sports 6 @newsofbahrain friday · pilgrims gather around the kaaba, islam’s holiest shrine, at...

Don’t make ‘empty threats’Bahrain warns Iran

TDT | Manama

Bahrain yesterday warned Iran to “refrain from is-suing empty threats or

committing any acts” that may cause tensions in the region and obstruct freedom of maritime navigation in the Arabian Gulf and the region.

Such “irresponsible state-ments” mirror Iran’s determi-nation to obstruct peace and security and freedom of mari-time navigation in the Arabian Gulf and the region, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

Blasting Iran’s comments on the recent Gulf maritime securi-ty conference, the Ministry said,

“Such meetings and conferences come in line with the Kingdom’s continued efforts and policies to provide security and peace in the region.”

The statement also called upon Iran to commit to de-esca-lation and respect the interests, sovereignty and independence of states.

Bahrain said the July 31 meeting discussed the “current regional situation” and blast-ed “the repeated attacks and unacceptable practices of Iran and the terrorist groups linked to it”.

This will be done “through collective action and coopera-tion with allies and international

partners, who are keen to shoul-der their responsibility in facing all the challenges targeting this region.”

Manama said last month that it and the US would co-host a conference on “maritime and air navigation security”, set for October.

Britain said Monday it will form a joint maritime taskforce with the US to protect merchant vessels in the Gulf.

It follows a spate of inci-dents -- including the seizure of ships -- between Iran and Western powers, in particu-lar, Britain and the US, centred on the vital Strait of Hormuz thoroughfare.

03 Waiting for theaquacalypse

04 US minesweepers in Gulf unreliable!

08 GFH reports H1 Profit

6

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Cochin airport closed as water enters taxiwayIANS | Kochi

The Cochin Internation-al Airport was closed

yesterday night as water en-tered its taxiway following heavy rains and rising water levels in the Periyar river, a top airport official said.

A i r p o r t D i r e c t o r A.C.K.Nair told IANS that it was decided at 9 pm yes-terday to close down the airport.

“As of now, we have de-cided to close it till 12 mid-night on Thursday, but with the water level rising in the Periyar river, this present decision can change also. Even though at present there is no water in the run-way, we decided to close it down, as the taxiway is wa-terlogged,” he said.

The airport was closed for several days in the huge floods that took place last year.

Bahrain keen to develop legal system : HRH Premier TDT | Manama

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

has stressed the government’s keenness to modernise King-dom’s laws and legislations for staying abreast of regulatory de-velopments and newest trends across the globe.

“This would help Bahrain en-hance the competitiveness of its investment atmosphere,” said HRH Premier yesterday.

The Prime Minister was receiving Bahrain Bar Socie-ty (BBS)’s Board of Directors’ Chairman, Lawyer Hassan Ahmed Bedaiwi, and members at the Gudaibiya Palace yester-day.

“We are proud of jurists and the legal profession whose giv-ing and dedication have been established through successive generations of distinguished

lawyers,” HRH Premier said.Expressing pride in the flexi-

bility of Bahrain’s legal system, the Premier underlined govern-ment’s support to carry out its mission to defend rights and establish justice to the fullest.

The Premier, on the occasion, listened to lawyers’ proposal to enhance the legal profession and gave directives to the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and

Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, to study the law-yers’ proposals, stressing that his “doors are always open.”

BBS chief congratulated PM on UN marking 5th April each year as “International Day of Conscience” based on an initi-ative launched by HRH earlier this year. A commemorative gift was presented to HRH PM on the occasion.

Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

Prime Minister gets UN praise

• US declares 5th April as “International Day of Conscience”

TDT | Manama

UN General Assembly Pres-ident, María Fernanda

Espinosa, has praised Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa’s initi-ative for declaring 5th April as the “International Day of Conscience”.

Monica Grayley, a spokes-person for the General As-sembly President, in a press statement yesterday, welcomed HRH the Premier’s initiative.

“The day of 5 April will,

from now on, provide an op-portunity for the international community to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, under-standing and solidarity, to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony,” Mon-ica Grayley said.

The resolution titled ‘Pro-moting a Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience’ was welcomed by all member states.

“Ms Espinosa believes that the declaration is also timely as the UN will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace during the high-level forum on 13 Septem-ber 2019,” the spokesperson said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa (file)

Hajj begins

Pilgrims gather around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca yesterday, prior to the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city. Muslims from across the world gather in Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual six-day pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, an act all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime if they have the means to travel to Saudi Arabia. (See page 5)

Fresh fighting in Syria’s Idlib triggers ‘total panic’: UNGenève, Switzerland

Renewed fighting in northwest Syria after a

brief ceasefire has triggered “total panic”, a top UN offi-cial said yesterday, warning that a possible government offensive in the area was “like playing with fire”.

The jihadist-run bastion of Idlib, the last major op-position stronghold in Syria, is currently home to about three million people.

The United Nations has raised specific alarm about the risks of a massive gov-ernment offensive in the area because Idlib has for several years served as a re-ception zone for those es-caping government advanc-es elsewhere in the country. Trump criticises Macron for

sending Iran ‘mixed signals’Washington, United States

President Donald Trump yes-terday accused his French

counterpart Emmanuel Macron of getting in the way of US policy and sending “mixed signals” to Iran.

Trump has imposed crippling sanctions on Iran and sought to sink an international deal for man-aging the country’s contested nu-clear industry.

“Iran is in serious financial trou-ble. They want desperately to talk to the US but are given mixed sig-nals from all of those purporting to represent us, including Presi-dent Macron of France,” Trump tweeted.

Trump lashed out at Macron, saying, “I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is

authorised in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!”

Washington and its Gulf allies have accused the Islamic Republic of the attacks on ships.

In response, the US has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission-- dubbed Operation Sen-tinel -- it says is to guarantee free-dom of navigation in the Gulf.

Donald Trump

02FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019

Bahrain, Turkmenistan sign visa exemption deal TDT | Manama

Bahrain and Turkmen-istan have signed an

agreement to establish mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, ser-vice and special passports, Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement released.

The agreement signed on March 18 entered into force yesterday.

The agreement, the min-istry said, reflects the mu-tual desire of the Kingdom and Turkmenistan to invest in various opportunities and to enhance cooperation.

Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani. The Minister commended the efforts exerted by the Secretariat General of the GCC to support the GCC progress at all levels

Bahrain extends condolences

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, extended condolences of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness the Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to the government and people of India, on the demise of the former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. This came during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Embassy of India in Bahrain to offer condolences. The Minister expressed his deepest condolences, recalling her contributions in enhancing the Kingdom’s historical relations with India on various levels, as well as her honourable stances towards regional and international issues, which contributed to the enhancement of the relations of the two friendly countries

Under the patronage of Royal Guard Commander His Highness Major-General Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Royal Guard organised specialised military graduation in presence of His Highness Lt-Colonel Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa the Commander of the Royal Guard Special Force, with the participation of brotherly UAE Armed Forces affiliates. HH the Commander delivered graduation certificates and appreciation prizes to the high achievers. Deputy Commander of the Royal Guard Major-General Hamad Khalifa Al Nuaimi was also present.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, Ahmed Abdul Aziz Al-Khayat along with MP Basim Al-Malki and Municipality Member Mohamed Al-Dhaen during a field visit to the Northern Governorate’s 10th Constituency. This is a part of the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, Essam Bin Abdulla Khalaf’s instructions to follow up on the complaints of citizens. Al-Malki and Al-Dhaen discussed several complaints and suggestions with Al-Khayat that concern roads and sanitary in the area, including building a number of speed bumps in a number of the constituency’s blocks, allocating car parks in front of mosques and schools, among other complaints and suggestions.

To pay respect to Sushma Swaraj, Former Central Minister of External affairs, The Indian Club Bahrain conducted a condolence meeting in association with Sankriti and ICRF (Indian Community Relief Fund) at club premise on Wednesday. Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha, Second Secretary P.K.Chowdhury attended the meeting. Marshel Dasan (Vice President-Indian Club), Job MJ (Gen. Secretary-Indian Club), Suneesh Kallinkeel (Sports Secretary-Indian Club), Vinod Thampi (Asst. Treasurer Indian club), Arul Das (President-ICRF), Suresh Babu (President Sanskriti), Anil Pachlangia (Indian Club Toastmasters), Praveen Nair (Secretary Sanskriti) and members of many communities shared heartfelt condolences. Around 150 plus members and guests attended the condolence meeting.

‘Senior Citizens’ not ‘Elderly people’TDT | Manama

The Labour and Social De-velopment ministry will

rename all its elderly care fa-cilities and services as per the directives of HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, said La-bour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan yesterday.

The ministry will use the

term “Senior citizens” instead of “Elderly people” in going for-ward as per the instructions by HM the King’s Representative for Charity Work and Youth Affairs and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Youth and Sport, HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

“All necessary adminis-trative and legal tools to im-plement HH Shaikh Nass-

er’s directives will be issued soon,” said Minister Jameel Humaidan.

Labour and Social Develop-ment Minister pointed out that changing the name is a token of appreciation for the tremen-dous efforts they have exerted in building the nation, as well as for the effective role they have played in maintaining social cohesion.

Lane closures TDT | Manama

Asphalt works of Nu-waidrat Flyover Junc-

tion on Sh. Jaber Al Ahmed Al Subah Highway necessi-tates the closure of left turn from Nuwaidrat Avenue to Sh. Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sub-ah Highway and U-turn for the traffic coming from Sitra and going to Manama. Traf-fic will be diverted to Alba Flyover Junction.

The closure started yes-terday at 11 pm will end to-morrow at 5 am.

Works Ministry also said it will close the slow lane for eastbound traffic head-ing towards Hidd on Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Cause-way. The closure occurs during nighttime from 12 am to 6 am from August 9 and continues for 4 nights.

About 84 per cent of all

wastewater collected in Gulf

Cooperation Council

countries (Bahrain,

Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi

Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) is

treated to safe levels, but only

44pc goes on to be reused

03

big story

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019

Waiting for the aquacalypse

Bahrain ranks 12 among countries having “Extremely high baseline water stress”

TDT | Manama

Imagine a day in the future where people are fighting over access to water!

Years ago such a crisis was un-thinkable to most of the world.

The reality, however, is that with each passing day, climate changes and population growth are pushing our globe closer to this post-apoca-lyptic-sounding “water wars”.

The Middle East and North Africa region, which includes Bahrain, is in the danger of making this scenario a reality very soon if steps are not taken to prevent them.

The warning is aired by the Wa-ter Risk Atlas of World Resources Institute which paints a disturbing picture of the future ahead where the world’s population are close to “day zero” conditions when the taps run dry.

Nearly a quarter of the world’s population lives in 17 countries fac-ing extremely high water stress, ac-cording to the report.

The reasons for these crises go far deeper than drought: Through new hydrological models, WRI found that water withdrawals globally have more than doubled since the 1960s due to growing demand – and they show no signs of slowing down.

Bahrain 12thBahrain is ranked 12th on the

countries having “Extremely high baseline water stress” on the Nation-al Water Stress Rankings. The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Wa-ter Risk Atlas ranked water stress, drought risk and riverine flood risk using a peer-reviewed methodology.

A c c o r d i n g to the report, 12 out of the 17 most wa-ter-stressed countries a r e i n the Middle East and

North Africa where climate change is set to complicate the matters fur-ther. Qatar, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Ara-bia, Eritrea, UAE, San Marino, Bah-rain, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Oman and Botswana made up the top 17.

“The region is hot and dry, so water supply is low, to begin with, but growing demands have pushed countries further into extreme stress,” the report says.

