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

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 / RAMADAN 9, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17669 16 PAGES 150 FILS

baseball

basketballPage 14

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Free flighton Mars

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Ramadan TimingsIftar .................Wednesday....... 18:18Imsak ..............Thursday........... 03:41

Day by Day

CORRUPTION is not limited to ac-cepting bribe or embezzling state money, but it is most dangerous when someone does not understand the responsibilities of the position he/she occupies and the height of stupidity when dealing with someone. Add to this not taking the right decision in a timely manner.

The biggest corruption is hiring un-qualified men in sensitive positions. Yes, this is disturbing and harmful.

In several countries, the concerned official is responsible for work which is entrusted to him/her and failure to do the job satisfactorily is subject to punishment.

In many cases when the official finds he/she is incapable of assum-ing the responsibilities of their duties, they resign. They resign because they don’t want to cause harm to the state and don’t want to get punished.

… Yet, tomorrow is just another day.

Zahed Matar

NBK reports KD 84.3mn net profi t for Q1– Details Page 8 –

Egypt takes out 3 in killing of Christians

Call of penalties on contracting companies

MPs stand for expat salariesBy Saeed Mahmoud Saleh

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: A number of MPs have responded positively to an Egyptian working as security guard in a school after he appeared in a video clip complaining that he did not receive his salary for the past five months.

MPs Mehalhal Al-Mudaf and Osama Al-Shaheen called on the Ministry of Education to pay the salaries of security guards in schools and impose penalties on contracting companies which violated the provisions of the relevant contracts.

The Ministry of Education has an-nounced that it already transferred the salaries to the contracting companies un-til March 2021.

The Egyptian security guard was later seen in a picture with MP Salah Zeib Al-Mutairi in the latter’s vehicle while they were leaving the Ministry of Interior. Al-Mutairi person-ally followed up the ministry’s investigation into the complaint of the security guard after uploading the video clip.

MP Muhannad Al-Sayer said he com-municated with Undersecretary of the min-istry Lieutenant General Esam Al-Nahham who informed him that the security guard was summoned in order to obtain details about his problem with the company, which signed a pledge to pay the delayed salaries.

MP Hamad Al-Matar disclosed the un-dersecretary confirmed that the investiga-tion was in favor of the security guard and it was done in the presence of the repre-sentatives of the Public Authority for Man-power (PAM), indicating the authority will investigate the concerned company.

In another development, MP Muham-mad Hadi Al-Hewaila forwarded que-ries to Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs Khalifa Hamada about the pro-cedures taken by the ministry and Sec-

retariat General for Planning and Devel-opment to address the comments of the State Audit Bureau (SAB) regarding the budgets and final accounts of ministries, subsidiaries and independent institutions for fiscal 2019 /2020. The lawmaker asked why the violations have yet to be corrected despite the fact that they have been repeated for many years.

MP Badr Al-Humaidi asked Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Nass-er Al-Muhammad about the subsidiaries and institutions under the Cabinet, which were established as per the relevant laws and decrees in the last five years.

He wants to know the advantages of establishing such entities, salaries, privi-leges and annual reward granted to senior officials in these entities.

He asked why the government is not committed to the economic document’s stipulation on the need to limit the estab-lishment of new institutions, especially if similar institutions are already existing. He wants to know the policy adopted by the government to solve this problem.

MP Muhannad Al-Sayer forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Nazaha Enhancement Abdullah Al Rumi on the steps taken to strengthen the security of online systems and applications that the ministry is using. He wants to know the decisions and procedures in pro-tecting data and applications from hackers.

On the other hand, MPs Hassan Jawhar, Mehalhal Al-Mudaf, Abdullah Al-Mudaf, Muhannad Al-Sayer and Musaed Al-Ardi submitted a proposal on urging citizens to hand over their heritage collectibles and traditional pieces. They also proposed the establishment of a special Institution to re-ceive the collections and show them to the public by allocating a museum or hall for this purpose.

CAIRO, April 20, (AP): Egypt police killed three suspected militants allegedly in-volved in the slaying of a Coptic Christian man kidnapped more than five months ago in a restive part of Sinai Peninsula, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Security forces exchanged fire with Islamic State group militants while chasing them in the Abtal area of North Sinai province, the ministry said in a statement. Three of the militants were killed and police were chasing three others. The state-ment did not say when they fighting took place.

The ministry, which oversees the police, said an explosives belt detonated during the shootout. It was unclear whether the bomber was one of the three militants the ministry said were killed. No casualties were reported among the security forces.

The details provided by the ministry could not be independently verified and media access to northern Sinai is heavily restricted.

The ministry said the dead militants were involved in the killing of Nabil Ha-bashi, a 62-year-old Coptic Christian from the town of Bir al-Abd. Habashi had built the sole church in the area.

Militants kidnapped Habashi, a jewelry dealer, in November from Bir al-Abd, and de-manded a ransom of 2 million Egyptian pounds ($127,550 million), said a church official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

The local IS affiliate in Sinai Peninsula released a 13-minute video showing Ha-

bashi kneeling, with three men dressed in black standing behind him. One of the men appears to shoot Habashi in the back of his head.

The video also showed militants apparently shooting dead two Bedouins cap-tured by the group for allegedly cooperating with security forces in Sinai. The Bed-ouins said they were from the nomadic Arab Trabin tribe and were captured in a militant attack in central Sinai in February. They were part of the so-called Sinai Tribes Union, which provides intelligence to the military and police forces.

The Bedouins, with their local knowledge, accompany forces on patrols and raids searching for weapons cashes. They also man checkpoints. Scores of Bedouins have been killed in the past couple of years.

It was not clear when Habashi and the two Bedouins were killed.Egypt is battling an Islamic State-led insurgency in Sinai Peninsula that intensified after

the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in 2013. The military had intervened after mass protests against the president’s divisive, one-year rule. The insurgents have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting the security forces and minority Christians.

The pace of IS attacks in Sinai’s main theater and elsewhere has slowed to a trickle since February 2018, when the military launched a massive operation in the region that also encompassed parts of the Nile Delta and deserts along the country’s western border with Libya.

CBK ‘regulates’delays on loansKUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) recently announced the condi-tions and regulations for postpon-ing the collection of payments for consumer and installment loans from eligible citizens for a period of six months, reports Al Anba daily.

In its circular to the banks, in-vestment companies and financ-ing institutions, the Central Bank clarified that the conditions and regulations are applicable to eligible Kuwaitis, indicating the client must submit a document expressing his desire to postpone payment of the loan to the creditor within a month from the date the law on postponing the collection of payments for loans takes effect.

The National Assembly and the government agreed on is-suing a law on postponing the collection of payment for loans due to the negative economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. This step is aimed at easing the financial burdens of citizens.

Base ... gone

MOSCOW, April 20, (AP): The Russian military has claimed that its airstrike killed about 200 militants in eastern Syria.

Rear Adm. Alexander Kar-pov, the head of the Russian military’s Reconciliation Center in Syria, said Russian warplanes hit two militant hideouts northeast of Pal-myra.

Karpov said in a statement car-ried by Russian news agencies that the air raid killed some 200 militants and destroyed 24 ve-hicles and about 500 kilograms (over 1,100 pounds) of ammuni-tion and explosives. He said the militants’ base had served as a staging ground for terror attacks across Syria.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since 2015, helping President Bashar Assad’s government retake control over most of the country after a dev-astating 10-year conflict.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the air-strikes, saying they preceded a sweep by Russian troops and the Syrian Fifth Corps in search of Islamic State militants cells in the Homs desert. The Obser-vatory said 26 IS militants were killed.

Russia claims 200 militant killsNewswatch

KUWAIT CITY: The Kuwaiti Cabi-net held its meeting on Monday at Seif Palace, under the chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

The Cabinet studied recommen-dations by the ministerial committee of coronavirus emergency and took some relevant measures.

The Cabinet decided to extend the partial curfew until the end of the holy month of Rama-dan in the coun-try as of Thurs-day, April 22, with unchanged curfew hours from 7:00 p.m. until 5:00 am.

However, the decision may be re-assessed as the COVID-19 pandemic situ-ation is regu-larly reviewed, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah said, adding that the Cabinet tasked concerned bodies with imple-menting the provisions of this deci-sion.

The ministers were briefed on the economic affairs committee on the second report of Kuwait’s higher energy commission, and they lauded efforts made by the concerned bod-ies to provide clean and renewable energy to achieve sustainable devel-opment, in line with Kuwait Vision 2035. (KUNA)

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KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s Ministry of Health has announced recording 1,510 new coronavirus infections and eight related deaths in the past 24 hours.

The new fi gures take the total cases in the country up to 258,497 and deaths to 1,456 respectively, noted the ministry’s spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad in statements to KUNA on Monday.

He pointed out that some 1,231 more people had been cured of the virus over the past day, raising the total of those who have overcome the disease to 241,696. (KUNA)

❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Health is conducting epidemiologi-cal investigations on the number of coronavirus cases recorded daily, tak-ing into consideration that the number of new cases continues to increase although the number of infections due to gatherings and social events has decreased since the beginning of Ramadan compared to the previous months, reports Al-Qabas daily quot-ing sources.

Sources told the daily that the most common reason behind the spread of coronavirus is the organization of events, because healthy people interact with those who are infected in social gatherings.

Sources said the epidemiological investigation teams are facing diffi cul-ties in determining factors leading to the spread of the virus as people are not honest in disclosing the places they went to before feeling the Covid-19 symptoms.

Al-Khaled

Colorful lights are strung above the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, April 19. (AP)

MOSCOW, April 20, (AP): The US ambassador to Russia said Tuesday he will head home for consultations – a move that comes after the Kremlin prodded him to take a break as Wash-ington and Moscow traded sanctions.

The Kremlin emphasized that it couldn’t order Ambassador John Sul-livan to leave for consultations and could only “recommend” that he do so amid the current tensions.

Sullivan said in a statement that he is returning to the United States this week to discuss US-Russian ties with members of President Joe Biden’s administration. He emphasized that he would come back to Moscow within weeks.

“I believe it is important for me to speak directly with my new col-leagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia,” Sulli-van said in a statement issued by the embassy. “Also, I have not seen my family in well over a year, and that is another important reason for me to return home for a visit.”

Sullivan’s departure comes after Russia on Friday stopped short of asking Sullivan to leave the country but said it “suggested” that he follow the example of the Russian ambas-sador to the US, who was recalled from Washington last month after President Joe Biden described Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin as a “killer.” Russia has set no time frame for Ambassador Anatoly Antonov’s

return to Washington.Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Pes-

kov, said the ambassadors’ depar-tures reflect current tensions in the re-lationship between the United States and Russia.

“The relations now have hit the bottom,” Peskov said. “There are cer-tain consequences of the unfriendly measures taken against our country and the retaliatory measures taken by us.”

On Thursday, the Biden adminis-tration announced sanctions on Rus-sia for interfering in the 2020 US presidential election and for involve-ment in the SolarWind hack of fed-eral agencies - activities Moscow has denied. The US ordered 10 Russian diplomats expelled, targeted dozens of companies and people and im-posed new curbs on Russia’s ability to borrow money.

Russia denounced the US move as “absolutely unfriendly and unpro-voked” and retaliated by ordering 10 US diplomats to leave, blacklisting eight current and former US officials and tightening requirements for the US Embassy operations.

While ordering the sanctions, Biden also called for de-escalating tensions and held the door open for cooperation with Russia in certain areas.

Biden emphasized that he told Putin that he chose not to impose tougher sanctions for now and pro-posed to meet in a third country in the summer. Russia said it was studying the offer.

‘Killer’ exits US envoy

2ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

In a new step that translates to the UAE’s relent-less pursuit towards global leadership in the

fi eld of space exploration, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Presi-dent and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced the names of the two new Emi-rati astronauts who will form the second batch of the UAE Astronaut Programme, and further revealed that it includes the fi rst female Arab as-tronaut. The new batch of astronauts will continue the scientifi c march that the UAE launched years ago with the aim of strengthening the space sec-tor and developing a national team of astronauts capable of achieving the country’s aspirations in scientifi c exploration and participating in manned space exploration.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “ Today we announce two new Emi-rati astronauts, among them the fi rst female Arab astronaut — Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammed AMulla. They were selected from more than 4,000 applicants and their training will soon begin for inter-national space fl ights. We congratulate the country on them. We congratulate them and count on them to raise the name of the UAE ever higher in space.”

An integrated teamThe two new astronauts join astronauts Hazzaa

AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi to form a team of four under the UAE Astronaut Programme, serving the strategy of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre base on achieving the vision of the wise leadership of the UAE and make it one of the leading nations in the fi eld through the National

Space Programme. First female Arab astronaut, Nora AlMa-

trooshiThe second batch of the UAE Astronaut Pro-

gramme includes the fi rst Arab astronaut, Nora AlMatrooshi, who obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the UAE University in 2015 and has years of experience in the fi eld of engineering. AlMatrooshi excelled in the fi elds of engineering and mathematics during her academic years, placing fi rst in the UAE for the 2011 Inter-national Mathematical Olympiad and representing the UAE in the Youth Conference at the United Nations in the summer of 2018 and winter of 2019.

Astronaut Mohammed AlMullaThe other astronaut in the second batch of the

UAE Astronaut Programme is Mohammed Al-Mulla, who at the age of 19 obtained a commercial pilot’s license from the Australian Civil Aviation Authority to become the youngest pilot in Dubai Police. He then set another record, becoming the youngest trainer in the same organisation at 28 years, after getting his pilot trainer license from GCAA. While pursuing his career he obtained a bachelor’s degree in law and economics in 2015 and an Executive Master of Public Administration from the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Gov-ernment in 2021.

AlMulla is currently the Head of Training De-partment of the Air Wing Centre at Dubai Police. He has received the Bravery Medal from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Mak-toum and the Commander in Chief Award for the

Best Offi cer in a Specialised Field, in addition to the Dubai Police Global Excellence Award.

For humanityThe future missions for Emirati Astronauts will

provide the scientifi c and global community with new scientifi c knowledge and will support the ad-vancement of the space industry in the Arab world and contribute to making a better future for hu-manity.

An outstanding example from the Arab World

The steps the UAE has taken in preparing as-tronauts, who exhibit the highest records in fi elds such as technology, science and math and send-ing them to space is in fact an invitation for the Arab youth to dream big and follow suit. The UAE today has carved a strong name for itself in the Arab space sector, capitalizing on the impressive achievements so far such as the success of the Hope Probe, the fi rst Arab mission to Mars.

Towards the next 50 yearsThe announcement of the second batch of as-

tronauts is a testimony of the progressive vision of the leadership towards building a knowledge-based economy in a smart community founded by the pillars of technological innovation and scien-tifi c research. This defi nes the journey towards UAE Centennial 2071.

The national space sector recorded investments of more than AED22 billion over the past few years with the selection of astronauts to empower national cadres being an integral project leading this sector.

UAE names second astronaut batch

Science freed from the surface forever

GOOSEBUMPS FROM A WRIGHT BROTHERS MOMENT

Ingenuity takes flight on Mars

In this image from NASA, NASA’s experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity lands on the surface of Mars on April 19. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the fi rst powered, controlled fl ight on another planet. (NASA via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 20, (AP): NASA’s experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Mon-day, achieving the fi rst powered fl ight by an aircraft on another planet.

The triumph was hailed as a Wright brothers moment. The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter even carried a bit of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.

It was a brief hop — just 39 seconds and 10 feet (3 meters) — but accom-plished all the major milestones.

“Goosebumps. It looks just the way we had tested,” project manager MiMi Aung said as she watched the fl ight video during a later briefi ng. “Absolutely beautiful fl ight. I don’t think I can ever stop watching it over and over again.”

Flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California de-clared success after receiving the data and images via the Perseverance rover. Ingenuity hitched a ride to Mars on Perseverance, clinging to the rover’s belly when it touched down in an ancient river delta in February.

The $85 million helicopter demo was considered high risk, yet high reward.Scientists cheered the news from around the world, even from space, and

the White House offered its congratulations.“A whole new way to explore the alien terrain in our solar system is now

at our disposal,” Nottingham Trent University astronomer Daniel Brown said from England.

This fi rst test fl ight — with more to come by Ingenuity, the next as soon as Thursday — holds great promise, Brown noted. Future helicopters could serve as scouts for rovers, and eventually astronauts, in diffi cult, dangerous places.

Ingenuity has provided a third dimension to planetary exploration and ”freed us from the surface now forever,” said JPL director, Michael Watkins.

Ground controllers had to wait more than three excruciating hours before learning whether the preprogrammed fl ight had succeeded 178 million miles (287 million kilometers) away. The fi rst attempt had been delayed a week because of a software error.

When the news fi nally came, the operations center fi lled with applause, cheers and laughter. More followed when the fi rst black and white photo from Ingenuity appeared, showing the helicopter’s shadow as it hovered above the surface of Mars.

“The shadow of greatness, #MarsHelicopter fi rst fl ight on another world complete!” NASA astronaut Victor Glover tweeted from the International Space Station.

Next came stunning color video of the copter’s clean landing, taken by Perseverance, “the best host little Ingenuity could ever hope for,” Aung said in thanking everyone.

The helicopter hovered for 30 seconds at its intended altitude of 10 feet (3 meters), and spent 39 seconds airborne, more than three times longer than the fi rst successful fl ight of the Wright Flyer, which lasted a mere 12 seconds on Dec. 17, 1903.

To accomplish all this, the helicopter’s twin, counter-rotating rotor blades needed to spin at 2,500 revolutions per minute — fi ve times faster than on Earth. With an atmosphere just 1% the density of Earth’s, engineers had to build a helicopter light enough — with blades spinning fast enough — to gen-erate this otherworldly lift. The Martian wind was relatively gentle Monday: between 4 mph and 14 mph (7 kph to 22 kph).

More than six years in the making, Ingenuity is just 19 inches (49 centim-eters) tall, a spindly four-legged chopper. Its fuselage, containing all the batter-ies, heaters and sensors, is the size of a tissue box. The carbon-fi ber, foam-fi lled rotors are the biggest pieces: Each pair stretches 4 feet (1.2 meters) tip to tip.

Ingenuity also had to be sturdy enough to withstand the Martian wind, and

is topped with a solar panel for recharging the batteries, crucial for surviving the minus-130 degree Fahrenheit (minus-90 degree-Celsius) Martian nights.

NASA chose a fl at, relatively rock-free patch for Ingenuity’s airfi eld. Fol-lowing Monday’s success, NASA named the area for the Wright brothers.

“While these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and ... million miles of space, they now will forever be linked,” NASA’s science missions chief Thomas Zurbuchen announced.

The little chopper with a giant job attracted attention from the moment it launched with Perseverance last July. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger joined in the fun, rooting for Ingenuity over the weekend. “Get to the chopper!” he shouted in a tweeted video, a line from his 1987 sci-fi fi lm “Predator.”

Up to fi ve increasingly ambitious fl ights are planned, and they could lead the way to a fl eet of Martian drones in decades to come, providing aerial

views, transporting packages and serving as lookouts for human crews. On Earth, the technology could enable helicopters to reach new heights, doing things like more easily navigating the Himalayas.

Ingenuity’s team has until the beginning of May to complete the test fl ights so that the rover can get on with its main mission: collecting rock samples that could hold evidence of past Martian life, for return to Earth a decade from now.

The team plans to test the helicopter’s limits, possibly even wrecking the craft, leaving it to rest in place forever, having sent its data back home.

Until then, Perseverance will keep tabs on Ingenuity. Flight engineers af-fectionately call them Percy and Ginny.

“Big sister’s watching,” said Malin Space Science Systems’ Elsa Jensen, the rover’s lead camera operator.

editor’s choice

ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 3

Fajr ........ 03:53Sunrise .. 05:16Zohr ....... 11:48

Asr .......... 15:22Maghrib .. 18:17Isha ........ 19:38

Prayer Timings Expected weather for the next 24 hours:

By Day: Hot and partly cloudy with light variable wind to light to moderate north westerly wind with speeds of 08-30 km/h.

By Night: Fair and partly cloudy

with light to moderate north west-erly wind to light variable wind with speeds of 06-24 km/h.Station Max Exp Min RecKuwait City 38 28Kuwait Airport 39 21Abdaly 40 21

Bubyan - -Jahra 40 23Salmiyah 35 28Ahmadi 37 27Nuwaisib 41 21Wafra 40 20Salmy 39 21

Weather

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

KFH rallies 7 fils, Humansoft Holding retreats

Kuwait’s All Shares Index breaches 6,000 mark, volume soarsBy John MathewsArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: Kuwait stocks breached the 6,000 pts benchmark on Tues-day after registering an uptick in the previous session. The All Shares Index gained mo-mentum with a 43 points jump to 6,021.20 points driven mostly by blue chips.

The Premier Market soared 52.7 points to 6,594.71 pts lifted the month’s gains to 270 points while Main Market scaled 21.80 pts. The BK Main 50 was up 26.88 points at 5,060.56 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile continued to swell to hit the month’s highest level. Over 453 million shares changed hands – a 16 pct surge from the day before.

The sectors however closed mixed. Insurance outperformed the rest with 2.32 pct gain whereas Technology shed 0.82 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 141.8 million shares while Banking sector was ahead in value with KD 22.9 million.

Among the prime movers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 7 fi ls on back of 10.9 million shares to close at 730 fi ls and Boubyan Bank extended last session’s gains with a 10 fi ls jump to 645

fi ls. National Investment Co rose 4 fi ls to 189 fi ls and KIPCO paced 3 fi ls with a volume of 5.6 million to end at 165 fi ls. Tamdeen Investment climbed 8 fi ls to 224 fi ls and Kuwait Reinsurance Co soared 38 fi ls with thin trading.

Zain rose 5 fi ls to 610 fi ls after pushing over 3 million shares whereas Ooredoo stood pat at 647 fi ls. stc eased 1 fi l to 898 fi ls and logistics major Agility sprinted 10 fi ls to 779 fi ls taking the month’s gains to 53 fi ls. Hu-mansoft Holding dialed down 2 fi ls whereas Boursa Kuwait Securities was up 5 fi ls at KD 1.111. Integrated Holding darted 11 fi ls to 423 fi ls. Mabanee slipped 5 fi ls.

National Industries Group climbed 5 fi ls to 210 fi ls and Gulf Cable followed suit. Boubyan Petrochemical extended Monday’s robust gains with a 26 fi ls sprint to 950 fi ls and Al Qurain Petrochemical added 3 fi ls. Jazeera Airways gave up 2 fi ls whereas ALAFCO took in 2 fi ls. Aznour paused at 267 fi ls and United Projects Co paced 10 fi ls to close at 228 fi ls. Combined Group Contracting Co gained 11 fi ls.

The market opened fi rm and moved side-ways briefl y before heading higher. The main index stalled again ahead of the mid-session before resuming its ascent amid strong buy-

ing in some of the heavyweights and mid-caps and closed with hefty gains.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Reinsurance Co spiked 9.84 percent to 424 fi ls and Mubarrad scaled 9.24 pct to stand close behind. Marakez skidded 12.79 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Petroleum Investment topped the volume with 60.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 78 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 142 coun-ters active on Tuesday, 14 closed fl at. 13,946 deals worth over KD 55 million were trans-acted during the session.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Ku-wait took in 1 fi l on back of 3.6 million shares whereas Gulf Bank gave up 3 fi ls before ending at 207 fi ls and the counter saw 23.4 million shares change hands. Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank gained 3 fi ls each to close at 208 fi ls and 227 fi ls respectively.

Ahli United Bank BSC added 3 fi ls with brisk trading and Warba Bank was up 4 fi ls at 250 fi ls. Commercial Bank continued to stag-nate at 500 fi ls and Al Ahli Bank tripped 1 fi l. Ahli United Bank Kuwait dialed down 2 fi ls.

Kuwait Investment Co slipped 5 fi ls to 162

fi ls and International Financial Advisors re-treated 3 fi ls. Coast Investment ticked 1.6 fi ls up and KMEFIC climbed 5 fi ls to 144 fi ls. First Investment gave up 2.1 fi ls after trading 18.2 million shares whereas Arzan Financial stood pat at 106 fi ls.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) rose 3.3 fi ls to 91 fi ls with heavy trading whereas KFIC dialed down 2 fi ls. Al Deera Holding dipped 10 fi ls to 200 fi ls whereas Noor Finan-cial Investment closed 3 fi ls in red. KAMCO tripped 1.8 fi ls and Unicap added 2.4 fi ls.

Gulf Insurance Group and Warba Insurance paced 4 fi ls each whereas Al Ahleia Insur-ance took in 2 fi ls. United Real Estate closed 2.4 fi ls in green and NREC sprinted 7 fi ls to 106 fi ls. Salhia Real Estate clipped 2 fi ls and Tamdeen Real Estate added 2 fi ls.

Kuwait Cement Co fell 3 fi ls to 232 fi ls whereas Kuwait Portland Cement and Kuwait Foundry Co took in 1 fi ls each. Educational Holding shed 22 fi ls and Automated Systems Co paused at 97 fi ls.

The market has been largely upbeat so far during the week gaining 67 pts in last three sessions. It has rallied 244 points from start of the month and is up 474 points year-to-date.

Euro/KD 0.3634

Yen/KD 0.0027

British £/KD 0.4214

Indian Rs/KD 0.0040

Philippines Peso/KD 0.0062

FTSE -57.62 pts at 13:05 hr, April 20

Nikkei -584.99 pts at closing April 20

Gold 1774.50 per oz (London)

US$/KDUS$/KD 0.30105/15 0.30105/15

NYMEX crude $64.02 per barrel

Brent crude $67.69 per barrel

LIBOR rate 0.18825%

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Of visa trade victimsin time of pandemic

Sold out ... for jobs that aren’t

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: More than a year has passed since the visa-trading scandal was exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, its reper-cussions still create more prob-lems and reveal thousands of victims who lost their savings and became victims of the traf-fi ckers trading on the sweat of the poor, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to official sources within the Egyptian government, conflicts re-cently erupted between tribes in Up-per Egypt and a visa agent working for some companies in Kuwait because he sold thousands of visas to the residents of Sohag Governorate who came to Ku-wait only to discover that these compa-nies were fake.

Visa agent This broker collected about 100 million

pounds from thousands of people look-ing for work opportunities in Kuwait. The victims left Kuwait when residencies were arranged for them, and they demanded the return of the money they paid to him. However, he has since disappeared.

The families of the victims are now up in arms against the visa agent who used to bring workers from the governorates of Upper Egypt to Kuwait but the victims discovered that they bought fake residencies from com-panies that do not carry out any real activity.

During the period from 2018 to 2020, the visa trader sold 2,000 fake visas in Sohag Governorate at about KD 2,000 per visa. This adds up to about KD 4 million, which is more than 100 million Egyptian pounds, for fake visas related to small projects, farms and oth-ers.

The visa trader, whose headquarters is in the Al-Balina Center in Sohag, is wealthy and possesses houses, real estate and other properties which he acquired through the fi ctitious visa trading in Kuwait. He also has “wasta” (infl uence) and relations with agents in Kuwait who facilitate all pro-cedures for him. He also has infl uence in Egypt through which his activities are fa-cilitated.

During the past weeks, hundreds of victims of the visa-trade gathered and launched a campaign on social media to expose his activities. A number of them fi led cases against him, and others lodged complaints at the Embassy of Kuwait in Cairo.

The families of the victims are very up-set because of their bad image promoted in Kuwait, and feel distressed. One of them lost everything, as he was deported, after he became one among the illegal and mar-ginal workers who had decided to travel to Kuwait in order to work in a profession le-gally and in an honorable manner.

Hussein Numan, one of the victims from Sohag, said he fi led a report at Al-Ballina Police Station in Sohag against the afore-mentioned human traffi cker, after he and dozens of other people became victims of fake visas.

He explained that he traveled to Kuwait with 80 people in 2018, and was given a fake residency related to small projects. After each person paid an amount of about KD 2,000, they discovered that they were deceived as they were accused of having come to Kuwait with a free visa. When they went back to him, he ignored them. Then their sponsor fi led absconding re-ports against them, which led to their re-turn to Egypt either voluntarily or through deportation.

Numan admitted that he had helped the accused by advertising about provision of visas to Kuwait, but he was quick to add that he did not know that it was a fake visa.

He stressed that he was only trying to help the people of his region to travel to Kuwait for work, but later discovered that the accused deceived him and used it to re-cruit more victims.

CampaignKamel Ahmed, one of the victims who

launched a campaign on social media to hold the visa broker accountable, said, “This quorum has a network of agents in Kuwait and deals with Kuwaiti small busi-ness owners. Each company has dozens of workers in its fi le. The visa broker recruits manpower from Egypt, especially from the governorates of Upper Egypt, in return for very large sums of money.

The culprit used to sell entry visas to Kuwait with fake work contracts for tens of people every month, by virtue of his relationships, infl uence, and possession of power of attorney and other relevant rela-tionships that helped him work in trading fake residency”.

In addition, Ali Anwar, another victim, revealed a clear intention from the security authorities in Sohag to take care of this is-sue and provide justice to the victims.

He said he had informed the Kuwait embassy and was preparing to submit a re-quest to the public funds investigation to look into the infl ation of the suspect’s bank balances, and to prove the existence of bank transactions related to the visa trade.

KUNA photoHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace on Tuesday His Highness Sheikh

Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah. Various issues were discussed.

HH Crown Prince receives HH Sheikh NasserHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah re-ceived at Bayan Palace on Tuesday His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad

Al-Sabah.His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh

Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah also received Chairman of Kuwait Municipal

Council Osama Al-Otaibi, where he pre-sented the reports of the council’s sec-ond session for the twelfth legislative term 2019/2020. (KUNA)

State bodies have ignored us: residents‘Projects lagging’

By Najeh BilalAl-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: The head of the Sabah Al-Ahmad City Residents Voluntary Committee, Turki Al-Osaimi, regrets that officials in various government institutions have ignored the problems and disasters that afflict the residents of Sabah Al-Ahmad area.

In an exclusive interview Al-Osaimi told the Al-Seyassah daily, that it is necessary to implement the road project -- the Wafra Road, which is called the ‘Road of Death’ due to the accumulation of sand dunes and add to this the collection of construction waste spread all over the area which adds insult to injury.

He mentioned the Sabah Al-Ahmad region will be trans-formed into a seventh governorate in the event the university project is implemented, as the offi cials have promised to do so.

He went on to say, the committee has called on the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) on the necessity of the investment projects in the region completing on time, but unfortunately, on an average it takes about fi ve years to complete one project.

Speaking of the projects, he said the most important projects that are needed are residential buildings, markets, malls, parks and restaurants for the development of the area. He went on to say, “We demand the expansion of restaurants in the area, espe-cially since the Sabah Al-Ahmad area has six residential areas, and each area is equivalent to 1,700 plots of land.

Speaking of the roads project, he spoke of linking Al-Wafra Road with the Seventh Ring Road ‘Al-Maqwa’ and branch out from Al-Wafra, crossing the oil-prohibited zone through the Burgan fi eld and the oil fi elds, reaching Al-Maqwa, the G-Ring intersection with the airport. This road will also connect the south to the governorates of Kuwait.

