Infra projects reviewed

Transcription

1 INSTAGRAM /nobmdia LINKEDIN nwsofbahrain WHATSAPP FACEBOOK /nobmdia MAIL WEBSITE nwsofbahrain.com 22 TUESDAY JANUARY FILS ISSUE NO CELEBS Lady Gaga calls out Trump for govrnmnt shutdown Gaga has slammd US Prsidnt Donald Trump for th ongoing govrnmnt shutdown. During hr show hr, Gaga took out a momnt to criticis Trump and urgd him to put th govrnmnt back in businss.p14 OP-ED 8 Thrsa May, Britain s Kafkasqu Prim Ministr WORLD 5 Haily, Justin ar th sam, fls Irland Baldwin 14 CELEBS Passngrs shivr through 13-hour ordal on Canadian tarmac Indian Embassy to mark Rpublic Day On th occasion of th svntith Rpublic Day of India, th Embassy of India would b organising a flag hoisting crmony on Saturday, 26 January, 2019 at 7.30 am at th mbassy prmiss in Sf. Th flag hoisting crmony will b followd by a cultural programm highlighting th colourful and vibrant folk dancs of India. All mmbrs of th Indian community and frinds of India ar cordially invitd to participat in th clbrations and rqustd to rach th vnu by 7.15 am, th mbassy said in a statmnt issud. 02 Economic issus main priority 03 Non-rsidnts possss 6.7pc of Bahrain s assts, says survy 04 DON T MISS IT JLanka to invst $10 million in rnwabl nrgy sctor Infra projcts rviwd Th Housing Ministr s mmorandum was rfrrd to th Ministrial Committ for Dvlopmnt and Infrastructur Projcts. Manama Th Cabint chaird by His Royal Highnss Prim Ministr Princ Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa ystrday rviwd th progrss of 84 on-going roads, swag and construction projcts, mainly th Ring Road in Muharraq, th fourth bridg linking Busaitn and Bahrain Bay, Sanabis and Isa Town, th rvamp of Alba and Nuwaidrat junctions, and rvamp of roads Halat Bu-Mahr, Sanabis and Isa Town. Th projcts rviwd also includd Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway Bridg, th dvlopmnt of th tratmnt systm at Tubli Wastwatr Riyadh Fiv killd claring Houthi landmins A tam of xplosiv safty xprts in Ymn hav bn killd by a consignmnt of Houthi land mins that blw up whil thy wr bing transportd to b dstroyd. Th fiv tchnicians two from South Africa, on from Croatia, on from Bosnia and on from Kosovo wr part of th Saudi d-mining program in Ymn, known as Masam Projct. Road, swag and construction projcts among thos rviwd by th Cabint HRH th Prmir chairs th Cabint. Tratmnt Plant, as wll as th opration and maintnanc of swag ntwork stations, th long-trm car cntr and th Comprhnsiv Disability Complx in A Ali. Th sssion rviwd th tndrs launchd in 2018 within th Govrnmnt Action Plan for th budgt cycl of Figurs showd that a total of 119 tndrs for projcts, worth BD 278 million, had bn awardd in thr sctors, namly roads, swag and buildings. Thy also showd that in 2018, PROBE ON KSRlif joins with th rst of th global community in mourning th loss of ths highly committd profssionals CENTRE 3,500 housing units wr dlivrd by th govrnmnt until Dcmbr 2018 undr th Mazaya schm. 123 tndrs had bn launchd at an stimatd cost of BD188 m, and that 21 tndrs, costing BD243 m, had bn launchd Its aim is to locat and dstroy xplosiv dvics illgally plantd by Iranian-backd Houthi militias. Th King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Rlif Cntr (KSRlif ) said on Monday that th fiv xprts had did in th xplosion in Marib govrnorat arly on Sunday. A vhicl carrying mins and othr dvics xplodd whil n rout from Masam Projct s hadquartrs to a rmot location, whr thy wr to b dstroyd. and awardd undr th Gulf Dvlopmnt Programm. Th Cabint rviwd th govrnmnt s housing achivmnts, th most important of which is th implmntation of fiv housing towns at th sam tim during , in addition to dozns of housing projcts, costing about BD1.5 billion. Th govrnmnt managd to build 25,000 housing units manating from th Royal Ordr to build 40,000 units, and grantd mor than 4,500 building and purchas loans. It has allocatd BD 87 million to support 11,000 bnficiaris of th Mazaya programm, and providd 2,450 housing units through affordabl social housing in partnrship with th privat sctor. Th govrnmnt has providd, until Dcmbr 2018, 3,500 housing units through th Mazaya programm and about 4,500 ons through daling with th privat sctor, thus bringing th total contribution of th privat sctor to about 8,000 housing units. Whil rviwing a mmorandum submittd by th Housing Ministr, HRH th Prim Ministr gav dirctivs to continu dvloping housing policis to nsur th sustainability of housing srvics, and rduc waiting lists in light of th incrasing dmand for housing du to population growth, limitd gographical ara and high land costs. Th Housing Ministr s mmorandum was rfrrd to th Ministrial Committ for Dvlopmnt and Infrastructur Projcts. Bahrain flights from Kannur Flight srvics will b introducd from Kannur Intrnational Airport to Bahrain in th coming March, it is larnt. Th dcision was announcd following a mting of th Krala Chif Ministr Pinarayi Vijayan with Chif Excutiv Officrs of major Asian airlins. This is th fourth intrnational airport in th Indian stat, including th ons in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikod. Th airport is xpctd to srv mor than 1.5 million passngrs annually and has th capacity to handl 2,000 passngrs at a tim. SALE75 30%to City Cntr Bahrain Tl: Bahrain Mall Tl:

2 02 His Royal Highnss Prim Ministr Princ Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa strssd th nd to rach out to citizns nds by ministris and govrnmnt bodis without any dlay. H assrtd th importanc of handling citizns complaints and rmarks, dscribing optimising srvics as a priority for th govrnmnt. HRH th Prmir was spaking as h rcivd at Gudaibiya Palac ystrday th Dputy Prmirs, ministrs and officials and discussd with thm a numbr of srvics and vital projcts includd mainly in th govrnmnt s action plan. HRH Prmir congratulatd Manama His Royal Highnss Prim Ministr Princ Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa ystrday rcivd a tlphon call from Custodian of th Two Holy Mosqus King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Th Saudi King congratulatd HRH th Prmir on rcovring and prforming his dutis and prayd to Allah th Almighty to blss HRH th Prmir with abundant halth and happinss. Th Custodian of th Two Holy Mosqus took prid in strong fratrnal rlations binding th two brothrly countris and popls, wishing th Kingdom of Bahrain furthr progrss and prosprity. HRH th Prmir xprssd dpst thanks and apprciation to th Custodian of th Two Holy Mosqus for his nobl flings, hailing his knnss on gtting rassurd about his halth. H prayd to Allah th Almighty to guid th Saudi King on th path of succss in his ddicatd fforts to srv th Islamic and Arab nations. Economic issus main priority Hous committd to tak masurs that would boost conomy, says Spakr Ms Zainal rcivs th BCCI dlgation ld by Mr Nass. Th BCCI chairman wlcomd th sincr rprsntativs fforts to promot th political rforms and dvlopmnt achivmnts. Manama Council of Rprsntativs Spakr Fawzia Zainal strssd that th fifth lgislativ trm would b putting mor focus on conomic issus and th citizns standard of living, pointing out th stat s adoption of programms and projcts for incrasing th rvnus and rducing xpnditurs. This cam as th Spakr ystrday rcivd a dlgation from Bahrain Chambr of Commrc and Industry (BCCI) ld by Chairman Samr Abdullah Nass. Th Spakr affirmd th Council of Rprsntativs knnss to combin forcs with rlvant authoritis, chifly th BC- CI s Bit Al Tijar in th support of national conomy, citizns, mrchants and Bahraini invstors, highlighting th promotion of th commrcial and financial sctors to play its rol in th construction and progrss procss. A dcision was takn to form a joint committ to tak on its rsponsibilitis in th nxt stag. Th BCCI Chairman wlcomd th sincr Rprsntativs fforts to promot th political rforms and dvlopmnt achivmnts. H undrlind radinss to boost partnrship with th parliamnt in th intrst of th dmocratic and parliamntary march and improving th public srvics. NMS-DPS studnts mrg winnrs Swastika Prashanth Johncy Johnson Dkshita Pilli Dvraj Changkakati Ashika Thomas Th Nw Millnnium School, DPS Bahrain, addd yt anothr fathr in thir illustrious cap with its studnts making thir alma matr proud as thy hld aloft glittring trophis mrging as winnrs and runnrs-up in th Intr-Gulf English Dbat and Spch Comptition organisd by th Bahrain Kralya Samajam. Around 116 studnts from fiv CBSE schools across th Kingdom took part in th vnt. Among th 24 participants from th Nw Millnnium School, fiv studnts stood out and brought glory to th school. Ashika Thomas of grad XII, baggd th first position in th Spch Comptition whil a tam comprising Dvraj Changa Kati (XI-B), Dkshita Pilli (XI- C), Johncy Johnson (XI-A) and Swastika Prasanth (XI A) baggd th scond position in th dbat (Snior Catgory). All th participants wr awardd with participation crtificats. Th school managmnt and principal congratulatd th studnts, parnts and th mntors for this laudabl achivmnt.

3 03 Non-rsidnts possss 6.7pc of Bahrain s assts, says survy Th objctiv of th survy was to covr all activ major commrcial ntrpriss in th financial and non-financial sctors oprating in th national conomy. 9, , Forign Dirct Invstmnts Stock of inward FDI incrass by BD536m, th iga said Graph (1) Inward Forign Invstmnts (Million BD) of Bahrain Yar End Stock 2016 (Million BD) Yar End Stock 2017 (Million BD) 3, , Forign Portfolio Invstmnts 8, , Forign Othr Invstmnts 21, , Total Inward Forign Invstmnts Non-rsidnts hold 6.7 pr cnt of th Kingdom s assts, according to Bahrain Forign Invstmnt Survy. Th Information and Govrnmnt Authority (iga) in collaboration with th Economic Dvlopmnt Board (EDB), Cntral Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and Ministry of Industry, Commrc and Tourism conductd th Annual Forign Invstmnt Survys in 2018 for th rfrnc yars 2015 and Th survy obtaind data from significant ntrpriss that had accountd for most of total invstmnts and by various functional, gographical and industrial charactristics. Th objctiv of th survy was to covr all activ major commrcial ntrpriss in th financial and non-financial sctors oprating in th national conomy. Howvr, data could b obtaind only from privatly-ownd companis and public corporations. Intrnational financial transactions mad by individuals, non-commrcial stablishmnts and th govrnmnt wr not covrd xcpt thos transactd through Bahrain s rgistrd commrcial ntrpriss, th iga said in a statmnt issud. At th nd of 2017, liabilitis to non-rsidnts incrasd by 6.87 pr cnt or BD1, million from BD21,696.78m (as rportd for 2016) to BD23,186.46m, th survy said. Th valu of inward forign dirct invstmnts in Bahrain wr BD10,333.02m or 44.56pc and inward forign portfolio invstmnts at BD3,375.75m or 14.56pc of th total liabilitis. Th rmaining 40.88pc of th liabilitis to non-rsidnts wr for th BD9,477.69m inward othr forign invstmnts. Th stock of inward FDI had incrasd by BD536.22m. Th stock of inward forign portfolio invstmnts had dcrasd by 6.53pc or BD235.93m whil th inward othr forign invstmnts ros by BD1,189.40m or 14.35pc. Programm aims to crat profssional jwllry makrs Programm participants with snior xcutivs of th sponsoring firms. Harprt Kaur Th initiativ grants th top thr winnrs of th programm cash prizs and an opportunity to work full tim at Dvji Aurum. MR DEVJI Twnty Bahrainis took part in th apprnticship programm hld to dvlop profssional jwllry makrs and dsignrs. Th programm was organisd by Dvji Aurum in partnrship with Kuwait Financ Hous and th National Institut of Dsign in India. Spaking to Tribun, Mahsh Dvji, Managing Dirctor of Dvji Aurum, said: Th onmonth long talnt dvlopmnt programm took plac at Dvji Aurum Gold and Diamond Jwllry factory locatd in Bahrain Intrnational Invstmnt Park (BIIP) in Salman Industrial City Bahrain. Twnty applicants who wr slctd by Dvji Aurum in partnrship with KFH-Bahrain and th National Institut for Dsign (NID) from India to participat in Dvji Aurum s apprnticship programm for jwllry dsign. Th initiativ grants th top thr winnrs of th programm cash prizs and an opportunity to work full tim at Dvji Aurum, whil th othr participants will acquir th ncssary xprtis to qualify for suitabl vacancis in th rspctiv industry highlighting thir talnts and nabling thm to achiv thir drams. W ar glad to train th twnty slctd participants in our nw stat-of-th-art jwllry production facilitis locatd in Bahrain Intrnational Invstmnt Park. Bahrain Talnt initiativ is a major part of our stratgy to train and build highly skilld prsonnl that will supplmnt th industry s growth and dvlopmnt plans in dsign and jwllry making. By dvloping th jwllry sctor s national talnt pool, w will b abl to shap futur ladrs and artists that ar fully qualifid and quippd with th ncssary skill sts within spcialisd filds. W will nd to maintain this talnt pool of comptnt individuals and furthr dvlop thir skills. Comptition to instil pac valus in childrn Harprt Kaur Th Unitd Nations Information Cntr for th Gulf Countris (UNIC Manama) and th Lions Club of Riffa ar co-organising th Lions Club Annual Walk-In Essay and Painting Comptition for childrn to instil pac valus in thm. Th comptition, which will b hld on Friday 25th January 2019 at th Nw Millnnium School, Zinj, btwn 3.00 pm and 5.15 pm is opn and fr to all. Th opn contst coms with th objctiv to stimulat th inhrnt crativity of th youth of th country and prsnt a forum to xprss thir viws on topics that will b informd at th vnu. Th topic of th ssay comptition will b announcd at th vnu whil th thm of th painting comptition will b on Pac and th spcific topic will b announcd at th vnu. Th Unitd Nations Information Cntr for th Gulf Countris (UNIC Manama) is plasd to co-oprat with th Lions Club of Riffa in organising Lions Club Annual Walk-In Essay and Painting Comptition for childrn. UNIC Manama apprciats th work of Lions Club in Riffa towards charity and awarnss-raising UNIC Manama apprciats th work of Lions Club in Riffa towards charity and awarnss-raising campaigns. MR ALDARABI campaigns. Morovr, for many yars th Lions Club has workd sid by sid with th Unitd Nations in th pursuit of our shard goals and this initiativ is an xprssion of th UN and th Lions Club Foundation s commitmnt to promoting pac, halth, and th good ducation for all, Samir Imtair Aldarabi, Dirctor of Unitd Nations Information Cntr for th Gulf Stats told Tribun. Sanjay Gupta, Prsidnt of Lions Club of Riffa, said, Th Lions Club of Riffa is a notfor-profit organisation whos srvics ar ddicatd to th community through its voluntary activitis towards social causs.

