THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021 / JUMADA AL-AWWAL 5, 1443 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17863 16 PAGES 150 FILS

cricket

markets

Page 14

Page 11

Photo by Noor Elkafrawy

‘Ghost of Past’ played by the ethereal Sara Al-Saleh as she takes Ebenezer Scrooge (Peter Mullay) to visit memories of his child-hood. One World Actors Centre Production House presented a joyous gift to the public, as they open the English Season on Dec 4 at the Yarmouk Cul-tural Centre after two years

of lockdown. — See Page 2

KUNA photoHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received Wednesday at Dar Yamama, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness also received National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim, as well as His Highness the Prime Minister

Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Photo by Mohamed MorsiThe iconic Kuwait Towers lit up with flags of Ja-pan and Kuwait as the two countries mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Kuwait-Japan

diplomatic relations. — See Page 7

Take opinion of Einsteinon government formation

By Ahmed Al-JarallahEditor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

EINSTEIN said, “The world, as we have created, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

From the aforementioned quote, we ask - Will the future government be dif-ferent from what preceded it in the past two years?

The answer to this question does not require extensive thinking. It can be summed up with the fact that trying to repeat the same experience in a single pattern and with a consistent approach by the government in the hope of getting a different result is impossible.

If the approach to matters is the same, the future government will not differ from its predecessors, its performance will not differ from that of the previous one, and the National Assembly’s attitude towards it will not change.

All indications point to the fact that the confrontation between the two authorities will be more difficult, especially after the MPs achieved all their demands with the least number of losses, while the previous government headed by the designated prime minister himself made concessions with ease.

We cannot help but wonder what the situation will be with MPs who, from the very first moment of their entry into the parliament, began preparing for their re-election for the next legislative term!

There is no doubt that the National Assembly, with its current composition, will not pass any law unless the MPs get a much greater benefit than what the government offers, and while they have sufficient experience with the prime min-ister’s weaknesses, the most prominent of which is his lack of attachment to any minister. This means that it will be very easy to disrupt the government during the first encounter with the Cabinet of this kind.

Nonetheless, it seems that His Highness the designated Prime Minister will repeat the same thing, which is to treat the prob-lems facing Kuwait with painkillers when what it needs is surgical work, something that he did not do when he was given the opportunity more than once in the past two years. Instead, he unfortunately made mat-ters worse every single time.

Therefore, whoever misses such op-portunities cannot address a complex economic problem such as the one that Kuwait is currently facing. In fact, all indications point that there is no exit from the vicious circle, because what the country needs today is not a government of complacency, which is unfortunately what is being worked on.

Instead, it needs a team of ministers who have different approaches and ways of thinking, and who are specialists with the ability to get the country out of its economic predicament that the previous three governments helped to further de-teriorate.

This fact must be present before every-one. The prime minister-designate should actually start working on a fundamental change in the approach that will only change with different people, either with the return of those who bore the same re-sponsibility to their positions, or at least the rotation of some of them. With the same approach and the same way they worked during the past two years, nothing will change; but it will lead to the continuation of the crisis and increase its complexity.

There is now an opportunity to get out of the impasse. It will not be available for-ever because Kuwait can no longer toler-ate experiments and adventures.

Frankly, it is better for the formation of the government to be delayed for a few days or weeks for the sake of the birth of a strong and homogeneous government that is able to work, instead of seeing the same faces return to deal with a new series of bickering and mediocre perfor-mance, while our economic situation is getting worse, which will force us to re-quest again for another prime minister.

Email: ahmed@aljarallah.com

Follow me on:

ahmedaljarallah@gmail.com

Opinion

Day by Day

Newswatch Other Voices

Iran ‘N-talks’set to resume

Kuwait records first omicron case‘Traveler’

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8, (Agencies): The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that it had recorded the first infec-tion of the omicron CO-VID-19 variant.

Speaking to KUNA, the min-istry’s official spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said that the omicron case was of a traveler coming from one of the African countries, which recorded an omi-cron infection.

The traveler had received both dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine previously and now he is under institutional quarantine accord-ing to health protocols, affirmed Al-Sanad.

He added that the ministry had taken necessary precautions as several nations announced the discovery of the new variant.

Currently, the pandemic situa-tion in Kuwait is stable; however, citizens and residents are advised to take the booster vaccine shot to help the ministry curb the spread of the virus, he said.

He stressed that studies had shown that current vaccines were affective against the new variant.

Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may offer important pro-tection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less ef-fective.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said that while two doses may not be protective enough to pre-vent infection, lab tests showed a booster increased by 25-fold people’s levels of virus-fighting antibodies against the omicron variant.

LevelsBlood samples taken a month

after a booster showed people harbored levels of omicron-neutralizing antibodies that were similar to amounts proven protec-tive against earlier variants after two doses.

Scientists don’t yet know how big a threat the omicron variant really is. Currently the extra-con-tagious delta variant is responsible for most of the COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and other countries.

But the omicron variant, dis-covered late last month, carries an unusually large number of mutations and scientists are rac-ing to learn how easily it spreads, whether it causes illness that is more serious or milder than other coronavirus types - and how much it might evade the protection of prior vaccinations.

Al-Seyassah meanwhile re-ports 8 cases of infection of the new variant, and not one as earlier announced by the ministry.

The Daily indicated that the 8 cases were detected through PCR tests. Pfizer’s findings, announced in a press release, are prelimi-nary and haven’t yet undergone scientific review. But they’re the first from a vaccine maker exam-ining whether the booster doses that health authorities are urging people to get may indeed make an important difference.

Scientists have speculated that the high jump in antibodies that comes with a third dose of COV-ID-19 vaccines might be enough to counter any decrease in effec-tiveness. Pfizer and BioNTech already are working to create an omicron-specific vaccine in case it’s needed.

Antibody levels predict how well a vaccine may prevent infec-tion with the coronavirus but they are just one layer of the immune system’s defenses. Pfizer said two doses of the vaccine should still protect against severe disease, be-cause the mutations in omicron don’t appear to hamper one of those other defenses, T cells that fight the virus after infection sets in.

“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that pro-tection is maximized with a third dose of our vaccine,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

RIYADH, Dec 8, (KUNA): Gulf and Saudi figures said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to Kuwait as part of a Gulf tour reflects incessant coor-dination and firm ties between both countries’ leaders and peoples.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Political Affairs and Negotiations Abdulaziz Al-Owaishek said the visit reaffirms the cen-tral and deep-rooted relationship between the kingdom and Kuwait.

Speaking to KUNA, he said that Saudi Arabia marks the strategic depth for Kuwait, while Kuwait constitutes the strategic and cultural extension for the kingdom.

He added that both nations share the same evalua-tion of challenges and perils haunting the region, and are agreed that they need to be addressed through close cooperation, unity, and political, diplomatic, military and security collaboration.

The GCC official noted that both countries are eco-nomic partners, given that their two-way trade exchange exceeds two US billion dollars per annum, and Saudi in-vestments in Kuwait are estimated at over one US billion, while Kuwait has great investments in the Saudi market.

He pointed out available opportunities for both sides to promote Saudi-Kuwaiti trade exchange and invest-ments through Saudi Arabia’s 2030 development vision and Kuwait’s 2035 development vision, which both aim at diversifying national economies and curtailing reliance on oil.

He underlined that the Saudi Crown Prince’s visit to Kuwait this week would unquestionably lead to ce-menting this strategic partnership in all domains, and strengthening inter-Gulf action.

Dr. Ali Al-Debkel, a media professor at King Saud University, spoke highly of the visit as being of para-mount significance at this time in particular due to re-gional crises and “foreign interferences” in the region’s internal affairs.

Speaking to KUNA, he emphasized that inter-Gulf integrity, coordination and unified stances are urgently required ahead of the forthcoming Gulf summit due this month.

The Saudi professor went on saying that persistent coordination between both sides’ leaderships is essen-tial for producing a single Gulf policy that could be conducive to broader Arab unity.

He believed that several issues pertinent to Saudi-Kuwaiti cooperation and collaboration, including stands at the OPEC+ alliance, as well as bilateral in-vestments and trade, will be discussed.

Both sides are also expected to consider other signifi-cant Arab issues, mainly Palestine, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen where Kuwait has played a substantial role and tried hard to resolve the Yemeni crisis, he noted.

On his part, Secretary-General of the Saudi Jour-nalists Association and Deputy Chairman of the Fed-eration of Arab Journalists Abdullah Al-Jahlan said the visit is an extension of consultation and coordination between the Gulf countries.

Saudi visit mirrorsclose collaboration

IF A nation wants to rescue its economy from de-terioration, its men must know how to milk an ant instead of snoring on the shoulders of others and holding them responsible for their failures and shortcomings.

Rescuing the economy does not come easy. You can’t sleep in your tent with mouth wide open and expect things to happen, but rather you must get on your feet and move around, keep your eyes and ears open, listen to people’s problems, see their hardships and then, and only then ap-propriate decisions can be taken.

Those who lack the ability to respond to peo-ple’s demands, allow crises to snowball and rust to accumulate on their swords.

… Yet, tomorrow is another day.Zahed Matar

BERLIN, Dec 8, (Agencies): The European diplomat chairing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers says negotiations in Vienna will resume Thursday.

Enrique Mora said Wednesday on Twitter that the parties to the 2015 Vienna accord will meet in the Austrian capital after consulting with their governments in recent days.

European diplomats had urged Tehran to come back with “real-istic proposals” after Iran’s del-egation last week made numer-ous demands that were deemed unacceptable by the other parties to the accord - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 un-der former U.S. President Donald Trump. His successor Joe Biden has indicated that the U.S. is willing to return, and American diplomats in Vienna are being briefed by other powers.

The Vienna accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was meant to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program in return for loosening economic sanctions against Iran. Following the U.S. decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions, Iran has ramped up its nuclear program again by enrich-ing uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement.

Lawmakers submit billto ‘compensate’ SMEs

Be ‘generous’ to a meanperson and he will rebel

By Ali Al-BaghliFormer Minister of Oil

Someone with all the tongues lasted for a short period in the previous assemblies. One stormed the assembly with rudeness, violence and

screams. One of the fugitives went to Erdogan’s Turkey for fear of being imprisoned under the muzzling law, for which he was one of the proponents. He was stung by his own fire, thereby, reducing his value!

After his return, he was received by a tribal mob to the core, as if he liberated Jerusalem from the rule of the children of Israel. Therefore, pride took over him even though he was a sinner. He as-sumed the role of someone great and thought of himself as someone like Napoleon or Che Guevara.

He issued a statement that touched on one of the constitutional taboos. Instead of expressing thanks and gratitude, he repeated the broken record regarding the need for HH the Prime Minister and the National Assembly speaker to leave. Together with the honorable brother -- the president of the Supreme Judicial Council -- both the premier and speaker played an active role until the issuance of the decree on Amiri amnesty.

Most of those who read statement on social media were upset and surprised that he made such a statement, instead of offering verses of thanks and gratitude.

This is in addition to the demand that the amnesty includes our sons and daughters who are imprisoned with thieves and murderers, and those displaced in the western parts of the land through politi-cal asylum -- a matter that has blackened and worsened Kuwait’s reputation in the field of human rights.

Thus, we ask our wise leadership represented by His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness the Prime Minister, His Excellency the Speaker of the National Assembly and His Excellency the President of the Supreme Judicial Council to ig-nore that statement which drips badly. We want to see the amnesty list consisting of those convicted of opinion crimes.

We also appeal to the honorable members of our current National Assembly to throw the infamous law in the garbage and to ratify another law which imposes a tangible fine on anyone convicted of speech or opinion crimes, as this is better and more useful than im-prisoning those who express their opinions no matter how offensive their views are.

I say to the source of pardon, our Amir HH Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, may God protect him. In the old days, Arabs said while describing what happened to the abovementioned individual: “Be generous to a mean person and he will rebel!!”

ali-albaghli@hotmail.com

By Saeed Mahmoud SalehArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: MPs Osama Al- Shaheen, Ahmed Al-Hamad, Khalid Al-Anzi, Bader Al-Mullah and Hesham Al-Saleh have submitted a bill on granting compensation to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which incurred losses due to the lockdown imposed by the concerned authorities at the height of the Covid-19 cri-sis.

The bill defines a small en-terprise as an establishment with 50 workers maximum and a capital of KD250,000 maximum; while the medium enterprise has 51 to 150 work-ers and a maximum capital of KD500,000.

The bill stipulates that the

owners of SMEs will be granted compensation equal to the op-eration expenses during the lock-down period including salaries and rent.

It mandates the minister of commerce to lay down regula-tions on the disbursement of compensation and form commit-tees to assess the applications for compensation and estimate the compensation.

The National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Devel-opment shall specify the com-pensation amount and submit reports to the commerce minister who will then issue the disburse-ment decision.

The compensation will be de-posited in the bank account of the benificiaries.

KUWAIT CITY: Statistics issued by the of Deportation and Tem-porary Detention Affairs Depart-ment of the General Administra-tion of Correctional Institutions show 474 people have been de-ported from the country during the past week for various reasons, reports Al-Jarida daily.

The department added the deportees are of different na-tionalities and that 126 of them were arrested for violating the residence and labor laws. Some of them were caught work-ing for others rather than their sponsors.

The daily added, unlike earlier times those arrested are immedi-ately deported administratively upon directives of the Minister of Interior Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali, and the instructions and follow-up of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Lieuten-ant-General Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf.

❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s Depu-ty Foreign Minister Ambassador Magdi Al-Dhufairi Tuesday took part in a remote briefi ng ses-sion held between GCC offi cials and US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley.

During the briefi ng held through an audio-visual technol-ogy, the offi cials discussed the outcomes of the fi nal round of negotiations between the UN Se-curity Council permanent mem-ber states and Germany on one hand, and Iran on the other.

The meeting was attended by Assistant Foreign Minister for the Deputy Foreign Minister’s Offi ce Ambassador Ayham Al-Omar and Acting Assistant For-eign Minister for the Americas affairs Advisor Nawaf Al-Ah-mad. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE’s Armed Forces Sheikh Moham-mad bin Zayed on Tuesday met with visiting Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Sau-di Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minster and Defense Minister, where they discussed a number of regional and international issues with mutual concern.

During the meeting, which was held at Qasr Al-Watan in Abu Dhabi, the two leaders tackled the strategic bilateral coopera-tion between both nations that is built on understanding and co-operation, in addition to mutual interests, the UAE news agency (WAM) said. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

RIYADH: The Saudi Air Defense has intercepted and destroyed a hostile aerial target fi red towards the Saudi Western Region, said the Ministry of Defense Wednes-day.

“The Saudi Air Defense has intercepted and destroyed this morning, Wednesday, 08 De-cember 2021, a hostile air target which was discovered towards the Western Region,” Spokes-person of the Ministry of De-fense Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki said in a statement car-ried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities freed Wednesday a freelance American journalist who was detained in Beirut last month. The release came just hours after two international human rights groups called her detention arbi-trary and demanded that she be set free.

Nada Homsi, the journalist, said after her release that her ar-rest was part of an intimidation campaign used by Lebanon’s security agencies against foreign journalists. (AP)

Al-Baghli

Continued on Page 5

A warmly-applauded and recognized curtain call as the cast had their bows and acknowledged the crew and management as well.

2ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

editor’s choice

Continued on Page 3

production was adapted and directed by Hamad Al Jenaie and produced by Alison Shan Price MBE - the creative team who presented HAMLET in the 25th Cul-tural Season of the Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah� under the National Council of Culture Arts and Letters� in 2019�

Excitement began upon entrance into the Yarmouk Cultural Centre as the White Room had been trans-formed into a magnificent snow scene of a village square in Victorian England with carol singers� a decorated seasonal tree donated by City Centre & Partners� and the stalls of delicious mince pies donated by Waitrose and coffee donated by Aura�

As the bell was rung� the guests were ushered in the Theatre to witness the timeless story written by Charles Dickens about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge played on the spectacular stage� Scrooge� played expertly by Peter Mullay� was threatened with a future of eternal damna-tion by his dead partner Jacob Marley� the frightening Fahad Awadhi� and a visitation of three ghosts repre-senting his Past �the ethereal Sarah Al Saleh� Present

By Marlon Aquino MalinaoArab Times Staff

Photos by Noor Elkafrawy

One World Actors Centre Production House opened the English Season on Saturday� Dec 4 at the Yar-

mouk Cultural Centre after two years of lockdown� in four spectacular presentations of Charles Dickens’ clas-sic seasonal story of ‘THE TALE OF EBENEZER SCROOGE’ presented as a joyous gift to the public� The

A tale of Scrooge

Clockwise from left: The Cratchit family

(Le Mogene Tucker, Selma Farghali, Lina Jaber, Ali Farghali,

Boris Mihaylova), Laila Al Qadhi as Mrs Fletcher, Wadih Daher as Fred, Peter Mullay as Ebenezer Scrooge, Nader Abdullah as Bob Cratchit, Fahad Awadhi as Bob Marley, Brian McLaghlin as Mr Fezziwig with Maria Louisa Durnin as

Mrs Fezziwig.

ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021 3

Fajr ........ 05:05Sunrise .. 06:30Zohr ....... 11:40

Asr .......... 14:31Maghrib .. 16:50Isha ........ 18:12

Prayer TimingsExpected weather for the next 24 hours:

By Day: Warm and partly cloudy to cloudy with light vari-able wind to light to moderate north westerly wind with speeds of 10-38 km/h.

By Night: Rather cold and

with light to moderate freshening at times over costal areas north westerly wind with speeds of 12-40 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear.Station Max Exp Min RecKuwait City 23 15Kuwait Airport 25 12

Abdaly 26 09Jahra 24 11Salmiyah 22 17Ahmadi 21 16Nuwaisib 24 10Wafra 25 09Salmy 23 10Jal Aliyah 25 12

Weather

VACCINE REGISTRATION WEBSITE: https://cov19vaccine.moh.gov.kw/SPCMS/CVD_19_Vaccine_Registration.aspx

ScroogeContinued from Page 2

(the jubilant Brian McLaughlin) and Future (puppetry). In his nightclothes, Scrooge is taken to visit memories of his childhood, what is happening around him now and what will hap-pen to him and others in the future as he is unloved because of his love only for money. The only family he has left is his loving nephew Fred (the effer-vescent Wadih Daher). He visits his school days seeing himself as a boy, his youth and joy at meeting his fi ance Belle (the beautiful Luset Kuntas) and realizing his stupidity in losing her as he chooses the love of money over her and their future children and his future, alone, ridiculed and unmissed (a scene hilariously led by comediennes Louisa Durnin with Laila Al Qadhi and Hind Khazaal). Waking up in the morning he realizes he is alive, and it could have been a dream and promises to change. It ends with Scrooge looking after his clerk Bob Crachit (played with great emotion by Nader Abdullah who also narrated the show) and his family (led by the wonderful Le Mogene Tucker), donating to the poor and embracing Fred and his new family — a seasonal message of cheer and goodwill to all.

Performed by members of the adult company One World Actors and the One World Youth Company, with stun-ning lighting by Siad Hashim Al Ali, Theatre Manager of the Yarmouk Cul-tural Centre, Sound Arrangement by Hamad Al Jenaie, Stage Management by Sarah Al Khabbaz and her team and Victorian costumes by Alison Shan Price, the play brought joy and seasonal happiness to all.

