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Najaf Iranian Consulate torched Baghdad

Iraqi protesters torched the Iranian consulate in the

holy city of Najaf yesterday in a dramatic escalation of anti-government demonstra-tions that have left more than 350 people dead.

Tall flames and thick clouds of smoke rose from the entrance of the consulate in the southern city, AFP’s correspondent there said.

“Victory to Iraq!” and “Iran out!” protesters chant-ed, outraged at the country they blame for propping up a government they’ve been demonstrating against for nearly two months.

Iraq’s capital and its Shi-ite-majority south have been gripped by the largest grassroots protests since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The change of regime 16 years ago opened the door for Baghdad’s eastern neigh-bour to develop tremendous economic, political and mil-itary sway, now slammed by protesters as overreach.

Innovation ‘key to growth’ HRH the Crown Prince attends the second edition of Pitch@Palace GCC competition

• HRH the Crown Prince welcomed Bahrain’s hosting of the second edition of Pitch@Palace GCC, congratulating the winners.

Manama

Hi s Roya l H i g h n e s s Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the

Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday at-tended the second edition of the Pitch@Palace GCC competition,

held under his patronage at Arad Fort. HRH the Crown Prince was accompanied by HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

During the event, HRH the Crown Prince stressed the im-portance of further stimulating economic growth and prosperity by investing in initiatives that support creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship amongst young people in Bahrain, in line with the Kingdom’s comprehen-sive development programme led by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

In this regard, HRH the Crown Prince welcomed Bahrain’s hosting of the second edition of Pitch@Palace GCC, congratu-lating the winners and all those

who competed for producing such innovative and inspiring presentations.

In the opening speech, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed R Al Zayani,

thanked HRH the Crown Prince for his continuing support for Bahrain’s young entrepreneurs and emphasised the important role initiatives like Pitch@Pal-ace play in enabling the devel-opment of startups. The min-ister went on to explain that the programme provides par-ticipating entrepreneurs with training, skills and exposure to a vast network of businesspeople and experts.

Mr Al Zayani concluded by highlighting how the Pitch@Palace initiative aligns with the Kingdom’s objectives to nurture an entrepreneurial ecosystem, both domestically and through-out the wider region.

Continued on page 2

HRH the Crown Prince with Shaikh Salman, Mr Al Zayani and Ms Zainal at the event venue.

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Huawei Bahrain showcases next generation AI-enabled products

TDT | Manama

Under the patronage of HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khali-

fa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Com-mittee for Information and Com-munication Technology, Huawei held an event to celebrate its 15th anniversary of local operations in Bahrain.

The increasing scale of inter-connectivity and maturing intel-ligent technologies are bringing disruptive changes to enterprises around the world. By adding AI capabilities to the next-gener-ation of ICT products, Huawei strives to constantly lead innova-tion and help customers address a new round of digital transforma-tion challenges to achieve busi-ness success.

During the event, Huawei unveiled its next-generation in-telligent product strategy and new AI enabled products for the enterprise market.

Compared with Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) achieves 4-fold increases in both network band-width and user concurrency. Huawei AirEngine Wi-Fi 6 prod-ucts support 5G-powered anten-na and algorithm technologies to reduce the network latency from 30 ms to 10 ms. This allows smooth VR/AR teaching without user dizziness, wireless 4K HD conferences, and zero packet loss during the AGV roaming, acceler-ating the digital transformation

of enterprises in various sectors.Huawei OceanStor Dorado V6

is an all-flash enterprise storage system designed for mission-crit-ical services. Employing a next generation hardware platform, reliable SmartMatrix archi-tecture, five intelligent chips, Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Solid State Drives (SSDs), and the FlashLink® intelligent algorithm, OceanStor Dorado V6 is the first full series storage that supports end-to-end NVMe architecture, delivering indus-try-leading performance — of up to 20 million Input/Output

Operations Per Second (IOPS)* — allied with extreme reliability: Dorado V6 effectively prevents any service interruptions, offer-ing fault detection systems that never affect services, and with no waiting time during upgrades.

The Huawei CloudEngine 16800 is the industry’s first data center switch built for the AI era. Huawei defines three data center switch characteristics in the AI era: Embedded AI chip, 48-port 400 GE line card per slot, and the capability to evolve to the

autonomous driving network. With an innovative incorpora-tion of AI technologies into data center switches, Huawei can help customers accelerate their intelligent transformation.

Cameras have evolved from de-vices that simply process images to those with multi-dimensional awareness; they can now han-dle and analyse video streams, and they are even able to foresee trends. Powered by Huawei AI chips, Huawei’s innovative Soft-ware-Defined Cameras (SDCs) decouple hardware from soft-ware and support the continuous online upgrade of algorithms, enabling sustainable develop-ment of algorithms throughout the hardware lifecycle with one-time hardware investment.

John Lu Yuedong, CEO of Hua-wei Bahrain said, “At Huawei, we are integrating AI technol-ogies across multiple products, for example, IP and transmission networks, Wi-Fi 6, all-flash stor-age and intelligent video sur-veillance solutions. Focusing on campuses and data centers, we are advancing intelligence in our innovations to offer competitive next-generation intelligent prod-ucts and solutions.”

During the past 15 years, Hua-wei has made significant local investments including hiring of 500+ employees, creating 800+ jobs, developing 50+ local part-ners, cultivating 40+ future tal-ent seeds, and knowledge trans-fer to 10,000+ trainees.

Leadership thanked ‘Pitch@Palace competition, a platform to showcase innovation’

TDT | Manama

The Chairman of Tam-keen, Shaikh Moham-med bin Essa Al Khalifa,

thanked HRH the Crown Prince for his ongoing encouragement of Bahraini entrepreneurs.

This came as HRH the Crown Prince along with HH Shaikh Isa visited the second edition of Pitch@Palace competition held at Arad Fort yesterday.

Shaikh Mohammed noted that the Pitch@Palace compe-tition reflects the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to spread the spirit of entrepreneurship, pro-vide a platform to showcase innovation, and connect en-

trepreneurs with experts and industry professionals.

The nine participating start-ups each had three minutes to present their business projects before a judging panel made up of senior businesspeople and other distinguished guests.

The panel awarded this year’s winning position to Shahad Al Zaki - MAVI VR Studio - Bahrain. Aryam Ahmed - Aryam - UAE came in second place and Nahla Al Sunni - DocWhere - Bahrain came third.

In addition, Aryam Ahmed - Aryam - UAE received the Peo-ple’s Choice Award, following an electronic vote from the pub-lic in attendance.

The winners will now com-pete alongside other start-ups from across the world at Pitch@Palace Global, which will take place this December at London.

Pitch@Palace GCC 2.0 is or-ganised by the Labour fund ‘Tamkeen’ in collaboration with the Pitch@Palace initia-tive - launched in 2014 to pro-vide a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of entre-preneurs. This work is carried out through an interactive pro-gramme in which participat-ing entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to meet the people who can help launch their new business.

John Lu Yuedong

HH Shaikh Isa and Shaikh Salman at the event venue.

03THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

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15 years jail for defendant in human trafficking trial

Defendants forced housemaids into committing prostitution

• The victims were freed after the police raided the apartment and arrested the defendants.

• The court also ordered to deport the defendants once they complete the sentences.

TDT | Manama

The High Criminal Court yesterday issued its fi-nal verdict in a human

trafficking case involving six defendants by sentencing one of them to 15 years imprisonment, three to 10 years imprisonment and two to five years impris-onment.

The court also fined each one of them BD2,000 and obliged them to pay the deportation ex-penses of two women who were forced into flesh trade by the defendants.

Capital Governorate Chief Prosecutor Ahmed Al Ansari explained that the court also ordered to deport five of the defendants after they complete their imprisonment sentence and to blacklist them.

The details of the case show that both victims, who worked

as housemaids, were cheated by one of the defendants, a female, after the latter convinced them through social media to escape from their employers’ houses and promised them jobs with better pay.

Mr Al Ansari explained that the defendants assisted the victims in escaping and took them to an apartment where they restricted their freedom, took their mobile phones away and forced them into prosti-tution in return of money the defendants collected from the customers.

The police received a tip-off regarding the situation, raided the apartment, freed the ladies and arrested the defendants.

The Chief Prosecutor add-ed that the Public Prosecution was notified about the matter and it launched a probe, heard the victims’ testimonies and in-terrogated the suspects, before referring them to the concerned court.

No further information was available on the nationalities of the people involved.    

A few days ago, the timely-in-volvement of social workers affiliated to Indian Communi-ty Relief Fund Bahrain (ICRF) and Indian Embassy officials helped the police bust a vice racket.

Sources said the members of the prostitution racket were ar-rested after a victim alerted a

social worker, who in turn informed the Indian Embas-sy and the CID Department.

According to sources, the victim had arrived in the Kingdom on a visit visa af-ter being invited by a friend of her, who was part of the racket.

“She came to the Kingdom with an aim to take up an appropriate job to support the family back home. To her good luck, she had obtained a SIM card at the airport it-self,” sources said.

Within a few hours of her arrival, the victim is said to have realised that she had been trapped to be part of a forced prostitution ring.

“The victim’s friend was part of the vice ring. She was asked to give a replace-ment to be relieved from the network and she suc-cessfully trapped her friend for her benefit,” the sources said.

The victim was initially taken to a beauty parlour in Manama, where she man-aged to obtain the contact numbers of a few social workers before alerting them, the sources said.

The Interior Ministry has been stepping up its efforts to nab the members of vice network while many sus-pects have been sentenced or prosecuted.   

Life in jail for terror convicts Manama

Chief of Terror Crime Pros-ecution, Advocate-Gener-al Chancellor Dr Ahmed

Al Hammadi announced that the first High Criminal Court yester-day issued verdicts against six terror suspects.

The suspects were found guilty of joining a terrorist group con-trary to the provisions of the law and attempted explosion for ter-rorist purposes.

They were also charged with possessing and acquiring ex-plosives and materials needed in their manufacture without

a license from the competent authority, as well as of training on making and using explosives.

The court sentenced five sus-pects to life in prison, and was handed down a five-year jail term against another.

The six suspects were fined BD 500 each, and the seized items were confiscated.

According to the case docu-ments, the Public Prosecution was notified by the General Di-rectorate of Criminal Investiga-tions and Forensic Evidence that the fugitive defendants abroad had instructed the suspects in Bahrain to receive money and

explosives and use them to target vital economic facilities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The sus-pects received the funds and the explosives, as well as the explo-sives and the materials needed for their manufacture.

The documents also revealed that the suspects had made ex-plosives and monitored a number of banks’ ATMs.

Moreover, two of them went to the ATM of the Bank of Bah-rain and Kuwait at Shaikh Isa Avenue in Manama, and planted an explosive device inside it. The device, which did not explode, was spotted and seized.

While carrying out their acts, the suspects received guidance from and coordinated with fu-gitive terrorist elements outside Bahrain, the documents also showed.

The Public Prosecution relied in substantiating the accusations on verbal and technical evidenc-es, including the witnesses’ tes-timonies and the suspects’ con-fession.

The Public Prosecution re-ferred all of them, including three suspects in custody, to the first High Criminal Court, and ordered the arrest of the fugitive defendants.

Manama Souq Development Committee reviews work progress

Manama

The seventh meeting of the Manama Souq Develop-ment Committee, chaired

by the Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhi-bitions Authority (BTEA), Nader Al Moayyed, was held yesterday at Bab Al Bahrain Mall.

During the meeting, members of the committee discussed the latest developments of the Ma-nama Souq project. They also visited the Souq to inspect and view the progress of the project including the improved store-fronts and signage as well as the renovation of the old buildings facade.

“We strive to work closely with all parties involved in the Manama Souq development project to ensure its timely completion. Manama Souq is a well-known touristic site and an attractive destination for many shoppers therefore it is essential to develop its infrastructure with an aim to attract Bahraini visi-tors and tourists from the GCC

countries and beyond,” said the Chief Executive Officer of BTEA, Nader Al Moayyed.

“The revitalisation of the Manama Souq, and the quest to develop and preserve it aims to re-energise the tourism sector and shift it to be one of the main contributors to the national economy,” he added. 

The Manama Souq Develop-ment Committee Meetings are held regularly among all con-cerned parties to discuss the latest developments of this vital project, which aims to further develop the tourism sector in the Kingdom and increase its contri-bution to the national economy.

The committee comprises representatives from the Min-istry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Urban Planning and Development Authority, Economic Development Board, Capital Municipality, Capital Secretariat Council as well as a number of Manama Souq trad-ers.