4 04 JLanka to invst $10 million in rnwabl nrgy sctor Prmir solar and rnwabl nrgy tchnology solutions providr JLanka Intrnational is championing Bahrain s nxt stp towards solar convrsion and has announcd an invstmnt of up to US$10 million within th coming fiv yars in Bahrain s rnwabl nrgy sctor. 500 govrnmnt-ownd buildings in Bahrain including schools and hospitals will hav solar PV systms installd in th coming days. JLanka Intrnational is a prmir solar and rnwabl nrgy tchnology solutions providr Commncing th oprations in Bahrain, JLanka has bn commissiond by th Kingdom s Sustainabl Enrgy Unit (SEU) undr th suprvision of Dr Abdulhussain Mirza, Ministr of Elctricity and Watr, to conduct an xclusiv training programm in Bahrain to ducat and crtify solar PV contractors and consultants as wll as training EWA prsonnl on grid connction standards. JLanka has also bn appointd as lad consultant on a projct to install solar PV systms on mor than 500 govrnmnt ownd buildings in Bahrain including schools and hospitals. This coms on th back of th Bahrain Ptrolum Company (BAPCO) awarding Grn Innova, undr th consortium formd with JLanka, an opration and maintnanc W ar dlightd ovr xpanding our oprations intrnationally and Bahrain was an idal choic for our first ovrsas invstmnt. MR ELNEMR contract for th 5MW solar plant installd at th Univrsity of Bahrain and at various Bapco sits. Th launch of JLanka Intrnational marks th inauguration of JLanka Tchnologis first ovrsas businss ntity outsid of Sri Lanka and ss its intrnational hadquartrs basd in Bahrain. JLanka has a 40-mmbr tam of scintists, nginrs and tchnicians, as part of thir 400 plus staff, ddicatd to Rsarch and Dvlopmnt and, as a rsult, has succssfully dvlopd its own fast EV chargr, smart mtrs and powr optimisation dvics. Magdy Elnmr, Chif Businss Dvlopmnt Officr of JLanka Intrnational, commntd: W ar dlightd ovr xpanding our oprations intrnationally and Bahrain was an idal choic for our first ovrsas invstmnt. Bahrain s Govrnmnt has a clar commitmnt to rnwabl nrgy nablmnt and is thrfor th prfct location to launch and xpand a tchnology drivn company. Bahrain provids companis with th uniqu opportunity to xpand dirctly across th GCC, making it an important gatway for any company looking to accss th rst of th GCC. What s mor, th opportunity to tap into a young, motivatd and highly skilld workforc, is of paramount importanc for any nw industry, with th sharing of knowldg with th local Bahraini workforc crucial to th succss of JLanka s invstmnt. Dr Simon Galpin, Managing Dirctor, Bahrain Economic Dvlopmnt Board, said: Th fact that JLanka has chosn Bahrain as its first port of call for intrnational xpansion is a tstamnt to th conditions that xist hr for th solar powr industry. It is not just th focus and commitmnt put in plac by th govrnmnt through th NREAP (National Rnwabl Enrgy Action Plans), but also our highly skilld workforc and unparallld Govrnmnt support for innovativ tchnology. W wlcom th invstmnt from JLanka, a company whos application of nxt gnration tchnology can undoubtdly incras th fficincy and th financial fasibility of rnwabl nrgy projcts in Bahrain. Mntal halth tst for murdr cas accusd Th Public Proscution has chargd th accusd with intntional murdr and robbry. A Bahraini accusd of murdring two Asians with an intntion to rob thm will undrgo mntal halth tsts, according to sourcs. Th First High Criminal Court has adjournd th cas to January 29 for vrifying th rport that will b submittd by th mdical tam. Th man is accusd of murdring two Asians by hitting thm with a hammr. According to Public Proscutors, th accusd killd his first victim in Gafool. His first victim was a road His first victim was a road clanr. H hit him in th had using a hammr and mad off with BD16, which was stoln from th victim s wallt. PUBLIC PROSECUTORS clanr. H hit him in th had using a hammr and mad off with BD16, which was stoln from th victim s wallt. Aftr a fw months, h committd a similar crim in Tubli. And this tim th victim was collcting cartons from a garbag can whn th accusd hit him in th had using a hammr. Howvr, th scond victim hardly had anything with him to b stoln, th proscutors addd. Th Public Proscution has chargd th accusd with intntional murdr and robbry. VRsto officially opns for businss VRsto has rcntly launchd its first two brands, bringing th tast of Italy to customrs doorstps Manama For th first tim in th Kingdom, VRsto, which stands for virtual rstaurant has officially launchd in th hart of Adliya, Manama; th cloud kitchn aims to srvic th growing dmand for quality food dlivry in Bahrain with th convninc of ordring onlin; srving individuals as wll as corporat clints through thir catring srvics, offring various othr srvics to support th start-up cosystm in th Kingdom. Th brand nw concpt taking th local rstaurant industry by storm is th brainchild of Falcon Hospitality Group, and will offr four diffrnt cuisins from around th world undr a singl roof; Asian fusion, Italian, Mditrranan, Middl Eastrn, and Frnch pastris. VRsto has rcntly launchd its first two brands, bringing th tast of Italy to customrs doorstps with Jokr Pizza, W wantd to compltly transform th traditional rstaurant industry and tak our customrs on a gastronomic journy around th world. MR YOUSIF and srving up bst of Mditrranan and Middl Eastrn cuisins with Tarboush Xprss; with plans to launch anothr two brands, a fusion Asian as wll as a Frnch patissri soon. V Rsto s kitchn also boasts a ddicatd spac that srvs as a culinary incubator, which supports budding ntrprnurs in th food industry by proving thm with th tools, knowldg and stratgic guidanc nabling thm to grow into a thriving businss. Mr Yousif Abdulghani, Managing Dirctor and Partnr of Falcon Hospitality Group rvald, W wantd to compltly transform th traditional rstaurant industry and tak our customrs on a gastronomic journy around th world, offring thm a varity of choics of quality food prpard using only th frsh ingrdints by our tam of talntd chfs. Ultimatly, I wantd to contribut my xprinc in th food industry, and support th Kingdom s local talnt by providing thm with not only th quipmnt and spac, but a support systm of a skilld tam of F and B profssionals and chfs, working alongsid starts ups to dvlop and implmnt stratgic plans to grow thir businss, Mr Abdulghani addd. Riotr s sntnc uphld Th Fourth High Criminal Court has uphld th sntnc issud against a riot cas accusd. H was handd down fiv yars sntnc by th lowr court for unlawful assmbly and burning tyrs to block roads in Bilad Al Qadm ara. Th accusd told Proscutors that h along with othr riotrs actd upon a Twittr mssag, which askd thm to carry out riots across strts. Whil on group was taskd with blocking roads, th othr was askd to attack polic officrs at th scn, th accusd told Proscutors. CBB issus draft dirctivs on Digital Financial Advic Manama Th Cntral Bank of Bahrain (CBB) ystrday issud for consultation, draft dirctivs on Digital Financial Advic (also known as Robo-advic ) nabling its licnss to us tchnology to offr financial advic to thir clints. Th proposd dirctivs covr th ky rquirmnts applicabl to licnss who wish to us a digital financial advic tool as wll as th prudntial and conduct rquirmnts associatd with such digital advic in ordr to safguard th intrsts of clints. Th draft dirctivs will also allow FinTch firms that ar purly focusd on robo-advic Whil on group was taskd with blocking roads, th othr was askd to attack polic officrs at th scn. ACCUSED As plannd th first group blockd th road by burning tyrs, whil th scond hurld Molotov cocktails at polic officrs. Th accusd and othr riotrs wr arrstd following a thorough invstigation carrid out by th polic tams. to sk a licns from th CBB. Khalid Hamad, Excutiv Dirctor of Banking Suprvision, said: W ar plasd to announc th CBB s roll out of th digital financial advic ruls in lin with its hard push to dvlop th sctor and hlp st bst rgulatory standards for nw and innovativ srvics in financial srvics thus crating a sound cosystm to maintain Bahrain s strong position as a lading financial hub in th rgion. Th CBB is sking fdback on th consultation by 20th Fbruary 2019, th consultation papr shall b availabl on th CBB wbsit ( undr th opn consultations sction, th bank said in a prss rlas issud ystrday.

5 05 TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019 world Indian man killd by lion aftr scaling zoo wall Asiatic Lion (Courtsy of Tribun) Nw Dlhi, India An Indian man was mauld to dath by a lion aftr h scald th wall of a zoo in northrn Punjab stat, officials said ystrday. Th man climbd th 20-foot (six-mtr) wall of Chhatbir Zoo, hom to four lions, on Sunday and ntrd th rstrictd ara whr h was attackd. Haring his scrams, th staff rushd to try and rscu th man. H was an intrudr in th zoo. W took him to th hospital but h succumbd to his injuris, said Roshan Sunkaria from th stat forst dpartmnt. Th animal that attackd th man was an Asiatic lion -- a critically ndangrd spcis and a major tourist draw. Only around 500 xist in th wild, all in th Gir sanctuary in th wstrn Indian stat of Gujarat. Th authoritis hav not yt bn abl to contact th victim s family. Grmany plans to sanction Iran airlin Frankfurt am Main, Grmany Grmany plans to ban Iranian airlin Mahan Air from its airports, mdia rportd Monday, in an scalation of sanctions adoptd by th Europan Union against Iran ovr attacks on opponnts in th bloc. Th Fdral Aviation Offic (LBA) will this wk suspnd th oprating licns of Iranian airlin Mahan, rportd Munich-basd daily Suddutsch Zitung. A spoksman Polic bust Aus-China baby formula crim ring Sydny, Australia Six popl hav bn chargd aftr Australian authoritis uncovrd a multi-million-dollar crim syndicat staling baby formula and vitamins from major rtailrs across Sydny for shipmnt to China, polic said ystrday. Four mmbrs of on family and two othr mn hav bn arrstd and chargd ovr th organisd criminal group that Nw South Wals Polic bliv has opratd for svral yars. W r thinking this is quit Rprsntativ pictur an xpansiv criminal group that was xploiting an ovrsas Danny Dohrty told rportrs markt at th disadvantag of in Sydny. th Australian public, NSW Polic Dtctiv Suprintndnt wr still probing whr Dohrty said invstigators th for th forign ministry in Brlin told th papr it dos not inform about intrnal political dcision-making procsss. Mahan, Iran s scond-largst carrir aftr Iran Air, flis four srvics a wk btwn Thran and th Grman citis Dussldorf and Munich. Th EU arlir this month targtd sanctions at Iran s scurity srvics and two of thir ladrs, accusd of involvmnt in a sris of murdrs and plannd attacks against Thran critics in th Nthrlands, Dnmark and Franc. Brussls masurs includd frzing funds and financial assts blonging to Iran s intllignc ministry and individual officials, but did not targt any companis. By contrast Mahan Air was blacklistd by th US in products wr bing sold, but allgd that so far, thousands of shipmnts of baby formula wr snt to China. Prmium baby milk formula, vitamins and hony from Australia ar highly sought aftr in China, whr consumrs ar farful of lax food safty standards that hav rsultd in daths and halth scars. Th invstigation kickd off in Fbruary last yar aftr polic rcivd rports of thfts from Sydny rtailrs. Invstigators said thy sarchd two Sydny homs in August and sizd 4,000 tins of baby formula, larg quantitis of vitamins, Manuka hony as wll as mor than Aus$215, , as Washington said th carrir was providing tchnical and matrial support to an lit unit of Iran s Rvolutionary Guards known as th Quds Forc. Rprsntativ pictur ( Courtsy of Middl East Monitor) (US$154,000) in cash. Th latst arrst was of a 31-yar-old man on Saturday at Sydny Airport aftr h arrivd on a flight from China. It s bn a mticulous invstigation... and w anticipat furthr arrsts will happn, Dohrty said, adding that polic stimatd around Aus$1 million worth of powdrd milk was stoln in just th past 12 months. Polic will continu to pursu ths popl, bcaus not only ar thy making a quick dollar out of grd and disadvantaging mums and dads of Australia, thy ar litrally taking baby formula out of th mouths of babs. Taliban attack kills at last 12 in cntral Afghanistan Ghazni, Afghanistan At last 12 popl wr killd ystrday in a Taliban-claimd attack on a military compound in cntral Afghanistan, officials said, as th insurgnts continu to battr th war-torn country s blagurd scurity forcs. Th attack bgan aftr a vhicl loadd with xplosivs rammd into th ntranc of a compound in Maidan Shahr -- th capital of Wardak provinc that lis about 50 kilomtrs south of th capital Kabul. At last thr gunmn stormd th bas following th xplosion, igniting a firfight with Afghan scurity forcs. All thr gunmn wr latr killd in th xchang, according to a provincial official. So far our rports show 12 hav bn killd and 20 woundd, most of whom wr Afghan scurity forcs, Akhtar Mohammad Tahri -- th had of Wardak provincial council -- said. Th Taliban usd a Humv vhicl to hit th compound, Tahri addd. Provincial halth dirctor Mohammad Salim Asgharkhail confirmd th toll. Som woundd popl wr takn to hospitals in Kabul for furthr tratmnt as thy wr in critical condition, said Asgharkhail. Provincial govrnor spoksman Abdul Rahman Mangal said th hug blast had also partially damagd th bas. Passngrs shivr through 13-hour ordal on Canadian tarmac AFP Montral, Canada mdical mrgncy and a A mchanical problm lft passngrs on a Unitd Airlins flight stuck for mor than 13 hours on th frigid tarmac of a Canadian airport in th plan s barly hatd intrior, th CBC ntwork rportd. Unitd Flight 179 had takn off lat Saturday from Nwark, Nw Jrsy n rout to Hong Kong with som 250 passngrs on board. Whn a passngr suffrd a mdical mrgncy th plan mad an mrgncy landing in Goos Bay airport in Nwfoundland and Labrador provinc, on Canada s ast coast, th airlin told CBC. But aftr paramdics vacuatd th passngr and took him to hospital, th plan was unabl to tak off -- rportdly bcaus bittrly cold tmpraturs (-30 cntigrad, or -22 Fahrnhit) had causd a door to frz. With no customs officrs on duty ovrnight, passngrs wr forcd to stay on board, Unitd Flight had takn off lat Saturday with som 250 passngrs on board. (Imag twtd NDTV) many shivring undr th thin blankts handd out by flight attndants. With littl communication about what was going on, and with food and watr running short som 10 hours into th ordal, officials finally arrivd to dlivr supplis from th Tim Hortons fast-food chain known in Canada for its coff and doughnuts. A rplacmnt plan arrivd only aftr a 13-hour wait, passngrs said.on of thm, Sonjay Dutt, rachd by phon, said th Th plan was unabl to tak off -- rportdly bcaus bittrly cold tmpraturs (-30 cntigrad, or -22 Fahrnhit) had causd a door to frz. plan was undrhatd and that th arrival of th food and coff was not nough to appas incrasingly angry passngrs. Much of astrn Canada, as wll as th US northast, has bn suffring through a glacial cold spll, with havy snowfalls that hav ld to scors of flight cancllations. At th nd of th Unitd ordal, passngr Dutt doubtlss summd up th fling of many whn h twtd that it s bn a long long long long day. Tmpraturs around th strandd aircraft droppd to -30C (Courtsy of nws.com. au)

