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02 Moment of pride, success

03EWA won’t charge customers for replacing meters: Minister

04US reiterates ‘commitment’ to promote stability in the region

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I was crying the whole way home: Kim Kardashian over her 2013 Met Gala outfit 14 CELEBS

• His Majesty underlined Alba’s vital role, outstanding achievements and successes since the launch of its operations in the early 1970s.

• Shaikh Daij paid tribute to HM the King for patronising the inauguration Line 6 Expansion project, one of the largest in the world after China.

TDT | Manama Pradeep Puravankara

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yes-terday patronised the

inauguration of the Alba Line 6 Expansion Project at the Alu-minium Bahrain.

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister also attended the inauguration of Alba milestone.

HM the King was received on arrival at the venue of the inau-gural ceremony by Alba Chair-man Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa, Acting Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Ali Al Baqali, sen-ior Alba officials, dignitaries from the Southern Governorate and former Alba senior employees.

HM the King expressed de-light at inaugurating the Alba Line 6 Expansion Project, which will further bolster the standing of the firm to become the largest smelter with a total production capacity exceeding one million metric tonnes per year.

The King underlined the importance of the milestone, which will enhance Bahrain’s global competitiveness in this important sector, support the national economic develop-ment, spur growth and create many rewarding career oppor-tunities for national cadres.

His Majesty underlined Alba’s vital role, outstanding achieve-ments and successes since the launch of its operations in the early 1970s as the first pilot pro-ject in the region in supporting the national economy, which reflected Bahrain’s drive to di-versify the sources of income and create.

The King highlighted the company’s steady grown and performance to reach its desired goals through efforts exerted in managing the operational and

marketing operations, stressing the crucial importance of the al-uminium sector and its tangible contributions to Bahrain’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

His Majesty lauded the fruit-ful efforts of exerted by Alba Chairman, CEO and dedicated employees, which has a positive impacted on the company’s per-

formance and as well as regional and global standing.

The King paid tribute to Bah-rainis who run and operate the company, with utmost responsi-bility and competence, wishing the firm further development and excellence to contribute to the development of local industries and bolster its global standing.

“Despite challenges, Bahrain has managed to embark on a comprehensive development and attain landmark achieve-ments in all fields thanks to dedicated citizens,” His Maj-esty said.

A documentary shedding light on the history of Alba since its inception was shown. HM the King then inaugurated Alba Line 6 Expansion Project, by operat-ing one of reduction cells.

Alba Chairman Shaikh Daij presented commemorative gifts to HM the King and HRH the Crown Prince. HM the King toured the photo expo, show-casing the foundation stages of the company.

Shaikh Daij, earlier addressed the inaugural ceremony, paying tribute to HM the King for pat-ronising the inauguration Line 6 Expansion project, one of the largest in the world after China. He described the giant alumini-um industrial project as a source of pride for the Kingdom.

Speaking on the occasion, Brendan P Bechtel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bechtel, said amazing results are possible when partners come together as one team with one mission.

“It’s also important to say...great projects are measured by more than just concrete and steel in the ground. They leave a legacy in the form of lasting benefits to the local communi-ty and the region. And this is absolutely true for Line 6 as an important pillar in His Majesty King Hamad’s reform project and in line with the legacy that started 50 years ago with the establishment of Alba as the first smelter in Middle East.”

Despite challenges, Bahrain has managed to embark

on a comprehensive development and attain landmark achievements

in all fields thanks to dedicated citizens.

HIS MAJESTY

His Majesty writes in the visitors’ book at Alba.

His Majesty speaks to senior Alba staff. His Majesty inaugurates the Line 6 Expansion Project as Mr Bechtel, Shaikh Daij look on.

Huawei marks 15th anniversary of local operations TDT | Manama

Under the patronage of HH Shaikh Mohammed

bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Suprem Committee for Informa-tion and Communication Technology, Huawei held an event yesterday to celebrate its 15th anniversary of local operations in Bahrain.

HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa highlighted the Kingdom’s commitment towards digital transformation, and the im-portant role of information and technology in develop-ing the economy.

See Page 2

EU-led mission to monitor Gulf waters Dubai

A European-led maritime mission to monitor Gulf

waters will be stationed at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi, the French defence minister said Sunday, amid regional tensions with Iran.

Since May, tensions in the Gulf have escalated follow-ing a string of attacks on oil tankers that the United States and its allies blamed on Tehran. The Islamic re-public denies the charges.

02MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Meeting on ‘State of Arab Cities 2020 Report’ heldManama

Within the framework of the joint initiative to develop the State

of Arab Cities 2020 report, in co-operation with Bahrain Centre for Strategic and Inter-national Studies and Energy (DERASAT), United Nations Hu-man Settlements Programme Regional Office for Arab States (UN-Habitat ROAS), and Unit-ed Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) in Bahrain, held a regional consultation workshop here.

The workshop aimed to dis-cuss and validate the first draft of the report, identify the most persistent challenges facing Arab cities with regards to fi-nancing urban infrastructure, and propose policy recommen-dations and effective responses to address these challenges.

The workshop was attend-ed by a variety of experts and decision makers in urban de-velopment from several Arab countries, in addition to repre-sentatives of Arab regional or-ganisations and United Nations organisations. The discussion

focused on the key ideas put forward in the report on in-creasing the economic role of cities and the need for policies that catalyse their financial resources and diversify their economic activities to achieve balanced urban development.

Katadah Zaman, Executive Di-rector of ‘Derasat’, stated that “the Kingdom of Bahrain’s support to this initiative is based on the country’s progress achieved in the areas of urban development and improving the quality of life for residents, as well as the national efforts to achieve the SDGs”.

Minister of Defence Affairs Lieutenant General Abdullah bin Hassan Al Nuaimi received at the Ritz Carlton Hotel yesterday German Defence Ministry Undersecretary for Parliamentary Affairs Thomas Silberhorn and his accompanying delegation on the occasion of his visit to Bahrain to attend the IISS Manama Dialogue 2019.

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received at Safriyah palace yesterday, Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Mustafa Al Sarraj.They reviewed regional developments.

Libya ties discussed

Moment of pride, success Huawei celebrates 15th anniversary of local operations in the Kingdom

• Development of emerging technologies and nurturing local talent to remain priorities for the company in support of the Economic Vision 2030.

TDT | Manama

Under the patronage of HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khali-

fa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Com-mittee for Information and Com-munication Technology, and in the attendance of Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Jawad bin Sa-lem Al Arrayed, Deputy Prime Minister, and other ministers and senior business executives in Bahrain, Huawei held an event yesterday to celebrate its 15th anniversary of local operations in Bahrain.

HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa highlighted the Kingdom’s commitment to-wards digital transformation, and the important role of information and technology in developing the economy.

His Highness also acknowl-edged Huawei’s great contribu-tion to Bahrain—where its Mid-dle East headquarters is based—which has helped support the Kingdom’s leading position in the ICT field.

His Highness commended Huawei’s role in the development of technology in line with the current cooperation between the company and relevant govern-ment entities, as well as its role in training Bahraini nationals while creating various job op-portunities.

During the ceremony, HH Shaikh Mohammed honoured the top three national students in Bahrain who participated in Huawei’s annual global ICT com-petition 2019 and are qualified to participate in the regional final competition in Huawei’s

international tech hub of Shen-zhen, China. The competition aims to nurture talents in the ICT

field and link theoretical con-cepts with practical applications through the latest technologies and systems provided by Huawei.

Attendees to the anniversary event also witnessed to a speech by Kamal Ahmed, Minister of Transport and Telecommunica-tions, who highlighted the major areas of co-operation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Huawei.

Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East, also gave a speech which highlighted the company’s relationship with Bahrain throughout the past 15

years. He also stressed the com-pany’s continuous commitment to building an ecosystem for technology through joint projects that provide the latest technology and support the leadership’s vi-sion, including the establishment of an exhibition that displays its technology in Bahrain.

As an industry pioneer, today Huawei is at the forefront of in-novation in areas like 5G, cloud computing, and AI—technologies that have a transformative effect on societies. Through its collabo-rations with partners in Bahrain, Huawei has helped accelerate the

country’s digital transformation efforts in line with the long-term goals of the Economic Vision 2030, which recognises ICT as a crucial ingredient to diversifying local economies, creating future jobs, and supporting sustainable development.

5G connectivity is already being rolled out in Bahrain. In parallel, those investments are enabling AI capabilities to exceed current levels. With the under-standing that AI can enhance the ways we live, work, and interact with our world, Huawei has de-veloped next-generation prod-ucts that incorporate 5G and AI capabilities, such as Wi-Fi 6, All-Flash Storage, and much more, helping customers address a new round of digital transformation challenges.

To realise the full potential of digital transformation, Huawei has also led various initiatives within Bahrain to support the next generation of ICT talent. These include its flagship Seeds for the Future talent develop-ment program, Huawei’s ongoing ICT Competition in Bahrain, and various work-readiness initia-tives run in partnership with the Labour Fund “Tamkeen”.

“Nurturing talented young Bahrainis and empowering them with the knowledge required to carry on their country’s digital legacy is one of our key priorities for the future. We are proud to have contributed to addressing the digital talent gap thus far, and will continue to do so with our partners,” said John Lu Yuedong, CEO of Huawei Bahrain.

‘Bahrain is first state of defence to region’ Manama

Bahrain, the first state of defence to the region, has emerged as a security hub

for the global community. “The 15th edition of Manama

Dialogue Security Summit 2019 that concluded on Sunday is also reflective of the Kingdom’s re-solve and commitment to keep the entire region safe from ne-farious designs of rogue states,” Major-General HH Shaikh Nas-ser bin Hamad Al Khalifa told Bahrain News Agency on the sidelines of the IISS Manama Di-alogue 2019.

“It took me a long time to be-lieve that Bahrain has completed 15 years since the first IISS,” HH Shaikh Nasser, who is Represent-ative of HM the King for Charity Work and Youth Affairs, Nation-

al Security Advisor and Chair-man of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, said.

“It started in 2004 as an am-bition project and now it has be-come a necessity for the global community to meet and delib-erate on security, stability and threats.

“The number of guests we had here from around world, the caliber of the speakers and the level of discussions as well

as the diverse topics over the three-days of conference indi-cate the volume of importance of the region.

“Collaboration right now and how the region is facing threats from the common enemy are very important for our present and future,” HH Shaikh Nasser said.

“We are proud that we have joined the International Mari-time Security Construct, the US-led alliance. Bahrain is the first trench in the region facing a com-mon enemy with this coalition. In this region, we are sure this is the right thing to do to protect the interest of the world and to make sure we continue as usual,” HH Shaikh Nasser added, while replying to a question about the significance of the Kingdom join-ing of the maritime coalition.HH Shaikh Nasser speaks to media.

HH Shaikh Mohammed highlighted the Kingdom’s commitment towards digital transformation.

HH Shaikh Mohammed along with Deputy Premiers, ministers, senior government officials and top Huawei executives at the event.

HH Shaikh Mohammed honouring a student who participated in Huawei’s annual global ICT competition 2019 in the presence of Mr Charles Yang.

Nurturing talented young Bahrainis and

empowering them with the knowledge required to carry on

their country’s digital legacy is one of our key

priorities for the future. JOHN LU YUEDONG

Minister receives delegation


HM the King’s Representative for Charity Work and Youth Affairs, National Security Adviser and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has received here UK’s Senior Defence Adviser to Middle East, Lieutenant-General Sir John Lorimer, during his visit to the Kingdom to attend the 15th IISS Manama Dialogue. HH Shaikh Nasser stressed that the two countries are capable of enhancing their co-operation across various fields, expressing delight at the steady progress of bilateral relations. HH Shaikh Nasser affirmed the Kingdom’s keenness to strengthen its relations and broaden the frameworks of joint co-operation with the UK. Lieutenant-General Sir John Lorimer expressed thanks and appreciation to HH Shaikh Nasser, lauding the level reached by the regional security summit, the IISS Manama Dialogue. He stressed the importance of the Manama Dialogue in providing a platform for discussing key issues.

Strong UK ties stressed

Call for dialysis centre in Hidd TDT | Manama

Chairman of Bahrain Kid-ney Patients Friendship

Society and Shura Council member Dr Ahmed Salim Al Arrayedh revealed that Shura has received a parliamentary proposal on the establish-ment of a dialysis centre in Hidd.

The parliament put forward the proposal stating that the patients urgently require such a centre, suggesting Hidd as an ideal location.

Around 700 patients visit Salmaniya Medical Complex and the government dialysis fa-cility in Busaiteen to under-go dialysis three times per week.

According to Consultant Nephrologist at Salmaniya Medical Complex Dr Ali Has-san Al Aradi, a large number of people have also been re-ceiving the dialysis treatment in the Bahrain Royal Medical Service, the Kingdom’s mili-tary hospital.

He said that there are oth-ers who receive treatment from home. He said prev-alence of kidney disease is also causing people to need kidney transplant.

He said that such demand of kidney treatment also ne-cessitates services of more doctors and specialists and there for the government may need to be hire more doctors to meet the requirements.

EWA won’t charge customers for replacing meters: Minister

The Kingdom is in its efforts to complete installation of EWA smart meters by next year

• The new meters are also said to have less maintenance costs associated with it.

• The authority affirmed that smart meters used in the Kingdom were selected according to highest international standards.

TDT | Manama

Nobody will be charged for the replacement of elec-tro-mechanical meters

with smart meters, the Electricity and Water Authority has con-firmed.

The Minister of Electricity and Water, Wael Al Mubarak in a statement revealed that citizens and residents will not be charged for having the meter replaced in favour of smart meters.

Responding to the concerns of some that the public would be charged the amount needed to re-place the meters along with their power bills, the minister con-firmed that this wouldn’t be the case, stating that everyone will have the service free of charge.

The Kingdom is on its course to replace the old meters with the new smart meters in Bahrain’s homes by the end of next year, it was revealed.

The initiative by the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) aims to place as many as 300,000 new smart meters in homes by next year, replacing the older ineffi-cient meters.

According to the authorities, the new water meters will not only help improve bill automa-tion but is also expected to con-tribute to reducing water loss, and allowing residents and citi-zens to better monitor their water consumption.

The new meters are also said to have less maintenance costs associated with it. According to

EWA sources, there are currently 140,000 smart meters installed in

the Kingdom. The new smart meters planned

will increase the number to 410,000, more than double the current number of meters.

The EWA in a recent statement denied false and incorrect in-formation that was raised about inaccuracy of smart meters.

The authority stressed that the smart meters have many advan-tages for subscribers.