The committee members during their inspection visit to the souq.

‘Deal to bring bodies of expats from Gulf for free’ TDT | Manama

In a relief to the struggling families of the expatriate Kerala persons in Gulf coun-

tries, the Kerala government has started a scheme to bring back to India the bodies of deceased persons free of cost.

The government has reached an agreement with Air India to freely repatriate bodies of Keralites who pass away in the

Gulf countries. Those who fail to receive aid from employer, sponsor or embassy, can make use of the new scheme by the Kerala government to repatriate bodies back home free of cost.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi-jayan launched the new scheme via a Facebook post on Tuesday. “The relatives of those working in Gulf countries face sudden financial hurdles when their relative dies.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, yesterday attended the closing ceremony of the 16th edition of the Syed Junaid Alam International Quran Award, held under his patronage at the Ahmed Al Fateh Islamic Center. During the ceremony, organised by the Holy Quran Custody Society (HQCS), HH Shaikh Mohammed highlighted HM the King’s continued support to the service of the Holy Quran, noting the importance of events which act as an educational platform aimed at spreading knowledge of the noble teachings of Islam, as well as the correct recitation, tajwid and memorisation of the Holy Quran. HH Shaikh Mohammed added that competitions in Islamic knowledge provide a conducive environment which fosters competition and motivation, allowing participants to further enhance their understanding of both the Quran and Islam.

04THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

TDT | Manama

Tamkeen has concluded its fourth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship

Week (GEW 2019), a week that was filled with more than 45 ac-tivities and events that attracted over 5,000 participants.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week was held from November 17th until the 24th and it was celebrated all around Bahrain.

The GEW events were organ-ised by Tamkeen and the Glob-al Entrepreneurship Network – Bahrain (GEN Bahrain), and it included a variety of workshops, seminars, exhibitions, conferenc-es, and interactive panels, held in partnership with more than 40 local and regional entity.

Furthermore, more than 45 local and regional speakers took part in the week-long event. The speakers were from different fields of expertise, some of which were entrepreneurs, influencers, and economists who shared their experiences and entrepreneurial journeys with the audience. This year, GEW was held under four main themes: GEW Education, GEW Policy, GEW Inclusion, GEW Ecosystems.

The first event that was held in GEW was the 18th Annual Arab Business Owners and Investors Conference, which was organ-ised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, held under the patronage of His Roy-al Highness His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

On His Majesty’s behalf, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Com-mander, First Deputy Prime Min-ister, inaugurated the conference.

Tenmou, Bahrain’s first Busi-ness Angels Company, also hosted their edition of the MENA Angel Investors Summit during GEW. The annual event is held with the aim of providing a platform for local and regional startups to

meet and connect with investors from all around the MENA region.

Moreover, Zoho hosted their first Zoholic event during GEW where attendees got to learn more about Zoho’s products and services, and how they can use the Cloud Software Suit to grow their businesses.

For the second year in a row, Tamkeen hosted the entrepre-neur and social media influencer Bader Isa, known as “Bo Nabeel” where he gave a seminar on How to Find Your Passion, a follow up event to the one he conducted last year.

During the seminar, Bo Nabeel spoke about his entrepreneurial journey, and shared some tips with the audience on how they can turn their passion into a suc-cessful business.

Over the weekend, two main GEW events were also happening including the FinTech Startup Weekend competition where participants had to form their teams and build a startup within 54 hours.

The second event was the Falak Unreasonable Weekend, held by Falak Consulting, which was dedicated to aspiring entre-

preneurs who are interested in turning their business ideas into reality.

The start-up ecosystem was also exposed to a number of events and workshops in the field of art, energy, sustainability, product design, artificial intelli-gence, digital marketing, FinTech and more.

What made GEW more extraor-dinary this year was the emphasis of women as Flat6Labs Bahrain hosted a seminar called “Women in Startups”. The seminar gave an overview on entrepreneurship and encouraged women to con-

sider the entrepreneurial path for their future career.

In addition, this year’s GEW focused on encouraging young Bahrainis to pursue their ca-reers in entrepreneurship. For instance, the Capital Governo-rate held a Young Trader compe-tition, whereby children had the chance to participate in an exhi-bition in Seef Mall and showcase their products. Clever Play also hosted “Kids Who Startup”, a competition that allowed kids to form their teams, work on a business idea, and present their projects. Similarly, Bahrain Trust

Foundation gave a workshop on “Preparing Young Entrepre-neurs”.

The fourth edition of the GEW is in line with the Kingdom’s vi-sion of supporting entrepreneurs, and to promote Bahrain as the hub for entrepreneurship.

The GEW is a global event where more than 35,000 events are held around the world in more than 170 countries, with 10 million attendees. It is held under the umbrella of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

NIHR celebrates its 10th anniversaryManama

In conjunction with its 10th anniversary and marking the Human Rights Day which

is observed to honour the Unit-ed Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights (UDHR), the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) yesterday held a recep-tion ceremony, in the presence of Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, mem-bers of the Shura and Represent-atives Councils, senior officials

and ambassadors.The Justice, Islamic Affairs

and Endowments Minister lauded the outstanding efforts of NIHR over the past 10 years in boosting human rights and raising awareness of them.

He said marking the 10th an-niversary of the institution is an opportunity to renew apprecia-tion of the kingdom’s pioneering achievements in respecting hu-man rights which have been pro-moted by the pioneering reform project of His Majesty the King.

NIHR President Maria Khouri underlined the enlightened vi-sion of His Majesty King Hamad

bin Isa Al Khalifa which enabled Bahrain to bring about many hu-man rights accomplishments.

She also stressed the royal vi-sion to boost peaceful coexist-ence, pointing out the role of the National Action Charter and the kingdom’s constitution in fostering human rights.

She voiced keenness of NIHR on more cooperation with the UN agencies and the civil society institutions to further promote human rights in Bahrain.

NIHR Secretary-General Chan-cellor Yasser Ghanim Shahin said the institution had provid-ed more than 500 training pro-

grammes to its staff locally and abroad to boost their academic and practical competence.

He also pointed out the train-ing and awareness programmes held by the institution to promote the culture of human rights, add-ing that NIHR has succeeded in training more than 9500 persons over the past ten years.

He also stressed keenness of the Secretariat General to ensure high competence in providing services, pointing out the on-going efforts to optimise those services according to innovative methods as well as the best inter-national standards and practices.Shaikh Khalid at the ceremony.

GEW 2019, a shot in the arm for business sector

The fourth edition of the GEW is in line with the Kingdom’s vision of supporting entrepreneurs

One of the panel discussions at GEW 2019. MENA Angel Investors’ Summit was also held as part of GEW 2019.

French Alumni Network was launched yesterday at a ceremony hosted by French Ambassador Jerome Cauchard at his residence. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa attended the event along with over 150 alumni and guests. The event was organised in association with members of French Business Community.

French Alumni Network launched  

05THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Artist to bid farewell to BahrainTDT | Manama

Thomas Varghese, a re-nowned artist and long-time resident is bidding

farewell to the Kingdom, as he plans to relocate to his home country.

The Indian national has been living in the Kingdom for 38 years now. He was employed as the ‘person in-charge’ at the health club at Jannusan Sports

Centre at Mansoor Garden in Budaiya.

Speaking to Tribune, he said: “My heartfelt thanks and prayers for the rulers of the Kingdom of Bahrain for all the developments and achievements to reach to the present Bahrain. I never forget all the sweet memories and will keep in my heart.

“For every christmas and new year seasons, I used to exhib-it my creativity and art forms

at the sports club and various places which were made from the waste and unwanted or ne-glected materials.

“All my art has two kinds of beauty, one is outer beauty and the other is inner beauty. The outer beauty is visible to all but the inner beauty is its message.”

Mr Thomas’ family include wife Annamma Varghese and sons Tony Varghese and Rony Varghese. Mr Thomas with his family members. A christmas tree made using sea-shells.

HM the King’s Representative for Charity Work and Youth Affairs, National Security Adviser and Royal Guard Commander, Major-General HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, paid a visit to the Finance and National Economy Ministry, where he met Minister, Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. HH Shaikh Nasser valued highly the great national role played by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy in implementing the visions and aspirations of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on enhancing the kingdom’s status, praising the Finance Ministry’s commendable tangible contributions to optimising the achievements of the nation. HH Shaikh Nasser stressed the importance of collective work and coordination among state departments to enhance joint national action and overcome all challenges, hailing the Finance Ministry’s key role in pushing economic growth forward and highlighting the kingdom’s economic achievements.

Finance Ministry role stressed Anti-chemical weapon stances stressed Manama

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs and Head of the National Committee for the Prohibition of the Development, Produc-tion, Use, Stockpiling and De-struction of Chemical Weap-ons, Dr Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Daij Al Khalifa, met with the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohi-bition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Fernan-do Arias, on the sidelines of the 24th Conference of the States Parties to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, held in The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands.

  Dr Shaikha Rana valued the efforts of the Director-General through his chairmanship of the Organisation, noting the pivotal role of the Technical Secretariat team in supporting all States Parties to keep pace with the rapid changes of in the world.

The Undersecretary com-mended the efforts and initi-atives of OPCW to introduce modern technology in the chemical industry for the safe use of chemicals.

She also affirmed the keen-ness of the Kingdom to work with the organisation in order to ensure the proper manage-ment of such substances in the service of economic, industrial and social development in var-ious countries of the world and ensuring their peaceful use.

The meeting highlighted the Kingdom’s commitment to the Convention on the Pro-hibition of Chemical Weapons, which comes in line with the Kingdom’s firm policy aimed at strengthening international cooperation in order to pre-vent the proliferation of all types of weapons of mass de-struction to achieve interna-tional peace and security. 

‘Bahrain, an emerging regional leader in 5G technology sector’

Workshop highlights the potential of 5G TDT | Manama

As Bahrain prepares for the imminent rollout of 5G, the Telecommuni-

cations Regulatory Authority (TRA), in collaboration with Er-icsson, the GSMA and Huawei held a workshop for service pro-viders, government agencies and business leaders in the Kingdom to explore the potential of 5G.

“We took a big leap this year by helping establish BNET as a wholesale entity for the King-dom’s telecom infrastructure,” said Shaikh Nasser Bin Mo-hamed Al Khalifa, Acting Gen-eral Director of TRA.

“This move levels the play-ing field and sets a gold stand-ard that consumers can expect from all operators. We’ve laid the groundwork, so that net-work speed and quality becomes a ubiquitous feature across all licensed service providers, so that the dynamic for competi-

tion shifts focus from a basis of infrastructure to one based on innovative services.

“If fibre optics is the back-bone of industry 4.0, then 5G is a catalyst that will allow the full potential of IoT to materialise,” Shaikh Nasser added.

5G is no simple generational leap forward in mobile tech-nology, and the purpose of this workshop is to explore its pos-sibilities and guide everyone towards taking it on.

“In addition to supporting the TRA in establishing a compre-hensive 5G strategy in Bahrain, we have announced partner-ships with leading service pro-viders such as Batelco and Zain to accelerate 5G deployment in the Kingdom. We feel a tremen-dous sense of urgency to push forward on 5G and mobilise the ecosystem by collaborating with industry leaders and developers to usher in a new generation of innovation,” says Wojciech

Bajda, Head of Ericsson Gulf Council Countries

Across the globe, 5G use case studies find their way into every industry sector. From remote patient monitoring and consul-tation to remote surgery in med-icine, in transportation, 5G will be the pillar that autonomous vehicles rely on – a 2017 study

from Deloitte estimated that self-driving cars enabled by mo-bile connectivity could reduce emissions by 40 to 90 per cent, improving travel time by 40pc and reducing delays by 20pc, whereas in banking, blockchain and fintech combined with 5G will have a surge of economic benefits.

“Bahrain is establishing it-self as a leader in 5G technology within the region, thanks to the roll-out of two 5G networks in 2019. It is important to capitalise on this early lead, especially as, according to GSMA Intelligence, subscribers within the MENA region are predicted to consume an average of 23GB of mobile data per month by 2023, up from just 2.5GB today,” said Michele Zarri, Technical Director of Fu-ture Networks, GSMA.

“I was delighted to be able to deliver the GSMA’s 5G Advanced training course, covering topics such as ‘how 5G networks can

support users growing appetite for mobile data’. It was also a pleasure to take part in the lively panel discussion on the meas-ures the TRA can take to foster the development of 5G networks and services in Bahrain.”

