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Gulf Arab summit calls for united stance against Iran • Summit calls for financial and monetary unity by 2025

TDT, agencies | Riyadh

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yes-terday reiterated Bah-

rain’s full backing to the 40th Summit of the GCC Supreme Council which called for united stance against Iranian aggres-sion in the region.

His Majesty said the summit was an important opportuni-ty for GCC leaders to exchange views and consult.

The summit, HM the King said, will help member states reinforce cooperation and “ful-fil the aspirations of people for further prosperity.”

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdu-laziz Al-Saud chaired the meet-

ing in the presence of heads of states from Oman, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain at Diriyah Palace.

In his opening remarks, King Salman voiced strong rejection of the Iranian aggression in the region saying, “GCC has been able to overcome several crises that have hit the region.”

“Our region today is under-going circumstances and chal-lenges that call for concentrated efforts to confront them. The Iranian regime continues its ag-gressive policies to undermine

the security and stability [of the region], and [continues to] sup-port terrorism,” King Salman said.

The GCC states must unite to preserve their countries, as well as the interests of their people, he said.

He also called on the inter-national community to take the necessary measures to ensure energy supplies and the free-dom of maritime navigation is secured. The Saudi King also re-affirmed that the Kingdom will

continue to support Yemen to ensure its security and stability.

Economic integration According to the meeting’s

final communique, the summit also called for finalising legis-lation for regional economic integration by 2025, including financial and monetary unity.

The statement, read by GCC General Secretary Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and broad-cast live, called also for boost-ing military and security co-

operation to maintain regional security.

The summit, Al Zayani said, welcomed the opening of the In-ternational Centre for the Pro-tection of Maritime Navigation in Bahrain.

Present at the meeting were UAE delegate Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Moham-med bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Qatar’s del-egate Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Oman’s delegate Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers.

Earlier, upon his arrival, HM the King was received by King Salman, HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud the Governor of Riyadh Region and Al Zayani.

King Hamad attended a lunch banquet hosted by the Saudi King in honour of the GCC lead-ers at Diriyah Palace.

HM the King departs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to lead Bahrain’s delegation

For more information www.nbr.gov.bh@BahrainNBR

Green light for BD100m fund TDT | Manama

The Cabinet chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al

Khalifa yesterday approved the launch of a Liquidity Support Fund worth BD 100 million.

The move follows the direc-tives given by the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minis-ter during the 2019 government forum.

Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr Yasser bin Issa Al-Nass-er, announced the decision in a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday.

The fund, Cabinet explained, launched in coordination with Bahrain Chamber of Commerce

and Industry (BCCI) and nation-al banks, aims at developing a funding ecosystem for the high growth sector in the Kingdom.

Backing will be given to com-panies facing genuine short-term liquidity pressures for growth.

The Cabinet also acknowl-edged the strength of the King-dom’s private-public partner-ship in facilitating the swift establishment of the Liquidity

Support Fund. Four agreements with national banks were also given approval by the Cabinet to arrange credit facilities.

Instructions were given to the Ministry of Finance and Na-tional Economy to initiate the launch of the Fund.

The new fund will be in ad-dition to an already announced $100 million fund of funds by Bahrain Development Bank, which will invest across various

sectors in the Kingdom. Apart from these, several venture capi-tal funds are also there currently supporting the funding needs.

Fee reduced Moving on, the Cabinet ap-

proved a recommendation to reduce infrastructure cost re-covery fees in the construction sector to BD 10 from BD12 per square metre as recommended by the Government Executive

Committee, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince.

The reduction will be appli-cable only if the amount is paid in full at the time of permit is-suance, or by agreeing to pay in three instalments through the building permits system “Be-nayat” while providing financ-ing facilitation through com-mercial banks.

The proposal also calls for in-troducing the three payment op-tions on Benayat’s website in co-operation with the Information and eGovernment Authority.

BD 200 monthly benefits The Cabinet approved a pro-

posal to increase the month-ly benefits of differently-abled people to BD200.

HRH the Crown Prince chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting at Gudaibiya Palace

Qatar lacks the seriousness to end dispute: Shaikh KhalidTDT | Manama

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid

bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, yes-terday expressed his disap-pointment at Qatar’s lack of seriousness in ending its dispute with the Quartet.

“This was clear in the way Qatar approached its participation in the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council Summit held in Riyadh yes-terday through the absence of Qatar’s Emir and the par-ticipation of an official who lacked any authority to end the dispute,” said Shaikh Khalid.

The Minister said that the statement released by the Foreign Minister of Qatar indicating that the ‘dialogue with Saudi surpasses the demands placed on Qatar to end the dispute and is taking a forward-looking approach’ does not reflect the issues discussed during the summit.

Shaikh Khalid stressed the quartet fully adheres to their firm positions and le-gitimate demands based on the six principles issued by the Cairo meeting on the fifth of July 2017.

02WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

Key CPC session adopted a decision on some major issues concerning how to up-hold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance.

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its fourth plenary session in Beijing on Thursday with the release of a communique.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made an important speech at the session presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. “The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a scientific system developed by the Party and the people through their long-term practices and explorations,” the communique read.

All the work and activities of China’s national governance are carried out in accordance with the system of social-ism with Chinese characteristics, said the document, noting that the country’s system and capacity for governance are a crystallization of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its en-forcement capability.

The communique said, as proven by practice, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and China’s sys-tem for governance are systems of strong

vitality and huge strength.

These systems are able to push for the continuous progress of the country with nearly 1.4 billion people and ensure the realization of the two centenary goals toward the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which has a civilization of more than 5,000 years, it added.

STRENGTH-- Upholding the centralized and unified

leadership of the CPC, following the CPC’s sci-entific theories, maintaining political stability and ensuring that the country keeps advancing in the direction of socialism;

-- Seeing that the people run the coun-try, promoting the people’s democracy, maintaining close ties with the people and relying on them to push forward the country’s development;

-- Ensuring law-based governance in all fields, building a country of socialist rule of law, and guaranteeing social fairness and justice and the people’s rights;

-- Ensuring the whole country works together and stimulating the enthusiasm of all aspects to mobilize resources for major undertakings;

-- Upholding equality between all eth-nic groups, creating a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation to work jointly for common prosperity and development;

-- Upholding the dominant role of the public sector and common development of economic entities under diverse forms of ownership, the distribution system whereby distribution according to labor is dominant and a variety of other modes of distribution exist alongside it, the synergy between the socialist system and the mar-ket economy, and continuously unlocking and developing the productive forces;

-- Upholding common ideals and con-victions, values, and moral standards, promoting China’s fine traditional cul-ture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, as well as inspiring the people to embrace shared ideologies and mindsets;

-- Adhering to the vision of making de-velopment people-centered, and contin-uously guaranteeing and improving peo-ple’s livelihoods and improving people’s wellbeing to achieve common prosperity for everyone;

-- Continuing reform and innovation, moving with the times, and promoting self-improvement and development to build a society full of vitality;

-- Selecting officials based on integrity and ability and on the basis of merit re-gardless of background to cultivate more talented individuals;

-- Keeping the armed forces under the Party’s command and ensuring that the people’s armed forces are completely loyal to the Party and the people so as to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests;

-- Upholding the principle of “one coun-try, two systems,” maintaining lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, and promoting the peaceful reunification of China;

-- Adhering to the unity of independ-ence and self-reliance and opening up to the rest of the world, taking an active part in global governance, and continuing to make contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

“All these notable strengths are the fundamental basis for fostering stronger confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” the communique said.

TARGETS AND TASKS-- Upholding and improving the system

of institutions for Party leadership to improve its capacity to practice scientific, democratic and law-based governance;

-- Upholding and improving the system of institutions through which the people run the country and developing socialist democracy;

-- Upholding and improving the sys-tem of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and improving the Party’s capacity for law-based governance and law-based exercising of state power;

-- Upholding and improving the gov-ernment administration system of so-cialism with Chinese characteristics. A law-based government administration with well-defined functions and duties shall be built, it added;

-- Upholding and improving China’s basic socialist economic system and pro-moting the high-quality development of the economy;

-- Upholding and improving the sys-tem to make advanced socialist culture prosperous and developed to consolidate the common ideological foundation upon

which all people are united and work together;

-- Upholding and improving the live-lihood system for protecting both urban and rural residents and working to meet people’s ever-increasing needs for a bet-ter life;

-- Upholding and improving the social governance system based on collabora-tion, participation and common interests, as well as maintaining social stability and defending national security;

-- Upholding and improving the system for developing an ecological civilization and promoting the harmonious coexist-ence between humans and nature;

-- Upholding and improving the Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces and ensuring that they will faithfully ful-fill their missions in the new era;

-- Upholding and improving the system of “one country, two systems” and ad-vancing the process toward the peaceful reunification of China;

-- Upholding and improving the in-dependent foreign policy of peace and working to build a community with a shared future for humanity;

-- Upholding and improving the Party and state oversight systems and strength-ening checks on and oversight over the exercise of power.

Key CPC session highlights strength of China’s system and governance

Experts review central IT monitoring systems

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s central security system which protects

and monitors operations on the government network was reviewed yesterday by top IT specialists and experts.

The initiative, during the 5th Cyber Hawks meeting, was in line with iGA’s efforts to enhance the security level of government infrastructure, systems and e-government services.

More than 90 IT special-ists from governmental and semi-governmental organisa-tions took part.

The central security system works by collecting data, ana-lysing and highlighting it for

extraction, which can be used to identify and promptly deal with threats.

Participants reviewed secu-rity incidents and precaution-ary measures taken by iGA to address them.

Discussions also focused on cloud computing security solutions and other solutions expecting implementation in 2020.

Speaking on the occasion, Shaikh Salman bin Moham-med Al Khalifa, the Informa-tion and eGovernment Author-ity (iGA) Deputy Chief Execu-tive, Operations & Governance, said cybersecurity is vital to achieving iGA’s strategic goal of creating a safe online envi-ronment.

The meeting

Lt-General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, President of the Supreme Health Council (SCH), yesterday inaugurated the mosque of the late Shaikh Khalid Bin Ali Al Khalifa in Sitra. The ceremony was attended by members of the Royal family, senior officials, Grand Mufti of Central religious administration of Russian Muslims, Shaikh Talgat Tadzhuddin, and other religious leaders. Dr Shaikh Mohammed praised the great care of the late His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al Khalifa accorded to places of worship across Bahrain.

Under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, a ceremony was held in honour of Dr Mohammed Jaber Al-Ansari yesterday. HM the King delegated Deputy Premier His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa to attend the event, which was hosted by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) at the Cultural Auditorium, in the presence of highnesses, ministers and senior officials. BACA President Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa extended deepest thanks to HM the King for patronising the ceremony, hailing royal support to culture in the Kingdom of Bahrain


Cabinet welcomes Riyadh summit • Hails victory at the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup

• Congratulates leadership, people ahead of National Day

TDT | Manama

The Cabinet chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Ham-

ad Al Khalifa yesterday hailed Bahrain’s comprehensive de-velopment across all fields, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The session welcomed the convening of the 40th Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) Sum-mit in Riyadh and praised the Bahrain National Football team following their victory at the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.

This was announced by Cabi-net Secretary-General, Dr Yasser bin Issa Al-Nasser following the

weekly session held at Gudaibiya Palace.

The Cabinet congratulated HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minis-ter, and the people of Bahrain ahead of the 16 and 17 December national celebrations.

The event marks the anni-versary of the establishment of the modern state of Bahrain as an Arab and Muslim country in

1783 by its founder Ahmed Al-Fateh, the 48th Anniversary of Bahrain’s accession to the UN as a full member, and the 20th An-niversary of HM King Hamad’s accession to the throne.

The Cabinet, on the occasion of the Commemoration Day on 17 December, recalled with pride the sacrifices made by those who have fallen in service to pro-tect the Kingdom and its people, stressing that they will always be remembered with the utmost appreciation.

The Cabinet highlighted HM King Hamad’s patronage of the

celebrations of the centenary of Bahrain Police and extended its congratulations to all members of the Ministry of Interior on Bahrain Police Day, celebrat-ed on 14th of December. The Cabinet went on to praise the role of the ministry’s personnel in safeguarding the Kingdom’s continued security and stability.

The Cabinet further expressed appreciation for the support extended by HM King Hamad to Bahrain’s youth and sports sector, praising the Kingdom’s successful hosting of the Iron Man Middle East Champi-

onship, which demonstrated the country’s ability to organ-ise prestigious international events.

The session congratuled Bah-rain’s National Football team and said, “the victory exemplifies the concept of Team Bahrain.”

The meeting congratulated the winners of the fourth edi-tion of the Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship, held under the patronage of HRH the Crown Prince, and praised their contri-bution to economic diversifica-tion and innovation within the private sector.

The session also praised Bah-rain’s hosting of the 26th Annual World Islamic Banking Confer-ence, held under the patronage of HRH the Prime Minister.

MoUs signed Several submissions, mem-

orandums and proposed laws were discussed during the meet-ing.

The Cabinet approved a Mem-orandum of Understanding be-tween Bahrain and Pakistan to enhance ties in health, media, education, youth and sports among others. A similar MoU to boost cooperation in the educa-tion sector with Brunei Darussa-la was also approved.

Measures to exempt holders of diplomatic, special and offi-cial passports from visa require-ments between Bahrain and Ja-pan was okayed.

The Cabinet also agreed to transfer the registry of closed joint-stock companies from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to Bahrain Clear for greater clarity.

HRH the Crown Prince chairing the weekly Cabinet session held at Gudaibiya Palace

BAC first in region to implement new cloud-based solution

TDT | Manama

Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) announced becoming

the first company in the region to implement IBM Maxima, a new cloud-based application to streamline assets and inven-tory management functions at the new Passenger Terminal Building when it opens in 2020.

To mark the occasion, BAC held a ceremony attended by top management, including Chief Executive Officer Mo-hamed Yousif Al Binfalah and senior representatives from IBM and Gulf Business Ma-

chines (GBM), the distributor for IBM in the region.

The Enterprise Asset Man-agement (EAM) application will be fully integrated with different subsystems, including Oracle Fusion, a cloud Enter-prise Resource Planning (ERP) application that handles BAC’s Human Resource, Finance, and Procurement functions. To-gether, these applications will support all of BAC’s operations.

Al Binfalah said: “The IBM Maximo application will play a vital role in helping BAC to manage and operate the new terminal’s high-value physical

assets with greater visibility and control, while optimising performance, extending asset life cycles, and reducing oper-ational downtime and costs.”

The move, he said, is in line with the National Strategic Plan and Government Work Plan, which is encouraging organ-isations to deliver improved services with lower IT opera-tion costs.

Earlier this year, BAC migrat-ed its server to Amazon Web Services, positioning it along-side a growing number of Bah-rain government entities shift-ing to the cloud platform.

Officials during a ceremony marking the launch of its new cloud-based solution

HM King reorganises Tender Board technical bodyTDT | Manama

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yester-

day reorganised Tender Board’s administrative and technical body. Secretary-General of the Tender Board (in the rank of ministerial undersecretary) will be in charge of the Technical

Evaluation Directorate and the Technical Specifications and Qualification Directorate.