THE TALE OF EBENEZER SCROOGE

By Charles Dickens Produced by: Alison Shan Price

MBE Adapted and Directed by: Hamad

Al Jenaie Starring: Peter Mullay — Scrooge Nader Abdullah — Narrator /

Cratchit Fahad Awadhi — Marley / Mr.

Fletcher / Wealthy 1 / Undertaker Al-fred

Wadih Daher — Fred / Wealthy 2 / Adult Scrooge

LeMogene D. Tucker — Mrs. Cratchit / Carol Singer

Ahamed Al Awadhi — Future Laila Al Qadhi — Mrs. Fletcher /

Chairwoman Olivia Brian McLaghlin — Present / Mr.

William / Fezziwig / Old Joe Louisa Durnin — Mrs. Fezziwig /

Chairwoman Olivier Luset Kuntas — Belle / Sarah / Carol

SingersHind Khazaal — Beggar Cathy /

Guest / Carol SingerSara Al Saleh — Past Laila Farghali — Tiny Tim Lina Jaber — Fran / Melinda / Carol

Singer Ali Farghali — Peter Selma Farghali — MarthaBoris Mihaylova — Jack / Boy / Ig-

norant Azfer Mir — Child Scrooge / Want /

Carol SingerKerem Hidimoglu — Street Boy /

Future Tia Darwish — Carol SingerOne World Actors Centre CIC is a

multicultural Production House and Educational Department based in Ku-wait which has presented many produc-tions and theatre workshops in Kuwait and UK. Productions have previously been part of the Dar al Athar al Is-lamiyyah Cultural Seasons under the National Council for Culture Arts and Letters, the British Embassy and the British Council Gulf Festival. It pre-sented the first bilingual (Arabic/Eng-lish) theatre at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the bilingual ANTIGONE- an Arabian Tragedy (nominated for the Amnesty International Award and the Top Pick of the AlWaled Islamic Cen-tre) and The Blue Box- Memories of Children of War based on the book The Blue Box by Emma Abdullah (which achieved critical reviews and a 5/5 star rating).

Laila Farghali as Tiny Tim with Nader Abdullah as Bob Cratchit

Gulf Bank rallies 8 fi ls, Humansoft Holding dips

Kuwait bourse caps a volatile session with slight gainBy John MathewsArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: Kuwait stocks ticked higher Wednesday ex-tending the gains to sixth straight ses-sion. The All Shares Index rose 3.01 points in volatile session to 7,044.83 pts even as the overall mood remained mixed.

The Premier Market inched 1.08 points higher to 7,634.11 pts while Main Market scaled 7.59 points. The BK Main 50 slipped 2.62 pts to 6,103.18 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for the fourth straight session. Over 404 million shares changed hands – up 6 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green. Energy outshone the rest with 2.59 percent gain while Banking sector shed 0.22 pct, the biggest loser of the session. Volume wise, Financial Ser-vices topped with 201 million shares while Banking sector was ahead in value with KD 37.32 million.

In the individual shares, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slipped 6 fi ls to 984 fi ls after pushing over 10 million shares and Kuwait Finance House gave up 5 fi ls with a volume of 6.9 million shares. Gulf Bank and Boubyan Bank rallied 8 fi ls

each to end at 266 fi ls and 804 fi ls re-spectively. KIPCO was up 5 fi ls at 139 fi ls while Humansoft Holding skidded 42 fi ls.

Zain climbed 4 fi ls to 588 fi ls on back of 4.5 million shares and Oore-doo paced 5 fi ls. stc was unchanged at 838 fi ls and logistic major Agility took in 1 fi l after pushing 2.5 million shares. Humansoft Holding slid 42 fi ls to KD 3.234 erasing most of Tues-day’s gain whereas Boursa Kuwait Securities jumped 23 fi ls to KD 2.055. Noor Financial Investment gained 11 fi ls and Salhia Real Estate Co dropped 10 fi ls to 530 fi ls.

National Industries Group fell 4 fi ls to 277 fi ls after moving 3.4 mil-lion shares while Gulf Cable closed 3 fi ls in green. Jazeera Airways saw a 22 fi ls lift on back of 1.3 million shares whereas ALAFCO stood pat at 229 fi ls. Boubyan Petrochemical Co eased 1 fi l to 872 fi ls and Qurain Petrochemical Co galloped 16 fi ls to 359 fi ls. Mezzan Holding added 2 fi ls and Al Kout Industrial Project soared 45 fi ls to 496 fi ls.

The market opened fi rm and pulled higher in early trade. The main in-dex scaled the day’s highest level of 7,078 points and drifted lower. It eroded sharply past the mid-session and bottomed at 7,033 pts and clawed

back amid fresh buying at some of the counters before closing in the green turf.

Top gainer of the day, Energy Holding vaulted 18.57 pct to 61.3 fi ls and Al Kout scaled 9.98 percent to stand next. PAPCO skidded 9.74 per-cent, the steepest decliner of the day and GFH topped the volume with 88.7 million shares.

Despite the day’s uptick, the los-ers slightly outnumbered the winners. 55 stocks advanced whereas 60 closed lower. Of the 139 counters active on Wednesday, 24 closed fl at. 14,632 deals worth KD 79 million were trans-acted during the session.

In the banking sector, Burgan Bank rose 3 fi ls to 226 fi ls on back 3.7 mil-lion shares and Kuwait International Bank tripped 1 fi l. Ahli United Bank BSC eased 1 fi l after pushing 24.9 million shares and Warba Bank fol-lowed suit.

Kuwait Cement Co took in 1 fi l and Kuwait Portland Cement climbed 10 fi ls to 978 fi ls with thin trading. HEISC rose 3 fi ls to 521 fi ls on back of over 1 million shares while Metal and Recycling Co paced 6 fi ls. Ku-wait Foundry Co dialed down 2 fi ls and ACICO Industries added 1 fi l af-ter pushing 1.2 million shares. Equip-ment Holding ticked 0.1 fi l higher to

57.7 fi ls whereas NCCI closed 2 fi ls in red.

Educational Holding Co fell 3 fi ls to 576 fi ls and Safat Energy Co added 2 fi ls. Sultan Centre Food crept 1 fi l up to 224 fi ls while Arabi Group Hold-ing scaled 8 fi ls on back of 4.3 million shares. Salbookh Trading trimmed 0.6 fi l whereas Warba Capital Hold-ing paused at 95 fi ls. NAPESCO and KCPC were unchanged at 810 fi ls and 515 fi ls respectively.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co inched 0.3 fi l into green while Automated Systems Co rose 2 fi ls to 104 fi ls with thin trading. The Energy House sprinted 9.6 fi ls to 61.3 fi ls on back of over 2 million shares while Gulf Franchising Holding tripped 1.1 fi ls. IFA Hotels and Resorts and Hayat Commuication Co were fl at at 66 fi ls and 109 fi ls respectively.

Burgan Company For Well Drill-ing and OSOS Holding dialed down 1 fi l each while Combined Group Contracting Co shed 7 fi ls. PAPCO slipped 7.4 fi ls to 68.6 fi ls and United Projects Group skidded 17 fi ls to 252 fi ls. Kuwait Resorts and Mubarrad Holding trimmed 1 fi l each whereas Inovest BSC added 2 fi ls on back of 12.34 million shares. Oula Fuel Mar-keting paced 4 fi ls while Soor Fuel Marketing took in 2 fi ls.

The market has been buoyant so far during the week rallying 107 points in last four sessions. It has rallied 255 points from start of the month and is up 1459 points year-to-date.

KUNA photo

Kuwait’s Ambassador to Italy and Deputy Commander of the Air Force with other military top brass.

Jets due in Kuwait next week

KAF gets 2 Eurofi ghter TyphoonsTURINO, Italy, Dec 8, (KUNA): Kuwait Air Force (KAF) received on Tuesday the fi rst batch of two Eu-rofi ghter Typhoons from Italy’s Leonardo Group, the manufacturer of the world’s most advanced new gen-eration swing-role combat aircraft.

The handing-over ceremony, held at Caselle air-base in Turin province, north Italy, gathered, Ambas-sador to Italy Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah and Deputy Commander of the Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Staff Bandar Al-Mezyen and other military top brass from Kuwait, as well as Marco Zoff - the Managing Direc-

tor of the Aircraft Division at Leonardo, and Herman Claesen - the CEO of Eurofi ghter.

The two aircraft of “the Kuwaiti Eurofi ghter Typhoon squadron,” will arrive in Ku-wait next week, Air Vice-Marshal Staff Al-Mezyen told KUNA on the sidelines of the ceremony.

“This is a milestone in our comprehensive strategy to bring about a quantum leap in the pre-paredness of Kuwait Air Force

and the fruit of long a history of the defense cooperation with Italy, notably Leonardo Group,” he noted.

The State of Kuwait has made tremendous efforts to acquire a Eurofi ghter Typhoon squadron since 2015 with a view to securing the best aircraft that can meet the current and future needs of the defense forces, he said, commending the efforts of the Kuwaiti leader-ship in this regard.

“The new squadron of aircraft meets the world’s latest standards of multi-role fi ghters in terms of electronic warfare, the fastest ability to respond, the advanced and diversifi ed missile weaponry, and new E-scan radar (CAPTOR-E),” he pointed out.

“This will give momentum to the national defense abilities and upgrade the skills of the Kuwaiti military pilots,” he said, praising the partnership with the Ital-ian Air Force.

The expanded cooperation with the Italian Leon-ardo Group helped ensure that the design of the lat-est generation of these aircraft best suits the Kuwaiti standards, Air Vice-Marshal Al-Mezyen went on.

On his part, Ambassador Sheikh Azzam took pride in “this great strategic achievement,” saying it opens wide horizons for the defense partnership with Italy.

He lauded Italy’s great role in supporting peace, se-curity and stability in the Arabian Gulf region and in the world at large.

“This achievement falls in the framework of dec-ades of cooperation and solidarity between both coun-tries in the face of common risks since the Kuwait lib-eration war,” Ambassador Sheikh Azzam noted.

“The Eurofi ghter project is not only an aircraft ac-quisition deal but also a milestone in the Kuwaiti strat-egy to upgrade its defense forces and a crucial mo-ment in the close friendship between both countries,” he affi rmed.

“Today’s achievement opens a new chapter in the defense cooperation between Kuwait and Italy and lays the groundwork of the development of the indus-trial, technical, educational and training sectors in the State of Kuwait,” the Kuwaiti diplomat added.

On a similar note, Zoff said the delivery of two Typhoons to Kuwait opens a new important chapter in not only the industrial cooperation but the bilateral relations as well.

Leonardo Group, besides handing over the world’s most advanced aircraft to Kuwait Air Force, is con-

veying a full range of integrated technical service that will upgrade the Kuwaiti defense capabilities, he noted.

On his part, Eurofi ghter CEO Claesen welcomed Kuwait joining the Eurofi ghter family, noting that the multi-purpose twin-engine, supersonic aircraft incor-porates the latest technologies and is manufactured using advanced materials, industrial processes and as-sembly techniques.

The fusion of the aircraft’s on-board active and pas-sive sensors gives pilots superior situational aware-ness and net-centric operational capability.

The Eurofi ghter Typhoon, selected by nine Air Forces, has fl own over 580,000 hours, from Europe to the South Atlantic and the Middle East, he added.

At the end of the ceremony, Ambassador Azzam, Air Vice-Marshal Staff Al-Mezyen Eurofi ghter CEO Claesen, Managing Director of Leonardo Aircraft Di-vision Zoff and Group Captain Staff Sultan Al-Sabah signed their names on a commemorative plaque on this occasion.

The Kuwaiti delegation to the event also included Brig. Staff Essam Al-Aboud, Col. Faisal Al-Seif, Col. Thafer Al-Ajmy, and Col. Ahmad Al-Meseibeih, as well as military attache in Rome Commodore Staff Khaled Al-Otaibi and head of Eurofi ghter Program Col. Eng. Saleh Al-Matar.

Camping tents misusewill not be ‘permitted’

15 camps uprooted/day

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: Since the start of the desert camping season from the middle of last month, thousands of tents are spread throughout the desig-nated camping sites, including those licensed according to the municipality’s instructions. However, the violators who set up camps without comply-ing with the instructions have placed on the municipality an additional burden in terms of pursuing and removing the vi-olating camps, such that an av-erage of 15 camps are removed per day, reports Al-Rai daily.

An informed source from the Spring Camps Committee said, “In just three weeks, the committee managed to re-move 250 violating camps, which is ap-proximately 80 camps per week, and 10 to 15 camps per day. Part of this was due to the complaints received from the Min-istry of Electricity and Water, and the Ministry of Oil, as a large number of the camps were located outside the camping area, and some use the sites for purposes other than what they are designated for”.

Regarding the possibility of placing cara-vans instead of tents without the need for a license, the source said, “Placing caravans in camping sites is against the regulations and laws. However, if a camp permit is obtained for the purpose, families can only be allowed to place them, but within the specifi ed space, provided that they are not used for gatherings (groups) or for commercial investment. Any caravan that is found outside the camping site will be violated and removed immediately”.

In a related context, and in confi rma-tion of the news published by the daily last week, the Secretary General of the Munici-pal Council Bader Al-Rifai sent a letter to the Director of Kuwait Municipality Eng. Ahmed Al-Manfouhi to indicate the ap-proval of the proposal of Council member Ahmed Hadyan Al-Enezi for the amend-ment of the fourth item from the decision of the committee in charge of carrying out the decisions taken by the Municipal Council on September 26, 2013 concerning the regula-tions for spring camps.

The amendment stipulated insurance de-posit to be KD 100 only instead of KD 300 for every 1,000 meters or less, which will be refunded after removing the camp and clean-ing the site. Also, the value of the fees for the license is KD 50, which is non-refundable, in exchange for the provision of services by the municipality.

Ahmed Hadyan, who had presented the proposal, stressed the need for the executive body in the municipality to take immediate measures that would expedite the implemen-tation of the regulations in the decision.

He said, “A decision should have been issued earlier to amend the insurance value and implemented before the beginning of the camping season, but unfortunately its re-lease was delayed due to the lack of quorum in the session that was supposed to be held on November 8”.

In this context, a source from the Spring Camps Committee affi rmed that the com-mittee will stop working on the reservation website for a period of 24 hours only in or-der to amend the insurance fees, according to the new decision.

He indicated the possibility of resuming the booking process from next week.

The source announced the formation of fi eld teams that will include several parties to remove the violating camps, especially since “there is no excuse today for those who violate the law” in light of the amendments made to the camps’ regulations which are aimed at licensing the camps.

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: The Personal Protection Department in the Private Security Sector in the Ministry of Interior has completed the training courses on detecting explosives and thwarting an assassination attempt, reports Al-Anba daily.

The group in charge of protection demonstrat-ed superior capabilities and skills in rapid inter-vention, confronting attackers, controlling and securing the premises.

The exercises included a live shooting dem-onstration for female police protection personnel and exercises for different combat scenarios. The combat training was held in the Special Forces Camp.

The ministry issued a statement later, reveal-ing that British Ambassador to Kuwait Belinda Lewis participated in the training program held on Nov 29-30, 2021. Assistant Director General of Special Security Forces for Operations Affairs Brigadier Abdulwahab Al-Yaqout, Director of the Personal Protection Department Colonel Ahmed Al-Atrouzi, Assistant Director Colonel Abdullah Al-Mushaiti and other officials in the sector warm-ly welcomed Lewis during the training.

The ministry also disclosed that the first day of training included lectures on the protection of personalities and embassies, discovery of explo-sives, and a presentation on a course in preven-tive leadership.

On the second day, a field presentation was carried out on protecting personalities, in which the British ambassador and the deputy ambassa-dor participated; particularly on how to thwart an assassination attempt.

At the conclusion of the training program, cer-tificates were distributed to the participants.

Training concludes

Bid to thwart attacks

Sheikh Azzam

Call for Arab tourism strategyCAIRO, Dec 8, (KUNA): Kuwaiti Ministry of Information offi cial Faisal Al-Mutala-qim, Wednesday, called for designing Arab tourism strategy in order keep up with in-ternational developments, amongst which is the coronavirus pandemic.

This came in a statement to KUNA, on sideline of 24th Arab ministerial meeting

for tourism sector.Information Ministry assistant undersec-

retary for international media sector, and acting assistant undersecretary for tourism sector, Faisal Al-Mutalaqim, stated that tourism became a pillar of economy for Arab countries, affi rming the need for col-laboration and coordination in that regard.

Euro/KD 0.3430

Yen/KD 0.0026

British £/KD 0.4001

Indian Rs/KD 0.0040

Philippines Peso/KD 0.0060

FTSE +4.71 pts at 18:50 Dec 08

Nikkei +405.02 pts at closing Dec 08

Gold $1789.80 per oz (London)

US$/KDUS$/KD 0.30250/60 0.30250/60

NYMEX crude $71.83 pb

Brent crude $75.28 pb

LIBOR rate 0.19825%

▲

■

▼

■

■

▲

▼

▲

■

▼

▼

LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

4

HH Crown Prince and PM send similar cables

HH Amir congratulates new German Chancellor Scholz on assuming postKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8, (KUNA): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Wednesday a cable of congratulations to Olaf Scholz on assuming the post of the new German Chancellor.

His Highness the Amir wished Chan-cellor Scholz further success, hoping

that both Kuwait and Germany would seek means to bolster the exceptional bilateral relations.

His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables.

Artist Sharefah Al-Zamami’s workshop at Kuwait’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

KUNA photosKuwaiti writer Amal Al Randi with children at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Events held at Kuwaiti pavilion

NCCAL organizes two children’s workshops at Expo Dubai 2020DUBAI, Dec 8, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Na-tional Council for Culture, Arts and Let-ters (NCCAL) has organized two children workshops in the Kuwaiti pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020.

The Kuwaiti writer Amal Al-Randi gave a lecture during the fi rst workshop under the title (How to write a story), while the second lecture about art and hand crafts was presented by Kuwaiti Artist Sharefah Al-Zamami.

In a statement, Al-Randi told KUNA

that stories were one of best tools that enhance the children’s ability to create, listen, and respond. Furthermore, reading also help in strengthening communication skills, she added.

In another statement, Al-Zamami said that she was accepting schoolchildren at her workshop, which concentrated on coloring and forming handcrafts.

The workshop will last fi ve days, and aims to boost children’s motor and men-tal skills, Al-Zamami added.

Target cos to appoint external auditor

KMA, CBK, MoCI to impose ‘governancesystem’ on listed & unlisted companiesKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: The Capital Mar-kets Authority (KMA) and the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) alone are not the sole authorities responsible for ensuring the ‘governance system’ on companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

These two authorities will be joined by Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) and will be one of the regulatory authorities to set up rules and ensure their implementation.

In this regard sources told the daily, the ministry offi cials are preparing to implement the governance system also on unlisted companies, specifi cally those whose annual revenues reach 100 million dinars and above, in an effort to ensure proper functioning of their work, and to confi rm the integrity of the administration to fulfi ll the obligations and commitments and to ensure that these establishments achieve their objectives in a sound legal and economic manner.

Corruption The sources added, the ‘governance

system’ which the Commerce Ministry offi cials aim to apply to unlisted compa-nies includes almost all the standards that the KMA applies to companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, including al-lowing the employee to report and protect any suspicion of corruption that he moni-tors in the company, which refl ects the openness of offi cials of these companies intellectually, and their commitment to take responsibility.

The sources pointed out that the im-plementation of governance will include unlisted companies, foremost of which are closed and limited liability companies and holding companies, which represent um-brellas for investment, industrial and ser-vice companies and other activities, which will lead family companies to obligatory implementation of governance procedures.

