03Will fintech tranform us completely?

04Bahrain takes measures to prevent Coronavirus

08G20 funds fossil fuels $30 bn a year under the radar: analysis

6

Deadliest day for China in virus fight, as global fears mount5WORLD

OPEDS P O R T S

Cleiton to defend title in Brazil Champion Cleiton “Predator” to face Guram to defend Brave CF title |P12

FRIDAY, JANUARY, 2020

210 FILS ISSUE NO. 8373

Lebanese artist says public art gives the chance to dream for a moment

Blake Lively not a ‘Female James Bond’ in ‘The Rhythm Section’ 10 CELEBS

31WHATSAPP3844 4692

TWITTER@newsofbahrain

MAILmail@newsofbahrain.com

WEBSITEnewsofbahrain.com

FACEBOOK/nobmedia

LINKEDINnewsofbahrain

INSTAGRAM/nobmedia

C r o c r e s c u e

DON’T MISS IT

210 fils (includes VAT)

China premier urges Chinese scientists to find root cause of virus

Reuters | Beijing

Chinese Premier Li Ke-qiang yesterday urged

Chinese scientists to find the root cause of the coro-navirus to help develop a vaccine, state television re-ported.

Li also said the virus situ-ation was still complex and grim, the report added.

Indonesia offers reward for plucking tyre off giant croc’s neckJakarta

Indonesian authorities are offering a reward to anyone who can rescue a saltwa-

ter crocodile with a motorbike tyre stuck around its neck -- and survive.

The contest will see one brave croc hunter land an unspecified amount of cash, but it will mean coming face to face with the 13-foot (4-metre) reptile Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi.

Local conservation authori-ties have been trying -- and fail-ing -- for several years to find a way to untangle the croc after video showed it gasping for air.

That sparked worries the tyre was slowly killing the beast.

After a recent sighting, the province’s governor instructed his resource-strapped conserva-tion agency to figure out how to end years of fruitless attempts.

The agency offered few details on the reward, or how outsiders might pull off the task.

But its chief -- who said the cash would come out of his own pocket -- warned that he was not calling on amateurs to hunt down the reptile, but rather ad-dressing people with a back-ground in wildlife rescue and a thirst for conservation.

“We’re asking the general public not to get close to the

crocodile or disturb its habitat,” said Hasmuni Hasmar, head of

the Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency.

Jordan agrees $1.3 billion IMF programmeReuters | Beirut

Jordan has signed a new $1.3 billion programme

with the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF), the state news agency Petra said yes-terday.

Petra said it was a four-year programme, but it gave no further details.

In December, the coun-try’s finance minister said a new IMF deal would se-cure lower servicing costs for the $42 billion in public debt that the country holds, which has spiralled in the last decade as a result of the spillover of regional con-flicts on its economy.

US sanctions Iran’s nuclear organisation, top officialReuters | Washington/Paris

The United States yester-day imposed sanctions on Iran’s nuclear entity and

its top official, the Treasury De-partment said, but sources said it will allow Russian, Chinese and European firms to continue work at Iranian nuclear sites to make it harder for that country to develop a nuclear weapon.

The Trump administration, which in 2018 pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reim-posed sanctions on Iran, will let the work go forward by issuing waivers to sanctions that bar non-US firms from dealing with

the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, the sources said on con-dition of anonymity.

The waivers’ renewal for 60 days will allow nonproliferation work to continue at the Arak heavy-water research reactor, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Tehran Research Re-actor and other nuclear cooper-ation initiatives.

“There was a difference of opinion between the US Treas-ury and State Department. The Treasury won,” said a Western diplomat familiar with the is-sue. “There is an appetite for more sanctions, so this was a

surprise; but others argue that these waivers are vital to ensure

nonproliferation.”A US official confirmed the

waivers. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisa-tion of Iran, and the organisation itself have been placed under US sanctions, according to the Treasury’s website.

Washington in November ter-minated the sanctions waiver related to Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant after Tehran resumed ura-nium enrichment at the under-ground site.

Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers - Brit-ain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - Tehran agreed to limit its nu-clear programme.

A view of Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. (Courtesy of npr)

Iraq, US resume joint operations against ISBaghdad

Iraq’s military said yester-day it was resuming oper-ations with the US-led co-

alition against Islamic State, which it had halted after the killing of Iranian General Qa-ssem Soleimani by US forces and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on bases hosting those forces.

The coalition battling IS mili-tants in Iraq and Syria suspend-ed most of its operations on Jan. 5 to focus on protecting coalition forces and bases, as tensions with Iran grew.

Iraq’s parliament also passed a resolution telling the govern-ment to end the presence of for-eign troops in the country and ensure they not use its territory for any reason.

“In order to exploit the time that remains for the interna-tional coalition before the new relationship is set up... It was decided to carry out joint ac-tions ... “ an Iraqi military state-ment said.

The joint operations include aerial backing for the Iraqi forc-es depending on their needs,

the statement said.Baghdad condemned both

the killing of Soleimani and

Iran’s missile attacks on two Iraqi bases housing US troops as acts of aggression on Iraq and a breach of its sovereignty.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has asked Washington to prepare for a US.troop with-drawal in line with the request by Iraq’s parliament. So far, the US government has rebuffed the call to withdraw.

However, Washington has said it is exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s mission in Iraq, a plan to “get burden-shar-ing right in the region”.

Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi speaking during a ceremony in Baghdad

Record heat forecast for coming yearsParis

The coming five years are anticipated to be warm-est period on record,

Britain’s Met Office said yes-terday, warning of an outside chance of Earth breaching the Paris deal 1.5C temperature rise cap before 2024.

In a regular “decadal fore-cast” looking at predicted near-term climate trends, it said that each year between 2020-2024 is set to be 1.06-1.62C hotter than historical averages.

The Met Office forecast it “likely” that the hottest year on record, 2016, will be beaten in that time frame.

“The latest five-year forecast suggests continued warming, consistent with sustained high levels of greenhouse gases,” said Doug Smith, a Met Office fellow and decadal prediction export.

“Uncertainties exist within the forecast, but most regions are expected to be warmer and forecast patterns suggest en-hanced warming over land, especially northern parts of Europe, Asia and North Amer-ica –- extending the ongoing

trend.”The forecast said that bar-

ring a large volcanic eruption that could dent global heating with Sun-blocking debris, av-erage five-year temperatures are expected to be between 1.15-1.46C above pre-industrial levels.

That compares with an av-erage warming in 2015-2019 of 1.09C. All years in that pe-riod were among the hottest on record.

The 2015 Paris deal commits nations to limit temperature rises to “well below” 2C (3.6 Farenheit) through sweeping cuts to greenhouse gas emis-sions. The Met Office fore-cast said there was an outside chance (roughly 10 percent) that a single year between 2020 and 2024 could exceed the 1.5C threshold.

It was decided to carry out joint

actions ...IRAQI MILITARY STATEMENT

he huge crocodile has had the motorcycle tyre around its neck for several years

KNOW

BETTER

Local conservation authorities have been

trying -- and failing -- for several years to find a way to untan-

gle the croc

China’s Premier Li Keqiang

02FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa yesterday during an inspection visit to one of the BDF units. The commander-in-chief reviewed the units’ administrative and combat readiness, as well as their military preparations and work progress. He was briefed about the military preparations, the work progress, and development in the unit. He urged BDF staff to continue to keep abreast of all developments in various modern military areas.

Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa with the newly-appointed Egyptian Ambassador to Bahrain Yasser Shaaban. They discussed cooperation and topics of common interest.

Council of Representatives Speaker Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal with a delegation from Bahrain Society for Training & Development (BSTD) led by its honorary president Dr Ibrahim Al Dossari. The speaker stressed the importance of civil societies and institutions in promoting the democratic approach and social development as part of the reforms launched by HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The delegation presented to the Speaker an honorary membership in appreciation of her support to national institutions in the fields of charitable and humanitarian work

Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Wael bin Nasser Al-Mubarak with Russian Ambassador to Bahrain Igor Kremnev. Minister Al Mubarak hailed the strong bilateral relations and reviewed ways to promote cooperation, exchanging and expertise in the field of electricity and water.

Education Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi with a visiting delegation from the United Arab Emirates. Al Nuaimi briefed the members on the services provided by the ministry to improve the quality of the educational system in the Kingdom. The delegation is in Bahrain to learn about the development programmes implemented by the ministry in government schools.

Shaikh Khalid gets call from Russian Foreign Minister

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s Foreign Af-fairs Minister yester-

day spoke to his Russian counterpart yesterday on the recent regional and in-ternational developments, following a phone-call re-ceived.

Sergey Lavrov empha-sised the depth of the friendly relations between the two countries and the progress of them at all lev-els.

Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa expressed his satisfaction on the lasting cooperation and the vital role played by the Russian Federation in preserving Regional and international security and stability.

Sergey Lavrov, Shaikh Khalid

Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, chairing a meeting, following a decision by the Cabinet, to work out the necessary solutions for Bahraini students who obtained university degrees from China and are still not accredited. The meeting cast light on the background of the issue and the decisions according to which the National Committee for the Evaluation of Academic Qualifications is operating.

As part of National Bank of Bahrain’s (NBB), Donations and Contributions Programme, Hussain Al Hussaini, Chief Executive-Treasury, Capital Markets & Wealth Management of NBB handing over a cheque to Maha Ebrahim, Director of Al Manar for Parents Care to provide health, social and psychological care for the elderly.

Information Minister, Ali bin Mohammed Al-Romaihi, delivering a lecture during the second “National Defence” session and the 12th Joint Command and Staff” session held at the Royal Command, Staff and National Defence College. The lecture focused on the “Media Strategy in light of the Information Revolution”. Royal Command, Staff and National Defence College Commandant expressed thanks and appreciation to the Information Minister for his lecture.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Daij Al Khalifa during a meeting at the Ministry’s General Court with the Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Philippines Robert Eric Borje, who is visiting the Kingdom. The two sides reviewed the aspects of existing cooperation between the two countries, especially in consular affairs, stressing the importance of continuing fruitful cooperation at all levels to serve the interests of both sides.

Ambassador of Bahrain to the United Arab Emirates Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa honoured Bahraini teachers residing in UAE marking the 100th Anniversary of the start of formal education in Bahrain. He presented them with commemorative shields and hosted a dinner banquet in appreciation of their efforts in the field of Education in the sisterly state of the United Arab Emirates.

03 FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

Insure tech

Bahrain is also trying its hands on Insure-tech”, a technology-led transformation of

the insurance sector which is rapidly gathering momentum globally. The CBB is one of few central banks to have introduced rules relating to insurance aggregators to further enhance the position of Bahrain as a leading fintech hub in the MENA region. Now a customer can find and choose insurance quotes from several insurance companies under a single electronic platform or mobile device application, instead of obtaining quotes individually and purchase an insurance policy online from an insurance

company.

All these points to the vibrancy of the fintech ecosystem that would eventually change the way financial transactions are conducted all around the globe. Advances in mobile technology are encouraging more and more players to come up with various products challenging incumbents. Traditional financial institutions are also adapting and increasing their digital footprint which also brings into play supervisory agencies. Bahrain, as you already know, is making major strides by establishing the most “comprehensive fintech strategy in the Arab world”, as Financial Times said in a recent article. Fintech in Islamic finance is another emerging area. Innovations include Peer-to-peer lending and investment platforms that provide Islamic financial services to retail investors and Micro Small & Medium Enterprises. Steps to remove infrastructure constraints, enhance broadband penetration and mobile telephony, payment systems, as well as overall levels of digitisation of tax, land records and identity in government systems, are boosting Kingdom’s effort to build a vibrant fintech ecosystem

Data frameworkRecent data breaches have drawn renewed attention to cybersecurity risks facing the

financial sector. In the European Union, the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets up a framework specifying the rights of individuals who are the subject of data. Based on which, Bahrain has developed PDP or Personal Data Protection Law. In the United States, California is considering legislation that would require data controllers to pay data subjects for the use of their data. India issued a Personal Data Protection Bill in 2018. Some countries have also required storage of sensitive data within their borders.

