New protest call - KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN...2019/09/06 · President Omar Bashir in April. The call for renewed action came after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met sep-arately

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‘Bangladesh national planned Times Square attack’5WORLD

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Rihanna named world’s richest female musician by ForbesSinger Rihanna has been named as the “World’s Rich-est Female Musician” by the Forbes magazine with an estimated fortune of $600 million with the bulk of that coming from her Fenty beauty range. P14

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Rewarding Iran’s hostage-taking puts others at risk

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TRA renews frequency licences of Batelco, ZainTDT | Manama

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has awarded Batel-

co and Zain a 10-year extension to their mobile frequency li-cences in the Kingdom.

The extension follows the expiration of their 15-year term awarded in conjunction with the Telecommunications Law and the liberalisation of the Mo-bile Market in 2002.

In a statement issued yester-day, the TRA said: “The renewed licences in combination with other plans will allow Batelco and Zain to sustain and enhance their wireless services provided to their customers.”

“The extension also reflects the healthy and competitive en-vironment created by the TRA’s regulatory framework over the past 17 years,” said Acting General Director of TRA, Shai-kh Nasser Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

With the exponential growth of data traffic, it has become crucial for mobile operators to not only maintain their allocat-

ed spectrum but also increase their spectrum portfolios to avoid service degradation.

Through such initiatives, the authority reiterates its commit-ment to encourage the adoption, deployment, and optimisation of the latest technologies that support the growth of the mar-ket and delivery of world-class services to consumers and to ensure that broadband services

of high quality and competitive prices are available to all local stakeholders, the TRA pointed out.

Fees applicable for the addi-tional 10 year period were de-termined by consultancy firms engaged by the TRA. Exact fig-ures are not available.

There are 25 telecom licen-sees in the Kingdom holding 81 licences in the Kingdom.

From left, Batelco Chief Executive Officer Mikkel Vinter, Shaikh Nasser, Zain Bahrain General Manager Mohammed Zainalabedin after signing the extension deal.

The extension also reflects the healthy and

competitive environment created by the TRA’s

regulatory framework over the past 17 years.

SHAIKH NASSER

Abiy Ahmed, centre, arrives in Khartoum, to try and mediate between the ruling military and the country’s protest leaders.

New protest call Protesters call for a new campaign of civil disobedience

• The SPA said it accepted Ahmed as a mediator to resume negotiations with the military council.

• Saudi said that it was concerned about new violence in Sudan and urged a resumption of talks between military rulers and protesters.

Khartoum

Protesters in Sudan called for a new campaign of civil disobedience yester-

day in an effort to persuade the country’s military rulers to hand over power.

“The civil disobedience movement will begin on Sun-day and end only when a civilian government announces itself in

power on state television,” said the Sudanese Professionals As-sociation (SPA), the group that initiated protests that ousted President Omar Bashir in April.

The call for renewed action came after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met sep-arately with the ruling generals

and the protest leaders to revive talks that were almost dead after the dispersal of a sit-in outside the military’s headquarters on Monday.

The Sudan Doctors’ Central Committee, one of the protest groups, said at least 113 people had been killed and more than

500 wounded since Monday. It said more than 40 bodies

have been pulled from the Nile River in Khartoum and taken away by security forces since the violence erupted.

The SPA said it accepted Ahmed as a mediator to resume negotiations with the military council but had a set of condi-tions before returning to the negotiating table.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have raised concerns regarding the deteriorating situation in Sudan and urged all Sudanese parties to resume talks.

SUDAN CRISIS

40bodies have been pulled

from the Nile River in Khartoum since

violence erupted, says protest groups.

Iran rejects French idea of re-opening nuclear talks

• The United States has hit Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) with economic sanctions.

Tehran

Iran has rejected an idea mooted by France of re-opening nuclear talks,

warning that seeking to broad-en an existing landmark treaty could lead to its collapse.

President Emmanuel Ma-cron had said that his goal of “regional peace” would require new negotiations, adding that Paris aimed to rein in Iran’s nuclear and ballistics activities and its regional influence.

He made the comments at a press conference with US Pres-ident Donald Trump, who last year withdrew from the mul-ti-lateral agreement known as

the JCPOA.But Tehran’s Foreign Minis-

try Spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned Friday that “bringing up issues that are beyond the JCPOA does not help in sav-ing the JCPOA, but will instead cause increased distrust among the remaining parties” to the deal.

In another development, the United States hit Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) with eco-nomic sanctions due to its ties with the country’s Revolution-ary Guards (IRGC), the Treas-ury Department has said.

The move aims to choke off financing to the country’s largest and most profitable petrochemical group and ex-tends to its 39 subsidiaries and “foreign-based sales agents,” Treasury said in a statement.

The move aims to choke off financing to the country’s largest and most profitable

petrochemical group. US TREASURY DEPARTMENT

02SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2019

As part of the ongoing celebrations upon the completion of 200 years of the Shree Krishna Hindu Temples’ establishment, the managing committee of the temple organised a mango festival (Amra-Kunj Manorath). The temple premises were bedecked with rows and rows of ripe mangoes. The mangoes were offered to the Lord and were distributed to all the devotees, the organisers said in a statement issued.

Mango festival Labour strides stressed Mr Afshar lauded the Kingdom’s laws aimed

at ensuring the rights of workers

Manama

The Kingdom’s labour strides were in focus as the Acting Assistant Un-

dersecretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Ahmed Al Hayki, yesterday held talks with the international analyst at the US Labour Department’s Child Labour, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking, Ahou-ra Afshar.

The meeting, held as part of the Labour Ministry’s keenness to co-operate and co-ordinate with international sides in or-der to achieve development goals, discussed the Kingdom’s experience in combating all forms of child labour and

forced labour.The assistant undersecre-

tary highlighted the kingdom’s commitment to child rights and to protecting children from all kinds of forced labour.

He stressed the government’s keenness to protect children through many laws and leg-islation, citing Law 37/2012 on child protection and Law 69/2016 on establishing the Child Protection Centre, in ad-dition to the Kingdom’s rati-fication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989.

He pointed out that compul-sory education in Bahrain has contributed effectively to elim-inating all forms of child la-bour, adding that the Kingdom is at the forefront of countries

in the field of child protection.Mr Afshar lauded the King-

dom’s systems and laws aimed at ensuring human rights and the rights of workers, praising the efforts of the Labour and Social Development Ministry to promote the principles of decent work, as well as its su-pervision of the implementa-tion of the Labour Law for the Private Sector, particularly its provisions aimed at protecting human rights.

He also appreciated the ad-vanced employment mecha-nisms adopted by the Labour Ministry’s employment ser-vices centre, and their role in ensuring a sound work envi-ronment that stimulates pro-ductivity.

Mr Afshar and the accompanying delegation being received by Mr Al Hayki.

Special envoy welcomed Manama

The Special Envoy of the Philippines President to the Gulf Co-operation

Council (GCC) Countries, Dr Amable Aguiluz, arrived in the Kingdom, yesterday.

He was received by Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi, HRH the Premier’s Court Assis-tant Undersecretary for Informa-

tion and Follow-up Dr Ibrahim Khalifa Al Dosari, Philippine Am-bassador to Bahrain Alfonso A Ver and other ministry’s top officials.

Dr Aguiluz is the Founder, Owner and Chairman of the AMA Group of Companies.

He is much known for build-ing Asia’s largest school system, AMA Education System and is considered as the Father of IT Education in the Philippines.Dr Aguiluz


253,000Bahraini dinars have been earmarked to

carry out the revamp project at the Central

Market.

Defunct air-conditioners to be repaired on war-footing

Air-conditioning failure had led to meat spoilage at the Manama Central Market

• Some traders at the market said that they had to dispose of rotten meat in large quantities as a result of the air-conditioning failure.

• The Central Market revamp project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, say sources.

TDT | Manama Mohammed Zafran

Efforts are on to swiftly carry out the repair of defunct air-conditioners

at the Manama Central Market, according to Capital Municipal Council sources.

The issue had become a cause of concern for meat traders at the market after the air-con-ditioning failure led to meat spoilage.

Sources said traders had launched many complaints with the council after the air-con-ditioning issue arose since the beginning of April.

“The traders say it got really worse during the recent weeks,” they said.

“The traders claim that a good number of air-conditioners at the market are defunct, which is leading to meat spoilage, in turn harming their business.”

Speaking to Tribune, some traders at the market said that they had to dispose of rotten meat in large quantities as a result of the air-conditioning failure. “We have suffered huge losses.”

Meanwhile, Capital Munici-pal Council’s Director-General Shawqiya Humaidan said that a contractor has already been assigned to address the issue.

“We have assigned a team of specialists to look into the mat-ter and carry out maintenance works to ensure that all air-con-ditioners inside the market are working efficiently,” the official pointed out.

The council has revealed that a BD253,000 revamp project for

the market has been underway since February this year in col-laboration with the Works, Mu-nicipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry.

According to Ms Humaidan, the project is being implement-ed in stages.

The revamp is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, it is learnt.

She said that the council would do everything it could to address all concerns of the vendors and the public as and when they arise.

Meat traders at the market said they suffered huge losses.

A team carrying out the repair of defunct air-conditioners at the market.

We have assigned a team of specialists to look into the matter and carry out maintenance

works to ensure that all air-conditioners inside the market are working efficiently.

MS HUMAIDAN

Shura member named WPL envoy to BahrainTDT | Manama

The Women Political Leaders Global Forum

(WPL) has named Shura Council member and mem-ber of the council’s Servic-es Committee Dr Ebtissem Mohammed Saleh Al Dalal as the forum’s ambassador to Bahrain.

The new post has ena-bled her to join the list of 41 ambassadors all over the world.

Dr Al Dalal expressed thanks and appreciation for winning the confidence of WPL, describing the post as a big responsibility and pledging to do her utmost to boost coordination with the forum in serving wom-en-related issues.

She also expressed thanks to Shura Council Chairman Ali bin Saleh Al Saleh for his continuous support to the Shura Council female members to take up leading posts.

Women Political Leaders (WPL) is the global network of female politicians. Accord-ing to the organisation, the mission of WPL is to increase both the number and the in-fluence of women in political leadership positions.

WPL is an independent, international and non-par-tisan foundation, with headquarters in Iceland, the global champion of equality between women and men. WPL was founded in 2013 by Silvana Koch-Mehrin.

WPL is claimed to be the only organisation, which brings together all female political leaders at a glob-al level and seeks to tackle international challenges by harnessing their collective power and influence.

Dr Al Dalal

Action sought against unhygienic bakeries, sweet factories TDT | Manama Mohammed Zafran

Authorities have been urged to act against unhygienic baker-ies and sweet factories located

within the Capital Governorate. The call comes in light of sources,

who don’t want to be named, alert-ing Tribune about a bakery kitchen in Manama replete with unhygienic practices and conditions.

The kitchen used to make sweet edibles has been operating for years, it was alleged.

According to sources, the kitchen is used to make Arabic and Indian edi-bles for a bakery in Manama.

“The place is very unhygienic and filthy, they have been operating this way for years now. A resident has made a complaint to the concerned ministries about the matter,” one of the sources told Tribune.

A resident in the locality where the bakery kitchen is located, said he got a chance to go inside the kitchen and

found rats ruling there.“As soon as I went inside the kitchen

I saw rats running around. The place was worse than I thought, I have com-plained about it with the authorities.

I expect them to take action,” he said. “In this area there are many shops

that have similar conditions and do not adhere to any standards of hy-giene.

“In some cases there are shops that sell certain types of food despite not having the licence to do so.

“I think the authorities should step up inspections to punish all these vi-

olators,” the resident added. “There are some shops here that

even sell illegal tobacco items. Many Asians are behind this illegal activity,” he said.

Pictures showing unhygienic conditions at the bakery kitchen.


EWA Minister visits site of transformer damaged by fire

• Dr Mirza thanked the Civil Defence authorities that responded quickly to extinguish the fire and save lives and property.

TDT | Manama

Electricity and Water Af-fairs Minister Dr Abdul-hussain Mirza visited the

site of a power transmission transformer in Riffa, where there was a minor fire in the wee hours of yesterday.

The minor fire was con-trolled by officials of the Civil Defence in co-operation the Department of Industrial Secu-rity of the Electricity and Water Authority.

Dr Mirza spoke of the need to speed up repair work on the transformer and restore elec-tricity supply to normal as soon as possible.

He said they would ensure such incidents are not repeated.

Dr Mirza thanked the Civil Defence authorities that re-sponded quickly to extinguish the fire and save lives and prop-erty.

He also applauded officials of the Electricity and Water Authority and the readiness of

its industrial security team to deal with such incidents and prevent losses.

Dr Mirza reviews steps taken to restore electricity supply.

World Environment Day marked Call to explore renewable energy sources and green technologies reiterated

• Dr bin Daina stressed the importance of the 2019 theme, which aims to explore renewable energy and green technologies, and improve air quality in cities and regions across the world.

• Shaikha Hala underlined the crucial role, which can be played by the organisation in promoting environmental issues.

Manama

The Kingdom joined the other nations in celebrat-ing the World Environ-

ment Day, which falls annually on June 5.

A ceremony was held yesterday at Studio 224 at Dohat Arad Park, in Muharraq, to mark the the 2019 edition, which was held under the theme “Air Pollution”.

The Supreme Council for the Environment (SCE) organised the event in co-operation with Bahrain Authority for Culture

and Antiquities (BACA) and the United Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP) Office.

The ceremony was attended by SCE Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammed Mubarak bin Dai-na, BACA Director-General for Culture and Arts Shaikha Hala bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and UNEP Office Representative and Regional Director for West Asia

Sami Dimassi.A workshop stressing the im-

portance of protecting the en-vironment and preserving the quality of the air was held on the sidelines of the ceremony and was attended by 45 participants who registered via the BACA web-site.

SCE Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammed Mubarak bin Daina

hailed the efforts exerted by Bah-rain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) and the Unit-ed Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP) Office to pro-mote environment awareness.