Key technologies in 5G per-formance goals include a high data rate, low latency, and mas-sive machine to machine com-munications. John Lu Yuedong, CEO of Huawei Bahrain says: “5G development is accelerating at speeds beyond imagination, with roll-out imminent in mar-kets across the Middle East and the world at large. At Huawei, we are continuing to collaborate with the Bahraini government and our local customers to push 5G forward and to realise the full value of the digital economy. Workshops such as this are es-sential platforms to experience the latest 5G applications and to pioneer innovations in the market.”

Key technologies in 5G performance

goals include a high data rate, low

latency, and massive machine to machine

communications.

KNOW

DID

‘Spectra 2019’ to be held next month TDT | Manama

The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF), un-der the patronage of the

Embassy of India, Kingdom of Bahrain, will organise this year’s art carnival titled ‘Spectra 2019’ next month. 

The art carnival aimed at en-couraging and honouring artistic skills among the youth, is the largest art competition for stu-dents in the Kingdom.

The Faber Castell ‘Spectra 2019’ carnival will take place on Friday, 13th December 2019 at The Bahrain International Ex-hibition Centre, Sanabis. 

The response from the Schools in Bahrain during the last Ten

years has been overwhelming, the organisers said.

The first carnival was held in the year 2009 with around 700 participants and last year during the 10th edition of the carnival,

more than 4,500 students partic-ipated, they added.

This year a total of about 4,000 children from various schools in Bahrain are expected to par-ticipate in the competition after

being selected in the preliminary rounds organised in their respec-tive schools. 

This annual event aims at un-earthing artistic talent among the youth and creating a future

generation who would be cata-lysts for social change. 

Participants are divided into four age groups - five to eight years, eight to eleven years, elev-en to fourteen years and fourteen to eighteen years.  All the partic-ipants would be put through a qualifying round in their respec-tive schools. These qualifying rounds would be administered by the Schools independently. The top participants selected on the basis of their performance in the qualifying test would move to the finals.  Participation will be allowed only through Schools/Institutions.

All participants will be pro-vided with drawing paper and materials at the venue.

Top 50 winners in each age group would receive medals and certificates.  Top five win-ners in each category would receive individual trophies and certificates.  All participants would be issued with a partic-ipation certificate.  Rolling tro-phy to the schools will also be presented.

The winners will be honoured at an Award Function which will be held on the same day at 7.00 pm at Bahrain International Ex-hibition Centre.

For any public relation related queries please contact Pankaj Nallur on 39653007. Please visit ICRF website http://icrfbahrain.com/spectra for more informa-tion.

ICRF officials led by Mr Aruldas Thomas at the Press conference.

06

world

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Large explosion rocks Texas chemical plantWashington

An explosion at a chemi-cal plant in Texas early Wednesday sent a large

fireball into the sky, reports and witnesses said, triggering a mandatory evacuation.

Dramatic videos and photos shared on social media showed a large blast, with one resident describing waking up to a huge boom and “glass all over us”.

Ryan Mathewson, who lives roughly two minutes from the plant in Port Neches, near Hou-ston, told AFP: “We woke up to glass all over us and parts of the ceiling caved in, (and) doors blown in.”

The 25-year-old said he and his family were “shook up and

scared” following the blast.County Judge Jeff Branick

told local news site KFDM News that there were no fatalities re-ported and only three people with minor injuries. He called

it “a miracle”.At least two people have been

taken to hospital, a spokeswom-an for the Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office told the New York Times.

TPC Group, which operates the plant, said the explosion happened in what it said was a “processing unit” at around 1am local time (0700 GMT).

“TPC Group has activated its Emergency Response Plan and requested assistance from Port Neches Fire Department and Huntsman.

The Port Neches plant is around 85 miles (135 kilome-ters) from Houston.

Mo re t h a n 2 0 0 p e o p l e work at the facility, accord-ing to TPC Group’s company website.

The facility produces butadi-ene, a flammable gas used in the production of synthetic rubber, and other petrochemicals such as butane.

Ryan Mathewson, who lives roughly two minutes from the plant with his family, said he was woken up by the force of the blast

Bolivia appoints first ambassador to US in 11 years: officialLa Paz

Bolivia appointed its first ambassador to the United

States in 11 years on Tuesday, officials said, as the interim government resets the coun-try’s foreign policy after the departure of Evo Morales.

Walter Oscar Serrate Cuel-lar has been given the key posting, the foreign ministry announced on Twitter, filling a position left vacant since a diplomatic spat between La Paz and Washington in 2008.

The high-profile appoint-ment, which has to be ap-proved by Congress, comes as the caretaker government prepares to hold new elections that exclude Morales.

Serrate previously served as Bolivia’s ambassador and permanent representative at the United Nations, the min-istry said.

Under socialist Morales, Bolivia’s president for nearly 14 years, ties with the United States were tense.

Relations took a turn for the worse under former US leader

George W. Bush, with the ex-pulsion of ambassadors from both countries in late 2008.

Morales resigned on No-vember 10 and fled to Mexico where he was granted political asylum after disputed Octo-ber 20 elections ignited street protests.

Morales, who had been seek-ing a fourth term, claimed vic-tory. But opposition groups said the results were rigged.

Since declaring herself in-terim president, right-wing senator Jeanine Anez, who has been recognized by the United States, has wasted no time re-writing Bolivia’s foreign policy.

Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez, pictured on November 25, has wasted no time rewriting Bolivia’s foreign policy

Trump says to list Mexican cartels as ‘terror’ groups

Washington

US President Donald Trump said in an inter-view posted online Tues-

day that he planned to desig-nate Mexican drug cartels as terror groups.

The move comes after Trump called for a “war” on the cartels in early November when nine women and children from a Mormon community in north-ern Mexico were killed in a hail of gunfire. The victims were dual US-Mexican citizens.

“Are you going to designate those cartels in Mexico as ter-ror groups and start hitting them with drones?” asked Bill O’Reilly, a conservative media personality, in an interview posted on his personal website.

“I don’t want to say what I’m going to do, but they will be designated,” Trump answered.

He added: “I will be desig-nating the cartels... absolutely. I have been working on that for the last 90 days.

“Designation is not that easy, you have to go through a pro-cess and we are well into that process.”

Trump’s remarks on Mexico came from a short sample of a longer interview available for paid subscribers on the O’Reilly website.

No ‘violation of national sovereignty’

Mexican authorities reacted swiftly, with the foreign minis-try saying that it has contacted US officials “to understand the meaning and scope of the re-marks”.

Mexico will also “seek a high-level meeting as soon as possible to present Mexico’s position” and hear Washing-ton’s views, the foreign ministry said in an official translation of their statement.

Mexico will seek talks to “make progress with reducing the flow of arms and money from the United States to or-ganized crime in Mexico, in addition to precursor chemicals and drug precursors that cross Mexican territory en route to the United States,” the state-ment read.

Mexico has long complained about the flow of weapons bought in the United States and

smuggled south of the border.Foreign Minister Marcelo

Ebrard’s reaction was more forceful on Twitter.

“Mexico will never allow any action that means a violation of its national sovereignty,” he wrote.

He said that Mexican offi-cials had already made their views known to Washington “as well as our resolution to deal with transnational organized crime.”

The case of the slain Mor-mons has cast a spotlight on drug cartel-fueled violence in Mexico and leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obra-dor’s struggles to rein it in.

The victims, including twin eight-month-old babies, were killed as they drove on a remote road between the states of Son-ora and Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, a lawless region disput-ed by warring drug cartels.

Mexican officials say a drug cartel called La Linea (The Line) may have mistaken the victims for members of a rival gang. Relatives, however, be-lieve the families were deliber-ately targeted.

Three Mormon women and six children were killed in a hail of bullets as they drove in a lawless area of northern Mexico

US President Donald Trump

KNOW WHAT

US Mormons emigrated to Mexico in the late 19th cen-tury, fleeing persecution for their traditions, including polygamy. Now breakaways from the official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which banned polyga-my in 1891, they have lived in Mexico for generations.

Australian volunteer firefighter charged with lighting bushfiresSydney

Police in fire-ravaged Aus-t ra l i a o n We d n e s d ay

charged a volunteer firefight-er with arson, alleging he lit seven blazes before returning to help colleagues extinguish them.

Authorit ies a l lege the 19-year-old deliberately lit seven fires on the far south coast of New South Wales -- the state worst-hit by a recent spate of devastating bushfires -- between mid-October and late November.

The man was allegedly seen sitting in a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon shortly before a fire broke out nearby.

He was arrested shortly af-terwards and charged with seven counts of causing a fire and being reckless to its spread.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the teenager had been immediately stood down from his firefighting duties.

Six people have been killed, hundreds of homes destroyed and more than 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) scorched across Australia since early October.

Dozens of fires were still burning on Wednesday, in-cluding 129 in New South Wales. Large swathes of the state were facing “high” or “severe” f i re danger conditions.

More than 1,800 firefighters were battling those blazes, 66 of which were uncontained.

A volunteer firefighter has been charged with arson in Australia’s New South Wales, one of the states worst hit by devastating bushfires

Floods kill at least 39 in Congo’s capital Kinshasa

Reuters | Kinshasa

At least 39 people died in flooding on Tuesday

in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, following torrential rains overnight that caused landslides near the Univer-sity of Kinshasa, authorities said.

At one site on University Avenue, in a southern sub-urb, at least three houses and a road collapsed into a ravine.

Chunks of concrete and metal roofing could be seen sticking out of the freshly turned orange earth, a wit-ness said.

The vice governor of Kinshasa province, Néron Mbungu, said rescue work-ers were continuing to hunt for bodies.

“Wherever we found death, we gave the may-ors the means to bring the bodies to the morgue, and we also made available the means for the wounded to be taken to medical cen-tres,” he said.

One woman wailed and clapped her hands as Red Cross rescue workers car-ried several bodies to an ambulance.

“My son, my son,” she cried.

Andre Mwamba, whose house had partially col-lapsed into the ravine on University Avenue, said the heavy rain started at 2 am (0100 GMT) and lasted four hours.

“We started moving things out of the house at around six and then the house started sliding. The neighbours agreed to let us stay with them while we look for another place,” Mwamba told Reuters.

Floods are not unusual in Kinshasa, a city of almost 12 million people

T r u m p c r a c k s i m p e a c h m e n t j o k e s

a t t u r k e y p a r d o n i n g

President Donald Trump turned the quirky annual White House ritual of pardoning Thanksgiving turkeys into a riff on his impeachment Tuesday, joking that the two birds had been subpoenaed to testify.

NOV 28-DEC 4, 2019 ISSUE NO.355 DT SUPPLEMENT WWW.WEEKENDERBAHRAIN.COM

Movie Making For A CauseThe World Health Organization (WHO) will

host the first-ever Health for All Film Festival on the occasion of the 73rd World Health Assembly held from May 18-May 23 2020,

in Geneva. The festival aims to put the power of storytelling in the hands of people, and seeks to showcase the role of individuals and communities as champions for health and well being.

Filmmakers are invited to submit a short video under one of these categories by 30 June 2020:

Category 1: Video reports showing human-interest stories and testimonies about individuals or groups of people navigating a local or global health challenge, championing solutions, or driving change (3 – 8 minutes long).

Category 2: Animation videos showing testimonials, challenges and/or solutions in achieving health for all, or educating about a health issue (1 – 5 minutes long).

Category 3: Videos about nurses and midwives showing daily realities of their world and/or how they impact people’s lives, in any audiovisual narration style (3 – 8 minutes long). WHO has designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.

Only movies completed between 1 January 2017 and 30 January 2020 are eligible for this festival.The award process consists of an independent jury nominating a winner in each category and the attribution of prizes will be confirmed by WHO’s Director-General. There will be a special prize for videos made by students. The Health For All Film Festival Awards will take place in May 2020 in Geneva. A total of 15 videos will be selected per category, and screened in conjunction with the 73rd World Health Assembly. The selection will be announced in March 2020.

World Aids Day takes place on December 1 each year. It is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. Founded in 1988, World Aids Day was the first-ever global health day.

Globally, over 36.7 million people have the AIDS virus. Despite the virus having been identified only in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS.