“They are the most accu-rate meters in order to monitor the actual consumption automat-

ically and without human inter-vention.”

The authority aff irmed that smart meters used in the Kingdom are selected accord-ing to high international stand-ards, after all required tests and trials before installing it to the customer, other than routine tests for each meter.

“Smart meters are the safest to protect the subscriber’s devices by recording any malfunction of electricity through the automated system, in addition to the facility to disconnect electricity when there are overloads, which pro-tects the subscriber from danger.

“In addition, in future, smart meters will help cus-tomers monitor their electric-ity and water consumption through smart applications, where the subscriber will be able to identify the devices that con-sume the most electricity in his home, especially since the ma-jority of electrical devices now adopt the smart system,” the statement said.

Smart metering has recently gained momentum across countries to match the growing need for water and electricity conservation on the demand side.

Impact of statistical updates in policy-making stressed TDT | Manama

A constant flow of statistics made available to strate-gists and decision-makers

is vital to the development pro-cess including operational data used for decision-making and the measurements of the impact of those decisions on the public and private sectors, Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) Deputy CE, Statistics and Popula-tion Registry Dr Nabeel Moham-med Bin Shams explained.

This came as he received the representatives of the GCC plan-ning and development govern-mental entities, who were vis-iting the Kingdom as part of a programme arranged by Ministry of Finance and National Econo-my for knowledge exchange.

Dr Bin Shams welcomed the GCC delegation, and provided an overview of the role played by the iGA in providing statistics to policymakers, explaining the importance of having a meas-urement of the local impact of decisions taken by the leaders of GCC countries, which will subse-

quently support the development of future strategies for the Gulf countries.

He explained that among the iGA’s responsibilities is the pop-ulation census, an important activity supported by informa-tion obtained by the Population Registry during the issuance of identity cards for citizens and residents. He added that Bahrain has implemented an automated smart census since 2019, through which it is able to produce peri-odical statics.

The meeting also reviewed key statistical indicators related to GCC nationals, including a demo-graphics overview, as well as an outline of the 2020 census that the iGA is currently preparing. They also discussed the main economic statistics and indica-tors issued by the department, including national production and consumer price indices.

The Commission also present-ed its experience in surveying foreign trade, foreign investment and tourism, data on which is

issued periodically in coopera-tion with relevant authorities. They discussed the Kingdom’s

progress in gathering compre-hensive annual data related to tourism and travel, which saw Bahrain jump 31 spots on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Travel and Tourism Competitive-ness Index.

The delegation, which includ-ed experts and decision-makers from the ministries of economy and planning of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman, and from the GCC General Secretariat, praised the efforts of the Kingdom in the

field, wishing them further de-velopment and progress in their work.

The visit comes within the framework of a programme to exchange experience and exper-tise among the GCC countries. It implements a decision on the continuation of meetings be-tween technical officials respon-sible for preparing development plans, which was made at the 27th meeting of the GCC Ministe-rial Committee for Planning and Development in June.

iGA officials with the visiting delegation.

Bahrain has implemented an automated smart

census since 2019, through which it is able

to produce periodical statics.DR BIN SHAMS

300,000new smart meters will

be installed across Bahrain homes by next

year.


US reiterates ‘commitment’ to promote stability in the region

US backs the Kingdom’s efforts to tackle threats in the region Manama

Bahrain has been a corner-stone of US foreign policy in the region, said Con-

gressman Joe Wilson, Member of the Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and Interna-tional Terrorism, Committee on Foreign Affairs, US House of Representatives.

Bahrain is a model of unity where communities of different faiths live together in harmo-ny, Wilson stressed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the IISS 15th Manama Dialogue held under the title: US Policy and Alliance Relations in the Middle East.

“Bahrain is a valuable US ally which was very significant in our victory in the Cold War with the liberation of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“In many ways, Bahrain rep-resents the hope for the Middle East while challenges persist. Here Sunni, Shia, Christian, Jewish and Hindu communi-ties of faith live together and

flourish. It is a model of unity.”Wilson added: “I appreciate

that President Donald Trump has made the vision that Bah-rain represents a cornerstone of US foreign policy for the region.”

“The history of the US with Bahrain stretches back to before 1903 with the establishment of the American Mission Hospital in Manama,” he said.

“President Trump has proven his dedication to the region by his actions and the journey is far from complete.

“Iran has been sponsoring terrorism here for decades and

it’s perhaps the greatest security threat to the Gulf region. I was grateful that this administration took the necessary steps to des-ignate the Iranian Revolution-ary Guard Corps for what it is,

a foreign terrorist organisation. That undoubtedly came as good news to our allies in the Gulf.

“So did the Trump adminis-tration designation of the Ash-tar Brigades and Iranian proxy militia right here in Bahrain that had launched dozens of murder-ous attacks against the Bahraini Security Forces. This pressure on Iran has yielded concrete dividends on the ground here in the Middle East. US sanctions disrupted and slowed Iran to provide oil to Syria.”

John C Rood, US Undersecre-tary for Defence Policy, praised

the vision and leadership of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa who in 2004 first wel-comed IISS to Manama.

He said that during the 1983 visit of the late Amir of Bahrain HH Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa to Ronald Reagan, the two leaders discussed the Gulf Coopera-tion Council to share the signif-icance of partnership in the re-gional cooperation and promote stability in dealing with shared threats in this region.

“These partnerships are nothing new. In World War II Bahrain opened its ports to American sailors and airmen going to fight in the war. In 1945 American president Franklin Roosevelt hosted the late Sau-di King Abdulaziz on the US Destroyer for our first govern-mental meeting with the Saudis and throughout the 1950s, we concluded our earliest mutu-al defence systems agreement with Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.”

Bahrain resident to perform dance show

TDT | Manama

Bahrain resident Sneha Ajith is coming up with

a dance show titled ‘Mok-sha’.

Ms Ajith is a professional dancer who has mastered various Indian dance forms including Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and Kathak.

Moksha will be staged at “Ganesham” Auditori-um located in Trivandrum, Kerala, on 4 December 2019.

The dance performance is being convened as the part of Soorya Cultural fes-tival, under the patronage of Legendary Soorya Kr-ishnamurthy.

Dr Rachitha Ravi will di-rect the show while poets Sojan Mazhaveedu and Va-laya Rajendran have penned the lyrics.

Bahrain residents Devika Thulasi, Krishna R Nath, Anjali Anju, Jyothisree Pad-manabhan will also be on stage along with Ms Ajith, who will portray ‘Droupa-di’ in the show. Droupadi is the most important fe-male character in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.

Ms Ajith

Mr Wilson speaks at the panel discussion.

President Trump has proven his dedication to the region by his actions

and the journey is far from complete.

JOE WILSON

Musical event set TDT | Manama

Palakkad Arts and Cultural Theatre

(PAACT) will organise an art fest and ‘Sarga-sandhya’ on November 29 at 7pm at the Indian Club.

PAACT is organising the event along with Interads International.

According to organis-ers, the event will show-case a combination of music and arts.

Many prominent art-ists and singers of the Kingdom will partici-pate in the event.

To know more, please give a ring on 39814968.

Constitution Day to be marked TDT | Manama

The Embassy of In-dia in the Kingdom

will organise an event titled ‘The Making of the Indian Constitution’ to mark the 70th anni-versary of the adoption of the Constitution of India on November 26, 2019 at the Embassy Complex in Seef.

Constitution Day (National Law Day), also known as Sam-vidhan Divas, is cele-brated in India on 26 November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Con-stitution of India.

On 26 November 1949, the Constitu-ent Assembly of India adopted theConsti-tution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950.

‘Gulf Who’s Who’ to be launched today

TDT | Manama

The latest edition of Gulf Who’s Who Directory

(GWWD) will be launched with many innovative ad-ditions today at 6.30 pm at the Gulf Hotel Convention Centre.

The brainchild of Sunliz Publications Managing Ed-itor Sunny Kulathakal, the directory has grown from a litany of names into an information-packed guide book to doing business and living in Bahrain.

Ever since the first edition came out in 1978, the Direc-tory has been a popular re-cord of the country’s Who’s Who? , tracing the King-dom’s trajectory of growth through thumbnail profiles of its important people.

Mr Kulathakal

An International Conference on Innovation, Technology, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship organised by Applied Science University Bahrain began at The Grove Hotel and Conference Centre, Amwaj Islands, yesterday. The two-day conference organised in association with London South Bank University, UK, will see leading experts and delegates sharing their expertise on related topics.

Innovation conference

Brainobrain hosts second National Abacus CompetitionTDT | Manama

Several children with astound-ing intellectual abilities solved the abacus riddles in seconds

while performing multi-activities at Second Brainobrain National Ab-acus Competition – Brainobrain Fest 2019 at the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam.

The event was graced by the chief guest Saleh Taher Tarradah, Chair-man, Capital Municipal Council, Ministry of works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning King-dom of Bahrain, Guest of Hon-our Arul Subramaniam, Director Technical and Co-Founder, Brain-obrain International, Hima George, Managing Director, Brainobrain Bahrain, George Raphel, Director, Brainobrain Bahrain and other dig-nitaries from Brainobrain family along with the parents and children.

Brainobrain Kids Academy or-ganises annual abacus competition

in Bahrain to bring out the best in children and fine-tune their com-petitive spirit by rivalling with their counterparts in the quest to become abacus champions.

This year in Bahrain around more than 350 participants between Six to fourteen years of age gathered in bright green t-shirt to compete for the title.

Arul Subramaniam, Director

Technical and Co-founder of Bra-inobrain said, “Brainobrain pro-gramme is based on a scientific module that hones children’s nas-cent mental fitness with Abacus and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques. Be it academics or artistic excellence or leadership skills, delivering a seminar, being creative or participating in a com-petition or exam – Brainobrain kids

know how to excel.”The competition was divided into

11 categories for Brainobrain and each category and three sub-cat-egories according to the age. De-pending on the performance, chil-dren were awarded with Champi-ons Trophies, Gold Medals, Silver Medals and certificates.

Brainobrain has been amongst the frontrunners in the domain that conditions the minds of kids to think and act more efficiently. With trained instructors and excellent infrastructural facilities they have effectively revitalised and energised the mental efficiency of thousands of kids across the world.

BRAINOBRAIN BAHRAIN has many development courses targeted towards raising a child’s intellectu-al stamina. Neuro Linguistic Pro-gramming (NLP) is an added module for developing human excellence, which is one of the most advanced techniques available in the field.

Mr Saleh Taher Tarradah receives a memento from Hima George in the presence of Mr Subramaniam and Mr George.

Participants along with organisers and dignitaries.

05

world

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

This place makes us deeply aware of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting

upon one anotherPOPE FRANCIS

Record poll turnout in Hong Kong

AFP | Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s voters turned out in record numbers

yesterday for local coun-cil elections that the city’s pro-democracy movement hopes will pile pressure on the Beijing-backed government to heed their demands after months of violent protest.

Lengthy queues snaked out of polling stations across the territory in the election for 18 district councils, where high turnout is expected to benefit democratic forces.

The Electoral Affairs Com-mission said a record 56 per-cent of the 4.13 million citi-zens registered to vote had cast their ballots by Sunday evening.

It was already the highest turnout in Hong Kong’s histo-ry of district council elections post handover from British rule, with five hours of voting still to go.

The selection of 452 coun-cillors -- handling communi-

ty-level concerns such as bus routes and garbage collection -- traditionally generates lit-tle excitement, but has taken on new significance following months of political unrest.

Hong Kong has been bat-tered by months of mass ral-lies and violent clashes pitting police against protesters who are agitating for direct popu-lar elections of the semi-au-tonomous Chinese territory’s government, as well as a probe into alleged police brutality.

Distr ict counci ls have long been dominated by the pro-Beijing establishment, and voters seeking change hope that weakening that grip will give their movement fresh mo-mentum.

“Even though one ballot can only help a little, I still hope it can bring change to society and support street protests in some way,” 19-year-old student Michael Ng, voting for the first time, said.

The vote is the closest Hong Kongers get to direct rep-resentation.

Lengthy queues snaked out of polling stations across the territory in the election for 18 district councils

Pope slams nuclear deterrent, ‘unspeakable horror’ of Nagasaki

AFP | Nagasaki | Japan

Pope Francis yesterday railed against atomic weapons, the nuclear de-

terrent and the growing arms trade, as he paid tribute to the victims of the “unspeakable hor-ror” of the Nagasaki bomb.

In a highly symbolic visit to the Japanese city devastated by the nuclear attack in August 1945, Francis said nuclear weap-ons were “not the answer” to a desire for security, peace and stability.

“Indeed they seem always to thwart it,” he said.

At least 74,000 people died from the atomic bomb un-leashed on the city in western Japan -- just three days after the world’s first nuclear attack hit Hiroshima and killed at least 140,000.

“This place makes us deeply aware of the pain and horror that we human beings are ca-pable of inflicting upon one an-other,” said the sombre pontiff on the first full day of his Japan trip.

Hundreds of people in white waterproofs sat in torrential rain to hear the pope’s speech, next to the emblematic photo of a young boy carrying his dead baby brother on his back in the aftermath of the attack.

He laid a wreath of white flowers and prayed silently, unprotected from the lashing downpour.

‘Die like a human’Francis took aim at what he

called the “perverse dichotomy” of nuclear deterrence, saying that peace is incompatible with the “fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihila-tion.”

This marked a break with past pontiffs -- in a 1982 UN speech, Pope John Paul II had described nuclear deterrence as a neces-sary evil.

The 82-year-old Francis also hit out at the “money that is squandered and the fortune made” in the arms trade, de-scribing it as an “affront crying out to Heaven” in a world where “millions of children are living in inhumane conditions.”

Later, Francis will visit Hi-roshima and meet survivors of the atomic attack, known in Japanese as hibakusha, at the world-famous Peace Memorial in the city synonymous with the horror of nuclear war.

Two survivors of Nagasaki, 89-year-old Shigemi Fukahori and 85-year-old Sakue Shimo-hira, handed the wreath to the pope.

Fukahori, a Catholic, has prayed every day for those killed and their bereaved families.

“My heart is just full of over-flowing feelings,” he said. “Just meeting him is enough. I’m so glad and speechless.”

Shimohira, who was 10 at the time of the attack, conveyed the terror of the bomb.

“My mother and older sister were killed, charred. Even if you survived, you couldn’t live like a

human or die like a human... It’s the horror of nuclear weapons,” she said.

At a Mass at a baseball stadi-um in Nagasaki with worship-pers now shielding their eyes from the sun, Francis said the city “bears in its soul a wound difficult to heal” and warned that “a third World War is being waged piecemeal.”

