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Turkey hits Syrian govt targets after five soldiers killedAnkara

Turkish forces have hit 115 Syrian government targets and destroyed 101 of them in retaliation for an attack that killed five Turkish soldiers

in Syria’s rebel-held northwest, the Turkish Defence Ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said Turkish forces would continue to retaliate any attacks on its troops, which have obser-vation posts in the far northwest of Syria.

Earlier, the ministry said Syrian forces had killed five Turkish soldiers, among thousands deployed there to help stem a Syrian offensive to retake the last rebel stronghold in the country after nearly nine years of civil war.

“Up to now, 115 (Syrian) regime targets were imme-diately fired upon, and 101 regime elements were neu-tralised according to initial information from various

sources,” the ministry said in a statement. “It was found that three tanks and two mortar po-

sitions were destroyed, while one helicopter was also hit.”

Meanwhile, Russian air strikes killed at least five civilians in the last major opposition bastion in north-western Syria bringing the death toll to 25 in less than 24 hours, a monitor said.

8

Barrage of mysterious bomb hoaxes plagues Moscow 11WORLD

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Tight finishes highlight Rotax Challenge Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) hosted a thrilling fifth round of the 2019/2020 Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC), with three of the five competi-tion classes being decided by less than a second. P16

TUESDAYFEBRUARY 2020

210 FILS ISSUE NO. 8384

Tehran’s proxies should be punished by Iraqi voters

‘Parasite’ invades Oscars 14 CELEBS

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R E T A L I A T O R Y A C T ? 02

Kerala CM praises ‘Joy Homes’ initiative

03No expatriate hired by Ministry of Education ‘in past two years’

04Asian man convicted in attack trial loses appeal

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210 fils (includes VAT)

• The fiscal improvements follow the implementation of a number of reform measures as part of Fiscal Balance Programme.

• Reforms implemented include a government wide spending review and dedicated spending efficiency taskforces.

Manama

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

Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Dep-uty Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday praised the positive preliminary forecasts of the fiscal results for the year 2019 com-pared with 2018, which indicate a reduction of the primary fiscal deficit by 85 per cent (excluding public debt interest), and a re-duction in the total fiscal deficit of 24pc (including public debt interest).

The initial results further re-vealed an increase in non-oil

revenue by 63pc, and a decrease in public expenditure by BD128 million. Furthermore, accord-ing to the estimates, economic growth reached 2.1pc in 2019, largely driven by 2.3pc increase in non-oil sector growth.

The Cabinet noted that the Kingdom witnessed positive growth in 2019, in parallel with the implementation of the initi-atives under the Fiscal Balance Programme and supported by the positive growth of non-oil

sectors, itself a result of econom-ic diversification initiatives with-in Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.

The fiscal improvements fol-low the implementation of a number of reform measures tak-en by the government as part of the Fiscal Balance Programme, initiated in October 2018. The programme aims to deliver a bal-anced budget by 2022.

Reforms implemented include a government wide spending re-

view and dedicated spending efficiency taskforces, new spend-ing controls, a voluntary retire-ment scheme for public sector workers and the implementation of VAT.

The ministry also announced positive GDP growth figures. Ac-cording to the estimates, eco-nomic growth reached 2.1per cent in 2019, largely driven by a 2.3pc increase in non-oil growth. The Kingdom forecasts strong growth to continue into this year,

with GDP expected to expand 2.7pc in 2020.

The Minister of Finance and National Economy, Shaikh Sal-man bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, said: “From the outset we have sought to implement an ambitious but balanced fiscal reform package in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with consolidation not being achieved at the expense of economic growth. Today’s figures are tes-tament to this approach. The government is 100pc committed to its path of fiscal reform and sustainability, and to delivering a balanced budget by 2022.”

Among other things, the Cabi-net approved a Draft Resolution specifying the regulations and requirements of mobile food truck services within residen-tial locations. The requirements include leaving a distance of at least 20 meters in all directions from neighbouring buildings, and a distance of 50 meters from any road intersection, roundabout or traffic lights.

The Draft Resolution further determines the period of service activity from 6 am to 12 midnight, and that food vehicles must leave the residential areas along with all equipment or furniture after completing the provision of their services.

Oil output cut backed Manama

The Kingdom has reiter-ated commitment to the

decision which was taken by the joint technical of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, approving a provisional cut in output of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Oil Minister Shaikh Mo-hammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said that the pro-posed provisional cut aims to address an expected drop in oil demand, due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China in particular.

Motorists burnt to death Abuja

Suspected militants have killed at least 30 peo-

ple and abducted women and children in a raid in north-eastern Nigeria, of-ficials say.

Most of the victims were travellers who were burnt to death while sleeping in their vehicles during an overnight stop, officials added

The attack took place in Auno town on a major high-way in Borno State.

Militant group Boko Har-am and its offshoots have waged a brutal insurgency in Nigeria since 2009.

About 35,000 people have been killed, more than two million have been left homeless and hundreds have been abducted in the conflict.

Nigeria’s government has repeatedly said that the mil-itants have been defeated, but attacks continue.

The government is 100pc committed

to its path of fiscal reform and

sustainability, and to delivering

a balanced budget by 2022. SHAIKH SALMAN

Turkey recently sent forces to northwest Syria in response to advances by Syrian government forces.

Up to now, 115 Syrian regime targets were immediately fired upon, and 101

regime elements were neutralised. TURKISH MINISTRY

HRH the Crown Prince chairs the Cabinet.

02TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

National Security Adviser inaugurates ‘new military system’ at Royal Guard

New system to add to Royal Guard’s modern military infrastructure Manama

National Security Ad-viser and Royal Guard C o m m a n d e r , M a -

jor-General HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, yester-day opened a new facility and inaugurated a modern mili-tary system, the Launchers and Mortar System, at the Royal Guard.

Royal Guard Special Force Commander, Lieutenant-Colo-nel HH Shaikh Khalid bin Ham-ad Al Khalifa, attended the ceremony, held marking the Kingdom’s celebrations of the 52nd Anniversary of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF).

HH Shaikh Nasser unveiled the commemorative plaque, de-claring the official opening of the new building and the new military system that has joined the Royal Guard.

The National Security Advis-er was briefed about the new system, as well as about the

advanced and most up-to-date technology it includes.

HH Shaikh Nasser stressed that the new system will add to the Royal Guard’s modern military systems, cutting-edge

technologies and advanced equipment, which, he said, will contribute to enhancing the competence and professional level of the human elements so as to be able to carry out the du-

ties and tasks assigned to them with high accuracy and profes-sionalism.

The National Security Advisor also lauded the distinguished level reached by the affiliates

of the Royal Guard, expressing thanks and appreciation to all officers, non-commissioned of-ficers and staff for the efforts they are exerting to increase combat and administrative read-

iness.Deputy Royal Guard Com-

mander, Major-General Hamad Khalifa Al Nuaimi, and a number of Royal Guard officers attended the opening ceremony.

HH Shaikh Nasser inaugurates the new military system. HH Shaikh Nasser and HH Shaikh Khalid with senior Royal Guard officials at the inaugural event.

Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) Bahrain Chapter celebrated 71st Indian Republic Day under the leadership of IOC President Mr Mohammed Mansoor at the banquet hall of Arman Hotel, Juffair. The event started with the recital of Indian National Anthem. The entire audience took oath to adhere and safeguard the Indian Constitution while Mr Mansoor read its preamble. The welcome speech was given by Mr Khursheed Alam (Gen Secretary IOC).

BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, received Lt Gen Sir John Lorimer, Senior Defence Adviser for the Middle East in the UK. Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dheyab bin Saqer Al Nuaimi was present. The commander-in-chief praised the historical relations between the two Kingdoms, noting the co-operation between them in various areas, including the exchange of experiences and co-operation in the military field.

Kerala CM praises ‘Joy Homes’ initiative TDT | Manama

The role undertaken by the Joyalukkas Founda-tion in the rehabilitation

of flood victims of Kerala is nothing less than great, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his inaugural speech during the second get-together of the Joy Homes beneficiaries held at Dr Alexander Marthoma Auditorium in the Ernakulam district of Kerala.

In his speech the CM also ex-pressed the gratitude of Kerala Government towards Joyalukkas Foundation.

The foundation has built and handed over 250 houses to the unfortunate families who lost their dwelling places during the devastating floods, at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

The Joyalukkas group has ex-tended highly commendable vol-untary services during the floods, the CM added. The state is wit-nessing the astounding progress of Rebuild Kerala initiatives employ-ing advanced and contemporary technologies and methods, he said.

A number of dignitaries at-tended the function where MA Arif MP gave away the memen-tos to the elated home owners

and Mathew T Thomas MLA launched the Joyalukkas Foun-dation Handbook. As part of another noble initiative by Joy-alukkas Foundation, NK Prem-achandran MP distributed Dial-ysis kits to the needy.

A 100 families who are ben-eficiaries of the project, from Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Al-leppey, Quilon and Idukki par-ticipated in the get-together.

Currently about 160 fami-lies have moved in to their new homes and the rest of the houses will be handed over soon, said Joy Alukkas, CMD of Joyalukkas group during the event.

Mr Vijayan inaugurates the get-together of the beneficiaries of Joy Homes project, an initiative by the Joyalukkas Foundation, in the presence of Mr Joy Alukkas and other dignitaries.


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No expatriate hired by Ministry of Education ‘in past two years’

900 Bahrainis were hired by the ministry during the same period

• A Civil Service Bureau official said that the transition will be made soon as Bahrainisation drive intensifies.

• According to recent statistics, foreign employees in the education sector has been reduced from 7,582 to 7,206.

TDT | Manama

No expatriates have been hired by the Ministry of Education in the past

two years, it is learnt.As part of the Bahrainisation

drive, the Ministry of Education has completely stopped the re-cruitment of expatriates during the past two years, a ministry official revealed.

According to ministry sources, the ministry stopped the recruit-ment of expatriates to increase the recruitment of Bahrainis.

“The ministry has terminated the contracts of 370 expatri-ates in recent years while 900 Bahrainis have been employed in the same period,” a ministry official, who doesn’t want to be named, said.

“No expatriates have been hired to the ministry in the past two years. We are confident about Bahraini talent being able to fill in teachers requirement and other vacancies.”

Meanwhile, it emerged that around 300 expatriate employ-ees in Bahraini ministries and

government bodies will be ter-minated in order to be replaced by Bahrainis, according to of-ficials.

A Civil Service Bureau official said that the transition will be made soon as Bahrainisation drive intensifies.

The official confirmed that 300 foreign employees from var-ious government entities will not have their contract renewed and will be free to leave while Bahrainis will be chosen to take

their posts. According to recent statis-

tics, foreign employees in the education sector has been re-duced from 7,582 to 7,206.

A parliamentarian recently called for a ban on hiring for-eigners in the public sector for one year.

MP Adel Al Asoomi made a proposal for a renewable one year ban on hiring expatriates to govern-ment jobs.

He said that the pro-posal is aimed at em-powering Bahrainis by providing them more job opportunities.

He pointed out that there is a need to in-crease the number of Bahrainis employed in the public sector.

More than a year ago, a document circulated online sparked contro-

versy after it showed that the Ministry of Education was re-cruiting 40 teachers from Egypt.

The online document would raise concern over the Edu-cation Ministry’s strategies to recruit unemployed Bahraini teachers, which had crossed 500 then, according to reports.

The controversial document

was apparently issued by the Secondment Directorate in the Egyptian Education Ministry. It showed the names of 91 Egyp-tian teachers who had their applications to work in Sudan, Oman and Bahrain approved.

This included 38 teachers to work in the Kingdom in the fields of teaching Arabic lan-guage, mathematics and English language.

Egyptian news sites confirmed the transfer of the teachers from Kafr El Sheikh Governorate in the northern parts of Egypt to Bahrain.

Ahram Gate website quoted Education Ministry Under-secretary in Kafr El Sheikh Dr Buthaina Kushk saying that “the approved applicants met the necessary criteria, in terms of age, qualification and assess-ment”.

The matter stirred a debate on local social media networks, as Education Ministry repeatedly announced in the past few years that it strives to Bahrainise jobs in public educational institu-tions and reduce the numbers of unemployed Bahraini teachers.

Call to engage in violent protests rapped TDT | Manama

Anti-government individu-als calling for violence on

February 14 have been strongly condemned by a human rights monitoring organisation.

A human rights monitoring centre has condemned calls to engage in violence by anti-gov-ernment forces through social media.

‘Eye’ Human Rights Moni-toring Centre has condemned many anti-government per-sonalities, who took to social media, calling for violent pro-tests.

According to the centre, there have been calls to force-fully close down shops apart from engaging in terrorism and violent protests.

“There have been calls to re-store to violence, terrorism and closure of shops on February 14. These inciting calls to violate human rights, disrupt the inter-ests of people and sabotage civil peace are planted by the Iranian regime aimed at disrupting the security and stability of Bahrain and striking national unity,” the centre stated.

“’Eye’ Centre calls for ignor-ing these inciting calls and re-port such accounts to: Twitter account: @BHRWS”.”

The centre said that the vi-olations by anti-government forces will be exposed at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Bahrain ranked 15th in logistics among emerging markets

TDT | Manama

The Kingdom has been ranked 15th in an index, which tracks the logis-

tics industry among emerging markets.

The Kingdom has been in-cluded in the top 20 countries among 50 emerging markets in the 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, which ranks countries by factors that make them attractive to logistics

providers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, air cargo carriers and distributors.

China was ranked first. After China, others at the top of the 11th annual Index are India, the United Arab Emirates, Indo-nesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey.

China, India and Indonesia rank highest for domestic logis-tics; China, India and Mexico are top for international logistics;

and UAE, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have the best business fundamentals. China ranks eighth in business fundamen-tals, down one spot from 2019.

“The strongest clusters of emerging markets are in the Arabian Gulf and South-east Asia, thanks to busi-ness-friendly conditions and core strengths – the Gulf ’s energy wealth and Southeast Asian manufacturing power – that draw logistics activity.