He stressed the importance of the 2019 theme, which aims to explore renewable energy and green technologies, and improve air quality in cities and regions

across the world.Shaikha Hala underlined the

crucial role, which can be played by the organisation in promoting environmental issues.

Sami Dimassi also addressed the event, stressing the impor-tance of the 2019 theme, which calls on governments, industries and individuals to to explore re-newable energies, green technol-ogies and conserve the quality of the air all over the world.

Dignitaries with participants at the event.

45participants attended

the workshop that stressed the importance

of protecting the environment and

preserving the quality of the air.

Officials meet to discuss this year’s Hajj seasonJeddah

The Co-ordination Coun-cil of Local Hajj Opera-tors held a meeting with

officials of the General Author-ity of Civil Aviation (GACA) yes-terday to prepare for this year’s Hajj season and improve the level of services provided to pilgrims.

During the meeting, the officials discussed the hours

and the numerical density of pilgrimage trips for local Hajj operators to ensure that the

pilgrims perform their duties comfortably, safely, with tran-quility and dignity, in accord-ance with the directives of King Salman and the crown prince, with continuous follow-up by Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Mohammed Salih Bentin.

The meeting aims to facili-tate the journey of pilgrims and provide the finest services for worshippers, said governmen-tal sources.

Tunisia’s election as UN Security Council non-permanent member hailed Manama

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom yesterday welcomed

the election of the Republic of Tunisia as a non-permanent member of the Security Council 2020-2021after achieving 191 votes in the elections held in the United Nations General Assem-bly in New York.

The election reflects the in-ternational recognition of the contributions and efforts of the Republic of Tunisia at both the regional and international levels to preserve international peace and security.

The Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs extended its congratula-tions to the Republic of Tunisia on the occasion.

It affirmed that this interna-tional achievement serves the interests of Arab and Islamic issues and supports collective joint action to face all challenges and reach a just and lasting solu-tion for the crises of the world.

The Security Council has pri-mary responsibility for the main-tenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.

The Security Council takes the

lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the

parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms

of settlement. In some cases, the Security

Council can resort to imposing

sanctions or even authorise the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Vietnam were the other countries elected to two-year terms on the UN Se-curity Council.

The five will join the 15-nation body responsible for maintaining international peace and security on Jan 1, 2020.

Member states cast secret bal-lots and candidates must win a two-thirds majority of votes to succeed, even if they are running uncontested. Candidate coun-tries cap off their often years-long campaigns with parties in the lead-up to the vote.

Under the patronage of the Ambassador of the Republic of France to the Kingdom, Cécile Longe, the Bahraini company “Strategy Art” organised a charity Gala Lunch at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain. The Gala lunch was dedicated to provide the French School in Bahrain with a special kind of vehicle (wheel chair) for enabling people with special needs to participate in sport races “Strategy Art” Company stressed on the importance of charitable work, and the right of people with special needs to have proper care and attention from the society. In her speech, the French Ambassador expressed her pleasure in supporting the event, which reflects the richness of Bahraini-French co-operation. She also thanked all those who took part in the event, specifically the organising company and all the supporters.

Charity Gala Lunch

The meeting aims to facilitate the journey

of pilgrims and provide the finest services for

worshippers. SOURCES

The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression.

05

world

SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2019

NASA to open Space Station to tourists from 2020• The missions will be for stays of up to 30 days

• Cost will run about $35,000 per night per astronaut

• US businessman Dennis Tito had in 2001 paid Russia around $20 million for a trip

New York, United States

NASA said Friday it will open up the International Space

Station to business ventures in-cluding space tourism as it seeks to financially disengage from the orbiting research lab.

Price tag? Tens of millions of dollars for a round trip ticket and $35,000 a night.

“NASA is opening the Inter-national Space Station to com-mercial opportunities and mar-keting these opportunities as we’ve never done before,” NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in an announcement made at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

There will be up to two short private astronaut missions per year, said Robyn Gatens, deputy director of the ISS.

The missions will be for stays of up to 30 days. As many as a dozen private astronauts could visit the ISS per year, NASA said.

These travelers would be fer-ried to the orbiter exclusively by the two US companies cur-rently developing transport ve-hicles for NASA: SpaceX, with its Crew Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building one called Starliner.

These companies would choose the clients -- who will not have to be US citizens -- and bill for the trip to the ISS, which will be the most expensive part of the adventure: around $58 million for a roundtrip ticket.

That is the average rate the companies will bill NASA for tak-ing the space adventurers up to the ISS.

Neither Dragon nor Starliner are ready. Their transport cap-sules are supposed to be ready in late 2019 but the timetable depends on the results of a series of tests. So the private missions will have to wait until 2020 at the earliest. The tourists will pay NASA for their use of the station,

for food, water and use of the life support system.

That will run about $35,000 per night per astronaut, said DeWit. That does not include internet, which will cost $50 per gigabyte.

‘Tenant, not landlord’ The space station does not be-

long to NASA. It was built along with Russia starting in 1998, and other countries participate in the mission and send up astro-nauts.

But the United States has paid for and controls most of the modules that make it up.

The new space tourists to the ISS will not be the first: US busi-nessman Dennis Tito had that honor in 2001. He paid Russia around $20 million for the trip.

Others followed in his foot-steps, the last being Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte in 2009.

Since 2011, Russian Soyuz rockets have been the only way to get to the space station. And they have transported only space agency astronauts, in addition to Russian cosmonauts.

There are usually three to six crew members on the ISS at any given time.

Capsized ocean rescue vessel leaves three dead in French stormLes Sables-d’Olonne, France

Three rescuers from the French ocean rescue ser-

vice died Friday when their vessel capsized in rough seas as a giant storm pummelled the country’s Atlantic coast.

“In late morning, a boat from the SNSM capsized 800 metres from the coast around Les Sa-bles d’Olonne with seven peo-ple on board,” the local prose-cutor’s office said in a statement sent.

Three of them died while four managed to swim to shore, the statement added.

“These tragic deaths have sparked deep emotions within the ocean rescue services,” said SNSM chief, Xavier de la Gorce.

Three helicopters and around

70 firefighters were attempting to find the bodies of the rescu-ers near the site of the accident about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of the port of La Rochelle.

The team from the National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) had been attempting to help a fishing boat which was strug-gling in the giant swell caused by storm Miguel, which is packing winds of up to 120 kilo-metres an hour (75 mph).

Maritime officials said the crew was using one of the SNSM’s “all weather” vessels, specially designed to be unsink-able and able to automatically right itself if capsized.

Photos taken before the acci-dent show waves crashing over the front of the small boat as it headed out.

After capsizing, it ended up upside down on the rocky shore.

The captain of the fishing boat is also missing, and of-ficials said he probably had crew members on board as well.

“So far we haven’t been able to find the fishing boat. We’ve found fragments of the boat and an empty lifeboat,” the regional maritime authority said.

Yannick Moreau, the mayor of Les Sables d’Olonne, said the missing fisherman was retired who used to go out and catch shrimps to supplement his pen-sion. Authorities said the rough sea conditions were at level five of the nine on the Douglas scale, indicating waves of up to four metres (13 feet) high.

Waves hit the wreckage of a boat of the National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) in Les Sables-d’Olonne on June 7, 2019, after three rescuers were killed when the vessel capsized in rough seas as a giant storm pummelled the country’s Atlantic coast.

Bangladeshi planned Times Square attackNew York, United States

An immigrant from Bang-ladesh who allegedly expressed support for

the Islamic State group was charged Friday with planning an attack on New York’s famed tourist destination Times Square.

Ashiqul Alam, 22, sought to buy guns stripped of their serial numbers and ammunition from undercover investigators and surveilled the popular Manhat-tan district to identify the best place for an attack, according to the charges.

He also planned to have Lasik surgery before undertaking an attack, so that he would not have to wear glasses.

“I want to die fighting, man,” Alam told an undercover US agent in January as they trav-elled to a Pennsylvania shooting range.

Alam, a Bangladeshi national with permanent residency in the United States, was arrest-ed Thursday in Brooklyn as he sought to take delivery of two Glock 19 pistols he intended to use.

Court filings made clear that he had acted alone.

“There is more to this case than just talk and the desire to carry out a terrorist attack” said William Sweeney, a senior FBI official in New York.

“(Alam) took the steps to follow through on his deadly impulse, purchasing weapons to kill New Yorkers, target an elected official and attack po-

lice officers,” he said.The charges said an under-

cover agent first met with Alam in August 2018, but did not say what had brought the two to-gether.

In that and subsequent meetings, Alam, who lived in Queens, expressed admiration for the Islamic State and “spoke approvingly” of the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States, which Alam called a “complete success.”

“Now it’s up to us,” he told

the agent.They discussed using a sui-

cide vest to launch an attack in New York or Washington, but then decided to seek an assault rifle or handguns and grenades.

Twice in January the agent accompanied Alam to Times Square where Alam used his phone to record possible loca-tions for an attack in the area.

The emblematic Manhattan plaza, at the heart of New York’s theater district, has been the target of attacks in the past.

Ashiqul Alam, 22, was charged Friday with purchasing firearms with obliterated serial numbers. Prosecutors said he aspired to be a terrorist.

Blast kills 4 Pakistan soldiers in border region: PMIslamabad, Pakistan

Four Pakistani soldiers have been killed by an

improvised explosive de-vice in a tribal region along the Afghan border, Prime Minister Imran Khan said yesterday.

“Deeply saddened to learn of the shahadat of 3 of-ficers & 1 soldier from a ter-rorist-planted IED blast in Kharkamar, N.Waziristan,” Khan said on his Twitter account.

He gave no more details but Dawn, Pakistan’s biggest English-language news-paper, cited the military’s media wing as saying four other soldiers were wound-ed when the blast targeted a military vehicle in North Waziristan on Friday.

The report did not say who was behind the bomb-ing. Violence in Pakistan has declined in recent years following a series of mili-tary operations along the northwestern border with Afghanistan, but militant groups are still able to carry out deadly attacks.

The International Space Station photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking


Google walkout organizer quits, citing retaliation fearSan Francisco, United States

A Google worker who helped organize a massive walkout

to protest the company’s han-dling of sexual misconduct said Friday she had quit her job.

In a post at Medium, Claire Stapleton said her decision to re-sign was based on her expecting another child but also because she was marked for retaliation by department heads after the walkout late last year.

“If I stayed, I didn’t just wor-ry that there’d be more public flogging, shunning, and stress, I expected it,” Stapleton said.

“Life is extremely short and realistically we only have a cou-ple of years left until the world hurtles into climate apocalypse or some other paroxysm of our own doing.” Google said that

it thoroughly investigated Sta-pleton’s claims and found no evidence that she was targeted for retaliation in the workplace.

Stapleton’s team was given a “Culture Award” by manage-ment for her role in the walk-out, according to the Califor-nia-based internet company.

“To reiterate, we don’t toler-ate retaliation,” Google said in response to an AFP inquiry.

“Our employee relations team did a thorough investigation of her claims and found no evi-dence of retaliation.”

Google employees poured out of buildings at the compa-ny’s Mountain View campus in November, filling courtyards and patios in solidarity with co-workers who staged simi-lar demonstrations at offices in

countries around the world to protest the company’s handling of sexual misconduct

Stapleton was a co-organiz-er of the walkout, which lasted more than an hour.

The protest took shape after Google said that it had fired 48 employees in the prior two years -- including 13 senior executives -- as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct, citing “an increasingly hard line” on inap-propriate conduct.

One senior Google employee, Android creator Andy Rubin, was reported to have received an exit package worth $90 mil-lion as he faced allegations of misconduct. Rubin has denied the allegations and claimed he was the victim of a “smear cam-paign.”

In this file photo taken on November 1, 2018 Google staff stage a walkout at the company’s UK headquarters in London as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant’s handling of sexual harassment

Sri Lanka president sacks intelligence chiefColombo, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s president has sacked the national intelli-

gence chief and will not coop-erate with a parliamentary in-vestigation into security lapses before the Easter suicide bomb-ings, officials said Saturday.

Maithripala Sirisena sum-moned an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday night to oppose a parliamentary select committee probe into the April 21 attacks that killed 258 peo-ple, including 45 foreigners, and wounded nearly 500.

Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis was sacked af-ter testifying to the inquiry last week that the attacks could have been averted.

He also said the president had failed to hold regular security meetings to assess the threat from Islamic radicals who car-

ried out the bombings on three hotels and three churchs.

Sirisena’s office did not give a reason for the sacking. Halfway through the testimony, the live telecast of the proceedings was stopped on the president’s or-ders, official sources said.

A ministerial source told AFP Sirisena has refused to allow any police, military or intelligence

personnel to testify before the committee.

The source added that the heated cabinet meeting ended “inconclusively” without tak-ing a decision on whether to suspend the parliament probe.

Sirisena’s office did not com-ment on the meeting, but said the president had told senior police officers on Friday that he will not allow any serving officer to testify.

Sirisena’s defence secretary and police chief have suggested that the president, who is also defence minister, did not follow proper protocols in dealing with intelligence warnings about the Easter Sunday bombings.

Sirisena has repeatedly de-nied he was aware of an im-pending threat.

A local jihadist organisation and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the

attacks. The country has been under a state of emergency since the bombings.

Sirisena said last week that he met with the national police chief and his top brass 13 days before the attacks but no officer raised warnings passed on by India and based on information from a detained jihadist.

The crisis erupted ahead of a visit to Sri Lanka by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

The Indian premier is to make a brief stopover in Colombo on his return from an official visit to the Maldives on Saturday.

The Sri Lankan government has admitted there were intel-ligence failures before the at-tacks. Sirisena suspended police chief Pujith Jayasundara and dismissed his top defence of-ficial Hemasiri Fernando after the bombings.

Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis

Woman who accuses Brazil’s Neymar of rape gives police statement

Sao Paulo, Brazil

A Brazilian woman at the center of an alleged rape

scandal involving star striker Neymar gave a statement on Friday to police investigating the sexual assault allegation that has gripped the soc-cer-mad country.

Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza has accused the foot-ball megastar of raping her in a Paris hotel in May, a charge which he denies.

Trindade arrived at the Sao Paulo police station at midday, her face covered by a black jacket as she was escorted by officers through a media scrum outside.

She emerged after six hours of testimony, which the UOL website said was videotaped in a room with three female police officers present.

Trindade was carried out of the police station in her law-yer’s arms, and did not speak to journalists.

Her dramatic appearance came a day after Neymar went to a Rio de Janeiro police sta-tion -- sitting in a wheelchair after injuring his ankle in Wednesday’s pre-Copa Ameri-ca friendly against Qatar.

He gave a statement in an investigation into his publi-cation of intimate WhatsApp messages and photos of Trin-dade on social media without her consent.

Neymar told police that an assistant and a technician were responsible for sharing the messages and photos, TV Globo reported.

In the latest twist in the dra-ma dominating headlines and conversations in Brazil, previ-ously unseen WhatsApp mes-sages allegedly between the pair were broadcast Thursday by TV Globo and Record.

These exchanges -- dated May 16, a day after Trindade said she was raped -- featured a photo of Trindade’s buttocks covered with bruises. Neymar wrote: “For these marks you are also guilty, ha ha ha, you asked for more.”

Trindade replied: “You are mad, I asked you to stop and you even apologized!”

In extracts of an interview with SBT TV network aired shortly before Wednesday’s game, Trindade described suffering “aggression togeth-er with rape” at the hands of the player.

Neymar lasted 20 minutes in the game before spraining his right ankle that has side-lined him from the tournament and put his playing future with Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil in doubt.

More than 60 percent of Brazilians believe Neymar is innocent, according to a poll of 2,071 Brazilians this week.

Only 14 percent think he is guilty, Parana Pesquisas said Friday.

Brazilian student and model Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza

Stop talking about going back to the Moon: Trump tells NASAWashington, United States

US P re s i d e n t D o n a l d Trump tweeted on Fri-day that NASA should stop

talking about going back to the Moon, which caused confusion since his administration aims to restart Moon landings by 2024.

“For all the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago,” Trump tweeted from Air Force One while returning from a visit to Europe.

“They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!” Trump said.

Trump’s exact meaning was uncertain, but he may have been urging the US space agency to put more of a focus on the voy-age to Mars, with the Moon serving as just a stepping stone.

Vice President Mike Pence announced plans in April to return to the Moon by 2024 although some space experts doubt whether the deadline can be met.

On its website, NASA, which made six manned Apollo mis-

sions to the Moon between 1969 and 1972, says that “exploration

of the Moon and Mars is inter-twined.”

“The Moon provides an op-portunity to test new tools, in-struments and equipment that could be used on Mars, includ-ing human habitats, life sup-port systems, and technologies and practices that could help us build self-sustaining outposts away from Earth,” it says.

Speaking in April, NASA ad-ministrator Jim Bridenstine said “this time, when we go to the Moon, we’re actually going to stay.

“We’re not going to leave flags and footprints and then come home to not go back for another 50 years,” he said.

Trump rarely tweets about space or NASA, leaving the agen-cy in the hands of Pence and focusing more on its military aspects such as the creation of a “space force.”

One of his last tweets on the subject was on May 13 when he said “Under my Adminis-tration we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars.

“I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 bil-lion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!” he said.

US President Donald Trump (C) gestures as First Lady Melania Trump (centre left) looks on after disembarking Air Force One upon arrival at Shannon Airport in Shannon, County Clare, Ireland on June 6, 2019 after attending an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.


From alarm to action

Fishermen help overhaul plastic habits off Italy

San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy

On a moonlit night off It-aly’s coast, fishermen are hauling in the usual catch:

cuttlefish, red mullet and plas-ticwaste. But this time, they won’t throw the rubbish back.

The trash instead is being col-lected, analysed and, where possi-ble, recycled in an initially month-long experiment to try to provide a blueprint for cleaning up the sea.

“A lot of the fishermen used to throw the rubbish back into the sea, because the law says they can’t bring it to land,” said Ele-onora de Sabata, coordinator for Clean Sea Life, which runs the project.

“They’re not authorised to carry waste, in ports there’s nowhere to put this kind of waste and it’s not clear who should dispose of it.”

That dilemma will hopefully not be an issue for the around 40 fishing boats sailing off the Adri-atic resort of San Benedetto del Tronto who are taking part in the initiative.

Since it started, the fisher-men have collected around a tonne of waste a week for a month, of which 60 percent is plastic.

Each day, volunteers catalogue and sort the smelly catch on the

quayside. Some is recycled, some is disposed

of along with household or industrial waste, but none goes back in the sea.

The project had been due to wrap up on June 7, the day before World Oceans Day, but has now been extended through the summer months.

Organisers hope it will offer waste management solutions that can be scaled up for the rest of Italy and be-yond.

Plastic jumble Much of the rubbish is single-use,

such as bottles, plates and cutlery, but also includes old nets from fish-ing or mussel farming and assorted random plastic objects, from medical products to fax machine parts.

Fisherman Claudio Uriani, 62, sorts the catch into different buckets, ready to be sold at market.

The most voluminous species is the plastic, though.

“Let’s say we didn’t always collect it. There didn’t used to be anyone on land to take the plastic,” said Uriani, who’s been fishing since 1972.

“If the fish eat plastic, they get sick, and so we also can get sick.”

The Mediterranean Sea faces the additional problem of being a virtually closed body of water surrounded by dense human populations.

A study by the peer-reviewed Public Library of Science (PLOS) published in

2015 estimated that the Mediterranean contains 1,000-3,000 tonnes of float-ing plastic, with an unknown quantity on the seabed.

The Nile river delivers at least 1,500 tonnes of plastic into the Med annually, according to the PLOS study.

Sperm whales wash up regularly on Italian beaches, their stomachs full of plastic.

“The rubbish that ends up in the sea all comes from people, from lakes and rivers, it’s essential to educate people that what they put in the water ends up in the sea,” said harbour master Mauro Colarossi.

‘Political decision’In March European lawmakers

approved a new law banning sin-gle-use plastic products in the EU from 2021.

A draft bill is also before the Italian parliament on the handling of existing waste.

Under current laws, if fishermen opt to retrieve and dispose of the rubbish they pull in with their catch they could face prosecution for illegally transport-ing it.

“If fishermen provide a service to the community by bringing this waste to land, it shouldn’t be them who have to pay,” said Colarossi.

It’s estimated that 80 percent of waste in the sea comes from land and 20 percent from boats and the fishing

industry.“The value of this experiment is to

find out what’s on the seabed, under-stand how much is recyclable and how to manage this waste,” said De Sabata.

“All this information will help deci-sion-makers to take a political decision and so continue.”

So far up to a quarter of all the waste retrieved was recyclable, depending on whether the polymers in the plasticw-ere still in good enough condition after being in salt water, De Sabata said.

‘Alarm to action’ The pollution problem is not just

about preventing plastics entering the food chain.

If a tin of paint is brought up in the nets from 100 metres (328 feet) below, the whole catch is tainted and must be thrown away.

Likewise, fishermen tell of getting so much plastic in their nets that it stops them being able to catch fish.

“The problem is in the sea but the solution is and should be on land. There needs to be a political solution, we need to go from alarm to action,” said De Sabata.

As the ship returns to port after a night of trawling, the fish and the waste are unloaded onto the quayside.

“If we did this for a year instead of a month, the sea would be clean,” said captain Stefano Voltattorni, heaving yet another crate onto the dock.

Fishermen work as a bucket of plastic waste is seen onboard a fishing boat

A fishermen recovers plastic waste from a fishing net onboard a fishing boat

On a moonlit night off Italy’s coast,

fishermen are hauling in the usual catch: cuttlefish, red

mullet and plastic waste. But this time,

they won’t throw the rubbish back. The trash instead is being collected,

analysed and, where possible, recycled

in a month-long experiment to try to provide a blueprint for cleaning up the

sea.

A bucket of plastic waste recovered from fishing nets sits beside a tray of fish onboard a fishing boat off the coast of San Benedetto del Tronto

A member of the NGO ‘Clean sea life’ sorts plastic and general waste recovered by fishing boats in the port of San Benedetto del Tronto

A polystyrene fish container floats by fishing boats in the port of San Benedetto del Tronto.


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: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 38444698/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

BARIA ALAMUDDIN

An extraordinary dispute broke into the public do-main last week. The UK’s

Foreign Office has long priori-tised the case of detained Brit-ish-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, since then-For-eign Secretary (and current prime ministerial candidate, God help us) Boris Johnson made some ill-informed comments that pro-vided Tehran with a pretext for increasing her unjustifiable sen-tence. It was revealed that the Foreign Office has been quietly lobbying the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to release £400 million ($505 million) paid by the former shah of Iran for a tank sale that was cut short by the 1979 revolu-tion. The MoD rightly claims that payment of these funds could be funneled toward terrorist activi-ties by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and overseas proxies like Hezbollah.

In January 2016, then-US Presi-dent Barack Obama approved the delivery of $400 million in cash to Tehran at the same moment that five American hostages were flown back to American soil. All parties denied that these unfrozen funds represented a ransom pay-ment. Additional tens of billions of dollars in funds unfrozen in the context of the 2015 nuclear deal, instead of being used to relieve the suffering of ordinary Iranian citizens, primarily benefited par-

amilitary forces, and in particu-lar Bashar Assad’s genocidal war against his own nation.

The blueprints for Iran’s ab-ductions were laid down in the 1980s, beginning in 1981, when Washington paid $3 billion for the release of 52 of its Embassy staff kidnapped during the revo-lution. Then, during the so-called Iran-Contra affair, the Reagan administration illegally used Is-rael to deliver large quantities of arms to the Khomeini regime, with payments for the weapons transferred to Contra rebels in Nicaragua. This was in recom-pense for the release of US hos-tages held by Hezbollah, which during the 1980s kidnapped more than 100 Westerners.

In the context of the 2003 Iraq conflict, numerous foreign cit-izens were abducted. British IT expert Peter Moore and his four bodyguards were seized in 2007 by proxies under Quds Force di-rection, which attacked Iraq’s Fi-nance Ministry in broad daylight. Moore had been due to install a computer system that could help identify millions in funds being corruptly syphoned off by Iran’s proxies. Although the bodyguards were murdered, such abductions were used to secure the release of hundreds of militants, several of whom — like Qais Al Khazali — have today become powerful figures in Iraq’s political system, while remaining deeply embroiled in militancy.

Earlier in 2007, Al Khazali’s mi-litia, Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, captured and murdered a number of US soldiers during a raid against the coalition’s provincial headquar-ters in Karbala. The same year,

15 British sailors were abducted and paraded on Iranian TV, be-fore eventually being released. Vulnerable sailors have often been kidnapped in Gulf waters in this manner.

In December 2015, 26 Qatari hunters, including royals, were kidnapped by Iranian proxies in southern Iraq. Iran negotiated with Doha, not just for payment

of around $500 million, but also for the facilitation of population transfers in Syria to alter the de-mographic balance in Assad’s fa-vor. Leaked emails show precise discussions about which paramil-itary groups the payments would go to, including millions specifi-cally allotted to the Quds Force’s Qassem Soleimani and militia leader Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

For these militias, hostage-tak-ing is a routine tool for revenue generation and terrorizing the innocent. During sectarian cleans-ing operations, these militias ab-ducted thousands of Iraqi Sunnis and demanded payments for their release. Hostages were often mur-dered even when ransoms were paid, contributing to a climate of terror and compelling tens of

QUALITY OF LIFE ACTUALLY BEGINS AT HOME - IT’S IN YOUR STREET, AROUND YOUR COMMUNITY. CHARLES KENNEDY

QUOTE OF THE DAY


Iran constantly seizes dual

nationals as soft targets

for applying pressure

on foreign governments

MARINA HYDE

As Theresa May formally relinquishes leadership of fratricidal comedy troupe

the Conservative party, the con-test to succeed her remains a dish best paired with arsenic. Or perhaps a lightly oaked strych-nine. Still, what news from the revels? I’m afraid Kit Malthouse is already out. And that other guy. James Cleverly, maybe? They simply burned too brightly.

Dominic Raab seems to have been disturbed during some poli-cymaking again, leaving dogwalk-ers to find the remains of an idea to prorogue parliament so that no deal happens by default. On one level, this is the only policy position Dominic can adopt, hav-ing already resigned in protest at a deal he himself negotiated as Brexit secretary. However, Raab

remains at large in this contest, with people warned not simply to avoid approaching him – that is a given – but to stay away from an-yone even backing him. I mean, is he really going to drag the Queen into it? By “it”, I obviously mean a constitutional crisis, not his van.

Elsewhere, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s robot sidekick Steve Baker is still hearing the clamour for him to run, and will if no one else signs up to the ERG’s no-deal plan. “I did go through some training on this,” he announced. “In moments of death or glory, you tell peo-ple what you’re doing, you don’t participate.” Two things. One. Is “death or glory” an intentional reference to the 17th Lancers – “the death or glory boys” – and their notable role in the Charge of the Light Brigade? If not, per-haps a less auto-satirical military reference might be found. Two. What “training”? Is this about the time you got an ex-services guy to take you round the back of the warehouse and floor you, appar-ently for a self-defence video?

But this week, let’s focus on the

chaps – and they are all chaps, as rival candidate Sam Gyimah not-ed – who reckon they can go back to the EU and get a better deal by sheer force of their personality or something. Even though they’ve been told, many times, that they can’t. Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Matt Han-cock … you know the pack drill.

As far as this prong of their Brex-it strategy goes, they resemble one of those guys whose girlfriend has broken up with them for her own reasons, but who just knows she’s going to change her mind if they make a sufficiently big and bold gesture. You know, like send her flowers. Write her a letter.

Write more letters. Start send-ing the flowers to her work. Play the violin in the street below her flat. Turn up at her work. Call her repeatedly at 1am to demand she doesn’t do this to you both.