The decision becomes effec-tive following its publication in the Official Gazette.

Separately, His Majesty re-structured the Supreme Coun-cil for Environment, with HH Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Khalifa as president and Shai-kh Faisal bin Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa as Vice President.

Duration of board members will be four years renewable.

The Prime Minister and each of the ministers according to their jurisdictions will imple-ment the order effective from its date of issuance.

Thirty young Bahraini students graduated from an English Access Micro Scholarship Programme in a ceremony at Al-Safir Hotel in Juffair. US Ambassador to Bahrain Justin Siberell honoured the students who completed the two-year programme of rigorous study in English and American culture. In his remarks, Ambassador Siberell noted that almost 200,000 students have received Access scholarships in 88 countries since 2004, including 1,200 Bahraini students. Sponsored by the US Embassy in Bahrain, the Access programme provides scholarships to disadvantaged youth to help them become better citizens and fulfil their aspirations for higher education and better jobs.


Bahrain maintains UN HDI ranking Pradeep PuravankaraTDT | Manama

Bahrain has maintained its rankings on the latest Hu-man Development Index

at 45 out of 189 countries and territories, according to the Hu-man Development Report (HDR) released by the United Nations Development Programme.

The ranking positions King-dom among the category of na-tions having very high human development were Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top three positions.

Ahead of Bahrain on the rank-ings from GCC are the United Arab Emirates at 35, Saudi Ara-bia 36 and Qatar 41.

The rankings also state that Bahrain performs better than at least two-thirds of countries in quality of health, quality of education and quality of living standards.

The 2019 Human Develop-ment Report is the latest in the series of global Human Develop-ment Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990.

The HDI measures average achievement in three basic di-mensions of human develop-ment — life expectancy, edu-cation and per capita income. Germany is placed fourth along with Hong Kong, and Australia secured the fifth rank on the global ranking.

Between 1990 and 2018, Bah-rain’s HDI value increased 13.86 per cent (from 0.736 to 0.838), while the same for United Arab Emirates is 19.61pc (from 0.724 to 0.866), Saudi Arabia 22.78pc (from 0.698 to 0.857) and Qatar is 12.02pc (from 0.757 to 0.848).

Bahrain’s 2018 HDI average is also above the average of 0.703 for countries in the Arab region, but below the average of 0.892 for countries in the very high human development group.

Life expectancyThis means that in the last

three decades, life expectancy at birth in the Kingdom increased by 4.8 years to 77.2 from 72.4

years or 6.63pc, where expected years of schooling increased by 1.9 to 15.3 years. Arab states av-erage in this regard is 71.9 years.

During this period life expec-tancy in UAE increased 8.21pc or 5.9 years to 81.2 years. In Saudi Arabia, life expectancy at birth rose by 8.54pc or 5.9 years to 75.0 years.

GNIGross national income (GNI)

(2011 PPP$) per capita increased 35.34pc to 40399 in 2018 from 29850 in 1990. Bahrain’s current health expenditure as a per-

centage of GDP is 4.9pc, which is also on par with Arab states average of 4.9pc.

Gender Development values, a ratio of the female to the male HDI, of Bahrain on the index is 0.937, better than the average of Arab states at 0.856 and almost on par with that of nations hav-ing very high human develop-ment at 0.979. The world average is 0.941.

Internet Users According to the UN data, the

total number of internet users in the kingdom as a

percentage of the population is 98.6pc (Arab states 52.6pc), with mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people being 133.3pc. The growth in internet users be-tween the period from 2000 to 2018 being 1490.32pc.

EmissionHowever, when it comes to

Environmental sustainability, Bahrain’s carbon dioxide emis-sions, per capita (tonnes) is 20.8, while that of UAE is 20.5 and Saudi Arabia is 16.3. Arab aver-age is 4.4.

The report also says Bahrain depleted 69.52pc of its Natural resources between the period from 1990 to 2017, while popula-tion during the period increased 220pc.

Skilled labourersSkilled labourers present in

the kingdom as a percentage of Labour force is 19.3pc, while research and development ex-penditure is 0.1percentage of GDP between 2010 to 2017 peri-od. Total employment to popu-lation ratio is 72.1pc.

Next-gen povertyThe report, in general, states

that as people are increasingly coming out of poverty, the world is veering towards another type of poverty. While the old ine-qualities are based on access to health and education, the next generation poverty deal with technology, education and cli-mate.

“Recognising the real face of inequality is a first step; what happens next is a choice that each leader must make,” Unit-ed Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) administrator, Achim Steiner, was quoted as saying in a statement.

“Inequality is about the une-qual distribution of wealth and power which is bringing people onto the streets today, and will do so in the future unless some-thing changes,” he added.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

The 2010 HDR introduced the GII, which reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity

• Bahrain has a GII value of 0.207, ranking it 47 out of 162 countries in the 2018 index.

• In Bahrain, 18.8 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women.

• 64.2pc of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 57.5pc of their male counterparts.

• For every 100,000 live births, 15.0 women die from pregnancy related causes.

• The adolescent birth rate is 13.4 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19.

• Female participation in the labour market is 44.5pc compared to 87.3 for men

The 2019 Human Development Report is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990

Two Bahraini and a UAE startup enter Pitch@Palace finale TDT | Manama

Innovations of Bahraini entre-preneurs will be put through

their paces today as they com-pete against 19 others from all around the globe in the final round of the fourth edition Pitch@Palace Global in the UK.

Qualifying to the finale are Bahraini startup MAVI VR led by Shahd Al-Zaki (first place), the UAE startup Aryam, led by Aryam Ahmed (second place and the People Choice Award) and Bahraini startup DocWhere, led by Nahla Al Sunni (the third place).

The qualifying participants

completed a two-day Bootcamp with workshops and specialised sessions to introduce them to the opportunities and challenges of

the global economy.Commenting, Dr Ebrahim

Mohamed Janahi, Chief Execu-tive at Tamkeen, praised the per-

formance of the Bahraini start-ups. “Interactive programmes such as Pitch@Palace allow entrepreneurs to connect with

other experts and pioneers from around the world,” he said.

Dr Nasser Ali Qaedi, Tam-keen’s Chief Investment and

Marketing Officer, said the event provides a great opportunity for the participants to learn and grow into international markets.

The startups will compete in the finale of Pitch@Palace Global 4.0 in the UK today

Stefano Pettinato, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme, Bahrain during a press briefing held yesterday to discuss Bahrain’s performance on UN HDI Index


Bahrain maintains UN HDI ranking Pradeep PuravankaraTDT | Manama

Bahrain has maintained its rankings on the latest Hu-man Development Index

at 45 out of 189 countries and territories, according to the Hu-man Development Report (HDR) released by the United Nations Development Programme.

The ranking positions King-dom among the category of na-tions having very high human development were Norway, Switzerland, Ireland occupied the top three positions.

Ahead of Bahrain on the rank-ings from GCC are the United Arab Emirates at 35, Saudi Ara-bia 36 and Qatar 41.

The rankings also state that Bahrain performs better than at least two-thirds of countries in quality of health, quality of education and quality of living standards.

The 2019 Human Develop-ment Report is the latest in the series of global Human Develop-ment Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990.

The HDI measures average achievement in three basic di-mensions of human develop-ment — life expectancy, edu-cation and per capita income. Germany is placed fourth along with Hong Kong, and Australia secured the fifth rank on the global ranking.

Between 1990 and 2018, Bah-rain’s HDI value increased 13.86 per cent (from 0.736 to 0.838), while the same for United Arab Emirates is 19.61pc (from 0.724 to 0.866), Saudi Arabia 22.78pc (from 0.698 to 0.857) and Qatar is 12.02pc (from 0.757 to 0.848).

Bahrain’s 2018 HDI average is also above the average of 0.703 for countries in the Arab region, but below the average of 0.892 for countries in the very high human development group.

Life expectancyThis means that in the last

three decades, life expectancy at birth in the Kingdom increased by 4.8 years to 77.2 from 72.4

years or 6.63pc, where expected years of schooling increased by 1.9 to 15.3 years. Arab states av-erage in this regard is 71.9 years.

During this period life expec-tancy in UAE increased 8.21pc or 5.9 years to 81.2 years. In Saudi Arabia, life expectancy at birth rose by 8.54pc or 5.9 years to 75.0 years.

GNIGross national income (GNI)

(2011 PPP$) per capita increased 35.34pc to 40399 in 2018 from 29850 in 1990. Bahrain’s current health expenditure as a per-

centage of GDP is 4.9pc, which is also on par with Arab states average of 4.9pc.

Gender Development values, a ratio of the female to the male HDI, of Bahrain on the index is 0.937, better than the average of Arab states at 0.856 and almost on par with that of nations hav-ing very high human develop-ment at 0.979. The world average is 0.941.

Internet Users According to the UN data, the

total number of internet users in the kingdom as a

percentage of the population is 98.6pc (Arab states 52.6pc), with mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people being 133.3pc. The growth in internet users be-tween the period from 2000 to 2018 being 1490.32pc.

EmissionHowever, when it comes to

Environmental sustainability, Bahrain’s carbon dioxide emis-sions, per capita (tonnes) is 20.8, while that of UAE is 20.5 and Saudi Arabia is 16.3. Arab aver-age is 4.4.

The report also says Bahrain depleted 69.52pc of its Natural resources between the period from 1990 to 2017, while popula-tion during the period increased 220pc.

Skilled labourersSkilled labourers present in

the kingdom as a percentage of Labour force is 19.3pc, while research and development ex-penditure is 0.1percentage of GDP between 2010 to 2017 peri-od. Total employment to popu-lation ratio is 72.1pc.

Next-gen povertyThe report, in general, states

that as people are increasingly coming out of poverty, the world is veering towards another type of poverty. While the old ine-qualities are based on access to health and education, the next generation poverty deal with technology, education and cli-mate.

“Recognising the real face of inequality is a first step; what happens next is a choice that each leader must make,” Unit-ed Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) administrator, Achim Steiner, was quoted as saying in a statement.

“Inequality is about the une-qual distribution of wealth and power which is bringing people onto the streets today, and will do so in the future unless some-thing changes,” he added.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

The 2010 HDR introduced the GII, which reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity

• Bahrain has a GII value of 0.207, ranking it 47 out of 162 countries in the 2018 index.

• In Bahrain, 18.8 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women.

• 64.2pc of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 57.5pc of their male counterparts.

• For every 100,000 live births, 15.0 women die from pregnancy related causes.

• The adolescent birth rate is 13.4 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19.

• Female participation in the labour market is 44.5pc compared to 87.3 for men

The 2019 Human Development Report is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990

Two Bahraini and a UAE startup enter Pitch@Palace finale TDT | Manama

Innovations of Bahraini entre-preneurs will be put through

their paces today as they com-pete against 19 others from all around the globe in the final round of the fourth edition Pitch@Palace Global in the UK.

Qualifying to the finale are Bahraini startup MAVI VR led by Shahd Al-Zaki (first place), the UAE startup Aryam, led by Aryam Ahmed (second place and the People Choice Award) and Bahraini startup DocWhere, led by Nahla Al Sunni (the third place).

The qualifying participants

completed a two-day Bootcamp with workshops and specialised sessions to introduce them to the opportunities and challenges of

the global economy.Commenting, Dr Ebrahim

Mohamed Janahi, Chief Execu-tive at Tamkeen, praised the per-

formance of the Bahraini start-ups. “Interactive programmes such as Pitch@Palace allow entrepreneurs to connect with

other experts and pioneers from around the world,” he said.

Dr Nasser Ali Qaedi, Tam-keen’s Chief Investment and

Marketing Officer, said the event provides a great opportunity for the participants to learn and grow into international markets.

The startups will compete in the finale of Pitch@Palace Global 4.0 in the UK today

Stefano Pettinato, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme, Bahrain during a press briefing held yesterday to discuss Bahrain’s performance on UN HDI Index

05

world

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

World’s youngest leader takes office in Finland

Reuters | Helsinki

Thirty-four-year-old Social Democrat Sanna Marin

took office in Finland on Tues-day as the world’s youngest serving prime minister, head-ing a coalition with four other parties led by women, all but one of them under 35.

Marin won the confidence of parliament with 99 votes in favor and 70 against.

She replaced Antti Rinne, who resigned last week after the Center Party, one of the members of governing cen-tre-left coalition, said it had lost confidence in him over his handling of a postal strike.

“I want to build a society in which every child can become anything and in which every

human being can live and grow old with dignity,” Marin wrote on Twitter.

Twelve ministers in the new cabinet are women and just seven are men. The head of the Center Party, Katri Kul-muni, 32, becomes finance minister, Green Party leader Maria Ohisalo, 34, continues as interior minister and the Left Alliance’s chairwoman Li Andersson, 32, remains educa-tion minister.

The Swedish People’s Party’s Anna-Maja Henriksson, 55, remains justice minister, the only coalition leader to finish school before the 21st century.

Despite outward shows of harmony, divisions remain be-tween the main coalition part-ners, Marin’s Social Democrats and the Center Party.

Chile military plane disappears with 38 aboard: Air Force

Santiago

A Chilean military plane with 38 people aboard

has gone missing after it took off from the country’s south for a base in Antarcti-ca and is presumed to have crashed, authorities have said.

Seventeen of those on board the C-130 aircraft were crew and the others were passen-gers, Chile’s air force said Monday.

The plane is believed to have crashed and “all national and international air and maritime means available in the area are continuing the search (for survivors) in the sector where communications were lost with the aircraft,” it added in a statement yesterday.

The four-engine aircraft took off Monday at 4:55 pm (19:55 GMT) from an airbase in the southern city of Punta Arenas and contact was lost at 6:13 pm.

Those on board were to carry out logistical support tasks at Chile’s Eduardo Frei

Antarctic base -- the country’s largest, the Air Force said

The air force said conditions for flying were good and that it was in contact with the fami-lies of those on board, many of whom were traveling to carry out logistical support tasks at the country’s largest Antarctic base Eduardo Frei.

Personnel were also being transferred to inspect the base’s floating fuel supply pipeline and undertake an-ticorrosive treatment of the facility.

The air force also said that of the passengers on board, 15 were from its ranks, three were from the army, there were two people from a pri-vate construction compa-ny, and a Chile university official.

A Chilean Hercules C-130 military transport plane, the same model that has disappeared with 38 people on board

Gunman kills himself after deadly Czech hospital rampage• Four men and two women died during the assault

• The attacker gunned down people at close range

• Shooter fled the scene and later turned the gun on himself

AFP | Prague

A gunman killed himself yes-terday after shooting dead

six patients at a hospital in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, in what the premier has called “an immense tragedy”.

The attacker gunned down people at close range at the trau-ma ward of the Faculty Hospital in Ostrava, a steel hub located some 300 kilometres (190 miles) east of Prague.

Four men and two women died during the assault, which lasted only a few seconds ac-cording to police. Two other people were seriously wounded while a third person sustained light injuries.