“In the Gulf, the UAE (3), Saudi Arabia (6), Qatar (7), Oman (14), Bahrain (15) and Kuwait (19) rank strongly. Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia (4), Malaysia (5), Thailand (9), and Vietnam (11) are strong,” the survey report stated.

Survey respondents see In-dia as the market with great-est potential over China, their second choice. In rankings of best business conditions, several countries are making big moves: Egypt climbed 10 spots to 17; Ukraine jumped 10 spots to 27; Ghana dropped 13 spots to 32; and Iran tumbled 12 spots to 38.

The ministry will soon terminate the contracts of nearly 300 expatriate staff.

370expatriate staff have had

their contracts terminated by the ministry in the past

two years.

The Kingdom has been included in the top 20 countries among 50 emerging markets.


Kingdom condemns terror blast in Algeria Manama

The Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs has condemned the

terrorist bombing, which tar-geted a barrack of the National Army of the People’s Democrat-ic Republic of Algeria and re-sulted in the death of a soldier.

The ministry has extended its condolences to the brotherly gov-ernment and people of Algeria and to the family of the victim.

The Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs stressed solidarity of the Kingdom of Bahrain with the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in its efforts to eradi-cate terrorism and its support to all measures taken to establish peace and security, it said in a statement issued.

The ministry has reiterated its firm stance in rejecting all forms of violence, extremism and terrorism.

Court orders to admit Bahraini accused of stabbing neighbour to Psychiatric Hospital

Accused stabbed victim following dispute over parking spot TDT | Manama

The First High Criminal Court has issued its ver-dict in a case involving

a Bahraini man who stabbed his neighbour after a dispute over a parking spot by ordering to admit the defendant to the Psychiatric Hospital.

This comes after the court reviewed medical reports de-termining the mental health of the 23-year-old defendant, who faced the charge of attempted murder.

The psychiatry report men-

tioned that the defendant does not suffer from any organic diseases or auditory halluci-nations, however, the report showed that he suffers from a slight mental retardation and cannot judge complex or me-dium matters.

It was also revealed that the defendant has a file at the Psy-chiatry Hospital since 2011, but, he has not followed up with the hospital on a regular basis.

Tribune earlier reported that the man stabbed the 48-year-old victim multiple times, be-fore escaping the spot and leav-

ing the latter in a pool of blood.The stabbing incident took

place on February 12 last year in Galali in Muharraq Governo-rate, where the defendant was arrested on the same day.

Investigations revealed that the accused had the intention to kill the victim, as he pre-pared a knife for this purpose and monitored the victim’s movements, while the latter was walking on the public road when the stabbing hap-pened.

It was also unfolded by the Prosecutors that both men, who were neighbours, had verbal disputes multiple times before the incident took place, because of a parking spot in the neigh-bourhood.

T h e a c c u s e d a l l e g e d l y

stabbed the victim and contin-ued stabbing him with the in-tention of killing him and later fled the scene before the police arrived, leaving the victim, who was later rushed to the hospital, in a pool of blood.

Despite the defendant’s re-peated denials, an eyewitness informed the prosecutors that he saw the suspect stabbing the victim while the latter was laying helpless on the floor.

The witness also informed that the suspect fled the scene and left the victim bleeding on the floor.

Both men, who were neighbours, had verbal disputes multiple times

before the incident took place.

PROSECUTORS

Plea respite for assault convict TDT | Manama

A Bahraini man who was jailed for break-

ing a man’s jaw using brass knuckles recently got his imprisonment sentence re-duced from three years to one year by the First Su-preme Criminal Court of Appeal.

The man was convicted of assault after he caused a 12 per cent permanent disabil-ity to the victim, as shown in the report submitted to the court by the coroner.

The incident took place in a theme park in the Capital Governorate after a dispute erupted between both the attacker and the victim.

According to the state-ments of eyewitnesses, the appellant punched the vic-tim in the face while wear-ing brass knuckles, causing his jaw to break and causing a permanent disability to his face.

The appellant apparent-ly apologised to the victim through a chain of messag-es on WhatsApp asking for forgiveness.

However, his apology wasn’t accepted from the victim’s side. In fact, the messages were used as an evidence to convict him.

Asian man convicted in attack trial loses appealTDT | Manama

The Supreme Criminal Court of Appeal has up-held the three months

imprisonment sentence issued against an Asian who joined an-other convict in assaulting a man and causing a five per cent per-manent disability to him over an unpaid BD4 transportation fee.

The man appealed against the verdict issued against him by the First High Criminal Court

in October, pleading not guilty. However, the court had or-

dered to permanently deport the defendant after he serves his sentence.

As reported earlier, the inci-dent took place on April 25, 2017, when the pair agreed to trans-port their victim from his home in Manama to his workplace in Muharraq and vice versa in return of BD4.

They apparently demanded him to double the amount with-out pre-agreement and when he

rejected, they attacked him and broke his nose.

According to court files, an ear and nose specialist revealed in the medical report after exam-ining the victim that he suffered deviated septum and inflation in the nostrils, stating that his disability is permanent and is estimated at five percent.

“Once I told them I am not going to pay you extra money, they immediately attacked me.

They punched me in the face and then escaped, leaving bleed-ing on the road,” the victim told prosecutors earlier.

Last October, the First High court sentenced the first de-fendant in absentia to five years imprisonment for assault and his accomplice, the appellant, received a three months im-prisonment sentence for as-sisting the first defendant in the crime.

The Bahrain Chapter of ICAI was rated as one of the Best Overseas Chapter by ICAI for the year 2019. The award is a recognition of the dedicated efforts of Executive committees for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20 in promoting the continuing professional development of members of the chapter and the contribution in furthering the CA qualification. This is the fourth consecutive year BCICAI is receiving this award.

Best Overseas Chapter

Initiative throws spotlight on ‘fight against cancer’ TDT | Manama

A new initiative has been launched to fight various types of caner head on.

The vision of Pluck Cancer Ini-tiative is to support the cause and create a powerful platform to en-hance self-care, self-enhancement, and wellbeing of generations to come.

This platform will have all the information needed for all types of cancer as ‘All cancer matters’.

The initiative was ideated and envisioned by Tanima Chakravarty under the Rotaract Club of Bahrain.

Ms Tanima wanted to commem-orate and celebrate her father’s positive attitude in fighting cancer and wanted to inspire others to

have a similar attitude in ‘Plucking Cancer’ out of their lives.

The initiative was hosted at the Darseen Café in Bahrain National Museum with attendance of over 150 people supporting the cause.

Various sessions were held dur-ing the initiative including Japa-nese Tea Healing by Budoor Stele, Healthy Cooking by Chef Bassam, Mental Health for Cancer Patients by Ali Al Hawaj, Sound Healing by Karima, Healthy Lifestyle by Coach Z.

These sessions were aimed to share ideas of wellbeing and a healthy lifestyle. The speakers cho-sen had relations with cancer one way or the other. The initiatives aim to touch people’s lives by help-ing them get through the negativity

and fighting the cancer head-on!There will be many such events

organised under Pluck Cancer to help people fight cancer. The plan is to develop a website platform where people can request any as-sistance or support needed in this regard.

The key highlight of the event was the lotus flower, which was brought in all the way from India. The audience was asked to bloom it by apprehending all the emo-tions they were holding back and were asked to release the lotus once they think they are ready to let go of those emotions in the Arabian sea as a sign of sending prayers from Bahrain to all around the world who fought or are fight-ing cancer.

Once I told them I am not going to pay you

extra money, they immediately attacked

me. VICTIM

Ms Tanima along with other attendees at the event.

05

business

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

In a first, BIA to operate with eLTE tech• Deal signed between BAC and Batelco

• The new eLTE system will improve BIA’s emergency management services and operations at the new terminal

• Batelco will also provide high-speed connectivity for Voice, Data, and Wi-Fi services

TDT | Manama

The new passenger termi-nal building of Bahrain International Airport

(BIA) will become first in the Middle East to operate with En-terprise LTE (eLTE) technology

as its mission-critical system, Bahrain Airport Company (BAC)

announced. The move follows of a key

technical agreement between BAC and Batelco, signed by

BAC Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah and Batelco Enterprise Gen-eral Manager, Abderrahmane Mounir, in the presence of the Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications and BAC Chairman, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed and Batelco Chair-man Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Commenting, Al Binfalah said the deal puts BAC anoth-er step closer to realising the Kingdom’s digital transforma-tion goals and “our objective of providing our partners at the airport with modern and reliable mission-critical communication solutions.”

The new eLTE system will improve BIA’s emergency man-agement services and opera-tions at the new terminal, and the airport at large, while af-fording several benefits such as last-mile data connectivity, fast

emergency CCTV deployment, HD voice and video dispatching capabilities over smart handheld devices.

Wi-Fi services for all Batelco will also provide high-

speed connectivity for Voice, Data, and Wi-Fi services for all airport tenants and passengers.

Batelco Enterprise Gener-al Manager, Abderrahmane Mounir expressed his delight in associating with Bahrain Airport Company. “We’re committed to being a key stakeholder in elevating the services at Bah-rain International Airport,” he added.

BAC emphasised that the strategic investments will help transform it into a world-class boutique airport and increase the aviation sector’s contribu-tion to the national economy in line with the Kingdom’s Eco-nomic Vision 2030.

BAC Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah and Batelco Enterprise General Manager, Abderrahmane Mounir signed the deal in the presence of the Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications and BAC Chairman, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed and Batelco Chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa

BHB to list BD4.01bn Tbills, BD260m Sukuks in 2020

TDT | Manama

Bahrain Bourse (BHB) an-nounced it would list 58

Treasury Bills and 10 Short-Term Islamic Lease (Ijarah) Sukuk issues during the year 2020.

According to the resolution

No (4) for the year, the total value of the T-Bill issues is BD4.01 billion, while the total value of the Short-Term Islam-ic Lease (Ijarah) Sukuk issues is BD260 million.

Tbills and Sukuks will be issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain on behalf of the Gov-ernment of Bahrain.

A trader watching stock movements on the floor of Bahrain Bourse

Bahrain heads the Federation of GCC ChambersTDT | Manama

Chairman of the Bah-rain Chamber of Com-

merce and Industry (BCCI) Sameer Nass has been elect-ed to lead the Federation of Chambers of the Gulf Co-operation Council (FGCCC) as its chairman from 10th February 2020 and 10th February 2022.

Nass expressed pride in the confidence bestowed upon him and vowed to exert all efforts to achieve the goals of the federa-tion and increase the eco-nomic gains of member countries.

Nass commended Mo-hammed Thani Al Ru-maithi, the President of the Federation of UAE Cham-bers of Commerce and In-dustry on his leadership of the previous term.

ASBB offers financing for Saraya Al Reem 3 villas

• Villas in Saar are ready to move in

• Down payments as low as BD500

TDT | Manama

Al Salam Bank-Bahrain an-nounced signing a Mem-

orandum of Understanding with Al Saraya Properties Company to offer an exclusive property financing facility for customers purchasing villas in the new Saraya Al Reem 3 development.

The scheme is available to all customers, including Bahraini nationals eligible for Mazaya social housing.

Located in the Saar suburb, Saraya Al Reem 3 offers three and four-bedroom lifestyle-in-spired luxury villas with mod-ern amenities, private gardens,

and 24-hour security. The 26 villas are available for immedi-ate move-in.

Deputy CEO of Al Salam Bank-Bahrain Anwar Murad said: “Housing security is a pri-ority for Bahrain’s government and so we are pleased to extend our attractive Dari Property Finance Scheme to our cus-tomers, particularly those eli-gible for Mazaya social hous-

ing. For down payments as low as BD500, they can move into their dream homes quickly and easily.”

Chairman of Al Saraya Prop-erties Company Saud Kanoo said: “Al Saraya Properties is committed to helping families achieve their homeownership dreams by delivering luxury housing at affordable price points.”

Dari Property scheme is available to all including Bahrainis eligible for Mazaya social housing. Above, the deal signing

INJAZ Bahrain set to launch its first mobile application• Will be available starting Junen this year

TDT | Manama

INJAZ Bahrain announced de-veloping its first mobile ap-

plication with the support of Al Salam Bank-Bahrain, K-Labs and Inforise IT.

Sponsored by Al Salam Bank-Bahrain and developed by K-Labs, the application will offer an enhanced registration experience by enabling new joiners, volunteers and alumni to choose among a list of pro-grammes offered by INJAZ Bah-rain in collaboration with public and private schools.

The application will also pro-vide INJAZ Bahrain’s privileged

volunteers reward points at-tached to exclusive offers based on their contributed volunteer-ing hours towards youth devel-opment. The application will be available for both Android and IOS users by June of this year.

Hana Sarwani, Executive Di-rector of INJAZ Bahrain, com-mented, “Our 2020 resolution focuses on adopting technology in our programs and we are ex-cited to take our first steps in meeting our goals. Today, we have laid the foundation for IN-JAZ Bahrain application and we are looking forward to excelling in the next phases.”

INJAZ Bahrain has been home to more than 9000 volunteers who have supported the imple-mentation of INJAZ programmes in more than 300 public and pri-vate schools.The application will be available for both Android and IOS users by June of this year


Australia, Indonesia move to implement trade deal• Negotiations over the Australia-Indonesia trade deal began in 2010

• The trade deal was meant to be signed in 2018

• 94 per cent of Indonesian duties will be gradually eliminated

Sydney

Australia and Indonesia announced a 100-day plan yesterday to imple-

ment a long-awaited trade deal, as the two countries hailed a “new beginning” for their some-times troubled relationship.

The two G20 economies hope to deepen trade currently worth a modest US$12 billion a year, in a region increasingly dominated by China’s economic and mili-tary might.

Addressing Australia’s parlia-

ment on a landmark state visit, President Joko Widodo cast the two nations as would-be “Aveng-ers” -- “forces of good” uniting to defeat a “common enemy” and shared challenges like protec-tionism, intolerance and climate

change.Widodo said his visit to Aus-

tralia marked “a new beginning of a new relationship” between the two nations.