6 06 Total lunar clips woos sky watchrs A composit photo shows all th phass of th so-calld Supr Blood Wolf Moon total lunar clips Washington, Unitd Stats An unusual st of clstial circumstancs cam togthr ovr Sunday night and th w hours ystrday for sky watchrs in Europ, Africa and th Amricas, whr th moon was fully obscurd bfor lighting up again with a faint rd glow. In th strts of Mxico City, Los Angls and Paris and in th Moroccan dsrt, moon gazrs turnd to th sky to obsrv th phnomnon, around midnight in th Amricas, and shortly bfor dawn in Europ and Africa. Th clips lastd about thr hours: during th first hour th full moon was gradually swallowd up by th shadow of th Earth, thn an hour of total clips whr it was not invisibl but instad appard tintd in hus of rd, orang and pink, followd finally by its full rmrgnc, bright and shining. Th full Moon appard biggr than normal bcaus it was closr to th Earth -- about 222,000 mils (358,000 kilomtrs) away -- arning it th nicknam supr Moon. Othr monikrs includ a Wolf Moon, a traditional way of coining an clips in th month of January, and a Blood Moon bcaus of its rusty, rd colour. Hnc th nam for this yar s vnt: a supr blood wolf Moon. At its pak, whr night skis wr clar of clouds, Vnus and Jupitr shon brightly in th night sky. Not vryon was fortunat: in London, for xampl, astronomy nthusiasts hops wr dashd by a cloudy night. Why rd? During a lunar clips, th Moon appars rd bcaus th light of th Sun no longr dirctly illuminats it, sinc Earth is passing in btwn th Moon and Sun. Th colour is du to Rayligh scattring -- whr th Sun s blu light is scattrd off molculs in Earth s atmosphr -- which also happns at sunsts, xplaind th Royal Astronomical Socity of Britain. Th Sun s rd light is scattrd much lss by air, and is bnt by Earth s atmosphr in a procss calld rfraction, travling all th way through it to light up th Moon s surfac. Last clips this dcad Europans last saw a total lunar clips in July Th nxt chanc will b in 2022, but th ntir continnt won t b abl to s th totality of a lunar clips again until North Amricans may gt thir nxt glimps of a blood moon in 2021 along th Wst coast and 2022 on th East coast. Pircings, incns, drumming AFP Malaysia Hundrds of thousands of Malaysian Hindus, som pircing thir skin with hooks and skwrs to show thir dvotion, gathrd in tmpls across th country to mark Thaipusam. Th annual Hindu fstival ss blivrs carry offrings to placs of worship to th dity Murugan and marks th day whn his mothr -- th goddss Parvathi -- gav him a powrful lanc to fight dmons. It is obsrvd mainly in countris with significant populations of thnic Tamils -- dscndd from popl who originally cam from southrn India -- including Malaysia and nighbouring Singapor. Massiv crowds throngd th Batu Cavs complx outsid Kuala Lumpur as incns and drums filld th air. Many had trkkd for hours to rach th popular pilgrimag sit bfor th final arduous climb up 272 stps to rach th tmpls st in cavs. A hug varity of offrings, known as kavadi, wr on show -- from simpl pots of milk balancd on pilgrims hads, to pols slung across shouldrs, and larg portabl altars dcoratd with fathrs and flowrs. Malaysia marks Thaipusam fstival, th annual Hindu fstival Kumaraguru Kunalan, 38, making his rligious pilgrimag to a Batu Cavs tmpl by carrying kavadi offrings on his shouldrs and his tongu pircd with a stl skwr during Thaipusam fstival clbrations at a complx of tmpls outsid Kuala Lumpur. With a mtal skwr pircing his tongu and a havy woodn pol hoistd on his back, Kumaraguru Kunalan said h wantd to giv thanks to th god Murugan. For m, it s about asking for good halth, my childrn s ducation, th 38-yar-old fathrof-four told AFP. Prior to Thaipusam, dvots will typically hold daily prayr sssions, abstain from sx, rfrain from cutting thir hair and stick to a strict vgtarian dit for wks. Dspit th xtrm shows of dvotion, th Thaipusam fstival is vry much a family affair, with ldrs joining thir grandchildrn as thy mak th annual pilgrimag. Thr ar no ruls on what kind of kavadis dvots ar rquird to carry on thir pilgrimag, and th choic is a prsonal prfrnc, Kumaraguru said. Most of Malaysia s roughly 32 million popl ar Muslim Malays, but th country is also hom to mor than two million Indians, most of whom ar dscndants of labourrs brought from southrn India during British colonial rul. Two gord to dath at India bull-wrstling fstival Nw Dlhi, India At last two spctators wr gord to dath at a bull-wrstling fstival in India that animal activists say is crul and want bannd, polic said ystrday. Th bulls brok through barricads sparating fans from th action in th arna on Sunday in Pudukottai, a town in Tamil Nadu whr thousands had swarmd to watch th Jallikattu fstival. Two spctators wr hit by th bulls nar th arna. On of thm did on th spot and anothr did at th hospital, P. Sangaraj, a polic officr in Pudukottai, said. Authoritis said dozns of participants wr also injurd Sunday whil trying to grab th charging bulls by thir horns and rumps in th hop of winning prizs. Mor than 100 popl hav bn hurt sinc th fstival, an annual fixtur in southrn Tamil Nadu stat, kickd off Wdnsday. Organisrs said mor than 1,300 bulls wr rlasd on Sunday from pns into th arna -- mor than doubling th prvious daily rcord. Jallikattu rmains wildly popular dspit th dangr and controvrsy around th tratmnt of th bulls. Indian participants try to control a bull at th annual bull-wrstling vnt Jallikattu in Allanganallur villag on th outskirts of Madurai in th southrn stat of Tamil Nadu CIA agnt Tony Mndz, hro of film Argo, dad at 78 Washington, Unitd Stats Formr CIA agnt Tony Mndz, who nginrd a crativ way to smuggl US hostags out of Iran in 1980 and was immortalizd in th Hollywood film Argo, did of complications from Parkinson s Disas, his family said. H was 78. Mndz, who will hav a privat burial in Nvada, did on Saturday, his litrary agnt Christy Fltchr said via Twittr, rlaying a family statmnt. Th last thing h and his wif Jonna Mndz did was gt thir nw book to th publishr and h did fling h had compltd writing th storis that h wantd to b told, th family statmnt rad. It addd that Mndz had bn suffring from Parkinson s for th past 10 yars. Faux Sci-Fi Movi Whn Iranian rvolutionaris sizd th US mbassy in Thran in 1979, a handful of diplomats managd to scap through a back door and took rfug at th Canadian mbassy. Mndz, a spcialist in covrt oprations, cam up with an original plan to rscu thm: st up th production in Hollywood of a faux scinc fiction In this fil photo takn on Octobr 10, 2012, Tony Mndz attnds th Argo Washington, DC Prmir at Rgal Gallry Plac Stadium 14 in Washington, DC movi titld Argo, travl to Iran to scout out locations, thn rturn to th Unitd Stats with th hostags masqurading as th film crw. Th six US diplomats, armd with fak Canadian passports, slippd out of Iran and to safty on January 27, Th story srvd as inspiration for th film Argo, which won thr Oscars in 2013 including for bst motion pictur. Fifty-two othr Amricans wr not as lucky, and wr hld hostag by th Iranian rvolutionaris for 444 days. Scrtary of Stat and formr CIA chif Mik Pompo dscribd Mndz as an xtraordinarily giftd intllignc officr and truly an Amrican hro. Actor Bn Afflck, who starrd as Mndz in th Hollywood production, dscribd th x-agnt on Twittr as a man of xtraordinary grac, dcncy, humility and kindnss... I m so proud to hav workd for him and to hav told on of his storis. Mndz s latst book, co-authord with his wif Jonna -- also formrly with th CIA -- is du out in May and titld Th Moscow Ruls: Th Scrt CIA Tactics That Hlpd Amrica Win th Cold War.

7 07 Spanish diggrs struggl to rach toddlr in wll Madrid, Spain Diggrs trying to rach a two-yar-old boy who fll into a dp wll in southrn Spain a wk ago saw thir progrss slowd by hardr rock on Sunday, though xprts still hld out hop h could still b aliv. Thr has bn no contact with Juln Rosllo sinc h fll down th narrow shaft, som 100 mtrs (350 ft) dp, on January 13 whil playing as his parnts prpard a picnic narby Th narrow borhol that two-yar-old Juln Roslló fll down on Sunday. in th town of Totalan nar Malaga. (Courtsy of Guardian) Aftr abandoning an initial plan to rach th boy with an angld tunnl bcaus of rpatd collapss and landslids, workrs turnd to th possibility of drilling a vrtical shaft paralll to th wll. Whn thy rach a dpth of 60 mtrs, a tam of ight xprt minrs will b lowrd down th shaft to start digging a horizontal tunnl to th location whr thy bliv th toddlr is. But th nw ffort slowd as diggrs hit hard granit and rscurs now xpct thy will only complt th vrtical shaft at th nd of th night if thy ar abl to kp working at th sam pac, nginr Angl Garcia Vidal who is ovrsing th oprations, told rportrs lat on Sunday. W continu to work intnsly, nonstop, and w hop to rach our dsird goal vry soon, h addd. Popl hold mssags of support as rscu workrs continu fforts to find a boy who fll down a wll in Totalan in southrn Spain Find him aliv Rscurs usd probs to xplor th bottom of th wll that cam back with strands of hair matching th child s DNA, as wll as a bag of swts that h was carrying whn h wnt missing, providing confirmation that h is down th hol. Profssionally w bliv in what w ar doing, w bliv in th possibility of finding him aliv and w ar all fighting to find him aliv. That is our hop and our goal, said th had of th civil protction srvic in th southrn provinc of Malaga, Rafal Galvz. Exprts told Spanish mdia that thr ar slim chancs that Juln could still b aliv, xplaining that cold wathr slows a body s mtabolism, so it nds lss nrgy and can surviv with abnormally low brathing and blood flow. Th cold has a doubl dg. On th on hand it s ngativ, bcaus it can caus multipl consquncs, Ivan Carabano, a padiatrician at Madrid s Hospital 12 d Octubr, told th El Pais daily. But in this cas w all hop for its bttr outcom: with it you gain tim to surviv bcaus at lowr tmpraturs th human mtabolism slows and tissus ar prsrvd. Thr hav bn cass similar to Juln s in which a prson survivd 10 days in a smi-conscious stat that ndd lss oxygn, th had of th Andalusian Fdration of Splology, Jos Antonio Brrocal, told rportrs in Totalan last wk. Officials show an xcavation map during fforts to find a boy who fll down a wll in Totalan in southrn Spain Unfair to us Spanish mdia, which hav bn covring th unprcdntd rscu oprations round-thclock, hav rportd that Juln s parnts lost anothr child, agd thr, in Th child had cardiac problms. I bliv in God, I am sorry to say this but H has bn vry unfair to us, Juln s patrnal grandmothr Maria Carmn said during an intrviw privat tlvision Antna 3 last wk. Officrs hav qustiond both parnts and an ntrprnur who dug th wll, a polic spoksman said Saturday, adding that this was routin in such invstigations. Th wll was unmarkd at th tim of th accidnt and rgional authoritis in Andalusia said th ncssary prmission Jos Rosllo (L), fathr of Juln who fll down a wll, cris as rscu fforts continu to find th boy in Totalan in southrn Spain had not bn sought bfor it was dug. Rynaldo Anzaldua spaks on his family s proprty in Mission, Txas In Txas: On family fights to kp Trump wall off proprty Mission, Unitd Stats In this yard in th Txas town of Mission, thy playd as childrn, larnd how to fish, pickd cotton and gathrd watrmlons. But bcaus it s on th bordr with Mxico, th Cavazos family could los thir proprty -- to Donald Trump s bordr wall. Thy ar not going down without a fight. In his sistr Eloisa s dining room, Jos Alfrdo Cavazos -- who gos by Frd -- displays th numrous lttrs snt by th fdral govrnmnt. Our proprty right now is in... dangr of bing no mor, says th 69-yar-old, who livs nxt door to his sistr, and uss a whlchair to gt around. Construction sms invitabl: financing for th portion of th prsidnt s much-awaitd bordr wall that would pass through th Cavazos proprty in th Rio Grand vally was approvd by Congrss in March It is sparat from th widr dbat about bordr wall funding that has roild Washington for wks, sparkd a showdown btwn Trump and Dmocratic lawmakrs, and ld to th longst govrnmnt shutdown in Amrican history. Th fdral govrnmnt has alrady survyd th land, which mainly blongs to Eloisa -- th first stp towards construction. Th family opposd th mov, and th govrnmnt fild suit, winning th initial cas. Th Cavazos clan is not giving up just yt, though. Thy hav appald th initial dcision, and ar bing rprsntd on a pro bono basis by th Txas Civil Rights Projct. Raison d vivr Frd Cavazos runs his hand ovr th maps attachd to ach official documnt in th pil. If th wall is built as plannd, it will run along th lv that kps th land from flooding -- and will block his accss to his land, whr h tnds a small hrd of cattl and goats. His othr worry is that th family will los rvnu arnd by rnting out small rivrsid homs, oftn usd as wknd gtaways. Frd says th family maks about $35,000 a yar from rntals, and thy cannot liv without it. Aftr all, who would want to com spnd a rlaxing wknd staring at a giant concrt wall, or vn towring stl slats? Would tnants vn b allowd to cross back and forth? It s an unknown to us, says Ry Anzaldua, a cousin of th Cavazos siblings and Frd s bst frind. It would still b our land... but it wouldn t hav any valu at all. Byond th financial strains, th vry ral possibility of sing th family land split up has upst th ntir clan. Sinc thir ancstors cam from Spain and sttld hr in th 18th cntury, th family has bn losing land for so many yars, said Anzaldua, who turns 74 this month. With a Vitnam vtran cap and a stickr on his Jp that says No bordr wall, Anzaldua is bittr: This land to us is worth mor than mony -- w hav an actual lov for th land. To boot, Frd is totally disabld. This land is actually what kps him aliv, Anzaldua said. Cavazos manags to gt by dspit his physical issus, hlping Eloisa to collct th rnt. If h didn t hav this, I don t think h d last vry much longr, Anzaldua said. Stall for as long as possibl Roy Snips is a local prist who hlps tak car of th historic 19th cntury La Lomita chapl in Mission. His parish rnts land from th Cavazos family for summr camps. Th church itslf, which is classifid as a historic monumnt, should not b affctd by th wall construction, but it would nd up in a sort of no man s land btwn th barrir and th rivr. Th local diocs also rfusd to allow th govrnmnt to survy th land, and fdral authoritis fild a complaint. Fathr Roy Snips spaks outsid of th La Lomita Chapl

