the heart and we still ask with sadness: Why an Arab country is slaughtered and dismembered every day, and people lose their lives without a savior? Why does the situation in Yemen worsen every day? Why this confl ict between North and South Yemen? It is an absurd war.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“Every civilized country strives to provide food secu-rity for its people, keen to achieve self-suffi ciency, and this concern is not only on quantity but also on quality,” columnist Adel Nayef Al-Mezel wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The civilized countries of the world adopt a package of procedures complete with tests and strict control to ensure that the edible foodstuff reaches its citizens free from all types of microbes so they are examined to make sure that the proportion of radiation is within the limit.

“These countries also exercise strict control on food at all stages of production from the fi eld to the time it goes to the consumer or from the sea to the consumer’s refrig-erator.

“But unfortunately we are made to feel the bite we swal-low and delay to eat the food you crave because we are fi lled with the corrupt people in our country everywhere.

“We read the news every day about the seizure of hun-dreds of tons of rotten food of every type and stores fi lled with inedible foodstuffs and in so many instances we fi nd the expiry date has been tampered with and this foodstuff we feed our children not knowing what will be the conse-quences if we continue to eat the expired goods.

“It is no secret to anyone that there is complicity and concealment of this corruption without regard to the dis-eases it spreads in Kuwait and the high rates of infectious and bacterial diseases due to the rotten food that comes from everywhere.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Dr Al-Mekaimi

‘Kuwait welcomes reconciliationefforts in Somalia despite chaos’

Terrorist attacks condemned

KUNA photoKuwait’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, during the United Nations Security

Council’s (UNSC) session on Somalia late Wednesday.

NEW YORK, Aug 22, (KUNA): Kuwait wel-comed the reconciliation efforts of the Federal Gov-ernment of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member States of Somalia despite the challenges.

The remarks were made by Ku-wait’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, during the United Na-tions Security Council’s (UNSC) session on Somalia late Wednes-day.

The ambassador called on all par-ties to put aside their differences and focus on Somalia’s future, especially with the 2020-2021 elections coming up.

Achieving reconciliation will play a big role in completing the work of the constitution revision committee, the comprehensive security plan and approving the elections’ draft law, Al-Otaibi said.

Meanwhile, he expressed regret over the recent attacks in the coun-try, as the Al-Shabaab movement and

28 illegals nabbed in surprise campaignKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Gen-eral Department of Public Rela-tions and Security Media at Min-istry of Interior revealed that a surprise campaign was launched at Naga’at Al-Shamlan in Kuwait City which resulted in the arrest of 28 violators of the residency law.

According to a press release, the campaign was conducted by Acting Security Commander, Op-erations Director and patrol teams with the cooperation of General Department of Coast Guard.

The arrested individuals includ-ed two men who consumed liquor,

four residency violators, fi ve in-dividuals with expired residency and 19 individuals without their civil ID cards.

The arrested individuals have been referred to the concerned authorities for necessary legal ac-tion.

The department affi rmed that campaigns will be held round the clock in all six governorates of Kuwait, urging citizens and resi-dents to avoid providing shelter to violators of law and those wanted for crimes in order to avoid being held legally accountable.

other armed groups pose a great threat to Somalia.

Al-Otaibi also strongly condemned the attacks on UN employees and res-cue workers and called on the UNSC to take serious measures to deal with such incidents.

Moreover, the Kuwaiti diplomat expressed his deep concern over the continuous lack of food security in the

country and the growing numbers of homeless people that reached 2.6 mil-lion until now.

He noted that he was pleased with the developmental steps taken by the FGS, which led the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) to announce granting the country a debt relief, as part of the fund’s Heavily Indebted Poor Coun-tries (HIPC) Initiative.

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

5

Narcotics

4 million Captagon pills seized

KUWAIT CITY, August 22: Di-rector General of Kuwait Customs Administration Counselor Jamal Al-Jalawi reaffirmed readiness of the sector to protect the state and its citizens and expatriates from the dangers of illicit drugs.

He pointed to the sector’s contin-uous achieve-ments in foil-ing several attempts to smuggle illicit drugs into the country.

A l - J a l a w i said this while following up on the millions of illicit pills confiscated recently, and commend-ed the Minister of Finance Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf for his immense support to the customs administration.

For his part, Deputy Director General of Investigation Osama Al-Roumi noted that months of inten-sive investigation and followup had set the scene for the large number of illicit pills recovered by the customs administration, stressing keenness to perform the national duty to the max.

Deputy Director General of Bor-der Security Affairs Sheikh Faisal Al-Abdullah also commended the level of cooperation and coordina-tion between the various director-ates to protect the state and its citi-zens, as well as expatriates.

Director of North Ports Customs Directorate Saleh Al-Harbi pointed

out that the shipment of illicit pills was closely monitored from the time when the sector received a tip-off in that regard until the smuggler ar-rived in the country a couple of days ago and he was arrested.

Also, Deputy Director for Search and investigation and member of the customs adminis-tration medic committee Khalid Al-Rumaih stated the director-ate received information about the shipment about three months ago, and it had been under the radar ever since the consignment left the port of an unnamed Arab country. He added the pills were carefully hidden inside bathroom rugs, so it’ll take time to get the accurate number due to the varied quantities kept in each rug.

In another version,the General Customs Department foiled an at-tempt by a Syrian national to smug-gle about 4million pills of “Capta-gon” into the country. According to the Interior Ministry press release the drugs were carefully hidden in-side a consignment of plastic ware in a 40-ft container coming from Syria, which weighed about 7 tons.

Well informed sources told Al-Seyassah daily that the contraband was seized at Shuwaikh Port and the suspect has since been taken into custody for further investigation.

Meanwhile, a Syrian expatriate found the lifeless body of his sister inside her flat in what seemed like a murder. He said an unknown sub-stance was found beside the corpse . A case was registered.

‘We’re ready to protect State,citizens & expats from drugs’

Al-Jalawi

KFSD photoThe room after the gas cylinder blast.

3 hurt in flat cylinder blastThree individuals sustained burns and injuries when a gas cylinder exploded inside a flat in Riggae area on Wednes-day morning.

According to a press release, when the Control Room of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) received information

about the incident, fire-fighters rushed to the location with securitymen and para-medics. They rescued the injured vic-tims and evacuated all the tenants from the five-storied building, after which fire-fighters dealt with the situation inside the flat.

KFSD photoThe fireman on return is received by senior KFSD officials at the airport.

Two expats under probe, one sought asB’deshi abducted, kept in farm, beaten

Youth stabbed in ‘right of way’ spat

Injured fireman returns to warm welcomeDeputy Director General of the Fire Prevention Sector Major General Khaled Abdullah Fahad warmly welcomed First Sergeant Mahdi Shah upon his return to the country after undergoing treatment for 11 months in France.

In a press statement, the sector revealed that Fahad conveyed well wishes of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) Director General Lieutenant General Khaled Al-Mekrad to Shah, wishing the latter speedy recovery.

Director of Fire Prevention Department at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate Major General Khaled Abdullah, Brigadier Hassan Al-Nema and other high ranking officials ac-companied Fahad in welcoming Shah.

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Police have arrested two expatriates and are look-ing for another for kid-napping a Bangladeshi and holding him captive for three days on a farm-house in Kabad, reports Al-Anba daily.

According to the victim he managed to escape from his captors after three days and although they chased him for quite a distance, he man-aged to escape from them until he reached the vegeta-ble market and sought help.

In his complaint to the police the victim said he was kid-napped when he was on his way from Hawalli to Farwaniya to visit a friend.

He added, the suspects as-saulted him, forced him into their vehicle and took him to Kabad and continuously beat him over three days.

Police are interrogating the suspects and looking for a third who is at large.

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Shot accidentally: An uniden-tified Kuwait, born in 2002, has surrendered himself to the Mina Abdullah Police Station after he ‘accidentally’ shot and injured an 18-year-old compa-triot in a desert area north of Ali Sabah Al-Salem, reports Al-Rai daily.

After the Ministry of Inte-rior received a report on the incident, police rushed to the spot and saw the victim in a parked vehicle with bloodied clothes and traces of blood on the windshield.

Personnel from the Emer-gency Medical Services affili-ated to the Ministry of Health then transported the injured to the Al-Adan Hospital where his condition is believed to be critical since he is injured in the head.

The suspect has been detained for further investigation.

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Illegal ammo seized: The Far-waniya police have arrested an unidentified 26-year-old Ku-waiti, and a bedoun for possess-ing an unlicensed Kalashnikov rifle and 24 rounds of ammuni-tion and referred them to the Directorate General of Weapons Investigation, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to security sources, the Farwaniya police patrol sus-pected the man behind the four-wheel drive and ordered him to pull over.

Police then saw some rounds of ammunition near the seat of the vehicle and this increased the police suspicion.

A security source told the dai-ly, security men then searched the vehicle and found the rifle and another 24 rounds of am-munition.

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Youth stabbed: A young man

was stabbed by two others dur-ing a quarrel between them on Kabad Road.

According to security sourc-es, the reason behind the quar-rel was “the right of way”, due to which the two individuals in one car and the sole individual in the other car pulled over to argue about it. The argument quickly escalated into a seri-ous flight during which the sole motorist was stabbed by the other two who then fled from the scene.

When securitymen received information about the quarrel, they rushed to the location with paramedics and referred the stabbed individual to the nearest hospital for treatment. Search has been launched to find the runaway suspects

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Forged currency: The Ahmadi police have arrested an uniden-tified bedoun for possessing forged Kuwaiti banknotes, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

Without going into details, the

daily said the suspect was arrest-ed after a complaint was filed with the police and the suspect was seized in record time.

The daily did not say if police found with the man forged cur-rency notes.

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Power cables stolen: Police are looking for unidentified thieves for stealing six copper cables from a power plant in the dis-trict of Al-Zahra, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to security sources the theft was discovered by an employee of the Ministry of Electricity and Water.

Personnel from the Criminal Evidences Department have lifted fingerprints from the area.

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Drug peddler held: Police have arrested an unidentified Syr-ian drug trafficker and seized from him sachets of shabu and handed him over to the con-cerned authorities, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to the security sources, the suspect was caught by the Farwaniya police in a suburb of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh in the early hours of the night.

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Pakistani robbed: The Far-waniya police are looking for unidentified thieves for alleg-edly breaking into the apartment of a Pakistani in Farwaniya and stealing 1,500 dinars, reports Al-Anba daily.

The Pakistani told police he discovered the theft after he re-turned from work. He said he found the door lock tampered. The money was in the bedroom closet.

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Indian assaulted: Police have arrested an unidentified Korean for beating an Indian at the work site in Al-Zour, reports Al-Anba daily.

The Indian has submitted a medical report to substantiate his claim. The report shows in-jury to the face.

Embassy seeks police help

Asian leaves country without returning rented carBy Munaif Nayef

Al-Seyassah Staff andAgencies

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: An Asian expatriate managed to leave the country without re-turning a car that he rented from a car-rental office in Ardiya more than one month ago.

According to security sources, the car was found in a yard in Abu Halifa area.

A case has been registered against the expatriate.

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Drugs with Kuwaiti: A Ku-waiti citizen in his 20s was arrested for driving under nar-cotic influence and possess-ing drugs and narcotic pills in

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area.According to security sourc-

es, when the Operations Room of Ministry of Interior received information about an accident in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area, se-curitymen rushed to the location and discovered that one of the motorists is a Kuwaiti citizen who was in a disoriented state. They checked him and found sachets of methamphetamine (Shabew), Chemical drug and narcotic pills as well as some money.

He was arrested and re-ferred with the confiscated drugs to the Drugs Control General Department for nec-essary legal action.

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Envoy seeks help: The Ethi-opian Ambassador to Ku-wait Abdul Fattah Hassan said the embassy sought the help of the local police to refer an unidentified Ethio-pian woman to the Psychiat-ric Hospital after the woman refused to go for treatment and instead threatened to jump from the first floor of the embassy premises, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

The ambassador said the woman suffering from men-tal illness became hysterical and had to be controlled by the embassy staff after she re-fused to go for treatment.

The daily did not give more details.

KUNA photoAssistant Undersecretary for Ports Affairs in the Ministrty of Interior Major General Mansour Al-Awadhi praised state-of-the-art security systems used by the Hamad International Airport in Doha to maintain safety and security of passengers and civil aviation traffic in Qatar. Above: Al-Awadhi is seen at the Doha

airport with his team. ( KUNA)

News in Brief

‘Install fire alarms’: Director of the Public Relations and Information Depart-ment of the Kuwait Fire Service Director-ate (KFSD) Brigadier Khaleel Al-Ameer has urged citizens and expatriates to in-stall fire alarms in their homes to protect themselves from fire accidents, reports Al-Rai daily.

The call came af-ter two people died last week as a result of two separate fire incidents because there were no fire alarms. The Depart-ment in a statement yesterday warned and stressed on the importance of early warning devices.

The statement added that most of the fires that have destroyed the houses before did not have early warning devices.

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Death probed: Police are investigating the death of an unidentified young Syrian woman who was found dead in the sitting room of the house with a strange material next to the corpse, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, the death was report-ed to the police by the victim’s brother who told the Fintas Police Station that when he arrived home in Fintas, he found the corpse of his sister with something strange next to her.

The remains of the victim have been referred to Forensics for an autopsy. Police have not ruled out crime.

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Fight in ‘chabra’: A dispute between two Egyptians working in the vegetable market resulted in the injury to one of them and loss of 300 dinars, allegedly stolen by the suspect who is gone into hiding after allegedly assaulting his com-patriot, reports Al-Rai daily.

A security source told the daily that the Egyptian has submitted a medical report to the police according to which his left eye is bruised

Police are looking for the suspect.❑ ❑ ❑

Colonel assaulted: Police are looking for an unidentified Kuwaiti for assault-ing a colonel working for the Ministry of Interior and injuring him in the neck and eye according to a medical report submit-ted by the victim, reports Al-Rai daily.

This is in addition to the damage caused by the suspect to the gate of the victim’s house and deliberately colliding with the colonel’s car which was parked in front of his home.

This happened when the victim hosted the suspect in his home in the Mubarak Al-Kabir governorate and the latter re-portedly got angry over some discussion, assaulted the colonel and left the house not before causing damage to the gate of the house and the car.

Al-Ameer

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

6

Immigration

Court fi ght looms

Bid to end limit on children detentionWASHINGTON, Aug 22, (AP): The Trump administration is moving to end an agreement limiting how long migrant children can be kept in deten-tion, the president’s latest effort to curb immigration at the Mexican border.

A court fi ght is almost certain to fol-low, challenging the attempt to hold migrant families until asylum cases are decided.

A current settlement overseen by the federal courts now requires the government to keep children in the least restrictive setting and to release them as quickly as possible, generally after 20 days in detention.

Homeland Security offi cials say they are adopting their own regula-tions that refl ect the “Flores agree-ment,” which has been in effect since 1997. They say there is no longer a need for the court involve-ment, which was only meant to be temporary. But the new rules

would allow the government to hold families in detention much longer than 20 days.

Tightening immigration is a signa-ture issue for President Donald Trump, aimed at restricting the movement of asylum seekers in the country and de-terring more migrants from crossing the border.

The move by the administration immediately generated fresh outrage, following reports of dire conditions in detention facilities, and it is question-able whether courts will let the admin-istration move forward with the policy.

Trump defended it, saying, “I’m the one that kept the families together.”

CourtThe Mexican government expressed

concern over the prospect of prolonged detention of migrant children in the US In a statement from the Foreign Relations Department, Mexico said it would monitor conditions at US deten-tion centers and continue to offer con-sular services to any Mexican families that may be held under the new condi-tions. It also said that it would keep an eye on possible court challenges and that “the appropriate legal alternatives will be evaluated.”

In the US, immigrant advocates and Democrats decried the new regu-lations, saying prolonged detention would traumatize immigrant children.

“The administration is seeking to codify child abuse, plain and simple,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca-lif., said in a statement.

Peter Schey, a lawyer for the im-migrant children in the Flores case and president of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, said if the regulations don’t match the settle-ment in that case, “they would be in immediate material breach, if not con-tempt of court.”

“I think all these things are now part of the 2020 campaign,” Schey said.

Acting Homeland Security Secre-tary Kevin McAleenan said Wednes-day the regulations create higher standards to govern family detention facilities. The facilities will be regular-ly audited, and the audits made public.

The regulations are expected to be formally published Friday and go into effect in 60 days absent legal chal-lenges.

Holly Cooper, co-director of the immigration law clinic at University of California, Davis and a lawyer in the Flores case, said attorneys haven’t seen the fi nal rule and will have a week to brief a federal judge, who will weigh whether they are consistent with the settlement.

RuleThe government’s proposed rule,

she said, wouldn’t have let lawyers monitor conditions in border facilities and would have dramatically changed how long children could be detained and the standards for their care.

“We’re going to have a world that looks a lot like the internment of fami-lies and children, where we have ba-sically regularized prison as a default for families seeking political asylum in this country,” she told reporters.

The rule follows moves last week to broaden the defi nition of a “pub-lic charge” to include immigrants on public assistance, potentially denying green cards to more immigrants. There was also a recent effort to effectively end asylum altogether at the southern border.

There has been a drastic increase in the number of families crossing the border - about 475,000 so far this budget year, nearly three times the previous full-year record for families. Most are released into the US while their asylum requests wind through the courts - a practice Trump has derided as “catch-and-release.”

The Flores agreement has been in effect since 1997 but mostly was ap-plied to children who came to the country alone. In 2015, US District Court Judge Dolly Gee ruled the re-quirements were applicable to children who crossed the border with families, after the Obama administration built family detention centers and started detaining families until their cases were completed.

US President Donald Trump holds up a presidential memorandum that he signed that discharges the federal student loan debt of totally and permanently disabled veterans follow-ing his speech at the American Veterans (AMVETS) 75th National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky on Aug 21. (AP)

Hickenlooper eyes Senate: Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, who dropped out of the 2020 Demo-cratic presidential race last week, said on Thursday he will run for a US Senate seat in the state instead.

Hickenlooper, 67, remains popular in Colorado and has been urged by numerous Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to challenge incumbent Republican Cory Gardner for his Senate seat.

“I’m running to give Colorado’s pri-orities and values a voice in Washing-ton,” Hickenlooper said on his website.

“Right now we’re represented by a senator who works to undo our progress by voting 99% of the time with Donald Trump and going along with (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell’s obstruction and partisan political games.”

Hickenlooper was among several Democrats in a large 2020 fi eld who struggled with low opinion poll num-bers and faced calls to run instead in other competitive races. (RTRS)

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Pentagon scraps project: The Pentagon is pulling the plug on a billion-dollar, technically troubled pro-ject to build a better weapon that would destroy incoming missiles. The move is aimed in part at considering new ap-proaches to missile defense at a time of rapid technological change.

The announced reason for canceling the Boeing contract, effective Thurs-day, was that the project’s design problems were so signifi cant as to be either insurmountable or too costly to correct.

Beyond those immediate concerns, the Pentagon is considering whether it needs to start over with designing a defense against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles, such as those North Korea aspires to build, as well as newly emerging types of missiles.

One indication of that broader concern is the Pentagon’s statement that it will now invite industry competition to develop a “new, next-generation interceptor” – potentially a weapon that could take on hypersonic missiles being developed by China and Russia.

The Pentagon currently has 44 mis-sile interceptors based mostly in Alaska. Each is designed to be launched from an underground silo, soar beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and release a “kill vehicle” – a device that steers into its target and destroys it by force of col-lision.

These weapons have been tested but never used in actual combat.

It is that “kill vehicle” device that the Pentagon had asked Boeing to redesign so that it could be more reliable against the kind of long-range missiles that North Korea has said it is building to target the US. (AP)

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Inslee drops bid: Washington Gov Jay Inslee, who made fi ghting climate change the central theme of his presi-dential campaign, announced Wednes-day night that he is ending his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Inslee said that he was confi dent that Democrats would select a nominee who

would champion climate change issues but that it had become clear that he wouldn’t be the person selected. Inslee said he was not endorsing anyone but would support whoever is the nominee.

“I believe we’re going to have a candidate to fi ght

this battle,” he said on MSNBC. “I’m inspired by the people I’ve met across the country. I’m not going to carry the ball but we’re going to make sure somebody is.”

Two people close to Inslee told The Associated Press that he planned to announce in an email to supporters Thursday that he would be seeking a third term as governor. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly. (AP)

America

Pelosi

Inslee

Trump signs student debt forgiveness for disabled vetsLOUISVILLE, Kentucky, Aug 22, (AP): Hun-dreds of millions of dollars in federal student loan debt owed by tens of thousands of disabled mili-tary veterans will be erased under a directive Presi-dent Donald Trump signed Wednesday.

Trump ordered the Education Department to “eliminate every penny of federal student loan debt” owed by American veterans who are com-pletely and permanently disabled. Trump said they won’t have to pay federal income tax on the for-

given debt and called on states to waive their taxes on the loans, too.

America, he said, owes its heroes “a supreme debt of gratitude.” Trump’s announcement at the AMVETS national convention in Louisville elic-ited a loud round of applause from the crowd of more than 2,500 veterans. He signed the directive after addressing the gathering. Only about half of the roughly 50,000 disabled veterans who qualify to have their federal student loan debt forgiven

have received the benefi t, and the administration blames a “burdensome” application process.

The document directs the government to devel-op an expedited process so veterans can have the debt discharged “with minimal burdens.”

The action will wipe out an average of $30,000 in debt owed by more than 25,000 eligible veter-ans, Trump said, calling them “incredible people” who have made “the ultimate sacrifi ce, in many ways, for our nation.”

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

7

Rohingya

‘Guarantees of safety’

No Rohingya turn up for repatriation to MyanmarCOX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Aug 22, (Agencies): Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner said Thursday that no Rohingya Muslims turned up to return to My-anmar from camps in the South Asian nation as they wanted their demands for citizenship and guarantees of safety met fi rst.

Abul Kalam told a news conference that no one from 295 families already interviewed since Tuesday by the Bangladesh government and the UN’s refugee agency agreed to go back to Myanmar.

“Not a single Rohingya wants to go back without their demands are met,” he said.

Rohingya have long been demanding that Myanmar must give them citizenship, safety and their own land and homes they left behind.

Myanmar had earlier said the repatriation would start from Thursday. The Bud-dhist-majority country has cer-tifi ed more than 3,000 refugees from more than 1,000 families as eligible for repatriation.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her gov-ernment will not force the refu-gees to return and the repatria-tion will only happen if they are willing.

Myanmar’s military began a harsh counterinsurgency campaign against Rohingya

Muslims in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. The campaign has been called ethnic cleansing that has involved mass rapes, killings and the burning of homes.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fl ed across the border to Bangladesh and have refused to return unless their safety is assured.

Offi cials said the situation the camps was calm on Wednesday and Thursday and no chaos was reported like in November last year when thousands protested what they feared might be a forced repatriation.

Nevertheless, Ramzan Begum said her mother-in-law fl ed the camp home for an unknown destination on Wednesday night and had not returned by Thurs-day.

“She told us she will not go back and left the home last night,” Begum said.

Many refugees have said they want to go back un-der direct UN supervision, not under the Myanmar government.

Myanmar refused to recognize Rohingya as citizens or even as an ethnic group, rendering them stateless, and they face other forms of state-sanctioned discrimi-nation.

InvestigationA UN-established investigation last year recom-

mended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the crackdown on the Ro-hingya. Myanmar dismissed the allegations.

In a separate development, two Rohingya men al-legedly involved with drug peddling were killed in a gunfi ght with Bangladeshi border guards early Thurs-day at Teknaf in Cox’s Baza, said Maj Shariful Islam Jamaddar, deputy commander of the border guards.

He said they recovered about 50,000 methampheta-mine pills, which are usually smuggled from Myan-mar, a gun and cartridges and two sharp weapons.

The UN refugee agency “is working with concerned governments to help create conditions conducive to return, to assess whether or not these people are going back voluntarily,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.

“The voluntary nature of repatriation is really a bed-rock of our position,” he said.

Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres, a former UN refugee chief, has stressed that it’s im-portant for refugees to have the information they need to decide whether or not to return.

An earlier repatriation attempt last November was suspended because no one was willing to go back. Thousands of refugees protested and chanted “We won’t go back” and “We want justice,” forcing au-thorities to halt the process.

This time, the camps have been quiet with no re-ports of major protests ahead of Thursday’s plan.

Bangladesh refugee commissioner Abul Kalam was happy with that.

“This is a good sign and I think this is a good pro-gress. Last year they fl ed their camp homes as the day neared, but this time they are coming forward and facing interviews and talking freely,” Kalam said Wednesday. “They have confi dence in us.”

Kalim Ullah, a refugee on the repatriation list, said his family wants to go back but Myanmar must ensure that they would be given citizenship and safety.

SupervisionMany said they want to go back under direct UN

supervision, not under the Myanmar government.“We want to go back home. Bangladesh is not our

country. But we still do not have any guarantee that we will not be tortured or killed,” Ullah said as he left the interview room.

Myanmar has long not recognized Rohingya as citizens, rendering them stateless, and they face other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination.

A UN-established investigation last year recom-mended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the crackdown on the Ro-hingya. Myanmar has rejected the report and any sug-gestion its forces did anything wrong.

Earlier, the United Nations’ refugee agency and Bangladesh authorities on Tuesday started to consult more than 3,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to determine if any want to return home, offi cials said, as a fresh repatriation bid was launched.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fl ed Rakhine for neighbouring Bangladesh after a military-led crack-down in August 2017 the United Nations has said was perpetrated with “genocidal intent”, but many refu-gees refuse to go back, fearing more violence.

Myanmar cleared 3,450 people to return, from a list of more than 22,000 provided by Bangladesh, au-thorities said. “The intentions surveys are beginning today,” Louise Donovan, a UNHCR spokeswoman in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, told Reuters.

“Together, the government of Bangladesh and UN-HCR will ask these refugees to come forward and dis-cuss the option of repatriation.”

The agency will hold a second confi dential inter-view with those who express a wish to return, she add-ed, to discuss their intentions, and ensure the decision is voluntary, she said.

“They will be asked to complete a voluntary repa-triation form,” she added. A representative of Bangla-desh’s refugee relief effort will also attend the inter-views, a government offi cial said.

Hasina

French President Emmanuel Macron (right), and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson talk to the media at the Elysee Palace on Aug 22 in Paris. Johnson traveled to Berlin Wednesday to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel before heading to Paris to meet with President Macron. (AP)

Merkel gives UK 30 days to fi nd last-minute Brexit solution

‘No time to negotiate new deal’PARIS, Aug 22, (RTRS): French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday told Britain’s Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson there was not enough time in the month ahead to negotiate a new Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday challenged Britain to come up with alternatives to the Irish border backstop within 30 days – a challenge which Johnson readily ac-cepted.

“What Chancellor Merkel said yes-terday, and which is in line with the substance of our talks, is that we need visibility in 30 days,” Macron told reporters standing alongside Johnson.

“Nobody is going to wait until Oct. 31 without trying to fi nd a good solu-tion.”

More than three years after the United Kingdom voted to quit the European Union, it is still unclear on what terms – or indeed whether – the bloc’s second largest economy will leave the club it joined in 1973.

British Prime Minister Boris John-son, a Brexiteer who won the pre-miership a month ago, is betting that the threat of “no-deal” Brexit turmoil will convince Merkel and Macron that the EU should do a last-minute deal to suit his demands.

Speaking beside Merkel at the Ger-man Chancellery, Johnson repeatedly said that the Irish border backstop – which is a protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement struck by his predecessor Theresa May – needed to be removed in full.

“It was said we will probably fi nd a solution in two years. But we could also fi nd one in the next 30 days, why not?” Merkel, Europe’s most power-ful leader, said. Johnson confi rmed that she had given him 30 days to come up with alternatives and said there was ample scope for a deal. The

two leaders had a constructive dinner of tuna, venison and chocolate tart, a British source said.

But just an hour after Merkel spoke, Macron said the demands made by Johnson for a renegotiation of the divorce deal, including the re-moval of the Irish backstop, were not workable as they currently stood. Johnson is due to meet Macron in Paris on Thursday.

Asked about the distance between the positions of London and the other 27 members of the EU, Johnson said: “If we approach this with suffi cient patience and optimism, we can get this done. It’s in the fi nal furlong gen-erally when the horses change places and the winning deal appears.”

DepartureBut with just over 10 weeks left

until the scheduled departure, the EU has repeatedly said it will not renego-tiate the Withdrawal Agreement and that it will stand behind member state Ireland.

As Johnson arrived, protesters out-side the Chancellery gates shouted “Stop Brexit”. Johnson and Merkel smiled and they joked about the Brit-ish premier’s German language skills.

Merkel has previously promised to discuss “practical solutions” to the Irish border insurance policy or “backstop” that Johnson says is unacceptable – but she has said the Withdrawal Agreement would not be reopened.

The German leader has suggested solving the Irish border riddle as part of the declaration on post-Brexit ties – a possible way to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

But France now believes no-deal Brexit is now the most likely Brexit scenario, said an offi cial in Macron’s offi ce who cautioned that Berlin and Paris were united.

“Have no doubt that the French and German positions – and elsewhere – are the same. There’s not the thick-ness of a cigarette paper between us,” the French offi cial said.

Once the nightmare scenario on the extreme edge of probability ranges, a ‘no-deal’ Brexit is now seen as a real-istic possibility by both governments and investors.

Amid the political turmoil in Lon-don, little is clear. The alternatives are a delay, a last-minute deal, an election or even cancelling Brexit.

In Washington, US President Don-ald Trump, who has been enthusias-tic about Brexit but critical of May’s negotiating strategy, offered Britain help while criticising the EU.

“They have not treated the UK very well,” he said. “That’s a very tough bargain they are driving, the European Union. We are going to see if we can work something out.”

But Macron said a no-deal Brexit would be of Britain’s own making, adding that any trade deal London cut with Washington would not mitigate the cost of crashing out of the bloc.

“Can (the cost of a hard Brexit) be offset by the United States of Ameri-ca? No. And even if it were a strategic choice, it would be at the cost of an historic vassalisation of Britain,” Ma-cron said.

Wrenching Britain out of the EU without a deal means there would be no arrangements to cover everything from post-Brexit pet passports to the trade arteries that pump capital, food and car parts between the two neigh-bours.

Many investors say a no-deal Brex-it would send shock waves through the world economy, hurt the econo-mies of Britain and the EU, roil fi nan-cial markets and weaken London’s position as the pre-eminent interna-tional fi nancial centre.

Britain

Democratic Party leader Nicola Zinga-retti arrives at Quirinale palace for a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, in Rome on Aug 22. Presi-dent Mattarella continued receiving political leaders Thursday, to explore if a solid majority with staying power exists in parliament for a new govern-ment that could win the required con-

fi dence vote. (AP)

Lam Jong Un

HK students plan boycott: Hong Kong university student leaders said Thursday they’ll call for a boycott of the start of classes to pressure the government to respond to the protest movement gripping the city since June.

Student union leaders from 10 universi-ties said they want students to skip the fi rst two weeks of classes in September. They vowed to escalate their action if the city’s Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, fails to respond by Sept 13.

Young people have been at the forefront of the Chinese city’s protest movement, which was sparked by calls for the with-drawal of an unpopular extradition bill.

The bill, which would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China where the judiciary is not independent, was eventually shelved but the crisis has since spiraled and supporters now have four other demands, including full democracy.

“Two weeks should be enough for the government to really think through how to respond to the fi ve demands,” said Davin Wong, acting president of the Hong Kong University Students’ Union. The student leaders said they haven’t decided how to step up their action after the fi rst two weeks, but it could include an open-ended general strike. (AP)

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‘N.Korea committed to dialogue’: A North Korean spokesman said on Thursday the United States’ recent mid-range cruise missile test and plans to deploy F-35 jets and offensive military equipment around the Korean peninsula were “dangerous” moves that would “trigger a new cold war” in the region.

North Korea remains unchanged in its position to resolve all issues through dialogue and negotiation, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said, but “dialogue accompanied by military threats is of no interest to us,” according to state media KCNA.

“Dangerous and unusual military moves are now on the horizon, which would trigger a new cold war on the Korean peninsula and in the region,” the statement added.