The 58-year-old former furni-ture manufacturer was sworn in

for a second term late last year, promising to reduce widespread poverty as Indonesia becomes one of the world’s largest econ-omies.

Negotiations over the Austral-ia-Indonesia trade deal began in

2010 and it was ratified by In-donesia’s parliament last week, ahead of Widodo’s visit.

The agreement will eventually see the elimination of all Aus-tralian trade tariffs, while 94 per cent of Indonesian duties will be gradually eliminated.

Greater access to the Australi-an market is expected to spur In-donesia’s automotive and textile industries, and boost exports of timber, electronics and medici-nal goods.

The pact also includes im-proved access for Australia’s agriculture industry to Indone-sia’s vast market of 260 million people.

Australian universities, health providers and miners will also benefit from easier entry to Southeast Asia’s biggest econ-omy.

In a joint public appearance with Widodo in Canberra, Aus-tralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined a 100-day “action plan” for implementa-tion.

He called the long-delayed deal a “mutually beneficial ar-

rangement, one that sees the cooperation of our economies for the strong growth that we will see over the next decade and beyond”.

The leaders also eyed talks aimed at making it easier for Indonesians to enter Australia and a review of Australian travel advice for tourist destinations in Indonesia, Morrison said.

Ties between Canberra and Jakarta have often been strained, including over Australia’s hard-line approach to asylum seekers.

The trade deal was meant to be signed in 2018, but stalled when Morrison proposed the relocation of Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem -- a move that angered Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.

Both countries have also struggled to manage their rela-tionship with a more assertive Beijing.

Last month, Indonesia sent jets and warships to patrol is-lands near the disputed South China Sea, accusing Chinese vessels of “trespassing”.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said his nation and Australia have shared challenges like protectionism, intolerance and climate change

India readying $2.6 billion US naval helicopter deal ahead of Trump trip• Modi’s cabinet committee on security is expected to clear the purchase of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian navy in the next two weeks

• The multirole helicopters will be equipped with Hellfire missiles

• Both countries are separately working on a limited trade agreement ahead of the trip

• The United States has also offered India the armed version of Guardian drones

• India plans to buy 30 of these unmanned aircraft

• India’s defence purchases from the US have reached $17 billion since 2007

Reuters | New Delhi

India is set to give final ap-proval to a $2.6 billion deal

for military helicopters from US defence firm Lockheed Martin ahead of a proposed visit by US President Donald Trump this month, defence and industry sources said.

India’s defence purchases from the United States have reached $17 billion since 2007 as it has pivoted away from tra-ditional supplier Russia, looking to modernise its military and narrow the gap with China.

Modi’s cabinet committee on security is expected to clear the purchase of 24 MH-60R Sea-

hawk helicopters for the Indian navy in the next two weeks, a defence official and an industry source briefed on the matter separately said.

“It’s a government-to-govern-ment deal, it is close,” said the industry source.

To cut short lengthy negotia-tions between Lockheed and the Indian government, the helicop-ters that will be deployed on India’s warships will be bought through the US foreign military sales route, under which the two governments will agree details of the deal.

Trump is expected in India around Feb 24 on his first of-ficial visit to the country, al-though no formal announce-ment has yet been made.

Both countries are separate-ly working on a limited trade agreement ahead of the trip, after earlier imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s imports.

Trade officials have pointed

to large-scale US arms purchas-es, from surveillance planes to Apache and Chinook helicop-ters, as proof of India’s willing-ness to tighten strategic ties.

The multirole helicopters will be equipped with Hellfire mis-siles and are meant to help the Indian navy track submarines in the Indian Ocean, where China is expanding its presence.

The government outlined only a modest rise in its 2020/21 defence spending to $73.65 bil-lion in the budget on Feb. 1, of which a part will go towards making a down payment on the helicopter purchase, a defence official said.

“We expect a positive an-nouncement soon on the heli-copters,” the official said, speak-ing on condition of anonymity because of service rules. “There are limited resources, but there is an allocation.”

The US State Department ap-proved the sale of the choppers

to India last year along with ra-dars, torpedoes and 10 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

The clearance came after the Trump administration rolled out a new “Buy American” plan in 2018 that had relaxed restrictions on sales, saying it would bolster the American de-fence industry and create jobs at home.

The United States has also offered India the armed version of Guardian drones that were originally authorised for sale as unarmed for surveillance pur-poses, the first such approval for a country outside the NATO alliance.

India plans to buy 30 of these unmanned aircraft for surveil-lance of the Indian Ocean, at a cost estimated to be about $2.5 billion, from General Atomics.

However, the defence offi-cial said the deal is unlikely im-mediately because of lack of funds.

Trump is expected in India around Feb 24 on his first official visit to the country, although no formal announcement has yet been made.

Xerox hikes bid for HP to $36 billionNew York

Xerox said yesterday it was raising its offer for com-

puter and printer maker HP to some $36 billion as part of an effort to win over shareholders amid a heightened battle for control of the Silicon Valley firm.

The new offer from the imaging and copying giant is around 10 per cent higher than the bid launched last year and rejected by the HP board of directors.

Xerox said in a statement it already has support from some large HP shareholders who “want the enhanced re-turns, improved growth pros-pects and best-in-class human capital that will result from a combination of Xerox and HP.”

The statement added that its bid offers “immediate cash value, and meaningful upside via equity ownership in the combined company.”

HP has called the Xerox bid too low and last month claimed the takeover bid is be-ing driven by corporate raider Carl Icahn, who has a stake in Xerox.

“His large ownership posi-tion in Xerox means that his interests are not aligned with

those of other HP sharehold-ers,” an HP statement said in January.

“Due to Mr. Icahn’s owner-ship position, he would dispro-portionately benefit from an acquisition of HP by Xerox at a price that undervalues HP.”

Xerox has said it was seeking to elect a new slate of HP board members that would support the takeover deal

The current HP was cre-ated by the 2016 breakup of Hewlett-Packard, leaving the HP consumer division making printers and PCs, spinning off HP Enterprise for cloud com-puting and servers.

The new offer from the imaging and copying giant is around 10 per cent higher than the bid launched last year

Merkel party in crisis after ‘heir’ quitsBerlin

German Chancellor Ange-la Merkel’s party and her

plans to stay on until 2021 were plunged into disarray Monday after her heir-apparent gave up her leadership ambitions in a deepening crisis over ties be-tween the centre and far right.

Annegret Kramp-Karren-bauer, the leader of the cen-tre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), opted out after barely a year in the post -- a period marked by internal bat-tles over whether to cooperate with the anti-immigrant Alter-native for Germany (AfD).

She announced that she was standing down as CDU leader and would not seek to be the party’s candidate for chan-cellor in next year’s general elections.

Germany’s next national elections must take place by autumn 2021


Global stock markets declineLondon

Most stock markets were weaker yesterday with investors worried over

the impact of China’s corona-virus outbreak on the global economy.

In afternoon European trades, London and Paris were both down 0.4 per cent, while Frank-furt slid 0.3 pc.

The Dow was essentially un-changed in initial New York trades.

“Coronavirus concerns are weighing,” noted CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden.

“The deepening health cri-sis is chipping away at market confidence.

“In London, stocks that are connected to China are under pressure. Mining, energy as well as travel stocks are in the red.”

The virus has killed more than 900 people, infected more than 40,000 across mainland China and spread to more than two dozen countries in what is now considered a global health emergency.

It has also disrupted major supply chains for items such as food, household goods, and car and electronics parts.

In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.6 pc down, while Hong Kong pared some losses, ending the day 0.6 pc lower after tanking 1.1 pc at the open.

Shanghai bucked the trend with a 0.5 pc gain at the close.

Investors worldwide have been watching with concern as China, the world’s second-larg-est economy, battles the novel coronavirus, which emerged at the end of last year in the central city of Wuhan.

The domestic impact was reflected in China’s inflation figures released Monday, which

showed the highest rise in con-sumer prices in more than eight years, with food prices spiking more than 20 pc.

It has also disrupted the sup-ply chains of major global firms such as Apple supplier Foxconn and auto giant Toyota. Key pro-

duction facilities across China have been temporarily closed as authorities impose lockdowns and quarantine measures.

Oil slips lowerDepressed economic activity

in China, the world’s largest im-porter and consumer of oil, has also hit energy prices.

A committee appointed by oil cartel OPEC recommended addi-tional output cuts on Saturday, citing the negative impact of the epidemic on economic activity.

The contract for Brent crude was 1.1 pc lower in afternoon exchanges, while West Texas Intermediate showed a decline of 0.7 pc on Monday.

Separately, cryptocurrency bitcoin rallied to stand above $10,000 for the first time since September, though analysts did not attribute the move to any one factor in particular.

Key figures at 1445 GMTLondon - FTSE 100: 0.4 pc at 7,438.28 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: 0.2 pc at 13,482.96

Paris - CAC 40: 0.4 pc at 6,006.02

EURO STOXX 50: 0.3 pc at 3,787.39

Tokyo - Nikkei 225 - 0.6 pc at 23,685.98 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: 0.6 pc at 27,241.34 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: 0.5 pc at 2,890.49 (close)

New York - Dow: at 29,102.49

Euro/dollar: at $1.0933 from $1.0946 at 2200 GMT

Pound/dollar: at $1.2941 from $1.2892

Euro/pound: at 84.47 pence from 84.91 pence

Dollar/yen: at 109.72 yen from 109.75 yen

Brent Crude: 1.1 pc at $53.85 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: 0.7 pc at $49.96

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange at Wall Street in New York City.

Trump’s $4.8 trn budget likely to get thumbs-down from Congress

Reuters | Washington

President Donald Trump’s $4.8 trillion budget pro-

posal for fiscal year 2021 is likely to get a chilly reception from lawmakers yesterday over its proposals to slash spending on foreign aid and social safety net programmes.

The White House plans to unveil the budget blueprint for the fiscal year starting on October 1 at 12:30 p.m. east-ern time, but administration officials confirmed key figures from the document over the weekend.

Democrats are expected to object to the deep spending cuts on domestic programmes, while some Republicans may raise concerns over debt and deficits.

The budget calls for a 21 per cent cut in foreign aid to $44.1 billion, down from $55.7 bn enacted in fiscal year 2020. It would make savings in out-lays to safety net programs in-cluding $130 bn in Medicare through drug pricing reforms, $292 bn to food stamp and Medicaid programs by enact-ing new work requirements for beneficiaries, and $70 bn through a clamp-down on el-igibility for federal disability benefits.

An administration official said the White House was mak-ing the proposals for substan-tial cuts despite an assumption that Congress, which controls US purse strings, would allo-cate more money on spend-ing than Trump wants. With forecasts for strong economic

growth, the budget predicts some $3.7 trn in government receipts in the 2021 fiscal year.

Last year Trump signed a two-year budget deal with Congress that increased fed-eral spending on defence and several other domestic pro-grammes, adding to growing government debt. That legis-lation authorised $2.75 trn in new defence and non-defence spending through Sept. 30, 2021.

Trump’s budget is largely a political document.

It includes spending on Trump’s priorities as he seeks re-election later this year, in-cluding $2 bn to fund further construction on a border wall with Mexico, a project that is especially popular with his political base, and funding for an infrastructure bill that is unlikely to be passed by Demo-crats and Republicans in Con-gress.

Military spending would rise 0.3pc to $740.5 bn.

The budget forecasts $4.6 trn in deficit reduction over 10 years and assumes economic growth at an annual rate of roughly 3 percent for years to come, officials said. Trump has taken credit for the strength of the US economy thanks in part to tax cuts he championed and Congress passed earlier in his term. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trn.

The White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trn over 10 years and reduce the deficit by $4.6 trn in that time period.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office as he returns from a day trip from North Carolina at the White House in Washington

Google drops plan to buy into largest African wind farm

Reuters | Copenhagen

Google has canceled plans to buy a 12.5 per cent stake

in Africa’s largest wind farm after delays to the project, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said yesterday.

The 310 megawatt (MW) Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya was initially set for completion 2017, after which Google had committed to buy

the stake from Vestas.But the delay led to Google

canceling in 2019, Vestas said.“Due to delays relating pri-

marily to the transmission line, the Vestas agreement with Google was canceled in 2019,” a Vestas spokesman said, adding that it was in talks with other potential buyers of the stake.

Google was not immediately available for comment.

Power-generating wind turbines are seen at the Lake Turkana Wind Power project (LTWP) in Loiyangalani district, Marsabit County, northern Kenya

Ghosn used Nissan-Mitsubishi venture to inflate pay - lawyers• Ghosn granted himself a salary and bonus worth 7.3 million euros ($8m) in total without the knowledge of the boards

Reuters | Amsterdam

Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive former auto executive, used

a joint venture between Nissan and Mitsubishi to inflate his pay, effectively clawing back a cut to his declared wages, and to cover a personal tax debt, lawyers for the firms said yesterday

Ghosn, former chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in 2018 on financial misconduct charges but fled to Lebanon last December.

He has denied any wrong-do-ing, including concerning the way he was compensated, and has since launched court cases against the companies, arguing he was fired unlawfully. One of the cases is in the Netherlands, where the Japanese companies made new submissions on Mon-day.

Ghosn granted himself a sal-ary and bonus worth 7.3 million

euros ($8m) in total without the knowledge of the boards of Nissan and Mitsubishi, the lawyers said.

The companies had previous-ly challenged these payments.

The lawyers alleged in the ar-guments submitted to the Dutch court that Ghosn had award-ed himself that compensation through the Nissan-Mitsubishi joint venture to offset a cut in his publicly-declared earnings, to which he had agreed when stepping down as Nissan CEO in April 2017.

Representatives of Ghosn’s legal team said the allegations

of unknown or unjust payments were unfounded. They attend-ed the hearing at the Amster-dam District Court, which was linked to Ghosn’s unlawful dis-missal lawsuit.

“We don’t dispute that Mr Ghosn received a good salary”, attorney Roeland de Mol said. “But he had the heavy task of getting French and Japanese companies to cooperate. He didn’t retire to go play golf af-ter he stepped down as Nissan CEO.”