Staying in the world of meta-phor, I see Michael Gove is back on the analogies again. In the immediate wake of the EU ref-erendum vote, when Michael felt forced to knife Boris Johnson and

embark on his own leadership run, he justified it thus: “I com-pare it to a group of people stand-ing outside a collapsing building, wondering who is going to rescue a child inside. I thought: well, I don’t think I’ve got either the strength or the speed for this, but as I looked around, I thought, God, I’m at least as strong and at least as fast as the others. I’ve got to try to save the child.” I will nev-er get over this characterisation.

Indeed, there is a distinct fla-vour of the end-to-end service Michael Gove offers in his latest analogy. “Who is the pilot who has landed the plane success-fully at times of turbulence,” he wondered rhetorically this week, “and made sure the passengers are safe and the destination has been reached? I’ve been through a lot of political turbulence and I’ve always been able to land the plane.” Is this the version of the Tom Hanks movie where Captain Sully. Sullenberger spends the first act nobbling the engines?

Michael’s what I think of as a Gwyneth Paltrow Conservative,

in honour of the way the Goop founder’s fringe lunacies create ailments specifically so she can cure you of them. Or to put in terms the 1922 committee would

feel most comfortable with: she’ll sell you a $66 jade egg to pop up your fanny, causing you intense lower back pain, which you will then be advised to cure with a

Tory fantasists on the road to nowhereStaying in the world of metaphor, I see Michael Gove is back on the analogies again



BARIA ALAMUDDIN

An extraordinary dispute broke into the public do-main last week. The UK’s

Foreign Office has long priori-tised the case of detained Brit-ish-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, since then-For-eign Secretary (and current prime ministerial candidate, God help us) Boris Johnson made some ill-informed comments that pro-vided Tehran with a pretext for increasing her unjustifiable sen-tence. It was revealed that the Foreign Office has been quietly lobbying the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to release £400 million ($505 million) paid by the former shah of Iran for a tank sale that was cut short by the 1979 revolu-tion. The MoD rightly claims that payment of these funds could be funneled toward terrorist activi-ties by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and overseas proxies like Hezbollah.

In January 2016, then-US Presi-dent Barack Obama approved the delivery of $400 million in cash to Tehran at the same moment that five American hostages were flown back to American soil. All parties denied that these unfrozen funds represented a ransom pay-ment. Additional tens of billions of dollars in funds unfrozen in the context of the 2015 nuclear deal, instead of being used to relieve the suffering of ordinary Iranian citizens, primarily benefited par-

amilitary forces, and in particu-lar Bashar Assad’s genocidal war against his own nation.

The blueprints for Iran’s ab-ductions were laid down in the 1980s, beginning in 1981, when Washington paid $3 billion for the release of 52 of its Embassy staff kidnapped during the revo-lution. Then, during the so-called Iran-Contra affair, the Reagan administration illegally used Is-rael to deliver large quantities of arms to the Khomeini regime, with payments for the weapons transferred to Contra rebels in Nicaragua. This was in recom-pense for the release of US hos-tages held by Hezbollah, which during the 1980s kidnapped more than 100 Westerners.

In the context of the 2003 Iraq conflict, numerous foreign cit-izens were abducted. British IT expert Peter Moore and his four bodyguards were seized in 2007 by proxies under Quds Force di-rection, which attacked Iraq’s Fi-nance Ministry in broad daylight. Moore had been due to install a computer system that could help identify millions in funds being corruptly syphoned off by Iran’s proxies. Although the bodyguards were murdered, such abductions were used to secure the release of hundreds of militants, several of whom — like Qais Al Khazali — have today become powerful figures in Iraq’s political system, while remaining deeply embroiled in militancy.

Earlier in 2007, Al Khazali’s mi-litia, Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, captured and murdered a number of US soldiers during a raid against the coalition’s provincial headquar-ters in Karbala. The same year,

15 British sailors were abducted and paraded on Iranian TV, be-fore eventually being released. Vulnerable sailors have often been kidnapped in Gulf waters in this manner.

In December 2015, 26 Qatari hunters, including royals, were kidnapped by Iranian proxies in southern Iraq. Iran negotiated with Doha, not just for payment

of around $500 million, but also for the facilitation of population transfers in Syria to alter the de-mographic balance in Assad’s fa-vor. Leaked emails show precise discussions about which paramil-itary groups the payments would go to, including millions specifi-cally allotted to the Quds Force’s Qassem Soleimani and militia leader Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

For these militias, hostage-tak-ing is a routine tool for revenue generation and terrorizing the innocent. During sectarian cleans-ing operations, these militias ab-ducted thousands of Iraqi Sunnis and demanded payments for their release. Hostages were often mur-dered even when ransoms were paid, contributing to a climate of terror and compelling tens of

QUALITY OF LIFE ACTUALLY BEGINS AT HOME - IT’S IN YOUR STREET, AROUND YOUR COMMUNITY. CHARLES KENNEDY

QUOTE OF THE DAY


Iran constantly seizes dual

nationals as soft targets

for applying pressure

on foreign governments

MARINA HYDE

As Theresa May formally relinquishes leadership of fratricidal comedy troupe

the Conservative party, the con-test to succeed her remains a dish best paired with arsenic. Or perhaps a lightly oaked strych-nine. Still, what news from the revels? I’m afraid Kit Malthouse is already out. And that other guy. James Cleverly, maybe? They simply burned too brightly.

Dominic Raab seems to have been disturbed during some poli-cymaking again, leaving dogwalk-ers to find the remains of an idea to prorogue parliament so that no deal happens by default. On one level, this is the only policy position Dominic can adopt, hav-ing already resigned in protest at a deal he himself negotiated as Brexit secretary. However, Raab

remains at large in this contest, with people warned not simply to avoid approaching him – that is a given – but to stay away from an-yone even backing him. I mean, is he really going to drag the Queen into it? By “it”, I obviously mean a constitutional crisis, not his van.

Elsewhere, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s robot sidekick Steve Baker is still hearing the clamour for him to run, and will if no one else signs up to the ERG’s no-deal plan. “I did go through some training on this,” he announced. “In moments of death or glory, you tell peo-ple what you’re doing, you don’t participate.” Two things. One. Is “death or glory” an intentional reference to the 17th Lancers – “the death or glory boys” – and their notable role in the Charge of the Light Brigade? If not, per-haps a less auto-satirical military reference might be found. Two. What “training”? Is this about the time you got an ex-services guy to take you round the back of the warehouse and floor you, appar-ently for a self-defence video?

But this week, let’s focus on the

chaps – and they are all chaps, as rival candidate Sam Gyimah not-ed – who reckon they can go back to the EU and get a better deal by sheer force of their personality or something. Even though they’ve been told, many times, that they can’t. Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Matt Han-cock … you know the pack drill.

As far as this prong of their Brex-it strategy goes, they resemble one of those guys whose girlfriend has broken up with them for her own reasons, but who just knows she’s going to change her mind if they make a sufficiently big and bold gesture. You know, like send her flowers. Write her a letter.

Write more letters. Start send-ing the flowers to her work. Play the violin in the street below her flat. Turn up at her work. Call her repeatedly at 1am to demand she doesn’t do this to you both.

Staying in the world of meta-phor, I see Michael Gove is back on the analogies again. In the immediate wake of the EU ref-erendum vote, when Michael felt forced to knife Boris Johnson and

embark on his own leadership run, he justified it thus: “I com-pare it to a group of people stand-ing outside a collapsing building, wondering who is going to rescue a child inside. I thought: well, I don’t think I’ve got either the strength or the speed for this, but as I looked around, I thought, God, I’m at least as strong and at least as fast as the others. I’ve got to try to save the child.” I will nev-er get over this characterisation.

Indeed, there is a distinct fla-vour of the end-to-end service Michael Gove offers in his latest analogy. “Who is the pilot who has landed the plane success-fully at times of turbulence,” he wondered rhetorically this week, “and made sure the passengers are safe and the destination has been reached? I’ve been through a lot of political turbulence and I’ve always been able to land the plane.” Is this the version of the Tom Hanks movie where Captain Sully. Sullenberger spends the first act nobbling the engines?

Michael’s what I think of as a Gwyneth Paltrow Conservative,

in honour of the way the Goop founder’s fringe lunacies create ailments specifically so she can cure you of them. Or to put in terms the 1922 committee would

feel most comfortable with: she’ll sell you a $66 jade egg to pop up your fanny, causing you intense lower back pain, which you will then be advised to cure with a


Normal states advance their foreign objectives through diplomacy. The pariah state in Tehran

has made itself so internationally hated

that the only means of furthering its diplomatic goals is through hostage-taking as a formal tool of

foreign policy.


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections marked a

victory for positivity and a resounding rejection of negativity. With this new spirit, let us all work together to build a New India!

@narendramodi

PM is going to Maldives and Sri Lanka to a

rousing reception. But one year ago former had come into Chinese influence and SL into US clutches. After my intervention & meeting Nasheed and Ra-japaksa I assisted in bring-ing them to India.

@Swamy39

Here are some bills the House has passed

that Republicans contin-ue to block in the Senate:The Violence Against Women ActBipartisan Background Checks ActNet Neutrality

This obstruction has to stop —it’s time for the Senate to pass these bills.

@SenKamalaHarris

I would like to thank the President of Mexico,

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his for-eign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, together with all of the many representa-tives of both the United States and Mexico, for working so long and hard to get our agreement on immigration completed!

@realDonaldTrump

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

editorial stances)

thousands of families to flee. Such activities are again increasing in response to shortages of funds re-sulting from US sanctions. Particu-larly in Nineveh province, dozens of illegal checkpoints have been set up, where citizens are detained and extorted for funds.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held on espionage charges, but her only crime is being a vulnerable dual

national in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iran constantly seizes dual nationals as soft targets for applying pressure on foreign gov-ernments. Human Rights Watch recently documented 14 such cases. This heartlessness was on display a few months ago, when Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released and given a few precious hours with her baby daughter, before being returned to prison.

Millions of people who closely follow this case would be delight-ed to see her released, but are ransom payments for terrorist and militant groups appropriate, particularly when a principal For-eign Office motivation appears to be atonement for past mistakes?

Tehran has been harassing family members of BBC Persian TV staff in an attempt to terror-ise these journalists off the air. Soleimani recently ordered Iraqi militant leaders to prepare for the abduction of foreign nationals. In recent years, Iran has also shown its readiness to stage overseas operations against oppositionists

and foreign diplomats. There will always be a surplus of innocent, soft targets for the Islamic Repub-lic, as long as it keeps discovering that crime pays.

Normal states advance their foreign objectives through diplo-macy. The pariah state in Tehran has made itself so international-ly hated that the only means of furthering its diplomatic goals is through hostage-taking as a formal tool of foreign policy. No other state has used this gambit so consistently and so regularly.

Britain and America have an official policy of refusing to pay ransoms to deter future bouts of hostage-taking. Yet, whatever they choose to call these funds, they are rewarding criminal be-havior, making it certain that their citizens will be abducted by Iran and its proxies in the fu-ture. Furthermore, when these ill-gotten gains are invested back into regional militancy, Iran’s capacity to target the West is enhanced. Hostage-taking is ex-ploited by criminals to put those with a heart and a conscience in a moral dilemma: Wouldn’t we be willing to do anything to free from captivity our loved ones or citizens toward whom we have a duty of care?

However, by facilitating pay-ments to this terrorist state, the Foreign Office is only ensuring that, in the long-term, there will be hundreds more like Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

(Baria Alamuddin is an award-win-ning journalist and broadcaster in the

Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of

state.)

1967Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.

1968U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourn-ing following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

1972Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.

1973In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

There should be a proper research

into Bahrain’s herbal traditions, a

documentation of our age-old herbal

knowledge and cataloguing of our

indigenous herbs and medicinal

plants. There are more than 52 local

medicinal plants in Bahrain but

the rapid clearing of wild growth

for urbanisation means that they are a vanishing

national wealth.

A grove of friendship

In these environmentally testing times, it is very good to see that Bahrain and India have created a living green mon-

ument to the millennia-old friendship between both countries. Indian Ambassa-dor Alok Kumar Sinha with good gesture led the planting of 150 Neem trees in the Bahrain-India Friendship Garden in the sprawling grounds of the GPIC recently. The state-of-the-art garden has the lat-est irrigation system in place to ensure that these hardy trees grow into a leafy eco-footprint.

The Neem is a medicinal plant that even Bahrainis respect and use – it is not an uncommon sight in many of the gardens in Bahrain and often, the older generation can be seen collecting the bitter neem leaves or the small round fruit to extract the juice which is then used for a wide range of purposes from skin tonics to de-worming and treating dandruff.

Reading about the planting of the neem grove made me nostalgic for the old herb-

al remedies of Bah-rain which seem to be banished by a wave of lotions and ointments that come in shiny bottles and tubes with fancy prices. For ex-ample, if we got acci-dentally sunburnt or even hurt by a minor cooking accident, our grandparents and par-ents would first reach for a jar of Tahini, the sesame cream used in cooking. Its soothing benefits would relieve the skin and heal it without scars.

Research conduct-ed in the past three years or so, suggest that Bahraini herbal-ists are a diminishing tribe. The ‘Hawaj’ or herbalist today focus-es more on cosmetics and less on medici-nal herbs. Further, in the bylanes of our governorates, we will find herbalists selling medicinal plants that have been mainly im-ported but, alas, very

badly stored in unbreathable plastic con-tainers and in direct sunlight, making the herbs less effective.

There should be a proper research into Bahrain’s herbal traditions, a documenta-tion of our age-old herbal knowledge and cataloguing of our indigenous herbs and medicinal plants. There are more than 52 local medicinal plants in Bahrain but the rapid clearing of wild growth for urban-isation means that they are a vanishing national wealth.

Let us take a leaf out of the Indian ap-proach to herbal medicines – we need to diligently track our indigenous knowledge and herbs and, like the Indian Ayurvedic system, we need to make it relevant and a complementary medicinal system in these modern times.

(Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood is the Edi-tor-in-Chief of The Daily Tribune and the Presi-dent of the Arab-African Unity Organisation for

Relief, Human Rights and Counterterrorism)

CAPT. MAHMOOD AL MAHMOOD


$180 subcutaneous tissue roller, causing livid bruising best treated by some $300 arnica oil. And so on. It becomes very expensive very quickly.

And so, finally, to the man Mi-chael’s going to try and reknife at some point in the coming weeks. Boris Johnson has informed MPs they need to “stop banging on about Brexit and put that bawling baby to bed”. Yup, there’s no show without Punch.

News that Johnson has pock-eted £700,000 for speeches since leaving office is embarrassing for anyone who paid him, though sadly not surprising. Johnson’s

oratorical style is best catego-rised as speeches for people who don’t like speeches. Indeed, as far as I am aware, he only has one speech – the one where we’re going to sell French knickers to the French, sparkling wine to the Italians, naans to the Indians and so on. I’ve seen it live about 10 times, and in print at least 30. Here he goes again. Off the bar stool for the second chorus.

Like everything about Johnson it is an ersatz version of some-thing else. He is the X Factor contestant covering Winston Churchill. Yet just as Simon Cow-ell would always rather listen to some autotuned teen’s version of Feeling Good than the Nina Simone original, so large num-bers of people seem to prefer Johnson’s inauthentic nonsense to anything of actual quality. He remains the runaway favourite for this contest – the greatest stupid show on earth – and we must all adjust our bunker arrangements accordingly.

(Marina Hyde is a leading British columnist.)


News that Johnson has pocketed £700,000 for

speeches since leaving office is embarrassing

for anyone who paid him, though sadly not surprising.

Johnson’s oratorical style is best categorised as

speeches for people who don’t like speeches.

10

business


‘Hurry up!’ G20 urged to speed up digital tax

Fukuoka | Japan

Top G20 finance officials agreed yesterday there was an urgent need to

find a global system to tax in-ternet giants like Google and Facebook but clashed on the best way to do it.

The G20 has tasked the Or-ganisation for Economic Coop-eration and Development to fix the system that has seen some internet heavyweights take ad-vantage of low-tax jurisdictions in places like Ireland and pay next to nothing in other coun-tries where they make huge profits.

OECD chief Angel Gurria is presenting G20 finance min-isters and central bank chiefs meeting over the weekend in the western Japanese city of Fuku-oka with a “roadmap”, already signed off by 129 countries, in a bid to clinch a long-term solu-tion by 2020.

“We have to hurry up,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire during a panel dis-cussion of top policymakers be-fore the G20 meeting officially opened.

Le Maire called for a more ambitious timeframe to forge a global consensus, saying: “The right schedule is to find a com-promise by the end of this year.”

British finance minister Philip Hammond said taxing internet giants fairly was a response to something that is “perceived by our population to be a gross injustice in our tax system.”

Ministers are weighing the possibility of a new tax policy based on the amount of business a company does in a country, not where it is headquartered.

But there are rival proposals in the mix, including a wider US-led approach that could af-fect European and Asian multi-nationals in other sectors than technology.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a blunt view in assessing the approach of Britain and France, who have already introduced their own taxes on digital players, given a lack of global consensus.

“I would say the US has sig-nificant concerns with the two current taxes that are being proposed by France and the UK but let me give them some good credit for proposing them in the sense (that) they have created an urgency to deal with this issue,” said Mnuchin.

“Although I don’t like them, I do appreciate the impetus for these issues,” added the top US finance official.

“We are not looking to rewrite the entire tax code, but we do need to look at the balance be-tween what may be the issue in digital and perhaps how this new environment affects non-digital companies as well,” he said.

While there were gaps on the exact make-up of the reform, the policymakers agreed there needed to be a global approach

to taxing the big internet firms.Gurria said there was a risk

of “cacophony” and a “race to the bottom” without an agreed global framework and Mnuchin agreed that “having a fragment-ed tax approach is not good for any of us.”

Ahead of the meeting, pres-sure group Oxfam called for “an agreement that ensures corpora-tions are taxed based on where they make their profits rather then whichever tax haven they are based in” and said the Fuku-

oka meet-ing was a “unique chance to put a stop to corporate tax dodging and damaging tax competition”.

‘Self-inflicted’ wounds’The other topic dominating

the G20 finance ministers’ meet-ing is likely to be the impact of spiralling global trade conflicts on an increasingly fragile eco-nomic outlook.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who is also attending the meeting in

the western Japanese city of Fukuoka, has warned that tariffs and trade friction are “self-in-flicted” wounds that will harm the global economy at a “delicate juncture.”

The IMF has calculated that US-China tariffs imposed and threatened by the two super-powers could trim as much as 0.5 percentage points from the global economy next year -- an amount $455 billion bigger than the entire economy of South Af-rica.

“The immediate priority is to resolve the current trade ten-sions,” urged Lagarde in a blog post aimed at the G20.

By a quirk of the calendar, G20 trade ministers are also meet-ing the same weekend in Japan but the finance ministers will be tackling the current tensions and their economic consequenc-es, officials and analysts said.

And as the meeting opened, US President Donald Trump took another potshot at Beijing,

tweeting: “Many firms are leav-ing China for other countries, including the United States, in order to avoid paying the Tar-iffs. No visible increase in costs or inflation, but U.S. is taking in Billions!”

He has previously suggested he would decide whether to im-pose up to $325 billion of new tariffs on Beijing after the G20 summit in Osaka at the end of the month where he will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

US-Mexico deal ‘very, very significant’Fukuoka, Japan

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday hailed

a deal between the US and Mexico on tariffs and immi-gration as “very, very signifi-cant” with a “very important outcome”.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Mnuchin said: “We couldn’t be more pleased with the agreement that we reached. It is very, very significant and we very much appreciate the commitments that Mexico has made to help us on those im-portant immigration issues.”

Late Friday, Washington and Mexico City reached an 11th-hour deal to crack down on mi-gration from Central America.

US leaves door open to ChinaFukuoka, Japan

The United States is open to further

negotiations with Chi-na on their ongoing trade battle but any potential deal will wait until the two leaders meet at the end of the month, Washington’s top finance official said yesterday.

Speaking to report-ers on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs, Treas-ury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that Washington would press on with tariffs if a deal could not be reached.

“We were on the way to a historic deal. If they want to come back to the table and complete the deal on the terms that we were continuing to negoti-ate, that will be great. If not, as the presi-dent said, we’ll move on with tariffs,” said

Mnuchin.P r e s i d e n t

Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chi-nese counter-part Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28-29 and any poten-tial breakthrough would likely only come then, he predicted.

“I would ex-p e c t t h a t t h e main progress will be at the G 2 0 l e a d e r s ’ m e e t i n g b e -tween the two presidents,” he said.

M n u c h i n s a i d t h a t a l t h o u g h h e would be hold-ing one-on-one talks with Chi-nese central bank chief Yi Gang during the G20 finance meeting in the western Japanese

city of Fukuoka, this would “not be a nego-

tiating meeting”.“We’ve been hard

at work on what could be a historic

agreement for both countries, some-thing that could be economically very important for us

and China and for the rest o f t h e world,” he said.

However, he insisted that the current trade relationship between the world’s top two economies was “very unbalanced.”

“Our markets are completely open to them. Their markets have not been open to us,” he said.

He said Washington and Beijing had been “90 percent done” on clinching a trade deal before talks collapsed but stressed that the current position was “a result of them back-tracking on significant commitments.”

Trump said on June 6 that he would wait until after the G20 summit before decid-ing whether to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods that could be worth $325 billion.

“The critical meet-ing will be between the two presidents,” said Mnuchin.

Mnuchin took a blunt view on the approach of Britain and France, who have already introduced their own taxes

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) and China’s Central Bank Governor Yi Gang (R) chat

France ready to cut Renault stake Fukuoka, Japan

France is ready to consider paring back its 15-percent

stake in Renault in the interests of consolidating the automak-er’s alliance with Japanese part-ner Nissan, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Saturday.

In an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Japan, Le Maire also said Renault and Nissan should work on beefing up ties before exploring further merger possibilities.Le Maire’s

comments came only days after Italian-US carmaker Fiat Chrys-ler (FCA) pulled the plug on a proposed merger with Renault, saying negotiations had become “unreasonable” due to political resistance in Paris.

“We can reduce the state’s stake in Renault. This is not a problem as long as, at the end of the process, we have a more solid auto sector and a more solid alliance between the two great car manufacturers Nissan and Renault,” the minister said.


Streaming games from the cloud could make console-quality

play possible on all kinds of internet-

linked devices, and let the massive power of data

centers be used to ramp-up features, graphics, effects

and the number of simultaneous players

YVES GUILLEMOT, CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF UBISOFT

Facebook to cut off Huawei to comply with US sanctionsSan Francisco, United States

Facebook said Friday it would cut off Huawei from its pop-

ular social networking apps to comply with US sanctions, fur-ther isolating the Chinese tech giant considered a national secu-rity threat by Washington.

The social media giant said it took the step after President Donald Trump’s order barring Huawei from US technology ex-ports over concerns that it works with Chinese intelligence.

“We are reviewing the Com-merce Department’s final rule and the more recently issued temporary general license and taking steps to ensure compli-ance,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

The California company said

people with existing Huawei smartphones with Facebook apps will continue to be able to use and download app updates provided by Facebook.

The move by Facebook is the latest to isolate Huawei, which had become the world’s second largest smartphone vendor de-spite security concerns voiced in Washington.

Google last month said it would cut ties to Huawei, mak-ing it harder to obtain major apps from the US giant.

The Google decision would leave Huawei without the Play Store, the marketplace for most Android apps, and other ele-ments of the mobile operating system.

Facebook -- which is banned

in China but has more than two billion users worldwide -- said its decision would affect its core social network as well as ap-plications such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, which each have at least one billion users.

The US sanctions were im-posed May 15, but the adminis-tration allowed a 90-day com-pliance period that gives users of Huawei devices time to install updates and avoid a major dis-ruption of the mobile economy.

Isolating HuaweiHuawei has indicated it would

create its own operating system to replace the Google Android platform, but would need to de-velop its own app marketplace

as well if it wants to retain users outside China.

To keep up in the smartphone market, Huawei would also need to find a new supply of chips and related hardware, without US suppliers such as Intel, Qual-comm and Broadcom.

To make matters more diffi-cult for Huawei, it will likely be cut off from ARM Holdings, the British designer of semiconduc-tors whose technology is used in most mobile chips.

Trump’s move came amid US concerns that Huawei, a leader in 5G networks, would allow Chinese snooping on the high-speed wireless networks. His administration has also been try-ing to stop US allies from using Huawei equipment.Representative picture

Games battle for cloud as industry girds for change• New blockbuster titles will be on center stage as usual at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo

• Xbox maker Microsoft will hold a keenly anticipated press event today

• Microsoft and Sony last month announced an alliance

San Francisco, United States

The knock-down, drag-out battle in the video game world heads to the cloud

as the premier industry event looks to adapt to a consumer shift to streaming services.

New blockbuster titles will be on center stage as usual at the annual Electronic Entertain-ment Expo (E3) opening in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but the big question for the sector will be how consumers play.

The E3 opens with gamers gradually moving away from traditional console play and Google seeking to capitalize on that trend with a new Netf-lix-style service allowing people to play cloud-powered games on any connected device.

Adapting to the new trends will be critical for players in the massive video game indus-try which last year generated more than $135 billion globally, and $43.4 billion in the United States.

According to the Entertain-ment Software Association, which runs E3, more than 164 million adults in the United States play video games, and three out of four US households have at least one video game player.

‘Access wherever, whenever’Xbox maker Microsoft will

hold a keenly anticipated press event on Sunday where it is likely to say more about its Pro-ject xCloud, a streaming video game service it recently began letting employees test outside the office.

“Microsoft will play a major role at this E3 as it lays out its vision for a hybrid future of get-ting people access to content wherever, whenever,” NPD vid-eo game analyst Mat Piscatella said.

Major games expected to be shown off at E3 included new installments of Call of Duty, Apex Legends, FIFA, Pokemon, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.

At least some of those titles will be available on Google Sta-dia later this year, which has inked a deal with French-based video game giant Ubisoft.

“Streaming is going to be what we think about at E3,” said Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive of Ubisoft.

“It is really fantastic. It is a way to reach more players.”

Playing togetherMicrosoft and Sony last

month announced an alliance to improve their platforms for streaming entertainment from the internet cloud.

Sony, whose PlayStation con-soles are a key force in the in-dustry, won’t be holding an E3 event this year, but Microsoft may provide more insight into its collaboration with its Ja-pan-based console rival.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud com-puting platform will be used by the companies to support game and digital content streaming

services, according to the two firms.

Google on Thursday released new details about Stadia, which will be available in 14 countries starting in November.

For the launch, Google will sell its “founders edition bun-dle” hardware pack for $129, with a monthly subscription price of $9.99. In Europe, the price will be 129 euros and 9.99 euros per month.

The Stadia tech platform aims

to connect people for interac-tive play on PCs, tablets, smart-phones and other devices.

The new gaming platform disrupt the gaming industry by allowing users to avoid consoles and game software on disc or download.

Subscribers will have access to free games and will be able to purchase some blockbuster titles as well. The first free title will be the shooter game Des-tiny 2 from developer Bungie.

Stadia will launch in the Unit-ed States, Britain, Belgium, Can-ada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

Time of transitionNPD analyst Piscatella expect-

ed a few surprises at Xbox and Ubisoft press events being held before E3 opens its show floor as the industry gears up for the cloud and new-generation con-soles.

“We’ll get peeks at products and concepts that won’t really potentially impact the market meaningfully until perhaps mid-2020 or later,” Piscatella said.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told AFP the new games will remain the stars of the E3 show this year.

“This is a software and streaming show, not much on the hardware front,” he said.