Working-level talks between the United States and North Korea have yet to restart since they were stalled by the failed second

Asia

Papuan activists with their faces painted with the colors of the separatist Morn-ing Star fl ag attend a rally near the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia on Aug 22. A group of West Papuan students in Indonesia’s capital staged the

protest against racism and called for independence for their region. (AP)

summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February.

Trump and Kim met again in June at the inter-Korean border and agreed to reopen negotiations.

US envoy Stephen Biegun, who leads working-level talks with North Korea, has been in Seoul since Tuesday after a stop in Japan to discuss the denuclearisation of North Korea.

“We are prepared to engage as soon as

we hear from our counterparts in North Ko-rea,” Biegun said on Wednesday. (RTRS)

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Indonesia arrests 34: Indonesia has arrested 34 people and cut internet access in its easternmost region of Papua to rein in violence after protesters torched buildings, a market and a prison over mistreatment of students and perceived ethnic discrimina-tion.

Police have fl own in 1,200 more offi cers to quell sometimes violent protests since

Monday in towns such as Manokwari, Sorong, Fakfak and Timika, near the giant Grasberg copper mine operated by Freeport McMoran’s Indonesian unit.

The communication ministry has blocked the internet and telecoms data to prevent Papuans from accessing social me-dia since Wednesday, although telephone calls and text messages are unaffected, said ministry spokesman Ferdinandus Setu.

“This is an effort to curb hoaxes and, most importantly, stop people from sharing provocative messages that can incite racial hatred,” he added.

A separatist movement has simmered in Papua for decades, with frequent com-plaints of rights abuses by security forces, but the recent anger appears to be linked to racist slurs against Papuan students who were detained last week. (RTRS)

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Former Aussie deputy PM dies: For-mer Australian deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, whose rural voter base was critical for the introduction of tough gun control laws in the aftermath of the country’s worst mass shooting in 1996, has died aged 73.

Fischer was the quintessential, laconic rural Australian, always wearing a rabbit-skin Akubra hat. He described campaign-ing for elections as going on the “wombat trail”, a reference to the marsupial wombat that can be found in burrows dotted around farmlands.

“Tim Fischer was a big Australian in every sense of the word,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday in an emailed statement.

“Big in stature, big in his belief, big in his passion, big in his vision for what Australians could achieve and big in his view of Australia’s place in the world. Tim Fischer will forever cast a big shadow on our nation,” he said. (RTRS)

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

8

Climate

Floods & suicides

America readies for awarmer, wetter world

By Ellen Wulfhorst

Julia Sanger, whose tiny ice cream shop fl ooded twice in two years in Maryland’s historic Ellicott City,

joked darkly that the disasters left many local business owners in need of therapy.

Shops on the former mill town’s picturesque Main Street are barely back on their feet more than a year after the second fl ood. Some are boarded up, and others open just a few hours a day. Several heavily damaged build-ings are due to be torn down.

“Some of my friends down here, I know they sought professional therapy. I know there’s probably some who should have and didn’t,” said Sanger, whose shop got 6 feet (1.8 m) of muddy fl oodwater in 2016 and 8 ft in 2018.

“I drink a lot,” she added. “I’m not going to lie. I’m defi nitely drinking more than I did before.”

She has also moved her shop to higher ground.

Worsening extreme weather linked to climate change is cre-ating hardships for many, from immediate deaths and injuries to increases in asthma and heat stroke. But the psychological trauma that often accompanies such losses is barely on the map.

Depression, anxiety, suicide and post-traumatic stress disor-

der tend to increase after fl oods, storms, wildfi res and heatwaves, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), which represents psychologists in the United States.

“The problem with that link is it’s not like so obvious. It’s not like I stick a needle in you, you feel pain right away,” said Anthony Ng, former head of the APA’s cau-cus on climate change and mental health.

“Some of this is so insidious and gradual that people won’t realize it until it’s too late. That’s why it’s hard for a lot of people to appreciate it.”

PanicThe debate over how to safeguard residents of pictur-

esque Ellicott City, a tourist draw an hour’s drive north of Washington, D.C., illustrates the challenges many towns are facing as the world becomes warmer and wetter.

The town was devastated in 2016 by a so-called 1,000-year fl ood – meaning a magnitude with a one-in-1,000 chance of occurring in any year. The Patapsco River, which runs through the town, rose more than 13 ft in less than two hours.

Less than two years later, a 1,000-year storm struck again, overwhelming the tributaries that converge under the old mill town’s buildings and feed into the Patapsco.

Warmer temperatures are increasing heavy down-pours, and rainfall has been growing in intensity in the Northeast, according to the government’s 2018 National Climate Assessment, risking power outages and the vi-ability of roads and bridges.

As Ellicott City has become more built up, fl oodwater fl ows across paved roads and rooftops, instead of perco-lating down through the soil as it used to – a phenomenon known as urban runoff, which is worsening globally as cities grow. In the wake of the 2018 fl oods, the county launched the Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan, which involves demolishing some old buildings, making tun-nels to carry water under roads and clearing waterways more regularly.

Offi cials are also testing a fl ood warning system, with emergency sirens telling people to move to higher ground. It has caused some alarm among residents, said Amy Miller, a social worker at the Grassroots Crisis In-tervention Center.

“You almost have a panic response,” said Miller, whose non-profi t organization, based in Columbia, some 8 miles (13 km) south, has provided food, shelter and support to fl ood survivors.

“We’re basically exposing ourselves to the perceived threat of a traumatic event.”

Grassroots provides 24-hour counselling to people in Ellicott City and the surrounding rolling hills of Howard County who might be feeling suicidal.

Miller has trained farmers to watch out for each other and spot signs of danger, particularly suicide risks.

Farmers are a high risk group. They tend to live soli-tary lives, have access to lethal means and face fi nancial stress when hit by poor weather and low prices – factors they cannot control, according to anti-suicide campaign-ers.

Hopelessness“When your livelihood is impacted, that causes hope-

lessness,” Miller said. “The hard part for farmers is they work almost 24-7, and it’s really hard for them to seek treatment.”

Stanford University predicted last year that a hotter planet could lead to a surge in suicides by 2050. Its data analysis found suicides had risen 0.7% in the United States and 2.1% in Mexico with a 1°C increase in month-ly average temperatures. The researchers also found – by analyzing the language used in more than a half billion Twitter posts – depressive language increased during hot weather, suggesting worse mental health.

Keith Ohlinger, one of the Howard County farm-ers trained to keep an eye out, said he was driven to the work by the suicide of a young friend who grew up on a nearby farm, planned a career in agriculture and took her own life last year at age 21. He struggled this spring with heavy rains washing away seeds and soil and leaving hay too wet to be dried and stored for winter feeding.

“Things are changing,” he said. “The earth is chang-ing, Patterns are changing. Things are melting.”

Ohlinger uses his position on the Maryland Agricul-tural Commission, which advises the government on farming, and at monthly farmers club meetings to bring up mental health, often taboo in the conservative agricul-tural community.

He said climate change was just one more stress for farmers already worried about commodity prices, credit, bank loans, the price of equipment and old family-run farms being squeezed out by more and more giant resi-dential homes known as McMansions.

“I can’t fi x pricing. I can’t fi x what the Chinese presi-dent or Donald Trump does, but I can surely try and keep someone from killing themselves,” Ohlinger said.

Not everyone in the region is willing to make the link between mental health problems and climate change.

Global warming as a manmade phenomenon is a polit-ically divisive topic in the United States, where President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris agreement, a global pact to fi ght climate change.

“You talk about global warming, but we deal with this stuff all the time,” said another Howard County farmer, Howie Feago.

“Most farmers believe it’s more of an ebb and fl ow. We know that the weather is going to be up and down. If you’re going to worry about global warming, you prob-ably ought to get some other kind of job because it will drive you nuts.” (RTRS)

Trump

In this photo provided by NASA, astronauts Andrew Morgan and Nick Hague (not seen), begin to install a docking port delivered by SpaceX last month outside the International Space Station on Aug 21. (AP)

Spacewalking astronauts add parking spot to ISS

Russia sends robot into spaceMOSCOW, Aug 22, (RTRS): A Rus-sian humanoid robot was making its way on Thursday to the International Space Station after blasting off on a two-week mission to support the crew and test his skills.

Known as FEDOR, which stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, the Skybot F-850 is the fi rst humanoid robot to be sent to space by Russia. NASA sent humanoid robot Robonaut 2 to space in 2011 to work in hazardous environments.

“The robot’s main purpose is to be used in operations that are espe-cially dangerous for humans on-board spacecraft and in outer space,” Rus-sian space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday after the launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The ISS is a joint project of the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.

Travelling in an unmanned Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft, FEDOR is expected to dock at the ISS on Saturday with 1,450 pounds (660 kg) of cargo includ-ing medical supplies and food rations for the crew waiting at the station, NASA said.

FEDOR, who is the size an adult and can emulate movements of the hu-man body, has apparently embraced his mission, describing himself as “an assistant to the ISS crew” on his Twit-ter page, which has 4,600 followers.

“Everything is normal,” a tweet posted on his account said a few hours into his fl ight.

❑ ❑ ❑

Spacewalking astronauts added an-other parking spot to the International Space Station on Wednesday.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and

Andrew Morgan successfully in-stalled a docking port delivered by SpaceX last month. It will be used by SpaceX and Boeing once they start launching astronauts to the orbiting lab late this year or early next year.

The two had to wrestle with old, stiff cables in order to get power and data fl owing to the port. “Slow and steady,” Morgan said. They also at-tached refl ectors for navigation.

This is the station’s second docking port for commercial crew capsules. The fi rst was attached three years ago. The newest port was a replacement for one that was destroyed during a SpaceX launch accident in 2015.

Ever since its space shuttles retired in 2011, NASA has been limited to Russian rockets for getting astronauts to the space station. While US com-panies have been delivering supplies since 2012, crew fl ights from Cape Ca-naveral remain on hold.

DestroyedSpaceX launched its fi rst crew

Dragon capsule with no one aboard in March. The capsule was destroyed the following month during an engine test in Florida. Despite the setback, SpaceX still aims to squeeze in its fi rst test fl ight with astronauts by year’s end.

Boeing intends to launch its Star-liner capsule without a crew this fall, followed by a test fl ight with a crew sometime early next year.

It was the third spacewalk for Hague and the fi rst for Morgan, an Army doc-tor who moved into the station a month ago. “Docs rock,” Mission Control ra-dioed to Morgan as the work got un-derway.

Hague’s mother delivered home-made goodies to Houston fl ight con-trollers midway through the planned

six-hour spacewalk.“I heard she was busy in the kitchen

yesterday,” Hague said. “I hope every-one enjoys it. I’m jealous.”

“Well,” replied Mission Control, “we have a certain jealousy of what you guys are doing as well, so I’d say it’s an even trade.”

Also:NEW DELHI: An unmanned spacecraft India launched last month began orbit-ing the moon Tuesday as it approaches the far side to study previously discov-ered water deposits.

The Indian Space Research Organi-zation said it successfully maneuvered Chandrayaan, the Sanskrit word for “moon craft”, into lunar orbit, nearly a month after it left Earth. The mission is led by two female scientists.

Chandrayaan will continue circling the moon in a tighter orbit until reach-ing a distance of about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the moon’s surface.

The lander will then separate from the orbiter and use rocket fuel to brake as it attempts India’s fi rst moon land-ing on a relatively fl at surface between two craters in the south polar region on Sept 7.

The success rate of landing on the moon is only 37%, ISRO chairman Dr K. Sivan said in a news conference. When the semi-autonomous lander de-cides to land on its own, “it’ll be a mix of feeling, of happiness and tension and more anxiety,” Sivan said.

A rover will study permanently shadowed craters that are thought to contain 100 million tons of water, de-posits that were confi rmed by a previ-ous Indian moon mission.

Scientists say water and mineral de-posits could make the moon a good pit stop for further space travel.

Space

In this photo taken on July 26, 2019 and distributed by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service, a Roscosmos employee works on the FEDOR ro-bot before being loaded into a Soyuz capsule to be launched on Aug 22 by a new Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the launch pad at Russia’s space facility

in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. (AP)

Cuomo Riley

Environmentalists sue: Seven environ-mental and animal protection groups teamed up to fi le the fi rst lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of the Endangered Species Act.

The environmental law nonprofi t Earthjustice fi led the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, WildEarth Guardians and the Humane Society of the United States. The lawsuit comes after the federal government earlier this month an-nounced a series of changes to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

In a fi ling, the groups argue that the Trump administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to ana-lyze the effects of the new rules. They also charge that the administration unreasonably changed requirements to comply with part of the Endangered Species Act that would have prevented any changes that could threaten the existence or habitat of any listed species.

“In the midst of an unprecedented extinc-tion crisis, the Trump administration is evis-cerating our most effective wildlife protec-tion law,” Rebecca Riley, legal director of the nature program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “These regulatory changes will place vulnerable species in immediate danger – all to line the pockets of industry. We are counting on the courts to step in before it’s too late.”

Nicholas Goodwin, a spokesman for the US Department of the Interior, criticized the lawsuit. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Offi cials seek more cleanup: New York offi cials who are pushing for addi-tional cleanup of the Hudson River followed through Wednesday on their promise of a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The federal lawsuit seeks to vacate the EPA’s decision in April not to compel General Electric Co to restart dredging for

Discovery

In this photo taken on July 17, 2019, Sarah Bates hauls in a chinook salmon on the fi shing boat Bounty near Bolinas, Calif. California fi shermen are reporting one of the best salmon fi shing seasons in more than a decade, thanks to heavy rain and snow that ended the state’s historic drought. It’s a sharp reversal for chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, an iconic fi sh that helps sustain

many Pacifi c Coast fi shing communities. (AP)

polychlorinated biphenyls from the upper river. Agency offi cials had said more time and testing are needed to fully assess the $1.7 billion Superfund cleanup.

Boston-based GE discharged tons of PCBs from factories north of Albany decades ago and completed removal of 2.75 million cubic yards (2.1 million cubic

meters) of contaminated river sediment in 2015.

Gov Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, said they bought the lawsuit because PCB contamination in the river and its fi sh remain unacceptably high. They argue that the “certifi cate of completion” issued to GE by

the EPA in April was unlawful because the agency failed to ensure the cleanup would assure the protection of human health and the environment. They want the certifi cate voided. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Cuadrilla pauses fracking: British shale gas company Cuadrilla has paused fracking at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire, northwest England, due to an earth tremor late on Wednesday.

Cuadrilla, which restarted fracking at the site last week, repeatedly had to stop operations last year under Britain’s traffi c light regulation system, which immediately suspends work if seismic activity of magni-tude 0.5 or above is detected.

“We can confi rm that a micro seismic event measuring 1.55 ML (local magni-tude) on the Richter scale occurred after we had completed the hydraulic fracturing programme for the day at our Preston New Road site,” Cuadrilla said in a statement.

It said the well’s integrity had been checked and operations would be paused for 18 hours, as per the rules.

Fracking, or hydraulically fracturing, involves extracting gas from rocks by break-ing them up with water and chemicals at high pressure.

Following last year’s stop-start opera-tions Cuadrilla said it is using a thicker fracking liquid this time round, which it hoped would lead to fewer seismic events.

The government last week signalled support for the industry and is keen to cut the country’s reliance on imports of natural gas, which is used to heat around 80% of Britain’s homes. (RTRS)

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This image released by Amazon Studios shows Jillian Bell, who plays Brittany in the film ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’, directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo. (AP)

Film tackles rights of workers, globalization

Obamas make H’wood fi lm debut with ‘American Factory’By David Bauder

A documentary about an Ohio auto glass factory that is run by a Chinese investor debuted Wednesday on Netflix as the streaming

service’s first project backed by Michelle and Barack Obama’s new production company.

Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they learned of the Obamas’ interest after “American Factory” was shown at the Sundance fi lm festival and they were pitching the fi lm to Netfl ix. They were told the Obamas had screened it days earlier.

They’re ecstatic about the support, and in an interview Wednesday were quick to dissuade anyone from the idea that the fi lm is delivering a message either for or against any politician.

“They got what we were trying to do, which is to tell a story that sort of transcends the year-to-year politics,” Bognar said.

Bognar and Julia Reichert, who live in the Dayton, Ohio, area where Fuyao Glass replaced an abandoned General Motors plant, said they were initially interested in exploring a culture clash, but the fi lm deep-ened into a story about the rights of workers, globalization and auto-mation.

The Fuyao plant, bought by Chinese industrialist Cao Dewang, em-ploys some 2,200 American and 200 Chinese workers. The fi lm gives a close-up look at how the cultures adjust to one another. At one point,

a Chinese worker explains that Americans are slow because they have fat fi ngers. Many Chinese at the plant consider the Americans lazy. The Americans at the plant question what they see as Chinese workers un-questioned devotion to a company that robs them of time to enjoy life.

DrivesAt the factory’s opening ceremony, Dave Burrows, the vice presi-

dent of the American factory, privately curses out Ohio Sen Sherrod Brown for suggesting that the Chinese owner be open to running a union shop. Two years later, after he’s been fi red, Burrows drives by the factory and bitterly notes that you can’t spell Fuyao without an “f’’ and “u.”

Tensions rise when the factory doesn’t initially meet production goals, culminating in a bitter fi ght over the right to unionize.

In one of the last scenes, an employee gives Cao a tour of the fac-tory fl oor and boasts about how automation provides Fuyao with the opportunity to fi re workers.

The name of the Obamas’ company, Higher Ground, fl ashes by in the opening credits, but the Obamas themselves aren’t mentioned any-where. Neither is President Donald Trump.

Netfl ix worked in partnership with Higher Ground to acquire the fi lm from Participant Media earlier this year, and gave no details about the fi nancing. Netfl ix released a brief clip Wednesday of the Obamas

discussing their interest in the project with the fi lmmakers.“One of the many things I love about this fi lm ... is that you let peo-

ple tell their own story,” the former fi rst lady said. “’American Factory’ doesn’t come in with a perspective. It’s not an editorial. I mean, you truly let people speak for themselves, and that is a powerful thing that you don’t always see happen.”

Former President Obama said that they want people to look outside of their own experiences to understand the lives of others.

That “is what a good story does,” he said. “It helps all of us feel some solidarity with each other.”

Reichert said she’s seen some commentary that the Obamas were interested in the fi lm as a criticism of Trump, and said that was stupid.

“It has zero to do with Trump or Obama, or the political scene at all,” she said. “It’s about the lives of average working people in the heartland. It’s really a close up and intimate look at what globalization looks like.”

One of the American workers is shown bonding with Chinese col-leagues, inviting several to a Thanksgiving dinner and to drive his mo-torcycle. Later, the worker is fi red because it took him too long to use a computer.

Reichter said she and Bognar were grateful to Cao for allowing them access to the factory. The company chairman mostly comes off as a cold-blooded capitalist, but one arresting scene toward the end shows him wrestling with his legacy. (AP)

LOS ANGELES: Three more contenders are joining what has lately been a hostile box offi ce arena. Can anyone emerge from August victorious?

Fox Searchlight’s “Ready or Not”, a black comedy about a diabolical game of hide-and-seek, will debut in 2,244 North American theaters on Wednes-day. The low-budget fi lm is expected to earn upwards of $6.5 million over the weekend and $8 million to $12 million during its fi rst fi ve days of release. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, “Ready or Not” stars Samara Weaving as a newlywed who fi nds out her in-laws intend to stalk and kill her. Unlike the overtly political themes in Universal’s controver-sial “The Hunt”, “Ready or Not” takes a more fantasy-oriented approach to hunting humans for sport.

In a positive review, Variety’s chief fi lm critic Peter Debruge called the fi lm a “deranged and darkly comedic thriller packs subversive pleasures aplenty.” Debruge is not alone in his praise. The R-rated thriller boasts a strong 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell also star.(RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: “Ready or Not’s” Adam Brody has signed on to star in “The Kid Detec-tive”.

Sophie Nelisse will co-star in the dramedy from writer-director Evan Morgan.

Brody will star as a once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, who continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hango-vers and bouts of self-pity until a 16-year-old client (Nelisse) brings him his fi rst “adult” case: to fi nd out who brutally mur-dered her boyfriend.

William Woods and Jona-than Bronfman will produce, while Brody, Jeff Sackman, Berry Meyerowitz, Mark Gin-gras, John Laing, and Gareth Morgan will executive produce. Aqute Media is handling interna-tional sales with Level Film dis-tributing in Canada. Production will start in late September.

Brody’s most recent appearance is in Fox Searchlight’s horror pic

“Ready or Not” starring Samara Weaving, which hit theaters Wednesday and has earned strong reviews. The former “O.C.” star is about to begin production on FX’s limited series “Miss America”, which stars Cate Blanchett, and is also known for his role in Karyn Kusama’s cult favorite “Jennifer’s Body”. (RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barry Pepper and “Game of Thrones” actor Finn Jones will join Gina Rodriguez in Netfl ix’s sci-fi thriller “Awake”.

The newly announced cast also includes Ariana Greenb-latt, Frances Fisher, Shamier Anderson, Lucius Hoyos and Gil Bellows.

“Awake” is set after a sud-

den global event wipes out all electronics and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep, and chaos quickly begins to consume the world. Rodriguez’s character may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter while she faces the prospect of saving the world before she herself loses her mind.

“Kodachrome” helmer Mark

Raso is attached to direct from a script he co-wrote with his brother Joseph Raso, as well as Greg Poirier. Entertainment One and Paul Schiff are producing the fi lm. Rodriguez and the Raso brothers are executive producing with Mark Gordon, Josh Phil-lips, Matt Jackson, Poirier and Whitney Brown. Joanne Lee is a co-executive producing. (RTRS)

Film

Variety

Film

‘This was the movie I wanted to see when I was 13’

In ‘Brittany’, a breakout for BellBy Jake Coyle

Getting in shape and putting your life together usually, at the movies, passes in a montage.

But for many, the non-Rocky legions of us, such transformations require more than inspiring theme music and lifting weights in the snow. And for the Brittany (Jillian Bell) of “Brittany Runs a Mara-thon”, that’s especially true.

Brittany is an aimless and broke 20-something in New York who’s startled when her attempt to pry an Adderall prescription from a doctor (Patch Darragh) turns into a recommendation to improve her body mass index. He suggests she changes her hard-drinking lifestyle and lose about 50 pounds.

After a moment, Brittany gets over her initial offense and, after perusing humble-bragging Ins-tagram posts that only increase her self-loathing, Brittany decides to go for a run. She starts with one city block. She eventually sets her sights on 26.2 miles. Along the way, she confronts her body image anxieties, makes new friends and turns into a young, professional adult.

The plot, by writer-director Paul Downs Colaiz-zo in his feature-fi lm debut, might sound like the kind of hokey motivational story that only a prose-lytizing jogger or a sneaker clerk would dream up. And some might understandably turn their nose up at a movie that increasingly equates exercise with righteousness.

Not all self-renewal comes via a pair of New Balances, but it does the trick for some, and part of the fun of “Brittany Runs a Marathon” is how dia-metrically opposed Brittany initially is to the idea. She snarls at her fi t neighbor (Michaela Watkins), cursing her as “Money Bags Martha” even though her name is Catherine. Faced with the exorbitant fees of a gym membership, she subtly disarms an entire industry by reminding the salesman that,

you know, going for a run outside is $0.Really, the main reason to see “Brittany Runs

a Marathon” is Bell. A former “Saturday Night Life” writer, she’s regularly been a bit player in comedies like “Offi ce Christmas Party” and “22 Jump Street”, but this is her fi rst lead role, and she’s stellar in it. Her performance is a deeply lay-ered one, rendering Brittany a very human concoc-tion of sarcasm and bitterness: a young woman in search of her sense of self-worth.

MakeoverRunning is only part of Brittany’s path toward

getting there, and Colaizzo steers his protagonist through a makeover much more interior than ex-terior. It takes some likable digressions, too, rop-ing in unconventional supporting players. Utkarsh Ambudkar excels as Jern, Brittany’s unexpected colleague in an enviable dog-sitting gig. Lil Rel Howery, who gives every fi lm he’s a part of a boost, is around occasionally as a brother-in-law. Micah Stock also makes an impression as a jog-ging pal.

“Brittany Runs a Marathon” starts comically; its fi rst moments, with Brittany working as an usher at an off-Broadway theater are its funniest. But it grows increasingly earnest. That’s part of the mov-ie’s charm but also what leads it a little off track.

Whereas Andrew Bujalski’s terrifi c and under-seen “Results” (with Cobie Smulders as a personal trainer and Kevin Corrigan as her slovenly client) used fi tness as an entry point into the messy, striv-ing lives of its characters, “Brittany Runs a Mara-thon” narrows its fi eld as it ambles toward a con-clusion. It doesn’t exactly lose its footing – Bell keeps a hold of her character too fi rmly – but some of Brittany’s personality slips away. Losing some weight doesn’t mean you have to lose your sense of humor, too.

Bell takes the lead in “Brittany Runs a Mara-thon”, landing her fi rst starring role in the Sundance hit.

“I feel very lucky and the project feels very special, very near and dear to my heart. We’re so proud of what we made,” Bell told Variety at the fi lm’s premiere on Thursday night in Los Angeles. “I feel lucky even when I get to do a small part in anything and to have this be my fi rst title lead role, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

After stealing scenes in “22 Jump Street”, “Work-aholics”, “The Night Before” and “Offi ce Christmas Party”, Bell plays the titular character in the fi lm, a young woman who fi nds herself prepping to run the New York City Marathon. Writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo adapted the story from the true-life tale of his best friend, Brittany O’Neill.

“I just felt like I knew who she was. I hadn’t seen her in a movie before and I really desperately wanted to play her. This was the movie that I wanted to see when I was 13 years old,” Bell said.

Her co-stars (including Michaela Watkins and Micah Stock) were similarly moved by the material. Lil Rel Howery (who plays Brittany’s brother-in-law and surrogate father, Demetrius) says the movie in-spired him make some big changes in his life.

“This movie made me not be ashamed if I can’t take the fi rst step right away,” Howery said, re-vealing that he changed his diet and stopped drink-ing after getting involved in the fi lm. “Anybody that’s looking to take a fi rst step into whatever they want to change in their life, this movie is going to inspire you.”

“Brittany Runs a Marathon” debuts in theaters Aug 23. “Brittany Runs a Marathon”, an Amazon Studios release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for language throughout, sexuality and some drug material. Running time: 103 minutes. Three stars out of four. (Agencies)

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People & Places

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Film

Dunst talks reboots

Adam Brody disheson career, TV habits

By Alicia Rancilio

In Adam Brody’s new movie “Ready or Not”, in theaters Wednesday, he’s part of an ultra-rich

family with an odd marriage ritual: When some-one marries into the family, that person must pick a card to play a random game on their wedding night.

The catch: The game may be deadly.While it’s a horror fi lm, the movie is also funny

and Brody’s character Daniel adds to that levity.“He’s pretty disgusted with his family – includ-

ing his wife. And himself. And the ritual. He does undercut the stakes or the seriousness every chance he can get,” Brody said.

Brody, whose big break was on the Fox soapy drama “The OC” from 2003 to 2007, has been steadily working in recent years. Ear-lier this year, he appeared in “Shazam!” and will soon be-gin fi lming the fi rst season of the FX anthology series “Mrs America” and the indie fi lm “Kid Detective”.

Brody also talked about working with his wife and their TV habits and more on fi lming “Ready or Not” with

The Associated Press. The comments have been edited for clarity and length.

AP: “Ready or Not” is a funny horror movie. What was the mood on set?

Brody: We were all sitting in a room between setups on our phones and talking and getting to know each other in the middle of the night and all hours of the day, so you get sort of punchy. I do think a lot of people who sort of specialize in that dark stuff on screen are some of the lightest peo-ple. And then you go on something you think is gonna be a fun comedy and you’re like, ‘Why is this guy so’” stressed?

AP: You appeared in the season fi nale of your wife Leighton Meester’s comedy series ‘Single Parents’ as her ex, and you’re returning for season two. Did you like the idea of playing a not-so-nice guy on the show?

Brody: It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I’d want. I get to work with her. I get to be the father of her child, but I’m also an idiot. I just want to be a character. I don’t want to go in there and be like a straight man, roman-tic guy. I want to be a dummy (laughter).

AP: Are there any TV shows that you two have to watch together?

Brody: ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’. We always watch Bill Maher together. That’s hard because it’s topical and I lose interest if we get to another news cycle and we haven’t seen it yet. ... I love the show. I think it’s one of the more honest conversations. First of all, it’s funny, it’s entertaining, but also I think because of the air of humor and also you can be off-color and can cuss, you get at a greater truth.

AP: What about any reality TV like ‘The Bach-elor’?

Brody: We did do a few seasons of ‘The Bach-elor’ and liked it. We had our fun with it. I get it on one hand, and on the other hand, they bleach it of all humanity which is weird. I’m not saying they fi nd the most interesting people but they’re going in a helicopter to the top of a mountain, I’m sure something was said that’s funny, you know? Or some interesting observation. Or something about the backstory of somebody’s life. They re-ally whittle it down. It’s still a big hit so if it’s not broke don’t fi x it, but I do feel like, you must work so hard to scrub it of any of the personality that’s probably there.

AP: Are you comfortable watching your work?Brody: Yeah, but I’d fi nd it so depressing if you

asked me to put my best three scenes on something. I’d go, ‘I can’t believe this is the best I’ve done.’ But, I can defi nitely watch myself. To me, acting on screen in so piecemeal. You do it out of order, you do a line here, a look here. I’m so curious about the fi nal product. I’m into the script. I’ve watched the direc-tor’s other movies. What music’s gonna be in it? I want to see it. I very much love (when) the whole things come together and there’s the premiere, let’s go watch and see what we all made collectively.

Also:LOS ANGELES: Kirsten Dunst was just 11 years old when she skyrocketed into stardom as Claudia in “Interview with a Vampire”, but now Dunst says her age is the only thing keeping her from reprising the role in a hypothetical reboot.

“I mean I’m too old, right?,” she told Variety at the premiere of “On Becoming a ... in Central Florida”. “I was a child stuck, so I don’t know how that would work. It would be kind of sad, me in a curly wig. No one wants to see that.”

Dunst was far more excited about another one of her childhood roles getting a reboot, “Little Women”. With Greta Gerwig’s adaptation on the horizon, Dunst said she’s excited to see the fi lm return to theaters once again.

“It’s so nice; each generation I feel like it’s such a classic,” she said. “It’s nice to see someone else’s take on it.”

As for her current role in “On Becoming a ... in Central Florida”, Dunst is taking on some more modern themes. As the braces-wearing house-wife Krystal Stubbs, Dunst finds herself in hot water after her husband leaves her with a terrify-ing amount of debt following his involvement in a home goods pyramid scheme. Set in the nine-ties, Dunst also sports an eclectic wardrobe of questionable fashion choices that includes “a lot of good denim on denim,” leather cut-outs and rhinestones.

“The worse it got, the better it was,” Dunst said about her outfi ts, which only serve to compliment her character’s intense spray tan, long fake nails and eye-catching mouth gear that’s just as uncom-fortable as one might think.

“I’d just take off, and there would be a line of saliva coming off,” Dunst said. “They’re kind of nauseating to wear, so I was just grossing everyone out.” (Agencies)

Brody

Tenille Townes performs at the 13th annual ACM Honors at the Ryman Auditorium on Aug 21 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

‘Plans to re-record Big Machine oldies’

‘Blue’ drummer still keeping timeBy David Sharp

As legend has it, Miles Davis as-sembled a super group of jazz

musicians in a New York studio and recorded a bunch of songs without re-takes. They left Columbia’s 30th Street Studio having no idea that their work would become one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.

Drummer Jimmy Cobb said that’s mostly correct.

He recalls one song required a sec-ond try. And while they may not have known they were making history, they understood they’d created a hit with “Kind of Blue”.

“We knew it was pretty damned good,” Cobb joked.

Cobb, 90, of New York, is the last survivor of the musicians who assem-bled for “Kind of Blue” – saxophonists Cannonball Adderley and John Col-trane; pianists Bill Evans and Wyn-ton Kelly; bassist Paul Chambers; and, of course, trumpeter Davis, and drummer Cobb.

The album, released 60 years ago, on Aug 17, 1959, captured a moment when jazz was transforming from be-bop to something newer, cooler and less structured.