Speaking of this road network, he referred to the Council of Ministers and said the former oil minister was very coop-erative. Moreover, he said this road network will eliminate traffi c congestion, as the Sabah Al-Ahmad area and the sur-rounding new areas are all somehow connected to the Wafra Road, and for this “we ask for more than one road in the area. For example when the rains hit the area in 2018, the people of the area were cut off from the rest of Kuwait and people were unable to go to work 3 days.”

He said the Sabah Al-Ahmad area has a population of about 45 thousand people, and the vast majority of them are citizens, and due to the increasing number of the region, more than one ‘mercy’ road must be built for students and employees.

The regional road, consisting of 3 contracts, connects 3 roads to each other, of which one contract has been executed and the rest have yet to see the light of day. It exits Nu-waiseeb and connects the south with the north and west of Kuwait. The problem is that the Ministry of Public Works and the Roads Authority has put this project on the shelves and pretends that there is no budget.

MoI photoDelivering ‘iftar’ meals at one of the correctional institutions.

Minister pays for inmates mealsThe Directorate General of Public Rela-tions and Security Media Department of the Interior Ministry stated in the spirit of social solidarity in the security establish-ment and humanitarian initiative Minis-ter of Interior Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali has given instructions that the iftar meals for inmates at correctional institutions will be at his personal expense on the oc-casion of the holy month of Ramadan,

reports Al-Seyassah daily.The administration added this step

comes within the framework of the strategy of the Minister Thamer Al-Ali to promote human values with the pris-ons inmates, the consolidation of social relations and building trust with them to achieve their integration into society and returning them as good citizens who contribute to building society.

Fasting duration varies

N. Pole longest, Comoros shortestKUWAIT CITY, April 20: Although the holy month of Ramadan unites Muslims and Arabs in various parts of the world, the number of fasting hours remains a characteristic that dis-tinguishes each country from the other; as the fasting hours differ from one country to anoth-er according to geographical location, such that the closer a country to the North Pole is, the longer it takes to fast compared to those near the South Pole, reports Al-Rai daily.

Algerians and Tunisians are fasting the longest among Arabs this year -- num-ber of hours of abstinence from food and drink. On the first day of Ramadan, their fasting period lasted 14 hours and 39 min-utes; while it will be 15 hours and 50 min-utes on the last day.

On the other hand, Muslims in Comoros have the shortest fasting hours. The number

of fasting hours in its capital -- Moroni -- was about 13 hours and 12 minutes on the fi rst day of Ramadan; while it will be 12 hours and 59 minutes on the last day.

In Kuwait, the fasting period lasted 14 hours and 17 minutes on the fi rst day; while it will be 15 hours and 19 minutes on the last day.

In the Sultanate of Oman, the number of fasting hours reached 14 hours and one min-ute on the fi rst day and it will be 14 hours and 41 minutes on the last day. The King-dom of Bahrain recorded 14 hours and nine minutes of fasting on the fi rst day, compared to 14 hours and 45 minutes on the last day.

In Saudi Arabia, the fasting period on the fi rst day was 14 hours and two minutes; while it will be 14 hours and 44 minutes on the last day.

LOCALARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

4

Common ventures of mutual benefi t to be executed

Kuwait’s Prime Minister, Russian FM discuss boosting tiesMOSCOW, April 20, (KUNA): The Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, on Monday held talks by telephone with Russian For-eign Minister Segrey Lavrov on means of boosting bilateral relations between Moscow and

Kuwait.Russian Foreign Ministry said

in a statement the two sides af-fi rmed, during the phone con-tact, mutual desire to elevate the relations between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through execution of common ventures of mutual benefi t and

settling various regional strifes.His Highness Sheikh Sabah

Khaled and Minister Lavrov dis-cussed in details issues related to pursuing the conventional Ku-waiti-Russian relations namely bolstering the cooperation in com-mercial, economic and investment spheres.

Moreover, the prime minister and the Russian foreign minister affi rmed necessity of maintaining the current dynamism for promot-ing the commercial ties, resuming exchanges in the cultural and hu-manitarian sectors amid forecast improvement of the health and epidemical conditions.

MoH vaccinates 3,000 male,female banking sector staff

Authority issues disability certificates online

By Marwa Al-Bahrawi, Fares Al-Abdan

Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Minis-try of Health, in co-operation with the Kuwait Banks Club, vaccinated 3,000 male and female employees working in the Ku-waiti banking sector.

The director of the Banks Club, Abbas Al-Balushi, said the vaccination cam-paign for bank employees was organized under the slogan ‘Vaccination, a national duty’.

He pointed out the bank sector’s employees are in direct contact with the public when they complete their transactions, so vaccination for this category of employ-ees serves as a protection for them and for the citizens and residents who deal with them.

Al-Balushi indicated last Sunday was the first day of the campaign when about 1,000 employees were vacci-nated within a very short time.

He noted the Ministry of Health is working to vacci-nate all employees of the banking sector who have reg-istered their names on the ministry’s website.

He added that vaccination is a big step towards achiev-ing community immunity.

DisabilityMeanwhile, Director-

General of the Public Authority for People with Disabilities, Dr. Shafeeqa Al-Awadi, announced the launch of a service that offi-cially distributes disability certificates through the authority’s electronic portal, as part of the authority’s efforts to develop the services provided to its children with disabilities.

Al-Awadi said in a press statement people with disabil-ity can now receive the cer-tificate online without the hassle of personal interviews and taking appointment to visit the authority by using the authority’s website and following up the steps indi-cated on the entry page and extract the disability certifi-cate.

She indicated the certificate has a “barcode” that allows the holder of the certificate or the concerned authorities in the country to verify the data and see the latest update of the status of the certificate holder.

In the meantime, the Public Authority for Manpower has given a security company, which has a contract with the Ministry of Education, 24 hours to pay school guards their financial dues, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The authority said in a press statement it followed up on the complaint of a school guard who appeared in a video and said he had not received his salary for 5 months, following which PAM and personnel from the Residence Affairs Investigation Department moved to the workplace of the worker and took his state-ment and also took the state-ment of the employer.

The sources said, following this the company officials promised to pay all the work-ers their salaries and end the dispute amicably.

PAM confirmed it will fol-low up to ensure the company remains true to its promise and settle all the outstanding dues.

HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad

KUNA photosKuwait Municipal Council Chairman Osama Al-Otaibi

CAPT forwards queries about T2 bids to MPW

3 violations demolished in Sharq

HH the Amir receives senior offi cials

FM receives credentials of new Ethiopian envoyCredit Bank receives 15,000 requests for the postponement of loan payment

MoI clarifi es about reports over coveringup of a complaint lodged against woman

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah re-ceived His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace on Tuesday.

His Highness the Amir also re-

ceived Chairman of Kuwait Mu-nicipal Council Osama Al-Otaibi, where he presented the reports of the council’s second session for the twelfth legislative term 2019/2020. (KUNA)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Af-fairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received a copy of credentials of Ambas-sador of Ethiopia to Kuwait Has-san Tago Legas, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the meeting,

Sheikh Dr. Ahmad wished the new ambassador success in his tenure and for relations between both sides to further progress and prosper.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Majdi Al-Dhafi ri, As-

sistant Foreign Minister for Proto-cols Ambassador Dhari Al-Ajran, Assistant Foreign Minister for the Ministers Offi ce Ambassador Saleh Al-Loughani and Deputy Assistant Foreign Ministry of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Offi ce Counselor Ahmad Al-Shuraim. (KUNA)

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: With the issuance of the law concur-rently to defer financial obliga-tions for 6 months, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Manager of the Credit Bank, Salah Mudhaf Al-Mudhaf and the Bank’s Executive Management went on an inspection tour to ensure the progress of work relat-ed to the postponement and the effectiveness and efficiency of the bank’s systems, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In this context, the bank’s spokes-man, Habbari Al-Khashti, announced the bank is working to receive postponement requests through the bank’s online portal and the bank’s mobile application.

As for the elderly people who are 65 years and above, people with special needs, families of prisoners, martyrs and they heirs, they will be received at the bank’s branches in their area.

Al-Khashti announced the bank received within 24 hours 15,000 requests of the 150,000 borrowers, for the postponement of payment of their loans.

Meanwhile, the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) has for-warded the requests and questions of companies bidding for stage three of the construction and main-tenance of aircraft stands, corridors and service buildings in the new passenger terminal (T2) at Kuwait International Airport to the Ministry of Public Works which will take a decision in this regard in the com-ing days, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting sources.

Sources disclosed one of the questions is about the conditions that the bidder must meet; in addi-tion to a request to postpone the date for submission of bids for a month as they need more time to deliberate on price offers and com-plete the requirements.

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Ministry of Interior has issued a clarification statement regarding the reports circulating on some social media sites that accuse an official of the Ministry of Interior of covering up a complaint lodged against a Kuwaiti woman, reports Al-Rai daily.

The ministry stated that, “The citizenship case is related to anoth-er case filed against a different individual. Accordingly, the com-plaint was referred to the technical office where appropriate action will be taken in the event that there is a link between the two issues.

This referral was made based on the legal procedures followed in this regard, and without interfer-ence from any other party. Legal action will be taken in the matter of the case immediately after the com-pletion of the investigations”.

The statement also emphasized that the General Investigation Department absolves itself from any behavior that might be offen-sive, and will take the necessary legal measures against anyone who offends it or any of its affiliates.

❑ ❑ ❑

Violations demolished: The Governor of the Capital, Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled, announced three more illegal constructions have been demolished in the Sharq region, bringing the total number of demolitions or violations to 130 in

the East of the city and Bneid Al-Gar to follow up on the devel-opments of the campaign to remove building violations.

Al-Khaled said the tireless cam-paigns cover all areas of the gover-norate around the clock unper-turbed and that these campaigns will continue until the last violation is rectified and illegal constructions demolished in line with the law.

He pointed out, he personally fol-lows up and continuously super-vises the various sites, and howev-er, he said it takes some time to complete the work.

He stressed, the governorate is firmly determined to remove all construction violations in the regions of the governorate and apply the law indicating the cam-paign is proceeding and the gover-norate’s work team is making suc-cessive field trips to accelerate the pace of work especially in the regions of East Al-Murgab and Bneid Al-Gar.

KUNA photoThe Ethiopian ambassador presenting the copy of his credentials to Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad.

Capital Governor Sheikh Talal super-vising the demolitions.

LOCALARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

5

R E M E M B E R W H E N

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

diwaniya‘Nation is built by good, experienced guys ... end fake appointments’“IN AN interview with the Al-Rai newspaper in last Thursday’s issue the for-mer CEO of the Kuwait Finance House, Mazen Al-Nahedh said achieving reform requires eliminating parachute appointments. We need a competent Kuwaiti to fight the corrupt; Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kuwait do not deserve support,” columnist Dr Turki Al-Azmi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“With regard to parachute appointments, this is what we have been demand-ing for two decades, starting with the Supreme Council for Planning, where the vision of Kuwait and its development projects which need qualified effective leaders, reformulate the vision, and create projects that eliminate all the prob-lems that the Kuwaiti society suffers from, on top of which is development of education, health system and e-government.

“According to what we see -- until the time of writing this article -- nothing is mentioned in this regard although we, as a country, have signed the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ of the United Nations 2030 Program, and the reason is due to the low level of offi-cials in charge of the Supreme Council for Planning and the senior officials in our institutions.

“With regard to the issue that SMEs do not deserve support, we disagree with him in a simple part, which is that the concept of SMEs to the best of our knowledge is related to certain aspects, fields and activities carried out by large companies, which are supposed to be car-ried out by small and medium companies to create a standard of integration between large companies and SMEs business owners for the benefit of society and its economy.

“The projects we see are like initiatives of grocery, restaurants and we did not see the industry as a field to mention, and we did not see food or industrial integration as a glimmer of hope that promises what is called ‘self-sufficiency’, even though we have all the required resources.

“The nation is only built by good guys with experience, good conduct and good behavior, and they are many -- praise and gratitude be to God -- but unfortunately the parachute appointments have sidelined them alongside the quota system and many destructive factors.”

Also:“In a humble attempt, I wanted to make a comparison between two militants

(Maryam Rajavi and Rania Al-Sa’ad). The first, Maryam Rajavi, enjoys the support and legitimacy of millions of hungry and oppressed people in Iranian prisons who are subjected to daily kidnappings and executions by the security services, not to mention millions of intellectuals, university students, mer-chants, and businessmen, and thus the international humanitarian and human rights organizations support her in her quest for justice as she struggles against a dictatorial fascist regime that has practiced injustice, oppression and starva-tion of the Iranian people for decades and squanders the wealth of these peoples through futile wars at home and abroad,” columnist Saud Al-Samaka wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“As for the second militant, Rania, she is fighting from her resort in the British capital against her regime in Kuwait which guarantees her all her rights as a Kuwaiti citizen in terms of salaries, passport and freedom of movement and she is not subjected to the slightest restrictions on going and coming back to her country Kuwait, and if God forbid, had health problems, the Kuwaiti embassy rushed to take care of her immediately, and the state bears all the expenses of medical treatment.

“The fight that Rania fights for the revolution over the rule of her country she receives the highest salary from the state as an employee in the world, and receives monthly everything almost free, add to this $150 for every child she gives birth, and the state also bears the costs of medical treatment and educa-tion from kindergarten to University Education and postgraduate studies and a semi-free marriage loan and housing (villa) from the state of the latest model, for a small rent.

“The fighter, Rania, in front of these living privileges does not have the low-est obligations towards the state (Kuwait) unlike the whole world, and she obtains electricity and water services at nominal prices by the state.

“Rania lives in a country that does not know the visitors knocking on your door at dawn (arrest squads). We live in a democratic constitutional system, a judicial system that the world attests to its independence, and the security sta-bility has no parallel in the world.

“She is bored and wants a revolutionary method of rule instead of a stable, compassionate rule as evidenced by the fact that she writes and speaks in a high voice in front of the public day and night without anyone intercepting her because this is one of her rights guaranteed by law, without anyone objecting to her.

“What is the difference between Maryam and Rania?”❑ ❑ ❑

“Bedoun residents, or rather illegal residents, are those who were born, raised, studied and graduated in Kuwait. They include young men and women who graduated from universities in various specializations. Their fathers were either a soldier in the Kuwait Army or in the police or had worked in one of the state ministries, committees, institutions and bodies,” columnist Muhammad Al-Juma’a wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“We do not have the option to be Kuwaiti or non-Kuwaiti, or to be from a simple or a rich family. Neither of us choose our color, shape, or even name. So, what is the sin of these youth who are lost between security cards and Article 17 passports?!

“Why does the state accept them in schools and universities and then deny them?! Why are these young people not being used to fill the shortage in state agencies like before? Why not choose the best among them after they undergo the interview and pass tests?!

“Many of them want to work in state agencies. They can work as drivers in the police force like before. There are some people among them who are more loyal to this country than some other nationalities. They need to work so that they are not compelled by circumstances to ask for charity and handouts. The state also needs employees in all agencies, including technical, administrative, financial and other specialties.

“I am not talking about their fathers, or their entitlement to citizenship, pass-ports or supplies. What they need is government action like the times prior to the Iraqi aggression on Kuwait.

“Oh Almighty Allah, protect Kuwait, its people, its Amir and Crown Prince from all evil and harm.”

— Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli

Dr Turki Al-Azmi

© K.O.C.

Courtesy of The Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait

This simple Kubbar was portrayed quite romantically in this painting by Ayoub Hussain. The design of this hut blends nicely with its desert surround-ings, making it a relaxing retreat for any city dweller.

The architecture in old Kuwait is characterized by its success in “trans-forming the local values and way of life into architectural terms,” as stated by a contemporary architect of Kuwait. The Kuwaiti master builder, known locally as ustad, drew no plans on papers; he fi gured the proportions and made the plan in his mind. His success, however, in using traditional techniques with lo-cally available materials such as mud, gypsum, coral and mangrove poles, is all too evident.