Nissan-Mitsubishi lawyer Eelco Meerdink said there was also evidence that Ghosn

made the alliance pay a person-al French tax debt of 498,000 euros in 2018, and that he had arranged a “pre-payment” of his 2019 salary in 2018 to avoid a scheduled increase in Dutch income tax rates.

Ready for a fightThe allegations came as

Ghosn’s legal team challenged his dismissal by Nissan and Mit-subishi during the court hearing in Amsterdam, the first public session on the case after the former executive launched a suit against the companies last July.

Ghosn is seeking 15 million euros in damages from the Japa-nese carmakers, who, he alleges, violated Dutch labor laws.

Ghosn’s lawyers argued for the release of internal docu-ments relating to his dismissal following an Nissan-Mitsubishi inquiry, which the carmakers used to substantiate his dismiss-al on allegations of financial misconduct.

Ghosn’s legal team claims he was unfairly dismissed as chairman of Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, a Dutch-registered entity, because the details of the allega-tions were not shared with him. His lawyers say the documents will show the companies were aware of his activities.

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn gestures during a news conference at the Lebanese Press Syndicate in Beirut, Lebanon


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

BARIA ALAMUDDIN

In one of the most outrageous political U-turns in recent memory, Muqtada Al-Sadr

has pivoted from wholeheart-ed support for Iraq’s uprising to sending his shock forces to kill demonstrators and violent-ly break up protest camps. Af-ter months of Al-Sadr’s rhetoric about listening to the voice of the people, a terse message this weekend baldly stated: “Protest-ers should not interfere in politi-cal matters.”

Shockingly, most of the kill-ings of protesters by Al-Sadr’s supporters occurred in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. This is the beating heart of the Shiite world, where Tehran has lab-ored hardest to entrench its influ-ence; yet hundreds of thousands of furious residents consistently demand an end to corrupt, sec-tarian governance and Iranian interference.

These protesters are now turn-ing their fury on Al-Sadr himself, accusing him of abandoning his flirtation with the protest move-

ment and aligning with pro-Teh-ran factions to profit from lu-crative government appoint-ments. In what protesters have denounced as a “political coup,” Tehran’s proxies and Al-Sadr have colluded to appoint a non-entity as prime minister with the intent of perpetuating the status quo, while affording themselves breathing space to crush the pro-tests.

Throughout the 1970s, Iraq’s immense oil wealth made it one of the most advanced states in the region. Having undergone a succession of catastrophes since then, today’s Iraq sees a govern-ing elite cream off billions, while citizens endure grinding poverty, unemployment and dysfunction-al services. Just as in Lebanon, Iraq’s nationwide protests didn’t erupt against a specific prime minister or government policy, but against the governing system as a whole.

This isn’t the first time Al-Sa-dr has performed self-serving, 180-degree ideological somer-saults. He repeatedly oscillated from being one of Iraq’s fore-most paramilitary warlords to de-nouncing militias for “slaughter, assassinations and… distorting Islam.” Despite branding himself as an anti-sectarian nationalist, Sadrist thugs abducted and mur-dered tens of thousands of Sunnis between 2005 and 2008. After

2014, Al-Sadr’s “Peace Brigades” militia had one foot in and one foot out of the Iran-dominated Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition.

In about 2015, Al-Sadr sought to return to political relevance under a reform banner, yet gov-ernment departments under Sadrist control circa 2005 were notorious for corruption and criminality. The Sadrist Minis-try of Health was nicknamed the “Ministry of Murder” because his foot soldiers reportedly prowled hospital wards slitting the throats of Sunnis and dissidents. Ambu-lances became the chosen vehi-cles of death squads.

Al-Sadr has veered from at-tention-grabbing political stunts (such as his 2016 invasion of the Green Zone) to bouts of petu-lant withdrawal from the polit-ical field altogether. No wonder the speculation about whether Al-Sadr is a bipolar manic de-pressive.

In about 2004, Al-Sadr was gratefully accepting Iranian funding to destabilize Iraq. He was even based in Qom between 2007 and 2011, but began spout-ing anti-Iranian rhetoric after his return to Baghdad. During Al-Sadr’s visit to Tehran late last year, Qassem Soleimani and Ali Khamenei sought to return him to Iran’s orbit. There have been reports of discreet visits by Al-Sa-

dr and his former subordinate Qais Al-Khazali to Iran in recent days.

Iran has resorted to various methods of influencing the un-predictable Al-Sadr; from buying him off to threats of assassina-tion and face-to-face meetings with his idol, Hassan Nasrallah. If Al-Sadr is indeed today acting at Tehran’s behest, it is unclear what his current motivations are.

One reason that Tehran’s prox-ies are rushing to form a govern-ment is their fear of new elec-

tions. Pro-Iran elements won a pitiful share of the vote in 2018, yet were able to dominate the new administration thanks to vigorous lobbying by figures like the late and unlamented Soleim-ani.

Having spent recent months effectively waging war against Shiite citizens throughout the south, where do Hadi Al-Amiri, Al-Khazali and Al-Sadr expect their votes to come from now? The pro-Iran Bana list would be lucky to get even 10 percent of

THE PARADOX OF EDUCATION IS PRECISELY THIS - THAT AS ONE BEGINS TO BECOME CONSCIOUS ONE BEGINS TO EXAMINE THE SOCIETY IN WHICH HE IS BEING EDUCATED.JAMES BALDWIN

QUOTE OF THE DAY


This isn’t the first time

Al Sadr has performed

self-serving, 180-degree ideological

somersaults

CON COUGHLIN

Ever since the emergence of the modern curse of terrorism, the concept of

de-radicalisation has been central to efforts to end the involvement of impressionable young Muslims in committing acts of terrorism.

From the September 11 attacks in 2001 to the modern day, the use of de-radicalisation programmes – in which moderate and main-stream Islamic experts seek to persuade radicalised young Mus-lims about the true, more peaceful teachings of Islam – have played a central role in the campaign to defeat terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.

And yet, to judge from a recent spate of terror attacks in London, all indications are that the current approach to de-radicalisation, at least in the UK, is failing miserably to achieve the desired effect.

In the latest attack last week-end in the south London suburb of Streatham, Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old convicted terrorist, launched a frenzied knife attack on innocent passers-by before being shot dead by undercover police.

Two people suffered serious wounds in the attack, and it was only due to the prompt interven-tion of the undercover unit that Amman’s assault did not result in fatalities.

The reason, moreover, that the police were able to intervene so quickly was that Amman, who had only been released from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison the previous week, was deemed to be such a threat to the British public that MI5, Britain’s domestic secu-rity service, authorised that he be placed under 24-hour surveillance by a specialist undercover team.

Amman was initially imprisoned in November 2018 after pleading guilty to numerous ISIS-related terror offences. The fact that he emerged from Belmarsh posing just as much of a threat to public safety as he did beforehand raises troubling questions about the ef-fectiveness of British authorities’ attempts to persuade impression-able young men like him to re-nounce their ties to terrorism.

In common with other ideolog-ically motivated, convicted ter-rorists, Amman would have been subjected to attempts by the pris-on authorities to mend his ways. Apart from the de-radicalisation programmes, a variety of other initiatives, including vocational training and educational courses, are on offer to encourage them to reform their conduct.

Amman’s case has graphically demonstrated, however, that these positive efforts failed badly. Nor is this the only example of the British de-radicalisation system’s failings.

In November, another recently

released terrorist, Usman Khan, launched an attack on London Bridgein which he killed two in-nocent bystanders before being shot dead by police. On this oc-casion, Khan had been attending a specialist conference in Lon-don designed to help convicted

offenders – including radicalised British Muslims – reintegrate into society.

The main difference between Khan and Amman was that, while the latter actively resisted de-rad-icalisation, the former led the au-thorities to believe that he was

genuinely interested in reform, to the extent that the safeguards normally put in place to prevent his reoffending were relaxed.

In some respects, the fact that both Khan and Amman were able to carry out terror attacks so soon after being released from

The British government

is introducing emergency legislation,

which it wants

implemented within three

weeks

Britain’s approach to de-radicalisation is failing



BARIA ALAMUDDIN

In one of the most outrageous political U-turns in recent memory, Muqtada Al-Sadr

has pivoted from wholeheart-ed support for Iraq’s uprising to sending his shock forces to kill demonstrators and violent-ly break up protest camps. Af-ter months of Al-Sadr’s rhetoric about listening to the voice of the people, a terse message this weekend baldly stated: “Protest-ers should not interfere in politi-cal matters.”

Shockingly, most of the kill-ings of protesters by Al-Sadr’s supporters occurred in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. This is the beating heart of the Shiite world, where Tehran has lab-ored hardest to entrench its influ-ence; yet hundreds of thousands of furious residents consistently demand an end to corrupt, sec-tarian governance and Iranian interference.

These protesters are now turn-ing their fury on Al-Sadr himself, accusing him of abandoning his flirtation with the protest move-

ment and aligning with pro-Teh-ran factions to profit from lu-crative government appoint-ments. In what protesters have denounced as a “political coup,” Tehran’s proxies and Al-Sadr have colluded to appoint a non-entity as prime minister with the intent of perpetuating the status quo, while affording themselves breathing space to crush the pro-tests.

Throughout the 1970s, Iraq’s immense oil wealth made it one of the most advanced states in the region. Having undergone a succession of catastrophes since then, today’s Iraq sees a govern-ing elite cream off billions, while citizens endure grinding poverty, unemployment and dysfunction-al services. Just as in Lebanon, Iraq’s nationwide protests didn’t erupt against a specific prime minister or government policy, but against the governing system as a whole.

This isn’t the first time Al-Sa-dr has performed self-serving, 180-degree ideological somer-saults. He repeatedly oscillated from being one of Iraq’s fore-most paramilitary warlords to de-nouncing militias for “slaughter, assassinations and… distorting Islam.” Despite branding himself as an anti-sectarian nationalist, Sadrist thugs abducted and mur-dered tens of thousands of Sunnis between 2005 and 2008. After

2014, Al-Sadr’s “Peace Brigades” militia had one foot in and one foot out of the Iran-dominated Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition.

In about 2015, Al-Sadr sought to return to political relevance under a reform banner, yet gov-ernment departments under Sadrist control circa 2005 were notorious for corruption and criminality. The Sadrist Minis-try of Health was nicknamed the “Ministry of Murder” because his foot soldiers reportedly prowled hospital wards slitting the throats of Sunnis and dissidents. Ambu-lances became the chosen vehi-cles of death squads.

Al-Sadr has veered from at-tention-grabbing political stunts (such as his 2016 invasion of the Green Zone) to bouts of petu-lant withdrawal from the polit-ical field altogether. No wonder the speculation about whether Al-Sadr is a bipolar manic de-pressive.

In about 2004, Al-Sadr was gratefully accepting Iranian funding to destabilize Iraq. He was even based in Qom between 2007 and 2011, but began spout-ing anti-Iranian rhetoric after his return to Baghdad. During Al-Sadr’s visit to Tehran late last year, Qassem Soleimani and Ali Khamenei sought to return him to Iran’s orbit. There have been reports of discreet visits by Al-Sa-

dr and his former subordinate Qais Al-Khazali to Iran in recent days.

Iran has resorted to various methods of influencing the un-predictable Al-Sadr; from buying him off to threats of assassina-tion and face-to-face meetings with his idol, Hassan Nasrallah. If Al-Sadr is indeed today acting at Tehran’s behest, it is unclear what his current motivations are.

One reason that Tehran’s prox-ies are rushing to form a govern-ment is their fear of new elec-

tions. Pro-Iran elements won a pitiful share of the vote in 2018, yet were able to dominate the new administration thanks to vigorous lobbying by figures like the late and unlamented Soleim-ani.

Having spent recent months effectively waging war against Shiite citizens throughout the south, where do Hadi Al-Amiri, Al-Khazali and Al-Sadr expect their votes to come from now? The pro-Iran Bana list would be lucky to get even 10 percent of

THE PARADOX OF EDUCATION IS PRECISELY THIS - THAT AS ONE BEGINS TO BECOME CONSCIOUS ONE BEGINS TO EXAMINE THE SOCIETY IN WHICH HE IS BEING EDUCATED.JAMES BALDWIN

QUOTE OF THE DAY


This isn’t the first time

Al Sadr has performed

self-serving, 180-degree ideological

somersaults

CON COUGHLIN

Ever since the emergence of the modern curse of terrorism, the concept of

de-radicalisation has been central to efforts to end the involvement of impressionable young Muslims in committing acts of terrorism.

From the September 11 attacks in 2001 to the modern day, the use of de-radicalisation programmes – in which moderate and main-stream Islamic experts seek to persuade radicalised young Mus-lims about the true, more peaceful teachings of Islam – have played a central role in the campaign to defeat terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.

And yet, to judge from a recent spate of terror attacks in London, all indications are that the current approach to de-radicalisation, at least in the UK, is failing miserably to achieve the desired effect.

In the latest attack last week-end in the south London suburb of Streatham, Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old convicted terrorist, launched a frenzied knife attack on innocent passers-by before being shot dead by undercover police.

Two people suffered serious wounds in the attack, and it was only due to the prompt interven-tion of the undercover unit that Amman’s assault did not result in fatalities.

The reason, moreover, that the police were able to intervene so quickly was that Amman, who had only been released from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison the previous week, was deemed to be such a threat to the British public that MI5, Britain’s domestic secu-rity service, authorised that he be placed under 24-hour surveillance by a specialist undercover team.

Amman was initially imprisoned in November 2018 after pleading guilty to numerous ISIS-related terror offences. The fact that he emerged from Belmarsh posing just as much of a threat to public safety as he did beforehand raises troubling questions about the ef-fectiveness of British authorities’ attempts to persuade impression-able young men like him to re-nounce their ties to terrorism.

In common with other ideolog-ically motivated, convicted ter-rorists, Amman would have been subjected to attempts by the pris-on authorities to mend his ways. Apart from the de-radicalisation programmes, a variety of other initiatives, including vocational training and educational courses, are on offer to encourage them to reform their conduct.

Amman’s case has graphically demonstrated, however, that these positive efforts failed badly. Nor is this the only example of the British de-radicalisation system’s failings.