On the album, Davis experimented with “modal jazz” by using simpler “modes” instead of traditional chord progressions, giving his performers more freedom to improvise on the al-bum. Sound engineers captured the sessions, held on two days, with a su-perb hi-fi recording.

Cobb grew up in Washington, D.C., listening to jazz albums and staying up late to hear disc jockey Symphony Sid playing jazz in New York City before launching his professional career. He said it was Adderley who recommend-ed him to Davis, and he ended up play-ing on several Davis recordings.

He’s still making music.On Aug 30, he’s releasing “Remem-

bering U” with Japanese pianist Tada-taka Unno and Italian bassist Paolo Benedettini, and guest appearances by saxophonist Javon Jackson and the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove.

As for “Kind of Blue”, Cobb said Davis assembled musicians who had chemistry and understood what he re-quired for his minimalist approach in the studio. Davis craved authenticity and spontaneity, and his approach in the studio achieved it, Cobb said.

Davis had some notes jotted down but there weren’t pages of sheet mu-sic. It was up to the improvisers to fi ll the pages. “He’d say this is a ballad. I want it to sound like it’s fl oating. And I’d say, ‘OK’, and that’s what it was,” Cobb recalled.

RecordedThe full takes of the songs were re-

corded only once, with one exception, Cobb said. “Freddie Freeloader” need-ed to be played twice because Davis didn’t like a chord change on the fi rst attempt, he said.

The album received plenty of ac-claim at the time, yet the critics, the band and the studio couldn’t have known it would enjoy such longevity.

The total number of copies sold has surpassed 4 million.

“It was authentic. It was fresh,” said Ken Cervenka, a trumpeter who teaches “The Music of Miles Davis” and leads several Miles Davis ensem-bles at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Cervenka used to listen to the album over and over when he was kid. “Even today, you listen to it, and it sounds fresh,” Cervenka said. “I’ve never met anybody who’s heard that album who didn’t love it.”

These days, the 30th Street Studio is long gone. Many of the nation’s leg-endary jazz greats are gone, too. But the music endures.

And so does Cobb.

Cobb still performs – with recent gigs at jazz festivals in Italy and in Maine – and over the years he played drums for Dinah Washington, Bil-lie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan, among others.

“Remembering U” shows he still has his chops.

It’s his 12th recording as band lead-er, and the fi rst on his Jimmy Cobb World label. It features six originals, including a song that he wrote for his sister. There are ballads, swing and gospel – and a pair of Michael Jackson songs. It is being released digitally on his own label.

There isn’t much Cobb would change about his career. With the ben-efi t of hindsight, however, he might’ve taken a cut in pay in favor of a cut of the proceeds from “Kind of Blue”. As it was, all of the musicians on the icon-ic album were paid union scale.

“The only thing that’s depressing about it is I’m not getting any money from it,” Cobb said, with a rueful laugh.

Also:LOS ANGELES: When Taylor Swift let her feelings be known about her former label, Big Machine, ending up in the hands of Scooter Braun, speculation about what little recourse she had in the situation ran rampant: What if she simply re-recorded mate-rial from those fi rst six studio albums?

Although that was considered a long shot for any number of reasons, Swift has now asserted in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that she plans to do just that, although the extent or tim-ing of her plans to go back in the studio to revisit her oldies wasn’t addressed.

“Might you do that?” asked in-terviewer Tracy Smith, wondering whether Swift might make up for not getting rights to her old master re-cordings by going in to cut new ones. (Agencies)

Music

In this July 19, 2009 photo provided by Giuseppe Iazzolino, drummer Jim-my Cobb from the Jimmy Cobb Trio performs with, (not seen), Massimo Faraò and Paolo Benedettini at the Peperoncino Jazz Festival in Catrovil-

lari, a village in Calabria, Italy. (AP)

Tarantino Hemsworth

LOS ANGELES: Quentin Tarantino is going to be telling a whole new brand of “Once upon a time” tale – the bedtime-story kind.

The “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood” director is about to become a father.

His representative Katherine Rowe says Tarantino and his wife, Israeli model and singer Daniella Pick, are expecting a baby. No further details were released.

The couple met in 2009 and mar-ried last November just after Tarantino fi nished shooting “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood”, the fi lm starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt that became a summer hit.

It’s the fi rst child for the 56-year-old Tarantino, who also directed “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs”, and the 35-year-old Pick, who is the daughter of singer-song-writer Svika Pick. (AP)

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LOS ANGELES: Liam Hemsworth is seeking a divorce from Miley Cyrus after seven months of marriage.

The 29-year-old Australian actor fi led for the dissolution of his marriage to the 26-year-old American pop star in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday.

Hemsworth, whose attorney Laura Wasser has been involved in many major stars’ divorces, cited irreconcilable differ-ences as the reason for the split.

The two were an on-again, off-again couple for more than a decade before mar-rying in December. They announced their separation on Aug 10. (AP)

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LOS ANGELES: Action movie hero Dwayne Johnson, star of the “Jumanji” and “Fast and Furious” franchises, topped the annual list of the world’s highest-paid actors, Forbes magazine reported on Wednesday.

Johnson, the former wrestler once known as The Rock, pulled in $89.4 million from June 2018 to June 2019, the magazine said.

That includes his salary and a share of profi ts from fi lms, $700,000 per episode of

Variety

In this Oct 13, 2017 fi le photo, former president Barack Obama (right), and for-mer fi rst lady Michelle Obama arrive for the fi rst session of the Obama Founda-

tion Summit in Chicago. (AP)

HBO series “Ballers”, and seven fi gures in royalties from his line of clothing, shoes and headphones with Under Armour.

Last year, Johnson was second behind

George Clooney, who reaped a windfall from the sale of his tequila company. (RTRS)

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LOS ANGELES: Celso Pina, the cumbia music legend known as “the rebel of the accordion,” died of a heart attack on Wednesday in his hometown of Monter-rey, Mexico. He was 66 years old.

“Today is a sad day for La Tuna Group, with deep pain we communicate the unexpected departure of a fam-ily member, our friend, and professor Celso Pina who died today in Monter-rey at 12:38 pm due to a heart attack,” Pina’s music label, La Tuna Group said in an announcement via social media. “Our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and followers. We are left with an intense emptiness, but he leaves us his great legacy forever. We appreciate respecting the privacy of the family.”

Known for his fusion of cumbia with other genres like ska, hip-hop, reggae and R&B, Pina earned a Latin Grammy nomination for his album “Barrio Bravo”. (RTRS)

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PARIS: Frederic Riesterer, the pro-ducer and creator of electronic dance music who co-wrote the Grammy-nominated hit “I Gotta Feeling” with The Black Eyed Peas, has died. He was 58.

Riesterer, who used the stage name Fred Rister, also worked with David Guetta but, unlike the superstar French DJ, eschewed the limelight.

Last year he wrote; “I am the most famous of the unknowns. I work with pleasure for others without seeking their glory.” (AP)

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

11

h o r o s c o p eBy Jacqueline Bigar

Happy birthday for Friday, Aug 23, 2019: This year, you often say one thing, yet go off and do something different. Others might comment on this behavior. If single, giving off mixed messages could complicate a bud-ding tie. People could back off because of this. You will need to relate to someone who understands both voices. If attached, the two you agree to disagree, but this is often irrele-vant, as you have such a hoot together. Honor your differences and love the fun times the two of you experience. Gemini knows how to get your attention.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

Capricorn - (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

**** Stay anchored, if possible. Eye a sit-

uation from the perspective of having known this person for a while. If someone seems too willing to go along with one of your ideas, fi nd out why. Tonight: Postpone judgment.

Aquarius - (Jan 20 - Feb 18)

***** You can no longer hold yourself back. One-on-one relating is highlighted. You make the impossible possible by decid-ing that nothing is impossible. Your sense of humor and playfulness distract some people, but others jump right in. Tonight: Go with the fl ow.

Pisces - (Feb 19 - Mar 20)

*** You might be more tangled up in a personal situation than you would like. Un-derstand where another person is coming from. You might consider that this person seldom seems needy. What is happening is

quite unique. Tonight: Go with the fl ow.

Aries - (Mar 21 - Apr 19)

*** No matter what the situation, you will feel unusually tense. You might even develop an attitude, as you could feel that someone is nixing your ideas randomly. Tonight: If ex-pressing anger, choose your words with care.

Taurus - (Apr 20 - May 20)

**** Plans could rapidly change as peo-ple’s emotions swing from one mood to an-other. Your response could be equally unpre-dictable. Try to relax and go with the fl ow. Others’ vacillation is not directed toward you. Tonight: Keep your spending under control.

Gemini - (May 21 - June 20)

*** You could become more uptight and fussier than you have been in a while. You might blame this change of mood on this or that, but the truth is simply that you feel dif-ferently at the moment. Do not hesitate to go for what you want. Tonight: Go for what you want.

Cancer - (June 21 - July 22)

**** Emotions surface once more. You feel as if there is something you are missing. You could also be picking up on what some-one who is close to you is feeling. To clear it out, you might need to make several calls. Tonight: Go with a whim!

Leo - (July 23 - Aug 22)

**** You need to move a project forward and no longer get stuck in others’ reserva-tions and thoughts. Confusion surrounds a

personal matter, but it will clear up in a day or so. Tonight: Do not take someone’s atti-tude personally.

Virgo - (Aug 23 - Sept 22)

**** You suddenly feel energized. If a boss or someone you work with notices your high energy, you could have a lot of last-minute work dropped on you. You could say no! Clear it out as quickly as you can. To-night: Fun surrounds you.

Libra - (Sept 23 - Oct 22)

***** Reach out for the unimagined. What appears as a nice but slightly impos-sible dream could actually become a reality. Rather than nix it, see how you can manifest this thought. Curb your tendency to go over-board. Tonight: As you like it.

Scorpio - (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

*** You cannot help but zero in on what is going on with another person. Often, oth-ers don’t realize how tuned in you are. You do not let them know when you can see they are avoiding telling you the whole story! To-night: The more people, the better.

Sagittarius - (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

*** You could feel tense. A comrade at work makes it clear he or she needs time with you. Make it your pleasure. You will get to know this person better. You experience an odd mix of enjoyment and worry. Tonight: All smiles.

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Born today: Basketball player Kobe Bryant (1978), actress Barbara Eden (1931), musician/actor Rick Springfi eld (1949)

home decor indoor gardening beauty tips taste buds

photo blocks Cytisus straight body cinnamon bitsSupplies: Square wooden blocks; mod podge; diamond glaze; acrylic paint; glue paint brushes; corner punch – rounder; photo paper

Instructions: Size your photos to 2 x 2 inches, print them on photo paper and cut them. Use a corner punch to round the corners of your photo if you like this look. Adhere your photo to the block using photo-friendly glue. Using acrylic paint, paint the edges of the block. Using the dry brush technique, apply paint to edges of photo. Let dry. Coat photo with mod podge, and once it’s dry, apply a couple of drops of diamond glaze to the photo. Use a paint brush to coat the photo, as well as the edges.

It is commonly known as broom or genista. Cyt-isus is a very attractive form of broom with scent-ed yellow fl owering spikes. It is best kept as a houseplant when in fl ower and then put out into the garden to spend the summer months there.

Site: Some direct sun is essential.Temperature: Keep the plant warm – minimum

50°F in winter. Water: Water moderately from spring to au-

tumn. Water sparingly in winter. Misting is neces-sary.

The straight body type features an upper and low-er body half that are equal in width. If you gained a few pounds, they would most likely be equally distributed throughout the body, instead of going straight to your curves.■ Choose tops with necklines that fall below the collarbone to elongate the upper body and neck ■ Look for a longer suit jacket that will help lengthen the torso ■ Skirts and pants with details can broaden the lower half of the body, while shirts with pockets on the bustline will emphasize the area■ Try to avoid belts or pleated fabrics at the waist-line. These can make the area look thick instead of narrowing the waist.

Ingredients: 3 cups white sugar, 1 cup white Karo, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp red food coloring, 2 tsp cinnamon oil

Method: Combine fi rst 3 ingredients. Cook un-til hard crack using candy thermometer. Remove from heat. Stir in food coloring. Add in cinnamon oil, stirring well to mix. Pour into greased cookie sheet.

When cool enough to touch, using scissors cut into bite-size pieces.

Roll pieces in powdered sugar.

Dear AbbyMother-in-law Alzheimer’s keeps couple tied to home

By Abigail Van BurenDear Abby: I have been married 35 years.

During the last six years, my mom died, my dad moved in and then he passed away at 91. Dad traveled, including to see my three siblings, and had a girlfriend. Three years ago, my mother-in-law, who is in the beginning stages of Alzhei-mer’s, moved in. My husband is an only child and has no other family nearby. A couple of years ago, our sons, both of whom are in their 30s and had been in the Air Force, moved in. They have steady jobs and contribute to the household. One just bought a house.

My problem is with my husband. Because his mother can’t be left alone, we rarely go anywhere anymore. And even when we are out, he’s glued to his phone. They don’t have a strong relation-

ship and rarely speak to each other. When I try to talk to him about it, his answer is, “I promised I’d never put her in a nursing home,” and, “Hon-or thy mother and father.”

We have been to coun-seling. It didn’t help. We are in our mid-60s and in good shape. I would like to travel before we won’t be able to anymore. His mother is al-

most 90 and has no other health problems, so she could live fi ve or six more years. I feel he should put her in assisted living so we can get on with our lives again. I’m tired of taking care of others, and I want to “retire,” too. Am I selfi sh for feeling this way? How do others deal with this?

— How Much Longer?Dear How: I have mixed feelings about

your letter. Considering that your father moved in with you and your husband until his death, yes, I think your attitude is self-ish. That said, Alzheimer’s patients need constant supervision, and it is possible that in the right kind of assisted living situation, your mother-in-law could be doing better than she is. Social stimulation is important, and the activities that are provided could be good for her. The Alzheimer’s Associa-tion is a trusted source of information, and you and your husband should be getting help from it. Find it online at alz.org. The toll-free phone number is 800-272-3900.

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Dear Abby: My daughter is marrying some-one of a different faith. She doesn’t want to in-vite my husband’s fi rst cousin and her spouse to her wedding. The spouse is openly racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic, and the cousin doesn’t contradict him.

My daughter is inviting people of different faiths, ethnicities and sexual orientations. She does not want to share her wedding day with someone who is fi lled with hate for her other guests and for her fi ance. Although we don’t so-cialize with this cousin and her spouse, my hus-band believes “family is family” and they should be invited. What is your opinion?

— On My Daughter’s SideDear O.M.D.S.: I disagree with your

husband. Because someone is a relative does not require the individual to be invited to every family function, particularly when your branch of the family doesn’t socialize with them otherwise. However, if your hus-band still insists they receive an invitation, he should follow up the invitation with a phone call detailing what will be expected of guests regarding civility and decorum.

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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Bu-ren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phil-lips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAb-by.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

(Source: Universal Uclick)

Abigail

what’s on todaywhat’s on today emergency number 112

Civil ID info: 1889988Site for checking travel ban www.kuwaitcourts.gov.kw/mojweb/NGeneral/Main.jsp

■ Arnis/Eskrima training: Eskrimador-Kuwait a member of Cacoy Doce Pares World Federation now opens a new batch of training. Learn the Philippine national sports, which is Arnis/Eskrima with the authentic style and techniques. Training schedule will be every Friday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm @ Kaifan Sports Complex-Karate Gym. Text or call #50292148-Herms.

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■ Free IFRA coaching classes: Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) will be starting free refresher/coaching classes for existing referees, new recruits, those aspiring to be referees and even those who would like to learn about the laws of the game at IEAS – Salmiya (Don Bosco).

Classes will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm every Friday. Those interested may call 99519439 or get in touch with any IFRA member for registration.

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■ FBC tournament: Filipino Badminton Committee (FBC) is inviting all badminton enthusiast in Kuwait to join their regular badminton tournament being held every Friday from 8 am to 7 pm at Kuwait Disabled Sports Club, Bin Khaldoun Hawalli. Over 10 badminton courts are now available for badminton practices and tournament and it is open for all nationalities and from different badminton organizations. Exclusive-private court are also available on per hour rental. For more information, please contact Dr Chie Umandap – 97197268

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■ UBC badminton tourney: United Badminton Club (UBC) is inviting all play-ers and enthusiast of all nationalities to join their badminton tournament every Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. UBC offers 10 badminton courts for their tour-naments, where an exciting price awaits to the winners. And not just that, they also have raffle prizes for those who joined their tournaments. UBC also allowing exclusive badminton courts for hourly rentals. UBC is a newly-formed badmin-ton club located at Street 9, Block 3, Fahaheel Sports Club, Fahaheel, Ahmadi Al Asimah Kuwait headed by Dennis Romeo Malay and Jimmy Carandang. For more information please contact the following number 6566753.

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■ St Paul’s Church weekly activities: English worship services on Fridays at 10.30 am and on Sundays at 6.30 pm. The Friday English service has separate sessions for children and youth. A Mandarin language speaking congrega-tions meets separately on Fridays at 10.30 am in the Youth Centre at St Paul’s. A combined service with the English and Mandarin language congregations is held on the first Friday of every month. A fam-ily service is held on the second Friday of every month with presentations from dif-ferent organs of the church. The Church of Pakistan has services in English every Thursday at St Paul’s at 5.35 pm and for Urdu language speaking members every Friday at Diwaniya of the NECK Centre, Kuwait City at 5.45 pm. Please contact Fr Michael Mbona on mobile 65960781 or call at Church house on 23985929 or email to chaplain@stpaulskuwait.com or mrmbona@gmail.com For Mandarin speaking congregation contact Revd Zhu Peijin on 99551783 and her email address is greenolivettc@hotmail.com

Contact person: Fr Michael Mbona Mobile: 65960781 Email: mrmbona@gmail.com

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■ Redeemed Christian Church: The Redeemed Christian Church of God (HOD Parish) worship in English.

Celebration Service: Friday 9 am – 11 am; Divine encounter: Sunday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Digging Deep (Bible studies): Tuesday, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm; Night vigil every last Friday of the month from 10 pm.

Venue: New Mishref. For more infor-mation and direction please call 9927-6603, 6557-7482. Email: rccghouseofda-vidq8@gmail.com

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■ Tagalog Khutba for Filipinos: The Ministry of Awqaf, Islam Presentation Committee, & Kuwait Philippine Cultural Center (KPC Center) invites all Filipino Muslim & Muslima to hear Khutba (Sermon) in Tagalog every Friday at Marzouq Al-Badr Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddeeq St (at the back of Ambassador Supermarket and SM Supermarket, near Salhiya Police Station & Kuwait Airways Bldg) in Kuwait City. There will be a com-munity started and lunch after Friday prayers at KPC Center in Farwaniya. For further information, please call KPC Center, Tel 4712574.

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■ Holy Quran classes: Emanway Foundation – Musk is offering classes to teach English-speaking ladies (and girls ages 5 and up) to read the Holy Quran in Arabic. The method is al-Qaedah Noorania, a traditional program which has been used for many years around the world. (Note: ‘Al-Qaedah’ simply means ‘base’; this can be likened to a basic phonics program.) No Arabic knowledge is required. Every Friday from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. Al-Salam Area (south Surra), Block 2, Street 201, House 30. Classes are free, but seats are limited, so register now by calling 66274724.

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■ BBBC weekly services: Bible Believers’ Baptist Church (BBBC) in Mangaf invites you to visit us for our weekly services in English. Friday morn-ing Bible teaching starts at 10:30 am. The Sermon and Children’s Church begins at noon. On Monday evening we hold our prayer meeting and Bible study at 7 pm. For more details, please call 66220416 or email faithful.stewards@gmail.com

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■ El Shaddai weekly fellowship: The El Shaddai DWXI-PPFI Kuwait Chapter invites all the Filipino in our weekly fellow-ship.

● Every Monday, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm St Joseph Hall (Basement), Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait City.

● Every Friday (except 1st Friday), 12:30 pm to 4 pm, Sacred Heart Hall, Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait City.

For more information please call any of the following nos: 66758948, 66523946, 99615956, 99495832, 66078953 and 67067956.

Items for the What’s On page can be sent directly to the Arab Times, P.O. Box 2270, 13023, Safat or faxed to 24818267 or e-mail to arabtimes@arabtimesonline.com. All items on this page are published as a courtesy to the public. These announce-ments can include birthday greetings, weddings, social functions or any other non-commercial events. Photographs of all events are welcome.

A fl yer of the event.

A fl yer of the event.

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

12

Up by 6.7% Y-o-Y

NBK-Egypt reports KD 18.7mn in net profits in 1H2019KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: NBK-Egypt – a member of NBK Group – reported EGP 1.055 billion in net profits (KWD 18.7 million) for 1H2019 up 6.7% compared to EGP 988.78 million (KWD 16.9 million) for the corresponding period of last year.

Total assets as of June 30, 2019 reached EGP 68.55 billion up 5.26% compared to EGP 65.12 billion by the end of June 2018. Total customers deposits grew by 19.24% for the same period to reach EGP 56.68 billion, compared to EGP 47.54 billion for the corresponding period of last year.

Ms Shaikha Al-Bahar, Deputy Group CEO, National Bank of Kuwait and Chairman of NBK-Egypt said that NBK-Egypt’s record finan-cial results reflect NBK Group’s insightful long-term investments strat-egies in the Egyptian market. The profit growth in 1H2019, mainly driv-en by operating income, also reflects the stability of the Egyptian economic environment and its rapid develop-ment.

Al-Bahar highlighted that NBK-Egypt is considered one of the most important branches for the Group, as it contributes about third of the reported profits from the Group’s international branches. She also stressed that the growth witnessed by the Egyptian economy will create new investment and financing opportuni-ties for the bank, which will in turn

improve product integration between the bank and the parent group, thus strengthening its position in the Egyptian market.

“NBK Group is working on trans-ferring its Fintech expertise to the Egyptian market through NBK-Egypt as part of the Group’s “digital trans-formation” strategy. This step was reflected positively on the outstanding and unique banking services offered by NBK-Egypt to its customers, thus position us as a pioneering bank in introducing the latest technological solutions”. Shaikha Al-Bahar com-mented.

Expand Al-Bahar also added that NBK-

Egypt aims to further expand its mar-ket share in the Egyptian market, con-firming that all indicators support the successful implementation of NBK’s strategy focused on the retail sector in addition to corporate finance. “NBK aims to expand and diversify its busi-ness scope to increase its geographi-cal footprint and reach more custom-ers throughout all Egyptian governor-ates,” Al-Bahar added.

Al-Bahar stressed that the Egyptian economy is beginning to reap the ben-efits of its economic reform program, which the government managed to successfully implement over the past three years. That initiative included a wide array of economic and financial reforms, which led to a substantial

and accomplished team that brings comprehensive banking knowledge and expertise.

El-Tayeb added that most of NBK-Egypt’s profits are driven by corpo-rate credit services, with a highly diversified portfolio drawing on the diversification of the Egyptian econo-my itself. He also highlighted that NBK strives to strengthen its position in retail banking as well over the coming period and that it has made huge strides in presenting innovative services and products to its retail cli-ents to fulfill the needs and require-ments of various segments.

NetworkHe further added that NBK-Egypt

has a wide network of 50 branches spread over premium locations in var-ious Egyptian governorates and cities including: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Delta, Sinai, Red Sea and Upper Egypt, in addition to the industrial zones in 6th of October and 10th of Ramadan cities. The bank is also privileged to be among the elite banks within the Egyptian market that hold an Islamic banking license in addition to its conventional licensing. It has two Islamic branches, one in Cairo and the other in Alexandria, thus enabling the bank to offer a compre-hensive selection of Sharia compliant products and services in addition to its traditional offerings.

Moreover, NBK-Egypt has a wide

network of ATMs spread across the country to service the bank’s clients around the clock. NBK-Egypt also provides a range of e-services that provide its clients with unique bank-ing experiences, enabling them to execute many of their banking trans-actions anywhere anytime without having to visit the branch.

National Bank of Kuwait was incorporated in 1952 as the first local bank and the first shareholding com-pany in Kuwait and the Gulf region. NBK continues to enjoy collectively one of the highest ratings among all banks in the Middle East from the three international rating agencies Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor’s. The bank’s ratings are supported by its strong financial indi-cators, asset quality, high capitaliza-tion in addition to its highly recog-nized and very stable management team, as well as strategic vision and stable funding base. NBK was also named among Global Finance’s list of the 50 safest banks in the world for the thirteenth consecutive time. NBK enjoys the widest banking presence with a local and international network exceeding over 150 branches and sub-sidiaries reaching 4 continents. NBK’s international presence spans many of the world’s leading financial centers including the United States of America, Europe, GCC, the Middle East, China as well as Singapore.

Yasser El-Tayeb

improvement in the macroeconomic and financial indicators, as confirmed by the leading international institu-tions. Most recently, Fitch upgraded Egypt’s credit rating to B+ with a sta-ble outlook and Moody’s upgraded its credit rating to B2 with a stable out-look.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of NBK-Egypt, Yasser El-Tayeb high-lighted that 1H2019 financial results reflect that NBK-Egypt has continued its growth and solid performance across most financial indicators, sup-ported by the Bank’s success in over-

coming unfavorable market condi-tions at the beginning of this year, thanks to the prudent policy adopted by the bank as a member of NBK Group and its business model based on the diversification of its income and credit portfolio while offering flexible financing solutions and pro-viding innovative banking products at the same time to cater to its customers actual needs derived through detailed in-depth market studies. This is in addition to the bank’s solid financial position, strong balance sheets, suc-cessful strategy and the experienced

Shaikha Al-Bahar

A photo from the event.

IDF Kuwait supports the event

IACC Kuwait organises breast cancer screening campKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Indo Arab Confederation Council (IACC), Kuwait Chapter and Admins of Hub, Kuwait jointly organized a breast cancer screening camp and orientation class with the support of Indian Doctors Forum Kuwait. Dew drops pure water sys-tems sponsored event was inaugu-rated by Loka Kerala Sabha member and Indo Arab Confederation Council President Babu Francis.

Event was presided by Admins of Hub Chairperson Meera Alex. Dr Susovana Sujith Nair from Kuwait Cancer Control Centre represented Indian Doctors Forum gave a brief lecture about breast cancer and lead the screening camp.

Social activist Shiny Frank coordinated the event. Dew drops Managing Director Bathar C S, IACC Gen. Secretary Jeeves Erinjeri, Akbar Kulathupuzha

and Shajitha, Admins of Hub Kuwait,

Fulgeen Francis ( Nanma Kuwait) did the felicitations. Dr Susovana Sujith Nair and C S Bathar were honoured in the event by presenting mementos. Hamzaji and Hussain supported to organize the medical camp. Ladies from different areas of Kuwait and members of various organizations attended the medical camp

IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefi ts of its members. Please watch for further details in your registered e-mail or announcement in media. The chapter has science club activities for members’ children, and ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait Chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE Examination for those interested in pursuing career

enrichment.For more information and on chapter

membership, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait Chapter on Mob: 90098667 or through email to ieikwt@hotmail.com

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Advisory for OCI card holders: All those having OCI Cards are required to carry both their OCI Card and passport to travel to India so that they do not face

any diffi culty in immigration clearance.From October 2018, ICAO will ac-

cept only machine readable travel docu-ments, hence, existing PIO Cards, which are handwritten will therefore, become invalid. Thus it will be necessary upon PIO Cardholders to obtain machine readable OCI Cards in lieu of existing hand written PIO Cards before October 2018 to avoid any inconvenience.

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Q8BBall Season 13: Q8BBall is be-ginning our 13th season with Boys U13 (ages 10-13) and U17 (ages 14-17). We train three times a week and play regular games throughout the year with schools and clubs. Contact Coach T 97128884 for information.

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Invitation to Grand Mosque: The Visits Department is pleased to invite

you to visit the Grand Mosque, which is one of Kuwait’s most treasured religious and cultural landmarks to discover the beauty of Islamic arts and architecture. Free guided tours are available all year round on offi cial working days between (9-11 am) and (5-7 pm), within a special tour program designed to cater to the needs of different age groups. The program is as follows:

Reception; Auditorium show; (ac-cording to age group); Touring the Mosque; Q & A; Art workshops; (ac-cording to age group – between 5 and 18 years old); Snack break; Distribution of the Grand Mosque publications and souvenirs; End of tour.

According to these age groups:Age group: 5 to 9 years old: Morning:

60 visitors max; Evening: 20; 10 to 15 years: Morning: 100 visitors max; Even-ing: 45; 16 and above: Morning: 140 visitors max, Evening: 105:

Tour language: Arabic- English- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); Ara-bic- English- French; Arabic (English upon prior request); Arabic- English- French: Arabic (English upon prior request)

Rules and Regulations:■ Please arrive in time for your visit.■ All visitors are kindly required to abide by the mosque’s dress code. Male visitors should wear long pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are not allowed. Female visitors: should wear head cover and long loose clothing (available at the mosque).■ Foods and drinks are not allowed inside the prayer halls.■ For school visits, teachers are respon-sible for their students and are required to cooperate with the staff members of the Grand Mosque.■ Photography is allowed inside the Grand Mosque (please note that disre-spectful poses are strictly prohibited).

If you would like to book a tour, please contact us:

Tel: 22980813/ 22980815/ 22980812 Email: gmvisits@gmail.com Fax: 22473708

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Share your story with Amricani: Do you or any of your family members, acquaintances or friends happen to have a story with the American Missionary hospital in Kuwait (Mustashfa Lemrai-cani) during the years from 1914-1967, the offi cial period of offering medical services in Kuwait?

Please share with us your story or your memory during those old days by writing the event and sending it to the following email address: Mystory@darmuseum.org.kw

Notes: 1. Please send your story only to the above mentioned email. Story shared in Instagram, Facebook or Twit-ter will not be considered.

2. Please write your story or memory and sign it with your full name, and your contact number.

3. It will be great if you send us your personal photos or those of the place related to the story (optional).

Your story will be part of a new book to be published by DAI.

I am confi dent that your contributions will be an essential part of the history of Amricani. Share with us!

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NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breath-ing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825.

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Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next.

The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Understand the purpose of our lives and learn to live that purpose with confi dence 3. Under-stand the importance of connecting to Allah and learn how to do it 4. Under-stand how to leverage your strengths and overcome weaknesses 5. Understand how to articulate your life goal and cre-ate a road map to achieve it.

For more information please visit www.leckuwait.com or call 99514995 / 66363310

Huawei’s latest smartphone software

Here is what you need to know about EMUI10KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Huawei, a brand known and loved for its smart-phones that cater to every kind of user, has always seen great apprecia-tion for its EMUI platform. Packed to the brim with unique features that are targeted for every type of customer, the EMUI platform is known for its smooth operations and flawless exe-cution of its unique features.

Now with more than 500 million daily active users in 216 countries and regions with support for 77 languag-es, Huawei’s EMUI has come a long way from its inception back in 2012. Dedicated to providing premium user experiences, Huawei has invested heavily into developing EMUI even further, adding new features and cre-ating an experience like no other. This has resulted in the all new EMUI10, Huawei’s latest software update, all set to roll out your Huawei smartphone soon.

A whole new look and feel With EMUI10, you are treated to a

whole new look which is designed to be more aesthetically pleasing while also being more functional. Inspired by the design of a magazine, you now have increased spacing with larger headlines, making it easier to navi-

gate. You will also notice that the drop-down menu does not have any text, allowing for larger icons and easier accessibility. This new design also adds spacing between each noti-fication, making it visually pleasing.

This new style also extends itself across the contacts, settings, notepad and even the photo gallery apps, each of which are now easier to navigate with better classifications. There are also a few icon changes here and there, while still maintaining Huawei’s signature style.

An updated camera design Huawei is known for its camera

prowess and with this new software update, you can also expect a few fea-tures and tweaks to make its way into the camera interface.

Now you can find a simpler and clearer background along with a new zoom slider and a stylish look while switching through modes. To add the final touch to your photos, you also get 11 new filters inclusive of monochrome options. If you are a fan of the Aperture mode, you will also notice that now the level of bokeh is listed by the f-stop instead of just a number.

Elegance in refinementIn a quick look you would see that

the EMUI10 now has a more muted or subtle color tone in most of its ele-ments. Inspired by the color palette of famous Italian painter George Morandi, this new set of colors is the result of mixing light grey to achieve subdued colors and subtle tones for an overall elegant and peaceful look.