Attendees play games on the new Stadia gaming platform at the Google booth at the 2019 GDC Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California

China to set up system to safeguard technology securityBeijing, China

China plans to establish a system to ensure “national

security” in technology, state media reported yesterday amid an expanding trade war with the United States which has snared Chinese tech titan Huawei.

The powerful National De-

velopment and Reform Com-mission has been tasked with establishing a list system to “more effectively forestall and defuse national security risks,” the Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua did not elaborate or state whether the move was linked to the trade war but said “detailed measures will be un-veiled in the near future”.

Zimbabwe president promises new currencyHarare, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Em-merson Mnangagwa on

Friday promised to introduce a new national currency, 10 years after hyperinflation ren-dered the Zimbabwean dollar worthless.

The country has since used US dollars, the South African rand and, in recent years, two local quasi-currencies that have fallen sharply in value.

“A country cannot develop using other countries’ curren-cies, without its own curren-cy,” Mnangagwa said.

“As a country we should have our own currency. We have already started that jour-ney.” He acknowledged that the two local quasi-currencies,

called bond notes and RTGS, were weakening rapidly.

“You sleep today with the rate at one US dollars to five... and the next morning it’s a one to six, one to seven, one to eight and so forth.

“And when they do that, the price of bread increases ac-cording to the exchange rate.”

Zimbabwe’s economy has been in ruins since hyperin-flation peaked at 500 billion per cent and wiped out sav-ings under president Robert Mugabe.

It is undergoing another bout of price rises and short-ages of fuel and daily essen-tials, with inflation currently more than 75 percent, putting basic goods beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans.

Brazil inflation rate falls in May as economy weakensRio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazil’s inflation rate fell in May to the lowest level

this year, official data showed Friday, increasing pressure on the central bank to slash in-terest rates to kick-start Latin America’s biggest economy.

Consumer price growth stood at 0.13 per cent last month, compared with 0.57pc in April, the statistics agency said.

It was the lowest level for the month of May since 2006 and below the 0.20pc report-edly expected by analysts.

The biggest weight on the index was a 0.56pc drop in food and beverage prices.

The central bank has been resisting pressure to cut its main interest rate, already at a historic low of 6.5pc and un-changed since March 2018, for fear of fanning inflation

as President Jair Bolsonaro’s government struggles to push its economic reform agenda through Congress.

Adjusting the key Selic rate is seen as one of the few tools Brazil has to revive growth as it totters on the edge of reces-sion for the first time in two years.

Recent data showed gross domestic product contracted 0.2 percent in the first quar-ter from the previous three-month period.

The figure confirmed what many Brazilians already knew -- two years on from a dev-astating 2015-2016 recession, Brazil’s economy is still strug-gling.

The outlook is bleak. Market analysts have pared back their full-year growth forecasts for 14 weeks in a row and now expect the economy to grow 1.13pc.


KNOW WHAT

Russia’s main airport struggles with luggage pile up

Moscow, Russia

A tonne of uncollected luggage has piled up at

Russia’s main airport, the transport minister said Fri-day, as the Moscow metro sent workers to help out after baggage handlers re-portedly quit their jobs en masse.

Passengers have com-plained over the past week of waiting for their lug-gage for hours at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Te l e v i s i o n r e p o r t s showed footage of chaot-ic piles of suitcases in the loading areas which did not make it to the carousels. Russian media said, citing sources, that the problem stems from salary cuts which led handlers to quit following salary cuts.

On Friday, Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said that there was “still about a tonne of luggage that hasn’t been sorted,” RIA Novosti news agency reported.

On Thursday, the Moscow metro said it would send its own workers to help. The metro’s trade union said on social media that trainee train drivers are being sent to the airport.

The airport first admit-ted there was a problem on Tuesday and promised to “take necessary measures” and solve the problem by the end of the month.

Representative picture

ET recognises Malabar Gold & Diamonds as one of the best brands • The Economic Times had conducted a detailed survey across 15 industries in 12 tier-1 & tier-2 cities

• Over the 25 years of operation, Malabar Gold & Diamonds has developed a strong retail presence in India, Middle East, Far East & USA with a network of 250 outlets across ten countries

TDT | Manama

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one among the largest

jewellery retailers globally with a strong retail network of 250 outlets spread across the globe has been recognised as the Best Brand by The Economic Times.

ET Edge Senior Director Rishi Kapoor felicitated MP Ahammed, Chairman of Mal-abar Group in the presence of Asher. O, Managing Director - India Operations of Malabar

Gold & Diamonds.The Economic Times had con-

ducted a detailed survey across 15 industries in 12 tier-1 & tier-2 cities amongst the demo-graphics from the age of 21-50 years and had selected best 25 brands across various catego-ries including BFSI, Education, Healthcare, FMCG, Technolo-gy, Lifestyle, Luxury and much more.

On the basis of the extensive survey, Malabar Gold & Dia-monds has been recognised as one of ‘The Economic Times Best Brands 2019’.

Malabar Group Chairman MP Ahammed (middle) is being felicitated with ‘The Economic Times Best Brands 2019’ award by ET Edge Senior Director Rishi Kapoor (right). Malabar Gold & Diamonds India Operations Managing Director Asher O. (left) is also seen.

With an annual turnover of $4.51

billion, Malabar Gold & Diamonds today

ranks among the top jewellery retailers

globally

Alba takes part in Harbor Aluminum Outlook summit

TDT | Manama

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said it was a key participant

and sponsor of one of the leading events in the world aluminium industry, the 12th Harbor Aluminum

Outlook Summit. The event was held from 4 – 6 June 2019 in Chicago, USA.

This year, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray, took part in the Executive Panel on 5 June 2019, covering the topics: Section 232 One Year Af-ter, Lifting of Sanctions

Impact, Supply Compe-tition in North America/Europe, and Sourcing Challenges.

Alba was also represent-ed by the Chief Market-ing Officer Khalid Latif, Director Marketing Boris Santosi, Manager Sales Alba Americas Patrick

Hudson as well as the Alba Americas team.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Alba’s Chief Execu-tive Officer, Tim Murray, said: “The Harbor Alu-minium Outlook Summit is one of the world’s most strategic events that gives in-depth insights on the

aluminium industry. It is also a well-known plat-form to connect and en-gage with our peers from the aluminium business and its various sectors.”

“As we are anticipating Potline 6 to be fully com-missioned in Q3 2019, we look forward to building

as well as strengthening networking opportunities, especially in the North American market for our Value-Added products.”

Alba had a stand at the event’s exhibition, show-casing the latest develop-ments in its flagship Line 6 Expansion Project.

Alba was a sponsor and a key participant of the 12th Harbor Aluminum Outlook Summit in Chicago, USA.

Uber chief tightens grip with top execs’ departuresSan Francisco

Uber chief Dara Khosrow-shahi put out word Friday

that he is tightening his grip on the wheel at the ride-share firm in the wake of a bumpy stock market debut.

The company’s chief oper-ating officer and head of mar-keting will leave in a leader-ship shake-up that will result in Uber’s shared rides and food delivery platforms reporting directly to Khosrowshahi, ac-cording to a copy of an internal email provided.

Khosrowshahi credited the maturing of operations

at the San Francisco-based company and the comple-tion of its initial public offer-ing last month with enabling him to make the management moves.

“I now have the ability to be even more involved in the day-to-day operations of our biggest businesses, the core platform of Rides and Eats, and have decided they should report directly to me,” Khos-rowshahi said in his message to employees.

“This will allow me to be more hands on and help our leaders problem-solve in real time, while also ensuring that

we make our platform vision a reality.”

He cited a need for a clear and consistent “narrative” at Uber when it comes to how the company is seen by consumers, partners, policymakers and the press as a factor in his decision to consolidate the marketing, communications and policy teams.

“There’s never really a right time to announce departures or changes like this, but with the IPO behind us, I felt this was a good moment to simplify our (organization) and set us up for the future,” Khosrowshahi said.

Uber’s chief operating officer and head of marketing will leave in a leadership shake-up that will result in the company’s shared rides and food delivery platforms reporting directly to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

Russia says conditions are good for possible Eurobond issueReuters | St Petersburg

Russia is considering issuing a sovereign

Eurobond as market con-ditions are currently favora-ble, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

In March, Russia raised $3 billion in a new dol-lar-denominated Eurobond and 750 million euros ($850 million) in a top-up issue of an existing euro-denomi-nated Eurobond.

John Wick 3 is a 2019 American neo-noir action thriller film star-ring Keanu Reeves as the titular

character. It is the third installment in the John Wick film series, follow-ing John Wick (2014) and John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017).

The film is directed by Chad Sta-helski and written by Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Marc Abrams, based on a story by Kolstad. It also stars Halle Berry, Laurence Fish-burne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dil-lon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.

In the film, ex-hitman John Wick finds himself on the run from legions of assassins after a $14 million contract is put on his head.

On review aggregator Rotten Toma-toes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 295 reviews, with an average rating of 7.46/10. The web-site’s critical consensus reads, “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum reloads for another hard-hitting round of the brilliantly choreographed, over-the-top action that fans of the franchise demand.”

On Metacritic, the film has a weight-

ed average score of 73 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating “generally fa-vorable reviews”.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale, the same as its predecessor, while those at PostTrak

gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and a “definite recommend” of 75%.

Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it “a work of pop cinema so blissfully, albeit brutally, entertaining that you come out of it feeling even more resentful of its

multiplex neighbors for not making a similar effort.”

Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of “A-”, writing that “as gorgeously choreo-graphed, gratuitously violent action movies go, it’s high art”.

Wendy Ide of The Observer gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it “a flying kick to the senses” and writing that “The spectacular third instalment in Keanu Reeves’s fighting franchise overwhelms with opulent martial arts set pieces”.

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FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 7.30 + 10.15 + 1.00 AMDAILY AT (VIP): 1.30 + 7.00 PM

4-X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX (PG-13) (ACTION/ADVEN-TURE/THRILLER/SCI-FICTION) NEW*-SOPHIE TURNER, JENNIFER LAWRENCE, JESSICA CHASTAIN

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 1.30 AMDAILY AT (VIP): 11.15 AM + 12.30 MN

5-THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 (PG) (ANIMATION/AD-VENTURE/COMEDY) NEW*-PATTON OSWALT, KEVIN HART, HARRISON FORD

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH AT 8.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT ( KIDS CINEMA ): 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 7.00 + 9.00 PM

6-CASABLANCA (PG-15) (ARABIC/ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER) NEW*-AMIR KARARA, GHADA ADEL, EYAD NASSAR

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 12.45 + 5.00 + 9.15 + 1.30 AM

7-THE HUSTLE (PG-15) (COMEDY/CRIME) NEW*-ANNE HATHAWAY, REBEL WILSON, ALEX SHARP

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 3.00 + 7.15 + 11.30 PM

8-KOLAIGARAN (PG-15) (TAMIL) NEW*-VIJAY ANTONY, ASHIMA NARWAL, ARJUN SARJA

FROM THURSDAY 6TH AT 3.00 PM ONWARDSDAILY AT: 2.00 + 7.15 + 12.30 MN

9-CHILDREN’S PARK (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW*-DHRUVAN, VISHNU UNNIKRISHNAN, SHARAFUDHEEN

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 4.15 + 9.30 PM

10-VIRUS (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW*-KUNCHACKO BOBAN, ASIF ALI, TOVINO THOMAS

FROM FRIDAY 7TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.15 + 6.15 + 9.15 + 12.15 MN

11-ALADDIN (PG) (ADVENTURE) *- WILL SMITH, NAOMI SCOTT, MENA MASSOUD

DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.30 + 5.00 + 7.30 + 10.00 + 12.30 MNDAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 4.30 + 11.00 PM + 1.30 AM

CITYCENTRE1-JOHN WICK 3 - PARABELLUM (15+) (ACTION/THRILL-ER/CRIME) NEW*-KEANU REEVES, HALLE BERRY, IAN MCSHANE

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 9.00 AM + 11.45 AM + 2.30 + 5.15 + 8.00 + 10.45 + 1.30 AMDAILY AT (VIP I): 10.00 AM + 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 +

11.45 PM + 2.30 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 8.00 AM + 11.00 + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 + 2.00 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 9.45 AM + 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM + 2.15 AMDAILY AT (IMAX 3D): 11.45 AM + 5.00 + 10.15 PMDAILY AT (VIP II): 9.15 AM + 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM + 1.45 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 8.15 AM + 8.45 AM + 10.45 AM + 11.15 AM + 1.15 + 1.45 + 3.45 + 4.15 + 6.15 + 6.45 + 8.45 + 9.15 + 11.15 + 11.45 PM + 1.45 AM + 2.15 AMDAILY AT (IMAX 3D): 9.15 AM + 2.30 + 7.45 + 1.00 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH AT 8.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT: 9.45 AM + 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 + 9.45 + 11.45 PM + 1.45 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 9.00 AM + 11.15 + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + 12.45 MN + 3.00 AM

7-SABIE AL BOROMBA (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW*-RAMEZ GALAL, BAYOUMI FOUAD, JAMEELA AWAD

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 8.00 AM + 10.00 AM + 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN + 2.00 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 9.00 AM + 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM + 3.00 AM

9-RASHID & RAJAB (PG) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW*-MARWAN ABDULLAH SALEH, SHADI ALFONS, SHEEMA

FROM EID DAY

DAILY AT: 12.30 + 6.30 + 12.30 MN


DAILY AT: 9.00 AM + 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MN + 2.30 AM

11-MA (15+) (THRILLER/HORROR) *-OCTAVIA SPENCER, MISSI PYLE, DIANA SILVERS

DAILY AT: 8.30 AM + 10.30 AM + 2.30 + 4.30 + 8.30 + 10.30 PM + 2.30 AM

12-AVENGERS: ENDGAME (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVEN-TURE) *- BRIE LARSON, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., KAREN GILLAN