Today, scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise

money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education. The red ribbon is the universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV. Wearing a ribbon is a great way to raise

awareness on and during the run-up to World AIDS Day.Not everybody is equipped with the facts on how to protect themselves and others, and stigma and discrimination

remain a life-changing reality for people living with HIV.1 in 5 people living with HIV says that they have needed help with loneliness. Nobody should feel isolated or alone because of their HIV status. Peer support services must be made available across the world so that people can access the help they need, when they need it, and wherever they are.Three-quarters of people living with HIV who report loneliness and isolation say they haven’t been able to find

that help. Thus was born the project Rock the Ribbon Together in 2019 – to stand in solidarity with people living with HIV, raise awareness, challenge stigma, end loneliness, and isolation, and insist that peer support is available for anyone who

needs it.

The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”.

The commemoration of World AIDS Day, which will take place on 1 December 2019, is an important opportunity to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.

Communities contribute to the AIDS response in many different ways. Their leadership and advocacy ensure that the response remains relevant and grounded, keeping people at the center and leaving no one behind. Communities include

peer educators, networks of people living with or affected by HIV, people who inject drugs, women and young people, counselors, community health workers, door-to-door service

providers, civil society organizations and grass-roots activists.World AIDS Day offers an important platform to highlight the role of communities at a time when reduced funding and a shrinking space for civil society are putting the sustainability of services and advocacy efforts in jeopardy. Greater mobilization of communities is urgently required to address the barriers that stop communities from delivering services, including restrictions on registration and an absence of social contracting modalities. The strong advocacy role played by communities is needed more than ever to ensure that AIDS remains on the political agenda, that human rights are

respected and that decision-makers and implementers are held accountable.No single prevention method or approach can stop the HIV epidemic on its own. Several methods and

interventions have proved highly effective in reducing the risk of and protecting against HIV infection.Despite the availability of this widening array of effective HIV prevention tools and methods and a

massive scale-up of HIV treatment in recent years, new infections among adults globally have not decreased sufficiently. The 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS target is to reduce new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000 by 2020, from more than 1.8 million in 2016.

UNAIDS seeks to boost global and national HIV prevention leadership and accountability and Fast-Track the implementation of effective HIV prevention programmes at

the country level by providing guidance on effective approaches to achieve the prevention targets of the 2016 Political Declaration, which include ensuring access to combination prevention options to at least 90% of people at risk by 2020, especially young women and girls in high-prevalence countries and key populations, reaching 3 million people at high risk with PrEP, reaching 25 million men.

Further rules, conditions, and other information are on the official website, available here:

Top 5 Places To Explore In Bahrain

8 ISSUE 355 WWW.WEEKENDERBAHRAIN.COM

Movie Listing

Le Mans 66 (Ford vs Ferrari) [PG 13]American automotive designer Carroll Shelby and fearless British race car driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary vehicle for the Ford Motor Co. Together, they plan to compete against the race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

Directed By: James MangoldWritten By: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth Cast: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal Genre: Action, Biography, DramaRating: 4.5/5

Charlie’s Angels [PG 13]When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie’s Angels are called into action, putting their lives on the line to protect us all.

Directed By: Elizabeth BanksWritten By: Elizabeth BanksCast: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella BalinskaGenre: Action, Adventure, Comedy Rating: 2.5/5

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (PG)Maleficent travels to a grand old castle to celebrate young Aurora’s upcoming wedding to Prince Phillip. While there, she meets Aurora’s future mother-in-law -- a conniving queen who hatches a devious plot to destroy the land’s fairies. Hoping to stop her, Maleficent joins forces with a seasoned warrior and a group of outcasts to battle the queen and her powerful army.

Directed By: Robert StrombergWritten By: Linda WoolvertonCast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickinson Genre: Adventure, Family, FantasyRating: 4/5

Joker (15+)Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. An origin story set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron appear in supporting roles. Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, and Joint Effort in association with Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros.

Directed By: Todd PhillipsWritten By: Scott SilverCast: Joaquin PhoenixGenre: Crime, Drama, ThrillerRating: 5/5

Knives Out [PG 13]Knives Out is a 2019 American mystery film written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson. Described as a modern take on the whodunit murder mystery genre, the film follows a family gathering gone horribly awry, after the family patriarch’s death leads a master detective to investigate. Directed By: Rian JohnsonWritten By: Rian JohnsonCast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas Genre: Comedy, Drama, CrimeRating: 4/5

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Bahrain National MuseumDeservedly the country’s most popular attraction, this is an outstanding introduction to Bahrain’s history, with signage in English and Arabic. It’s housed in a postmodern building on the waterfront, and the lower floor displays the archaeological finds of ancient Dilmun, the Hall of Graves and Bahrain’s customs and traditions, where the south Asian impact on clothing is remarkably apparent. Upstairs, there are exhibits on the Tylos and Islamic periods, historic manuscripts and a delightful reproduction of a traditional souq.

Beit Al QuranThe finest collection of ancient Qurans in the region, this wonderful homage to Islam’s holiest book displays Qurans from almost every century since the advent of Islam in 610, as well as some of the earliest translations into European languages. This includes the English translation by George Sale, published in London in the 18th century, a copy of which was bought by US founding father and president Thomas Jefferson.

Al Fateh MosqueThis is Bahrain’s grand mosque, built as a grand statement in honour of the founder of modern Bahrain, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Muhammad Bin Khalifa, who was known as ‘Al Fatih’ (the conqueror). The mosque’s foundation stone was laid by his direct descendant, the late emir Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa in 1983, exactly 200 years after Al Fatih liberated the nation from the Persians. Built at a cost of US$20 million, it is the most sumptuous mosque in the country.

Beit Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al KhalifaOffering a fascinating look at pre-oil life in Bahrain, this building was constructed around 1800 and is one of the finest examples of a traditional house anywhere in the Gulf. The chief sitting room downstairs was kept cool in summer by the downdraft from the badqeer (wind tower), the shutters on which could be closed in winter – stand beneath it to see how effective this system of natural air conditioning really is. There is fine gypsum and woodcarving throughout.

Riffa FortThe completely restored Riffa Fort was built in 1812 by Sheikh Salman Bin Ahmad Al Fatih, the 19th-century ruler of Bahrain. A classic piece of Bahraini fortification, it now boasts a small museum with raised walkways leading through a series of interactive spaces that really enhance the visitor experience. A late-afternoon visit is particularly atmospheric, especially if it is finished off on the cafe’s outdoor glass terrace overlooking the Hunayniyah Valley, just as the call to prayer engulfs it.

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TurnThePage

Book reviews shouldn’t require excuses except for the obvious sentiment “here’s another great book I found, read it!”. Featuring bookworms and their sentient opinions about their best friends, Weekender brings you book reviews for you to pick up the best ones off the shelf and tuck in for a cozy weekend in another world.

This week, Mariyath A.K reviews Rumi’s Daughter by Muriel Maufroy

When there is great pain, there are only three rules: not to push the pain away, not to try to understand it, and not to indulge in it...Make yourself as open as

a young tree caught in a storm. Let the storm bend you at its will, do not resist it, do not argue with it either- how could one argue with the wind and the rain?- and never ever feel sorry for yourself”

Rumi’s Daughter by Muriel Maufroy is a story about Kimya, the adopted daughter of Rumi. The novel describes Kimya’s childhood and how her life leads to being the daughter and the student of Rumi. Kimya, who already had mystical tendencies learned a great deal under Rumi’s guidance.

The novel also talks about the friendship between Rumi and Shams and how eventually Kimya got married to Shams. Shams was an unusual husband absorbed by his longing for God. Their marriage was different and heartbreaking, and in the end, dissolved by Kimya’s death.

Rumi’s daughter talks about Kimya’s story with great affection and love. It is well written with mystical elements and is sure to draw some similarities with Elif Shafak’s Forty Rules of Love, although there are few details that contradict both the books.

Streaming services have ushered in a whole new kind of reach and visibility for creativity in the field of ‘filmmaking’. Whether they are short films, feature films, mini-series or full-blown web series, we are presently spoilt for choice. Weekender will review one production every week, so you can add or take it off your to-do list for the weekend!

This week, Nebal Shafi reviews Amazon Prime show The Boys.

Rating: 3.5/5

The cynicism of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys isn’t something that you can dismiss in the age of comic book adaptations we’re currently living through, and Amazon has done nothing to downplay that fact with its new series is based on the book. Whether we like to admit it or not, superheroes and the corporations that created them have become integral parts of our general pop-cultural discourse, and that reality is something worth unpacking.Despite all of its larger-than-life, comic book-y trappings, The Boys is a show rooted in a very specific aspect of our reality. Here, superheroes aren’t just real or symbolic figures living lives removed from those of the people they protect. They’re bona fide celebrities who make awkward appearances on late-night talk shows promoting both their heroic efforts and the upcoming films based on their lives, all of which are carefully orchestrated by a monolithic corporation that the public worships.In the world of The Boys, people don’t just worship superheroes because they save lives and ostensibly make the world a better place, but because the heroes are very much in on the consumerist,

capitalization of fandom that you see here in the real world. Unlike the live-action adaptations of certain other comic books, The Boys’ admittedly grimdark storytelling serves a legitimate, non-aesthetic purpose. The series wants you to sit with the idea of a world with honest-to-God capes and think honestly about what that might look like; in doing so, it also makes you consider just what it is that you, the viewers, get out of superhero narratives.The Boys does eventually get around to a rather traditional plot about capes going after villains who pose a legitimate threat to public safety, but the show’s politics and cultural commentary are easily its strongest suits.Unlike Marvel or DC’s live-action heroes, who all kill in what passes for “audience-friendly” ways that have desensitized people to the reality of what they’re doing, The Boys’ metahumans revel in the brutality of their attacks. The show wants you to understand just what kinds of dangerous, but relatively pedestrian, things a person with super-strength could do, like squeezing someone’s head with their thighs until the person’s head explodes. Every so often, The Boys ups its gore factor for no reason other than to remind you of the grossness that logically comes along with super-heroics, and it has the added effect of highlight the ideological griminess of it all.By the end of the season’s eight episodes, The Boys manages to tell a solid story with a breadth and depth of character development that Netflix’s cape fare always insisted it needed more time to do, which is refreshing, and its reflections on the ways

that we obsess over comic book heroes are interesting. That all being said, The Boys is an Amazon production, and no amount of biting critique is going to change the fact that it’s every bit a part of the big machine it’s rallying against as Warner Bros. or Disney.

The Boys is now streaming on Amazon.

Banana Leaf Thai Restaurant in Adliya is my go to place when I get a cold or after a night out. Located just opposite Don Vito’s, this is the perfect place to eat out

with your mates or to treat your family to some crazy delicious Thai food.

I’ve been here a couple of times before and am not done with this place yet. We were quite hungry and knew it would take a while for the food to get served so we went straight for the first few

items on the menu. We ordered the “Noodle Soup Gai / Nuea” (Chicken / Beef), “Tom Yum Noodles Gai / Talay” (Chicken / Seafood), “Pad Kee Mao Noodles” & “Pad Prik Gang Gai”.

The first thing you might notice is that the prices are really cheap and the portion are only slightly small but that’s where “Banana Leaf” comes to its own. The “Noodle Soup Nuea” was a clear broth soup that packed a punch and the aroma could wake you up instantly. This hearty broth

instantly cleared up the cold and the tender beef chunks and beef balls enriched the whole experience. The noodles could have been better though. The “Tom Yum Noodle Soup” was extra spicy (as requested) and the beef cooked in the coconut milk and red curry paste was exquisite. Loved the flavour the Kaffir lime leaves adds to the soup.

The “Pad Kee Mao Noodles” wasn’t what I hoped for. The flat noodles didn’t really have

much taste to it and there were more vegetables than noodles. Finally, what really got us in the end was the “Pad Prik Gang Gai”. If you are into Thai curries and wouldn’t mind a bit of heat, this beef dish with string beans and kaffir lime leaves cooked in red Thai curry paste is worth every penny. It would go really well with some plain rice / fried rice which we regretted not ordering. The quantity is a lot less than you would expect so keep that in mind when you order here.

Weekender, in collaboration with local food bloggers, will bring you reliable reviews of eateries around Bahrain.Shayne Haridas is a food blogger/photographer based in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia with a passion for food. He reviews local eateries from all over Saudi Arabia and on occasion, travels abroad to experience local cuisines. Not to shy away from an experience, it is said there is nothing he won’t eat.

‘Banana Leaf Thai Restaurant’

Weekender brings you automobile reviews from hardcore fans to all lovers of everything on wheels!

Volvo S60PROS:- Strong acceleration and braking performance- Wonderfully comfortable and supportive seats- Well-executed Pilot Assist driving aids- Exceptional optional Bowers & Wilkins audio system

CONS:- Too many controls are dependent on a frustrating tech interface- No USB ports for rear passengers- Optional sport suspension rides a little rough for a luxury sedan

Rating: 3/5.........................................................