This new look extends all over the user interface and is especially notice-able in the contacts app, where con-tacts without a picture are given a background of one of the six soft color tones.

The all-new Dark Mode One of Android Q’s most sought

after features is the Dark Mode, which gives the entire interface a darker overhaul, making it more com-fortable to use. Huawei has upgraded this with its own Dark Mode in EMUI10, which does more than just switching everything to black. With the EMUI10’s Dark Mode, overall viewing is made more comfortable, thanks to its unique method of adjust-ing contrast even under changing light conditions. This is the result of the Human Factor research done by Huawei, which tested the reading effi-ciency and subjective experience of users while using their phones under

four different lighting conditions, cre-ating four different color themes for different light conditions.

However, what really sets the EMUI10’s Dark Mode apart is that it also applies to pre-installed apps and even in third-party apps, creating a more comfortable viewing experi-ence.

Smoother than ever before While using EMUI10, you will

quickly notice that the animations are now more fluid and natural. Modeled on real world physics, the overall quality of animations have been improved to create a better user expe-rience. Now long presses will depress the object lower into the screen before springing up, while swiping speeds and trajectories will affect how the object reacts.

This gives users a more natural feel while using their smartphone, which is also complemented by better frame rate during transitions reducing lag and smoothening out the animation.

The Huawei P30 series will be the first to get the EMUI 10 Beta update starting Sept 8 across global markets, followed by the roll out to the Huawei Mate 20 series and other Huawei smartphones in line.

Drinking problem?: Friends of Bill W. are available to help. Totally confi -dential. Email: rohsecretary@gmail.com

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Narcotics Anonymous: NA can help with addiction problems. Totally confidential: 94087800 English/Arabic.

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Cancer online support group: If you are Cancer patient or family mem-ber fi ghting with this deadly disease, come join our online support group. Best way of dealing with this disease is pro-viding support and share our experience with each other. There are lot of things which even doctors can’t tell so be member of this website and start sharing your experiences which may help others. October is recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The primary purpose is to promote self examination and screening mammog-raphy as the most effective way to save lives by detecting breast cancer at early stage. For more information visit: http://fi ghtingwithcancer.webs.com/

LatestAug 29

IMA to host public discourse: Under the patronage of Community sec-tion, Ministry of Awqaf-Kuwait, Indian Muslim Association (IMA) is organ-izing two separate public discourses on occasion of Youm Al Hijrah, fi rst event will take place on Thursday, Aug 29, 2019 in Masjid Maryam Al Dukhan in Mahboula and second event on Friday, Aug 30 at Masjid Muzaini in block 10, Salmiya immediately after Isha prayers. Renowned Islamic scholars will address the gathering.

Dinner packets will be served and there is separate seating arrangement for ladies. For transport and other informa-tion contact 66800125 (Salmiya) and 50036763 (Abu Halifa) or visit www.imakuwait.org

GeneralTimbre Talkers meeting: Timbre Talkers has completed almost 9 years in Kuwait and is a dynamic and happen-ing club with stalwarts and winners who have represented it to the Division and District levels. “Timbre” means the pitch of sound and each and every member represents a unique sounding speech which resonates as a stupen-dous orchestra when played together. Our Club meets every fi rst and third Tuesdays at 7.00 pm at Better Books in Salmiya. Our members not only look forward to the innovative meetings but also to the yummy food our members bring from home.

Do come and witness our meetings and join us for a fun-fi lled evening.

For details contact: Rohaina Aqueel VP PR, 66634224; Anand Pillai VP Membership 67055797

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IEI Kuwait membership: The Institution of Engineers (India), Kuwait Chapter invites all its members to update their membership information for the year 2018-19 and actively participate in the chapter activities. Indian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 750,000 engineers by becoming corporate or non-corporate members of The Institution of Engineers (India).

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ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

13

Health

E-cig firms probed

Even nicotine-free vapingcan impact blood vesselsNEW YORK, Aug 22, (Agencies): Healthy young people show signs of impaired blood vessel function after just a few puffs of an elec-tronic cigarette, even without nico-tine, new research shows.

“We essentially found that using e-cigarettes is not equivalent to in-haling water vapor; in fact, it can exert acute, detrimental effects on (blood vessels) even when the liq-uid does not contain nicotine,” Dr Alessandra Caporale of the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadel-phia, the study’s fi rst author, told Reuters Health in an email.

Evidence is mounting that vap-ing, sometimes touted as a safer alternative to smoking, is not risk-free, Dr Caporale and her col-leagues note in Radiology. In a pre-vious study, they found that vaping nicotine-free e-cigarettes increased signs of infl ammation and a form of tissue damage known as oxida-tive stress, which returned to nor-mal levels in one to three hours.

Big US tobacco companies are all developing e-cigarettes. The battery-powered devices feature a glowing tip and a heating element that turns liquid nicotine and fl a-vorings into a cloud of vapor that users inhale.

FunctionIn the new study, the authors

used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to take several measure-ments of blood vessel function in 31 healthy adults who had never smoked, before and after they took 16 three-second puffs of an e-cigarette containing propylene glycol, glycerol and fl avoring but no nicotine.

After vaping, study participants showed several changes indicating that “vascular reactivity,” which is the ability of healthy blood ves-sels to widen when necessary, was “considerably and signifi cantly im-paired,” Dr Caporale noted.

These changes were temporary, but if repeated over a long period of time could cause infl ammation and deterioration of blood vessel health, the researcher added. “We are far from suggesting that a sin-gle episode of vaping translates immediately into atherosclerosis.”

With funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which also supported the current research, Dr Caporale and her team are planning a study that will look at infl ammation, oxidative stress and circulatory changes in e-ciga-rette users, cigarette smokers and non-smokers over time.

Dr Irfan Rahman, a professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center who researches the effect of e-cigarettes on health, reviewed the study for Reuters Health. “The study is interesting and has some insights into long-term consequences of electronic cigarette vapors in cardioneurovas-cular disorders,” he told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.

But the fi ndings don’t confi rm an association and shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that e-cigarette users will develop these health problems, he added.

Meanwhile, the number of breathing illnesses reported among people who vape is growing. Health offi cials are now looking

into more than 150 possible cases in 16 states in the US.

Offi cials on Wednesday said the Food and Drug Administration has joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states investigating reports from the last two months.

All the illnesses were in teens or adults who had used an elec-tronic cigarette or some other kind of vaping device. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far infectious diseases have been ruled out.

No single vaping product or compound has been linked to all of the cases, and offi cials said it’s not clear if there’s a common cause.

No deaths have been reported.

Also:WASHINGTON: Four dominant e-cigarette manufacturers face a probe into the health impacts of their products, as the US House Energy and Commerce Commit-tee asked on Wednesday about the fi rms’ research and marketing practices.

The committee sent letters to Juul Labs Inc, 35% owned by Mar-lboro maker Altria Group Inc, Fon-tem Ventures, Japan Tobacco Inc, and Reynolds American Inc, a unit of British American Tobacco Plc.

The letter to Juul asked if the company has conducted or fi -nanced studies on the health im-plications of using its products and the effectiveness of Juul in helping users quit smoking. It asked if Juul has sent information to the Food and Drug Administration.

Kaelan Hollon, a spokeswoman for Reynolds American, said the company is reviewing the letter and believes “minors should never use tobacco products, including vapor products.”

Japan Tobacco said in a state-ment it welcomes any opportu-nity to “set out the responsible ap-proaches” it takes in its marketing.

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BRUSSELS: The Ebola virus dis-ease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread in the east of the coun-try with a high risk of a spillover into the neighboring countries, the European Union (EU) warned Wednesday.

The EU is stepping up its as-sistance to Burundi with 465,000 euro (USD 516,000) to further strengthen Ebola preparedness measures by authorities and aid organizations in the country, EU press release noted.

EU Commissioner for Humani-tarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, who is also the EU’s Ebola Coordinator, said “to effectively fi ght the Ebola vi-rus we do not only have to address the affected cases in the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo but also increase our efforts to prevent the disease from spreading to neigh-boring countries like Burundi.”

“The European Union is there-fore supporting ongoing Ebola pre-paredness measures in the country, including infection prevention and control. Everything possible must be done to avoid a further spread of the deadly virus,” he said.

In this May 23, 2019 file photo, Southern Connecticut State University professor Vincent Breslin holds a sample of water that contains possible microplas-tics at the North Haven Water Treatment Plant on Universal Drive. (AP)

Sources and type of protein matters

Don’t worry about drinking microplastics in water

The World Health Organization says the levels of microplastics in drinking water don’t appear to be risky, but that research has been spotty and more is needed into their effects on the environ-ment and health.

Microplastics are created when man-made materials break down into tiny particles smaller than about 5 millimeters (roughly one-fifth of an inch), although there is no strict scientific defini-tion.

In a report published Wednesday, the UN health agency said the minuscule plastics are “ubiquitous in the environment” and have been found in drinking water, including both tap and bottled, most likely as the result of treatment and distribution systems.

“But just because we’re ingesting them doesn’t mean we have a risk to human health,”

said Bruce Gordon, WHO’s coordinator of water, sanitation and hygiene. “The main conclusion is, I think, if you are a consumer drinking bottled water or tap water, you shouldn’t necessarily be concerned.”

Gordon acknowledged, however, that the available data is “weak” and that more research is needed. He also urged broader efforts to re-duce plastic pollution.

The report is WHO’s first review to investigate the potential human health risks of microplas-tics. It said people have inadvertently consumed microplastics and other particles in the environ-ment for decades without sign of harm.

Andrew Mayes, a senior lecturer in chemistry at Britain’s University of East Anglia who didn’t participate in the WHO report, agreed that mi-croplastics in water don’t appear to be a health

worry for now.“But I wouldn’t want people to go away with

the idea that microplastics are no longer impor-tant,” because they might be harming the envi-ronment, he said. He said stronger measures to reduce plastic are needed.

“We know that these types of materials cause stress to small organisms,” he said. “They could be doing a lot of damage in unseen ways.”

“Even if we stop (adding) plastic to the envi-ronment right now, microplastics will increase as larger pieces divide into smaller and small-er pieces,” Mayes said, adding scientists have little understanding of the long-term conse-quences.

WHO called for further analysis of microplas-tics in the environment and their potential health significance. (AP)

NEW YORK, Aug 22, (RTRS): Old-er adults who cut back on the amount of vegetable protein in their diets may be more likely to experience age-related health problems than their peers who increase the amount of plant protein they eat, a Spanish study suggests.

Researchers examined data on 1,951 people aged 60 and older who completed dietary surveys and questionnaires to detect four types of unhealthy aging: functional im-pairments; reduced vitality; mental health issues; and chronic medical problems or use of health services. Participants provided this informa-tion in three waves: from 2008-2010, in 2012 and again in 2017.

Overall, study participants got an average 12% of their calories from animal protein, including meat and dairy, and about 6% from vegetable protein, including sources such as le-gumes, nuts, grains, root vegetables and green plants.

Compared to people who de-creased vegetable protein intake by more than 2% between the first wave and 2012, those who increased their consumption of vegetable protein by more than 2% developed fewer defi-

cits associated with unhealthy aging during the study.

“There is growing evidence sup-porting a beneficial effect of higher intakes of total protein on muscle mass and strength, physical func-tioning, hip fracture and frailty,” said Esther Lopez-Garcia, senior au-thor of the study and a researcher at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.

Improve The study offers fresh evidence

that the type of protein matters, too.“If you eat more plant-based

sources of proteins, you are also getting a lot of micronutrients and healthy fats, and fiber that help im-prove your health,” Lopez-Garcia said by email. “On the other hand, if you consume animal sources of proteins full of saturated and trans fats, and other substances added during the processing (mostly salt and nitrites), you are getting all the detrimental effects of these sub-stances.”

At the start of the study, people got about 5.2% of their calories from meat, 3.3% from dairy, 3% from refined grains and 2.8% from fish. Participants got less than 1% of their

calories from legumes, eggs, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, tubers or nuts.

Changes in animal protein con-sumption during the study didn’t appear to influence the potential for people to show more signs of un-healthy aging by the end of the study, researchers report in the American Journal of Medicine.

But adding more vegetable protein was linked to fewer deficits by the end of the study.

“Since substitution of plant pro-tein for animal protein has been as-sociated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and all-cause and cardio-vascular mortality, it is relevant to understand which source of protein may be more beneficial for a healthy aging,” Lopez-Garcia said.

The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how eating more plant proteins may stall unhealthy aging. It also wasn’t able to deter-mine which types of vegetable pro-teins might be best from an aging perspective.

One limitation of the study is that many participants dropped out be-fore the end. It’s also possible that results from this study of older adults

might not apply to younger people.“While high protein intake might

not be preferable for middle-aged adults, it has been shown that high level of protein intake is protec-tive among those aged 66 years and older,” said Yian Gu, a neurology researcher at Columbia University in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.

“It is important to interpret scien-tific findings on protein intake based on age groups, “ Gu said by email. “The current study results are con-sistent with findings in the elderlies, with further information from inno-vative analyses of animal and plant based proteins separately.”

The sources of protein also matter, Lopez-Garcia said.

Good sources of plant-based pro-tein include lentils, beans, peas, soy-beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains like teff, wheat, quinoa, rice, oats, and buckwheat, Lopez Garcia ad-vised.

Healthy options for animal protein can include poultry, seafood, eggs, as well as dairy in moderation, Lo-pez-Garcia advised. Protein sources to reduce or limit include red and processed meat.

Vegetable protein helps avoid unhealthy aging

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

14

bridgebridgeBy Steve Becker

contract bridgebridge

Challenger

DIRECTIONS:Fill each square with a

number, one through nine.■ Horizontal squares

should add to totals on right.

■ Vertical squares should add to totals on bottom.

■ Diagonal squares through center should add to total in upper and lower

right.

THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION.

Today’s ChallengeTime 2 Minutes

0 SecondsYour Working

Time __ Minutes__ Seconds

Yesterday’s solution

Eugene Sheffer Crossword

General

AWL registration: If you would like to join the American Women’s League (AWL), please call 99039723 or 94067999 or email: kuwaitawl@yahoo.com. All American women and wives of Americans are welcomed.

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Ugandans register with UIK: Are you a Ugandan living and working in Kuwait? Would you like to get in touch with other Ugandans in Kuwait both socially and professionally? Then please get in touch with us. We would like to invite you to register with the Ugandans in Kuwait (UIK) association, an informal organiza-tion of Ugandans living and working in Kuwait. The purpose of this exercise is to get together as Ugandans and to consider taking the fi rst steps to establishing a more formal organisation. This association is voluntary. It is designed to create a forum for Ugandans in Kuwait to foster a sense of community, to communicate more effectively with each other and to encourage Ugandans out here to work together. We are also planning a celebration to mark 50 years of Ugandan’s Independence this year. If you have any questions regarding this association or if you are interested in registering, then please send us an email at ugandansinkuwait@gmail.com. We hope to hear from you soon.

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Free drum music classes: Free professional drum music classes are available at Salmiya for all age groups from beginners to advanced by a well experienced drum teacher. For more details: 94974295.

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Indian Embassy SPDC notice: Attention of all Indian associations/Indian schools in Kuwait is once again drawn to Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) which was intro-duced by Government of India in the academic year 2006-2007 with the objective to make higher education in India accessible to the children of overseas Indians and promote India as a centre for higher studies.

Under the scheme, 100 PIO/NRI students were awarded scholarship of up to US$ 4,000 per annum for undergraduate courses in Engineering, Technology, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Com-merce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Manage-ment, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and some other courses.

The scheme is open to NRIs/PIOs from over 40 countries (including Kuwait) having substan-tial Indian Diaspora population.

The Scheme was revamped and launched in July 2016. Under the revamped Scheme, number of scholarships has been enhanced from 100 to 150 with introduction of 50 scholarships for children of Indian workers employed in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries. The Scheme is now applicable to four categories of applicants:

(i) Persons of Indian Origin(ii) Non-Resident Indians(iii) Children of Indian workers working in

ECR countries (including Kuwait).(iv) Children of Indian workers in ECR coun-

tries — studying in IndiaThe institutions that are covered under this

Scheme are:(i) NITs, IIITs, Schools of Planning and

Architecture(ii) “A” Grade institutions accredited by

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and recognised by University Grants Commission (UGC).

(iii) Other institutions covered under Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.

Income criteria will be applicable to all four categories. Applicants will seek scholarships after they obtain admission in the approved list of educational institutions.

Applications are required to be submitted online at SPDC portal — http://spdcindia.gov.in/login/index.php. Last date for submission of applications was extended till Oct 14, 2016. Nodal offi cer for SPDC is P. Bharadwaj, Deputy Secretary (OIA-II), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, Tel: 00-91-11-24197952, Email: dsoia2@mea.gov.in

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Islamic classes in French: The Enlight-enment into Islam is offering Islamic Classes in French for ladies. Timings 4:30 to 7 pm. Every Wednesday. Please register at the offi ce (Women’s Section), 2nd fl oor. For more informa-tion please contact us. Telephone 25362684, 99789954, 99507076, 97743327. Fax 25342573 (attention — Enlightenment into Islam)

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Bridge game: Bridge tournament is being held every Sunday and Wednesday at 20:00 hours, played at the Graduates Club, next to Kuwait Engineering Society. Interested Bridge pairs or individual players please contact Mohammed Merchant, Tel: 24815622, 24841158, 99612287.

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Word by Word

Sing GhanaitIf you sing before breakfast, you’ll cry before nightEtha ghanait qabl al fotoor bakait qabla al masaa

Numbers

8249 Eight thousand two hun-dred forty nine

Thamaniyat alaaf wa meatan wa tesah wa arbaoun

Conceptis SudokuThe grid must be so completed that every row, column and 3x3

box has every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive

Answer to yesterday’s puzzle

Sunday: The better way

Market Movements 22-08-2019

Business Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries +20.44 6,593.02CHINA - Shanghai SE +3.11 2,883.44JAPAN - Nikkei +9.44 20,628.01PAKISTAN - KSE 100 +911.70 31,884.45

Change Closing ptsEUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 -21.22 3,373.67FRANCE - CAC 40 -47.23 5,388.25GERMANY - DAX -55.81 11,747.04INDIA - Sensex -587.44 36,472.93PHILIPPINES - PSEi -38.08 7,848.83S. KOREA - KRX 100 -38.10 4,148.89

Dozens of ground-ed Boeing 737 MAX airplanes, including one for Icelandair, (right), and TUI Airlines, (center), crowd a parking area adjacent to Boeing Field. (AP)

Boeing, grappling with uneven 737 supply chain

Boeing Co has told suppliers it will resume production of its best-selling 737 jets at a rate of 52 aircraft per month in February 2020, then stepping up to a record 57 jets monthly in June, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Boeing told more than 100 suppliers during at least one Web meeting July 30 that the new schedule depended upon regulators approv-ing the 737 MAX to fl y again commercially in the fourth quarter, one of the people said.

Boeing mainly builds the latest version of its cash-cow single-aisle family at its Seattle-area factory, but also builds a small number

of earlier or military variants of the 737. One of the people expressed skepticism over the timing given the intense scrutiny from regula-tors that grounded the 737 MAX after deadly crashes killed nearly 350 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia in the span of fi ve months.

There is no guarantee when regulators will clear the 737 MAX to fl y again, and Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg told ana-lysts last month that Boeing would consider further 737 output cuts or potentially suspend-ing production if the grounding dragged on.

In April, Boeing cut the number of 737s it produces monthly to 42 from 52 after halting

deliveries to airline customers, cutting off a key source of cash and hitting margins.

Because the grounding happened when Boeing was going up towards record produc-tion levels, and each move of the sprawling supply chain has to be planned far in advance, Boeing and its suppliers are now caught be-tween two confl icting pressures: preparing to get back on the upward path as soon as the plane is fl ying but also ratcheting downwards if regulators stall and the grounding continues for longer than expected.

Boeing has been tight-lipped about its pro-duction plans. (RTRS)

OPEC’s market share sinks to 30%No sign of wavering on supply cuts

Labor market still fi rm

US factories show signs of trouble in AugustWASHINGTON, Aug 22, (RTRS): Activity is contracting in the US manufacturing sector but the number of Americans fi ling applications for unemployment benefi ts fell last week, signs that factories are suffering from a global slowdown even as the broader labor market remains healthy.

IHS Markit on Thursday said its Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing fell to 49.9 earlier this month from 50.4 in July, pointing to a contraction in the sec-tor for the fi rst time since September 2009.

Readings below 50 point to reduc-tions in activity and the August data could heighten fears the US econo-my is on track to slip into recession, dragged down by economic weakness overseas and an escalating trade war with China.

IHS Markit said its surveys also pointed to slowing growth in the US service sector.

“August’s survey data provides a clear signal that economic growth has continued to soften in the third quar-ter,” said Tim Moore, an economist at IHS Markit.

A manufacturing survey from the Kansas City Federal Reserve showed its composite index slipping to -6 in August, the lowest reading since March 2016, from -1 in July.

Over 55% of survey respondents said they expected the most recent US tariffs on Chinese goods to hurt their business, while less than 6% expected a positive impact. More than a third expected trade tensions to persist for one to two years.

While US factories are feeling the pinch from weaker orders overseas and higher input costs due to rising US tariffs on imports, the labor market re-mains buoyant, providing a support for consumer spending.

Initial claims for state unemploy-ment benefi ts dropped 12,000 to a sea-sonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended Aug 17, the Labor Department said in a separate report. The decline was sharper than expected.

Last week’s claims data falls during the same week the Labor Department conducts surveys used to estimate na-tional employment during the month of August. The four-week average for new unemployment benefi ts claims was lower than the corresponding week in July, a positive signal for em-ployment during the month.

While hiring has cooled, the pace of job gains remains well above the roughly 100,000 needed per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population.

A separate index of leading eco-nomic indicators rose in July, pointing to continued economic growth in the coming months. The index, compiled by the Conference Board, had de-clined in May and June but increased 0.5% last month, boosted by healthy readings for permits to build housing, robust stock prices and low levels of unemployment claims.

Despite these signs of economic

LONDON, Aug 22, (RTRS): OPEC’s share of the global oil market has sunk to 30%, the lowest in years, as a result of supply restraint and involuntary losses in Iran and Ven-ezuela, and there is little sign yet producers are wa-vering on their output-cut strategy.

Crude oil from the Organiza-tion of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made up 30% of world oil supply in July 2019, down from more than 34% a decade ago and a peak of 35% in 2012, according to OPEC data.

Despite OPEC-led supply cuts, oil has tumbled from April’s 2019 peak above $75 a barrel to $60, pressured by slowing economic ac-tivity amid concerns about the US-China trade dispute and Brexit.

The decline in prices, should it persist, and erosion of market share could raise the question of whether continued supply restraint is serv-ing producers’ best interests.

OPEC and its allies have a deal to limit supply until March 2020.

The group tried to defend its mar-ket share under the previous Saudi oil minister, Ali al Naimi, who sharply ramped up production in a pump war campaign in 2014.

Naimi was hoping to win the bat-tle, arguing that OPEC’s output was the world’s cheapest and would al-low the group to outdo other pro-ducers such as the United States.

CrashedAs a result of his strategy OPEC’s

market share rose, while oil prices crashed to below $30 a barrel, trig-gering many bankruptcies of US oil fi rms and over-stretching the Saudi budget.

Riyadh and OPEC were forced to return to output cuts in 2017 to support prices, and sources within OPEC say there is no sign of any willingness to return to a pump war at the moment.

“Saudi Arabia is committed to do whatever it takes to keep the mar-ket balanced next year,” a Saudi of-fi cial said on Aug. 8. “We believe, based on close communication with key OPEC+ countries, that they will do the same.”

OPEC, Russia and other produc-ers have been restraining supply for most of the period since Jan. 1, 2017. The alliance, known as OPEC+, in July renewed the pact until March 2020.

While helping to boost prices, OPEC’s market share has fallen steeply in the last two years. World supply has expanded by 2.7% to 98.7 million barrels per day, while OPEC crude output has fallen 8.4% to 29.6 million bpd.

While OPEC agreements ap-ply to production, OPEC’s exports are also falling as a percentage of world shipments, according to data from Kpler, which tracks oil fl ows. Iran has led the decrease in recent months.

Nonetheless, Swedish bank SEB said that for now OPEC+ still has room to act, as the countries mak-ing most of the voluntary curbs - Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Iraq - are still pumping at relatively high rates.

Venezuela and Iran, under US sanctions and being forced to curb shipments, have delivered the bulk of the cuts. Venezuelan supply was already in long-term decline before Washington tightened sanctions this year.

“The active cutters are not very stretched at all,” SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop wrote in the re-port. “They have not lost market share to US shale. Venezuela and Iran are the big losers.”

While Saudi Arabia holds the biggest sway in OPEC as its largest producer, some in the group are not convinced further OPEC+ action to support prices will happen or would work.

“I really doubt there will be fur-ther action,” an OPEC delegate said. “If it did happen, it will have a temporary impact because the driv-er is trade and the economy.”

In this fi le photo, a trader works at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Corporate profi ts fell for a second straight quarter in the spring as the effect of last year’s tax cut wore off and companies contended with uncertainty

from the Trump administration’s trade wars. (AP)

CBO report shows

US defi cit to exceed $1tnWASHINGTON, Aug 22, (AP): The federal budget deficit is expected to balloon to more than $1 trillion in the next fiscal year under the first projections taking into account the big budget deal that President Donald Trump and Congress reached this summer, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday.

The return of $1 trillion annual deficits comes despite Trump’s vow when running for office that he would not just balance the bud-get but pay down the entire national debt.

“The nation’s fiscal outlook is challenging,” said Phillip Swagel, director of the nonpartisan CBO. “Federal debt, which is already high by historical standards, is on an unsustainable course.”

The office upped this year’s deficit projection by $63 billion and the cumulative deficit projec-tion for the next decade by $809 billion. The higher deficit projec-tions come even as the CBO reduced its estimate for interest rates, which lowers borrowing costs, and as it raised projections for economic growth in the near term.

The number crunchers at CBO projected that the deficit for the current fiscal year will come to $960 billion. In the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, it will exceed $1 trillion.

The CBO said the budget deal signed into law earlier this month, which took away the prospect of a government shutdown in October and the threat of deep automatic spending cuts, would boost defi-cits by $1.7 trillion over the com-ing decade. Increased spending on disaster relief and border security would add $255 billion. Downward revisions to the fore-cast for interest rates will help the picture, trimming $1.4 trillion.

Swagel said the federal debt will rise even higher after the coming decade because of the nation’s aging population and higher spending on health care.

To put the country on sustain-able footing, Swagel said, law-makers will have to increase taxes, cut spending or combine the two approaches.

The CBO projects that the economy will expand more slow-ly, from 2.3% this year to 1.8% on average in the next four years. The assumption reflects slower growth in consumer spending and govern-ment purchases, as well as the effect of trade policies on business investment.

It also projects the unemploy-ment rate will remain close to its current level of 3.7% through the end of 2020 and then rises to 4.6% by the end of 2023.

The CBO’s estimate is the first to reflect the hard-won budget and debt deal signed into law earlier this month.

“The recent budget deal was a budget buster, and now we have further proof. Both parties took an already unsustainable situation and made it much worse,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the private Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

MacGuineas said lawmakers should ensure the legislation they enact is paid for and redouble efforts to control the growth in health care costs and restore the solvency of the Social Security program. Her organization is focused on educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact.

Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway pivoted to the president’s desire to fund the mili-tary and other programs when asked about the report.

“We’re always concerned about the deficit,” Conway said. “We also need to fund a lot of the proj-ects and programs that are impor-tant to this country.”

President blames Fed and global slowdown for creating dark clouds

Trump fl ip-fl ops on tax cuts, citing ‘strong economy’WASHINGTON, Aug 22, (AP): A day after considering cutting taxes to promote economic growth, President Donald Trump changed course and said he would abandon the idea be-cause the nation already had “a strong economy.”

Trump’s fl ip-fl op on Wednesday came after recent market volatility and economic uncertainty, and amid a de-bate about whether the United States was heading for a slowdown that would imperil his reelection chances. Trump earlier this week acknowl-edged, for the fi rst time, that his China trade policies may mean economic pain for Americans, though he insisted the tariffs are needed for more impor-tant long-term benefi ts.

But his consideration of cutting pay-roll taxes appeared short-lived.

“I’m not looking at a tax cut now,” he told reporters at the White House. “We don’t need it. We have a strong economy.”

Trump also knocked down the idea of indexing to the capital gains tax, which applies when investors sell as-sets, to infl ation. He said he feared “it

will be perceived, if I do it, as some-what elitist.”

Analysts have warned that a slow-down, if not full-blown recession, could hit before next year’s election. Trump, however, has largely praised the economy’s performance and his handling of it. He has often blamed the Federal Reserve (and Chairman Je-rome Powell) and the global slowdown for creating dark clouds at home.

“Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call. I was right and just about everybody admits that,” Trump said Wednesday. “He raised in-terest rates too fast, too furious, and we have a normalized rate. And now we have to go the other direction.”

Some White House advisers fear Trump has undercut Powell’s cred-ibility. They worry that the president’s calls for rate cuts and his discussion of indexing or a payroll tax cut could spook, rather than reassure markets.

Trump indicated he had no choice but to impose the trade penalties that have been a drag on US manufacturers, fi nancial markets and, by some meas-ures, American consumers.

“Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one,” Trump said on the White House lawn, looking skyward. “Some-body had to do it. So, I’m taking on China. I’m taking on China on trade.”

China, though, said trade with the US has been “mutually benefi cial” and appealed to Washington to “get along with us.” A foreign ministry spokes-man, Geng Shuang, expressed hope Washington can “meet China halfway” in settling disagreements.

The US economy appears to be showing vulnerabilities after more than 10 years of growth. Factory out-put has fallen and consumer confi -dence has waned as he has ramped up his trade fi ght with China.

Trump rattled the stock and bond markets this month when he an-nounced plans to put a 10% tax on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. The market reaction suggested a reces-sion might be on the horizon and led Trump to delay some of the tariffs that were scheduled to begin in Septem-ber, though 25% tariffs are already in place for $250 million in other Chinese goods.

The president has long maintained that the burden of the tariffs is fall-ing solely on China, yet that message was undermined by his statements to reporters Tuesday. “My life would be a lot easier if I didn’t take China on,” Trump said. “But I like doing it be-cause I have to do it.”

The world economy has been slow-ing in recent months, and recent stock market swings have added to concerns that the US economy is not immune. A survey Monday showed a big majority of economics expect a downtown to hit by 2021.

Addressing that possibility, Trump focused anew on pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates. Presidents have generally avoided criticizing the cen-tral bank publicly. Trump, however, has shown no inclination to follow that lead, positioning Powell to take the fall if the economy swoons.

“I think that we actually are set for a tremendous surge of growth, if the Fed would do its job,” Trump said. “That’s a big if.” Trump recommended a mini-mum cut of a full percentage point in the coming months.

US corporate profi ts slump again in Q2NEW YORK, Aug 22, (AP): Corpo-rate profi ts fell for a second straight quarter in the spring as the effect of last year’s tax cut wore off and com-panies contended with uncertainty from the Trump administration’s trade wars.

As the second quarter earnings sea-son winds down, companies in the S&P 500 index are on track to notch the fi rst back-to-back quarters of slumping profi ts in three years. While the results weren’t as bad as Wall Street initially projected, analysts are already fore-casting another drop in profi ts in the current quarter.

Corporate profi ts soared last year after the tax rate was slashed to 21% from 35% by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Most of that windfall was hand-ed over to the minority of Americans that own the vast majority of shares, as companies largely spent it on dividends or buying back their own stock, rather than investing in equip-ment or research.

Profi ts are falling back to earth this year, however. The reversal comes amid the U.S.’s escalating trade war with China that threatens a global economy already facing slower growth. More companies are dealing with the impact of tariffs and fears that further tariffs will crimp sales and raise costs.

“Odds that the dispute drags into 2020 have increased, introducing more risk to economic growth and corporate profi ts,” wrote John Lynch, chief investment strategist at LPL Fi-nancial, in a note to investors.