Retail payments

Fintech innovations in retail payments now combine features of mobile money with

APIs and Quick Response (QR) codes. Mobile money has also allowed for payment services that are delinked from a bank account and can be offered by nonbanks. Tokenization is another developing trend which allows mo-bile phones to make payments (eg. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay). All these have also led to the development of Digital ID services(e.g. Aadhar in India).

Central Bank Digital Currency

CBDC is a digital form of existing fiat money (a currency without intrinsic value), issued by central banks and

intended as legal tender. It would potentially be available for all types of payments and could be implemented with a variety of technologies. Bahrain has become the first to pilot a new toolkit developed by the World Economic Forum to determine if a CBDC is the right fit for the mid-dle eastern nations. A few central banks (e.g., Uruguay) have issued CBDC as limited-scale pilots and others are on the verge of doing so (the Bahamas, China, Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, Sweden and Ukraine).

Sandboxes

Sandboxes have only been in operation since 2016. Bahrain introduced it in May

2017. Commonly stated objectives are to stim-ulate competition and innovation.

In Bahrain, its goal is to promote financial inclusion- i.e to make everyday financial services available to more of the world’s population at a reasonable cost. Beside, CBB’s dedicated Fintech & Innovation Unit will supervise Sandbox companies’ testing pro-gress, and monitor other developments in the field. Bahrain is also in the Global Financial Innovation Network that allows firms to trial cross-border testing.

Mobile or online credit, P2P lending and crowdfunding are examples of inclusive fin-tech targeting individuals. Currently, there

are over 36 companies in Bahrain’s sandbox, of which two have graduated. Crypto-assets, payments, transfers, and remittances are the popular verticals in the sandbox. Approxi-mately 40 per cent of applicants in the sand-box as of January 2018 are companies dealing with the crypto- asset.

Fintech accelerators and innovation hubs are the other types of innovation facilitators. While accelerators enable a partnership be-tween innovators/fintech firms and authori-ties or established companies to “accelerate” growth and innovate, innovation hubs provide support, advice, guidance and— i n some cases—physical space, to either regulated or unregu-lated firms to help them innovate.

Crypto Assets

As of now, regulators seem to have a view that cryp-to-assets may pose risks to investors and many regu-

lators have issued public warnings about their potential risks. Things, however, are different in the Middle East. Regulators here have embraced the risks and had or is developing various solutions. On 25 February 2019, Bah-rain became the first Middle Eastern country to publish regulations on crypto assets. The directive governs mat-ters including licensing, compliance, governance, cap-ital, security and risk mitigation and issues licenses for “regulated crypto asset services.” UAE is the only nation other than Bahrain that sought to codify regulation of crypto assets, crypto exchanges, crypto custodians and related business in the Middle East.

May 2017Bahrain introduced a regulatory

sandbox

2017

December 2018 Issued draft regulations on crypto- asset and finalised open banking

rules

August 2017 Introduced crowd funding regulations

October 2017 Launch of FinTech and Innovation

Unit

Nov 2018 Issued draft regulations on open

banking

August 2018 Collaborated with GFIN

May 2018 Announced plans to

launch e-KYC framework

January 2019Issued draft regulations on digital

financial advice

2018

2019

Driven by broad recognition that fintech presents

important opportunities

to deepen financial situation

and promote financial

inclusion, the industry in the

GCC is growing rapidly. IMF

says Bahrain is one such growth

centre in the region

Will fintech tranform us completely?TDT | Manama

Widespread adoption of new technolo-gies, such as block-

chain-based systems, are making swift changes in every facet of our society.

The financial world is of no exception.

But if the question is: Will they transform our world complete-ly?

“We do not know yet” is the answer as Christine Lagarde, President of the European Cen-tral Bank, has said.

Yet, significant investment is going into the fintech, though most of its real-world applica-tions are still being tested.

Estimates say, Fintech firms, per funding history since incep-tion, have received a quarter of the financial service industry’s venture and startup funding and account for almost 20 per cent of the total US$90 billion valu-ations of new IPO’s (at launch) by global financial sector firms.

Another estimate shows fin-tech investment quadrupled to $19 billion annually from 2010 to 2015.

As they rightly say, Fintech has become an obsession across the Arab region with social me-dia platforms abuzz with news of the latest developments.

The change definitely calls for more critical thinking and comprehen- sive strate-gies also to solve the r e g u l a t o r y challeng-es that may arise in the form of

money laundering and terrorist financing.

But, as the Lagarde says, cre-ative and far-sighted approach have also emerged such as “fin-tech sandboxes” to tackle the unknown, though its objectives vary.

Abu Dhabi has a “Regulato-ry Laboratory” and Hong Kong the “Fintech Supervisory Sand-box”. In Bahrain, we have one designed to promote innovation by allowing new technologies to be developed and tested in a closely supervised environment.

However, as economists say, the Middle East and Central Asia were slow in adopting fin-tech, with innovations most-ly focused on payments and to some degree lending.

Between 2013 and 2018, In-vestments in the two sub-re-gions here account for less than 2 per cent of total global fintech investments.

In MENAP, four countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and UAE) account for 75pc of fintech startups and, in the CCA, fintech activities are still concentrated in Kazakhstan.

Nonetheless, driven by broad recognition that fin-tech presents important opportunities to deepen fi-nancial strategies and pro-mote financial inclusion, the industry is now growing rapidly.

IMF says Bahrain is one such growth centre in the region, which

is improv-

ing rapidly as the region also holds the world’s largest un-banked populations.

Support programmes Strengthening the capacity

of fintech startups here in the Kingdom are institutional sup-port programmes (accelerators, incubators, free zones, and sand-boxes).

Besides, investments in high-speed voice and data communi-cation networks have facilitated mobile and internet penetration.

In the MENAP, four countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and the UAE) account for 75 per cent of total startups, while UAE alone accounts for a third of all activ-ities.

The availability of private cap-ital, including early-stage risk capital, has underpinned the comparatively strong perfor-mance of fintech in countries like the United Arab Emirates.

But, as IMF says, Bahrain is now a force to be reckoned with, thanks to the strong regulatory network that allows start-ups to innovate freely without fear for

legal consequences. The strong regu-

latory framework, access to talent , venture funding and market accessibility make the job easier.

As Maissan Al-m a s k a t i ,

Chairman of FinTech Con-sortium Middle East, Bahrain FinTech Bay, has said: “This is alongside a new data protection policy and a push to encourage the take-up of cloud-based ser-vices to lower costs and improve competitiveness.”

Bahrain’s newly introduced bankruptcy laws, venture capital funds (Al Waha ‘Fund of Funds’, Gulf Strategic Partners, ILA Group Ltd. etc...) and entrepre-neurship training programmes (National Fintech Talent Pro-gramme) are giving a big boost to the start-up ecosystem here.

Besides, the Kingdom has adopted fintech to its national agenda to accelerate its adop-tion.

Supporting all this activity is Bahrain FinTech Bay launched jointly by Bahrain’s Economic Development Board and Singa-pore-based FinTech Consortium on 30 August 2018.

In a 2018 report, Bahrain’s Al sectors are projected to contrib-ute 8.2 per cent to GDP by 2030.

However, to understand the changes FinTech brings, one needs to understand the de-velopments associated with it. Sandboxes, crypto-assets, pay-ments and settlement systems (large value and retail), data frameworks and CBDC are a few amongst them.

February 2019Initiated cross-border testing pilot for FinTechs and finalized crypto-

asset rules

big story

04FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

Bahrain takes measures to prevent CoronavirusTDT | Manama

Bahrain will set up a joint and integrated strategic plan to strengthen its pre-

cautionary measures against the new Coronavirus spread, top health officials said.

Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health, Dr Maryam Al-Hajeri, said, the move aims at providing all necessary help for the treatment of Coronavirus at all health centres and hospitals in the Kingdom.

Health Epidemiology depart-ment at the Health Ministry was holding a review of the regional and international developments regarding the new Coronavirus spread. Representatives from Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), BDF Hospital, King Ham-ad University Hospital (KHUH) were present.

The meeting discussed pro-cedures to monitor all air and marine outlets to prevent any incoming cases and ensure the preparedness of laboratories to collect, check and verify sam-ples. She stressed the impor-tance of strengthening coop-eration between the ministry and all concerned parties while setting a plan to confront similar situations.

UAE confirmes first case in METhe United Arab Emirates on

Wednesday confirmed the first cases in the Mideast of the new Chinese virus that causes flu-like symptoms, saying doctors now were treating a family that had just come from a city at the epicentre of the outbreak.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also announced they will be screen-ing all passengers arriving on flights from Chinese cities.

There have been no recorded cases of the deadly coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s

Minister of Health Tawfiq al-Ra-biah said in a statement.

Saudi has called for its citizens in Wuhan to prepare to evacuate, the Kingdom’s embassy said via its Twitter account.

Kuwait has asked its citizens to refrain from travelling to Chi-na.

The country’s airports have also begun screening passengers on flights from China, according to Kuwait News Agency.

Infection from China’s coro-navirus spread to more than 8,100 people globally yesterday, surpassing the total from the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic in a

fast-spreading health crisis fore-cast to deal a heavy blow to the world’s second-largest economy.

Countries with confirmed cases include China, the US, the UAE, Canada, South Korea, France, Germany, Vietnam, In-dia, and Japan among others. (See page 5)

Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health, Dr Maryam Al-Hajeri chairing a meeting of Health Epidemiology department at the Health Ministry on preparations to prevent Coronavirus spread

China will win this battle: Ma Zhaoxu

TDT | Manama

Chinese vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the Chi-nese government will fulfil its international obligations

to address the legitimate concerns of the foreigners in the country in a timely manner and to protect their safety with a responsible attitude.

He was briefing diplomats from the foreign countries’ embassies and missions to China about the nation’s efforts to prevent and control the outbreak of the contagion at a meeting in Beijing.

Ma stressed that given the serious and complicated situation, the Chinese government has taken strong measures that any other country can hardly take to deal with the disease, and will continue to resolutely make sure measures are effectively implemented.

Ma said that China has established an all-around epidemic prevention and control system to ensure its efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia will be ad-vanced in an open, transparent, scientific and orderly manner.

The system centres around Wuhan, capital of Hubei prov-ince, which is the epicentre of the outbreak, as well as the province, and has been laid out from the Communist Party of China Central Committee to local governments at various levels, he added.

The nation has a strong resolve as well as full confidence and capability to win the battle against the contagious disease, Ma said.

CBB regulates Unified “Own Damage” motor Insurance policy Specifies the minimum benefits of Motor Insurance

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s top bank yesterday issued guidelines setting the

minimum benefits for a motor policyholder covered by the Unified “Own Damage” Motor Insurance policy.

The move, which follows the issuance of the Unified Compul-sory Third Party Motor Insur-ance Policy in 2016, unifies the procedures of the comprehen-sive insurance policy, said a Cen-tral Bank of Bahrain statement.

CBB said it expects insurance companies to provide reasonable competitive rates to policyhold-ers along with options to add other benefits, subject to proper endorsements.

The top bank said it prohib-its insurance companies from changing any provisions that violate the principles of the ob-ligations of both the insured and the insurer.

How does it work?The new law requires the in-

surance companies to indemni-fy the insured against losses or damages to a Motor Vehicle, its accessories or spare parts in the event of the damage occurring within Bahrain during the pol-icy term.

Coverage will be given for damages caused by “accidental

collision or overturning or con-sequent mechanical breakdown or consequent upon wear and tear, and in the event of a fire, self-ignition or lightning or bur-glary, housebreaking or theft, by malicious act and whilst in transit (including the process of loading and unloading, inciden-tal to such transit) by road, lift or elevator.”

BD300 limit for windscreen damage

Insurance will cover for vehi-cles’ windscreen damages, in-cluding that caused by weather and climate with a limit amount of BD 300 after charging the ap-plicable compulsory excess.

