$10,000 to watch royal wedding on TV! Nairobi

A hotel in Kenya is charging couples up to $10,000 for a package to watch the televised proceed-ings of Britain’s royal wedding Saturday, CNN

reported. Couples are supposed to come dressed in their “finest

wedding guest attire” to view the party at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club in Nairobi. Organisers said the premium package comes with a two-night hotel stay and a helicopter ride to Mount Kenya, but many Kenyans on social media argued ticket fees for the event were higher than the cost of attending the wedding in the UK.

“We just want to bring people together to see the royal wedding and also give them the royal experience,” Wanjiku Kamau was quoted.

But others said the event illustrated the rampant

inequality in the African country, where the average consumption per capita of households in Nairobi is less than $3,000 per year.

“Some privileged Kenyan couples will pay the amount for the privilege of being seen by other priv-ileged Kenyans as they watch, on TV, the wedding of some privileged Westerners in a country far, far away,” Adrian Blomfield said in a tweet.

TV viewers across the globe will tune in Saturday to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot in the highly anticipated ceremony. The couple have also invited more than 2,600 members of the public onto the grounds of Windsor Castle to share their wedding day.

The invitees will be able to watch the arrivals of the bride and groom and their guests and also catch a glimpse of the newlyweds depart in a carriage pro-cession after the ceremony.

03Marriage bureaus flood social media!

05 Life maid not easy

06Identity crisis ‘affecting Bahraini youth’

11

Alexander-Arnold named in England squad for FIFA World Cup 19WORLD

OP-EDC E L E B S

Cena willing to walk Markle down the aisleAmid news that Meghan Markle’s father will skip her royal wedding with Prince Harry later this week, actor John Cena has joked that he can walk the actress down the aisle. P17

THURSDAYMAY 2018

200 FILS ISSUE NO. 7749

Power corrupts, even conservatives

Reset your taste buds for healthy Ramadan 4 NEWS OF BAHRAIN

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O V E R P R I C E DDON’T MISS IT

Nasarallah captains A-team of terroristsMove in line with Bahrain’s commitment to work effectively against terrorism

• Foreign Minister urges the international community “to intensify efforts to eliminate all sources of support provided by Iran to terrorism.

• Sanctions will be imposed on these individuals and entities, including freezing assets and barring citizens and residents from dealing with them.

Manama

Bahrain yesterday placed Hezbol-lah leader Hassan Nasrallah, his deputy Naim Qassim and eight

other individuals along with four enti-ties, all members of the Shura Council of the Lebanese militia, on its terror list.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the designation was part of Bahrain’s continuous efforts to combat all forms of violence, extremism and terrorism and to confront all those who finance or support it.

The efforts are in co-operation with the US and Saudi Arabia, which co-chair the Terrorist Financing Targeting Cen-tre (TFTC) comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE, the ministry pointed out.

Under the decision, approved by the Cabinet on Monday, sanctions will be imposed on these individuals and en-tities, including freezing assets and barring citizens and residents in the Kingdom from dealing with them.

Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa affirmed Bahrain’s

commitment to working collectively and effectively with all brothers and allies in the face of terrorism and drying its sources of funding.

“The designation of these individuals and entities comes as part of Bahrain’s continuous efforts to combat violence, extremism and terrorism, and to expand cooperation and coordination with all ef-forts aimed at eradicating this dangerous scourge that threatens the security and stability of the world,” Shaikh Khalid said.

The Foreign Minister urged the in-ternational community “to intensify efforts to eliminate all sources of sup-port provided by Iran to terrorism and terrorist militias such as Hezbollah, which aims at spreading chaos and strife and seeks to undermine secu-rity and peace in the region and the world.”

The terror list 1. Hassan Nasrallah2. Naim Qasim3. Ibrahim Amin Al Sayyid4. Muhammad Yazbak 5. Hussein Khalil 6. Hashem Safieddine7. Talal Hamiyah8. Adham Tabaja9. Al-Inmaa Group10. Al-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting11. Ali Youssef Charara12. Spectrum Group13. Hassan Ebrahimi14. Maher Trading

Bahrain backs US sanctions against N Korea Manama

Bahrain has joined the US and other countries to implement economic

sanctions against North Korea, according to a Bahrain Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) release. The BCCI said it has received an official letter from the Ministry of Indus-try, Commerce and Tourism regarding the US announce-ment of the largest tranche of sanctions against North Korea, with the objective of disrupting North Korean nuclear activi-ties that threaten international peace, security and stability.

“In order to consolidate the strategic relations between

Bahrain and the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges the implementation of economic sanctions similar to those imposed by the US on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the release added.

The US has also proposed a list of entities to be blacklisted under separate UN sanctions, a move “aimed at shutting down North Korea’s illicit maritime smuggling activities to obtain oil and sell coal.”

North Korea has been de-veloping nuclear-tipped mis-siles capable of reaching the US mainland and Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged taunts that have raised fears of war.

Arab league to meet on Gaza violence Cairo

Foreign ministers of Arab nations are to hold an

“extraordinary” meeting today in Cairo to discuss the deadly violence on the Gaza-Israel border, the or-ganisation said.

Israel has come under in-ternational pressure after its border forces on Monday killed some 60 Palestini-ans protesting against the transfer the same day of the US embassy to Jerusalem.

More than 100 Palestin-ians have been killed in seven weeks of protests, mainly from Israeli sniper fire. Permanent delegates to the Cairo-based Arab League met yesterday to prepare for the ministerial session called by Saudi Ara-bia on “the Israeli aggres-sion against the Palestinian people.”.

Ex-Tribune journalist passes away

Journalist Abdurrahman Fakhri died Wednes-

day evening after being in a coma for more than two weeks at the military hos-pital.

He had suf-fered a massive cardiac arrest before going into coma.

Fakhri be-gan his career as a reporter with Bahrain Tribune before moving to the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs as the head of transla-tion wing within the com-munication department.

Throughout his career, Fakhri has been known for his friendly relations with colleagues and fellow jour-nalists.

The management and staff of The Daily Tribune extends its Ramadan wishes to the Kingdom’s leadership and its people. The holy month begins today, spreading the message of peace, harmony and self-less service.

CREDIT:SAJI ANTONY

02THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Farmer fined BD10,500 for burning rubbish,

setting building on fire• The farmer’s negligence, the High Civilian Court said, resulted in an outbreak of blazes which stretched to the nearby building.

• The plaintiff demanded a compensation of BD10,500, BD500 to pay the attorney’s fees and BD832 to settle the technical expert’s bill.

TDT | Manama

A Bahraini farmer has been left with a bill for BD10,500 after he pleaded guilty to carelessly burning garden

waste in open and setting fire to a nearby building. 

The farmer’s negligence, the High Ci-vilian Court said, resulted in an outbreak of blazes which stretched to the nearby building, which housed a carpentry shop and a wood store.  

The building and the units were com-pletely destroyed in the raging fire, causing heavy monetary losses to the shop owners, who rented the space on a 15-year contract. 

“Both shops ceased functioning because of the heavy damages sustained,” the plain-tiff’s lawyer Zahra Al Jiser told prosecutors. 

The lawyer argued that it was the farm owner’s negligence that caused the fire and

that he could have done that in a safer and controlled manner if wanted. 

Expert technical evaluators found that the plaintiff suffered losses to the tune of BD9150. 

The plaintiff demanded a compensation of BD10,500, BD500 to pay the attorney’s fees and BD832 to settle the technical ex-pert’s bill. 

The Court ordered the farm owner to pay all the fees and expenses associated with this case. 

Jail term reduced In another case, a Bahrain man, jailed

eight years for counterfeiting banknotes

and possessing ammunition, has had his jail term reduced to six years on appeal.

The High Appeal Court, however, re-tained the BD1,200 fine handed down to him and a three-year jail term awarded to his accomplice, a woman. 

The incidents that led to the man’s arrest occurred when police received a  tip-off regarding a woman buying mobile phones using fake Saudi riyals. 

Soon, the woman was arrested by a police team who later found that more people were involved in the crime, including a military personnel. 

The Bahraini man, who turned out to be the mastermind of the crime, was also in-strumental in bringing counterfeit currency to Bahrain from Saudi Arabia. 

Police said the racket’s involvement in the case was further confirmed by the man’s son’s friend, who overheard a con-versation between then regarding fake currency bills. 

“When we were hanging around, his father instructed him to go and meet some-one in Hamala. We went there, and he re-ceived a bag full of money from him. Next day, I saw the same bag inside his house with a lot of 50 Saudi riyal bills and US dollars,” the friend of the defendant’s son told prosecutors.  

The suspect was arrested by the police and also seized ammunition from him.  

The woman was handed down a three years’ imprisonment, while the military personnel was sent for trial in a military court. 

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday paid a visit to the Majlis of Shaikh Salman bin Abdullah Al Khalifa and extended condolences to the brothers and son of late Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. HM the King paid homage to late Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, describing him as one of the Bahraini icons who did a lot for the growth and prosperity of their nation.

Special traffic plans in place for Ramadan• The department will coordinate with the Roads Directorate of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to open the Janabiya flyover junction to facilitate traffic from the causeway.

Manama

The General Directorate of Traffic has set a traf-fic plan for Ramadan

that includes increasing the traffic deployments on main and commercial roads, in ad-dition to shopping malls and mosques.

The traffic presence will focus on regulating traffic flow during fast-breaking and wrong parking at mosques during Tarawih prayer. There will be coordination with the Directorate of King Fahad Causeway Police to avoid traf-

fic jams in the evening, espe-cially during the fast-breaking period and the traffic safety at the causeway.

The department will co-ordinate with the Roads Di-rectorate of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to open the Janabiya flyover junction to facilitate traffic from the causeway.

The Director-General of Traffic highlighted that the service-related section would be opened from 8 am to 3 PM, except the Inspection and Accident Department that would continue until 5 PM and the Driving Test School until 7 PM.

The peak period for trucks would be from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning and 1:30 un-til 2:30 in the afternoon. The Director-General urged road users to follow traffic rules, highlighting that statistical analysis showed the traffic accidents in Ramadan mainly occur because of lack of at-tention, over speeding during the fast-breaking period and wrong overtaking.

The lawyer argued that it was the farm owner’s negligence that caused

the fire and that he could have done that in a safer and controlled manner if

wanted.

KNOW

DID

130 houses to be repaired • The new batch of houses adds to 103 houses whose maintenance and revamp contracts had been signed, which raises the number of targeted houses to 130, costing BD 1 million.

Manama

Municipalities Affairs Undersecretary at the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Dr Nabil Mohammed Abu Al Fateh, has announced

that the tender of 27 houses included in the Towns and Villages Development Project has been launched.

The new batch of houses adds to 103 houses whose mainte-nance and revamp contracts had been signed, which raises the number of targeted houses to 130, costing BD 1 million.

Speaking during his field visits to the houses, along with Assistant Undersecretary for Joint Municipal Services, Wael Al-Mubarak, and several municipal officials, Abu Al-Fateh stressed the need to expedite the revamp of houses whose contracts had been signed. The undersecretary affirming the existing cooperation between the Works Ministry and munic-ipal councils in implementing to the Towns and Villages De-velopment Project, noting that it is one of the projects adopted by the Government of Bahrain to support low-income citizens.

Royal Guard Commander HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa yesterday r e c e i v e d t h e n e w l y appointed Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the kingdom of Bahrain, HH Shaikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Royal Guard Commander hailed the bilateral ties between the two countries, wishing the UAE Ambassador success in further promoting the bilateral relations and cooperation in the interest of the two countries and their people.

03

big story

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

• Traditional marriage brokers and relatives can now stay away! Social media have become the latest platform for men and women to meet and get married.

• Social media also offers platform for Bahrainis to marry nationals of other Arab countries

TDT|Manama Thamer Tayfoor

These days cupids are ac-tive on social media, may be to make sure that all

marriages are made in heaven. Mariam, a Syrian national, first

met Bahraini Ahmed A, while standing in a queue to file appli-cation for her BBM programme. Both would soon communicate on social media, blossoming their courtship and then relationship before becoming partners for life.

Traditional marriage brokers and relatives can now stay away! Social media have become the latest platform for men and

women to meet and get married. “I never believed in love at first

sight. But felt love at first conver-sation. Social media is the best place to converse, know a person and invite them to your life,” said Mariam, who feels the trend is set to conquer this part of the world.

Ahmed says he made the right choice. “It is a good feeling to get

emotionally closer to someone from abroad. The first problem I faced when I decided to propose to Maryam was the difference in customs and traditions. Yes, we are all Arabs, but in Bahrain itself there are different marriage customs. And Syria is 2500km away, there is certainly a lot of difference.”

However, the concept of ‘re-mote love’ is not free from prob-lems. Many get trapped in rela-tionships only to get exploited in the later part of their lives, warns Saudi national Sultan, who dis-covered his love Fatima through social media.

“It’s like buying a watermelon, you do not know whether it’s

red or white inside. But at the same time there are many who are able to successfully get to know each other on social media. I was following my wife through (Snap Chat App). I could see what she was cooking, where she was going, with whom she was sitting. I actually lived with her all the time, so I do not be-

lieve we fell in a trap,” said Sultan. Fatima says there is a lot of

stigma associated with interact-ing on social media in the society. “I was really worried about tell-ing my parents about Sultan and that I met him on social media.”

She opines social media is a tool to trace young men, their char-acter and activities. “You check their profile and pictures and you will get to know everything about these guys. Then you can decide whether you should accept their proposal or not.”

When asked on the religious angle, Sharia law expert and Uni-versity of Bahrain expert Dr Naji Al-Arabi said, “There is noth-ing wrong for people to interact on social media. But it should be governed by morals, values and other existing social norms.And of course Sharia law forbids these things.”

The concept of remote love is not free from

problems. Many get trapped in

relationships only to get exploited in

the later part of their lives.

SULTAN

There is nothing wrong for people

to interact on social media. But it should

be governed by morals, values

and other existing social norms. And of course Sharia

law forbids these things. DR AL ARABI

Planning a wedding isn’t an easy taskTDT|ManamaHarpreet Kaur

When it comes to preparing for one of the most important days in an individual’s life,

wedding generally tops the list. A wed-ding is not only important for the bride and groom but also for their families. It is an expensive affair as thousands of dinars are shelled out for the special occasion.

Wedding cost differs from family to family. Average weddings in Bahrain cost between BD20,000 to BD35,000, ac-cording to Nahla Al Mahmood, owner of LalaBella Events Boutique, a high pro-file event company established in 2012.

“The myriad costs include wedding venue, bridal dress, photography, deco-ration, savories’, and other wedding-re-lated services. For many, 50pc of the total budget goes for fresh flowers that are used in a wedding,” she said.

“Though weddings are expensive, I believe that every bride has to experi-ence the joy of being a bride. It’s a beau-tiful journey to experience with the

family and friends. Though it is getting superficial, for the bride and her family this day is one of the most important days in their lives,” said Nahla whose company organizes high-end wedding

receptions, fashion exhibitions and social events.

“The costs of weddings vary greatly, as it all depends on the couple’s budget, and requirements. There are a lot of

factors to consider, such as the venue, the number of guests, type of catering, the design theme and setup, lighting, entertainment, etc. So ultimately the cost depends on the clients and their

requirements,” said Sara J, founder of Royal Weddings.

“When planning a wedding, you need to consider the venue selection. There are many venue options here in Bahrain, and the list of options keeps increasing year by year. We have many hotels, many indoor or outdoor ven-ues, wedding halls, and restaurants,” she said.

Wedding themeThe wedding theme and design for

the setup is extremely important. This will determine whether you need to rent furniture, the style of the stage setup, centerpieces, accessories, aisle, lighting, and other elements. The entertainment at the wedding as well can’t be under-estimated, as it will determine how en-gaged your guests are in the ceremony. There are many options to choose from, the first and most basic is whether the couple prefers a band or DJ, or both.

Photography & videography are an-other important factors in a wedding, as the photographs will last a lifetime.

Marriage bureaus flood social media!Challenging traditions and existing social norms, many men and women are these days meeting on social media, where courtship graduates to relationship and later marriages

Bahrain, an emerging wedding destination

Shireen Abdulla, Vision Curator of Meraki Events & Weddings Co, said

that the Kingdom is slowly emerging as a wedding destination. The Government of Bahrain has taken many initiatives in this field recently, which was one of the main reasons for starting Meraki Events and Weddings in the region.