Companies have been more vocal about the impact of tariffs in their recent round of earnings reports. There’s been a more than 40% in-crease in companies mentioning tariffs during calls with investors and industrial companies have been particularly strident, according to FactSet. The trade war has hurt heavy equipment makers like Cat-erpillar, which reported a 10% drop

in profits.Slower growth hampers revenue,

while tariffs, supply chain disrup-tions, and business uncertainty intro-duce near-term risk to profi ts, Lynch wrote.

Chipmakers had a particularly tough quarter as they remain directly in the trade war’s crossfi re. Many of them rely on China for much of their sales and components. Advanced Micro Devices’ profi t fell 36% dur-ing the quarter, while Micron Tech-nology reported a 68% drop, accord-ing to FactSet.

Analysts predict corporate profi ts will contract by a further 3% or more in the third quarter. Slower economic growth and the lingering trade war will likely make for a rough second half of the year for the S&P 500.

“It appears concerns about tariffs may be back on the rise for S&P 500 companies,” wrote John Butters, sen-ior earnings analyst at FactSet, in a recent report.

health, investors remain concerned about recession risks. The yield on 2-year Treasury securities dipped be-low the yield for 10-year securities again on Thursday, a development widely viewed as a classic recession signal.

Concerns over the impact of the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing on the US economic ex-

pansion, the longest on record, prompt-ed the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates last month for the fi rst time since 2008.

At the same time, minutes of last month’s Fed policy meeting released on Wednesday suggested policymakers were divided over the cut and did not want to give the appearance that they were planning further rate reductions.

Investors are awaiting guidance on future policy from Fed Chair Jerome Powell who is due to speak at a confer-ence on Friday.

On Thursday, Philadelphia Fed-eral Reserve President Patrick Harker said he did not see an immediate need for another interest rate cut. After his comments, US stock prices turned negative.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

16

BNP Paribas to cut 500 jobs

BNP Paribas plans to cut around 500 jobs at its securi-ties services arm in France, a union representative said on Thursday, as the bank seeks to reduce costs and retain com-petitiveness.

France’s biggest bank said all job cuts at BNP Paribas Securi-ties Services would be through voluntary redundancies over the next three years. Some of the posts will relocate to Portugal,

said Joel Debeausse, deputy national delegate for the SNB union at BNP Paribas.

“It is part of a preservation of BNP Paribas Securities Ser-vices’ competitiveness, which faces an increased pressure from world competition and low interest rates,” the bank said in a statement.

BNP Paribas Securities Ser-vices offers asset services and custodian services to asset

managers.In February, BNP Paribas

announced a 350 million euros cost-cutting plan on its corporate and investment banking division, which comprises securities ser-vices, after a weak fourth quar-ter. The business has improved in the fi rst half of the year, but Yann Gerardin, head of corpo-rate and investment banking, has said it would remain under pressure. (RTRS)

Mediaset files complaint against Vivendi

Mediaset has fi led a complaint with Italy’s market watchdog, accusing shareholder Vivendi of leaking in-formation with a view to scuppering its corporate restructuring plans, the Italian broadcaster said on Thursday.

Vivendi declined to comment.Mediaset in June announced

plans to place its Italian and Spanish businesses under a Dutch holding company to pursue a pan-European growth strategy.

Vivendi has criticised Media-

set’s restructuring plans, which in-cludes strengthening a loyalty share scheme, saying they hurt the inter-ests of minority investors.

It has the power to derail those plans and could exercise with-drawal rights over its 29% stake in Mediaset, forcing the Italian fi rm to spend more than the 180 mil-lion euros ($199 million) it has set aside for shareholders who want to liquidate their holdings.

Mediaset in a statement on Thurs-

day said Vivendi sought to lower the price of Mediaset share prices to make it more appealing for investors to exercise withdrawal rights at the set price of 2.77 euros.

Despite Vivendi’s criticisms of the Mediaset loyalty scheme, the French fi rm has asked that its shares be included in it, a source with direct knowledge of the mat-ter said. It was unclear why it had done this. Vivendi declined to com-ment on the issue. (RTRS)

ECB weighs stimulus mix as Germany slowsMove to counter slowing growth amid trade tensions

FRANKFURT, Germany, Aug 22, (AP): The Eu-ropean Central Bank is weighing a broad package of stimulus measures in-cluding an interest rate cut and new bond purchases to counter worries that eco-nomic growth is slowing more than expected amid US-China trade tensions.

The written account of the July 25 policy meeting released Thurs-day cites discussion that a package “such as the combination of rate cuts and asset purchases” would be “more effective” than any one measure introduced piecemeal.

Many analysts expect the bank to add stimulus at its Sept. 12 meeting. Both the ECB and the Federal Reserve in the United States have shifted their stance toward more stimulus as wor-ries about the global economy have grown in recent weeks.

The ECB said in its July 25 policy statement that it was “determined to act” to raise inflation and was ready to use “all its instruments” if things don’t improve. The eurozone grew only 0.2% in the second quarter while the largest member, Germany, shrank and may already be in a recession.

Slowing global trade has affected eurozone manufacturers amid uncer-tainty about the outcome of US-China trade talks and whether more tariffs will be imposed. Other headwinds

come from less growth in China and from structural changes in the automo-bile industry. Automakers are being pushed to introduce more electric cars to meet tougher emissions regulation in Europe and China, even though bat-tery cars have been slow to catch on with buyers.

Companies also face the possibility that Britain will leave the European Union’s free-trade zone Oct. 31 without a divorce deal that would limit disrup-tions to the movement of goods and parts. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is leaving, deal or no deal.

Other reasons for slow growth: The ECB has pointed to lack of progress on pro-business reforms that would elimi-nate red tape and costs to companies. It has also urged governments that can afford it to spend more on things that support economic growth such as infrastructure. Germany has insisted on running budget surpluses despite low or even negative borrowing costs, and despite urging from the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury to spend more.

The ECB steps could include lower-ing its deposit rate of minus 0.4%. That negative rate on deposits from banks is an unusual penalty rate that is aimed at pushing the banks to lend excess money rather than let it pile up over-night at the ECB.

The ECB could also promise to keep rates low for an extended period into the future. Another bond purchase pro-gram would be a way of pumping newly created money into the financial system, a step which should keep cred-it cheap for companies.

Fed minutes show no clear path for interest rates

Eurozone bond yields up on more promising PMIsLONDON, Aug 22, (RTRS): Most eurozone government bond yields rose on Thursday after data showed service activity picked up last month and manufacturing contracted less than expected.

Italian government bond yields fell on expectations a new govern-ment will be formed soon, as mar-kets digested news that Federal Re-serve policy makers were divided over the path of interest rates.

The eurozone’s service industry expanded but factory activity con-tracted for the seventh month in a row, although at a slower rate than the previous month, according to IHS Markit’s fl ash purchasing man-agers’ indexes.

The composite PMI, which com-bines services and manufacturing and is considered a good guide to economic health, rose in August to 51.8 from 51.5 in July, above the 51.2 predicted in a Reuters poll. An-ything above 50 indicates growth.

German 10-year bond yields, which had been as low as -0.695%, ticked up to -0.651% after the data.

Germany’s 30-year bond yield also rose and was last up three ba-sis points at -0.144%. Thirty-year debt sold for a record-low yield of -0.11% at an auction on Wednesday but raised only 824 million euros versus a target of 2 billion euros.

Italian government bond yields extended their declines early on Thursday after Reuters reported President Sergio Mattarella wanted clear signs of a possible deal to form a new government by the end of the day.

At 0730 GMT, 10-year govern-ment bond yields fell 5 basis points to 1.286%, its lowest in almost three years. Short-dated bond yields fell as much as seven basis points and Italy’s 10-year spread over top-rated Germany fell to 195 bps, its narrow-est July 29.

Investors were also parsing min-utes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, which showed the Fed was divided over how to respond to slowing growth in the US economy. Most policymakers favoured leav-ing rates unchanged.

They were united in wanting to signal they were not on a preset path to more cuts, a message not likely to sit well with US President Donald Trump.

“The point is there are a lot of dif-fering views, but that is where the parallels end,” said Michael Leister, rates strategist at Commerzbank.

“For the ECB it is the design of the overall package; there are so many options. For the Fed there is only how much to cut and when to cut.”

Global central bankers meet at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for their annual gathering on Friday, and markets will be looking for any sig-nals from there.

Attention is also turning to the bloc’s fi scal response, after reports the Dutch government is consider-ing pouring billions of euros into a new investment fund to fi nance future infrastructure and education projects.

In this fi le photo, a woman looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities fi rm in Tokyo. More and more government and even some corporate bonds are trading at nega-

tive interest yields. The negative yield phenomenon, 87% of it in Europe and Japan, is above all sign of pessimism about the future, or risk-off behavior in market jargon. (AP)

Shipping upgrades to cleaner fuel

West African oil hits sweet spotLONDON, Aug 22, (RTRS): African states like Chad and Cameroon are shaping up to be big winners from new rules to cut sulphur emissions from ships, providing just the right type of oil to produce cleaner fuels.

Only around 1% of the world’s crude oil exports are heavy and sweet varieties, ideal for refi ning into fuel with a maximum 0.5% sulphur con-tent mandated by International Mari-time Organization (IMO) rules com-ing into force worldwide on Jan 1.

The regulations will tighten limits from the 3.5% sulphur levels allowed now, aiming to improve human health by reducing air pollution.

West African oil, mostly outside the continent’s top exporter Nigeria, is set to provide the “Holy Grail” for these IMO 2020 fuels, according to market research fi rm ClipperData.

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s exports of heavy sweet crude – defi ned as oil with less than 0.5% sulphur content – come from the region, with Angolan Dalia, Chad-ian Doba Blend and Cameroonian Lokele alone making up most of that portion.

“The new environmental regula-tion starts in January, but preparation has already begun. Refi ners need to ready their supply streams and learn how to best prepare for a low sulphur future,” said Josh Lowell, senior en-ergy analyst at ClipperData.

“Even though trading houses and refi ners are keeping their strategy and timing close to their chest, it’s

clear certain West African grades re-ally stand to benefi t.”

Prices for the coveted oil are al-ready soaring.

According to price reporting agen-cy Argus, Doba has vaulted to 75 cents above dated Brent this month from 60 cents below at the beginning of 2018, while Dalia went from a 60 cent discount to a $2.50 premium over the same period.

By Wednesday, traders said Ango-lan state oil company Sonangol was offering Dalia at $3.00 above dated Brent and similar grade Girassol at $3.20.

“Outages from Iran and Venezuela after sanctions, ramped up Chinese demand and the IMO rules around the corner – all these factors have been quite supportive for medium to heavy sweet grades,” one seller of Angolan crude told Reuters.

Because much of Angola’s oil is bound to fl ow to China per term agreements, interest has mounted in grades trading more freely on the market.

Oil from landlocked Chad, piped southwestward and exported by sea via Cameroon, has increased in vol-ume since new fi elds came online this year and is being increasingly snapped up in the world’s key refi n-ing hubs.

“Recent fl ows of Doba have seen it head to suppliers already providing very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) to the market,” analytics fi rm Vor-texa said.

“Going forward, we expect con-tinued demand from the Fujairah and Rotterdam bunkering and blending hubs, as well as from the US Atlantic coast.”

Industry sources say trading gi-ant Vitol bagged all three cargoes of Doba scheduled for export in August, with at least one bound for Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, where refi nery re-tooling is underway ahead of the rules, also known as IMO 2020.

The rule changes are requiring massive investment as refi ners cut sulphur content in their output. Exx-onMobil completed a $1 billion unit at its Antwerp refi nery last year to upgrade high-sulphur fuel into vari-ous types of diesel, including the variant mandated by the IMO 2020 rules.

Germany’s Uniper upgraded its plant in Fujairah earlier this year to produce fuel oil with a content of 0.1% to 0.5% sulphur, while Vitol’s Fujairah refi nery is already produc-ing compliant fuels.

In a sign that the quest is afoot for comparable grades further afi eld, cargoes of Argentinian Escalante and Brazilian Ostra grades were also bound for Fujairah this month for the fi rst time ever, according to Refi nitiv Eikon data.

Likewise, the bunkering hub at Singapore took on more cargoes of heavy sweet Australian crude at re-cord prices since March than in all previous years combined.

What are obstacles to Bayer settling Roundup lawsuits?BERLIN, Aug 22, (RTRS): Bayer AG is in mediation to potentially set-tle thousands of US lawsuits claim-ing that the company’s Roundup weed killer causes cancer, but some legal experts said the cases raises novel questions that may prevent an easy settlement.

More than 18,400 plaintiffs claim Roundup causes a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Bayer to date has lost three US jury trials in the Roundup litigation. The company is appealing the decisions, saying Roundup and its active ingre-dient glyphosate are not carcinogenic and safe for human use.

On July 30, Bayer said it is “con-structively engaging” in talks led by mediator Ken Feinberg. Bayer’s chief executive said he would only consider a “fi nancially reasonable” settlement if the company can end all litigation.

Feinberg said mediation was still in the early stages and compensation had not been discussed.

Bayer declined to comment, citing confi dentiality agreements in the me-diation. Plaintiffs lawyers did not re-spond to requests for comment.

Legal experts outlined several ob-stacles the parties may face on the path towards settlement.

❑ WHY IS THE ROUNDUP LITI-GATION DIFFERENT FROM OTH-ER PRODUCT CASES?

Settlements involving drugs, medi-cal devices or consumer goods often result in the addition of a warning la-bel, a recall or the outright discontinu-ance of a product. Those steps gener-ally close the door to future lawsuits, making settlement costs and risks pre-dictable.

Bayer has never publicly considered pulling Roundup off the market. The company in June announced a $5.6 billion investment to research and de-velop a glyphosate alternative.

Bayer unit Monsanto began selling Roundup in 1974 and while the for-mulation is no longer patent-protected, Roundup remains widely available to-day. Bayer has repeatedly said Round-up is safe and important to farmers who use the herbicide in combination with the company’s genetically modi-fi ed seeds

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on aver-age can take up to 10 years to emerge, increasing the likelihood of claims be-ing fi led after the litigation has settled. Product liability settlements generally include a cut-off date for future claim-ants and need to be properly funded for a court to approve the agreement.

As long as the product continues to be sold without changes to the label, plaintiffs may continue to fi le lawsuits, said Elizabeth Burch, a law professor at the University of Georgia.

❑ COULD BAYER ADD A CAN-CER WARNING?

Plaintiffs lawyers, who claim the company manipulated the science, told Reuters they would insist on a cancer warning label as part of any Roundup settlement.

Such a warning has been rejected by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates pesticides and repeatedly has found glyphosate to be safe.

The agency in an Aug 7 letter said any glyphosate cancer warning con-stitutes “a false and misleading state-ment,” and ordered California, the only US state requiring such a warn-ing, to remove the label.

David Noll, a professor at Rutgers Law School, said adding a cancer warning over a regulator’s explicit op-position presented unchartered legal territory.

❑ HOW COULD BAYER SETTLE THE ROUNDUP LITIGATION?

To settle product liability litigation, companies generally set up a fund and the parties defi ne criteria that current

and future claimants must fulfi ll to re-ceive compensation.

In the Roundup litigation, claimants could be divided into different groups depending on the frequency of their Roundup use and disease severity and length.

But Adam Zimmerman, a law pro-fessor at Loyola Law School, said de-fi ning those groups is complicated by the lack of a signature disease associ-ated with Roundup, making it diffi cult to predict Bayer’s liability.

For example, in asbestos litigation, mesothelioma, a rare tissue cancer, was recognized as a signature disease caused by exposure to asbestos fi bers.

Doctors recognize several risk fac-tors leading to non-Hodgkin’s lympho-ma, but the disease is largely consid-ered to have no known cause. Around 74,000 people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with the dis-ease in 2019, according to the Ameri-can Cancer Society.

Settling claims might not preclude future lawsuits if the fund runs out of money. In the Agent Orange litigation, Vietnam War veterans were allowed to sue chemical companies decades after a settlement was reached because the compensation fund was depleted by the time they developed their diseases.

Quick acceleration cited

Claims data points to high-endelectric car risks – insurer AXADUEBENDORF, Switzerland, Aug 22, (RTRS): Electric luxury cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) may be 40% more likely to cause accidents than their standard engine counterparts, possibly because drivers are still get-ting used to their quick acceleration, French insurer AXA said.

The numbers, based on initial trends from claims data and not statistically signifi cant, also suggest small and mi-cro electric cars are slightly less likely to cause accidents than their combus-tion engine counterparts, AXA said at a crash test demonstration on Thursday.

AXA regularly carries out crash tests for vehicles. This year’s tests, which took place at a disused airport, focused on electric cars.

Overall accident rates for electric ve-hicles are about the same as for regular cars, according to liability insurance claims data for “7,000 year risks” -- on 1,000 autos on the road for seven years – said Bettina Zahnd, head of accident research and prevention at AXA Swit-zerland.

“We saw that in the micro and small-car classes slightly fewer accidents are caused by electric autos. If you look at the luxury and SUV classes, however, we see 40% more accidents with elec-tric vehicles,” Zahnd said.

“We of course have thought about what causes this and acceleration is certainly a topic.”

Electric cars accelerate not only quick-ly, but also equally strongly no matter how high the revolutions per minute, which means drivers can fi nd themselves going faster than they intended.

Half of electric car drivers in a sur-vey this year by AXA had to adjust their driving to refl ect the new accel-eration and braking characteristics.

“Maximum acceleration is available immediately, while it takes a moment for internal combustion engines with even strong horsepower to reach maxi-mum acceleration. That places new de-mands on drivers,” Zahnd said.

Sales of electric cars are on the rise

as charging infrastructure improves and prices come down.

Electric vehicles accounted for less than 1% of cars on the road in Swit-zerland and Germany last year, but made up 1.8% of Swiss new car sales, or 6.6% including hybrids, AXA said.

Accidents with electric cars are just about as dangerous for people inside as with standard vehicles, AXA said. The cars are subject to the same tests and have the same passive safety features like airbags and seatbelts.

But another AXA survey showed most people do not know how to react if they come across an electric vehicle crash scene.

While most factors are the same – securing the scene, alerting rescue teams and providing fi rst aid – it said helpers should also try to ensure the electric motor is turned off. This is par-ticularly important because unlike an internal combustion engine the motor makes no noise.

In serious crashes, electric autos’ high-voltage power plants automati-cally shut down, AXA noted, but dam-aged batteries can catch fi re up to 48 hours after a crash, making it more dif-fi cult to deal with the aftermath of an accident.

For one head-on crash test on Thurs-day, AXA teams removed an electric car’s batteries to reduce the risk of them catching fi re, which could create intense heat and toxic fumes.

Zahnd said studies in Europe had not replicated US fi ndings that silent elec-tric vehicles are as much as two-thirds more likely to cause accidents with pe-destrians or cyclists.

She said the jury was still out on how crash data would affect the cost of insuring electric versus standard vehi-cles, noting this always refl ected fac-tors around both driver and car.

“If I look around Switzerland there are lots of insurers that even give dis-counts for electric autos because one would like to promote electric cars,” she said.

Net intl reserves at $34.55 bln

Turkish August ‘consumer’ confi dence rises to 58.3 ptsANKARA, Aug 22, (RTRS): Turkey’s consumer confi dence index rose to 58.3 points in August from 56.5 points in July, data from the Turkish Statisti-cal Institute showed on Thursday.

The index in May hit 55.3 points, its lowest level since the data was fi rst published in 2004. A confi dence level below 100 refl ects a pessimistic out-look and would need to rise above 100 to indicate optimism.

Meanwhile, the Turkish central bank’s net international reserves stood at 192.503 billion lira ($34.552billion) as of Aug 16, data showed on Thursday. They stood at 193.375 billion lira a week earlier. The exchange rate used by Reu-ters on Thursday was 5.5714 compared to5.4744 used a week earlier.Note: The

fi gures are released every week on the central bank balance sheet as per a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund dated 18 January 2002. The fi gures are released in Turkish liras and are con-verted by Reuters to US dollars using the central bank’s offi cial exchange rate from the previous day.

Turkey is considering appointing the general manager of Istanbul Stock Exchange as Central Bank deputy gov-ernor, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The new deputy governor, Murat Cetinkaya, has the same name as the former governor who was sacked last month by President Tayyip Erdogan for not following instructions on mon-etary policy.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

17

Fitbit targets 1 mln new users

Fitbit Inc said on Wednesday it signed a contract with the Sin-gapore government to provide fi tness trackers and services in a health program it said could reach up to one million users.

Fitbit will supply its trackers free of charge on the condition users spend S$10 ($7.22) each month, for a year, on the com-pany’s premium subscription.

“The program’s goal is to ul-timately reach up to one million

people,” a spokeswoman for Fit-bit said in an email.

The company’s shares closed up 2% on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The program could be a boost for the San Francisco-based wear-ables pioneer, which has seen its shares sink in the past two years in the face of competition from Ap-ple, Samsung Electronics and a raft of cheaper rivals.

“This is Fitbit’s fi rst major inte-

gration of a digital health platform and wearables into a national public health program globally,” the company said in a statement.

Singapore, a city-state of 5.6 million people, has the longest life expectancy in the world and widespread access to health-care. However, the government has raised concerns about rela-tively high rates of heart disease and diabetes among its fast-age-ing population. (RTRS)

Kuwaiti market closesweek with a down tick

Mezzan Holding soars 37 fi ls, Agility slips

By John MathewsArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Kuwait stocks edged slight-ly lower on Thursday to wind up the week on a dour note. The All Shares Index fell 3.67 pts in volatile ses-sion to 6000.10 points even as the broader mood re-mained fi ckle in absence of strong catalysts.

The Premier Market was lit-tle changed at 6610.18 pts while Main Market slipped 10.3 points at 4799.94 pts extending the month’s losses 83 points. The vol-ume turnover meanwhile fell for the second straight session. Over 108 million shares changed hands – down 8 pct from the day before.

In the individual shares, Mabanee Co extended last session’s losses with 17 fi ls drop to KD 0.769 af-ter trading over 1 million shares and Humansoft Holding climbed 10 fi ls to KD 3.190. Mezzan Holding soared 37 fi ls to 600 fi ls recouping most of Wednesday’s losses.

Zain ticked 1 fi l higher to 574 fi ls on back of 5.3 million shares and Ooredoo followed suit to wind up at 720 fi ls. Kuwait Telecommunica-tions Co (VIVA) slipped 4 fi ls to 796 fi ls and Agility gave up 5 fi ls after pushing 1.5 million shares. Integrat-ed Holding Co dialed down 2 fi ls to end at 423 fi ls.

The market, after opened fi rm, fell sharply in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest lev-el of 5984 points and clawed back into green amid buying in select counters. It peaked at 6,009 points almost half way into the session and drifted southwards thereafter before closing with slight losses.

Despite the day’s downtick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 57 stocks advanced whereas 42 closed lower. Of the 113 counters active on Thursday, 14 closed fl at. 5,093 deals worth KD 22.71 million were trans-acted during the session.

Top gainer of the day, Tijara ral-lied 9.9 pct to 41.9 fi ls and Marakez scaled 9.8 percent to stand close be-hind. Amar Finance slumped 35.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Arzan topped the volume with over 12 million shares chang-ing hands.

National Industries Group eased 1 fi l to 244 fi ls with a volume of over 5 million while Gulf Cable fell 3 fi ls to 411 fi ls. Al Qurain Petrochemi-cal Co tripped 1 fi l while Boubyan Petrochemical Co added 4 fi ls before settling at 788 fi ls. Heavy Engineer-ing Industries and Shipbuilding Co inched 1 fi l into green.

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 963 fi ls and ALAFCO gave up 3 fi ls before ending at 265 fi ls. Educa-tional Holding Co rose 5 fi ls to 320 fl s while OSOS and Inovest took in 1 fi l each to close at 104 fi ls and 68 fi ls respectively.

Combined Group Contracting Co climbed 3 fi ls to 235 fi ls and Sal-bookh Trading and Contracting Co edged 0.3 fi l up. Safat Energy ticked 1 fi l higher and NICBM stood pat at 175 fi ls. Mashaer Holding pushed 0.9 fi l up to 68.4 fi ls.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport

Despite state bank support

Chinese yuan falls to fresh 11-year lowsSHANGHAI, Aug 22, (RTRS): Chi-na’s yuan fell to fresh 11-year lows on Thursday amid worries about the deepening Sino-US trade war, despite support from major state-owned banks in both the spot and forwards markets.

Spot yuan ended the domestic ses-sion down 0.34% at 7.0875 per dollar, its weakest such close since March 14, 2008.

Traders said sentiment was fragile, with recent news headlines offering lit-tle hope of a US-China trade deal any-time soon and new US levies on Chinese goods set to go into effect on Sept 1.

China hopes the United States will stop its wrong tariff action, the com-merce ministry said on Thursday, add-ing that the imposition of any new tar-iffs would lead to retaliatory actions.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was “the chosen one” to address trade imbalances with Chi-na, even as congressional researchers

warned that his tariffs would hurt the American economy.

“The market pays very close atten-tion to the China-US trade dispute, and its impact on the yuan is much heavier than other factors, such as economic fundamentals,” said a trader at a Chi-nese bank in Shanghai.

Prior to the market opening, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 7.049 per dollar prior to market open, weaker than the previous fi x of 7.0433.

State-run banks seen were receiving dollar liquidity in the forwards market before selling the greenback in the onshore spot market, two traders with knowledge of the matter said.

One of them said state banks were seen selling dollars at around 7.07 yuan in the spot market to prevent sharper losses in the local unit.

The moves injected a note of caution into the market, fueling speculation that

authorities may be trying to put a fl oor under the yuan, the trader added.

But selling picked up again in the afternoon, prompting investors to place stop-loss orders in their short dollar positions, according to a trader at a Chinese bank.

State-owned banks are widely be-lieved by many investors to act on be-half of the central bank in the country’s foreign exchange market, although they can trade on their own behalf as well.

Major banks have been using such tactics frequently in recent weeks as authorities seek to slow the currency’s decline after letting it breach the key 7 to the dollar level on Aug 5. Wash-ington labelled China a currency ma-nipulator hours after the move, which jolted global fi nancial markets.

Acquiring dollars via dollar/yuan swaps and then selling then in the spot market had certainly arrested bigger declines in the yuan, traders said.

Dubai hits one-month low

Banks drag Saudi lowerDUBAI, Aug 22, (RTRS): Saudi Arabian stocks were dragged low-er by declining fi nancial stocks on Thursday amid uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy following the release of minutes from the Fed’s July meeting, while other Gulf markets were mixed.

The minutes showed Fed policy-makers were divided over whether to cut interest rates last month, but were united in wanting to sig-nal they were not ona preset path to more cuts. Currencies of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are pegged tothe US dollar and they follow the Fed on interest rate moves.

In Saudi Arabia, the index fell 0.7% as Samba Financial Group lost 2.6% and National Commercial Bank slipped 0.8%. Banking stocks have come under pressure in re-cent weeks from the Saudi central bank’s decision to follow the US Federal Reserve in cutting inter-est rates, which analysts expect to squeeze lenders’ profi t margins.

Saudi Arabia’s largest food prod-ucts company Savola Group fell a further 3.8% a day after it reported 21.7% drop in second-quarter prof-it. Salama Cooperative Insurance plunged 5.5%, the top loser on the index, after it swung to a second-quarter pre-zakat loss.

Dubai’s index was down 0.8% at 2,769 points, its lowest close since July 21. Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties slid 2.5%, while Emirates NBD traded 1.3% lower. Nasdaq Dubai-listed port opera-tor DP World rose as much as 5% after reporting 26.8% jump in the fi rst-half profi t, before closing 0.4% down as global trade disputes and regional geopolitics continued to weigh on its outlook.

Abu Dhabi’s index was fl at, with First Abu Dhabi Bank gaining 0.3%.

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Jul-phar) slumped 10%, extending loss-es to a third straight session after it recalled a batch of its Laxocodyl suppository over a labelling error. Qatar’s index rose 0.4% in a boost from market heavyweight Industries Qatar which increased 1.4%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index closed 0.2% down.Ciga-rette maker Eastern Co shed 0.6% and Emaar Misr dropped1.9%. The developer has been on the back foot since an Egyptian business-man fi led a lawsuit claiming part of the land where it is building the sprawling Marassi residential and leisure development on Egypt’s North Coast.

Saudi Arabia■ The index dropped 0.7% to 8,446 points

Abu Dhabi ■ The index was fl at at 5,039 points

Dubai ■ The index fell 0.8% to 2,769 points

Qatar ■ The index gained 0.4% to 9,919 points

Egypt ■ The index slipped 0.2% to 14,333 points

Bahrain ■ The index edged up 0.1% to 1,533 points

Oman■ The index rose 1.5% to 3,988 points

Kuwait ■ The index was fl at at 6,610 points

Co fell 1.9 fi ls to 73 fi ls while KGL Logistics and Al Rai Media Group edged 0.1 fi l into green. SPEC gave up 3 fi ls to close at 72 fi ls and KPPC trimmed 0.1 fi l. IFA Hotels and Re-sorts eased 1 fi l to 49 fi ls.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait dialed up 2 fi ls on back of 2.5 million shares and Ku-wait International Bank followed suit to wind up at 274 fi ls. Gulf Bank took in 1 fi l and Burgan Bank climbed 4 fi ls to 354 fi ls after pushing 3.8 mil-lion shares. Al Mutahed clipped 2 fi ls.

Kuwait Finance House clipped 2 fi ls after trading over 5 million shares and Boubyan Bank gave up 3 fi ls. Warba Bank paused at 253 fi ls and Ahli United Bank too did not budge from its previous close of 283 fi ls. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank slipped 4 fi ls each to end at 500 fi ls and 311 fi ls respectively.

KIPCO ticked 1 fi l higher to 219 fi ls and Gulf Finance House eased 0.1 fi l to 70 fi ls. Kuwait Investment Co tripped 2 fi ls whereas National Investment Co added 3 fi ls before closing at 134 fi ls. Coast Invest-ment Co gave up 1.4 fi ls and FACIL paused at 195 fi ls.

Bayan Investment Co slipped 3.5 fi ls to 40.3 fi ls while KMEFIC and Aayan Investment took in 0.4 fi l each. Securities House Co edged 0.5 fi l into red and Unicap followed

suit. Madar Finance climbed 3.7 fi ls to 93.7 fi ls while NIH and Al Imtiaz took in 1 fi l each.

KAMCO added 1 fi l before fi n-ishing at 92 fi ls with razor thin trad-ing while

Al Deera Holding ticked 0.2 fi l higher to 12.5 fi ls. Al Salam inched 0.6 fi l higher on back of 4.6 million shares and Sokouk Holding fol-lowed suit to close at 33.5 fi ls.

Noor Financial Investment Co trimmed 0.2 fi l and Tamdeen Invest-ment stood pat at 323 fi ls. Ahleia Insurance Co slipped 5 fi ls to 420 fi ls and Warba Insurance Co clipped 1 fi l.

National Real Estate ease 0.4 fi l to 83.7 fi ls while United Real Es-tate Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co held ground at 62.9 fi ls and 336 fi ls respectively. Kuwait Real Estate Co trimmed 0.9 fi l and Al Aqaria gave up 1.4 fi ls. Mazaya Holding eased 0.4 fi l to 52.6 fi ls while Manazel and Marakez added 2.5 fi ls each.

The bourse was largely down-beat during the week. The main in-dex closed lower in three of the fi ve sessions shedding 74 points week-on-week. The main index has skid-ded 115 pts from start of the month and is trading 922 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

18

Sides in worsening political, economic dispute

South Korea to scrap intelligence-sharing pact with JapanSEOUL, Aug 22, (RTRS): South Ko-rea said on Thursday it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, a decision that could escalate a dispute over history and trade and undercut se-curity cooperation on North Korea.

With the decision not to extend the pact, the political and trade disputes between South Korea and Japan now extend into some of the most sensitive national security issues in the region.

The arrangement was designed to share information on the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear activities.

The decision to end it comes af-ter North Korea launched a series of short-range ballistic missiles in protest against what it sees as military build-ups in South Korea and Japan.

The General Security of Military In-formation Agreement (GSOMIA) was due to be automatically renewed on Saturday, unless either side decided to cancel it.

DecisionThe decision was announced after

an hour-long discussion within the presidential National Security Council (NSC). South Korean President Moon Jae-in approved it.

Japan created a “grave change” in the environment for bilateral security cooperation by removing South Ko-rea’s fast-track export status, said Kim You-geun, a deputy director of the NSC.