More than just a four-door Swede packed with safety features, the 2020 Volvo S60 is a true contender in the luxury sedan class. Impressive driving performance, a comfortable cabin, and a long list of high-tech features are just a few of the items that qualify the latest S60 to compete with long-standing class leaders such as the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.Much like its luxury-sedan brethren, the S60 is available with a wide variety of trim levels and engine options. Even the base-level S60 comes with impressive equipment such as automatic climate control, a 12.3-inch instrument panel display, forward collision warning, and a drowsy driver warning system. But if you want more, there’s plenty of room on the options sheet for more luxury comforts and added power.Drawbacks for the S60 aren’t abundant, but there are a few worth talking about. For instance, the infotainment interface is difficult to learn, even for tech-savvy shoppers, and searching for touchscreen-only buttons can be distracting while you’re driving. And, as far as luxury-sedan ride quality goes, the S60 doesn’t offer the world’s best. All things considered, though, the 2020 Volvo S60 offers an excellent balance of performance and comfort in an elegant package.

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Phoenix Whom?

A review of Ford v Ferrari by Ahmed Zayani

I will go ahead and

say it: Christian Bale is arguably the most versatile thespian of our generation. While many people would know him as the Caped Crusader from Christopher Nolan’s triumphant Dark Knight trilogy, the man behind the mask has so much more to offer the viewing audience than to be pigeonholed as Batman. Over the course of his filmography, Bale has proven time and time again to be a master of this craft, and a king of method acting, with him putting himself through egregious processes to get the best and most well-rounded performance possible. Some of the best performances of any given year, especially the last few, have come from Bale with his roles in Vice, Hostiles, The Big Short, American Hustle, and The Fighter being critical and commercial darlings. Bale is currently sitting on one Academy Award, it is simply a matter of time before he begins racking in more and more.

Directed by James Mangold of Logan fame, Ford v Ferrari (released internationally as Le Mans 66) tells the story of automotive visionary Caroll Shelby who is enlisted by the Ford Motor Company to build a race car that can compete with and defeat the fiercely dominant Ferrari Team in the 1966 edition of Le Mans. Along the way, Shelby recruits maverick races and mechanic Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale) to assist him in this gargantuan task. On the surface, Ford v Ferrari does not seem like anything special. After all, how many times have we seen the tale of a rag-tag group of misfits who come together against all odds to take a stand against the big evil baddie? But this movie has a few things going for it; it has the capable mind of James Mangold behind the camera. One would be remiss if they write off Mangold based on some of his recent releases, after all, The Wolverine and Knight and Day didn’t exactly set the cinematic

world on fire. However, his most recent endeavor in Logan transcended its own genre and reminded general audiences that this is a man capable of tremendous work (for those still in doubt, I urge you to check his earlier filmography that includes gems like Girl Interrupted, Cop Land, Walk the Line, Identity, and 3:10 to Yuma). In this movie, Mangold uses the same finesse and skill that made Wolverine’s final ride such a memorable entry, with the finished product being polished and a visceral spectacle. Aiding Mangold on this task is a frequent collaborator and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael who won recent critical acclaim for his work on Nebraska. The movie also came with a rather compelling, albeit familiar, narrative that does the rare task of appearing to critics as well as general audiences alike. I for one was absolutely enthralled throughout and despite its two and a half hours run time, I did not feel that the movie dragged or overstayed its welcome. Ford v Ferrari’s strength, its major success story, comes through the performances. Everyone involved brings their A-game to the table, with Matt Damon, Jon Berenthal, Caitriona Balfe, and the rarely seen Josh Lucas all giving commendable performances. But as far as I’m concerned the heart and soul of this movie is Christian Bale. While the man did not have to transform his physique greatly as he did for Vice and The Machinist, it doesn’t make his performance any less compelling. From the moment he appeared on screen I was transfixed. Everything he does –

the way he carries himself, his inflictions, the little character nuances, they all come together to give us one of the best performances of the man’s career and easily one of the best of 2019. I’ll just go ahead and say it; Christian Bale’s performance here is leagues better than that of Joaquin Phoenix’s in Joker (which is no small feat), is a performance to behold, and is worth the price of admission alone.

I could always nitpick and try to find fault. I can argue that the narrative is familiar and doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table, but that would be counter-productive. The fact of the matter is that Ford v Ferrari is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen this year that is visually pleasing and comes with arguably the best performance of the year. I do urge all of you to check it out when it comes out in movies nationwide this weekend.

Verdict – 10/10

34

Favorite Racing Films

RushCannonball RunTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky BobbyCarsDays of Thunder

1.2.3.

4.5.

Trailer

11

business

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Bahrain’s trade balance improves 31pc

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s trade balance im-proved 31 per cent during October 2019, when com-

pared to a year ago, as the King-dom exported BD154 million worth of products of national origin, iGA’s new foreign trade report said.

The Kingdom in October 2019, the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) said, recorded a deficit, the difference between exports and imports, of BD197m,

compared to BD286m in the same month a year ago.

During October, the value of imports decreased by 17pc, while exports of national ori-gin dropped by 10pc. Howev-er, the total value of re-exports increased by 25pc during the month.

Imports reach BD425 millionImports decreased by 17pc

reaching BD425m during Octo-ber 2019 compared to BD515m for the same month the previous

year. Top 10 countries accounted for 68pc of the imports, with the remaining accounting for 32pc.

China ranked first with a total import value of BD64m, Austral-ia second with BD38m and Saudi Arabia third with BD35m.

With a total value of BD36m, Aluminum oxide topped the products imported to Bahrain. Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates came second with BD20m and four-wheel drive cars third with BD19m.

Exports of national at BD154m

The value of exports of na-tional origin decreased by 10pc to BD154m during October 2019, compared to BD171m for the same month of the previous year. The top 10 countries pur-chased from Bahrain account-ed for 79pc of the total value, with the remaining countries accounting for 21pc.

Saudi Arabia by importing BD39m emerged as the top buy-er from Bahrain. The United

Arab Emirates came second with BD16m and United States of America third with BD15m.

Unwrought aluminium alloys topped exports during October 2019 with BD17m. Unwrought aluminium (not alloyed) was second at BD15m and Aluminum wire third at BD12m.

Re-exports jumps 25pcThe total value of re-exports

increased 25pc to reach BD74m during October 2019, compared to BD59m for the same month

of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 93pc of the re-exported value, while the remaining countries accounted for the 7pc.

UAE ranked first with BD34m, Saudi Arabia second with BD20m, and China third with BD4m. Agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product re-exported from Bahrain with BD14m, four-wheel-drive cars came in second place with BD11m, and Gold in-gots came third with BD9m.

Oil minister opens Tatweer’s 3 Megawatt solar energy plant TDT | Manama

Tatweer Petroleum’s 3 Meg-awatt Solar Power Plant

was inaugurated by Shaikh Mo-hamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the Minister of Oil, on Tuesday, in Sakhir.

The new plant is expected to generate more than 5400MWh per year.

The power generated by the plant is also equivalent to the en-ergy consumed by 300 Bahraini homes, bringing the company’s use of renewable energy to 6 per cent.

Inaugurating the project, the minister said Bahrain is commit-ted to developing programmes and plans to protect the envi-ronment in various vital sectors in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change.

“This plant is a distinct and ambitious step to reduce the use of natural gas to gener-ate electricity,” the minister said.

The project a lso forms

part of Tatweer’s contribu-tion to the Kingdom’s goal of 5 per cent renewable ener-gy by 2025 in line with vision 2030.

The opening ceremony was

held in the presence of Dr Ab-dulhussain Mirza, President of the Sustainable Energy Au-thority, executive management members of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA), the

Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) and subsidiary companies and other energy-re-lated companies.

It is worth mentioning that the Tatweer Petroleum company

established a solar power plant in February 2016 with an esti-mated capacity of 1 MW to meet the total energy requirements of the company’s headquarters in the region.

In pictures, the inauguration of Tatweer Petroleum’s 3 Megawatt Solar Power Plant in Sakhir

GFH launches Britus Education Platform TDT | Manama

GFH Financial Group (GFH), yesterday announced the launch of Britus Edu-

cation, a K-12 education platform designed to take advantage of opportunities in the trillion-dollar global private education industry.

To mark the launch, GFH and Britus Ed-ucation are gearing up to host an education roundtable forum on the 2nd of December 2019.

Attended by regional and global industry experts and investors, the forum will be on the sidelines of the 26th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain.

GFH said it has already secured seed K-12 schools in the middle east for the platform, developed a robust deal pipeline and plans to conclude various acquisitions in the coming months with initial target assets of

USD200 million. In line with the strategy Britus Education

will employ, the forum will look at many key themes and opportunities related to delivering quality education, governments support and the private sector’s role.

Taking part on the panels will be senior representatives from the Bahrain Economic Development Board, UNDP, Ministry of Ed-ucation of Bahrain, Ministry of Education of Oman, Education Quality Authority of Bahrain, among others.

Commenting on the launch, Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH Financial Group, said the Britus Education platform will help GFH to create a positive impact on the quality of education in the Middle East and globally.

Britus Education, Alrayes said, will focus on investing in performing schools that can be further improved through maximising student capacity, enhancing student aca-demic outcomes.

Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH Financial Group

Air India will have to close if not privatised: ministerReuters | New Delhi

India’s state-run airline will have to cease operations if it

is not privatised, the country’s junior minister for civil avia-tion said in parliament yester-day, in response to a lawmak-er’s question on the subject

A group of officials, in-cluding India’s home and fi-nance ministers, is finalising the process of inviting bids from the private sector for the loss-making national carrier.

The company has lucra-tive landing slots in India and across the world, but has been a burden on the exchequer for

years.Officials are still deliber-

ating over some details, said junior civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Once they are finalised, the government will invite bids, he said, add-ing that India is committed to selling the company.

An Air India Airbus A320neo plane takes off in Colomiers near Toulouse, France

US Q3 GDP growth revised higherReuters | Washington

US economic growth picked up slightly in the

third quarter, rather than slowing as initially report-ed, and there are signs the downturn in business in-vestment could be drawing to a close.

Gross domestic prod-uct increased at a 2.1 per cent annualised rate, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate of third-quarter GDP. That was up from the 1.9pc pace estimated last month. The economy grew at a 2.0pc pace in the April-June peri-od. Inventories increased at a $79.8 billion pace instead of the $69.0bn rate reported last month.

When measured from the income side, the economy grew at a 2.4pc rate in the last quarter. Gross domestic income (GDI) increased at a rate of 0.9pc in the second quarter.

12THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Tesla and Ford trade challenges in macho truck world• The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship

AFP | San Francisco

Tesla and Ford were in a vir-tual stare-down on Tuesday

in the macho truck world, each claiming their electric pick-up was strongest.

Dueling tough talk was ex-changed on Twitter after Tesla chief executive Elon Musk post-ed a video of a freshly-unveiled “Cybertruck” trouncing a Ford F-150 in a tug-of-war.

The video had logged nearly 13 million views at Twitter as of early Tuesday in California, and been “retweeted” more than 110,000 times.

In the clip, a wedge-shaped Cybertruck drags an F-150 up-hill, with smoke coming from the Ford’s rear wheels as it tries

to go downhill.“Better than a Ford F-150, fast-

er than a Porsche 911,” Musk claimed in an earlier tweet.

Ford Motor Company vice president Sunny Madra issued a challenge to Musk in response

to the video,“Hey @Elon, send us a Cyber-

truck and we will do the apples to apples test for you,” Madra tweeted.

“Bring it on,” Musk fired back.Musk’s boasts ignited online

debate, with Ford defenders arguing the F-150 was at a dis-advantage for reasons that in-cluded lacking a load to enhance rear-wheel drive traction and that the Cybertruck may have gotten a head-start.

Tesla’s new electric pick-up truck has secured almost

150,000 orders, Musk said on Twitter just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong.

T h e b i l l i o n a i r e Te s l a co-founder floundered on stage in California last week when the vehicle’s armored glass windows cracked in a demon-stration intended to prove their indestructible design.

The industrial-looking Cy-bertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation.

He said the entry-level mod-el will have a starting price of $39,900 and a 400-kilometer (250-mile) range, while a de-luxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for $69,900.

No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.

Elon Musk posted a video of the truck taking part in a tug of war with a Ford F-150, which showed the electric Cybertruck easily overpowering the Ford pickup.