Vehicle’s valueDuring the first year, the ve-

hicle’s value (sum insured) will be determined based on the date of purchase. There will be 15 per cent depreciation for the next two years, annually. During the third year, the company with the approval of the insured or based on the report of a tech-nical expert will determine the vehicle’s value.

Amount payableThe resolution specifies the

amount payable by the insured, based on vehicle types, in the

event of the insured responsibil-ity for an accident. The company is obliged to pay what comes more than this amount.

For private vehicles, BD 50 will be calculated as a compulsory excess amount, if the value of the vehicle is BD 20,000 or less. If the value of the vehicle ranges between BD20,000 to BD50,000, the excess amount will be BD100. The excess amount should be agreed on between the company and the insured if the vehicle value is more than BD50,000.

When an underage driver causes the accident

An additional excess amount will be payable, if the insured was found responsible for the accident or if the vehicle was driven by a person under 21 years of age. The law is also ap-plicable if the person was hold-ing a driving license (recognised by General Directorate of Traf-fic) which has been in force for less than one year at the time of the accident.

The amount ranges from 50 dinars to 200 dinars and accord-ing to the value of the vehicle. Besides, the Unified motor pol-icy specifies an amount of BD100 to be applicable to the insured from the costs of repair for the accident caused by an unknown

person.“These compulsory and addi-

tional excesses amounts referred to in the policy are relatively lower than what is currently practised in the insurance mar-ket and may vary from one com-pany to another and from one type of insurance coverage to another based on the insurance coverage offered by companies to the public. Accordingly, the resolution has set and unified the value of such excesses,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Bakr, the Ex-ecutive Director of the Financial Institutions at the CBB.

Explaining further, he said that the settlement of the claims will be subject to the provisions contained in procedures on deal-ing with claims arising from the compulsory third party motor policy issued in Resolution No. 23 of 2016.

How to calculate repair costs?The rule states that the com-

pany should provide used spare parts in good condition with-in two weeks of the accident. Failing means, the company is obliged to provide new spare parts, after deducting any appli-cable depreciation. If there are no original or used spare parts available, then a cash amount will be paid as a final settlement,

which includes the repair cost and the total cost of the new original spare parts after deduct-ing depreciation.

The exceptionsAs per the new law, the in-

surance provider will not be re-sponsible for compensation in certain cases, including indirect loss and consumption or a de-crease in the value of the vehicle or the result of overloading or pressure.

Coverage will become void if damages are caused by loading flammable materials, an increase in the legal number passengers or cargo, in the case of insured providing false information, in-tentionally bypassing the red signal, going against the direc-tion of driving, or in the case of the insured escaping from the scene of the accident. Cov-erage will cease for accidents occurring outside the geo-graphical area of Bahrain, and for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.

No flood, storm damages

The policy excludes loss, damage or liabil-ity caused by floods or

storms and violent disturbances of nature, war, terrorism, nu-clear weapons or radiation, and nuclear, biological and chemical pollution.

For additional benefits Abdul Rahman Al-Bakr said

the insured may add and request some additional services that are not included in this policy, subject to an additional pre-mium. These include that for alternative vehicle or roadside assistance services, as well as in the event of a total loss, to cover the difference between the com-pensation value and the value of any financial obligations to financing parties to be covered by the policy- holder.

05

world

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

38new deaths marked the biggest single-day jump

yet

China sees deadliest day yet• Total toll leaps to 170

• 1,700 new infections confirmed

• World Health Organization on warned all governments to “take action”

Wuhan | China

China reported its biggest single-day jump in nov-el coronavirus deaths

yesterday, as confirmation that three Japanese evacuated from the outbreak’s epicentre were infected deepened fears about a global contagion.

The World Health Organiza-tion, which initially downplayed the severity of a disease that has now killed 170 nationwide, warned all governments to be “on alert” as it weighed whether to declare a global health emer-gency.

As foreign countries evacuat-ed their citizens from Wuhan, the locked-down city where the virus was first detected, concern

over the economic impact has steadily intensified.

Airlines have suspended ser-vices to China and companies from Starbucks to Tesla have shuttered stores and produc-tion lines. Chinese authorities have taken extraordinary steps to arrest the virus’s spread, in-cluding effectively locking down more than 50 million people in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.

But that was yet to pay divi-dends, with the government re-porting 38 new deaths in the 24 hours to Thursday, the highest one-day total. All but one were in Hubei.

The number of confirmed new cases also grew steadily to 7,711, the National Health Commis-sion said. Another 81,000 people

were under observation for pos-sible infection.

The pathogen is believed to have been spawned in a market that sold wild game, spreading far and wide by a Lunar New Year holiday season in which hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically or abroad.

‘Totally new situation’Japan’s infection rate grew

to 11 after three Japanese citi-zens among more than 200 on an evacuation flight Wednesday tested positive.

Officials had already con-firmed two cases in which pa-tients tested positive without having travelled to China, adding to anxiety over human-to-hu-man transmission of the respira-tory disease.

“We are in a truly new sit-uation,” Health Minister Kat-sunobu Kato told parliament.

The fact that two of the three new confirmed Japanese cases showed no symptoms under-scored the scale of the challenge for health workers.

The WHO has come under fire after it last week declined to de-clare a global health emergency.

The global health body’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

expressed regret for what he called a “human error” in the WHO’s assessment.

“The whole world needs to take action,” Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told reporters in Geneva.

A US charter flight from Wu-han arrived Wednesday at a California military base with nearly 200 consular staff and other Americans, who “cheered loudly” when the jet touched down, said an official with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All passengers were declared symptom-free but will remain isolated for days while they are monitored.

Some 250 French citizens and 100 other Europeans will be flown out of Wuhan on board two French planes this week.

Australia plans to house any citizens it evacuates from the city on an island normally used to detain asylum seekers.

A growing number of gov-ernments have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China.

China also has urged its own citizens to delay trips abroad, after more than 15 countries confirmed infections.

India reports its first caseA patient in Kerala had tested positive

for novel coronavirusReuters | Bengaluru

India said yesterday a patient in Kerala had tested positive

for novel coronavirus, the first case in the country of the virus which originated in China and has so far killed 170.

The patient was a student of Wuhan University in China, India’s government said in a statement. The patient is stable and in isolation at a hospital, the statement added.

A senior Indian government official said bringing Indian nationals from Wuhan, the ep-icentre of the virus, was not the best option due to the risk of infection but increased pres-sure from the citizens, most of them students, and their par-ents had forced them to keep an aircraft on standby.

This week, India readied a state-carrier airplane to travel to Wuhan but was waiting for

a nod from Chinese authorities who were trying to sequence the whole evacuation process.

“Only those nationals who don’t have the virus will be airlifted, they will be brought into a quarantine facility out-side Delhi,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

Medical staff with protective clothing are seen inside a ward specialised in receiving any person who may have been infected with coronavirus, at the Rajiv Ghandhi Government General hospital in Chennai

New coronavirus study places incubation period at five daysWashington

The period between exposure to the new coronavirus that

originated in China and symp-toms is 5.2 days on average, but varies greatly among patients, according to one of the largest studies yet published on the deadly epidemic.

While admitting that the esti-mate is “imprecise,” the Chinese team behind a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Wednes-

day said their findings support a 14-day medical observation

period for people exposed to the pathogen.

The World Health Organi-zation said in an update Mon-day that the incubation period ranged from between two and 10 days before symptoms like fever, cough, shortness of breath and acute respiratory distress emerged.

The incubation period esti-mate in the new study was based on 10 patients.

The researchers also studied the virus’s first 425 patients in

order to establish two other fun-damental characteristics of the outbreak.

Since it first emerged in Wu-han in December, the number of cases of the 2019 Novel Corona-virus doubled every 7.4 days, the researchers wrote.

They also estimated that each infected person then infected an average of 2.2 other people, a figure known as the basic re-productive number, or R0 (pro-nounced “R-naught”).

The figure doesn’t predict

how big an epidemic will even-tually be, but is a useful measure nonetheless. In this case, it is rel-atively low: close to the seasonal flu (around 1.3), much less than the measles (12 or higher) and comparable to the SARS-epidem-ic of 2002-2003 (3).

The team also found that hu-man-to-human transmission had been occurring among close contacts since the middle of De-cember 2019.

The Chinese findings echo research by a team in the Neth-

erlands that found an incubation period of 5.8 days, with large variations.

And a 27-year-old Vietnam-ese man who was infected by his father who had traveled to Wuhan showed symptoms in around three days, accord-ing to a letter published in NEJM.

In the major Chinese study, half of the 425 cases were pa-tients over the age of 60, and none were under 15 years old.

Since it first emerged in Wuhan in December, the number of cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus doubled every 7.4 days

Virus fears prompt homemade barricades and online shamingBeijing

Villages and apartment com-plexes across China are tak-

ing the fight against a deadly viral epidemic into their own hands with improvised barri-cades and the online shaming of potentially-infected strangers.

The government has taken drastic measures to contain the spread of 2019-nCoV since it emerged at the end of December in a market where wild animals were sold.

More than 50 million people in and around the epicentre of Wuhan have been confined to their cities, while nationwide travel has been heavily cur-tailed.

Alarmed by daily reports of new cases across the country, ordinary citizens and local of-ficials have buttressed these efforts with their own block-ades, fearful that travellers from Hubei will infect their commu-nities.

In one Beijing residential

compound, a motley stack of shared bicycles have been haphazardly woven together and wired to a wooden ladder, blocking a side gate and forcing visitors to register with guards at the main entrance.

Staff at the Zhongfangli com-plex said the bike barrier was built at the start of the week to help them control the flow of people into the compound and stop the virus spreading to residents inside.

Photos of homemade road-

blocks elsewhere in China have been shared widely on the mi-croblogging platform Weibo.

In one image, a man wearing a surgical mask and brandishing a traditional martial arts weapon squats on a barricade in front of a village. A hand-written sign on the structure reads: “Outsiders forbidden from entering”.

Another shows two elderly men in surgical masks, purport-edly in coastal Shandong prov-ince, standing behind a card-

board notice instructing visitors to turn around and not enter the community.

A truck has been used to block the road into one section of Li-anyungang city near Shanghai since Tuesday, a nearby resident said.

“Don’t come back once you’ve left,” locals were instructed, the 30-year-old said.

In nearby Yancheng, a car am-bled around apartment blocks blaring a recorded message that warned against contact with

arrivals from the epicentre of the outbreak.

“If you discover someone who has returned from Hubei, notify the residents’ committee imme-diately,” a loudspeaker on the car warned.

Numerous residential com-pounds in Beijing have also asked their inhabitants to re-port any visitors from Wuhan, the city where the virus first appeared -- or simply anyone from out of town.

‘I promise to self-quarantine’Hotels around China have re-

fused entry to travellers from Hubei province, while people from Wuhan currently in other parts of the country have been the victims of targeted har-

assment, according to Human Rights Watch.

Several Wuhan-based stu-dents who returned to their home provinces for the Lunar New Year holiday reported-ly saw their personal details leaked and shared in online chat groups.

“I am a university student in Wuhan,” one student wrote on-line, according to HRW. “I prom-ise I will self-quarantine, please do not treat us as enemies.”

In addition to transport re-strictions, authorities are rapid-ly erecting pre-fabricated hospi-tals in Wuhan to treat infected residents and are monitoring more than 80,000 people for signs they have the virus.

Unofficial checkpoints have been set up outside villages -- like this one in Zouping -- to stop outsiders bringing in the deadly virus

Bicycles bar the entrance to an apartment block in Beijing as residents seek to keep control of who can enter

An unofficial checkpoint stops outsiders getting into Zhangye, in China’s northwestern Gansu province

Food prices this week have risen to their highest point in nearly four years, according to a wide-ly-used index of produce costs reported by state news agency

Xinhua.KNOW WHAT

Arab News | Beirut

In the mountains overlooking Beirut, not far from Harissa, the artist and architect Nadim Karam has built the studio of his

dreams. It is, he says, a place where he can reflect, create and experiment.

“It portrays my architectural work and, at the same time, it’s a place — a platform — from which I can produce my work,” he says. “Which is fantastic, because you build something that fits you completely. And that’s important in life.”