Moreover, the target companies will be required to appoint an external audi-tor and to ensure its independence and integrity, with the appointment of an independent board member within the composition of its boards of directors. The sources stated that governance is one of the most important and necessary processes to ensure the achievement of justice and equality between sharehold-ers, whether they are inside or outside the company, because of the means of control it provides that work to increase quality and develop performance, which leads to preserving the interests of all parties, noting that the facilities that have a gov-ernance system increases investor confi -dence, because the rules of governance guarantee the protection of their rights.

The sources indicated that the ministry offi cials’ move in this direction comes as

part of broader efforts they are undertaking to increase the rate of transparency in the corporate sector, within the limits that help improve the local business environment, explaining that providing a system for the governance of this large sector of compa-nies has become a necessity to manage, di-rect, regulate and monitor these institutions.

It ensures that its mission and objec-tives are achieved, and that governance ensures the achievement of effi ciency, transparency and a balance of interests.

The sources explained the Commerce Ministry offi cials are currently forming a technical and legal opinion regarding the application of the governance procedure to unlisted companies whose annual rev-enues amount to 100 million dinars and above, explaining that the system relies a lot on the role of this methodology in increasing the transparency rate in the corporate sector from outside the trading system especially since governance has become a necessity and is no longer an option, and that infl uential international economic institutions have come to view the governance system in any country as a basic measure of the righteousness, trans-parency and justice of its economic and investment environment.

ImportanceGovernance in general, whether for

listed or unlisted companies, is of great importance for both companies, and for shareholders alike, because for compa-nies it was able to raise the economic effi ciency of the facility by laying the foundations for the relationship between the managers of the facility, the board of directors and the shareholders; because it works on setting the organizational frame-work through which the objectives of the facility can be determined, and ways to achieve them by providing appropriate incentives for members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Manage-ment, in order to work towards achieving the objectives of the facility that take into account the interests of shareholders and it leads to openness to the global fi nancial markets, and attracts a broad base of in-vestors to fi nance expansion projects. If the establishments do not depend on for-eign investments, they can increase the confi dence of the local investor and thus increase capital at a lower cost.

Speaking of the shareholders, it helps to guarantee the rights of all sharehold-ers, such as the right to vote, and the right to participate in decisions regarding any material changes that may affect the per-formance of the facility in the future and allows for full disclosure of the facility’s performance, fi nancial position and deci-sions taken by senior management, helps shareholders identify the risks involved in investing in these facilities.

Real estate prices set to drop 20-40 pc in 2022, say experts

Some say it’s a ‘mistaken belief’

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: After the prices of private housing kept soaring until it reached sky high during the co-rona crisis, real estate experts said next year these prices should drop to between 20 and 40 percent, depend-ing on the residential areas, supported by the principle of supply and demand, while oth-ers say private housing prices may continue to rise next year due to several reasons, re-ports Al-Qabas daily.

One of the reasons, the daily quoting real sources say is the abundant “cash” fl ow, postponement of loan install-ments, low interest rates on loans, and individuals who fi nd private housing a safe haven for their money, and prefer investing in the real estate market over other eco-nomic sectors in the country. Among the reasons, sources say, is the lack of optimism about the state releasing more plots of land in the short term, and this has encouraged spec-ulators to switch to the resi-dential sector instead of the ‘investment’ sector since the former is expected to bring in quick returns.

Suleiman Al-Dulaijan, a real state expert say calm will return to the private housing in 2022 but was quick to add, the pric-es of private housing during 2021 increased in some areas by approximately 30-40%, as happened in the fi fth phase of Sabah Al-Ahmad Marine City, while it was lower in other ar-eas, in which the increase was estimated between 20 to 30 percent, and those prices vary according to the region and lo-cation.

MistakenFor his part, the head and

offi cial spokesman for the Al-Mutla’a Peoples Committee, Eng Khaled Al-Otaibi said the belief that private housing prices will fall during 2022 is a ‘mistaken belief’ citing various reasons.

He stressed on the need for the private sector to participate in solving the housing problem, which in turn will lead to a de-crease in prices in the private housing sector to acceptable levels, by working to imple-ment government projects, so that all citizens can obtain their right to residential care, instead of devouring more than one-third of the salary to rent apartments in light of their in-ability to buy a ‘lifetime house’ or land to build on.

Al-Otaibi said that residen-tial care plays a major role in reducing the prices of private real estate, by securing housing for citizens urgently through the implementation of projects in suburbs and very small areas whose implementation is quick and bears fruit, along with the distribution of houses in large cities or giant projects that re-quire some time to complete.

A real estate source told Al-Qabas the interior areas (close to the Capital) suffer from scar-city of land offered for sale, and not only the lack of supply, as the average price per square meter has increased in the ar-eas of the capital governorate, including Shuwaikh residen-tial, Abdullah Al-Salem sub-urb, Shamiya, Faiha, Adailiya, Kaifan, and others.

The prices of private housing real estate witnessed signifi cant jumps, rising to nearly 19% at the end of the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. Al-Shuwaikh residential topped the list of the most expensive residential ar-eas in the Capital Governorate, with a rise of approximately 11%, with a range of 8.4% and 7.5% in Al-Nuzha and Grana-da, respectively, while the av-erage price per square meter in private housing in the Hawalli Governorate jumped to 1,100 dinars, while it rose to 712 di-nars in the Farwaniya Gover-norate according to recent real estate data.

Violations in tendering said observed

CAPT bans general trading & contracting company from participating in tenders of KOC for 6 monthsKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: The Central Agency for Public Tenders has de-cided to ban one of the general trad-ing and contracting companies from participating in the tenders of the Ku-wait Oil Company for a period of 6 months, at the request of the latter, and in response to its observations on the company’s violations in the tender for the installation of a new main manifold for low pressure gas, and other works associated with it in the Shuaiba Indus-trial Area, reports Al-Rai daily.

The agency’s decision comes in implementation of the provisions of Article 85, Clause 1, Paragraph (C) of Public Tenders Law No. 49 of 2016.

On the other hand, the Agency has agreed to the fourth extension of the maintenance services tender contract of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company for the local marketing de-partment for 6 months, starting from next January 1 until June 30, 2022 for 834,000 dinars until the completion of the awarding and signing of the new tender contract.

CAPT has also agreed to the KNPC request for the third extension of the contract for supplying nitrogen gas through pipelines to the compa-ny’s refineries, concluded with the Kuwait Industrial Gases Company, and for the second extension of the contract for supplying nitrogen gas, concluded with the Refrigeration and Oxygen Company Ltd., for 12 months for each of the two contracts, with effect from Dec 1, 2021 to Dec 1, 2022 at no additional cost, until the awarding of the two new prac-tices is completed.

The Agency has decided to approve the request of Kuwait Oil Company to

Kuwait signs joint statement with Cook Islands

The State of Kuwait signed a joint statement with Cook Islands to establish diplomatic relations.

Kuwait Ambassador in New Zealand Ahmad Al-Wuhaib told KUNA, via phone call on Wednesday, that he signed the joint statement with Cook Islands High Commissioner to New Zealand Elizabeth Wright.

Al-Wahaib stated that the im-portance of relations with the Cook Islands lies in the politi-cal, economic, investment and tourism fi elds, pointing out that Cook has promising investment and tourism opportunities and is an active member of many UN organizations and agencies. (KUNA)

KUNA photoKuwaiti Ambassador Al-Wuhaib and High Commissioner for the Cook Islands in New Zealand Elizabeth Wright after the signing of

the joint statement.

withdraw a letter of tendering to pro-vide maintenance services for storage tanks in the company’s facilities, in

order to make an amendment to the scope of work, which will result in a change in the estimated value.

LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

5

‘Govt must restructure PPP law’“THE public-private partnership (PPP) laws have proven ineffective, due to their inability to invite investors to en-ter into development projects in Kuwait. This is the dire reality. Kuwait repels investors, and laws do not encour-age investment in Kuwait,” columnist Fawaz Ahmad Al-Hamad wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“The contracting procedures are very long, lasting from one to two years, the offering stage, the technical advisor appointment stage, the pre-bid stage, the pre-appointment stage of the technical advisor, and the abso-lute powers owned by the higher committees all of which have contributed signifi cantly to halt the implementation of projects.

“One of the main reasons, which also contributed to the fl ight of investors, is Clause No. 19 of Law 116 of 2014, which states the following: ‘The contract may be terminated by a decision of the Supreme Committee at the request of the authority or the pub-lic authority for reasons related to the public interest, with the com-mittee’s commitment to justify its decision and explain the benefi t resulting from this termination and an estimate of a fair com-pensation paid to the contracting investor in accordance with the provisions of the partnership contract documents.

“The members of the Higher Committee of the Part-nership Commission are mostly ministers and heads of commissions, and this is negative in my opinion, because the ministers are busy with the work and tasks of their ministries, in addition to their periodic meetings with the Council of Ministers, and their presence in the National Assembly in the event of sessions.

“If the Partnership Authority Law is amended, the Authority will need a major marketing process, which includes participation in international investment fairs, and the announcement of new sectors that the govern-ment wants to present projects related to the partnership authority.

“As for the investors waiting in anticipation, it is fu-tile and it has proven unsuccessful during the previous years. Kuwait is facing major challenges in the current period, and the solution is to change and take the initia-tive, to solve the problems of the budget defi cit, solve the problem of unemployment, provide job opportunities for recent graduates, develop education, and develop the energy sector.

“I call on the government and the Public-Private Part-nership Projects authority to restructure the PPP Law and to make new amendments and provide facilities in the law to attract capital to build quality projects with added value for Kuwait, while obliging the investor to employ Kuwaitis at a rate of no less than 50% in the project, while facilitating the procedures for the entry of some nationalities prohibited from entering Kuwait, as the ed-ucation sector, transportation, infrastructure, electricity, renewable energy, and the port sector are all vital sectors and projects that Kuwait needs.”

Also:“The good health all over the world is tied to two

things -- the progress in diagnosing diseases and treat-ing them, and the renaissance of progress in any country is similar to health progress, meaning that the more we see the reasons for our decline and suffering, the better and faster our path to progress will be and to use our im-agination and ability to understand the roots and causes,” columnist Mona Al-Wuhaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“How interesting and beautiful it is to hold seminars and dialogues specialized in diagnosing the problems we suffer from, and shedding light on their causes, without explaining how to treat them, so that the general public has a feeling of the resources of their suffering, misery and hardship.

“If we consider, for example, the reasons for the weak-ness of our education or health services, we can talk about the following reasons: We begin with education – the inability of education to attract the best minds and competencies, the weak enthusiasm of teachers for giv-ing and the weak enthusiasm of students for learning, the method of education prevailing over indoctrination rath-er than participation, the lack of good social traditions towards supporting schools, the curricula are outdated and easy, the few job opportunities awaiting graduates as the unemployed in many countries are graduates, and the absence of a comprehensive reform vision of many educationists.

“As for the health services, let us talk about the ab-sence of the overall structural vision of many health of-

fi cials, the illiteracy of many offi cials in rationalizing fi nancial benefi ts, the inability of the health structure to attract the best qualifi ed medical or nursing staff, and the lack of incentives to work in medical and nursing ser-vices.

“Seeing these reasons well and in detail in the educa-tional and health aspects constitutes half of the solution to poor education or weak health services, and the second half lies in creativity in treatment methods and boldness in taking corrective decisions.

“In fact, work revival is often based on addressing the main causes that lead to the continuation of underdevel-opment and the perpetuation of manifestations of civi-lized decline. The real renaissance is the renaissance that makes people feel calm and stable, and a sense of peace of mind, and this is done by working to raise the status of some educational and health values, such as maintain-ing the rights of the teacher and the learner, justice be-tween teachers and educators, honoring the human being for being a human being, strengthening the social fabric and fi ghting favoritism and the like and fi nally the renais-sance that does not aim to elevate the human being, is a renaissance against the human being.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“The Afi a program is linked to health care for Ku-waiti retirees by law and it is a gift from the State to its citizens to preserve their rights to health and well-being. The State left the project’s management fi nancially, ad-ministratively and technically to the Ministry of Health, which is burdened with worries and accumulations, and lacks insurance expertise and plays the role of media-tor between the insurance company and the clinics and hospitals contracting with it in the National Medical Sec-tor,” columnist Dr Hind Alchoumar wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“While the word ‘Afi a’ does not necessarily mean cu-rative services, because health is much more comprehen-sive than mere treatment when one is sick, I thought that a wellness program included pre-illness services.

“These are periodic examinations for the early detec-tion of diseases and then provision of care to prevent such diseases, including examinations for breast and colorec-tal cancer, cervical examination and other preventive ex-aminations, which are applied in many countries through comprehensive national programs that are well planned and implemented in a scientifi c manner, namely health promotion and disease prevention programs because pre-vention costs less than treatment.

“Now, after several years of implementing the Afi a health insurance project, I believe there is a need to re-evaluate the program and its services, the extent which health goals have been achieved in its comprehensive sense, and the extent which health achievements and in-dicators have progressed among the elderly, and if the project has a clear vision and message.

“The development of the Afi a program should involve social insurance, health, fi nancial and public benefi t as-sociations related to health, and the opinions of the pro-gram’s benefi ciaries should be sought — the elderly who may not have any data on their health indicators for many reasons.”

❑ ❑ ❑

“I do not think that anyone is satisfi ed with the level of political performance and democracy. Although our governing rules are quasi-democratic, they seem formal-ly integrated, but they are not,” columnist Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Perhaps, it helped us towards general prosperity in the past era when a more open culture prevailed, there was a more tolerant culture and more accepting of the other intellectual, which has been gradually disappearing until it is almost non-existent.

“The term ‘reformist’ does not mean being racist, sec-tarian, ethnic, doctrinal or tribal, while ‘governmental’ does not mean eliminating those with opposing views until the end.

“As for the government which is living in a swing of excess power, it is not in a hurry to do anything, accord-ing to the opinion of my friend Suleiman Al-Fahd, may God have mercy on him when we were wondering why the government acted negatively on the issue of prison-ers.

“More than a year has passed since the parliamentary elections without regular regular sessions being held. Is there evidence of a political deadlock more than that? Is there an indication of no urgency?

“The general approach in the State is to bet on time to solve problems, or even not to bet on anything, in terms of dealing with most of the problems that are solvable, including the Bedouns, for example.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Fawaz Al-Hamad

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

diwaniya‘Global cooperation crucialin fi ght against corruption’

‘Nazaha’ organizes forum

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8, (KUNA): Deputy Chairman of the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) Counselor Nawaf Al-Mahmel stressed on Wednesday, the im-portance of strengthening international cooperation in the fi ght against corrup-tion, noting that the fi ght against corrup-tion is no longer a local affair, but rather a phenomenon that affects all societies and

economies, according to what he said. This came in a speech at the forum organized by

Nazaha on the occasion of the International Anti-Cor-ruption Day, which the world celebrates to enhance awareness of the dangers of corruption and the role of the UN Convention in reducing and preventing its risks.

Al-Mahmel said that the State of Kuwait, represented by the Public Anti-Corruption Authority, always seeks to enhance international cooperation and communication in order to diversify sources of expertise and experience to

identify good practices in the areas of preventing and com-bating corruption.

He added that Kuwait was keen to issue a special law that allows enjoying the right to access information, accord-ing to the provisions of Article 10 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Satisfi edHe explained that Kuwait

was not satisfied with this legislative expansion that guarantees the stability of the values of integrity and transparency, but rather pub-lished all its reports issued regarding the response to the self-assessment lists in the context of the first session of the first phase of the mecha-nism for reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well as its agreement to publish all its reports related to the work of the session.The sec-ond is to be published in the coming period.

He stated that Kuwait was also keen to make available the national information space in everything related to plans, strategies and policies to prevent and combat cor-ruption pursued by the gov-ernment in devotion to the principles of integrity, trans-parency and accountability.

The forum discussed sev-eral legislations and proce-dures representing measures to prevent corruption. It also addressed two important axes in the preventive and legal procedural efforts to combat corruption.

The first axis urges the right to access information and the United Nations Convention against Corruption, while the second axis discusses the role of financial disclosure in pre-venting and combating cor-ruption.

The forum was attended by the Assistant Secretary-General for the Prevention Sector, Abrar Al-Hammad, and the Regional Director of the United Nations Office in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Hatem Fouad, while officials and special-ists in the areas of anti-cor-ruption, law and civil society from inside and outside Kuwait participated, includ-ing the Kuwait Transparency Society and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Stolen Funds Recovery (STAR) Initiative, the Jordan Transparency Center, and the World Bank.

Bushehri’s mean responsesBy Ahmad alsarraf

In an article last Sunday, I talked about the effort and money I

spent over four years to convince the Ministry of Electricity of the necessity of installing electricity meters for the plots of an entire area in Sabhan, because power was being used free of charge illegally over the years.

In the article, I mentioned the names of the former and cur-rent undersec-retaries of the ministry, and how they failed to help me stop this waste, and I had to turn to the current Min-ister of Electric-ity, Dr. Al-Otai-bi, for his help, and Al-Roumi, the Minister of Jus-tice, and the support of Eng Khaled Khater from the Public Authority for Industry to end this unjustifi ed waste, and the hardship and money it cost in doing so.

I was shocked on the same day when I received a set of text messag-es from the former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity, Moham-mad Bushehri, that he was accusing me in one of them that I had praised in my article corrupt people.

I will not defend the people of cor-ruption. It is clear who he means, and the texts of his messages are pre-served with me, and in my view they are honorable enough because they succeeded in performing an act that he failed to accomplish over a period of nearly three years. So who is the corrupt one?

He also accused me of getting what I wanted, and this is a ridicu-lous joke. The opposite is true. Where is my personal benefi t and the whole thing is related to the

theft of state funds. Is my insistence for four years, with the testimony of the Ministers of Electricity and Justice, the PAI Director-General, and senior offi cials of the Ministry of Electricity to stop waste is in my personal interest or in the interest of the state, let alone the money and ef-fort it cost me?

To make matters worse, he ac-cused me of having narrow interests, claiming patriotism, and I leave the judgment to the reader to witness who is the patriot. Was he the one who failed for three years, while he was at the head of the Ministry of Electricity to stop the theft of state funds, or the one who made the ef-fort and paid the money to stop the waste and theft?

Brother Bushehri ended his mes-sages by saying that the honorable people are witness to his honor, and I share the opinion that he is an ‘hon-orable person’ who did not ‘embez-zle’ public money, but he did not pay close attention to what I mentioned in my article that the concept of honor does not mean only clean hand from the hygienic point of view, but also the lack of inaction to stop waste of public money, and this is where he failed.

As for the only thing that the un-dersecretary and the former minister was honest in his angry messages to me when he accused me of foolish-ness, and I admit that, because of my insistence of stopping the theft of state funds, and my payment of tens of thousands of dinars to stop this waste, and I did so because he and his ilk are among the non-idiot sen-ior state offi cials who failed in their work.

Note: Despite all of Bushehri’s false accusations, I still have some respect left for him, and I do not want to see him in this ridiculous position.

❑ ❑ ❑

e-mail: a.alsarraf@alqabas.com.kw

alsarraf

Other Voices

B’deshi drug traffi cker nabbedKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: The Ahmadi se-curity authorities have arrested a Bang-ladeshi for traffi cking in drugs, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, the suspect was spot-ted in Mahboula and the police patrol on suspicion ordered the man to pull over. When the offi cer asked the man to show his identifi cation documents, it was clear

he was in an abnormal condition.Police then searched the man and

found with him a quantity of heroin and Larica pills. The contraband and the sus-pect have been referred to the General Department of Drugs Control.