“Bahrain is truly a hidden treasure in the Middle Eastern world. It’s just a mat-ter of time until Bahrain unfolds itself as the hot new Wedding destination,” said Shireen, who runs the company with Munira Rampurawala, her friend who totally loves the madness and fun at every wedding.

For young entrepreneurs in wedding planning, there are quite a few chal-

lenges, the biggest being the arrival of event technology, and everything being readily available on the internet at the click of a button.

“Another challenge that we face as young entrepreneurs in the industry is convincing couples and families on basis of our ideas against our experience but that is something everyone anticipates as a startup. As we know, the wedding industry in Bahrain is just about to see its full potential and while we want to set our foot as the best Indian Wedding Planners in the country, there is a lot of unexplored arenas. Networking is another major challenge that we are facing,” Shireen said.

New couples are looking for an un-

explored, non-clichéd destination for their wedding and Bahrain offers just that, she said.

“It is conveniently located between Europe, Africa and Asia, making it easily accessible from around the world and opening more and more opportunities for young entrepreneurs like us. With new luxurious properties opening on the Island, the city being uncluttered and the officials being so supportive, Bahrain truly offers a unique experi-ence not just to the locals on the island but to couples who are looking for a destination for their wedding. The only thing missing was local experts in Indian weddings that too are fulfilled now. It’s a dream destination,” she said.

File photo

04THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

City International School celebrated an impressive Graduation Ceremony on Tuesday at Crowne Plaza Hotel. Students of Kindergarten, Grade 6 and Grade 10 graduated and moved on to the next level of education. It was attended by dignitaries and notable guests including Saad Bin Rafiq, Community Welfare Attaché of Pakistan Embassy, Abbas Isa Ali Almahdi, Member of council of representatives, Dr Majeed Sanad, CEO of STC Bahrain, Mr Uzair Usman and Board of Directors – Asad Humayun, Athar Humayun, Azfar Humayun, along with parents and families of graduates.

Tamkeen to train, employ Bahrainis with Down Syndrome TDT|Manama

A study conducted by Tamkeen has revealed the support ex-tended by the Kingdom’s pri-

vate sector to special needs; 30 per cent of the businesses had special needs on their payrolls. The details were shared with media as Tamkeen signed an agree-ment with Bahrain Down Syndrome Association on the grounds of a joint co-operation agreement to rehabilitate, train and employ Bahrainis with Down Syndrome in specialised positions ac-cording to their abilities.

The first of its kind, this project will provide the opportunity to not only employee individuals with Down Syn-drome but also give emphasis on the importance of community partnership involving all segments of Bahraini socie-ty in programmes and support packages aimed at establishing the principle of social solidarity.

Specialised expert in dealing with in-dividuals with Down syndrome and di-rector of the Center for Down Syndrome Care Dr Mohammed Abdul Karim Man-nai will be taking this programme under his wing by supervising and conducting comprehensive follow-ups.

Tamkeen Executive President Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Janahi and Down

Syndrome Society President Mr Adel Abdullah both expressed their im-mense contentment with regard to this programme. Adel Abdullah Fakhro, chairman of the Bahrain Down Syn-drome Society expressed appreciation for this co-operation, which would open the horizon to expand employ-ment opportunities for individuals

with special needs to occupy various possible positions, according to profes-sional and scientific data, pointing out that this project is the first of its kind in the Arab world where the previous employment projects for people with disabilities focused on operating this category in simple jobs such as carpen-try, agriculture, pluming and painting.

Ibrahim Janahi stressed Tamkeen’s keenness on activating a partnership that would achieve the principle of social responsibility as well as support opportunities for the contribution of all segments of society in advancing toward the aspirations of Bahrain Economic Vi-sion 2030 and its keenness on building the Bahraini man.

Reset your taste buds for healthy Ramadan

TDT|Manama Supriya Reginald

• With 30 days of fasting ahead, there are certain measures people are required to take to ensure their well-being.

The holy month is here and fasting is considered an act of deeply personal worship in which Mus-

lims seek a raised level of closeness to God.

Keeping in mind the well-being of the vast majority observing Ramadan, Nu-tritionist across Bahrain pool in their valuable input as to how and what to eat during the holy month.

With regard to preparations prior to the commencement of the fast, there is a unanimous advice provided by nutri-tionists alike ‘Do not overeat!’

“Don’t increase the quantity of what you eat. Reduce your activity rather if you have to. Light dinner and light suhoor. Eating heavy creates big spikes in blood sugar and hormones followed by big dips that make it hard for the body to adapt to new routines,” says Moayyed Feroze, coach and nutritionist at The Healthy Conscience.

“Maintain the same quantity as any other meal on a regular day,” advises Diana Nakhle, senior dietitian at Carl-ton Nutrition Centre.

“Stop eating before you are full. Peo-ple can prepare themselves by delaying their lunch today and taking a healthy suhoor to prevent getting super tired on their 1st day of fasting,” says Remy Danaf, clinical dietitian at Health Watchers Bahrain

With 30 days of fasting ahead there are certain measures people are re-quired to take to ensure their wellbeing.

“Maintain a break between initially breaking your fast and the main course meal. The main course should consist of protein, grilled or baked, and carbo-

hydrates to provide them with energy. Whole grains food items should be a significant part of their meal,” says Diana Nakhle.

“Dairy and saturated fats wreak havoc on the digestive system. Eat simple foods that are easy to digest. Fruits are your best friends as they are packed with anti-oxidants that will support your immune system and fiber that will ease out gut issues caused by changes in eating patterns. Have a multivitamin every day. This will plug in any micronutrient gaps,” added Moayyed Feroze.

For many, this Ramadan is going to be their debut in following an honorary tradition. Their steps taken during this

is fundamental to their health.“They should always listen to their

bodies and eat moderately and slowly,” says Diana Nakhle.

I advise them to avoid high-sugar foods, it will give empty calories with very low or with no nutritional value and it will increase their cravings mak-ing fasting harder. Salty and spicy foods should also be limited to avoid thirst, says Remy Danaf.

Ramadan provides the perfect oppor-tunity to focus on oneself spiritually as well as physically. “The body is a lot more resilient than we believe. Fasting is a great way to understand the body’s signals and improve how we respond to them,” said Moayyed Feroze.

“Maintain a break between initially breaking your fast and the main course meal. The main course should consist of protein, grilled or baked, and carbohydrates to provide them with energy. Whole grains food items should be a significant part of their meal. DIANA NAKHLE

The body is a lot more resilient than we believe. Fasting is a great way to understand the body’s signals and improve how we respond to them. Dairy and saturated fats wreak havoc on the digestive system. Eat simple foods that are easy to digest. MOAYYED FEROZE

Stop eating before you are full. People can prepare themselves by delaying their lunch today and taking a healthy suhoor to prevent getting super tired on their 1st day of fasting. REMY DANAF

Tamkeen officials with Bahrain Down Syndrome Association member after signing the deal.

05THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Life maid

not easy

TDT|Manama Mohammed Zafran

• Majority of housemaids don’t possess CPRs, which makes it difficult to file complaints at police station.

• Many housemaids work extra-long hours, up to 17 hours a day and still get a meager pay.

There has been a considerable rise in com-plaints filed by housemaids over unpaid salaries as well as mistreatment at the

hands of their bosses, according to a leading relief organisaton.

Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) has received many calls seeking help from house-maids looking for refuge from “unfair sponsors” in the past few months, said its chairperson Marietta

Dias. The fact that the

society is receiving a record number of complaints re-flects the increas-ing number of such cases in the coun-try as a whole, she explained.

She said that the society does not keep a count but is

certain that the numbers far exceed that of pre-vious years.

“We are receiving far more complaints than we had from the time we opened. We do not know why there are more cases now. We believe that for every single case that we get, there must be a hundred that have not come to our attention,” she said.

17 hours a dayShe said that many housemaids work extra-long

hours, up to 17 hours a day and still get a meager pay.

She called for a minimum wage to be set for housemaids as many of them still receive salaries as low as BD 70.

“Bahrain does not enforce a minimum wage for expatriates. In the case of housemaids they start their work at seven in the morning and continue till 11pm. Seventeen hours they work on an aver-age to earn BD70 or a maximum of BD80.”

“The only solution could be charging a legal case against the sponsors who break contracts once the maid files a complaint at a local sta-tion.”

No CPR

But this is not easy as many don’t even possess CPRs. Ms Das said that most housemaids do not even know what a CPR is as the sponsor keeps it with them, making it impossible to file a complaint at the Ministry of Labour.

“The ministry does not take a case unless a CPR is presented to them. These people are not in possession of their CPRs and they do not even know what a CPR even looks like. Al-most all the people who come to our shelter have no clue what a CPR is,” she said.

“I am not saying that every sponsor does this. It is only a small percentage of the people that treat them unfairly but in our books not even one person should be mistreated,” she said.

Drop in cases Despite an overall increase noted by MWPS, the

cases involving Indian housemaids have dropped this year, according to Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF).

“We had less number of cases this year. In fact, we have noted a distinct reduction in the number

of cases related to housemaids. The cases we received this year were resolved very quickly,” gen-eral secretary and co-ordinator for domestic workers Mehru Ve-suvala said.

“Most Indian housemaids come from Andhra Pradesh state. Cur-rently we have a case filed by a woman from Andhra Pradesh who wants to return home. We will be providing her an air-ticket

apart from other necessary assistance,” she said.

Recruitment easyAbdulrahman Aghayar, an industry veteran and

former owner of Al Sirat Manpower Services who has close to 40 years of experience in the sector, said that the way housemaids are recruited has changed because of the evolution of technology.

“When I first set up my recruitment agency in the seventies, I used to travel abroad up to eight times a year for recruitment of housemaids. Now thanks to communication tools such as Skype, we are able to interview housemaids from our office itself.”

“There is also the other side. I have seen house-maids live with the families for more than 30 years as result of my efforts. Even when there were issues in rare cases, I was able to mediate between them and solve the issues swiftly,” he said.

Language barrier Vanitha Tovi, a housemaid from Mangalore

in India said that she struggles when she steps out of her sponsor’s house because she does not speak any language other than Kannada, which is her mother tongue. “I have been in Bahrain for the past 10 months, I have been lucky to be with a Mangalorean family. However the biggest obstacle I have faced is the language barrier when I step outside the house.”

Numbers decreaseThe number of domestic workers has decreased

in Bahrain during the year 2017 to 100,058 work-ers from 111,000 workers in early 2016.

The majority of domestic workers that are brought in to the Kingdom are female (76,249) while the number of male workers stand at 23,809. This includes housemaids, gardeners, house guards, nannies, drivers and chefs.

According to statistics from the Labour Market Regulatory Authority, which our sister paper Al Ayam has obtained a copy of; the figures show that the number of domestic workers reached 99,417 in early 2017 to increase slightly during the second quarter of the same year.

It also stated that the demand for domestic workers has started to increase in Bahrain on an annual basis since early 2010, when it used to be 79,212 workers within this category.

The minimum wage for female workers in Bahrain is BD65 per month. At the same time some recruitment Agency offices specify monthly salaries, ranging between BD70 and 100.

The monthly salary of an Indian housemaid is BD100, while a Filipino housemaid earns BD150, according to sources, who say Ethiopian housemaids earn the least wages when com-pared to other nationalities. “The cost of hiring a housemaid ranges between BD750 and BD1,300.”

We are receiving far more

complaints than we had from the time we opened. We do not know why there are

more cases now. We believe that for every single

case that we get, there must be a

hundred that have not come to our

attention. MS DIAS

We had less number of cases

this year. In fact, we

have noted a distinct reduction

in the number of cases related

to Indian housemaids. The cases we received this

year were resolved very

quickly. MS VESUVALA

When I first set up my recruitment

agency in the seventies, I used to travel abroad up to eight times a year

for recruitment of housemaids. Now thanks to

communication tools such as Skype, we are

able to interview housemaids from our office itself.

MR AGHAYAR

More housemaids are complaining over unpaid salaries and unfair treatment

100,058is the total number of domestic workers the

Kingdom had by the end of 2017.

Meagre pay Nationalities Salaries Filipino BD120-BD150

Indian BD100-BD120 Sri Lankan BD80-BD120 Ethiopian BD60-BD100

The majority of domestic workers that are brought

in to the Kingdom are female (76,249) while the number of male workers

stand at 23,809. This includes housemaids,

gardeners, house guards, nannies, drivers and chef.

KNOW

DID

06THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

• The first identity crisis typically occurs during adolescence. It is a time when most conflicts arise between teenagers and parents, many of them struggling to figure out who they are and what the future holds for them.

• Educational institutions are considered the second home for youngsters, their role in the matter is as crucial as that of a family member as it paves the way towards countless opportunities.

TDT|Manama Supriya Reginald

The Ministry of Labour and Social Development has recently highlighted

an unsettling revelation about

the young generation in Bah-rain. It said that a significant number of Bahraini youngsters aged between 15 and 24 (con-stituting 15.65 per cent of the total population) are struggling with identity crisis and lack of self-affirmation.

This insecurity is caused by the constant changes that our economy is going through, the emergence of violence as well as family detachment, it stated, adding that, “the solicitude is one among the challenges that concern the social development in the Kingdom”.

In this backdrop, Tribune got in touch with Kevin Abdul-rahman, international author, speaker, coach, and mind nu-tritionist. In the past decade he has brought his eclectic mix of cultural knowledge to people across five continents.

“The contribution of Bahraini youth to the development and progress of this country is of paramount importance if we wish to survive and thrive in today’s highly competitive eco-nomic environment,” says Ab-dulrahman.

“The identity crisis some Bah-raini teenagers are currently going through is a global issue.

It’s the result of the clash be-tween two generation: the old generation who’s struggling to preserve traditional values and a new vibrant generation who’s looking to make their own mark on the world,” he added.

Every teenager is a distinct case and must be treated as such. When struggling with identity crisis, an important role is played by self-affirmation. “They need to know that they’re free to express their original ideas and aspirations while having the conviction that they will have access to the prestig-ious roles of society without any hindrance,” revealed Ab-dulrahman.

“To have an identity means to be someone; to occupy a po-sition in a given social context; to have a social and economic status that allows you to be a functional, self-sustaining and productive member of the soci-ety,” he added.

The first identity crisis typi-cally occurs during adolescence. It is a time when most conflicts arise between teenagers and parents, many of them strug-gling to figure out who they are and what the future holds for them.

“When teenagers are ob-structed from expressing their personality and values, the re-sult might be a severe identity crisis that can lead to serious problems at an individual and societal level,” says Abdulrah-man.

Any step taken toward tack-

ling this issue begins with the individual experiencing the or-deal.

“Since change and growth comes primarily from within, the first ones who can tackle this issue are the teenagers them-selves. They need to take a step back and figure out not who they are but who they want to be,” revealed Abdulrahman.

Family plays a crucial role in both our personal and profes-sional growth. Sadly, families are not always a source of nur-ture and comfort that allows teenagers to grow into active and functional members of so-ciety. Sometimes, tend to be rig-id ‘closed’ groups that prevent teenagers from affirming their unique personality.

“Parents, grandparents, and other members of the family need to create an accepting, nonjudgmental environment where teenagers can safely ex-press themselves. The kind of environment where divergent opinions are not labeled as a threat and ideas are discussed openly,” states Abdulrahman.

Educational institutions are considered the second home for youngster, their role in the matter is a crucial as that of a

family member as it paves the way towards countless oppor-tunities.

“Educational institutions should invest in training and coaching programs designed to help adolescents and teenag-ers discover their true passions. Once they discover their ‘inner drive,’ they can focus on build-ing an action plan that will allow them to transform dreams and ideas into reality,”

Youngsters in Bahrain num-ber 220,787 and counting, of which, 6 per cent fall under the unemployment radar. The na-tion’s adherence to those strug-gling with identity crisis can mold them for a brighter and better future.

“To help our younger gener-ation become the driving force behind economic and social pro-gress, we need to change our mindset and adopt a less rigid perspective on life. We need to give the young generation a chance to affirm their original personalities,” said Abdulrah-man.

The establishment of a proper system to attend to the strug-gling youth is long overdue and crucial as each second goes by, he added.

Identity crisis ‘affecting

Bahraini youth’Constant social changes, economic challenges and

the emergence of violence cited reasons

To help our younger

generation become the

driving force behind economic

and social progress, we

need to change our mindset and adopt a less rigid

perspective on life. We need to give the young generation a

chance to affirm their original personalities.

KEVIN ABDULRAHMAN

Awareness campaign against mental illnesses launched TDT|Manama

Under the patronage of Deputy Chief of Public Security Major General

Abdulla Al Zayed, the Depart-ment of Health and Social Af-fairs, in co-operation with the United Nations Information Office in the GCC, organised an awareness campaign under the slogan “Against the stigma of mental illnesses”.