A house or a mosque in old Kuwait was always built around a courtyard

where a brackish water well or a fresh-water cistern stood. In daytime, there would be plenty of sunshine through-out the house. Invariably, a few stairs led to the roof, a much preferred place for sleeping during hot summer nights. Close to the house stood the diwaniya, or men’s meeting place, with its pri-vate entrance and coffee-hearth in the center. It was there that the men of the house would entertain their guests.

In nearby villages, however, houses were less sophisticated and blended beautifully with the surrounding en-vironment. Some were fi shermen’s homes; others, such as the romantic kubar, were retreats that belonged to city dwellers. They resided there in the spring when the desert bloomed after the winter rains. (From the book ‘Old Kuwait: Memories in Photographs’)

Local Architecture

Photograph courtesy of The Center for Re-search and Studies on Kuwait and the work of Dr Yacoub Al-Hijji in the book Old-Kuwait: Memories in Photographs fi rst published in 1996.

Other Voices

Leakages of ‘secret’ docusBy Ahmad alsarraf

Among the manifestations of the dissatisfaction of nations with

their governments is seeking to slander them with jokes, spreading true and false news and rumor mongering, leak-ing confidential documents, exposing their illegal activities, and performing other negative acts.

In recent years, these phe-n o m e n a increased with the increase in popular dissatis-faction with our g o v e r n m e n t , including leak-ing confidential correspondence espe-cially that marked ‘secret contents’ or ‘Top Secret’ and here the issue of ‘leakage’ becomes more attractive.

A colleague and friend Sami Al-Nisf says a committee was formed in the 1960s in the US Congress, headed by Senator Patrick Moynihan, to look into top secret and classified documents and found out, as stated in a television interview, that 90% of correspondence and documents of the US government that carry such classification did not deserve secrecy, so they were removed from that classification.

Nowadays, with the camera in the pocket of every employee, porter, cleaner and messenger, marking any document ‘secret’ is nothing but an invitation to photograph and distribute it, so there are no secrets that can be protected once the letter is printed on paper and given a number and distrib-

uted.A few days ago, a circular issued by

the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and marked “top secret” addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and perhaps to the rest of the ministers has gone viral including a request for the need to obtain written permission and the prior approval of the Amiri Diwan before placing any pictures, models or murals in public places of senior leaders. The top secret classified letter included a request to present the matter to the Council of Ministers to circulate it to all con-cerned parties and to adhere to its content.

First: As long as the letter of the General Secretariat was described by its author as a circular, this cancels the secrecy classification.

Second: This order was issued so that all members of the nation, citi-zens and residents would know about it. It is directed to them so that none of them would put pictures in the future without taking written permis-sion from the Amiri Diwan, so how is it top secret?

Third: a “very secret” or top secret classification on some government correspondence is a legacy of the Arab dictatorial administrative systems, and is not consistent with the requirements and conditions of the present times. Therefore, the matter requires the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to instruct the various gov-ernment agencies to reduce as much as possible the use of such classifications.

❑ ❑ ❑

e-mail.alsarraf@alqabas.com.kw

alsarraf

Zakat House charity goes hi-techKUWAIT CITY, April 20: Acting Director General of Zakat House Dr Majed Al-Saafak said the institution granted a total of KD24,724,257 financial aid to 29,805 fami-lies in 2020; affirming that Zakat House expanded the use of technology in its chari-table work due to the corona pandemic,

reports Al-Jarida daily. He added: “Zakat House is currently

implementing the Ramadan food basket project for deserving families, while updat-ing its website and smartphone applications for benefactors to easily pay their zakat and donations.”

Selling ‘non-existent’ farmsIndian jumps to death

By Munif NayefAl-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: An unidenti-fied Indian committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a building in Mahboula.

His remains have been referred to Forensics and a case has been registered at the area police station.

According to a security source, the operation room of the ministry received a notification that an Indian fell from the roof of a building in Mahboula.

When police and paramedics rushed to the spot, they discovered the man had died on the spot after hitting the ground which large appears as a suicide case.

However, the security authorities have opened an investi-gation to know the truth behind the ‘suicide’.

Meanwhile, there was an ugly incident at the Dasma Police Station when an unidentified person lit a cigarette in front of the major during fasting period and when the former was reminded that this is the month of Ramadan, he alleg-edly lost his cool.

However, the man was controlled and a case has been filed against him.

❑ ❑ ❑

Swindler nabbed: Personnel from the Criminal Investig-ation Department (CID) put an end to the story of a dis-missed employee from the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) who was swindling citizens by selling them farms that do not exist, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Security sources told the daily the man has been arrested and referred for investigation. He was seized after the secu-rity authorities allegedly received about 20 reports and complaints from citizens about the employee’s activities detailing how they were swindled. One of the Kuwaitis said the suspect took 100,000 dinars from him for the sale of a farm and after the money was paid he disappeared from view.

Following the arrest the suspect is said to have confessed to the crimes he committed and that he had made a big for-tune through fraudulent activities.

The investigations revealed the suspect was working as an inspector for PAAAFR and was dismissed from work after he was found guilty by a court in an unidentified court case and had been sentenced to seven years in absentia.

❑ ❑ ❑

Theft continues: The theft of electrical cables from trans-formers continues unabated and an employee of the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy informed the Riqqa Police Station about the theft of an electrical cable from a power transformer in the region, with an estimated value of 8,000 dinars.

According to a security source, the employee who discov-ered the theft of the cable registered a case against an unknown person.

Police rounding up the partial curfew violators.

34 curfew violators arrested

By Munif NayefAl-Seyassah Staff

The Ministry of Interior announced the public security sectors of the ministry have launched widespread security campaigns in all governorates to arrest those who violate the partial curfew, and called on everyone to abide by the deci-sions of the Council of Ministers.

A security source said during the campaign 34 curfew violators were

arrested in Jaber Al-Ali, Al-Sabahiya, Al-Jahra, stables and cesspools areas.

The Directorate General of Public Relations and Security Media Department of the Interior Ministry Security Media Department confirmed those arrested include 23 Kuwaitis and 11 non-Kuwaitis.

Five were arrested in Hawalli, 10 in Farwaniya, 7 in Jahra, 4 in Mubarak Al-Kabeer, and 8 in Ahmadi. Cases have been filed against them.

Al-Ali witnessed accident

Top MoI official’s mother perishesKUWAIT CITY, April 20: A tragic traffic accident on King Fahd Road in the direc-tion of Kuwait City, opposite the entrance of Club for the People with Special Needs claimed the life of an elderly woman who is believed to be in her eighties and the mother of the Director-General of Hawalli Governorate Security Department, Major-General Abdullah Al-Ali, who happened to be at the checkpoint when the accident happened, reports Al-Jarida daily.

A security source said one of the vehi-cles driven by an Asian slowed down because the checkpoint was ahead of him,

and a four-wheel drive crashed coming in full speed crashed into the rear of the vehicle which led to the death of the elderly woman who was in the vehicle and serious injury to the Asian driver.

When the security officers rushed to investigate the accident, they were shocked to find the mother of the Major-General Al-Ali.

According to security sources, the driv-er of the other vehicle has been detained. She is believed to be a Kuwaiti and a doc-tor by profession and was on her way to work.

LOCALARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

6

MoE trains workers on safe environment

All registered staff have been vaccinated, says Ministry of EducationKUWAIT CITY, April 20, (Agencies): Kuwait Ministry of Education declared on Monday that all its teaching and administrative staff, registered on the Ministry of Health site, have been vac-cinated against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The ministry called in a statement upon all its personnel, namely those who have not taken the jabs against the virus, to register their names on the MoH vaccination site, noting this step is necessary so it could choose teams to organize and supervise scheduled examinations for the 12th grade class-es.

Neither teachers nor administrative

staff will be allowed to partake in organizing and managing the tests unless they are inoculated, in line with guidelines by the MoH, it affirmed.

Health authorities have given prior-ity in the vaccination process to the Ministry of Education personnel, teachers and administrators.

In other news, the head of the health team explained the Infection Prevention Department in the Hawalli Educational Zone said Ministry of Education team nominated by the Hawalli Educational Zone has begun work on how to follow the health requirements that will be applied in schools when the Grade 12 students

answer the paper exams to ensure a safe and secure environment for the students and the staff of the educa-tional and administrative staff, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Meanwhile, the head of the Technosoft team, Al Jazi Al-Otaibi, stated the remote health requirements training course was launched yester-day, through the ‘Darabni’ platform by the ministry’s Development Department in cooperation with the Technosoft team for the gradual and safe return of secondary schools.

Al-Otaibi added the target groups in the training course are all workers in secondary schools, students of the

Twelfth Grade.In this regard parents’ awareness

seminars are being organized for par-ents to make them aware of the most important health requirements neces-sary during the paper exams and safe return to schools in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the special-ized training team.

In related news, Kuwait University announced the vaccination of all its affiliates who registered on the Ministry of Health website to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including members of the academic staff, as well as the administrative body of Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis.

The University called in a statement Tuesday upon all its personnel who have not taken the jabs against the virus, to register their names on the MoH vaccination site, as part of the university’s preparations for the safe return of students to traditional learn-ing in the next academic year.

The university added that the University Council, in its meeting held on April 7, approved a plan and mech-anism for Kuwait University students to return to traditional learning for the academic year 2021/2022, subject to the approval of the health authorities, with the recommendation to vaccinate all Kuwait University employees as

soon as possible.Kuwait University praised the

efforts made by the Ministry of Health during the pandemic.

Also:KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Education has resumed the electronic registration of academic aptitude tests for Grade 12 students which will be held at the Kuwait University from May 8 to 22 and from June 12 to 22, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The ministry indicated that registra-tion for the test will resume next Thursday, April 22 at 12:00 noon until April 29, 2021.

KUNA photoMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah receives Ambassador of

Cyprus to Kuwait.

Dr Muhammad Jamal and Dr Khalil Ibrahim

TGS poster

TGS presents Samar Al-MutawaOn April 22, The Guest Show on Radio Kuwait presents Samar Al-Mutawa, a remarkable woman of many parts. A Life Coach, Mompreneur, Fitness Instructor, Artist & Designer, Samar exudes calmness and positive energy. Founder of Kashtat Samar, Masahat Samar, Gabgat Samar, her work is strongly focused on empowering women. Vivacious,

creative and inspirational, she gives herself wholeheartedly to each aspect of her life. On The Guest Show, Samar Al-Mutawa speaks of what makes her tick, the hiccups on her personal front, her many identities, which gives her a strong social media pres-ence and her journey with coach-ing which led her to rediscover herself.

FM receives outgoing envoyMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received Monday morning Ambassador of Cyprus to Kuwait Charalambos Hadjisavvas, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of

ending his tenure.Assistant Foreign Minister for the

Minister‘s Office Ambassador Saleh Al-Loughani and Deputy Assistant Foreign Ministery of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Office Counselor Ahmad Al-Shuraim also attended the meeting. (KUNA)

Pioneering feat by doctors in Kuwait and Middle EastKUWAIT CITY, April 20: Dr. Muhammad Jamal, a Kuwaiti con-sultant in bariatric surgery, announced that he and his col-league Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, who is in the American Board of Obesity Medicine, successfully passed the fellowship exams, making them the first doctors in Kuwait and the Middle East to obtain such certifi-cates, reports Al-Qabas daily.

In a press statement, Dr. Jamal affirmed that obesity is a disease, and medicine and science have greatly developed in its treatment to the extent that there are special tests and guidelines for specialists to be aware of all obesity-related treatments.

He said, “We are looking for-ward to the presence of more spe-

cialists in this field in the future in order to combine the two impor-tant specialties in treatment of obe-sity - internal bariatric and bariat-ric surgery - as it will ensure the patient’s treatment under one com-prehensive umbrella”.

Dr. Jamal revealed that the American Board of Obesity Medicine was recently created after the great development wit-nessed in the field of obesity and metabolism.

He said those who apply for membership must be a holder of the American Board in surgery or internal medicine, with a year of fellowship training in obesity and its surgeries in the United States of America or Canada.

Current network from typical to ‘smart’ using modern tech

Bid to improve Kuwait’s energy efficiency

By Muhammad GhanemAl-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, Minister of Social Affairs, Labor and Community Development, Dr Mishaan Al-Otaibi, announced the opening of the Center for Operation and Management of the Smart Meter System of the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, as part of the Ministry’s plan and future vision for the gradual transformation of the cur-rent network from typical to smart network using modern technology and information systems which will significantly contrib-ute to improving energy efficiency.

He said the Ministry has adopted the smart meters project and the aim is to provide distinguished digital services to customers in the area of billing and consumption control.

Al-Otaibi explained among the objectives of the project is to work to improve the reliability of the electrical and water network, as well as to reduce complaints relat-ed to electricity and water bills and the speed of their issuance and to reduce the costs involved in read-ing 700,000 meters monthly, in addition to enabling renewable energy sources and facilitating their connection with the electrical system.

The Ministry plans to replace all customer meters during the next three years. He disclosed the min-istry has supplied 200,000 meters as a first stage and disclosed of the implementation of the second phase will start with 400,000 elec-tricity meters and 200,000 water meters until all meters are com-pletely replaced.

Al-Otaibi praised the important role played by the technical staff in the customer services sector, who work in a team spirit to reach the desired goal.

Assistant Undersecretary for the Customer Services Sector, Ahmed Al-Rashidi, said the customer care center for Operation and Management of the Smart Meter System brings together its pillars -- the sub-working teams repre-sented by the sector departments related to the smart meters project – the management of the automat-ed center, the administration of customer services and the adminis-tration of follow-up contracts and maintenance under one roof.

He called it an integral part to manage this vital two-phase proj-ect -- replacement, installation and management of operation and sup-port of 600,000 smart electricity meters and 200,000 water meters.

KUNA photoMinister of Electricity Dr Mishaan

Al-Otaibi

KUNA photoMinister of Electricity Dr Mishaan Al-Otaibi with senior officials of the ministry.

Society hands out 2,000 food baskets daily to workers

KRCS to continue distributing Iftar mealsKUWAIT CITY, April 20: Director of Public Relations and Media at Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Khaled Al-Zaid confirmed that the society will continue to distribute after Iftar meals in various labor residential areas, including Amghara, as part of its annu-al program titled ‘Iftar Al-fasting,’ reports Al-Jarida daily.

Al-Zaid told the daily that the soci-ety distributes 2,000 food baskets daily to workers throughout the coun-try; citing the distribution of 60,000 meals for workers during the holy month of Ramadan. He said the soci-ety recently distributed 2,000 food baskets to workers residing in Amghara. He added 2,000 meals were distributed to workers and security guards in several areas and institu-tions.

He explained the breaking of fast program, which the society is keen on implementing annually in and outside Kuwait, aims to meet the needs of the poor who are fasting through the dis-tribution of after fasting meals or food parcels.

It is worth mentioning that the ‘Iftar Al-fasting’ program is one of the activities reflecting the social responsibility of the society, espe-cially during Ramadan. This is an

KUNA photoKRCS food basket distribution.

affirmation of the humanitarian val-ues and essence of the holy month; as well as a humanitarian gesture for workers who are away from their families. It is considered part of KRCS’ activities aimed at strengthen-ing ties and understanding between members of society.

Elsewhere, Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) on Sunday distributed

1,287 food baskets to internally dis-placed Yemeni families.

In a press statement, KRCS Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al-Oun said that the food aid were distributed to the needy families in five Yemeni Governorates.

The Kuwaiti aid are meant to help war-affected Yemenis get their basic needs of food, he said.

Compensation amounts paid in 72 cases

EPA refers 297 cases to public prosecutionKUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Environment Public Authority referred 297 cases of environmental abuse to the Public Prosecution dur-ing the month of March, according to a statistic issued by the Environmental Compliance Department in the Authority, reports alraimedia.com.