During initial interrogation the man is said to have admitted to traffi cking in drugs.

Lawmakers submitContinued from Page 1

The maximum amount of compensation is KD500,000; while it is not allowed to use the compensation for any pur-pose other than those stipulated in the bill. Anyone proven to have violated the regulations will be imprisoned for fi ve years maximum or fi ned KD10,000 to KD200,000.

The minister of commerce will issue the executive regulations to enforce this bill within two weeks after its publication in Kuwait Gazette.

MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji has presented a proposal to amend Article 45 of the Civil Service Decree for the year 1979.

According to the bill, an employee who accompanies his relative for overseas treatment will be granted six months leave that can be extended for a similar period with full salary. The current article grants the six months leave with full salary, but the extension is unpaid.

He pointed out it takes a long time to treat many dis-eases, so the companion needs to stay with the patient for a long time. In case he loses his salary, he will suffer a lot especially if he is the household head.

MP Hesham Al-Saleh submitted a bill to amend the de-cisions included in the Civil Service Decree concerning doctors and dentists.

According to the bill, the shift and rare specialization allowances granted to doctors and dentists in the public sector will be considered part of their salaries which means the allowances will not be cut during their sick and annual leave days. A doctor engaged in private practice in addi-tion to his job in the public sector will be granted the rare especialization allowance. Doctors and dentists who have been in service for 30 years will be granted their salary for one and a half year. He pointed out that this reward is currently granted to doctors once they retire at the age of 75. He added that many doctors passed away before they reached this age, so it will be better for them to receive the reward as soon as they complete 30 years in service.

He explained that he submitted the bill based on the re-search he conducted on the reasons behind the increasing number of doctors who are resigning. He said the main reason is the low fi nancial privileges granted to them, in-dicating that most doctors cannot engage in private prac-tice due to the shift system in the public sector.

Moreover, a National Assembly delegation traveled to Turkey to participate in the 16th assembly of the Par-liamentary Union of the of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States (PUIC) on Dec 9-10, 2021 in the Turkish Capital Istanbul.

The delegation includes Secretary of Inter-Parliamentary Union MP Hamad Al-Matar and MP Osama Al-Menawer.

ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

6

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: IDAK’S fifth sports event, IDAK-KDD Volleyball Championship 2021 for Men was held at American International School, Indoor Stadium, Maidan Hawally recently.

Korula Chandy KDD Marketing Manager was the Chief Guest who in-augurated the event.

The match was officiated by the match referee Dr. Kannam Shyam, Physical Education Teacher, ICSK, Kuwait.

Men’s Volleyball During the finals, in a closely con-

tested Men’s match, Southern Spar-tans led by Dr. Renjit George defeated Northern Ninjas led by Dr.Biju Ma-hadevan. Dr. Renjit George was ad-judged as the best men’s player.

Final Score (Southern Spartans 25- Northern Ninjas 14)

Women’s Throwball In the IDAK-KDD Throwball

Championship for women Northern Ninjas led by Dr. Ranjitha defeated Southern Spartans led by Dr. Prashan-thy.

Dr. Devipriya, Dr.Parvathy, Dr. Prashanthy, Dr.Nafisa, Dr.Amritha and Dr.

Sanketa represented Southern Spartans.Northern Ninjas were repre-

sented by Dr.Ranjitha, Dr.Tiny, Dr.Shashi, Dr.Bankima, Dr.Jolly and Dr.Dhanalakshmi.

.In the best of 3 games match,

Northern Ninjas won the first game (15-6). Although Southern Spartans fought back with all their might, but could not defeat them. Northern Ninjas won the second set and match (15-12).

(Final Set Score Northern Ninjas 2-

Southern Spartans -0)Dr.Ranjitha was adjudged as the

best Throwball player. Dr. Shalin Anna Simon IDAK News

& Media Chairperson gave the IDAK-KDD Winners trophy for Volleyball

Men to Southern Spartans. Dr.Ranjitha IDAK Joint Secretary gave the Runners-up trophy to Northern Ninjas. Dr. Rajesh Alexander IDAK President gave the best player award to Dr. Renjit George.

Dr. Johnjoy IDAK past president

gave the IDAK-KDD Throwball Run-ners-up trophy to Southern Spartans and Dr. Prashanthy IDAK Vice Presi-dent gave the IDAK -KDD Throwball winners trophy to Northern Ninjas. IDAK President Dr.Rajesh Alexander gave the best Throwball player trophy to Dr. Ranjitha R S.

The IDAK event Management Com-mittee headed by Dr. Vinod Varghese Sam rendered all the help needed for the smooth conduct of the event. Dr. Rahul Puthalath guided the Idak’s sports com-mittee headed by Dr, Ashwin Sudhesh who organised the event smoothly.

The exclusive event sponsor was KDD. Photos courtesy to Dr. Sha-heer Malik, Immediate Past President, IDAK for the wonderful snaps cover-ing the whole event.

Results Volleyball Men: Winner: South-

ern Spartans; Runners-up: Northern Ninjas; Best Men’s Player: Dr. Renjit George.

Throwball Women: Winner: North-ern Ninjas; Runners-up: Southern Spartans; Best Women’s Player- Dr. Ranjitha.

A group photo from the event.

AJPAK tournament organizers and winners pose for a group photo.

A flyer of the event.

Welfare Kerala Kuwait Farwaniya Zone conducts badminton tournament

Over 100 teams vie for Nedumudi Venu Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy

AJPAK holds Travancore 2021 badminton tournament

Spartans lift volleyball trophy while Ninjas win throwball tourney

IDAK-KDD organize men’s volleyball and women’s throwball tournaments

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: Alappu-zha Jilla Pravasi Association Ku-wait (AJPAK) conducted shuttle tournament under the banner name ‘Travancore 2021 Nedumu-di Venu Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy’ on Dec 3 at the iSmash Badminton Academy Court in Ahmadi.

More than 100 teams from dif-ferent parts of Kuwait competed in AJPAK’s inaugural shuttle tournament. The matches, which were played in ten indoor courts, started at 8 am.

Dr. Ameer Ahmed, President, Indian Medical Association, in-augurated the award ceremony, which was presided over by AJPAK President Rajeev Nadu-vilemuri.

Patron Babu Panampally, Gen-eral Coordinator Binoy Chandran, Treasurer Kurian Thomas, Hari Pathiyoor, Biji Pallikkal, Sumesh

Krishnan, Manoj Parimanam and Alex Koshy delivered felicitation speeches congratulating the win-ners.

Mathew Chennithala, Cyril John Alex Champakulam, Anil Vallikunnam, Abdul Rahman Punchiri, Babu Thalavady, Pra-jeesh Mathew, Sam Antony, Shashi Valiyakulangara, Aji Ea-pan and Keerthi Sumesh provided leadership.

Sports Wing General Conve-ner Libu Payippadan welcomed the gathering and Joint Conve-ner Ashok Venmony thanked them.

Competitions were held in four categories namely Advance, Intermediate, Lower and Inter Alappuzha. Nedumudi Venu Me-morial Ever Rolling Trophy and cash Award were presented to the winning team in the Advance cat-egory.

In the Advance category, Surya Kant and Parth Chaudhary won the first place, Francis Sebastian and Girish B. S. won the second place.

In the Intermediate category, Jibin George and Mohammad Ul-las won first place, Thomas Kun-nil and Rashid won the second place.

Lower Intermediate Jobin Cruz and Babu Neelakandan won the first place, Rajesh Gopinathan and Dipin won the second place.

Prakash Muttel and Sanju won the Inter Alappuzha competition and grasped the Nina Alexander Valiyaveetitil Champakulam Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy, Thomas Kunnil and Anay Ku-mar won the second place.

The winners were given cash awards, gift coupons and tro-phies.

The umpires, led by Chief Um-pire Alan Jose, who officiated the match, were honored with a me-mento.

A colorful souvenir was re-leased in connection with the tournament. Chief Editor of the souvenir Ashokan Venmony, Sports Wing General Convener Libu Payippadan and other Sports Committee members together re-ceived the souvenir from Patron Babu Panampally, President Ra-jeev Naduvilemuri and other of-fice bearers.

AJPAK honored Sports wing convenors and the organizing committee members for their un-equal talent in organizing a mega sports event.

AJPAK’S first step in the sports arena was a huge suc-cess. The matches ended at 10 pm, thrilled thousands of sports fans.

Recognizing the power of sport in advancing society and to include sport and physical activity in the recovery plans post COVID-19, Welfare Kerala Kuwait Farwaniya zone conducted Badminton Championship Season 2 on Friday, 26th November 2021, at Yarmouk Indoor Stadium. More than 50 teams from Kuwait competed in good sportsman spirit in three categories.

In the Lower Intermediate doubles match, Vineesh George and Jojin Peter team won the First place, while Mathew K Abraham and Nidhin took the second place and Prince Babu and Robin won the third place. In the In the Intermediate

category Joby & Jerin team won the first place, Noushad & Majeesh team won the second place and Renee & Kishore team won the third place. In the Advance category Naseeb & Besan team won the first place, Parth & Surya team won the second place while Gino Joy & Binoj team won the third place.

Anwar Saeed, Welfare Kerala Kuwait Central President, inaugurated the closing session of the tournament. The event was presided over by Far-waniya Zonal President Aftab Alam, Secretary Naeem welcomed the audi-ence and Tournament Convenor Laik Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks.

Central Committee members Aniyan Kunju Pappachan, Khalilul Rah-man, Girish Wayanad, Ashkar Maliekal, Rajesh and Abdul Wahid distribut-ed prizes for the winners. M/s Badar AlSalama, Holy Sweets, Dalla Super-market, Day Fresh, Malabar Gold, Your Cargo and Zella Gold sponsored the tournament. Volunteer captain Shias and umpire in charge Faisal KV officiated the events. Waheeda Faisal and Ayesha PTP took charge of the registration desk and Arafat and Shafeer arranged the gifts for the winners. Nizam, Rahid and Faheem were the category in-charges.

Photos from the tournaments.

LOCALARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

7

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

Kuwaiti Ambassador Hasan Mohammad Zaman at the ceremony.

The Guest Show poster

KUNA photosPhoto exhibition themed ‘The Friendship between State of Kuwait and Japan’.

Kuwaiti offi cial underlines tourism‘cooperation’ among league peersCAIRO, Dec 8, (KUNA): A Ku-waiti offi cial stressed on Tuesday the Gulf state openness to enhance cooperation among members of Arab League States.

Adhari Al-Saleh, Kuwait’s Rep-resentative to the 29th Session of the Executive Arab Bureau of the Arab Ministerial Tourism Council and Research Supervisor at the Ministry of Information, made the affi rmation to KUNA at end of the session.

Al-Saleh stated that the Execu-tive Offi ce discussed many topics that would serve the tourism sec-tor in the Arab countries, includ-

ing training programs and setting general principles to standardize procedures for registration and ap-proval of vaccines and their use.

Moreover, Al-Saleh said the conferees discussed the issue of choosing the capital of Arab tour-ism for the year 2022, as well as supporting the Palestinian econ-omy in the fi eld of tourism and a guide for people with special needs.

Al-Saleh noted that the talks also dealt with a draft agenda for the 24th session of the Arab Minis-terial Council for Tourism, sched-uled in Cairo on Wednesday.

Educationist John Price on TGSOne of Kuwait’s leading education-ists, John Price is the Principal of one of Kuwait’s prominent international schools - Kuwait English School. Having worked in Kuwait for almost four decades, Mr Price has touched countless lives and built a legacy through his students who are in dif-ferent parts of the world.

On The Guest Show (TGS), he speaks to Chaitali B Roy of his years in Kuwait, his association with Kuwait and his school, of the evolu-tion of KES into an institution that embraced the use of IT in learning, of his life with the inimitable Alison

Shan Price, MBE, one of Kuwait’s most loved theatre personalities, of the Cultural Season the school has launched this year to take the edge off the doom and gloom of the past almost two years.

The Cultural Season 2021-22 is made up of Four Festivals, The Cul-tural Festival, The Winter Literary Festival, The Arabic Festival and The Summer Arts Festival. Together, the Festivals aim at celebrating diver-sity and empowering students to take their rightful place as global citizens.

All that and a lot more on The Guest Show this Thursday.

‘Photo exhibition’ marks 60 yrs of Kuwait-Japan diplomatic ties

FM eyes bilateral relations boost in various fields

By Miyoko Ishigami

TOKYO, Dec 8, (KUNA): The Kuwaiti Embassy in Tokyo hosted a photo ex-hibition on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversa-ry of the establishment of Kuwait-Japan diplomatic relations, themed “The Friendship between State of Kuwait and Japan”.

In a video message, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah recalled the onset of the Kuwait-Japan relationship in 1961, which he called “a role model of the relations between countries.”

“I recall with great appreciation and pride the path of our extraordinary rela-tions throughout the years, and their re-silience against the challenges brought about by the rapidly changing interna-tional situations. Our relations main-tained their continuous growth thanks to the support of our countries’ political leaderships,” Sheikh Dr. Ahmad said.

The Kuwait-Japan relations started in the 1950s and developed since Ku-wait agreed in 1958 to grant Japan’s Arabian Oil Company ltd. an oil and gas concession, the minister noted. “This agreement was one of the most signifi cant aspects of cooperation with the Japanese private companies in this fi eld,” said Sheikh Dr. Ahmad.

He added that the fi rst oil shipment was exported to Japan in 1958 before the two countries established their diplomatic relations. “On this day in 1961, Japan was among the fi rst coun-tries to recognize the Independence of the State of Kuwait,” he said.

Sheikh Dr. Ahmad commended Ja-pan’s support to Kuwait and contribu-

tion of over USD 13 billion to the ef-forts to liberate Kuwait after the 1990 Iraqi invasion. Touching on the earth-quake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern Japan in March 2011, the minister said “Kuwait shared Japan’s grief and pain on this tragedy” and “of-fered urgent humanitarian assistance to alleviate the impact of the devastating earthquake in support of our friends, the people of Japan” upon the direc-tives of the late Amir.

Sheikh Dr. Ahmad stressed that Ku-wait attaches great importance to pro-moting its relations with Japan, point-ing out that 16 bilateral agreements were concluded, and trade volume reached USD 1.7 billion in 2020.

He also lauded the role of the Ku-waiti Japanese Businessmen Com-mittee established in 1995 and the private sector’s active contribution to strengthening the economic, commer-cial, and investment relations between the two countries. While expressing appreciation for the friendly countries’ historic and deeply rooted relations, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad also voiced expec-tations to promote bilateral relations and advance them in various fi elds to

the level of our countries’ leaders and peoples’ ambitions.

The exhibition held in the embassy premises with some 40 photos, showed not only images of mutual visits of the high-rank offi cials, such as the visit to Japan by Kuwait’s late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2012 and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Kuwait in 2013, but also depicted memorable scenes of bilateral cooperation and people-to-people exchanges of the two countries over the past 60 years.

The opening ceremony of the exhibi-tion was attended by some 50 guests, including Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Honda, Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike, Chair-man of the Japan-Kuwait Parliamentary Friendship League Eisuke Mori, senior government offi cials, political fi gures, diplomats and business people.

Addressing the guests at the opening ceremony, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ja-pan Hasan Mohammad Zaman hailed the sustainable development of rela-tions between the two countries, while thanking for good friendship, amazing

partnership and unwavering support that had shown to the Kuwaiti Embas-sy and Kuwait over the last 60 years.

“One essential aspect of our rela-tions has been solidarity,” he said, highlighting Japan’s prompt support to Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 1990 and Kuwait’s assistance to Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

“Kuwait offered the people of Ja-pan a donation of 5 million barrels of crude oil, as token of appreciation, support and a natural deed by a friend who could never forget the support our friends in Japan have offered twenty years earlier,” said Zaman.

In his congratulatory speech, Honda said the two countries have continued to foster friendly relations in multiple layers over the past six decades of its history since the establishment of the diplomatic ties. Describing Kuwait as a strong partner as well as a trustwor-thy supplier of oil for Japan, Honda said the relations between the two countries are not limited to the energy sector, but have also achieved steady progress in extensive areas such as politics, economy and culture under the” comprehensive partnership.”

Honda also said the people of Japan will never forget swift and large-scale assistance given from Kuwait fol-lowing the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster. To express the city’s grati-tude for Kuwait’s assistance towards reconstruction efforts, Nihonmatsu city of Fukushima prefecture became Kuwait’s “ARIGATO” Host Town during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, he explained.

The offi cial also said Japan respects Ku-wait’s efforts to pursue peace and conduct proactive diplomacy in order to maintain harmony in the Middle East region. Hon-da also reaffi rmed Japan’s commitment to further develop the relationships between Japan and Kuwait both in bilaterally and through international fora.

Kuwait and Japan established diplo-matic relations on December 8, 1961.

Kuwaiti Ambassador Hasan Mohammad Zaman and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Honda.

Market Movements 08-12-2021

Business Change Closing ptsJAPAN - Nikkei +405.02 28,860.62UAE - DFM +4.08 3,196.92PHILIPPINES - PSEi +16.56 7,147.30INDIA - Sensex +1,016.03 58,649.68

Change Closing ptsSAUDI - Tadawul -116.40 10,991.80UK - FTSE 100 -2.55 7,337.35EUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 -43.11 4,233.09EGYPT - EGX 30 -87.12 11,451.14PAKISTAN - KSE 100 -6.62 43,846.87SINGAPORE - Straits Times STI -4.89 3,129.77

activist investor pushes Kohl’s to sell or split e-commerce

An activist investor is pushing department store chain Kohl’s Inc. to either sell the entire com-pany or spin off its e-commerce division.

In a letter posted online on Monday, Engine Capital LP said that it wants the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based chain to consider these alternatives to boost the stock price.

“Kohl’s has a unique retail footprint relative to many mall-based retailers as well as a grow-ing e-commerce presence, strong loyalty pro-gram, tremendous free cash flow and valuable real estate holdings,” the letter said. “However, much to our disappointment, these consider-

able assets and operating tailwinds continue to fail to catalyze meaningful value for sharehold-ers.”

It noted that “there is no excuse for the board to cling to the status quo.”

Engine Capital said that if Kohl’s chose spinning off its e-commerce division, a move similar to what Saks did earlier this year, the stand-alone business could be valued at $12.4 billion or more, an amount that dwarfs the company’s current market capitaliza-tion. Engine Capital also said that the board should run a market test to see how much a

well-capitalized financial sponsors would pay for the entire company. It noted that there are financial sponsors who will be able to pay a significant premium of 50%, or at least $75 per share.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the story on its website on Sunday.

Kohl’s shares have been up 19% since the beginning of the year and closed at $48.45 on Friday. That gives it a market cap of $7.3 bil-lion, according to FactSet. Shares rose nearly 7%, or $3.32, to $51.77 in morning trading on Monday. (AP)

A pair of shop-pers arrive at a

Kohl’s before dawn on Black

Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, in

Everett, Mas-sachusetts.

(AP)

Japan economy contracts 3.6% in Q3TOKYO, Dec 8, (AP): Japan’s economy contracted at a 3.6% annual rate in July-September as a wave of coronivirus infec-tions crimped travel and other activities, the government said Wednesday.