After accusations that the competition was unfair, Musk has agreed to a re-match, saying he’ll aim to record a new video next week.

Cryptocurrency crime surges, losses hit $4.4bn by end-Sept

Reuters | New York

Cryptocurrency theft has surged in 2019 compared

with last year, with more mon-ey flowing through digital ex-changes and criminals look-ing to carry out bigger heists, according to a report from blockchain forensics company CipherTrace.

Losses from digital currency crime soared to $4.4 billion in the first nine months of the year, up more than 150 per cent from $1.7bn in all of 2018.

“The 150pc increase in cryp-to theft and fraud reflects how criminals are adapting for big-ger and better scores,” Dave Jevans, CipherTrace chief ex-ecutive officer, told Reuters.

“Criminals chase money and the money is right here and ripe for the taking. Lit-tle attacks are often easy to defend against, but targeted attacks are far more lucrative,” he added.

Cryptocurrencies have at-tracted intense regulatory scrutiny around the world, as developers and market par-ticipants in the space seek to push this asset class into the mainstream.

Two large thefts were the main drivers for the surge this year, CipherTrace said.

One of the frauds saw us-ers and customers lose $2.9bn from an alleged Ponzi scheme involving crypto wallet and exchange, PlusToken.

The other significant fraud this year was the $195 million that customers lost from Cana-

dian crypto exchange Quadri-gaCX following the unexpected of its 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten.

“Even without the two big-gest thefts and scams, we are still witnessing  many mul-ti-million dollar crimes,” Jev-ans said. “There is a relative-ly consistent increase in crim-inal activity year over year and we don’t expect that to change overnight.”

He added that crimes valued under $5m are often under-reported, as exchanges and police teams focus on the big-ger more existential threats to businesses.

CipherTrace reported that the sector saw just $15.5m in quarterly thefts and scams in the third quarter, the lowest in two years.

Jevans said that while the industry may be seeing few-er reported attacks, criminals were still making out with “bigger wheelbarrows of cash.”

CipherTrace had previously noted that the type of crime in the crypto sector had shift-ed from outright thefts to exit scams and other frauds per-petrated by insiders, which showed exchanges have be-come tougher for criminals to hack.

“Today’s attackers are pa-tient and willing to spend more time waiting for a payout,” said Jevans. “Not only have we seen more and more $100m thefts and scams, those responsible are acting carefully, only cash-ing out small amounts to stay under the radar.”

The exchange rates and logos of Bitcoin (BTH), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are seen on the display of a cryptocurrency ATM of blockchain payment service provider Vaerdex at the headquarters of Swiss Falcon Private Bank in Zurich

Batelco hosts digital transformation workshop

TDT | Manama

Batelco held a digital trans-formation workshop for

enterprise customers at Jumei-rah Royal Saray on Monday and Tuesday, in collaboration with Bin Hindi Informatics,

the Kingdom’s official Samsung agent.

Batelco invited business cus-tomers to the event allowing them to experience and learn more about Samsung’s new solutions and devices, including Samsung KNOX, Scandit Solu-tion and Signature Solution.

Commenting, General Man-ager Enterprise Division, Ab-derrahmane Mounir said, “As the Bahrain economy embraces the changes brought about by digitalization, businesses need to reinvent themselves to stay competitive.”

Bin Hindi Director, Abdulaziz Bin Hindi who was in attend-ance commented, “This event has highlighted the new Sam-sung Knox system that serves the needs of organisations with-out compromising the privacy of their employees.”

Attendees at one of the product demo stands A presentation of Samsung products for the Business customers

DIB supports Dubai market• Financials biggest drag on Saudi

• DIB gains on shareholders meeting

• Egypt extends losses for eighth-day

Reuters

Most Gulf stock markets extended the previous session’s losses yester-

day following a rebalancing of MSCI’s benchmark emerging market index, but gains in Du-bai Islamic Bank helped Dubai rebound.

Global index provider MSCI on Tuesday completed an in-crease in the weighting of main-land Chinese stocks, or A shares, in its widely followed emerging markets benchmark. Most Gulf stock indexes slipped into neg-ative territory after that as pas-sive investors withdrew funds from the region, which now accounts for a smaller portion

of the index. The benchmark Saudi index

led the losses and declined by a further 0.3 per cent yesterday with financials leading the way. Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi British Bank were down 1pc and 3.4pc respectively.

The index rallied for five days last week, triggered by a lending boom as small investors sought funds to invest in Saudi Aram-co’s public listing.

Dubai’s index closed up 0.2pc

with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) gaining 1.7pc, a day after it called a shareholders meeting on Dec. 17 to approve the acquisition of Noor Bank.

The sharia-compliant lend-er’s unit Dubai Islamic Insur-ance and Reinsurance rose 4.6pc, while Emaar Properties was up 1.2pc.

The Abu Dhabi index edged down 0.1pc with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank dropping 1pc and telecoms firm Emirates

Telecommunications slipping 0.4pc.

The index found some sup-port from First Abu Dhabi Bank and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah which closed 0.1pc and 3.3pc higher respectively.

The Qatari index lost 0.2pc with Qatar International Islam-ic Bank down 5.3pc in its biggest fall since March and Mesaieed Petrochemical down 0.8pc.

Egypt’s blue-chip index eased 0.2pc, stretching a losing streak to an eighth consecutive ses-sion, led by a 2.7pc slide in EFG Hermes and a 2.5pc fall in El Sewedy Electric.

Closing Bell SAUDI 0.4pc to 7,853 pts

ABU DHABI 0.1pc to 5,044 pts

DUBAI 0.2pc to 2,712 pts

QATAR 0.2pc to 10,171 pts

EGYPT 0.2pc to 13,760 pts

BAHRAIN 0.1pc to 1,519 pts

OMAN 0.5pc to 4,064 pts

KUWAIT 1.2pc to 6,450 pts

Traders on the floor of Saudi Stock market (Courtesy of Amazons)

The Shed: a violent tale of bullying and vampires‘The Shed’ delivers an innovative spin on the standard monster narrative by treating the creature like an extension of its characters’ aggression

Though this small-budget indie presents a famil-iar horror trope for the

vampire genre, it’s satisfyingly different because it’s more con-cerned with how the trauma-tized people act when facing danger rather than just telling about the vampire’s urge to kill.

Writer-director Frank Sabatel-la (“Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet”) makes the most of his gory tale by keeping it sim-ple, bloody and well-executed, that is until it shifts gears and goes from a character story into the usual formulaic teen horror film of traditional genre scares.

The unhappy teenager or-phan Stan (Jay Jay Warren) lives with his abusive grandfather Ellis (Timothy Bottoms) in the country, in a small town. Both Stan and his best friend Dommer (Cody Kostro) are bullied at high school and have no recourse but to accept their dire situation.

The film opens showing a frightened old man named Bane (Frank Whaley) being chased

through the woods late at night by some unseen entity. Soon a shadowy figure appears behind him and without pause the mys-terious creature sinks his teeth into the man’s neck, vampire style, before disintegrating as the sun rises. Bane recovers and seeks shelter in a tool shed at the edge of the woods, which belongs to Stan’s grandfather. When he’s inside the tool shed, he transforms from a man into a monster and screams from the shock.

That morning Stan heads to school on his bike. Along the way, a car full of bullies run him into the truck of Sheriff Dor-ney (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) and Deputy Haiser (Mu-Shaka Ben-son). While Dorney feels sorry for the abused boy, her deputy could care less about his plight.

At school, the ringleader of the bullies, Marble (Chris Pet-rovsky), continues to bully both Stan and Dommer without being stopped by any teacher, with Dommer getting the brunt of

the bullying. Stan also feels lousy because the girl he’s sweet on, Roxy (Sofia Happonen), has turned away from him and now hangs with Marble and his ruf-fians.

Back home after school, Stan goes to the tool shed to get ready to mow. Then he’s attacked by the vampire Bane. The kid es-capes and tries to get his dog Ike to get the attacker out of the shed, not realizing he’s dealing

with a vampire and not some drifter. Grandpa Ellis goes into the shed to confront the intruder and never comes out alive.

When Dommer learns about Stan’s mysterious intruder be-ing a monster, he schemes to weaponize it’ to get revenge on the bullies.

The vampire remains unseen in the chained shed, as the boys try to figure things out. The sto-ry builds on how traumatized

the boys are about being bullied and are now possibly capable of acting like monsters themselves to get revenge.

This splendid way the film has of relating the boys’ cru-el everyday life with a vampire tale, suddenly goes in a differ-ent direction in the third act. Unfortunately the filmmaker makes a poor choice and it turns its back on being a meaningful psychological character study

to become a predictable, violent, traditional horror film. Its trans-formation doesn’t get the scares it seeks to sate the horror film crowd, as it turns prosaic and a by-the-numbers product. The botched climax took away much of the earlier achievements of trying to intelligently say some-thing of value about the social concerns of the modern-day teens and left it as just another disposable horror film.

LE MANS ‘66 (PG-13)(DRAMA/SPORT/BIOGRAPHY) OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 2.45 + 8.30 PMCITY CENTRE:12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 + 12.00 MN + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D) :11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE VIP (I) :11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL: 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PM

MATT DAMON, CHRISTIAN BALE, JON BERNTHAL

KNIVES OUT (PG-15)(CRIME/COMEDY/THRILLER) OASIS JUFFAIR: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 12.00 + 5.45+ 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE VIP (II) :12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I): 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL:12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM

DANIEL CRAIG, CHRIS EVANS, ANA DE ARMAS

COMMANDO 3 (15+)(HINDI/ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA)OASIS JUFFAIR: 8.15 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I): 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM

VIDYUT JAMMWAL, ADAH SHARMA, ANGIRA DHAR

MERCY BLACK (15+)(HORROR/THRILLER) CITY CENTRE:11.15 AM + 3.30 + 7.45 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): 1.30 + 5.45 + 10.00 PMWADI AL SAIL:8.00 + 10.00 + 12.00 MN

DANIELLA PINEDA, AUSTIN AMELIO, ELLE LAMONT

#JOWABLE (18+)(FILIPINO/COMEDY/DRAMA)SEEF (II): 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM

KIM MOLINA, CAI CORTEZ, CHAD KINIS

ENTA HABIBI W BAS (PG-15)(ARABIC/COMEDY/MUSIC) CITY CENTRE: 1.15 + 5.30 + 9.45 PMSEEF (II):11.15 AM + 3.30 + 7.45 + 12.00 MN

AHMAD EL BADRI, MAHMOOD ELLAITTY, BOUSY

MARNIE’S WORLD (SPY CAT) (PG)SEEF (II): 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 + 4.45 PM

ERIK BORNER, ALEXANDRA NELDEL, AXEL PRAHL

FROZEN 2 (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) مم OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA):10.45 AM + 1.00 + 3.15 + 5.30 + 7.45 + 10.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (ATMOS): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (3D): 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 12.30 + 1.45 + 2.45 + 4.00 + 5.00 + 6.15 + 7.15 + 8.30 + 9.30 + 10.45 + 11.45 PM CITY CENTRE (3D): 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II):11.00 AM + 12.00 + 1.15 + 2.15 + 3.30 + 4.30 + 5.45 + 6.45 + 8.00 + 9.00 + 10.15 + 11.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 11.00 AM + 12.00 + 1.15 + 2.15 + 3.30 + 4.30 + 5.45 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM

KRISTEN BELL, IDINA MENZEL, JOSH GAD

21 BRIDGES (PG-15)(CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER) CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL:1.45 + 6.45 + 11.45 PM

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, SIENNA MILLER, STEPHAN JAMES

JOKER (15+)(THRILLER/CRIME/DRAMA) مممممم CITY CENTRE: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II):1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PM

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, ZAZIE BEETZ, ROBERT DE NIRO

MALEFICENT 2: MISTRESS OF EVIL (PG)CITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 2.30 + 5.00 + 7.30 + 10.00 PM

ANGELINA JOLIE, TERESA MAHONEY, MICHELLE PFEIFFER

MIRACLE IN CELL NO . 7 (PG-15)(TURKISH/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 1.45 + 6.45 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II): 1.15 + 6.30 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL:11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PM

ARAS BULUT İYNEMLİ, NİSA SOFİYA AKSONGUR, İLKER AKSUM

CHARLIE’S ANGELS (PG-15)(ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY)CITY CENTRE:11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II): 10.45 AM + 4.00 + 9.15 PM

KRISTEN STEWART, NAOMI SCOTT, ELLA BALINSKA

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (PG-15)م CITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II) :6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN

LINDA HAMILTON, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, MACKENZIE DAVIS

10 MINUTES GONE (PG-15)(ACTION/CRIME) 10 ممم ممممم CITY CENTRE:11.30 AM + 4.30 + 9.30 PM

MICHAEL CHIKLIS, BRUCE WILLIS, MEADOW WILLIAMS

GEMINI MAN (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 2.30 + 7.00 + 11.30 PM

WILL SMITH, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, CLIVE OWEN

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (PG)(ANIMATION/COMEDY) ممممم مم CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 5.00 + 9.30 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 PM

OSCAR ISAAC, CHARLIZE THERON, CHLOË GRACE MORETZ

PAGALPANTI (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/ACTION) مممممم OASIS JUFFAIR :11.30 AM + 5.15 + 11.00 PM

JOHN ABRAHAM, ANIL KAPOOR, KRITI KHARBANDA

KHAYAL MAATA (PG)(COMEDY/DRAMA) مممم مممم CITY CENTRE: 10.45 AM + 3.45 + 8.45 PM

AHMAD HELMY, MINNA SHALABI, HASSAN HOSNEY

BALA (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANTIC) OASIS JUFFAIR : 2.30 + 8.15 PM

AYUSHMANN KHURRANA, BHUMI PEDNEKAR, YAMI GAUTAM

CANGEL HAS FALLEN (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE :1.15 + 6.15 + 11.15 PM

GERARD BUTLER, MORGAN FREEMAN, JADA PINKETT SMITH

PLAYING WITH FIRE (PG)(ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY) CITY CENTRE:11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM

JOHN CENA, KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY, JOHN LEGUIZAMO

JACK & DANIEL (PG-15)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR : 2.30 + 8.30 PM

DILEEP, ARJUN SARJA, ANJU KURIAN

HELEN (PG-13) (MALAYALAM)OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL:3.00 + 8.30 PMAL HAMRA: 6.00 + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

ANNA BEN, LAL, AJU VARGHESE, NOBLE THOMAS

UNDER WORLD (PG-15)(MALAYALAM)SEEF (I): 11.15 AM + 5.15 + 11.15 PMASIF ALI, FARHAAN FAAZIL

HAPPY SARDAR (PG-13)(MALAYALAM)

OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.30 AM + 5.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMAL HAMRA: 12.00 NOON

KALIDAS JAYARAM, SIDDHI MAHAJANKATTI, JAVED JAFFREY

ENAI NOKI PAAYUM THOTA (PG-15)(TAMIL)From Friday 29th OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I): 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL: 12.00 + 5.30 + 11.00 PMAL HAMRA: 3.00 + 9.00 PM

DHANUSH, MEGHA AKASH, SUNAINA

ARJUN SURAVARAM (PG-15)(TELUGU) From Friday 29th SEEF (I): 2.15 + 8.15 PM

NIKHIL SIDDHARTH, LAVANYA TRIPATHI, VENNELA KISHORE

13 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

M O V I E R E V I E W

A scene from ‘The Shed’

DON’T MISS IT

‘The Shed’ offers a different version of the vampire mythos – one

that is deeply rooted in fears and concerns of today and has a valua-

ble lesson

14 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Selena Gomez: I’m proud of my powerful 2019Los Angeles

Singer-actress Selena Gomez says she is proud of her “really pow-erful” 2019.

In an interview to InStyle, Gomez looked back at the events of 2019,

reports etonline.com.“I think every time the hol-idays come up, there’s some

part of you where you kind of sit and reflect on the

year. This year was really, really pow-

erful for me. I can say that I’m so

proud of how hard I worked,” she said.

Gomez added that, for the holi-

days, she is “excited to just sit back with my family, and enjoy, and

turn off everything”.“I always just think about

what happened, and where I want to go in life, and hope for the best,” she said about her usual holiday plans.

Gomez has launched “Lose you to love me” and “Look at her how” this year. She also recently per-formed the songs to kick off the 2019 American Music Awards on Sunday, marking her first live TV performance in two years. She is also working on her album “SG2”, which is set to drop on January 10, 2020.

Is Salman Khan earning Rs 8cr per episode for Bigg Boss 13?Mumbai

With the popular reality TV show “Bigg Boss

13” getting an extension, superstar and host Salman Khan has also reportedly got a pay hike. Uncomnfirmed reports state he will be get-ting Rs 8.5 crore per episode, which marks a hike of Rs 2 crore from what he was ear-lier taking home.

Several reports claim that the Salman was getting Rs 6.5 crore per episode earlier, and a two-crore hike per episode would mean the Bollywood superstar will be taking home over Rs 200 crore for the en-tire season.

“Bigg Boss 1 3 ” w a s originally set to con-clude in Jan-uary. It is be-ing reported that the show has been extended by another five weeks, and the finale will now be aired in February.

According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, Colors channel, which airs the show, and “Bigg Boss” producers Endemol, agreed to pay Sal-man an extra two-crore per episode to have him continue as host.

“Salman had made it very clear that he didn’t want to extend his stint on “Bigg Boss’’ owing to other film commitments such as the post-production of “Dabangg 3’’, and the shoot of “Radhe’’. However Colors lured him to stay on by adding the ze-roes on his paycheque,” said a source.

KBC finale to host Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha MurtyMumbai

Th e A m i t a b h Ba c h -chan-helmed “Kaun

Banega Crorepati” is known for welcoming achievers from all walks of life as con-testants. The latest female achiever to be a part of the show is none other than Sudha Murty. The Infosys Foundation Chairperson has graced the hot seat in the finale episode of this seasons KBC.

In the finale episode, Murty went down the mem-ory lane and recalled how

she had landed her first job in Telco, the o r g a n i s a -tion which

at that time did not hire female em-ployees.

“It was March 1974, I was in my MTech final year when I came across a notice which stated - Telco requires bright, young engineers at a salary of Rs 1,500. This was big money at that time. But that notice followed with a line that said lady students need not apply. I was agi-tated! I took a postcard ad-dressed it to Mr. JRD Tata, TELCO, Mumbai and mailed it,” Murty recalled, on the Sony TV quiz show.

After writing a letter to JRD Tata asking for women engineers to be accepted in Telco, Murty was sum-moned for a job interview in Pune. That’s how she be-came the first woman engi-neer to work in TELCO.

Priyanka Chopra surprises Nick with a pup

New York

Actress Priyanka Ch opra sur-prised her hus-

band and pop star Nick Jonas with a German shepherd puppy as an early anniversary gift.

On Tuesday, Nick took to Instagram to post a video of the surprising moment, and to in-troduce the new member of their family -- Gino the German.

In the video, Priyanka, 37, is seen waking up Nick saying “good morning” as she puts Gino on the bed.

“Who’s that?” she says to the pup as he excitedly paws at Nick. “What? What?” a confused Nick is seen saying in the video.

“Pri came home with the absolute best surprise this morning,” Nick wrote in an Instagram post as he introduced the pup.

He also posted the video and some photographs with him.

“Please meet our new pup @ginothegerman. I haven’t stopped smiling since I woke up this morning and finally realised what was going on,” Nick added.

“Ur face..hilarious,” Priyanka commented.She also reposted the video on her own Instagram

account, adding, “So much cute in the same frame. Happy almost anniversary baby.”

Priyanka also shared a photograph of her hus-band and the pup.

Jameela Jamil recalls how she almost died because of Ted DansonLos Angeles

Actress Jameela Jamil almost lost her life while trying to keep up with energetic “The Good Place” co-star Ted Danson, she

has said.The 33-year-old could not keep pace with the

“Cheers” star on set and says working with him often left her exhausted, reports aceshowbiz.com.

“A doctor once told me I’m clinically weak, which isn’t a condition, it’s just sad,” she said during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday, November 25.

“Ted noticed that I was fatigued and yet was run-ning circles around me - and he’s 40 years older than

me. I started trying to jog because of him, and the first time I tried, I almost died!”Jamil said she ran into a beehive hanging

from a tree and then into traffic, trying to escape the bees.

“That is my natural instinct, to run into six lanes of traffic,” she said.

Jamil added: “I run in, a car hits me. Yeah, I get knocked over by a car. I’’ve just started filming “The Good Place’’, by the way. But the car’s, thankfully, slowing down because it sees a woman covered in a perm of bees, so they hit me while slowing down.”

Scarlet Johanson gets candid on

controversial statement on Woodie Allen

Los Angeles

American actor Scarlet Johansson who has recently

received backlash for her contro-versial statement on the American actor and director Woody Allen, got candid in an interview.

The 35-year-old actor has recently received backlash for her controversial statements, During an Interview, Johansson addressed the criticism she’s received over her eyebrow-rais-ing comments, stating that she doesn’t want to “edit” herself when it comes to sharing her feelings, reported Vanity Fair, as cited by E!Online.

While getting candid, during the interview Johansson said, “I’m not a politician, and I can’t lie about the way I feel about things”.

The actor told the outlet, “I don’t have that. It’s just not a part of my personality. I don’t want to have to edit myself or temper what I think or say. I can’t live that way. It’s just not me.”

The ‘Iron Man 2’ actor said, “And also I think that when you have that kind of integrity, it’s go-

ing to probably rub people, some people, the wrong way, And that’s

kind of par for the course, I guess.”

Brad Pitt spends time with Alia Shawkat, source

says ‘they are friends’

Los Angeles

It seems that Brad Pitt is trying to move on in his life after separa-tion from wife Angelina Jolie.

Lately, the actor has been spending time with Alia Shawkat, as the duo were photographed at Kanye West’s Nebuchadnezzar opera at the Hollywood Bowl. Prior to attending

West’s con-cert togeth-er, the pair were seen visiting the

Wilding Cran Gallery in Los

Angeles.But as a source

told People magazine in this week’s issue, that the 55-year-old singer is “very much about keeping friends as friends.”

“He just loves surround-ing himself with good friends,” the source said.

“Brad loves the art world,” the insider added. “He has a large group of art-ist friends that he hangs out with. Several are women, but he isn’t dating them.”

Sudha Murty

Los Angeles

It seems that actor and model Jessica Biel does not want to pay heed to any reports about her

husband Justin Timberlake who was spotted outing with co-workers.The 27-year-old star stepped out on Monday

afternoon for some work in Los Angeles. While leaving a building in the area, the star flashed

the cameras a smile and walked to her waiting Tesla with a look of ease, reported E-News.

The star was spotted in a plain white long sleeve tee, black belted pants and a pair of

fashionable tennis shoes. She also carried a

chic black purse.Biel’s calm appearance isn’t all that sur-

prising considering a source previously told E-News the couple is “going to move

on from this.”“Their marriage will survive. He feels

guilty and will make it up to her,” a source shared.

“[Jessica] is very good to him and he knows how lucky he is. He

says it was not a big deal, they were all hanging out to-

gether and that’s the end of the

story.”

Jessica Biel calm amid Justin Timberlake’s drama with co-star Alisha Wainwright

Nick Jonas

Salman Khan

Selena Gomez

Brad Pitt

15

sports

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship set for exciting third round at BIKC on Saturday

TDT | Manama

Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) takes centre stage once

again this Saturday with the hosting of the third round of the 2019/2020 Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC).

The meeting follows on the first two action-packed rounds of the season held in October and earlier this month.

Many of the Kingdom of Bah-rain’s top motor racing talents are set to resume their battles in the two highly competitive series under the BKSC umbrella. These are the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC) for Rotax kart owners and the Bahrain Sprint Sodi World Se-ries (BSSWS), which is the pre-mier arrive-and-drive karting championship in the region.

Each series offers its own test of speed and driver ability, as competitors go head to head for podium places, points and all-important bragging rights.

Action will be held along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre Commis-sion International de Karting track from 9.40am until around 4pm. All are welcome to at-tend. Entrance to BIKC is free of charge.

The BRMMC will see drivers going wheel to wheel in five

classes, including the Micro Max, Mini Max, Junior Max, Senior Max and Max Master.

Heading into Round Three, Gracie Rose Grantham leads the Micro Max category, Shanthosh Kumar is ahead if the Mini Max class, Lewis Smith tops the Jun-ior Max class, Mohammed Mat-tar and Fahad Al Khaled share first place in the Senior Max standings, and Osama Azzouka leads the Max Master category.

Qualifying Practice for the Micro Max and Mini Max gets the racing underway at 9.40am. They will then hold their Pre-Final over seven laps at 10.30am, setting the stage for their nine-lap Final at 12.20pm.