Mr Al Zayed praised the sup-port of Interior Minister for the awareness efforts aimed at enhancing communication with different segments of community, which, he said, re-flect the concept of community partnership. He expressed ap-preciation to the organisers of the event, wishing all success.

For her part, Director of the Department of Health and Social Affairs, Major Fatima Omar Abdulghaffar, explained that the goal of the campaign is to eliminate all forms of stigma and discrimination against people suffering from illnesses, identified as psy-chological cases as well as raising aware-ness about mental disorders and correcting wide-spread misconceptions which lead

to late detection of dis-eases due to the failure of the patient to resort to medical assistance and delayed treatment and deterioration of cases.

For his part, the Direc-tor of the United Nations Information Centre stat-ed that the Sustainable Development Plan of 2030 stressed the need for everyone to have a healthy and well-be-ing lifestyle at all ages, noting that the United Nations health system, in particular the World Health Organisation (WHO), considered men-tal health and well-being are essential for consol-idating collective and individual capacities to think and interact with one another.

He added that the ini-tiative of the Ministry of the Interior and the United Nations Information Center was the beginning of a national effort to strengthen efforts to eradicate the stigma of mental illnesses and to encourage com-munity dialogue on ways to strengthening health care in that area.

The goal of the campaign is to eliminate all forms of stigma and

discrimination against people suffering from

illnesses, identified as psychological

cases as well as raising awareness

about mental disorders and

correcting wide-spread

misconceptions. MAJOR FATIMA ABDULGHAFFAR

Ramadan a chance to regain health for diabetes patients • This month is a way to get a healthy lifestyle.

TDT|Manama

Ramadan is a good opportuni-ty for diabetics to ease their symptoms by using this holy

month to maintain low levels of blood glucose, said Iman Al An-sari, diabetes clinic specialist at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).

This month is a way to get a healthy lifestyle and to achieve physical, psychological, spiritual and social gains in this month by going to spiritual worship, changing eating habits, keeping away from fatty meals, reducing fat intake, sweets, juices and others.

Ms Al Ansari said that the month of Ramadan provides the diabetic patient with an appropriate op-portunity to control blood glucose levels, as well as to reduce weight, which should be exploited dur-ing this holy month. As our holy Prophet said, “fast, you will enjoy a better health,” which is a clear call to good health by fasting, abstaining from eating too much, and eating something that is good for health.

Al Ansari called on the diabetes not to sit for long hours watch-ing T.V as sitting for long periods, and not to engage in any type of “dynamic” activity or “sports” is a cause of “obesity” and high rates of dynamic sugar; because lack of any dynamic effort or sports, the body loses any ability to burn ac-cumulated fat and detoxification. Fasting is not a health burden, but not exercising is a risk and a health burden.

Al-Ansari explained that during the fasting period, which is from the period from sun rise to sunset, the body depends in the first hours on the glucose absorbed in the ‘Su-hour’ meal; to get its energy, then the body begins to use the stock of glucose in the liver called the “gly-cogen’ for a number of hours until it finishes, then the body starts to burn the body fat stored in it, and this is the basic step that results in the health benefits of fasting, where the fat and excess weight is gradually eliminated. This reflects a positive improvement in the level of glucose, fat and cholesterol. It also reduces accumulation of fat in the blood vessels, making an easy movement of blood circulation.

Kevin Abdulrahman

Patients with type 2 diabetes,

who rely on tablets, should

avoid sweets and carbohydrates,

and drink plenty of fluids, vegetables

and fruits. The patient should also keep a programme through which to regulate his diet,

especially diabetic patients with

other diseases such as high blood pressure and heart

problems.IMAN AL ANSARI

Climate change an ‘existential threat’ to humanity: UNSummit held to implement Sustainable Development Goals

• Both leadership and innovation are essential for climate action, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his keynote address to the global gathering

Vienna

None of the world’s chal-lenges looms as large as climate change, the

United Nations chief told a ma-jor climate action summit here, reiterating his belief that global warming poses an “existential threat” to humanity.

Both leadership and innova-tion are essential for climate action, Secretary-General Antó-nio Guterres said in his keynote address to the global gather-ing, known as the R20 Austrian World Summit – a long-term initiative to help regions, states and cities implement the Sus-tainable Development Goals and meet the Paris Agreement targets. “We must use all our resources to build a sense of urgency, to raise ambition, while

keeping temperature rises in the years ahead, as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible,” Gu-terres said.

He said there was reason to hope, declaring that “the world is seeing a groundswell of cli-mate action”, citing examples, including Morocco’s building of a solar farm “the size of Paris, that will power over a million homes by 2020” and China’s achievement in already pass-ing it’s 2020 goal of producing 105 gigawatts of solar power capacity.

“We must build on this,” the UN chief emphasized, calling renewable energy – which al-

ready produces a fifth of the world’s electricity – power that also delivers significant health benefits.

The World Health Organi-zation reports that more than 80 per cent of people living in urban areas are exposed to poor-quality air that is damag-ing human health.

“Investments in clean, green infrastructure need to be scaled up globally,” he explained. “For that, we need leadership from the finance and investment community and by local, region-al and national governments who will decide on major infra-structure plans over the coming

years.” Guterres encouraged pri-vate sector leaders attending the UN General Assembly-backed summit in the Austrian capital, to announce new financing for clean energy projects.

While the 30-member inde-pendent International Energy Agency estimates that 2017 in-vestments in renewable elec-tricity amounted to $242 billion, said the UN chief, that was still far less than the funds invested in new fossil fuel development. Billions of dollars more need to be invested in renewables if we are to see a “full-scale transition to clean energy” by 2020, said Guterres. Moreover, some 75pc of the infrastructure needed by 2050 has still not been built.

“Mobilizing and equipping local governments with the ca-pacity and financing to acceler-ate climate action is necessary if we are to bend the emissions curve,” he maintained.

Noting that climate change continues to move faster than climate action, Guterres quoted the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says: “The more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, perva-sive and irreversible impacts.”

07

business

Financing to accelerate climate action is necessary

if we are to bend the emissions curve

UN SECRETARY GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza at the World Energy Summit in Vienna

António Guterres

Minister attends Vienna World Energy SummitVienna

Electricity and Water Af-fairs Minister Dr Abdul-

hussain Mirza participated in the official opening of the World Energy Summit held in Vienna, to discuss the fight against climate change. The minister earlier attended the Vienna Forum on Sustainable Energy.

The opening ceremony was held at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna in the presence of Aus-trian President Alexander van Darbelan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Austrian Prime Min-ister, the Prime Minister of Denmark and the Prime Min-ister of Norway as well as former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who launched the R20 initiative to implement large and effective projects aimed at protecting the climate, were present.Dr. Mirza said Bahrain sup-

ports climate change through sustainable development in-itiatives that encourage and promote the growth of strong, clean and environmentally friendly energy.

He said Bahrain has taken great strides and made a lot of achievements to activate the clean, renewable and sustain-able energy use.

The minister said such par-ticipation comes in prepa-ration for the submission of Bahrain’s national voluntary audit report at the high-level political forum to be held in New York in July.

Austria is an active partner in all initiatives and activities that work on climate and the environment, such as R20 initiative, which has strong partnerships with the UN and international financial institu-tions such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank as well as with networks involved in different countries and regions.

Trent to power DreamlinersManama

Ten of Gulf Air’s incoming Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners

will be powered by Britain’s Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000-TEN engines, it was announced yes-terday. The move, seen as an im-portant step forward in develop-ing the airline’s future fleet, also includes an agreement for long-term TotalCare service support.

As of now, Gulf Air’s wide body fleet are powered by Trent 700 engines manufactured by Rolls Royce.

The deal also comes as a relief to Rolls-Royce who have been working quickly to repair prob-lems with some of its Trent 1000

engines that have left planes grounded.

Most Rolls-Royce engines for the 787 are under scrutiny, al-though the newer version – the

Trent 1000 TEN – is not impact-ed. The latest development con-cerns Package C Trent 1000s. It has said the problems will be fully resolved by 2022.

Gulf Air is all set to induct 39 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft to it fleet. By end-2018, the com-pany will take delivery of five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and two Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Three Dreamliner services have been announced this year: the Bahrain - London, Heath-row service, the Bahrain – Cas-ablanca, Morocco service and the Bahrain – Bangkok, Thai-land service. In advance of Gulf Air’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner serving the airline’s Bahrain - London, Heathrow route next month, Simon Martin, The Brit-ish Ambassador to Bahrain was recently welcomed to Bahrain’s national carrier’s headquarters.

Students from Hamad Town Secondary Boys School at Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain office during a ‘Job Shadowing Programme’ organized in association with InJaz Bahrain. The programme was aimed at educating students in various knowledge and skills required to succeed at the workplace. During the event, the senior management, as well as other experienced practitioners from different departments gave presentations to the students on the various functions in the bank, and the type of knowledge and skills needed at the workplace

Gulf Air officials with British Ambasador to Bahrain Simon Martin

SICO sees big surge in Saudi equity market Manama

Equity market in Saudi Ara-bia is gaining momentum,

thanks to its FTSE upgrade as emerging market last month and possible inclusion in MS-CI’s influential emerging mar-ket index in 2018, according to a report by SICO.

“This rally is underpinned by fundamental factors such as corporate earnings growth and supportive themes in a number of sectors,” said Shakeel Sar-war, Head of Equities Asset Management at SICO. He said that the market was relative-ly quiet in 2017, “but started to pick up towards the end of the year with the expansion-ary budget announcement.” This year, he said, the market is up 15pc mainly on the back of news surrounding the Sau-di market’s upgrade by FTSE and MSCI, which is expected to result in passive fund inflows of $15 billion. “Large capital liquid stocks, which are set to prominently feature in the indices, have been the main beneficiary of the rally,” he said adding that market partici-pants estimate that total active inflows could be in the range of $15 to $30 billion.

He explained: “We expect an approximately 25pc mar-

ket return in 2018 and 2019, with 10pc resulting from a price to earnings expansion, which takes the market ratio of trailing price to earnings to 18 to 19 times, which is not very expensive.”

According to him, Corporate earnings growth is another driver of returns which turned positive in 2017 after two con-secutive years of contraction. “We expect earnings growth will come primarily from the banking and petrochemical sectors.”

SICO said it expects many stocks to benefit from cyclical trends and structural changes such as: Rising interest rate environment;Petrochemical sector profits; Retail sector companies which are gaining market share during a diffi-cult operating environment; and regulatory changes in the insurance sector.

Shakeel Sarwar

08THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Turkish banker in US jailed for flouting Iran banAtilla, a 47-year-old Turkish citizen, was sentenced by US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan

• Gets 32 months in prison

• Atilla is a 47-year-old Turkish citizen

• Erdogan has condemned it as a political attack on his government

Reuters | New York

A US judge sentenced Meh-met Hakan Atilla, a bank-

er at Turkey’s state-controlled Halkbank, to 32 months in pris-on yesterday after he was con-victed earlier this year of taking part in a scheme to help Iran evade US sanctions.

Atilla, a 47-year-old Turkish citizen, was sentenced by US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan.

The case has strained dip-lomatic relations between the United States and Turkey, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdo-gan has condemned it as a polit-ical attack on his government.

Prosecutors said the central figure in the sanctions-dodg-ing scheme was wealthy Turk-ish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges, and tes-

tified for several days as the US government’s star witness against Atilla.

Victor Rocco, one of Atilla’s lawyers, said his client would appeal his conviction, but called the sentence “fair.”

Atilla, who worked as a depu-ty general manager at Halkbank, has already spent 14 months in jail. That time will count towards his sentence, and he could be freed early for good behaviour.

There was no immediate re-sponse to the sentencing from the Turkish government or Halkbank. The bank has previ-ously said that all of its transac-tions have been lawful.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of about 20 years for

Atilla, who worked as a deputy general manager at Halkbank.

However, Berman said before imposing his sentence that the evidence at trial showed Atilla was a minor player in the sanc-tions-dodging scheme, and “at times a reluctant one at that,” largely following orders from his supervisor.

Berman also said Atilla “ap-pears to have led an exemplary life in Turkey,” pointing to more than a hundred letters he re-ceived from Atilla’s family and friends in his support.

Rocco agreed that leniency was justified.

“What we need to show the world in proceedings such as this, especially today, especially now, is that we Americans aren’t

bullies,” he said.Cathy Fleming, another of

Atilla’s lawyers, read a brief statement by Atilla, translated from Turkish, asking for Ber-man’s “understanding of the situation that I and my family are in.”

Atilla was found guilty on Jan. 3 of conspiring to violate US sanctions law. His convic-tion followed a four-week trial in which Atilla testified in his own defence.

Prosecutors have said that be-ginning around 2012, Atilla was involved in a scheme to help Iran spend oil and gas revenues abroad using fraudulent gold and food transactions through Halkbank, violating US sanc-tions.

EU’s bilateral trade with Iran at riskEurope moved swiftly to

revive economic relations with Iran after a deal to dis-mantle the country’s nuclear weapons programme was ver-ified in January 2016, ending years of crippling international sanctions.

The challenge now facing the EU is how to keep the nu-clear deal alive following U.S. President Donald Trump’s de-cision to leave the agreement.

EU leaders are meeting in Bulgaria   on Wednes-dayevening (May 16) where commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and EU diplo-macy chief Federica Mogherini will brief them on the options to counter Trump’s threat of secondary sanctions against EU companies doing business in Iran.

Options under consideration include a so-called “blocking statute,” an EU regulation dat-ing back from 1996 that says that EU companies “should not” take into account deci-sions by non-EU jurisdictions on some issues -- mainly the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

In 2017, EU’s bilateral trade with Iran reached 20.97 bil-lion, up 171 percent on pre-deal 2015.

SABB Alawwal to create Saudi’s 3rd largest bank• Combined assets of around $77 billion

• Deal to be completed by the end of 2018

• Will not result in any involuntary layoffs

Reuters | Dubai

Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank have agreed a merger to create Saudi Ara-bia’s third-biggest lender, in a $5 billion deal that marks the first major banking tie-up in the kingdom in two decades.

The agreement, announced by the two banks on Wednesday but still non-binding, would create a lender with assets of around $77 billion, and is seen strengthening the banking sys-tem as Saudi Arabia embarks on a plan to transform its economy and cut its dependence on oil

revenues.SABB is 40 per cent owned by

HSBC Holdings and Alawwal is 40pc owned by RBS Holdings NV, a consortium that includes Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which has been trying to reduce its stake for some time. Selling a small stake in a larger merged entity could make it easier for RBS to find a buyer, two sources close to the merger said.

If approved, the merger deal would see SABB acquire smaller peer Alawwal for 18.6 billion riyals ($4.96bn). The boards of the two banks reached a non-binding agreement on the share exchange ratio, subject to several conditions, the banks said in joint statements to the Saudi Arabian bourse.

RBS, which acquired its stake in Alawwal via its 2007 pur-chase of ABN Amro, has been looking to sell it for a number of years as it retreats from inter-national operations and tries to bolster its capital base.

Through the consortium, RBS owns about 15pc of Alawwal. RBS’s stake in the new entity will be 5 percent, an RBS source said.It would be the first ma-jor Saudi banking tie-up since Saudi American Bank merged with United Saudi Bank in 1999, forming one of the largest local banks at the time.If everything goes to plan, the process could be completed by the end of 2018.

“The merger would be a win-win situation. It would

create the third-largest bank in the

kingdom in terms of assets and net profit,

which could reach 5.9 billion riyals

annually,” MAZEN AL-SUDAIRI,

HEAD OF RESEARCH AT AL RAJHI CAPITAL.

Sources: Eurostat, European Commission

EU’s bilateral trade with IranEurope moved swiftly to revive economic relations with Iran after a dealto dismantle the country’s nuclear weapons programme was verified in

January 2016, ending years of crippling international sanctions2015

Italy

France

Germany

Spain

Netherlands

Greece

Belgium

Romania

Sweden

Austria

Denmark

UK Rest of EU

€1,665 million€5,103 million

Trade in 2015€7,722million

Trade in 2017€20,966 million

5933,795

2,3663,337

3841,967

5071,830

361,297

505735

193482

282460

300418

170314

155286

566942

2017

Total U.S.imports to,and exportsfrom Iranin 2017

$170 million

© GRAPHIC NEWS

US factory output up

London

US factory output rose in April, although new

estimates of manufacturing and overall industrial pro-duction showed less growth in prior months than ini-tially believed, casting a shadow over the economic outlook.