The estimate for the last quarter, downgraded from an earlier report of a 3.0% contraction, reflected weakness in consumer spending and trade, the gov-ernment said.

In quarterly terms, the measure used for most economies, the economy contracted 0.9%, compared to the earlier estimate of a 0.8% contraction.

The world’s third-largest economy was in a slump before the pandemic hit. Its recov-ery has been fitful thanks to precautions tak-en to curb COVID-19 infections. Troubles with supply chains, especially for computer chips used in autos, have also taken a toll.

Japan’s latest big coronavirus outbreak, in the late summer, has receded for now with a sharp drop in cases. But it hit dur-ing the usually busy summer travel season, with calls for restricted business activity and travel hurting restaurants, hotels and other service sector industries.

Consumer spending is recovering and will likely drive a recovery in the current quarter, Norihiro Yamaguchi of Oxford Economics said in a commentary.

“With supply chain disruptions easing in the auto sector, production and exports are also projected to recover, albeit at a moder-ate pace,” he said.

The latest data showed a lower level of private inventories than earlier reported and weaker government and consumer spend-ing. It also showed wages contracted by 0.4%, instead of growing by 0.1% as earlier reported.

Virus hits spending

A sign in the parking lot of Mariano’s grocery store advertises the availability of jobs, Oct 8, 2021, in Chicago. (AP)

US employers post 11mn open jobs in OctWASHINGTON, Dec 8, (AP): U.S. em-ployers posted 11 million open jobs in Octo-ber, nearly matching a record high reached in July and a sign that companies were con-fident enough in the economy to expand.

A government report Wednesday also showed that the number of people quitting their jobs dropped slightly in October to 4.2 million, from 4.4 million in September, though that is still the third-highest number of monthly resignations on records dating back to 2000.

The figures from the Labor Department’s

Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS, show that with so many com-panies chasing relatively few unemployed people, job-seekers have the most bargain-ing power they have had in at least two de-cades. Wages are rising at a healthy pace, particularly for lower-paid employees, though much of that bump in pay is being eroded by higher inflation.

There were just 7.4 million people count-ed as unemployed in October, equal to just two-thirds of the 11 million open jobs. Be-fore the pandemic, there were usually more

unemployed people than available workers. Larger paychecks are luring many em-

ployees to leave their jobs for new work, pushing up the number of quits.

A high number of resignations is a sign of a strong labor market because it shows that people are confident they can find a new job. The vast majority of people who quit do so to take new jobs.

Separate data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows that people switch-ing jobs are receiving bigger pay raises than those who stay put.

Offshore wind brings gust of job growth – Granholm

Biden to pull out embattledbanking regulator nomineeWASHINGTON, Dec 8, (AP): President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Saule Omarova’s nomination to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would be withdrawn, as her candidacy faced steep resistance in the Senate with Re-publican lawmakers criticizing her vision for banking regu-lation and her birthplace in the former Soviet Union.

The president said in a statement that he accepted a with-drawal request from Omarova, a law professor at Cornell University who was born in Kazakhstan when it was part of the Soviet Union and immigrated to the US in 1991. In Sen-ate committee hearings last month, she addressed questions about greater government oversight of the financial sector. That led Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to say her ideas were a “socialist manifesto,” while Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said, “I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade.”

Biden defended his nominee in the statement announcing her withdrawn nomination.

“As a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch de-fender of the safety and soundness of our financial system, Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people,” the president said. “But unfortunately, from the very begin-ning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.”

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, Dec 8, (AP): US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that the administra-tion’s goal for offshore wind and the projects being de-veloped now represent a “gust of job growth throughout the country.”

Granholm visited a new offshore wind manufacturing hub in Providence to talk about the Biden administra-tion’s plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind en-ergy by 2030 and to promote the investments in the $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

“More offshore wind means more jobs for iron work-ers, line workers, engineers, electricians, plumbers, pip-efitters,” she said. “Jobs in mining and manufacturing and management and operations and sales, not to men-tion of course the benefit to surrounding communities.”

At the Port of Providence, Orsted, a Danish energy company, and the utility Eversource are constructing a building for the fabrication and assembly of large, advanced components for turbine foundations. Orsted officials gave Granholm and Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee a tour. The group met union workers who are building the facility.

McKee said he envisions Rhode Island as the “base camp” to support the offshore wind supply chain along the East Coast. Granholm said looking at the building reminded her of a proverb: “When the winds of change blow, some build walls, others build windmills.”

“And we know which side of that Rhode Island falls on,” she said.

Eversource President and CEO Joe Nolan said the Biden administration’s support of offshore wind is a “breath of fresh air” after the Trump administration. Both Nolan and Orsted Offshore North America CEO David Hardy said such support is critical while the U.S. industry is still in the fragile, early stages.

“The momentum is happening,” Nolan said. “We need it to continue.”

“It’s a young industry,” added Hardy. “We need help getting the first projects off the ground.”

Their manufacturing hub at the port is scheduled to be finished this spring to support two offshore wind projects, Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind.

Revolution Wind is a planned offshore wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to provide power for Connecticut and Rhode Island. The federal government is currently reviewing the construction and operations plan.

The South Fork Wind project will be located off the coast of Rhode Island. Its transmission system will con-nect to the electric grid on Long Island, New York, making it the state’s first offshore wind farm and jump-starting the offshore wind industry there.

The interior department announced last week that the administration approved the construction and opera-tions for South Fork Wind, as part of a plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. It was the administration’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. The first commercial-scale project is off the coast of Massachusetts.

The first US offshore wind farm began operating off Block Island, Rhode Island, in late 2016. But at five turbines, it’s not commercial-scale. Orsted acquired the developer, Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, and now operates that wind farm.

Granholm also visited a manufacturer of electric ve-hicle chargers and a clean energy technology company in Connecticut Thursday. On Friday, she’s hosting a roundtable discussion in Boston about the transition to clean energy.

Granholm has been making stops around the country to talk about how investments in infrastructure incentiv-ize companies like these to open and expand, driving the transition away from fossil fuels, creating jobs and helping people save money on energy. She is visiting areas that are proactive in reducing emissions and areas where more work needs to be done.

President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law in November, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life “change for the better” for the American people. It has $100 million for wind ener-gy research and development, $2.5 billion for transmis-sion lines, including transmission from offshore wind farms, and $20 million to ensure offshore wind is built sustainably, Granholm said.

The companion piece of legislation, the social and environment bill under consideration in the Senate, has $600 million for port infrastructure, as well as signifi-cant tax credits to incentivize offshore wind develop-ment and turbine manufacturing, she added.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

9

Red plus card offers youth segment access to highest cashback program in Kuwait

Gulf Bank launches its Mastercard prepaid red plus cardKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: Gulf Bank has announced the launch of its Mastercard prepaid red plus card, the fi rst prepaid card with a cashback program target-ing the youth segment in the Middle East. In a series of unique milestones, Gulf Bank’s new red plus card offers red account customers the highest cashback program in Kuwait, and it is also the fi rst vertically designed Mas-tercard prepaid cashback card for the youth segment.

As one of the most important bank-ing accounts that caters to the Bank’s younger clients in high school and uni-versity, Gulf Bank’s red account cur-rently offers customers a free red plus prepaid card upon opening an account.

“At Gulf Bank, we know how im-portant tangible and unique rewards are for our youth segment,” said Mo-hammed Al-Qattan, General Manager of Consumer Banking at Gulf Bank. “That’s why we are proud to launch our new red plus card as not only the fi rst Mastercard prepaid card with a cashback program dedicated for the youth, but also the highest cashback program in Kuwait with 15% cash-back. We would like to encourage new high school and college-level students to submit their applications for the red account and start taking advantage of the numerous benefi ts of red plus.”

Offers & Exclusive FeaturesGulf Bank’s Deputy General Man-

ager of Consumer banking (Market-ing), Najla Aleisa, said: “With a Gulf Bank red plus card in hand, cardhold-ers can take advantage of a variety of unique benefi ts, including 15% cash-back on local and international coffee shops and restaurants, telecommunica-tion bills, and movie theaters, with up to KD300 cashback every year.”

Aleisa added: “Gulf Bank’s “red plus” Prepaid Cashback cardholders can enjoy a multitude of benefi ts, in-cluding discounts of up to 25% at more than 550 renowned restaurants and cafes in Kuwait as part of the Bank’s Gulf Dining program. Red plus Card-holders can also avail instant discounts of up to 30% at more than 300 retail outlets across travel, entertainment, health, beauty, and lifestyle segments as part of Gulf Bank’s Gulf Promotions program. The card is equipped with fraud protection with Gulf Bank’s 3D secure feature for a safer online shop-ping experience.”

Digital DevelopmentAhmad Al Amir, Deputy General

Manager for Corporate Communica-tions at Gulf Bank, stated: “Getting a red plus card has also never been eas-ier, with the application process tak-ing place entirely online through Gulf Bank’s Mobile App or Online Bank-ing, and customers will receive their card from any branch of their choice or through a dedicated courier within 2-3 working days. Customers can then activate and load their cards online an-ytime, anywhere through Gulf Bank’s Online and Mobile Banking services.”

Al Amir also added: “Gulf Bank is undergoing rapid digital transforma-

tion, as part of our new strategy for 2025, which aims to provide a seam-less and quick experience for all Gulf Bank customers, by offering innova-tive products and services that meet the expectations of the new generation.”

Nadia Ghissassi, Country Manager for Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Iraq, Mastercard, said: “The introduction of the Mastercard Prepaid red plus card offers huge potential to transform the way payments are made by students and young adults in Kuwait. We are pleased to launch the fi rst-of-its-kind prepaid card in partnership with Gulf Bank to further build the domestic pay-ment ecosystem with safe and secure electronic payments. In addition to de-livering a fast, intuitive, reliable, and seamless payment process, The Mas-tercard prepaid red plus card empow-ers the Kuwaiti youth to try new and exciting offerings, making it an ideal card to enjoy all the features and ben-efi ts the country has to offer.”

Red AccountEarlier this year, Gulf Bank launched

a series of updates and improvements to its red account, complete with a new and innovative design that was de-signed by the youth, for the youth. Gulf Bank’s red card and red plus card have a simple and distinctive card design that protects the user’s privacy, going so far as to include the cardholder’s name on the back of the card, in ad-dition to other features and character-istics that constitute the ideal banking experience. To further encourage Gulf Bank’s youth community, the bank also launched an exclusive Instagram account for its youth segment, mak-ing it easier to keep up with everything Gulf Bank has to offer them.

Gulf Bank’s vision is to be the lead-ing Kuwaiti Bank of the Future. The bank is constantly engaging and em-powering its employees as part of an inclusive and diversifi ed workplace in recognition of every employee’s role in delivering customer excellence and serving the community at large. With its extensive network of branches and innovative digital services, Gulf Bank gives its customers the choice of how and where to conduct their banking transactions, all while ensuring a sim-ple and seamless banking experience.

Gulf Bank is committed to maintain-ing a robust sustainability program at the community, economic, and envi-ronmental levels through sustainabil-ity initiatives that are strategically se-lected to benefi t both the country and the Bank. Gulf Bank supports Kuwait Vision 2035 “New Kuwait” and works with the different relevant parties to achieve it.

For more information on Gulf Bank’s various initiatives and activi-ties, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s branches or log on to Gulf Bank’s Online/Mobile Banking ser-vices. Customers can also direct their queries via WhatsApp on 1805805 for round-the-clock assistance from Gulf Bank representatives, or call the Customer Contact Center on the same number.

Gulf Bank team during the press conference

Mohammed Al-Qattan, General Manager of the Retail Bank-ing Group, holding the new red plus card

Ahmad Al Amir Najla Aleisa

From the right: Najla Aleisa, Mohammed Al-Qattan and Ahmed Al-Amir during the press conference to introduce the Mastercard prepaid red plus card.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

10

AWS outage highlights how much Big Tech has warped the internet

Major outage at Amazon disrupts businesses across the USNEW YORK, Dec 8, (AP): A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of US compa-nies for more than fi ve hours, the latest sign of just how concentrated the busi-ness of keeping the internet running has become.

The incident at Amazon Web Ser-vices mostly affected the eastern US, but still impacted everything from air-line reservations and auto dealerships to payment apps and video streaming services to Amazon’s own massive e-commerce operation. That included The Associated Press, whose publish-ing system was inoperable for much of the day, greatly limiting its ability to publish its news report.

Amazon has still said nothing about what, exactly, went wrong. In fact, the company limited its communications Tuesday to terse technical explana-tions on an AWS dashboard and a brief statement delivered via spokesperson Richard Rocha that acknowledged the outage had affected Amazon’s own warehouse and delivery operation but said the company was “working to re-

solve the issue as quickly as possible.”Roughly fi ve hours after numerous

companies and other organizations be-

gan reporting issues, the company said in a post on the AWS status page that it had “mitigated” the underlying prob-

lem responsible for the outage, which it did not describe. It took some affected companies hours more to thoroughly check their systems and restart their own services.

Amazon Web Services was former-ly run by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who succeeded founder Jeff Bezos in July. The cloud-service operation is a huge profi t center for Amazon. It holds roughly a third of the $152 billion mar-ket for cloud services, according to a report by Synergy Research - a larger share than its closest rivals, Microsoft and Google, combined.

To technologist and public data ac-cess activist Carl Malamud, the AWS outage highlights how much Big Tech has warped the internet, which was orig-inally designed as a distributed and de-centralized network intended to survive mass disasters such as nuclear attack.

“When we put everything in one place, be it Amazon’s cloud or Face-book’s monolith, we’re violating that fundamental principle,” said Malamud, who developed the internet’s fi rst radio station and later put a vital US Securities and Exchange Commission database

online. “We saw that when Facebook became the instrument of a massive dis-information campaign, we just saw that today with the Amazon failure.”

Widespread and often lengthy out-ages resulting from single-point fail-ures appear increasingly common. In June, the behind-the-scenes content distributor Fastly suffered a failure that briefl y took down dozens of major in-ternet sites including CNN, The New York Times and Britain’s government home page.

Then in October, Facebook - now known as Meta Platforms - blamed a “faulty confi guration change” for an hours-long worldwide outage that took down Instagram and WhatsApp in ad-dition to its titular platform.

This time, problems began midmorn-ing on the US East Coast, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik Inc, a network intelligence fi rm. Netfl ix was one of the more prominent names affected; Kentik saw a 26% drop in traffi c to the streaming service.

Customers trying to book or change trips with Delta Air Lines had trouble connecting to the airline. “Delta is

working quickly to restore functionali-ty to our AWS-supported phone lines,” said spokesperson Morgan Durrant. The airline apologized and encouraged customers to use its website or mobile app instead.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said it switched to West Coast servers after some airport-based systems were affected by the outage. Customers were still reporting outages to DownDetec-tor, a popular clearinghouse for user outage reports, more than three hours after they started. Southwest spokes-man Brian Parrish said there were no major disruptions to fl ights.

Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin said the company’s US East Region for dealer services went down. The compa-ny has apps that access inventory data, monthly payment calculators, service bulletins and other items. More than 20 apps were affected.

Also according to DownDetector, people trying to use Instacart, Venmo, Kindle, Roku, and Disney+ reported issues. The McDonald’s app was also down. But the airlines American, United, Alaska and JetBlue were unaffected.

Attendees arrive at AWS re:Invent 2021, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS), on Wednesday, Dec 1, 2021, at The Venetian in Las Vegas. Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage Tuesday, the

company said, disrupting access to many popular sites. (AP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

11

Southwest raises 4thqrtr revenue outlookDALLAS, Dec 8, (AP): Southwest Airlines is raising its forecast for fourth-quarter revenue after a strong Thanksgiving holiday and says it aims to be prof-itable in every quarter next year by hiring enough workers and improving reliability, which sagged when passenger numbers rose sharply this summer.

Dallas-based Southwest said Wednesday that fourth-quarter revenue will be 10% to 15% below the same period in 2019 — an improvement over an earlier forecast that revenue would fall by 15% to 25% from 2019 levels.

In a regulatory fi ling, Southwest said demand was strong over Thanksgiving and “leisure bookings con-tinue to come in above expectations for December travel.”

The airline also laid out a fi ve-year plan to raise revenue with a new credit-card deal with JPMorgan Chase, by capturing more business travel and other measures. The company expects to spend between $1 billion and $2.5 billion per year from 2023 through 2026 to overhaul its fl eet with new Boeing 737 Max planes.

Southwest offi cials were expected to provide more details Wednesday during a meeting with analysts in New York.

Southwest, the fourth-largest US airline by reve-nue, is entering a transition from longtime CEO Gary Kelly to Robert Jordan, the company president who will become CEO on Feb 1.

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. rose 1.5% in late-morning trading, less than other major US airlines.

Eyes Austria-based kompany

Moody’s acquires UK’s PassFort LimitedNEW YORK, Dec 8, (Agencies): Moody’s Corporation announced that it has acquired PassFort Lim-ited and entered into an agree-ment to acquire 360kompany AG (kompany), two European provid-ers of onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) technology solu-tions. The acquisitions complement Moody’s technology, data, and ana-lytical capabilities, and enhance its industry-leading customer solutions for KYC, anti-money laundering, compliance, and counterparty risk.

“Our customers rely on our data and analytical tools to make deci-sions about who they do business with,” said Keith Berry, General Manager of Moody’s KYC busi-ness unit. “PassFort and kompany are innovators in the compliance and regulatory space, and their tech-nologies will upgrade and acceler-ate our customers’ onboarding and monitoring processes.”

PassFort is a UK SaaS-based

workfl ow platform for identity veri-fi cation, customer onboarding, and risk analysis. Its software delivers data from over 25 third-party pro-viders and automates the collection, verifi cation, and secure storage of customer and supplier due diligence documentation. The integration of PassFort’s platform into Moody’s suite of KYC and compliance of-ferings will create a more holistic workfl ow solution, allowing cus-tomers to incorporate Moody’s data, including credit, cyber, ESG, and climate analytics, directly into their proprietary processes.

kompany is a Vienna, Austria-based platform for audit-proof busi-ness verifi cation and KYC, operat-ing a network of primary source information on more than 115 million companies across 200 jurisdictions. kompany’s API will enable Moody’s customers to complete shareholder analysis and entity verifi cation in real-time, as well as retrieve original

company fi lings and documents to meet their regulatory demands.

The acquisition of PassFort and planned acquisition of kompany follow Moody’s recent investments in KYC capabilities. Moody’s will integrate both companies into its KYC business within Moody’s Analytics, where they will augment the Orbis company database and the GRID database of risk profi les, adverse news, politically exposed persons, and sanctions.

The acquisition of kompany is expected to close in the fi rst quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termina-tion of applicable regulatory wait-ing periods, and will be funded with a combination of cash and shares of Moody’s Corporation common stock. The acquisition of PassFort was funded with cash. Neither is expected to have a material impact on Moody’s 2021 fi nancial results.

Wall Street turns choppyas big tech shares weigh

Communications stocks gain

NEW YORK, Dec 8, (AP): Stocks wobbled between small gains and losses on Wall Street Wednesday as losses for some big technol-ogy stocks blunted gains elsewhere in the market.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 10:16 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26 points, or 0.1%, to 35,745 and the Nasdaq fell 0.1%.

The muted trading for the bench-mark S&P 500 index follows a two-day rally that included its biggest gain since March. The rally also nearly erased its losses from the last two weeks.

Communications stocks made solid gains. Facebook parent Meta Plat-forms rose 2.2% and Twitter rose 2.4%.