The Commission also issued eight certificates To Whom It May Concern during the same month, while recon-ciliation procedures were completed and compensation amounts paid in 72 cases.

The Director of Public Relations

and Information at the Environment Public Authority (EPA), Sheikha Al-Ibrahim, said the authority record-ed 225 violations last February, and that some of these violations have been referred to the Public Prosecution and or were settled amicably after paying the fines, reports Al-Anba daily.

Al-Ibrahim told the daily the latest census conducted by the EPA on its activities during the past month shows 121 cases were referred to the Public Prosecution Office concerning envi-ronmental violations that were com-

mitted either by individuals, compa-nies and institutions. She pointed out 114 cases were settled amicably after paying the finesse. She explained that the EPA continues its monitoring and inspection work and will not tolerate environmental violations in any of the sectors with the aim of protecting the environment and public health, stress-ing that the process of recording vio-lations is to deter the violators.

In other news, an official source in the Ministry of Social Affairs told the Al-Anba daily the ministry has formed 6 special inspection teams during Ramadan, in addition to a spe-cial team which will monitor unau-thorized companies which collect donations, whether through messages on WhatsApp service or via SMS messages or any other means of com-munication, reports Al-Anba daily.

The source asserted that the minis-try will monitor these violations and address the concerned government agencies, such as the ministries of Commerce and Communications, to take the necessary legal measures. The source pointed the Social Affairs Ministry coordinates with the Ministry of Awqaf in the area of col-lecting donations inside mosques dur-ing the month of Ramadan, provided this is done in adherence to health requirements and approved rules for collecting donations.

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

7

Obit

‘Liberal icon’

Mondale, Carter’sVP, dies aged 93MINNEAPOLIS, April 20, (AP): Former Vice Presi-dent Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after blunt-ly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.

The death of the former senator, ambassador and Minnesota attorney general was announced in a state-ment from his family. No cause was cited.

Mondale followed the trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, from Minnesota poli-tics to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency, serving under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

In a statement Monday night, Carter said he con-sidered Mondale “the best vice president in our country’s his-tory.” He added: “Fritz Mon-dale provided us all with a model for public service and private behavior.”

Mondale’s own try for the White House, in 1984, came at the zenith of Ronald Rea-gan’s popularity. His selection of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate made him the first major-party

presidential nominee to put a woman on the ticket, but his declaration that he would raise taxes helped define the race.

On Election Day, he carried only his home state and the District of Columbia. The electoral vote was 525-13 for Reagan - the biggest landslide in the Electoral College since Franklin Roosevelt defeated Alf Land-on in 1936. (Sen. George McGovern got 17 electoral votes in his 1972 defeat, winning Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.)

“I did my best,” Mondale said the day after the elec-tion, and blamed no one but himself.

“I think you know I’ve never really warmed up to television,” he said. “In fairness to television, it never really warmed up to me.”

Years later, Mondale said his campaign message had proven to be the right one.

Correct“History has vindicated me that we would have to

raise taxes,” he said. “It was very unpopular, but it was undeniably correct.”

In 2002, state and national Democrats looked to Mondale when Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., was killed in a plane crash less than two weeks before Election Day. Mondale agreed to stand in for Well-stone, and early polls showed him with a lead over the Republican candidate, Norm Coleman.

But the 53-year-old Coleman, emphasizing his youth and vigor, out-hustled the then-74-year-old Mondale in an intense six-day campaign. Mondale was also hurt by a partisan memorial service for Well-stone, in which thousands of Democrats booed Repub-lican politicians in attendance. One speaker pleaded: “We are begging you to help us win this election for Paul Wellstone.”

Polls showed the service put off independents and cost Mondale votes. Coleman won by 3 percentage points.

“The eulogizers were the ones hurt the most,” Mon-dale said after the election. “It doesn’t justify it, but we all make mistakes. Can’t we now find it in our hearts to forgive them and go on?”

It was a particularly bitter defeat for Mondale, who even after his loss to Reagan had taken solace in his perfect record in Minnesota.

“One of the things I’m most proud of,” he said in 1987, “is that not once in my public career did I ever lose an election in Minnesota.”

Years after the 2002 defeat, Mondale returned to the Senate to stand beside Democrat Al Franken in 2009 when he was sworn in to replace Coleman after a drawn-out recount and court battle.

Mondale started his career in Washington in 1964, when he was appointed to the Senate to replace Humphrey, who had resigned to become vice president. Mondale was elect-ed to a full six-year term with about 54% of the vote in 1966, although Democrats lost the governorship and suf-fered other election setbacks. In 1972, Mondale won an-other Senate term with nearly 57% of the vote.

His Senate career was marked by advocacy of so-cial issues such as education, housing, migrant work-ers and child nutrition. Like Humphrey, he was an outspoken supporter of civil rights.

Mondale tested the waters for a presidential bid in 1974 but ultimately decided against it. “Basically I found I did not have the overwhelming desire to be president, which is essential for the kind of campaign that is required,” he said in November 1974.

In 1976, Carter chose Mondale as No. 2 on his tick-et and went on to unseat Gerald Ford.

As vice president, Mondale had a close relationship with Carter. He was the first vice president to occupy an office in the White House, rather than in a building across the street. Mondale traveled extensively on Carter’s be-half, and advised him on domestic and foreign affairs.

HumorWhile he lacked Humphrey’s charisma, Mondale

had a droll sense of humor.When he dropped out of the 1976 presidential

sweepstakes, he said, “I don’t want to spend the next two years in Holiday Inns.”

Reminded of that shortly before he was picked as Carter’s running mate, Mondale said, “I’ve checked and found that they’re all redecorated, and they’re marvelous places to stay.” Mondale never backed away from his liberal principles.

“I think that the country more than ever needs pro-gressive values,” Mondale said in 1989.

That year, Democrats tried to persuade him to chal-lenge Minnesota GOP Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, but he decided against making the race, saying it was time to make way for a new generation.

“One of the requirements of a healthy party is that it renews itself,” he said at the time. “You can’t keep running Walter Mondale for everything.”

That paved the way for Wellstone to win the Dem-ocratic nomination, and go on to upset Boschwitz. Wellstone had been preparing to take on Mondale in a primary but would have been a heavy underdog.

The son of a Methodist minister and a music teach-er, Walter Frederick Mondale was born Jan. 5, 1928, in tiny Ceylon, Minnesota, and grew up in several small southern Minnesota towns.

He was only 20 when he served as a congressio-nal district manager for Humphrey’s successful Sen-ate campaign in 1948. His education, interrupted by a two-year stint in the Army, culminated with a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1956.

Mondale began a law practice in Minneapolis and ran the successful 1958 gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Orville Freeman, who appointed Mondale state attorney general in 1960. Mondale was elected attorney general in the fall of 1960 and was reelected in 1962.

As attorney general, Mondale moved quickly into civil rights, antitrust and consumer protection cases. He was the first Minnesota attorney general to make consumer protection a campaign issue.

After his White House years, Mondale served from 1993-96 as President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Ja-pan, fighting for U.S. access to markets ranging from cars to cellular phones.

Mondale

Biden’s virtual climate summit

Diplomacy sans human touchWASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): There will be no hands to shake or backs to slap, no way to look a foreign leader in the eye. The small human moments that define statecraft will be reduced to im-ages on a screen.

President Joe Biden, a most hands-on politician, this week will host a major climate summit with dozens of world leaders - all of them stuck on Zoom.

Biden has made clear that he wants to reassert U.S. leadership on the world stage, including on climate change, af-ter four tumultuous, often inward-look-ing years of President Donald Trump. But as much as the White House staff has tried to dress up the remote meet-ings he has held so far, while eyeing the climate summit Thursday and Friday as an important moment, the president has made no secret of how much he misses diplomacy with a more personal touch.

“There’s no substitute for face-to-face discussions,” Biden said Friday as he wel-comed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi-hide Suga to the White House for his first in-person world leader meeting.

“I greatly appreciate the chance to spend time with you in person and to ex-change our ideas face to face,” he added.

Biden has expressed to aides and advisers how much he misses the in-person interactions and friendly asides that typically happen on the sidelines of international meetings, moments that can often lead to foreign policy break-throughs, according to three White House officials not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions. He was disappointed, at times, with the

stilted nature of his first remote bilat-eral meeting, held with Canada’s Justin Trudeau in February.

The White House has announced that South Korea’s Moon Jae-in will travel to Washington in May for Biden’s second in-person foreign leader meeting. And there are hopes the president will make his own overseas trip in June. But until then, expectations for major diplomatic developments have been reined in - and the climate summit is no exception.

Streamed 100% live with no backroom give-and-take, the summit will be more geared to sending a message about Amer-ica’s return to the climate fight and nudg-ing the world toward a greener planet than about specific deals or action.

NegotationsThe world is still trying to figure out

what the climate gathering will be, but experts know what it’s not: Don’t ex-pect negotiations akin to those that pro-duced the historic 2015 Paris climate accord.

In Paris, “every comma, every period and every sentence was negotiated 100 times,” said Christiana Figueres, the for-mer U.N. climate chief who was one of the chief architects behind the 6-year-old pact. By contrast, this week’s summit, she says, “is a public confirmation of intent for every country to come forward with its current best effort.”

Climate activists may hope for dra-matic moments when countries like Japan, South Korea or even China are suddenly inspired by Biden and an-nounce they will stop funding other

nations’ coal power plants. But Henry “Jake” Jacoby, who cofounded the MIT Center for Global Change Science, just laughs at the idea: “On a Zoom call with 40 nations of the world watching? Yeah, not a chance.”

RestrictionsThe summit instead is about planting

seeds for a November climate meeting in Scotland, where expectations and stakes are higher. But because of in-person re-strictions due to the coronavirus pandem-ic and the short time period since Biden took office, this week’s meeting is more of a show-and-tell among leaders, all streamed to whomever wants to watch it. The real action comes later.

The bulk of the diplomacy over the next seven months will be done not by presidents, but behind the scenes by diplomats, such as the recent trav-els by special U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, said Nigel Purvis, a former State Department climate negotiator in the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The in-person meetings in Scotland are meant to pull everything together, which still could work, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday.

Biden has made clear he understands the necessity of doing meetings remotely: first, to safeguard the health of the lead-ers as well as the large traveling party that comes with a visit from a head of state. Moreover, keeping things remote helps set an example that his administration is still discouraging travel amid a rise in vi-rus variants and COVID-19 cases.

But he has not always enjoyed the virtual substitutes. He struggled with the mute button at a remote fundraiser and watched as German Chancellor Angela Merkel forgot to silence her own feed and interrupted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a virtual Group of Seven leaders’ meeting in February.

Biden’s foreign policy outreach to this point has lacked the small moments amid summits and state visits meant to flatter and make memories for foreign dignitaries.

President Barack Obama took Dmi-try Medvedev to a burger joint in 2010 when the Russian president visited Washington. Obama’s younger daugh-ter, Sasha, who was studying Chinese at her private D.C. school at the time, had a memorable moment trying out some simple phrases with China’s Hu Jintao during his 2011 state visit.

Vladimir Putin’s 2001 visit to George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, included a barbecue dinner, a lesson on how to dance the Cotton-Eye Joe and a ride in the Republican presi-dent’s pickup truck.

Such moments are difficult to create in the pandemic era, but that hasn’t stopped Biden and his team from trying to bring some small flourishes to virtual statecraft. For example, Biden opened his recent vir-tual meeting with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan with a video of George W. Bush talking about the coalition’s be-ginnings after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It was part of an effort to stress bipartisanship and continuity in the alliance.

Climate

US President Joe Biden is being forced to go virtual for many of his leader-to-leader talks during the pandemic and the resulting Zoom meetings just aren’t a natural fit for the back-slapping politician. Biden’s big climate summit this week with dozens of world leaders is a moment for him to play cheerleader in the fight against global warming. (AP)

Market Movements 20-04-2021

Business Change Closing ptsS. KOREA - KRX 100 +29.42 6,897.11PHILIPPINES - PSEi +40.66 6,500.42PAKISTAN - KSE 100 +486.21 45,399.78

Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries -45.91 7,282.13JAPAN - Nikkei -584.99 29,100.38INDIA - Sensex -243.62 47,705.80CHINA - Shanghai SE -4.61 3,472.94

leadership shakeup continues at GameStop, CEO to depart

The overhaul in the top ranks of GameStop continues with the announced departure of CEO George Sherman at the end of July.

Company shares rose more than 8% before the opening bell Monday.

Less than two weeks ago, the Grapevine, Texas, compa-ny announced the nomination of Chewy founder Ryan Co-hen as chairman of the board,

a major investor in the fl oun-dering video game retailer.

Cohen had been buying huge stakes in the company and pushing for a digital trans-formation. GameStop has suf-fered as more gamers turn to digital downloads rather than the discs the chain sells on its shelves.

Cohen was joined by two of his former colleagues on the board.

They’re arrival coincided with the meteoric January rise of GameStop’s shares in a bizarre market phenomenon that pitted smaller investors who banded online against major, institutional investors who had been shorting the stock, or betting it would fall below the $20 price level in January.

Shares of Gamestop Corp. now cost around $170, up

720% this year. At the end of a fl urry of trading in January, the shares were close to $500 each.

Last month in a regulatory fi ling, GameStop said that it had and hired an executive headhunter as it evaluated company leadership and that its directors had spoken to po-tential candidates from gam-ing, e-commerce and technol-ogy sectors. (AP)

In this fi le photo, a GameStop sign is seen

above a store, in Urban-dale, Iowa. (AP)

NBK reports KD 84.3mn net profi t for Q1Total assets grow by 1.5% year-on-year to KD 31.0 billion

KUWAIT CITY, April 20: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has announced its fi nan-cial results for the fi rst quarter ended 31 March 2021. NBK reported a net profi t of KD 84.3 million (USD 278.8 million), compared to KD 77.7 million (USD 256.9 million) for 1Q 2020, up by 8.5% year-on-year.

Total assets as of end of March 2021 grew by 1.5% year-on-year to reach KD 31.0 billion (USD 102.5 bil-lion), whereas total loans and advances increased by 0.8% year-on-year to KD 17.9 billion (USD 59.0 bil-lion), and total shareholders’ equity reached KD 3.3 billion (USD 10.8 billion), boosting by 6.6% year-on-year.

Commenting on the results, NBK Group Chairman, Nasser Al-Sayer, said: “During the first quarter of the year we continued to experience some of the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic including movement restrictions and renewed closures. Despite these headwinds, NBK was able to grow its profits for the period demonstrating its resilient business model, solid financial fundamentals backed by its prudent income diversification and digital transformation strate-gies.”

Al-Sayer noted that the variant pace of vaccine rollout and recovery of major economies worldwide has com-pelled the Group to continue focusing on the conserva-tive approach adopted since the beginning of the crisis.

Al-Sayer emphasized that the Bank is able to meet its customers’ needs and expectations by providing top-tier banking services and supporting them to overcome these exceptional circumstances through financing and advi-sory services; reflecting NBK’s remarkable capabilities, highly professional cadres and long-standing expertise, which always succeeded in earning and maintaining customers’ trust.

“We are fully committed to our historical and leading

roles in supporting the national economy and delivering on our social responsibilities; becoming a key player in supporting community stability and stimulating business environment, and this role is best manifested during the times of crises,” added Al-Sayer.

Al-Sayer also explained that these exceptionally chal-lenging times demonstrated NBK’s successful strategy in compliance with ESG standards considering them a key pillar for achieving sustainable growth in the future, thereby becoming a role model across the region in this regard.

Al-Sayer extended special gratitude to the bank’s employees for the dedication they showed in working during these exceptional circumstances, appreciating their strong sense of responsibility during these difficult

times, which demonstrated that NBK’s human capital is the cornerstone of its success and key to achieving its future goals.