In the 17 countries facing extreme-ly high water stress, agriculture, industry, and municipalities are

drinking up 80 per cent of availa-ble surface and groundwater in an average year.

“When demand rivals supply, even small dry shocks – which are set to increase due to climate change – can produce dire consequences” such as the recent crises in Cape Town, Sao Paulo and Chennai.

Another 27 countries comprised the “high baseline water stress” list and a full list can be found here: https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/aqueduct/

The Middle East and North Africa are home to 12 of the most stressed countries, while India, which is ranked 13, has more than three times the population of the other 16 in its category combined.

The World Bank found that the Middle East has the greatest expect-ed economic losses from climate-re-lated water scarcity, estimated at 6-14pc of GDP by 2050.

There is a way out!Yet there is a way out, the report

says, pointing to an untapped op-portunity to boost water security in MENA despite being the most wa-ter-stressed region on Earth.

“About 82 per cent of the region’s wastewater is not reused,” the report finds recommending that “harness-ing this resource would generate a new source of clean water.”

About 84pc of all wastewater col-lected in Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) is treated to safe levels, but only 44pc goes on to be reused.

Oman leadsLeaders in treatment

and reuse are already

emerging: Oman ranked #16 on the list of water-stressed countries, treats 100pc of its collected waste-water and reuses 78pc of it.

The report also points out several examples to follow which includes that of the new Qatrah (“droplet” in Arabic) programme launched by Saudi Arabia aiming to reduce wa-ter usage by 43pc within the next decade.

Saudi’s ‘droplet’Saudi Arabia, which has a popu-

lation of about 33.4 million, is the world’s third-largest per capita consumer of water after the United States (pop. 324.5m approx.) and Canada (pop. 37.2m), according to the Qatrah website. Through the Qatrah programme, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agricul-ture aims to reduce daily per capita consumption from 263 litres to 200 litres by 2020 and 150 litres by 2030.

Namibia, one of the most arid countries in the world, has been turn-ing sewage water into drinking wa-ter for the past 50 years. And Austral-ia nearly halved domestic water use to avert its own Day Zero moment during the Millennium Drought. The country’s water-trading scheme, the largest in the world, allows for the smart allocation of water among users in the face of variable supplies.

Even countries with low average water stress can have dire hotspots, the report found. While the US ranks a comfortable 71 on the list, the state of New Mexico faces water stress on par with the UAE.

Governorate Sectoral score Total

Southern 4.14 4.14

4.14

4.16

Capital 4.14 4.14

4.14

4.14

Muharraq 4.14 4.14

4.14

4.14

Northern 4.13 4.13

4.13

4.11

Agricultural

Domestic

Industrial

Representative picture


US minesweepers in Gulf unreliable!Stars and Stripes in a report questions the capability of US ships in the Gulf to find and remove mines

TDT | Manama

As the United States is scrambling to create a maritime task force in

the Gulf with its allies, sailors in the Bahrain-based 5th fleet have revealed that they are struggling to identify and defuse underwa-ter mines with ‘unreliable’ and ageing minesweepers.

“We are essentially the ships that the Navy forgot,” Stripes.com quoted a US Navy officer as saying.

Another officer stationed on one of the minesweepers in the Arabian Gulf told Stripes, “The four minesweepers based in the Gulf were so physically unrelia-ble that he doubted his superiors would actually send them into action in a crisis.”

Washington and Riyadh previ-ously blamed Iran for allegedly using limpet mines to blow holes in Gulf-area ships in May and June, and Trump came close to ordering an attack on Iran in retaliation.

However, the report points out that the ships currently on duty here are ageing with “companies that used to make a variety of spare parts no longer exist.”

“A sailor recently aboard one ship said the sonar meant to de-tect mines was so imprecise that in training exercises it flagged dishwashers, crab traps and cars

on the ocean floor as potential bombs,” the report said.

The report says that even though clearing mines would require multiple ships, the Navy is struggling to put a “fully mis-sion-capable” squad to sea.

“We are eager to operate if called upon,” the officer aboard one of the ships told Stripes. “We’ll operate the systems as best as they can operate. My con-cern is the ships are old and, like any old ship, they break.”

The Avenger-class ships were built in the late 1980s and early ’90s and slated for retirement years ago. But their retirement

date has been continually de-layed because the service still doesn’t have a working replace-ment. The Navy’s latest estimate is that the ships will all be de-commissioned by the fiscal year 2023.

The mine warfare fleet in the Arabian Gulf, according to Stripes, is a mix of ageing ships, high-tech drones and helicop-ters.

A Navy spokesman, however, conceded “there are challenges with all older ships, including maintenance and repair” that might make it take longer for the ships to accomplish their

mission, he said maintenance problems have “dramatically im-proved” of late. He noted that as recently as July 6, all four of the older minesweepers based in the Gulf had been at sea at the same time.

Budget constraintsOne of the reasons, accord-

ing to ProPublica, an American nonprofit organisation based in New York City, that kept the mine warfare fleet in this state is budget constraints.

“It’s not that they don’t want it, it’s that they want other things more,” one officer said. “Every

dollar you’re spending on [mine countermeasures] is a dollar you’re not spending on some cool new submarine.”

The high rate of mechanical issues has also been cited as a reason. The USS Devastator, or MCM 6, was out of commission because the Navy couldn’t fix a key part, Stripes quoted a sailor who recently served a long tour on the ship.

Don’t know how to useStripes also points out that

sailors on the ships often do not know how to use their equipment as they have relied too heavily on computer-based training.

“I’m telling you they can’t do it, not with any degree of oper-ational proficiency,” a contrac-tor told the report.

All this comes at a time when Iran has stepped up its activities in the strait by planting thou-sands of naval mines. In an inci-dent, limpet mines were placed above the water level on the hull of the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous as it was passing through the Gulf of Oman along with the Norwegian-operated Front Altair, according to the US Navy.Stripes also noted that Iran’s

arsenal includes a mix of cheap-er, older ones that float and blow upon impact, and more sophisti-

cated ones that can be dropped from planes. They sit on the ocean floor and explode after detecting nearby ships.

Sailors, according to stripes, in the 5th fleet are eager to con-tribute watching the recent es-calation, but doubt their ability to do so.

Can’t remove minesAsked if the ships could ef-

fectively find and remove mines in the Gulf if they had to, one officer was blunt: “No.”

The Bahrain-based mine-sweepers, more than two times the length of a basketball court, are made of wood so they can more safely approach magnetic naval mines. Sailors have to be cautious about bringing any-thing made of metal on board, mindful even of where they store canned foods.

The Navy, report claims, is planning to introduce a new class of vessels, known as Litto-ral Combat Ships, but repeatedly delayed by cost overruns and technical deficiencies.

The Navy, in the shipbuilding plan it submitted to Congress this year, said that in the next year it would begin retiring three of its 11 minesweepers — the ones based in the US, in San Diego — and harvest their parts to service the eight ships based in Japan and Bahrain.

A formation of Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships — USS Devastator (MCM 6), USS Gladiator (MCM 11), USS Sentry (MCM 3) and USS Dextrous (MCM 13) — maneuver in the Arabian Gulf. (Courtesy of Stars and Stripes)

ASSETS Property, plant and equipment 26,565 27,436Right-of-use assets 5,923 -Investment properties 2,061 2,100Equity accounted investees 1,855 1,592Other assets 981 982Total Non-current assets 37,385 32,110 Inventories 10,042 9,622Trade and other receivables 80,745 70,780Contract assets 32,958 31,208Due from related parties 4,200 4,126Deposits with banks 200 366Cash and cash equivalents 14,179 10,417Total Current assets 142,324 126,519Total assets 179,709 158,629 EQUITY Share capital 22,000 22,000Treasury shares (1,597) (1,597)Statutory reserve 8,767 8,767Retained earnings 28,138 31,960Donations and charity reserve 64 43Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 57,372 61,173Non-controlling interest 1,818 3,170Total equity 59,190 64,343

Liabilities Lease liabilities 4,128 -Bank loans 3,012 3,668Employee benefits 7,626 7,627Non-current liabilities 14,766 11,295 Trade and other payables 43,025 40,988Lease liabilities 1,840 -Contract liabilities 20,091 8,570Employee benefits 3,839 3,799Due to related parties 9,979 9,505Bills payable 2,317 1,236Bank loans 1,738 981Bank overdrafts 22,924 17,912Current liabilities 105,753 82,991Total liabilities 120,519 94,286 Total equity and liabilities 179,709 158,629

Cash flows from operating activities (Loss) / profit for the period before non-controlling interest (2,819) 2,074

Adjustments for: Depreciation 4,083 2,873Write off / impairment of trade receivables net 713 973Impairment reversal on contract assets and related parties (59) -Amortization of held to maturity investment 1 2Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment (24) (45)Share of profit from equity accounted investments (263) (1,000)Employee benefits (1) 123Changes in: Inventories (420) 1,728Trade and other receivables (732) (9,021)Due from contract customers (1,696) (1,274)Due from related parties (69) 515Trade and other payables 1,053 (1,864)Due to contract customers 1,575 (528)Employee benefits 474 1,038Due to related parties 40 1,273Bills payable 1,081 1,983Net cash from / (used) in operating activities 2,937 (1,150) Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property, plant and equipment (2,246) (2,139)Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 46 248Acquisition of subsidiary - (1,000)Dividend from equity-accounted investees - 476Movement on deposits with banks 166 249Net cash used in investing activities (2,034) (2,166) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from bank loans 706 1,473Repayment of bank loans (605) (933)Payment of lease liabilities (486) -Dividends paid to shareholders (1,029) (1,005)Dividends paid to non-controlling interest (730) (360)Donations paid (9) (10) Net cash used in financing activities (2,153) (835) Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (1,250) (4,151)Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January (7,495) (1,883) Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June (8,745) (6,034)Represented by: Cash and bank balances 9,672 11,601Short term bank deposits 4,507 1,101Bank overdrafts (22,924) (18,736) (8,745) (6,034)

2019 2018 2019 2018

(reviewed) (reviewed) (reviewed) (reviewed)

Revenue 77,090 89,348 42,462 43,832

Cost of sales (72,990) (81,535) (40,941) (38,688)

Gross profit 4,100 7,813 1,521 5,144

Other operating income, net 388 364 239 89

General and administrative expenses (6,907) (6,550) (3,185) (3,407)

Impairment on financial assets (115) (195) (559) (497)

Finance income 55 16 23 6

Finance costs (603) (374) (281) (199)

Share of profit from equity-accounted investees, net 263 1,000 129 77

(loss)/profit for the period (2,819) 2,074 (2,113) 1,213

Other comprehensive income for the period - - - -

Total comprehensive income for the period (2,819) 2,074 (2,113) 1,213

(loss)/profit attributable to

Equity holders of the Company (2,717) 1,430 (2,006) 921

Non-controlling interest (102) 644 (107) 292

(2,819) 2,074 (2,113) 1,213

Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share (Fils) (12.63) 6.65 (9.32) 4.28

NASS CORPORATION BSCCONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION as at 30 June 2019

NASS CORPORATION BSCCONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOMEfor the six months ended 30 June 2019

NASS CORPORATION BSCCONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWSfor the six months ended 30 June 2019

NASS CORPORATION BSC

At 1 January 2019 22,000 (1,597) 8,767 31,960 43 61,173 3,170 64,343Loss and total comprehensive income for the period - - - (2,717) - (2,717) (102) (2,819) 2018 Appropriations: - Dividend (5%) declared - - - (1,075) - (1,075) (1,250) (2,325)- Donations and charity approved - - - (30) 30 - - - Utilization of donation and charity reserve - - - - (9) (9) - (9) At 30 June 2019 22,000 (1,597) 8,767 28,138 64 57,372 1,818 59,190