Police said they had not yet determined what drove the 42-year-old to launch the attack.

“I was told the dead victims were people sitting in the wait-ing room of the trauma ward, fortunately there were not as many as usual,” Prime Minister

Andrej Babis told local media.“The gunman was alleged-

ly shooting from a close range, aiming at the head and neck.”

The shooter then fled the scene in a silver Renault La-guna car, sparking a dramatic police hunt with hundreds of officers and two helicopters chasing him.

‘A catastrophe’The man turned the gun on

himself inside the vehicle as police were about to capture him in a village just northwest of Ostrava, regional police chief Tomas Kuzel said.

“We identified the gunman using hospital cameras. We de-ployed two helicopters, iden-tified his car... and when one helicopter descended over the

car, he shot himself in the head,” Kuzel told reporters.

Interior Minister Jan Ha-macek said the man died despite resuscitation efforts.

Police said the gunman had used a “short firearm” in the attack, which took place shortly after 0600 GMT.

“As far as we know, the man is not in our database of legal gun owners,” Kuzel said, adding there was no indication that he had an accomplice.

The public Czech Radio iden-tified the killer as a builder from the nearby Opava district.

His boss, named as Ales Zy-gula, told the radio station that the attacker had “decided he was seriously ill and that no one wanted to treat him”.

Prior to his death, police had

urged “maximum possible cau-tion” as they tweeted pictures of the man who had thick black hair and was wearing a red and black jacket and trainers.

Babis described the shooting as “a catastrophe”.

“It’s something we’re not used to in our country,” the populist billionaire added.

“I absolutely don’t under-stand the motive of this young man.”

The prime minister has can-celled a two-day trip to Estonia scheduled to start Tuesday af-ternoon.

President Milos Zeman also expressed his condolences.

“I’m with you in my heart, I’m thinking of you in these tragic hours,” he said in a tweet posted by his spokesman.

The gunman allegedly shot people at close range as they sat waiting in the trauma ward of the Faculty Hospital in Ostrava

The shooter was captured on hospital cameras

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Minister of Education Li Anderson, Minister of Finance Katri Kulmuni and Minister of Interior Maria Ohisalo pose after the first government meeting in Helsinki, Finland

• Interested vendors, who are able to provide the services specified above should deposit a non-refundable Tender Document Fee to one of the following banks accounts:Bank Name Gulf Air ‘s Account NumberBank of Bahrain and Kuwait BH68 BBKU 0010 0000 012235

• Vendors should submit the Bank Deposit slip to the Cash Office located at Gulf Air Headquarters, 2nd Floor, Wing D, (Tel: 17338726) to collect their payment receipt.

• A copy of the payment receipt along with the vendor’s contact details should be submitted to the Procurement and Logistics department located in Gulf Air Headquarters, 2nd Floor, Wing A. (Tel: 17338545/17338790) between 08:00 and 15:00 hours.

• The vendor is requested to enclose with his offer the Initial Bond for the amount specified above or at the rate of 1% of the contract value whichever amount is lower, provided that no initial bonds value shall be less than BD. 100/-. The initial bond should be in the form of Cash, a Certified Cheque, Bank Guarantee or Insurance Policy valid for the duration specified in the tender documents.

• Sealed offers should be addressed to the attention of Gulf Air Tender Office, 2nd Floor, Wing A, Muharraq, Kingdom of Bahrain not later than the closing date mentioned above, before 14:30 hours.

• Ensure that the provisions of the general tender regulation No. (36) for the year 2002, and its executive regulation No. (37) for the year 2002, in addition to any other condition specified in the tender document are completed. Incomplete submittals will be rejected.

• In addition, these conditions have to be considered:1. Enclose a copy of the Commercial Registration Certificate valid for the current year, related to the subject tender.2. Fill the unit rate and total cost in the submission form which will be provided as part of the tender invitation.3. Enclose a copy of Certificate of Compliance with the Employment Percentage for Bahraini Manpower issued by the Ministry of Labour 4. Ensure that your company’s seal stamp is on all the original documents and copies thereof, which form part of the offer.

• This advertisement is considered to be a supplementary to the tender documents.Important Note: All participants are invited to attend the opening of the tender at Gulf Air Tender Office, 2nd Floor, Wing A on the next day of the closing date.

Seq. Tender Title Tender No. Initial Bond (Refundable)

Tender Document Fee

Last date of accepting bidsDay Date Time

1 Procurement, Installation and Support of the Network Access Protection Solution 19-12-2073-ITC BD 500 BD 15 Monday 30/12/2019 13:30

Tender Invitation


Revving up to a new speed record in the KalahariHakskeenpan | South Africa

A loud hiss rips through the stillness of southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

It sounds like a fighter jet fly-ing low over the Hakskeen Pan, an isolated dry lake bed in South Africa’s Northern Cape prov-ince, near the Namibian border.

Then a thick cloud of sand appears on the horizon, growing steadily as it draws near.

In the blink of an eye, a racing car shoots by with a deafening screech and pelts towards the opposite end of the salt pan.

The “Bloodhound” is gearing up to try to break the current land speed record, which stands at 760 miles per hour (1,223.657 kilometres per hour).

There’s still a way to go before the super racer is ready for that attempt, but today driver Andy Green is pleased.

“We have reached 904 kph (561.72 mph),” he says, beam-ing as he lifts himself out of the cockpit, helmet in hand.

“First thing in the morn-ing, plenty of thrust, nice calm wind, so the car ran absolutely straight.”

The British-built Bloodhound stands sleekly behind him, dust still hovering in its wake.

The white parachute that helps it brake lies crumpled on the cracked ochre soil.

“Good parachute deploy-ment,” adds the Briton, as the vehicle is towed into a large air-conditioned tent nearby.

“That’s pretty much the per-fect run,” he says.

- ‘Jet engine with wheels’ -The Bloodhound was de-

signed exclusively for speed -- the team hopes, if possible, to

get up to 1,000 mph.The vehicle resembles a wing-

less jet on aluminium wheels, with a long white body topped by an engine and a stabiliser.

Its design is miles ahead of the bullet-shaped electric car in which French aristocrat Gas-ton de Chasseloup-Laubat set the first land speed record on December 18, 1898 -- pushing the vehicle’s spoke wheels to 63.15 kph.

“You can call it that, a jet en-gine with wheels, but it’s far

more sophisticated than that,” said Stuart Edmondson, head of Bloodhound operations.

Chief engineer Mark Chap-man described the racer as “part Formula 1” and “part jet fighter”.

“The car, as it is a car, has a steering wheel, has a throttle pedal, has a brake pedal,” he told AFP.

The engine, built by Rolls Royce, once powered a Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Ty-phoon fighter jet.

It was recycled from three decommissioned versions of the Typhoon’s engine, released by Britain’s defence minis-try, “without the handbooks”, chuckles a Bloodhound team member.

“It’s a car designed to go at 1,600 kph,” said Chapman, add-ing that at top speed it would be almost 400 kph faster than a Typhoon at the same altitude.

“The big issues were aer-odynamics, keeping it on the ground,” he said.

“You don’t want it to be a plane.”

As the engine’s nine tons of thrust are still unable to break the sound barrier, Chapman and his team plan to give it a boost with... a rocket engine.

Green is not intimidated by the prospect. The 57-year RAF pilot has held the current land speed record since 1997.

Skating“It’s a very different sensa-

tion,” to flying a fighter jet, Green said. “A very different environment... (and) vehicle.”

But the skills and the “second by second” decisions needed to stay in control are like flying a jet fighter “at the limits of its

performance”, he added.Green said the main difficulty

was keeping the land vehicle steady.

“The car starts to move around at about 300 kph, at 350 kph it starts to almost skate on the surface,” he said.

“It ’s like driving on hard packed snow in a normal car.”

At such high speed, the slight-est mistake or technical glitch can be fatal.

In August, the American pro-fessional racer Jessi Combs was killed during a test-run for a land-speed record attempt in Oregon’s Alvord Desert in the United States.

In the Kalahari, safety is man-aged by the Bloodhound team’s only female member, Jessica

Kinsman.The 39-year-old air traf-

fic controller makes sure to minimise any source of danger along the 16-kilo-metre (9.9-mile) desert track.

Nothing escapes her eagle eyes, be it the

wind factor, obstacles or a slight anomaly in the vehicle’s motion.

“Here, it’s almost an airfield, there is a runway, there is an aircraft, more or less,” said Kinsman comparing the car to a plane, from her viewpoint over-looking the desert in the elevat-ed glass-faced control station.

“We have the final say on a number of things,” she added, with a smile.

Meanwhile, a man discreetly oversees the mechanics as the team busies itself around the Bloodhound in the cool-aired tent.

Ian Warhurst is the racer’s proud owner.

He saved the failing project last year by buying the Blood-hound, which was on the verge of being dismantled and sold as spare parts.

‘Inspiration’ “I have certainly spent sums of

seven figures (in pounds) to get here,” Warhurst said.

Ex-owner of a turbocharg-er manufacturer in Britain, he

said that amount was “nothing” compared to money “you need to spend for projects like, say, Formula 1 teams”.

Warhurst, 50, who retired last year after making his fortune, defended his new carbon-inten-sive hobby as a source of “inspi-ration”.

Breaking the record “would obviously be an amazing thing”, he said.

“But it’s the journey to get there that is really exciting.”

And he said that he hoped the team’s work would inspire oth-ers to advance new technologies, especially in becoming carbon neutral.

“So if we can help to inspire engineers to do that, then we’re doing our part,” Warhurst said.

The millionaire said that he hoped the tests in South Africa would help attract other inves-tors.

This desert tryout, which took place between late October and mid-November, has seen the Bloodhound’s speedometer nee-dle creep up to 1,010 kph.

The car is now headed back to its home base in Britain for more tweaking and the new rocket en-gine, before its expected return to the Kalahari by mid-2021 for another attempt.

Green is already excited at the thought.

“I’m very confident there is nothing on the planet with the capability that Bloodhound car has,” he said.

“I’m confident we are going to break the record.”

RAF pilot Andy Green is the driver of the Bloodhound, built exclusively for speed

The Bloodhound team plans to give the racer a boost, with a rocket engine

Jessica Kinsman, 39, is an air traffic controller who oversees the Bloodhound’s safety

Bloodhound owner Ian Warhurst says he has “certainly spent sums of seven figures” to get to where they are now

Duterte to lift martial law in southern Philippines: aideAFP | Manila

President Rodrigo Duterte will lift martial law in the

southern Philippines by year’s end, his spokesman said Tues-day, more than two years after it was imposed in an attempt to stop the Islamic State group gaining a foothold there.

Duterte put the Mindanao region under military rule in May 2017, hours after gunmen flying the black IS flag seized the mainly Muslim city of Marawi, sparking a five-month battle that left 1,200 people dead.

“The (presidential) palace is confident on the capability of our security forces in maintain-ing the peace and security of Mindanao without extending martial law” beyond December

31, presidential spokesman Sal-vador Panelo said in a statement.

Duterte’s security advisers had apprised him of the “weakening

of the terrorist and extremist re-bellion, a result of the capture or neutralisation of their leaders, as well as the decrease in the crime

index,” Panelo added.Martial law had allowed the

military to establish control with measures like curfews, checkpoints and gun controls in a nation where many civilians own firearms, either legally or illegally.

Suspects could also be de-tained for longer periods with-out criminal charges being filed in court.

However martial law is a con-tentious issue in a country ruled for 20 years by the late deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who Duterte has hailed as the great-est leader the Asian nation ever had.

Congress allowed Duterte to extend martial rule over the en-tire south after government forc-es recaptured Marawi, ignoring

opposition warnings of a creep towards authoritarian rule.

British-based watchdog group International Alert said in a re-port earlier this year that martial rule has reduced conflict inci-dents in Mindanao by 30 percent in 2017 and 2018.

The group’s Asia peace and conflict policy adviser Francisco Lara told AFP the military check-points curtailed the transport of firearms, which led to fewer kidnappings and clan wars.

Mindanao has however been hit by a number of deadly suicide bombings in a worrying escala-tion of militancy driven by the IS influence in Southeast Asia.

These attacks included a Jan-uary 2019 blast during Sunday mass at a Catholic cathedral on the island of Jolo.

“The deterrence argument seems questionable in light of unprecedented suicide attacks,” political analyst Richard Hey-darian told AFP.

“Even after several years of implementation it did not bring any substantial defeat of any armed group in that area,” added Jose Antonio Custodio, a military historian and defence analyst.

The tourism fallout was also substantial, Custodio added.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier told reporters he had advised Duterte against prolonging martial rule over the region.

“It’s time to go back to normal, and so that we can attract more investors,” Lorenzana told gov-ernment television last week.

Martial law was imposed after jihadists seized the city of Marawi in May 2017, sparking a battle that lasted five months and claimed 1,200 lives


Heroism, devastation after deadly volcano eruption• Among those on the island during the cataclysm were tourists from Australia, the United States, Britain, China and Malaysia, as well as their New Zealand guides

Whakatane | New Zealand

Tales of heroism, devasta-tion and horrifying inju-ries emerged Tuesday af-

ter New Zealand’s smouldering White Island volcano exploded, killing an estimated 13 people and turning what should have been an intrepid day trip into a nightmare.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ard-ern said there were five con-firmed fatalities and eight more people were presumed dead after Monday’s eruption, while dozens of injured had been air-lifted to hospital burns units across the country.

Among the 47 people caught on the island during the sudden blast were tourists from Aus-tralia, the United States, Britain, China, Germany and Malaysia, as well as local tour guides.

As relatives of the missing faced an agonising wait to dis-cover the fate of their loved ones, police said conditions remained too dangerous for recovery teams to set foot on the volcano.

Amid questions about how tourists were allowed on the island, police said they were opening an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths and injuries -- but they backtracked on suggestions it could lead to criminal charges.

Ardern praised the crews of four rescue helicopters for land-ing on the island soon after the eruption.

“Those pilots made an in-credibly brave decision under extraordinarily dangerous cir-cumstances in an attempt to get people out,” she told reporters.

Intensive care paramedic Russell Clark was among those dispatched by helicopter to the volcano, which sits semi-sub-merged 50 kilometres (30 miles) out to sea.

He was confronted by an “overwhelming” and “shocking” scene of devastation.

“We didn’t find any survivors,” he told TVNZ, remembering a dust-covered helicopter ground-ed with its rotor blades dam-aged.

“It was like.. I’ve seen the ‘Chernobyl’ mini-series and it was just everything was just blanketed in ash.

“I can only imagine what it was like for the people there at the time –- they had nowhere to go and an absolutely terrible experience for them.”

New Zealander Geoff Hop-kins’ tour boat was leaving the island when a huge plume burst from the volcano -- at what scientists said was supersonic speed -- followed by a “menac-ing” cloud of grey ash.

Despite the danger, Hopkins said the boat moved closer to the shore after seeing survivors jump from the island into the sea to escape.

“I don’t think there was an-yone that came off who wasn’t badly burnt,” he told the New Zealand Herald, describing how victims screamed and went into shock as fellow tourists tried to tend to their blistered skin.