In November, another recently

released terrorist, Usman Khan, launched an attack on London Bridgein which he killed two in-nocent bystanders before being shot dead by police. On this oc-casion, Khan had been attending a specialist conference in Lon-don designed to help convicted

offenders – including radicalised British Muslims – reintegrate into society.

The main difference between Khan and Amman was that, while the latter actively resisted de-rad-icalisation, the former led the au-thorities to believe that he was

genuinely interested in reform, to the extent that the safeguards normally put in place to prevent his reoffending were relaxed.

In some respects, the fact that both Khan and Amman were able to carry out terror attacks so soon after being released from

The British government

is introducing emergency legislation,

which it wants

implemented within three

weeks

Britain’s approach to de-radicalisation is failing

China reported last week that 124 persons recovered and were sent home, and I expect this number has increased and will increase in the days to come.

When millions of protesters come out in future months, we won’t see generalised slogans condemning corruption and misgovernance across the

board, but rather Al Hashd and Al Sadr have put themselves firmly in the cross hairs. They are now widely loathed, even

by the segments of society that relatively recently lauded them as popular heroes and saviours

from the scourge of Daesh.


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

President Trump is 100% correct. NYS

& NYC need the support of the Department of Justice. Criminals are being released, it’s time we prosecute in Feder-al Court. The Mayor is ruining NYC, cops have been stopped from doing their jobs. NYC is under siege. Send in the Feds

@SBANYPD

“Exit polls show Sinn Féin’s vote was al-

most entirely under 35’s. Like Brexit, there is a complete generational split.” “The core issue is housing, the younger generation getting cut out of home ownership”

@doctorow

The one thing I would like young cricketers

to imbibe is that once the contest is over, you shake hands with the opponent. It is one of the enduring aspects of our game & it cannot be disrespected. I hope the BCCI and the BCB feel the need to drive the point home to their players

@bhogleharsha

I grew up in New York City and, over many

years, got to watch how GREAT NYC’s “Finest” are. Now, because of weak leadership at Governor & Mayor, stand away (water thrown at them) regulations, and lack of support, our wonderful NYC police are under as-sault. Stop this now!

@realDonaldTrump

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

editorial stances)

the vote. Al-Sadr may fare even worse, having betrayed his loud-ly proclaimed principles. Thus, if Sunnis, Kurds and moderates aligned themselves around a broad-based, non-sectarian co-alition it would be possible to shut out Iran-backed entities al-together. Indeed, according to the constitution, figures affiliated with paramilitary forces should not be allowed to participate in politics at all.

Leading cleric Grand Ayatol-lah Ali Al-Sistani has already

called for a new round of free and fair elections, and protest-ers have urged him to categori-cally reject new Prime Minister Mohammed Allawi. If there are fresh elections, militias and for-eign-aligned elements should be excluded from the process, with Al-Hashd-dominated depart-ments like the Interior Ministry also kept at a distance.

Iran’s proxies have sought to discredit the protest movement by alleging manipulation by for-eign embassies. Unfortunately, far from manipulating the situa-tion behind the scenes, Western diplomats are sleeping at their posts. Where is the international community on attacks against cit-izens and pressures for reforms and uprooting corruption?

Iraq is the central plank in Tehran’s campaign of regional expansionism. The US and others should be capitalizing on Iran’s recent setbacks, as slamming the door on Tehran’s fingers in Iraq would have a huge impact on its ability to project its influence in Syria and Lebanon.

Even after the deaths of well over 650 protesters, the wounding of more than 20,000, and with reports of hundreds of disappear-ances, protesters remain as de-termined as ever. The “political coup” by pro-Iran elements has only achieved one thing: When millions of protesters come out in future months, we won’t see gen-eralized slogans condemning cor-ruption and misgovernance across the board, but rather Al-Hashd and Al-Sadr have put themselves firmly in the cross hairs. They are now widely loathed, even by the segments of society that rel-atively recently lauded them as popular heroes and saviors from the scourge of Daesh.

Instead of hijacking the Iraqi revolution, Al-Sadr and Iran’s henchmen have simply ensured that they are the ones standing in the eye of the storm when the revolution definitively arrives.

(Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Mid-

dle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has

interviewed numerous heads of state.)

1790The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.

1794First session of United States Senate opens to the public.

1808Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.

1812Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of “gerrymandering” for the first time.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

It has been a month since China reported a new Coronavirus infection in Wuhan. Since that time much has happened. The number of cases

as reported by WHO on January 31st, has exploded to 9826 cases worldwide, with the infection spreading to 19 countries. Yet the bulk of cases remains in China (9720 cases). However, one should not fear. As spreading as the disease is, the rate of death rate has been almost negligible at 2% only. When SARS hit us, 10% of infected died!

But to understand more about this disease, let us try to understand something about this Coronavirus, now referred to as (n-CoV 2019). Viruses in general are NOT living microorganisms! A virus is merely a packet of genetic material enclosed by a protein shell. Their survival depends on transmission from one living organisms to another. Outside a living body, viruses do not remain infectious, but their lifetime outside of a living body is one to a few days

only. When a virus infects us, it looks to enter one of our cells to reproduce. Entry to a cell is dependent on that cell having the correct “receptor” to which the proteins of the viral shell can bind. So, in other words viruses are specific, both for the species and to the tissue it can invade. So, there are animal viruses, plant viruses and even bacterial viruses. Each one can only infect one genus.

So, where did this novel Coronavi-rus come from and how did it infect humans? This is because Coronavi-ruses, like several other viruses (in-cluding influenza virus that cause the common cold) have the ability to mutate or change its genetic material. So, this virus which originated in an animal (thought to be either snakes or bats) mutated and changed its pro-tein coat which allowed it to bind to

a human receptor. This is not new for Coronavirus as both SARS (Severe Acute respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), both originated from animals.

So, what is the situation now? The disease was spread from an animal to buyers in the market, but now there is evidence that it spreads from on human to another, and that is how it has spread widely in China and the few cases in the other 17 countries. However, there are two factors that are of importance that scientists take into consideration, how easy it is to spread the infection, and how severe is the disease. WHO believes that the “R0”, or the number of cases that the infected person can transmit the disease to, is only 1.4 (which is very low compared to measles for instance which is 12-18 !). Also, the rate of death is low at 2%. What we don’t hear about is what happens to the infected people who are admitted to hospital ? China reported last week that 124 persons recovered and were sent home, and I expect this number has increased and will increase in the days to come. So not everybody dies. In fact, most deaths were in el-derly persons who had other medical conditions and complications. Healthy people, even if infected will probably recover and become immune to reinfection.

Also, we in Bahrain I think are well protected by the diligent precautions taken by our Ministry of Health. Historically, Bahrain did not have a single case of SARS or MERS (even though the major number of infections of MERS were in neighboring Saudi Ara-bia!). So, rest assured, we will be protected. But even if cases are detected in arriving visitors or citizens, the government shall, no doubt, handle them with utmost professionalism and I doubt that there would be any local transmission.

(Dr Khaled S Tabbara is the Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

and Vice-President of the Arabian Gulf University.)

What is this novel

Coronavirus infection ?

DR KHALED S TABBARA


prison point to serious failings of security. The authorities should have been more careful in making sure that Khan was not pulling the wool over their eyes with his claims of rehabilitation. In Am-man’s case, the fact that he was clearly still violent, but freed after

serving only half his sentence sug-gests the British judicial system is far too lax when it comes to han-dling high-risk offenders.

The British government has now announced that it is intro-ducing emergency legislation, which it wants to have imple-mented within the next three weeks, to prevent convicted ter-rorists from being granted early release in future.

The need to have the measures in place at the earliest possible opportunity has been made all the more acute by the revelation that more than a dozen terrorists are due to be released from Brit-ish jails in the coming months. These include Jamshed Javeed, a science teacher jailed for six years for trying to join ISIS in Syria, and

Moinul Abedin, who has been described as Britain’s first Al Qa-eda-inspired terrorist after being convicted of making detonators at his home in Birmingham.

But while, for the moment, the British government’s main priori-ty is to keep high-profile terrorists behind bars, there are growing calls for ministers to undertake a radical review of its wider ap-proach to de-radicalisation.

Many of the problems facing the British justice system are due to recent austerity cuts, which have resulted in many prisons becom-ing overcrowded, frequently filthy and with too few staff – hardly the type of surroundings that are conducive to reforming a prison-er’s mindset.

In particular, it is said the re-cent reduction in resources has resulted in a sharp decline in the effectiveness of de-radicalisation programmes, as those who have real-world expertise of dealing with radicalised young Muslims have been replaced with those who prefer a more “academic” approach.

Certainly, at a time when the threat posed by terror groups remains as high as it has been at any time during the past two decades, it should not be an op-tion for countries like Britain to allow these systematic failings in their approach to tackling extremism.

Britain’s approach to de-radicalisation is failingThe British government

has now announced that it is introducing emergency

legislation, which it wants to have implemented within the next three weeks, to prevent

convicted terrorists from being granted early release in

future.

10

world


Downpours to end Australia bushfires within daysAFP | Sydney

Australia’s months-long bushfires crisis will like-ly be over within days,

officials said yesterday as heavy rainfall extinguished several massive blazes and was forecast to douse dozens more as down-pours swept south.

Days of torrential rains have caused flash flooding in New South Wales and Queensland, dampening once-raging fires that volunteers had battled in vain for months.

Sydney experienced its wet-test period in 20 years amid several days of heavy rainfall that led to chaotic scenes across the city.

The Bureau of Meteorology said 391.6mm (15.42 inches) of rain fell in Sydney over the past four days -- the highest total in such a period since 414.2mm were recorded in February 1990.

Several major bushfires have been extinguished by the deluge,

including a “mega-blaze” that burned through 500,000 hec-

tares (1.2 million acres) north of Sydney and a similar-sized fire

to the city’s south, bringing relief to residents and firefighters.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service spokesman James Mor-ris said about 30 fires were still burning Monday, but it was expected they would soon be extinguished as the rain moves south in the coming days.

“By the end of the week it’s likely they will be out,” he said

Drought-stricken areas across the country’s east also received welcome downpours but more sustained and widespread rain-fall will be needed to offset a years-long dry spell.

The stormy weather has brought days of chaos and de-struction, with one man missing after his car was swept off a road in Sydney’s north and hundreds more rescued from floodwaters across the state.

Police said a search was under way for the missing man Mon-day but no sign of him or his

vehicle had been found.Several rivers, including the

Parramatta River in Sydney’s west, overflowed while residents living near Narrabeen Lagoon in the city’s north were ordered to evacuate late Sunday amid fears their homes could be inundated.

Emergency services scram-bled to respond to calls for assis-tance as strong winds uprooted trees, ocean foam coated sea-side homes and boulders fell on parked cars.

Almost 90,000 homes re-mained without power Monday, with utility providers warning it could take days for elec-tricity to be restored in some areas.

The Insurance Council of Aus-tralia said insurers had received an estimated Aus$45 million ($30 million) in claims by early Monday, with that figure expect-ed to rise as the full extent of the damage becomes clear.

The catastrophic bushfires have left dozens dead and devastated vast swathes of the country since September

Storm Ciara sows trail of destruction across Europe

London

Storm Ciara caused travel chaos yesterday, severely disrupting commutes and

grounding hundreds of flights as swathes of Europe were left without power by torren-tial rain and winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour that also caused flash flooding and the cancellation of sporting fixtures.

In one of the most violent storms for years, one man died and another was reported miss-ing in southern Sweden when their boat capsized, while three people were seriously injured in Germany by falling trees and branches.

Parts of northern France were put on orange alert and 130,000 homes had electricity cut off.

The Netherlands closed one of its big storm surge barriers as the tempest approached on Sun-day night. Police said it caused Monday morning traffic jams

over 600 kilometres of roads.Around 220 flights were can-

celled during the morning at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport -- Europe’s third-busiest -- most destined for other European cit-ies. Around 240 never took off on Sunday.

Another man was injured by a tree in the Czech Republic, where winds reached up to 180 kph on the country’s highest mountain, Snezka. The storm left 100,000 without power there and even toppled over a

truck.Tiny Luxembourg cancelled

school classes and morning rush hour traffic ground to a halt in Brussels due to street closures and flooding.

Britain cleans upBritain began a clean-up after

bearing the brunt of one of the most of violent and destructive storms in years.

“While Storm Ciara is clearing away, that doesn’t mean we’re entering a quieter period of weather,” Met Office meteorol-ogist Alex Burkill warned. “Bliz-zards aren’t out of the question”.

Transport was disrupted across the country with planes and trains cancelled or delayed.

The highest wind speed re-corded was 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph) in the northwest Welsh village of Aberdaron.

More than 15 centimetres (six inches) of rain fell over 24 hours at Sleddale Reservoir in north-west England’s Lake District national park.

More than 170 flood warnings remained in place Monday.

The West Yorkshire towns of Hebden Bridge and neighbour-ing Mytholmroyd were among the worst hit by the storm.

Cars were submerged in the floodwaters and tens of thou-sands of homes had their elec-tricity cut.

Wind farm shutMuch of the initial damage

and disruption in Europe was along the coasts.

Channel ferry services be-tween the southern English port of Dover and Calais in northern France resumed Monday morn-ing after being halted Sunday.

The whole Belgian offshore

wind farm was shut down as powerful gusts caused the tur-bines to stop automatically for safety reasons.

The storm was so violent that “we are forced to completely stop mainline train traffic in Germany this Sunday evening,” Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss told AFP.

The disruptions in Germany also began Sunday with more than a hundred flights across three big cities cancelled.

Sports events hitSports events were also hit.Sunday’s English Premier

League fixture between Man-

chester City and West Ham was called off due to “extreme and escalating weather conditions”, City said in a statement.

The entire Women’s Super League football programme was also called off. Sunday’s Scot-land-England clash in the Wom-en’s Six Nations rugby tourna-ment has been rescheduled for Monday.

But there was an upside for passengers flying British Air-ways to London from New York.