At 1 January 2018 (as previously reported) 22,000 (1,597) 8,341 31,495 23 60,262 2,722 62,984Impact of adopting IFRS 9 - - - (2,466) - (2,466) (186) (2,652)Impact of adopting IFRS 15 - - - 200 - 200 - 200Balance as at 1 January 2018 (restated) 22,000 (1,597) 8,341 29,229 23 57,996 2,536 60,532Profit and total comprehensive income for the period - - - 1,430 - 1,430 644 2,074Acquisition of subsidiary - - - - - - 658 6582017 Appropriations: - Dividend (5%) - - - (1,075) - (1,075) (940) (2,015)- Donations and charity approved - - - (30) 30 - - - Utilization of donation and charity reserve - - - - (10) (10) - (10) At 30 June 2018 22,000 (1,597) 8,341 29,554 43 58,341 2,898 61,239

NASS CORPORATION BSCCONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITYfor the six months ended 30 June 2019

30 June 2019

(reviewed)*

Six months ended 30 June

Three months ended 30 June

31 December 2018

(audited)*

Bahraini Dinars ’000 Bahraini Dinars ’000 Bahraini Dinars ’000Six months ended 30 June

2019 2018 (reviewed) (reviewed)

Donations Non-Share Treasury Statutory Retained and charity Total controlling Totalcapital shares reserve earnings reserve interest equity

Donations Non-Share Treasury Statutory Retained and charity Total controlling Totalcapital shares reserve earnings reserve interest equity

Attributable to equity holders of the parent Attributable to equity holders of the parent

2019 (reviewed) 2018 (reviewed)

The condensed consolidated interim financial information were approved by the Board of Directors on 8 August 2019 by circulation and signed on its behalf by: Sami Abdulla Nass Adel Abdulla Nass Deputy Chairman & Managing Director Director

The above financial statements are extracted from the condensed consolidated financial information for the six months ended 30th June 2019 which is reviewed by KPMG

Date: 08August 2019

Bahraini Dinars ’000

05

world


Hajj pilgrimage begins today Mecca, Saudi Arabia

More than 2.5 million Muslims will today begin the annual hajj

pilgrimage in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Crowds of worshippers have already begun to gather in Mec-ca in the days ahead of the Hajj, the focal point of the Islamic calendar.

“It’s the first time I’ve felt something so strongly -- it’s striking,” said 40-year-old In-donesian pilgrim Sobar in rudi-mentary Arabic.

More than 1.8 million visitors had arrived by midday local time on Tuesday, authorities said.

Crowds of faithful from across the world wore flowing white robes as they descended on the holy city located in the west of the kingdom.

The pilgrims will undertake religious rites that have re-mained unchanged since the founding of Islam 14 centuries ago.

“Islam united us. We are all together... so that’s why I’m very happy,” said Leku Abibu, 46, a Ugandan mechanic who wore a beige salwar kameez.

“I’m enjoying it here”This year’s Hajj takes place

amid tensions in the Gulf region exacerbated by a series of attacks

on oil tankers, drone strikes and interceptions of maritime traffic on the high seas.

Despite the absence of dip-lomatic ties between Saudi and Iran, some 88,550 Iranian pil-grims are due to take part in the hajj this year, according to the

Tasnim news agency.

‘No differences between us’Hajj is one of the five pillars

of Islam and Muslims must per-form it at least once in their lives if they can afford to.

“There are all nations of the

world, all languages. There are no differences between us,” said Nurul Jamal, a 61-year-old pil-grim from India.

Mecca, closed to non-Mus-lims, is home to the Kaaba -- a cube structure draped in black cloth embroidered in gold lo-

cated at the heart of the mosque.The Great Mosque of Mecca

with its Ottoman minarets sits amid skyscrapers that host up-market malls and luxury hotels.

Muslims face toward the Kaa-ba when praying the prescribed five-times daily.

Pilgrims circle the Kaaba sev-en times and perform a number of sacred rites.

While waiting for the begin-ning of the Hajj, worshippers roam the esplanade or pray in the mosque in stifling heat.

Temperatures can surpass 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahren-heit) and some pilgrims carry sun shades.

Large misting machines in-stalled at the holy sites help to make the heat more bearable.

“The mosques are air condi-tioned, water is readily available, you just have to protect yourself from the sun,” said Algerian Ka-mal Bouslimani, 57.

Men wear two pieces of un-stitched cloth called “ihram” that leaves one shoulder ex-posed.

Pilgrims move together in large groups, led by guides hold-ing their national flags.

Billions of dollars Guards in khaki fastidiously

lead worshippers to their five daily prayers.

Traffic in the city is extremely

heavy and the air quality is poor.The odour of exhaust fumes

mixes with the smell of bitu-men emitted by the heated road surface and many pilgrims wear face masks.

Away from prayers, many of the faithful visit the innumera-ble shops that speckle the Holy City.

Religious tourism brings in revenues worth billions of dol-lars.

But the vast gathering also presents major logistical and safety challenges.

In 2015, some 2,300 worship-pers were killed in the worst stampede in the history of the hajj. Since then Saudi Arabia has sought to reassure pilgrims, deploying tens of thousands of security officers and installing cameras to oversee every corner of the holy sites.

Even though the Hajj lasts only five days, many pilgrims arrive weeks before and linger in the city.

The total number of arrivals is limited however as each Muslim country receives a pilgrim quota.

Some worshippers have spent years on waiting lists -- some-times as long as a decade -- just to perform their religious duty.

Outside of the Hajj, Muslims can also undertake a lesser, year-round pilgrimage known as umrah.

S A U D IA R A B I AS A U D I

A R A B I A

Muslims have travelled to Mecca for the hajj since the 7th Century

Sources: Saudimedia, CDC, Saudi Interior Ministry, Civil Defence, Maps4news.com AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine

The hajj

2 km

1 Grand MosquePilgrims circlethe Kaaba 7 times

6 Return to theGrand Mosque to circle the Kaaba7 more times

2 MinaStop at Mina to prayand read the Quran

4 MuzdalifahPilgrims collect pebbles needed

the following dayfor the stoning

3 Mount ArafatPilgrims pray fromnoon to dusk at thesite of the ProphetMohammed’s last sermon

5 JamaratPebbles are thrown at 3 wallsrepresenting the devil , the ritual marking the last day of the hajj

A sacred Black Stone is inlaid in oneof the walls of the 15-metre-high Kaaba ,which is draped in black silk and engraved with the sacred names of Allah

Area: approximately360,000m2

9 minarets, each 90 m high

2019 pilgrimage: August 9-14

More than 2.5 million participants

Grand MosqueIslam’s holiest site

The pilgrimage route

MECCA

Hajj is one of the �ve pillars ofIslam

Every �t Muslim is expected to performat least one hajj pilgrimage ina lifetime

Number of arrivals is limited as eachMuslim country receives a pilgrimquota

RIYADH

US$ 000’s US$ 000’s30 June 31 December

2019 2018 30 June 30 June 30 June 30 June(reviewed) (audited) 2019 2018 2019 2018

ASSETS (reviewed) (reviewed) (reviewed) (reviewed)Cash and balances with banks 14,153 6,628 Placements with financial institutions 49,691 34,021 17 153 - 54 Investment in sukuk 31,436 53,413 - 475 - 63 Financing receivables - 3,204 576 1,614 113 1,002 Receivable from Ijarah investors - 5,525 1,184 4,244 1,184 3,961 Investment in other securities 83,357 82,950 805 649 346 273 US$ 000’sInvestment in real estate 133,871 133,871 1,049 1,123 541 405 30 June 30 JuneOther assets 4,201 5,331 1,502 350 940 (4) 2019 2018

(reviewed) (reviewed)

OPERATING ACTIVITIESLIABILITIES Profit / (loss) for the period 1,781 (2,915) Financing liabilities 76,280 81,940 1,669 3,445 566 1,838 Adjustments for:Other liabilities 2,181 5,357 195 607 27 332 Depreciation and amortization 30 59

30 59 15 30 Fair value changes on investment securities, net (408) 4,254 1,418 2,206 749 1,524 Share of loss of equity-accounted investees - 6

Loss on sale of investment in sukuk 155 48 OWNERS’ EQUITY Impairment allowances - 947 Share capital 233,000 233,000 Expected credit loss 448 5 Statutory reserve 762 762 Other income (1,502) (350) Accumlated losses (19,632) (20,899) 408 (4,254) 106 (4,322) Net amortisation of premium on sukuk 17 207 Investment fair value reserve 947 947 - (947) - (947) Operating profit before changes in operating assets and liabilities 521 2,261 General reserve 4,618 4,618 (448) (5) 56 (5)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:Financing receivables 3,204 5,462

Non-controlling interests 18,553 19,218 Receivables from ijarah investors 5,525 - 1,267 (3,140) 1,664 (3,398) Placements with financial institutions (with original maturity more than 90 days) - 5,012

514 225 265 154 Other assets 478 (4,467) Other liabilities (1,652) (1,510)

INVESTING ACTIVITIESCONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN OWNERS’ EQUITY Purchase of investment securities (7,008) (28,188)

Proceeds from sale of investment securities 29,040 33,756 US$ 000’s Payments for purchase of equipment - (11)

Proceeds from sale of equipment (5) - Distribution received from equity-accounted investees - 53

Balance at 1 January 2019 233,000 (20,899) 947 4,618 218,428 19,218 237,646 Profit for the period - 1,267 - - 1,267 514 1,781 FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Placement from financial institutions - 1,004 Financing liabilities (5,661) (6,728)

Distribution to non-controlling interests relating to subsidiaries - - - - - (1,179) (1,179) Dividends paid (69) (108) Proceeds from partial sale of subsidiaries - 8,400 Distribution to on-controlling interests (1,178) (2,563)

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 23,195 12,373 Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 40,649 6,163

Balance at 1 January 2018 233,000 1,138 278 4,618 239,796 4,847 244,643 Cash and cash equivalents comprise:(Loss) / profit for the period - (3,140) - - (3,140) 225 (2,915) Cash and balances with banks * 14,153 6,329 Effect of adoption of FAS 30 - (55) - - (55) - (55) Placements with financial institutions (with original maturity of 90 days or less) * 49,691 12,207

Dividends to shareholders - (750) - - (750) - (750) * Net of expected credit loss of US$ 499 thousands (31 December 2018: US$ 36 thousand)Non-controlling interests arising from partial sale of subsidiaries - - - - - 8,336 8,336

Net cash generated from operating activities 8,076 6,758

Net cash generated from investing activities 22,027 5,610

Total owners’equity

The above has been extracted from 30 June 2019 condensed consolidated interim financial statements reviewd by KPMG. The financials have been approved by the Board of Directors.