Japan cited security concerns with-out providing specific evidence for its decision on South Korea’s trade status.

“Under this situation, we have de-termined that it would not serve our national interest to maintain an agree-ment we signed with the aim of ex-changing military information which is sensitive to security,” Kim told a news conference.

Japan protested against South Ko-rea’s decision, the Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported.

Before the announcement, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the deal bolstered se-curity cooperation between the two countries.

“Although ties between Japan and South Korea are in a very tough situ-ation, we believe we should cooperate with South Korea where cooperation is necessary,” Suga told a regular news conference earlier on Thursday.

This week the foreign ministers of the two countries met outside Beijing and promised to keep talking, but failed to reach any substantive agreements.

The South Korean decision is likely to be met with dismay in the United States, which fears weakened security cooperation.

South Korea’s won currency extend-ed losses against the dollar in offshore non-deliverable forward trade, falling by some 0.4% against the dollar in five minutes after the announcement on concern that trade disputes with Japan could be drawn out.

Intelligence sharing is key to devel-oping a common defence policy and strategy, and all three countries are saf-er when they work together, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.

“We encourage Japan and Korea to work together to resolve their differ-ences,” he said in a statement. “I hope they can do this quickly.”

South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, emphasised that the

decision to end the intelligence pact was because South Korea had lost trust in Japan.

“We will continue to strengthen co-operation with the United States and develop the alliance,” she told report-ers in Seoul.

South Korea’s defence ministry said that regardless of the end of GSOMIA, it would maintain a “stable” joint de-fence posture based on a robust alli-ance with the United States.

One Western military source said the intelligence-sharing was some-times limited, but nevertheless an im-portant area of cooperation in the face of threats from North Korea.

GSOMIA facilitated the sharing of information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, which remain de-spite a series of summits and negotia-tions with North Korea, said Cho Tae-yong, a former South Korean national security adviser who worked on the deal when it was first signed.

“Ending GSOMIA is not only the wrong card to play to press Japan, but it is just not helpful for our security,” he said.

Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, agreed.

“There’s a lot more for us to lose than to gain,” he said. “It would in-crease our own security concerns and inflict diplomatic isolation upon our-selves by destroying the foundation of trilateral security cooperation with the United States.”

The US envoy on North Korea, Ste-phen Biegun, raised the issue during a meeting with South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Hyun-chong, before the NSC gathering.

The decision comes as China and Russia have been more assertive in the region, flying their first joint military air patrol together in July, which trig-gered an international incident with South Korea and Japan.

Before the signing of the agreement in 2016, under US pressure, South Korea and Japan shared intelligence through the United States.

DespiteSouth Korea went ahead with the

deal at the time despite opposition from some political parties and a large section of the public, who remain bitter over Japan’s actions during its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 until the end of World War Two.

A 2012 attempt to seal the deal fell apart in the face of opposition in South Korea toward military cooperation with Japan.

Relations between the two US allies are seen at their lowest since they nor-malised ties in 1965, plagued by bitter-ness over Japan’s occupation, which included the use of South Korean forced labour at some Japanese firms.

South Korea had warned it could re-consider the GSOMIA after Japan im-posed export curbs on some materials vital to South Korean chipmakers and stripped South Korea of fast-track ex-port status.

South Korea called the Japanese ac-tion retaliation for a South Korean Su-preme Court order for Japanese com-panies to compensate some of their wartime forced labourers last October.

Japan condemned the ruling, say-ing the matter was resolved by a 1965 treaty normalising ties. Japan cited unspecified security reasons for the ex-port controls.

Auto fi rms cut more jobs, ‘halt’ production in India

Russian fi rm takes over marketing, ship chartering

Car sales growth in July lowest in two decades

Rosneft becomes top Venezuelan oil trader

NEW DELHI, Aug 22, (RTRS): With India’s auto sales declining for the ninth straight month in July, more automotive manufacturers are lay-ing off workers and temporarily halt-ing production to keep costs in check, according to sources and documents seen by Reuters.

Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor are the latest in a string of companies to halt production at plants to combat slumping sales, according to company memos to employees, reviewed by Reuters.

Passenger vehicle sales in July fell at the fast-est pace in nearly two decades. The sales declines have triggered major job cuts in India’s auto sec-tor, with many companies forced to shut down fac-tories for days and axe shifts.

Sources have told Reuters that even more com-

panies have now begun to lay off temporary work-ers as the slowdown worsens.

Denso Corp’s India unit, which makes pow-ertrain and air-conditioning systems for cars, has laid off about 350 temporary workers at its Mane-sar plant in north India, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Bellsonica, which is part-owned by India’s big-gest carmaker Maruti Suzuki and makes fuel tanks and brake pads, has also let more than 350 workers go in Manesar, two sources said.

Denso did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bellsonica could not immediately be reached.

Reuters earlier this month reported automakers, component manufacturers and dealers had already cut 350,000 jobs.

In a meeting with India’s finance ministry on Aug. 7, industry executives asked for tax cuts, and easier access to finance for dealers and buyers, in an effort to revive sales.

Toyota, in a notice dated Aug. 13, told its work-

ers the company would halt production at its plants in Bengaluru in southern India on Aug. 16 and 17 “due to low market demand of vehicles” and high stock of about 7,000 vehicles.

N. Raja, deputy managing director, at Toyota’s India unit, told Reuters that while the company had a flexible production system it had to resort to five no-production days in August to prevent the build up of stock.

“The industry is deeply concerned with the real-ity of poor customer sentiment faced by the sec-tor,” said Raja, adding he hoped the government would step in to support the industry.

Hyundai, in a memo on Aug. 9, also said it would halt production for several days in August across various departments including the body shop and paint shop as well as its engine and trans-mission plants.

A Hyundai Motor India spokesman said the company expected sales to pick up in the festive season starting next month.

MOSCOW, Aug 22, (RTRS): Russian state oil major Rosneft has become the main trader of Venezuelan crude, ship-ping oil to buyers in China and India and helping Caracas offset the loss of traditional dealers who are avoiding it for fear of breaching US sanctions.

Trading sources and Refi nitiv Eikon data showed Rosneft became the big-gest buyer of Venezuelan crude in July and the fi rst half of August.

It took 40% of state oil company PDVSA’s exports in July and 66% so far in August, according to the fi rm’s export programs and the Refi nitiv Ei-kon data, double the purchases before sanctions.

Three industry sources said Rosneft, which produces around fi ve percent of the world’s oil, is now taking care of shipping and marketing operations for the bulk of Venezuelan oil exports, ensuring that PDVSA can continue to supply buyers.

Rosneft used to resell volumes it bought from PDVSA to trading fi rms and was less involved in marketing.

Now it has started supplying some PDVSA clients - Chinese and Indian refi neries - while trading houses such as Swiss-based Trafi gura and Vitol have walked away because they fear they could breach secondary US sanc-tions, according to six trade sources.

Trafi gura and Vitol declined to com-ment.

Rosneft and PDVSA did no respond

to requests for comment.Oil accounts for more than 95 per-

cent of Venezuela’s export revenue and Washington has warned trading houses and other buyers about possible sanc-tions if they prop up Caracas.

The United States and some Western governments have recognized Ven-ezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s rightful head of state and are seeking to oust the current so-cialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Benefi tA State Department spokesman said

the United States “has put foreign in-stitutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in fa-cilitating illegitimate transactions that benefi t ... Maduro and his corrupt net-work.

“We will continue to use the full weight of US economic and diplomatic power to complete the peaceful transi-tion to a once-again free, prosperous and stable Venezuela.”

Moscow is one of Maduro’s closest allies and has provided military support to his government as well as billions of dollars in loans and equipment.

“Rosneft has been dealing with Ven-ezuela’s crude directly, fi xing vessels and offering it to end users”, a source with an oil trading fi rm said.

Rosneft is not in breach of US sanc-tions, because it takes oil as part of debt servicing agreements after lending Ca-

racas money in previous years.PDVSA lowered its outstanding

debt to Rosneft to $1.1 billion by the end of the second quarter this year from $1.8 billion at the end of the fi rst, the Russian company said on Wednesday. The sources said most deals between the two do not involve cash. Those that do are processed in euros rather than in US dollars to cover Venezuela’s debt to Rosneft.

Russia and China have called US sanctions against Venezuela unilateral and illegal.

Last week, Washington imposed new sanctions on Venezuela, threaten-ing to take measures against any fi rm “materially assisting” Maduro’s gov-ernment.

According to PDVSA’s loading ex-port schedules, Rosneft has chartered four super-tankers (very large crude carriers or VLCCs) and three smaller Suezmax tankers for Venezuelan crude oil loadings in the fi rst half of August.

All operations are being conducted by Rosneft’s trading offi ce in Geneva, according to three trading sources.

Rosneft has been selling Venezuelan crude to two main destinations - China and India - according to the sources, PDVSA’s loading data and Eikon Re-fi nitiv shipping data.

Rosneft delivered two super-tankers with 280,000 tonnes of oil each to Shandong in eastern China in July and August, and the oil went to an inde-

pendent refi nery, according to Refi nitiv crude analyst Emma Li and two trading executives.

This is unusual, because oil has been imported only by state giant Petrochina under term contracts with PDVSA.

Rosneft delivered a separate cargo of 140,000 tonnes to a state-run oil fi rm, also to Shandong, in mid-August, Re-fi nitiv’s Li said.

The new sales came after Rosneft stepped up marketing efforts in May. It visited several independent refi ners in Shandong, said a purchasing executive with one independent refi ner who met Rosneft offi cials.

ActiveRosneft has also become an active

supplier of Venezuelan crude oil to In-dia. The company has increased Ven-ezuelan oil sales to India’s refi ners Na-yara Energy, which it partly co-owns, and Reliance this year. As a result the refi ners decreased direct purchases from PDVSA.

Nayara Energy and Reliance de-clined to comment.

According to data from OPEC, Ven-ezuelan oil output has collapsed to around 0.7-1.0 million barrels per day (bpd) from as much as 3 million at the turn of the century due to a lack of in-vestments and sanctions.

The United States, India and China were Venezuela’s biggest customers prior to the sanctions.

Air New Zealand blames profit dip on engine issues, fuel

New Zealand’s national carrier said Thursday that increased fuel costs and engine problems were the main reasons why its annual profi t dropped by more than 30%.

Air New Zealand on Thursday reported a pre-tax profi t of 374 million New Zealand dollars ($239 million) for the year ending June 30, compared to NZ$540 million in the previous year.

Annual revenue grew by 5.3% to NZ$5.8 billion.

The airline said it faced a temporary

increase in operating costs due to the global problems experienced with certain Rolls-Royce engines used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes. And it said fuel costs were almost NZ$200 million higher than in the previous year.

Chairman Tony Carter said the airline was disappointed it didn’t meet the earn-ings forecast it set at the start of the fi -nancial year, but nevertheless achieved a solid result in the face of slowing demand.

“When we fi rst saw signs that demand was slowing, we took immediate steps to

review our network, fl eet and cost base, to position the airline for success in a lower growth environment,” Carter said in a statement. “While we have made pro-gress, this work is still ongoing.”

The airline in May announced it was ordering eight new Dreamliner planes with a list price of $2.7 billion, but this time with engines made by GE rather that Rolls-Royce. The airline has plans for some new routes, including starting fl ights to Seoul, South Korea, in Novem-ber. (AP)

In this fi le photo, an Air New Zealand passen-

ger plane fl ies past the moon on its way to the

Los Angeles International Airport from London, in

Whittier, California. New Zealand’s national carrier, Air New Zealand, said on

Aug 22, that increased fuel costs and engine

problems were the main reasons why its annual profi t dropped by more

than 30%. (AP)

investment funds

NBK CAPITALMoney Market Funds Watani KD Money Market Fund II Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 20, 2019 KD 1.074 1.074 Aug 14, 2019 Watani USD Money Market Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 20, 2019 USD 10.623 10.620 Aug 14, 2019 Watani KD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 20, 2019 KD 1.072 1.072 Aug 14, 2019 Watani USD Money Market Fund (Acc to Islamic Shariah principles) II Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 20, 2019 USD 10.430 10.427 Aug 14, 2019 NBK Kuwait Equity Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 15, 2019 KD 0.862 0.868 Aug 08, 2019 Gulf Equity Investment Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 15, 2019 USD 13.295 13.366 Aug 08, 2019 Regional Bond and Sukuk Investment Fund Watani Invesment Company Weekly Aug 15, 2019 USD 11.367 11.266 Aug 08, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gulf Bank Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund Kwt. Fin. & Inv. Co. & Gulf Fin. House Monthly June 30, 2019 USD 7.907 7.701 May 31, 2019 Coast Fund Coast Investment & Dev. Co. Monthly June 30, 2019 KD 0.817 0.804 May 31, 2018 Markaz Real Estate Fund Bi-annual June 30, 2019 KD 1.343 1.347 May 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al Ahli Bank Al Ahli Gulf Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 1.055 1.027 June 30, 2019 Al Ahli Kuwaiti Fund Al Ahli Bank Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 0.937 0.889 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Boubyan Bank Boubyan KD Money Market Fund II Boubyan Bank Weekly Aug 14, 2019 KD 1.054 1.053 Aug 06, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boubyan Capital Investment Co. Boubyan USD Liquidity Fund Boubyan Capital Investment Co Weekly Aug 14, 2019 USD 10.615 10.610 Aug 08, 2019 Boubyan Multi-Asset Holding Fund Boubyan Bank July 31, 2019 USD 11.572 11.508 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Investment Co.Local Fund Al Raed Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly Aug 15, 2019 KD 1.171 1.179 Aug 08, 2019 Kuwait Investment Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 0.920 0.876 June 30, 2019 Al Hilal Fund Kuwait Investment Co Monthly Aug 14, 2019 KD 0.742 0.742 Aug 05, 2019 Al Atheer Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 1.212 1.135 June 30, 2019International Diversified Fund Kuwait Investment Co Weekly June 28, 2019 USD 21.000 19.990 May 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

National Investment Co. (NIC) Al-Wataniya Fund NIC Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 0.694 0.662 June 30, 2019 Al-Darij Fund NIC Monthly June 31, 2019 KD 0.394 0.377 June 30, 2019 Mawarid Fund NIC Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 0.521 0.527 June 30, 2019 Zajil Fund NIC Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 0.806 0.792 June 30, 2019 Al Mada Investment Fund NIC Weekly June 31, 2019 USD 0.897 0.869 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) Mumtaz Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 5.430 5.167 June 30, 2019 MIDAF Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 4.123 3.930 June 30, 2019 Islamic Fund Kuwait Financial Center Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 2.007 1.896 June 30, 2019 FORSA Financial Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 1.318 1.251 June 30, 2019 Real Estate Fund Kuwait Financial Center Monthly June 30, 2019 KD 1.343 1.348 May 31, 2019

Kuwait & Middle East Financial & Inv. Co. Al Rou’yah Fund KMEFIC Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 1.523 1.456 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Global Investment HouseIndex Funds Global Premier Market Index Fund Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 KD 1.779 1.776 July 25, 2019Equity Funds Al-Mamoun Fund A Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 KD 0.861 0.869 Aug 01, 2019 Al-Mamoun Fund B Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 KD 0.861 0.869 Aug 01, 2019 GCC Large Cap Fund Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 USD 180.514 185.402 July 30, 2019 Global Saudi Equity Fund Global Biweekly Aug 18, 2019 SAR 286.986 283.140 Aug 06, 2019Sectoral Funds EPADI Fund Global Weekly Aug 06, 2019 USD 95.667 100.935 July 30, 2019Islamic Funds Global GCC Islamic Fund Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 USD 116.010 115.088 Aug 06, 2019 Al-Durra Islamic Fund Global Weekly Aug 08, 2019 KD 1.557 1.570 July 25, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kuwait Finance & Investment Co (KFIC) Al Wasm Fund KFIC Weekly Aug 14, 2019 KD 0.570 0.570 Aug 07, 2019 Al Basha’er GCC Equity Fund KFIC Monthly June 30, 2019 USD 7.907 7.701 May 31, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

KAMCO KAMCO Investment Fund KAMCO Monthly Apr 30, 2019 KD 1.341 1.206 Dec 30, 2018 KAMCO Real Estate Yield Fund KAMCO July 31, 2019 USD 8.840 8.900 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Wafra International Investment Co. Wafra Equity Fund Wafra Co. Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 1.084 1.029 June 30, 2019 Wafra Bond Fund Wafra Co. Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 1.034 1.031 June 30, 2019 Masaref Investment Fund ISKAN Weekly July 31, 2019 KD 1.333 1.314 June 30, 2019 Fajir Islamic Fund Wafra Co. Monthly July 31, 2019 KD 0.907 0.860 June 30, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Al-Tharwa Investment Co. Tharwa Investment Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly June 30, 2019 KD 1.127 1.112 May 31, 2019 Tharwa Islamic Fund Tharwa Investment Co Weekly June 30, 2019 KD 0.738 0.732 May 31, 2018—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bank Al-Bilad Al Seef Fund Bank Al-Bilad Daily Aug 07, 2019 KD 0.521 0.521 Aug 04, 2019—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Commercial International Bank CIB Money Market Fund (Osoul) CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 19, 2019 EGP 393.980 393.410 Aug 18, 2019 CIB II Equity (Isthethmar) CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 19, 2019 EGP 211.610 214.460 Aug 15, 2019 CIB and Faisal Islamic Al Aman CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 19, 2019 EGP 110.530 111.800 Aug 15, 2019 Hemaya CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 01, 2019 EGP 230.860 230.130 July 01, 2019 Thabat CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 19, 2019 EGP 258.210 258.090 Aug 18, 2019 Takamol CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 19, 2019 EGP 193.440 193.270 Aug 18, 2019 Misr El Mostakbel CI Asset Management Weekly Aug 18, 2019 EGP 24.980 24.890 Aug 14, 2019 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————KFH Capital KFHC GCC Equities Fund KFH Capital Investmen Co Daily Apr 30, 2019 KD 0.824 0.797 Mar 31, 2019 KFH Capital Investment Co KFH Capital Investmen Co Daily Nov 30, 2018 KD 0.407 0.406 Oct 31, 2018 Baitak GCC Fund KFH Capital Investment Co Weekly June 29, 2017 KD 0.930 0.916 Feb 28, 2017

Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV)————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Funds Fund Manager Valuation Valued date Currency Net Asset Prev NAV Prev NAV Dated Value (NAV)————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

19

Equities retreat as investors eye Fed’s Jackson Hole meet

Crude oil rises further above $60 per barrel

NEW YORK, Aug 22, (RTRS): An index of global stock markets slipped on Thursday as investors wor-ried about uncertainty over the outlook for US interest rate cuts even as weak US manufacturing data raised concerns about the health of the world’s largest economy.

Investors’ focus, however, re-mained fi rmly on Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Je-rome Powell at a Jackson Hole, Wyoming, event, which could offer clarity on the direction of US mon-etary policy.

The Fed has come under increasing pressure to cut borrowing costs more, including a call by President Donald Trump on Wednesday for the Fed to slash its benchmark rate.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was down 0.31%.

On Wall Street, stocks opened high-er as strong results from retailers bol-stered confi dence in consumer demand. But they retreated following the dismal US manufacturing data and a comment from Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker saying he does not see the case for additional stimulus.

At midday, however, the Dow re-versed course, helped by a 3.9% jump in Boeing’s shares after a Reuters re-port that the company has told suppli-ers it will resume production of its best-selling 737 jets at a rate of 52 aircraft per month in February 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Aver-age rose 44.69 points, or 0.17%, to 26,247.42, the S&P 500 lost 4.64 points, or 0.16%, to 2,919.79 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 39.49 points, or 0.49%, to 7,980.72.

lost 0.40 European shares, which found support from upbeat surveys on Germany and the euro zone, declined on a report that the Bundesbank sees no need for German fi scal stimulus right now. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.40%.

In currency markets, the US dollar weakened as investors braced for a pos-sible announcement or statement from the Jackson Hole meeting.

The dollar slipped 0.11% against a basket of major currencies to 98.19.

Asian currencies suffered after the Chinese yuan fell to an 11-year low against the dollar, indicating trade ten-sion between the world’s two biggest economies remained a major issue.

Treasury yields, which climbed after better-than-expected manufacturing data in Europe boosted risk sentiment, pared gains following dismal U.S. manufacturing data.

Benchmark 10-year notes were down 5/32 in price to yield 1.5927%, up from 1.577% late on Wednesday.

Oil prices weakened as worries about the global economy weighed.

USUS stocks turned lower on Thursday

as the fi rst contraction in the manufac-turing sector in nearly a decade and un-certainty about future interest rate cuts overshadowed an initial boost from up-beat retail earnings.

IHS Markit said its “fl ash” survey on new orders for US manufactured goods fell to 49.5 in August, over con-cerns whether the US-China trade war would tip the economy into a recession. In response, yields on the US two-year Treasury notes again moved above those of 10-Year bonds.

At 11:19 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7.34 points, or 0.03%, at 26,195.39, the S&P 500 was down 8.07 points, or 0.28%, at 2,916.36. The Nasdaq Composite was down 48.87 points, or 0.61%, at 7,971.33.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower with a 0.59% decline in technology weighing the most on the benchmark index. Interest-rate sensi-tive bank stocks gained as central bank-ers toned down expectations of aggres-sive rate cuts.

Leading gains on the S&P 500 was Nordstrom Inc, up 15.4%, as it joined Target Corp and Lowe’s Cos Inc this week in delivering a quarterly profi t beat and bolstering confi dence in con-sumer demand.

L Brands Inc slid 7.8% after the Vic-toria’s Secret owner reported quarterly sales short of estimates.

UKLondon’s FTSE 100 fell on Thurs-

day as minutes of the latest US Federal Reserve meeting dampened hopes of a hefty cut in interest rates in Septem-ber, though NMC Health soared on a report that two fi rms had offered to buy a stake in the company.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, with shares of online grocer Ocado sliding after a fi re at one of its customer fulfi lment centres. The FTSE 250 also shed 0.2% by 0754 GMT.

Ocado lost 2% after it reported that a small fi re on Wednesday at its custom-er fulfi lment centre in Erith was extin-guished overnight. A similar incident in February at its robotic distribution centre in Andover, southern England, had led to a sharp fall in shares.

UAE-based healthcare provider NMC Health surged more than 30% and was tracking its best day ever af-ter sources told Reuters on Wednesday that two groups, including one backed by China’s Fosun, were competing to buy a 40% stake in the company worth up to $1.9 billion.

The company also posted half-year results and announced plans to buy back up to $200 mln worth of shares.

Still, losses on the main index were spread across sectors.

Exporter stocks dropped due to a modest recovery in the pound, while

heavyweight fi nancial stocks tracked losses in Asian markets after Fed min-utes overnight showed policymakers were deeply divided on an interest rate cut.

EuropeEuropean shares traded close to fl at

on Thursday as upbeat surveys on Ger-many and the eurozone offset signs that US policymakers had not intended to start a cycle of interest rate cuts with last month’s move.

Germany’s DAX shrugged off a weak open, to trade 0.1% higher, after Markit’s fl ash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 51.4 in August, above expecta-tions of 50.5.

The data helped the pan-European STOXX 600 index to recover from sol-id initial losses to trade just 0.1% lower by 0815 GMT, with Italian stocks out-performing with a 0.39% rise.

The biggest gainer on the STOXX was NMC Health Plc, up 26%, after Reuters reported that two groups, in-cluding one backed by China’s Fosun, have made competing offers to buy a 40% stake.

Shares of Ambu A/S plunged 15.2%, to the bottom of the STOXX 600, after the company issued its second profi t warning in three months.

AsiaIn Asia, the Shanghai Composite

Index edged up 0.1% to 2,883.44 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% to 26,046.47.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was 0.1% high-er at 20,612.17. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 6,501.08 and India’s Sensex shed 0.5% to 36868.14.

Seoul’s Kospi declined 0.7% to 1,951.01. New Zealand and Taiwan were up while Southeast Asian mar-kets declined.

OilOil rose further above $60 a barrel

on Thursday, supported by a drop in US crude inventories and OPEC-led supply cuts, although worries about the global economy weighed.

US crude inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels last week, more than analysts expected. Still, the US Energy Information Administration also said gasoline and distillate inventories rose.

Brent crude rose 24 cents to $60.54 a barrel by 1330 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude added 45 cents to $56.13.

Traders are awaiting a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that could indicate whether the central bank will continue to cut interest rates.

“Oil looks in limbo at the moment,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA. “It’s been steadily rising over the last couple of weeks but not in any con-vincing way.

“A risk rally at the end of the week

may get it moving again but that hangs on Powell.”

The price of Brent is up by about 13 percent this year, supported by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Pe-troleum Exporting Countries, and ex-port cuts affecting Iran and Venezuela which are under US sanctions.

Iran on Wednesday said if its oil ex-ports are cut to zero, international wa-terways would not have the same secu-rity as before, cautioning Washington against raising pressure on Tehran.

But a slowdown in economic growth amid the US-China trade dispute and Brexit has been pressuring prices and forecasters such as the International Energy Agency have been lowering forecasts for world oil demand.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was “the chosen one” to address trade imbalances with China, even as congressional research-ers warned his tariffs would reduce US economic output by 0.3% in 2020.

CurrenciesThe pound was on course for its best

day in months on Thursday after trad-ers interpreted comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to mean that a solution to the Irish border problem could be found before Britain leaves the European Union on Oct 31.

Traders have been betting heavily against the currency this summer and so any glimmer of a breakthrough in Britain’s efforts to convince the EU to renegotiate the deal is likely to send the pound jumping, analysts and trad-ers say.

Merkel on Thursday backtracked on earlier comments that appeared to set Britain a 30-day deadline to fi nd a solution to the so-called Irish backstop. Instead she said that the UK could have time until the Brexit deadline of Oct 31 to fi nd a compromise.

Deciding how to prevent a hard bor-der dividing Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland after Brexit is at the heart of Britain and the EU’s inability to come up with a mutually acceptable withdrawal deal.

British Prime Minister Boris John-son wants the backstop – an insurance policy included in Britain’s Withdraw-al Agreement with the EU to avoid the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland – scrapped. The EU says the current plan, which was approved by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, is not up for renegotiation.

Sterling jumped to a three-week high of $1.2265 after Merkel’s comments before settling around $1.2251, up 1.1% on the day.

Against the euro, sterling rose as high as 90.29 pence , also a three-week high, and was last up 1.1% at 90.49 pence.

The euro zone equity benchmark swung into positive territory and hit the day’s high after the comments, though it gave back some of the gains afterwards. London’s exporter-heavy FTSE 100 fell as stronger sterling puts exporting companies under pressure.

SHENZHEN, China, Aug 22, (AP): The founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei said he expects no relief from US export curbs be-cause of the political climate in Washington but expressed con-fidence the company will thrive because it is developing its own technology.

Ren Zhengfei also said he doesn’t want relief from US sanc-tions if it requires China to make concessions in a tariff war, even if that means his daughter, who is under house arrest in Canada on US criminal charges, faces a lon-ger legal struggle.

In an interview with The Asso-ciated Press at Huawei’s sprawl-ing, leafy headquarters campus in the southern city of Shenzhen, the 74-year-old Ren said Huawei expects US curbs on most technol-ogy sales to go ahead despite the announcement of a second 90-day delay. He said no one in Washing-ton would risk standing up for the company.

The biggest impact will be on American vendors that sell chips and other components to Huawei, the biggest maker of network gear for phone companies, he said.

Washington has placed Hua-wei on an “entity list” of foreign companies that require official permission to buy American technology.

“Whether the ‘entity list’ is ex-tended or not, that will not have a substantial impact on Huawei’s business,” said Ren. “We can do well without relying on American companies.”

Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of a battle over trade and technology that threatens to tip the global economy into reces-sion. American officials accuse the company, also the No. 2 global smartphone brand, of stealing technology and facilitating Chi-nese spying. Huawei denies those accusations.

Huawei’s chief financial offi-cer, who is also Ren’s daughter, is fighting extradition from Canada to face US charges related to pos-sible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. Beijing arrested two Ca-nadians in a possible attempt to force her release.

Ren looked relaxed and con-fident throughout the two-hour interview at a palatial new build-ing in neoclassical European style where Huawei entertains customers. The atmosphere was a striking contrast from a June 17 news conference at which Ren compared the company to a “badly damaged airplane” and warned US sanctions would cut Huawei’s projected smartphone sales by $30 billion over the next two years.

President Donald Trump has suggested controls on Huawei might be lifted if Beijing agrees to a deal on trade and technology disputes that led to US tariff hikes

on Chinese imports.Ren rejected that. He said Hua-

wei couldn’t ask for favors that might hurt the interests of China’s poor majority.

“I couldn’t take it if those poor people sacrificed their own inter-ests for the benefit of Huawei,” said Ren. “Maybe my daughter will suffer more. But I would rather do that instead having the poorer people in China sacrifice for Huawei’s survival and devel-opment.”

The May announcement of ex-port curbs prompted warnings that sales of Huawei smartphones and other products that use US chips and other technology could be devastated. The curbs also mean a loss of billions of dollars in po-tential annual sales for American vendors.

Even before the announcement, Huawei was working on develop-ing its own chips, software and other technology that might reduce reliance on American vendors. The company spent $15 billion last year on research and develop-ment, more than Apple Inc. or Mi-crosoft Corp.

Huawei reported sales in the six months through June rose 23.2% over a year earlier. Its chairman, Liang Hua, said in July that Hua-wei was reviewing its core prod-ucts to make sure they all could be delivered to customers without American components.

“At a strategic level, the US en-tity list is helpful to Huawei,” said Ren. He said the company has re-sponded by eliminating “marginal, unimportant businesses or prod-ucts” and focusing resources on “major products.”

“The whole company can fo-cus more on our most competitive products,” he said.

This month, Huawei unveiled its own smartphone operating sys-tem it said can replace the popular Android system from Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Huawei’s phones still use Android but Google is blocked from supporting maps, music and other services.

Earlier this year, Huawei re-leased its own chip for next-gen-eration smartphones and the first phone based on that chip.

Ren rarely appeared in pub-lic or talked to reporters before his daughter’s December arrest. Since then, however, he has given a flurry of interviews to foreign reporters in an effort to repair the company’s reputation.

“I think it’s working,” he said.Asked about ongoing pro-de-

mocracy protests in Hong Kong, which borders Shenzhen, Ren said the violence was “not good for so-ciety and the people” but doesn’t affect Huawei.

“There is no impact at all on Huawei’s business,” he said. “We are still focused on our own pro-duction. We still focus on fixing the holes in our bullet-riddled air-plane.”

Company’s founder confident

China’s Huawei expectsno relief from US curbs

leather wallets, loose change pose danger for new Apple Card

Apple tried to make the new Apple-branded credit card attractive, copying the heft and sleekness of higher-end cards like the Chase Sapphire. But card-holders are discovering that with such a design, they’ll have to give it spe-cial care.

Leather wallets and loose change pose danger for new Apple Card, for instance. In

fact, Apple says its Apple Card shouldn’t come into contact with other credit cards for fear of scratching the titanium card’s white fi n-ish.

Apple issued special in-structions this week: Keep away from “hard surfaces or materials.” Your leather wal-let or jeans pocket “might cause permanent discolora-tion.” Don’t let it touch an-

other credit card or “poten-tially abrasive objects” like coins or keys.

There’s also a two-step cleaning process involving microfi ber cloths and iso-propyl alcohol and a list of inappropriate cleaners.

The Apple Card is de-signed primarily for iPhone use, though the company is offering a physical card for use in stores that don’t

accept mobile payments. Customers typically get 2% cash back when using Ap-ple’s app to pay. Industry experts say fi nancial ben-efi ts of the card mirror many of those already out there for consumers.