Not far away, just up the hill in fact, is the family residence, a restored traditional Leba-

nese stone house that has been renovated by Atelier Hapsitus, the interdisciplinary group Karam founded in 1996. Whichever way you look at it —professionally and personally — Karam appears to be very much at home.

“We feel good about what we are doing in Beirut because all the projects that we’re do-ing worldwide start from here,” he says. “And that’s a very important point for me. That the germs of the idea grow here.”

Arguably best known for his large-scale ur-ban art projects, the personal studies and rich symbolism behind much of Karam’s artwork were currently on display for the first time at an exhibition in October last year at Karam’s studio in Daroun-Harissa.

Curated by Rachel Dedman, “Shorthand: Nadim Karam, Notes from the Archive” show-cased the sketches, paintings, archival video and photography behind Karam’s monumental sculptures.

“Public art is very important for a city,” says Karam. “It’s an organic presence first of all and cuts through the presence of concrete. It cuts through the geometry, the regularity of the streets, the urban context, and brings another spirit altogether. It brings the spirits of dreams and stories; it just makes you stop on your way to work. It’s different to the ordinary lives and routines that we go through. You question yourself — you question your existence — even if it’s for a moment. It gives you the chance to dream for a moment.”

‘Spaces in Between.’ BrusselsThis is my most recent work. It is in front of

Villa Empain — a foundation that mainly deals with the relationship between East and West. One side [of the work] has a button central to it, while the other is perforated. They kind of

complement each other but there are ambig-uous areas and boundaries where they don’t necessarily connect in terms of the design. The idea is to show that we try to reach each other in terms of thought, but there are always hindrances.

‘Archaic Procession.’ Beirut (1997 to 2000)This was a procession of humanoids, anima-

loids and objects that could be interpreted any way you want. Every few months we would change their location. On a night when there was no moon we would move them and by sev-en in the morning they would be somewhere else. Just to create excitement and a story. To make people wonder and ask more questions

about our city center after the war and what it could generate for Beirut. There was a kind of story created — a very simple story in order to give people the chance to project their own imagination into the project. It was an apolitical act.

‘The Three Magic Flowers of Jitchu.’ Todaiji Temple, Japan (2004)

Jitchu was a monk who lived in the Nara era and came from our region. It could be Iran, it could be India, or it could be nearer. They never could define where he came from. He created an esoteric performance and a temple around it. I spent 10 years in Japan studying something called Butai-zukuri — which is staged temples — and one of the most living performances is still the staged temple that Jitchu created. It took me 20 years of discus-sions with the monks to convince them to let me (do this). It lasted for just two weeks. I created three flowers — the magic flowers of Jitchu — and put around 1,000 small sculptures in the water. There were about 50 student volunteers who came to plant the sculptures. It was a fantastic experience.

‘The Travellers.’ Melbourne (2006)This bridge used to be a railway bridge and

when they stopped the rail in that area they were thinking of removing the bridge. In 2006, the Queen was due to come to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games and they wanted to decide quickly what to do with the bridge. I was invited to give a conference in Melbourne and was invited to the infrastructure depart-

ment, where they showed me this project. We submitted a proposal to keep the bridge and convinced them to place large-scale sculptures on it that would represent the different stages of migration into the city. We reinstalled the rail and the remote-sensing system and the sculptures move three times a day — morning, noon and night. It became the urban clock of Melbourne. It’s still there and is a permanent project for the city.

‘Politics of Dialogue: The Merry-Go-Round.’ Venice (2019)

This is still there if you happen to be in Ven-ice. It has several faces, each made of a comic shape, and they’re just talking to each other, al-though what they’re saying doesn’t necessarily make sense. They’re permanently rotating. If you put politicians on a platform and you put them somewhere, the discussions just rotate indefinitely. It could refer to Brexit. It could refer to the EU. It could refer to our region.

‘T-Race PCB-137.’ Prague (1997)This was one of my first projects. It’s about

Kafka and Kandinsky meeting on the Manes Bridge in Prague. Of course it’s all fantasy. At the time I asked Pierre Restany, who was a very well-known art critic, if Kafka and Kandinsky could have met at any time in Prague, and he said yes. Because Kandinsky, who came from Russia, would go to Munich and he could have passed through the city where Kafka lived. So we created a whole story around that, with the sculptures placed parallel to the Charles Bridge. It had a very strong visual energy.

Arab News | Dubai

Contemporary Emirati artist Ebtisam Abdulaziz unveiled her latest math-ematics-inspired piece for the UAE’s

Al-Burda Endowment exhibition — organ-ized by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development — in November last year.

Abdulaziz, who often explores issues of identity and culture through her work, spoke to Arab News about her latest pro-ject and her path toward becoming an artist.

“Unfortunately, when I finished high school, I couldn’t get the chance to study art since there were no art colleges in the UAE. I decided to get a degree in mathemat-

ics because it is an interesting subject to me, as I believe art and maths are connect-ed with each other,” the artist, whose work was exhibited as part of the UAE Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, said.

In 1999, she kicked off a career in the arts and hasn’t looked back since. The artist works in a variety of mediums, in-cluding installations, performance pieces

and works on paper, all of which explore “human nature, culture, religion… and the workings of the human brain,” according to the artist.

“There is a connection between art and maths,” she added, explaining the link be-tween her two passions. “I merged the two parts of my brain to get ideas and (build on this) mixture between art and maths.”

The Al-Burda Endowment exhibition will showcase the work of 10 selected artists awarded the grant in 2018 and Ab-dulaziz is particularly excited about her new piece.

“My piece for Al-Burda is a dream come true. I had this idea of making a huge in-stallation work that involves maths, ge-ometry and Islamic patterns. The idea… started from just a sketch… to a big acrylic painting on canvas and now it has become a 3-D work.”

The optical illusion-style work is al-most trippy to look at due to its accordi-on-style surface and multitude of bright, block-printed colors and that boldness is also visible in her advice to budding Emi-rati artists.

“My advice to them is to go for it, think big, go crazy with your art. It is who you are, it is your way to express yourself,” she said.

WHEN A MAN IS DENIED THE RIGHT TO LIVE THE LIFE HE BELIEVES IN, HE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO BECOME AN OUTLAWNELSON MANDELA

1865 19501865 1985TODAY IN HISTORYQUOTE

OF THE DAY

C A L C U L A T I O N S

FRIDAY JANUARY 31, 2020

Ebtisam Abdulaziz often explores issues of identity and culture through her work

Nadim Karam is renowned for his large-scale urban art projects

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Chairman & Managing Director P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.comSubscription & circulation: Tel: 36458394 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (passes 121-24)

US President Harry Tru-man publicly announces support for the develop-ment of a hydrogen bomb

General Robert E. Lee n a m e d C o m m a n d -er-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War

South African President P. W. Botha offers to free Nel-son Mandela if he denounces violence

S C U L P T U R E S

Ebtisam Abdulaziz works in a variety of mediums, including installations, perfor-

mance pieces and works on paper

Arguably best known for his large-scale urban art projects, the personal studies and rich symbolism behind much of Karam’s art-work were currently on display for the first time at an exhibition in October last year at

Karam’s studio in Daroun-Harissa

Contemporary Emirati artist Ebtisam Abdulaziz mixes maths with art

Lebanese artist says public art gives the chance to dream for a moment

There is a connection between

art and maths. I merged the two parts of my brain to get

ideas and (build on this) mixture between art and

mathsEBTISAM ABDULAZIZ

A work by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

A work by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

Works by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

Nadim Karam in front of his sculpture titled ‘Politics of Dialogue - The Merry-Go-Round’ in Venice ‘Archaic Procession’ in Beirut by Nadim Karam

‘Archaic Procession’ in Beirut by Nadim Karam

Arab News | Beirut

In the mountains overlooking Beirut, not far from Harissa, the artist and architect Nadim Karam has built the studio of his

dreams. It is, he says, a place where he can reflect, create and experiment.

“It portrays my architectural work and, at the same time, it’s a place — a platform — from which I can produce my work,” he says. “Which is fantastic, because you build something that fits you completely. And that’s important in life.”

Not far away, just up the hill in fact, is the family residence, a restored traditional Leba-

nese stone house that has been renovated by Atelier Hapsitus, the interdisciplinary group Karam founded in 1996. Whichever way you look at it —professionally and personally — Karam appears to be very much at home.

“We feel good about what we are doing in Beirut because all the projects that we’re do-ing worldwide start from here,” he says. “And that’s a very important point for me. That the germs of the idea grow here.”

Arguably best known for his large-scale ur-ban art projects, the personal studies and rich symbolism behind much of Karam’s artwork were currently on display for the first time at an exhibition in October last year at Karam’s studio in Daroun-Harissa.

Curated by Rachel Dedman, “Shorthand: Nadim Karam, Notes from the Archive” show-cased the sketches, paintings, archival video and photography behind Karam’s monumental sculptures.

“Public art is very important for a city,” says Karam. “It’s an organic presence first of all and cuts through the presence of concrete. It cuts through the geometry, the regularity of the streets, the urban context, and brings another spirit altogether. It brings the spirits of dreams and stories; it just makes you stop on your way to work. It’s different to the ordinary lives and routines that we go through. You question yourself — you question your existence — even if it’s for a moment. It gives you the chance to dream for a moment.”

‘Spaces in Between.’ BrusselsThis is my most recent work. It is in front of

Villa Empain — a foundation that mainly deals with the relationship between East and West. One side [of the work] has a button central to it, while the other is perforated. They kind of

complement each other but there are ambig-uous areas and boundaries where they don’t necessarily connect in terms of the design. The idea is to show that we try to reach each other in terms of thought, but there are always hindrances.

‘Archaic Procession.’ Beirut (1997 to 2000)This was a procession of humanoids, anima-

loids and objects that could be interpreted any way you want. Every few months we would change their location. On a night when there was no moon we would move them and by sev-en in the morning they would be somewhere else. Just to create excitement and a story. To make people wonder and ask more questions

about our city center after the war and what it could generate for Beirut. There was a kind of story created — a very simple story in order to give people the chance to project their own imagination into the project. It was an apolitical act.

‘The Three Magic Flowers of Jitchu.’ Todaiji Temple, Japan (2004)

Jitchu was a monk who lived in the Nara era and came from our region. It could be Iran, it could be India, or it could be nearer. They never could define where he came from. He created an esoteric performance and a temple around it. I spent 10 years in Japan studying something called Butai-zukuri — which is staged temples — and one of the most living performances is still the staged temple that Jitchu created. It took me 20 years of discus-sions with the monks to convince them to let me (do this). It lasted for just two weeks. I created three flowers — the magic flowers of Jitchu — and put around 1,000 small sculptures in the water. There were about 50 student volunteers who came to plant the sculptures. It was a fantastic experience.

‘The Travellers.’ Melbourne (2006)This bridge used to be a railway bridge and

when they stopped the rail in that area they were thinking of removing the bridge. In 2006, the Queen was due to come to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games and they wanted to decide quickly what to do with the bridge. I was invited to give a conference in Melbourne and was invited to the infrastructure depart-

ment, where they showed me this project. We submitted a proposal to keep the bridge and convinced them to place large-scale sculptures on it that would represent the different stages of migration into the city. We reinstalled the rail and the remote-sensing system and the sculptures move three times a day — morning, noon and night. It became the urban clock of Melbourne. It’s still there and is a permanent project for the city.

‘Politics of Dialogue: The Merry-Go-Round.’ Venice (2019)

This is still there if you happen to be in Ven-ice. It has several faces, each made of a comic shape, and they’re just talking to each other, al-though what they’re saying doesn’t necessarily make sense. They’re permanently rotating. If you put politicians on a platform and you put them somewhere, the discussions just rotate indefinitely. It could refer to Brexit. It could refer to the EU. It could refer to our region.