Sharecapital

63,844 18,536

Net cash (used in) / generated from fainancing activities (6,908) 5

Investmentfair value

reserve

Sharecapital

Propertyfair value

reserve

Generalreserve

1,781

238,248

Total owners’equity

(2,970)

249,259

233,000

Total recognised income and expense for the period

Balance at 30 June 2019

- -

237,646

1,781 (2,915)

for the six months ended 30 June 2019

30 June 2019 (reviewed)

Total assets 316,709 324,943

Total liabilities 78,461 87,297

Total liabilities and owner’s equity 316,709 324,943

Equity attributable to shareholders of the Bank 219,695 218,428

Total owners’ equity 238,248

5,133 8,608

3,312 6,317

1,821

as at 30 June 2019CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

for the six months ended 30 June 2019CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIMFINANCIAL INFORMATION

30 June 2019

Six months ended Three months ended

INCOMEIncome from investment banking servicesIncome from advisory servicesIncome from sukukDividend incomeFinance income

Other incomeTotal income

EXPENSES

(3,244) 1,929

(3,244) 1,929

3,124 5,754

1,357 3,724

1,767 2,030

Depreciation and amortization

1,781

Profit for the period before fair value changes and impairment allowances

Total operating expensesOther operating expenses

-

Attributable to:Shareholders of BankNon-controlling interests

Fair value changes on other investment securities, netImpairment allowances on other investment in securitiesExpected credit loss (charge) / reversal(LOSS) / PROFIT FOR THE PERIOD

947

Total

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTfor the six months ended 30 June 2019

Non-controlling

interestsTotalGeneral

reserve

18,553 219,695 4,618

Equity attributable to shareholders of the Bank

1,267

Income from investment in real estate

Statutoryreserve

762 -

-

-

(2,915)

2,291

- 1,267 514

Accumulatedlosses

Staff costFinance expense

-

Balance at 30 June 2018 233,000 762 (2,807) 278 4,618 235,851 13,408

Cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 63,844 18,536

(19,632)

Total recognised income and expense for the period - - (3,195) - - (3,195) 225

762

Statutoryreserve

762

-

Accumulatedlosses

Equity attributable to shareholders of the Bank

-

30 June 2018 (reviewed)Non-

controlling interests

Arab News | Dubai

Nostalgia takes many forms. For the Syrian visual artist Sara Naim, those forms are jasmine,

soil and Aleppo soap.All three were central to her second

solo exhibition at The Third Line in Dubai, “Building Blocks” — which ran at the end of February— but not in the way you’d expect.

Using a scanning electron micro-scope, Naim has captured the cellular structure of all three substances, mag-nified them, and mounted the resultant imagery on wood and plexiglass. She has also deliberately included glitches — formal distortions and light leaks — producing imagery so abstracted it is no longer recognizable. These abstract examinations created the wall works of the show and hint at the imperfection of memory, while in the midst of it all are a series of structures made from 4,000 bars of Aleppo soap.

“I think the idea of warping some-thing that’s familiar into something foreign allows you to shift the viewer’s perspective and to reshape how they think of nostalgia,” says Naim, who was born in London, raised in Dubai, and currently lives in Paris. “Because nos-talgia operates in a way that’s no longer linked to the original information. The memory of something changes the more time has elapsed and the more you think about it. You can also become consumed in thought and therefore lost in it.

“You assume that the closer you come to something the more familiar it be-comes, but actually you become more distant because it’s so abstracted. For example, some of these are looked at 50,000 times magnified, and at that scale you’re further from its truth.”

In many ways “Building Blocks” is as much about identity as it is about nostalgia. All three of the elements used by Naim may be familiar to her — the jasmine and soil are from her grand-mother’s garden in Damascus — but the memories they trigger (through smell primarily) are also perceived as foreign. This is due to her international up-bringing as much as it is to the conflict in Syria, which has kept her away from

the country for the past eight years. “I’ve always said I’m Syrian,” she

says. “I don’t feel like I’m British, I don’t feel like I’m from Dubai. My blood is Syrian. I completely connect with the land and the people even though there’s an interesting acceptance issue in Syria. Because they don’t consider me to be Syrian really when I’m there and even if I meet a Syrian here or elsewhere they feel disconnected from me. And (vice-versa).

“I met a British woman recently who has a house in Damascus and she’s been

going there for the past 20 years. She was telling me about the street that she lives on and where she goes and I didn’t even know those places. And it was such a shame for me to feel like I’m more removed from my country than an expat is. But it’s all the nature of circumstance.”

The exhibition was, in essence, a continuation of Naim’s wider body of work, which utilizes the transmission electronic microscope and the scanning electron microscope to create ‘abstract quasi-photographic imagery’. It’s a practice she says “dissects how propor-tion shapes our perception and notion of boundary.”

She exists in a world far beyond the realm of classical photography and is often considered a visual artist rather than a photographer. It’s a point of clas-sification that she herself has debated.

“I used to correct people when they introduced me as a photographer, hop-

ing that ‘visual artist’ would give me more freedom,” she admits. “But actual-ly embracing it as photographic allows me to enter into the very dialogue I want to be a part of. Why are cam-eras made with a rectangular frame? Why are prints framed the way they are? Why is photography considered two-dimensional when it fundamen-tally uses space and time? I have rid myself of those restrictions, but my work is still photographic.”

“The names that I’ve given these are not the final names,” she says as she meanders through the space. “So, this is ‘Form Six,’ but in my mind — before I named them — it was just ‘Colour.’ This was ‘Flower,’ this was ‘Diptych,’ this is ‘Bed Sheet,’ this was ‘Horizontal,’ this was ‘Squiggly,’” she says with a laugh. “Unfortunately I couldn’t keep it like that. ‘Bed Sheet’ wasn’t really flying with the gallery either.”

Far from being universal in shape,

each form imitates a topography that Naim has encountered during her scan-ning process. A process that, in one way or another, Naim has been deeply involved with for the past 10 years.

Initially, it wasn’t so much the scan-ning electron microscope, or even pho-tography, that Naim was interested in, but the idea of ‘false lines.’

“The skin seems as though it sepa-rates the body from its internal anato-my and external world, but — in fact — it’s almost like a collision of two energy forces, and on a cellular scale there is no such division,” she explains. “And how you represent that lack of border or boundary is by going down to the cell and having them look like something foreign — like a foreign landscape, or something macro.”

It is this notion of the non-boundary, the interconnectedness of matter, that drives Naim’s work.

“I like to play with the viewer’s per-spective in terms of scale, subject mat-ter and form, but everything must be precise and sterile in order to actually convince someone to shift the way they see or think. A good dancer makes the choreography feel effortless; I try to use that concept in my work,” she says. “If the viewer begins by asking me about the process of how they were built, then that’s my fault. I’ve lost them to ration-ality rather than abstraction.”

Arab News | Jeddah

An internationally celebrated Saudi artist has returned to her roots to stage an exhibition in a historic

building close to her heart.Sarah Al-Abdali, whose source of artistic

inspiration is her identity as a Hijazi, has taken part in prestigious festivals around the world including Venice and London.

But now the 30-year-old is working on a project to turn “an architectural master-piece,” built by her great-grandfather in the old Al-Balad district of Jeddah, into a museum and gallery. She currently has an exhibition of her work on display there.

Jeddah-born Al-Abdali was only 17 when she stumbled across the distinc-tive Bait Sharbatly property while out for a walk in Al-Balad. She said that her great-grandfather’s house was different than all the others in the area.

“I was bewildered as to why I didn’t know about such heritage,” said Al-Ab-dali. “It’s an architectural masterpiece. It inspired me to question everything and started my career as an artist. So, I thought it would be amazing to hold my exhibition in there.

“We are working to make the house into

a museum with collections that will high-light the history of the property and how it was built. It wasn’t a residential house and for some time it served as the Egyptian Embassy,” she added.

Al-Abdali originates from Hijaz in the western region of Saudi Arabia and draws inspiration from the land, architecture and heritage of the area for her art work. Her exploration of the Arabic language, culture

and philosophy and how to weave it into art and illustrations, has been the key to her unique take on life.

“I see my journey as an artist as starting from my identity as a Hijazi,” she said. “I constantly question myself and explore the identities, history and heritage of Hi-jaz.”

Al-Abdali has participated in interna-tional art festivals such as Rhizoma in the

55th Venice Biennale (2013) and #come-together by Edge of Arabia East of Lon-don (2012), and she has also exhibited in high-profile venues including the Saatchi Gallery and the British Museum, both in London.

Many of her paintings are centred around women, depicting her imagined scenes of times gone by.

Al-Abdali said: “Looking at the history of Hijaz, I am fascinated by the strength of its women. They have strong characters, even in my own family, and I think that portrayal comes out naturally in my art.

“I focus on highlighting the social struc-ture of Hijaz. Usually art related to Hijaz highlights either spirituality or archi-tecture, but you never find out about the people who live there, their characters and their stories.

“More than anything I try to tell the stories of those people. I am fascinated by the tales I was told about Hijazi women throughout history.”

Al-Abdali also creates her own paints and pigments and works with natural materials. “If I am using ceramics, I use handmade ceramics. I like to merge tra-ditional techniques with the modern way, and experiment with my materials while

maintaining the traditional essence of the work.”

She added: “My work mostly focuses on the human touch and lost traditions. I have studied Islamic arts and feel a responsibili-ty to continue that art in a very traditional,

contemporary way.“Most of my work is about the power of

detail, working with basic materials and highlighting the craft of the artist which is a concept highly lacking in the contempo-rary art scene internationally and locally.”

ONLY IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE DEEP-EST VALLEY, CAN YOU EVER KNOW HOW MAGNIFICENT IT IS TO BE ON THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN. RICHARD M. NIXON

48 BC 19451898 1974TODAY IN HISTORYQUOTE

OF THE DAYFRIDAY AUGUST 9, 2019

In many ways “Building Blocks” is as much about identity as it is about nostalgia. All three of the

elements used by Sara Naim may be familiar to her — the jasmine

and soil are from her grandmoth-er’s garden in Damascus — but the

memories they trigger (through smell primarily) are also perceived as foreign. This is due to her inter-national upbringing as much as it

is to the conflict in Syria, which has kept her away from the country for

the past eight years

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Chairman & Managing Director P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 38444698/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

Caesar’s civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pom-pey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.

US drops 2nd atomic bomb “Fat Man” on Japan de-stroys part of Nagasaki

Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine

Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President

M A K I N G O F M E M O R I E S

L I V I N G T R A D I T I O N S

Sara Naim exists in a world far beyond the realm of classical photography

and is often considered a visual artist rather than a photographer

Sarah Al-Abdali

has grand designs for

historic Jeddah

property built by

her great-grandfather

Syrian artist uses material from her homeland to create striking abstract imagery

World-renowned Saudi artist returns to Hijazi roots for exhibition project

Sarah Al-Abdali’s work on display at the house of her great-grandfather at Al-Balad district of Jeddah

Sara Naim’s When Heartstrings Collapse exhibition at The Third Line gallery in Dubai

You assume that the closer you

come to something the more familiar

it becomes, but actually you

become more distant because it’s

so abstracted. For example, some of these are looked at 50,000 times

magnified, and at that scale you’re further from its

truthSARA NAIM

A work by A work by Sara Naim on display at the ‘Building Blocks’ exhibition

A work by Sara Naim on display at The Third Line gallery

A work by Sarah Al Abdali

Some of the works by Sarah Al Abdali which are on display

Sara Naim at The Third Line gallery in Dubai

08

business


The positive growth and contributions from our profitable

investments and exits achieved during the first half of the year and, the second quarter, in particular, are

in line with the internal strategies and we look forward to building

on our results in the forthcoming periods of 2019

HISHAM ALRAYES, GROUP CEO OF GFH

Strong and consistent growth across the Bank’s core business lines continues to deliver solid

results and steady improvements in income generation. This was

evidenced by a significant increase of 21.9pc in revenues for the first half of the year and reflects GFH’s ongoing success and the positive impact of efforts to diversify the business and derive value from

new and existing assetsJASSIM AL SEDDIQI, CHAIRMAN OF GFH

Gulf Air completes EASA audit

TDT | Manama

Gulf Air announced com-pleting an audit process

for the European Union Avia-tion Safety Agency (EASA).