‘Very hard day’Top New Zealand health offi-

cial Pete Watson said 27 of the 34 survivors were being treated for burns to more than 71 percent of their bodies. “It’s important not to underestimate the gravity of the injuries suffered,” he said.

After an initial rush, concerns about further eruptions, poi-sonous gases and choking ash stalled efforts to recover bodies.

The risks were underscored Tuesday when a large-but-harmless 5.0 magnitude earth-quake struck to the east of the disaster zone.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised helicopter pilots for landing on the volcano, and said her compatriots were in mourning

Families face painful wait as rescue stalls

Sydney

More than 24 hours after New Zealand’s White

Island volcano erupted, fami-lies around the world are still waiting for answers about their loved ones, with the is-land deemed too dangerous to search.

Thirteen people are dead or missing, but on-island recovery efforts are on hold as scientists say the volcano has a 50 percent chance of erupting again within the next 24 hours.

Police want to deploy drones to measure toxic gas levels in the island’s atmosphere and determine whether it is safe to return, but windy conditions have so far prevented them from being flown.

“We can never say 100 per-cent, but I would strongly sug-gest that there is no one that has survived on the island,” deputy commissioner John Tims said.

Among the 47 people caught on the island during the sudden eruption were 24 tourists from Australia, nine from the United States, two from Britain, two from China, four from Germany and one from Malaysia, as well as five locals.

There are 34 confirmed sur-vivors, with 27 receiving treat-ment in New Zealand hospitals for burns to more than 71 per-cent of their bodies.

Families of some missing tourists and guides say they have not yet received any news from authorities about the fate of their relatives.

Adelaide man Brian Dallow said he was desperately con-cerned about his son Gavin, daughter-in-law Lisa, and her

15-year-old daughter Zoe Hosk-ing.

“All we know at the moment is they were on the island and they’ve been confirmed as miss-ing,” he told AFP. “As far as we know they didn’t get back on the ship last night.”

“We’ve been in touch with just about everybody on this Earth I think -- we registered with Foreign Affairs, we reg-istered with the Red Cross ... We registered with everybody we can.”

Also among those missing is New Zealander Tipene Maangi, a tour guide in his early 20s, whose family were holding out hope that he was still alive.

“They have said that those that are on the island there are no survivors, and we are not sure if our nephew is over there on the island or if he is in one of the hospitals,” his aunt, Jaque-line, told TVNZ.

“So we are hopeful that he’s one of them that’s in the hos-pitals and we will soon know.”

“We are scared and are emo-tional and some of us do want to fall apart, but it’s not really an option. We have to stay strong.”

New Zealand officials said they were doing everything pos-sible to hasten recovery efforts and support families.

“We absolutely believe that everyone that could be taken from the island yesterday were rescued at the time of the evac-uation,” police deputy commis-sioner Tims told reporters in Wellington.

“We understand the desire from the locals and the loved ones, to remove their family from the island,” he added. “We are working around the clock.”

On-island recovery efforts are on hold as scientists say the volcano has a 50 percent chance of erupting again within the next 24 hours

Hong Kong police say bombs left in school grounds defusedHong Kong

Hong Kong police said they defused two homemade

nail bombs discovered in the grounds of a school, and are in-vestigating whether the devices were linked to political unrest in the city.

B o m b d i s p o s a l o f f i c e r s rushed to Wah Yan College in Wanchai district after a jani-tor noticed the devices, police said.

“The bombs were complete, fully functional and ready to be used,” senior bomb disposal officer Alick McWhirter told reporters Monday night.

McWhirter said the two de-vices contained a total of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of high

explosives and that the remote control bombs were designed to be set off using a mobile phone.

Nails had been added to the bombs, which used a homemade ammonium nitrate based explo-sive, to increase their destruc-tiveness.

“Both of these devices have only one function, to kill and to maim people,” McWhirter said.

Police said they believed the college was not the target for the bomb maker and that the devices were likely being hidden there for later use.

The discovery comes with Hong Kong engulfed by six months of sometimes violent protests -- although the last

three weeks have seen a signif-icant drop-off in clashes and a massive largely peaceful march on Sunday.

Millions have marched in pro-tests fuelled by years of growing fears that authoritarian China is stamping out the city’s liberties.

Over the last six months hard-line protesters have used bricks, petrol bombs and even bows and arrows in their weekly confron-tations with police who have fired nearly 16,000 rounds of tear gas and 10,000 rubber bul-lets.

Three protesters have been shot with live rounds, all have survived their injuries.

Police said a small remote-con-trolled explosive device was det-

onated during a protest clashes in the district of Mongkok in October. No-one was injured by that device which also used a mobile phone.

Senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah said police were in-vestigating whether the two de-vices were linked.

The discovery of a bomb came a day after police said a semi-automatic pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammuni-tion were discovered in a raid on protesters.

Five people in their early 20s appeared in court on Monday charged with intent to wound and were denied bail.

Two were also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Bomb disposal officers have disabled two homemade nail bombs at a school in Hong Kong

As the UK votes in par-liamentary elections on Thursday, EU leaders

will be holding their last summit of the year. Brexit is not formally on the agenda, but European capitals are keenly awaiting the election result as a pointer to Britain’s departure.

Prime Minister Boris John-son’s campaign slogan is “Get Brexit Done,” and he asserts that the election therefore amounts to a choice between stability provided by the Tories, and the chaos of an anti-Conservative coalition and a new EU referen-dum.

This mantra is as misleading as it is simplistic. Leaving the EU next month would only be the start of new negotiations on topics from transport and fish-eries to financial services and

data transfer, which will repre-sent a new order of complexity.

The transition phase pro-posed from Feb. 1 to the end of 2020 is therefore not likely to be nearly long enough — de-spite claims to the contrary by Johnson and other leading Tory politicians; Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid remark-ably said on Thursday there was “not a single doubt in my mind” that a final comprehensive deal could be “agreed within months, and we can get it through Parlia-ment in 2020.”

The enormous odds against this are why some European politicians, such as Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, have proposed a five-year transition period. The EU’s chief Brex-it negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said a “bare bones” agree-

ment may be the best that can be hoped for in less than a year.

The reason time is tight is that Brussels is not allowed by law to conduct formal discussions on a new trade deal until the UK has ratified a withdrawal agreement, when the EU can ap-prove a joint, next-phase negoti-ating mandate. That could take weeks, meaning formal discus-sions may not begin until spring; and because a deal would have to be ratified, negotiations real-istically need to be completed by autumn.

Nevertheless, few in London or Brussels are prepared to talk openly about a transition ex-tension. Johnson has made it a central election pledge not to extend the end-2020 deadline because many of his Brexiteer allies are opposed to continuing significant payments to the EU, regardless of the benefits.

This threatens a new “cliff edge” and, in effect, the re-newed threat of a no-deal Brex-it. Indeed Javid refused to rule this out, threatening a re-run of the political and economic uncertainties of 2019.

If the reality of no-deal dawns in about a year’s time, Brussels and London would almost cer-tainly have to return to the ne-gotiating table, with a new set of incentives and considerable urgency.

Outside a transition period, the negotiating process for a final, comprehensive deal could become significantly more dif-ficult, with the same trade-offs as before, including free move-ment of people versus the scope of access to the European Single Market, but with added time pressure if the UK economy is hurting more than that of the EU. Another factor that may make a final, comprehensive deal significantly more diffi-cult is that it would require EU unanimity, so just one objecting state could veto it.

Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” mantra is therefore a huge dis-tortion of the truth. Far from Brexit being complete by Jan. 31, detailed negotiations would follow that will shape UK and international politics for years to come.

IF TECHNIQUE IS OF NO INTEREST TO A WRITER, I DOUBT THAT THE WRITER IS AN ARTIST.MARIANNE MOORE

QUOTE OF THE DAY


1620 1792 1913 19461936TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

TOP

4TWEETS

04

03

01

We’re having this election because

Parliament couldn’t get anything done. Only the Conservatives can get Brexit done and get Par-liament working again, on the issues that matter to you.

@BorisJohnson

A vote for Labour on Thursday will put

Labour into Downing Street on Friday morning with a national compen-sation scheme for WASPI women. A vote for the SNP will deliver nothing more than their MPs con-tinuing to achieve noth-ing beyond the odd stunt at Westminster.

@LabourRichard

This will be the first i m p e a c h m e n t i n

American history driv-en by partisan politics and not an outside in-vestigation. I fear House Democrats are turning impeachment into a tool to be used when you don’t like a president’s policies or style.

@LindseyGrahamSC

Shifty Schiff, a total-ly corrupt politician,

made up a horrible and fraudulent statement, read it to Congress, and said those words came from me. He got caught, was very embarrassed, yet nothing happened to him for committing this fraud. He’ll eventually have to answer for this!

@realDonaldTrump

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

editorial stances)

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

102 Mayflower Pilgrims and about 30 crew land at Plymouth Rock, Mas-sachusetts [NS, Dec 21]

France’s King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state

“Mona Lisa” recovered 2 years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

established (Nobel 1965)

Edward VIII announces in a radio broadcast that he is abdicating the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson

02

CHANDRAHAS CHOUDHURY

ANDREW HAMMOND

For about 25 years now, the

country has been experiencing a high degree of

intergenerational difference in levels

of turnout at general elections

Can the youth speak up in UK elections? ‘Get Brexit Done’ is just more misleading Boris bluster

Many young Britons are disillusioned with party politics, and skeptical of achieving meaningful choice, or change, by the exercise of the vote

Leaving the EU next month would only be the start of new negotiations on topics from transport and fisheries to financial services and data

transfer, which will represent a new order of complexity

If the reality of no-deal dawns

in about a year’s time, Brussels and

London would almost certainly have to return to

the negotiating table, with a new

set of incentives and considerable

urgency

How about a little thought experiment with your Sat-urday morning coffee? It is

election day in a major democra-cy — say the UK (which goes to the polls tomorrow). In the picturesque seaside village of Marpledon, Patrick, 75, a retired bus driver, is looking for-ward to voting — and also initiating his grandson Thomas, 19 and newly eligible to vote, in this civic ritual.

After a leisurely lunch, grandfather and grandson walk to the polling sta-tion, talking politics. They discover they both plan to vote for the same party, Labour. Suddenly, Patrick re-ceives a phone call. Thomas’ mother, who is bedridden with a broken an-kle, is not feeling well. One of the two men must rush home immediately, thereby losing the chance to vote. Which one would you say it should be?

You might reasonably say it does not matter. After all, the theory of one vote per citizen is the foundational principle of modern democracy, so from a systemic point of view Patrick and Thomas are equal. And since both men plan to vote for the same party, no party or candidate stands to lose or gain from the decision (if an-ything, perhaps Thomas should skip voting as he can run home faster).

But I would submit that in the real world, their prospective votes have different meanings and implications. Patrick is a conscientious voter and has participated in many elections, but this would be Thomas’ first. And voting — like all things that are choic-es in human affairs — is a habit. Once you do it, you usually keep doing it.

In a way, then, Thomas’ one vote today represents the likelihood of another 10 or 12 from him over the course of this century. Furthermore, as a young person, Thomas has a greater stake in the future than Pat-rick does. His vote may lean the same way as his grandfather’s, but his con-cerns reflect those of his own gen-eration. Taking all these things into account, Patrick sends Thomas on to the polling booth, and speeds home in a taxi.

The little parable I have present-ed has real relevance in the UK, and in Thursday’s election. For about 25 years now, the country has been experiencing a high degree of in-tergenerational difference in levels of turnout at general elections. And worryingly, even counterintuitively, it is the young who exercise their franchise far less than the old.

This substantial gap — call it turn-out inequality — has so many conse-

quences for politics and policy, social cohesion and trust, and the future of British democracy, that it has become a key point of focus in Thursday’s election.

In the 2015 vote, for instance, the gap in turnout between those above 65 and those aged 18-24 was 25 per-cent. Half a century ago, the differ-ence was marginal, showing that young Britons see electoral politics today very differently from previous generations, and that the voting pop-ulation is not being refreshed with new pools of voters as it should be.

Several reasons for this trend have been identified. One is attitudinal. Many young Britons are disillusioned with party politics, and skeptical of achieving meaningful choice, or change, by the exercise of the vote. They are not necessarily apathetic (as some older Britons understandably believe) but express their political opinions in other ways, such as by their consumption choices.

Another is technical. A new voter registration system unrolled in 2014 means that every voter must register individually on the national electoral register, and re-register each time they change their address (or indeed their name, as can happen when a young woman marries).

Young people are much more like-ly to live in rental housing — unaf-fordable house prices is itself a huge subject in British politics — and move across addresses than older voters, meaning that they are not on the elec-toral register or have slipped off it.

One in three young Britons, the UK’s Electoral Commission estimates, are not registered to vote.

The problem of intergenerational turnout inequality is exacerbated in the UK by demographics. Life expectancy has increased hugely in the country over the last few decades, with the result that one in six Britons is now over 65.

Party politics in democracies is based, after all, on appeals to blocs of voters. And the size and stability of what has come to be called “the grey vote” in the UK means that parties lean toward protecting the interests of the old over those of the young (the real value of pensions has been protected in the last dec-ade, for instance, while university tuition fees have trebled).

This combination of trends — po-litical, social, demographic — lead-ing to turnout inequality and the marginalization of the youth argua-bly represents a crisis in British pol-itics. In the lead up to Thursday’s election, many British public figures (such as the rapper Stormzy), NGOs and political parties — although not the ruling Conservative Party, which is preferred by older voters — have tried to address the problem by ap-pealing to the youth to register to vote.

Others have called for actual changes in the law to address this problem. British political scientist Sarah Birch argues, for instance, that voting should be made compulsory, but only for newly eligible voters,

as a way of initiating them in their political responsibilities and starting a virtuous cycle of participation.

So let us return to where we began. When Patrick sacrificed his vote for Thomas, perhaps he was also doing his bit to counteract the problem of turnout inequality in the UK. He was doing, as an older person, what British politics itself does not seem to doing enough right now: Investing in the future.

Voter registration spiked 236% after Stormzy urged people to vote

Party politics in democracies is based, after all, on appeals to

blocs of voters. And the size and stability of what has come to be called “the grey vote” in the UK means that parties lean toward protecting the interests of the

old over those of the young (the real value of pensions has been

protected in the last decade, for instance, while university

tuition fees have trebled)

As in many a referendum, campaign tactics in this election have been thoroughly dirty on the part of some, based on misinformation and propaganda

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn debate on the BBC

As the UK votes in par-liamentary elections on Thursday, EU leaders

will be holding their last summit of the year. Brexit is not formally on the agenda, but European capitals are keenly awaiting the election result as a pointer to Britain’s departure.

Prime Minister Boris John-son’s campaign slogan is “Get Brexit Done,” and he asserts that the election therefore amounts to a choice between stability provided by the Tories, and the chaos of an anti-Conservative coalition and a new EU referen-dum.