‘T-Race PCB-137.’ Prague (1997)This was one of my first projects. It’s about

Kafka and Kandinsky meeting on the Manes Bridge in Prague. Of course it’s all fantasy. At the time I asked Pierre Restany, who was a very well-known art critic, if Kafka and Kandinsky could have met at any time in Prague, and he said yes. Because Kandinsky, who came from Russia, would go to Munich and he could have passed through the city where Kafka lived. So we created a whole story around that, with the sculptures placed parallel to the Charles Bridge. It had a very strong visual energy.

Arab News | Dubai

Contemporary Emirati artist Ebtisam Abdulaziz unveiled her latest math-ematics-inspired piece for the UAE’s

Al-Burda Endowment exhibition — organ-ized by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development — in November last year.

Abdulaziz, who often explores issues of identity and culture through her work, spoke to Arab News about her latest pro-ject and her path toward becoming an artist.

“Unfortunately, when I finished high school, I couldn’t get the chance to study art since there were no art colleges in the UAE. I decided to get a degree in mathemat-

ics because it is an interesting subject to me, as I believe art and maths are connect-ed with each other,” the artist, whose work was exhibited as part of the UAE Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, said.

In 1999, she kicked off a career in the arts and hasn’t looked back since. The artist works in a variety of mediums, in-cluding installations, performance pieces

and works on paper, all of which explore “human nature, culture, religion… and the workings of the human brain,” according to the artist.

“There is a connection between art and maths,” she added, explaining the link be-tween her two passions. “I merged the two parts of my brain to get ideas and (build on this) mixture between art and maths.”

The Al-Burda Endowment exhibition will showcase the work of 10 selected artists awarded the grant in 2018 and Ab-dulaziz is particularly excited about her new piece.

“My piece for Al-Burda is a dream come true. I had this idea of making a huge in-stallation work that involves maths, ge-ometry and Islamic patterns. The idea… started from just a sketch… to a big acrylic painting on canvas and now it has become a 3-D work.”

The optical illusion-style work is al-most trippy to look at due to its accordi-on-style surface and multitude of bright, block-printed colors and that boldness is also visible in her advice to budding Emi-rati artists.

“My advice to them is to go for it, think big, go crazy with your art. It is who you are, it is your way to express yourself,” she said.

WHEN A MAN IS DENIED THE RIGHT TO LIVE THE LIFE HE BELIEVES IN, HE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO BECOME AN OUTLAWNELSON MANDELA

1865 19501865 1985TODAY IN HISTORYQUOTE

OF THE DAY

C A L C U L A T I O N S

FRIDAY JANUARY 31, 2020

Ebtisam Abdulaziz often explores issues of identity and culture through her work

Nadim Karam is renowned for his large-scale urban art projects

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Chairman & Managing Director P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.comSubscription & circulation: Tel: 36458394 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America (passes 121-24)

US President Harry Tru-man publicly announces support for the develop-ment of a hydrogen bomb

General Robert E. Lee n a m e d C o m m a n d -er-in-Chief of Confederate Armies during US Civil War

South African President P. W. Botha offers to free Nel-son Mandela if he denounces violence

S C U L P T U R E S

Ebtisam Abdulaziz works in a variety of mediums, including installations, perfor-

mance pieces and works on paper

Arguably best known for his large-scale urban art projects, the personal studies and rich symbolism behind much of Karam’s art-work were currently on display for the first time at an exhibition in October last year at

Karam’s studio in Daroun-Harissa

Contemporary Emirati artist Ebtisam Abdulaziz mixes maths with art

Lebanese artist says public art gives the chance to dream for a moment

There is a connection between

art and maths. I merged the two parts of my brain to get

ideas and (build on this) mixture between art and

mathsEBTISAM ABDULAZIZ

A work by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

A work by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

Works by Ebtisam Abdulaziz

Nadim Karam in front of his sculpture titled ‘Politics of Dialogue - The Merry-Go-Round’ in Venice ‘Archaic Procession’ in Beirut by Nadim Karam

‘Archaic Procession’ in Beirut by Nadim Karam

KNOW WHAT

08

business

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

Apple, Broadcom ordered to pay $1.1bn for patent infringement• Caltech had sued both tech giants in 2016

• Apple products used Broadcom components that infringed on Caltech patents related to wireless data transmissions

Los Angeles

A L o s A n g e l e s j u r y o n Wednesday ordered Apple

and Broadcom to pay $1.1 billion to a California university for in-fringing wifi technology patents in what is thought to be one of the largest patent verdicts ever.

Apple was ordered to pay $837 million and Broadcom must pay $270 million to the California Institute of Technology.

Caltech had sued both tech giants in 2016, alleging that Ap-ple products including iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches used Broadcom components that in-fringed on its patents related to wireless data transmissions.

While Broadcom made the chips at issue in the trial, jurors may have hit Apple with a bigger tab by because it makes billions of dollars selling iPhones and other devices that incorporate the technology.

“Think of the patented tech-nology as a piece of property that was stolen and sold to someone else,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

“It doesn’t matter if they had a go-between steal it for them, they were not allowed to benefit from a theft even if they were downstream.”

Tangled pastThe analyst, who did not at-

tend the trial, wondered wheth-er an Apple relationship with Broadcom strengthened years ago during legal brawling with

US chip giant Qualcomm played into the jury’s decision.

Some industry insiders believe Apple supported Broadcom’s failed bid to buy Qualcomm in a hostile takeover campaign.

Qualcomm had rejected the unsolicited offer from Broad-com, which makes an array of chips for wireless communica-tions, set-top boxes and elec-tronic displays.

Broadcom last year moved its headquarters from Singapore to California.

Meanwhile, Apple and Qual-comm agreed in early 2019 to “dismiss all litigation” against each other worldwide in what had been a sprawling battle over royalty payments.

Repercussions?Both Apple and Broadcom

planned to appeal the verdict.“While we thank the members

of the jury for their service, we disagree with the factual and legal bases for the verdict and intend to appeal,” Broadcom said in response to an AFP inquiry.

In court documents, Apple and Broadcom had said Caltech’s claims “are based solely on

the incorporation of allegedly infringing Broadcom chips in Apple’s iPhone, Mac, and other devices.”

“Broadcom manufactures the accused chips, while Apple is merely an indirect downstream party whose products incorpo-rate the accused chips,” court filings argued.

Broadcom was the main target of the lawsuit but Apple was also

named as it is one of Broadcom’s biggest customers.

Caltech welcomed the ruling.“As a nonprofit institution

of higher education, Caltech is committed to protecting its in-tellectual property in further-ance of its mission to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research inte-grated with education,” the in-stitute said.

Analyst Enderle expected re-percussions from the ruling to go beyond Apple to other Broad-com customers who used the chips at issue.

“Caltech will go down the list of Broadcom customers and look for out-of-court settlements with anyone who used the com-promised technology,” Enderle said.

The analyst wondered wheth-er the jury award signaled a new onslaught of patent battles in the tech industry.

“Typically, we go through waves of patent wars,” Enderle said.

“I think it’s a case where, after a period of time, people age out or forget that there are signifi-cant penalties for this stuff.”

Both Apple and Broadcom indicated they planned to appeal the verdict finding they infringed on a California university’s patent

Broadcom in 2018 abandoned efforts to take over US smart-

phone chipmaker Qualcomm after its bid was blocked by President Donald

Trump over national security concerns.

G20 funds fossil fuels $30 bn a year under the radar: analysis• The analysis singled out China, Japan, South Korea and Canada as among the worst offenders

AFP | Paris

Rich nations are funnelling cash through govern-ment-backed financial

institutions to provide $30 bil-lion to fossil fuel projects each year that “run counter to the Paris Agreement”, a new anal-ysis showed yesterday.

The export credit agencies (ECAs) of G20 countries cur-rently provide more than 10 times more state-backed finance to oil, gas and coal projects abroad than they do to renewa-ble energy schemes, the analysis said.

Under the Paris Agreement, emissions from these projects do not count as part of donor nations’ carbon footprint.

ECAs are public entities that provide government-backed loans and insurance to overseas businesses.

Market monitor Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth America showed that G20 financing for coal delivered via ECAs under the Paris radar had increased as a percentage of en-ergy project financing since the 2015 Paris treaty.

That translates to $7.1 billion annually in the years since the signing of the landmark accord that enjoins nations to slash car-bon emissions.

“It’s reckless and reprehensi-

ble for any government to still be providing billions in public finance for oil, gas and coal,” said Bronwen Tucker, an analyst at Oil Change.

“It’s even more offensive when these fossil fuel handouts come from the governments who are most historically re-sponsible for the climate crisis.”

The analysis singled out Chi-na, Japan, South Korea and Can-ada as among the worst offend-ers, accounting for 78 percent of G20 fossil fuel support from 2016-2018.

“Despite the climate emer-

gency, ECAs are doubling down on fossil fuels,” it said.

“Japan’s ECAs continue to sup-port new coal projects; Canada’s ECA is pouring money into tar sands, and many ECAs are jump-ing at the chance to support LNG in northern Mozambique and elsewhere.”

“ECAs are something al-most no one has heard of but, as public finance institutions, they help governments pursue trade strategies and individu-al countries are able to shroud their investments around them,” Tucker told AFP.

GuarantorsShe said that most ECA fund-

ing comes from public coffers.“But they play a different role

to private enterprise in terms of their creditworthiness.”

They are “backed by a gov-ernment and their credit rating is much higher so the value of that guarantee is higher,” Tuck-er added.

AFP asked all export credit agencies named in the analysis for comment.

The watchdogs highlighted the announcement last week from Britain that it was ending funding for overseas coal.

Its ECA, UK Export Finance, has not funded a coal-fired power plant since 2002, but a separate analysis showed it is financing millions of tonnes worth of overseas emissions through continued oil and gas funding.

Britain’s prime minister Bo-ris Johnson told lawmakers on Wednesday that its decision over coal was “a massive step forward by this country.”

Export credit agencies currently provide 10 times more state-backed finance to oil gas and coal projects than to renewable energy schemes

The United Nations says carbon emis-sions must decline

7.6 per cent annually by 2030 in order

to put the world on track to meet the 1.5C temperature rise cap called for under Par-is. Instead, fossil fuel emissions are rising annually as energy

demand surges

Mitsubishi Motors denies emissions test fraud Tokyo

Mitsubishi Motors de-nied yesterday equip-

ping engines with devices to make them appear less pol-luting, after raids by prose-cutors in Germany probing suspected diesel emissions cheating.

The probe focuses on Mit-subishi diesel vehicles with 1.6- and 2.2-litre engines that were given Germany’s highest Euro 5 and Euro 6 ratings on emissions standards.

Prosecutors suspect they are equipped with a so-called “shutdown” or “defeat” device that makes engines appear less polluting in tests than they are on the road.

In a statement, Mitsubishi said the 1.6-litre diesel engines examined in the January 21

raid were manufactured by PSA Group, which owns brands such as Peugeot and Citroen.

It did not specify who was responsible for making the 2.2-litre engines, but said “no engines manufactured by Mit-subishi Motors are equipped with a so-called ‘defeat de-vice’”.

The probe focuses on Mitsubishi diesel vehicles with 1.6- and 2.2-litre engines

Tata Motors posts third-quarter profit above estimatesReuters | Bengaluru

India’s Tata Motors Ltd yes-terday beat market expec-

tation for quarterly profit, as sales for the maker of British luxury car brand Jaguar and Land Rover rose in China and it kept a tight lid on costs.

The carmaker reported a net profit of 17.38 billion ru-pees ($244.55 million) in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a loss of 269.93 billion rupees a year earlier, when it booked an impairment charge related to British luxu-ry car unit.Analysts on aver-age were expecting a profit of 10.19bn rupees, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. JLR

sales in China jumped 24.3 per cent in the quarter.

Tata Motors had last year mapped a revival plan for its luxury car unit and JLR had decided to cut around 10pc of its workforce. However, reve-nue from operations for Tata Motors fell 6.8pc to 716.76bn rupees in the quarter as its home market, India.