On his part, NBK Group Chief Executive Officer, Isam J. Al Sager, commented: “We are proud of reporting consistently healthy quarterly profits since the beginning of the pandemic, while maintaining a solid financial position, strong capitalization and sta-ble asset quality metrics. This ensures a sustainable future growth and ability to meet the needs of our customers.”

In light of market conditions, we will continue to closely monitor costs, optimize operations and our bal-ance sheet, and invest in areas where we believe the greatest short- and long-term impact can be achieved.

We are focused on our digital transformation, a program that has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and that has proven vital to our response to the crisis. We will maintain our conservative approach to risk, allow-ing us to withstand external pressures until during the gradual normalization of economic activity, which we are cautiously optimistic will take place in the course of 2021.” added Al-Sager.

Al-Sager noted that in light of curfews imposed in Kuwait and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pan-demic, the Bank’s digital capabilities have been a clear testimony to the remarkable technological capabilities and infrastructure built over years, which yielded top-notch digital banking services and payment solutions that were remarkably well-received by customers across all segments. We will continue to investing in our digital services, enabling the Group to maintain solid progress towards its strategic objectives.

Al-Sager pointed out that the income diversification strategy succeeded in preserving the Group’s leading position and dominant share in Kuwait, in addition to building strong competitive edges in the key regional markets in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, leveraging the inte-gration and completeness of the Group’s offerings.

Al-Sager concluded by saying: “Our financial results boost our confidence in being well-positioned to be the biggest beneficiary of the gradual recovery, thanks to our comfortable liquidity, strong asset quality, and our digital excellence.”

Performance and operating highlights (Q1 2021):● Total assets grew by 1.5% year-on-year, to KD

31.0 billion (USD 102.5 billion)● Total loans and advances grew by 0.8% year-on-

year to KD 17.9 billion (USD 59.0 billion)● Total shareholders’ equity reached KD 3.3 billion

(USD 10.8 billion), boosting by 6.6% year-on-year● NPL/gross loans ratio at 1.68% and an NPL cover-

age ratio of 225%● Robust Capital Adequacy Ratio of 18.4%, comfort-

ably in excess of regulatory requirements

Isam Al-Sager, Group CEONasser Al-Sayer, Group Chairman

Velodyne Lidar signs multi-year sales agreement with Gatik

Velodyne Lidar Inc announced a multi-year sales agreement with Gatik, the industry leader in auto-mating on-road transportation net-works for B2B middle mile logistics. Gatik uses Velodyne’s lidar sen-sors as a key part of a fully redun-dant sensor suite to deliver goods safely and effi ciently between mi-cro-fulfi lment centers, dark stores and retail locations – a logistics fl ow known as the middle mile. Ga-tik fulfi lls revenue-generating au-

tonomous orders daily for multiple Fortune 500 customers in the US and Canada, including Walmart, reducing customer costs and keep-ing delivery times short.

Gatik uses Velodyne’s Alpha Prime™ and Ultra Puck™ lidar sensors to support short-haul logis-tics with precise, reliable navigation for real-time autonomous opera-tions. Gatik operates a fl eet of class 3-6 trucks, equipped with multi-temperature compartments, 7 days

a week, 12 hours a day, on routes up to 300 miles in multiple markets across North America. Gatik’s solu-tion helps retailers meet consumer demand for rapid delivery of goods driven by soaring e-commerce growth, increase road safety for all road users and help customers meet an unprecedented expecta-tion for contactless delivery.

“Velodyne’s sensor solutions have the proven performance, reliability and resilience our AVs need to oper-

ate safely and effi ciently in complex urban operational design domains,” said Arjun Narang, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Offi cer, Gatik. “We’re excited to be rapidly scaling our autonomous solution with the support of Velodyne’s industry-lead-ing lidar technology.”

“Gatik is bringing autonomous delivery into the mainstream and creating signifi cant effi ciencies in supply chain logistics for retailers. It may be an eye-opener for many

people to learn that Gatik’s AVs using Velodyne’s sensors were likely involved in delivering some of the goods they are using in their homes,” said Anand Gopalan, Chief Executive Offi cer, Velodyne Lidar. “They are demonstrating how Velodyne sensors help AVs provide effi cient and safe move-ment of goods.”

Velodyne’s Alpha Prime and Ul-tra Puck sensors, which use Velo-dyne’s patented 3D surround view

technology, provide real-time ob-ject detection needed for safe navi-gation and reliable operation. The sensors provide the range, accu-racy and resolution that make them ideal solutions for autonomous lo-gistics services. They detect and track vehicles, pedestrians and oth-er obstructions to help autonomous vehicles safely navigate at various speeds, traveling night and day in a range of road conditions such as rain, sleet and snow. (Agencies)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

9

Asian stocks mixed after Wall St declineAnalysts expect 24 pct surge in qtrly profi ts across S&P 500

BEIJING, April 20, (AP): Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street was pulled lower by tech stock declines.

Tokyo and Sydney retreated while Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul gained.

Overnight, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.5%. Banks, en-ergy companies and others that depend on consumer spending also retreated. “Wall Street could be in for a few chop-py trading weeks as more of the same strong earnings beats becomes the theme,” said Edward Moya of Oanda in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London declined 0.3% to 6,982.77 and the DAX in Frankfurt lost 0.2% to 15,335.68. The CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.6% to 6,256.90. Investor optimism has been boosted by higher corporate profi ts, U.S. hiring and consumer con-fi dence. Still, traders are uneasy about a rise in infl ation and interest rates and renewed coronavirus infections that prompted some governments to reim-pose anti-disease controls.

“Asian markets have experienced short-term volatility as investors bal-ance the impact of higher interest rates with increasing optimism that pent-up demand will boost earnings,” Janet Tsang of JP Morgan Asset Manage-ment said in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4% to 3,491.35 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 2.1% to 29,052.11. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong opened lower but was up 0.2% at 29,173.25 at midday.

The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.5% to 3,214.99 while the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney sank 0.7% to 7,019.20.

India’s Sensex opened up 0.5% at 48,208.06. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta declined while Bangkok advanced.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell Monday to 4,163.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% to 34,077.63. Both hit highs on Friday.

Chipmaker Intel fell 1.7%, Capital One lost 0.9% and Valero Energy slid 2.3%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid 1% to 13,914.77.

Tesla dropped 3.4% after two people were killed in Texas in a crash of one of its models. Authorities say there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash. It’s unclear whether the car’s driver-assist system was being used.

This week, 81 of the 500 members of the index are due to report earnings, as are 10 of the 30 members of the Dow,

including Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications and Intel.

On average, analysts expect quar-terly profi ts across the S&P 500 to be up 24% from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 62 cents to $64.05 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York

Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 69 cents to $67.74 per barrel in Lon-don.

The dollar advanced to 108.20 Japanese yen from Monday’s 108.11 yen. The euro gained to $1.2063 from $1.2039.

J&J fi rst quarterprofi t jumps 7%NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 20, (AP): Big jumps in sales of prescrip-tion drugs and medical devices helped Johnson & Johnson boost its fi rst-quar-ter profi t nearly 7%, blowing past Wall Street forecasts. The healthcare giant raised its fi nancial forecasts for 2021.

The one weak spot in the results J&J reported Tuesday was a small drop in consumer health sales, which saw a surge in 2020’s fi rst quarter, when nervous consumers stocked up on over-the-counter medicines as the coronavirus pandemic set in and lock-downs began.

Meanwhile, the world’s biggest maker of health care products awaits word from regulators on when it can resume the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine. The one-dose shot, seen as crucial for vaccinating people in re-mote areas and poor countries, is being scrutinized due to a tiny number of un-usual blood clots in people receiving it.

Johnson & Johnson reported fi rst-quarter net income of $6.2 billion, or $2.32 per share, up 6.9% from $5.8 bil-lion, or $2.17 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings amounted to $6.92 billion, or $2.59 per share. The average estimate of seven analysts sur-veyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.31 per share.

The company, based in New Brun-swick, New Jersey, reported revenue of $22.32 billion, well above the $21.82 billion projected on Wall Street, ac-cording to a survey by Zacks expected.

J&J said it now expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.42 to $9.57 per share, up from $9.40 to $9.60 in its January forecast. It anticipates revenue in the range of $90.6 billion to $91.6 billion, up from the January forecast of $90.5 billion to $91.7 billion.

People wearing face masks stand in front of a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong, April 20. Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street was pulled lower by tech stock declines. (AP)

Businessmen show increasing interest in cosmetics

Billionaire drops bid for Tribune Publishing

Japanese makeup industry records growth

NEW YORK, April 20, (AP): A Maryland hotel executive is trying to assemble new fi nancing for a $680 million offer to buy Tribune Publish-ing after his partner, a Swiss billion-aire, pulled out of the bidding for the newspaper chain.

Stewart Bainum is talking to other potential investors after Hansjörg Wyss dropped out in the last few days, a person familiar with the mat-ter said Sunday.

Wyss told Bainum that it would require too much investment to turn the chain’s fl agship Chicago Trib-une into a nationwide publication, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the private ne-gotiations.

Wyss and Bainum offered to buy the chain for $18.50 per share, top-ping a previous offer of $17.25 per

share, or $634 million, by Tribune’s largest shareholder, hedge fund Al-den Global Capital. Bainum told Tribune representatives about Wyss’ withdrawal on Friday, and they au-thorized him to talk to other potential investors, according to the person fa-miliar with the matter.

Bainum was initially interested in buying one of Tribune’s pa-pers, The Baltimore Sun, but is committed to acquiring the entire company. Two investors have ex-pressed interest in buying Trib-une’s Orlando (Florida) Sentinel: former Thomson Financial CEO Mason Slaine and Craig Mateer, who founded a baggage-handling company based in Orlando.

Through a spokesman, the special committee of the Tribune Publish-ing board that is handling the offers declined to comment. An attempt to

contact Wyss through his foundation was not successful.

Tribune also owns the New York Daily News, the Hartford (Connecti-cut) Courant and other newspapers.

Alden owns many newspapers through its MediaNews Group sub-sidiary, including the Boston Herald, the Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News. Alden became Trib-une Publishing’s largest shareholder in 2019 and now holds a 32% stake in the Chicago-based company. It plans to take Tribune private.

Wyss, 85, founded medical device maker Synthes USA, which he sold to Johnson & Johnson for about $20 billion in cash and stock in 2012. Forbes recently estimated his wealth at $6 billion. Wyss now lives in Wy-oming.

Wyss’ withdrawal was reported earlier by the Chicago Tribune.

TOKYO, April 20, (AP): The coro-navirus pandemic has pushed many businesses in Japan to the edge of fi -nancial ruin, but Takumi Tezuka, who owns a makeup and hair salon for men in Tokyo, has seen his customer base expand.

Japanese businessmen in their 40s, 50s and 60s who had little interest in cosmetics before the pandemic are increasingly visiting Tezuka’s salon, Ikemen-Works, hoping for a better look in online meetings.

A large personal care company, Sh-iseido, says one of its male makeup lines has seen double-digit growth dur-ing the pandemic. Company offi cials give a similar reason: Men, confronted with the sight of their faces repeatedly during online meetings, want to im-prove what they see.

“Before, most of our customers were males in their teens and 20s, but thanks to remote work we now have more businessmen,” said Tezuka. Un-like many younger men, who want a drastic makeover, older businessmen want to show a slightly better version of themselves by using makeup, he said.

“Men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s come to our salon because they feel they must wear makeup,” he said. Te-zuka said that’s because businessmen who work from home have more op-portunities to see their faces during on-line meetings and have thus started to care more about their looks.

The men’s beauty industry has been expanding in Japan. According to re-search company Fuji Keizai Group, the men’s cosmetic market grew from about 600 billion yen ($5.5 billion) to an estimated 623 billion yen ($5.7 bil-lion) from 2018 to 2019.

Customer Kenta Yamazaki, a 24-year-old hairdresser, looks at beauty products at @cosme TOKYO, a store selling a selection of cosmetics and makeup products including men’s cosmetic, in Tokyo’s Harajuku district

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (AP)

Tezuka said older businessmen tend to spend more money and visit more regularly than those in their 20s and 30s. One customer, Yoshihiro Kam-ichi, 44, recently came to Tezuka’s salon to buy makeup for the fi rst time.

Kamichi chose makeup for his eyelids and had foundation applied to his face. A makeup artist carefully trimmed his eye-brows and contoured his nose and face with brown shadow power. “Who is this person? I was surprised at how different I look,” Kamichi said while looking at himself in the mirror.

Shiseido, one of the world’s oldest cosmetics companies, released free on-line makeup fi lters last month that let male users look like they are wearing men’s beauty products such as blemish balms and foundation.

After Shiseido released makeup fi l-ters for women for online meetings like

Zoom last year, comments from busi-nessmen fl ooded in to its social media accounts requesting fi lters for men.

Uno, Shiseido’s men’s care brand, is now expanding its target age for cos-metics from men in their early 20s to men in their 40s.

“I think the coronavirus has created a certain condition that urges businessmen to be more aware of their skin condi-tion,” said Uno’s assistant branding man-ager, Yoshiyuki Matsuo. “We have seen double-digit growth even amid the pan-demic.” Matsuo wouldn’t provide more details about Uno’s growth.

To make cosmetics accessible to men, Japanese cosmetics store @Cosme Tokyo created an entire section dedicated to male and unisex makeup items last year at their newly opened shop in front of Harajuku Station, a trendy Tokyo area.

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

10

In this file photo, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference following the 2021 Budget, in 10 Downing Street,

London. (AP)

Apple to host virtual iPad event, may hint at new AirPods

Many of us may be suffering from virtual event fatigue after a year of video calls. But not Apple, which plans new product announcements at what seems likely to be an iPhone-less online event on Tuesday

It’s the first such event for the company in 2021.

Analysts expect new iPads and likely new color versions of the iMac. The company could also show off something called AirTags, which look to be coin-sized tracking devices you can stick on stuff you don’t want to lose - your tor-toise, your phone, your coffee cup or perhaps

small children. And while you might be tired of watching your

coworkers’ sleepy heads in Brady Bunch-like rectangles on your monitor, Apple’s product launches, even the virtual ones, are a different breed, says Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.

“In this virtual environment Apple’s product launches have been very successful in court-ing developers and consumers around its new product lineup,” Ives said. “Apple is a unique brand and product launches, even virtually, are the linchpin.”

Besides the iPads - including refreshes for

the iPad Pro, the iPad mini and the low-cost iPad - Ives also predicts a new Apple Pencil, a stylus for freehand art and writing with cer-tain iPad models - and some hints around the new AirPods 3 wireless earbuds he expects to be launched in a separate virtual event in early summer.

Then, in the fall, Apple will likely hold its much-anticipated iPhone event, unveiling the iPhone 13. It has not yet said whether it’ll be in person or not, but for the millions of Apple fans, developers and others who tune in on their events online anyway, it likely won’t matter. (AP)

In this file pho-to, an Apple logo adorns

the facade of the downtown

Brooklyn Apple store

in New York. (AP)

New currency to exist alongside cash and bank deposits

‘Britcoin’ digital currency being considered by BritainLONDON, April 20, (AP): British au-thorities are exploring the possibility of creating a new digital currency that Treasury chief Rishi Sunak touted as “Britcoin.”

The Bank of England and the Trea-sury said Monday that they will work together to assess the benefits of a central bank digital currency, at a time when cash payments are generally on the decline, partly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank said the new currency, if it comes to pass, would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses and would exist along-side cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them.

Digital currencies, which are only available in digital or electronic form, are already being explored or even implemented in several other countries, with many proponents drawing inspiration from the suc-cess of Bitcoin and other so-called cryptocurrencies. However, digital currencies, like the one being consid-ered in the U.K. are different in a key sense to Bitcoin as they are issued by state authorities.