This mantra is as misleading as it is simplistic. Leaving the EU next month would only be the start of new negotiations on topics from transport and fish-eries to financial services and

data transfer, which will repre-sent a new order of complexity.

The transition phase pro-posed from Feb. 1 to the end of 2020 is therefore not likely to be nearly long enough — de-spite claims to the contrary by Johnson and other leading Tory politicians; Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid remark-ably said on Thursday there was “not a single doubt in my mind” that a final comprehensive deal could be “agreed within months, and we can get it through Parlia-ment in 2020.”

The enormous odds against this are why some European politicians, such as Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, have proposed a five-year transition period. The EU’s chief Brex-it negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said a “bare bones” agree-

ment may be the best that can be hoped for in less than a year.

The reason time is tight is that Brussels is not allowed by law to conduct formal discussions on a new trade deal until the UK has ratified a withdrawal agreement, when the EU can ap-prove a joint, next-phase negoti-ating mandate. That could take weeks, meaning formal discus-sions may not begin until spring; and because a deal would have to be ratified, negotiations real-istically need to be completed by autumn.

Nevertheless, few in London or Brussels are prepared to talk openly about a transition ex-tension. Johnson has made it a central election pledge not to extend the end-2020 deadline because many of his Brexiteer allies are opposed to continuing significant payments to the EU, regardless of the benefits.

This threatens a new “cliff edge” and, in effect, the re-newed threat of a no-deal Brex-it. Indeed Javid refused to rule this out, threatening a re-run of the political and economic uncertainties of 2019.

If the reality of no-deal dawns in about a year’s time, Brussels and London would almost cer-tainly have to return to the ne-gotiating table, with a new set of incentives and considerable urgency.

Outside a transition period, the negotiating process for a final, comprehensive deal could become significantly more dif-ficult, with the same trade-offs as before, including free move-ment of people versus the scope of access to the European Single Market, but with added time pressure if the UK economy is hurting more than that of the EU. Another factor that may make a final, comprehensive deal significantly more diffi-cult is that it would require EU unanimity, so just one objecting state could veto it.

Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” mantra is therefore a huge dis-tortion of the truth. Far from Brexit being complete by Jan. 31, detailed negotiations would follow that will shape UK and international politics for years to come.

IF TECHNIQUE IS OF NO INTEREST TO A WRITER, I DOUBT THAT THE WRITER IS AN ARTIST.MARIANNE MOORE

QUOTE OF THE DAY


1620 1792 1913 19461936TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

TOP

4TWEETS

04

03

01

We’re having this election because

Parliament couldn’t get anything done. Only the Conservatives can get Brexit done and get Par-liament working again, on the issues that matter to you.

@BorisJohnson

A vote for Labour on Thursday will put

Labour into Downing Street on Friday morning with a national compen-sation scheme for WASPI women. A vote for the SNP will deliver nothing more than their MPs con-tinuing to achieve noth-ing beyond the odd stunt at Westminster.

@LabourRichard

This will be the first i m p e a c h m e n t i n

American history driv-en by partisan politics and not an outside in-vestigation. I fear House Democrats are turning impeachment into a tool to be used when you don’t like a president’s policies or style.

@LindseyGrahamSC

Shifty Schiff, a total-ly corrupt politician,

made up a horrible and fraudulent statement, read it to Congress, and said those words came from me. He got caught, was very embarrassed, yet nothing happened to him for committing this fraud. He’ll eventually have to answer for this!

@realDonaldTrump

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

editorial stances)

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

102 Mayflower Pilgrims and about 30 crew land at Plymouth Rock, Mas-sachusetts [NS, Dec 21]

France’s King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state

“Mona Lisa” recovered 2 years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

established (Nobel 1965)

Edward VIII announces in a radio broadcast that he is abdicating the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson

02

CHANDRAHAS CHOUDHURY

ANDREW HAMMOND

For about 25 years now, the

country has been experiencing a high degree of

intergenerational difference in levels

of turnout at general elections

Can the youth speak up in UK elections? ‘Get Brexit Done’ is just more misleading Boris bluster

Many young Britons are disillusioned with party politics, and skeptical of achieving meaningful choice, or change, by the exercise of the vote

Leaving the EU next month would only be the start of new negotiations on topics from transport and fisheries to financial services and data

transfer, which will represent a new order of complexity

If the reality of no-deal dawns

in about a year’s time, Brussels and

London would almost certainly have to return to

the negotiating table, with a new

set of incentives and considerable

urgency

How about a little thought experiment with your Sat-urday morning coffee? It is

election day in a major democra-cy — say the UK (which goes to the polls tomorrow). In the picturesque seaside village of Marpledon, Patrick, 75, a retired bus driver, is looking for-ward to voting — and also initiating his grandson Thomas, 19 and newly eligible to vote, in this civic ritual.

After a leisurely lunch, grandfather and grandson walk to the polling sta-tion, talking politics. They discover they both plan to vote for the same party, Labour. Suddenly, Patrick re-ceives a phone call. Thomas’ mother, who is bedridden with a broken an-kle, is not feeling well. One of the two men must rush home immediately, thereby losing the chance to vote. Which one would you say it should be?

You might reasonably say it does not matter. After all, the theory of one vote per citizen is the foundational principle of modern democracy, so from a systemic point of view Patrick and Thomas are equal. And since both men plan to vote for the same party, no party or candidate stands to lose or gain from the decision (if an-ything, perhaps Thomas should skip voting as he can run home faster).

But I would submit that in the real world, their prospective votes have different meanings and implications. Patrick is a conscientious voter and has participated in many elections, but this would be Thomas’ first. And voting — like all things that are choic-es in human affairs — is a habit. Once you do it, you usually keep doing it.

In a way, then, Thomas’ one vote today represents the likelihood of another 10 or 12 from him over the course of this century. Furthermore, as a young person, Thomas has a greater stake in the future than Pat-rick does. His vote may lean the same way as his grandfather’s, but his con-cerns reflect those of his own gen-eration. Taking all these things into account, Patrick sends Thomas on to the polling booth, and speeds home in a taxi.

The little parable I have present-ed has real relevance in the UK, and in Thursday’s election. For about 25 years now, the country has been experiencing a high degree of in-tergenerational difference in levels of turnout at general elections. And worryingly, even counterintuitively, it is the young who exercise their franchise far less than the old.

This substantial gap — call it turn-out inequality — has so many conse-

quences for politics and policy, social cohesion and trust, and the future of British democracy, that it has become a key point of focus in Thursday’s election.

In the 2015 vote, for instance, the gap in turnout between those above 65 and those aged 18-24 was 25 per-cent. Half a century ago, the differ-ence was marginal, showing that young Britons see electoral politics today very differently from previous generations, and that the voting pop-ulation is not being refreshed with new pools of voters as it should be.

Several reasons for this trend have been identified. One is attitudinal. Many young Britons are disillusioned with party politics, and skeptical of achieving meaningful choice, or change, by the exercise of the vote. They are not necessarily apathetic (as some older Britons understandably believe) but express their political opinions in other ways, such as by their consumption choices.

Another is technical. A new voter registration system unrolled in 2014 means that every voter must register individually on the national electoral register, and re-register each time they change their address (or indeed their name, as can happen when a young woman marries).

Young people are much more like-ly to live in rental housing — unaf-fordable house prices is itself a huge subject in British politics — and move across addresses than older voters, meaning that they are not on the elec-toral register or have slipped off it.

One in three young Britons, the UK’s Electoral Commission estimates, are not registered to vote.

The problem of intergenerational turnout inequality is exacerbated in the UK by demographics. Life expectancy has increased hugely in the country over the last few decades, with the result that one in six Britons is now over 65.

Party politics in democracies is based, after all, on appeals to blocs of voters. And the size and stability of what has come to be called “the grey vote” in the UK means that parties lean toward protecting the interests of the old over those of the young (the real value of pensions has been protected in the last dec-ade, for instance, while university tuition fees have trebled).

This combination of trends — po-litical, social, demographic — lead-ing to turnout inequality and the marginalization of the youth argua-bly represents a crisis in British pol-itics. In the lead up to Thursday’s election, many British public figures (such as the rapper Stormzy), NGOs and political parties — although not the ruling Conservative Party, which is preferred by older voters — have tried to address the problem by ap-pealing to the youth to register to vote.

Others have called for actual changes in the law to address this problem. British political scientist Sarah Birch argues, for instance, that voting should be made compulsory, but only for newly eligible voters,

as a way of initiating them in their political responsibilities and starting a virtuous cycle of participation.

So let us return to where we began. When Patrick sacrificed his vote for Thomas, perhaps he was also doing his bit to counteract the problem of turnout inequality in the UK. He was doing, as an older person, what British politics itself does not seem to doing enough right now: Investing in the future.

Voter registration spiked 236% after Stormzy urged people to vote

Party politics in democracies is based, after all, on appeals to

blocs of voters. And the size and stability of what has come to be called “the grey vote” in the UK means that parties lean toward protecting the interests of the

old over those of the young (the real value of pensions has been

protected in the last decade, for instance, while university

tuition fees have trebled)

As in many a referendum, campaign tactics in this election have been thoroughly dirty on the part of some, based on misinformation and propaganda

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn debate on the BBC

$64.14was the price of Brent

crude by 1445 GMT

10

business


Gulf Air boosts international sales with APG IET

TDT | Manama

Gulf Air said it has signed up with APG to benefit from

their latest ticketing solution APG IET.

APG IET allows Gulf Air tick-ets to be purchased by trav-el agents in BSPs (billing and settlement plans) where the airline is not present and in combination with airlines with whom they do not directly in-terline.

Commending, Kresimir Kucko, Gulf Air’s Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, said: “This is an important milestone for Gulf Air to be available in

more markets that currently not served by the airline and without offline GSAs. The APG IET solution will enable us to sell more tickets by interlining with many airlines around the world and giving our custom-ers a wide and varied choice to fly to more places”.

Richard Burgess, President of the APG Network, com-mented: “We are delighted to welcome such a prestigious carrier as Gulf Air to our APG IET platform.”

Gulf Air said it currently flies to 48 destinations in 27 countries and codeshares with more than 10 global airline partners.

APG IET allows Gulf Air tickets to be purchased by travel agents in BSPs

Aramco’s stock debut today• Aramco priced its initial public offering at 32 riyals ($8.53) per share

• Saudi Arabia announced a 1.02 trillion-riyal ($272.00 billion) budget for 2020 on Monday

• Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rose to 3.6pc in November

Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s stock mar-ket fell yesterday, ending a three-day winning streak,

as investors braced for Saudi Aramco’s debut trade today.

In Saudi, the benchmark index decreased 0.7 per cent with National Commercial Bank shedding 2pc and Saudi British Bank sliding 3.1pc.

Elsewhere, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s firm Kingdom Hold-ing plunged 6.1pc.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is list-ing its shares today on the Saudi exchange after completing the largest initial public offering on record.

Aramco priced its initial pub-lic offering at 32 riyals ($8.53) per share last Thursday, raising $25.6 billion and beating Aliba-

ba Group Holding Ltd’s record $25 billion listing in 2014.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced a 1.02 trillion-riyal ($272.00 billion) budget for 2020 on Monday, a slight fall in spending that reversed three

years of expenditure increases intended to spur growth.

The Qatari index rose 0.4pc, driven by a 1.3pc gain in Indus-tries Qatar and a 0.7pc increase in Qatar National Bank follow-ing its appointment of Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa as group chief executive.

Qatar is sending its prime minister to an annual summit of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders in Saudi Arabia on Tues-day, a sign of a potential thaw in a two-and-a-half-year Gulf dispute.

Outside of the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index .EGX30 added 0.5pc, ending four straight days of losses. Commercial Interna-tional Bank was up 0.7pc, while El Sewedy Electric advanced

2.7pc after its unit signed a 638.4 million Egyptian-pound ($39.75 million) construction and engi-neering contract.

Egypt’s annual urban con-sumer price inflation rose to 3.6pc in November from 3.1pc in October, the official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Tuesday.

In Dubai, the index edged up 0.1pc as Emirates NBD add-ed 1.7pc and Dubai Islamic Bank rose 0.8pc.

However, the gains were capped by losses in real estate stocks. Emaar Properties and DAMAC Properties shed 1.2pc and 4.2pc, respectively.

The Abu Dhabi index slipped 0.1pc, led by a 0.3pc fall in First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Closing Bell SAUDI 0.7pc to 8,066 pts

ABU DHABI 0.1pc to 5,020 pts

DUBAI 0.1pc to 2,688 pts

QATAR 0.4pc to 10,317 pts

EGYPT 0.5pc to 13,509 pts

BAHRAIN at 1,550 pts

OMAN 0.1pc to 4,018 pts

KUWAIT at 6,749 pts

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

US Democrats announce impeachment charges against TrumpReuters | Washington

Democrats announced formal charges against President

Donald Trump yesterday that accuse him of abusing power and obstructing Congress, making him only the third US president in history to face impeachment.

The full House of Represent-atives is expected to vote on the charges, or articles of impeach-ment, next week. The chamber, controlled by Democrats, is al-most certain to vote to impeach the Republican president, set-ting the stage for a dramatic trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, likely to begin in Jan-uary.

House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jerrold Nadler, told reporters that Trump had en-dangered the US Constitution,

undermined the integrity of the 2020 election and jeopardized national security.

“No one, not even the presi-dent, is above the law,” Nadler said.

Democrats have moved rapid-ly in their impeachment inquiry since launching an investigation on Sept. 24 into allegations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate a Democratic po-

litical rival, former Vice Pres-ident Joe Biden, in the 2020 elections.

Democrats accuse Trump of abusing power by withholding aid to Ukraine, a vulnerable U.S. ally facing Russian aggression, as well as dangling a possible White House meeting to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch the investigation.

Republicans accuse Demo-crats of seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 election with a “witch hunt” against Trump, who denies he did anything wrong. Trump is unlikely to be convicted in the Senate, given it is controlled by his party, but his impeachment may yet have an impact on the campaign trail as Democrats seek to retake control of the White House.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi leads Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and other Democratic committee chairs walk through statuary hall to a news conference

Oil prices drop as trade war concerns haunt marketReuters | London/Singapore

Oil prices slipped for a sec-ond straight day yesterday

as a slowing global demand out-look outweighed OPEC’s deal with associated producers last week to deepen output cuts in 2020.

Brent crude was down 11 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $64.14 per barrel by 1445 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate oil

was 14 cents, or 0.2%, lower at $58.88 a barrel.

The benchmarks fell 0.2pc and 0.3pc respectively on Mon-day.

Last week, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries and associated producers like Russia agreed to deepen output cuts from 1.2 million bar-rels per day (bpd) to 1.7 million bpd to support prices.

H o w e v e r, c r u d e p r i c -

es have fallen this week as a Dec. 15 deadline for the next round of U.S. tariffs on Chi-nese imports loomed over markets.

“Now with OPEC+ meetings out of the way, the market will likely focus back to trade talk developments, particu-larly with the 15 December deadline fast approaching,” ING analyst Warren Patterson said.