‘Fondness and affection’The Argentine pontiff is ful-

filling a long-held ambition to preach in Japan -- a country he wanted to visit as a young missionary.

“Ever since I was young I have felt a fondness and affection for these lands,” said Francis when he arrived in Japan.

Like in Thailand, the first leg of his Asian tour, Catholicism is a minority religion in Japan.

Most people follow a mix of Shinto and Buddhism, with only an estimated 440,000 Catholics in the country.

Christians in Japan suffered centuries of repression, being tortured to recant their faith, and Francis paid tribute to the martyrs who died for their re-ligion.

Alongside its nuclear his-tory, Nagasaki is also a key city in Christian history where so-called “Hidden Christians” were discovered after keeping

the faith alive in secret for 200 years while Japan was closed to the world.

The pope said in Nagasaki that as a “young Jesuit from the ‘ends of the earth’” he had found “powerful inspiration in the sto-ry of the early missionaries and the Japanese martyrs.”

Francis returns to Tokyo on Sunday night where he will on Monday meet victims of Japan’s “triple disaster” -- the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.

He is also scheduled to deliver a Mass at a Tokyo baseball stadi-um, meet Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito and hold talks with Japanese government officials and local Catholic leaders.

In a highly symbolic visit to Nagasaki, the Japanese city devastated by the nuclear attack in August 1945, Francis said nuclear weapons were “not the answer” to a desire for security

Pope Francis spoke while standing next to a photo of a young boy carrying his dead baby brother on his back in the aftermath of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb attack

The people in Nagasaki were more welcoming than the weather

Philippines’ President Duterte fires drugs tsarReuters | Manila

Philippine President Rod-rigo Duterte yesterday

fired Leni Robredo, who is vice president, from the role of “drugs tsar”, his spokesman said, accusing her of under-mining the campaign.

Leni Robredo, a political ri-val who was elected separate-ly from Duterte, accepted the role just over two weeks ago, against the advice of her allies, who said Duterte’s offer was a trap designed to discredit her.

Ro b r e d o h a d a n g e r e d Duterte by criticising his po-lice-centred approach to fight-ing drugs, and the thousands of people killed in his crackdown. Human rights groups say many victims were users and small-time peddlers systematically executed by police.

Police and the Duterte ad-ministration reject those ac-cusations.

Presidential spokesman Sal-vador Panelo cited Robredo’s meetings with “out of touch” Manila-based officials of the United Nations and the Unit-ed States embassy, as one of the reasons for her sacking.

Presidential spokesman Sal-vador Panelo cited Robre-do’s meetings with “out of touch” Manila-based officials of the United Nations and the United States embassy, as one of the reasons for her sacking.

“The vice president resorted to unduly baiting international attention on the matter, par-ticularly from persons or enti-ties that know little or none at all about our situation, other than their own bias or unsub-stantiated prejudgment,” Pan-elo said in a statement.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said Duterte was insecure and worried that Robredo would upstage him.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte


AFP | Detroit

As a child living in De-troit, Teresa Moon didn’t know anything about the

concrete stone wall she could see from the kitchen window in her family’s home.

Sixty years on, in that same kitchen, she knows all about the Birwood Wall, or the 8 Mile Wall, which was built in the 1940s to separate her black neighborhood from a housing project aimed at white families.

“We live in a community that is about building confidence, about ownership about being proud of who you are. Why would my parents tell me some-thing about that?” Moon con-fides, haltingly.

“That would kind of dispel all that -- like, I got a wall to keep me separate from other people,” said the charismatic 66-year-old former city worker.

Moon has become something of the spokeswoman for the “8 Mile” neighborhood -- named for the road that long separat-

ed the predominantly black city from the mainly white

suburbs.8 Mile earned pop culture fame thanks

to white rapper Eminem, whose

b i o p i c w a s n a m e d f o r t h e n e i g h -b o r h o o d . But, Moon points out, he wasn’t f r o m t h e

a re a - - h e

grew up in the nearby city of Warren.

“A lot of people claim 8 Mile because it’s something to claim,” she says.

Not an accidentThe entire Detroit area was

propelled for decades by the auto industry, but Motor City is now one of the poorest major urban centers in America.

Moon moved to 8 Mile when she was six, at a time when racial segregation was still the norm in the United States.

Despite the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the constitutional abolition of slavery in America, laws re-mained in place that mandated the separation of races.

In some states, those laws re-mained in effect in the late 1950s and 1960s. But even after that, the specter of segregation effec-tively kept some places segregat-ed for decades to follow.

Some still are separated.“Detroit is the most segre-

gated metropolitan area in the country,” says Eric Williams, a lawyer for the non-profit Detroit Justice Center.

“That doesn’t happen by acci-dent. It just doesn’t. (...) There are tons of neighborhoods in Detroit that just simply did not allow black people to live there.”

Blacks couldn’t ‘become more’Moon recalls that when her

family moved to their home in 8 Mile, seven of them had to live in three rooms.

She only met white kids for the first time when she went to

junior high school.“That’s the first time I inter-

acted with white people in my life. I only saw them on TV” be-fore that, she said.

In her kitchen, she opens up an issue of Collier’s magazine, from 1946, and points at a pic-ture of black children sitting along the Birwood Wall, while on the other side, white teenag-ers are playing.

The wall is about six feet high (1.8 meters) and easily scaled. But the barrier it posed was clear-cut.

“The government wouldn’t insure white owners’ mortgages until a wall separating Negroes was put up,” read the caption under the photo in Collier’s.

Detroit’s black 8 Mile neigh-borhood had already existed for decades. But in the midst of a postwar housing boom, de-velopers were attracted to the area, and wanted to build a white neighborhood.

“That was the concept -- if you live near black people, then your neighborhood is never going to be good. So let’s build a wall,” explains Moon.

After a lengthy silence, she summarized the notion, call-ing it “crazy” -- and emotionally punctuating her thought with an expletive.

On her family’s side of the wall, “black people couldn’t get mortgages, black people couldn’t get loans, black people couldn’t... you know, become more, couldn’t develop wealth like generational wealth -- couldn’t get nothing,” she said.

The situation left people

thinking “black people can’t do anything. They nev-er thought a black man would be the president of the United States,” said Moon -- Barack Obama is among the many faces that decorate her kitchen.

‘A pride thing’The wall has more than just

bad memories: Moon also re-members playing there with her friends. Scaling it was some-thing of a rite of passage. She never tried it, she says with a smile.

At age 13 or 14, she finally un-derstood why it was there.

“Just to learn the disparities that the people of my colour had to live through because of the color of our skin... was crazy to me,” she said.

Today, the neighborhood is still “98, 99 percent” black, Moon notes.

The downturn in the auto in-dustry, the financial crisis of a decade ago and Detroit’s mu-nicipal bankruptcy in 2013 did not make things any easier for residents.

The wall is now in a freshly redone park for children. Artists and locals covered it with color-ful murals in 2006, depicting key moments in the history of the site. It has been designated a historic landmark.

Above all, Moon explains, being from 8 Mile is “a pride thing.” “Detroit is a very poor city,” she says.

But 8 Mile “has always been a very strong and committed and loving place to live. So that’s why I’m still here.”

Life on Detroit’s 8 Mile Wall

Teresa Moon says living in Detroit’s 8 Mile neighborhood is “a pride thing”

Detroit’s Birwood Wall, near 8 Mile Road, was constructed in the 1940s to divide the city’s mainly black population from those in the mainly white suburbs

US Navy defies Trump, proceeds in effort to expel SEALWashington

The US Navy will proceed in its effort to oust a member

of its elite SEAL commando unit, an official said Saturday, defying the wishes of President Donald Trump.

Edward Gallagher had been accused of war crimes in a high-profile case but was found guilty only of a lesser offense. On November 15, Trump reversed the demotion handed down to the 40-year-old under his con-viction.

The Navy this week launched a procedure under which a peer review board could strip him and three other members of his unit of their Trident pins -- ef-fectively booting them from the SEALs.

A rankled Trump declared on Twitter on Thursday that “The Navy will NOT be taking away

Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin.”

On Saturday, however, a senior Pentagon official who request-ed anonymity in order to speak freely said the “peer review board is proceeding.”

Whether Gallagher can re-main in the unit or not will be determined by a panel of Navy SEAL officers that is set to con-vene in December.

The move came as multiple US news outlets reported that Navy Secretary Richard Spencer had threatened to resign over the affair, a claim he sharply denied.

“Contrary to popular belief, I am still here. I did not threaten to resign,” Spencer said, speak-ing at a forum in Halifax, Cana-da. The US Navy chief said he did not consider Trump’s tweet to be a formal order.

“I need a formal order to act,”

Spencer told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.

According to the US Constitu-tion, the president is the com-mander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces.

Gallagher, a 15-year Navy SEAL, had been accused in the stabbing death of a wounded Islamic State prisoner in Iraq in 2017, attempted murder of other civilians and obstruction of justice.

In July, he was acquitted of charges related to those accu-sations, but was convicted of a lesser charge -- posing with the slain fighter’s body in a group picture with other SEALs.

As a result, he was demoted one rank, from chief petty officer to petty officer first class.

Gallagher’s case had been championed by Fox News, which the president follows closely.Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher walks into military court in San Diego, California in June 2019

06


No surfer considered Portugal a great

surfing destination, but I was looking for

a 100-foot (30-metre) wave

HAWAIIAN SURFER

Extreme surfers catch record waves in Portuguese townNazare | Portugal

Big wave surfers have been flocking to a formerly sleepy

Portuguese fishing town, chas-ing monster waves that are some of the highest ever surfed.

Earlier this month the news broke that a set of fearsome 20-metre (65-feet) waves were coming to the small town of Naz-are on Portugal’s Atlantic coast.

The message spread like wild-fire and soon extreme surfers and sports fans -- as well as keen photographers -- arrived at the town’s Praia de Norte beach.

They gathered on the roof of a red lighthouse, listening to the deafening roar and watching in awe as the waves smashed against the cliffs. From the view-ing point you cannot see where the waves end, giving the illu-sion the colossal walls of water could engulf their audience.

But the masses just missed out on seeing French surfer Justine Dupont have the ride of her life on November 13.

It could be a new surfing world record set by a woman.

“I began riding the wave, I felt I was going faster than usu-al, and that it was steeper,” the 28-year-old surfer says.

“I had the feeling it was never ending... I could fly away!”

‘It’s mad!’The massive wave has not

been measured yet, but is ex-pected to be at least 20 metres high.

It will have to exceed the 2018 mark of 20.72 metres set by Bra-zilian surfer Maya Gabeira, also

in Nazare, to become a record.The verdict, judged by the

governing body the World Surf League, will not be given until spring next year.

Dupont has spent four winters chasing the extreme waves in Nazare.

She said the seaside town with a population of 15,000 has be-come a surf haven over the last few years.

“It’s mad!” she said. “Two years ago we went to see the sea by the lighthouse, there were no cars parked -- now, you can’t drive.”

The monster waves have al-ways crashed at the town’s beach, but surfers had previous-ly ignored Portugal and gravitat-ed towards beaches in California and Hawaii.

Nazare was put on the surfing map in 2010 when the town’s mayor launched an initiative to attract surfers during the winter.

“We were looking for some-one who could develop big wave surfing” said Pedro Pisco, a local

sports minister.He asked for help from Garrett

McNamara, who until last year held the world record for the highest wave ever surfed.

‘Now it’s crowded’“No surfer considered Portu-

gal a great surfing destination, but I was looking for a 100-foot (30-metre) wave,” Hawaiian surfer said.

A Nazare bodyboarder invited McNamara to the town, wanting to find someone who could take on the spectacular waves.

In November 2011, McNamara broke a Guinness World Record after riding a 78-foot (23.77 me-tre) wave.

Today, at the age of 52, the surfer is considered a “god”, said

Anne-Marie Sana-Boisson, who owns a market stall in Nazare.

She said the town has changed rapidly over the last four years -- and not necessarily for the better.

“At first there was a few peo-ple but now it’s crowded.”

She said many buildings are being constructed and sold, making it “hard to find houses”.

But she admitted the town has become “more dynamic”. And, she adds, not everything is closed over winter as it was before.

Waves in Nazare, on Portugal’s Atlantic coast, can reach up to 30 metres during the winter

French surfer Justine Dupont conquered a 20-metre wave last week

French surfer Justine Dupont has been coming to Nazare for the last four winters

Small plane crashes in eastern Congo, killing at least 24 people• The 19-seater Dornier 228-200 had 16 passengers and two crew members on board

• No word yet on cause of the accident

Reuters | Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

At least 24 people were killed, including some

on the ground, when a small plane crashed into a densely populated neighbourhood in the city of Goma in east-ern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, a local law-maker and a rescue worker said.

The aircraft, which was operated by local company Busy Bee, crashed shortly after take-off en route to the city of Beni, about 250 km (155 miles) to the north, North Kivu Governor Carly Nzanzu Kasivita’s office said in a statement.

The company said the 19-seater Dornier 228-200 had 16 passengers and two crew members on board.

There was no word yet on what might have caused the accident.

Jean Paul Lumbulumbu, the vice president of North Kivu’s parliament, said 24

bodies had been recovered from the rubble, including those of several people hit by falling debris. A rescue worker, who asked not to be named, said 26 bodies had been recovered.

At the crash site in Go-ma’s Mapendo neighbour-hood, residents threw water from buckets and cooking pots onto the smouldering wreckage. The rear section of the plane rested sideways, propped up by a wall, vide-os posted on social media showed.

A witness at the scene said two people - one who was on board the plane and a child in a building hit by the wreckage - were rescued before the plane exploded into flames after crashing.

Police arrested one man for stealing cash from the rubble and fired warning shots to disperse people who had started looting, he said.

Air accidents are rel-atively frequent in Congo because of lax safety stand-ards and poor maintenance. All Congolese commercial carriers, including Busy Bee, are banned from operating in the European Union.

A cargo plane departing from the same airport and carrying staff members of President Felix Tshisekedi crashed an hour after take-off last month, killing all eight people on board.

The site where a Dornier 228-200 plane operated by local company Busy Bee crashed into a densely populated neighborhood in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Two dead, one missing after rainstorms drench south France

Marseille

Two people lost their lives and one more was missing Sunday

after historic levels of rain drenched the south of France, provoking major floods that are only now starting to recede, officials said.

One corpse was found in the village of Muy, just north of France’s Medi-terranean coast, close to where a res-cue dinghy had capsized on Saturday evening with three members of the fire brigade and three civilians aboard, the local authorities in the southern Var region said.