“The world is going the way of digital currencies and we have to find a place for them in the mainstream,” said Anne Boden, founder and chief executive of app-based Starling

Bank.One of the benefits of a digital cur-

rency would be as a backup to card payments if cash payments continue to drop in the years to come - by the end of this decade, only one in 10 payments in the U.K. are expected to be made with traditional paper mon-ey. Proponents of digital currencies also think they can provide another way for people to make purchases online.

Currently, only the Bahamas has such a currency, though China is tri-aling it in several cities. Sweden has indicated it could have its own digital currency by 2026, while the European Central Bank has indicated an elec-tronic euro might be created within four years.

The new British task force is part of a series of measures that Treasury chief Sunak hopes will help the U.K.’s financial technology sector.

“Our vision is for a more open, greener, and more technologically ad-vanced financial services sector,” he told a fintech conference. “And if we can capture the extraordinary poten-tial of technology, we’ll cement the U .K.’s position as the world’s preemi-nent financial center.”

Promoting Monday’s announce-ment on Twitter, Sunak was brief.

“Britcoin?” he posited.

UK job figures show young hardest hit by restrictions

Company payrolls fall by 56,000 in March

LONDON, April 20, (AP): The number of workers on U.K. corporate payrolls dropped by 0.2% in March as young people were hardest hit by coronavirus restrictions that closed bars, restaurants and hotels, according to the latest government statistics.

Company payrolls fell by 56,000 last month, pushing the decline since March of last year to 813,000, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday.

Workers under 25 accounted for more than half the decline, with the number of young people on company payrolls dropping by 436,000 over the past year. Payrolls in the accommoda-tion and food service industries, which employ large numbers of young peo-ple, fell by 355,000 workers.

Despite the drop in payroll figures, the unemployment rate for the three months through February fell to 4.9%, a decline of 0.1% from the November-January period. The figures don’t include fur-loughed employees, who continue to receive a portion of their wages under a government program designed to pre-serve jobs during the pandemic.

About 4.7 million workers across the U.K. were fully or partially fur-loughed during March, according to ONS figures released last month.

The U.K. has begun to relax restric-tions imposed in December to limit the

spread of COVID-19. Nonessential shops, hairdressers and gyms across England were allowed to reopen last week, while bars and restaurants were permitted to serve patrons outdoors. In-door service is scheduled to resume May 17.

UK to assess implicationsof Nvidia takeover of ArmLONDON, April 20, (AP): The British government has asked regulatory authorities to investigate the proposed takeover of computer chip design firm Arm Holdings by the U.S. tech firm Nvidia, cit-ing national security grounds as one of its concerns.

In a statement Monday, Cul-ture Secretary Oliver Dowden ordered the U.K.’s independent competition watchdog to begin a “phase one’” investigation of the $40 billion deal. He said it’s “appropriate that we prop-erly consider the national secu-rity implications of a transac-tion like this.”

The Competition and Mar-kets Authority had already started earlier this year inviting third parties to provide their views on the anticipated sale and its impact on competition.

When the acquisition was first announced in September last year, Nvidia pledged to

keep Arm’s headquarters in Cambridge while also promis-ing to expand on Arm’s work to build a “world-class” tech-nology center.

“Following careful consider-ation of the proposed takeover of Arm, I have today issued an intervention notice on national security grounds,” Dowden said. “As a next step and to help me gather the relevant in-formation, the U.K.’s indepen-dent competition authority will now prepare a report on the implications of the transaction, which will help inform any fur-ther decisions.”

The CMA will advise whether the takeover could lead to a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the U.K., and whether it should be put through further scrutiny in a ‘phase two’ in-vestigation.

It will have until July 30 to complete the report.

Tesco profit hitby higher costsLONDON, April 20, (AP): Tesco, Brit-ain’s biggest supermarket, said its profits slid by a fifth over the past year as higher costs related to the coronavirus pandem-ic, such as hiring more staff, offset “ex-ceptionally strong” sales growth.

The company said that its pretax profit for the year to February slid to 825 million pounds ($1.14 billion), compared with just over 1 billion pounds the previous year.

Profits were weighed down by 892 million pounds worth of COVID-re-lated costs, including the need to hire staff to cover for workers impacted by the virus. Tesco said it hired almost 50,000 temporary workers during the pandemic, about 20,000 of whom have joined the retailer permanently. The company also had higher costs related to making sure its stores were safe

Profits were also hit by Tesco’s decision to hand back 585 million pounds of tax relief to the British government.

SCIENCEARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

11

‘J&J shot to resume’

EMA to issue adviceon J&J’s COVID shotLONDON, April 20, (AP): Experts at the European Medi-cines Agency are preparing to present the conclusions of their investigation later on Tuesday into possible links be-tween the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and very rare cases of unusual clotting disorders detected in the US.

Last week, J&J halted its European rollout of its one-dose vaccine after the US Food and Drug Administration recommended offi cials pause its use while the rare blood clot cases are examined. Offi cials identifi ed six cases of the highly unusual blood clots among nearly 7 million people who were immunized with the shot in the US.

J&J advised European governments to store their doses until the EU drug regulator issued guidance on their use; widespread use of the shot in Europe has not yet started.

The delay was a further blow to vaccination efforts in the European Union, which have been plagued by supply

shortages, logistical problems and concerns over unusual blood clots also in a small number of people who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Experts worry the temporary halt on J&J’s shot could further shake vaccine confi dence and complicate worldwide COVID-19 immunization efforts.

Last week, South Africa suspended its use of the vaccine in the wake of the US pause, and countries including Italy, Romania, the Netherlands, Den-

mark and Croatia put their J&J doses into storage. The blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine are occurring

in unusual parts of the body, such as veins that drain blood from the brain. Those patients also have abnormally low levels of blood platelets, a condition normally linked to bleeding, not clotting.

With the AstraZeneca vaccine, scientists in Norway and Germany have suggested that some people are experiencing an abnormal immune system response, forming antibodies that attack their own platelets.

ImmuneIt’s not yet clear if there might be a similar mechanism

with the J&J vaccine. But both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, as well as a Russian COVID-19 vaccine and one from China, are made with the same technology. They train the immune system to recognize the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. To do that, they use a cold virus, called an adenovirus, to carry the spike gene into the body.

Earlier this month, the EU drug regulator said there was a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca shot and rare blood clots but said the benefi ts of vaccination far outweigh the risks of COVID-19. It noted the risk is less than the blood clot risk that healthy women face from birth control pills.

The United States will likely move to resume Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine this coming week, possibly with restrictions or broader warnings after reports of some very rare blood clot cases, the government’s top infectious diseases expert said Sunday.

Dr Anthony Fauci, in a series of news show interviews, said he expects a decision when advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet Friday to discuss the pause in J&J’s single-dose vaccine.

“I would be very surprised if we don’t have a resumption in some form by Friday,” he said. “I don’t really anticipate that they’re going to want it stretch it out a bit longer.”

Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical advis-er, said he believed that federal regulators could bring the shots back with restrictions based on age or gender or with a blanket warning, so that it is administered in a way “a little bit different than we were before the pause.”

The J&J vaccine has been in limbo after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said last week they needed more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot - and if so, how big the risk is.

The reports are rare - six cases out of more than 7 million US inoculations with J&J vaccine. The clots were found in six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died.

The acting FDA commissioner had said she expected the pause to last only a matter of days. Still, the decision last Tuesday triggered swift action in Europe and elsewhere.

DoubtedFauci said he doubted very seriously that the US would

permanently halt use of the J&J vaccine.“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “The pause

was to take a look, make sure we know all the information we can have within that timeframe, and also warn some of the physicians out there who might see people, particularly women, who have this particular adverse event, that they treat them properly.”

“I think it’ll likely say, ‘OK, we’re going to use it. But be careful under these certain circumstances.’”

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been given in the US, the vast majority with no or mild side ef-fects. Authorities stressed they have found no sign of clot problems with the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the US - from Moderna and Pfi zer.

Meanwhile, a key contract manufacturer for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine has stopped making bulk vaccine substance and is retaining what’s already been made at its Baltimore Bayview factory while US regulators continue inspecting it due to quality problems.

The news was disclosed Monday in a Securities and Ex-change Commission fi ling. It raises questions about whether problems at the Emergent BioSolutions Inc. factory will prevent Johnson & Johnson from meeting its US supply commitments.

Johnson & Johnson says it remains committed to provid-ing 100 million doses of the single-shot vaccine pledged by the end of June. It says “it is premature to speculate on any potential impact this could have on the timing of our vac-cine deliveries.”

Also:WASHINGTON: The State Department on Monday urged Americans reconsider any international travel they may have planned and said it would issue specifi c warnings not to visit roughly 80% of the world’s countries due to risks from the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States hasn’t had a global advisory warning against international travel since August, when guidance was revoked by the Trump administration.

The advice issued by the department isn’t a formal global advisory. Instead, it says the State Department will start us-ing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards as it prepares health and safety guidelines for individual coun-tries. Because of those standards, about 80% of countries will be classifi ed as “Level 4” or “do not travel.”

Travel is also discouraged for the remaining 20%, though not as emphatically. It says people with plans to visit those countries should reconsider before proceeding.

The department did not reveal which countries will fall under which category. That will become known as guidance is issued individually for each country in the coming week.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprec-edented risks to travelers. In light of those risks, the Depart-ment of State strongly recommends US citizens reconsider all travel abroad,” it said.

The department said the new classifi cations don’t neces-sarily refl ect changes in the countries’ health situations, but rather an adjustment in the criteria on which it bases the alerts.

Coronavirus

Simone Ravera, patient of the ‘MEDIAN Clinic Heiligendamm’, makes exercises after an interview with The Associated Press in Heiligendamm, northern Germany, Wednesday, April 14. The MEDIAN Clinic, specialized on lung diseases, treats COVID-19 long time patients from all over Germany. (AP)

A halo around the sun caused by ice crystals is seen above quiet streets in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, April 20. Cambodia’s leader said that the country’s capital Phnom Penh will be locked down for two weeks from Thursday, April 15, following a sharp

rise in COVID-19 cases. (AP)

Discovery

‘Tyrannosaurs lived in packs’: Fe-rocious tyrannosaur dinosaurs may not have been solitary predators as long en-visioned, but more like social carnivores such as wolves, new research unveiled Monday found.

Paleontologists developed the theory while studying a mass tyrannosaur death site found seven years ago in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, one of two monuments that the Biden administration is consider-ing restoring to their full size after former president Donald Trump shrunk them.

Using geochemical analysis of the bones and rock, a team of researchers with the University of Arkansas deter-mined that the dinosaurs died and were buried in the same place and were not the result of fossils washing in from multiple areas.

Kristi Curry Rogers, a biology pro-fessor at Macalester College, said this re-search is a “good start” but more evidence would be needed before determining that the tyrannosaurs were living in a social group.

“It is a little tougher to be so sure that these data mean that these tyrannosaurs lived together in the good times,” Rog-ers said. “It’s possible that these animals may have lived in the same vicinity as one another without traveling together in a social group, and just came together around dwindling resources as times got tougher.”

In 2014, Bureau of Land Management paleontologist Alan Titus discovered the site, which was later named the Rainbows and Unicorns quarry because of the vast array of fossils contained inside. Exca-vation has been ongoing since the site’s discovery because of the size of the area and volume of bones. “I consider this a once-in-a-lifetime discovery for myself,” Titus told reporters during a virtual news conference. “I probably won’t fi nd an-other site this exciting and scientifi cally signifi cant during my career.” (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

St. Vincent pleads for help: The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines made a heartfelt plea Monday to the international community to help his country recover from a volcanic eruption that has displaced 20,000 people, saying the island nation is “in its midnight hour of need.”

“Across our land, the faces of men and women are strained and anxious. They’re hurting badly,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told the UN Security Coun-cil, saying his country is confronting “a monumental challenge of humanitarian relief.”

La Soufrière, the volcano on the Carib-

bean island of St. Vincent, unleashed its fi rst big eruption of ash and hot gas April 9, a day after the government ordered people to evacuate homes nearby. Subse-quent explosions have followed.

Thousands of people have been living in government shelters, some of which have been struggling to provide basic supplies, and water systems are shut down in many parts of the island.

The UN’s resident coordinator for Bar-bados and the Eastern Caribbean said last week that the island was facing “a humani-tarian crisis that is growing and may contin-ue for weeks and months.” It is happening as St. Vincent and the Grenadines contends with the coronavirus pandemic and the ap-proaching hurricane season.

A Venezuelan navy ship has delivered water and other supplies to St. Vincent,

and Caribbean island nations are sending aid. The UN has released $1 million from an emergency response fund, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ offi ce, and the world body will soon be launching an emergency appeal for mon-ey to fund the humanitarian effort and the early phase of recovery for the next six months. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

Endangered lizards hatch: Two en-dangered Mexican beaded lizards have hatched at the Wroclaw Zoo in Poland, boosting the population of the venomous lizards.

The zoo said the lizards, which are dif-fi cult to breed in captivity, hatched in late February at the zoo’s terrarium, where the eggs had been kept in an incubator since an adult female laid them in August.

Zoo spokeswoman Joanna Kij said Monday that they are still being kept from the public’s view and keepers have not yet determined their sex.

In Mexico, the venomous, medium-sized lizards are killed because they are considered very dangerous, but the zoo experts say they only use venom in self-defense. Popular Mexican belief also says they can provoke lighting with their tails.

Adult males can grow to 90 centim-eters (35 inches) and weigh up to 4 kilo-grams (9 pounds).

Three Mexican beaded lizards previ-ously hatched at the zoo in 2016 and were transferred to the Singapore Zoo in 2018. (AP)

A keeper displays one of the two endangered venomous Mexican beaded liz-ards that hatched in February at an incubator, is seen in Wroclaw Zoo, in Wro-

claw, Poland, April 4. (AP)

Learning to breathe

German clinic helps COVID long haulersHEILIGENDAMM, Germany, April 20, (AP): Simone Ravera rolls up her trousers, slips off her shoes and socks, then gingerly steps into the chilly wa-ters of the Baltic Sea.

The 50-year-old rheumatology nurse is slowly fi nding her feet again after being struck down with COV-ID-19 last fall, seemingly recovering and then relapsing with severe fatigue and “brain fog” four months later.

“The symptoms were almost as bad as at the beginning,” Ravera said.

Close to despair, she found a clin-ic that specializes in treating people with what have been called post-COVID-19, or long-term COVID-19, symptoms.

Located in Heiligendamm, a north German seaside spa popular since the late 18th century, the clinic specializes in helping people with lung diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and cancer.

Over the past year it has become a major rehabilitation center for COV-ID-19 patients, treating 600 people from across Germany, according to its medical director, Dr. Joerdis From-mhold.

Some of her patients came close to death and now have to relearn how to breathe properly, rebuild their stamina and overcome a host of neurological problems associated with severe ill-ness.

But Frommhold also treats a second group of patients who experienced mild to medium COVID-19 symp-toms, and only spent a short time in the hospital, if at all.

“These patients get rebound symp-toms after about one to four months,” Frommhold said.

Most are aged between 18 to 50 and have no pre-existing conditions, she said. “They’re the ones that are usually never ill.”

After recovering from a bout of COVID-19, these patients suddenly fi nd themselves short of breath, de-pressed and struggling to concentrate, said Frommhold. Some suffer symp-toms resembling those of dementia.

One former dialysis nurse found her kitchen fl ooded because she’d forgot-ten to turn off the tap. “Others are un-able to do homework with their kids because they don’t understand the questions themselves,” Frommhold said.

Their symptoms aren’t always taken seriously by doctors.

Despite suffering hair loss, joint and muscle pain, irregular blood pressure and dizziness, routine test results for

such patients usually come back nor-mal.

“They appear young, dynamic, high performing, but then they can’t do any of the things they used to,” Frommhold said.