The airline said has also maintained its ongoing certi-fication to carry out base main-tenance on Airbus A320 series, Airbus A330 and B787 includ-ing their associated engines and various fitted components.

The move allows Gulf Air to

expand its maintenance capa-bility to include more region-al and European airlines that operate to and from Bahrain International Airport.

Gulf Air’s Deputy CEO Cap-tain Waleed Al-Alawi said: “The routine audits are per-formed twice every 24 months and we welcome EASA every time to assist us to preserve the status of being professional with high standards to main-tain not only our fleet but also equipment of other airlines”.

Official during a photocall

AUB names MyHassad weekly, monthly winners for JulyTDT | Manama

Ahli United Bank (AUB) has announced the winners of

its MyHassad Weekly & Monthly Grand Prizes for July 2019.

A. Latif Saeed Habib Ali, A.Hussain Habib Mohd Al Aali, Hasan Isa Mohammed Hus-sain Sarhan, and Hissa Mo-hammed Ali Ahmed won My-Hassad Weekly Grand Prize of US$25,000 each, and Hussain Sayed Ali Sayed Ismaeil Behbe-hani won MyHassad Monthly Grand Prize of BD100,000.

Hasan Isa Sarhan said: “I did not expect I would win in My-Hassad draws. I am a customer of Ahli United Bank and partic-

ipated in MyHassad programme for 10 years at Sitra branch.”

When asked about his plans for the prize, he said: “I have no plans yet so I will invest the prize money in MyHassad pro-gramme.”

AUB also announced the win-ners of MyHassad Weekly Grand Prizes for June 2019. Hasan Ra-dhi Ali Ahmed, Sakeena A.Na-bi Ebrahim, and Aneesa Hus-sain Murtaza won a prize of US$25,000 each.

Since its inception, MyHassad has offered cash prizes exceed-ing BD67 million in Bahrain for more than 16 thousand winners from its customers.Winner Hassan Isa Mohammed SarhanWinner A.Hussain Habib Mohd Al Aali

GFH reports H1 Profit • H1 Revenues rose 21.9pc to reach US$163.5 million

• Second quarter of 2019, revenues rose 34.4pc to US$92.9m

TDT | Manama

GFH Financial Group (GFH) yesterday said its first-half 2019 net profits were

impacted by lower contribution from the Group’s commercial banking arm due to higher im-pairment provisions at the com-mercial bank during the second quarter of 2019.

However, excluding a one-off recovery income and restructur-ing income present in the first half of 2018, the total income of the Group for the first half of 2019 grew by 114.3 per cent compared to the comparative period. Revenues rose 21.9pc to reach US$163.5 million from US$134.1m in the first half of 2018.

Net profit attributable to shareholders was US$49.1m compared with US$72.5m in the prior-year period, a decrease of 32.3 per cent. Earnings per share for the first half of 2019 was US cents 1.45 compared to US cents 2.02 in the compara-tive prior-year period. Consoli-dated net profit was US$48.4m, compared with US$73.4m in the first half of 2018, a decrease of 34.1pc. Excluding gains in 2018, Net profit attributable share-holders grew by 234.0pc in the first half of 2019.

Contributing to income growth for the first half of 2019 was the enhanced performance across the Group’s core invest-ment banking and real estate business lines in addition to income from the treasury and proprietary investments. During the first half of 2019, investment banking contributed 26.6pc to the total income of the Group mainly from placement activ-ities. The Group’s strategy for its Treasury business line has shown significant improvement with Treasury contributing to 15.8pc of the total income while

a solid performance from pro-prietary investments generated 24.5pc of the total income and real estate 9.1pc for the first half of 2019. Commercial banking contributions were low due to provisions.

Total expenses including provision for impairment were at US$114.7m compared to US$63.7m in the comparative previous period, an increase of 80pc, primarily due to an in-crease in the impairment provi-sions in the commercial banking business of 99 per cent and an increase in the treasury port-folio of the Group. Financing costs saw a gradual reduction over the period to US$3.0m from US$ 3.8m during the first half of 2018. An increase in the money market as part of the Group’s growing treasury portfolio and

increased revenue generation from that business line also led to an increase in related costs from US$11.7m during the first half of 2018 to US$50.7m dur-ing 2019. Operating expenses were US$48.8m compared with US$42.5m in the first half of 2018, an increase of 14.8pc.

Second-quarter results For the second quarter of

2019, revenues rose 34.4pc to US$92.9m versus US$69.1m in 2018. Earnings per share were US cents 0.84 compared to US cents 1.00 in the comparative prior-year period.

Net profit attributable to shareholders was US$27.8m versus US$36.0m in the second quarter of 2018, a decrease of 22.8pc. Consolidated net profit was US$27.7m compared with

US$36.5m in the second quarter of 2018, a decrease of 24.1pc.

Total expenses including provisions for impairment were US$65.2m compared to US$34.4m in the comparative prior-year period, an increase of 89.5pc.

Operating expenses were US$26.9m versus US$21.8m in the prior-year period, an in-crease of 23.4pc.

Total assets of the Group grew to US$6.1 billion at 30 June 2019 from US$5.9 billion as at 31 March 2019, an increase of 3.9pc, while the Group’s liabilities in-creased to US$3.8 billion at 30 June 2019 from US$3.6 billion at 31 March 2019, an increase of 5.9pc. This increase was pri-marily due to an increase in the money market and a growing treasury portfolio.

Adeeb gets UAE ‘Gold Card’

TDT | Abu Dhabi

Adeeb Ahamed, MD of LuLu Financial Group

and Twenty14 Holdings was awarded the Gold Card by the UAE authorities yesterday.

He received the long-term UAE residency visa at the office of Colonel Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hamli, Deputy Director, Federal Authority for Identity & Citizenship in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE Cabinet had ap-proved 10-year residency visas for five categories of expatri-ates including investors, en-trepreneurs, chief executives, scientists and outstanding stu-dents.

“It is a great privilege to re-

ceive the Gold Card and is a further recognition of our ef-forts in the financial services and hospitality industry,” said Adeeb Ahamed.

Adeeb Ahamed is the Man-aging Director of LuLu Fi-nancial Group, which oper-ates more than 185 branches across 10 countries. He also heads Twenty14 Holdings, the leading hospitality investment firm which owns prestigious properties around the world including the Great Scotland Yard in London, Waldorf Asto-ria Edinburgh in Scotland, Port Muziris – A Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Kochi, India and the Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay in Dubai, UAE.

Adeeb Ahamed, MD, LuLu Financial Group and Twenty14 Holdings receiving the coveted Gold Card at the office of Colonel Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hamli, Deputy Director, Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship in Abu Dhabi

THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2 (PG)(ANIMATION/ADVENTUREOASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 12.30 + 2.30 + 6.30 + 8.30 PMOASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): (ARABIC DUBBED) : 10.30 AM + 4.30 PMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM + 1.00 AMCITY CENTRE (ARABIC DUBBED) : 11.00 AM + 1.15 + 3.30 + 5.45 + 8.00 + 10.15 + 12.30 MNSEEF (II): 11.30 AM + 4.00 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM + 1.00 AMSEEF (II):(ARABIC DUBBED) : 1.45 + 6.15 PMWADI AL SAIL: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMSAAR: 2.15 + 6.45 + 11.15 PM

SUDEIKIS, JOSH GAD, AWKWAFINA

THE KITCHEN (15+)(CRIME) ههههه هههه OASIS JUFFAIR :2.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PM + 2.00 AMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 10.30 AM + 3.30 + 8.30 + 1.30 AMCITY CENTRE: 10.45 AM + 1.00 + 3.15 + 5.30 + 7.45 + 10.00 PM + 12.15 MN + 2.30 AMCITY CENTRE VIP (I): 10.45 AM + 3.45 + 8.45 + 1.45 AMSEEF (II): 10.15 AM + 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 + 11.45 PM + 2.00 AMWADI AL SAIL: 12.00 + 2.15 + 4.30 + 6.45 + 9.00 + 11.15 PM + 1.30 AMSAAR: 1.45 + 6.15 + 10.45 PM + 1.15 AM

MELISSA MCCARTHY, DOMHNALL GLEESON, TIFFANY HADDISH

WELAD RIZK 2 (15+)(ARABIC/ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER) OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.30 AM + 3.30 + 8.30 + 1.30 AMCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 + 12.00 MN + 2.30 AMSEEF (II): 11.00 AM + 1.30 + 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM + 2.00 AMWADI AL SAIL: 11.45 AM + 4.30 + 9.15 + 2.00 AMSAAR: 12.00 + 5.15 + 10.30 PM

AHMAD EIZZ, AMR YOUSIF,

SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (15+)(HORROR

OASIS JUFFAIR : 9.30 PM + 11.45 PM + 2.00 AMCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + 12.45 MN + 3.00 AMSEEF (II): 10.45 AM + 1.00 + 3.15 + 5.30 + 10.00 PM + 12.15 MN + 2.30 AM

WADI AL SAIL: 10.45 AM + 3.30 + 8.15 + 1.00 AMSAAR: 11.30 AM + 4.00 + 8.30 + 1.00 AM

ZOE MARGARET COLLETTI, MICHAEL GARZA, GABRIEL RUSH

JABARIYA JODI (PG-15)(HINDI/COMEDY/ROMANTICOASIS JUFFAIR : 11.30 AM + 2.15 + 5.00 + 7.45 + 10.30 PM + 1.15 AMCITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 7.30 + 10.15 PM + 1.00 AMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM + 1.45 AMWADI AL SAIL: 11.15 AM + 2.00 + 4.45 + 7.30 + 10.15 PM + 1.00 AMSAAR: 2.30 + 7.45 + 1.00 AM

SIDHARTH MALHOTRA, PARINEETI CHOPRA, APARSHAKTI KHURANA

NIGHT HUNTER (NOMIS) (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER/CRIME) SEEF (II): 2.45 + 6.45 + 10.45 PM + 2.45 AM

HENRY CAVILL, BEN KINGSLEY, ALEXANDRA DADDARIO

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN (PG-13)(DRAMA CITY CENTRE: 10.30 AM + 3.00 + 7.30 + 12.00 MNWADI AL SAIL: 2.15 + 7.00 + 11.45 PM

KEVIN COSTNER (VOICE OF ENZO THE DOG), AMANDA SEYFRIED, MILO VENTIMIGILA

HELLO, LOVE, GOODBYE (PG-15)(FILIPINO/DRAMA OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.00 AM + 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 10.15 PM + 12.45 MNSEEF (II): 4.00 + 6.30 + 9.00 + 11.30 PM + 2.00 AM

KATHRYN BERNARDO, ALDEN RICHARDS, MAYMAY ENTRATA

THE BOAT (PG-13) (THRILLER) SEEF (II): 4.45 + 8.45 + 12.45 MN

JOE AZZOPARDI

BRING THE SOUL: THE MOVIE (PG)(DOCUMENTARY FROM 8th to 11th:OASIS JUFFAIR : 8.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 4.45 + 10.30 PMSEEF (II): 7.45 PM

SUPERSTAR (PG-13)(URDU/ROMANTIC/DRAMA) هههه SEEF (II): 2.45 + 8.15 + 1.45 AM

MAHIRA KHAN, BILAL ASHRAF

PAREY HUT LOVE (PG-15)(URDU/ROMANTIC) هه هههه هههSEEF (II): 12.00 + 5.30 + 11.00 PM

SHEHERYAR MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI, MAYA ALI, AHMAD ALI BUTT

FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS & SHAW (PG-15)(ACTION/THRILLER OASIS JUFFAIR (ATMOS): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM + 1.45 AMOASIS JUFFAIR (VIP): 12.45 + 5.45 + 10.45 AMCITY CENTRE: 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM + 2.00 AM + 2.45 AMCITY CENTRE (ATMOS): 11.45 AM + 2.30 + 5.15 + 8.00 + 10.45 PM + 1.30 AMCITY CENTRE (IMAX2D): 10.00 AM + 12.45 + 3.30 + 6.15 + 9.00 + 11.45 PM + 2.30 AMCITY CENTRE VIP (I): 1.00 + 6.00 + 11.00 PMCITY CENTRE VIP (II): 11.00 AM + 1.45 + 4.30 + 7.15 + 10.00 PM + 12.45 MNSEEF (I): 10.00 AM + 11.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.30 + 3.30 + 5.15 + 6.15 + 8.00 + 9.00 + 10.45 + 11.45 PM + 1.30 AM + 2.30 AMWADI AL SAIL: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM + 1.15 AM + 1.45 AMSAAR: 11.00 AM + 1.45 + 4.30 + 7.15 + 10.00 PM + 12.45 MN

DWAYNE JOHNSON, JASON STATHAM, IDRIS ELBA

THE LION KING (PG)(ADVENTURE/DRAMA/FAMILY) ههههه OASIS JUFFAIR (KIDS CINEMA): 10.30 PM + 1.00 AMOASIS JUFFAIR : 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 PMCITY CENTRE: 10.00 AM + 12.30 + 3.00 + 5.30 + 8.00 + 10.30 PM + 1.00 AM + 2.15 AMSEEF (II): 10.30 AM + 1.00 + 3.30 + 6.00 + 8.30 + 11.00 PM + 1.30 AMWADI AL SAIL: 1.00 + 5.45 + 10.30 PMSAAR: 11.45 AM + 4.15 + 8.45 PM

DONALD GLOVER, SETH ROGEN, CHIWETEL EJIOFOR

ALADDIN (PG)(ADVENTURE) ههههه ههههCITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM + 2.15 + 5.00 + 7.45 + 10.30 PM + 1.15 AMSEEF (I): 12.45 + 5.45 + 10.45 PM

WILL SMITH, NAOMI SCOTT, MENA MASSOUD

CRAWL (18+)(THRILLER/HORROR) ههههه CITY CENTRE: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 + 7.00 + 9.00 + 11.00 PM + 1.00 AM + 3.00 AM

KAYA SCODELARIO, BARRY PEPPER, ROSS ANDERSON

TOY STORY 4 (G)(ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) ههههه CITY CENTRE: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 12.45 AMSEEF (I): 10.30 AM + 3.30 + 8.30 PM

TOM HANKS, TIM ALLEN, JOAN CUSACK

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (PG-15)(ACTIONههههه هه ه CITY CENTRE: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM + 1.45 AM

TOM HOLLAND, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, ZENDAYA

MOHAMMED HUSSAIN (PG-15)(ARABIC/COMEDY)هههه هههه CITY CENTRE: 12.45 + 5.15 + 9.45 + 2.15 AM

MOHAMED SAAD, MAI SALEEM, MOHHAMED THARWAT

THE HUSTLE (PG-15)(COMEDY/CRIME) ههههه CITY CENTRE: 11.30 AM. + 3.45 + 8.00 + 12.15 MN

ANNE HATHAWAY, REBEL WILSON, ALEX SHARP

ANNABELLE COMES HOME (15+)(HORROR)ههههه ههه هههه CITY CENTRE: 1.30 + 5.45 + 10.00 PM

VERA FARMIGA, MCKENNA GRACE, MADISON ISEMAN

CHAL MERA PUTT (PG-15) (PUNJABI) OASIS JUFFAIR : 1.00 + 6.00 + 11.00 PMSEEF (II): 12.00 + 5.15 + 10.30 PM

HAQI ALI, SIMI CHAHAL, AMRINDER GILL

SINGHAM (PG-15)(PUNJABI)SEEF (II): 2.30 + 7.45 + 1.00 AM

SONAM BAJWA, KARTAR CHEEMA, PARMISH VERMA

THANNEER MATHAN DINANGAL (PG-13)(MALAYALAM) OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.30 AM + 1.30 + 4.30 + 7.30 + 10.30 PM + 1.30 AMSEEF (I): 12.15 + 3.00 + 5.45 + 8.30 + 11.15 PM + 1.30 AM + 2.00 AMAL HAMRA : 3.00 + 9.00 PM + ( 3.00 AM + 9.00 AM SUN/MON/TUES)

VINEETH SREENIVASAN, IRSHAD, MATHEW THOMAS

NERKONDA PAARVAI (PG-15)(TAMIL)(NEW)OASIS JUFFAIR : 10.00 AM + 1.00 + 4.00 + 7.00 + 10.00 PM + 1.00 AMSEEF (I): 10.30 AM + 1.30 + 4.30 + 7.30 + 10.30 PM + 1.30 AMAL HAMRA: 12.00 + 6.00 + 12.00 MN

VIDYA BALAN, AJITH KUMAR, SHRADDHA SRINATH

EVIDE (PG-15)(MALAYALAM) FROM MONDAY 12th SEEF (II): 10.15 AM + 12.30 NOON

ASHA SHARATH, SHEBIN BENSON, MANOJ K. JAYAN, BAIJU

MAN MADHUDU 2 ()(TELUGU) FROM FRIDAY 09 thOASIS JUFFAIR : 11.00 AM + 4.15 PMSEEF (II): 10.00 AM + 1.00 PM

NAGARJUNA AKKINENI, RAKUL PREET SINGH, VENNELA KISHORE

09 FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019

M O V I E R E V I E W

Brian Banks: forgettable film squanders powerful true storyTom Shadyac’s stirring film about a football player falsely accused of rape underscores the

importance of speaking truth to power

In this MeToo age, a biofilm about a wrongfully convicted high school football player, who was accused,

tried and imprisoned for rape, is timely. The real Brian Banks, the subject of

this movie, lived through an ordeal that was tragic, inspiring and often profound. However, something is lost in this one-di-mensional retelling of his life experiences. Something turns his extraordinary story of resilience into a decent but ordinary made-for-TV-like movie.

In 2002, Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton, Hidden Figures) is a junior at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California and a linebacker football player. He has verbally commit-ted to attending USC based on his football prowess. The future looks bright for him and his single mom Leomia (Sherri Shep-herd). One day at school, Banks runs into coed Kinnesha Rice (Xosha Roquemore), and they decide to hook up in a secluded school building where kids go to make out and get down.

While in their secret place, Brian has a change of heart, leaves Kinnesha behind and she is forced to explain to a security guard why she is in a notorious spot. Flustered, the student fabricates a story being raped. Her lie leads to Banks’ arrest,

a too-hasty plea deal, trial, imprisonment, a tough parole and a sex offender label that haunts him.

Banks can’t live, work or be near places that children gather—including schools, parks and malls. He’s lost any academic or professional football opportunities. Unless his conviction is overturned, his future is bleak and he’s hit a wall.

That’s a galvanizing setup. Sympathetic protagonist, wrongly accused, innocent and determined yet filled with self-doubt. He’s the David. A California judicial sys-tem that rarely—if ever—overturns cases against convicts is the Goliath. Audiences like to watch a “good fight” against injus-tice. Bring it on.

Screenwriter Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee) fit all the characters and pieces of Banks jumbled life into an easy-to-decipher script. Maybe too easy. Son, mom, accuser, mentors…

The California Innocence Project (CIP) is also in the mix. It’s a non-profit that helps wrongfully convicted prisoners, and is headed by Justin Brooks (Greg Kinne-ar). Other supporting characters (new girlfriend, skeptical prosecutor, accuser’s stubborn mom) augment the cast. But the focus is on Banks—his sorrow, integrity, courageousness and perseverance.

Given a story that sells itself, and a quest that provides innate momentum, you’d think filmmaker Tom Shadyac (The Nutty Professor) would have an easy time directing a film that’s powered by its own natural thrust. Yet, his plodding direction slows things down. The footage (Ricardo Diaz, cinematographer) is bland, lacks style and eye-catching composition.

Shadyac fails to get the cast’s emo-tions to rise to a level of desperation that piques attention. Everything seems aver-age. Smart, intuitive directors (e.g. Sidney Lumet “Q & A,”) find ways to lift urban dramas off the page and turn them into

compelling films that are more than the sum of their parts. Not the case here.

Can’t blame the editing (Greg Hayden, Zoolander), art direction (Starlet Jacobs), production design (Teresa Mastropierro) or costumes (Amanda Ford) for the gener-al malaise. The tech credits are just decent enough to make this film semi-engaging for 99 minutes. The ensemble cast is proficient, but none stand out, except the lead.

Big question: “Why is Aldis Hodge in a so-so movie like this?” His deft interpre-tation of the character, the raw emotion he displays and the solid screen persona

he creates crown his performance. He saves the film. At this point in his career, Hodges should be starring in far bigger projects than this. He should be one of the Avengers, vying for parts Denzel Wash-ington has aged out of and up for roles that lead to Oscars. He’s that good.

Brian Banks’ story is a cautionary tale in an era when a false accusation can ruin a career. It shows what can happen when well-intentioned advocates believe an accuser before hearing all the facts. Also, Banks’ predicament clearly indicates why parents should be in the room when their offspring are negotiating plea deals with public defenders. For a multitude of reasons, Banks’ experience should be shared.

The Brian Banks film, within the con-fines of its made-for-TV-movie-of-the-week approach, is not as three-dimen-sional as Banks real-life story. It lacks the artistry of an indie film, the dramat-ic chops of a cable film (HBO) and the repeat-viewing power necessary for a streaming movie (Netflix).

If this well-meant film has a saving grace, besides its message of resilience, its Hodges’ powerful performance. He’s an Oscar-caliber actor in need of an Os-car-caliber film.

Aldis Hodge in a scene from ‘Brian Banks’

Gigi Hadid’s dates with Tyler Cameron are ‘definitely real’ANI | Los Angeles

‘Bachelorette’ finalist Tyler Cameron and supermodel Gigi Ha-

did have already gone on two dates, and there may be more to come.

Speaking to People, an in-sider opened up about the pair and dished the deets on their relationship status.

“Their dates are definitely real and he’s having a good time,” a source told People about the ‘Bachelorette’ star and the 24-year-old supermodel, who were spotted to-gether on Sunday night, and then confirmed to be hanging out one night later.

S t i l l , l a b e l s should not be put on the pairing, as the source explained, “it’s too soon to say Tyler and Gigi are ‘dating’.”

“They’re both being purpose-fully coy,” the source added.

Cameron, who finished sec-ond on Hannah Brown’s recent season of ‘The Bachelorette’, was spotted with Hadid at Soho House in Brooklyn on Sunday in a photo that surfaced online.

While the photo was taken from behind, hiding their faces, the man in the photo is wearing the same shirt Cameron was wearing in other social media posts from the same day.

Just one night later, the duo hung out again, this time at Frames Bowling Lounge in New York City. According to a source, they enjoyed a few hours of bowling in the lounge with some friends, followed by an hour of karaoke. Had-id was captured leaving the venue in blue biker shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, and sneakers.

Cameron’s first date with

the model came two days after he was seen leaving Brown’s Los Angeles lodging on Fri-day morning. An insider told E! News they spent the night together.

“I thought it went great. I think he did, too. We had a great time. We talked everything out. It felt very normal,” Brown told People of their time together.

Now, the source said that “Hannah is not thrilled” about the news of Cameron and Ha-did’s outings.