8 QUOTE OF THE DAY ADOPT THE PACE OF NATURE: HER SECRET IS PATIENCE. RALPH WALDO EMERSON Thrsa May, Britain s Kafkasqu Prim Ministr In hr pointlssnss, sh can sm to form somthing lik a cohrnt whol TOM WHYMAN Odradk is on of th strangst craturs vr imagind. At first glanc it looks lik a flat star-shapd spool for thrad, th narrator claims in Th Cars of a Family Man, Franz Kafka s brif, haunting story in which Odradk appars. But as th narrator s hsitant, circuitous dscription continus, it bcoms clar that Odradk, in fact, has no intlligibl shap whatsovr. H can spak, but h and th narrator ar capabl of carrying on only a sort of halting, half-convrsation; th narrator sms unsur whthr to trat him as a polit acquaintanc or a child. On is tmptd to bliv that Odradk usd to b part of som gratr, cohrnt whol, of which h now rmains as a brokn-down rmnant. But, th narrator admits, this dos not rally sm to b th cas, and th whol thing looks snslss nough, but in its own way prfctly finishd. Ovr th yars, philosophrs and cultural thorists hav intrprtd Odradk in many ways: as a mtaphor for th alination of workrs undr capitalism, for instanc, or as a symbol of th world s guilt. Today, howvr, I think Odradk can stand for just on thing: Thrsa May, th prim ministr of Britain. Thr was a tim whn May flt invincibl. Th arly months of hr prmirship saw hr Consrvativ Party riding high in th polls; nwspaprs rportd hr Brxit plans with jingoistic bombast. May, with haps of political capital to spar, was th nw Iron Lady. Not any mor. As th final Brxit dadlin inchs closr, both th prim ministr and th procss of laving th Europan Union sm uttrly draind of purpos. This wk, May will, aftr a long and damaging dlay, put hr Brxit dal bfor Parliamnt. May has urgd Parliamnt to support hr dal on th basis that anything lss would b, as sh wrot in th Sunday Exprss this wknd, a catastrophic and unforgivabl brach of trust in our dmocracy. Th prim ministr ndurd a barrag of ministrial rsignations and a confidnc vot in hr ladrship aftr shlving th original vot on th dal in a bid to scur furthr concssions from th Europan Union, but th gambl has not paid off. Last wk th govrnmnt suffrd a numbr of mbarrassing dfats in th run-up to th vot. Now, th dal will almost crtainly b rjctd. It is unclar if any bttr dal on in which, for xampl, Britain s laving th Europan Union would actually bnfit anyon is possibl. At this point, it would mak sns for May to rsign and for hr govrnmnt to collaps, prcipitating a gnral lction. Indd, thr rmains a rsidual sns that this is what th normal ruls of politics would rquir. But that sms almost as unlikly as th hops of May s dal actually passing. Th Labour Party will most likly rspond to th dfat of th Brxit dal by schduling a confidnc vot that could bring Rumours of May s imminnt dmis continu to b rportd with rgularity. But if sh wr going to go, wouldn t sh hav don so alrady? down May s govrnmnt but fw in hr party sm inclind to risk an lction that could rsult in th triumph of an opposition thy s as unaccptably lftwing. In fact, if rcnt rports ar corrct, som Consrvativs would prfr to siz control of th lgislativ agnda. May has urgd Parliamnt to support hr dal on th basis that anything lss would risk damaging Britain s dmocracy. But in truth, anti-dmocratic sntimnt is common on all sids of th dbat. Th prim ministr nvr wantd hr dal to b subjct to parliamntary scrutiny and has consistntly actd in a way that disrspcts Parliamnt s sovrignty. Extnsiv rporting has indicatd that th lav campaign chatd its way to winning th rfrndum. Th popl in th rmain camp hav bn prsistnt in thir dmand for anothr rfrndum but only, lt s fac it, bcaus thy didn t lik th rsult of th first on. Frankly, it is unclar if th basic conditions for any sort of dmocratic dcision ovr Brxit ar vn in plac: Th nws mdia has bn hugly irrsponsibl. With Brxit such big nws, vry tiny dvlopmnt is hctically liv-bloggd. Th rsult is that if you turn away for a scond, it bcoms impossibl to tll what is going on. All this would b bad nough if Brxit wr th only problm facing th country. But it s not. Th ffcts of austrity hav, in many parts of th country, bn crippling; rcnt chaos producd by th rollout of a bnfits plan calld Univrsal Crdit has bn just on of th mor obvious ill ffcts of a govrnmnt that ruls with an iron fist of maliciousnss and a paddd mittn of incomptnc. In fact, on way of undrstanding th whol Brxit phnomnon would b prcisly as a distraction from talking abou any of Britain s ral problms rsult of a vot that wnt th wa it did only bcaus nough popl flt thy wr bing dnid a sa on anything that actually mattr And so, as sh prsss aha with hr trribl solution to problm no on vr ndd t hav, May has bcom a hauntin figur. Lik Odradk, thr sm to b no point to hr and yt, i hr vry pointlssnss, sh ca sm at tims to form somthin lik a cohrnt whol. Prhap with May, th rol of prim min istr has casd to b that of th had of th lgislativ branc of British govrnmnt. Sh ha rinvntd th offic as a rpos itory for th sins of a systm to dysfunctional to vn collaps nutralising th angr th publi ought rightly to hold toward th govrnmnt by sming too us lss vn to warrant it. In th final paragraph of Kaf ka s story, th narrator asks him slf what is likly to happn t Odradk. Can h possibly di? or will h continu to haunt th narrator s hous and that o his childrn, and his childrn childrn? Anything that dis ha had som kind of aim in lif, som kind of activity, which has wor out; but that dos not apply t Odradk, th narrator says. Rumours of May s imminn dmis continu to b rport with rgularity. But if sh wr going to go, wouldn t sh hav don so alrady? If May rally i Odradk, mayb Britain will b stuck with hr forvr. Luckily, thr is anothr wa of looking at th cratur. Fo th philosophr Thodor Ador no, Odradk was also a symbo of hop for him, th cratur givs us, as though in ngativ an imag of a happinss tha our prsnt surroundings dn us. What w must thn s i Odradk is th possibility of world in which h dos not stal our halls. What Britain nds is gnuin dmocracy, a politics gnuinl rcptiv to th nds of its cit izns. May s intractability mus b an occasion to dmand h impossibility. (Tom Whyman is a philosophr an frlanc writr CIVILIAN S TRIBUNE Irrsponsibl Congrss Th US govrnmnt shutdown would hav ndd had th Congrss prformd its duty. US Sn John Cornyn, a Txas Rpublican, statd that days bfor th shutdown, vry snator had votd for a stopgap govrnmnt spnding masur. This unanimous vot was with th undrstanding that Prsidnt Trump supportd this action. Rathr, th prsidnt withdrw his support and wall-funding was addd to th bill. If th Snat wr to submit th original bill to th Prsidnt for a vto, thn th snat thn vot to ovrrid th vto. This would put th govrnmnt back to work, and th shutdown would nd. As always, politicians nvr undrstand th difficultis facd by th common man. Othrwis, thy could hav addrssd th situation long back. Giv up your political ambitions and addrss th issus facd by th common man. Kn Hon. Chairman Najb Yacob Alhamr Editor-in-Chif Mahmood AI Mahmood Dputy Editor-in-Chif Ahdya Ahmd Chairman & Managing Editor P Unn Subscription & circulation: Tl: / subscription@nwsofbahra