For the Junior Max class, Qualifying Practice begins at 9.52am and then the Pre-Final will be at 10.47am over 11 laps. Their 15-lap Final will be held at 12.55pm.

The Senior Max and Max Master classes will kick off their battles at 10.04am with Qualifying Practice. The 11-lap Pre-Final will then take place at 11.12am ahead of their 15-lap Final race at 1.30pm.

The BRMMC podium ceremo-nies will follow all the action at around 2.30pm.

For the SSWS, another full grid of participants is expected to join, with Ali Baslar looking to claim a third successive victory

after taking the first two rounds. Following the kart draw at

12.30pm, BSSWS Qualifying begins at 2.30pm. The 11-lap Pre-Final will then be held at 2.55pm, leading up to the 15-lap Final at 3.30pm.

The BSSWS podium will be held around 4.30pm.

The 2019/2020 BKSC features seven rounds in all. Saturday’s third round is the last of the cal-endar year. Round Four will kick off 2020 on January 11, and then Round Five is set for February 8. The sixth and penultimate meeting of the season will then be held on March 7, leading up to the championship-finale on April 4.

Karting sprints set for third round

Participants on track during a karting race (file photo)

Packed seven-race card set for REHC on FridayTDT | Manama

Port Lions, Starboy and Mush-taq are all with chance in the

main race tomorrow at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club in Riffa

The seventh event on the day’s race card is for the Bah-rain Petroleum Company (Bap-co) Cup. It will be held over a distance of 1,400 metres and it carries a cash prize of BD6,000.

A total of 12 horses are entered in the race, which is scheduled for a 4.30pm start.

Port Lions is owned by Vic-torious, trained by Hesham Al Haddad and will be ridden by Paddy Mathers. Starboy is owned by Al Afoo Racing Stable, trained by Mohammed Saeed and will be ridden by Lee New-man. Mushtaq is owned by Al Asayel Racing, trained by Khalid Hilal and is to be ridden by An-drew Elliott.

The other horses are Ex-cuse to Linger, Fujaira Bridge, Masarzain, Northern Thunder,

Raj to Riches, San Dimas, Sir Viktor, Solar Flair and Wakame.

Six other races are to be held from 2pm, with the first race for the Bahrain Olympic Committee Cup and the five others for a Bapco Cup.

Race one is over 1,400m and

carries a prize of BD5,000. There are six horses in the race. The second race is over 1,600m with a BD2,000 prize. Twelve horses are entered.

Race three is over 2,000m with a BD3,000 prize and 10 horses. Race four is over a

1,000m straight with a prize of BD3,000 and 11 entered horses.

Race five over 1,200m will see nine horses competing for a share of the BD3,000 prize; while race six over 1,400m with a prize of BD3,000 is with 11 horses.

A file photo from a previous meeting

Tottenham win on Mourinho home debut

AFP | Paris

Tottenham Hotspur came from two goals down to

beat Olympiakos 4-2 and qual-ify for the Champions League last 16 on Jose Mourinho’s home debut, while Robert Lewandowski continued his incredible season by scoring four times for Bayern Munich.

Spurs were one of three teams to secure their place in the knockout phase with one game to spare as Manches-ter City and Real Madrid also made it to the last 16.

However, it looked like it might not be Tottenham’s night as they went 2-0 down inside 19 minutes in north London with a Youssef El Ara-bi strike followed by a Ruben Semedo tap-in for Olympiakos.

Mourinho, though, had been unbeaten in his first home game in charge of each of the seven previous clubs he had coached, including in each of his two spells at Chelsea.

Dele Alli pulled one back for Spurs just before the interval, and Lucas Moura set up Harry Kane to equalise five minutes after the break.

Kane scores braceA thumping Serge Aurier

strike completed the turna-round on 73 minutes before Kane headed in Christian

Eriksen’s free-kick to become, on his 24th appearance, the quickest player to 20 goals in Champions League history.

“The boys gave everything, the feeling is good and we have difficult matches to come. We can look to the Bayern Mu-nich game with different eyes,” Mourinho told BT Sport.

Tottenham will finish sec-ond in Group B behind their final-day opponents Bayern, who made it five wins from five in Europe this season as Lewandowski’s quadruple helped them to a 6-0 win at Red Star Belgrade.

Lewandowski scored four goals in the space of 16 sec-ond-half minutes, the first of them a penalty, in between goals by Leon Goretzka and Corentin Tolisso.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City got the point they need-ed to progress from Group C, drawing 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk. On a subdued oc-casion, Ilkay Gundogan got a 56th-minute opener, but Man-or Solomon levelled for the Ukrainians.

“The group stage is always tricky but the target was to qualify and we have done it,” Guardiola said.

City will finish top of the group while Shakhtar will join them by winning their final game against Atalanta.

Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (R) heads the ball with Red Star Belgrade’s Serbian forward Aleksa Vukanovic

Atletico’s Felix wins 2019 Golden Boy awardReuters | Madrid

Atletico Madrid forward Joao Fel ix has been

awarded the 2019 Golden Boy gong after a stellar year where he became one of the most expensive players of all time, Italian sports newspa-per Tuttosport announced on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old received 332 votes to beat Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho (175 votes) and Bay-er Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz (75 votes) to pick up the award that recognises play-ers under the age of 21.

Felix, who moved from Benfica for 126 million eu-ros ($138.88 million) in the close season, is the fourth most expensive signing of all time after Neymar (222 million euros), Kylian Mbappe and P h i l i p p e Coutinho.

“Thanks to Tuttosport for the Golden Boy Award 2019, I am very proud,” Felix said in a statement. “Thanks also to Benfica, in particular to coach Bruno Lage for all he has done for me and my family that is always close to me.”

Felix became the young-est player to score a Europa League hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Eintracht Frank-furt last season and helped the Lisbon side win the Por-tuguese league title with 15 goals and seven assists in 21 starts.

At Atletico, he has been billed as the replacement

for Antoine Griezmann, who made the switch to rivals Barcelona, and

he has three goals and one assist in all

competi-t i o n s

s o far.

Joao Felix

Bahrain, Oman settle for drawBahrain kick off Arabian Gulf Cup with a goalless stalemate against Oman

TDT | Manama

Bahrain and Oman played to a goalless draw last night as they opened their

campaign in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

The Bahrainis had multiple chances to score in the hotly contested affair, but they were unable to find the finishing touches in what was a winnable game against the tournament’s defending champions.

The stalemate gave both Bah-rain and Oman a share of the points in Group B.

In last night’s other divisional fixture, Kuwait defeated Saudi Arabia 3-1 to go top of the group table.

Bahrain’s draw marked the national team’s third straight international match where they were unable to score. Prior to the Gulf Cup, they had two goal-

less draws away from home, first against Hong Kong and then fac-ing Iraq. Yesterday’s clash was also their third successive clean sheet.

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa began the match with a starting 11 that featured Sayed Shubar Alawi between the posts; Sayed Redha Isa, Sayed Baqer, Ahmed Nabeel, Rashed Al Hooti and Ali Haram in defence; Jasim Al Shaikh, Ali Madan, Kumail Alaswad and Mahdi Al Hu-maidan in midfield; and Mo-hammed Al Rumaihi as the lone striker.

In the 38th minute Al Rumai-hi had Bahrain’s one and only chance on target in the first half, but his turning left-footed shot went straight to Omani goal-keeper Faiz Al Rushaidi.

Oman also had a crack at goal on the stroke of half-time, but the attempt of Ali Al Busaidi was calmly collected by Alawi.

Bahrain had majority of pos-session in the opening 45 min-utes but had only Al Rumaihi’s chance to show for it.

Late in the second half, Alas-wad had likely Bahrain’s best chance of the night. In the 73rd minute, he was right in front of goal but his shot from close range was stunningly parried by Al Rumaihi.

The Omanis also had late chances in the final five minutes of regular time through Mohsin Al Khaldi, Saad Al Mukhaini and Al Mandhar Al Alawi, but

Alawi proved to be up to the task each time.

One of Bahrain’s final shots of the game was in the third minute of second-half stoppage time when Mohammed Marhoon’s low attempt was on target but punched away by Al Rushaidi.

Following the tie, Sousa said in his post-match Press conference that it was an excellent match for his team to gain experience and continue their development.

He pointed out that his play-ers had many chances to score, especially in the last 15 minutes,

but they were unable to translate those opportunities into goals.

Sousa also praised Oman and their players for the effort they put in.

On Bahrain’s next Group B fixtures, Sousa said that his team will once again be ready to go for wins and that he expects to bring some changes to his line-up.

16THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019

ResultOman 0 0 Bahrain

Saudi Arabia 1 3 KuwaitF Albirakan 90+6’ A Al Dhaferi 43’

S Al Sanea 45+1’

M Al Faneni 90’

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Chairman & Managing Director P Unnikrishnan Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Subscription & circulation: Tel: 38444698/17579877 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Bahrain’s Al Shaikh is challenged by a trio of Omani playersBahrain’s Humaidan looks to pass to a teammate against Oman yesterday

Bahrain’s Al Rumaihi looks to attack for Bahrain

Al Suwailem helps Saudi hand Bahrain first loss in GBA basketballTDT | Manama

Bahrain were dealt their first loss of the Gulf Basketball

Association (GBA) Men’s Nation-al Teams Championship 2019 last night in Kuwait, falling to Saudi Arabia 70-77 in their pe-nultimate preliminary round game.

The Bahrainis battled hard throughout the contest and took the lead with just over two min-utes to go on a basket by Mu-zamel Ameer. But Saudi big man Mohammed Al Suwailem lived up to his seven-foot stature and made a couple of crucial baskets down the stretch that broke a 69-all deadlock and later iced the win for the Saudis.

The result gave Bahrain their first defeat to go with two vic-tories, while Saudi wrapped up their campaign in the prelim-inaries with three wins and a single loss.

Despite the setback, the Bah-rainis stayed on track to make it through to the semi-finals. They have one game remaining in this round. It will be today against hosts Kuwait at 7pm, and it will

determine their seeding heading into the final four. The Saudis are also assured of a semis spot.

Bahrain had just three play-ers score in double figures yes-terday. Naturalised centre CJ Giles had 14 points and 14 re-bounds while Ahmed Salman

contributed 13 off the bench. Subah Hussain added 11, while Mohammed Ameer had nine points, and Mohammed Buallay and Muzamel Ameer finished with seven apiece.

Bader Abdulla Malabes scored four points, Hesham Sarhan had

three and Ahmed Aziz finished with two to round out the na-tional team’s scorers.

Al Suwailem had 21 points and 15 rebounds to spearhead the Saudis. Marzouq Almuwallad added 18 while Khalid Abdel Gabar had 16, including three three-pointers. Mohammed Al-sager scored 10 points for the Saudis as a substitute.

The game was tight through-out and Saudi had a slim 15-14 lead at the end of the first quar-

ter. The Bahrainis came alive in second and took a 39-35 lead at the half, but in a see-saw third period, lost their advantage and Saudi went ahead 58-54 heading into the fourth.

Saudi appeared to be running away with the win as they took a 67-60 lead, but Bahrain put together eight straight points capped by a Muzamel Ameer lay-up to go in front. That set the stage, however, for Al Su-wailem’s heroics.

He first gave the Saudis a 71-69 lead with a jumper then later had an offensive rebound and put-back with 27 seconds left to make it 75-70.

Today will be the end of the tournament’s preliminary round. One team will be elimi-nated while the top four move on to the knockout semis. In the final four, scheduled for Satur-day, the top-ranked squad take on the fourth seeds, while team number two battle team number three.

The gold and bronze medal games will then take place on the championship’s final day on Sunday.

Bahrain’s Hussain is defended by Saudi’s Abdel Gabar as he tries to drive to the basket

Bahrain’s Malabes is closely guarded by Saudi’s Almuwallad in their loss last night

India wicketkeeper Saha undergoes finger surgeryReuters | Mumbai

India’s test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha has

had surgery on his finger after suffering a fracture during the day-night match against Bangladesh in Kol-kata, the country’s cricket board (BCCI) said.

Saha fractured his right ring finger during India’s inaugural pink ball test at Eden Gardens, which the hosts won by an innings and 46 runs to win the two-test series 2-0.

“The BCCI medical team consulted a hand and wrist specialist and it was sug-gested that Saha undergoes a surgical fixation of the fracture,” the board said in a statement.

“Subsequently, he under-went a successful surgery in Mumbai on Tuesday and will soon commence his re-habilitation at the National Cricket Academy, Bengalu-ru.”