DAILY AT: 8.00 AM + 11.30 AM + 3.00 + 6.30 + 10.00 PM + 1.30 AM

SEEF (II)1-JOHN WICK 3 - PARABELLUM (15+) (ACTION/THRILLER/CRIME) NEW*-KEANU REEVES, HALLE BERRY, IAN MCSHANE

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.00 AM + 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM + 2.30 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.15 + 4.45 + 7.15 + 9.45 + 12.15 MN + 2.45 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH AT 8.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM(ARABIC DUBBED)DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 PM + 12.00 MN + 2.15 AM

5-SABIE AL BOROMBA (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW*-RAMEZ GALAL, BAYOUMI FOUAD, JAMEELA AWAD

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM + 3.00 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 + 4.45 + 6.45 + 8.45 + 10.45 PM + 12.45 MN + 2.45 AM

7-RASHID & RAJAB (PG) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW*-MARWAN ABDULLAH SALEH, SHADI ALFONS, SHEEMA

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 12.30 + 4.30 + 8.30 PM + 12.30 MN

8-BLOOD BOUND (15+) (HORROR/THRILLER) NEW*-TIMOTHY HUGHES, EDEN BROLIN, ROSA ARREDONDO

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 2.30 + 6.30 + 10.30 PM + 2.30 AM


DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM + 1.30 AM

SEEF (I)1-BHARAT (PG-13) (HINDI/DRAMA) NEW*-SALMAN KHAN, KATRINA KAIF, DISHA PATANI

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 10.00 AM + 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM + 2.00 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.30 + 5.15 + 8.00 + 10.45 PM + 1.30 AM

3-CHHALAWA (PG-15) (URDU/COMEDY/ROMANTIC/DRAMA) NEW*-MEHWISH HAYAT, AZFAR REHMAN, ZARA NOOR ABBAS

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM + 1.45 AM

4-WRONG NO.2 (PG-13) (URDU/COMEDY/ROMANTIC/DRAMA) NEW*-SAMI KHAN, NEELAM MUNEER, MEHMOOD ASLAM

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PM


FROM FRIDAY 7TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.30 + 4.30 + 7.30 + 10.30 PM + 1.30 PM

SAAR1-JOHN WICK 3 - PARABELLUM (15+) (ACTION/THRILL-ER/CRIME) NEW*-KEANU REEVES, HALLE BERRY, IAN MCSHANE

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.15 + 7.30 + 10.15 PM + 1.00 AM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.30 + 6.30 + 9.30 PM + 12.30 MN


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 10.00 PM + 12.45 MN


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS

DAILY AT: 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PM + 1.15 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH AT 8.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 PM


DAILY AT: 10.00 AM + 5.00 + 7.30 PM

AL HAMRA1-BHARAT (PG-13) (HINDI/DRAMA) NEW*-SALMAN KHAN, KATRINA KAIF, DISHA PATANI

FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 9.00 AM + 12.00 MN


FROM FRIDAY 7TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 12.00 + 9.00 PM + 3.00 AM

3-CHILDREN’S PARK (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW*-DHRUVAN, VISHNU UNNIKRISHNAN, SHARAFUDHEEN

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 3.00 PM

4-KOLAIGARAN (PG-15) (TAMIL) NEW*-VIJAY ANTONY, ASHIMA NARWAL, ARJUN SARJA

FROM THURSDAY 6TH AT 3.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT: 6.00 PM

WADI AL SAIL1-JOHN WICK 3 - PARABELLUM (15+) (ACTION/THRILL-ER/CRIME) NEW*-KEANU REEVES, HALLE BERRY, IAN MCSHANE

FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 7.30 + 10.15 + 1.00 AM






FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH ONWARDS DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 + 1.15 AM


FROM WEDNESDAY 5TH AT 8.00 PM ONWARDS DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 + 4.45 PM


FROM EID DAY DAILY AT: 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 + 1.30 AM


DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 + 1.30 AM

M O V I E R E V I E W

John Wick 3: Keanu Reeves’ assassin returns for mostly enjoyable threequel

Keanu Reeves in ‘John Wick 3’

14 SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2019

I, AFSAL NALAKATH CHAKAMTHENGIL S/O ABDU ANDIPLATTIL, holding Indian Passport No. H5863207 dated 05/07/2009 issued at BAHRAIN, having permanent residence at NAVAZ MANZIL, VELIANCODE, PO PAZHANJI, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, KERALA - 679579. Presently residing at FLAT NO. 11, BUILDING NO. 358, ROAD NO. 5916, BLOCK NO: 359, BAHRAIn, will henceforth be known as (Given Name) AFSAL, (Surname) NALAKATH CHAKAMTHENGIL. Objection if any may be forwarded to Embassy of India, P.O.Box 26106, Bldg No.1090, Road No. 2819, Block 428, Al Seef, Kingdom of Bahrain.

I, MUKHWINDER SINGH S/O TARSEM SINGH holding Indian Passport No. H 8408490 dated 07-02-2010, issued at BAHRAIN having permanent residence at V JHAWAR, PO JIWAN WAL BABRI, GURDASPUR, PIN: 143521, PUNJAB, INDIA. Presently residing at Flat 21, Bldg 365, Road 304, Block 603, MAHAZZAH - BAHRAIN, will henceforth be known as (Given Name) MUKHWINDER (Surname) SINGH. Objection(s), if any, may be forwarded to Embassy of India, P.O. Box No. 26106, Bldg. 1090, Road 2819, Block 428, Al-Seef, Bahrain.

I, BALKAR SINGH S/O SUKHDEV SINGH holding Indian Passport No. L 8814554 dated 25-04-2014 issued at JALANDHAR having permanent residence at VILL JHAWAR PO JIWANWAL BABRI, THE & DISTT, GURDASPUR, PIN: 143521, PUNJAB, INDIA. Presently residing at Flat 21, Bldg 365, Road 304, Block 603, MAHAZZAH - BAHRAIN, will henceforth be known as (Given Name) BALKAR (Surname) SINGH. Objection(s), if any, may be forwarded to Embassy of India, P.O. Box No. 26106, Bldg. 1090, Road 2819, Block 428, Al-Seef, Bahrain.

C H A N G E O F N A M E

Rihanna named world’s richest female musician by Forbes

Los Angeles

Singer Rihanna has been named as the “World’s Richest Female Musi-

cian” by the Forbes magazine with an estimated fortune of

$600 million with the bulk of that coming from her Fenty

beauty range.She’s overtaken Madonna

and Beyonce, who previ-ously topped the list, the

BBC reported.You could be forgiven

for forgetting Rihanna even makes music - her last studio album “Anti” came out in

2016.However, the 31-year-old has been

putting her efforts into her beauty, lingerie and clothing ranges.

Rihanna - real name Robyn Rihan-na Fenty - launched Fenty Beauty in September 2017 and it’s estimated it racked up sales of $100 million in its first few weeks. The Forbes esti-mates that the company generated $570 million last year.

Experts say Rihanna’s invested her money wisely.

“Globally the entire beauty indus-try is worth $480 billion - in 2018 the UK market was valued at $17 billion,” said Hannah Symons, Glob-al Beauty Manager at Euromonitor International.

Jennifer Lopez all set to

kick-start her ‘It’s My Party’ tour

Los Angeles

Jennifer Lopez will rock the stage after years as the singer is all set to kick-start her ‘It’s My Party’ tour tonight.

“Tonight’s the night! SOOOOOOO excited to show you guys what we’ve been working so hard on. See you at The Forum! It’s party time!” wrote Lopez on Instagram.

The singer has been regularly sharing the mak-ing videos of her tour on Youtube. She has first revealed about the tour on the Ellen DeGeneres show in February. Starting on June 8 in Califor-nia, the tour will go around a number of cities till July 26 with Lopez performing in Miami, according to Billboard.

The official Instagram handle of ‘The Fo-rum,’ where JLo will be performing, in-

dicated that it is going to be a houseful evening. They posted an image of a

billboard which read, “Two nights sold out.”

The tour comes after almost a gap of six years. It will also

mark Jennifer Lopez’s 50th birthday on July 24.

Selena Gomez spreads happiness during surprise visit to children’s hospital

Los Angeles

Selena Gomez on Friday visited patients at the Chil-dren’s Mercy Hospital in

Kansas City for the 10th annual Big Slick Celebrity Fundraiser.

The 26-year-old singer en-joyed her visit to the hospital, posed for pictures, played board games, coloured, and signed a handful of autographs during her visit, reported E! News.

‘The Fetish’ singer will also be attending other events to

help the fundraising organi-sation.

Other celebrities who are ex-pected to attend the Big Slick event this weekend includes Ariel Winter, Adam Scott, Co-bie Smulders, Zachary Levi, and Kat Mcnamara.

Gomez had opened up about taking a much-needed break from the public eyes last year in April.

“Last year, I took a lot of time off,” the 26-year-old star said

during an in-terview on Coach’s Dream It Real podcast. “I think that I needed a moment to myself because I do feel like I was growing and changing.”

S h e h a s a p p e a r e d i n high-profile events, including the 2019 Cannes Film Festi-val, a surprise appearance at Coachella and The Hollywood Reporter’s Empowerment in Entertainment--to name a few.

Los Angeles

On Friday, the actor post-ed a picture w i t h

Barbara Al-inker, the founder o f t h e bike, on Insta-g r a m a n d penned a l o n g

message for her.“We met! I cannot express

the gratitude I have towards the kindness and hard work of Barbara Alinker. She is the woman behind the invention, design and build of this won-derful walking bike. I have been without my Alinker while tak-ing care of things back home, seeing family and healing and thought I could manage with my cane,” Blair wrote.

Further, she went on to say, “It became untenable and painful

to my joints. So she found me. She gave me this bike. And I took off. So many peo-ple have already stopped me to ask about it. Good thing I am a chatterbox and so happy with this #mobilityaid, I feel like a model at a car show. Gonna nap. And look forward to the days ahead with faster, smoother, increased mobility in a walk-

ing city. Thank you thank you.”

Struggle to make films continues: Filmmaker Spike LeeLos Angeles

Filmmaker Spike Lee says he still finds it

tough to make movies and that is the reason why he chose to partner with streaming giant Net-flix for his next feature.

The 62-year-old film-maker, who recently

won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay

for his film “BlacK-kKlansman”, is currently work-

ing on “Da 5 Bloods” for Netflix, star-ring “Black Panther” star

C h a d w i c k Boseman in the

lead.

John Cena joins ‘Fast & Furious 9’ castLos Angeles

WW E w r e s -tler-turned-actor

John Cena is the latest addition to the cast of “Fast & Furious 9”.

Cena, 42, took to Twit-ter to announce the news that he has joined the franchise and will star op-posite veterans Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, both of whom are repris-ing their roles as Dom Toretto and Letty Ortiz.

“For nearly 20 years, the Fast Franchise has en-tertained fans and created some of the biggest cine-matic moments in history. It’s an incredible honour to join this franchise and this family,” he wrote.

Details about Cena’s role are being kept under wraps.

Michael Douglas blames Spielberg’s TV bias for not winning best actor at 2013 CannesLos Angeles

Veteran actor Michael Douglas believes

filmmaker Steven Spiel-berg’s anti stand against television cost him the best actor trophy at the 2013 Cannes Film Fes-tival.

Douglas starred in Ste-ven Soderbergh’s HBO film “Behind the Cande-labra”, alongside actor Matt Damon. The movie had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and was among strong contenders for the cov-eted Palme d’Or trophy.

Spielberg served as the president of the Cannes competition jury that year.

Rihanna

Jennifer Lopez

Barty storms to French Open glory • Ashleigh Barty ends Australia’s 46-year wait for French Open title with win over Vondrousova

• Australian dominates in straight-sets cruise, 6-1, 6-3

AFP | Paris

Ashleigh Barty ended Aus-tralia’s 46-year wait for a French Open singles title

yesterday by thrashing nervous Czech teenager Marketa Von-drousova in a one-sided wom-en’s final.

Eighth seed Barty got off to a strong start and never looked back, winning 6-1, 6-3 after only 70 minutes to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.

The 23-year-old will rise to second in the world behind only Naomi Osaka when the latest rankings are released next week, after becoming the first Australian winner at Roland Garros since Margaret Court won the last of her five trophies in 1973.

She will be best-ranked Aus-tralian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

“It’s unbelievable, I’m a little bit speechless. I played the per-fect match today. I’m so proud of myself and my team, it’s been a incredible two weeks,” said Barty.

“It’s a special place for Aus-tralians here. Sam (Stosur) has done well here before and come

so close. It’s been a magical two weeks.”

Barty, who famously took a break from tennis to play pro-fessional cricket in 2015, struck 27 winners past an opponent riddled with nerves.

The 19-year-old Vondrousova saw her bid to become the first teenage Grand Slam champi-on since Maria Sharapova won the 2006 US Open come to a tame end, as the world number 38 made 22 unforced errors, against a mere 10 winners.

“Congratulations to you and your team, you gave me a les-son,” Vondrousova said to Barty at the trophy presentation.

“ Eve n t h o u g h I didn’t get the win today, I’m real-ly happy with everything.”

Nervous wait Almost 90 minutes after

the match was due to start, the players made their way onto Court Philippe Chatrier, after Dominic Thiem’s thrilling five-set win over Novak Djokovic in the men’s semi-finals forced Barty and Vondrousova to en-dure a nervous wait.

The scheduling had already been criticised on Friday as a sexism row erupted when the women’s semis were moved away from the showpiece Cha-trier court.

In fact, this was the first match on the premier Roland Garros arena in Vondrousova’s career, although she did have a brief practice session yesterday morning.

The tension got the better of the Czech early on, as she

double faulted to gift Barty two break points, before firing long to put her opponent 2-0 ahead.

Barty, who also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year, consolidated the break with a confident love

hold, leaving Vondrousova firm-ly on the back foot after only seven minutes of play.

Another break followed as Vondrousova threatened to fall apart, but she settled down and got herself on the scoreboard.

Barty quickly got back on track, and wrapped up the first set after only 29 minutes with a crunching forehand winner.