9 TODAY DAY IN HISTORY 1957 Th Nw York City Mad Bombr, Gorg P. Mtsky, is arrstd in Watrbury, Conncticut and chargd with planting mor than 30 bombs Th Élysé Traty of coopration btwn Franc and Grmany is signd by Charls d Gaull and Konrad Adnaur Apollo 5 lifts off carrying th first Lunar modul into spac Opration Igloo Whit, a US lctronic survillanc systm to stop communist infiltration into South Vitnam bgins installation. TOP 4 TWEETS 01 Actually, th numbrs show that w nd mor immigration, not lss Amrica dspratly nds to pick up th pac of immigration for its conomic halth t a y y s.. d a o g s n n g s - h s - o, c o f ss s n o t d s y r - l, t y n a k y - t r d.)) Th U.S. wlcoms #Grmany s dcision to dny landing rights to #Iran s Mahan Air. Th airlin transports wapons and fightrs across th Middl East, supporting th Iranian rgim s dstructiv ambitions around th rgion. W ncourag all our allis to follow 02 wandrd into a bookshop just to brows I and mrgd an hour latr with 4 books, how dos this kp happning to m, bookshops ar vry dangrous, thy should com with an dangr: ntr at your own risk 03 This Administration continus its fforts to sabotag th Affordabl Car Act and roll back th progrss w v mad for millions of Amricans. It s rprhnsibl ths ar popl s livs w r talking 04 It has bn an unforgttabl two yars in I am honord to srv this grat Disclaimr: (Viws xprssd by columnists ar prsonal and nd not ncssarily rflct our ditorial stancs) SHIKHA DALMIA Amrica should b admitting a million mor immigrants pr yar, mor than doubl th currnt numbr from now until Prsidnt Donald Trump has shut down th govrnmnt to gt mony for a bordr wall that h says will stop illgal immigration. But th fact of th mattr is that that s not all h wants to stop. During th thr-day shutdown last January, h dmandd a 40 pr cnt rduction in lgal immigration, arguing that Amrica has bn swampd by immigrants. Thr s a limit to how many popl a nation can rsponsibly absorb into thir socitis, h has dclard. H is not alon in invoking this boogyman. That Amrica is bing ovrwhlmd by a flood of immigrants has bcom convntional wisdom across th political spctrum, prsntd in books from, on th right, Rihan Salam of National Rviw, th son of Bangladshi immigrants; in th cntr, Francis Fukuyama of Stanford, whos mothr immigratd from Japan; and on th lft, Jffrson Cowi of Vandrbilt Univrsity, who actually counsls his fllow progrssiv not to far mor immigration. But by any rasonabl mtric, th ida that Amrica is xprincing mass immigration is a myth. Th rality is that w dspratly nd to pick up th pac of immigration to maintain our work forc and conomic halth. You could argu that mass immigration a vagu trm with no st dfinition is happning in Lbanon and Jordan, primary dstinations for rfugs scaping Syria s civil war. Lbanon, which had about 4.4 million popl in 2010, has admittd in just a fw yars around on million Syrian rfugs, which works out to around 23pc incras in its population. In Amrica, by contrast, thr ar about 44 million forign-born popl who now constitut about 13.7pc of th population, according to th Pw Rsarch Foundation. This is clos to th historic high of 15pc at th turn of th 20th cntury. Why is that considrd a maningful bnch mark? Bcaus at that tim th Unitd Stats, rsponding to nativist and union prssur, mbracd strict bordr controls, ssntially nding what had until thn bn an opn bordrs policy. Litracy tsts wr institutd in 1917, and th 1924 Johnson-Rd Act imposd national-origins quotas limiting visas to 2pc of th total numbr of popl of ach nationality in th Unitd Stats as of th 1890 cnsus. Th purpos of this lgislation was to cut back immigration ovrall, spcially from Eastrn Europ and Asia and it succdd spctacularly. Congrss finally liminatd ths quotas, which had widly com to b rgardd as racist, in 1965, and immigration subsquntly pickd up. But immigration opponnts hav mad th 15pc forign-born figur a tipping point, as if it wr basd on scinc instad of bing an arbitrary historical vnt. If it wr indd a tipping point, countris would rgularly xprinc a backlash onc th immigrant population approachd that lvl. That is far from th cas. Amrica s shar of th forign born ranks 34th among 50 walthy countris with a pr capita gross domstic product of ovr $20,000. Th Unitd Stats nttd fiv nw immigrants authorisd and unauthorisd pr 1,000 popl from 2015 to 2017, Unitd Nations figurs show. Compar that to th figurs in two othr English-spaking libral dmocracis: Canada lt in ight (and just announcd that it s going to admit ovr a million nw immigrants ovr thr yars), and Australia 14. All in all, th forign-born ar now ovr 20pc of Canada s population and 28.2pc of Australia s (mor than doubl Amrica s figur). And yt thy havn t inspird th sort of public condmnation of immigration that oftn occurs in th Unitd Stats. Amrica has also takn in a rlativly modst numbrs of immigrants ovr th last half-cntury. In 1965, whn Congrss got rid of national-origin quotas, Amrica s forign-born mad up around 5pc of th population. Ovr two dcads from 1980 to 2000, this proportion ros to 11.1pc, from 6.2pc, not insignificant but not particularly notworthy. But thn th rat of incras slowd to a crawl, rising from 11.1pc in 2000 to 12.9pc in 2010 and thn barly inching to 13.5pc in In othr words, in six yars, Amrica s forign-born population inchd up 0.6pc. Yt th mor Amrica s (modst) immigration dclrats, th mor th mass immigration trop acclrats. A good yardstick for whthr a country is admitting too many or too fw immigrants byond th political mood of th momnt is its conomic nds. If Amrica wr admitting too many immigrants, th conomy would hav troubl absorbing thm. In fact, th unmploymnt rat among immigrants, including th 11 million undocumntd, in 2016, whn th conomy was considrd to b at full mploymnt, was almost thr-quartrs of a point lowr than that of nativs. How can that b vidnc of mass immigration? Th truth is that Amrica is a low-immigration nation. Dmographic trnds in Amrica point to a svr labour crunch that ll bcom a hug bottlnck for growth unlss th country opns its doors widr. It has long bn clar that th dropping frtility rats of nativ-born whit Amricans mant that th gnrations coming aftr th millnnials wr on track to b much smallr. From 2015 to 2035, th numbr of working-ag Amricans with domstic-born parnts is xpctd to fall by 8 million. Furthrmor, th Cnsus Burau in 2017 quitly rvisd downward its population forcast for 2050 by a whopping 50 million popl from its 2008 stimats, as Jack Goldston, a political dmographr at Gorg Mason Univrsity, pointd out. Why? Bcaus immigration from Mxico dwindld aftr th Grat Rcssion at th sam tim that Hispanic frtility rats droppd by a quartr as wll. At th currnt rat that Amrica is admitting immigrants, this mans that th total work forc will grow only 0.3pc pr yar. Unlss Amrican birthrats pick up suddnly and xpand th work forc an unralistic assumption givn that th country just st a rcord for low frtility or th productivity of its dwindling workforc quickly doubld, only slightly lss unralistic, says Goldston, th Unitd Stats will b staring at ral GDP growth of lss than 1.6pc pr yar in lss than a dcad, all ls rmaining qual. Amrica should b admitting a million mor immigrants pr yar mor than doubl th currnt numbr from now until This still won t add up to mass immigration bcaus it would put Amrica s forign-born population that yar at around 26pc, lss than Australia s is today. Fiftn yars ago whn I was writing about immigration for th consrvativ ditorial pag of Th Dtroit Nws, th myth that Amrica was bing ovrwhlmd by immigrants had rtratd mostly to nativist activist circls. Just bcaus it has sprad now dos not man it s tru. It s a myth that should b killd bfor it kills th Amrican dram. (Shikha Dalmia is a snior analyst at Rason Foundation, a writr at Rason magazin and a columnist at Th Wk.) ikrishnan Advrtismnt: Updat Mdia W.L.L Tl: , sals@nwsofbahrain.com Nwsroom: Tl: , mail@nwsofbahrain.com in.com Wbsit: Printd and publishd by Al Ayam Publishing

10 10 TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019 businss Modi considrs chap loans, othr hlp for small Indian businsss Rutrs Nw Dlhi Indian Prim Ministr Narndra Modi is considring offring chap loans and fr accidntal insuranc covrag to millions of small businsss, two govrnmnt sourcs with dirct knowldg of th mattr said, as h tris to placat a ky votr bloc ahad of a gnral lction du by May. Mor masurs ar now bing plannd, said th sourcs, who dclind to b namd as th information was not public. A spoksman for th Ministry of Financ did not immdiatly rspond to an mail sking commnt. Th sourcs did not quantify th amount th sris of masurs would cost th govrnmnt, as dtails ar still bing workd out. Th govrnmnt is working on offring a discount of 2 prcntag points on loans for businsss with annual sals of lss than 50 million rups ($701,754), th sourcs said, and would compnsat banks for costs. Small businsss with a top crdit rating can gt loans from banks at about 9-10 prcnt, whil lowr-ratd businsss can b chargd around prcnt. Russia thratns rtaliatory masurs ovr EU sanctions Moscow, Russia R ussia ystrday thratnd rtaliation aftr th Europan Union slappd sanctions on Russian military intllignc chifs ovr th nrv agnt attack on formr Russian spy Srgi Skripal in Britain. W rsrv th right to tak rtaliatory masurs ovr this unfrindly stp, th Russian forign ministry said in a statmnt. Th Europan Union introducd sanctions against Igor Kostyukov, th nw chif of Russia s GRU military intllignc, and his first dputy Vladimir Alxsyv. Kostyukov took ovr th GRU aftr th dath of his prdcssor Igor Korobov last Novmbr. Th EU also rlasd th ral nams of th two agnts accusd by Britain of carrying out th chmical attack in Salisbury last March, confirming arlir rports idntifying thm as Anatoly Chpiga and Alxandr Mishkin. Moscow said th claims did not stand up to criticism. World s richst 26 owns sam walth as poorst 50 pc Billionairs around th world saw thir combind fortuns grow by $2.5 billion ach day in 2018: Oxfam AFP Davos, Switzrland Th world s 26 richst popl own th sam walth as th poorst half of humanity, Oxfam said ystrday, urging govrnmnts to hik taxs on th walthy to fight soaring inquality. A nw rport from th charity, publishd ahad of th World Economic Forum in Davos, also found that billionairs around th world saw thir combind fortuns grow by $2.5 billion ach day in Th world s richst man, Amazon CEO Jff Bzos, saw his fortun incras to $112bn last yar, Oxfam said, pointing out that just on prcnt of his walth was th quivalnt to th ntir halth budgt of Ethiopia, a country of 105 million popl. Th 3.8 billion popl at th bottom of th scal manwhil saw thir walth dclin by 11 pr cnt last yar, Oxfam said, strssing that th growing gap btwn rich and poor was undrmining th fight against povrty, damaging conomis and fulling public angr. Popl across th glob ar angry and frustratd, warnd Oxfam xcutiv dirctor Winni Byanyima in a statmnt. Th numbrs ar stark: Btwn 1980 and 2016, th poorst half of humanity pocktd just 12 cnts on ach dollar of global incom growth, compard with th 27 cnts capturd by th top on prcnt, th rport found. Undr-taxing th rich Oxfam warnd that govrnmnts wr xacrbating inquality by incrasingly undrfunding public srvics lik halthcar and ducation at th sam tim as thy consistntly undr-tax th walthy. Rprsntativ pictur (Courtsy of ToI) Th world s richst man, Amazon CEO Jff Bzos, saw his fortun incras to $112 billion last yar Btwn 1980 and 2016, th poorst half of humanity pocktd just 12 cnts on ach dollar of global incom growth, compard with th 27 cnts capturd by th top on prcnt, th rport found. Calls for hiking rats on th walthy hav multiplid amid growing popular outrag in a numbr of countris ovr swlling inquality. In th Unitd Stats, nw congrsswoman Alxandria Ocasio-Cortz mad hadlins arlir this month by proposing to tax th ultra-rich up to 70pc. Th proposal cam aftr Prsidnt Donald Trump s swping tax rforms cut th top rat last yar from 39.6pc to 37pc. And in Europ, th yllow vst movmnt that has bn rocking Franc with anti-govrnmnt protsts sinc Novmbr is dmanding that Prsidnt Emmanul Macron rpal controvrsial cuts to walth taxs on high arnrs. Th supr-rich and corporations ar paying lowr rats of tax than thy hav in dcads, th Oxfam rport said, pointing out that th human costs -- childrn without tachrs, clinics without mdicins - ar hug. Picmal privat srvics punish poor popl and privilg lits, it said, strssing that vry day, som 10,000 popl di du to lacking accss to affordabl halthcar. Th rport, rlasd as th world s rich, famous and influntial bgan arriving for th plush annual gathring at th luxury Swiss ski rsort town, urgd govrnmnts to stop th rac to th bottom in taxing rich individuals and big corporations. Oxfam found that asking th richst to pay just 0.5pc xtra tax on thir walth could rais mor mony than it would cost to ducat all 262 million childrn out of school and provid halthcar that would sav th livs of 3.3 million popl. China s conomy grw at slowst pac in 28 yars Bijing, China China s conomy grw at its slowst pac in almost thr dcads in 2018, losing mor stam in th last quartr as it battls a massiv dbt pil and a US trad war, official data showd ystrday. Th 6.6 pr cnt growth coms in abov th official targt of around 6.5pc and matchs a forcast by analysts polld by AFP, but is down from th 6.8pc chalkd up in 2017, according to th National Burau of Statistics (NBS). And in a sign of th struggl Bijing facs, growth in th last thr months of th yar clockd in at 6.4pc, matching a low sn during th global financial crisis 10 yars ago, with conomists widly xpcting th slowdown to dpn. Th slowing growth promptd Prmir Li Kqiang last wk to vow th govrnmnt would not lt th conomy fall off a cliff. Rlations with top trading partnr th US dtrioratd sharply last yar aftr Prsidnt Donald Trump hit roughly half of Chins imports with nw tariffs in an attmpt to forc trad concssions. Escalating th trad war is on hold for now aftr Prsidnt Xi Jinping and Trump agrd to a thr-month casfir, with top ngotiators st to mt in Washington at th nd of this month as a March dadlin for a dal looms larg. China-US conomic and trad frictions do indd affct th conomy, but th impact is gnrally controllabl, said Ning. China hit th braks on major projcts such as subway lins and motorways to kp a lid on dbt last yar, with infrastructur invstmnt rising by just 3.8 prcnt, down from 19 prcnt th yar bfor. China s xports to US and th world also fll in Dcmbr, rinforcing th nd for its lgions of domstic consumrs to ful th conomy. Fourth quartr GDP growth slowd as xpctd, said Lu Ting, China conomist at Nomura, in a not. But th worst is yt to com, h said. Rtail sals growth slowd to 9.0 prcnt, down from a 10.2pc incras th prvious yar. In Dcmbr, sals grw 8.2pc. Output at factoris and workshops tickd up 6.2pc for th yar, down from 6.6pc in t Employs chck papr bowls at a factory in Hangzhou in China s astrn Zhjiang provinc Airbus slls 65 jts to SMBC Aviation Capital Paris, Franc Aircraft lasing company SMBC Aviation Capital has finalisd an ordr for 65 Airbus plans from th A320no family with a catalogu pric of $7.47 billion (6.6 billion uros), Airbus said ystrday. Th ordr for 50 A320no and 15 A321no singl-aisl aircraft brings to 71 th total numbr of plans from that catgory ordrd by Dublin-basd SMBC last yar, a statmnt from th Europan arospac giant said. Larg ordrs typically rsult in a discount on th catalogu pric. SMBC, on of th world s largst aircraft lasing companis, is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG). It lass plans to 90 companis in 44 countris, and as of nd Sptmbr ownd, managd or had committd to buy 663 aircraft, th Airbus statmnt said. Mor than 6,500 plans from th A320no (nw ngin option) group hav bn ordrd by mor than 100 clints sinc it was launchd in 2010, Airbus addd. Th aircraft consums 15 prcnt lss ful, a figur that is xpctd to rach 20 prcnt in 2020, and is considrably quitr, it said.