The card, announced in March in partnership with Goldman Sachs, started rolling out in the US this month. (AP)

In this March 25, 2019 fi le photo, Jennifer Bailey, vice president

of Apple Pay, speaks about the Apple Card at the Steve Jobs

Theater during an event to an-nounce new products in Cuperti-

no, California. Apple tried to make the new Apple-branded credit card

attractive, copying the heft and sleekness of higher-end cards like

the Chase Sapphire. But card-holders are discovering that with

such a design, they’ll have to give it special care. (AP)

exchange rates – Aug 22

US dollar

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellSell

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuy

Cash.300700.306000

——

.297000

.305750——————

.300900

.307000

.301690

.307220—

Draft.302450.304800

—.303400.303400.305500.303400.305500.303400.305500

—.303400.303400.305500.302400.305500.305500

Danish krone

Cyprus pound

BEC Muzaini

Gulf Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BECCommercial BankGulf BankAl-Ahli Bank

BECMuzaini Exchange

BuySellBuySell BuySellBuySellBuySellSell

US dollar.302450.303400.303400.303400

Gold 999 kg— —

Gold 999 10 tola——

Gold ounce——

Gold gm 22k——

Gold gm 21k——

Gold gm 18k——

100 gm 999——

10 gm 999——

Transfer.302450.304800

—.303400.303400.305500.303400.305500.303400.305500

—.303400.303400.305500.302400.305500.305500

Cash.041202.046202

———————————————

Draft.041202.048202

——

.045080

.045392

.044944

.045523

.045040

.045520————

.044627

.045630—

Cash———————————

Draft——— ————————

Transfer——— ————————

Sterling pound

Cash.362191.376091

— —

.367000

.374000——————

.363260

.373660

.364623

.375699—

Draft.361690.372190.371060

—.368995.371549.366464.373935.367540.371760

——

.366540

.371510

.362910

.375887—

Indian rupee

Yemeni riyal

Transfer.361690.372190.371060

—.368995.371549.366464.373935.367540.371760

——

.366540

.371510

.362910

.375887—

Cash.003726.004498

——

.004000

.006500———————————

Draft.004181.004261.042990

——

.004255—

.004302

.004210

.004275——

.004150

.004250

.004164

.004296—

Transfer.004181.004261.042990

——

.004255—

.004302

.004210

.004275——

.004150

.004250

.004164

.004296—

Cash.000991.001071

—————————

Draft.001168.001268.001224

————————

Transfer.001168.001268.001224

————————

Euro

Cash.330064.343764

——

.335000

.343000——————

.332030

.341690

.331919

.342427—

Draft.332064.341064.343490

—.336258.338586.334055.340879.336080.340080

——

.335030

.339730

.330130

.342802—

Pakistani rupee

Thai baht

Transfer.332064.341064.343490

—.336258.338586.334055.340879.336080.340080

——

.335030

.339730

.330130

.342802—

Cash.001343.002113

———————————————

Draft.001894.001928.001993

——

.001933—

.001955—

.001937————

.001858

.001940—

Transfer.001894.001928.001993

——

.001933—

.001955—

.001937————

.001858

.001940—

Cash.009590.010140

—————————

Draft.009476.009916.099350

—————

.009658

.010083—

Transfer.009476.009916.099350

—————

.009658

.010083—

Japanese yen

Cash.002777.002957

———————————————

Draft.002777.002957.002865

—.002850.002870.002839.002883.002847.002881

——

.002840

.002870

.002776

.002940—

Sri Lankan rupee

South African rand

Transfer.002777.002957.002865

—.002850.002870.002839.002883.002847.002881

——

.002840

.002870

.002776

.002940—

Cash .001343.001923

——

.002000

.003500———————————

Draft .001660.001703.001718

——

.001706—

.001724

.001689

.001717————

.001677

.001710—

Transfer.001660.001703.001718

——

.001706—

.001724

.001689

.001717————

.001677

.001710—

Cash———————————

Draft—————

.020363—————

Transfer—————

.020363—————

Swiss franc

Cash.303548.314548

——

.308000

.317000———————————

Draft.304548.312559.315050

—.308788.310926.306988.313272.308360.312240

——

.307310

.312380

.301435

.317304—

Bangladesh taka

Korean won

Transfer.304548.312559.315050

—.308788.310926.306988.313272.308360.312240

——

.307310

.312380

.301435

.317304—

Draft.003578.003600.003593

——

.003622—

.003661——————

.003537

.003659—

Cash.002982.003783

———————————————

Transfer.003578.003600.003593

——

.003622—

.003661——————

.003537

.003659—

Cash.000242.000257

—————————

Draft———————————

Transfer———————————

Canadian dollar

Cash.223509.232509

——

.227000

.234000———————————

Draft.221509.231509.231320

—.227966.229544.226975.231544.227760.230290

——

.227160

.230260

.224017

.233295—

Philippine peso

Syrian pound

Transfer.221509.231509.231320

—.227966.229544.226975.231544.227760.230290

——

.227160

.230260

.224017

.233295—

Cash.005806.006106

——

.005000

.007900———————————

Draft.005351.005842.005845

——

.005855—

.005903

.005670

.005860————

.005691

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Transfer.005351.005842.005845

——

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.005903

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.005691

.005919—

Cash.001292.001512

——— — —————

Draft.000500.000720

——— ——————

Transfer.000500.000720

——— ——————

Swedish krona

Cash.027563.032563

———————————————

Draft.027563.032563

——

.031381

.031598

.031301

.031657

.031450

.031760

.032240———

.031110

.031700—

Australian dollar

Iranian Riyal

Transfer.027563.032563

——

.031381

.031598

.031301

.031657

.031450

.031760

.032240———

.031110

.031700—

Cash.197693.209693

——

.204000

.213000———————————

Draft.195693.208693

——

.205068

.206487

.204676

.207364

.204890

.207980——

.204230

.207320

.198405

.212720—

Transfer.195693.208693

——

.205068

.206487

.204676

.207364

.204890

.207980——

.204230

.207320

.198405

.212720—

Cash———————————

Draft———————————

Transfer———————————

Saudi riyal

Cash.080193.081493

——

.080662

.081472————————

.080470

.081623—

Draft.080693.081333.081294

—.080922.081482.080760.081867.080830.081600.081460

—.080180.081720 .080470.081623

—

Hong Kong dollar

Lebanese pound

Transfer.080693.081333.081294

—.080922.081482.080760.081867.080830.081600.081460

—.080180.081720 .080470.081623

—

Cash.036776.039526

———————————————

Draft.036275.039375.038828

—.038686.038954.038484.039257

—————————

Transfer.036275.039375.038828

—.038686.038954.038484.039257

—————————

Cash.000151.000251

—————————

Draft.000186.000206.002030

——— —————

Transfer.000186.000206.002030

——— —————

UAE dirham

Cash.082352.083180

——

.082352

.083180————————

.082152

.083349—

Draft.081516.083011.083000

—.082630.083202.082412.083428.082550.083310

——

.082130

.083510

.082152

.083349—

Singapore dollar

Malaysian ringgit

Transfer.081516.083011.083000

—.082630.083202.082412.083428.082550.083310

——

.082130

.083510

.082152

.083349—

Cash .214416 .224416

———————————————

Draft.215741.221416.221160

—.218935.220450.218309.220780.218130.221070

——

.218130

.221120

.216479

.221907—

Transfer.215741.221416.221160

—.218935.220450.218309.220780.218130.221070

——

.218130

.221120

.216479

.221907—

Cash.069189.075189

—————————

Draft.067716.074716.077916

—————

.071472

.073650—

Transfer.067716.074716.077916

—————

.071472

.073650—

Bahraini dinar

Cash.802335.810395

——

.802334

.810398————————

.800424

.811895—

Draft.801417.809917.809490

—.805244.810818.801018.812413.803600.811640

——

.798100

.813300

.800424

.811895—

Jordanian dinar

Indonesian rupiah

Transfer.801417.809917.809490

—.805244.810818.801018.812413.803600.811640

——

.798100

.813300

.800424

.811895—

Cash.424997.433997

——

.420000

.440000———————————

Draft.424127.431627.430510

——

.432016—

.434733

.425820

.434260——

.426670

.433970

.425436

.431985—

Transfer.424127.431627.430510

——

.432016—

.434733

.425820

.434260——

.426670

.433970

.425436

.431985—

Cash.000017.000023

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Draft.000016.000023

———

.000021—————

Transfer.000016.000023

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.000021—————

Omani riyal

Cash .786557.794458

——

.786556

.794461————————

.784986

.793878—

Draft .780280.791280 .791813

—.788318.793775.786678.797546.787540.794750

——

.784290

.796980

.784986

.793878—

Egyptian pound

New Zealand dollar

Transfer .780280.791280 .791813

—.788318.793775.786678.797546.787540.794750

——

.784290

.796980

.784986

.793878—

Cash.018663.022023.021650

—.012000.023000

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Draft.017683.018518.184130

——

.019034—

.018615

.017790

.018570—

.017300

.017270

.018820

.017870

.018999—

Transfer.017683.018518.184130

——

.019034—

.018615

.017790

.018570—

.017300

.017270

.018820

.017870

.018999—

Cash.187879.197379

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Draft.185879.196879

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.192449

.196433—————

Transfer.185879.196879

——

.192449

.196433—————

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

travellers cheques local gold — Sterling.361690.368995.366464.366540

Euro.336258.334841.334055.335030

Transfer.041202.048202

——

.045080

.045392

.044944

.045523

.045040

.045520————

.044627

.045630—

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

Volkswagen not interested in buying Tesla stake

Volkswagen said on Thursday it was not interested in taking a stake in Tesla, de-nying a media report that CEO Herbert Diess wanted to buy shares in the US company to access its software and bat-teries technology.

“The speculation about buying a stake in Tesla made by Manager Magazin is without merit,” a Volkswagen spokesman said in a written statement to Reuters.

Manager Magazin had said Diess meets with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on a regular basis because of the US carmak-

er’s expertise in software and battery cell design, and that Tesla had so far rebuffed Volkswagen’s efforts at striking an alli-ance.

“Diess would go in right away if he could,” the magazine quoted an unidenti-fied top Volkswagen manager as saying.

Acquiring a stake would be enough for the German carmaker to access Tesla’s technological expertise, the report said.

An obstacle, however, would be to get the consent of Volkswagen’s controlling Piech and Porsche families to fund the

stake purchase, the magazine added.A banker close to Volkswagen said that

while Diess would love to have Tesla’s software developers, the CEO believed it was almost impossible to justify paying $30 billion (27 billion euros) to buy the whole company.

Tesla’s shares pared pre-market gains following Volkswagen’s denial of the mag-azine report. At 1335 GMT, they were up 1.3% at $223.60, while Volkswagen’s shares were up 1.2% at 144.36 euros. (RTRS)

Business PlusPlus

This is like a tempera-ture gauge for the econ-

omy, and it says theeconomy is sick.

There is an increasing polarization in retail. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s

difficult to pull out ofthe tail spin.

‘

‘

’

’

Negative-yielding debt becoming a mainstay in the marketplace

Economic twilight zone: Bonds that charge you for lendingrates in Europe have slowed in recent quarters.

German bonds are prime candidates for negative rates. The country’s fi nancial solidity means that safety-seeking investors will at least receive most of their money back. German 10-year bonds yield negative 0.69%. Other countries with negative yields on government bonds include Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Spain.

What was especially unusual about the German bond sale was its long maturity. As anyone who has shopped for a bank CD knows, you usually get more interest the longer your money is tied up. Yet bond yields are sagging not just for shorter term issues but also for longer-term bonds.

The negative yields on German bonds have fueled debate over the government’s insistence on running budget surpluses and avoiding new debt, even though the government could borrow to spend more on roads and bridges and in effect be paid to do so.

Economists and such outside voices as the U.S Treasury and the Interna-tional Monetary Fund say Germany could support growth at home and abroad by spending more. Germany’s economy shrank 0.1% in the second quarter, held back by slowing global trade and the auto industry’s adjust-ment to tough emissions standards and new technologies.

A little bond math helps to under-stand things. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. If investors think infl ation and interest rates will rise above levels now re-fl ected in bond yields, they may sell the bond, sending its yield higher. Conversely, demand for bonds - as seen now - drives the price up and the yield down. The more investors foresee low growth and low infl a-tion ahead, the more willing they become to buy bonds that offer low returns. They can earn healthy re-turns from rising bond prices, even when the yields are negative.

One big reason for falling yields is purchases by central banks. The European Central Bank bought 2.6 trillion euros in government and corporate bonds as part of a stimulus program that ended in December. As the economic picture has worsened, the bank has signaled those purchases might start again.

In addition to its signal about the economy, negative yields can make it harder to fund retirement savings. The high bond prices refl ected in the low yields also raise the possibility of a bond market plunge if senti-ment changes.

That could happen if the econo-mies of Europe and Japan begin to regain momentum and their central banks call off their easy money policies.

“The worst thing that can happen for these bonds is, God forbid, the econo-mies recover,” Bianco said. (AP)

This file photo shows the European Central Bank during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany. One big reason for falling yields is purchases by central banks. The European Central Bank bought 2.6 billion euros in government and corporate bonds as part of a stimulus program that ended in December. (AP)

Stores continue to suffer weak sales as they struggle to lure in shoppers

Retailers’ results show divide between losers, winnersNEW YORK, Aug 22, (AP): The divide between retail winners and losers is widening.

That became even more evident Wednesday with the latest batch of earnings reports: Big-box stores and off-price retailers have been responding faster to shoppers’ in-creasing shift online with expanded deliveries and better merchandise. But many mall-based clothing chains and department stores con-tinue to suffer weak sales as they struggle to lure in shoppers.

“There is an increasing polariza-tion in retail,” said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. “It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s diffi cult to pull out of the tail spin.”

In fact, for the fi rst two fi scal quarters of this year, earnings at off-mall retailers rose 3%, compared with a drop of 29% for mall-based retailers, according to Retail Met-rics, a retail research fi rm, which analyzed results at 105 retailers.

On Wednesday, Target raised its annual earnings guidance after reporting strong sales and traffi c. It was helped by its same-day delivery services, as well as a strong lineup of homegrown brands. Lowe’s,

the nation’s second largest home improvement retailer behind Home Depot, blew past Wall Street’s sec-ond-quarter earnings expectations, buoyed by strong demand for spring goods and sales to contractors.

Both companies’ stocks soared.Earlier this week, Home Depot

handily beat second-quarter profi t expectations, while Walmart raised its outlook for the year last week and off price chains like T.J. Maxx

are also faring well, resonating with shoppers who love to treasure hunt.

But many clothing chains and department stores haven’t differenti-ated their merchandise enough, and now discounters are further squeez-ing them by pushing into more affordable trendy fashions, retail industry analysts say.

Last week, Macy’s lowered its annual earnings guidance after its earnings suffered in the second

quarter as it slashed prices on unsold merchandise. J.C. Penney’s is in worst shape. It posted another quarter of sales declines. Kohl’s shares, meanwhile, fell Tuesday after posting a sales decline though business improved later in the quarter.

Upscale department store Nord-strom trimmed its earnings and sales outlook for the current fi scal year late Wednesday after it reported profi t and sales declines in the sec-ond quarter. Sales at its full-priced stores dropped 6.5%. The results show that it hasn’t been able to escape the woes of traditional malls, even as it has been testing small stores that don’t stock any clothes and expanding its online services.

Saunders and other analysts say that they started to see a clear divide between retail’s winners and los-ers four or fi ve years ago, but that gap has gotten more pronounced because of a combination of factors. For several years, a strong economy provided tail winds to retailers of all stripes, and last year’s tax cuts gave merchants a nice sugar high. But as the economy starts developing some cracks, vulnerable retailers will

become even more exposed.Analysts also say that the shift to

online shopping keeps accelerating, giving a big advantage to retailers like Target and Walmart who’ve been able to invest billions of dol-lars in online deliveries and in their stores. Some mall-based retailers are now looking at other ways to bring in shoppers, including subscription rental services and carving out areas to sell second-hand clothes.

But for some, it may be a case of too little, too late.

“In a world where consumers have more choices than ever, infe-rior brick-and-mortar experiences will go away,” said John Mulligan, Target’s chief operating offi cer Wednesday.

Target’s comparable store sales, which include online sales, rose 3.4 % as customer traffi c jumped 2.4%. Online sales soared 34%. The Minneapolis company raised profi t expectations for the year, sending its shares up $17.47, or 20.4%, to close at $103.

Shares in Lowe’s Co., which is based in Mooresville, North Caro-lina, ended up $10.13, or 10.4%, at $108.

By David McHugh and Paul Wiseman

Imagine lending money to some-one and having to pay for the

privilege of doing so. Or being asked to invest and informed of how much money you’ll lose.

Sounds absurd, but increasingly that’s the global bond market these days. A rising share of government and corporate bonds are trading at negative interest yields - a fi nancial twilight zone that took hold after the fi nancial crisis and has acceler-ated on fear that a fragile global economy will be further damaged by the US-China trade war.

On Wednesday, for the fi rst time ever, the German government sold 30-year bonds at a negative interest rate. The bonds pay no coupon in-terest at all. Yet bidders at the auc-tion were willing to pay more than the face value they would receive back when the bonds mature.

The sale added to the mountain

of negative-yielding bonds around the world that investors have gobbled up, suggesting that they expect global growth and infl ation to remain subpar for years to come. After all, accepting a negative yield on a bond - agreeing, in effect, to lose money in exchange for parking money in a safe place - could refl ect expectations that yields will sink even further into negative territory.

“You’re essentially paying a warehouse fee by paying these negative rates,” said Jim Bianco of Bianco Research in Chicago.

Worldwide debt with negative rates has surged to $16.4 trillion from $12.2 trillion in mid-July and $5.7 trillion in October, Bianco said.

“Until a few months ago, nega-tive-yielding debt was an interesting curiosity,” he said. “In the last three months, it’s become a mainstay in the marketplace.”

The negative-yield phenomenon - 87% of it in Europe and Japan combined - is above all sign of pes-

simism about the future.“This is like a temperature gauge

for the economy, and it says the economy is sick,” said Sung Won Sohn, business economist at Loyola Marymount University in Califor-nia.

The bond market is also respond-ing to expectations that many central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will respond to economic weakness and the raging trade con-fl ict between the US and China by unleashing more stimulus to try to drive down interest rates. The ECB has indicated that it may decide on a stimulus package as soon as its Sept 12 meeting.

Despite its strong credit rating and demand for its bonds, Germany is a big part of the growth problem for the eurozone. The German economy shrank 0.1 percent in the second quarter and could tip into recession with another quarter of falling output.

Negative rates aren’t just an indicator of economic distress. They can cause problems in the fi nancial system, too. They make it harder for banks to turn a profi t or for insur-ance companies to fund their future payouts.

“Why would you want to lend money when you can’t make money?” Sohn said.

Indeed, bank stocks have tumbled - 24% in Europe and 23% in Japan - over the past year.

Most of the negative-yielding debt is in government bonds, in part because they are seen as ultra-safe. But there are also about $60 billion US corporate bonds that are in nega-tive territory.

Something similar is going on with US government debt: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has sagged to 1.57% - a rate that would amount to a negative one after accounting for infl ation. Japan has been stuck in years of low infl ation and sluggish growth. And growth

In this fi le photo, the Jaguar I-Pace vehicle outfi tted with Waymo’s suite of sensors and radar is introduced in New York. Google autonomous vehicle spinoff Waymo says it will start testing on public roads in Florida to better ex-perience heavy rain. (AP)

This file photo shows a sign for a Gap store in Pittsburgh. The Gap Inc reports financial results, Aug 22. (AP)

SPORTSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

21

Dortmund travel to Cologne

Bayern hope Coutinho arrival will spark seasonBERLIN, Aug 22, (RTRS): German champions Bayern Munich are hop-ing their fans’ enthusiasm with the ar-rival ofv Brazilian midfi elder Philippe Coutinho this week will spill over onto the pitch when they travel to Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Defeat in the German Super Cup to Borussia Dortmund and a 2-2 home draw with Hertha Berlin in their Bundesliga opener last week made for a disappointing start to the season for the Bavarians.

Another slip-up at Schalke would set the alarm bells ringing at Bayern, who have won the last seven league titles.

With title rivals Dortmund wrapping up most of their signings by May, Bay-ern fans were less than impresswed with the club’s lack of activity in the transfer market but that changed last week.

After missing out on several over the last couple of months, Bayern completed loan deals for Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic and Barcelona’s Coutinho, and signed France youth international Mick-ael Cuisance. The transfer window in Germany shuts next week.

Coutinho, who joined Barcelona from Liverpool in January last year for about $170 million, was the third most expensive transfer in history but has failed to hit the same heights at the Camp Nou as he did at Anfi eld.

Bayern forward Robert Lewan-dowski, who had repeatedly called for reinforcements if the club were to re-main competitive, said Coutinho was a game changer.

“Players like him can decide wheth-er you win the game or not,” said Le-wandowski. “With such a player one can play together with no problems from the very fi rst game.”

Dortmund, who shot out of the blocks with a 5-1 demolition of Augs-burg last week, travel to Cologne on Friday.

Follow same rules onVAR, IFAB ‘urges’ EPLMANCHESTER, Aug 22, (RTRS): Football’s lawmak-ing body has urged the Premier League and other competitions to all follow the same rules on the involvement of video review (VAR) technology.

The move comes after con-cern that the Premier League and Bundesliga in particular were applying different interpre-tations over the use of VAR than the ones handed out by IFAB, FIFA’s rule-making body.

“Each competition must re-spect the laws of the game and any of The IFAB’s published/communicated guidelines and/or clarifi cations,” a spokesper-son for IFAB told Reuters.

On Wednesday, IFAB issued a circular on the recent changes in laws, including the issue of the use of VAR in the taking of penalty kicks.

The Premier League and Bundesliga have opted to leave the decision over whether a goalkeeper had moved off the line to onfi eld offi cials with VAR only intervening if there is a clear mistake by the offi cials.

But IFAB have insisted that VAR “must check for any of-fence by the goalkeeper (and/or the kicker) and the VAR must inform the referee if there is clear replay evidence.”

Neither the Premier League nor the Bundesliga immediately responded for request to com-ment.

Prior to the start of this season, The Professional Games Match Offi cals Limited (PGMOL), the organisation which manages ref-erees in the Premier League, told clubs, managers and players that VAR would not get involved in rulings on the keepers’ feet posi-tions at penalties.

Rosenborg’s Samuel Adegbenro (top), is tackled by Dinamo Zagreb’s Emir Dilaver during the Champions League qualifying first leg playoff soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Rosenborg in Zagreb, Croatia on Aug 21. (AP)

Olympiakos, Dinamo win CL playoff 1st legBERN, Switzerland, Aug 22, (AP): Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb took big steps toward returning to the Champions League group stage with con-vincing wins in the fi rst leg of their playoff-round games on Wednesday.

Olympiakos scored three late goals to beat Russian debutants Krasnodar 4-0, and Dinamo struck twice in the fi rst half hour in a 2-0 win over Rosenborg.

Young Boys were the only home team not to win, needing

a 76th-minute penalty awarded by video review – and scored by French veteran Guillaume Ho-arau – to secure a 2-2 draw with Red Star Belgrade.

Red Star, playing their sev-enth qualifying game in seven weeks, are trying to advance from the fi rst qualifying round to the group stage in back-to-back seasons.

Olympiakos played the fi rst of their 18 Champions League cam-paigns more than a decade before Krasnodar was founded in 2008.

The Greek runners-up took the lead in the 30th through Spanish forward Miguel Án-gel Guerrero. A flurry of goals from the 78th minute by Lazar Randelovic, twice, and Dan-iel Podence gave Krasnodar a daunting task in the second leg next Tuesday.

Once a Champions League regular, Rosenborg trailed to an early penalty by Dinamo’s Bruno Petkovic, and Mislav Orsic dou-bled the lead in the 28th.

Red Star, the 1991 European

champions, trailed to a seventh-minute goal by Young Boys forward Roger Assalé that was leveled in the 18th by Australia defender Milos Degenek’s loop-ing header.

Mateo Garcia put the Serbian champions ahead a minute into the second half, before Hourau came off the bench to level from the spot. The 35-year-old for-mer France international went close to winning the game for the Swiss champions with a glancing header in the 89th.

Koln vs Dortmund beIN SPORTS 5HD

21:30 local

Mainz vs M’gladbach beIN SPORTS 5HD

16:30 local (Saturday)

Hoffenheim vs Werder beIN SPORTS 8HD

16:30 local (Saturday)

Paderborn vs Freiburg beIN SPORTS MAX 7HD 16:30 local (Saturday)

Augsburg vs Union beIN SPORTS MAX 8HD

16:30 local (Saturday)

Schalke vs Bayern beIN SPORTS 5HD

19:30 local (Saturday)

Leipzig vs Frankfurt beIN SPORTS 5HD

16:30 local (Sunday)

Hertha vs Wolfsburg beIN SPORTS 5HD

19:00 local (Sunday)

Injuries lay extra burdenon Antoine home ‘debut’

Real looking for 2nd straight win

BARCELONA, Aug 22, (RTRS): Barcelona for-ward Antoine Griezmann is under pressure to deliver in his home bow against Real Betis on Sunday with the La Liga champions fac-ing an injury crisis in attack as they look to respond to last week’s surprise defeat at Athletic Bilbao.

The 1-0 loss was Barca’s fi rst opening-day defeat in 11 years and their early-season jitters were further compounded when striker Luis Suarez and electric winger Ousmane Dembele were ruled out

for at least a month with muscle problems.

Lionel Messi missed the trip to Bil-bao with a calf injury and although Barca’s all-time top scorer has returned to training, he is unlikely to be handed a starting berth given he missed most of pre-season.

With the Catalans shorn of three of their top forwards, all eyes will be on Griezmann in his fi rst appearance at the Camp Nou since his 120-million-

Jordy Alcivar of Ecuador’s Liga Deportiva Universitaria (left), fights for the ball with Nicolas Capaldo of Argentina’s Boca Juniors during a first leg Copa Libertadores quarter-final soccer match in Quito, Ecuador on Aug

21. (AP)

euro ($133 million) move from Atleti-co Madrid, and not least because Barca need a win to kickstart their season.

Griezmann received a hostile recep-tion in his last outing at Barca’s sta-dium after turning the Catalans down last year to stay at Atletico and he will need to improve on his drab debut dis-play to win over supporters who felt let down by that snub.

The France forward was largely inef-fective against Athletic as he struggled to infl uence play from wide positions and then saw even less of the ball as he moved into the centre forward’s role after Suarez had been forced off injured.

Griezmann tends to perform best when playing off a centre forward such as Olivier Giroud with France or Die-go Costa at Atletico, but he will be ex-pected to lead the attack against Betis, with Rafi nha and Sergi Roberto likely to be the wide forwards and Messi po-tentially playing a role as a substitute.

Barca coach Ernesto Valverde chal-lenged Griezmann to be more involved in his next outing.

Atletico Madrid meanwhile make the short trip to neighbours Leganes on Sunday looking to build on their nar-row 1-0 win over Getafe.

Granada vs Sevilla beIN SPORTS 3HD

21:00 local

Levante vs Villarreal beIN SPORTS 3HD

23:00 local Osasuna vs Eibar beIN SPORTS

3HD18:00 local (Saturday)

Real vs Valladolid beIN SPORTS 3HD

20:00 local (Saturday)

Celta vs Valencia beIN SPORTS 1HD

22:00 local (Saturday)

Getafe vs Bilbao beIN SPORTS 2HD

22:00 local (Saturday)

Alaves vs Espanyol beIN SPORTS 3HD

18:00 local (Sunday)

Leganes vs Atletico beIN SPORTS 3HD

20:00 local (Sunday)

Mallorca vs Sociedad beIN SPORTS 9HD

20:00 local (Sunday)

Barcelona vs Betis beIN SPORTS 3HD

22:00 local (Sunday)

Best of the Rest

LAFC top Earthquakes: Carlos Vela scored two goals to reach 26 on the season, Diego Rossi got his 14th in the sixth minute and Los Angeles FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-0 on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles (19-3-4) has won all four meetings between the clubs, outscoring the Earthquakes 15-3. San Jose (11-10-5) lost its third straight following a five-game undefeated run. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Chen elected new boss: Chen Xuyuan has been elected president of the Chinese Football Associa-tion (CFA), Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The 63-year-old, formerly president of Shanghai Interna-tional Port Group (SIPG), which owns Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG, was elected to the post at the 11th membership con-ference at Xianghe National Foot-ball Training Centre, Xinhua said.

Du Zhaocai, Gao Hongbo and Sun Wen were named vice-presidents, the state news agency reported.

SPORTSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

22

‘A lot of our players aren’t at 100 percent’

PSG coach Tuchel searching for‘answers’ after just two gamesPARIS, Aug 22, (AP): Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel is searching for answers just two games into the French league.

The problems which surfaced toward the end of last season – a lack of commitment from some players, loose defending, and tactical short-comings from Tuchel – are still appar-ent. Dating to April, PSG have won only five of 13 matches, with 16 goals conceded in five away defeats.

In addition, Tuchel has to contend with an increasingly tense situation regarding Neymar.

So jovial with the media for most of last season, Tuchel now sounds irri-tated.

After a 2-1 loss at Rennes on Sunday, he wearily complained his players lacked fitness due to shorter preparation time. Some were involved in the Copa America, for example, which finished on July 7.

“It’s not an easy situation because a lot of our players aren’t at 100 per-cent,” Tuchel said. “There are players with (only) eight or nine training ses-sions behind them. We’re not at full strength.” His argument does not stand up.

PSG started with a staggering 14 straight league wins last season – fol-lowing a World Cup which finished on July 15. PSG players Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe were part of the victorious France squad, with

Mbappé netting in the final.PSG winger Angel Di Maria

(Argentina), striker Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) and right back Thomas Meunier (Belgium) were involved in the competition’s knockout stages, with Meunier scoring in the third-place match on July 14.

The Rennes defeat was alarming, regardless of fitness. PSG lost the ball more than 100 times and the high number of fouls committed (19) showed a lack of control.

“(I have) never seen a PSG like that.

It was a fiasco,” former PSG center half Alain Roche, who made nearly 200 appearances for the club, said on Canal Plus television. “What’s more worrying is there’s no team spirit, col-lectively. This team quickly finds itself in trouble when it doesn’t have the ball.” PSG defended very poorly against Rennes. Center half Thiago Silva, once considered by some the best defender in the world, was caught badly out of position on the second goal. On the first, a passive Marquinhos was slow reacting to striker M’Baye Niang’s sharp turn.

The lack of fight after trailing 2-1 showed there is still a lack of leader-ship.

Lanka reach 85-2 on rain-hitopening day vs New Zealand

Karunaratne continues rich vein of form

COLOMBO, Aug 22, (RTRS): Sri Lanka reached 85-2 after losing the wick-ets of Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Mendis on a rain-truncated opening day in the second and fi nal Test against New Zealand in Colombo on Thursday.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne continued his rich vein of form to remain unbeaten on 49 with An-gelo Mathews yet to score as only 36.3 overs of play were possible due to rain and bad light.

The hosts, who won the opening Test in Galle by six wickets, made a watchful start after Karunaratne won the toss and opted to bat after a lengthy delay in the morning.

have brought in a really good coach in Antonio Conte, and Napoli always have to be considered.”

Staying on top will be the job for Sarri.

Allegri left Juventus at the end of the season despite winning the league title in each of his fi ve years in charge. He also led the team to four Italian Cup trophies and two Champi-ons League fi nals. However, he was blamed for his failure to win Europe’s top club prize, even after signing Cris-

tiano Ronaldo.Sarri’s appointment has not been

welcomed by some because of his three seasons at Napoli, where his team and tactics were perceived as the “anti-Juve”. He was also criticized at Chelsea, where he led the English club to the Europa League title and the fi nal of the League Cup as well as third place in the Premier League.

Juventus were maligned for be-ing dull last season while Sarri was known for past-paced, counterattack-ing play when at Napoli.

Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne plays a shot during the fi rst day of the second Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Aug 22. (AP)

PSG head coach Thomas Tuchel attends a training session at Camp des Loges in Saint Germain en Laye, outside Paris, France on Aug

10. (AP)

‘It will be a more gripping fi ght than last campaign’

Familiar faces in unfamiliar roles in Serie AMILAN, Aug 22, (AP): A coaching shakeup in Serie A has brought some familiar faces back to Italy.

Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri – both former Chelsea managers – have returned to their home country, with the former taking over from Luciano Spalletti at Inter Milan and the latter replacing Massimiliano Allegri at Ju-ventus.

Roma and AC Milan also have new leaders for the new season, which starts Saturday. Paulo Fonseca has taken over in Rome and Marco Giam-paolo is in charge at Milan.