Manufacturing output rose 0.5 per cent last month, the US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a report on output across the indus-trial sector, which compris-es manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.5pc rise in manufactur-ing. But the Fed’s new esti-mates of factory output in prior months showed out-put was slightly lower than previously believed in each month between November and March.

Overall industrial output expanded 0.7pc in April and estimates of output in three of the previous four months were also lowered, including a sharply reduced estimate for February.

Prosecutors said the central figure in the sanctions-dodging

scheme was wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold

trader Reza Zarrab, who pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy and money

laundering charges, and testified for several days as the US government’s

star witness against Atil-la. The case has strained diplomatic relations be-tween the United States

and Turkey.

The challenge now facing the EU is how to keep the nuclear deal alive following

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to

leave the agreement

UK to re-nationalise East Coast rail line London

The British government is renationalising the rail

route between London and Edinburgh, taking back the line from private operator Stagecoach after the company over-estimated the profits it could make on the route.

It is the third time since 2007 that the 393-mile (632 km) route has been returned to government hands, high-lighting the difficulties for pri-vate companies of accurately bidding to run services on the privatised train network.

Stagecoach said on Wednes-day that the government had scrapped the contract, three months after Transport Min-ister Chris Grayling said he was considering taking back control of the line which it has run since 2015.

Passenger and freight rail services in Britain were priva-tised in the 1990s, when routes were grouped into franchises and operators bid to run ser-vices for a set number of years.

Those companies have run

the lines on a for-profit basis, but the government has been forced to step in when those contracts have failed, and the government-owned Direct-ly Operated Railways ran the East Coast service from 2009-2015. The failure of the current East Coast contract under the pro-privatisation Conserva-tive government plays into the hands of the opposition La-bour party who have pledged to nationalise industries like rail and water.

Grayling told parliament on Wednesday that the new rail-way would be a partnership between public and private operators after the Stagecoach contract ends on June 24, five years earlier than planned.

The government said in February that Stagecoach had overbid for the contract, meaning that its profits were below forecast, resulting in a financial covenant breach, and costing it 200 million pounds.

Stagecoach owns 90pc of the East Coast franchise alongside Virgin.

A branch of the Turkish bank Halkbank in Istanbul

09THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Merger lifts Alawwal; markets dip lower on geopolitical tensions• Geopolitics drags down most Gulf markets

• But Alawwal shares jump on bank merger news

• Deal will create third-largest Saudi bank

• Dubai Islamic Bank weighs on index

• Dana Gas, ADNOC Distribution up in Abu Dhabi

Reuters | Dubai

Saudi Arabia’s Alawwal Bank soared yesterday af-ter the announcement of

its planned merger with Saudi British Bank, while most Gulf stock markets closed in negative territory on the back of rising geopolitical concerns.

The general weakness was in line with Asian markets, which slipped on Wednesday after North Korea called off talks with Seoul, throwing a U.S.-North Korean summit into doubt. Oil prices were also not supportive, down because of a rise in U.S. crude inventory and despite ongoing output cuts by producer group OPEC and the looming U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In Saudi Arabia the index lost

1 per cent, with most companies in the oil and gas and petro-chemical sectors shedding some value. Blue-chip Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) shed 1pc.

But banks were in the spot-light, as Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank agreed on a merger that, once completed, will create the coun-try’s third-largest bank, with assets of around $77 billion.

“Over the last 12 months we have seen a wave of consoli-dation announcements across the GCC banking sector, as the industry struggles to identify ar-eas of growth following reduced economic activity due to lower oil prices,” said Salman Bajwa, senior executive officer at Emir-ates NBD Asset Management.

Shares in Alawwal jumped 10pc to 13.92 riyals in its heavi-est trade since April 2017, while SABB shares sank 4.5pc as some

investors bet the bank was over-paying.

“In most M&A exercises, the smaller parties tend to benefit from being paid premiums by the bigger partners or acquir-ers. That is certainly true in this case,” Bajwa said.

Stocks in other Saudi banks were mixed. National Commer-cial Bank (NCB) initially fell as it went ex-dividend but then

rebounded to gain 0.6pc. The bank announced the resignation of its chief executive, Moham-med al-Ghamdi, who will be replaced on an acting basis by Faisal Omar al-Sakkaf.

In Dubai the index slipped 0.2pc as Dubai Islamic Bank dropped 1pc to 4.83 dirhams ($1.32). Trading of the bank’s rights issue began on Wednes-day, allowing the purchase of the stock at 3.11 dirhams; the rights plunged 11.0pc to 1.62 dirhams.

In Abu Dhabi, where the in-dex edged down 0.1pc, Dana Gas rose 1pc after saying it received a dividend payment of $22.8 million from Pearl Petroleum Co, which produces natural gas in Iraqi Kurdistan.

ADNOC Distribution gained 1.2pc after reporting a rise in first quarter net profit to 542.2 million dirhams, a 12.1pc in-crease year on year.

Closing BellSAUDI 1% » 7,958

DUBAI 0.2% » 2,932

ABU DHABI 0.1% » 4,467

QATAR 0.3% » 8,950

KUWAIT 0.1% » 4,776

BAHRAIN 0.1% » 1,273

OMAN 0.7% » 4,654

EGYPT 0% » 16,993

China has ‘much to give’ in trade negotiations: TrumpWashington

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that

“nothing has happened” with China’s ZTE Corp and that Bei-jing has “much to give” Wash-ington on trade.

Trump on Monday had de-fended his decision to revisit penalties on ZTE for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, in part by saying it was reflective of the larger trade deal the United States is nego-tiating with China.

“Nothing has happened with ZTE except as it pertains to the larger trade deal,” Trump said on Twitter.

“We have not seen China’s

demands yet, which should be few in that previous US Administrations have done so poorly in negotiating. The US government has very little to give, because it has given so much over the years. China has much to give!”

US lawmakers on Tuesday rejected any plan by Trump to ease restrictions on ZTE, calling the telecommunica-tions firm a security threat and vowing not to abandon legis-lation clamping down on the company.

“There has been no folding as the media would love people to believe, the meetings hav-en’t even started yet!” Trump said in tweets on Wednesday.

India’s Tata Steel profit lifted by one-off UK pensions gain

Reuters | London

India’s Tata Steel Ltd was helped to a quarterly profit

of 146.88 billion rupees (1.61 billion pounds) by a one-off pensions gain, in contrast with an 11.68 billion rupee loss a year earlier.

The Indian steelmaker on Wednesday reported an ex-ceptional gain of 113.76 billion rupees in the quarter to the end of March, which included a non-cash gain of 140.77 billion rupees relating to the restruc-turing of its British pension scheme.

Britain’s pensions regulator agreed last year to allow Tata Steel UK to cut pension scheme liabilities, the main stumbling

block in Tata’s efforts to merge its European operations with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp.

In the same quarter last year, Tata Steel booked charges of 40.69 billion rupees, including curtailment charges relating to the closure of Tata Steel Eu-rope’s pension scheme.

Income from operations in the quarter rose by 2.6 percent to 357.37 billion rupees, the company said in a statement. It also reported a decline of about 5.9 percent in total steel deliveries for the fourth quar-ter, while domestic deliveries slipped 5.6 percent to 3.03 mil-lion tonnes.

Tata Steel shares were 0.8 percent lower ahead of its re-sults on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump

Oil price drops as demand shows signs of weakeningReuters | London

Oil fell yesterday ahead of an anticipated rise in US crude

inventory that could provide more evidence that demand may be slowing in spite of ongoing crude output cuts by producer group OPEC and imminent US sanctions against Iran.

Brent crude futures were last down 65 cents at $77.78 a barrel by 1147 GMT, while US crude futures fell 32 cents to $70.99 a barrel, leaving the spread be-tween the two just shy of a 2015 high of $7 a barrel.

Physical crude markets are sagging under the weight of unsold barrels of oil, while the 50-percent rise in the oil price in the last year is encouraging major companies such as Exx-onMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total to in-crease output.

“Aggregate production - both actual and projected - is grow-ing for the majors,” S&P Global Ratings said in a report pub-lished on Tuesday.

Spot crude oil cargo prices

are at their steepest discounts to futures prices in years as sellers are struggling to find buyers for West African, Russian and Kazakh cargoes, while pipeline bottlenecks trap supply in west Texas and Canada.

The bottleneck in North America likely contributed to a 4.9 million barrel rise in US crude oil inventories, to 435.6 million barrels, that the private American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday.

“The API inventory data in the US fits with ... a topping pattern – or at least a decent pause – for oil prices at the moment,” said Greg McKenna,  chief  market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.

Official US government fuel storage data is due for release by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) later on Wednesday.

“A similar reading from EIA today could relieve some of the

upward pressure on prices and trigger some near-term prof-it taking,” Craig Erlam, senior market strategist at OANDA said.

With renewed US sanctions looming against OPEC-member Iran and oil demand strong, an-alysts said crude markets will likely remain tight for much of the year. Stronger oil prices are also spilling into other markets.

The International Energy Agency on Wednesday warned global demand is likely to mod-erate this year, as the price of crude nears $80 a barrel and many key importing nations no longer offer consumers gener-ous fuel subsidies.

In its monthly report, the Par-is-based IEA cut its forecast for global demand growth to 1.4 million barrels per day for 2018, from a previous estimate of 1.5 million bpd.

“On balance, the report is tending more to the negative side. Demand for oil has been revised downwards for the sec-ond half of the year from April,” PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said.

A worker fills a tank with subsidized fuel at a fuel station in Jakarta

Traders on the floor of Saudi stock exchange (Courtesy of Al Arabia)

A company logo is seen outside the Tata steelworks near Rotherham in Britain

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, THE WORD ITSELF SAYS ‘I’M POSSIBLE’!AUDREY HEPBURN

QUOTE OF THE DAY

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

C I V I L I A N ’ S T R I B U N E

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.comSubscription & circulation: Tel: 38444692/17579877 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Power corrupts, even conservatives It depends if it’s being used for self-education or an ego boost for believers

MUSTAFA AKYOL

Over the past 15 years, my country, Turkey, has gone through a colossal

political revolution. The tradi-tional secular elite that identi-fies with the nation’s modernist

founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, has been replaced by religious con-

servatives who, until recently, were largely powerless and marginalised. The religious conservatives have by now come to dominate virtually all institutions of the state, as well as the

media and even much of the business sector. In short, they have become the new

ruling elite.This political revolution has had an inad-

vertent outcome. It has tested the ostensible virtues of these religious conservatives — and they have failed. They have failed this test so terribly that it raises the question of whether religiosity and morality really go hand in hand,

as so many religious people like to claim.The religious conservatives have morally

failed because they ended up doing everything that they once condemned as unjust and cruel. For decades, they criticised the secular elite for nepotism and corruption, for weaponising the judiciary and for using the news media to demonise and intimidate their opponents. Yet after their initial years in power, they began repeating all of the same behavior they used to condemn, often even more blatantly than their predecessors. This is a familiar story: The reli-gious conservatives have become corrupted by power. But power corrupts more easily when you have neither principles nor integrity.

Notably, some of the more conscientious voic-es among Turkey’s religious conservatives criti-cise this ugly reality. Mustafa Ozturk, a popular theologian and a newspaper columnist, recently declared that religious conservatives are failing the moral test miserably. He wrote: “For the next 40 to 50 years, we Muslims will have no right to say anything to any human being about faith, morals, rights and law. The response, ‘We have seen you as well,’ will be a slap in our face.”

Another prominent theologian, the former mufti of Istanbul, Mustafa Cagrici, also wrote about “the growing gap between religiosity and morality.” In the past, he noted, moral conservatives like him would argue that “there could be no morality without religion.” But now, he wrote, “there should be no religion

The most important of the eight bills under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies has been presented periodically by

a coalition of activist organ-izations since 2007. Each bill has lost parliamentary status

without reaching the floor.JORDANA TIMERMAN

The Argentine stand-up comic Malena Pichot has a bit where she excoriates those who oppose legalising abor-

tion. The joke — if you could call it that — is about how much their stance willfully devalues women.

They “hate women so much,” she says, “de-spise them so, that they identify more with an embryo smaller than a grain of rice. They have more empathy with this than with a whole woman, about to get an abortion in an illegal place and maybe die.” (Unfortunately, it’s not much funnier in the original Spanish.)

At this time last year, hardly anyone could have predicted that discussions of when a group of cells could be considered a baby, or the number of women dying from clan-destine abortions, would be dominating Argentine headlines. And yet they are: Law-makers are preparing to debate several bills that would legalise abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The lower chamber of Congress is expected to vote on the issue next month. Passage would make Argentina the most populous country in Latin America to permit women to terminate pregnancies, in a region that skews towards absolute prohibition.

That Argentina could suddenly become a regional beacon for choice is surprising. The past decade or so has ushered in a series of progressive reforms in the country, such as gay marriage, trans rights and sexual education policies. But abortion, before this spring, was off the table — a combination of lack of political will and opposition from the influential Roman Catholic Church, fighting on Pope Francis’ home turf.

The topic became unexpectedly up for discussion in March, however, when con-servative President Mauricio Macri opened Congress with an invitation to lawmakers to debate the issue — though he made sure to add the face-saving caveat that he himself is strictly “in favor of life.” Surprised and cynical commentators chalked up Macri’s move to political calculus: An abortion de-bate might help distract from Argentina’s economic woes, such as surging inflation and wildly unpopular tariff increases for utilities and transportation.

But it may have also been made with an eye on shifting public opinion. Several polls indicate that a majority of the population now supports decriminalizing abortion, with a higher percentage among younger voters and those with higher levels of education. Abor-tion crosses major party lines in Argentina, and the issue was increasingly visible in the months before Macri’s announcement. The national plunge into the abortion debate also follows almost three years of unprecedent-edly public activism on the part of Argentine women, gathered under the banner of a group called Ni Una Menos, or “Not One Less”.

Ni Una Menos started with a 2015 protest against a growing wave of femicides that claimed the lives of 235 women that year. The

original march was sparked by the murder of a pregnant 14-year-old by her teenage boy-friend, who buried her in his grandparents’ courtyard. The narrative is typical, though the gory specifics vary.

The movement began as a response to the murders of hundreds of women and girls, but activists quickly argued that stopping femicide also requires targeting the machista mindset that fuels it, a culture in which femi-cides are traditionally considered crimes of passion and perpetrators  can justify them with allusions to real or suspected infidelity. Suddenly hundreds of thousands of women began calling for legislative and policy re-forms to penalize gender-based violence, provide support for victims and develop education aimed at eradication. Abortion quickly became a key demand as well.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, at least 350,000 people gathered in Buenos Aires to demand legalisation of abortion and free access to it in public hospitals. The campaign has focused on a pragmatic argu-ment: that making abortions illegal doesn’t dissuade women from having them — it just makes them more likely to die from them. Clandestine abortions are the leading cause of maternal mortality in Argentina, which is incongruously high given the country’s level of development. Experts believe 500,000 take place annually, and ensuing complica-tions killed an estimated 43 women last year. Abortions are technically permitted in cases of rape and danger to the pregnant woman’s health in Argentina, but in reality, obstacles such as rampant use of “conscientious objec-tor” laws, which allow doctors and hospitals to refuse to provide these procedures, makes access even under these circumstances ex-tremely limited. The example of a young mother of three who in 2007 was refused an early abortion that she needed to receive cancer treatment is emblematic. She died, as did the baby.

Should Argentina legalise abortion, the country would become an anomaly in a region where conservative approaches dom-

inate — and where violence against women remains rampant. In El Salvador, abortion is absolutely criminalised in all cases, even when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered. Cases are ruthlessly prosecuted, and in some instances, women have received decades long prison sentences on charges of aggravat-ed homicide. El Salvador also has the highest femicide rate in the world; Latin Ameri-can countries dominate the top 10 with the highest femicide rates. Except for Uruguay, where legal termination until the 12th week

The abortion row

Activists fuelled by anger over the murders of

hundreds of Argentine women have become a

political force that could legalise abolition on Pope

Francis’ home turf

Food wastage is not acceptableMillions of people around the world are observing Ramadan. Every

year I see a lot of people waste food during this holy month. It is sad to see a month of increased food waste. In my opinion the reason

behind this varies, but two main factors are: shrinking stomach capacity and a need for abundance. Fasting for a long time means that our stomach capacity decreases and we can’t intake high volumes of food. But, fasting has a different effect on the eyes. When we see food we become more hungry and sitting behind a table overflowing with food becomes a must. Not only because we want to see more food, but because during Ramadan everyone must share food with those in need. So, having an abundance of it is consid-ered vital. However, this means that organizers who try to satisfy the needs of the people end up being culprits behind wasted food.