A wide range of travel-related com-panies gained ground in a sign that investors confi dent that the industry will continue its recovery despite the threat from the omicron variant of COVID-19. Booking Holdings rose 2.6%, Wynn Resorts rose 4.1% and Carnival rose 7.8%.

Industrial and energy stocks also made gains, along with smaller com-pany stocks. The Russell 2000 index rose 0.4%.

Technology stocks, and several big chipmakers in particular, fell and countered gains elsewhere in the mar-ket. Nvidia shed 1.5% and NXP Sem-iconductors fell 5.7%.

HigherBond yields edged higher. The

yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.50% from 1.48% late Tuesday.

Markets in Asia and Europe were mostly higher. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 1.4% as economists are forecasting a rebound for the world’s third largest economy in the current quarter after coronavirus caseloads plummeted.

Germany’s Dax fell 0.6% as Ger-many’s parliament elected Olaf Scholz as the country’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union’s largest economy after Angela Mer-kel’s 16-year tenure.

Stocks have been mostly making gains since Monday following com-ments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, who said early indications suggested that omicron may be less dangerous

than the delta variant. Markets had slipped the previous two weeks over several concerns, including rising in-fl ation, the newest coronavirus vari-ant and how both issues could impact economic growth.

Investors could get more insight into how the economy is faring later this week and next week. On Friday, the Labor Department will give an update on how rising prices are im-pacting consumers with the release of its Consumer Price Index for No-vember.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold a two-day meeting of poli-cymakers next week that could of-fer an update on the central bank’s plans to tackle inflation. The Fed has said it plans to speed up the pace at which it trims its bond purchases, which have helped keep interest rates low. That has raised concerns that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rates next year sooner than expected.

RoseStocks advanced Wednesday in

Asia after another broad rally on Wall Street as investors wagered that the new variant of the COVID-19 virus won’t pose a big threat to the econ-omy.

Shares rose in Paris, London, To-kyo and Shanghai but fell in Frankfurt as Germany’s parliament elected Olaf Scholz as the country’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union’s largest economy after Angela Mer-kel’s 16-year tenure.

Scholz’s government is taking of-fi ce with high hopes of modernizing Germany and combating climate change but faces the immediate chal-lenge of handling the country’s tough-est phase yet of the coronavirus pan-demic.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.3% to 15,766.51, while the CAC 40 in Paris was fl at at 7,065.10. Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.4% to 7,365.25.

The future for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 were both up 0.2%.

Japan downgraded its growth es-timate for the last quarter to minus 3.6% from an earlier reported con-traction of 3.0%. The change refl ected weaker consumer and public demand and trade.

Economists are forecasting a re-bound for the world’s third largest economy in the current quarter, thanks to recovering activity after coronavi-

rus caseloads plummeted. Parliament is expected to approve a record stimu-lus package of 56 trillion yen ($490 billion), including cash handouts and aid to ailing businesses, to lift the economy out of doldrums worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.4% to 28,860.62 and the Shang-hai Composite index climbed 1.2% to 3,637.57. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged less than 0.1% higher, to 23,996.87.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.3% to 7,405.40, while the Kospi in South Korea picked up 0.3% to 3,001.80.

Comments Monday from Dr. An-thony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, who said early indi-cations suggest the omicron variant of coronavirus may be less dangerous than the delta variant have encour-aged investors.

It will take a few more weeks to learn whether omicron is more con-tagious, causes more severe illness or evades immunity.

“Looking at the price action, it seem that investors initially overreacted to the omicron news because they didn’t have all the details,” Naeem Aslam of Avatrade.com said in a commentary.

YieldOil prices were steady on Wednes-

day, a day after the price of U.S. crude oil jumped 3.7% to $72.05 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude gained 17 cents to $72.22 per barrel. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, added 19 cents to $75.63 per barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.46% from 1.48% late Tuesday. It fell to 1.34% on Friday as anxious investors sold stocks and piled into bonds.

Beyond any lingering uncertainty over omicron, Wall Street is looking ahead to next week, when the Fed-eral Reserve is scheduled to hold a two-day meeting of policymakers that could offer an update on the central bank’s plans to tackle infl ation. The Fed has said it plans to speed up the pace at which it trims its bond pur-chases, which have helped keep inter-est rates low. That has raised concerns that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rates next year sooner than expected.

In currency trading, the U.S. dol-lar weakened to 113.53 Japanese yen from 113.59 yen. The euro rose to $1.1287 from $1.1270.

People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities fi rm in Tokyo, Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021. Stocks advanced Wednesday in Asia after another broad rally on Wall Street as investors wagered that the new variant of the

COVID-19 virus won’t pose a big threat to the economy. (AP)

SCIENCEARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

12

Gilgamesh tablet returns to Iraq: A small clay tablet dating back 3,500 years and bearing a portion of the Epic of Gil-gamesh that was looted from an Iraqi mu-seum 30 years ago and recently recovered from the United States formally returned to Iraq on Tuesday.

The $1.7 million cuneiform tablet, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, is one of the world’s oldest surviving works of literature and one of the oldest religious texts. It was found in 1853 as part of a 12-tablet collection in the rubble of the library of Assyrian King Assur Banipal.

The tablet was looted from an Iraqi mu-seum during the 1991 Gulf War. Offi cials believe it was illegally imported into the United States in 2003, then sold to Hobby Lobby and eventually put on display in its Museum of the Bible in Washington.

Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations seized the tablet from the museum in September 2019. A federal judge in New York approved the forfei-ture of the tablet in July this year.

On Tuesday, the tablet was handed over to Iraqi authorities in a ceremony at Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the presence of UNESCO offi cials as well as Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Hassan Nadhem, Iraq’s minister of cul-ture, tourism and antiquities. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

‘Suspend energy project’: Maine environmental groups have requested that the federal government suspend the per-mits it issued to a billion-dollar electric-ity project for Massachusetts residents, which Maine voters rejected in a referen-dum last month.

Three groups, including the Natural Resources Council of Maine, wrote a joint letter on Monday to the federal Depart-ment of Energy and the US Army Corps of Engineers, seeking to halt the New England Clean Energy Connect project. The 145-mile (230-kilometer) electric transmission corridor would run through western Maine, The Portland Press Her-ald reported on Monday

The letter emphasized that the project could not continue because of the Nov 2 referendum blocked the project that would be used to transmit power from hydroelectric dams in Canada to the New England grid through Lewiston.

Gov Janet Mills requested that the pro-ject suspend all work. The DEP also ruled

the company must halt all work unless it is granted permission by the court. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

‘Petroleum in tap water’: The Hawaii State Department of Health said a labora-tory has detected petroleum product in a water sample from an elementary school near Pearl Harbor amid heightened con-cerns that fuel from a massive Navy stor-age facility could contaminate Oahu’s wa-ter supply.

The department said the test result from a University of Hawaii lab is preliminary, and it’s not yet clear what type of petro-leum was in the water. The sample was taken at Red Hill Elementary School. The department is still awaiting test results of samples sent to a lab in California.

For three days, hundreds of residents in Navy housing have complained of a fuel-like odor coming from their tap water. Some have said they suffered from stom-ach pain and headaches. (AP)

NASA announces the 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class, Dec. 6, in Houston. NASA selected 10 new astronauts Monday, half of them military pilots, as it looks ahead to the moon and Mars. (AP)

In this photo released by the Roscos-mos Space Agency, Roscosmos cos-monaut Alexander Misurkin, (bottom), and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa, (center), and Yozo Hi-rano, (above), of Japan, members of the main crew of the new Soyuz mis-sion to the International Space Sta-tion (ISS) wave as they board to the spaceship prior the launch at the Rus-sian leased Baikonur cosmodrome,

Kazakhstan, Dec. 8. (AP)

Discovery

Coronavirus

Mills Nadhem

NASA picks 10 astronauts

Japanese tycoon andproducer takes off ISSMOSCOW, Dec 8, (AP): A Japanese billionaire and his pro-ducer rocketed to space Wednesday as the fi rst self-paying space tourists in more than a decade.

Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and producer Yozo Hi-rano, who plans to fi lm his mission, blasted off for the Interna-tional Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.

The trio lifted off as scheduled at 12:38 p.m. (0738 GMT) aboard Soyuz MS-20 from the Russia-leaded Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

Maezawa and Hirano are scheduled to spend 12 days in space. The two will be the fi rst self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. The price of the trip hasn’t been dis-closed.

“I would like to look at the Earth from space. I would like to experience the opportunity to feel weightlessness,” Maezawa said during a pre-fl ight news conference on Tuesday. “And I also have a personal expectation: I’m curi-ous how the space will change me, how I will change after this space fl ight.”

A company that organized the fl ight said Maezawa compiled a list of 100 things to do in space after asking the public for ideas. The list includes “sim-ple things about daily life to maybe some other fun activities, to more seri-

ous questions as well,” Space Adventures President Tom Shel-ley said.

Intention“His intention is to try to share the experience of what it

means to be in space with the general public,” Shelley told The Associated Press earlier this year.

Maezawa made his fortune in retail fashion, launching Ja-pan’s largest online fashion mall, Zozotown. Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $2 billion.

The tycoon has also booked a fl yby around the moon aboard Elon Musk’s Starship that is tentatively scheduled for 2023. He’ll be joined on that trip by eight contest winners.

Meanwhile, NASA selected 10 new astronauts Monday, half of them military pilots, as it looks ahead to the moon and Mars.

The space agency introduced the six men and four women during a ceremony in Houston, home to Mission Control and the astronaut corps.

More than 12,000 applied for the coveted spots. The 10 se-lected are in their 30s and 40s, and face two years of training before becoming eligible for spacefl ight.

Besides the combat and test pilots, the astronaut candidates include a medical physicist, drilling specialist, maritime ro-boticist, NASA-turned-SpaceX fl ight surgeon and bioengineer who was a champion cyclist. Two astronauts from the United Arab Emirates will train with them.

One of the pilots — Air Force Maj. Marcos Berrios, who’s from Puerto Rico — volunteered during a question-and-an-swer session to fl y a life-size successor to NASA’s mini heli-copter at Mars.

”I know Deniz, the other helicopter pilot here, and I would love to take it for a spin for science,” he said, drawing laughs and applause from the audience.

Also:NEW YORK: The company that runs the philanthropy of Face-book CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, is investing up to $3.4 billion to advance human health over 10 to 15 years, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, or CZI, announced Tues-day its new effort is aiming to “observe, measure, and analyze any biological process throughout the human body - across spatial scales and in real time.”

The philanthropy, which has a mission of curing, preventing or managing all disease by the end of the century, said in its an-nouncement that it will focus its science work over the next 10 years on developing new research, institutes and technologies that can help its mission.

Jeff MacGregor, a CZI spokesperson, said $500 million will be given to establish an institute at Harvard University that focuses on artifi cial intelligence.

Space

Maezawa

WHO advises against survivors’ plasma use to treat COVID

EMA backs mixing COVID-19 vaccinesTHE HAGUE, Netherlands, Dec 8, (AP): The European Union drug regu-lator gave its backing Tuesday to mix-ing different types of vaccines in initial vaccination and booster campaigns to battle the coronavirus.

The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that using different types of vaccines together, known as heterologous vaccination, can provide protection against COVID-19.

The announcement comes as much of Europe is facing rising infection and hospital rates and concerns about the new omicron variant.

The EMA, together with the Euro-pean Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that a mix-and-match strategy could give nations more op-tions in vaccination campaigns as much of the continent seeks to contain the latest surge in the pandemic.

“The evidence available so far with different types of authorized vaccines indicates that a heterologous booster appears as good as or better in terms of immune responses than a homologous booster,” the agencies said in a state-ment.

“While research is ongoing to provide more evidence on long-term safety, duration of immunity and ef-fectiveness, the use of heterologous schedules may offer flexibility in terms of vaccination options, par-ticularly to reduce the impact on the vaccine rollout should a vaccine not be available for any reason,” they added.

The agencies looked at data for mRNA vaccines like the Pfi zer shot and so-called viral vector vaccines such as the one made by Johnson & Johnson. The two types of vaccines use different technologies to spur the body to fi ght the coronavirus.

US and UK authorities have already given the green light to mixing and matching vaccines in booster cam-paigns.

Meanwhile, experts at the World Health Organization recommended Tuesday against using blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 as a treatment for patients with the illness, saying evidence has not shown the costly, time-consuming transfusions to be effective in prevent-ing severe illness or death.

The guidance against the use of convalescent plasma, a component of blood that is rich in antibodies, was published in the British Medical Jour-nal based on results from 16 trials in-volving more than 16,000 patients with varying degrees of coronavirus infec-tion, WHO said.

“Despite its initial promise, current evidence shows that it does not im-

Children in 5 to 14 age group show highest COVID rates: WHO Europe

prove survival nor reduce the need for mechanical ventilation, and it is costly and time-consuming to administer,” the UN health agency said in announc-ing the recommendation of an interna-tional group of experts on guideline development.

“As such, the WHO makes a strong recommendation against the use of convalescent plasma in patients with non-severe illness, and a recommen-dation against its use in patients with severe and critical illness, except in the context of a randomized controlled

trial,” WHO said. The group of experts said in an 81-

page study that there was “no clear benefi t for critical outcomes” such as the need for mechanical ventilation — breathing machines — or deaths of COVID-19 patients.

WHO previously weighed in on oth-er COVID-19 treatments, such as rec-ommending some steroids for patients with severe or critical cases, and advis-ing against the use of the anti-parasite medication ivermectin and the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.

GENEVA, Dec 8, (AP): The World Health Organization’s office for Europe said Tuesday that children in the 5 to 14 age group now ac-count for the highest rates of re-ported COVID-19 infection in the region.

WHO Europe regional director Dr. Hans Kluge also argued that vaccine mandates should be “an absolute last resort,” and said that COVID-19 deaths remain “signifi-cantly below previous peaks.” But he said that coronavirus cases and deaths have more than doubled in the last two months in the 53-coun-try region stretching to central Asia.

He stressed the continued threat from the widespread delta variant, and noted the new omicron variant has so far accounted for 432 con-firmed cases in 21 countries in the region.

“The delta variant remains domi-nant across Europe and Central Asia, and we know that the CO-VID-19 vaccines remain effective in reducing severe disease and deaths from it,” he told reporters from WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. “It is yet to be seen how and whether the latest COVID-19 variant of concern, omi-cron, will be more transmissible, or more or less severe.”

Kluge urged countries to “protect children and the schools” amid the rapid increase in cases among the young in the region, and said the incidence of COVID-19 was two to three times higher among young children than the average popula-tion in some places. Children have tended to face less severe cases than more vulnerable populations like older people, health care work-ers and people with weaker im-

mune systems.“As school holidays approach,

we must also acknowledge that children contaminate their parents and grandparents at home, with a 10 times increased risk for these adults to develop severe disease, be hospitalized or die when non-vaccinated,” he said. “The health risks extend beyond the children themselves.”

Kluge also spoke out against vaccination mandates, saying they should be an “absolute last resort” and have efficacy only in some contexts.

WHO’s European region has the global epicenter of the pandemic for weeks, accounting for 70% of cases and 61 percent of deaths worldwide according to the UN health agency’s weekly epidemio-logical report issued last week.

Meanwhile, Spain’s health minis-try gave the go-ahead Tuesday for children between ages 5 and 11 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a rise in coronavirus infec-tions in recent weeks.

The Spanish health ministry tweeted news of the approval, fol-lowing the decision of an expert committee. The rollout is due to be-gin Dec. 15, two days after the first of 3.2 million child vaccines arrive in Spain.

Austria has been inoculating chil-dren since the European Union’s drug regulator on Nov. 25 autho-rized Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use on that age group. Greece will also begin on Dec. 15 and Italy will start on Dec. 16, among others.

The European Medicines Agen-cy’s decision opened the way for jabs to be administered to millions of elementary school pupils across the continent.

Featu

res

Featu

res

This image released by MGM shows Alana Haim in a scene from ‘Licorice Pizza.’ (AP)

‘Cheugy,’ ‘omicron’ among 2021’s most mispronounced words

Instagram launches tool urging teens to take a breakLONDON, Dec 8, (AP): Instagram on Tuesday launched a feature that urges teenagers to take breaks from the photo-sharing platform and announced other tools aimed at protecting young users from harmful content on the Facebook-owned service.

The previously announced “Take A Break” feature encourages teens to stop scrolling if they have been on the social media platform for a while, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a blog post. It rolled out to the US, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday and would reach the rest of the world early next year, he said.

Young users will see notifi cations about the feature and be urged to set reminders to take more breaks going forward, the post said. It’s one of the efforts that Facebook, renamed Meta Platforms, has touted on its platforms as it weathers backlash about not doing enough to rein in harmful content and faces new legislation looking to impose restric-tions on tech giants.

Former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen has testifi ed to US and European lawmakers working on those measures, citing internal company research suggesting that peer pres-sure generated by Instagram has led to mental health and body-image problems in young users, especially girls, and in some cases, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.

She spoke again last week to Congress, urging US lawmakers to move forward with proposals introduced after her fi rst appearance in October. That includes restrictions on the long-standing legal protec-tions for speech posted on social media platforms.

Haugen also has offered guidance on new online rules that are much

further along in the UK and European Union, which has pioneered ef-forts to rein in big technology companies.

On Tuesday, Instagram also announced that its fi rst tools for parents will roll out early next year, allowing them to see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits.

The social media platform also said it’s developing features that will stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, nudge young users to other things if they have been focused on one topic for a while and be stricter about what posts, hashtags and accounts it recommends to try to cut down on potentially harmful or sensitive content.

❑ ❑ ❑

“Cheugy” is apparently a lot to chew on. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names.

And virtually everyone is having trouble with “omicron.”All four made it onto this year’s list of most mispronounced words as

compiled by the US Captioning Company, which captions and subtitles real-time events on TV and in courtrooms.

The list released Tuesday identifi es the words that proved most chal-lenging for newsreaders and people on television to pronounce this year.

The caption company said it surveyed its members to generate the list, which is now in its sixth year and was commissioned by Babbel, a language-learning platform with headquarters in Berlin and New York.

“Newscasters in the US have struggled with 2021’s new words and names while reporting on key sporting events, viral internet trends and emerging celebrities,” said Esteban Touma, a standup comedian and

teacher for Babbel Live.“As a language teacher, it’s always interesting to see that some of

these terms are usually new colloquialisms, or are rooted or borrowed from another language,” he said. “As a non-native speaker, I must con-fess it’s fun to see English speakers stumbling a bit for a change.”

Here’s how Touma breaks down the proper pronunciations for the most commonly misspoken words:■ Cheugy (CHOO-gee): A trendy term popularized by Gen Z and used to mock an outdated and unfashionable aesthetic typically associ-ated with millennials, such as “Live, Laugh, Love” signs.■ Chipotle (chih-POHT-lay): The American fast food chain became the center of a viral trend this year challenging Baby Boomers to pro-nounce the name.■ Dalgona (tal-goh-NAH): A Korean treat made with melted sug-ar and baking soda, popularized in Netfl ix’s “Squid Game.” (Touma notes that some speakers seem to produce a ”K” instead of the ”G” in the middle syllable.)■ Dogecoin (DOHJ-coin): A divisive cryptocurrency that began somewhat ironically before being popularized by Elon Musk, causing its value to dramatically increase.■ Eilish (EYE-lish): The singer Billie Eilish, whose album “Happier Than Ever” was released this year to critical acclaim and nominated for the Grammy Awards’ Album of the Year.■ Omicron (AH-muh-kraan / OH-mee-kraan): A new variant of COVID-19 fi rst identifi ed in November, named in keeping with the World Health Organization’s system of identifying variants with Greek letters. (Touma notes it’s pronounced differently in the US and the UK.)