The storm helped the flight to finish in the sub-sonic flight record time of 4 hours 56 min-utes, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

A British man wearing only a pair of swimming trunks braved the weather on a charity walk the length of mainland Britain from Lands End, southwest Eng-land, to John o’Groats, northeast Scotland.

“Speedos are designed to get wet and mine are absolutely soaking in this weather,” said fundraiser Michael Cullen as he trekked in Glastonbury.

Swathes of northern France were put on orange alert and 130,000 homes had electricity cut off amid fears of coastal storm surges

Waves crash over Newhaven Lighthouse on the south coast of England

Britain is on alert for more severe weather and 170 flood warnings remain in place

Storm Ciara hits the Yorkshire Dales bringing severe flooding


Biden calls voter a ‘lying dog-faced pony soldier’

Manchester | United States

Former US vice president Joe Biden drew criticism

Sunday after he called a wom-an a “lying dog-faced pony sol-dier” at a campaign event in New Hampshire.

In an exchange that was widely shared on social media, 21-year-old Georgia college student Madison Moore asked the presidential hopeful to ex-plain his poor performance in the Iowa caucus last week.

“It’s a good question,” re-plied Biden, whose status as national frontrunner for the Democratic nomination was shaken by a damaging fourth-place showing in Iowa’s cau-cuses.

“Have you ever been to a caucus?” he asked the Mer-cer University student, who nodded.

“No, you haven’t,” Biden said. “You’re a lying, dog-faced pony soldier.”

Biden’s campaign press sec-retary Remi Yamamoto tweet-ed the comment was a joke: “It’s from a John Wayne mov-ie and he’s made it plenty of times before.”

But the remark still drew criticism online, with many Twitter users saying the re-mark was not funny.

“If he can’t handle a sim-ple question from one of his own supporters, how can Joe Biden possibly take on Don-ald Trump one on one for six months?” tweeted Donald Trump Jr, the US president’s son.

Moore told The Washington Post it was “totally irrelevant whether I’ve been to a caucus or not.”

“Joe Biden has been per-forming incredibly poorly in this race. His inability to an-swer a simple question from a nobody college student like me only exacerbates that reality,” she said.

People are criticizing US Presidential Candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden (pictured February 8, 2020) for seemingly insulting a supporter

Barrage of mysterious bomb hoaxes plagues Moscow

• The hoaxes have triggered hundreds of metro station closures

AFP | Moscow

Moscovites are mys-tified by a flood of bomb hoaxes forc-

ing the evacuation of courts, schools and malls while author-ities appear unable to find the culprits even after months of disruption to public life.

The warnings of planted bombs, all of them false, have been sent to numerous Russian cities, but particularly targeted the capital, where around 16 million live and work, with up to 1,000 threats per day.

S i n c e l a t e No -vember, more than 1.6 million people have been evacuat-ed from buildings in Moscow, the Inter-fax news agency said citing sources.

Yet, both the author-ities and Kremlin-con-trolled television channels stay mostly clear of the topic.

Yulia Olshanskaya, a local government official, said her daughter Maria’s school was evacuated “sometimes several times a day” throughout De-cember.

“We can’t keep count of how many times it’s happened,” she said.

“Sometimes our lessons were cancelled or postponed on those days and they also evacuated people,” said 13-year-old Maria Olshanskaya.

Another Muscovite, Yulia Grebenchenko, said her daugh-ter’s school has been evacuated 13 times since the start of De-

c e m -ber.

“Some parents even hired a dog handler to check the school more quickly because you never know how long the sniffer dog units will take,” said the office worker.

Cathedral, metro, swimming pools

The threats are always issued in the same way: a slew of emails are sent from encrypted provid-ers to organisations and compa-nies that according to the law must be inspected or evacuated.

No one has totted up the exact cost of the upheaval, but the financial damage from a similar

wave of telephone bomb hoaxes in 2017 amounted to millions of dollars, Russian officials said.

On a single day, February 5, 1,500 locations were affected including the central Church of Christ the Saviour, some 30 courts, 150 educational insti-tutions, 232 metro stations, more than a dozen clinics, 75 swimming pools and about 50 shopping centres, an “informed source” told the Interfax news agency.

“I’ve just wasted several working hours,” said Sergei, an LGBT rights activist, as he wait-ed for sniffer dogs to arrive at Moscow’s Basmanny district court on Thursday after every-one had been forced to leave.

The authorities have said al-most nothing.

At the end of January, the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB, and state commu-nications watchdog Roskom-nadzor in terse statements an-nounced that two encrypted email providers based abroad had been blocked after being used to send false threats.

They did not name suspects or give any leads or motive, nor did they issue any reassurance to the public despite the major disruption.

Social media and some media reports have yielded a few more clues.

The Telegram messenger ac-count of Saint Petersburg courts has posted scans of messages re-ferring to a shadowy blackmail scheme involving the Bitcoin virtual currency.

They include demands for the return of 120 bitcoins ($1.2

million at the current rate) that were allegedly stolen by Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeyev using the now-de-funct WEX cryptocurrency plat-form.

‘Completely powerless’This ultra-conservative oli-

garch -- targeted by Western sanctions and reportedly close to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine and the Russian secu-rity service -- has denied any involvement.

Experts suggested that au-thorities are at an impasse, while Kremlin-controlled tele-vision largely ignores the bomb hoaxes.

“This incident shows the Rus-sian state is completely power-less,” said Valery Shiryayev, a former KGB officer who writes on military matters for Novaya Gazeta independent newspaper.

“If they discussed this on na-tional TV, people would have even less confidence in the au-thorities,” he said.

Even Roskomnadzor ad-mitted that blocking encrypt-ed e-mails only has a limited effect since users can simply use a different provider or a VPN.

“It’s actually possible that technology is so complex to-day and offer criminals so many tools that even secret services with the best equipment can’t stop them,” said Shiryayev.

And he warned that the same tactic could be used elsewhere.

“Currently this weapon has only been used against Russia... but bear in mind that it could strike anyone.”

Moscow is the target of thousands of mysterious bomb hoaxes

Don’t watch this space: TV doesn’t talk about the hoaxes much

Soldiers and police enter El Salvador’s parliament

San Salvador

Soldiers entered El Salva-dor’s parliament Sunday as

the president demanded law-makers approve a $109 million loan to equip the military and police to fight against violent gangs.

Nayib Bukele called an ex-traordinary weekend session of parliament to ask it approve a loan that has pitted the ex-ecutive against lawmakers in a country with one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Before his entry, armed po-lice and soldiers with rifles and wearing body armour entered the chamber and stood guard -- a move not seen since the end of the country’s civil war in 1992.

“If these good-for-nothings (lawmakers) do not approve the Territorial Control Plan this week we will call them to hold a session again next Sun-

day,” Bukele said in a speech to supporters outside the par-liament.

Bukele, who took office last June, has pledged to tackle gang violence and intends us-ing the loan to better equip the military and police, but lawmakers refused to sit for an extra session over the weekend to debate the issue.

Bukele also called on sup-porters to gather outside par-liament and help pressure the politicians.

“When officials break the constitutional order, the Salva-doran people have the right to insurrection to remove those officials,” Bukele said.

The presence of troops prompted international cries of concern.

El Salvador is one of the world’s most dangerous na-tions -- excluding those endur-ing an armed conflict -- with an average of 35.6 homicides per 100,000 people last year.

Before Mayib Bukele’s entry, armed police and soldiers with rifles and wearing body armor entered the chambe

L u n a r N e w Y e a r

Hundreds of sky lanterns are released in New Taipei City to mark the final day of the Lunar New Year.

T h a i l a n d s h o o t i n g : F a m i l y o f

v i c t i m h o l d s p r a y e r s o u t s i d e m a l l

Grieving family members and relatives of a victim in Thailand’s mall shooting incident take part in prayers, conducted by a monk on the road outside the mall, where some blood-stains are still visible. The victim Peeraphat Palasan was an engineer for a speed train project, according to the father.


Snow problem for Japan’s ice sculpture festivalSapporo | Japan

Every year, tens of thou-sands of tourists flock to the snow festival in the

northern Japanese city of Sappo-ro, attracted by some 200 large, but intricate ice sculptures.

But this year, there’s a prob-lem: no snow.

With high temperatures that festival-goers put down to cli-mate change, organisers were forced to truck in powder from distant towns for their signature sculptures in an unheard-of ice crisis.

“This lack of snow is unprec-edented,” said Yumato Sato, an official in charge of organising the snow festival, which nor-mally uses 30,000 tonnes of the stuff for sculptures ranging from anime characters to famous racehorses.

“We had to bring in snow from places we had never reached out to before” such as Niseko, a town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) away from Sapporo famous for its skiing, he said.

Adding to the problem was the need for pristine snow, perfect for sculpting.

“The snow needs to be free of dirt, otherwise the sculptures can break up,” he said.

“We barely managed to scrape together enough snow.”

Record low snowfall in Japan this year has also forced many ski resorts to shut their pistes. According to Weathernews, one quarter of the 400 resorts surveyed had been unable to operate.

There has been a knock-on ef-fect on one of the snow festival’s main attractions -- a 100-me-tre-long, 10-metre-high slide -- that had to be reduced in size.

‘Once before I die’Snowfall in Sapporo has been

less than half the annual average, according to the Japan Metero-logical Agency’s local observa-tory. High temperatures melted the snow in mid-December and the mercury is expected to stay above average.

This posed a major challenge for the 125 local Self-Defense Forces troops who painstakingly construct the sculptures each year that can be as high as 15 me-tres, according to commanding

officer Colonel Minoru Suzuki.“Due to record warm weather

this year, we didn’t have much snow and the snow contained more water which made the statues melt easily,” Suzuki said.

His troops spent about 100 days planning and building a 15-metre tall, 20-metre wide statue modelled on the palace at Lazienki Park in Warsaw to commemorate the 100th anni-

versary of Japanese-Polish dip-lomatic relations in 2019.

”We had to keep repair-ing the statue so we struggled. It was difficult to attach parts because it was so warm,” he added.

The festival has been running for 70 years and is a major tour-ist magnet, drawing 2.7 million visitors last year.

Sunao Kinoshita, a 75-year-old who had travelled up from near

Osaka, said he “had to see it once before I die”.

“Northern Japanese cities have been hosting snow festivals every year. It would be a shame if such events ended” due to global warming, he said.

A regular festival-goer from the region also laid the blame on global warming. “I was worried the climate was different this year,” Ayaka Muto, 31, told AFP.

“Usually we have more snow.

I think it’s strange. I feel global warming is happening,” added Muto.

‘Serious and a disaster’The main theme of this year’s

festival, which runs until Feb-ruary 11, is the ethnic Ainu mi-nority in Hokkaido, as the first Ainu-themed national museum, nicknamed Upopoy or “singing together” in the Ainu language, will open in April.

“We’ve never before had statues with such powerful Ainu characteristics,” Sato said.

One statue featured a giant Blakiston’s fish owl spreading its wings watching over sculptures of the museum and a ship. The owl is considered a god in Ainu culture.

Another statue was based on the Ainu myth of a thunder god and a forest princess.

And some have been turning to the nature gods of Japan’s native Shinto religion to pray for more snow.

In mid-January, a ski resort in western Hyogo prefecture invited a Shinto priest to hold a ceremony to ask the gods for snow, as did the organisers of the Yamagata snow festival in northern Japan.

“It’s not that we don’t have enough snow. We don’t have snow at all. It’s serious and it’s a disaster,” Hyogo Governor Toshizo Ido told reporters last month.

The Sapporo festival organis-ers hope they can continue the famed event in the future despite the warming climate.

“This year marked the 71st event. It’s a festival that we want to carry on for future genera-tions,” Sato said.

“(But) this is about weather so all we can do is to pray.”

A lack of snow and warming temperatures have made Sapporo’s snow festival tricky this year, but it has still produced some fantastic sculptures

The Blakiston’s fish owl is considered a god in Ainu culture

The snow slide is one of the main attractionsNoodle doodle railway train: there are all kinds of inventive attractions at the festival

Solar Orbiter launches on mission to reveal Sun’s secretsAFP | Miami

The US-European Solar Orbiter probe launched Sunday night from Flor-

ida on a voyage to deepen our understanding of the Sun and how it shapes the space weather that impacts technology back on Earth.

The mission, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA, suc-cessfully blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 11:03pm (0403 GMT Monday) and could last up to nine years or more.

At 12:24am Monday (0524 GMT) the European Space Op-erations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, received a signal from the spacecraft indicating that its solar panels had successfully deployed.

Space Orbiter is expected to provide unprecedented insights into the Sun’s atmosphere, its winds and its magnetic fields, including how it shapes the heli-osphere, the vast swath of space that encompasses our system.

By journeying out of the eclip-tic plane -- the belt of space roughly aligned with the Sun’s equator, through which the planets orbit -- it will acquire the first-ever images of our star’s uncharted polar regions.

Drawing on gravity assists from Earth and Venus, Solar Or-biter will slingshot itself into a bird’s eye view of the Sun’s poles,

reaching its primary science or-bit in two years’ time.

“I think it was picture per-fect, suddenly you really feel like you’re connected to the entire solar system,” said Daniel Mul-ler, ESA project scientist, shortly after the launch.

“You’re here on Earth and you’re launching something that will go close to the Sun.”

“We have one common goal and that is to get the good sci-ence out of this mission. I think we’re going to succeed,” added Holly Gilbert, director of NASA’s heliophysics science division.

Space weather

Ten state-of-the-art instru-ments on board will record myr-iad observations to help scien-tists unlock clues about what drives solar winds and flares.

These emit billions of highly charged particles that impact the Earth, producing the spec-tacular Northern Lights. But they can also disrupt radar sys-tems, radio networks and even, though rarely, render satellites useless.

The largest solar storm on re-cord hit North America in Sep-tember 1859, knocking out much

of the continent’s telegraph net-work and bathing the skies in an aurora viewable as far away as the Caribbean.

“Imagine if just half of our satellites were destroyed,” said Matthieu Berthomier, a researcher at the Paris-based Plasma Physics Laboratory. “It would be a disaster for man-kind.”