11 11 Th app that hlps you Eat Bahraini startup Eat a rstaurant booking app is rvolutionising th booking procss as it xpands to 22 countris Tnmou arns 20 tims rturn Eat accommodats mor than 1,200 rstaurants Tnmou s first xit in Bahrain s startup history Earning a 20 X rturn on its initial invstmnt, Tnmou, Bahrain s first Businss Angls company announcd its partial xit from th mobil application Eat. Th mov also is th first of its kind in th history of startups in Bahrain. Raising US$ 4.2 million todat, succssfully xpanding from th Kingdom across th Unitd Arab Emirats and gratr GCC ara to a total of 22 countris, th mobil app accommodats mor than 1,200 rstaurants and srving mor than 3.5 million dinrs. This dcision, according to Tnmou, coms in lin with its vision of rvamping its invstmnt modl and rusing th xit amount to invst in nw and upcoming start-ups across th Kingdom in th months to com. Chif Excutiv Officr of Tnmou, Nawaf Alkohji, rvald, W ar proud to witnss th growth of Eat having supportd its dvlopmnt from th arly sd stags up until th succss story it is today, on th vrg of bcoming on of th lading providrs of tch solutions in th F&B industry. Th Eat application simplifis th traditional rstaurant booking procss for its usrs by providing thm with th convninc of rsrving a tabl across a wid rang of locations onlin; as wll as offring rstauraturs and hotlirs th convninc of a digital booking managmnt platform to optimis and manag rsrvations. W ar currntly sking high potntial, innovativ and motivatd Bahraini startups to support thir growth, h addd Nzar Kadhm, Foundr of Eat App rvald, I cam to Tnmou with just an ida, no rvnu, no product and no customrs. Tnmou ralizd th opportunity, took th risk and agrd to invst and hlp us focus on th ncssary milstons in our arly stags. Mmbrs of th Eat tam Yars latr, I m proud to say that w ar th first xit for Tnmou, dlivring a valuation of mor than 20x th valu sinc our incption. W wr abl to grow Eat App to a product srving mor than 2400 rstaurants across th world and satd ovr 5 million dinars. W r proud to put Bahrain on th global scn, and hop I cam to Tnmou with just an ida, no rvnu, no product and no customrs. Tnmou ralisd th opportunity, took th risk and agrd to invst and hlp us focus on th ncssary milstons in our arly stags NEZAR KADHEM, FOUNDER OF EAT APP to continu to grow Eat to th nxt lvl, and bcom th bst rstaurant managmnt tool on th plant. Tnmou has also succssfully launchd various othr applications, including Mala3b ; an app that allows usrs to book football stadiums throughout th Kingdom of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia along with Fish Transportr (Fish M) which dlivrs frsh fish to any location in Bahrain and many mor. Elctricity and Watr Affairs Ministr Dr Abdulhussain Mirza during an conomic vning at th Bahrain Financial Harbor s Capital Club. Ambassadors of Britain, Franc, Grmany and Turky, dignitaris, hads of companis and mor than 75 club mmbrs, including conomists and businssmn wr prsnt. Dr Mirza rviwd Bahrain s achivmnts in th fild of sustainabl nrgy, improving nrgy fficincy and stps takn in th fild and discussd invstmnt opportunitis for local and intrnational companis as wll as xisting and futur projcts. Kypoint, Infonas host Sminar on cloud, data Kypoint is co-hosting a sminar on data and th cloud with Infonas, an AWS consulting partnr spcialising in data cntr migrations to cloud, r-platforming and srvrlss tchnologis. Talking points at th sminar will includ Bahrain s plac in th cloud, infrastructur as cod, and data scurity. Spakrs at Wdnsday s sminar Osama Al Alawi and Rayan Britto from Kypoint and Ali Khalil from Infonas will discuss infrastructur as cod, rsourc lifcycls, provisioning and configuration managmnt, optimisation and govrnanc and complianc. Studis suggst that cloud computing - th practic of using a ntwork of rmot srvrs on th intrnt to stor, manag and procss data, rathr than a local or on-sit srvr has significant advantags ovr traditional computing practics. According to Srikant Ranganathan, a snior dirctor with Kypoint, Th bnfits of a cloud-first policy includ an immdiat rduction in costs, improvd systms rsilincy, bttr intgration and improvd collaboration, improvd agility, bttr budgt control and upgradd continuity. Howvr, thr ar significant hurdls and w want to illustrat how making scurity front of mind is a significant part of vry succssful cloud migration. Abdulla Mohammd (Coupon No ) won th 12 Rnault Dustr Cars Raffl Draw conductd by Ansar Gallry as part of its Win 12 Rnault Dustr Cars raffl. Mohammd is th ighth winnr of th draw. Nxt draw hld on 28 Fb 2019 will b a mga car raffl draw for 4 Rnault Dustr Cars and 15 othr gifts. Winnrs list ar publishd on and UK launchs app for EU citizns to stay aftr Brxit London, Unitd Kingdom Th British govrnmnt launchd a phon app Monday to allow EU nationals to apply to stay aftr Brxit, hoping to as concrns among thos who hav mad thir livs in Britain. Around 3.5 million Europans currntly living in Britain will nd to apply for sttld status to continu to work and claim bnfits aftr Brxit. Th app launch is a tst stag bfor th schm bcoms fully oprational on March 30, th day aftr Britain is du to lav th Europan Union. It will stay opn until lat 2020 or Prim Ministr Thrsa May has said rpatdly sh wants Europans living hr to stay. Talks continu with Appl to allow th app to function on iphons as it currntly only works on Android phons.

12 12 Financials buoy Egypt Egypt s COMI continus to ris on capital incras Abu Qir snaps fivday losing strak Samba Financial riss on chairman appointmnt DAMAC Proprtis continus to slid aftr BofA downgrad Rutrs Egypt s blu-chip shars ros ystrday, bolstrd by financial stocks, whil Saudi Arabia rvrsd arly losss as most of its banks gaind. Egypt s blu-chip indx ros 0.9 pr cnt with its largst bank, Commrcial Intrnational Bank, gaining 2.2pc. Th bank has gaind in th last fw sssions aftr its board dcidd to incras its authorisd capital to 50 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.79bn) from 20bn pounds. Stat-ownd Abu Qir Frtilizrs addd 2.2pc to snap a fiv-day losing strak. Th stock had bn sliding aftr th govrnmnt hird financial firms to manag th sal of a stak in th company, Rutrs had rportd. Non-Arab forign invstors wr th nt buyrs of Egyptian blu-chip shars, followd Fil pictur showing a tradr watching stock movmnts Closing Bll SAUDI DUBAI QATAR 0.2pc» 8,402 points 0.6pc» 2,499 pts 0.4pc» 10,722 pts ABU DHABI 0.4pc» 4,956 pts EGYPT KUWAIT OMAN BAHRAIN 0.9pc» 13,575 pts» 5,493 pts 0.6pc» 4,179 pts 0.2pc» 1,350 pts by Arab invstors, according to data on th xchang wbsit. Saudi Arabia s indx inchd up 0.2pc, with National Commrcial Bank, its biggst bank, incrasing 1.8pc. Samba Financial Group ros 3pc aftr it appointd Ammar Bin Abdul Wahid Al-Khudairy as its chairman. Th Gulf s largst dairy company Almarai addd 2.5pc. It had plungd 6.1pc in th last sssion aftr rporting a 28pc drop in its fourth-quartr profit. But ptrochmical shars mostly fll, with th country s largst listd company, Saudi Basic Industis, dropping 1.3pc, whil Saudi Kayan slid 5.4pc, dspit posting a narrowd fourth-quartr nt loss aftr zakat and tax of million riyals ($29.57 million) from million riyals a yar ago. In Dubai, th indx fll 0.6pc with all its ral stat firms down. DAMAC Proprtis, which has lost 23.2pc so far this yar, droppd 4.1pc. Last wk, BofA Mrrill Lynch downgradd DA- MAC to undrprform from nutral. BofA lowrd its 2018 to 2020 arnings pr shar forcast on DAMAC by an avrag of 47pc, citing xpctations of wakr bookd sals and gross margin. Th mirat s biggst bank, Emirats NBD, shd 0.8pc aftr thr days of gains following a 10pc ris in fourth-quartr nt profit. Qatar s indx lost 0.4pc with ptrochmical makr Industris Qatar slipping 0.8pc; HSBC last wk downgradd th stock to rduc from hold and cut th targt pric to 115 riyals from 125 riyals. Th Abu Dhabi indx was also down 0.4pc with First Abu Dhabi Bank, Unitd Arab Emirats largst lndr, sliding 0.7pc. Facbook to xpand Irland oprations with 1,000 staff Dublin, Irland Facbook will xpand its prsnc in Irland with an additional 1,000 staff ovr 2019, th firm announcd ystrday, bolstring th tch giant s largst bas outsid of its California hadquartrs. Facbook currntly mploys 4,000 across th Rpublic and th capital Dublin whr th company has stablishd its intrnational bas. W r going to b hiring an additional thousand popl in Irland in th nxt yar alon, said chif oprating officr Shryl Sandbrg. Th jobs will span th nginring, safty, lgal, policy, markting and sals tams, Facbook said in a statmnt. Sandbrg said th mploys would b working to hlp kp popl saf and to prvnt abus on th platform following a turbulnt priod for th social mdia goliath. Facbook is undr scrutiny as a rsult of its rol in th Cambridg Analytica (CA) scandal, which saw th prsonal data of tns of millions of usrs hijackd in Th company is also facing incrasing criticism for providing a platform for hat spch and facilitating forign intrfrnc in lctions. W didn t do nough to rally anticipat that whn you connct this many popl around th world thr ar ral risks, said Sandbrg. W r not th sam company w wr vn a fw yars ago, and that s somthing w nd to prov, sh addd. Facbook is currntly undr invstigation by watchdog th Irish Data Protction Commission (DPC) aftr th social mdia titan admittd a bug may hav xposd unpostd photos from up to 6.8 million usrs. That prob -- launchd in Dcmbr -- followd an arlir invstigation startd in Octobr aftr a scurity brach xposd 50 million accounts. Shryl Sandbrg, chif oprating officr of Facbook, spaks during th Digital-Lif-Dsign (DLD) confrnc British pound rcovrs as May outlins Brxit Plan B AFP London, Unitd Kingdom Th pound rcovrd ground ystrday aftr British Prim Ministr Thrsa May said sh plans to rturn to Brussls to discuss changs to th Brxit dal sh agrd with EU ladrs last month dspit an ovrwhlming rjction of th draft txt by MPs last wk. Th London stock markt ndd th day with th thinnst of gains, but still outprformd its Europan prs which all closd lowr. Earlir, Asian indics closd highr. US markts wr closd for a Ky figurs around 1645 GMT London - FTSE 100: Frankfurt - DAX 30: Paris - CAC 40: 0.03pc at 6, points (clos) 0.6pc at 11, (clos) 0.2pc at 4, (clos) EURO STOXX 50: 0.3pc at 3, Tokyo - Nikki 225: Hong Kong - Hang Sng: Shanghai - Composit: Nw York - CLOSED for bank holiday Pound/dollar: Euro/pound: 0.3pc at 20, (clos) 0.4pc at 27, (clos) 0.6pc at 2, (clos) at $ from $ at Friday at pnc from pnc Euro/dollar: at $ from $ Dollar/yn: at yn from Oil - Brnt Crud: 14 cnts at $62.56 pr barrl Oil - Wst Txas Intr: nin cnts at $53.95 bank holiday, making for mor modst trading volums than usual in th rst of th world. Thr was mixd nws out of China, with official data showing th country s conomic growth at its slowst pac in 28 yars offstting a rport that th country has offrd to liminat its massiv trad surplus with th Unitd Stats -- asing trad war tnsions btwn th world s two biggst conomis. Britain, manwhil, is on cours to crash out of th Europan Union on March 29 without a dal unlss UK MPs can forc a dlay or com up with an altrnativ plan that Brussls is also happy with. Unlss th British PM intnds to commit political suicid, an xtnsion rqust is th most likly scnario and th EU will most probably agr, which should b a positiv dvlopmnt that will tak th pound towards $1.30 again, prdictd Konstantinos Anthis, Had of Rsarch at ADSS. At th nd of th Europan businss day, th pound was trading at just abov $1.29. In th vnt, May told parliamnt ystrday sh blivd w can mak progrss on th so-calld Irish backstop, and that sh would b consulting MPs about possibl changs and thn tak th conclusions of thos discussions back to th EU. Somwhat dvoid Byond updats from May, markts ar somwhat dvoid of markt moving vnts, with th Chins data rlasd ovrnight providing th basis for markt sntimnt outsid of th UK today, said Joshua Mahony, snior markt analyst at IG trading group. Global stock markts had rallid on Friday, buoyd by hops of a brakthrough in fforts to dfus a US-China trad war. For now markts ar going ahad with th growing prcption that thr is a lot of willingnss by both partis to mak a dal, said National Australia Bank snior stratgist Rodrigo Catril. But... th markt is also likly to dmand mor concrt vidnc that a dal looks mor likly than not. Us your noodl: Tokyo mtro offrs fr food to as crowding Tokyo, Japan On of Tokyo s most crowdd subway lins is hoping th way to rach thir customrs harts is through thir stomachs, and offring fr food to as rush hour congstion. Around 7.2 million popl us Tokyo s mammoth mtro systm vry day, with som lins suffring notorious crowding during commuting hours. Among th worst affctd is th Tozai lin, which is now trying to ntic usrs to tak trains bfor th worst of th morning rush hour starts. If it can convinc at last 2,000 commutrs to tak arlir trains ovr th nxt two wks, Tokyo Mtro -- th company oprating th lin -- will offr ach of th arly birds fr tmpura. And if 2,500 popl complt th challng to rid into work arlir vry day ovr th priod, thy will ach gt a fr bowl of soba. If ovr 3,000 commutrs gt on board, thy ll gt a combo -- soba and tmpura -- for thir troubl. Th offr of fr noodls coms as th Tokyo Mtropolitan Govrnmnt launchd its own initiativ ovr th nxt two wks to ncourag commuting outsid of pak hours. Narly 1,000 businsss ar taking part in th campaign, allowing thir staff to start and Rprsntativ pictur (Courtsy of Straits Tims) nd work arlir than usual, or work from hom. Mtro officials hav long attmptd various campaigns to as rush hour conditions spcially on th Tozai Lin, which links astrn suburbs of Tokyo and Chiba dirctly to th businss districts of th world s largst mtropolis. During th hour from 7:50 am to 8:50 am, mor than 76,000 passngrs us th lin, doubl th numbr of popl th train was originally dsignd to comfortably srv. Trains on th lin oprat at 199 prcnt capacity, which is still considrd saf, but mans passngrs ar packd so tightly thy would hav difficulty moving thir bodis or limbs, said Takshi Yamashita, a Tokyo Mtro spoksman. This is our most congstd lin. W ar always trying to as th rush hour congstion, h said. W hop this will ncourag popl to continu (taking arly trains) to hlp as th rush hour situation, h said. Commutr congstion is xpctd to b among th logistical challngs Tokyo will fac whn it hosts th Olympics nxt yar summr, with som xprts urging initiativs including tl-working to avoid chaos during th Gams.