One of the civilians had been re-ported missing.

The second body, of a man in his 50s, was found in the village of Cabasse in a car, said the local authorities, with-out giving further details.

Meanwhile, another man, in his 70s, was still missing in the village of Saint-Antonin-du-Var after going out during the night amid heavy rain. Searches are continuing.

The Alpes-Maritimes and Var re-gions have since Friday been hit by torrential rainstorms that also caused huge waves in seaside areas.

The senior official for the Var re-gion, Jean-Luc Videlaine, said that the rains had been of “historic” intensity, adding that the damage will be “con-siderable”.

He said that water levels were now going down but added that the situation was “far from returning to normal”.

In some areas of the Var region, the equivalent of two or three months of rain fell in just 24 or 48 hours.

The Alpes-Maritimes and Var regions of southern France have been hit by torrential rainstorms that also caused huge waves in seaside areas

France’s Côte d’Azur hit by flooding


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

YENUS S

November 24 was a day worth remembering. It was a day when Bahrain

witnessed the birth of its greatest visionary leader. The day His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa was born.

Even though, every year people greet him and write about the his-toric day, what makes it special this year is its coincidence with the recent successful medical tests he carried out which gave a big relief for the nation as a whole. It was a double celebration.

Proud to have a wise leader who not only committed his life to the development of Bahrain but also made a strong impact in the world community. From receiving dozens of international awards bestowed on him by global organizations to acceptance of his proposal to coin World Conscience Day, in the United Nations’ annual calendar , the Premier has achieved no other Arab leader has ever attained. He has proved his leadership stamina, wise and sustainable leadership.

He devised the blue prints of Bahrain’s development and in a short period, transformed it into hub of finance and tourism. In-vestors came in flocks, motivated by the business friendly policy devised by the government led by

the Premier. Infrastructure was modernized;

communication in particular tele-com companies witnessed a sharp development that conform to in-ternational standards. In short, all the recent development remarks Bahrain has achieved is the result of the Premier’s, vision, lifelong devotion and commitment to the country and its people.

The Premier always remains in close contact with the people. He visited the Ramadan mejlises, comforted the sick and the old, availed financial support to the needy and paid medical expenses

of the less privileged sick people for treatment abroad with complex medical cases that need special at-tention and professional follow up.

A designer of sustainable devel-opment, the Premier made special emphasis on the housing issue. Several people’s dream of own-ing an affordable housing turned into reality thanks to the Premier’s policy. Few years ago, areas that were deserts and barren lands now turned into burgeoning towns and communities with the provision of excellent public services including electricity, water and transport.

Expat communities, which came

to Bahrain from different corners of the globe, appreciate the Pre-mier’s policy. One can observe the annual ‘Bahrain for all, All for Bahrain’ festival, where hundreds of thousands of expats gather to appreciate the Premier’s policy of tolerance, coexistence and inclu-siveness. This made Bahrain an oa-sis of tolerance, something unique in this part of the world where news of daily conflicts dominate the political profile of the region.

As the saying goes ‘ action speaks louder than words’, space will not be enough to list all the achieve-ments our Premier has attained

IF YOU BELIEVE IN SCIENCE, LIKE I DO, YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN LAWS THAT ARE ALWAYS OBEYED.STEPHEN HAWKING

QUOTE OF THE DAY

HRH the Premier: a

great architect of sustainable development The nation is proud to have

a wise leader who not only committed his life to the

development of Bahrain but also made a strong impact in

the world community

It is late to act, but we

should be feeling a sense

of urgency at rising

sea levels from climate

change, writes Anna Somers

Cocks

ANNA SOMERS COCK

Venice is so famous that bits of it have been copied – not very well – all over the

world, from Las Vegas to Doha. The golden link between East and West, it was the most important town in Europe at the end of the Silk Route until the 16th century. Its ships plied the Mediterranean and brought back spices, silks, met-alwork and luxuries for a rougher, more primitive Europe. As Venice grew very rich and its merchants built sumptuous houses of stone on its canals, traders from many nations came to live there. Indeed, it has been famous for so long in the Middle East that it is one of the few cities in the West to have been given its own special name in Arabic, Al Bunduqqiya, although no one can quite agree how it came by that name.

With its network of canals lap-ping against magnificent mul-ti-coloured buildings and plied by vaporettos and gondolas, its shad-owy bridges and dazzling architec-ture reflecting its 1,200-year histo-ry, everyone can evoke an image of La Serenissima in their mind’s eye. A total of 25 million visitors a year go there to see whether the reality is as good as they imagine.

What very few realise is that it might not survive into the next century because of rising sea levels due to climate change. This month’s floods have been a wake-up call to the world. On the night of Novem-ber 12, sirens dotted around the city to warn of exceptionally high tides sounded their most frighten-ing warning: four rising notes that signified the water would rise to at least 140 centimetres above mean

sea level. But it kept rising and ris-ing, until it reached 187cm, until it was thigh-high in St Mark’s Square and 90 per cent of Venice was un-der water. The greatest treasure of the city, the 900-year old St Mark’s Basilica, all gold mosaics and pur-ple porphyry with precious inlaid floors, saw its lower register en-tirely flooded and the entrance, with its richly coloured marbles, submerged in 70cm of water. The luxurious Gritti Palace hotel, the universities, schools, houses, shops, offices and libraries of the city, were all invaded by acqua alta, the second highest tide since records began in 1871. It affected rich and poor, old and young.

The waters returned to the great golden church twice a day, with every high tide, for five more days. Its restoration architect Mario Pi-ana said: “St Mark’s is like a person who has been exposed to radiation. On day one, nothing seems to be the matter, but then the hair, the teeth begin to fall out.”

This ghastly comparison applies to the whole of the city, not just in terms of its buildings but also the psyche of the Venetians. For they are losing hope and faith; hope that the authorities will do their job and protect them, and faith that the mo-bile barriers between the sea and the lagoon that they were promised in the 1990s will actually work.

The Mose project consists of 78 enormous steel gates, each weigh-ing 300 tonnes, which can be raised to stop water from the Adriatic gushing into Venice’s lagoon when tides rise to dangerous levels. Con-struction on these barriers finally began in 2003 and have cost €6 billion (Dh24.4bn) so far, but they could not be raised on that terrible

night because they are only 93 per cent finished. Or so say the author-ities, but no one knows whether to believe them because the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the builders of the barriers, bribed the independent supervisory body that should have made proper reports of progress and any problems. A lengthy inves-tigation resulted in 35 people being arrested for kickbacks, extortion and money laundering, including Venice’s mayor Giorgio Orsoni and Giovanni Mazzacurati, the head of

Consorzio, who reached a plea bar-gain and died in September while under house arrest. Now technical flaws are being found, but the gen-eral public does not know whether they are serious or not.

Consorzio also suppressed dis-cussion of the fact that the barriers would have a limited usefulness in the face of rising sea levels, so how to deal with climate change is a conversation the Venetians are only now beginning to have, along with the rest of the world.

It is late, but better late than nev-er. It is no coincidence that the places where people have drowned in floods are furthest ahead in their planning (doubtless the Venice barriers would have been finished had anyone died in the great flood of 1966, when the water reached 194cm).

After severe floods in southern England in 1953, with more than 300 fatalities, London was even-tually given protection by a mobile barrier on the river Thames in 1982

Venice’s floods should serve as a wake-up call for the world



YENUS S

November 24 was a day worth remembering. It was a day when Bahrain

witnessed the birth of its greatest visionary leader. The day His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa was born.

Even though, every year people greet him and write about the his-toric day, what makes it special this year is its coincidence with the recent successful medical tests he carried out which gave a big relief for the nation as a whole. It was a double celebration.

Proud to have a wise leader who not only committed his life to the development of Bahrain but also made a strong impact in the world community. From receiving dozens of international awards bestowed on him by global organizations to acceptance of his proposal to coin World Conscience Day, in the United Nations’ annual calendar , the Premier has achieved no other Arab leader has ever attained. He has proved his leadership stamina, wise and sustainable leadership.

He devised the blue prints of Bahrain’s development and in a short period, transformed it into hub of finance and tourism. In-vestors came in flocks, motivated by the business friendly policy devised by the government led by

the Premier. Infrastructure was modernized;

communication in particular tele-com companies witnessed a sharp development that conform to in-ternational standards. In short, all the recent development remarks Bahrain has achieved is the result of the Premier’s, vision, lifelong devotion and commitment to the country and its people.

The Premier always remains in close contact with the people. He visited the Ramadan mejlises, comforted the sick and the old, availed financial support to the needy and paid medical expenses

of the less privileged sick people for treatment abroad with complex medical cases that need special at-tention and professional follow up.

A designer of sustainable devel-opment, the Premier made special emphasis on the housing issue. Several people’s dream of own-ing an affordable housing turned into reality thanks to the Premier’s policy. Few years ago, areas that were deserts and barren lands now turned into burgeoning towns and communities with the provision of excellent public services including electricity, water and transport.

Expat communities, which came



IF YOU BELIEVE IN SCIENCE, LIKE I DO, YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN LAWS THAT ARE ALWAYS OBEYED.STEPHEN HAWKING

QUOTE OF THE DAY

HRH the Premier: a

great architect of sustainable development The nation is proud to have

a wise leader who not only committed his life to the

development of Bahrain but also made a strong impact in

the world community

It is late to act, but we

should be feeling a sense

of urgency at rising

sea levels from climate

change, writes Anna Somers

Cocks

ANNA SOMERS COCK

Venice is so famous that bits of it have been copied – not very well – all over the

world, from Las Vegas to Doha. The golden link between East and West, it was the most important town in Europe at the end of the Silk Route until the 16th century. Its ships plied the Mediterranean and brought back spices, silks, met-alwork and luxuries for a rougher, more primitive Europe. As Venice grew very rich and its merchants built sumptuous houses of stone on its canals, traders from many nations came to live there. Indeed, it has been famous for so long in the Middle East that it is one of the few cities in the West to have been given its own special name in Arabic, Al Bunduqqiya, although no one can quite agree how it came by that name.

With its network of canals lap-ping against magnificent mul-ti-coloured buildings and plied by vaporettos and gondolas, its shad-owy bridges and dazzling architec-ture reflecting its 1,200-year histo-ry, everyone can evoke an image of La Serenissima in their mind’s eye. A total of 25 million visitors a year go there to see whether the reality is as good as they imagine.

What very few realise is that it might not survive into the next century because of rising sea levels due to climate change. This month’s floods have been a wake-up call to the world. On the night of Novem-ber 12, sirens dotted around the city to warn of exceptionally high tides sounded their most frighten-ing warning: four rising notes that signified the water would rise to at least 140 centimetres above mean

sea level. But it kept rising and ris-ing, until it reached 187cm, until it was thigh-high in St Mark’s Square and 90 per cent of Venice was un-der water. The greatest treasure of the city, the 900-year old St Mark’s Basilica, all gold mosaics and pur-ple porphyry with precious inlaid floors, saw its lower register en-tirely flooded and the entrance, with its richly coloured marbles, submerged in 70cm of water. The luxurious Gritti Palace hotel, the universities, schools, houses, shops, offices and libraries of the city, were all invaded by acqua alta, the second highest tide since records began in 1871. It affected rich and poor, old and young.

The waters returned to the great golden church twice a day, with every high tide, for five more days. Its restoration architect Mario Pi-ana said: “St Mark’s is like a person who has been exposed to radiation. On day one, nothing seems to be the matter, but then the hair, the teeth begin to fall out.”

This ghastly comparison applies to the whole of the city, not just in terms of its buildings but also the psyche of the Venetians. For they are losing hope and faith; hope that the authorities will do their job and protect them, and faith that the mo-bile barriers between the sea and the lagoon that they were promised in the 1990s will actually work.

The Mose project consists of 78 enormous steel gates, each weigh-ing 300 tonnes, which can be raised to stop water from the Adriatic gushing into Venice’s lagoon when tides rise to dangerous levels. Con-struction on these barriers finally began in 2003 and have cost €6 billion (Dh24.4bn) so far, but they could not be raised on that terrible

night because they are only 93 per cent finished. Or so say the author-ities, but no one knows whether to believe them because the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the builders of the barriers, bribed the independent supervisory body that should have made proper reports of progress and any problems. A lengthy inves-tigation resulted in 35 people being arrested for kickbacks, extortion and money laundering, including Venice’s mayor Giorgio Orsoni and Giovanni Mazzacurati, the head of

Consorzio, who reached a plea bar-gain and died in September while under house arrest. Now technical flaws are being found, but the gen-eral public does not know whether they are serious or not.

Consorzio also suppressed dis-cussion of the fact that the barriers would have a limited usefulness in the face of rising sea levels, so how to deal with climate change is a conversation the Venetians are only now beginning to have, along with the rest of the world.



Venice’s floods should serve as a wake-up call for the world


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

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01

Too bad we didn’t have the G-7 here. I of-

fered to pick up the entire cost, would have saved at least $35,000,000 for the USA. Best location. Very stupid people thought I would gain. Wrong! Looking at Camp David. Will announce soon.

@realDonaldTrump

Chairman Schiff on John Bolton’s refusal

to testify before Congress: “He will have to explain, one day, if he maintains that position, why he want-ed to wait to put it in a book instead of telling the Amer-ican people what he knew when it really mattered to the country.” Via CNN

@kylegriffin1

After I started Back on Track as District At-

torney of San Francisco, a lot of people questioned why I was helping young people arrested for first-time drug crimes. I knew in order to stop re-entry we needed to focus on jobs and redemption—not jail.

@KamalaHarris

There is no question of forming an alliance

with @BJP4Maharash-tra. NCP has unanimous-ly decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaha-rashtra to form the gov-ernment. Shri Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and mis-leading in order to create confusion and false per-ception among the people.

@PawarSpeaks

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

editorial stances)



and those residing in Bahrain can witness themselves how it has transformed from where it was as a patchy village of tents to sky-scraper, high-rise buildings and accommodating dozens of modern Malls.

The Premier’s achievement is an encyclopedia of volumes from where every citizen and resident is expected to learn. I believe our Premier expects us to be patriot-ic, stand against any conspiracies that has the potential to disrupt our social fabric. He wanted us to strengthen our social cohesion, the basis upon which Bahrain has

remained united for decades and in times of hardships and inter-ference of foreign elements. Above all, he wanted us to maintain the achievements so far attained and to catch up with new fast track developments the world is wit-nessing.

Appreciating the Premier ’s achievements will not be enough, however, unless we commit our-selves to preserve and work on them to advance Bahrain’s devel-opment and prosperity.