A Tata Tigor car is pictured at the assembly line inside the Tata Motors car plant in Sanand

THE GENTLEMEN (15+)(CRIME/ACTION) OASIS JUFFAIR: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 12.30 + 5.45 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE (VIP I) : 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I): 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL: 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PM

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, CHARLIE HUNNAM, HENRY GOLDING

THE TURNING (15+)(HORROR/THRILLER)OASIS JUFFAIR: 1.45 + 6.45 + 11.45 PMCITY CENTRE:10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)SEEF (II):11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL:10.30 AM + 3.00 + 7.30 + 12.00 MN

MACKENZIE DAVIS, FINN WOLFHARD, BROOKLYNN PRINCE

JUST MERCY (PG-13)(DRAMA)CITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM +2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 12.15 + 5.45 + 11.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 2.30 + 8.00 PM

BRIE LARSON, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, JAMIE FOXX

THE LAST FULL MEASURE (PG-15)(DRAMA/WAR) CITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II): 3.15 + 8.45 PMWADI AL SAIL:12.00 + 5.30 + 11.00 PM

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, SEBASTIAN STAN

PANGA (PG-13)(HINDI/ROMANTIC/DRAMA/SPORT) From Thursday 23rd 7.00 PM onwardsOASIS JUFFAIR: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II): 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 12.00 + 5.45 + 11.30 PM

KANGANA RANAUT, JASSIE GILL, RICHA CHADHA

STREET DANCER 3 (PG-15)(HINDI/DANCE/MUSIC/COMEDY) OASIS JUFFAIR:11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE:11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL: 2.45 + 8.30 PM

VARUN DHAWAN, SHRADDHA KAPOOR, RAGHAV JUYAL

TOY GUARDIANS (G)(ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) CITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 PM

MITCH SANDRINGHAM,JULIA NOBLES,CATIA NATHANSON

AL NIHAYA (PG)(KUWAITI/ACTION/COMEDY) SEEF (II): 6.30 + 8.30 + 10.30 PM

EBRAHIM AL-SHEAKHLI, MESHAAL ALFARHAN, MOHAMMED ALHMLY

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (PG-15)(ACTION/COMEDY/CRIME)OASIS JUFFAIR: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 3.00 + 8.15 PMCITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D): 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 7.30 + 10.15 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) CITY CENTRE (ATMOS): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN CITY CENTRE (VIP II) : 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM

WILL SMITH, MARTIN LAWRENCE, VANESSA HUDGENS

DOLITTLE (PG)(ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY) OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 10.45 AM + 1.00 + 5.30 + 7.45 + 10.00 PMCITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D) :11.00 AM + 1.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMWADI AL SAIL: 12.45 + 5.15 + 9.45 PM

ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ANTONIO BANDERAS, MICHAEL SHEEN

1917 (PG-15)(WAR/ACTION/DRAMA) 1917 CITY CENTRE:11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM

GEORGE MACKAY, DEAN-CHARLES CHAPMAN, MARK STRONG

JUMANJI THE NEXT LEVEL (PG-15)CITY CENTRE: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (II): 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM

DWAYNE JOHNSON, JACK BLACK, KEVIN HART

AL FELOUS (THE MONEY) (PG-15)CITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMSEEF (I):10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PM

TAMER HOSNY, ZEINA, KHALID EL-SAWI

FROZEN 2 (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PMSEEF (II): 11.00 AM + 3.30 + 8.00 PM

KRISTEN BELL, IDINA MENZEL, JOSH GAD

SPIES IN DISGUISE (PG)OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA):3.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II): 1.15 + 5.45 + 10.15 PM

WILL SMITH, TOM HOLLAND, KAREN GILLAN

UNDERWATER (PG-15)CITY CENTRE:7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM

KRISTEN STEWART, T.J. MILLER, JESSICA HENWICK

MASAMEER: THE MOVIE (PG)(ANIMATION/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE: 10.45 AM + 3.45 + 8.45 PM

ABDULAZIZ AL-MUZAINI, ABDULAZIZ AL-SHEHRI, MAZROA AL-MAZROA

MALEFICENT 2: MISTRESS OF EVIL CITY CENTRE: 1.15 + 6.15 + 11.15 PM

ANGELINA JOLIE, TERESA MAHONEY, MICHELLE PFEIFFER

CHHAPAAK (PG-15)(HINDI/DRAMA) SEEF (I): 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM

DEEPIKA PADUKONE, VIKRANT MASSEY, MADHURJEET SARGHI

TANHAJI:THE UNSUNG WARRIOR OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PMSEEF (I): 3.00 + 8.30 PM

AJAY DEVGN, SAIF ALI KHAN, KAJOL

BIG BROTHER (PG-15)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR:10.45 AM + 4.45 + 10.45 PM

MOHANLAL, ARBAAZ KHAN, ANOOP MENON, SARJANO KHALID, HONEY ROSE, SIDDIQUE

ALA VAIKUNTHAPURRAMLOO (PG-15)(TELUGU) OASIS JUFFAIR: 1.45 + 7.45 PMSEEF (I):12.00 + 5.30 + 11.00 PM

ALLU ARAVIND,S. RADHA KRISHNA, ALLU ARJUN, POOJA HEGDE, TABU, NIVETHA PETHURAJ

DISCO RAJA ()(TELUGU) From Friday 24th SEEF (I): 3.45 PM

RAVI TEJA, PAYAL RAJPUT, SATYA

ANJAAM PATHIRA (PG-15 )(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR:12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I) : 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 3.15 + 8.30 PMAL HAMRA : 12.00 + 6.00 + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

KUNCHACKO BOBAN, SHARAFUDHEEN, INDRANS

SHYLOCK (PG-15)(MALAYALAM)OASIS JUFFAIR: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL: 12.45 + 6.00 + 11.15 PMAL HAMRA : 3.00 + 9.00 PM

MAMMOOTTY,MEENA,SIDDQUE,RAJKIRANA

09 FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 202014 TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020

C R O S S W O R DAcross1- Exclamation to express sorrow; 5- Bear up there; 9- Western Native Americans; 13- “Goldberg Variations” composer; 14- Freedom from war; 16- Swabbies; 17- Reflected sound; 18- Appropriate; 19- Split; 20- Antlered animal; 21- Single unit; 22- Brings out; 24- Furniture wood; 26- Faucet problem; 27- Like some bears and icecaps; 29- Unselfish; 33- Lustful deity; 34- “David Copperfield” wife; 35- Neighbor of Sask.; 36- Singer Garfunkel; 37- Experiment; 38- Skid row woe; 39- Will of “The Waltons”; 41- ___ She Sweet; 42- Weeps; 44- Incoming; 46- Less outgoing; 47- Tyler’s successor; 48- Pass the breaking point; 49- Ring combo; 52- Loss leader?; 53- Portfolio; 57- Actress Moore; 58- Summarize; 60- Minerals; 61- “Ars Amatoria” poet; 62- Brazilian ballroom dance; 63- Tears; 64- Network of nerves; 65- Exam used to measure aptitude or intelligence; 66- Go out with;Down1- In the sack; 2- Ornamental fabric; 3- Dull pain, often in the head or back; 4- Soon; 5- Turmoil; 6- Freshen, as a stamp pad; 7- Saltimbocca seasoning; 8- Essen exclamation; 9- As above; 10- Baby powder; 11- HOMES part; 12- Fast fliers; 15- Endless; 23- Decease; 25- Musical ability; 26- Clear of vermin; 27- Kitchen gadget; 28- Sleek swimmer; 29- Departing; 30- Blast from the past; 31- Say; 32- Cheek; 33- Narrative of heroic exploits; 34- Imbibe; 37- Suit makers; 40- Swimmer’s fear; 42- Chinese tea; 43- It opens your parachute; 45- Pledge; 46- Be short with; 48- Runs through; 49- Scent; 50- Campbell of “Scream”; 51- Send forth; 52- Pinnacle; 54- La Scala solo; 55- Equinox mo.; 56- “___ quam videri” (North Carolina’s motto); 59- Absorb, as a cost;

Yesterday’s solution

How to playPlace a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Yesterday’s solution

S U D O K UAcross1- Tend; 6- Spillane’s “___ Jury”; 10- Fast fliers; 14- Religious law; 15- Person, place, or thing; 16- Harrow rival; 17- Thoroughly enjoyed; 18- Head light?; 19- Overdue; 20- Game fish; 22- Contradict; 23- Junk e-mail; 24- Giggle; 26- ___ glance; 29- Airline to Tel Aviv; 31- TV part; 32- Sunday seat; 33- “All The Way To ___”, song by REM; 34- Potemkin setting; 38- Gets the picture; 40- Many, many moons; 42- Evil is as evil ____.; 43- Tolerate; 46- Simon ___; 49- Circle of flowers; 50- Genealogy word; 51- Send forth; 52- Switch settings; 53- Semiautomatic rifle; 57- Piece of fencing?; 59- Body of salt water; 60- Sweetheart; 65- Yonder thing; 66- Ready for plucking; 67- English royal house; 68- Word in many college names; 69- Western Native Americans; 70- Playwright Clifford; 71- Tennis great Arthur; 72- Keeps out; 73- Adjust to zero;

Down 1- Strike breaker; 2- I could ___ horse!; 3- Cabinet dept.; 4- Excursions; 5- Theoret-ically; 6- Barbaric; 7- Tailless amphibian; 8- Hawaiian dances; 9- Ambient music pioneer; 10- Chosen; 11- Stem; 12- Fields of comedy; 13- Twisted expression?; 21- Racer Yarborough; 22- Feathered creature; 25- Sgt., for one; 26- Church section; 27- High schooler; 28- Blown away; 30- Unfettered; 35- Go it alone; 36- Witnessed; 37- Garage sale sign; 39- Insolate; 41- Anonymous; 44- Bridle part; 45- Poetic time; 47- Holy moly!; 48- Loud-voiced person; 53- Terra ___; 54- Flu symptoms; 55- Get to; 56- “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” musical; 58- Piece of music written for a solo instrument; 61- Parrot; 62- Roman date; 63- Brief letter, paper money; 64- Formerly, formerly; 66- Massage;

‘Gretel & Hansel’ could launch a dark fairytale universe• The new version of the classic story stars Sophia Lillis

Gretel & Hansel (also known as Gretel & Han-sel: A Grim Fairy Tale) is

a 2020 American dark fantasy horror film based on the German folklore tale Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm.

The film is directed by Oz Per-kins, produced by Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and

Dan Kagan, and the screenplay is written by Perkins and Rob Hayes. Sophia Lillis and Sam Leakey portray the main char-acters respectively, alongside Charles Babalola, Jessica De Gouw and Alice Krige.

In the film, Gretel and Han-sel enter a dark wood in order to find work and food to as-sist their poor parents. They stumble upon the home of a witch.

It was announced in October 2018 that Lillis would star in Gretel and Hansel, a film ad-

aptation based on the German folklore Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, with Per-kins directing the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hayes. Casting call on the film began from November 2018 to April 2019. Filming on the film started in November 2018 and wrapped in Dublin, Ireland.

The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 31, 2020, by Orion Pictures through United Artists Releasing.

Oz Perkins’s Gretel & Hansel is a surpris-ingly feminist take

on the disturbing old fairy tale

M O V I E R E V I E W

DON’T MISS IT

Shakira’s dancers are all hyped up for her Super Bowl performance

ANI | Los Angeles

Colombian sing-er Shakira, who

is all set to per-form at the 2020 Super Bowl, has shared the ex-

citement among her dancers for the show.

Popstar, who would be perform-ing halftime with Jennifer Lopez, seems to be getting all the fans hyped up with their countdown videos.

Shakira shared a video on her social media that featured a very hyped group of performers in black sweatpants and shirts hoot-ing and hollering.

The dancers were seen accom-

panied by a trumpet player as they all appear to be running at a cam-era outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

“Rehearsal / ensayo! ShakHQ #SuperBowl#Halft imeShow #SBLIV,” the singer wrote on her Twitter account. Both the artists would be performing at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, where the Kansas City

C h i e f s will play with San F r a n c i s -co 49ers, r e p o r t -e d Pa g e Six.