Malaysia’s Mahathir hopeful of 1MDB settlement with GoldmanReuters | Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minis-ter Mahathir Moham-

ad is hopeful of reaching an out-of-court settlement with Goldman Sachs over the 1MDB scandal soon, but that com-pensation of “one point some-thing billion” dollars offered by the bank was too small.

The Southeast Asian nation has charged Goldman and 17 current and former directors of its units for allegedly mis-leading investors over bond sales totalling $6.5 billion that the US bank helped raise for sovereign wealth fund 1Malay-sia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Mahathir said they have de-manded $7.5 billion from Gold-man and negotiations were ongoing.

“We would like to avoid hav-ing to go to the courts, but if they come up with a reasona-ble sum I think we will agree,” Mahathir, 94, said in an inter-view yesterday.

“But at the moment their offer is too small. We’re con-tinuing to talk with them to explain why they should pay what we demand. Of course it’s not the full amount, that they may be able to bring down, but we think that we can reach some agreement at a later stage.”


It’s disastrous here in Agadez. From the sellers of jerry cans

to small restaurants, from the middle men

to the smugglers... the whole migratory chain is broken and people have nothing

NIGERIAN JOURNALIST IBRAHIM MANZO DIALLO.

Christmas repeats: UK PM copies ‘Love Actually’ spoofLondon

Boris Johnson yesterday faced claims of plagiarism, after

copying a spoof version of a scene from the hit Christmas film “Love Actually” as part of his election campaign.

Britain’s prime minister is seen in a social media clip taking the part of actor Andrew Lin-coln, who turns up to profess his undying love for Keira Knightley by showing her flashcards.

One of the cards Johnson shows a householder in his “Vote Conservative Actually” clip says: “With any luck, by next year we’ll have Brexit done (if Parliament doesn’t block it again).

“Your vote has never been more important, the other guy could win, so you have a choice to make between a working majority or another gridlocked hung parliament.”

The clip has been seen more than one million times since it was posted on Johnson’s Twitter account on Monday evening,

two days before Britain votes in its third election in four years.

But a main opposition La-bour party candidate, Rosena Allin-Khan, had already posted her version of the scene on No-vember 22, as part of her re-elec-tion campaign.

“With any luck next year I’ll be your MP,” the candidate for the Tooting constituency in south London tells a man on the door-step, as Christmas carols play on portable speakers.

“And our country won’t be run by these muppets,” she adds, showing another card with pho-tographs of Johnson, members of his government and US Presi-dent Donald Trump.

Allin-Khan, a doctor in Brit-ain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS), on Tuesday called on her followers “not to retweet Boris Johnson’s copycat version of #ElectionActually”.

A third online parody of the scene has Johnson as the house-holder answering the door to Trump, who tells him: “With any

luck by next year you’ll be selling off the NHS.”

Actor Hugh Grant, who played a British prime minister in the 2003 romantic comedy and has been campaigning for the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, was asked about the parody on BBC radio.

“I thought it was quite well done, very high production val-ues but clearly the Conservative party have an awful lot of mon-ey,” he said.

“Maybe that’s where the ru-bles went?” he added, referring to a report into Russian funding of the Tories that Johnson’s gov-ernment refuses to release.

“But I did notice that one of the cards from the original film that he didn’t hold up was the one where Andrew Lincoln held up a card saying, ‘Because at Christmas you tell the truth’.

“And I just wonder if the spin doctors in the Tory par-ty thought that was a card that wouldn’t look too great in Boris Johnson’s hands.”

One of the cards Johnson shows a householder in his “Vote Conservative Actually” clip says: “With any luck, by next year we’ll have Brexit done”

Niger migrant hub goes from boom to bust

Agadez Niger

Demand for plastic jerry cans has nosedived in the Niger town of Agadez,

and Issa Abdou is unhappy.“The market is dead,” he said.

“There are no more migrants passing through.”

Once a fabled stop on medieval trading routes across the Sahara, Agadez blossomed half a dozen years ago into a modern-day hub for caravans of a different type -- convoys of Africans desperate to reach Europe.

Their demand bred a huge industry, from smugglers and drivers to accommodation, food and blankets -- and Abdou’s jer-ry cans, essential for water and fuel.

The lucrative business con-tinued despite measures in 2015 that made migrant trafficking a crime punishable by 30 years in prison.

But activity has slumped since the start of the year.

Under an EU-backed plan, pa-trols have been beefed up across

the desert to dissuade migrants, and smugglers are being offered financial incentives to give up their trade. Today, the estimat-ed number of migrants passing through Niger has fallen from 100,000-150,000 a year pre-2016 to 5,000-10,000.

On a visit to Niamey in Febru-ary, Italian Prime Minister Gi-useppe Conte said the tally of il-

legal migrants turning up on his country’s shores had dropped by 80 percent.

In Agadez, the courtyards of buildings where migrants used to hole up awaiting their depar-ture have emptied out.

The strategy may have helped dam the flow of illegal migration to Europe, but its impact on the local economy has been severe.

‘Totally busted’

Migrants are hardly known for their wealth. Even so, an individual can expect to shell out 200,000-250,000 CFA francs ($335-$420, 300-380 euros) to pay for a week’s housing and food and the transport to Libya, said Bachir Amma, who heads an association of former migrant smugglers.

“It’s disastrous here in Aga-dez. From the sellers of jerry cans to small restaurants, from the middle men to the smug-glers... the whole migratory chain is broken and people have nothing,” said Nigerian journal-ist Ibrahim Manzo Diallo.

”Everyone is afraid. If you’re caught with a migrant, you’re screwed,” said Idrissa Salifou, a former smuggler. “You’re sent straight to (the capital) Niamey.”

“We’re totally busted,” he said. “At one

t i m e , I c o u l d

per-

s o n -a l l y

oversee the departure of 13

small vehicles, each carrying from 10 to 31 people, and I’d pick

up more than three million CFA francs.”

In those halcyon times, every Monday a convoy of between 300 and 400 smaller vehicles and 70 to 115 large trucks would roll out of Agadez.

Its destination was Libya’s Mediterranean coast, where rubber dinghies and flimsy ves-sels awaited for the perilous crossing to Europe.

These weekly convoys carried “as many as 12,000 people”, Sal-ifou said.

As for small businesses, Ab-dou recalled selling as many as 100 jerry cans a day, charging 4,000 CFA francs apiece.

‘More dangerous routes’Grim-faced under a blue tur-

ban, fellow trader Mohamed Moussa also sells items for the migrants’ survival kit. “In two months I’ve sold fewer than a dozen blankets and mats,” he complained.

The days of buses packed with migrants rolling in from Niamey are just a memory, as are the queues of people outside banks, waiting to pick up money wired by their families.

According to a security source, “reckless migrants” are taking “new, more dangerous routes” to enter Libya, even though the North African country has gained a hellish reputation since Moamer Kadhafi fell in 2011.

The International Organiza-tion for Migration (OIM) reports that it has helped more than 40,000 migrants to return to their homelands voluntarily since Niger’s 2015 law.

The carrot-and-stick ap-proach under the new plan in-cludes an offer of 1.5 million CFA francs to help “former sup-pliers” convert to other income sources.

In Abdou’s case, that might be farming, while Salifou is consid-ering going into the restaurant sector.

“But so far only 521 of a total 6,565 people have received” the aid, said Amma.

Salifou urged the government in Niamey and the EU “to hon-our their commitment”.

Otherwise, he warned, “pa-tience has its limits”.

As many as 12,000 migrants used to leave Agadez every Monday in a convoy comprising hundreds of vehicles, says a former smuggler

Once a fabled stop on medieval trading routes across the Sahara, Agadez blossomed half a dozen years ago into a modern-day hub for caravans of a different type -- convoys of Africans desperate to reach Europe.

January 2019: A convoy of pickup trucks carrying migrants crosses the Air Desert in northern Niger, heading towards the Libyan border post of Al Qatrun

Migrants arriving in Agadez hole up in so-called ghettos while they await their transport to Libya


The wacky, big-money world of pet influencers

Washington

Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, Boo the Pomeranian and Doug

the Pug are just some of the in-ternet’s star animals, who do everything from support worthy causes t o promote major brands.

T h e d e a t h this week of Lil Bub, a cat whose

tongue was always hanging out due to genetic anomalies, in-spired a wave of emotion that highlighted the internet’s power to elevate just about anything to cult status.

“She was a ray of pure joy in my life and so many others,” said one Instagram user, who uses the handle @missmaddyg.

Lil Bub rose to fame after her adoption in 2011, when her own-er, music producer Mike Brida-vsky, began posting photos and updates about her online.

Her story garnered three mil-lion followers on Facebook, 2.4 million on Instagram and more than 800,000 on Twitter.

Bub’s fame eventually caught the attention of scientists.

In May 2015, researchers at the University of Missouri se-quenced her genome as part of a project to determine what ge-netic variations had caused her adorable deformities.

Bridavsky also start-ed a national fund for special needs pets, t h e first of its

kind, with Bub serving as its face.

“Bub has made a huge differ-ence in the world of animal wel-fare and in the lives of millions of people worldwide,” Bridavsky wrote on Instagram, noting the fund has raised $700,000 for “animals in need,” with $75,000 raised in 2018 alone.

Over the course of her life, the Indiana-based cat lent her star power to multiple causes supported by Greenpeace and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani-mals (ASPCA).

Since 2013, Lil Bub has also been the face of campaigns with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) promoting sterilization and pet adoption, as opposed to buying designer breeds.

Lil Bub “used her stardom to make the world a better place for animals,” PETA said in a tribute tweet. “Honor her legacy by re-membering her message: always adopt, never shop.”

But while PETA campaigns di-rector Ashley Byrne welcomes pet influencers’ charitable ven-tures, she is also adamant that the work must not come at the

expense of the pets’ welfare.Nobody should “treat

animals as accessories or frivolous possessions,” she told AFP. Instead, “it’s important for people

with animals who have an audi-ence on the internet to encour-age their followers to treat their pets like members of the family.”

That, says animal talent man-ager Loni Edwards, is exactly what makes pet influencers so successful.

Edwards’s talent agency, The Dog Agency, manages pet influ-encers of all species, from Bruno the fat cat to CEO Edwards’s own French bulldog.

“As a society, we’ve evolved so that we now think of pets as our children,” Edwards said in a November 2018 interview with Vox.

“They’re such an important part of our lives.”

A valuable image As of 2019, American house-

holds owned more than 42 mil-lion cats and 63 million dogs. The market for pet products in the US earned $72 billion in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA).

Additionally, since Instagram launched in 2010, the word “cat” has been used on the platform 193 million times and the word “dog” 243 million times.

“ Pe t s r a i s e endorphins a n d

make people feel happy,” Ed-wards said.

“They are adorable to look at and are easier to connect with than human influencers.

“Human-facing brands want to work with pet influencers because they want to show that they align on the values of their consumer, and their consumer loves pets.”

As a result, pet influencers can be incredibly lucrative.

Lil Bub’s fellow celebrity feline G r u m p y C a t -- known for her perpet-ual scowl -- amassed 8.5 million fans on Facebook, 2.5 million fol-lowers on Ins-tagram and 1.5 million on Twit-ter.

From 2013 un-til her

death in May, Grumpy Cat served as the face of cat food brand Friskies.

In 2018, a California court awarded her owner Tabatha Bundesen $710,001 in damages for violation of image rights, after a coffee company used pic-tures of Grumpy’s face without authorization.

Just before her death, Lil Bub starred in campaigns advertising clothing and coffee for “Black Friday” sales.

The highly-commercial pet influencer industry

could seem at odds with charitable giving.

B u t B r i -davsky said

Bub had left a proud legacy of raising both

funds and spirits.

They have millions of followers on Instagram. They generate major profits for their owners. They are... pet influencers.

Grumpy Cat -- seen here in June 2014 -- was one of the most successful pet influencers before her death in May 2019

Mike Bridavsky (pictured April 2013) started a nationl fund for special needs pets, the first of its kind, with Lil Bub serving as its face

Nissan faces $22 million fine for misreporting Ghosn payTokyo

Nissan should be fined $22 million for filing docu-

ments that under-reported the compensation of former chief Carlos Ghosn, Japanese regulators recommended yes-terday, with troubled the firm saying it would not dispute the penalty.

The Securities and Ex-change Commission (SESC) made the recommendation as Ghosn, who was arrested in November last year, awaits tri-al in Tokyo on four charges of financial misconduct.

Among the allegations against him are claims that he under-reported his compensa-tion from 2010 to 2018, defer-ring some of his pay and failing to declare it to shareholders.

Ghosn denies all the charges against him and has argued there was no final agreement on any deferred payments.

Nissan also faces charges over the alleged under-report-ing of Ghosn’s income.

In a statement issued Tues-day, the SESC said it had “ex-amined the false descriptions in securities reports and other documents at Nissan Motors and as a result, a legislative violation was recognised”.

“Therefore we advise the prime minister and the Finan-cial Services Agency chief to issue an order that fines be paid,” the body said.

The fine of 2.4 billion yen covers under-reporting be-tween financial years 2014 and 2017, the commission said.

In a statement, Nissan said it

took the recommendation “ex-tremely seriously” and would “consider its response” after receiving a formal notice from the Financial Services Agency.

“In the absence of any spe-cial circumstances or other reasons, the company intends not to dispute the alleged facts and the amount of the admin-istrative monetary penalty,” Nissan said.

The automaker has strug-gled to right itself after the shock arrest of Ghosn last year, recently replacing its CEO and slashing full-year forecasts for both sales and profits.

No date has yet been set for Ghosn’s trial, though reports suggest proceedings could begin in April on the charges of under-reporting his com-pensation and using company funds for personal expenses.

Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn denies all the charges

BBTC MENA conference begins

• Dr Dawood Naseef of Bapco opened the conference

TDT | Manama

Oil Minister, Shaikh Mo-hammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, deputised the

Chairman of the Board of Direc-tors of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), Dr Dawood Naseef, to open the 6th Bottom

of the Barrel Technology Con-ference- Middle East and North Africa (BBTC MENA 2019).

The inauguration was attend-ed by CEOs of the national oil and gas companies and affili-ates of Gulf and international oil companies, including experts and engineers and those inter-ested in the various aspects of the oil industry from countries around the world.

Organised by Euro Petroleum Consultants and the Bapco, in partnership with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA),

and support of GCC and glob-al oil companies, the two-day event focuses on technologies, project trends and equipment innovations relating to residue upgrading in refineries.

In his opening speech, Dr Dawood praised the kingdom’s hosting of the event for the third time, which, he said, “reflects Bahrain’s distinguished reputa-tion in the conferences industry, as well as its success in hosting multiple specialised regional and global events.”

Dr Dawood stressed the

growing importance of residue upgrading technology in the oil and gas industry in the region and all over the world.

He highlighted the kingdom’s achievements in this regard, in-cluding the opening of the Bap-co Modernisation Programme (BMP) and other projects imple-mented by Bapco.

Dr Naseef also opened an ac-companying exhibition and met exhibiting companies’ officials, who updated him on the latest technological developments in such a vital field.