Happy birthday to our Premier. I pray to Almighty God (Allah) to give him health and long life.

1914A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.

1932A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.

1941Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

1977Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

Giving up a pirated

life

I was intrigued to read that 96 Bangladeshi pirates have sur-rendered to authorities and

opted for a life of law-abiding peace.

As a person whose life largely revolved around work in the seas, I know that the romantic notion of dashing, golden-hearted pirates who frequent fiction books, is a figment of the imagination.

In reality, pirates are danger-ous thugs of the sea and resort to murder and destruction to rob law-abiding vessels and even break international law and sanc-tions.

Fishermen and people who work in ports and coastal areas live in fear of pirates. The fact that the Bangladeshi pirates handed over 155 home-made guns, 300 shotgun rounds and machinery for making weapons and ammunition during their surrender is a sign of how violent they are.

That is why the Kingdom of Bahrain is part of a maritime se-curity network which patrols the seas in the region and pro-tects ships from pirates and oth-er illegal activ-ities.

After all, the Kingdom’s seas overlook some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, car-rying precious cargo – oil – which fuels the world economy and can also be harmful to the e n v i r o n m e n t if not proper-ly handled and protected.

The information age has seen the implementation of a complex web of authorisations and systems to keep a check on the shipping in-dustry so that all rules are followed.

Still, veteran sailors will tell you that the chances of being attacked at sea by pirates is still a very real one and can be traumatic. The Bangladeshi example is a good one to follow – officials have empha-sised that the crimes of the pirates will be tried in court but that they will get leniency in sentencing be-cause of their surrender.

Perhaps, the Straits of Hormuz Security Coalition could work on long-term rehabilitation of these wretched individuals and regain their trust and skills for the process of nation-building in places such as Yemen?

(Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Tribune and the President of the Arab-African Unity

Organisation for Relief, Human Rights and Counterterrorism)

CAPT. MAHMOOD AL MAHMOOD

The Bangladeshi example is a good

one to follow – officials have

emphasised that the crimes of

the pirates will be tried in court

but that they will get leniency

in sentencing because of their

surrender.

The Premier’s achievement is an encyclopedia of

volumes from where every citizen and resident is

expected to learn. I believe our Premier expects us to be patriotic, stand against any conspiracies that have the potential to disrupt our

social fabric.



that has since had to be closed 152 times. There is no doubt that the British capital would have been catastrophically affected without it. In the Netherlands, more than 1,500 people died in the same 1953 North Sea floods that followed a heavy storm. The country would not survive today without its im-mense, interconnected, ecologically advanced protection system that includes nine dams and four storm-surge barriers.

The rest of us have difficulty feel-

ing the same sense of urgency in our guts and we are full of doubt. Are the scientists right in their pre-dictions? Whom should we believe: those who say that the sea level will rise by 47cm or 147 cm? And if there is uncertainty, is there any point in doing anything? And how much are we prepared to compromise our convenience today for the sake of our grandchildren’s and their grand-children’s futures?

But most of us sense that the nat-ural world is changing, from the unprecedented fires in California and Australia, to the melting gla-ciers and ice-caps in the Arctic and Antarctic, to the droughts, year after year, in Africa.

Without taking a course in envi-ronmental science, here is where to start getting informed. Go to the website of the IPCC, the Intergov-ernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is the most authoritative scientific body on this subject in the world. It takes the published, peer-reviewed research of hundreds of reputable climate scientists and finds the points on which the great-

est number agree. It has produced five reports so far and the predic-tions in each of them about the rise in temperature and sea level have turned out to be true; indeed, some-times they have underestimated the situation. Read the summaries of these reports because this really matters. This is so important that you need to know what is happening when you make any major decision, from how to lead your life day to day, to where you should buy your house.

So far as an important part of the world’s heritage, including Venice, is concerned, the University of Kiel in northern Germany has measured the IPCC’s predictions of sea-level rise against the 49 Unesco world heritage sites around the Mediterra-nean that are 10 metres or less above mean sea level. In Italy, where the sea-level rise has been estimated to be more than 1.46m, not only Ven-ice but the whole of the north-east Italian coast, with the Romano-Byz-antine monuments of Ravenna and the Renaissance city of Ferrara, is likely to be lost, unless extraordinary measures are taken. So are the medi-na of Tunis and the ancient city of Carthage, while the historic centre of Istanbul is at moderate risk.

The churches of Ravenna could, in theory, be moved, as the temples of Abu Simbel were in the 1960s to save them from the Aswan Dam. The Venice lagoon could, with some dif-ficulties, be cut off from the sea, but there is no remedy for the town of Ferrara, the medina of Tunis and the archaeological remains of the great city of Carthage. What the flooding of Venice, exceptional as it may be, warns us is that it is urgent for all coastal cities – including those of the UAE – to study what will happen to them under such scenarios.

Venice’s floods should serve as a wake-up call for the worldAfter severe floods in south-

ern England in 1953, with more than 300 fatalities,

London was eventually giv-en protection by a mobile

barrier on the river Thames in 1982 that has since had to

be closed 152 times. There is no doubt that the British

capital would have been catastrophically affected

without it.

1941World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

10

business


Tesla cybertruck orders near 150,000 after chaotic launch

Los Angeles

Tesla’s new electric pickup truck has secured almost

150,000 orders, the compa-ny’s chief executive Elon Musk boasted on Twitter, just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong.

T h e b i l l i o n a i r e Te s l a co-founder floundered on stage in California on Thurs-day when the vehicle’s ar-mored glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design.

Shares in the company plunged 6.1 percent following the truck’s bumpy launch and several lackluster reviews.

But on Saturday Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000 orders from prospective owners.

“146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor,” he wrote.

The demand comes despite the product receiving “no ad-vertising & no paid endorse-ment”.

The industrial-looking Cy-bertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in about three sec-onds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation.

He said the entry-level mod-el will have a starting price of $39,900 and a 400-kilom-eter (250-mile) range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for $69,900.

No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.

Its space-age design is un-likely to challenge top-sell-ing models by Ford and other conventional car companies, analysts warn.

Tesla shares plunged 6.1 per cent following the Cybertruck’s bumpy launch

Gulf Air names Bahraini Senior Manager for Human ResourcesTDT | Manama

Gulf Air has appointed Mo-hammed Fakhroo as Sen-

ior Manager Human Resourc-es Operations to manage one of the airline’s main business units that is responsible for Gulf Air’s people management and development based at the airline’s hub in Bahrain.

Fakhroo joins the airline with vast experience in the field of Human Resources Management and holds Mas-ters of Business Administra-tion as well as professional certifications from the Char-tered Institute of Personnel and Development in the Unit-ed Kingdom.

With 90 per cent of em-ployees that are based at the headquarters in Muharraq be-ing Bahraini, 96pc of its First Officers, 100pc of its Second Officers and 100pc of its male cabin crew, Gulf Air is a lead-er in the Bahrainisation pro-gramme in the Kingdom.

Gulf Air Appoints Bahraini Senior Manager

CFA Society Bahrain hosts career day TDT | Manama

CFA Career Day 2019 under the patronage of the Minis-

try of Labour and Social Devel-opment welcomed more than 300 attendees for its second Edition.

The event was held in stra-tegic partnership with the Su-preme Council of Women, IN-JAZ Bahrain, LinkedIn and the International Coach Federation (Bahrain Chapter).

The event hosted more than 20 regional and global speakers, 15 employers, and an exclusive line up of one-on-one men-torship sessions, and strategic workshops.

CFA Society Bahrain President Mahmoud Nawar commented on the event, saying, “Our aim for this platform is to provide concrete opportunities, broaden their scope through our rich network, and gain skills that are required for the disrupted future”

Main global speakers of the

event included Eric Sim - En-trepreneur, Bobby Henebry - Entrepreneur, and a Specialist in Blockchain & Wealth Man-agement, and Malek Osseiran - Head of Gulf LTS, LinkedIn.

The event had two panels featuring regional and well renowned Bahraini business owners. “Women Participation” featuring Lamyse Ammer - En-terprise Territory Director at LinkedIn, Dr Dunya Ahmed -

Strategic Planning & Develop-ment Advisor at the SCW, Hala Sulaiman - Founder & Manag-ing Director at Beyond Borders Consultancy, and Noorhan AlZann - Director at CFA Society Bahrain & Qodwa Chairwom-an. The Second Panel “Hus-tling” featured Manal Fakhra-wi - Athlete, Radio Presenter Imran Aradi - Radio, DJ, En-trepreneur and Comedian and Compliance Officer, SebahatIsik

Isik - YSM Consultancy WLL, MD WBAF and Senator, and Haya Al Khalifa - Health & Well Being Coach.

The four workshops focused on several topics such as tack-ling disruption, the Future of employability, and how to navi-gate through new work environ-ments. A total of 16 workshops delivered sessions focused on disruption, social media, inno-vation, finance and more.

Participants during a photocall

Bahrain, UN to host CIBAFI Forum on role of Islamic Finance in SDGs TDT | Manama

The General Council for Islamic Banks and Finan-cial Institutions (CIBAFI),

in partnership with the United Nations Bahrain, is organising an Executive Knowledge - Shar-ing Forum on: “The Role of Is-lamic Finance in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Opportunities and Challenges”.

The forum will take place from 4 to 5 December 2019 in Manama.

The two-day forum is expect-ed to gather senior executives of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) across various countries as well as UN officials from the MENA region. Regional series of this forum are also planned to be conducted in other various jurisdictions.

It will present how to inte-grate global initiatives and best practices into the activities of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Commenting on the forum, Dr Abdelilah Belatik, Secre-

tary-General of CIBAFI said CI-BAFI is confident that Islamic banks will play an important role for the promotion of sus-tainability through significant involvement in activities that address social, economic and environmental challenges.

Belatik added: “CIBAFI is keen through its new Strategic Plan to conduct initiatives that will showcase the value proposition of Islamic finance and will help Islamic financial institutions identify and integrate global

best practices on sustainabili-ty and climate change actions within their core business”.

The Resident Coordinator and Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Bahrain, Amin Al Sharkawi, said achiev-ing the SDGs requires a strong infrastructure which is not pos-sible with conventional banking alone.

He explained that the goals and principles of Islamic fi-nance are largely in line with the global sustainable development

goals in ending poverty, pro-tecting the planet and ensuring the common well-being of all. “The adoption of practices to strengthen risk management, institutional control, Shari’ah, regulatory and regulatory con-trols, capacity building, etc., makes it a very important role in the financing and implemen-tation of the SDGs, all of which is possible to take shape from the Kingdom of Bahrain, being one of the top Islamic Finance hubs in the world. “

The two-day forum is expected to gather senior executives of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) across various countries as well as UN officials from the MENA region

Standard Chartered Bank Bahrain organised a visit to the Muharraq Social Care Center on the International Day of Older Persons which coincided with October 1. The Director of the Centre, Badriya Al-Janahi received the Standard Chartered Bahrain team, led by the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bahrain, Abdulla Bukhowa. Bank volunteers interacted with the residents of the centre. The Bank also organised a Bahraini Traditional band to play folklore songs on the occasion

Russian goods and services exhibitionTDT | Manama

Food Wealth Committee of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(BCCI) in cooperation with Russia Mufties Council is holding a two-day exhibition for Russian goods and services today and tomorrow from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Intercontinental Regency-Manama.

Representatives from sectors including water treatment, textile and fashion, oil and gas, constructions material, food, or-ganic fertilisers, halal meat and poultry, medical equipment, IT systems and man-ufacturing are participating. BCCI invites all members to the exhibition.


UAE eyes new frontiers in space tourism, mining• UAE has 10 functioning satellites in orbit and plans to launch another eight in the next few years

• In 2020, the UAE aims to become the first Arab country to launch an unmanned probe, named Hope

• The UAE is also planning to build a “Science City” to replicate conditions on Mars

AFP | Dubai

The United Arab Emirates, which sent its first astro-naut into space this year

and has plans to launch a probe to Mars, is looking at other new frontiers -- space tourism and mining.

But first, says the chief of the Emirates Space Agency, there needs to be regulation.

Within a few months the UAE

will enact its first space law, he said, designed to attract invest-ment and regulate the activities and services of companies oper-ating in the country.

“It was approved by the gov-ernment and now is in its final stage of issuing,” the space agen-cy’s director general Moham-med al-Ahbabi said.

The UAE, whose colossal sky-

scrapers and mega-projects put it on the world map, hopes oth-erworldly new industries could be the key to its economic future.

The country already has the most diverse economy in the oil-reliant Gulf, but the once-booming property, tourism and trade sectors that have made it a regional powerhouse have sagged in recent years.

So now it is looking beyond Earth itself, with typically grand ambitions for a country whose cities rise out of the desert.

Industries of the futureThe new law, drafted by the

agency, would address future space tourism or mining pro-jects.

“We think it’s going to come

to (fruition) within the next 10 years,” Ahbabi said of the sector.

“There is no project today be-cause the technology is not yet there, but we’re looking ahead of time and putting together those regulations.”

In March, the space agency signed a memorandum of under-standing with Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic for cooperation on var-ious plans, including potential tourism flights.

“We look forward to working with the UAE Space Agency and other partners in the UAE,” Vir-gin Galactic CEO George White-sides said at the time.

The new law will also regu-late UAE-developed satellites to make sure they adhere to inter-national space treaties.

“This is a legal document to regulate the space industry... for example registering your satel-lite and making sure you have the proper licensing,” Abhabi said. Ahbabi said the UAE has 10 functioning satellites in or-bit and plans to launch another eight in the next few years.

The existing satellites, he said, were under the jurisdiction of other government entities, in-cluding the telecommunications authority and the finance min-

istry.“But now we’re transferring

all the data to the space agency,” he said.

Next stop, red planetThe UAE launched its national

space strategy earlier this year, setting out a framework for its activities in the sector over the next decade.

In September it celebrated the milestone of sending the first Emirati into space.

Hazza al-Mansouri was part of a three-member crew that blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.

He returned home to a hero’s welcome after an eight-day mis-sion in which he became the first Arab to visit the International Space Station, where he took part in scientific experiments in-cluding a time-perception study.

In 2020, the UAE aims to be-come the first Arab country to launch an unmanned probe, named Hope, which will trav-el to Mars before returning to Earth the following year.

The UAE is also planning to build a “Science City” to repli-cate conditions on Mars, where it hopes to build a human settle-ment by 2117.