When I go to the food court at the Bahrain City Centre , I can see that many families tend to order two or three family meals [per person] at a time. However, logically, it is not possible for an individual to eat more than one family meal at a time. It’s a waste of food. I believe people should avoid get-ting attracted by food offers that they don’t need. It would also help if they make a meal plan for the week and stick to it. Also, what I do to avoid buying excess things, I write a shopping list containing only the items I know I will use for cooking my meals.

Let’s make sure that we do not harm our planet and hurt others by wast-ing valuable food. Knowing that millions go hungry throughout the year, not because of religion but because they simply can’t afford to buy produce, means we ought to pay increased attention to our actions, especially during this holy month.

Abdul Hakeem

Please write your views and opinions to mail@newsofbahrain.com

1590Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

1865The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.

1940Stocks trade: The New York Stock Exchange begins opera-tions.

1973Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.comSubscription & circulation: Tel: 38444692/17579877 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

Compassion is of lit-tle value if it just

remains an idea. It must motivate how we respond to others and be reflected in all our thoughts and actions.

@DalaiLama

Labeling someone as “toxic” doesn’t nec-

essarily mean they’re a bad or harmful person. It just means their pres-ence in your life isn’t aligned with the reality you’re creating for your-self.

@EboneeDavis

If you are able to help someone, help them.

Do something good. Feel something real.

@ATEEKSTER

With North Korea threatening to

cancel the summit over our joint military exer-cises with the South, I strongly urge @realDon-aldTrump: Don’t give Kim Jong-Un anything for free. We must be strong, and we must be resolute – this exercise should move forward.

@SenSchumer

Power corrupts, even conservatives It depends if it’s being used for self-education or an ego boost for believers

as so many religious people like to claim.The religious conservatives have morally

failed because they ended up doing everything that they once condemned as unjust and cruel. For decades, they criticised the secular elite for nepotism and corruption, for weaponising the judiciary and for using the news media to demonise and intimidate their opponents. Yet after their initial years in power, they began repeating all of the same behavior they used to condemn, often even more blatantly than their predecessors. This is a familiar story: The reli-gious conservatives have become corrupted by power. But power corrupts more easily when you have neither principles nor integrity.

Notably, some of the more conscientious voic-es among Turkey’s religious conservatives criti-cise this ugly reality. Mustafa Ozturk, a popular theologian and a newspaper columnist, recently declared that religious conservatives are failing the moral test miserably. He wrote: “For the next 40 to 50 years, we Muslims will have no right to say anything to any human being about faith, morals, rights and law. The response, ‘We have seen you as well,’ will be a slap in our face.”

Another prominent theologian, the former mufti of Istanbul, Mustafa Cagrici, also wrote about “the growing gap between religiosity and morality.” In the past, he noted, moral conservatives like him would argue that “there could be no morality without religion.” But now, he wrote, “there should be no religion

without morality.”Such discussions may look specific to con-

temporary Turkey, but they raise a question that is globally, timelessly relevant: Does re-ligion really make people more moral human beings? Or does the gap between morality and the moralists — a gap evident in Turkey today and in many other societies around the world — reveal an ugly hypocrisy behind all religion?

My humble answer is: It depends. Religion can work in two fundamentally different ways: It can be a source of self-education, or it can be a source of self-glorification. Self-education can make people more moral, while self-glorifica-tion can make them considerably less moral.

Religion can be a source of self-education, because religious texts often have moral teach-ings with which people can question and in-struct themselves. The Quran has pearls of wisdom. It tells believers to “uphold justice” “even against yourselves or your parents and relatives.” It praises “those who control their wrath and are forgiving towards mankind.” It counsels: “Repel evil with what is better so your enemy will become a bosom friend.” A person who follows such virtuous teachings will likely develop a moral character, just as a person who follows similar teachings in the Bible will.

But trying to nurture moral virtues is one thing; assuming that you are already moral and virtuous simply because you identify with a particular religion is another. The latter turns religion into a tool for self-glorification. A religion’s adherents assume themselves to be moral by default, and so they never bother to question themselves. At the same time, they look down on other people as misguided souls, if not wicked infidels.

For such people, religion works not as cure for the soul, but as drug for the ego. It makes them not humble, but arrogant.

In legalistic religious traditions, like Judaism and Islam, this problem occurs when religion is reduced to the practice of rituals. Abiding by a legal code makes the believer feel upright in the eyes of God, even if she or he is immoral when dealing with fellow human beings.

An exceptional Jewish rabbi who lived two millenniums ago, Jesus of Nazareth, spotted this problem. Those practicing Pharisees who are “confident of their own righteousness and look down on everybody else,” he declared, are not really righteous. Sinners who regret their failures, he said, are more moral than the pious who boast.

Stripping morality from religion can also oc-cur when a belief system is reduced to a simple group identity. This kind of “us vs. them” men-tality can corrupt and radicalise any religious community — Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists alike can become hateful mil-itants when they see themselves as righteous victims. That trend is visible everywhere from the Buddhist monks cheering ethnic cleansing in Myanmar to the Hindu majoritarians who dominate Indian politics to the violent Muslim extremists in the Middle East.

Conscientious believers in every tradition need to stand against the toxic urges that turn religion into a hollow vessel of arrogance, big-otry, hatred and greed. Otherwise, more and more evil will be done in their faith’s name. And more and more people will ask, as many young Turks are asking these days, what religion is really good for.

(Mustafa Akyol, a contributing opinion writer and a visiting fellow at the Freedom Project at Wellesley

College.)

inate — and where violence against women remains rampant. In El Salvador, abortion is absolutely criminalised in all cases, even when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered. Cases are ruthlessly prosecuted, and in some instances, women have received decades long prison sentences on charges of aggravat-ed homicide. El Salvador also has the highest femicide rate in the world; Latin Ameri-can countries dominate the top 10 with the highest femicide rates. Except for Uruguay, where legal termination until the 12th week

of pregnancy has nearly eradicated deaths from unsafe abortions, regional headway on the issue has been negligible. Chile legalized abortion in extremely limited circumstances last year, but government regulations are already undermining access. In Brazil right-wing lawmakers are pushing for a total ban. And in El Salvador attempts to permit abor-tion in life-threatening circumstances were stymied last month.

Snarky commentators say it’s easy to op-pose femicides, because nobody defends

them. Pichot’s joke cuts to the hypocrisy underlying that vision, because a society that doesn’t recognise women’s bodies as their own is precisely one where they can be killed with impunity.

The most important of the eight bills under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies has been presented periodically by a coa-lition of activist organizations since 2007. Each bill has lost parliamentary status with-out reaching the floor.

It’s not clear how the June vote will go.

Estimates show a slight majority against le-galisation in the lower chamber and a larger majority against in the Senate, but undecided lawmakers could still swing the vote. That would do little for the 300 women murdered in Argentina last year, but it would do much to say that their deaths, and the entirely preventable deaths of other women, were not acceptable.

(Jordana Timerman is an Argentine journalist and editor of The Latin American Daily Briefing.)

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

editorial stances)

This is a familiar story: The religious conservatives have become corrupted by power.

But power corrupts more easily when you have neither princi-

ples nor integrity.

1590Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

1865The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.

1940Stocks trade: The New York Stock Exchange begins opera-tions.

1973Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: sales@newsofbahrain.com | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: mail@newsofbahrain.comSubscription & circulation: Tel: 38444692/17579877 | Email:subscription@newsofbahrain.com | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

Compassion is of lit-tle value if it just

remains an idea. It must motivate how we respond to others and be reflected in all our thoughts and actions.

@DalaiLama

Labeling someone as “toxic” doesn’t nec-

essarily mean they’re a bad or harmful person. It just means their pres-ence in your life isn’t aligned with the reality you’re creating for your-self.

@EboneeDavis

If you are able to help someone, help them.

Do something good. Feel something real.

@ATEEKSTER

With North Korea threatening to

cancel the summit over our joint military exer-cises with the South, I strongly urge @realDon-aldTrump: Don’t give Kim Jong-Un anything for free. We must be strong, and we must be resolute – this exercise should move forward.

@SenSchumer

Power corrupts, even conservatives It depends if it’s being used for self-education or an ego boost for believers

as so many religious people like to claim.The religious conservatives have morally

failed because they ended up doing everything that they once condemned as unjust and cruel. For decades, they criticised the secular elite for nepotism and corruption, for weaponising the judiciary and for using the news media to demonise and intimidate their opponents. Yet after their initial years in power, they began repeating all of the same behavior they used to condemn, often even more blatantly than their predecessors. This is a familiar story: The reli-gious conservatives have become corrupted by power. But power corrupts more easily when you have neither principles nor integrity.

Notably, some of the more conscientious voic-es among Turkey’s religious conservatives criti-cise this ugly reality. Mustafa Ozturk, a popular theologian and a newspaper columnist, recently declared that religious conservatives are failing the moral test miserably. He wrote: “For the next 40 to 50 years, we Muslims will have no right to say anything to any human being about faith, morals, rights and law. The response, ‘We have seen you as well,’ will be a slap in our face.”

Another prominent theologian, the former mufti of Istanbul, Mustafa Cagrici, also wrote about “the growing gap between religiosity and morality.” In the past, he noted, moral conservatives like him would argue that “there could be no morality without religion.” But now, he wrote, “there should be no religion

without morality.”Such discussions may look specific to con-

temporary Turkey, but they raise a question that is globally, timelessly relevant: Does re-ligion really make people more moral human beings? Or does the gap between morality and the moralists — a gap evident in Turkey today and in many other societies around the world — reveal an ugly hypocrisy behind all religion?

My humble answer is: It depends. Religion can work in two fundamentally different ways: It can be a source of self-education, or it can be a source of self-glorification. Self-education can make people more moral, while self-glorifica-tion can make them considerably less moral.

Religion can be a source of self-education, because religious texts often have moral teach-ings with which people can question and in-struct themselves. The Quran has pearls of wisdom. It tells believers to “uphold justice” “even against yourselves or your parents and relatives.” It praises “those who control their wrath and are forgiving towards mankind.” It counsels: “Repel evil with what is better so your enemy will become a bosom friend.” A person who follows such virtuous teachings will likely develop a moral character, just as a person who follows similar teachings in the Bible will.

But trying to nurture moral virtues is one thing; assuming that you are already moral and virtuous simply because you identify with a particular religion is another. The latter turns religion into a tool for self-glorification. A religion’s adherents assume themselves to be moral by default, and so they never bother to question themselves. At the same time, they look down on other people as misguided souls, if not wicked infidels.

For such people, religion works not as cure for the soul, but as drug for the ego. It makes them not humble, but arrogant.

In legalistic religious traditions, like Judaism and Islam, this problem occurs when religion is reduced to the practice of rituals. Abiding by a legal code makes the believer feel upright in the eyes of God, even if she or he is immoral when dealing with fellow human beings.

An exceptional Jewish rabbi who lived two millenniums ago, Jesus of Nazareth, spotted this problem. Those practicing Pharisees who are “confident of their own righteousness and look down on everybody else,” he declared, are not really righteous. Sinners who regret their failures, he said, are more moral than the pious who boast.

Stripping morality from religion can also oc-cur when a belief system is reduced to a simple group identity. This kind of “us vs. them” men-tality can corrupt and radicalise any religious community — Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists alike can become hateful mil-itants when they see themselves as righteous victims. That trend is visible everywhere from the Buddhist monks cheering ethnic cleansing in Myanmar to the Hindu majoritarians who dominate Indian politics to the violent Muslim extremists in the Middle East.

Conscientious believers in every tradition need to stand against the toxic urges that turn religion into a hollow vessel of arrogance, big-otry, hatred and greed. Otherwise, more and more evil will be done in their faith’s name. And more and more people will ask, as many young Turks are asking these days, what religion is really good for.

(Mustafa Akyol, a contributing opinion writer and a visiting fellow at the Freedom Project at Wellesley

College.)

inate — and where violence against women remains rampant. In El Salvador, abortion is absolutely criminalised in all cases, even when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered. Cases are ruthlessly prosecuted, and in some instances, women have received decades long prison sentences on charges of aggravat-ed homicide. El Salvador also has the highest femicide rate in the world; Latin Ameri-can countries dominate the top 10 with the highest femicide rates. Except for Uruguay, where legal termination until the 12th week

of pregnancy has nearly eradicated deaths from unsafe abortions, regional headway on the issue has been negligible. Chile legalized abortion in extremely limited circumstances last year, but government regulations are already undermining access. In Brazil right-wing lawmakers are pushing for a total ban. And in El Salvador attempts to permit abor-tion in life-threatening circumstances were stymied last month.

Snarky commentators say it’s easy to op-pose femicides, because nobody defends

them. Pichot’s joke cuts to the hypocrisy underlying that vision, because a society that doesn’t recognise women’s bodies as their own is precisely one where they can be killed with impunity.

The most important of the eight bills under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies has been presented periodically by a coa-lition of activist organizations since 2007. Each bill has lost parliamentary status with-out reaching the floor.

It’s not clear how the June vote will go.

Estimates show a slight majority against le-galisation in the lower chamber and a larger majority against in the Senate, but undecided lawmakers could still swing the vote. That would do little for the 300 women murdered in Argentina last year, but it would do much to say that their deaths, and the entirely preventable deaths of other women, were not acceptable.

(Jordana Timerman is an Argentine journalist and editor of The Latin American Daily Briefing.)

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

editorial stances)

This is a familiar story: The religious conservatives have become corrupted by power.

But power corrupts more easily when you have neither princi-

ples nor integrity.

12

world

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Guatemala inaugurates embassy in Jerusalem• The country is now the second to do so after the US

• The move gave Israel a diplomatic boost as it faces international criticism for the deadly violence on the Gaza border

AFP | Jerusalem

Guatemala inaugurated its Israel embassy in Jerusa-lem yesterday, becoming

the first country to follow in the footsteps of the United States’ deeply controversial move that was accompanied by deadly vio-lence on the Gaza border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales were among officials who attended a ceremony inaugurating the new embassy at an office park in the disputed city, which is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The US and Guatemalan moves break with decades of international consensus. US am-bassador to Israel David Fried-man also attended yesterday’s ceremony.

So far the only other nation with immediate plans to open an Israel embassy in Jerusalem is Paraguay, expected to do so before the end of the month.

Netanyahu profusely praised Guatemala for making the move and noted it came only two days

after the United States opened its embassy in Jerusalem.

The Israeli prime minister spoke of Guatemala’s early rec-ognition of the state of Israel after its creation in 1948 and said he would visit the country of 16 million on his next visit to Latin America.

“I look forward to assessing with you the practical ways... that we can advance this friend-ship and this alliance,” Netanya-hu said. “But today, I just want to say how delighted we are to have you.”

Morales called it a “transcen-dental moment for future gen-erations” who will “remember that friendly countries took

courageous decisions in favour of Israel and we do this because you have a special place in our hearts.”

‘To the fringes’ The US embassy move on Mon-day was accompanied by mass protests and heavy clashes along the Gaza border that saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians.

Israel has faced international criticism over its use of live fire against demonstrators.

It says its actions are neces-sary to defend the border and stop mass infiltrations from the Palestinian enclave, which is run by Islamist movement Ha-mas.

The territory of mod-ern Guatemala once formed the core of

the Maya civilization. With an estimated

population of 16.6m, it is currently the

most populated state in Central America

(L to R) Sara Netanyahu and her husband Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin applaud as Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and his wife Hilda Patricia Marroquin open the Guatemalan embassy in Jerusalem

KNOW WHAT

Samurai sword attack in Indonesia

• One officer killed, two wounded after group of men stage attack, claimed by ISIL, on police station in Sumatra island

AFP | Pekanbaru, Indonesia

Four men who attacked an Indonesian police head-

quarters with samurai swords were shot dead yesterday and one officer also died, author-ities said, days after a wave of deadly suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group rocked the country.

The assault in the city of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island saw a group ram their minivan into a gate at the station and then attack officers with the swords, police said.

It was not clear if yester-day’s incident was linked to other attacks this week, which saw two families -- who all belonged to the same religious study group -- stage suicide

bombings at churches and a police station in Surabaya on Java island, Indonesia’s second biggest city.