The inauguration of the 6th Bottom of the Barrel Technology Conference- Middle East and North Africa (BBTC MENA 2019).

PANIPAT (PG-15)(HINDI/WAR/DRAMA/HISTORICAL)OASIS JUFFAIR :10.30 AM + 1.45 + 5.00 + 8.15 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE:10.30 AM + 1.45 + 5.00 + 8.15 + 11.30 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (I):10.45 AM + 2.00 + 5.15 + 8.30 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL:10.30 AM + 1.30 + 4.45 + 8.00 + 11.15 PM

ARJUN KAPOOR, SANJAY DUTT, KRITI SANON

ARCTIC DOGS (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA):10.45 AM + 3.15 + 7.45 PMCITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 + 6.30 + 8.30 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II): 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 PMWADI AL SAIL10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 PM

JEREMY RENNER, HEIDI KLUM, JAMES FRANCO

HIGH STRUNG: FREE DANCE (PG-13)(DANCE/ROMANTIC/OASIS JUFFAIR: 2.30 + 7.00 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE:12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL:12.15 + 4.45 + 9.15 PM

THOMAS DOHERTY, HARRY JARVIS, JULIET DOHERTY

PATI PATNI AUR WOH (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/ROMANTIC) OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE:12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I) : 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II):(12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL:3.00 + 8.30 PM

KARTIK AARYAN, BHUMI PEDNEKAR, ANANYA PANDAY

DARK WATERS (PG-15)(DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) OASIS JUFFAIR : 1.30 + 6.15 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE:11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PMSEEF (II): 1.30 + 6.30 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL:12.15 + 5.45 + 11.15 PM

KIM MOLINA, CAI CORTEZ, CHAD KINIS

CODE 8 (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA/SCI-FICTION) OASIS JUFFAIR: 12.15 + 4.45 + 9.15 PM CITY CENTRE:1.45 + 6.45 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II):11.15 AM + 4.15 + 9.15 PMWADI AL SAIL:7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MN

STEPHEN AMELL, ROBBIE AMELL, KARI MATCHETT

A SCORE TO SETTLE (15+)(ACTION/DRAMA) SEEF (II): 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL:2.30 + 7.00 + 11.30 PM

NICOLAS CAGE, NOAH LE GROS, KAROLINA WYDRA

DANIEL ISN’T REAL (15+)(THRILLER/HORROR/DRAMA)OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PMSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL:2.15 + 7.00 + 11.45 PM

PATRICK SCHWARZENEGGER, MILES ROBBINS, SASHA LANE

UNBREAKABLE (PG-15)(FILIPINO/DRAMA) SEEF (I) : 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MN

ANGELICA PANGANIBAN, BEA ALONZO, RICHARD GUTIERREZ

OMAR WA BISAT ELRIH (UP AND AWAY) (G)SEEF (II): (ARABIC DUBBED): 11.15 AM + 1.00 + 2.45 + 4.30 PM

FROZEN II (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA):1.00 + 5.30 + 10.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP):10.30 AM + 3.45 + 9.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR : 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE (ATMOS): 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNCITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D) :10.45 AM + 4.00 + 9.15 PMCITY CENTRE (VIP II) :11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II):10.45 AM + 11.45 AM + 1.00 + 2.00 + 3.15 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMWADI AL SAIL: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM

KRISTEN BELL, IDINA MENZEL, JOSH GAD

21 BRIDGES (PG-15)(CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER) OASIS JUFFAIR : 12.45 + 6.00 + 11.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE (VIP I) :12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, SIENNA MILLER, STEPHAN JAMES

LE MANS ‘66 (PG-13)(DRAMA/SPORT/BIOGRAPHYOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 12.45 + 6.00 + 11.15 PMOASIS JUFFAIR: 3.00 + 8.15 PMCITY CENTRE:3.00 + 8.45 PMCITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D) :1.00 + 6.15 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II):12.00 + 5.45 + 11.30 PM

MATT DAMON, CHRISTIAN BALE, JON BERNTHAL

KNIVES OUT (PG-15)(CRIME/COMEDY/THRILLER) CITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM

DANIEL CRAIG, CHRIS EVANS, ANA DE ARMAS

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

ANGELINA JOLIE, TERESA MAHONEY, MICHELLE PFEIFFER

JOKER (15+)(THRILLER/CRIME/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, ZAZIE BEETZ, ROBERT DE NIRO

MIRACLE IN CELL NO . 7 (PG-15)(TURKISH/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMWADI AL SAIL:11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM

ARAS BULUT İYNEMLİ, NİSA SOFİYA AKSONGUR, İLKER AKSUM

CHARLIE’S ANGELS (PG-15)(ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE:11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 9.45 + 12.00 MN

KRISTEN STEWART, NAOMI SCOTT, ELLA BALINSKA

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

JOHN CENA, KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY, JOHN LEGUIZAMO

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (PG-15)(ACTIONCITY CENTRE: 12.15 + 6.00 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II): 3.00 + 8.45 PM

LINDA HAMILTON, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, MACKENZIE DAVIS

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (PG)(ANIMATION/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 4.30 PM

OSCAR ISAAC, CHARLIZE THERON, CHLOË GRACE MORETZ

GEMINI MAN (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM

WILL SMITH, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, CLIVE OWEN

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

AHMAD HELMY, MINNA SHALABI, HASSAN HOSNEY

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

GERARD BUTLER, MORGAN FREEMAN, JADA PINKETT SMITH

HELEN (PG-13)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PM

ANNA BEN, LAL, AJU VARGHESE, NOBLE THOMAS

KETYOLANU ENTE MALAKHA (PG-15)(MALAYALAM)OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.45 AM + 2.30 + 5.15 + 8.00 + 10.45 PMSEEF (I): 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMAL HAMRA:9.00 + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

ASIF ALI, VEENA NANDAKUMAR

PUZHIKKADAKAN (PG-13)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR :1.30 + 6.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMAL HAMRA: 3.00 + 6.00 PM

MAALA PARVATHI, CHEMBAN VINOD JOSE, JAYASURYA

IRANDAM ULAGAPORIN KADAISI GUNDU ()(TAMIL) From Thursday 5th at 3.30 pm onwardSEEF (I): 6.30 PM

DINESH RAVI, ANANDI

DHANUSU RAASI NEYARGALAE ()(TAMIL)From Thursday 5th at 3.30 pm onwardSEEF (I): 1.30 + 9.00 PM

DINESH RAVI, ANANDI

JADA (PG-13)(TAMIL) From Friday 6thSEEF (I): 4.00 + 11.30 PMAL HAMRA: 12.00 NOON.

KATHIR, ROSHINI PRAKASH, SREEDHAR A.P, YOGI BABU, KISHORE

KAMALA (PG-15)(MALAYALAM) SEEF (I): 11.00 AM

RUHANI SHARMA, AJU VARGHESE, ANOOP MENON

13 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

M O V I E R E V I E W

‘High Strung Free Dance’ is destined for cult classic greatnessYoung New Yorkers follow their dreams in Michael Damian’s dance-oriented melodrama

A formulaic follow-your-dream pic built around starry-eyed performance

sequences, Michael Damian’s High Strung Free Dance will play best with those who’ve never seen a backstage musical before or are still in the thrall of their first teenage encounters with the world of the theater. Lacking the personalities and attitude that have led some oth-er unassuming productions to commercial success, the film has little to boast about beyond some fine dance sequences — none of them more transporting than what can be found easily on small screens.

Harry Jarvis is Charlie, a pi-ano player who lives in the kind of artfully decrepit one-person apartment that — sorry, kids — hasn’t been an option for pen-niless newcomers to Gotham in several decades. He makes bike deliveries for a bakery while fruitlessly looking for auditions.

Not far away, an irrepressible young dancer named Barlow (Juliet Doherty) is being evict-ed from her too-good-for-real-ity apartment. Fortunately, two

dancers she meets at an audition have a spare room. These two characters, browner than the film’s extremely white leads, barely have names, and exist solely to tell Barlow things like “we got your back” and “we’re so hot.”

The dancers meet while try-ing out for a musical created by Zander (Thomas Doherty, no relation), who sits midway back in a darkened theater and scrutinizes performers with a piercing gaze he has clearly practiced for many hours in a mirror. Zander is British, prone to tantrums, and appears to have missed the last couple of years of showbiz news about sexual op-portunism: Immediately after he casts Barlow as his show’s lead dancer, he kisses her. When he later fires her inappropriately, a stage manager explains things to us: “Listen, Zander doesn’t mean to be insensitive. He’s just so insanely gifted that when he’s creating, there’s no room left in his brain for anything else.” Lest we get the wrong idea, he continues, “and I don’t mean to make any excuses for him.”

While the actual New York City has been appalled in recent months by a spate of accidents in which cars kill cyclists, in Da-mian’s NYC, distracted drivers are a godsend: Zander’s SUV hits Charlie as he dashes to an un-paid gig, leading eventually to Charlie becoming the featured soloist in Zander’s show. Char-lie’s a sweet kid, and is smitten immediately with giant-eyed Barlow. He must watch during rehearsals as she’s exploited by her boss, then chastely try to rescue her from heartbreak — wooing her with a Satie com-

position that should really be retired from the movies for a while, lest we forever associate its beauty with treacle like this.

Damian and his wife/co-writ-er Janeen Damian pile the script high with glory-of-art cliches, but ignore the textures and

credible conflict that allow us to enjoy these romances with a straight face. The only surpris-ing thing in the pic is the num-ber of U-turns the screenplay expects us to accept along the ingenue’s path to the spotlight. That zig-zaggy path may delight

a few young dance students for whom performing careers re-main a far-away prospect, but anybody who’s actually been an understudy will more likely be laughing until they’re in the parking lot, and not in a good way.

Juliet Doherty in the movie ‘High Strung Free Dance’

DON’T MISS IT

If you’re on board with the ridiculous plot and over-the-top choreog-raphy, this one’s a cult classic in the making

Beyoncé says miscarriages changed her idea of successFox News | Los Angeles

Beyoncé is offering a rare insight into how she over-

came some of the most trying times in her life.

The 38-year-old pop and R&B superstar grac-es the cover of Elle’s January issue -- and through social media direct messages and emails with fans, she opened up about one of the most dif-ficult lessons she’s learned after suf-fering several mis-carriages.

“ I b e g a n t o

search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons I didn’t know I needed. Success looks different to me now,” she explained in the candid “Ask me anything” interview. “I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift. Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else.”

While Beyoncé and her mu-sic, fashion and business mogul husband Jay-Z have traditionally remained private about their per-sonal lives, the Roc Nation exec-utive shed light on the couple’s miscarriage struggles on his 2012 record, “Glory,” and Beyoncé ad-dressed the traumatic experience in a 2013 documentary, “Life Is But a Dream,” describing the mo-ment as “the saddest thing I’ve

ever been through.”The A-list couple would eventu-

ally welcome three children; Blue Ivy, 7, and twins Rumi and Sir, 2.

“I had Blue, and the quest for my purpose became so much deeper.

I died and was reborn in my re-lationship, and the quest for self became even stronger,” explained the 23-time Grammy-winner. “It’s difficult for me to go backwards. Being ‘number one’ was no longer my priority. My true win is creat-ing art and a legacy that will live far beyond me. That’s fulfilling.”

One major change a woman goes through during and after pregnancy is the often swift and intense transformation of her body. For Beyoncé, coping with the different variations of her body she was seeing, was some-thing that ultimately granted her a new sense of self-love that she hadn’t previously discovered.

“If someone told me 15 years ago that my body would go through so many changes and fluctuations, and that I would feel more wom-

anly and secure with my curves, I would not have believed them,” she said. “But children and ma-turity have taught me to value myself beyond my physical ap-pearance and really understand that I am more than enough no matter what stage I’m at in life.”

“Giving zero f**ks is the most liberating place to be,” the “Car-men” actress continued. “Also knowing true beauty is something you cannot see. I wish more peo-ple focused on discovering the beauty within themselves rather than critiquing other folks’ grills.”

In making herself available to her children, Beyoncé said she made valiant attempts to develop a healthy work-life balance after having children, which she ad-mits has been “the most stressful thing” about her life thus far.

14 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

celebs

I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift. Having

miscarriages taught me that I had to

mother myself before I could be a mother to

someone elseBEYONCÉ

Live-In-Cook“REPUTED BAHRAINI family needs a Live-In Cook. Must speak English, understand Arabic and cook Arabic / Bah-raini dishes. Must have good references. Salary Range: BD 125 - BD 150 + accommodation + food.Email – [email protected]

C L A S S I F I E D S

Tatum takes daughter to see Frozen MusicalPeople | Los Angeles

Channing Tatum enjoyed a magical night out at the

theater with his daughter on Friday.

The Magic Mike star, 39, kicked off his weekend with some quality daddy-daughter time as he and Everly, 6½, en-joyed a performance of Frozen as the musical celebrated its opening night in Los Angeles.

Tatum — who rare-ly shares photos of his daughter — posted a se-ries of snaps on Instagram that showed the pair as they prepared to watch the Dis-ney musical. In the pictures, Everly is seen holding a Bar-bie doll version of Elsa, one of the main characters, as well as a golden “corona-tion orb.”

Making things even sweeter, Everly, whom Tatum shares with ex-wife Jenna Dewan, even dressed up for the show,

wearing an adorable blue Elsa costume as well as a blonde braid-ed wig.

Tatum seemed to thoroughly en-

joy the per-formance as well , g i v i n g the pro-duction a r a v e r e v i e w on social

media.“ O k

frozen the musical = s e r i o u s l y m a g i c a l .

The entire

cast is so talented it’s kind of unreal. I have no words,” he captioned his social media post.

The father of one’s evening with his daughter comes just over two weeks after he and Dewan were declared single by a judge in L.A., according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

D e wa n a n d Ta t u m a n -nounced their separation near-ly two years ago after almost nine years of marriage. They are still working out a financial set-tlement and continue to share custody of Everly.

Dewan’s immediate future is a busy one: she’s expecting a baby with boyfriend Steve Kazee, who she began dating in the fall of 2018, is the host of Fox’s new dating show Flirty Dancing and stars in the Netflix series Soundtrack.

Some people say I look better now: JLo ANI | Los Angeles

American actor and singer Jennifer Lopez’s served as

the host for the ‘Saturday Night Live,’ where she performed her speech, while she stripped out off her tuxedo, and revealed the iconic green Versace dress from Grammys in 2000.

The 50-year-old actor, during the monologue reflected on her exciting year, where she recount-ed her engagement, the success of her film ‘Hustlers’, modelling in Milan, and wearing the green dress, known for showing plenty of skin.

The ‘Ain’t your mama’ singer said during the speech, “I walked the runway in Milan, wearing a dress I wore 20 years ago, Some people say I look better now than

I did then.She joked, “I’m not brag-

ging, that’s just, you know gossip.”

T h e m o n o l o g u e was concluded by a performance of ‘San-ta Claus is Coming to Town’ alongside precision dance com-pany, the Rockettes before strutting her stuff in the Donatel-la Versace-designed dress.