Blake Lively not a ‘Female James Bond’ in ‘The Rhythm Section’

ANI | Los Angeles

Reed Morano’s ‘The Rhythm Section’ is a thriller about a female

assassin. But, it is not a female James Bond movie contrary to the speculations.

E! News reports, the leading lady of the movie, Blake Lively has been rumoured to play the female version of 007, as Bar-bara Broccoli, the magnate producer whose family has been solely responsible for the franchise, is producing the movie, but there is no truth to it.

In the upcoming re-lease, Blake’s character

receives her training as an assas-sin from an exiled MI6 agent living in Scotland and-- in the course of her revenge -- disguises herself as a chemical blonde one moment and a German anarchist the next.

“Everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, can a

woman be James Bond?’ Why would a woman want to be James Bond!” Broc-coli asked, walking the red carpet at a special screening of ‘The Rhythm Section’ in New York City on Monday evening, hoping to dispel the constant chatter that the “Bond” producer was up to something tricky. She added, “A woman wants to be Steph-anie Patrick, a complex, inter-esting character.”

The movie is based on Mark Burnell’s thriller novel with the same title and depicts the tale of a young woman tortured by the death of her family in a terror-driven plane crash.

10 FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

celebs

Everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, can a woman be James Bond?’ Why would a woman want

to be James Bond. A woman wants to be Stephanie

Patrick, a complex, interesting character

BARBARA BROCCOLI

Beyonce pays heartfelt tribute to Kobe Bryant

ANI | Los Angeles

American s i n g -

er Beyonce on Thursday paid a heart-felt tribute to the late bas-ketball legend Kobe Bryant days af ter he lost his l ife along w i t h h i s 1 3 -y e a r-o l d daughter G i a n n a in a hel-icopter crash.T h e

3 8 - y e a r - o l d singer shared a series of pictures of the late NBA legend and his daughter on her Instagram.

In one of the pictures, Bryant is seen kissing his daughter Gi-anna often called Gigi.

“I will continue to diligently pray for your Queens. You are deeply missed beloved

Kobe,” the singer captioned the picture.

B e y o n c e a l s o s h a r e d a smiling picture of Gigi and a childhood picture of Bryant.

This social media-based tribute of the singer to the late sports figure came after his wife broke her silence on the sudden demise of Bryant.

Bryant, 41, and his 13-year old daughter Gianna were among the nine people killed when a helicopter they were traveling in crashed amid foggy conditions and burst into flames in the hills above Calabasas.

The basketball legend had won five National Basketball Association (NBA) champi-onships in his 20-year-long career while playing for Los Angeles Lakers.

Hollywood artists includ-ing Snoop Dogg, Meek Mill, Justin Bieber, Usher, 2 Chainz want the National Basketball Association (NBA) to change their logo to honour Kobe Bryant.

Billboard reported that the NBA has discussed numer-ous ways of celebrating Ko-be’s legacy, one of the major changes they have in mind is switching the NBA’s long-time logo from Jerry West to a silhouette of the Black Mamba.

Billie Eilish set to perform at OscarsANI | Los Angeles

Singer Billie Eilish who is rid-ing high after registering five

Grammy wins to her name is all set to take the stage by a storm at the Academy Awards on February 09, reported Variety magazine.

The 18-year-old singer swept the greatest music awards ear-lier this week and made history by winning all four major award titles of the Grammys.

Before the big wins, Eilish and

her brother and recording part-ner Finneas O’Connell were seen setting the Grammy stage on fire with their performances.

The new age singer is all set to begin her world arena tour all tickets of which sold out within just an hour of it go-ing on the sale. The tour will start on March 9 this year.

The annual Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby The-atre in Hollywood and will be telecasted live on ABC.

Kevin Hart, Jason Statham may team up for ‘Man From Toronto’ANI | Los Angeles

Kevin Hart and Jason Statham are current-

ly in talks to team up for Patrick Hughes’s ‘The Man From Toronto’, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

The flick helmed by ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ direc-tor will be an action-com-edy by Sony Pictures and is eyeing a release around November 20.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the production for the film will begin in March.

The story of the film re-volves around the world’s deadliest assassin - Man from Toronto.

The script of the film is written by Robbie Fox from a story by Fox and Jason Blumenthal.

Rapper Offset detained by police ANI | Los Angeles

American rapper Offset was detained by po-

lice officers at the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.

Footage of the incident has gone viral on social me-dia.

According to TMZ, the rapper was detained after police got to know that someone had a firearm in the shopping mall’s parking space.

In the video obtained by TMZ, Offset, who wore a yellow hoodie, can be seen questioning the police of-ficials why he had been cuffed. Without saying any-thing the officers push him against the wall.

Later, the police said that two firearms were recov-ered and the rapper, along with three other individu-als, had been taken to the police station for further investigation.

xxxx

Kristen Bell gets candid about her husband Dax Shepard and their fightsANI | Los Angeles

American actor Kristen Bell got candid on actor Justin

Long’s ‘Life Is Short’ about her and her husband Dax Shep-ard’s marriage on Tuesday (lo-cal time).

The 39-year-old actor in an episode of the podcast revealed that she and Shepard realised early that their relationship would always be in the spot-light. She said, “So if we were going to talk about it, let’s make sure we show the good, the bad and the ugly, and how we han-dle it. Let’s not make it saccha-rine. And we really try hard to not make it saccharine, and we talk about the fact that we do fight, we do go to therapy, we dislike each other a lot some-times,” reported Us Weekly.

She ‘Good Place’ actor went onto add that they had “pretty incredible fight recently.”

She said that “By Incredible I mean, like, top of the lungs screaming.” The ‘You Again’ actor revealed that it was about things around the house that she needed help with and stat-ed that they have a relationship where they are supposed to be able to ask for help in things.

And she also revealed that she used to write notes for Shepard where she wrote, “Hey, Dad! Would you mind taking the two towels in the dryer and folding them, and then, like, one other thing.”

The ‘Frozen 2’ star admitted that she was only presenting her side of the story and also contended that she thought it would only be 10 minutes of

work for her husband. She also said the Shepard didn’t appre-ciate the instructions and said. “He goes, ‘When you leave me notes, yeah, I feel really con-trolled.’ And he launched into how he felt about it.”

That is when their argument erupted. She said that they both

blacked out and got into a fight and after which she doesn’t actually remember what hap-pened. She recalled that after this incident she grabbed her pillow and stomped down the hall and slept in the front room crying. After which they didn’t talk for three days.

The couple broke their stale-mate at the end of those three days when they found a rescue dog they couldn’t resist. The ‘When in Rome’ actor said, “I didn’t get an apology, but I got a dog!”

Bell also stated that she never talked about they never talked about that fight ever, but she still said that Every single thing that she needed help with since that fight, Shepard has always been ahead. She also stated that, “I couldn’t complain about

him if I tried right now.”

B e l l a n d Shepard tied the knots in 2013nd have two daugh-t e r s , 6 - y e a r -old Lin-c o l n , a n d 5-year-old Del-ta.

KNOW WHAT

Shakira

Kristen Bell

Jennifer Lopez

Billie Eilish

Beyonce

Blake Lively

Bell and Shepard tied the knots in 2013nd have two daughters,

6-year-old Lincoln, and 5-year-old Delta

Mathew K Cherian-Vinay Varghese team win ISB Badminton ChampionshipTDT | Manama

Mathew K Cherian-Vinay Varghese team won the

Under 19 Boys Doubles catego-ry of the ISB Braincraft Interna-tional Bahrain Junior Ranking Circuit 2020 on Monday.

In an exciting final they beat Jeffin Abraham Johnson-Ger-amyr C Piencenaves team by 21-11, 21-17. Vinay Varghese also won the Under 19 Boys Singles category. He defeated Om Su-has Thaware in the final by the score 21-14,21-16.

Indian School student Ajay Jaimy won the Under 15 cate-gory by defeating Adhik Ajay by the score 21-15, 13-21 , 21-19 in the final.

Seven ISB students partici-pated in the finals of this ma-jor ranking tournament. They are Mathew K Cherian, Vinay Varghese, Ajay Jaimy,Jeffin Abraham Johnson,Thomas C Jacob, Sreepadmini Sudheeran and Afrah Arifkhan.

Following are the results in various categories:

U19 Boys Doubles Group: Mathew K Cherian, Vinay Varghese team beat Jeffin Abra-ham Johnson, Geramyr C Pien-cenaves. Score: 21-11, 21-17.

U19 Girls: Tanvi Jeyashankar beat Afrah Arifkhan Mahadik. Score: 9-21,22-20,21-16.

U19 Boys: Vinay Varghese beat Om Suhas Thaware. Score: 21-14,21-16.

U17 Girls Doubles Group: A m y P u t h e n p u r a k k a l Suneeth,Leanne Puthenpurak-kal Suneeth team beat Afrah

Arifkhn Hamadik,Tanvi Jeyas-hankar team. Score: 21-9,21-9.

U17 Boys Doubles: Barani Ba-laji, Rohith Karri beat Adhik Ajay, Om Suhas Thaware team. Score: 21-16, 21-13.

U17 Girls: Leanne Puthep-urakkal Suneeth beat Amy

Puthepurakkal Suneeth. Score: 21-7, 21-13.

U17 Boys Singles: Om Suhas Thaware beat Rohith Karri. Score : 21-16, 21-7.

U15 Girls Doubles: Heaven-driya Likhiya Shanto , Sree-padmini Sudheeran team beat Sushmita Kolloju, Nazmin Ra-jak team. Score: 21-19,21-12.

U15 Boys Doubles: Ajay Jaimy, Barani Balaji team beat Alaine kidangan Jose, Aniketh Santosh Nair team. Score: 21-15,21-12.

U15 Girls: Lizbeth Elsa Binu beat Sai Tapasya Mishra. Score: 21-14 , 21-14.

U15 Boys Singles: Ajay Jaimy beat Adhik Ajay. Score: 21-15, 13-21 , 21-19.

11

sports

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

C L A S S I F I E D S

Djokovic thrashes FedererBarty party over at Australian Open semis

AFP | Melbourne

Novak Djokovic beat an injured Roger Federer in straight sets to reach

his eighth Australian Open final as unheralded American Sofia Kenin stunned top seed Ash-leigh Barty to end home hopes yesterday.

Djokovic twice fought back from a break down in the first set and after dominating the tie-breaker he never looked back, winning 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-3 as Federer, who needed a medi-cal time-out, faded.

“Respect to Roger for coming out tonight,” said the Serb, who is closing on his 17th Major title.

“He was obviously hurt. He wasn’t even close to his best in terms of movement.”

Djokovic, who has never lost a Melbourne semi-final or fi-nal, will now play the winner of Friday’s clash between Dominic Thiem -- who shocked world number one Rafael Nadal on Wednesday -- and Alexander Zverev.

In the women’s competition, Kenin, 21, upset Australia’s Barty and Garbine Muguruza downed Wimbledon champion Simona Halep to join the Amer-

ican in Saturday’s final.Federer was hampered by a

groin injury in his five-set quar-ter-final with Tennys Sandgren, and rumours swirled that he might pull out of the semi-final.

The 38-year-old Swiss, a six-time champion at Melbourne Park, was cleared by a scan but he took the court rating his chances at only “three percent” against Djokovic.

“I was playing with nothing to lose,” Federer said, adding: “To-day was horrible, to go through what I did.

“Nice entrance, nice send-off, and in between is one to forget

because you know you have a three percent chance to win.”

‘I’m just speechless’ Earlier, Barty had sent Aus-

tralian expectations soaring of a first home-grown winner since 1978, but aggressive 14th seed Kenin saved two set points in each set to win 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 and battle into Saturday’s decider.

Moscow-born Kenin looked stunned at reaching her first Grand Slam final, at a tour-nament where she has often gone unnoticed while fellow Americans Serena Williams and 15-year-old Coco Gauff hogged

the headlines.“I ’m just speechless , I

honestly can’t believe this. I’ve dreamed about this moment since I was five years old... I’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Kenin, who was a baby when her family moved to America with just a few hundred dollars to their name.