13 13 TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019 OASIS JUFFAIR 1-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON DAILY AT: PM DAILY AT (VIP): PM 2-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: AM PM DAILY AT (VIP): PM 3-MIKHAEL () (MALAYALAM) NEW NIVIN PAULY, UNNI MUKAUDAN, MANJIMA MOHAN FROM FRIDAY 18TH: AM PM 4-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) NEW CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): AM PM 5-SIMMBA (PG-15) (HINDI/ACTION/COMEDY/DRAMA/RO- MANTIC) RANVEER SINGH, AJAY DEVGN, SARA ALI KHAN DAILY AT: AM PM 6-SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE (PG) (ANIMATION/ ACTION/ADVENTURE) HAILEE STEINFELD, NICOLAS CAGE, MAHERSHALA ALI DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): PM 7-URI: THE SURGICAL STRIKE (15+) (HINDI/ACTION/DRAMA) VICKY KAUSHAL, KIRTI KULHARI, PARESH RAWAL DAILY AT: AM PM 8-THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER (PG) (HINDI/DRAMA/ BIOGRAPHY) ANUPAM KHER, AAHANA KUMRA, ABDUL QUADIR AMIN DAILY AT: PM 9-PETTA (PG-15) (TAMIL/ACTION/THRILLER) RAJINIKANTH, VIJAY SETHUPATHI, SIMRAN, TRISHA DAILY AT: PM 10-VISWASAM (PG-15) (TAMIL) AJITH KUMAR, NAYANTHARA DAILY AT: AM PM 11-VINAYA VIDHEYA RAMA (PG-15) (TELGU) KIARA ADVANI, RAM CHARAN AND VIVEK OBEROI DAILY AT: PM 12-JOSEPH (PG-15) (MALAYALAM) JOJU GEORGE, MALAVIKA MENON, JAMES ELIYA DAILY AT: PM CITYCENTRE 1-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON DAILY AT: AM PM MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) DAILY AT (IMAX 2D): PM DAILY AT (VIP II): PM 2-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: AM PM MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) DAILY AT (VIP I): AM PM 3-ALL THE DEVIL S MEN (15+) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW WILLIAM FICHTNER, SYLVIA HOEKS, ELLIOT COWAN DAILY AT: PM 4-SA AT REDA (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW HALA FAKHER, AHMED FATHY, DINA FOUAD DAILY AT: AM PM 5-MAHARAJA (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW ZIAD BOURJI, DALIDA KHALIL, JULIA KASSAR DAILY AT: AM PM 6-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT (ATMOS): PM MN 7-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER DAILY AT: PM DAILY AT (IMAX 3D): AM PM 8-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA DAILY AT: AM PM 9-BACKTRACE (PG-15) (CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER) SYLVESTER STALLONE, RYAN GUZMAN, MATTHEW MODINE DAILY AT: AM PM 10-JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (COMEDY/ACTION/ ADVENTURE) ROWAN ATKINSON, OLGA KURYLENKO, EMMA THOMPSON DAILY AT: PM MN 11-MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G) (ADVENTURE/MUSICAL/ FAMILY) EMILY BLUNT, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, BEN WHISHAW DAILY AT: PM 12-RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVEN- TURE/COMEDY) JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOT DAILY AT: AM PM 13-SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE (PG) (ANIMATION/ ACTION/ADVENTURE) HAILEE STEINFELD, NICOLAS CAGE, MAHERSHALA ALI DAILY AT: AM PM 14-BUMBLEBEE (PG-13) (ACTION /ADVENTURE/SCI-FICTION) HAILEE STEINFELD, JOHN CENA, JORGE LENDEBORG JR. DAILY AT: PM 15- EL BADLAH (PG-13) (ARABIC/COMEDY) TAMER HOSNY, AKRAM HOSNI, MAJED EL MASRY, AMINA KHALIL DAILY AT: AM PM 16-HUNTER KILLER (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) GERARD BUTLER, GARY OLDMAN, COMMON DAILY AT: AM PM 17-CREED II (PG-13) (DRAMA/ACTION/SPORT) TESSA THOMPSON, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, SYLVESTER STALLONE DAILY AT: AM PM 18-ROBIN HOOD (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) TARON EGERTON, EVE HEWSON, JAMIE FOXX DAILY AT: PM SEEF (II) 1-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON DAILY AT: AM PM MN + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) 2-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: (12.45 MN THURS/FRI) 3-ALL THE DEVIL S MEN (15+) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW WILLIAM FICHTNER, SYLVIA HOEKS, ELLIOT COWAN DAILY AT: PM 4-SA AT REDA (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW HALA FAKHER, AHMED FATHY, DINA FOUAD DAILY AT: AM PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI) 5-THE AMITYVILLE MURDER S (15+) (HORROR) NEW JOHN ROBINSON (IX), CHELSEA RICKETTS, DIANE FRANKLIN DAILY AT: AM PM 6-RIDE (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW BELLA THORNE, JESSIE T. USHER, WILL BRILL DAILY AT: AM PM 7-WOMAN WALKS AHEAD (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW JESSICA CHASTAIN, MICHAEL GREYEYS, CHASKE SPENCER DAILY AT: PM 8-PRAANA (PG-15) (MALAYALAM) NEW NITHYA MENON FROM FRIDAY 18TH: AM PM 9-F2: FUN & FRSTRATION (PG-15) (TELGU) NEW TAMANNAH BHATIA, PRAKASH RAJ, VENKATESH DAGGUBATI, VARUN TEJ DAILY AT: PM 10-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: PM 11-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER DAILY AT: AM PM 12-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA DAILY AT: AM PM 13-BACKTRACE (PG-15) (CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER) SYLVESTER STALLONE, RYAN GUZMAN, MATTHEW MODINE DAILY AT: PM 14-VISWASAM (PG-15) (TAMIL) AJITH KUMAR, NAYANTHARA DAILY AT: AM PM SEEF (I) 1-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: AM PM 2-CHEAT INDIA (PG-15) (HINDI/DRAMA/CRIME) NEW EMRAAN HASHMI, AMMAR TAALWALA, SHREYA DHAWANTHARY DAILY AT: AM PM 3-FRAUD SAIYAAN (15+) (HINDI/COMEDY) NEW ARSHAD WARSI, FLORA SAINI, MIHIKA VERMA DAILY AT: AM PM 4-MARY, MARRY ME (PG-15) (FILIPINO/COMEDY/ROMAN- TIC/DRAMA) NEW TONI GONZAGA, ALEX GONAZAGA, SAM MILBY DAILY AT: AM PM 5-MIKHAEL () (MALAYALAM) NEW NIVIN PAULY, UNNI MUKAUDAN, MANJIMA MOHAN FROM FRIDAY 18TH: AM PM 6-PETTA (PG-15) (TAMIL/ACTION/THRILLER) RAJINIKANTH,VIJAY SETHUPATHI,SIMRAN,TRISHA DAILY AT: AM PM SAAR 1-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON DAILY AT: (11.15 PM THURS/FRI) 2-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: AM (11.30 PM THURS/FRI) 3-ALL THE DEVIL S MEN (15+) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW WILLIAM FICHTNER, SYLVIA HOEKS, ELLIOT COWAN DAILY AT: (11.30 PM THURS/FRI) 4-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: PM 5-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER DAILY AT: PM 6-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA DAILY AT: (11.00 PM THURS/FRI) AL HAMRA 1-MIKHAEL () (MALAYALAM) NEW NIVIN PAULY, UNNI MUKAUDAN, MANJIMA MOHAN FROM FRIDAY 18TH: AM (12.00 MN FRI) 2-PETTA (PG-15) (TAMIL/ACTION/THRILLER) RAJINIKANTH, VIJAY SETHUPATHI, SIMRAN, TRISHA DAILY AT: PM WADI AL SAIL 1-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) NEW JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON DAILY AT: PM 2-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) NEW KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: AM PM MN 3-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN DAILY AT: PM 4-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE) CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER DAILY AT: AM PM 5-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA DAILY AT: PM 6-SIMMBA (PG-15) (HINDI/ACTION/COMEDY/DRAMA/RO- MANTIC) RANVEER SINGH, AJAY DEVGN, SARA ALI KHAN DAILY AT: AM PM 7-MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G) (ADVENTURE/MUSICAL/ FAMILY) EMILY BLUNT, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, BEN WHISHAW DAILY AT: AM PM Th Shap of Watr is a 2017 Amrican romantic fantasy film dirctd by Guillrmo dl Toro and writtn by dl Toro and Vanssa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michal Shannon, Richard Jnkins, Doug Jons, Michal Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spncr. St in Baltimor, Maryland, in 1962, th story follows a mut clanr at a high-scurity govrnmnt laboratory who falls in lov with a capturd humanoid amphibian cratur. On th rviw aggrgator wbsit Rottn Tomatos, th Movi Rviw Th Shap of Watr swims in lagoons of lov and horror Dirctor Guillrmo dl Toro and cast mmbrs during th shooting of Th Shap of Watr film has an approval rating of 92% basd on 388 rviws, with an avrag rating of 8.4/10. Th wbsit s critical consnsus rads: Th Shap of Watr finds Guillrmo dl Toro at his visually distinctiv bst and matchd by an motionally absorbing story brought to lif by a stllar Sally Hawkins prformanc. On Mtacritic, th film has a wightd avrag scor of 87 out of 100, basd on 53 critics, indicating univrsal acclaim. Bn Croll of IndiWir gav th film an A rating and calld it on of dl Toro s most stunningly succssful works... also a powrful vision of a crativ mastr fling totally, joyously fr. Writing for Rolling Ston, Ptr Travrs gav th film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising Hawkins s prformanc, th cinmatography and dl Toro s dirction, and saying: Evn as th film plungs into tormnt and tragdy, th cor rlationship btwn ths two unlikly lovrs holds us in thrall. Dl Toro is a world-class film artist. Thr s no sns trying to analys how h dos it. (Th Shap of Watr will b scrnd at Bahrain Cinma Club on Wdnsday 7.00pm) URGENTLY REQUIRED A rputd intrnational fast food company is hiring individuals for th position bik drivrs, intrstd candidats can contact or mail CV to sujith.udhayam@gmail. com

14 14 TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019 Lady Gaga calls out Trump for govrnmnt shutdown Los Angls Trump dstroying country: Cardi B Cardi B Los Angls Continuing hr tirad against US Prsidnt Donald Trump, rappr Cardi B has claimd that dcisions takn by Trump ar dstroying th country (USA) as th partial govrnmnt shutdown nars a month. You r so blindd with racism that you don t vn raliz th dcisions th prsidnt you root for is dstroying th country you claim to lov so much. You ar a prfct xampl on no mattr how ducatd or smart you think you ar you still a SHEEP! th Mony rappr wrot in rspons to Fox Nation host Tomi Lahrn s twt on January 20. I m sur you would. Still dosn t mak your political rambling any lss moronic. #BuildthatWall Lahrn, a Trump supportr, had arlir twtd. Singr Lady Gaga has slammd US Prsidnt Donald Trump for th ongoing govrnmnt shutdown. During hr show hr, Gaga took out a momnt to criticis Trump and urgd him to put th govrnmnt back in businss, rports varity.com. And that th prsidnt of th Unitd Stats could plas put our govrnmnt back in businss. Thr ar popl who liv paychck to paychck and nd thir mony. Th A Star is Born actor thn calld out Vic Prsidnt Mik Pnc, whos wif Karn is undr fir for accpting a job at a school that xcluds th LGBTQ community. Sh said: And to Pnc, who thinks it s accptabl that his wif work at a school that bans LGBTQ, you ar wrong. You say w should not discriminat Um al Hassan Sf District at Sf District too against Christianity; you ar th worst rprsntation of what it mans to b a Christian. I am a Christian woman and what I do know about Christianity is that w bar no prjudic and vrybody is wlcom. So you can tak all that disgrac Mr. Pnc and you can look yourslf in th mirror and you ll find it right thr. Th govrnmnt closd on Dcmbr 22, 2018 aftr Trump was rfusd funding for a southrn bordr wall. Los Angls Pop star Justin Bibr and his wif Haily Baldwin apparntly dont liv by th whol opposits attract thory, fls th modl s cousin Irland Baldwin. Thy r prfct for ach othr bcaus thy r lik th sam prson, Irland, 23, told popl.com whil attnding th opning of On Th Rcord at Park MGM hr. Thy r both rally swt. Thy complmnt ach othr. Thy r both vr loving ach othr, addd Irland. Th young coupl is also xprincing lif at th sam spd. Thy r going through th sam struggls. I fl lik, and thy ar just hlping ach othr out. As lif gos, w all go, Irland said of hr cousin. A l - though Los Angls Ariana Grand accusd of plagiarism Rapprs Soulja Boy and 2 Chainz hav calld out singr Ariana Grand for allgdly copying thir work for hr latst track 7 Rings. Earlir this month, Grand was also accusd of staling lyrics by rappr Princss Nokia for th sam song, rports foxnws.com. Soulja Boy allgd that Grand stol from his song Prtty boy swag. H rplid to a twt in which Grand thankd hr frinds who wr faturd in th 7 Rings vido, writing, Giv m my crdit. Priod. H latr followd up with th mssag: You r a thif. Soulja Boy has prviously accusd rappr Drak of staling his musical styl. Justin, 24, and Haily, 22, ar alrady lgally marrid, thy ar planning to hav a biggr clbration including a rligious crmony and rcption, a sourc told Popl. Thy v bn figuring out th prfct tim to do it, and thy both fl lik th soonr, th bttr, an insidr clos to Bibr said this month. Th onc on-and-off coupl, who prviously datd bfor a mssy 2016 brakup, rkindld thir rlationship last yar bfor Bibr proposd to Haily in th Bahamas in July. Just two months aftr his proposal, th two marrid in a Nw Y o r k City civil srvic. Razzi Awards 2019: Travolta, Dpp among othrs nominatd for worst actor Los Angls Lady Gaga Haily, Justin ar th sam, fls Irland Baldwin Th awards show that honours th worst in cinma hav rvald th nominations for th 39th annual Razzi Awards. This yar s nomins for worst pictur, includ Gotti, Th Happytim Murdrs, Robin Hood, Winchstr and th comdy whos own ads admit it dosn t hav a clu, th Razzis said in its announcmnt, Holms & Watson, wrot Th Hollywood Rportr. Th nomins for worst acting includ John Travolta for Gotto, Mlissa McCarthy for Th Happytim Murdrs and Lif of th Party, Bruc Willis for Dath Wish and Jnnifr Garnr for Ppprmint. Rgina King gushs ovr mting Sam Elliott Actrss Rgina King says sh isnt on to fangirl ovr fllow clbritis, but thr is on actor sh will mak an xcption for. During an apparanc on Jimmy Kimml Liv!, King says hr clbrity crush is Sam Elliott, rports pagsix.com. Talking about th award sason, King, 48, whos If Bal Strt Could Talk has rcivd numrous accolads alrady, xplaind th social scn off camra. You ar sing a lot of th sam popl and thn you ar sing popl you ar a hug fan of, sh said. Sh said sh typically kps hr cool in front of clbritis sh admirs, but at th Goldn Globs whr sh won th Bst Actrss award for hr rol in If Bal Strt Could Talk sh admittd bing unabl to kp it togthr for A Star is Born actor Sam Elliott. Lionl Richi s son dtaind in Britain Los Angls Ariana Grand Singr Lionl Richi s son Mils Brockman Richi, also known as Mils Richi, was arrstd hr for a bomb hoax. Th 24-yar-old modl mad a bomb thrat during an altrcation with officials at London s Hathrow Airport on January 19. According to tmz.com, it all wnt down whn Mils was trying to gt on a flight but h was not allowd for an unspcifid rason. H thn rportdly bcam angry and thratnd to dtonat a bomb which h claimd h had in his bag if h was not allowd to gt on th plan.