The attacks have put Indo-nesia on edge -- and sparked a string of travel advisories from foreign governments -- as the world’s biggest Muslim-major-ity country starts the holy fast-ing month of Ramadan from Thursday.

Police said they shot dead four of the police station at-tackers and later arrested an-other who had fled.

One officer was killed by the speeding vehicle and two others were wounded in the incident, they added.

Local media said one at-tacker may have had a bomb strapped to his body but po-lice have not confirmed the re-ports. The Islamic State group has taken responsibility for the attack.

The bloody violence is put-ting pressure on lawmakers to pass a stalled security law that would give police more pow-er to take pre-emptive action against terror suspects.

An officer inspects a minivan used in the attack at the regional police headquarters in Pekanbaru, Riau province, Indonesia

8 killed in suicide bombing at funeral near Baghdad Xinhua | Baghdad

Up to eight people were killed and 31 wounded

yesterday in a suicide bomb attack at a funeral tent near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official told Xinhua.

The attack took place around noon when a suicide bomber wearing an explo-sive belt detonated himself among many mourners at the funeral tent in Taji area, some 20 km north of Bagh-dad, Major Hassan Ali said.

“The latest report said that the death toll rose to eight and 31 injured by the suicide bombing,” Ali add-ed.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene, as am-bulances and civilian cars evacuated the killed and wounded people to several nearby hospitals and medi-cal centres, he said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Chinese family shocked as pet dog turns out to be a bear

AsiaOne | Beijing

A Chinese family recently discovered that the “dog”

they adopted in 2016 is actually a black bear.

Su Yun bought what she thought to be a Tibetan mas-tiff puppy two years ago and brought it home with her family

in Kunming city, Yunnan prov-ince, after a holiday vacation, according to a report by Chi-nanews.com via Independent.

The “puppy” surprised Yun’s family with its appetite. Yun said the animal could down a box of fruits and two buckets of noodles every day.

They only found out two

years later what kind of animal their “family dog” really was when it grew into a 250-pound black bear The Yunnan Wildlife Rescue Center identified the animal as an Asiatic black bear, also known as the white chest-ed bear. The World Wildlife Organisation (WWF) lists the bear as a vulnerable species.

Asiatic Black Bear raised as a pet dogIndia’s BJP legislator claims CM candidate to be sworn-inNDTV | Bengaluru

Amid political turmoil that continues in the South

Indian state after a fractured mandate was delivered yes-terday, BJP lawmaker Muru-gesh Nirani said the party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa will take oath as Karnataka chief minister to-

morrow and an announcement will be made soon.

With the election results throwing a fractured mandate in Karnataka and both the BJP and the JD(S)-Congress com-bine had staked claim and all eyes are now on Governor Va-jubhai Vala who will decide whom to invite to form the next government.

Chlorine ‘used in February attack in Syria’AP | The Hague, Netherlands

The international chemical weapons watchdog said

that chlorine was likely used as a weapon in the rebel-held northern Syrian town of Sara-qeb in early February, the lat-est report of poison gas being unleashed in Syria’s civil war.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons released details of a report into the chlorine use,

but did not say which side in the fighting used it. The OPCW is not mandated to apportion blame for the attack.

The probe into the use of chlorine gas in the Saraqeb attack comes amid the OPCW’s investigation into another at-tack two months later in Dou-ma, near Damascus — a much larger attack that triggered US, British and French strikes against government posts in Syria a week later.

13THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Trump Jr: Can’t recall discussing Russia probe with father• Senate judiciary committee released 2,500 pages of testimony with Trump’s son and others who met with Russian attorney at Trump Tower

AP | Washington

Donald Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Com-mittee last year he did

not recall ever discussing the Russia investigation with his father and said he didn’t think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election, according to transcripts released yesterday of his interview with the panel.

The committee released more than 1,800 pages of transcripts of interviews with Trump’s son and others who attended a June 9, 2016, meeting at which they expected to receive dirt about Trump’s opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The documents reveal new

details about how the meeting — central to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential collusion between Trump aides and the Kremlin — came to be arranged and efforts afterward to mitigate the public relations damage arising from its disclosure.

The transcripts show the dis-satisfaction of Trump Jr. and other campaign aides, including brother-in-law Jared Kushner,

when the meeting failed to yield the harmful Clinton information they thought they’d get — as well as the increasing panic of one of the participants who feared his reputation would be ruined for his role in having set it up.

In addition, the transcripts reflect an aggressive Russian outreach to Trump both before and after the June 2016 meeting, including an effort to arrange a follow-up get-together that

November with members of his transition team. One year ear-lier, Trump was invited to the 60th birthday party of a friend in Moscow at which the oppor-tunity to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was dangled.

Trump Jr. deflected multiple questions during the interview, saying “No, not that I recall” when asked if he discussed the Russia probe with his father. He said he could not recall the

day the Trump meeting was ar-ranged but insisted that he had never discussed the meeting with him.

Asked if he thought it would be a problem to take a meeting described to him as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father, Trump Jr. said no.

“I didn’t think that listening to someone with information relevant to the fitness and char-acter of a presidential candidate would be an issue, no.”

Senate Judiciary Democrats said the transcripts are just “one piece of a much larger puzzle” and do not tell the entire story because some participants were not interviewed and Republican chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, did not subpoena them.

In addition to Trump Jr., the committee interviewed four other people who attended the Trump Tower meeting in New York — publicist Rob Goldstone, who set up the meeting with the promise of dirt on Clinton; Rinat Akhmetshin, a prominent Russian-American lobbyist; Ike Kaveladze, a business associate of a Moscow-based developer, and a translator.

Donald Trump Jr deflected multiple questions during the Senate panel interview, including whether he discussed the Russia investigation with his father

KNOW WHAT

When the meeting first became known, conflicting accounts

of who attended circulated. With time,

more names came forward.

Russian village evacuated after ammunition depot fire

AP | Moscow

Russia’s emergency offi-cials say they are evac-

uating residents from a vil-lage in central Russia after a nearby ammunition depot caught fire.

The Emergency Situ-ations Ministry said in a statement yesterday that they deployed a helicopter and a jet to put out a fire at the ammunition depot in the town of Pugachyo-vo, around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east of capital Moscow.

Authorities have also or-dered Pugachyovo’s 3,000 residents to evacuate to nearby villages.

Authorities said the blaze started after dry grass near-by caught fire.

It was the second fire at the same depot in seven years.

One person died and more than 100 people had sought medical help when a massive fire engulfed the ammunition depot in the summer of 2011. More than 4,000 houses were also damaged in the area at the time.

U.S. identifies suspect in major leak of CIA hacking tools

• Joshua Adam Schulte worked for a CIA group that designs computer code to spy on foreign adversaries

The Washington Post | Wash-ington

The US government has identified a suspect in the

leak last year of a large portion of the CIA’s computer hacking arsenal, the cyber tools the agency had used to conduct espionage operations overseas, according to interviews and public documents.

But despite months of in-vestigation, prosecutors have been unable to bring charges against the man, who is a for-mer CIA employee currently being held in a Manhattan jail on unrelated charges.

Joshua Adam Schulte, who worked for a CIA group that designs computer code to spy on foreign adversaries, is be-lieved to have provided the agency’s top-secret informa-tion to WikiLeaks, federal prosecutors acknowledged in a hearing in January. The an-

ti-secrecy group published the code under the label “Vault 7” in March 2017.

It was one of the most signif-icant and potentially damaging leaks in the CIA’s history, ex-posing secret cyber weapons and spying techniques that also might be used against the United States, according to current and former intelli-gence officials.

Schulte’s connection to the leak investigation hasn’t been previously reported.

Federal authorities searched Schulte’s apartment in New York last year and obtained a personal computer equipment, notebooks, and hand-written notes according to a copy of the search warrant reviewed by The Washington Post. But that failed to provide the evi-dence that prosecutors needed to indict Schulte with illegal-ly giving the information to WikiLeaks.

“Those search warrants ha-ven’t yielded anything that is consistent with [Schulte’s] in-volvement in that disclosure,” Matthew Laroche, an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York, said at a hearing on January 8, accord-ing to a court transcript.

CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia

Senate panel advances Trump nominee to lead CIAReuters | Washington

The US Senate Intelligence Committee voted yesterday

to approve President Donald Trump’s nominee to be CIA di-rector, Gina Haspel, and she is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate by next week.

The panel voted 10-5 be-hind closed doors to approve the nomination, which was expected after two of its sev-en Democrats, Vice Chairman Mark Warner and Joe Manchin, said they would join the panel’s eight Republicans in backing Haspel.

Despite criticism - includ-ing from Republican Senators Rand Paul and John McCain - because of ties to the CIA’s former harsh interrogation pro-gram for terrorism suspects, Haspel is expected to become the first female director of the spy agency.

Senator Richard Burr, the committee’s Republican chair-man, said in a statement that Haspel is the best person to lead the agency, saying she “has acted morally, ethically, and le-gally” during her career.

Haspel, a 33-year CIA veteran, is currently its acting director.

CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S.

Mystery blast kills woman in CaliforniaLA Times | Aliso Viejo

Investigators believe an explosion at a medical of-

fice in southern California that killed one woman may have been intentional, US media reports say.

The blast at the two-sto-rey building in Aliso Viejo, south of Los Angeles, also injured two people.

A US official told local me-dia that the authorities were investigating it as an inten-tional act and a package may have caused the blast.

But police have not con-firmed this and they say no device was found.

“We have not found any type of specific device in-side of the building right now that could tell us or lead us to what exactly the device was, if it was a de-vice,” Commander Dave Sawyer of the Orange Coun-ty Sheriff’s Department said at a press conference.

He said buildings in the area had been damaged by the blast.

The ground shook and it felt “almost like an earth-quake, but a big earth-quake”, a witnesses said..

Dong Shin told CNN that he had seen “fire, smoke, insulation popping out of the walls, a lot of scared people running around, a lot of commotion”.

Mary McWilliams said that after the explosion she saw two women emerging from the building with ob-vious injuries.

“I saw two women come out full of blood, hair singed, glass stuck to their hair, glass stuck to their bodies. Their skin was burned and peeled back,” she told CBS.

The sheriff ’s department said that the investigation remains at an early stage.

Power outages linger as US Northeast recovers from deadly stormReuters | New York

A violent spring storm that killed at least five people in

the northeastern United States downed trees and power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power yes-terday.

By daybreak, more than 370,000 residents were with-out power in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Penn-sylvania, down from more than 600,000 on Tuesday night.

Amtrak and most local com-muter railroads in the New York metropolitan area said their services were back to normal on Wednesday. Some schools cancelled classes or delayed their openings.

The line of strong thunder-storms with wind gusts of 50 to 80 miles per hour (80 to 129 kilometres per hour) sped east-ward across the region Tuesday

evening, causing local flooding, scattering debris and dropping hail as large as tennis balls.

Falling trees killed an 11-year-old girl and a woman in sep-arate incidents in Newburgh,

New York, police said. Falling trees also killed two people in Connecticut in separate inci-dents, as well as a person in Pennsylvania, local media re-ported.

Commuters wait as service was temporarily suspended on all Metro North lines at Grand Central Terminal due to storms in Manhattan, New York

14

features

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

The Kondapalli toys are made from soft wood known as Tella Poniki which are found in near-

by Kondapalli Hills. The wood is first carved out and then the edges are smooth finished. The

later step involves colouring with either oil and water-colours or vegetable dyes and enamel

paints are applied based on the type of the toys

India’s toy carvers threatened by deforestation

AFP | Kondapalli, India

Artisan wood carvers who have been mak-ing intricate toys for Indian maharajas, ministers and their

children for generations are facing ruin as the rare wood their unique products rely on disappears.

The highly treasured, bright-ly coloured Kondapalli toys are under threat from deforestation, and in particular the rampant ex-ploitation of the Tella Poniki tree.

The wooden elephants, sol-diers and gods are named after the Andhra Pradesh village of Kondapalli, where artists have lived since the 16th century.

The craftsmen and women pro-duce the figures for royalty and high-ranking politicians, with ministers still regularly giving Kondapalli toys as gifts to foreign dignitaries.

Their tradition depends on the Tella Poniki, a rare tree that only survives around the nearby city of Vijayawada. The disappearing forests mean the carvers must look further afield for supplies of the white wood, which is prized for its malleability.

The Kondapalli carvers are also battling the threat of digital toys and are wrestling with the quan-dary of whether to adopt modern machinery to up their efficiency and cut their prices.

“Market demand and curiosity for these toys may be increasing but we are nothing without qual-ity wood at a reasonable price,” Bharani Kota Verma, a 48-year-old fifth generation Kondapalli toy maker told AFP.

Verma said the price of wood has doubled in the past three years because of the shortage. “Our mar-gins have been squeezed,” he said.

“The wood from the tree is very soft and ideal for carving into var-ious shapes,” explained 55-year-old S.K Ashra Funnisa, who has been making toys for more than 40 years.

Rare tree threatened Funnisa owns a small shop in Kondapalli’s busy market crammed with wooden elephants, bullock carts and figures from Hindu mythology.

She pointed to a Tella Poniki log that cost 400 rupees ($7) three years ago but now costs double.

J.S.N. Murthy, Andhra Pradesh

chief forestry officer, said the state government planned to establish extra plantations to ease the crisis.

He explained many craftsman are unable to find legal local supplies and are approaching middlemen who pass off similar softwoods from further afield at higher prices.

Murthy said authorities would create up to five hectares (12 acres) of new land for Tella Pon-iki each year over the next two decades.

Competition from more modern toys and the growing attraction of machines also weighs heavily on Kondapalli.

“Eight to 10 hours of labour to carve 20 cows or buffaloes only gives me about 300 rupees ($5),” Shaik Moulali said at his cramped one-room home, which doubles as a workshop.

He sat with a jute basket of carved and part-finished animal figures in one corner. His wife, Baji Sheikh, sat with their two sons, cooking on a small stove at the other end.

“The introduction of machines will definitely reduce the effort and energy spent by people like me,” he said.

Others like Verma reject the replacement of traditional knives, brushes and chisels. “No genuine toymaker uses machines,” he said.

Men and women in Kondapalli families traditionally share the toy work. Men carve the wood work while women do the intri-cate painting.

‘Mad’ king’s lost gift to Wagner gets rare showSaved from the ruins of the defeated Nazi Germany in 1945, the fragment at first looks insignificant, consisting of just the blue and gold base of the urnlike vase, and part of one rounded side

AFP | Brussels

Kept safe in a silk-lined box by its Bel-gian “custodian” lies a piece of the historic legacy of

German composer Richard Wag-ner that was nearly lost forever.

The Lohengrin vase, made of porcelain, was given to Wagner more than 150 years ago by Lud-wig II, the “mad king” of Bavaria, whose passion for building fairy-tale castles was matched only by his love of Wagner’s operas.

It was believed lost after Al-lied bombing in World War II

destroyed much of Bayreuth, the town where Wagner built the legendary theatre that now hosts an annual music festival.

But one fragment emerged af-ter the war and was taken to the Belgian capital, Brussels, in 1949, where it has largely remained out of sight in the intervening years.

A group of Wagner devotees recently received a special view-ing during a production in Brus-sels of the opera “Lohengrin” -- the work that first bewitched Ludwig -- and an AFP reporter was given a rare glimpse.

Patrick Collon, the renowned

organ maker and art expert who now owns the fragment, said that “Ludwig was barely 18 years old when he started thinking about this vase, and he obsessed about it for six months. His dia-ries are full of it.”

“After Ludwig became king he sought out Wagner, who was hiding from his creditors, all over central Europe. He found him a year later and gave him this vase in May 1865 for his 52nd birthday,” added Collon, 75.Saved from the ruins of the de-feated Nazi Germany in 1945, the fragment at first looks insignif-icant, consisting of just the blue

and gold base of the urn-like vase, and part of one rounded side.

But it sheds an intriguing light on the extraordinary friendship between the young Ludwig and the older Wagner. The eccen-tric Ludwig is best known for designing the fantastical Neu-schwanstein near Munich which served as the model for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

A minor king under whom Bavaria lost its independence to Prussia, Ludwig has neverthe-less gone down in history as a patron of the arts, especially of the equally erratic Wagner.