“It’s not that she doesn’t think he’s

allowed to date other people, but it’s em-barrassing,” the source explained.

On Mon-day, Brown,

w h o a s k e d Cameron out dur-

ing the ‘Bachelorette’ finale last week after ending her engagement to winner Jed Wyatt told People that she’s “not really sure where things stand with Cameron right now.”

Brown added that for now, she has no expectations when it comes to a rela-tionship with Cam-eron.

“We both have things that are go-ing on in our lives right now sepa-rately. I’m keeping my options open,” she said.

O n t h e o t h-er hand, Had-id previously dated singer Zayn Malik but has kept t h e d o o r s open for C ameron.

Meghan Markle wants to change perception that skinny is beautiful

ANI | London

A new moth-e r , t h e n B r i t i s h

Vogue’s guest editor and now a role model

for new moms! Duch-ess of Sussex Meghan Markle seems to be walking the right path.

M a r k l e i s n o w planning to change the way new mothers view their post-baby weight.

“She wants to c h a n g e t h e p e r c e p t i o n

that you have to be skinny to be beautiful,” Us

Weekly quoted a royal insider as saying.

The in-

sider in July also revealed that Markle totally wishes and “she’s happy to be a realistic example to new mothers.”

“It’s not easy to lose the weight,” a source added.

Since the time she has become a new mom, Markle has always strived to set an example and become a role model for others like her.

However, accepting post-baby weight is differ-ent than gaining weight and so the duchess has adopted a healthy plant-based diet.

“Daily yoga and meditation in her equipped yoga studio at Frogmore,” said the insider.

The insider continued, “What she loves most about the practice is that it helps her switch off and wind down.”

And why should the mom deal with all this alone, so she even “taught Prince Harry a few moves.”

The duke and duchess wel-comed their first child, Ar-chie Harrison Mount-batten-Windsor on May 6.

10 FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019

celebs

Bella Thorne resolves feud with ex Tana MongeauANI | Los Angeles

Actor Bella Thorne has pos-sibly ended her war with

internet personality, Tana Mongeau, by welcoming her into a text group.

The YouTube star excited-ly shared a screenshot of the message from Thorne which read, “Tana is back in the group” on Twitter.

However, Thorne seems to be a bit cautious about the restoration as she added, “Welcome her w slightly open arms.”

Earlier this month, the ac-tor opened up about her and Mongeau falling out after the YouTuber “broke girl code.”

Thorne posted on social that the two “are no longer good,” adding “I’m over it.”

Mongeau appeared to be confused about Thorne’s ac-tion as to what exactly she

was denoting to, by reverting, “?????”

“Imagine taking every time ur mad at me to Twitter but then telling ppl how much u care about me........ wtf is this b :/,” Mongeau tweeted.

Thorne further carried the argument alleging that Mon-geau “started dating me for Twitter.”

“How about u answer ur phone and talk to me instead of being on Twitter,” Thorne added.

The ‘Midnight Sun’ actor, who also considers herself pansexual, dated the YouTube star for a little over a year. In February, Thorne tweeted that the pair had parted ways, re-ported People.

Both Thorne and Mon-geau were first seen together in April, post the actor’s an-nouncement of the split with the then-boyfriend Mod Sun.

KNOW WHAT

Cameron, who fin-ished second on Han-nah Brown’s recent

season of ‘The Bach-elorette’, was spotted

with Hadid at Soho House in Brooklyn

on Sunday in a photo that surfaced online

Mariah Carey says it’s an ‘honour’ to meet ‘president’ Hillary ClintonANI | New York

American singer-songwriter Mariah Car-ey met one of her political heroes who is

none other than Hillary Clinton and called it an “honour” to be able to spend some time with her favourite figure.

The Grammy-award winning singer joined Hillary and Bill Clinton at Barbra Streisand’s concert on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, reported Fox News.

Carey appeared to snub US President Donald Trump after she posted a picture online with Clinton and referred to the former secretary of state as “president”.

The 49-year-old star shared the photo after meeting the former Democratic presidential nominee, and former President Bill Clinton, backstage at the concert.

“An honour to meet President Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton! Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for our country,” the singer tweeted.

Clinton responded to the pop star’s post tweeting, “The honour is ours, it’s not every day you meet a queen.”

Carey’s tweet caused quite a lot of chatter as many people online picked up on the apparent intentional usage of the title. Carey’s seemingly political statement ran contradictory to the comments she has made in the past.

When she was asked during a 2016 interview whether she supported Clinton or Trump, Carey

explained that she did not want to be “vo-cal” about her political views. However, she did acknowl-edge her use of a Hillary Clinton picture as her av-atar online.

“It’s so hard be-cause I’m just an entertainer,” Carey told TV host Andy Co-hen at that time.

“I’m not a political analyst. So I don’t want to be vocal about my true feelings about all of this, but I have them,” she add-ed.

Nonetheless, Carey per-formed for Bill and Ba-rack Obama during each of their presidencies and was also vocal in her sup-port for the 44th president in 2012. She appeared at the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremo-ny in 2013 alongside the Obamas.

Swift to perform at MTV Video Music AwardsAP | New York

Taylor Swift is set to perform at the MTV Video Music

Awards.MTV announced Wednesday

that the pop star will hit the stage on Aug. 26 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Swift and Ariana Grande are the most nominated acts, competing for 10 awards each. Swift’s nominations

include video of the year, song of the year, best visual effects and more.

The VMAs will be three days after Swift releases her seventh album, “Lover.” Her gay pride anthem, “You Need to Calm Down,” is nominated for video of the year along with Grande’s “thank

u, next,” Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road,” 21 Savage and J. Cole’s “A Lot,” and Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker.”

Comedian-actor Sebastian Ma-niscalco will be host.

Mariah Carey

Gigi Hadid

Bella Thorne

Tyler Cameron

Mariah Carey

Meghan Markle

11

sports


Serena cruises in Toronto returnSerena Williams wins first match since Wimbledon final

• Osaka reaches Toronto third round after Maria retirement

• Karolina Pliskova knocks off Alison Riske

AFP | Toronto

Serena Williams looked sol-id in her first match since losing the Wimbledon fi-

nal, defeating 20th-ranked Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday at the WTA Toronto tournament.

The 37-year-old American, one crown shy of a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title, advanced in 75 minutes at her first US Open hardcourt tuneup event.

“I feel like my movement is great -- been working on my fitness, so I felt like it really was able to shine through today,” Williams said.

“I’m loving going out there and I’m loving kind of running. So it’s a good thing.”

Also moving into the third round was Japan’s Naomi Osa-ka, the reigning US and Austral-ian Open champion. She won after taking the first set 6-2 when Germany’s Tatjana Maria retired with a left abdominal injury.

With Osaka’s triumph, Aus-tralian Ashleigh Barty was en-sured of being dethroned next week as world number one, al-though it could be Czech Kar-olina Pliskova instead of Osaka who swipes the top spot.

Williams, ranked 10th, seeks her fourth WTA Canada crown after 2001, 2011 and 2013 and improved her match record at the event to 31-4, winning half the 10 break points she earned against Mertens.

“Now that I’m just injury-free, I’m just enjoying being able to train, and I haven’t been able to do it since January, really,” Williams said.

“So I just think that the fact that I can train and practice and get in the gym is really going to be helpful for me.”

Mertens broke for a 2-1 lead but Williams answered in the sixth game to pull level at 3-3.

“I know when I got down one break I got real negative,” Wil-liams said. “I don’t know what happened on the first time I got down. (She) just played really well. She’s obviously a really good player. I just needed to

just double down and get more focused.”

Next in the path of the former world number one will be Rus-sian qualifier Ekaterina Alexan-drova, who eliminated China’s Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3.

Osaka had not played a match since losing to Yulia Putintseva in the first round at Wimbledon.

“I thought I played really well despite the fact that we only played one set,” Osaka said. “I was able to do what I wanted, which was go for the shots that I had the opportunity to.

“And, of course, there were a couple unforced errors, but I think that’s part of the process.

“For me, I’m just happy that it was my first match in a while and I was able to get in the groove of things quickly.”

The victory gives Osaka the inside track on taking the top spot in Monday’s new rankings.

Pliskova eyes No. 1

Pliskova could overtake Barty, the French Open champion who lost in Toronto on Tuesday, and Osaka both after beating 37th-ranked American Alison Riske 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.

The 27-year-old Czech must reach the semi-finals for any chance at taking world number one, but if Osaka makes the last eight, Pliskova must reach the final to have a hope at being number one next week.

Pliskova will next play Esto-nia’s 19th-ranked Anett Kon-taveit, who made the third round when Spain’s Carla Su-arez Navarro retired with an injury at 7-5, 3-1 down.

Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep outlasted American Jen-nifer Brady 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5).

Ukraine teen Dayana Yas-tremska beat two-time major winner and former number one Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 7-5.

Serena Williams of the United States hits a shot against Elise Mertens of Belgium

KNOW WHAT

Williams, ranked 10th, seeks her fourth WTA Canada crown after 2001, 2011 and 2013

and improved her match record at the

event to 31-4, winning half the 10 break points

she earned against Mertens

Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard shoots to score

Hazard opens Real Madrid goal accountAFP | Salzburg, Austria

Eden Hazard scored his first goal for Real Madrid

in a 1-0 pre-season friendly win over Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.

The Belgian international, who moved from Chelsea in the summer, found the target with a left-foot finish after be-ing set-up by Karim Benzema.

Gareth Bale’s stand-off with Real Madrid continued after the forward was left out of Zinedine Zidane’s squad for the game.

Bale had only played in two of Real’s five previous pre-sea-son games, coming on as a substitute against Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, but has now been left out completely for a third fixture in a row.

James Rodriguez and Mari-ano Diaz, who are both ex-pected to be sold, were also not included for the match in Austria.

Zidane has made clear that Bale is not in his plans as he looks to rejuvenate Real Ma-drid following their miserable season last term.

Brazil’s Jesus gets two-month international banAFP | Asuncion, Paraguay

Brazil forward Gabriel Je-sus has been hit with a two

month international ban over his dismissal in last month’s Copa America final, South America’s football governing body announced.

The 22-year-old Manches-ter City striker scored in the 3-1 victory over Peru that gave hosts Brazil a ninth victory in the continental showpiece, but

was given his marching orders 20 minutes from time for a sec-ond booking.

He protested bitterly before eventually leaving the field in tears, making obscene hand ges-tures, angrily kicking a water bottle and almost knocking over the VAR booth.

“The player is suspended for official matches and friendlies with his national team during this period,” said CONMEBOL in a statement late on Wednesday.

Jesus was also fined $30,000 and given seven days to appeal, while the Brazilian federation was hit with a $15,000 penalty for its players’ behaviour.

Jesus had been a livewire in the first half against Peru, with an outrageous drag-back creat-ing space so he could cross for Everton to open the scoring.

With almost the last kick of the half, he restored Brazil’s lead following Peru captain Paolo Guerrero’s equaliser from the

spot.But he was left dis-

traught after picking up a second booking for a late challenge on Peru’s Christian Cueva.

It means he will miss two friendlies in the United States next month against Colombia and Peru.

But he will be available in March when World Cup 2022 qualifying begins.

Man City land Cancelo as Danilo joins JuventusAFP | London

Manchester City signed Portuguese international

right-back Joao Cancelo from Juventus on Wednesday with Brazilian full-back Danilo heading in the other direction to join the Italian champions.

City will pay a net fee of 28 million eu-ros ($31 million) with Cancelo’s move val-

ued at 65 million euros and Danilo costing 37 mil-lion euros.