LOS ANGELES: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit fi led by actress Rose McGowan alleging that Harvey Weinstein engaged in racketeering to silence her and derail her career before she ac-cused him of rape.

Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed the suit on Monday because McGowan, who fi red her lawyers last month and was acting as her own attorney, failed to meet fi ling deadlines that had been extended for her.

Wright had dismantled much of McGowan’s suit last year, but has now thrown it out entirely. Its central claim, that Weinstein vio-lated federal racketeering law, was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refi led.

Weinstein Spokesman Juda S. Engelmayer said in an email Tues-day that “out of the public glare, with proper time, legal work, evi-dence and facts, this is the way we believe these suits will ultimately all go. A chapter is put behind as Mr Weinstein keeps going forward to demonstrate the truth.”

A representative for McGowan who could comment could not immediately be found. She has not commented on the dismissal on social media.

The suit fi led in 2019 in Los Angeles said that Weinstein, along with two of his former lawyers and an Israeli intelligence fi rm, conspired to defraud, smear and marginalize McGowan as she was preparing to name Weinstein during the run-up to the explosion of the #MeToo movement late in 2017.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were victims of sexual abuse, unless they come forward publicly as McGowan repeatedly has.

In a different Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday, a judge re-jected a motion from Weinstein’s attorneys to dismiss a criminal indictment of Weinstein for 11 counts of sexual assault. Wein-stein’s lawyers had argued that an expert in “rape trauma syndrome” was improperly used by prosecu-tors in grand jury testimony.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape and seven other sexual assault counts. He is awaiting trial. No date has been set. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark: Defense attorneys for former reality TV star Josh Duggar have begun pre-senting their case to a federal jury with testimony from a computer analyst who said it’s possible that the computer where child pornog-raphy was downloaded could have been accessed remotely.

The testimony from forensic

computer analyst Michele Bush came hours after a Duggar family friend testifi ed under question-ing from prosecutors that Duggar admitted in 2003 to molesting, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Duggar, 33, is charged with receiving and possessing child pornography and faces up to 20

years in prison on each count if convicted. His federal trial began last week in northwest Arkansas.

The prosecution rested its case Monday and Duggar’s attorneys began calling witnesses shortly thereafter.

Duggar, featured on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” show, was charged in April. Prosecutors say

child pornography was download-ed to the computer in May 2019.

TLC pulled the reality TV show in 2015 over revelations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. In 2015, Duggar publicly apologized for his addiction and cheating on his wife, calling himself “the biggest hypocrite ever.” (AP)

Film

Variety

Med

ia

A natural movie star

Haim lives out Valley dream in ‘Licorice’By Lindsey Bahr

When Paul Thomas Anderson fi rst men-tioned to Alana Haim that he wanted to

put her in a movie, she assumed it would be as an extra walking through the frame, or some-thing. And she thought that would be pretty great.

They’d gotten to know one another’s families over the years. Anderson directed a few music videos for her and her sisters’ band HAIM, and their mother also happened to be Anderson’s fa-vorite art teacher when he was a young kid. But the ask meant even more than that. As a San Fer-nando Valley girl, there was no better chronicler of her home turf than PTA. “Boogie Nights” was the movie that made the Valley cool, she said.

Then one night, Haim got an email with no subject and a word document attached. It was an untitled Paul Thomas Anderson script and the main character’s name was Alana, a 20-something woman living in the Valley in the 1970s. He’d written it for her and wanted her to star. Her family would also appear.

“I obviously immediately said yes, and then I immediately went to sleep and thought to my-self, ‘What did I just get myself into?’” Haim laughed.

She had never even been in a fi lm before.But the 29-year-old needn’t have worried:

She is a natural movie star and has gotten near universal praise for her performance in “Li-corice Pizza,” opens in theaters everywhere on Christmas.

The Associated Press spoke to Haim about the fi lm, her costume and family. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: What was the fi rst day on set like?

Haim: The fi rst day on set I can explain as pure chaos. The closest I’d ever gotten to a movie set was doing the backlot tour at Univer-sal Studios. It was exactly how I pictured it in my brain. I think the one thing that was missing was just like a camel being taken through like those old timey movie sets. It felt like there were a million people on set and honestly felt like the world was spinning at 100 miles per hour. And then all of a sudden in a snap, it was just still and everyone had just miraculously disap-peared. And then we heard “Action!” and Brad-ley Cooper walked out. That was the fi rst time anyone had seen him as Jon Peters, including me and Cooper (Hoffman, her co-star). We had not had any contact with him before we started shooting. And that was day one. The fi rst sec-ond of shooting was Bradley Cooper coming down the hallway and intimidating Cooper. It was insane. We were fully diving into the deep end for that.

AP: It’s like a “Shallow” reference!Haim: Yeah, exactly, (singing) Sha-la-la-la.AP: The ’70s seem to loom large for a lot of

LA kids. How did you get yourself in the mind-set of the time?

Haim: I’ve always been in awe of the ’70s. That’s when my mom was in her early 20s and I think if I could hold up a magic mirror and ask it for anything it would be “Can you show me my mom dancing in the 70s?” And it’s no secret that me and my siblings in our band were heavily infl uenced by ’70s music, so it felt like second nature to me. When you’re on set and everything around you is period, it felt it just felt right and I felt like this was my era.

AP: Did you have any input on your cos-

tumes? Did you get to keep anything?Haim: I wish I kept my whole wardrobe.

That’s like my dream wardrobe. Alana Kane’s wardrobe is just impeccable. I had a lot of say. I did my own hair and makeup for the whole movie, which is why there’s a lot of acne every-where because I don’t know how to do my hair and makeup, but that’s what it would be if I was a young woman in the early ’70s and we wanted it to be very realistic. We wanted to show what real people look like. Even when I was grow-ing up in the Valley, you couldn’t wear makeup because you would sweat it off.

AP: What was it like acting with your fam-ily? Was your mom thrilled?

Haim: She was so happy. I mean, what a full circle to teach Paul when he was 7 or 8 years old and then now be in one of his movies. I think she cried the whole day. And also my dad’s hilarious. My dad’s the funniest person I know and I’m my dad’s biggest fan and the fact that now there is a camera to capture how funny he is is the best scenario for me. And all that was improv.

AP: Do you want to keep being in movies now, or, like just Paul’s movies?

Haim: Can you ask Paul this question? That’s like my dream. And Paul is the dream and he feels like family. And he made me fall in love with this chapter of my life. It could have gone a completely different way. I was so nervous to do this movie, and he made me feel like I could accomplish anything. And that’s how he’s made me feel since the day that I met him, even doing music videos with him. I’m incredibly lucky that I have him on my team cheering me on and I’m very lucky to be on his team. (AP)

Weinstein McGowan

TH

UR

SDA

Y, D

EC

EM

BE

R 9

, 202

1

SPORTSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

14

Tourists secure an innings and 8-run victory

Sajid’s bowling leads Pakistan past Bangladesh in 2nd testDHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 8, (AP): Offspinner Sajid Khan ended with a match haul of 12-128 as Pakistan broke Bangladesh’s stubborn resistance to secure an innings and eight-run victory in the rain-hit second and fi nal test on Wednesday.

Bangladesh was forced to follow-on after be-ing wrapped up for 87 in the fi rst innings and was bowled out for 205.

With the light gradually fading, Bangla-desh’s last-wicket pair of Taijul Islam and Eba-dot Hossain resisted for 34 balls to raise a hope of salvaging the test.

But Sajid broke the partnership, dismissing Taijul leg-before to help Pakistan win the game.

Sajid claimed 4-86 to follow up his opening 8-42, the fourth-best total by a Pakastani bowl-er in an innings.

“The team, the captain trusted me to do the job,” Sajid said. “The plan was to go for the win, and we tried to keep it tight and bowl on one spot. The entire team gets credit for their effort.”

Pakistan declared its fi rst innings at 300-4 after only 63.2 overs were possible in the fi rst three days because of rain and bad light. The third day was entirely washed out and only 6.2 overs were possible on Day 2.

Resuming on 76-7, Bangladesh was quickly dismissed for 87 and Babar Azam forced the follow-on.

Fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-31) and Hasan Ali (2-37) then got into act with the new ball, leaving Bangladesh 25-4.

But Bangladesh raised a bit hope as Mush-fi qur Rahim and Liton Das combined for 73 runs in 25 overs before Sajid rattled the stump of Liton for 45.

Shakib Al Hasan joined Mushfi qur Rahim and added 49 runs before the latter was run out

for 48 after trying for a risky single.Shakib and Mehidy Hasan then frustrated the

Pakistani attack and Babar came to bowl, getting the breakthrough with his offspin as Mehidy went for sweep and was trapped leg-before.

A quick delivery from Sajid then broke the stump of Shakib.

Shakib was his side’s top second-inning scorer

with 63, becoming only the sixth player to com-plete a double of 4,000 runs and 200 wickets in tests. He’s the fastest to achieve the feat, in 59 tests to eclipse the mark of England’s Ian Botham of 69.

“It was a disappointing performance, par-ticularly our batting. There’s no excuse. We batted poorly,” Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque said. “The top four were not good. We

lost seven wickets in one session on the fourth day. We are making the same mistakes again. It was tough to bat out there but Mushfi qur, Shakib and Liton tried hard.”

Pakistan won the fi rst test by eight wickets before winning the three-match T20 series.

It was Bangladesh’s 93rd test loss in 123 match-es, with 44 of them coming by an innings margin.

Kuwait’s shooters top Asian Skeet, Trap rankings for NovemberKUWAIT CITY, Dec 8, (KUNA): Kuwait’s shooters came on the top of the general rankings of Asia for November in the “Skeet” and “Trap” categories.

According to the classifi cation made by the Asian Shooting Confedera-tion, Kuwait’s shooter Abudllah Al-Tariqi topped the general ranking in Skeet with 2,472 points followed by UAE’s Said bin Fattis and South Korean Lee Jun Geun, Kuwait Shooting Club said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Talak Al-Tariqi came fi rst in the Trap con-test with 1,344 points followed by China’s Yu Hexing and Abdulrah-man Al-Faihan of Kuwait with 959, it added.

The excellent performance of Kuwaiti shooters on international and continental levels made due to the political leadership and sports offi cials’ support, and tremendous efforts made by Kuwaitis athletes during training and championships, it noted.

CRICKET

‘Everyone is a bit scared’

Conte says 8 Spurs players, five staff have ‘coronavirus’LONDON, Dec 8, (AP): Eight Totten-ham players and fi ve members of staff at the club have tested positive for the coronavirus, manager Antonio Conte said Wednesday.

“Every day we are having people with COVID,” Conte said at a news conference a day before a match against French team Rennes in the Eu-ropa Conference League.

Conte said he has 11 players avail-able for the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

UEFA rules state a game must go ahead as long as a club has at least 13 senior players available, including at least one goalkeeper.

Conte said “everyone is a bit scared” at the club because people are coming into contact with others who have test-ed negative but who later test positive.

“At the end of the training session today, again one player is positive, an-other member of staff is positive,” he said. “Tomorrow, who? Me? Another player? Anther member of staff? We continue in this way but the situation is serious.”

Conte said he is concerned players and staff members at Tottenham might be passing on the virus to their loved ones.

“We have families, we have con-tact with our families when we come back home,” a visibly emotional Conte said. “It is a situation that makes me upset.

Dressel and Ledeckywin athletes of yearMIAMI, Dec 8, (AP): Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky were honored as male and female athletes of the year at USA Swim-ming’s annual Golden Goggle awards.

Dressel repeated as athlete of the year after earning gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle, 100 free, and 100 butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics. He also was a key member of the winning men’s 4x100 free and 4x100 medley relays, becoming just the fourth Amer-ican male swimmer to win five golds at a single games.

Lightning rally late to beat Canadiens in Cup rematch

Buchnevich’s OT goal lifts Blues over Panthers 4-3

MONTREAL, Dec 8, (AP): Ondrej Palat scored with 38 seconds left, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Tampa Bay’s victory came ex-actly five months after the Light-ning beat the Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.

Nick Suzuki and Mike Hoffman scored for Montreal. Jake Allen stopped 24 shots.

Blues 4, Panthers 3, OTIn St. Louis, Pavel Buchnevich scored

a wraparound goal 53 seconds into over-time and St. Louis beat Florida.

The Blues split their back-to-back with Florida. Both games went to over-time.

Brandon Saad’s tip of Ivan Barba-shev’s shot broke a 2-all tie and gave the Blues their fi rst lead with 13:12 left in the third period.

Jonathan Huberdeau’s goal with 5:32 remaining tied it for the third time.

Ducks 2, Sabres 0In Buffalo, N.Y., Trevor Zegras

fl ipped a pass over the net to set up the go-ahead goal, Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves and Anaheim blanked Buf-falo.

Zegras scooped the puck onto the blade of his stick behind the net and lobbed it over goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s head. Sonny Milano was waiting on the right edge of the crease and batted the feed past Luukkonen’s glove for his eighth goal 5:14 into the second period.

Rangers 6, Blackhawks 2In Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks

forward Jujhar Khaira was stretchered off the ice after he was leveled by Ja-cob Trouba in the second period of New York’s victory.

Artemi Panarin had two goals and two assists against his fi rst NHL team, passing 500 career points and helping the Rangers to their seventh straight win. Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made

24 saves.Wild 4, Oilers 1

In Edmonton, Alberta, Cam Talbot made 38 saves against his former team and Minnesota shut down Edmonton for its seventh straight victory.

Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist. Marcus Foligno, Victor Rask and Dmitry Kulikov also scored for the Wild (18-6-1), off to the best start in franchise history with 37 points through 25 games.

Islanders 5, Senators 3In Ottawa, Ontario, Anders Lee had

two goals and New York snapped an 11-game losing streak with a win over Ottawa.

Oliver Wahlstrom, Kieffer Bellows and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Islanders, who last won on Nov. 6. Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots.

Maple Leafs 5, Blue Jackets 4In Toronto, Auston Matthews

scored twice, defenseman Morgan Ri-elly set up four goals and Toronto beat Columbus to stop a two-game skid.

Rielly set up power-play goals by Wil-liam Nylander and captain John Tavares, and two more from Matthews. His sec-ond goal came seven seconds after Tava-res put the Maple Leafs in front 4-1 late

in the second period.Nick Ritchie scored his fi rst goal

in his 27th game with Toronto. Jack Campbell made 28 saves for his NHL-leading 14th win.

Predators 5, Red Wings 2In Detroit, Roman Josi beat four De-

troit defenders for a fi rst-period goal, Ryan Johansen scored on a power play and Nashville defeated the Red Wings.

The loss snapped Detroit’s fi ve-game winning streak and its fi ve-game home winning streak.

Josi took a feed from Dante Fabbro as he sped into the Red Wings zone and skated 1-on-4 through the defense before beating Alex Nedeljkovic on the forehand.

Hurricanes 4, Jets 2In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Martin Necas

and Vincent Trocheck scored power-play goals to lead Carolina over Winnipeg.

Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. Nino Niederreiter added two assists and Frederik Andersen made 16 saves in the opener of a fi ve-game road trip.

Sharks 5, Flames 3In San Jose, Calif., Tomas Hertl

scored his fourth career hat trick and San Jose used a three-goal barrage in the second period to beat Calgary.

The Pacifi c Division-leading Flames broke out to a 3-1 lead early in the sec-ond before the Sharks responded with goals from Erik Karlsson, Logan Cou-ture and Hertl to take the lead.

St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso (35) blocks a shot from Florida Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe (23) during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Dec. 7, in St. Louis. (AP)

Montreal Canadiens’ Alexander Romanov and Tampa Bay Light-ning’s Zach Bogosian square off during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Dec 7, in Mon-

treal. (AP)

Tottenham Hotspur manager Anto-nio Conte reacts during the English Premier League soccer match be-tween Tottenham Hotspur and Nor-wich City, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on Dec 5. (AP)

NHL Results/Standings

WASHINGTON, Dec 8, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Tuesday.

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GAFlorida 25 17 4 4 38 96 71Toronto 27 18 7 2 38 85 66Tampa Bay 25 16 5 4 36 84 67Detroit 26 13 10 3 29 73 83Boston 21 12 8 1 25 61 56Buffalo 25 8 14 3 19 70 92Ottawa 24 7 16 1 15 63 93Montreal 27 6 18 3 15 61 96

Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAWashington 26 16 4 6 38 92 65NY Rangers 24 17 4 3 37 74 59Carolina 24 17 6 1 35 79 54Pittsburgh 25 12 8 5 29 75 68Columbus 24 13 11 0 26 80 80New Jersey 23 9 9 5 23 67 79Philadelphia 23 8 11 4 20 56 79NY Islanders 21 6 10 5 17 43 64

Western ConferenceCentral Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GAMinnesota 25 18 6 1 37 96 72St Louis 25 13 8 4 30 84 73Nashville 25 14 10 1 29 73 70Colorado 22 13 7 2 28 92 76Dallas 22 13 7 2 28 64 59Winnipeg 25 12 9 4 28 76 72Chicago 25 9 14 2 20 56 81Arizona 25 5 18 2 12 44 93

Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GACalgary 26 15 6 5 35 84 56Anaheim 27 14 8 5 33 89 78Edmonton 24 16 8 0 32 87 74San Jose 26 14 11 1 29 71 71Vegas 24 14 10 0 28 81 73Los Angeles 24 10 10 4 24 64 67Seattle 25 9 14 2 20 73 90Vancouver 26 9 15 2 20 64 80

Note: Two points for a win one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.

Tampa Bay 3 Montreal 2NY Islanders 5 Ottawa 3Nashville 5 Detroit 2Toronto 5 Columbus 4Anaheim 2 Buffalo 0

Carolina 4 Winnipeg 2St Louis 4 Florida (OT) 3NY Rangers 6 Chicago 2Minnesota 4 Edmonton 1San Jose 5 Calgary 3

SWIMMING

SOCCER

ICE HOCKEY

SPORTSARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021

15

Texas Tech tops Tennessee in OT

Villanova beats Syracuse behind Moore’s 18 pointsNEW YORK, Dec 8, (AP): Justin Moore scored 18 points, Collin Gil-lespie had 14 and No. 6 Villanova beat Syracuse 67-53 in the Jimmy V Clas-sic.

Jermaine Samuels added 13 for the Wildcats (7-2) in their 22nd win at Madison Square Garden since 2014.

Gillespie made the play of the game when he picked off a late Syracuse pass and hit a bounce pass to a streak-ing Samuels for the one-handed jam down the lane and a 10-point lead that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Jimmy Boeheim led the Orange (5-4) with 21 points and Joe Girard III had 11.

Texas Tech 57, Tennessee 52In New York, Terrence Shannon,

Jr. had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Texas Tech continued its run of Jimmy V Classic upsets in an of-fensively anemic overtime win over Tennessee.

Texas Tech (7-1) might want to petition to play in the Jimmy V Clas-sic every season. The unranked Red Raiders knocked off No. 1 Louis-ville in 2019.

Tuesday’s game was classic in title only. Want offense? You wouldn’t fi nd it at Madison Square Garden, where the Vols (6-2) missed a whopping 34 of 40 3-pointers overall and shot only 27% overall in regulation from the fl oor.