The Lohengrin vase was given to German composer Richard Wagner more than 150 years ago by Ludwig II, the “mad king” of Bavaria

“The next generation, who can earn more

without learning these tough

skills and the hard work, isn’t

interested in entering this field like people did 10 or 20 years back. I just want them to study and find

a job”BHARANI KOTA VERMA

An Indian artisan working on a wooden toy at a workshop in Andhra Pradesh state

15

entertainment

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

C R O S S W O R D

S U D O K U

Across1- Church recesses; 6- Rat-___; 10- RR stops; 14- Capital of Yemen; 15- Bangkok native; 16- Still; 17- Arrogant; 18- Dies ___; 19- Et ___; 20- That, in Tijuana; 21- Conjurer; 24- Store for safekeeping; 26- Nod involuntarily; 27- PIN requester; 28- Small-minded; 30- Missing; 33- Dude who springs you from the can; 35- All the Things You ___; 38- Second-year students, for short; 40- LP speed; 41- Perimeters; 43- Put ___ fight; 44- Shooting star; 47- Congers; 48- Crowbar; 49- Luau instrument; 51- Addison’s collaborator; 54- Cinderella candi-date; 58- Obliged; 61- Norma ___; 62- Flabbergasts; 63- Ultimatum word; 64- Monetary unit of Nigeria; 66- Corona fruit; 67- Cut-price retail event; 68- Improve; 69- Interstellar dist.; 70- Stadium level; 71- Kitten;

Down1- According to; 2- Analyze grammatically; 3- Pry; 4- It’s bottled in Cannes; 5- One who enjoys inflicting pain; 6- Leaning; 7- Drive-___ window; 8- Small batteries; 9- Connect with; 10- Meager; 11- Actress Shire; 12- Elite group; 13- Strike; 22- Arm or leg; 23- Unconventional; 25- Vow; 28- Scottish musician; 29- Ticklish Muppet; 30- Baton Rouge sch.; 31- Alley ___; 32- Resort; 34- Commedia dell’___; 35- Bio bit; 36- Fam. member; 37- Slalom curve; 39- Refine metal; 42- Like an abyss; 45- Himalayan peak; 46- Govern; 48- Children of a ___ God; 50- Abduct; 51- Dandruff; 52- Namely; 53- Adversary; 54- Twisted expression?; 55- Gets nosy; 56- Makes; 57- Prepared; 59- Jai ___; 60- “Cast Away” setting; 65- ___ Darya (Asian river);

B E E T L E B A I L E Y

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

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.

Y O U R S T A R T O D A Y

AriesTry not to get weighed down by emotions today, but give them the opportunity to have their time in the spotlight. You may find that there is a strong force working to cover up the truth of what you really feel.

TaurusIt may be difficult to express yourself fully today, Tau-rus. Somehow the words aren’t coming out quite as clearly as you’d like. Powerful emotions are getting in the way. It could be difficult for you to find solid footing on such a muddy surface. Don’t try to confine yourself to one way of doing something.

GeminiYou might need to hold your tongue today. People’s feelings are more easily hurt now, and the slightest criticism could be misinterpreted as a terrible insult. When in doubt, keep your mouth shut. Turn your at-tention inward and focus on your emotions.

CancerYou’ll find that you have a much better than usual con-nection with the people around you. Your psychic sense is acute, and you should use this sixth sense to pick up things that other people might miss. Don’t let the busy chatter of the day disrupt your connection with deeper thoughts and ideas. People are more malleable today than usual.

LeoBe persistent and don’t give up the fight today. It might seem as if you aren’t making progress and that it’s harder to make decisions about anything. You’ll find that other people are just as confused as you. Find a clever way to express what you feel. You can sort the issues out with the help of others as long as you’re in touch with your inner state.

VirgoYour current plan of attack may run into some snags today. This might be caused by an emotional need that you may not have recognized earlier. The problem is that your head may say one thing while your gut tells you something else. You might need to put everything on hold while you sort out this inner turmoil. There’s a great deal of compassion in the air.

LibraYou may need to take a more disciplined approach to your communication today. Try not to be so harsh and limiting with your words. People respond better to comforting expressions and a sympathetic tone. Cold, abrasive facts will only aggravate an existing wound. Tone things down. Allot yourself some quiet time to be alone and contemplate your state of mind.

ScorpioThis is an excellent day for you. You should find that things are running smoothly and to your advantage. Watch out for those who may want to rain on your pa-rade by bombarding you with information that doesn’t really connect with the way you feel.

SagittariusYou may feel rather lazy and out of touch today. It could be that your emotions have taken a stronger hold on your psyche than your rational way of thinking.

CapricornToday is a good day to dream. Be aware that structured forces may try to convince you that the route you want to take isn’t the most practical. You don’t necessarily have to be practical in order to be successful or pros-perous. Use your imagination.

AquariusYou might feel like your emotions are up in the air. As soon as you feel emotional, there may be a more struc-tured force telling you to be reasonable. Both camps are valid, so try not to let one overpower the other.

PiscesYour head is filled with passion today, and you may be feeling a bit more sentimental than usual. The one difficulty with this is that there may not be an appropri-ate situation in which to express this emotion as fully as you might like. Try to navigate the waters toward a safe place where the people around you support you.

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16

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Tesla’s Model X tow a 143 ton dreamlinerCarscoops | Melbourne, Australia

Tesla has managed to set a new Guin-ness World Record, as the heaviest tow by a production passenger EV,

after pulling a Boeing 787-9 on the tarmac for 300 meters (984 feet).

The successful attempt took place on Tuesday, in Melbourne, Australia, and was acknowledged by Guinness World Record.

Owned by Qantas Airlines, the passen-

ger plane weighs 130 tons (286,600lbs), unloaded and with minimal fuel in the tanks, which is way beyond the electric crossover’s official towing capacity of 2.5 tons (5,112lbs).

“Never has a passenger airliner been hitched to an electric passenger vehicle for towing. Well, at least until today”, wrote Qantas. “On a remote taxiway at Melbourne Airport, a Tesla Model X P100D, with the greatest pulling power of any electric pas-

senger vehicle, came face to face against the newest star of the Qantas fleet, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.”

Just for the fun of it, Qantas compared the Boeing 787-9 and the Tesla Model X, side by side, revealing that the plane has 236 seats, and the vehicle can accommodate between 5 and 7 passengers. The Boeing has a total range of up to 14,500km (9,010mi), whereas the EV can be driven for as much as 565km (351mi) in between charges.

Geely offers exciting deals for RamadanManama

International motor trading Agency has started their

“2018 Ramadan Offer” for Geely range of vehicles.

IMTA is offering free 3years or 60,000kms service package, extended warranty upto 5years, insurance, registration and rust proofing. Special finance deal with 3months deferred instal-ment and special finance rate of interest. The offer is valid till Ramadan end.

The Emgrand X7 Sport is Geely’s new generation of SUV, a testament of the auto maker’s commitment and unrelenting spirit to create a world class SUV that is beautiful and best in quality. Designed in Goth-enburg, tuned in the United Kingdom by MIRA for uncom-promising ride & handling and protected by the latest passive safety system from Bosch.

Best known for its extra space, luxury interiors and in-tegrated infotainment controls, the Emgrand X7 Sport will make your dream of owning a big car at a low price come true.

Intelligent technology of 2.4L DOHC 16V VVT-i straight-four engine with 6speed AT Gear will adjust the valve and fuel according to speed. With its C-NCAP five-star safety stand-ard under Geely’s GTSM safety management system of “peo-ple-oriented and safety first”.

The interior is very pleas-ing and well organized with its cutting-edge smart features and advanced safety features. There is plenty of legroom and headroom and you can enjoy a perfect visual field while driv-ing this powerful drive! Rear seats on slide adjusters can meet different sitting postures. Another subtle touch is the use of light-coloured materials on the roof. There is a two-tone interior colour that increases colour and light in the cabin.

So whether it’s a family pic-nic at the beach, everyday drive to work or a cruise toward your favourite hangout spots. Gath-er those extra special people in and hit the road. Pleasure n’ power, space n’ safety and comfort n’ class is how you can define your EmgrandX7 Sport.

New Mercedes Benz AMG GT S Roadster unveiledAutoexpress | Stuttgart, Germany

The new Mercedes-AMG GT S Roadster has been

revealed. It’s the third variant to join Affalterbach’s drop-top sports car lineup, and it sits between the current GT and GT C in terms of perfor-mance and price.

Under the bonnet sits the same ‘hot vee’ eight-cylinder twin-turbo used in the rest of the AMG GT range - and indeed almost every other current 63-monikered AMG. An output of 515bhp places the GT S between the stand-ard 469bhp GT and the GT C’s 549bhp. The 670Nm peak

torque also sits between the other two - 10Nm below the GT C but 40Nm above the GT. As a result, the GT S covers the 0-62mph dash in 3.8 sec-onds en route to a top speed of 191mph.

Similarly, the chassis spec sits between the two current Roadster incumbents. The GT S features an electrically-con-

trolled limited slip differen-tial and adaptive damping - neither of which are fitted to the standard GT Roadster - while the wheels measure 19 inches at the front and 20 inches at the rear. They house composite brake discs that measure 390mm at the front and 360mm at the back.

Drivers who wish to focus the driving experience fur-ther can upgrade to the AMG Dynamic Plus package. Stiffer suspension, active engine and transmission mounts and a retuned steering setup aim to deliver a sharper drive, while inside the pack adds an alcan-tara-effect steering wheel and yellow details in the dials.

Rolls-Royce to cling on to V12 engine Carscoops | London

Rolls-Royce will cling to the V12 engine until the

moment it is no longer able to.In an interview with the

Financial Times, Rolls-Royce chief executive Torsten Müller-Otvos said that the British marque is ready for electrification but that V12s

will remain its priority for as long as possible.

“We will definitely offer 12-cylinder engines as long as we can, as long as it is legally allowed to offer them,” he said.

As legend-a r y a s t h e m a r q u e ’ s V12 engines

are, Müller-Otvos said that Rolls-Royce is prepared for an all-electric future and fig-ures to make the switch by 2040.

Actress Emilia Clarke has teased the fans of “Game of Thrones”, saying the finale of the fantasy

series’ last season will be “what none of us think it will be”.

Clarke flew to Cannes in the midst of shooting the final season of HBO’s

“Game of Thrones” -- the fantasy series that features her playing Daenerys Targaryen. The actress attended the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday with the cast of her forthcoming project “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, reports va-riety.com.

She said she was not certain how all the clashes for the Iron Throne will end. “It will be what none of us think it will be,” Clarke said.

“Game of Thrones” started with the first season back in 2011 and the final season is set to open in 2019.

Based on George R.R. Mar-tin’s novels, the show is about the thrilling quest to claim the Iron Throne. It is the intricate and surprising tale that keeps one hooked to the show.

17

KNOW WHAT

THURSDAY, MAY 17 , 2018

UNCLE ( MALAYALAM / DRAMA )

Mammootty, Joy Mathew, Muthumani

DANA CINEMA 10:30,13:15,16:00,18:45,21:30,00:15SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 3.00 + 6.00 + 9.00 PM + 12.00 MNAL HAMRA DAILY AT: 12.00 + 6.00 PM + (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

RAAZI (HINDI / ACTION / CRIME / THRILLER)

Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat

DANA CINEMA 11:00,13:30,16:00,18:30,21:00,23:30CINECO (20) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MNSAAR DAILY AT: 8.30 PM

102 NOT OUT ( HINDI / COMEDY )

Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Jimit Trivedi

DANA CINEMA 11:00,13:00,15:00,17:00,19:00,21:00,23:00SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.15 + 3.15 + 5.15 + 7.15 + 9.15 + 11.15 PM

A WRINKLE IN TIME (ADVENTURE/FAMILY/FANTASY )

Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon

DANA CINEMA 11:15,13:15,15:15,17:15,19:15,21:15,23:15,01:15CINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 + 8.00 + 10.15 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)SAAR DAILY AT: 9.15 PM + 11.30 PM WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 9.00 + 11.15 PM

KAALI ( TAMIL / ACTION )

Vijay Antony, Sunaina, Anjali

DANA CINEMA 11:00,13:30,16:00,18:30,21:00,23:30

DEADPOOL 2: 2D (ACTION/ADVENTURE /COMEDY)

Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz

DANA CINEMA 10:45, 13:00, 15:15, 17:30, 19:45, 22:00, 00:15CINECO (20) DAILY AT (IMAX 2D): 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) DAILY AT (ATMOS): 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MN DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MN DAILY AT (VIP I): 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM DAILY AT (VIP II): 12.00 + 2.30 + 5.00 + 7.30 + 10.00 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 11.45 AM + 12.15 + 1.45 + 2.15 + 2.45 + 4.15 + 4.45 + 5.15 + 6.45 + 7.15 + 7.45 + 9.15 + 9.45 + 10.15 + 11.45 + (12.15 MN + 12.45 MN THURS/FRI)SAAR DAILY AT: 9.00 + 11.30 PM WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 8.45 + 9.15 + 11.15 + 11.45 PM

DOWNRANGE ( THRILLER )

Kelly Connaire, Steph-anie Pearson,

Rod Hernandez

DANA CINEMA 11:00,12:45,14:30,16:15,18:00,19:45,21:30,23:15,01:00SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM

NADIGAIYAR THILAGAM (TAMIL/BIOGRAPHY/DRAMA )

Keerthi Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu

DANA CINEMA 11:00,14:00,17:00,20:00,23:00SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 2.00 + 5.15 + 8.30 + 11.45 PM AL HAMRA DAILY AT: 3.00 + 9.00 PM

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: 2D (ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY)

Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland

DANA CINEMA 11:00,13:45,16:30,19:15,22:00,00:45CINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 12.30 + 2.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 6.30 + 8.30 + 9.30 + 11.30 PM + (12.30 MN THURS/FRI)SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.15 + 3.15 + 6.15 + 9.15 PM + (12.15 MN THURS/FRI)SAAR DAILY AT: 11.15 PM WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 8.15 + 11.15 PM

NOS GAWAZA ( ARABIC / COMEDY )

Rahma Hassan Nabil Issa Mostafa Abo Seria

DANA CINEMA 11:00,12:45,14:30,16:15,18:00,19:45,21:30,23:15,01:00SEEF (I) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN

RAMPAGE (ACTION/THRILLER/SCI-FICTION)

DWAYNE JOHNSON, JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN, WILL YUN LEE CINECO (20) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 11.30 AM + 12.45 + 1.45 + 3.00 + 4.00 + 5.15 + 6.15 + 7.30 + 8.30 + 9.45 PM + 10.45 PM + 12.00 MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 9.00 PM

LIFE OF THE PARTY (COMEDY)

MELISSA MCCARTHY, GIL-LIAN JACOBS, JULIE BOWENCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM SAAR DAILY AT: 11.15 PM WADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 8.45 + 11.00 PM

BREAKING IN (THRILLER/CRIME)

GABRIELLE UNION, BILLY BURKE, RICHARD CABRALCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.15 + 3.15 + 5.15 + 7.15 + 9.15 + 11.15 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.30 + 3.30 + 5.30 + 7.30 + 9.30 + 11.30 PM SAAR DAILY AT: 9.15 PMWADI AL SAIL DAILY AT: 11.15 PM

A QUIET PLACE(THRILLER/HORROR/DRAMA)

EMILY BLUNT, JOHN KRASINSKI, NOAH JUPECINECO (20) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 2.30 + 6.45 + 9.45 + 11.45 PM

TOMB RAIDER (ACTION/ADVENTURE)

ALICIA VIKANDER, HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN, WALTON GOGGINSCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM

OVERBOARD (COMEDY/ROMANTIC)

ANNA FARIS, EVA LONGO-RIA, EUGENIO DERBEZCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 2.30 + 7.00 + 11.30 PM SEEF (II) DAILY AT: 12.15 + 4.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PM

BAD SAMARITAN (THRILLER/CRIME)

DAVID TENNANT, KERRY CONDON, ROBERT SHEEHANCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 10.00 PM + (12.15 MN THURS/FRI)

MASHA & THE BEAR (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY)

ANGELICA KEAMY, BORIS KUTNEVICHCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 PM

PETER RABBIT (ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY)

ROSE BYRNE, DOMHNALL GLEESON, SAM NEILLCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 PMSEEF (II) DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 PM

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE(CRIME/THRILLER/DRAMA)

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, JUDITH ROBERTS, EKATERINA SAMSONOVCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 9.45 + 11.45 PM

THE COMMUTER (THRILLER/CRIME)

LIAM NEESON, VERA FAR-MIGA, PATRICK WILSONCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 1.30 + 5.30 + 9.30 PM

ACTS OF VIOLENCE(ACTION/CRIME)

BRUCE WILLIS, COLE HAUS-ER, SHAWN ASHMORECINECO (20) DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 3.30 + 7.30 + 11.30 PM

17-KOSTI BYOGAANI (15+) (ARABIC/COMEDY)

HANY RAMZY, MAYA NASRY, HASSAN HOSNYCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 12.15 + 4.45 + 9.15 PM

BLACK PANTHER (ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER)

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, LUPITA NYONG’OCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 2.30 + 7.15 PM + 12.00 MN

HURRICANE HEIST (ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER)

TOBY KEBBELL, MAGGIE GRACE, RYAN KWANTENCINECO (20) DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.30 + 5.15 + 10.00 PM

Clarke promises unexpected ending for GOT

“Game of Thrones” started with the

first season back in 2011 and the final

season is set to open in 2019

Your Family Restaurant is also opening in Seef District

Call +973 17364999 | +973 17728699

Cena willing to walk Markle down the aisle

Amid news that Meghan Markle’s father will skip her royal wedding with Prince

Harry later this week, actor John Cena has joked that he can walk the actress down the aisle. Cena spoke about the wedding when he shared co-hosting duties on “Today” with hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on Tuesday, reports people.com.