“City are a fantastic club, with a brilliant

m a n a g e r a n d I am delighted to be here,” said C a n c e l o, w h o signed a six-year contract.

“ E v e r y t h i n g

about them has impressed me, from the facilities, to their style of play.

“I am always looking to de-velop my game and win tro-phies and I believe I can do that here, so now I’m really looking forward to the new season and testing myself in the Premier League.”

Cancelo won one Serie A title with Juventus after a 40 million euro move from Valen-cia last year.

Danilo was part of City squad that has won five domestic tro-phies in the past two seasons, but has played second fiddle to Kyle Walker at right-back.

“It’s been a pleasure to be part of the success City have enjoyed in my time here,” said Danilo, who has signed a five-year contract with Juventus.

“The club have been fantas-tic with me from day one and I will always be grateful.

Forrest scores as Celtic draw against Cluj in Champions League play-offAFP | Paris

Celtic edged closer to a place in the Champions League

play-off round on Wednesday with a 1-1 draw at Cluj in Roma-nia thanks to a James Forrest equaliser.

Veteran Venezuelan striker Mario Rondon put the home side in front after 28 minutes in Tran-sylvania. But Forrest grabbed a crucial away goal less than 10 minutes later, converting a smart pass from Hatem Abd Elhamed.

Porto, the champions in 1987

and 2004, saw off debutants Krasnador 1-0 in Russia. Ser-gio Oliveira scored the only goal from a free-kick in 89th minute.

Porto are now unbeaten in their last nine qualifying games.

On Tuesday, last season’s semi-finalists Ajax recovered to earn a 2-2 draw on their trip to PAOK Thessaloniki.

Dutch champions Ajax came within seconds of reaching the final last term but again must come through a series of quali-fiers despite landing a 34th na-tional title in May.

Hakim Ziyech put Ajax ahead on 10 minutes in Greece when his devilish free-kick grazed the head of a defender and flashed beyond PAOK goalkeeper Alex-andros Paschalakis.

Former Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom levelled for PAOK, who went unbeaten last season on their way to winning the Greek title for the first time in more than three decades.

Defender Leo Matos powered home a header to give PAOK the lead before half-time against an Ajax team that is rebuilding af-

ter losing Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus and Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona this summer.

Veteran striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar grabbed a fortuitous equaliser on 57 minutes when an attempted clearance smacked into his shin and rolled into the net.

Former champions Red Star Belgrade were held 1-1 at home by FC Copenhagen, Dinamo Za-greb and Ferencvaros are also finely poised at 1-1 while Club Brugge take a 1-0 first leg lead to Dynamo Kiev next week.James Forrest shoots to score Celtic’s equaliser

Gabriel Jesus

Nadal, Thiem advance in Montreal Defending champion Rafael Nadal wins lengthy opener at rain-hit ATP Montreal Masters

• Thiem collects first Canadian win in Montreal Masters opener

• Tsitsipas dumped out as Raonic retires to Auger-Aliassime

AFP | Montreal

Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem advanced into the third round of the ATP

Montreal Masters on Wednes-day, with Thiem achieving a per-sonal best in Canada.

Top-seeded holder Nadal suf-fered through a two-hour rain interruption before dismissing Britain’s Daniel Evans 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

Austrian second seed Thiem, who claimed a clay title at the weekend at home in Kitzbuehel before crossing the Atlantic, won his first match in Canada after five losses, defeating home hero Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

With weather forecasts dicey for the next few days, the Span-ish top seed got a taste of the

conditions he might face as the 18-time Grand Slam champion defends his Canadian title.

“Today, the main thing was win. I’ve been playing and prac-tising more or less well. Now is the moment to compete,” Nadal said. “Today I competed enough well to be through. Tomorrow is another challenge.”

That test will be against Ar-gentina’s Guido Pella, who beat

Radu Albot 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2).Nadal is seeking his third title

of the season and now stands 38-6 in 2019. He was playing for the first time since losing a Wimbledon semi-final to Roger Federer a month ago.

Thiem was relieved to have broken his duck in Canada by finally winning a match.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s not only the first match win here,

but also against a great player,” he said.

“The court is pretty fast. It was a huge transition from clay to here.

“I’m very happy with the way I served. I’m also happy that I could swing free some flat serves again.”

Thiem yesterday was set to face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, who defeated Aus-

tralian John Millman 6-3, 6-4.Nadal said that re-starting on

cement after a long post-Wim-bledon pause takes some ad-justment.

“This is just the first day, first matches are always tough the first time on hardcourt,” he said.

“After Wimbledon always the mind goes down a little bit. I had a long clay court season, then grass, so you don’t relax.

“When you finish Wimbledon, your body loses a little bit that tension, so it needs little bit of time to recover.”

Nadal advanced after two hours of play but because of rain it took almost four and a

half hours after the first ball was struck.

Raonic, Tsitsipas out Injury-prone Milos Raonic re-

tired to hand 18-year-old fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime a 6-3, 3-6 win.

Raonic, a 2013 finalist here, was unable to go on after win-ning the second set to square the contest.

Auger-Aliassime got a walko-ver win against his compatriot last June on grass in Stuttgart when Raonic suffered a back injury.

The senior Canadian beat the youngster in spring, 2018 in In-dian Wells in their only complet-ed match.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s Canada runner-up, was dumped out 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, whom the world number five had de-feated in three prior matches.

Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishi-kori was unable to profit from a match point, losing in 3 hours nine minutes to Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Spain’s 10th seed Robert Bau-tista Agut advanced while num-ber 12 John Isner was sent out in straight sets.


Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball against Daniel Evans of Great Britain

Today, the main thing was win. I’ve been

playing and practising more or less well.

Now is the moment to compete. Today I competed enough well to be through.

Tomorrow is another challenge

RAFAEL NADAL

Coutinho set for Barca stay after win over NapoliAFP | Miami

Barcelona coach Ernesto Val-verde claimed on Wednes-

day that Philippe Coutinho is set to stay at Camp Nou despite strong interest in the unsettled Brazilian from the Premier League.

The latest status update came after Croatian Ivan Rakitic score a 79th-minute winner to see off Napoli 2-1 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Former Liverpool forward Coutinho has distanced himself from a move to Tottenham -- he was also linked with Arsenal -- and with the transfer window in England closing yesterday, the chances of the 27 year-old re-turning to England appear slim.

Former Barca forward Ney-mar, currently at Paris St. Ger-main, has also been touted to make a sensational return to the La Liga champions, although it has now been suggested that arch rivals Real Madrid are also weighing up a move.

“The plan is to count on Coutinho,” Valverde stressed. “The transfer windows are open

but we expect him to stay of course.

“And as for Neymar, the last time I came to this stadium I had to answer a load of ques-tions about him. Two years later and it’s the same again. It’s like it’s following me. I don’t know what is going to happen.”

Croatian midfielder Rakit-ic struck with a crisply driven effort after an own-goal from Samuel Umtiti had cancelled out Sergio Busquet’s opener for the Spaniards.

This was the first leg of two matches between these Euro-pean giants with the second en-counter taking place in Michi-gan on Saturday.

“It was a pretty open game and we were able to give many of the squad some minutes so it was a positive outcome for us,” added Valverde, who is without the injured Lionel Messi for this US mini-tour.

Antoine Griezmann, Barcelo-na’s $134 million signing from Atletico Madrid, was lively from

the start, linking up well with strike partner Luis Suarez.

Coutinho has traveled to the United States but wasn’t in the match day squad having been granted extra time off following his exertions at the Copa Amer-ica last month.

It was the Italians, managed by former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who created the more clear cut openings.

A superb move on 18 minutes saw Lorenzo Insigne denied by a brilliant point blank save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen before Belgian Dries Mertens fired just wide.

Barcelona were struggling to find any rhythm but seven min-utes before the break, captain Busquets superbly curled home, much to the delight of the pro Barca crowd of 57,062.

Three minutes later, however, Napoli deservedly drew level, ex-Real Madrid midfielder Jose Callejon’s effort was turned past Ter Stegen by Umtiti who en-dured a difficult half in defence, as did new signing Junior, the full-back who was making his debut.

Lorenzo Insigne (R) of Naoli fights for the ball with Sergio Busquets (C) of Barcelona

South Africa batsman Amla retires from international cricketAFP | Johannesburg, South Africa

South African batsman Hashim Amla yesterday an-

nounced his retirement from international cricket.

Amla, 36, hit 55 international centuries, including South Af-rica’s highest Test score when he struck 311 not out against England at The Oval in 2012.

He was the second major South African player in three days to announce his retire-ment, following fast bowler

Dale Steyn’s announcement on Monday that he was quit-ting Test cricket. Steyn will continue to be available for limited-overs internationals.

An elegant right-handed top-order batsman, Amla hit 9,282 runs at an average of 46.64 in 124 Test matches and 8,113 at 49.46 in 181 one-day internationals.

He hit 28 centuries in Tests and 27 in ODIs. His Test tally included four double centu-ries.

Lukaku completes move to Inter Milan from Man United AFP | Rome

Romelu Lukaku completed his long-awaited move to

Inter Milan from Manches-ter United yesterday after the Serie A club announced his arrival in Italy on a five-year deal.

“The Belgian footballer, arriving from Man-chester United on a permanent basis, has signed a contract with the Nerazzurri until 30 June 2024,” Inter said in a statement.

The club did not re-veal Luka-ku’s wages n o r t h e fee paid to P r e m i e r L e a g u e side Unit-ed, report-ed to be in

the region of 80 million euros ($90 million).

Inter announced the deal with a video of the 26-year-old in an Inter shirt saying: “Inter: it’s not for everyone, that’s why I’m here.”

Lukaku, who had long been tipped for the move to Inter, landed in Milan yesterday for his medical, with fans who waited at the airport for his arrival chanting “Lukaku is ours”.

The Belgium internation-al has not played a single

minute of United’s pre-season cam-paign ahead of the move, and has been pic-tured training instead with A n d e r l e c h t , the club with w h i c h h e started his s e n i o r c a -reer.

Arsenal seal deal for Tierney, close in on LuizAFP | London

Arsenal significantly bol-stered their defence in

the final hour of the Premier League transfer window by completing the signing of left-back Kieran Tierney from Celtic with Chelsea’s David Luiz also expected to com-plete a move to the Emirates yesterday.

Scotland international Tierney had been a tar-get all summer for the Gunners and agree-ment of the payment structure of his £25

million ($30 million) move from Celtic was eventually agreed on Wednesday night.

“We’re delighted Ki-eran is joining us. He’s

a very talented player who will continue to

improve,” said Ar-senal boss Unai

Emery.“ H e i n -

c re a s e s o u r o p t i o n s d e -fensively and I look forward to

him joining our group.”

Brazilian cen-

tre-back Luiz’s £8 million move across London is expected to fill the void left by former captain Laurent Koscielny’s acrimo-nious departure to Bordeaux earlier this week.

Arsenal conceded 51 goals in the Premier League last s e a s o n t o miss out on C h a m p i -ons League football for a third consec-utive season.

The double swoop would complete an impressive win-

dow for the Gunners despite missing out on the riches of the Champions League.

A club record £72 mil-lion was splashed on

Nicolas Pepe from Lille to complete an exciting trio of at-

tacking talent along-side Pierre-Emerick

Aubameyang and Al-exandre Lacazette.

Emery’s midfield options were also boosted by the loan signing of Dani Ce-

ballos from Real Ma-drid.

Romelu Lukaku Kieran Tierney David Luiz

sports 6 @newsofbahrain friday · pilgrims gather around the kaaba, islam’s holiest shrine, at...

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