Titanium heat shieldAt its closest approach, Solar

Orbiter will be nearer to the Sun than Mercury, a mere 42 million kilometers (26 million miles) away.

With a custom-designed ti-tanium heat shield, it is built to withstand temperatures as high as 500 Celsius (930 Fahren-heit). Its heat-resistant structure is coated in a thin, black layer of calcium phosphate, a char-coal-like powder that is similar to pigments used in prehistoric cave paintings.

The shield will protect the instruments from extreme parti-cle radiation emitted from solar explosions.

All but one of the spacecraft’s telescopes will peep out through holes in the heat shield that open and close in a carefully orches-trated dance, while other in-struments will work behind the shadow of the shield.

Just like Earth, the Sun’s poles

are extreme regions quite differ-ent from the rest of the body. It is covered in coronal holes, cooler stretches where fast-gushing solar wind originates.

Scientists believe this region could be key to understanding what drives its magnetic activity.

Every 11 years, the Sun’s poles flip: north becoming south and vice versa. Just before this event, solar activity increases, sending powerful bursts of solar material into space.

Solar Orbiter will observe the surface as it explodes and record measurements as the material goes by the spacecraft.

The only spacecraft to previ-ously fly over the Sun’s poles was another joint ESA/NASA venture, the Ulysses, launched in 1990. But it got no closer to the Sun than the Earth is.

“You can’t really get much closer than Solar Orbiter is going and still look at the Sun,” ESA’s Muller said.

Solar Orbiter will use three gravity assists to draw its or-bit closer to the Sun: two past Venus in December 2020 and August 2021, and one past Earth in November 2021, leading up to its first close pass by the Sun in 2022.

It will work in concert with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018 and will fly much closer to the Sun, passing through the star’s inner atmosphere to see how energy flows through its corona.

This handout illustration image provided by NASA shows the Solar Orbiter, which, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, launched Sunday on a mission to study the Sun’s polar regions and magnetic environment

BIRD OF PREY (15+)(ACTION/ADVENTURE/CRIME) OASIS JUFFAIR:12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (ATMOS): 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 12.30 + 1.30 + 3.00 + 4.00 + 5.30 + 6.30 + 8.00 + 9.00 + 10.30 + 11.30 PM + (12.30 MN + 1.00 AM THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE:(ATMOS): 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MNCITY CENTRE (IMAX 2D):10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE (VIP I) : 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PMCITY CENTRE (VIP II) : 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMSEEF (I):10.30 AM + 11.30 AM + 12.30 + 1.00 + 2.00 + 3.00 + 3.30 + 4.30 + 5.30 + 6.00 + 7.00 + 8.00 + 8.30 + 9.30 + 10.30 + 11.00 PM + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL: 10.30 AM + 11.30 AM + 1.00 + 2.00 + 3.30 + 4.30 + 6.00 + 7.00 + 8.30 + 9.30 + 11.00 PM + 12.00 MN

MARGOT ROBBIE, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, EWAN MCGREGOR

MALANG (PG-15)(HINDI/ACTIONSTARTING FROM THURSDAY 06TH , 7.00 PM ONWARDSOASIS JUFFAIR:12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL: 11.15 AM + 2.15 + 5.15 + 8.15 + 11.15 PM

ADITYA ROY KAPOOR, ANIL KAPOOR, DISHA PATANI

THE ROOM (15+)(THRILLER)OASIS JUFFAIR: 2.15 + 7.00 + 11.45 PMCITY CENTRE:11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + (12.45 MN THRS/FRI.)SEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL: 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM

OLGA KURYLENKO, KEVIN JANSSENS, JOSHUA WILSON

LATTE AND THE MAGIC WATERSTONE (G)OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 12.45 + 9.15 PMSEEF (II): 11.00 AM + 12.45 + 2.30 + 4.15 PM

ASHLEY BORNANCIN, DANNY FEHSENFELD, LESLIE L. MILLER

TERRA WILLY : UNKNOWN PLANET (PG) OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 10.45 AM + 7.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 5.00 PMCITY CENTRE (3D) : 12.30 + 7.00 PMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 12.15 + 2.15 + 4.15 PM

TIMOTHÉ VOM DORP, EDOUARD BAER, MARIE-EUGÉNIE MARÉCHAL

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (PG-15)(ACTION/COMEDY/CRIME)OASIS JUFFAIR:12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.00 + 1.00 + 2.45 + 3.45 + 5.30 + 6.30 + 8.15 + 9.15 + 11.00 PM + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)SEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MN + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM

WILL SMITH, MARTIN LAWRENCE, VANESSA HUDGENS

DOLITTLE (PG)(ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY) دددددد OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 2.45 + 5.00 + 11.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 + 8.00 + 10.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PM

ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ANTONIO BANDERAS, MICHAEL SHEEN

THIEF OF BAGHDAD (PG-13)(ARABIC/ACTION/COMEDYCITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM

MOHAMMED EMAM, YASMINE RAEIS, AMINA KHALIL

1917 (PG-15)(WAR/ACTION/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE:10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PM

GEORGE MACKAY, DEAN-CHARLES CHAPMAN, MARK STRONG

JUMANJI THE NEXT LEVEL (PG-15)CITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM

DWAYNE JOHNSON, JACK BLACK, KEVIN HART

THE GENTLEMEN (15+)(CRIME/ACTION) ددددددد دددددد CITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, CHARLIE HUNNAM, HENRY GOLDING

AL FELOUS (THE MONEY) (PG-15)(ARABICCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II):6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM

TAMER HOSNY, ZEINA, KHALID EL-SAWI

FROZEN 2 (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 PMSEEF (II): 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 PM

KRISTEN BELL, IDINA MENZEL, JOSH GAD

SPIES IN DISGUISE (PG)(ANIMATION/ACTIONCITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 + 8.00 + 10.15 PM

WILL SMITH, TOM HOLLAND, KAREN GILLAN

MASAMEER: THE MOVIE (PG)(ANIMATION/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE:2.30 + 10.30 PM

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

MIRACLE IN CELL NO . 7 (PG-15)(TURKISH/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE:9.00 + 11.45 PM

ARAS BULUT İYNEMLİ, NİSA SOFİYA AKSONGUR, İLKER AKSUM

CHHAPAAK (PG-15)(HINDI/DRAMA) دددددد ددد SEEF (II):8.30 + 11.00 PM

DEEPIKA PADUKONE, VIKRANT MASSEY, MADHURJEET SARGHI

ANJAAM PATHIRA (PG-15 )(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR:2.45 + 8.00 PM

KUNCHACKO BOBAN, SHARAFUDHEEN, INDRANS

SHYLOCK (PG-15)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR:12.15 + 5.30 + 10.45 PM

MAMMOOTTY,MEENA,SIDDQUE,RAJKIRANA

VARANE AVASHYAMUND (PG-13)(MALAYALAM) From Thurs. 6th 7:00 PM Onwards OASIS JUFFAIR:12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PMSEEF (I): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMAL HAMRA : 3.00 + 9.00 PM

SURESH GOPI, SHOBANA, DULQUER SALMAAN, KALYANI PRIYADARSHAN, URVASHI

ANVESHANAM ()(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR:10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I): 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PMAL HAMRA : 12.00 + 6.00 + (12.00 MN THURS./FRI)

JAYASURYA, LAL, LENNA, VIJAY BABU

VAANAM KOTTATTUM (PG-13)(TAMIL) From Thurs. 6th 7:00 PM Onwards OASIS JUFFAIR:11.45 AM + 4.30 + 9.15 PMSEEF (I): 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PM

VIKRAM PRABHU R. SARATHKUMAR, R RADIKAA SARATHKUMAR,AISHWARYA RAJESH,

13 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 202014 TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020

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

Yesterday’s solution

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

Yesterday’s solution

S U D O K UAcross1- Quick cut; 5- Wander about; 8- Hats; 12- Pick-me-up; 14- Different; 15- Settled down; 16- Soil; 17- Scottish loch, home to a monster!; 18- Words of denial; 19- Fib; 21- Constrictor; 23- Far out!; 24- Marker; 25- Film director Lee; 26- Jewish law; 30- Available; 32- Take ___ at (try); 33- Lacking intelligence; 37- Disencumbers; 38- Piece of French bread?; 39- To ___ (perfectly); 40- To keep company as a friend; 42- Nahuatl speaker; 43- Like Loki; 44- Show off; 45- Shoebox letters; 48- In medias ___; 49- Center of activity; 50- Interlocks; 52- Contribution; 57- Ingrid’s “Casablanca” role; 58- The jig ___!; 60- ___ Dame; 61- Lecherous look; 62- Lucie’s father; 63- New Mexico’s state flower; 64- Sea eagle; 65- Cornerstone abbr.; 66- Yonder thing;

Down 1- Do a slow burn; 2- Flood survivor; 3- Calvary letters; 4- Big East team; 5- Exultation; 6- Knucklehead; 7- Tyrannic; 8- Pious platitudes; 9- HI hi; 10- Metal spike used by mountaineers; 11- Sharp pain; 13- Winged child; 14- Geraint’s lady; 20- Young fellow; 22- Monetary unit of China; 24- Silly; 26- Skater Lipinski; 27- Sale sign; 28- Old Fords; 29- Person who dresses stones; 30- Declaim; 31- Public square; 33- Copper and zinc alloy; 34- Famous last words; 35- Observed; 36- Faction of a group, often religious; 38- Type of FDR chat; 41- Heart; 42- Empire State capital; 44- Amusement; 45- “South Pacific” hero; 46- Conger catcher; 47- Ruhr city; 49- Snake dancers; 51- Fabled loser; 52- Finely powdered earth; 53- Advertise boastfully; 54- Hankering; 55- Killer whale; 56- Tidy, without fault; 59- Paris possessive;

The Irishman: Martin Scorsese’s finest film for 30 yearsThe Irishman (also titled

onscreen as I Heard You Paint Houses) is a 2019

American epic crime film di-rected and produced by Mar-tin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.

It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, with Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Steph-anie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The film follows Frank

Sheeran (De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family, in-cluding his time working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).

In September 2014, follow-ing years of development hell, The Irishman was announced as Scorsese’s next film after Silence (2016). De Niro, who also served as producer, and Pacino were confirmed that month, as was Pesci, who came out of his un-official retirement to star after numerous requests.

Principal photography began in September 2017 in New York City and in the Mineola and Williston Park sections of Long Island, and wrapped in March 2018. Scenes were filmed with a custom three-camera rig to help facilitate the extensive de-ag-ing digital effects that made De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci appear younger.

With a production budget of $159 million and a runt-ime of 209 minutes, i t is among the most expensive and longest films of Scorsese’s career.

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and – especial-ly – Joe Pesci turn in

performances of wintry brilliance in Scorsese’s

epically daring late stage mob masterpiece

M O V I E R E V I E W

DON’T MISS IT

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, centre, in ‘The Irishman’

‘Parasite’ invades Oscars

14 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

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LOS ANGELES

“Parasite,” a dark social satire from South Korea, won the Oscar for best

picture on Sunday, making history as the first film in a language other than English to claim the movie industry’s highest honor.

“Parasite,” about the gap between rich and poor in modern Seoul, won a total of four Oscars, including best director and original screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and best inter-national feature film. No film had ever won both international feature

film and best picture at the Oscars.It was a remarkable outcome for a

film that played with subtitles in the United States, beating movies by ma-jor studios and Hollywood veterans such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. The win also came at the end of an awards season that had been criticized for lack of diversity.

Instead, the Oscars stage was crowded with South Kore-an actors and filmmakers, who mostly spoke to the audience through an interpreter.

“I am speechless,” said Kwak Sin Ae, one of “Parasite”‘s

co-producers. “We never imagined this would ever happen. We are so happy. I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now.”

Joaquin Phoenix wins best actor Oscar for ‘Joker’

Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar on Sunday for his terrifying performance as an isolated loner who becomes one of the world’s best known comic book villains in “Joker,” and invoked his late brother River Phoenix in one of the most emotional acceptance speeches of the night.

Phoenix, 45, won the best actor Oscar after three previous nom-inations, crowning an awards season that has seen him sweep every major prize for his role in the standalone origin story of Batman’s archenemy.

“I’ve been a scoundrel in my life, I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, I’ve been hard to work with. I’m grateful so many of you in this room have given me a second chance,” Phoenix said in accepting his award.

“When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, he said: Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow,” he said in concluding his speech tearfully to a standing ova-tion.

Renee Zellweger wins best actress Oscar for

‘Judy’

Renee Zellweger was crowned best actress at the Oscars on Sun-day for her portrait of Hollywood legend Judy Garland in “Judy,” a bio-graphical drama explor-ing the singer’s personal and professional turmoil at the end of her life.

It marked the second Oscar victory in four nom-inations for Zellweger, 50, a Texas-born performer whose immersion in the role of Garland also earned Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards.

Taking the stage to accept her award, Zellweger saluted her fellow nominees in the best actress race - Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet,” Scarlett Johansson for “Marriage Sto-ry,” Charlize Theron for “Bombshell,” and Saoirse Ronan for “Little Women.”

“I have to say it is an honor to be considered in your company,” Zellweger said.

List of winners in key categories:Best Picture

“Parasite” (Neon)

Best ActorJoaquin Phoenix - “Joker”

Best ActressRenee Zellweger - “Judy”

Best DirectorBong Joon Ho - “Parasite”

Best Supporting ActorBrad Pitt - “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Best Supporting ActressLaura Dern - “Marriage Story”

Best Original Screenplay“Parasite”

Best Adapted Screenplay“Jojo Rabbit”

Best Animated Feature Film“Toy Story 4”

Best Documentary Film“American Factory”

Best International Feature Film“Parasite” - South Korea

Best Original Song“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” - “Rocketman”

Renee Zellweger Laura Dern Bong Joon Ho Joaquin Phoenix Brad Pitt

Kaitlyn DeverFlorence PughCharlize TheronMargot RobbieSaoirse RonanNatalie Portman Janelle Monae Scarlett Johansson

Indian Cricketer TA Sekhar visits ISB

TDT | Manama

One of the fastest bowlers in India in the early eighties,

TA Sekhar visited the Indian School Bahrain and interacted with students.