Thomas Markle had told US website TMZ he would not go for the wedding amid a row over paparazzi photographs. He then said he would go for his daughter’s D-Day, and then again said he cannot due to a planned heart procedure.

The hosts spoke to royal correspondent Keir Simmons after news broke that the “Suits” actress’ father would not attend her wedding.

Fame can be distracting, says Saoirse RonanIrish actress Saoirse Ronan says it

can be distracting when you get “more recognisable”.

The 24-year-old actress has recently emerged as one of the most in-demand young stars in Hollywood, but Ronan says she is determined to stay ground-ed, saying she doesn’t want fame to distract her from her work, reports femalefirst.co.uk

“I can see how it can be distracting, especially when you do get a bit more recognisable, and maybe you are sort of in the public eye a little bit more and stuff,” the “Lady Bird” actress told online entertainment news portal ITV.

“But if you are why it is you are do-ing this - it should be because you love it - it keeps you quite level headed,” she added.

Despite the success she has enjoyed, Ronan often goes about her day-to-day life unnoticed.

Saoirse Ronan

John Cena

Emilia Clarke

18

sports

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

BIC to host exciting night of Burnout• The Burnout action is scheduled to take place from 8pm to midnight in Sakhir

TDT | Manama

Bahrain International Cir-cuit (BIC), “The Home of Motorsport in the

Middle East”, kick starts its exciting calendar of events this Holy Month of Ramadan with the first of a series of Burnout nights this Friday in Sakhir.

Burnout is one of the most popular events held annually at the circuit during Ramadan, with scores of participants putting on a show for the large crowds that attend.

Those interested in taking part can register on site be-tween 4pm and 6pm.There will then be a break for Iftar. Registration will resume from 6.45pm until 8pm.

The Burnout action is sched-uled to take place from 8pm to midnight.

Burnout offers a unique spectacle, with the sight of rap-idly rising white smoke and the smell of burning rubber.

The participation fee is BD7 and those who would like to join in on the fun as a passenger can do so for BD4.

All entrants’ vehicles must meet specific eligibility criteria before being permitted to take part.

Spectators will be able to

watch this Friday’s event for BD2. There will also be a VIP section for BD10.

BIC is calling on all motor-sport lovers to attend and be a part of the excitement. All the action will be taking place within a safe and controlled environment.

For more information, vis-it BIC’s official website, www.bahraingp.cpm, or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.

Action from the previous race

Simon Yates celebrates after crossing the finishing line

Yates extends Giro d’Italia lead Simon Yates beats Tom Dumoulin, wins 11th stage

• Briton Chris Froome lost more time

AFP | Osimo

Simon Yates extended his lead in the Giro d’Italia yes-

terday with a solo finish giving him the 11th stage victory as fellow Briton Chris Froome lost more time.

The pink jersey wearer at-tacked on the final climb with

a kilometre to ride to claim his second stage win this year, finishing two seconds ahead of defending champion Tom Dumoulin. Italy’s Davide For-molo was third a further three seconds behind after the 156km hilly route from the central city of Assisi across to Osimo near the Adriatic coast.

Race favourite Froome again lost steam in the final climb with the four-time Tour de France winner finishing in 42nd position, some 40 seconds

behind Yates.The stage crossed through

the home town of Italian cy-clist Michele Scarponi who was killed in a road accident a year ago. Three breakaway riders Alessandro De Marchi, Leon Sanchez and Fausto Masnada were caught five kilometres from the line before two steep climbs to the finish.

Yates has worn the leader’s jersey since the arrival at the volcanic Mount Etna in Sicily last Thursday.

Embassy of Indonesia praises sports initiative by BahrainTDT | Manama

The sports initiative by Bah-rain held in Jakarta, Indo-

nesia under the leadership of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa was praised by, Nur Syahrir Rahardjo, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Bahrain for bringing together the growing economies of Indonesia and Bahrain.

The growing relations be-tween Indonesia and Bahrain has created corridors for in-vestment alongside developing opportunities in trade, tech-nology, tourism and cultural exchange.

Brave 12: KHK Legacy is the first event hosted by Brave Combat Federation in South East Asia.

Jakarta, which is also the hosting city for 2018 Asian Games became the destination for Brave Combat Federation.

The event has far reaching implications for both nations

in the fields of trade, cultural exchange and sports.

Brave Combat Federation is one among the top global Mixed Martial Arts promo-tions in the world. Brave Com-bat Federation has hosted events in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, India, Ka-zakhstan, Mexico and Jordan. After the event in Indonesia, Brave Combat Federation has announced to host the upcom-ing edition in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“The Embassy of the Repub-lic of Indonesia in Manama supports the organizing of the Brave 12: KHK Legacy in Jakar-ta, Indonesia on 11th May 2018. Furthermore, the Embassy is confident that the event will not only boost relationship be-tween Indonesia and Bahrain in sport, but also will enhance the relationship in several fields such as economic and cultural relationship between the two brotherly countries” said, Nur Syahrir Rahardjo.

Nur Syahrir Rahardjo, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Bahrain, with Mohammed Shahid, President of Brave CF

Amoussou compares Brave to Pride FCTDT | Manama

Bertrand Amoussou praised the entry of Brave Combat

Federation to Europe. Amous-sou is the president of the French national sanctioning body, the Commission National de Mixed Martial Arts.

Amoussou was a national champion in judo and a mem-ber of the French national team for ten years. He became the bronze medallist at the 1990 European Judo Cham-pionships. Amoussou became three-time world champion in Ju-Jitsu Combat.

In 2004, Amoussou became

the first Frenchman to win a Pride Fighting Championship bout. He also served as an am-bassador for ju-jitsu at the 2010 Sport Accord Combat Games in Beijing.

Amoussou is the pioneer of

MMA in France taking part in 1995 at the 1st international Vale Tudo Championship in Rio De Janeiro.

“Brave Combat Federation found by Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is a new or-ganisation that already made an impact in the MMA World. That itself is a great achievement. I really like the fact that Brave is going everywhere and especial-ly in Europe. Brave reminds me a little bit of Pride FC. They will put big pressure to the other European organisations and force them to raise their stand-ard. Which is good for the MMA industry,” said Amoussou.

BOC approves administrative and financial reports of BBSF

TDT | Manama

The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) has

approved the administra-tive and financial reports of the Bahrain Billiard and Snooker Federation (BBSF) for 2016 and 2017 as well as the future strategic plans of the federation.

This was announced at the join meeting between the two parties held on Tuesday at the BOC offices in Seef, in the presence of Assistant Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, and Sec-retary General of the Bah-rain Olympic Committee Abdulrahman Sadeq Askar.

Askar expressed satisfac-tion for the administrative duties of federation and thanked its president Dr. Saeed Al Yamani and his board members for their professional work and for their continued coopera-tion with the committee and their exemplary com-mitment to the commit-tee strategy. “The Bahrain Olympic Committee will spare no effort to support sports federations to im-plement their future plans for a better future for Bah-rain sports, in general, and Olympic sports, in particu-lar,” Askar said.

On his part, Dr. Al Yamani expressed thanks and ap-preciation to the BOC for its continuous support to the federation.

Cifra clinches women’s C singles titleTDT | Manama

Filipino Rhoda Cifra won over Bahraini teenager

Jenan Zaki Majed to take the women’s C singles title, while Indian Nalan Chokkapa has beaten Filipino Norman Abas-tillas in the men’s A+ singles category, with Kathy Vales Car-los overpowering Riza Rivera to take the women’s B singles title of the 9th Chairman’s Cup organized by the Filipino Club Tennis Group (FCTG) held at the Bahrain Tennis Federation courts at Isa Town.

In the women’s C singles title match Cifra and Majed fought hard in the finals, with Cifra emerging the better player, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over youngster Majed.

In the women’s B finals, Car-los has beaten Rivera 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 to take the title. Both Fil-

ipinos Carlos and Rivera were the top two players in the elim-ination rounds.

In the men’s A+ singles cate-gory, it was indeed a dominant showing by Chokkapa when he overpowered Abastillas 6-4, 6-2 in the finals. In the men’s super singles, Chokkapa proved to be consistent when it mattered most by overpowering multi-ti-tled Filipino Jicjic Bohol in the third set super tiebreak 10-8, to take the title when a Bohol

forehand went long. Score was 7-6(8), 3-6, 10-8.

Final Results: Women’s C: Rhoda Cifra beats Jenan Zaki Majed 6-2, 6-2Women’s B: Kathy Vales Carlos beats Riza Rivera 6-4, 5-7, 10-4Men’s A+ : Nalan Chokkapa beats Norman Abastillas 6-4, 6-2Men’s Super: Nalan Chokkapa beats Jicjic Bohol 7-6(8), 3-6, 10-8.

Mens A+ finalists Nalan Chokkapa and Norman Abastillas with official

Carl Amoussou

19THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Alexander-Arnold named in England WC squad• Goalkeeper Joe Hart and midfielder Jack Wilshere have not been included,along with left-back Ryan Bertrand

• England start their Group G campaign against Tunisia on 18 June

BBC | London

Uncapped 19-year-old Liv-erpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has

been named in Gareth South-gate’s 23-man England squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Defender Gary Cahill has been recalled and there are also places on the plane to Russia

for Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Burnley goal-keeper Nick Pope.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart and mid-fielder Jack Wilshere have not been included,along with left-back Ryan Bertrand.

England start their Group G campaign against Tunisia on 18 June, before games against

Panama and Belgium.Liverpool midfielder Adam

Lallana is one of five players on standby for the tournament, along with Burnley keeper Tom Heaton, Clarets defender James Tarkowski, Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook and fellow midfield-er Jake Livermore of West Brom.

“ I b e l i e v e t h i s i s a

squad we can be excited about,” Southgate said. “It is a young group but with some really im-portant senior players.”

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Ever-ton), Nick Pope (Burnley).

Defenders: Trent Alexan-der-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph

(Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Man-chester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tot-tenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tot-tenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

S t a n d b y : L e w i s C o o k (Bournemouth), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Adam Lallana (Liv-erpool), Jake Livermore (West Brom).

Trent Alexander-Arnold

28 days to go……

P L A Y E R O F T H E D A Y

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Ronaldo Brazil1998, 2002, 2006

Miroslav Klose GermanyTournaments:2002, 2006, 2010, 2014

Gerd Muller Germany1970, 1974

Just Fontaine France1958

Pele Brazil1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

Sandor Kocsis Hungary1954

Jurgen Klinsmann Germany1990, 1994, 1998

Thomas Muller Germany

Players with 10 goals: Helmut Rahn GER,Gary Lineker ENG, Gabriel Batistuta ARG,Teofilo Cubillas PER, Grzegorz Lato POL

2010, 2014

15

16

14

13

12

11

11

10

FIFA World Cup goalscorersFIFA World Cup goalscorersIn 2014, Miroslav Klose set a new World Cup goals recordin Germany’s memorable 7-1 victory over Brazil. ThomasMuller heads the table of current players

Source:FIFA

SELECTED LEGENDS Pictures: Getty Images

EusebioRoberto BaggioJairzinhoDiego Maradona

Mario KempesZinedine ZidaneGeoff HurstZico

Michel PlatiniFranzBeckenbauer

FRA

GER

ARGFRAENGBRA

PORITA

BRAARG

9998

6555

5

5

Muller

Lionel Messi Considered one of the best footballers in history, Messi has been voted FIFA’s player of the year on five separate occasions. Ar-gentina’s captain and all-time leading goalscorer will be making his fourth World Cup appearance at Russia 2018.

Cavani, Suarez highlight UruguayUruguay will take on Egypt (June 15), Saudi Arabia (June 20) and hosts Russia (June 25) in Group A tournamentFIFA | London

Uruguay coach Oscar Tab-arez has named a prelimi-

nary squad of 26 players for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Star strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani will once again be leading the line, while there were also call-ups for the likes of Nicolas Lodeiro.

Uruguay will take on Egypt (15 June), Saudi Arabia (20 June) and hosts Russia (25 June) in Group A.

Goalkeepers: Fernando Mus-lera (Galatasaray), Martin Silva (Vasco da Gama), Martin Cam-pana (Independiente)

Defenders: Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP), Jose Ma-

ria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Maximiliano Pereira (Porto), Gaston Silva (Independiente), Martin Caceres (Lazio), Guill-ermo Varela (Penarol)

Midfielders: Nahitan Nandez (Boca Juniors), Lucas Torrei-ra (Sampdoria), Matias Vecino (Inter Milan), Federico Val-verde (Real Madrid), Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus), Carlos Sanchez (Monterrey), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Cruzeiro), Diego Laxalt (Genoa), Cristian Rodri-guez (Penarol), Jonathan Urre-taviscaya (Monterrey), Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders), Gaston Ramirez (Sampdoria)

Forwards: Cristhian Stuani (Girona), Maximiliano Gomez (Celta Vigo), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Luis Suarez (Barcelona).

Luis Suarez Edison Cavani

No Zlatan in WC squadAFP | London

Sweden coach Janne An-dersson named a 23-man

World Cup squad on Tuesday that dashed the faint hopes of fans expecting to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic feature at Russia 2018. Sweden beat Italy in the 2018 World Cup playoffs last November, sparking specula-tion that former Juventus, AC Milan, Barcelona and Man-chester United striker Ibra-himovic would come out of international retirement.

Two weeks ago the giant striker said he would not change his mind on the matter.

But Zlatan is one of a kind – and makes up his own mind as he goes along sometimes, so fans remained hopeful that he might return for the tour-nament.

Sweden squad: Goalkeepers: Robin Olsen,

Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Karl-Jo-han Johnsson. Defenders: An-

dreas Granqvist, Victor Nils-son Lindelof, Mikael Lustig, Ludwig Augustinsson, Pontus Jansson, Emil Krafth, Filip Helander, Martin Olsson.

Midfielders: Sebastian Larsson, Gustav Svensson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg, Viktor Claesson, Jimmy Dur-maz, Marcus Rohden, Oscar Hiljemark. Forwards: Mar-cus Berg, John Guidetti, Isaac Kiese-Thelin, Ola Toivonen.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Saudi Arabian referee bannedBBC | London

A World Cup-bound referee has been banned for life

for a match-fixing attempt in Saudi Arabia just weeks before he was due to fly to Russia, says the country’s football fed-eration.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) says Fahad Al Mirdasi confessed to of-fering to fix the King’s Cup final between Al Ittihad and Al Faisaly. According to the SAFF, 32-year-old Al Mirdasi contacted an Al Ittihad offi-cial, who handed the messages over.

Fifa has requested more in-

formation.“Fifa notes the information

that referee Fahad Al Mirda-si has allegedly been banned from all football-related ac-tivities by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF),” the world governing body told BBC Sport.

The SAFF added that Al Mirdasi, who has been a Fifa referee since 2011, admitted soliciting the corrupt pay-ment after being taken into police custody. British former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg replaced Al Mir-dasi for Saturday’s King’s Cup final, which Al Ittihad won 3-1 after extra time.

Fahad Al Mirdasi

England World Cup winner Wilson dies

BBC | London

Ray Wilson, a member of England’s World

Cup-winning side, has died, aged 83. At 31, the left-back was the oldest player in Sir Alf Ramsey’s starting XI which overcame West Ger-many 4-2 in the 1966 final at Wembley. He spent most of his club career at Hudders-field Town before moving to Everton, where he helped the Toffees win the 1966 FA Cup.

Derbyshire-born Wilson, who also played for Oldham and Bradford City, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The Terriers said in a statement they were “dev-astated” to learn of Wilson’s death.

Ray Wilson

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018