The UAE sent Hazzaa al-Mansouri into orbit this year. Now it hopes to develop space mining and tourism

US meat producers want a slice of vegan marketNew York

The growing craze for veg-etarian versions of juicy

burgers and sausages has creat-ed such a buzz that even tradi-tional meat producers are trying to get in on the action.

The big players are trying to capitalize on the success of products from companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger.

JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, has been marketing a soy burger in Brazil since the summer, which contains beets, garlic and onions and is similar to a rare ground beef.

The largest US meat producer, Tyson Foods, in June launched a new line of plant-based pro-teins and meat-vegetable blends called “Raised & Rooted.”

And competitors Hormel Foods, Perdue Farms and Smith-

field have unveiled similar initi-atives to take a slice out of this new market.

“Our food culture is chang-ing at a rapid pace,” said Bryan Kreske, brand manager at Hor-mel Foods.

There is an “increasing cu-riosity and motivation to try great-tasting, alternative pro-tein sources like plant-based proteins while decreasing their c o n s u m p - tion of ani-

mal-based protein.”Regardless of whether it is the

start of a new trend, or a passing fancy, the agri-food giants do not want to miss the opportunity.

Rather than target vegetari-ans, they are going after the 95 percent of consumers who eat meat.

But unlike the upstart alterna-tive meat companies, which cite the carbon footprint of raising cows and other livestock, tradi-tional players have a harder time using environmental or animal

rights arguments to promote their products.

Instead they often focus on health benefits.

“It’s more about our cli-ents want-

i n g t o g e t

more plants and vegetables into their diet and less about reduc-ing meat consumption,” said Eric Christianson, marketing manager at Perdue.

Best known for its chicken, Perdue in September released their “Chicken Plus” products, which include kid-friendly nug-gets, made of a mix of chick-en, chickpeas and cauliflower -- which they say is perfect for parents trying to get their kids to eat vegetables.

The company is betting big on this new product: earmark-ing half of its 2020 marketing budget to promoting it, spending especially heavily in January, “when people are really going to be in the mood to eat healthy,” Christianson said

‘Plant curious’ consumerSoy burgers have been around

for decades. But Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger have been working for the last 10

years to create products that are closer to the taste, tex-ture and flavor of real meat,

thanks to ingredients such as beets.

These products jumped into the headlines this year with their introduction in fast food chains, such as Burger King’s Impos-sible Burger, and with Beyond Meat’s spectacular Wall Street debut.

Traditional meat producers quickly jumped on the band-wagon.

At Hormel, the Happy Little Plants brand “moved swiftly from a conceptual idea rooted in the ‘plant curious’ consumer... to a commercially viable prod-uct line in just under 13 weeks,” Kreske said.

But while these meat produc-ers have no plans to abandon their main business, Impossible Foods says its mission is to re-place animal proteins in the food system by 2035.

That might be overly optimis-tic. In the market for milk alter-natives, plant-based drinks such as soy or almond milk make up just 13 percent of sales.

“For dairy, there’s really a

health reason” to not consume milk products, including aller-gies, said Perdue’s Christianson.

But for meat, “it becomes more of a lifestyle choice to eat healthier.”

Still, the alternative meat segment could become “signif-icant,” he said.

Robert Martin, who specializ-es in food policies at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, said the tra-ditional producers are entering the plant-based meat market “in their own economic self-inter-est,” so they do not lose market share.

He called the trend “trou-bling” and cautioned “it could have the side effect of stifling innovation and competition.”

Even so, he views any plant-based alternative as “a positive step,” adding that bigger players can bring “economies of scale” to producing these plant-based products, therefore reducing prices.

“They quit talking about themselves as meat companies, they now call themselves a pro-tein company,” Martin said.

Agri-business giants are branching out with plant-based meat alternatives to try to capitalize on the new trend

Agri-business giants are branching out with plant-based meat alternatives to try to capitalize on the new trend

Beyond Meat “Beyond Burger” patties are one of the options for plant-based proteins, which now include chicken, shrimp and sausage alternatives


Aramco markets IPO in Dubai • Aramco plans to sell 1.5pc of the company

• IPO could hit the top end of the valuation range

Reuters | Dubai

Saudi Aramco met investors in Dubai yesterday to mar-ket its initial public offering

(IPO), after trying to secure de-mand from Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund for the deal, worth up to $25.6 billion, which relies heavily on local and regional buyers.

Top executives of the Saudi state-owned oil giant, includ-ing Aramco’s Chief Executive Amin Nasser, met officials of Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund weeks ago, a source familiar with the matter said, confirming an earlier report yesterday in the Kuwaiti newspaper Alrai.

Meanwhile, Aramco’s man-agement including its finance head and advisers met with in-stitutional investors at an IPO roadshow in Dubai yesterday, the second outside Riyadh after the company decided to can-cel all roadshows in developed markets.

The Kuwaiti newspaper said the Kuwait Investment Author-ity’s (KIA) decision on whether to participate in the deal would depend on a “study” of the IPO.

Aramco said in an email it did not comment on specific inves-tor meetings.

The KIA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In late October, the KIA’s man-aging director Farouk Bastaki

said Aramco had not approached the fund then, but that the KIA would look at the IPO like any other investment.

Talks have taken place with sovereign investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Au-thority, Singapore’s GIC and oth-er funds, sources said.

Dubai RoadshowAn executive at a Lon-

don-based fund, who attend-ed the roadshow in Dubai, said he was interested in the IPO, but declined to provide more details.

Some investors asked Aramco about the sustainability of its dividend policy. Aramco has set a base dividend of $75 billion for five years.

A second executive at an in-

vestment firm said Aramco did not say whether that base level might grow.

The meeting was led by Ara-mco’s senior vice president of finance, strategy and develop-ment, Khaled al-Dabbagh, and Yasser Mufti, the company’s vice president of strategy and market analysis, sources said.

Over 20 people, wearing suits, walked into the presentation area at a luxury hotel in Dubai’s financial district, but hotel se-curity restricted entry for re-porters.

Another roadshow is planned in Abu Dhabi today.

“Looks like there’s a lot of in-terest both from retail inves-tors and institutions.” K. V. Vijay Raghavan, group finance direc-tor at Dubai-based investment

firm Arenco said after attending the roadshow.

“I wish it was more like $1.4 trillion to $1.5 trillion, but this is what it is,” he said, referring to the company’s aim to achieve a valuation of $1.6-$1.7 trillion.

However, he also said that looking at the investor interest, the IPO could hit the top end of the valuation range.

Aramco plans to sell 1.5pc of the company. The deal is the centerpiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to diversify the Saudi economy away from its reliance on oil.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said yesterday in Ri-yadh that it was monitoring banking indicators on a daily basis and was not seeing any impact on liquidity from the IPO.

Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, speaks during a news conference at the Plaza Conference Center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

IPO not causing liquidity issues: central bankReuters | Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s central bank is monitoring banking indica-

tors on a daily basis and is not seeing any impact on liquidity from oil giant Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO), its gover-nor said yesterday.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority governor Ahmed al-Kholifey said on the sidelines of a conference that he had no concerns about liquidity due to the size of Aramco’s IPO.

“We are monitoring all in-dicators on a daily basis and if there is any squeeze on liquid-ity, definitely we’ll be injecting liquidity but so far ... everything is assuring,” he said.

Saudi banks are marketing loans, with some offering four times the usual limits, two fi-

nancial sources said earlier this month, adding they were able to do so as they will hold the stock on behalf of clients so have it as security.

“The Saudi banking sector enjoys very high levels of li-quidity compared to Basel re-quirements,” Kholifey earlier told the conference, referring to international banking rules.

Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Ahmed Alkholifey

Aramco won’t breach maximum weight for firms in Saudi: ArgaamReuters | Riyadh

Saudi Aramco’s weighting in Saudi Arabia’s main stock index once the oil giant has listed shares is not expected to breach

the maximum limit set by the Gulf kingdom’s Tadawul exchange, a senior executive said yesterday.

“There is a ceiling for the maximum weight any listed company on the Saudi index can reach, it will be around 15 per cent. It is unlikely that Aramco’s weight will reach the maximum level,” Argaam financial website quoted Tadawul chief executive, Khalid al-Hussan, as saying.

Hosting possibly the biggest initial public offering in history will be a huge leap for Tadawul for the 12-year-old exchange that only admitted foreign investors four years ago.

Hussan, who was speaking at a meeting with businessmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, said Aramco’s listing will help the Middle East’s largest bourse become one of the world’s top 10 biggest stock exchanges in terms of market value.

Most Gulf markets subdued• Most Saudi banks fall after recent gains

• Saudi Airlines Catering, Abdullah Al Othaim slip on ex-dividend

• Commercial Bank weighs on Qatar

• Egypt falls for a fifth day

Reuters

The Saudi Arabian stock market snapped a five-day

rising streak yesterday with lenders taking a breather after riding high on a lending boom related to Saudi Aramco’s pub-lic listing.

Other markets in the region were mostly lower as concerns surrounding global trade per-sisted.

Saudi’s index fell 0.8 per cent with Al Rajhi Bank falling 1.1pc and Bank Saudi Fransi dropping 1.5pc.

Saudi Airlines Catering and Abdullah Al Othaim Markets closed down 2.9pc and 3.2pc re-spectively as the stocks traded ex-dividend.

The Qatar index was down 0.1pc, led by a 2.2pc drop in

Qatar Commercial Bank.Abu Dhabi’s index traded flat

as Aldar Properties and Emir-ates Telecom pushed the index sideways, with the former gain-

ing 1.8pc and the latter slipping 0.5pc.

“(Local markets are) taking a cue from global markets that are worried around U.S.-Chi-na trade talks”, said Vrajesh Bhandari, senior portfolio man-ager at Al Mal Capital, adding

that the Aramco IPO was re-ceiving “a good response” from local investors.

Dubai’s index edged up 0.1pc supported by a 0.4pc rise in its largest lender Emirates NBD.

Egypt’s blue-chip index fell for a fifth straight session, los-ing 0.3pc, with Commercial International Bank shedding 0.9pc.

Closing Bell SAUDI 0.8pc to 8,000 pts

ABU DHABI at 5,041 pts

DUBAI 0.1pc to 2,687 pts

QATAR 0.1pc to 10,254 pts

EGYPT 0.3pc to 14,050 pts

BAHRAIN at 1,506 pts

OMAN at 4,081 pts

KUWAIT 0.4pc to 6,339 pts

Traders on the floor of Saudi Stock market (file)

Johnson promises Brexit for Christmas in manifesto• Britain heads to the polls on Dec. 12

Reuters | Telford, England

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised yester-

day “to get Brexit done”, pledg-ing in his Conservative Party’s manifesto to bring his deal to leave the European Union back to parliament before Christmas and ruling out any more delay.

With less than three weeks before Britain heads to the polls on Dec. 12, the governing Con-servatives and opposition La-bour Party are trying to tempt voters with different visions of the country’s future, but both pledging to spend more.

Johnson’s manifesto aims at drawing a distinction with La-bour, which has promised to raise taxes on the rich and busi-nesses to fund a big expansion of the state, by promising not to increase taxes if the Conserva-tives win the election.

But it offered little detail on other policy areas, with aides wanting the prime minister to play it safe after plans on social care in 2017 saw a poll lead en-joyed by his predecessor There-sa May all but disappear. John-son is the runaway favourite to

win the election, according to the polls.

“Get Brexit done and we shall see a pent up tidal wave of investment into this coun-try,” Johnson said, launching his manifesto at a conference centre in Telford in central England. “Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and our minds on the priorities of the British people.”

Arriving at the centre, John-son was welcomed by support-ers chanting “Boris” but a little further away, protesters shout-ed: “Liar, liar, pants on fire”.

Contrasting with Labour’s unabashed tax-and-spend approach, Johnson’s mani-

festo - titled “Get Brexit Done, Unleash Britain’s Potential” - pledged to freeze income tax, value-added sales tax and social security payments.

Instead, he promised 23.5 billion pounds ($30.2 billion) worth of “sensible” tax cuts and higher spending, including on Britain’s much-loved Nation-al Health Service by adding 50,000 nurses.

Labour spokesman Andrew Gwynne said Johnson’s plans were “pathetic”.

“This is a no hope manifesto, from a party that has nothing to offer the country, after spend-ing 10 years cutting our public services,” Gwynne said.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Conservative party’s manifesto launch in Telford

FROZEN 2 (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) ممOASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA):10.45 AM + 1.00 + 3.15 + 5.30 + 7.45 + 10.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (ATMOS): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 12.00 + 4.30 + 9.00 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (3D): 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 12.15 + 1.30 + 2.30 + 3.45 + 4.45 + 6.00 + 7.00 + 8.15 + 9.15 +10.30 + + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE (IMAX 3D) :11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE (ATMOS):10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNCITY CENTRE VIP (II) :12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMSEEF (I): 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PMSEEF (3D): 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL: (3D): 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 PM

KRISTEN BELL, IDINA MENZEL, JOSH GAD

21 BRIDGES (PG-15) (CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER)OASIS JUFFAIR :12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 2.15 + 6.45 + 11.15 PMCITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)CITY CENTRE VIP (I):12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I): 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)WADI AL SAIL:10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 8.30 + 9.45 + 10.45 + 12.00 MN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, SIENNA MILLER, STEPHAN JAMES

MIRACLE IN CELL NO . 7 (PG-15)(TURKISH/ DRAMA) OASIS JUFFAIR :12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL:12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM

ARAS BULUT İYNEMLİ, NİSA SOFİYA AKSONGUR, İLKER AKSUM

LAST CHRISTMAS (PG-15)(COMEDY/ROMANTIC/DRAMA)CITY CENTRE: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II): 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL:1.15 + 6.30 + 11.45 PM

EMILIA CLARKE, HENRY GOLDING, EMMA THOMPSON

PAGALPANTI (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/ACTION) OASIS JUFFAIR :11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II):11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL:10.30 AM + 3.30 + 8.45 PM

JOHN ABRAHAM, ANIL KAPOOR, KRITI KHARBANDA

10 MINUTES GONE (PG-15)(ACTION/CRIME) CITY CENTRE:8.00 + 10.00 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): 11.45 AM + 1.45 + 3.45 + 5.45 + 7.45 + 9.45 + 11.45 PM

MICHAEL CHIKLIS, BRUCE WILLIS, MEADOW WILLIAMS

BEHIND THE TREES (15+)(THRILLER/ HORROR) SEEF (II): 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 + 12.00 MN

VANESSA CURRY, SAHIL SHROFF, SUBRAT DUTTA

THE SHED (18+)(HORROR/DRAMA)SEEF (II): 8.00 + 10.00 + 12.00 MN

JAY JAY WARREN, CODY KOSTRO, SOFIA HAPPONEN

CHARLIE’S ANGELS (PG-15)(ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE:11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II): 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM

KRISTEN STEWART, NAOMI SCOTT, ELLA BALINSKA

MALEFICENT 2: MISTRESS OF EVIL CITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PMSEEF (II): 1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PM

ANGELINA JOLIE, TERESA MAHONEY, MICHELLE PFEIFFER

JOKER (15+)(THRILLER/CRIME/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.45 + 6.30 + 9.15 + 12.00 MNSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 4.30 + 9.30 PM

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, ZAZIE BEETZ, ROBERT DE NIRO

PLAYING WITH FIRE (PG)(ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY) م CITY CENTRE:12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PMSEEF (II):11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM

JOHN CENA, KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY, JOHN LEGUIZAMO

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (PG-15)مممممم CITY CENTRE: 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PMSEEF (II) : 2.00 + 7.00 + 12.00 MN

LINDA HAMILTON, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, MACKENZIE DAVIS

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (PG)(ANIMATION/COMEDY) CITY CENTRE: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 + 5.00 + 7.00 PMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 PM

OSCAR ISAAC, CHARLIZE THERON, CHLOË GRACE MORETZ

GEMINI MAN (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA) CITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM

WILL SMITH, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, CLIVE OWEN

BALA (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANTIC) OASIS JUFFAIR : 2.45 + 8.30 PM

AYUSHMANN KHURRANA, BHUMI PEDNEKAR, YAMI GAUTAM

ABOMINABLE (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) مم CITY CENTRE:11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 PM

CHLOE BENNET, TENZING NORGAY TRAINOR, ALBERT TSAI

MIDWAY (PG-13)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA/WAR)CITY CENTRE:9.00 + 11.45 PM

ED SKREIN, PATRICK WILSON, LUKE EVANS

KHAYAL MAATA (PG)(COMEDY/DRAMA) مممم مممم CITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 4.15 + 9.15 PM

AHMAD HELMY, MINNA SHALABI, HASSAN HOSNEY

ANGEL HAS FALLEN (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/DRAMA)CITY CENTRE :1.45 + 6.45 + 11.45 PM

GERARD BUTLER, MORGAN FREEMAN, JADA PINKETT SMITH

SANGA THAMIZHAN (PG-15)(TAMIL) OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.45 AM + 5.30 + 11.15 PMSEEF (I): 11.45 AM + 2.45 + 5.45 + 8.45 + 11.45 PMAL HAMRA: (12.00 MN THURS/FRI)

VIJAY SETHUPATHI, RAASHI KHANNA, NIVETHA PETHURAJ

ADITHYA VARMA (PG-15)(TAMIL) FromThursday 7:30pm Onwards.OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.30 AM + 1.45 + 5.00 + 8.15 + 11.30 PMSEEF (I): 10.45 AM + 2.00 + 5.15 + 8.30 + 11.45 PMWADI AL SAIL: 1.30 + 7.45 PMAL HAMRA: 5.45 PM

DHRUV VIKRAM, BANITA SANDHU

JACK & DANIEL (PG-15)(MALAYALAM)OASIS JUFFAIR : 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PMSEEF (I):11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PMWADI AL SAIL:10.30 AM + 4.45 + 11.00 PMAL HAMRA:9.00 PM

DILEEP, ARJUN SARJA, ANJU KURIAN

AKASHAGANGA II (PG-13)(MALAYALAM) AL HAMRA: 2.45 PM

RAMYA KRISHNAN, SALIM KUMAR, SREENATH BHASI

KABADDI KABADDI KABADDI (PG-13)(NEPALI) AL HAMRA: 12.00 NOON

KABITA ALE, BIJAY BARAL, MAOTSE GURUNG

13 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

M O V I E R E V I E W

10 Minutes Gone: a forgettable shoot-’em-upBruce Willis and Michael Chiklis star in this crime potboiler about a robbery gone wrong in Cincinnati

A bank heist gone awry leads to the criminals in-volved turning on each

other; while trying to figure out who betrayed them and why. 10 Minutes Gone is being marketed as a suspenseful crime thriller, but woefully lacks in both sus-pense and thrills. It didn’t take ten minutes of screentime to sniff out a rather obvious villain. What follows is a jumble of hor-rendous dialogue, cardboard act-ing, and ridiculous gunplay. 10 Minutes Gone wastes the talent of two Hollywood greats. Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis are just collecting a paycheck here.

10 Minutes Gone opens with a newly formed gang prepping to rob a bank. Frank (Michael Chiklis) is a seasoned safecrack-er. His younger brother, Joe (Tyler Jon Olson), was recently released from prison. The broth-ers and their cohorts were en-listed for the job by Rex (Bruce Willis), a criminal mastermind who planned the operation. What should have been an easy score ends in chaos and con-

fusion. An alarm that was sup-posedly cut rings and alerts the police.

Frank wakes up after being knocked out for ten minutes by an unseen attacker. The package he stole is gone. The cops are closing in. The gang has separat-ed and its every man for himself. Frank is soon on the run with his brother’s girlfriend (Meadow Williams). Rex thinks he’s been betrayed. Frank is convinced one of the others sold them all out. He hunts down his former ac-complices to discover the truth. Rex unleashes his cleaner (Lydia Hull) to get the package back and liquidate the gang.

10 Minutes Gone uses Rasho-mon style flashbacks to recount Frank’s missing time. Every bad-die he scrapes up tells the bank robbery from their point of view. These are the most annoying and frustrating scenes in the film. The robbery is poorly shot and edited. The hapless criminals unload torrents of bullets while scattering to the wind. We end up seeing the same lame action

over and over again. It’s near torturous to sit through, and es-pecially aggravating because the

replays have little impact on the outcome.

The characters are dull and

generic. The ensemble cast spout their cookie-cutter lines like they received the script on

the same day. This ain’t Shake-speare. I lost count how many times they used the words “secondary” and “back-up” to describe the bungled heist. Bruce Willis, who only shares one brief scene with Michael Chiklis, looks abjectly bored the entire film. It’s a dialed-in effort without a shred of emotion. Mi-chael Chiklis has a lot more to do, but doesn’t add any gravitas or punch to the protagonist. A total letdown from an actor that normally commands the screen with intensity. The heavyweight leads are big disappointments.

10 Minutes Gone has nothing positive to recommend. A foolish plot with a bad script couldn’t be saved. The action scenes look amateurish and are dreadfully boring. It boggles the mind that an all-time action legend like Bruce Willis would star in such nonsense. He and Michael Chik-lis deliver a stinker. 10 Minutes Gone is a production of EFO and MoviePass Films with theatrical and on demand distribution by Lionsgate.

A scene from ‘10 Minutes Gone’

14 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

R.Kelly’s girlfriend opens up about the singerLos Angeles

Jo y c e l y n S a v a g e ,

one of singer R. Kellys girl-

friends, who has been living with him since she was 19, says she is “a victim” of his sexual and psychological abuse.

Kelly has been incarcer-ated since July on multiple allegations of sexual abuse in three states.

Until recently, Savage was one of Kelly’s defenders. In her first post to a Patreon page created to share her tes-timonials, Savage, 24, ex-plained that after meet-i n g t h e 52-year-old singer, who she re-fers to by his given name, Robert, at a concert in 2015, he flew her and a friend to California, promising her that he’’d help her realise her dreams of be-coming a model and singer, reports variety.com.

“Robert would always look at me in a sexual way the first couple of times we met occa-sionally,” she wrote.

She continued that after she gave him her CD, he said he could help her become like the late &B artiste Aaliyah, who Kelly allegedly married in 1994 when she was 15.

Daniel Craig confirms his time as James Bond is endingLos Angeles

Hollywood actor Dan-iel Craig, who has been

playing the fictional spy James Bond in the popular film fran-chise since 2005, is “done” es-saying the role.

The actor confirmed it during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Friday, reports people.com.

“Are you done with Bond,” asked host Stephen Colbert, to

which Craig, 51, replied, “Yes.”“It’s done,” he added.

Earlier in the week, Craig also opened up about mov-ing on. “Someone else needs to have a go,” he told German outlet Express, according to Esquire.

Craig’s last outing as Bond will be in the forthcoming mov-ie “No Time to Die”, which is set to release in April 2020.

Earlier this year, after wrap-ping up the film, Craig dis-cussed his complicated rela-tionship to the franchise.

How Robbie Williams’ near-death experience changed himLondon

Singer Robbie Williams says it took nearly dying

to change the way he lives.The former Take That

star “knows how lucky I am” after a health scare left him close to death in 2017. Williams became seriously ill while backstage at a stadi-um gig in Zurich a n d spent seven d a y s i n intensive care after d o c t o r s discovered “abnormal-ities” on his brain, re-ports thesun.co.uk.

He said: “I’ve refocused my life and all the extremities in it. It’s probably why I am on such good form today. It takes near-ly dying for someone like me to change the way they live.

“I’ve always thought I was protected and I’ve gone out of my way to test that hy-pothesis. Like a cat, I’ve had a billion lives. But this was the closest and scariest. I also had this feeling that I was immortal. But all is okay with my brain now.”

I was crying the whole way home: Kim Kardashian over her 2013 Met Gala outfitLos Angeles

Beauty mogul Kim Kardashian went down the memory

lane and made a shocking revelation that she had cried the entire way back home after being com-pared to Mrs Doubtfire at the 2013 Met Gala.

The 39-year-old reality star wore a floral-print gown to t h e gala event while pregnant with daughter North, now 6.

And she admitted that the negative feedback left her down in the dumps.

She told Vogue: “I think Robin Wil-liams even tweeted it, said I looked like Mrs. Doubtfire.

“I was crying the whole way home be-cause I just couldn’t believe it.”

She added: “I was very pregnant, very puffy and bloated and I was like, ‘Oh god, of course, the first time I go I’m gonna be huge!

“Kanye [West] was performing so I wasn’t actually invited, I was just Kanye’s plus one. And that was okay with me because I never really dreamed I would be at the Met Ball.

“I know no one really probably wanted me there at the time.”

Kim says she actually wanted to wear a black version of the dress, but Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci – who was also dressing West – persuaded her against it, reported Fox News.

Katherine Schwarzenegger raves about husband Chris Pratt on social media

Los Angeles

Katherine Schwarzenegger is feeling blessed to have Chris Pratt as her better half and

her recent social media post is a proof of the same.

On Saturday, the 29-year-old author took to Instagram to gush over her husband and actor, Chris. While the two lovebirds were already the definition of relationship goals, Kath-erine’s latest heartwarming post proves why they con-tinue to hold that title.

“Coming up on Thanks-giving week and feeling so thankful and excit-ed to be with my family and loved ones. I know this week comes with a lot of mixed feelings for people about returning home, traveling and missing loved ones,” she began her caption,

alongside a picture of her and Chris riding bike.

Selena Gomez to open 2019 AMAs; Shawn Mendes, Camila

Cabello among performersLos Angeles

The performers’ line-up for the 2019 American Music Awards is finally out and Selena Gomez will be opening the night with a rendition of her

latest release ‘Lose You to Love Me’!Others, who are also a part of the line-up,

include Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello who will be performing their song ‘Seno-rita’. Halsey, who is also one of the listed performers, will also be singing her newest single ‘Graveyard’.

Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood will also rock the stage with her performance along with pre-senting awards, reported Variety.

The ceremo-n y w i l l m a r k Gomez’s first live TV perfor-mance in two years.

T a y l o r Swift will take

home a major honour as she will be presented with the ‘Artist of the Decade’ award at the event. Moreover, the

Grammy-winner will also perform a medley of her hit tracks.

Radhika Apte feels ‘honoured’ receiving nomination medal for

2019 International Emmy AwardsMumbai

Nominated for the 2019 Internation-a l E m m y

Awards, Bollywood actor Radhika Apte seems to be on cloud n i n e a s s h e f l a u n t e d h e r “ n o m i n a t i o n medal” on Sun-day, a day before the much-await-ed ceremony scheduled to be held.

The cere-mony is to take place o n N o -vember 25 (local time) at the Hilton New

York Hotel.This year’s awards are all the

more exciting as three Indian projects -- ‘Sacred Games’,

‘Lust Stories’ and ‘The Remix’ are a part of the nomination line-up.

Radhika, who has been nominated

in the Best Per-formance by an

Actress cate-gory, exuded

joy over receiving the medal and even posted a pic-ture of the same on Instagram

along with the certificate.

Ex-member of K-pop girl group found dead: YonhapSeoul

A former member of South Korea’s top

K-pop girl group was found dead on Sunday, the country’s Yonhap news agency reported citing police.

The body of Koo Hara, 28, was discovered at her home in southern Seoul, Yonhap said.

P o l i c e were not i m m e -d i a t e l y available

f o r c o m -ment.Koo, better

known as Hara in other parts of Asia, had spoken out against cyber bullying. In June, a month after she was found unconscious at her home and hospitalized, she said it was difficult to overcome depression and pleaded for positive com-ment on social media.

Justin Timberlake, Alisha Wainwright’s hangout

was “innocent’’Los Angeles

Singer-actor Justin Timberlake and actress Alisha Wainwright were recently seen holding hands,

but sources say there is “nothing going on” between them.

On Saturday, photos circulated online of the 38-year-old actor appearing to get cozy with his “Palmer” co-star Wainwright.

According to The Sun, who first reported the news and ob-tained photos, the co-stars were seen taking a break from filming

and hanging out at a New Orleans bar late at night.

Images showed the 30-year-old actress placing her hands on Timberlake’s knee and they were

seen touching each other’s hands. Despite what the candid photos look like, a source told eonline.com that “there is absolute-ly nothing going on between them”.

“They were out with all the cast, crew, make-up artists, and everyone

w a s just hanging out in a social setting,” the source said. “They are just working together. No validity to any other

rumour other than that they are filming together.” Robbie

Williams

Joycelyn Savage

Daniel Craig

Koo Hara

Katherine Schwarzenegger

Selena Gomez

Kim Kardashian

F1 Bahrain GP 2020 tickets available at BIC stand in BCC

• Early Bird discount of up to 20pc continues as a limited period offer

• Ticket prices among most affordable in Formula 1

• Chance to win exclusive BIC prizes on racing simulator

TDT | Manama

Motorsport fans looking forward to attending the Formula 1 Gulf Air

Bahrain Grand Prix 2020 can pick up their tickets right away at the newly opened Bahrain In-ternational Circuit (BIC) stand located at Bahrain City Centre (BCC).