In the interactive session with the under 14 boys, he ad-vised them to focus on ‘line and length’ instead of trying to bowl faster deliveries at this age.

ISB Secretary Saji Antony, EC Members Rajesh Nambiar, Binu

Mannil Varughese, Ajayakr-ishnan V, Saji Mangad, Princi-pal VR Palaniswamy, Vice-Prin-cipals and Physical Education teachers attended the interac-tive session.

TA Sekhar advised the young boys to perform well and emerge first in every age group tournaments before dream-ing to represent the country or the national team. Quoting ‘practice makes man perfect’, he advised the children to

‘practice perfectly to become perfect man.’

TA Sekhar’s two Test match-es were in the 1982-83 season when he was flown out to Pa-kistan to replace the injured Madan Lal. He played a One Day International in that series and three more against England two years later. Since then his major contribution to Indian cricket is a bowling coach at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai.

15

sports


After retiring as a player, TA Sekhar’s major contri-bution to Indian cricket

is a bowling coach at the MRF Pace Foundation in

Chennai

Pakistan crush BangladeshPakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi snared Mominul Haque in the first over on day four to lead the hosts to victory in RawalpindiAFP | Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Pakistan completed a crushing innings-and-44-run victory over Bang-

ladesh on the fourth morning yesterday, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 168 in their second innings after resuming the day on 126-6 as Pakistan’s pace and spin attack was too hot to handle despite a flat Rawalpindi stadi-um pitch.

Fast bowler Naseem Shah, who at 16 years and 359 days became the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick on Sunday, finished with 4-26 and was de-clared man of the match.

Despite Naseem being una-vailable to bowl yesterday with rib pain, Pakistan mopped up the last four wickets in 90 min-utes, inflicting their 10th defeat on Bangladesh in 11 matches with one draw.

Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali said home wins -- only possi-ble in recent months, after the resumption of Test cricket in Pakistan following a decade’s isolation over security concerns -- were important to boost con-fidence.

“It’s an important win and home wins always increase con-fidence within the team,” said Azhar. “We have to play impor-tant away series including one in England (July-August this year) so we will carry this confidence.

“Naseem and other bowlers bowled superbly and it was an outstanding batting display, so all in all it was a complete team effort.”

Bangladesh skipper Mom-inul Haque started the day by

square-driving paceman Sha-heen Shah Afridi for his fifth boundary in the first over, but then fell leg-before in the same over for 41.

Liton Das (29) and tail-ender Rubel Hossain kept Pakistan at bay for 11.5 overs before Mo-hammad Abbas trapped Rubel

leg-before for five.Leg-spinner Yasir Shah dis-

missed Das lbw and had Abu Jayed for three to finish with 4-58 and complete the win.

‘Disappointing batting’Haque rued Bangladesh’s low

first-innings total.“Disappointing batting on a

flat wicket (in the first innings) and no team can come back from such situations,” said Haque, who has now lost all three Tests as skipper by an innings.

“Pakistan bowled superbly and exploited our weaknesses and that hat-trick changed the game completely to open Paki-stan’s victory path.”

With the victory, Pakistan gained 60 points in the World Test Championship, taking their

tally to 140 points.India lead the nine-team

championship table with 360 points followed by Australia (246) and England 146.

Top two teams on the cham-pionship table will play the final at Lord’s in June 2021.

Pakistan’s victory was on the cards after they bowled Bangladesh out for 233 in the first innings and then piled up 445 in reply, with Babar Azam smashing 143 and Shan Masood 100.

This becomes Bangladesh’s sixth defeat in 14 months, in-cluding their fifth by an innings. They have yet to score a cham-pionship point in three Tests.

The second Test starts in Ka-rachi -- after a two-month break -- from April 5-9.

Pakistan’s players celebrate a wicket

41runs could only be

scored by Bangladesh skipper Mominul

Haque

Tornado IRS edge Hajweri CC TDT | Manama

Tornado IRS beat Hajweri CC by one wicket in CBA

Division B 25 overs league.After winning the toss, Ha-

jweri elected to bat first and opener Atif (51) scored a bril-liant half century to give them a good start. Later Tornado bowler Shahzeem’s five wicket spell collapsed the Hajweri’s battling line up. At the end of 25 overs Hajweri scored 175. Chasing the target Tornado IRS reach the target in 24th over with 9 wicket loss. Atif took five wickets for Hajweri. Sameer (37) became the top scorer for Tornado.

Tornado IRS 176/9 in 24 runs (Sameer 37, Suhail 35, Atif 5/24) beat Hajweri 175/10 (Atif 51, Shahzeem 5/23) by 1 wicket

Ustad XI won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 208 run at the end of 25 overs, Faisal (37) the top scorer, Suraj and Guru took three wickets each for RKCT. In the second innings Abdul Wahad magic spell helped Ustad XI to win-dup RKCT for 136 runs. He took

six wickets in his 4 overs for just 20 runs. Suraj (74) the top scorer for RKCT

Ustad XI 208/10 (Faisal 37, Ashraf 35, Suraj 3/40) beat RKCT 136/10 (Suraj 74, Abdul Wahab 6/20) by 72 runs

Pele is depressed, reclusive due to health issues, says son AFP | Sao Paulo

Brazilian soccer great Pele is depressed over his poor

health and reluctant to leave the house because he cannot walk unaided, his son Edinho said in an interview published in Brazil yesterday.

Pele, widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in history and who will be 80 in October, has had hip trou-ble for years and now needs a frame to walk. Many of his re-cent public appearances have

been in a wheelchair.“He’s pretty fragile. He had

a hip replacement and didn’t have an adequate or ideal re-habilitation,” Edinho told TV Globo.

“So he has this problem with mobility and that has set off a kind of depression. Imagine, he’s the King, he was always such an imposing figure and today he can’t walk properly.

“He’s embarrassed, he doesn’t want to go out, be seen, or do practically anything that involves leaving the house,” his son added.

Abdul Wahad - Ustad XI

Shahzeem - Tornado IRS

TA Sekhar with ISB officials and students

KNOW

BETTER

Pickford hits out at pundits over criticismReuters | London

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford says his role as

England’s number one has made him the target of unfair criticism.

Pickford let Christian Benteke’s equaliser slip under him in Everton’s 3-1 win over Crystal Pal-ace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Former defender and television pundit Gary N e v i l l e s lammed Pickford i n S e p -t e m b e r for laugh-ing when E v e r t o n we re 3 -1 d o w n a g a i n s t Manchester City, while others have

highlighted his patchy form over the last 18 months.

“Everyone hates you, for some reason, that’s part of be-ing an England player,” Pick-ford told British media.

“I think the press and every-body, the punters - look at Gary

Neville - they just want to come for England players ... as a person, I don’t let it affect me.”

Pickford said his error against Palace was a result

of his leg getting stuck and he was lucky to escape injury.

“I’ve watched the goal. I’m lucky I haven’t

done my cruciate (knee ligaments), to be honest. My foot planted,” he add-ed. “I couldn’t get my leg out. It was stuck.”

Jordan Pickford


Tight finishes highlight Rotax Challenge Thrilling fifth round of Rotax Mojo Max Challenge concludes at BIKC

TDT | Manama

Bahrain International Kart-ing Circuit (BIKC) hosted a thrilling fifth round of

the 2019/2020 Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC), with three of the five competi-tion classes being decided by less than a second.

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s leading Rotax kart owners put on an exciting show along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre Commission In-ternationale de Karting track.

Fred Clark, Harry Hannam and Gracie Rose Grantham were all on the winning end of the series of tight finishes in their respective BRMMC categories.

Fahad Alkhaled and Lewis Smith were the meeting’s other winners, taking their races in more comfortable fashion.

Fred Clark won the Senior Max Masters class after a tense battle with Osama Azzouka. In the beginning, it was Azzouka on pole and he also enjoyed a slim advantage for much of their 15-

lap final. But on the very last lap, Azzouka conceded first place to Clark, who went on to claim the chequered flag in a total race time of 14 minutes 16.075 sec-onds, just 0.621 seconds ahead of Azzouka. Roberto Giannotti came third 6.676s adrift.

Harry Hannam was the win-ner in the Mini Max class. He had a brilliant start in the nine-lap final, going from fifth on the grid to second on the very first lap. He then took the lead on lap three and stayed in front the rest of the way to win in 9:01.853. It wasn’t a clear drive to the finish, however, as Harry had to stave off the challenge of pole-sit-ter Luca Kane Houghton. Only 0.066s separated the pair in the end, making for the closest finish of the round. Tye Mejia came away with the final podium step 5.145s behind.

In the Micro Max category, Gracie Rose Grantham emerged victorious, but not without a hard fight with Khalid Alnajjar. The talented young pair were engaged in a see-saw battle over

the last five laps of their nine-lap final. Gracie Rose was able to do enough to secure the chequered flag in 9:36.282, while Khalid

was the runner-up just 0.346s behind. Rashid Alkhalifa com-pleted the podium 4.992s back.

Fahad Alkhaled triumphed in the Senior Max category. Alkhaled started from second on the grid and dropped to third on lap two, but was able to regain his place before taking over in front on lap eight after pole-sitter and early race lead-er Najashi Rashdan was forced to retire. Alkhaled raced to the win in 13:56.320. Rashed Al-muammari came second 1.505s behind, while Mohammed Mat-tar was third 3.639s from first place.

In the Junior Max class, win-ner Lewis Smith gained the lead

on lap two after starting from second place on the grid. He never looked back from there, cruising to a strong finish in the 15-lap final in 13:57.806. Lewis was 6.423s ahead of runner-up Abdullah Aldossery, while Fahad

Almuqla came third 16.285s off the pace.

At the end of all the racing, the winners were presented their re-spective trophies in the podium ceremony.

Following the meeting’s re-sults, topping their respective championship standings are Alkhaled, Azzouka, Lewis, Shan-thosh Kumar in the Mini Max class, and Gracie Rose.

Only two rounds remain in the BRMMC, which is being held under the umbrella of the Bah-rain Karting Sprint Champion-ship. The sixth and penultimate meeting is scheduled for March 7, while the season finale is set for April 4.A participant crosses the finish line

Winners on the podium at BKIC

0.621seconds were the

difference between Fred Clark and Osama Azzouka in crossing the finish line

Kutateladze hopes to fulfill coaches’ prophecies with title

• Guram Kutateladze will face Cleiton “Predator” for world title at BRAVE CF 35 in Brazil

TDT | Manama

Guram Kutateladze has lived a life on the road. Born

in Georgia, the BRAVE Com-bat Federation title contend-er moved to Russia before he could talk and has also adopted Sweden as a second home. All that he had to rely on was his martial arts training. A life-long practitioner, he fought as a kid, and now as an adult will look

to wrestle the world title away from Brazilian Cleiton “Pred-ator”.

The duo is set to meet at BRAVE CF 35’s main event, which takes place in Balneario Camboriu, Brazil, on March 28th. It’s been a long and wind-ing road for “The Georgian Vi-king”, who has traveled around in search of training partners his entire life and has found a home with Bahrain’s big-gest-ever sports enterprise.

While signing his contract for the title bout, Kutateladze made it a point to remember his coaches from his younger days, who all said he was go-ing to become a world cham-pion one day. After an amaz-ing start to his BRAVE CF ca-

reer, Guram is one fight away from fulfilling his coaches’ prophecies.

Kutateladze made his pro-motional debut back at BRAVE CF 16, in September of 2018, when he took on Erick “Indio Brabo”, beating the Brazilian by decision. A little more than a year later, he travelled to the Kingdom of Bahrain, where he scored a violent KO over Felipe Silva at BRAVE CF 29.

The two victories have cre-dentialed Guram for a title shot. However, in order to make good on his coaches’ promises, he will have to face - and beat - the toughest challenge of his career. Can “The Georgian Viking” shock the world on March 28th?

Guram Kutateladze represents Sweden and Georgia ahead of his BRAVE CF title shot

Hamilton and Mercedes is ‘obvious pairing’ says F1 team boss WolffAFP | London

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff said yester-

day that his team’s tie-up with Lewis Hamilton is the “obvi-ous pairing”, with the future of the six-time world champion still unclear on the eve of the new season.

Hamilton, 35, is out of con-tract at the end of the year and the British driver has been linked with a move to Ferrari.

“It is the obvious pairing going forward,” said Wolff as Mercedes unveiled a five-year partnership with Jim Ratcliffe’s chemicals company Ineos in London.

“We would like to have the fastest man in the car and I know Lewis wants to be in the fastest car. There is an obvious mutual outcome.”

Wolff revealed he had not spoken to Hamilton since the team’s Christmas party in December.

“We travel for 10 months of the year and what we do over the winter is that we leave each other in peace,” he said.

“We said we would continue our discus-

sions when he is back from America and we

have kicked off the sea-son.“Lewis has proven he is

the best current driver, and on the mid and long-term. I would hope we can continue to provide technology to the best driver.”

Hamilton will attempt to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of seven drivers’ world titles this year while Mercedes are attempting to win a sev-enth straight constructors’ championship.

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton waves after winning the final race of 2019 Formula One season at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi (file photo)

McTominay says Man Utd determined to end season on high

AFP | London

Scott McTominay says Manchester United are

“fully focused” on ending their troubled season on a high note, with silverware still on offer in the FA Cup and Europa League as he nears a return from injury.

United have found it hard to establish any momentum in a challenging campaign that has threatened to spiral into disarray at times.

They are six points adrift of the Premier League’s top four but could still qualify for the Champions League through another route if they win the Europa League.

United face Club Brug-ge in the last 32 later this month, while their next FA Cup assignment is a fifth-round tie at second-tier Derby.

Despite distracting spec-ulation about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future as man-ager, combined with fan protests against United’s owners the Glazer family and the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Wood-ward, McTominay is adamant there is still a possibility of a happy ending for everyone at Old Trafford.Scott McTominay

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