“She came up with some real-ly great shots. I knew she wasn’t going to give it up to me -- I real-ly had to fight out here. There’s a reason she’s number one.”

Kenin’s win came on a day when temperatures hit 38 Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit), prompting play to be suspend-ed on outside courts -- following earlier problems with bushfire smoke, downpours, wind and even muddy rain at the season’s opening Major.

In the second women’s semi Muguruza, a two-time Major-winner but out of the seedings after a form slump, scrapped her way to a 7-6 (10/8), 7-5 win over fourth seed Halep.

“I wasn’t thinking that I was down, I was thinking keep going and at some stage you’re going to have an opportunity,” said the Spaniard, who came back from behind in both sets.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (L) pats Switzerland’s Roger Federer after his victory

Alba teams cruise into Cricket Academy Tournament semisTDT | Manama

Alba (Red) and Alba (Blue) entered the semi finals

of the Alba Cricket Academy Tournament for under 12 boys along with Star Cricket Acade-my and Noor Sports.

There are seven teams par-ticipating in the Cricket Acad-emy tournament.

In the opening match Alba Blue Defeated Colts Black in the opening match by 68 runs.

Batted first Alba Blue team has scored a reasonable to-tal of 117 in 20 overs. Open-er Aryan Pankaj top scored with 42 playing all 20 overs. In reply Colts Academy could score only 48 for 6 wickets in 20 overs. Zaid Khan bowled extremely well to take 2 wick-ets for just 4 runs. Joshua. J was the top scorer for Colts Academy.

In the second match Alba Red beat Star Cricket Acade-my (Red) by 8 wickets. Batted first Star Cricket Academy was bowled out for 42 runs. Sai Sarthak, Tarun Prabhu and Ju-gal Jigar bowled well for Alba (Red) to take 2 wickets each. In reply Alba Red reached

the target for the loss of just 2 wickets.

Star Cricket Academy (Blue) defeated Colts Cricket Acade-my (Black) by 54 runs. (Brief Scores: Star Cricket Acade-my (Blue) 112 for 9 wickets. Sanjay-29 runs.Will.F took 3 wickets for 14 runs. Colts Cricket Academy (Black -58 for 7 wickets.)

Alba Red beat Colts Acad-emy Gold by 27runs. (Alba Red -101all out. Jugal Jigar-21, Sai Sarthak -24.Colts Cricket Academy (Gold) was bowled out for 74 runs.Hamdan Akram bowled well to take 3 wickets for 8 runs and Sarveh Nirmal got the first wicket of the tour-nament picking 3 wickets for no run. Harshith Prudhav top score for Colts Academy with 14 runs.

The match between Noor Sports Bahrain and Colts Academy (Gold) ended in a tie. Both the teams have scored 63 runs each in 20 overs.

The tournament is being played on a grass ground at Alba Club and in the first semi final, Star Cricket –Blue will take on Alba –Red and Noor Sports Bahrain will take on Alba Blue today.

Lizbeth Elsa Binu from Asian School receives mementos, sashes and certificates from the organisers of Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation Junior Ranking Circuit 2020. Lisbeth lifted the titles in Under 13 and Under 15 Girls Singles category, and Under 13 Doubles category of the event held at the Indian School from January 23 to 27.

Vinay Varghese in action

Noor Sports excel in Carrefour LeagueTDT | Manama

Noor Sports defeated Pan-ther CC by 8 wickets in the

Carrefour Corporate League or-ganized by Cricket Bahrain As-sociation. Batting first Panthers posted 146 runs. Bilal Khan top scored with 43 runs. In reply Noor Sports chased target for loss of 2 wickets. Ashok Assu top scored with 64 runs not out to guide Noor Sports to victory.

Shahico defeated Super XI by 7 wickets in another fixture. Batting first Super XI posted 126 runs. Zubair Ejaz claimed

3 wickets for Shahico. In reply Shahico chased target for loss of 3 wickets. Sameer top scored with 50 runs.

Lankan Warriors Blue defeat-ed Rare Inco in another fixture. Batting first Rare Inco post-ed 162 runs. Rayed top scored with 86 runs for Rare Inco. Bas-il Soori claimed 3 wickets for Lankan Warriors Blue, In reply Lankan Warriors Blue chased target for the loss of 5 wickets. Sumundu top scored with 74 runs for Lankan Warriors Blue. Mubashir claimed 3 wickets for Rare IncoAshok Assu

Bayern-bound Nuebel back in goal for Schalke after kung fu kickAFP | Berlin

Bayern Munich-bound goalkeeper Alexander

Nuebel will return for Schal-ke at Hertha Berlin on Fri-day for his first appearance since being suspended for a kung fu-style kick last De-cember during a Bundesliga match.

The 23-year-old ‘keep-er returns after serving a

four-match ban for kicking Frank-furt midfielder Mijat Gacinovic dur-ing Schalke’s 1-0 win late last year.

Nuebel, one of Germany’s best young goalkeepers, was then stripped of the Schalke captain-cy after it emerged he had turned down a contract extension before announcing in early January he will join Bayern next season.

In Munich, Nuebel is expected to be groomed as successor in the Bayern goal to Germany skipper and

club captain Manuel Neuer, who joined from Schalke back in 2011.

While serving his suspension, Nuebel was replaced in the Schalke goal by Markus Schubert.

However, the 21-year-old Schu-bert has a knee injury allowing Nuebel to return as the Royal Blues chase a win at Jurgen Klins-mann’s Hertha to bounce back from last weekend’s 5-0 thumping at Bayern.

With Schalke sixth in the table,

seven points behind leaders RB Leipzig, coach David Wagner says Nuebel will remain first-choice “un-til further notice. For the time being, this is a good alternative”.

Wagner revealed that Schubert had been struggling with the injury which meant he could only been able to take a limited part in training recently.

“It was necessary to take him out of training, which wasn’t possible in the past few weeks,” added Wagner.

12FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

KNOW WHAT

Cleiton to defend title in Brazil Champion Cleiton “Predator” to face Guram to defend Brave CF title

TDT | Manama

After shocking the world of mixed martial arts with a stellar display against Luan “Miau” Santiago,

BRAVE CF Lightweight world champion Cleiton “Predator” is ready to defend his title. The Brazilian titleholder will welcome Georgian powerhouse Guram Kutateladze in the main event of BRAVE CF 35, which takes place in his home country, on Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina.

Cleiton has made waves since joining BRAVE Combat Federation in 2018, as he beat Ahmed Amir in a bloody war, at BRAVE CF 11. After that, he went to Colombia and submitted Argentinian Marcelo Bustos at BRAVE CF 15.

The two wins credentialed “Pred-ator” to take on his arch-rival and then-champion Luan “Miau” Santi-ago. In one of the most anticipated fights in Brazilian MMA history, Cleiton shocked the country and the world of mixed martial arts by submitting Luan in less than a minute in the main event of BRAVE CF 25.

He will now have another BRAVE

CF main event to look forward to as he takes on Guram Kutateladze for his Lightweight belt. “The Georgian Viking” has impressed since joining

BRAVE CF, first taking dominant deci-sion victory over Erick “Indio Brabo” at BRAVE CF 16 then following it up with a brutal KO win over Felipe Silva

at BRAVE CF 29.BRAVE CF 35 will take place once

again in Brazil as the country will wel-come a BRAVE Combat Federation show

for the fifth time, equalling Bahrain as the nations with most BRAVE CF shows since the organization’s inception in late 2016.

Cleiton ‘Predator’ (L) with Mohammed Shahid Guram Kutateladze

Hamilton says he has not spoken to Mercedes about a new dealAFP | London

Lewis Hamilton says he has not spoken to Mercedes

about signing a new contract as he prepares to launch his bid to equal Michael Schu-macher ’s record of sev-en drivers’ championship titles.

The British driver’s £40 mil-lion ($52 million)-a-season deal expires at the end of the year and he has been linked with a move to Ferrari.

Reports in Italy say talks over a contract extension be-tween Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff have stalled.

But in a post to Instagram which he later deleted, Hamil-ton wrote: “Toto and I have not even spoken about contract yet. Nothing is being negoti-ated currently.”

Both Ferrari and Red Bull have moved to tie Charles Le-clerc and Max Verstappen re-spectively to long-term deals during Formula One’s off-sea-son.

But Hamilton, who has spent much of the winter break in the United States, is unlikely to rush into a decision on his future.

Ferrari confirmed their interest in

Hamilton last year, and will need a replacement for Sebas-tian Vettel in 2021 if the four-time world champion’s deal is not renewed.

Hamilton, 35, can match Schumacher’s record of seven titles if he wins the champion-ship again this year.

He will get his first drive of the new Mercedes he hopes will fire him to further glory in the team’s behind-closed-doors launch at Silverstone on February 14.

The first pre-season test gets under way in Barcelona five days later before Hamil-ton opens his title defence in Melbourne on March 15.

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi (file photo)

Perez joins Roma from BarcelonaAFP | Madrid

Barcelona forward Carles Perez has

joined Roma in a deal worth 15.5 mil l ion e u r o s , t h e S p a n -ish club announced yesterday.

Roma will pay Barca 1 million euros for an initial loan until June

30. The deal includes a compulsory option to buy in the summer for 11 million euros, with a fur-

ther 3.5 million euros due in additional payments.

Barcelona will also re-tain first refusal if Roma want to sell Perez in the future.

“I know that I am leaving a very important club in Barcelona but I am joining an equally im-portant club in Roma,” said Perez.

The Spaniard came through Barca’s youth academy and was giv-

en his La Liga debut by coach Ernesto Valverde last season.

B u t d e s p i t e p l a y-ing 12 times this term, Valverde’s sacking put Perez’s future in doubt and new coach Quique Setien has agreed to let the 21-year-old leave.

He joins a Roma side sitting fourth in Serie A and with ambitions to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“We are hugely satis-fied with Carles’ arrival in Rome,” said club chief executive Guido Fienga.

“Carles learned his trade in one of the best youth academies in Europe, and has been playing for a club with so much talent at its dis-posal. We are all hope-ful that he can immedi-ately have a significant role to play within our squad.”

Nuebel is expected to be groomed as successor in the Bayern goal to Ger-many skipper and club captain Manuel Neuer

Rojo joins Estudiantes on loan from Man UnitedAFP | Buenos Aires

Combative Argentina defend-er Marcos Rojo has rejoined

his home town club Estudiantes on loan from Manchester Unit-ed, the Superliga side said yes-terday.

On its Twitter account, the four-time Copa Libertadores winners posted a picture of Rojo during his previous spell along-side the message: “At home!”

Rojo was born in La Plata where Estudiantes are based and spent his first three seasons as a professional with the club before moving to Spartak Mos-cow in December 2010.

Eighteen months later he switched to Sporting Lisbon in

Portugal and two years after that he was bought by then United manager Louis van Gaal.

“Another dream is re-alized,” said Estudi-antes on Twitter.

“People always go back to the p l a c e s w h e re they were happy. Because the feeling of belonging is stronger.

“Your dream and that of the Stabber Family has come true,” added Es-tudiantes, referring to the club’s nickname: the Rat Stabbers.

Rojo, 29, has joined on a six-month loan

deal, according to local press.

He has 18 months left on his con-

tract with the P r e m i e r

L e a g u e s i d e b u t h a s f a l l -

en down the peck-ing order at Old Trafford since a bright start to his career in England.Having made 59

Premier League ap-pearances during his

first three seasons at

United, Rojo has played in just 17 league encounters in the last two-and-a-half years.

Rojo, who can play at center-back or left-back, hasn’t played for the Red Devils since No-vember when he picked up an injury.

He was left out of Argentina’s 2019 Copa America squad in June but played in two friend-lies in September and October.

He was picked for two more friendlies in November but had to pull out of the squad through injury.

It’s believed his move back to Estudiantes is to gain vital game time ahead of the next Copa America starting in June and co-hosted by Argentina.

Carles Perez

Marcos Rojo

Alexander Nuebel