Situated on the ground floor near gate number three in the West Court, the BIC stand has plenty to offer. Aside from being able to purchase tickets to the Grand Prix or for the many oth-er fantastic experiences at BIC, visitors will also have a chance to shop for official Formula 1 and BIC merchandise such as apparel, memorabilia, and much more.

There is also a racing simula-tor for all to enjoy, where fans can win exclusive BIC prizes. All they will have to do is try to set the fastest lap for the week and the winning participant will come away with a valuable voucher to enjoy either BIC’s Land Rover or Clio Cup passen-ger experiences. There will be a new winner each week through-out the competition period.

BIC’s friendly and knowl-edgeable staff will be on hand

at the stand to assist all those who visit.

The Formula 1 Gulf Air Bah-rain Grand Prix is the region’s biggest annual event. It is sched-uled to take place March 19 to 22 next year, and it will mark the second of a record 22 rounds of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

All those who buy their tickets today can avail of BIC’s fabulous limited-time offer of up to 20% discounts under the first phase of its Early Bird promotion.

This 20 per cent price reduc-tion is available for tickets to BIC’s Main Grandstand, while a 15pc discount is applied for tickets to all other grandstands including the Turn One Grand-stand, Batelco Grandstand, Uni-versity Grandstands and Victory Grandstands.

These Early Bird discounts are available for a limited time only, so fans are advised to act quickly and purchase their tick-

ets at the earliest opportunity to get the best value for money.

Ticket prices for the massive event remain the same for the seventh year in a row, and they are once again amongst the most competitive in Formula 1.

Under the Early Bird offer, four-day tickets to the Main Grandstand are now BD120, re-duced from the original price of BD150. A four-day ticket to

the Turn One Grandstand costs BD85 under the reduced price, down from BD100, while four-day tickets to both the Univer-sity and Victory Grandstands are now BD51 apiece with the Early Bird offer, reduced from the original price of BD60 each.

There are three available op-tions for Batelco Grandstand Tickets. They can be purchased for the full four-day race week-end for BD108, reduced from BD120. They can also be bought for just the Friday of the event for BD51 instead of BD60, or for just the Saturday and Sunday for BD85, reduced from BD100.

The race weekend is set to in-clude not only Formula 1 racing, but also plenty of other action on the track. There will also be plenty of off-track fun and fam-ily entertainment, all of which will be headlined by the unfor-gettable live concerts featuring some of the music industry’s biggest international artists.

Loman passes tough test to retain titleStephen Loman defended his world champion title for the fourth consecutive at BRAVE CF 30

TDT | Manama

Bantamweight king Ste-phen Loman has extend-ed his time as the long-

est-reigning BRAVE Combat Federation world champion as he defended his world title for the fourth consecutive time with a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over Louie Sanoudakis, at the main event of BRAVE CF 30, which took place last Saturday in Hyderabad, India.

Mixing up his strikes and movements with a ferocious pace, “The Sniper” was able to score at will with leg kicks, jabs and straight lefts, baffling the challenger, who simply didn’t have an answer for the champi-on’s quickness.

In the final round, however, Louie showed why he was cho-sen to challenge Loman, as he took the center of the cage and

started relentlessly stalking the champion. However, it was too little too late for the Canadia, as ringside judges scored the bout unanimously in favor of Stephen Loman, who improves to 6-0 in his BRAVE CF career, and has no immediate plans to go up in weight to eventually face Bubba Jenkins, the Featherweight king.

“I would like to thank every-

one who has helped me. To Indi-an fans, I love you. My coaches, training partners, family, and friends, and to BRAVE CF for al-lowing me to do what I do. Right now, I have a lot of people to fight still, maybe one day (I’ll go up in weight)”, said the champ.

In the co-main event, Phil Hawes had a flawless debut for BRAVE CF, as he was able to take down Dominik Schober and tap him out with a rear-naked choke in the first round. After the bout, he expressed interest in being the first challenger to the Mid-dleweight title that will be up for grabs in two weeks’ time at BRAVE CF 31.

Mohammad Farhad had a comeback for the ages, as he thrilled his countrymen present at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadi-um with a violent performance, scoring a first-round TKO via leg kicks of Kushal Vyas.

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sports


I would like to thank everyone who has

helped me. My coaches, training partners, family, and friends, and to BRAVE CF for

allowing me to do what I doSTEPHEN LOMAN

Stephen Loman in action during his bout

KNOW WHAT

This 20pc price reduction is available for tickets to BIC’s Main Grandstand, while a 15pc discount is applied for tickets to all

other grandstands

A counter selling F1 tickets

Softball cricket returns to the Indian ClubTDT | Manama

The sound of bat on ball will once again be heard

at The Indian Club as The In-dian Club BMMI Indian Ex-pat 7-A-Side Softball Cricket Tournament 2019 gets under-way at The Club’s premises in Gudaibiya from Tuesday 10th December 2019.

Always a popular event at The Indian Club, this year’s tournament will no doubt at-tract a good entry as teams vie not only for the trophies and cash prizes on offer, but also the glory and bragging rights of coming out on top in India’s no 1 sport.

Entry is now open; the entry fee is set at BD50 per team; each team will be allowed a

squad of 9 players, with 7 tak-ing the field for each match; entries will close on 07th De-cember 2019. The number of entries will be limited, so best to enter sooner rather than later!

“This is always an exciting and enjoyable event, there are some really good cricket-ers in Bahrain and it’s a great opportunity for these guys to show-case their talent whilst having a bit of fun as well; we are expecting a strong list of entries and look forward to some lively, tense evenings as the teams fight it out to take the winners’ trophy,” said Mr. Vicky Subraman-ya, The Indian Club’s Sports Secretary – Football, Cricket, Hockey.

Caicedo winner keeps Lazio third, Smalling lifts RomaAFP | Milan

Felipe Caicedo snatched a late winner to keep Lazio

third in Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Sassuolo on Sun-day just ahead of city rivals Roma, who beat Brescia 3-0 with England defender Chris Smalling involved in all of his side’s goals.

Champions Juventus main-tained their grip on the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win at Atalanta on Saturday, to stay one-point ahead of Inter Milan who eased past Torino 3-0.

The two Roman outfits are now third and fourth respec-tively before Cagliari, a point behind in fifth, played lowly Lecce.

Serie A top scorer Ciro Im-mobile struck to put Lazio ahead after 34 minutes in Sas-suolo with his 15th league goal this season.

But struggling Sassuo -lo pulled back a goal back through Francesco Caputo just before the break.

Ecuadorian Caicedo came off the bench to seal a fifth consecutive league win in in-jury time to keep Lazio seven points behind Inter Milan in third place.

Felipe Caicedo of SS Lazio celebrates a second goal

India crush Bangladesh in day-night TestAFP | Kolkata

Paceman Umesh Yadav claimed five wickets as India thrashed Bangla-

desh in just over two days of their first day-night Test to sweep the series 2-0 on Sunday.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 195 in less than an hour of the first session on day three in Kolkata, as India won by an innings and 46 runs to record their 12th-straight Test series triumph on home soil.

It was a memorable pink-ball interna-tional debut for India, who become the only team to win four consecutive Tests by an innings margin.

Virat Kohli’s side -- which has now won seven Tests in a row -- consolidat-ed their top position in the world Test championship with three successive series sweeps.

Mushfiqur Rahim made a valiant 74 before falling to Yadav, and the innings soon folded as Mahmudullah did not return to bat after he had retired hurt on 39 on day two.

India took 8.4 overs to wrap up the game at Eden Gardens with Yadav tak-ing all the three wickets to fall Sunday afternoon.

Ishant Sharma led the pace charge with impressive match figures of 9-78 to flatten the Bangladesh batting that fell for 106 in their first innings of the

opening day.“With the way these guys are bowling

now, they can pick up wickets on any surface -- whether we play at home or we play away,” a victorious Kohli said.

“I think it is all about the mindset... these guys are very hungry, they are at the top of their game.

“I feel that we are in the right kind of space right now to capitalise on opportu-nities and everyone is enjoying playing in

this team and I think that’s the standout feature about us.”

Ishant was named man of the match and the series for his 12 wickets in two Tests. Yadav also claimed 12 scalps in the series, while Shami took nine.

Pink-ball challengeKohli played a key part with his 136 in

India’s 347 for nine declared on Saturday as they managed a lead of 241 runs.

The tourists were in early trouble at 13 for four in the final session on day two when Mushfiqur resisted India’s persistent pace attack.

Ishant trapped Shadman Islam lbw for nought and then claimed skipper Mominul Haque, who got a pair of ducks.

The spearhead quickie, who claimed five wickets in the first innings, bowled at a lively pace as one of his rising deliveries hit Mohammad Mithun on the helmet.

Bangladesh were forced to take two concussion substitutes in Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam for Liton Das and Nay-eem Hasan who were hit on the helmet by Shami on day one.

Mushfiqur was also at the receiving end of a nasty hit from Yadav, but went on to play a fighting knock.

Kohli completed his 27th century be-fore falling to a stunning catch by Taijul off Ebadat Hossain.


With the way these guys are bowling now, they can pick up wickets on any surface -- whether we play at home or

we play awayVIRAT KOHLI

Bahrain rally past Qatar Bahrain earn second straight win in Gulf basketball championship

TDT | Manama

Bahrain squandered an early 17-0 lead but still managed to oust a battling

Qatar 69-62 last night in the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Men’s National Team Cham-pionship 2019, currently being played in Kuwait City.

The Bahrainis raced out of the gate and took quick control of the game in the first quarter, but allowed their opponents back to within a single point midway through the third period.

The nationals closed out strong, however, overcoming foul trouble from naturalised big man CJ Giles en route to claim-ing their second win in as many games to begin this five-team competition.

The Qataris were playing their first game as they opened their tournament with a loss.

Bahrain enjoyed a balanced attack, with four players scor-ing in double figures. Moham-med Buallay and Ahmed Sal-man both had 12 points, while Muzamel Ameer finished with 11 and Bader Abdulla Malabes had 10, including three crucial three-pointers in the second half.

Hesham Sarhan chipped in with seven, Mohammed Ameer had six, Giles had four and eight rebounds in limited minutes, Mohammed Qurban contribut-ed three and both Subah Hus-sain and Ahmed Aziz had two points.

Abdulrahman Mohammed Saad paced Qatar in the loss with 16, while Abdelrahman Yehia and Erfan Ali Saeed each scored 10.

Bahrain now have a break over the next two days and will be back in action only on Wednes-

day when they face off with Sau-di Arabia. That game is sched-uled for a 5pm tip-off.

The Bahrainis got off to hot start in yesterday’s fixture, grad-ually building a double-digit lead while holding their rivals scoreless for nearly the first sev-en minutes. Three free-throws

from Hesham Sarhan and a three-point play from Moham-med Buallay put Bahrain ahead 17-0, and then only did Qatar make it onto the scoreboard.

The nationals ended the open-ing period with a commanding 22-6 advantage, but to start the second, it was their turn to find difficulty scoring. Their troubles allowed the Qataris to string together six unanswered points, and that mini-run got them to within 13-22.

Bahrain managed to get things together and stay ahead 35-27 at the half, but to begin the third quarter, Qatar made it a close fight and a three-pointer by Yehia cut the deficit to 36-37. Giles was then called for his fourth foul, sending him to the bench with more than a quarter remaining, but crucial baskets from beyond the arc from Sal-man, Qurban and Malabes kept Bahrain afloat.

Qatar mounted a late surge late in the final canto as they closed the gap to just six points, 57-63, with just under three min-utes left. But talented Ameer brothers Mohammed and Mu-zamel both had timely baskets, and Buallay iced the win from the charity stripe.

Following their clash with Saudi on Wednesday, Bahrain’s final assignment of this prelim-inary stage will be against hosts Kuwait on Thursday at 7pm.

After the single round-rob-in, one team will be eliminated while the top four move on to the knockout semi-finals. In the final four, scheduled for Novem-ber 30, the top-ranked squad take on the fourth seeds, while team number two battle team number three.

The gold and bronze medal games will then take place on the championship’s final day on December 1.

Bahrain’s Hussain goes for a lay-up on a fast-break against QatarBahrain’s Malabes looks to pass as he runs into a pair of Qatari defenders during their game last night

KNOW WHAT

Bahrain held their rivals scoreless for

nearly the first seven minutes

Indian players celebrate with the trophy

Federer and Zverev play in front of over 42,000

AFP | Mexico City

Roger Federer may not be playing at the new look

Davis Cup in Spain but the 38-year-old was still pulling in the crowds when he met Alexander Zverev in an ex-hibition match in Mexico City on Saturday.

According to organisers, 42,517 spectators packed into the specially-erected arena in the Plaza de Toros to watch Federer beat the German 6-3,4-6,6-2.

“You are an incredible audience, your support has given me goosebumps, I do not have enough words to thank you,” said Federer.

The attendance has not been ratified by the Inter-national Tennis Federation so it does not stand as an official record.

In July 2010, 35,681 spec-tators gathered at the King Baudouin stadium in Brus-sels to watch an exhibition match between Kim Cli-jsters and Serena Williams.

The biggest court for an official match is the Arthur Ashe at Flushing Meadows in New York, home of the US Open, which can seat around 23,000.

Roger Federer (L) and Alexander Zverev after the match

Saudi giants Al Hilal clinch record-equalling Asian titleAFP | Saitama, Japan

Salem Al-Dawsari and Bafetimbi Gomis were

the heroes as Saudi Ara-bia’s Al Hilal beat Urawa Red Diamonds 2-0 on Sun-day and 3-0 on aggregate to claim a record-equal-ling third Asian club ti-tle in the AFC Champions League.

A l - D a w s a r i s c o r e d with 16 minutes left and top-scorer Gomis grabbed his 11th of the competition in injury time as the Saudi giants ended a 19-year wait for their third continental trophy, joining South Ko-rea’s Pohang Steelers as the only three-time Asian champions.

Al Hilal, beaten by Japan’s Urawa in the 2017 final, also became the competition’s first West Asian winners since Qatar’s Al Sadd in 2011, torpedoing a run of victories by clubs from Ja-pan, South Korea, China and Australia.

Al Hilal had the better of the opening half as they looked to build on their 1-0 win in the first leg, when Andre Carrillo scored the only goal.

Both goalkeepers were forced into action ear-ly on, but it was Urawa’s Takahiro Sekine who had the best chance of the half when his point-blank vol-ley was scrambled away by Hilal custodian Abdullah Al-Mayoof.

a great architect of sustainable development - News of Bahrain

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