The ‘Hustlers ’ actor Lopez also shared a video of her runway ap-pearance on Insta-gram, captioning it: “So this just hap-pened...

Miley Cyrus gets inked amid Liam Hemsworth divorce

ANI | Los Angeles

Singer and songwriter Miley Cyrus has added one more

tattoo to her body art collec-tion amid her ongoing divorce from ex and American actor ex Liam Hemsworth.

The 27-year-old singer got inked with two new tattoos over the weekend by celebrity tattoo artist Daniel Winter, aka Winter Stone, reported People magazine.

On Saturday, Cyrus got the word ‘free-dom’ delicately written across her hand, above her knuckles. Tattoo art-ist Win-ter re-vealed i n a p o s t on Instagram that it was accomplished by using a single needle.

And on Sun-d a y , Winter

shared the second tattoo which is a sentimental note she re-ceived from Japanese-Ameri-can artist and singer Yoko Ono. “I’m proud of U, Yoko,” the tat-too read in Ono’s handwriting on Cyrus’ left shoulder.

The ‘Party in the USA’ croon-er ’s newest tattoo comes months after her ex-hus-band Hemsworth filed for divorce from Cyrus in Au-gust, shortly after the couple announced that they were ending their seven-month

marriage.Shortly after getting apart from the ac-t o r, C y r u s went on to

date Reality TV star Kait-

lynn Carter, and they ended their romance in late September. After Carter, the ‘7 things’ singer began dating Australian musician

Cody Simp-son.

Cranston among celebrities at New Orleans Orpheus paradeAP | Los Angeles

Actor Bryan Cranston will be the celebrity monarch

when the Krewe of Orpheus parade rolls in New Orleans on Feb. 24, the krewe an-nounced Friday.

The Emmy- and Tony-win-ning “Breaking Bad” star will be joined by Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadel-phia.”

Country musician Lau-ren Alaina also will be part of the procession. And she will headline the krewe’s annual post-pa-rade captain’s party, the “Orpheuscapade,” which will feature a tribute to New Orleans musician Art Neville, who died this year. The parade is one of the Mardi Gras season’s biggest. Some 1,200 krewe members will ride 30 elaborate floats in a parade that also features 32 marching bands and clubs.

Channing Tatum

Miley Cyrus

Bryan Cranston

Jennifer Lopez

Beyonce

Andreescu named Canada’s athlete of the yearReuters | Toronto

Bi a n c a A n d re e s c u wa s awarded the Lou Marsh

Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year on Monday, capping a remarkable year in which the teenager became the country’s first tennis Grand Slam singles champion with her U.S. Open triumph.

Andreescu, an unknown quantity to most in Canada a

year ago, was a unanimous pick after a breakout season in which she upset Serena Wil-liams in the U.S. Open final and reached a ca-reer-high fourth in the world rankings.

“Wow, I’m so thankful for this award. I was not expecting it and to be the first tennis player to win is even more surreal,” the

19-year-old Andreescu said in a statement issued by Tennis Canada.

Andreescu began to gain attention in when she beat

former world num-ber ones Caroline

Wozniacki and Ve n u s W i l -

liams on her way to the Auckland final.

15

sports


Presenter

Teams arrive for Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain

• WEC officials and team members have already begun arriving in the Kingdom

TDT | Manama

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) is all ready to host the FIA World

Endurance Championship (WEC) this weekend with the much-anticipated Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The endurance racing spec-tacle, happening as part of the four-day BIC National Day Fes-tival, marks the midway point of the 2019/2020 WEC season.

Race fans will be able to enjoy the Le Mans-inspired action on Friday and Saturday at the Sakhir track, while the National Day celebrations will be held from Friday all the way through to Monday.

WEC officials and team mem-bers have already begun arriv-ing in the kingdom. They have been hard at work over the past couple of days at BIC unpacking

their crates of equipment and setting up their respective bases and garages in preparation for the start of racing.

A number of the WEC’s star drivers have also started to reach Bahrain. Russian Ro-man Rusinov of LMP2 team G-Drive Racing was among the first to make it to the King-dom. He and the other WEC delegates were given a warm welcome upon their arrival at Bahrain International Airport by BIC’s Meet and Greet team members.

The WEC’s set-up at BIC continues Wednesday as “The

Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” becomes “the home of endurance racing in the Middle East”, as dubbed by WEC CEO Gerard Neveu. The Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain is the WEC’s only event in the region, and it kicks off the on-track activities on Thursday, which will be closed to the public. There will be a pair of 90-min-ute practices on the day, setting the stage for another 60-min-ute practice and qualifying on Friday.

The big eight-hour race is then scheduled for Saturday, starting in the daylight at 3pm and continuing until 11pm with BIC being brilliantly lit by its state-of-the-art floodlighting system.

Tickets to each day of WEC and the BIC National Day Fes-tival are just BD1 per person per day. They can be purchased online at BIC’s official website www.bahraingp.com, by call-ing the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000 or at the BIC stand at City Centre Bahrain.

Aside from the WEC, there will also be racing in racing in two highly popular support series: the MRF Challenge sin-gle-seater championship from India and the BIC-based Por-sche Sprint Challenge Middle East.

Off the race track, the enter-tainment throughout the four-day festival will be highlighted by nightly concerts featuring some of the region’s biggest names in music. Star singer Balqees will be taking to the stage on the first night on Fri-day, followed by Mohammed Al Salem on Saturday. Essa Al Marzouq will then perform on Sunday and then Abdulla Al Rowaished will go live on stage on Monday.

Each concert is scheduled for an 8.30pm start every night.

There will also be the big-gest fireworks display in the Kingdom of Bahrain at the fes-tival, as well as world-class per-forming artists from around the globe such as The Black Angels acrobats, Spark! LED Drum-mers and Stannage Interna-tional Stunt Team, plus carnival rides for kids, traditional mu-sic, food stalls and a shopping bazaar.

The BIC National Day Festival is being held with the support of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.

Cars in the pits at BIC

The FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain takes place this weekend at Bahrain International Circuit. Here is a very interesting selection of event-based statistics, according to fiawec.com, from years gone by:

1. The 2017 Bahrain race saw AF Corse’s Ferrari 488 GTE Pro photo-finish mark the closest ever gap between the winner and second in class, just 0.174 seconds. It broke the previous record (0.568) from Shanghai in 2013 by Aston Martin.

2. The 2016 and 2017 Bahrain races each saw one retirement, a rare occurrence in the WEC. In 2016, Aston Martin Racing’s #98 bowed out on lap 84. Strangely, 2017 would see Porsche GT Team’s #92 retire, also on lap 84; racing for four minutes 47 seconds less

3. A total of 7,333 laps have been raced by LMP1 cars in Bahrain, from cars representing eight teams. The total distance covered equates to 39,686km, with 2019 entrants Toyota contributing the most at 1,966 laps, and Rebellion further back on 1,330.

4. Despite the three LMP1 manufacturers all winning in Bahrain, only three drivers won more than once – 2013’s winning Toyota trio of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin. Toyota’s Sarrazin won again the follow-ing year, alongside Alexander Wurz and Mike Conway, whilst Buemi and Davidson scored their fifth win of the season there in 2017.

5. To date, 171 cars have combined for 28,844 racing laps at Bahrain Internation-al Circuit. The total distance covered equals 156,104km, or 97,002 miles.

6. Italy’s Gianmaria Bruni became the first driver in the FIA WEC to reach 10 wins at Bahrain in 2014, in only his 21st start – giving a 48% ratio.7. No car at Bahrain has ever hit a higher speed than the Rebellion R1, back in 2016. Switzerland’s Mathéo Tuscher hit 303.5 kph in the AER powered prototype, eclipsing Lucas di Grassi’s Audi R18-high 295.3kph from the previous year.

8. The six races in Bahrain to date have seen 18 retirements from 171 starters, giving an 89.5% finish rate.

9. No GTE team has a better run of pole positions in Bahrain than Aston Martin Racing, with the British brand having scored five in a row from 2013-2017. In LMP, Signatech Alpine’s #36 starting from the front on the last three occasions holds the best streak.

10. Bahrain 2015 saw all 32 of the starters take the chequered flag six hours later. A combined 5,713 race laps - or 19,213 miles, were covered, in what became the first full-duration race with a 100% finish rate.

11. Bahrain is the only circuit where Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari all swept the GTE fastest laps. Porsche set it in 2013 – by Richard Lietz and Paolo Ruberti. Aston Martin in 2015 – Marco Sørensen and Pedro Lamy, and again in 2016 – Jona-than Adam and Lamy. Before Ferrari in 2017 – Davide Rigon and Matt Griffin.

12. No team has clocked up more laps at the three Asian circuits (Bahrain, Fuji, Shanghai) than Toyota Gazoo Racing, currently sitting on 7,234. Rebellion Racing is third, behind Audi, on 5,001.

Bahrain clubs get tough draws for AFC CupTDT | Manama

Bahrain’s clubs have been drawn in a pair of tough

groups for the 2020 AFC Cup. The draw was held yester-

day at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

Two slots have been allocated in the competition’s West Asia zone for Bahrain clubs. They are Manama and either former AFC Cup champions Muharraq or Riffa.

Manama were drawn in Group A alongside defending champions Al Ahed of Lebanon, Al Jaish of Syria and another team that is yet to be deter-mined from either Oman or Palestine.

Muharraq or Riffa will then be playing in Group C which includes Al Jazeera of Jordan, Dhofar of Oman and Qadsia SC of Kuwait.

A total 48 teams will be vying for the 2020 AFC Cup, with the group stage divided into five zones.

The 2020 season kicks off with the preliminary stage on January 22 with the final sched-uled for November 7.

The stakes for the upcoming edition have been raised even higher after the AFC Executive Committee’s decision to allo-cate the 2020 AFC Cup winners with a guaranteed spot in the play-off stage of the 2021 AFC Champions League.

Group Stage DrawWest Zone

Group AAl Ahed FC (LIB)Manama Club (BHR)Al Jaish (SYR)Play-off winner (OMA/PLE)

Group BAl Faisaly / Al Wehdat (JOR)Al Ansar (LIB)Kuwait SC / Al Salmiya SC(KUW)Al Wathba (SYR)

Group CRiffa / Muharraq Club (BHR)Al Jazeera (JOR)Dhofar Club (OMA)Qadsia SC (KUW)

Bianca Andreescu


TDT | Manama

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa led the national parade which was or-ganised to celebrate the team’s historic

triumph in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup. The Kingdom’s men defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0

en route to winning the Arabian Gulf Cup for the first time since it’s launch.

The parade began from Bahrain National Airport and concluded at Bahrain International Circuit.

First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee received Bahrain’s national football team members at the airport upon their return from Qatar.

Joining HH Shaikh Khalid in welcoming the team back home were HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Vice President of Riffa Club, Aymen bin Tawfeeq Al Moayed, Salman Isa bin Hindi, Governor of Muharraq Governorate, Mohammed Al Nisf, Secretary-General of Bah-rain Olympic Committee and other officials in the sports and youth sector as well as media representatives.

“Bahrain is proud of your unprecedented achievement. You made what was impossible possible. The team showcased extraordinary performances in the event and reached the final game, in which the team’s display was nothing but filled with sacrifices and desire to gift Bah-rain its first title in this tournament and, in the

process, trigger nationwide cel-ebrations,” HH Shaikh Khalid said during the ceremony.

“The team wrote a new chapter in our sport history after winning the 24th edition of this tournament which was introduced on Bahrain’s soil in 1970. The team printed Bahrain name with golden letters in the hero registry of this competition,” he further added.

He concluded by saying: “We lived the best football epic for our national team in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup. It featured the true Bahraini spirit, grit, unity and desire to make this achieve-ment real. This accomplishment will remain in our hearts and minds forever,” praising the efforts of the technical and administrative staff of the team.

Shaikh Khalid leads champions’ parade

Barca can hurt Inter without Messi, warns ValverdeAFP | Milan

Lionel Messi’s absence for already-qualified Barcelona

will not make them less able to stop Inter Milan gaining their spot in the Champions League last 16, coach Ernesto Valverde insisted Monday.

Barcelona are already through to the knockout stages as Group F winners after Messi scored and set up two more in a con-vincing 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund last time out, a vic-tory which means Inter will ensure themselves a spot in the next round with a win over the La Liga leaders at the San Siro on Tuesday.

Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi broke yet another record by hitting his 35th La Liga hat-trick on Saturday as Barca main-

tained top spot in Spain with a 5-2 win over Mallorca.

“Messi needs to rest,” Val-verde told reporters. “We’re coming off many consecutive games and we have other im-portant ones to play, so I left him at home.

“He’s a decisive player, but our goal tomorrow does not change, we want to win against Inter.

“We know what he represents for the opponents, but last year he didn’t play in both games against Inter, and we still had a high level.

“We are already qualified but it remains a game of great val-ue.”

Messi and midfielder Sergi Roberto have been left out of Barca’s 20-man squad along with the injured Ousmane Dem-

bele, Jordi Alba, Nelson Semedo and Gerard Pique.

The Argentine’s ab-sence means that they will be relying on An-toine Griezmann and Luis Suarez to supply the goals, while teenage prodigy Ansu Fati could be fit to play.

Inter are four points behind Barca in sec-ond, level on seven p o i n t s w i t h Borussia D o r t -m u n d . T h e Italians need to m a t c h

or better Dortmund’s result at home to Slavia Prague to qual-

ify as their superior head-to-head record will see them through should the two clubs finish on the same number of points.

“They have great players like (Romelu)

Lukaku and Lautaro (Mar-tinez) who score a lot,”

Valverde said of Inter’s strike duo, who have scored 24 of the team’s 40 goals this season.

“Lautaro is a great player, fast

and power-f u l , h e ’s

h a v i n g a great season.”

Klopp tells Liverpool to enjoy ‘intensity’ ahead of Salzburg clashAFP | Salzburg, Austria

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has urged his side

to enjoy the “most intense pe-riod of our lives” as a tough schedule continues with a key Champions League match away to Salzburg.

Reigning European cham-pions Liverpool need to avoid defeat in Austria on Tuesday to secure a place in the last 16.

The Premier League leaders, eight points clear of Leicester as they bid for what would be a first English title in 30 years, are on a sequence of a game every three days.

But such is Liverpool’s strength in depth that Klopp was able to rest the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto

Firmino for last week’s Mer-seyside derby and still oversee a 5-2 defeat of Everton.

Concerns have been raised about the physical toll of pur-suing both domestic and Euro-pean silverware on Liverpool’s players, with the Club World Cup in Qatar also on their De-cember programme.

“We don’t accept drops (in fitness) -- not me, the boys as well,” Klopp told a pre-match press conference.

Jurgen Klopp

Lionel Messi

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa waves to fans during the paradePlayers receive greetings from fans

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa with players and team officials during a welcome ceremony

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SPORTS 8 @newsofbahrain Teams arrive for OPED Can the ......Nov 12, 2019 · Summit of the GCC Supreme Council which called for united stance against Iranian aggres - sion in the