Vondrousova had it all to do in the second set having managed just two winners in the opener, but she contrived to drop serve again at the first time of asking.

She finally held serve for the first time in the match, though, saving two break points in the third game.

Leclerc on top as Ferrari rebound after Hamilton punctureAFP | Montreal, Canada

Lewis Hamilton said he felt like a naughty schoolboy

after hitting the wall in second free practice for Sunday’s Ca-nadian Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc led a revived Ferrari back to the top of the times on Friday.

The defending five-time world champion slid out of the chicane through turns eight and nine, his rear right wheel slam-ming hard into the barriers.

“It was my mistake,” he said. “And I damaged the car. The boys tried really hard to fix it, but there wasn’t enough time.”

As a result of the crash, Ham-ilton nursed his car back to the pits with a puncture and a dam-aged floor.

“I don’t remember the last time I missed a whole session,” he added. “It’s definitely not great to watch from the ga-rage -- it feels like sitting in the

headmaster’s office, wishing to be back in class.”

Leclerc topped the times ahead of Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari took full advantage to lead the way in an event-ful second pract ice that raised Italian hopes of ending Mercedes record run of six consecutive season-opening wins.

The Monegasque driver, bit-terly disappointed by a team error in his home Monaco event two weeks ago, clocked a best lap in 1min 12.177sec to out-pace the four-time champion by 0.074 seconds and leave Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes third, adrift

by one-tenth.Hamilton wound up down in

sixth place behind Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Kevin Magnus-sen of Haas.

- ‘Innocent mistake’ -The championship leader

completed only eight laps and missed more than an hour of the session, a possibly vital absence in terms of collecting data, notably on tyre degrada-tion, at the challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“It was an innocent mistake,” he added. “I was doing multiple laps on the medium tyre and was really trying to find the limit.

15

sports


It’s a special place for Australians

here. Sam (Stosur) has done well here before and come

so close. It’s been a magical two weeks

ASHLEIGH BARTY

Austria’s Dominic Thiem returns the ball to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic

Thiem rides the storm to beat DjokovicAFP | Paris

Novak Djokovic’s dream of becoming just the sec-

ond man in history to hold all Grand Slam titles at the same time twice was crushed by Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros yesterday.

Thiem downed the world number one 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to set up a repeat of last year’s final against 11-time winner and defending cham-pion Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic, who was second best to Thiem when it came to mastering the gloom, wind and damp of Paris, was bidding to join Rod Laver in the Grand Slam history books.

However, it’s 25-year-old Austrian fourth seed Thiem who goes on to face Nadal where he will be buoyed by having defeated the 17-time major winner four times on clay in his career.

He will also attempt to be-come just Austria’s second Grand Slam men’s champion after Thomas Muster won in Paris in 1995.

Thiem did it the hard way, squandering a 4-1 final set lead and two match points be-fore he sealed his place in the final.

“It was an amazing match. It was my first five-set match at Roland Garros so it was a

good one to have,” said Thiem after the four hour 13-minute match which was played over two days.

“To be in the semi-finals with the three best players of all time (Nadal beat Roger Federer in the other semi on Friday) is really amazing.”

On the challenge of facing Nadal, who has had a day more to recover, he added: “It seems that anyone who gets to the final here plays Rafa.

“He will be the favourite but I hope to just leave it all out on the court again and we will see.”

The semi-final had been controversially suspended overnight Friday with Djok-ovic complaining about the ‘extreme wind’ in the stadium.

When play was halted, with the top seed trailing 1-3 in the third set, there was still around two hours of daylight remain-ing.

However, tournament or-ganisers defended the decision after winds of up to 80km/h were forecast throughout the evening in Paris.

“I congratulate Dominic, he played great, especially in the important moments,” said Djokovic.

“Obviously, when you’re playing in hurricane-like con-ditions it’s hard to play your best.”

Charles Leclerc of Monaco drives his Ferrari during practice

Messi scores twice as Argentina routs NicaraguaAFP | Los Angeles

Lionel Messi scored a first-half double as Argenti-

na warmed up for the Copa America with a comprehen-sive 5-1 win over Nicaragua on Friday in San Juan.

The Central Americans, who will participate in this month’s Gold Cup tournament while Argentina battle it out in Bra-zil, frustrated the home side initially.

But it was left to captain Messi to spark his side into action in their only warm-up match ahead of the tourna-ment, expertly opening the scoring on 37 minutes before grabbing another just 96 sec-onds later.

Lautaro Martinez, the In-ter Milan forward, also scored twice, coming off substitutes bench at half-time to give coach Lionel Scaloni food for thought ahead of opening match with Colombia.

Scaloni, brought in after Jorge Sampaoli was sacked following a disastrous showing at the World Cup last summer, is aiming to build a younger team and end Argentina’s 26-year wait for a trophy.

Indeed, in Scaloni’s Copa America squad only Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria remain from the one that was beaten by Germany in the World Cup final in Rio five years ago.

Lionel Messi in action

Spain crush Faroes in Euro qualifiersAFP | Paris

Three-time former cham-pions Spain strolled

past the Faroe Islands 4-1 and Ukraine hammered struggling Serbia 5-0 in Fri-day’s Euro 2020 qualifying fixtures.

Republic of Ireland’s James McClean said pre-match criticism of his team-mates by Denmark players served as motivation as they claimed a 1-1 draw in Copen-hagen.

Spain captain Sergio Ramos opened the scoring after six minutes before Je-sus Navas doubled the lead just before the 20-minute mark.

Klaemint Olsen headed in from a corner after half an hour but the 102nd ranked side in the world’s hopes of a surprise comeback were diminished four minutes later by a Teitur Gestsson own goal.

Australia’s Ashleigh Barty poses with the trophy

Neesham’s five-wicket haul puts New Zealand in control against AfghanistanAFP | Taunton

Jimmy Neesham took ca-reer-best one-day figures of 5-31 as New Zealand

dismissed Afghanistan for 172 in yesterday’s World Cup match at Taunton.

Neesham turned the game in New Zealand’s favour with his impressive spell after Afghani-stan briefly threatened to rock the Black Caps.

Put in to bat by New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, Af-ghanistan openers Hazratul-lah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran blasted a quickfire 66 for the first wicket.

But pace bowler Neesham, who had struggled in New Zea-land’s first two matches, finally found his rhythm despite two rain interruptions.

New Zealand, World Cup runners-up in 2015, have to make 173 from their 50 overs to extend their unbeaten start to three matches.

Hashmatullah Shahidi (59) top-scored for Afghanistan, who are fighting to avoid a third successive defeat.

With Mohammad Shahzad ruled out for the rest of the tournament due to a knee inju-ry, the onus was on Hazratul-lah to anchor the Afghanistan innings and he made a flying start with three fours off Mat-thew Henry’s opening over of

the match.On the small west country

ground, the free-hitting Af-ghanistan’s openers were doing their best to rattle New Zealand as they reached 66 in the 11th over.

But Neesham made the cru-cial breakthrough when Haz-ratullah went for one big shot too many, the left-hander hit-ting to Colin Munro at deep cover to depart for 34.

New Zealand had two wick-ets in the space of three balls as Noor Ali (31) was stran-gled down the leg side by fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who would finish with four wickets.

Afghanistan lost their third

wicket with the score still on 66 when Rahmat Shah was dis-missed for a duck after a leading edge off Neesham was held by Martin Guptill.

When Gulbadin Naib failed with a review attempt to over-turn his edge behind off Neesh-am, Afghanistan had lost four wickets for four runs in 21 de-liveries.

Play was halted due to rain with the score on 84-4 and although the teams returned when the weather relented 25 minutes later, another shower forced them off just two overs later.

At the time of closing New Zealand were 130/3 after 25 overs.

• Jason Roy smashed 153 from 121 balls

AFP | Cardiff

Jason Roy hit the highest in-dividual score of the World Cup so far as England got

their campaign back on track with a 106-run win over Bangla-desh in Cardiff yesterday.

Following a surprise defeat by Pakistan, which followed Eng-land’s opening 104-run rout of South Africa, captain Eoin Mor-gan urged the hosts to “stick to what we do well”.

Tournament favourites Eng-land, whose rise to the top of the one-day international rankings since Bangladesh knocked them out of the 2015 World Cup has been based on aggressive bat-ting, lived up to his words.

Roy’s 153 took England to an imposing 386 for six, leaving Bangladesh needing to surpass Ireland’s 329-7 against England in 2011, the highest score by any team batting second to win a World Cup match.

Despite Shakib Al Hasan’s 121 -- just the third Bangla-desh World Cup hundred after Mahmudullah made two in 2015 -- the Tigers were never in the hunt.

On a Sophia Gardens ground where they famously beat Aus-tralia in a 2005 ODI, Bangladesh were eventually dismissed for 280 with seven balls to spare.

Their chase got off to a bad start when fast bowler Jofra Archer (3-29) dismissed Soumya Sarkar for two with a ball that clipped the top of the left-hand-er’s off stump.

Archer, whose 10 wicketless overs against Pakistan cost 79 runs, was far more threatening yesterday as he reached speeds of 95 miles (153 kilometres) per

hour.But Shakib anchored the in-

nings, flicking Archer for six on his way to a 95-ball century that

also included nine fours.Shakib put on 106 with

Mushifqur Rahim (44), a part-nership that ended when Roy, who dropped a straightforward chance against Pakistan, held a good catch at point.

And 169-3 soon became 170-4 when Mohammad Mithun fell for a duck after edging leg-spin-ner Adil Rashid to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow. The Test glove-man was behind the stumps after Jos Buttler suffered a hip injury during a typically dashing 64.

Shakib, who had hit fifties in a win over South Africa and a loss to New Zealand this World Cup, was eventually yorked by Ben Stokes to leave Bangladesh on the brink of defeat.

Pace bowling all-rounder

Stokes followed up to finish with figures of 3-23.

Roy attacks England were sent in to bat by

Tigers captain Mashrafe Mor-taza on a green-tinged pitch, but Roy and Bairstow (51) seized the initiative during a rapid first-wicket stand of 128.

The in-form Roy completed a 92-ball century in bizarre fash-ion when, not looking, he col-lided with umpire Joel Wilson as he completed what should have been a single to take him to 97, only for Mithun at deep square leg to misfield a ball for four. Both Roy and Wilson were unhurt.

Roy was finally caught by Mashrafe off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, holing out after hitting three towering sixes in a row off the spinner.

The Surrey batsman faced 121 balls, hitting 14 fours and five sixes as he fell just short of An-drew Strauss’s England World Cup record of 158 against India in Bangalore in 20ll.

“There was a bit of change in the game plan. We didn’t allow them to get early wickets and we knew we would be able to catch up,” said Roy during the break between innings.


KNOW WHAT

EnglandJ. Roy c Mashrafe b Mehidy 153J. Bairstow c Mehidy b Mortaza 51J. Root b Saifuddin 21J. Buttler c Soumya b Saifuddin 64E. Morgan c Soumya b Mehidy 35B. Stokes c Mashrafe b Mustafizur 6C. Woakes not out 18L. Plunkett not out 27Extras (lb3, nb1, w7) 11Total (six wickets, 50 overs) 386

BangladeshTamim Iqbal c Morgan b Wood 19Soumya Sarkar b Archer 2Shakib Al Hasan b Stokes 121Mushfiqur Rahim c Roy b Plunkett 44Mohammad Mithun c Bairstow b Rashid 0Mahmudullah c Bairstow b Wood 2 8Mosaddek Hossain c Archer b Stokes 26Mohammad Saifuddin b Stokes 5Mehidy Hasan Miraz c Bairstow b Archer 12Mashrafe Mortaza not out 4Mustafizur Rahman c Bairstow b Archer 0Extras (lb9 w10) 19Total (all out, 48.5 overs) 280

Today’s matches

India vs Australia (12:30pm)

India vs AustraliaFacts

» Defending champions Australia and 2011 winners India go head-to-head in one of the more eagerly awaited clashes of this World Cup.

» Both have made winning starts to this year’s World Cup - Australia beating Afghanistan and West Indies, and India overcoming South Africa.

» Australia’s ODI resurgence started with victory against India, however - Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins starring as they came from 2-0 down to win their recent bilateral series 3-2.

India

1. India have got back to form in good time, after a small drop just before the World Cup. After their thrilling 3-2 series loss to Australia and a warm-up defeat to New Zealand, India came into the tournament after beating Bangladesh by 95 runs – MS Dhoni and KL Rahul both passing 100.

2. They then kicked off their World Cup with a six-wicket win against South Africa that owed much to their bowlers. Yuzvendra Chahal took four wickets after Jasprit Bumrah had dismissed both openers to restrict South Africa to 227/9. Rohit Sharma then guided India through the chase with a classy unbeaten 122.

Australia

1. Australia have kicked off the World Cup with back-to-back wins, continuing their recent upturn in one-day form.

2. They bowled Afghanistan out for 207 in their first game, before David Warner’s unbeaten 89 led them to a comfortable seven-wicket win.

3. Against West Indies last time out, they posted 288 – owing much to Steven Smith’s 73 and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s rapid 92 after a bad start. Those runs proved vital too, as Mitchell Starc claimed five wick-ets and West Indies finished short on 273/9.

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

There has been some rain around in London but the weather is expected to be fa-vourable on match day. The pitch at the Oval is very flat usually but it has been a little slower than usual so far.Still, England managed to post a 300 plus total here as did Bangladesh.Another high-scoring match looks to be in store and we would think that 320 is a par-total for the venue.

Probable XI

PITCH REPORT

England demolish BangladeshJason Roy top-scored with 153 as England gained revenge for their 2015 World Cup defeat to Bangladesh

England’s Jason Roy plays a shot

Jimmy Neesham celebrates after dismissing Gulbadin Naib

England players celebrate with Stokes

153 from Jason Roy and 64 from Jos Buttler

fired England to their highest ever Cricket

World Cup total as they posted 386-6

Aaron Finch

Rohit Sharma

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