John Fulkerson led the Vols with 10 points, followed by three players with nine points.

Kansas 78, UTEP 52In Kansas City, Mo., Ochai Ag-

baji scored 23 points, Christian Braun added 20 and Kansas tuned up for this weekend’s return of the Border War by blowing out UTEP.

David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot added eight points apiece for the Jayhawks (7-1), who led by 21 at halftime and weren’t threatened the rest of the way.

Souley Boom had 18 points and Ke-onte Kennedy 11 for UTEP (4-4).

Now, the Jayhawks turn their at-tention to Saturday’s showdown with Missouri. The bitter rivals haven’t played a regular-season game since the Tigers bolted for the SEC nearly a decade ago.

Kentucky 76, Southern 64In Lexington, Ky., Oscar

Tshiebwe scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime despite being in foul trouble, TyTy Washington Jr. added 14 points and both Wildcats keyed small runs to help Kentucky top Southern for its seventh consecutive victory.

Jayden Saddler had 18 points, Brion Whitley added 14 points and Tyrone Lyons 12 for Southern (3-6), which dropped its second consecutive game.

Kentucky (7-1) was playing for the fi rst time in eight days. Tshiebwe end-ed up with 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double - the most in the nation this season.

Arkansas 86, Charlotte 66In Fayetteville, Ark., J.D. Notae

recorded his first career double-double and Arkansas rolled over Charlotte.

Notae fi nished with 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Razorbacks (9-0) took control of the game in the fi rst half and never let up.

Arkansas sophomore Jaylin Wil-liams scored a career-high 15 points and added eight rebounds. Four play-

ers scored in double-fi gures for the Razorbacks.

Austin Butler led Charlotte (4-4) with 14 points and Jahmir Young fi n-ished with 10.

USC 80, E. Kentuckyin Los Angeles, Isaiah Mobley had a

career-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 16 Southern California beat Eastern Kentucky .

The Trojans (9-0, 2-0 Pac-12) are off to their best start since 2016-17 when they opened 14-0.

Mobley hit a career-high fi ve 3-pointers and his rebounds tied his career high. Drew Peterson added 15 points, Chevez Goodwin added 14 points and Max Agbonkpolo added 12 points for the Trojans.

The Colonels (5-5) dropped their fourth in a row. They were led by Braxton Beverly with 16 points.

Tennessee guard Kennedy Chan-dler (1) drives past Texas Tech for-ward Kevin Obanor during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Jimmy V Classic on

Dec 7, in New York. (AP)

Nets ‘hand’ Mavericks’5th straight home loss

Lakers handle Celtics 117-102, split rivalry for season

DALLAS, Dec 8, (AP): Kevin Durant scored 24 points, James Harden had 23 points and 12 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets beat Dallas 102-99, handing the Mavericks their fifth con-secutive home loss.

The Eastern Conference-leading Nets erased a 17-point third-quar-ter deficit to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Brooklyn squandered a double-digit lead after halftime in a loss to Chicago.

Luka Doncic scored 28 points but had another rough night from 3-point range except for the 30-footer he banked in just before the fi rst-half buzzer. Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Harden, who also had nine re-bounds, easily beat Doncic one-on-one for a layup and Brooklyn’s biggest lead at 100-97 with 1:23 remaining. The Nets didn’t take their fi rst lead until the middle of the fourth quarter.

Dallas didn’t make a basket after Doncic’s short jumper with 3:51 to go.

Lakers 117, Celtics 102In Los Angeles, LeBron James

scored 30 points, Russell Westbrook added 24 points and 11 assists, and Los Angeles beat Boston in the latest chapter of the NBA’s most storied ri-valry.

Anthony Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who produced one of their best recent performances in their fourth victory in six games overall. Los Angeles made 56.5% of its shots in the first three quarters and throttled Jayson Tatum’s supporting cast defensive-ly.

Tatum scored 14 of his 34 points in a fi rst-quarter blitz for the Celtics, who dropped to 1-2 on their four-game West Coast trip. Jaylen Brown sat out his third straight game with a strained right hamstring, and nobody else man-aged more than Robert Williams III’s 13 points for Boston.

Boston and Los Angeles split their season series 1-1 for the fi fth straight campaign.

Knicks 121, Spurs 109In San Antonio, R.J. Barrett made

a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 32 points, and New York beat San Antonio to snap a three-game skid.

Alec Burks scored 18 points, Im-manuel Quickley added 16 points and Julius Randle had 15 for the Knicks, who hadn’t won at San Antonio since Jan. 2, 2014.

Derrick White had 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Spurs, who have dropped two straight after a season-long three-game win-ning streak. Dejounte Murray added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Undefeated Colorado women rout Southern Utah 81-47

Ohio State easily handles Mount St. Mary’sCOLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec 8, (AP): Jacy Sheldon scored 13 of her 19 points in the fi rst half and No. 20 Ohio State jumped out early and cruised to a 94-50 victory over Mount St. Mary’s.

Ohio State (7-1) has won con-secutive games since its eight-point loss at Syracuse on Dec. 1. Taylor Mikesell added 15 points for the Buckeyes. Gabby Hutch-erson, Rebeka Mikulasikova and Tanaya Beacham each had 13.

Ohio State used a 25-7 fi rst quarter to build a 51-22 lead at the break.

Michaela Harrison and Aryna Taylor fi nished with eight points apiece for Mount St. Mary’s (1-6).

Colorado 81, Southern Utah 47In Cedar City, UTAH, Quay

Miller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead undefeated Colorado over Southern Utah for its ninth straight win.

Colorado (9-0) has double-digit wins in eight games and is off to its best start since going 12-0 in 2019-20. Frida Formann had 11 points for the Buffaloes. Mya Hol-lingshed and Jaylyn Sherrod added nine points apiece.

Darri Dotson scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting to lead South-ern Utah (4-5).

Colorado coach JR Payne re-turned to Cedar City for the fi rst time since 2014, when she led the Thunderbirds to a Big Sky Confer-ence championship. The Buffaloes had won the previous four games in the series, all at home.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates winning the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in front of the second placed Red Bull driver

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, in Jeddah, on Dec 5. (AP)

Mercedes F1 team & firm end deal opposed by fire survivorsLONDON, Dec 8, (AP): Building materials maker Kingspan says it has agreed with the Mercedes-AMG Petro-nas Formula One racing team to end a partnership deal after protests from families of people who died in a high-rise fi re in London.

The company said in a statement that it was “ deeply aware of the sensitivities raised in recent days’’ by the deal. “So we have jointly agreed that it’s not ap-propriate to move forward at the current point in time,’’ Kingspan said.

The team announced a sponsorship deal last week to allow Kingspan that allowed the company to put its logo on the nose cone of world champion

Lewis Hamilton’s car beginning with a weekend race in Saudi Arabia.

Survivors and family members of the 72 people who died in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fi re had asked the team to sever its ties with Kingspan. The fi re started in a fourth fl oor refrigerator and raced up the residential building, which experts said likely was caused by fl ammable materials used in an ex-terior renovation.

Kingspan reiterated Wednesday that it had nothing to do with the refur-bishment project blamed for the fi re, though its insulation was used without its knowledge.

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff apolo-gized to family members after they complained. He said in a statement last week that he hoped to meet with Grenfell Tower survivors as soon as possible.

MOTOR RACING

BASKETBALL

BASKETBALL

BASKETBALL

Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden (13) gets past Dallas Mavericks (center) Kristaps Porzingis (right), for a shot in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, on Dec 7. (AP)

Krejickova gets 2 honors

Barty wins 2nd WTA Player of YearST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec 8, (AP): Ash Barty’s Wimbledon title and hold on the No. 1 ranking helped her win WTA Player of the Year for the second time in voting results announced.

Barbora Krejcikova was selected as Most Improved Player and shared the Doubles Team of the Year award with Katerina Siniakova. Krejcikova was the fi rst woman since 2000 to win both the singles and doubles championships at the French Open.

Emma Raducanu was picked as New-comer of the Year after winning the US Open at age 18 and becoming the fi rst player to go from qualifying rounds all the way to a Grand Slam title.

Carla Suárez Navarro is the Come-back Player of the Year after returning from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma to play on tour and represent Spain in the Billie Jean

King Cup fi nals. Barty also was the WTA Player of the Year in 2019. This season,

she led the tour with fi ve titles, including her second Grand Slam championship at the All England Club.

The 25-year-old Australian also fi n-ished at No. 1 in the year-end rankings for the third season in a row. Krejcikova had never won a singles title before tak-ing three in 2021, including at Roland Garros, and she rose from No. 65 at the end of 2020 to a high of No. 3 in the singles rankings.

Krejcikova and Siniakova were rec-ognized as the Doubles Team of the Year for the second time, after 2018. They won the French Open, the WTA Finals and an Olympic gold medal to-gether this year.

TENNIS

NBA Standings/Results

WASHINGTON, Dec 8, (AP): Results and stand-ings from the NBA games on Tuesday.Brooklyn 102 Dallas 99New York 121 San Antonio 109LA Lakers 117 Boston 102

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L Pct GBBrooklyn 17 7 .708 —Philadelphia 13 11 .542 4Boston 13 12 .520 4-1/2New York 12 12 .500 5Toronto 11 13 .458 6

Southeast Division W L Pct GBMiami 14 11 .560 —Washington 14 11 .560 —Charlotte 14 12 .538 -1/2Atlanta 13 12 .520 1Orlando 5 20 .200 9

Central Division W L Pct GBChicago 17 8 .680 —Milwaukee 16 9 .640 1Cleveland 13 12 .520 4Indiana 10 16 .385 7-1/2Detroit 4 19 .174 12

Western ConferenceSouthwest Division

W L Pct GBMemphis 14 10 .583 —Dallas 11 12 .478 2-1/2San Antonio 8 15 .348 5-1/2Houston 7 16 .304 6-1/2New Orleans 7 19 .269 8

Northwest Division W L Pct GBUtah 16 7 .696 —Denver 11 12 .478 5Minnesota 11 13 .458 5-1/2Portland 11 14 .440 6Oklahoma City 7 16 .304 9

Pacific Division W L Pct GBGolden State 20 4 .833 —Phoenix 20 4 .833 —LA Clippers 13 12 .520 7-1/2LA Lakers 13 12 .520 7-1/2Sacramento 10 14 .417 10

In this, Feb 2, 2021, file photo Australia’s Ash Barty reacts after defeating Romania’s Ana Bogdan in their match during a tuneup tour-nament ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Mel-

bourne, Australia. (AP)

THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Published by: Arab Times Publishing House

Editor-in-ChiefAHMED AL JARALLAH

Editorial Office:Airport Road, ShuwaikhP.O. Box 2270, 13023 Safat, Kuwait

Telephone: 24813566 & 24849144Fax: 24818267E-mail: arabtimes@arabtimesonline.com

Advertising: Tel: 55633481Fax: 24911307E-mail: advt@arabtimesonline.com

Annual Subscriptions:Individuals KD 45/- Companies and Offi cialDepartments KD 75 Airmail charges extra for overseas

Tel: 24849144Fax: 24839487

Latest sports scores at — http://sports.arabtimesonline.com

ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021 16

SportsMorocco’s Mohammed Nahiri (left), is challenged by Saudi Arabia’s Muhannad Alshan-qiti during the group C Arab Cup soccer match between Morocco and Saudi Arabia at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Morocco won 1-0. (AP)

Atletico advance to last 16, strollfor PSG as Liverpool stay ‘perfect’

Leipzig upset City; Real win Group D, Haller makes history

PORTO, Dec 8, (AP): Three red cards, on-field brawls, countless chances and a flurry of late goals. A wild, win-or-bust match in the Champions League between Porto and Atletico Madrid had it all.

In the end, it was Atletico cel-ebrating a place in the last 16 of Europe’s top club competition with a 3-1 win, emerging from a three-way fight for qualifica-tion in the final round of group games.

On a night when Ajax striker Se-bastien Haller became an unlikely history-maker, Real Madrid fi n-ished top of their group, and Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi ran amok for Paris Saint-Germain, much of the focus on the next-to-last night of group play was on the Group B fi na-le as three teams vied to be runners-up to Liverpool.

Porto started the night in second place, a point ahead of Atletico and AC Milan, which hosted Liv-erpool.

Milan wound up losing 2-1, meaning the winners of the all-Iberian match at the Estadio do Dragao would advance. It turned ugly, unsurprisingly given the stakes, with Porto having two players red-carded after Atletico had Yannick Carrasco sent off for swinging his arm around an oppo-nent’s neck.

Atletico were outplayed for much of the game but was oppor-tunistic in front of goal, with An-toine Griezmann scoring the 56th-minute opener at a corner and both Angel Correa and Rodrigo De Paul adding breakaway goals after the 90th minute.

It sparked wild celebrations on the touchline by Atletico’s fa-mously passionate coach, Diego Simeone, and striker Luis Suarez, who was forced off injured after 13 minutes.

Porto earned the consolation of a third-place finish and a spot in the Europa League knockout play-offs.

With their victory, Liverpool became the first English team to win all six of its group games in a single Champions League cam-paign.

Messi and Mbappe had some fun in PSG’s group closer. It was anything but fun for Manchester City.

City manager Pep Guardiola se-lected a strong lineup for the 2-1 loss at Leipzig despite his team being guaranteed as the Group A winners and in the middle of a busy domestic schedule.

City were sloppy at the back in conceding goals to Dominik Szobo-szlai and Andre Silva before having right back Kyle Walker sent off for a rash tackle from behind on Silva, meaning the team will be missing a key defender for the fi rst leg of the last 16.

Riyad Mahrez scored City’s goal in a match played without fans be-cause of coronavirus restrictions.

Atletico Madrid’s Matheus Cunha tries to tackle Porto’s Vitinha (right), during the Champions League Group B soccer match between FC Porto and Atletico Madrid at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal. (AP)

Egypt, Algeria cruise into quartersDOHA, Dec 8, (KUNA): The Al-geria and the Egypt drew 1-1 in a Group D showdown of the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup with both teams forging ahead into the quarterfi nals.

Mohammad Lamin scored the opener for Algeria in 19th minute while Amr El Solia equalized in 60th minute.

Both team qualifi ed for the

quarterfi nals with each of them having seven points.

In another game of the same group, Lebanon defeated Sudan 1-0, with both of them quitting the competition.

SOCCER

Leipzig fi nished third to stay in European competition.

It was a stroll for second-place PSG in a 4-1 win over Club Brugge, with Mbappe scoring twice inside the fi rst seven minutes and -- at 22 years and 352 days -- becoming the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the competition.

Messi added his own double, the fi rst a curler from outside the area and the second a penalty, and has now scored against a record-extend-ing 38 different teams in the Cham-pions League.

Haller’s first season in the Champions League has been a his-toric one.

By converting an eighth-minute penalty for Ajax in their 4-2 win

over Sporting, the Ivory Coast strik-er became only the second player – after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017-18 – to score in all six matches of a single group stage. He fi nished with 10 goals in total.

It’s quite the rise to prominence for Haller, who was sold to Ajax by West Ham in January 2020 because he was struggling to get in the Eng-lish team.

Then, after joining Ajax, the Dutch club accidentally omitted Haller’s name when submitting their squad for the Europa League so he couldn’t be registered for the com-petition.

Ajax were already sure of winning Group C and fi nished on a maximum 18 points. Sporting had already se-cured second place.

Indeed, with Borussia Dort-mund certain of third place before their 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Be-siktas, the last round of matches in the group didn’t affect the standings.

In a match that determined which team fi nished top of Group D, Real Madrid beat Inter Milan 2-0 despite being without injured star striker Karim Benzema.

Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio, with a brilliant curler that flew in off the far post, scored the goals for the 13-time European champi-ons.

Inter, which were already sure of a top-two fi nish, had Italy midfi elder Nicolo Barella sent off for lashing out at Eder Militao.

In the other group game, Boban Nikolov scored a last-gasp equal-izer for Sheriff to draw at last-place Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1.

Sheriff’s Momo Yansane (left), challenges for the ball with Shakhtar’s Valeriy Bondar during the Champions League group D soccer match be-tween Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Sheriff Tiraspol at the Olympiyskiy sta-

dium in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP)

Dream start for Australia in Ashes

Cummins takes five wickets, England out for 147 on Day 1BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 8, (AP): England captain Joe Root won the toss, opted to bat and lost opener Rory Burns on the very fi rst delivery of the Ashes series, a late swinging yorker from Australia paceman Mitchell Starc.

It set the tone for the opening day Wednesday, which was more like open season for Australia’s pace bowling pack. England were bowled out for 147 in 51 overs, with ominous light-ning and thunder cracking to the west and south of the Gabba.

Pat Cummins took the last three wickets and fi nished with a fi ve-wicket haul in his fi rst innings as Australia captain.

Heavy rain and bad light combined to prevent any further play on Day 1.

“Dream start really,” Cummins said. “To keep them to 150 ... tremendous start.”

The overcast conditions rapidly grew more gloomy for the visitors after Starc took out Burns’ leg stump immediately, with Josh Hazlewood dismissing Dawid Malan (6) and Root (0) as England slipped to 11-3 in the sixth over.

When Cummins took his fi rst wicket - star allrounder Ben Stokes (5) caught low at third slip by Marnus Labus-chagne four balls after the fi rst drinks break - England were reeling at 29-4.

Opener Haseeb Hameed defi ed the attack and helped England to 59-4 at lunch, but was out for 25 early in the second session when he edged a Cum-mins’ delivery that moved away off the seam and was caught by Steve Smith at second slip.

Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler settled the innings, combining in a 50-run stand to staunch the fl ow of wickets before both were out in their 30s.

Buttler played an expansive drive for his fi fth boundary to reach 39 but was out next ball from Starc, edg-

ing behind to Alex Carey as England slumped to 112-6. England added six runs before Pope (35) top-edged an attempted hook and was caught by Hazlewood diving forward near the fi ne-leg boundary, giving allrounder Cameron Green his fi rst test wicket.

Cummins had Ollie Robinson (0) caught behind and Mark Wood (8) caught at short-leg and the stadium lights were turned on before he fi n-ished with 5-38 when he had Chris Woakes (21) caught in the deep by Hazlewood to fi nish off the innings.

The wickets of Root, who entered the game as the leading Test batter in 2021, and Stokes were the keys to keeping the England total under 150, Cummins said, but “it’s only fi rst in-nings of a fi ve Test-match series.”

It turns out, it was a good toss for Cummins to lose in his fi rst test since replacing Tim Paine as Australia’s captain. That left Root with a diffi -cult decision to make, considering the greenish wicket at the Gabba in over-cast conditions and with rain in the forecast.

Pope said there was no reason for England to panic, and the performance couldn’t be judged until both teams had batted on the pitch.

For the fi rst time since 1936, a wick-et fell on the fi rst ball of the Ashes series Down Under. England lost a wicket fi rst ball at the Gabba in ‘36 and slumped to 20-3, but recovered to win that match.

That seems a long way off for this England lineup, given the lack of prepa-ration caused by regular rain in recent weeks which affected their training ses-sions and and having to quarantine for two weeks after arriving in Australia.

England’s Ollie Pope is hit on the arm while batting during day one of the first Ashes cricket test at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia. (AP)

Australia’s Pat Cummins, second (left), is congratulated by team-mates after taking the wicket of England’s Haseeb Hameed during day one of the first Ashes cricket test at the Gabba in Brisbane, Aus-

tralia. (AP)

CRICKET

SOCCER