15 15 Australia advanc to Asian Cup quartrs Mat Ryan th shoot-out hro as Australia bat Uzbkistan on pnaltis to rach Asian Cup last ight AFP Al-Ain Goalkpr Mat Ryan brilliantly savd two pnaltis as dfnding champions Australia won a dramatic shoot-out with Uzbkistan to rach th Asian Cup quartr-finals ystrday. Australia had th bttr of a goallss 120 minuts bfor Brighton s Ryan stoppd spotkicks from Islom Tukhtakhujav and Marat Bikmav in a tns shoot-out that finishd 4-2. Hrtha Brlin s Mathw Lcki, rturning from a hamstring injury, burid th dcisiv kick to put th Soccroos into th last ight. Uzbkistan wr wll on top in th first half against a pdstrian Australia who managd just on shot on targt bfor th brak, an innocuous ffort from Aziz Bhich. Cntral dfndr Trnt Sainsbury, back from suspnsion, will hav nightmars about how h was shruggd off by Eldor Shomurodov for a on-on-on chanc savd by Ryan s arm. Javokhir Sidikov fizzd on wid of th upright aftr Jaloliddin Masharipov all too asily vadd th joint challng of Rhyan Grant and Awr Mabil. But Australia smd dtrmind to mix it up aftr th brak and as thy finally clickd, Jami Maclarn had a shot blockd bfor Grant twic had opportunitis with his had. Lcki thn mad his long-awaitd first apparanc of th tournamnt, and h had an immdiat impact in th forward lin. Lcki was part of a mov that lft Maclarn inchs away from th opnr, and thn aftr dribbling into th box h was only dnid by a smart stop from Ignatiy Nstrov. Rogic s sharp shot was turnd around th post by Nstrov and aftr thy wnt into xtra tim, th influntial Cltic man curld anothr on just past upright. Howvr, nithr sid could gt th winnr and ultimatly Ryan was th diffrnc as h stood up to Tukhtakhujav s kick straight down th middl, and divd low for Bikmav s. But in a sour not for th holdrs, Rogic pickd up a harsh yllow card in th first half which will rul him out of th quartr-final. Earlir, Takhiro Tomiyasu s lon strik snt Saudi Arabia crashing out of th Asian Cup as Japan bat th thr-tim champions 1-0 to rach th quartr-finals. Australia s dfndr Mark Milligan taks a pnalty Asian Cup Japan 1 0 Saudi Arabia Australia 0 0 Uzbkistan (Australia win 4-2 on pnaltis) UAE 1 0 Kyrgyzstan Italian Sri A Gnoa 0 2 AC Milan *Scors as of closing Tomiyasu s first-half hadr was nough to sal it for Japan as th last-16 gam btwn two tams with svn titls btwn thm faild to liv up to its billing. Japan, rcord four-tim winnrs of th Asian Cup, march on to a quartr-final with Southast Asian champions Vitnam dspit not yt hitting top form at th tournamnt. Excutiv panl mting Th xcutiv committ of th 2019 dition of th Bahrain Sports Day, schduld for Fbruary 12, has rviwd updatd dtails in rgards to th main sports villag locatd at Isa Sports City in Riffa. During its scond mting hld at th Bahrain Olympic Committ prmiss in Sf, xcutiv committ s vnts committ had Louns Madn mad a prsntation on sports and ntrtaining activitis that will tak plac at th main sports villag in th vning sssion from 3pm until 8pm. Madn rvald som of th activitis schduld during th day, which includ walking rac, a running rac, a fun color run and som kids activitis. On his part, committ mmbr Fadi Humaidan talkd about th mchanism of rgistration for th participants at th vnu of th vnt and th importanc of adhring to th rgulations in ordr to sav tim. H pointd out that th numbr of voluntrs has rachd 75 voluntrs, whil this numbr is xpctd to doubl in th nxt fw days. Mahmood Ashoori of th sports villag oprations committ, prsntd svral logistic nds of th activitis to b stagd at th vnu, whil mdia committ had Mohammd Lori announcd th mdia covrag plan of this yar s Bahrain Sports Day, which startd two wks ago. Bahrain National Crickt Tam bfor dparting to Oman to participat in th Asian Crickt Council T20 which is hld from 21st to 26th January. Othr tams includ Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldivs & Qatar. Bahrain Tam is coachd by Mirza Azm Ul Haqu and captaind by Adil Hanif Th Excutiv Dirctor of th Bahrain Tnnis Club, Hamdi Abdl-Jawad, givs a lctur to th participants of th National training projct for disabilitis spcialists. Th lctur was about th whlchair Tnnis projct for disabld which stablishd by th Bahrain Tnnis Club on January 6th, 2019, in coopration withth Bahrain Sports Fdration for Disabilitis, Bahrain Tnnis Fdration, sponsord by Manama, Sulmaniya and Adlya Rotary Clubs Dmbl sparkls but Mssi ndd off bnch to rscu Barca Lionl Mssi of Barclona scors his tam s third goal KNOW WHAT Lgans had batn Barclona at hom in Sptmbr AFP Barclona Ousman Dmbl gav Barclona a glimps into th futur but Barclona still ndd Lionl Mssi to bat Lgans 3-1 on Sunday and rstor thir fiv-point lad at th top of La Liga. Mssi had startd on th bnch, rstd by coach Ernsto Valvrd, and for just ovr an hour at th Camp Nou, Dmbl filld th void by scoring th opning goal in a sparkling individual display. Th 21-yar-old, howvr, limpd off with a spraind ankl in th 69th minut, shortly aftr Lgans had qualisd through Martin Braithwait and Valvrd rspondd by introducing Mssi. H ndd only svn minuts to mak an impact as his bnding shot was followd up by Luis Suarz, who pokd th ball in ahad of Lgans goalkpr Pichu Cullar. Mssi thn roundd off th win by scoring himslf in injury-tim. Lgans had protstd against Suarz s finish, convincd that Pichu had bn fould by a high foot. It was a clar foul, coach Mauricio Pllgrino said. Barca don t nd ths kind of dcisions to hlp thm. But VAR disagrd and Barca advancd to what was, in truth, a fully dsrvd victory. It mans thy rgain thir hfty advantag ovr Atltico Madrid at th top of th tabl, with th diffrnc ahad of Ral Madrid also back to 10 points. Lgans had batn Barclona at hom in Sptmbr but that rmains th high point of thir sason. Thy stay 14th.

16 16 Srna outslugs Halp Cool Raonic ignors Zvrv tantrum to advanc Czch svnth sd Pliskova powrs into last ight Nvr-say-di Nishikori into Opn quartrs aftr fiv-st pic Novak Djokovic survivs xamination to rach Australian Opn quartrs AFP Mlbourn A fird-up Srna Williams sluggd past world numbr on Simona Halp ystrday as sh inchs vr closr to a 24th Grand Slam titl, whil Novak Djokovic survivd a battl to stay on cours for a rcord svnth Australian Opn crown. In a towring prformanc, th Amrican grat scord hr biggst win sinc having a baby KNOW WHAT Srna Williams won hr 23rd Grand Slam Down Undr two yars ago whil two months prgnant and is th bookis favourit to claim an ighth Australian titl, dspit bing sdd 16th Srna Williams and Simona Halp shak hands aftr thir battl to grind down th Romanian top sd 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and mov into a quartr-final against svnth sd Karolina Pliskova. Czch Pliskova is anothr form playr, winning th warmup Brisban Intrnational and asing past two-tim Grand Slam winnr Garbin Muguruza 6-3, 6-1 to st up th Williams clash. I m such a fightr, I nvr giv up, dclard Williams aftr th pic ncountr. It was an intns match and thr wr som incrdibl points but I lov playing tnnis and bing out hr and I lov this court, it s rally cool to b back. Whil Williams stayd calm, highly-ratd Grman fourth sd Alxandr Zvrv lost th plot against Canadian Milos Raonic, crashing 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) and dmolishing a racqut in a massiv mltdown. And Spain s Pablo Carrno Busta also lt th prssur gt to him, ranting at th umpir aftr a disputd call whn lading th final tibrak 8-5 against Japan s Ki Nishikori. H faild to win anothr point and was bood as h stormd off Margart Court Arna, angrily throwing his kit bag aftr losing a 5hr 5min marathon 6-7 (8/10), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-6 (10/8). Nishikori will now play sixtim champion Djokovic, who droppd a st for th scond match in a row bfor sing off 15th-sdd Daniil Mdvdv 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-3. It was dfinitly a physical battl. It was difficult to gt through him, th Srbian world numbr on said. In ths kinds of matchs you just hav to hang in thr. Elvat gam Dominant Williams ovrshadowd thm all and is ovrwhlming favourit to win an ighth Australian titl, with dfnding champion Carolin Wozniacki and scond sd Angliqu Krbr alrady out. Sh has bn in ominous form at Mlbourn Park as sh sks on mor major titl to put hr alongsid Margart Court s rcord 24, and it lookd lik Frnch Opn champion Halp would b anothr asy scalp aftr a first st rout. But th nuggty Romanian isn t world numbr on for nothing and sh bouncd back to st up a hug powr struggl that Williams finally won with a brak in th svnth gam of th third st. I rally ndd to lvat my Srbia s Novak Djokovic hits a rturn against Russia s Daniil Mdvdv gam. Sh s a grat playr, said Williams. Fourth sd Naomi Osaka, manwhil, was composd as sh bat crafty Latvian Anastasija Svastova, mrging from an rror-strwn first to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. I think th biggst thing for m is th blif. I think I bliv in myslf mor this yar than I hav last yar, said th bubbly 21-yar-old, who bat Williams in th US Opn final last yar. Sh nxt facs ambitious sixth sd Elina Svitolina, who ndd to dig dp to ovrcom 17th sdd Madison Kys 6-2, 1-6, 6-1. Svitolina was a quartr-finalist at Mlbourn Park last yar and has st hr sights high aftr hr brakthrough in winning th WTA Finals Singapor, targting a Grand Slam win and world numbr on. Earlir on Rod Lavr Arna, Zvrv slf-dstructd to slump out at th hands of Raonic. Th Grman has routinly bn anointd as th flag-barr for th nxt gnration, but again faild to liv up to his rputation and has now missd out on making th last ight of a major 14 tims in 15 attmpts. So furious was h with his form, th 21-yar-old had a major tmpr tantrum in th scond st, whacking his racqut into th ground ight tims to lav it a crumpld mss. I just trid to stay composd and it workd out wll for m today, said cool 16th sd Raonic, who will now fac Frnchman Lucas Pouill aftr h battld past Croat Borna Coric in four tough sts. It mad m fl bttr says racqut-smashr Zvrv Grmany s Alxandr Zvrv smashs his racqut aftr a gam against Canada s Milos Raonic AFP Mlbourn Furious fourth sd Alxandr Zvrv crashd out of th Australian Opn ystrday but said h flt bttr aftr smashing his racqut to pics in frustration. Zvrv ruptd in th scond st of a 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) fourth-round humiliation by Canadian 16th sd Milos Raonic, hammring his racqut into th ground ight tims to lav it a mangld mss. Yah, it mad m fl bttr. I was vry angry, so I lt my angr out, h told rportrs. And th volatil Grman was surprisd whn askd if h had don it bfor. You nvr watchd my matchs? You should watch my matchs, h smild. Zvrv was tippd as a futur Grand Slam champion aftr a brakthrough 2018 that saw him win th ATP Tour Finals, bating Novak Djokovic and Rogr Fdrr in th procss. Instad it was a familiar tal of wo as h faild to mak th last-ight of a major for th 14th tim in 15 majors. Th world numbr four brok formr world numbr thr Raonic s formidabl srv at th start of th match but thn implodd to los nin straight gams in an rror-strwn disastr.