Conte, who is back after a year off from coaching following his departure from Chelsea, has been in this position

before. When he took over at Juventus in 2011, the team had fi nished seventh in each of the previous two seasons. But they went on to win the league title in each of Conte’s three years in charge and have not lost it since.

The rise of Juventus coincided with the decline of Inter, who had won four straight league titles and the treble of the Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League in 2010. But get-ting Inter back to the top won’t be easy with Juventus in the way, despite what some may say.

“It will be a more gripping fi ght than last campaign,” Juventus mid-fi elder Sami Khedira said. “Inter have made some good signings and they

In this fi le photo taken on April 11, 2019, Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti gestures during the Europa League fi rst leg quarter-fi nal soccer match be-tween Arsenal and Napoli at The Emirates Stadium in London. There will be some familiar new faces when the Italian league starts back up this weekend – albeit in unfamiliar roles. Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte have returned to coach in Serie A in a shakeup of the top managerial roles rarely

seen. (AP)

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson takes a catch to dismiss Sri Lan-ka’s Lahiru Thirimanne during the fi rst day of the second Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka on

Aug 22. (AP)

COLOMBO, Aug 22, (RTRS): Scoreboard at stumps on the fi rst day of 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on Thursday.

SRI LANKA 1st inningsD. Karunaratne not out ...............................49L. Thirimanne c Williamson b Somerville......2K. Mendis c Watling b Grandhomme ..........32A. Mathews not out .......................................0Extras: (1b, 1lb) ............................................2Total: (36.3 overs, 2 wkts) ..........................85

Fall of Wickets: 1-29 (Thirimanne), 2-79

(Mendis)To Bat: K. Perera, de Silva, Dickwella, D.

Perera, Embuldeniya, Lakmal, KumaraBowling: Boult 7-2-20-0, Southee 12-4-22-

0, Grandhomme 8.3-2-14-1, Somerville 6-3-20-1, Patel 3-1-7-0

Match Situation: Sri Lanka are 85 for 2 with 8 wickets remaining

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford, Michael GoughTV Umpire: Richard IllingworthMatch Referee: Andrew Pycroft

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Scoreboard

Serena, Sharapova to meet at US OpenNEW YORK, Aug 22, (AP): Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will fi -nally meet in the US Open, and they’ll do it in their very fi rst match.

The past US Open champions, two of the biggest stars in women’s tennis, were scheduled for an opening-round matchup when the draws were con-ducted Thursday for the fi nal major of the year.

Williams and Sharapova have met in the fi nals of the other three majors and the 2012 Olympics but have never played each other in the US Open. Wil-liams owns a 19-2 record in their WTA Tour matchups and has won 18 in a row, but that lopsided number shouldn’t do much to dampen the hype around what will be the marquee match of the open-ing round at Flushing Meadows, which starts Monday.

Williams will begin another bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles ti-tle. Sharapova isn’t the same player she was when she won the 2006 US Open

championship – or beat Williams two years earlier in the fi nal at Wimbledon – but remains one of the most popular players among fans in New York.

The men’s draw sent No. 3 seed Rog-er Federer into the top half, meaning he could play top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifi nals. They met in the fi nal at Wimbledon, where Djokovic won in

a fi fth-set tiebreaker. Federer and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal have never played each other in New York and could do so this year only if both make the fi nal.

First, Nadal faces a potential fi rst-round test against John Millman, the Australian who knocked Federer out in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year. Nadal could potentially face fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the semifi nals.

New Zealand seamers had no joy with the new ball and it was left to off-spinner William Somerville to strike the fi rst blow when he dismissed Thirimanne for two. Karunaratne, who struck a match-winning 122 in the sec-ond innings in Galle, and Mendis kept the touring side at bay with a partner-ship of 50 for the second wicket before the latter fell for 32 to seam bowling

all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme.Both teams made one change from

the fi rst Test with New Zealand bring-ing in De Grandhomme for specialist spinner Mitchell Santner.

The hosts drafted in off-spinner Dilruwan Perera for Akila Dananjaya, who was reported by the umpires for a suspect bowling action after his six-wicket match haul in Galle.

CRICKETParma vs Juventus beIN SPORTS

4HD19:00 local (Saturday)

Fiorentina vs Napoli beIN SPORTS 4HD

21:45 local (Saturday)

Udinese vs Milan beIN SPORTS 12HD

19:00 local (Sunday)

Roma vs Genoa beIN SPORTS 4HD

21:45 local (Sunday)

Dijon vs Bordeaux beIN SPORTS 6HD

21:00 local (Saturday)

Angers vs Metz beIN SPORTS 7HD

21:00 local (Saturday)

Amiens vs Nantes beIN SPORTS 8HD

21:00 local (Saturday)

Brest vs Reims beIN SPORTS 9HD

21:00 local (Saturday)

Monaco vs Nimes beIN SPORTS 6HD

16:00 local (Sunday)

Strasbourg vs Rennes beIN SPORTS 6HD

18:00 local (Sunday)

PSG vs Toulouse beIN SPORTS 6HD

22:00 local (Sunday)

TENNIS

SPORTSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23-24, 2019

23

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin hits an RBI double during the eighth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game

on Aug 21 in Pittsburgh. (AP)

while making his first appearance in the majors in almost two years.

Nationals 11, Pirates 1In Pittsburgh, Patrick Corbin

pitched eight scoreless innings, and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run homer as visiting Washington stomped Pittsburgh.

Corbin (10-5) gave up three hits, all singles and none after the fifth inning. He struck out four and walked two. Tanner Rainey gave up an RBI double to Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell in the ninth to blow the shutout.

Yan Gomes had a two-run double, Anthony Rendon a two-run single, and Adam Eaton and Corbin each had an RBI double for Washington. Every member of the Nationals’ starting line-up scored at least one run.

Phillies 5, Red Sox 2In Boston, Bryce Harper hit a go-

ahead, two-run home run in the fifth inning as Philadelphia completed a two-game sweep.

Harper’s blast the opposite way over the Green Monster in left field helped the Phillies to their first full-series sweep of the Red Sox since 2000. Boston had owned a 36-18 edge in their matchups since then prior to losing 3-2 Tuesday.

Reliever Jared Hughes (4-5) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth and earned the win. Hector Neris converted his second save in two days and 23rd of the season with a perfect ninth.

Braves 5, Marlins 0In Atlanta, Julio Teheran continued

his season-long mastery of Miami, throwing seven scoreless innings in Atlanta’s home win.

Teheran (8-8) gave up five hits, walked three and struck out a season-high nine. He improved to 3-0 with a 0.28 ERA in 32 innings against the Marlins this year.

The Braves finished with just three hits, but all drove in runs: Tyler Flowers’ second-inning triple plus two-run homers from Adeiny

Hechavarria in the second inning and Ronald Acuna Jr in the fifth.

Orioles 8, Royals 1In Baltimore, Jonathan Villar,

Anthony Santander, Renato Nunez and Hanser Alberto homered as Baltimore defeated visiting Kansas City in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Baltimore has won two straight games after dropping eight in a row. Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games.

The four home runs gave the Orioles seven of their eight runs on the night. Baltimore took an early 3-0 lead and never trailed despite allowing its 258th homer of the season, tying a major league record set by the 2016 Cincinnati Reds.

Reds 4, Padres 2In Cincinnati, Luis Castillo allowed

one run over six innings, and Cincinnati’s offense took advantage of an outfield error and three walks to score three runs in the third to beat visiting San Diego.

Jose Iglesias hit a fourth-inning homer off Padres reliever Luis Perdomo to give the Reds their final run in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Castillo (12-5) permitted five hits and struck out four. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 26th save.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 3, 7-1/2 Innings

In St Louis, Mike Moustakas blast-ed a three-run homer to lead Milwaukee to a rain-shortened victory.

The game, which was halted in the middle of the eighth inning, brought Brewers manager Craig Counsell relief on his 49th birthday. His team had lost six of its last eight games overall and six straight to the Cardinals.

Keston Hiura contributed a RBI single and a run-scoring double to sup-port Brewers starter Adrian Houser (6-5), who allowed three runs (one earned) in 5-1/3 innings.

Tigers overcome Verlander’s gem to top AstrosCubs overtake Giants three times in 12-11 win

HOUSTON, Aug 22, (RTRS): John Hicks cranked a leadoff home run in the ninth inning, and the visiting Detroit Tigers overcame former ace Justin Verlander’s two-hit complete game with a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros.

Hicks’ blast, his ninth on the season, enabled the Tigers to snap an eight-game losing skid against Houston and a four-game losing streak overall.

Verlander had pitched brilliantly, allowing just one baserunner through eight innings before Hicks drilled a 1-0 fastball out to left field, snapping a 1-1 tie with his 412-foot shot. The only other hit Verlander (15-5) allowed was Ronny Rodriguez’s solo homer with two outs in the fifth. Verlander struck out 11, extending his club record for double-digit strikeout games to seven.

Detroit capitalized on poor baser-unning by Jose Altuve in the eighth inning and by Robinson Chirinos in the ninth, gunning both down at third. Chirinos, who had tied the game with a solo homer in the seventh, made the game’s final out trying to stretch a double into a triple.

Cubs 12, Giants 11In Chicago, the Cubs overcame a

trio of deficits, clubbed three home runs and tallied 14 hits in a wild win over visiting San Francisco.

Nicholas Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant each hom-ered for the Cubs, who won their fourth game in a row. Bryant provided the final turning point with a go-ahead, two-run blast in the eighth inning.

Evan Longoria, Mike Yastrzemski, Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar went

deep for the Giants, who have dropped three games in a row. San Francisco erased deficits of 6-2, 7-4 and 10-9, while the Cubs overcame 2-0, 9-7 and 11-10 deficits. At least two runs were scored in every inning except the fourth and ninth.

Mets 4, Indians 3, 10 InningsIn New York, J.D. Davis laced the

game-winning hit to cap a 10th-inning comeback by New York, which edged visiting Cleveland.

The Mets have won four in a row and are 20-5 since July 25. The Indians have lost six of eight.

Carlos Santana gave the Indians the lead with a two-out homer in the top of the 10th against Luis Avilan (4-0). But the Mets rallied in the bottom of the inning against Brad Hand (6-4). After a fielder’s choice by Michael Conforto tied it, Davis fell into an 0-2 hole, worked the count full and fouled off three pitches before hitting the win-ning single to left.

Dodgers 2, Blue Jays 1, 10 Innings

In Los Angeles, Max Muncy hit a game-ending home run deep into the seats in right-center field as Los Angeles defeated visiting Toronto. It was the Dodgers’ 11th walk-off victo-ry of the season and improved the club to a baseball-best 50-16 at home this season.

Muncy’s game-ending shot came off Tim Mayza (1-3) and was his 33rd of the season. Muncy also tied a Dodgers record by hitting a home run in his fifth consecutive game.

The Dodgers were two outs away from victory in the ninth inning before Toronto’s Rowdy Tellez hit a game-tying home run, his 15th of the season, off struggling Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. Pedro Baez (7-2) pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the vic-tory.

A’s 6, Yankees 4In Oakland, Mike Fiers ran his

streak of consecutive starts without a loss to 19, and Liam Hendriks struck out Aaron Judge representing the potential go-ahead run to end the eighth inning, lifting Oakland past vis-iting New York.

Khris Davis, Marcus Semien and Stephen Piscotty homered for the A’s, who improved to 5-1 on their nine-game homestand by beating the Yankees for the second straight night.

The Yankees out-hit the A’s 11-6 but left 10 runners on base, including two in the eighth when trailing 6-4. Fiers (12-3), who hasn’t lost since May 1, held New York to two runs and six hits in 5-1/3 innings.

Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber (right), is tagged out at home plate by San Francisco Giants catcher Stephen Vogt during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Aug 21 in Chicago. (AP)

Rangers 8, Angels 7In Arlington, Texas, Hunter Pence

singled home the game-winning run in the ninth, and Texas beat Los Angeles for its third walk-off win in the four-game series.

Elvis Andrus singled off Trevor Cahill (3-8) to start the ninth. He took second and third on wild pitches before scoring on Pence’s single through the left side.

Only one Rangers starter failed to get a hit. Andrus had three hits and scored two runs, Pence had two hits and three RBIs, Nick Solak had two doubles and scored three times, Delino DeShields had two hits and two RBIs, and Willie Calhoun added two hits – including a solo home run – and two runs.

Rays 7, Mariners 6In St Petersburg, Florida, Kevin

Kiermaier homered to lead off the ninth inning to tie the score, and the winning run came across on a bases-loaded wild pitch as Tampa Bay sal-vaged the finale of a three-game series against Seattle.

Following Kiermaier’s homer, to straightaway center field off Mariners right-hander Matt Magill (3-1), a sin-gle, a double and an intentional walk to load the bases, Magill threw a curveball in the dirt to Tommy Pham. The ball bounced off catcher Omar Narvaez and toward the third base dugout, allowing Adames to score the winning run.

The Mariners, who saw their four-game winning streak halted, scored three runs off Rays closer Emilio Pagan (3-2) in the top of the ninth to take a 6-5 lead.

White Sox 4, Twins 0In Minneapolis, Lucas Giolito

allowed just three hits and struck out 12 while pitching his second com-plete-game shutout of the season as Chicago blanked Minnesota in the rub-ber game of a three-game series.

Giolito (14-6) threw a season-high 115 pitches in cooling off the hot-hit-ting Twins, who were shut out for just the third time this season. He didn’t walk a batter while registering double figures in strikeouts for the third con-secutive game.

Minnesota had rolled up 29 hits in the first two games of the series and had scored double-digit runs in three of its previous six games, winning five of them.

Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 2In Phoenix, Tim Melville had the

game of his life while making an emergency start, earning his first major league victory while leading Colorado to a victory over Arizona.

The Rockies summoned the 29-year-old right-hander from Triple-A Albuquerque to take the place of scheduled starter Jon Gray, who was placed on the 60-day injured list Wednesday because of a season-ending stress fracture in his left foot.

Melville pitched seven innings, allowing one run and two hits – includ-ing a line-drive homer by Ketel Marte in the sixth. He struck out four and walked two. Melville also had his first major league hit and drove in two runs

BASEBALL

Walker, Turner lead US to102-86 win over AustraliaMELBOURNE, Australia, Aug 22, (AP): With his team playing on a raised basketball court in a stadium normally used for soccer and crick-et, US coach Gregg Popovich said he felt like he was on a movie set.

But once the game started, Popovich thought it all seemed nor-mal. And if it had been a movie, Popovich surely would have liked the ending.

Kemba Walker scored 23 points, Myles Turner added 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the US topped Australia 102-86 on Thursday before a crowd of 51,218 – billed as the largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in Australia.

Patty Mills and Chris Goulding scored 19 points each for Australia, which stayed with the Americans for about 2½ quarters before seeing chances slip away at Marvel

Stadium – transformed into a make-shift basketball arena for two games against the Americans, tune-ups for both sides before the World Cup starts next week in China.

After Australia briefly took the lead at 45-44 early in the second half, the Americans scored 13 unanswered points, including three straight 3-pointers by Turner, Harrison Barnes and Mitchell, to go up 57-45.

Walker was one the keys for the second-half resurgence for the Americans, scoring 21 of his 23 points after halftime.

The roof of Marvel Stadium was closed and the court was placed in the middle of the field surrounded by hundreds of white chairs, more than 20 rows deep, for fans who paid for floor seating.

Despite the huge crowd, Australian media reported that some fans were issued refunds because they bought tickets based on promotional materials depicting Stephen Curry and LeBron James – who were part of the US player pool when the deal was struck last year to play these games. Neither Curry nor James is on the US ros-ter for the World Cup.

Australia was also without its big-gest star, Ben Simmons, who has opted not to play in the World Cup. Still, the Boomers starting lineup included four NBA players: Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova.

And the Aussies gave their crowd some thrills – like a run just before halftime that cut the US lead to 44-43 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Goulding and six straight points by Mills.

United States’ Donovan Mitchell (right), drives to the basket past Australia’s Jock Landale during their exhibition basketball game in

Melbourne on Aug 22. (AP)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game on Aug 20 in Houston.

(AP)

Mayfield clears air with Jones

Cardinals release WR White,sign Crabtree to 1-year dealPHOENIX, Aug 22, (RTRS): The Arizona Cardinals released wide receiver Kevin White on Wednesday and signed veteran w i d e o u t M i c h a e l Crabtree to a o n e - y e a r deal.

C r a b t r e e visited the team earlier this month, but the sides c o u l d n ’ t agree on a deal. The terms of Wednesday’s agreement weren’t immediately reported.

Crabtree, who turns 32 in September, had gone unsigned fol-lowing his release from Baltimore in February. He had 54 catches for 607 yards and three scores in 16 games with the Ravens last season.

❑ ❑ ❑

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield told reporters Wednesday that he reached out to Daniel Jones about his recently published comments regarding the New York Giants rookie.

According to Mayfield, the two quarterbacks texted and the exchange went well.

Mayfield said his comments stemming from a GQ interview were taken out of context.

“It had nothing to do specifical-ly about Daniel,” Mayfield said. “I reached out to Daniel because all of that blew way out of hand and I wanted him to know how I felt. I just wanted to clear the air with him.”

❑ ❑ ❑

Running back Melvin Gordon’s holdout with the Los Angeles Chargers will likely continue into the regular season, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.

According to the report, con-tract talks have not progressed as Gordon had hoped, and he will continue to train on his own in Florida for the foreseeable future.

Gordon, 26, has missed all of training camp and the preseason while seeking an extension. He’s entering the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, which will pay him $5.6 million in 2019.

❑ ❑ ❑

The Detroit Lions signed nose tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison to a one-year extension worth $11 million, multiple outlets reported.

Harrison, who skipped offsea-son workouts but reported to train-ing camp without a new deal, had two years remaining on his con-tract, worth $7 million in 2019 and $9.25 million in 2020. He is now under contract through 2021.

The Lions also signed wide

receiver Jordan Lasley.❑ ❑ ❑

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy defended his team’s exhaustive search for a suitable kicker this offseason, despite criti-cism from a Sports Illustrated story.

The story included quotes from several kickers, some anonymous, who were among nine to try out for the Bears this offseason. Many of the kickers described a negative environment in the kicking room, perceived bias from consultant Jamie Kohl and Nagy’s obsession with field goals of 43 yards – the distance from which Cody Parkey missed in an attempt to win a wild-card playoff game in January.

“I understand, we brought in a lot of kickers that came in here,” Nagy told reporters. “To me, I look at it as a positive, in the fact that we said we were going to turn over every stone to find whoever’s out there.”

❑ ❑ ❑

Former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Mario Williams was arrested in Texas on a trespassing charge.

Williams, 34, allegedly entered a woman’s home Tuesday in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, without her permission, according to court documents obtained by KHOU Channel 11.

Williams has a child with the woman, who filed a restraining order against him in May, per the report.

❑ ❑ ❑

The Dolphins will honor the memory of Hall of Fame lineback-er Nick Buoniconti during the 2019 season with a helmet decal.

The decal, featuring the initials “NAB”, will debut in the Dolphins’ Sept 8 season opener against the visiting Baltimore Ravens.

Also, the Dolphins signed wide receiver Jakeem Grant to a four-year extension, putting him under contract through 2023.

❑ ❑ ❑

New Orleans Saints quarter-back Drew Brees will start Saturday’s preseason game against the New York Jets.

Meanwhile, the Saints signed linebacker Will Compton and placed offensive tackle Chris Clark on injured reserve, accord-ing to ESPN.

❑ ❑ ❑

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (quad) was ruled out for Friday’s preseason game against the Browns.

❑ ❑ ❑

Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich said most of his starters will sit out Saturday against the Bears.

NFL Roundup

White

BASKETBALL

WASHINGTON, Aug 22, (RTRS): Results and standings from the MLB games on Thursday.Nationals 11 Pittsburgh 1Baltimore 8 KC Royals 1Phillies 5 Boston 2TB Rays 7 Seattle 6NY Mets 4 Cleveland 3Cincinnati 4 SD Padres 2Atlanta 5 Miami 0Brewers 5 St Louis 3

Texas 8 LA Angels 7Chic Cubs 12 SF Giants 11Detroit 2 Astros 1Chic W. Sox 4 Twins 0Colorado 7 Arizona 2Oakland 6 NY Yankees 4LA Dodgers 2 Toronto 1

American LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBNY Yankees 83 44 .654 –Tampa Bay 73 54 .575 10Boston 67 60 .528 16Toronto 52 76 .406 31-1/2Baltimore 40 86 .317 42-1/2

Central Division W L Pct GBMinnesota 77 49 .611 –Cleveland 74 52 .587 3Chic W. Sox 56 69 .448 20-1/2Kansas City 45 81 .357 32Detroit 37 86 .301 38-1/2

West Division W L Pct GBHouston 81 46 .638 –Oakland 72 53 .576 8LA Angels 63 66 .488 19Texas 62 65 .488 19Seattle 54 73 .425 27

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBAtlanta 75 52 .591 –Washington 68 57 .544 6Philadelphia 65 60 .520 9NY Mets 65 60 .520 9Miami 45 79 .363 28-1/2

Central Division W L Pct GBSt Louis 67 57 .540 –Chic Cubs 67 58 .536 0-1/2Milwaukee 64 62 .508 4Cincinnati 59 66 .472 8-1/2Pittsburgh 52 73 .416 15-1/2

West Division W L Pct GBLA Dodgers 83 44 .654 –Arizona 64 63 .504 19SF Giants 63 63 .500 19-1/2San Diego 59 66 .472 23Colorado 57 69 .452 25-1/2

MLB Results/Standings

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IME

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Sports08:00 basketball ............................... bein sports 1hd10:30 cricket .................................... bein sports 13hd11:15 soccer ....................................... bein sports 2hd12:20 futsal ....................................... bein sports 7hd13:30 basketball .............................. bein sports 10hd15:45 soccer ...................................... bein sports 4hd16:28 basketball ................................ bein sports 8hd22:00 soccer ...................................... bein sports 2hd

Archer gives England advantage in 3rd test

Australia’s David Warner watches the ball while batting during play on day one of the third Ashes Test cricket match between England and Australia at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds, England on Aug 22. (AP)

Kuwait’s football clubs ready for Arab Club Champions CupKUWAIT CITY, Aug 22, (KUNA): Kuwaiti clubs announced they are fully prepared to compete in the the King Mohammed VI Club Champions Cup for football, which kicked off August 20.

The Kuwaiti clubs engaged in different training camps and signed contracts with professional players to prepare for the tour-nament, organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).

In a statement to KUNA on Thursday, head of Al-Arabi Club’s football team

ing camp held in Azerbaijan.The tournament’s draw, held in Morocco

last month, saw Al-Arabi Sports Club facing Egypt’s Union of Alexandria, Kuwait Sports Club against Iraq’s Al-Shorta Sports Club and Salmiya Sports Club against Iraq’s Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya club.

Omar Al-Zamel, media coordinator of Kuwait Sports Club’s football team.

SOCCER

Khaled Abdulqudoos said the team played several matches in a camp in Spain to pre-pare for the competition, and the results were pleasing.

On his part, media coordinator of Kuwait Sports Club’s football team Omar Al-Zamel noted that the players are physically and men-tally ready to compete in the event, except for players Talal Al-Fadhel and Fahad Al-Hajri who are still preparing with special training due to their injuries. He added that the club held a training camp in Kuwait and Czech Re-public in preparation for the tournament.

Meanwhile, head of Salmiya Sports Club’s team Bader Al-Khaldi said he was happy with the players level during a train-

Aston Villa’s John McGinn (left), and Bournemouth’s Jefferson Lerma battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match at Villa Park in Birmingham, England on Aug 17. (AP)

England vs Australia Scoreboard

LEEDS, England, Aug 22, (RTRS): Scoreboard at stumps on the fi rst day of 3rd Test between England and Australia on Thursday.

AUSTRALIA 1st innings D. Warner c Bairstow b Archer 61M. Harris c Bairstow b Archer .... 8U. Khawaja c Bairstow b Broad . 8M. Labuschagne lbw Stokes .... 74T. Head b Broad ......................... 0M. Wade b Archer ...................... 0

T. Paine lbw Woakes ............... 11J. Pattinson c Root b Archer ...... 2P. Cummins c Bairstow b Archer 0N. Lyon lbw Archer ..................... 1J. Hazlewood not out ................. 1Extras: (4b 2lb 2nb 5w) ............ 13Total (52.1 overs, all out) ....... 179

Fall of Wickets: 1-12 (Harris), 2-25 (Khawaja), 3-136 (Warner), 4-138 (Head), 5-139 (Wade), 6-162 (Paine), 7-173 (Pattinson), 8-174

(Cummins), 9-177 (Labuschagne), 10-179 (Lyon)

Bowling: Broad 14-4-32-2, Arch-er 17.1-3-45-6, Chris Woakes 12-4-51-1, Stokes 9-0-45-1

Australia are 179 all out Umpire: Joel Wilson, Christopher

Gaffaney Video: Handunnettige Dharma-

sena Match Referee: Javagal Srinath

Aston yet to earn a point on their return to top fl ight

Arsenal optimism faces fi rst major test at LiverpoolMANCHESTER, England, Aug 22, (RTRS): The two remaining teams with 100 percent Premier League records this season go head-to-head on Saturday when Liverpool host a new-look Arsenal at Anfi eld in an en-counter that will act as a barometer to measure the London club’s progress.

Unai Emery’s Gunners have made a strong start to the campaign with wins at Newcastle United and at home to Burnley but they do not need to look too far into their history to realise this will be a very different challenge.

In December, amid talk of progress in Emery’s fi rst season, Arsenal were crushed 5-1 at Anfi eld with Brazilian Roberto Firmino helping himself to a hat trick.

It was a display which emphasised just how far the North London club had fallen behind the genuine title contenders and were the latest in se-ries of crushing losses at Liverpool.

The two previous meetings at An-fi eld ended in 4-0 and 3-1 defeats for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams, but there is a fresh optimism around the club after a successful transfer win-dow.

Spanish midfi elder Dani Ceballos, on loan from Real Madrid, has made the biggest impression, but Brazilian defender David Luiz has also made a solid start. A real buzz though sur-rounds winger Nicolas Pepe, who could help provide ammunition for the impressively prolifi c strike pairing of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Pepe, signed from Lille, for a club-record 72 million pounds ($87 million), has yet to start but showed fl ashes of his talent during a substitute appearance in the 2-1 win over Burn-ley.

European champions Liverpool, however, have won a club-record equalling 11 straight Premier League games and are unbeaten at home for

Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles (left), and Burnley’s Dwight McNeil battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Ar-senal and Burnley FC at The Emirates Stadium in London on Aug 17. (AP)

the past two seasons – their last league defeat at Anfi eld was in April 2017 against Crystal Palace.

Manager Juergen Klopp will still be without his fi rst choice goalkeeper, Brazilian Alisson Becker, so Spaniard Adrian will continue to deputise.

Champions Manchester City, held at home to Tottenham Hotspur last week, face a tricky trip to the Vital-ity Stadium to play Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Spurs take on struggling Newcastle who have lost

their opening two games under new manager Steve Bruce.

The weekend kicks off with pro-moted Aston Villa, yet to earn a point on their return to the top fl ight, at home to an Everton team who may fancy their chances of breaking into

the top six this season.Manchester United, who were held

at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, look to return to winning ways when Crystal Palace travel to Old Trafford on Saturday.

That match will pit new United de-fender Aaron Wan Bissaka against the club he left in the close-season.

Aston Villa vs Everton beIN SPORTS 2HD

22:00 localNorwich City vs Chelsea beIN SPORTS

2HD14:30 local (Saturday)

Brighton vs Southampton beIN SPORTS 1HD

17:00 local (Saturday)Man Utd vs Crystal Palace beIN

SPORTS 2HD17:00 local (Saturday)

Sheffi eld vs Leicester beIN SPORTS 6HD

17:00 local (Saturday)Watford vs West Ham beIN SPORTS

7HD17:00 local (Saturday)

Liverpool vs Arsenal beIN SPORTS 2HD19:30 local (Saturday)

Bournemouth vs Man City beIN SPORTS 11HD

16:00 local (Sunday)Tottenham vs Newcastle beIN SPORTS

11HD18:30 local (Sunday)

Australia lead 5-match series 1-0LEEDS, England, Aug 22, (RTRS): Jofra Archer’s fi rst fi ve-wicket haul in Test cricket put England in command on a weather-affected opening day of the third Ashes Test at Head-ingley on Thursday as they bowled Australia out for 179.

Only four overs were possible in the morning session, but there was time for Australia opener Marcus Harris to fall to Archer for eight and Usman Khawaja was out shortly after lunch.

David Warner (61), who played and missed at 16 of his fi rst 30 balls faced, settled to lead the Australia recovery after another break in play before fall-ing to Archer and Travis Head and Matthew Wade departed for ducks.

CRICKET

Tim Paine and James Pattinson were dismissed cheaply and Pat Cummins became Archer’s fi fth victim.

Marnus Labuschagne, replacing Steve Smith who was ruled out due to concussion symptoms sustained when he was hit by an Archer bouncer dur-ing the second Test, was out for 74 and Nathan Lyon was trapped lbw by Archer in the last over of the day.

Archer completed fi gures of 6-45 in his second Test match.

Australia lead the fi ve-match series 1-0.

Meanwhile, England will host the West Indies and Pakistan in a total of six test matches from June-August 2020 as part of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, the Eng-land and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday.

The competition involves the nine top-ranked test nations competing in a league between July 2019 and April 2021, with the top two sides progress-ing to the fi nal which will be held in England in June 2021.

England begin their 2020 pro-gramme with three tests against the West Indies, with the fi rst match start-ing at The Oval on June 4, followed by matches at Edgbaston and Lord’s.

They then face Australia in three Twenty20 internationals starting July 3 with both teams looking ahead to the T20 World Cup Down Under. The 50-overs world champions then play Australia in three One-Day interna-tionals.

A three-test series with Pakistan starting July 30 at Lord’s will be fol-lowed by three T20s against the same

England’s Ben Stokes bowls to Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne on the fi rst day of the 3rd Ashes Test cricket match between Eng-land and Australia at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds, England

on Aug 22. (AP)

opponents and three ODIs against Ire-land.

England schedule 2020: West Indies: First Test: June 4-8, The OvalSecond Test: June 12-16, Edgbas-

tonThird Test: June 25-29, Lord’sAustralia:First T20: July 3, Chester-le-StreetSecond T20: July 5, Old TraffordThird T20: July 7, Headingley. First ODI: July 11, Lord’sSecond ODI: July 14, Rose BowlThird ODI: July 16, BristolPakistan: First Test: July 30-Aug 3, Lord’sSecond Test: Aug 7-11, Old Traf-

fordThird Test: Aug 20-24, Trent Bridge First T20: Aug 29, HeadingleySecond T20: Aug 31, Sophia Gar-

densThird T20: Sept 2, Rose BowlIreland: First ODI: Sept 10, Trent BridgeSecond ODI: Sept 12, EdgbastonThird ODI: Sept 15, The Oval

Ex-opener Rathour to replaceBangar as India batting coachNEW DELHI, Aug 22, (RTRS): Former opener Vikram Rathour is to replace Sanjay Bangar as India’s batting coach, the coun-try’s cricket board (BCCI) said on Thursday.

The 50-year-old Rathour played six Tests and seven ODIs for India between 1996-97 and has previ-ously held the senior national se-

lector’s role.“Vikram Rathour has got

enough experience and we are convinced with his skill sets (as a coach),” BCCI CEO Rahul Johri told reporters.

“The team management had their own views but looking ahead we felt there should be some freshness in the support staff.”

ITF postpones India-Pak tieMUMBAI, Aug 22, (RTRS): India’s Davis Cup tie against Pakistan at Islama-bad next month has been postponed to November under “exceptional circum-stances” after a security review, the Inter-national Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Thursday.

The All India Tennis Association had last week written to the ITF asking them to shift the Sept 14-15 tie to a neutral venue or postpone it until political ten-sions simmer down between the bitter

neighbours.“Following an in-depth security review

of the current situation in Pakistan by in-dependent expert security advisors, the Davis Cup Committee has taken the deci-sion to postpone the Davis Cup Asia/Oce-ania Group I tie,” ITF said in a statement.

“The committee concluded that this is an exceptional circumstance while the fi rst priority of the ITF is the safety and security of athletes, offi cials and specta-tors.