Therapists at the clinic initially fo-cus on stabilizing patients’ breathing. Then they work to restore stamina and motor coordination with the help of occupational therapy and posture training. Cognitive therapy and psy-chological support are also part of the program.

Similar clinics for “long haulers” have sprung up around the world over the past year, including in the United States. In Germany, such treatment is increasingly being offered by the country’s network of more than 1,000 medical rehabilitation centers, 50 of which specialize in pulmonary dis-eases.

“That doesn’t exist in many other countries yet,” Frommhold said.

UnclearIt is unclear how many people suf-

fer from long-term COVID-19, partly because the condition isn’t clearly de-fi ned yet. Scientists are still trying to understand what is behind the wide range of symptoms patients report.

“No two patients have the same ex-perience and it varies within patients,” said Elizabeth Murray, a professor of e-health and primary care at University College London.

“The symptoms they are experienc-ing this week are not necessarily a guide to the symptoms they would be experiencing next week,” said Mur-ray, a former general practitioner. “It makes it diffi cult for everybody; it makes it very, very diffi cult for the patients.”

Britain’s Offi ce for National Statis-tics said a survey of 9,063 respondents who tested positive for COVID-19 found that more than 20% reported persistence of some symptoms after fi ve weeks. For about 10% of respond-ents that included fatigue, while simi-lar numbers reported headaches or loss of taste and smell.

More than 140 million coronavirus infections have been confi rmed world-wide to date, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, meaning even a small percentage of long-term COVID-19 sufferers would suggest millions could be affected.

“That’s a lot of extra people to treat and no health care system has got a lot of spare capacity,” said Murray. She added that the economic impact of so

many people dropping out of the labor force could be devastating, particularly as many sufferers are women who also shoulder a disproportionate burden at home.

Murray is developing a digital pro-gram, funded by Britain’s National Institute for Health Research, to treat long-term COVID-19 symptoms and reach more patients faster than through traditional rehab facilities, ensuring they don’t feel abandoned by the medi-cal system.

Frommhold said a similar program might help Germany cope with the ex-pected surge in long-term COVID-19 sufferers, but suggested that greater acceptance of the condition will also be necessary for those who don’t fully recover.

“In my eyes we fi rst need a cam-paign like the one there was for HIV awareness, that explains how there are different pathways even after recovery from COVID,” she said.

Getting patients, their families and employers to understand that they now have a chronic condition could prevent long haulers from falling into a spiral of depression and anxiety, Frommhold said.

Heike Risch, a 51-year-old kinder-garten teacher from the eastern city of Cottbus was hardly able to walk un-aided upon leaving the hospital after recovering from COVID-19.

“I felt like I’d aged 30 years in a short period of time,” she said.

At the clinic, Risch couldn’t balance a table tennis ball on a racket and walk backward. She still can’t read a clock properly.

“You don’t trust your own body an-ymore. You don’t trust your own head anymore,” Risch said.

Still, she hopes to return to work someday. “I like working with children but I need to be able to concentrate. I need to be able to do two things at once occasionally,” she said.

Ravera, the nurse, says she has come a long way thanks to the therapy in Heiligendamm and feels lucky to have support from friends and family.

But Ravera doubts she’ll go back to doing three-shift weekends at the hos-pital she worked at in Bavaria.

“You don’t know when you’ll be well again. The illness comes in waves,” she said.

Instead, Ravera is considering using what she learned in rehab to help oth-ers who are struggling to breathe prop-erly again after COVID-19.

“It’s a bit of a journey into the un-known,” she said.

Coronavirus

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This image released by Bleecker Street shows Ed Helms, (left), and Patti Harrison in a scene from ‘Together Together.’ (AP)

‘Reality show will damage reputation of Australian town’

Byron Bay locals protest planned Netfl ix reality seriesCANBERRA, Australia, April 20, (AP): Angry Byron Bay locals are protesting the fi lming of a reality television series that some fear will damage the reputation of their trendy Australian tourist town.

Around 100 surfers paddled to sea Tuesday to form a cancel symbol off the coast of the New South Wales state town in the hope that Netfl ix will can the series about social media infl uencers.

Several Byron Bay businesses have refused to sign fi lming permits that would allow “Byron Baes,” a contemporary abbreviation of “By-ron Babes,” to be shot on their premises.

“It’s potentially going to threaten businesses if the portrayal of By-ron is as absurd as I guess a lot of the doco-soap-reality shows are,” By-ron Shire Mayor Simon Richardson told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“As a community, we should have a right to be able to not be ex-ploited and to go about our business and also just have a community that has its real and genuine concerns and challenges shared rather than a picture postcard fi lmed with people who have potentially been here for fi ve minutes,” Richardson added.

Ben Gordon is refusing to allow the eight-episode series to be fi lmed at his business, The Byron Bay General Store.

“They’re proposing to drag our name through the mud and make millions of dollars without offering anything back to the community and completely misrepresenting who we are and it’s totally wrong,” Gordon told Nine Network television at the Main Beach protest.

“There was no consultation whatsoever. They just came in unan-

nounced,” Gordon added.Gordon led a community meeting on the subject last week and com-

plained that most of the cast were not from Byron Bay. Netfl ix said its fi rst Australian reality series would “aim to build a

connection between the people we meet in the show and the audience.”“The show is authentic and honest, and while it carries all the classic

hallmarks of the form and embraces the drama, heartbreak and confl ict that makes for such entertaining viewing, our goal is to lift the curtain on infl uencer culture to understand the motivation, the desire, and the pain behind this very human need to be loved,” a Netfl ix statement said.

Reason“The reason behind choosing Byron Bay as a location was driven by

the area’s unique attributes as a melting pot of entrepreneurialism, life-style and health practices, and the sometimes uneasy coming together of the traditional ‘old Byron’ and the alternative ‘new,’ all of which we’ll address in the series,” the statement added.

The town of 9,000 people is one of the most famous in Australia, partly because acting couple Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky have built a mansion there. International celebrities who are based or spend time in Byron Bay include Matt Damon, Zac Efron and Simon Baker.

Richardson, the mayor, said the town 625 kilometers (388 miles) north of Sydney did not need the type of tourists who “might be turned

on by a vacuous vision of who we are.”“If we become a laughing stock through a really vacuous, fake show,

it could have big — not just sensitivity challenges for us — but also economic challenges,” Richardson said.

Byron Bay activists have successfully stood up to big business in the past. The town has prevented KFC and McDonalds from opening restaurants there after protest campaigns.

Also:SANTA FE, N.M.: A television series starring Josh Brolin and now in production in New Mexico will employ up to 300 crew members and 2,000 people as extras and background actors, the state Film Offi ce has announced recently.

“Outer Range” is produced by Amazon Studios and Plan B Enter-tainment and is shooting in Albuquerque, and Las Vegas, New Mex-ico, the offi ce said.

Las Vegas is 88 miles (142 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque.In the production, Brolin plays a rancher who “discovers an unfath-

omable mystery at the edge of t’s wilderness” while fi ghting for his ranch and family, the offi ce said.

“We are so excited about this television series that will feature so many of New Mexico’s diverse landscapes and are grateful Amazon Studios has chosen New Mexico,” said Amber Dodson, the offi ce’s director.

NEW YORK: The pandemic can’t stop Ziggy Marley from celebrat-ing the Earth.

The son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley will be one of the highlights of Nat Geo’s Earth Day Eve 2021 streaming concert on Wednesday.

“Any time they call me, I’m there for this. Any time they want me,” he said from Los Angeles. “Everything is being done a bit different but we’re still doing it, which is the main point.”

Marley will be joined at the concert by Willie Nelson, Yo-Yo Ma, Angélique Kidjo, AU-RORA, José González, Maggie Rogers, Rostam and Valerie June. A world premiere new music video will also air from My Morning Jacket.

“We’re making art to make a change and challenge the status quo,” Marley said. “We need more art like that in this time. We need more music like that. We need more artists like that. So I am just happy that we are using art in that way.”

Marley will pull out an acoustic guitar and sing a song appropri-ate for the event: “I Don’t Wanna Live On Mars” from his 2014 al-bum “Fly Rasta.” The opening line is: “I don’t want to live on Mars/I don’t want to drive space cars.”

“Whatever happens to this planet is going to happen to us all,” he said. “It’s not going to happen just to the rich or just to the poor. It’s going to happen to us all — the good and the bad.”

Jessica Nabongo is hosting the Earth Day event with Brian Sker-ry, Dr. Jane Goodall, Lillygol Sedaghat, Dr. Lucy Hawkes and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant making special appearances. (AP)

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ROME: The Venice Film Festival said last Thursday that it will give its lifetime achievement award this year to Oscar-winning director and actor Roberto Benigni.

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is to be awarded at the 78th edition of the world’s oldest fi lm festival, scheduled for Sept. 1-11 on the Lido.

Benigni wrote, directed and starred in “La Vita e Bella,” (“Life is Beautiful”), which won the Oscar for best foreign language fi lm, best actor and best musical score in 1999.

In announcing the decision,

Venice director Alberto Barbera called Benigni “one of the most extraordinary comedy actors in an admittedly rich gallery of Italian performers,” and noted his more recent solo performances reading Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”

Benigni, perhaps best remem-bered for climbing on top of the audience chair when he won the Oscar, was more restrained on

Thursday. “My heart is full of joy and gratitude,” he said in a state-ment. (AP)

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NEW YORK: The original princi-pal cast of “Downton Abbey” are returning for a second fi lm that will arrive in theaters December 22 this year, Focus Features an-nounced Monday.

“Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes has written the sequel’s screenplay, and Simon Curtis (“My Week With Mari-lyn”) is directing. Hugh Bonnev-ille, Michelle Dockery and 86-year-old Maggie Smith will all be back, along with some new faces, including Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West.

Production began last week on “Downton Abbey 2.”

“After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be re-united with the much beloved characters of ‘Downton Abbey,’” said producer Gareth Neame. (AP)

Film

Variety

Film

Carax’s ‘Annette’ to open Cannes Film Festival

Odd surrogate friendship in ‘Together’By Lindsey Bahr

The new fi lm “Together Together ” has a great premise: A single, straight man wants to be a

father and decides to hire a surrogate to help. It’s fer-tile territory that has been fairly unexplored in popu-lar art and brings with it a host of built in dramatic and comedic opportunities, especially with someone like Ed Helms leading the cast.

Writer-director Nikole Beckwith (“Stockholm, Pennsylvania”) instead chooses to focus on the rela-tionship between Helms’ character Matt and his sur-rogate, Anna (Patti Harrison) and it becomes just an-other semi-quirky, frustratingly surface exploration of two lonely headcases fi nding comfort in one an-other. In some ways, it’s a quintessential Sundance fi lm. The baby and the pregnancy become just a screenwriter’s excuse to put these two together. It’s too bad because Helms shows promise stretching in a more dramatic role and Harrison herself is a capti-vating presence.

Matt is a 40-something app developer living a comfortable life in San Francisco. Anna is in her mid-20s and working at a coffee shop. We’re in-troduced to them as Matt is interviewing potential surrogates and it’s hardly an instant connection. In fact, it’s a terribly stilted exchange that is made only somewhat funny by the excruciating awkwardness of it all. It’s unclear if there were any other candidates to choose from but Matt for some reason chooses Anna as his gestational surrogate and soon they’re having another stilted conversation at the doctor’s offi ce. She’s pregnant.

It’s not the fi rst pregnancy for Anna. In the inter-view we fi nd out that she had a baby that she gave up for adoption as a teenager. The experience caused a rift with her family and she spent the next few years drifting and estranged. But she has a plan to get back on track and wants to use the money from the surro-gacy to go to get a college degree in Vermont.

From the start, Matt and Anna’s relationship seems

misguided and unhealthy. Matt starts showing up at her work and apartment bearing gifts like pregnancy tea and supportive clogs. They visit the doctor’s to-gether. They go out to dinner. They choose colors for the baby’s nursery. They even go to couple’s therapy together and, separately, support groups for surro-gates and expectant parents using surrogates. He monitors what she eats and how she’s progressing and makes a big deal out of the fact that she’s still dating in the fi rst trimester. It all seems wildly in-appropriate and overbearing, especially considering Anna doesn’t even want to know the sex of the baby so she doesn’t get attached. And although she talks about boundaries, soon she’s staying at his house on the regular and binging “Friends” with him.

LimitedThis might all be fi ne or understandable if Matt

and Anna had some sort of chemistry with one an-other. I’m not even suggesting anything romantic. They’re just two strangers thrust together by this surrogacy agreement and spending time with them is not fun, engaging or enlightening enough to sustain a movie. A strong supporting cast including Nora Dunn, Fred Melamed, Rosalind Cho, Sufe Bradshaw and Tig Notaro can’t even help all that much in their limited time on screen.

Beckwith’s script does have a few moments of grace and humor. Helms gets a particularly beautiful monologue about why he wants a child. And there are wry observations too about how all parenting books for single dads are for widows and divorcees. But there are far more clichés, contrivances and threads left unnecessarily dangling.

Recent fi lms like the fertility drama “Private Life” and the adoption comedy “Instant Family” have successfully and entertainingly taken audiences on journeys through different facets of modern parent-ing. “Together Together” had a chance to do that for surrogacy and single fatherhood but comes up short.

“Together Together,” a Bleecker Street release

in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America “for some sexual references and language.” Running time: 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Also:LOS ANGELES: Leo Carax’s “Annette,” starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, will open the 74th Cannes Film Festival on July 6, festival organ-izers said Monday.

“Annette” is Carax’s fi rst English-language fi lm and the French director’s anticipated follow-up to his celebrated, surreal 2012 fi lm “Holy Motors.” Set in contemporary Los Angeles, “Annette” stars Driver and Cotillard as a glamorous couple — Driver plays a stand-up comedian, Cotillard a famous singer — whose fi rst child is “a mysterious girl with an excep-tional destiny,” according the festival’s description.

“Every Leo Carax fi lm is an event. And this one delivers on its promises,” said Pierre Lescure, presi-dent of the festival. “‘Annette’ is the gift that lovers of cinema, music and culture were hoping for, one that we have been yearning for during the past year.”

Cannes was canceled last year due to the pan-demic but is planning — “with confi dence and deter-mination,” the festival said Monday — an in-person edition this summer, two months later than its usual May dates. Spike Lee is set as president of the jury. Selections are to be announced at the end of May.

Amazon Studios will release “Annette” in the US late this summer in theaters and on Amazon Prime. The fi lm’s release in France will coincide with its Cannes premiere.

“We couldn’t have dreamed of a more beautiful reunion with cinema and the silver screen, in the Palais des Festivals where fi lms come to assert their splendor,” said Thierry Frémaux, Cannes’ general delegate. “Carax’s cinema is an expression of these powerful gestures, these mysterious alchemies that makes the secret of cinema’s modernity and eter-nity.” (AP)

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People & Places

NEWS/FEATURESARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

13

Talks ending ‘Insecure’

Actress Issa Rae givesnew creatives a hand

By Gary Gerard Hamilton

Issa Rae remembers what life was like when she was starting out in Hollywood: no money, and just hop-

ing for a chance to be discovered.“It was about ‘I just want the exposure. I need the

right person to see me and see my work’ and I feel like I can deliver from there,” she said. “And then it was, ‘I’m broke as hell.’ If I could just have a certain amount of money to help me continue to do my work, then I’d be good.”

It was a decade ago that the fi rst episode of her viral webseries “Awkward Black Girl” launched. She ran out of money, then was saved by a Kickstarter cam-paign.

So Rae, now an aspiring entertainment mogul with a reported new $40 million WarnerMedia deal, wants

to lighten the load for others hoping to climb the entertain-ment ladder.

She’s teaming up with LIFEWTR, PepsiCo’s bot-tled water product line, and its “Life Unseen” campaign. They’re hoping to shed light on 20 up-and-coming creatives in fashion, fi lm, music and visual art from underrepresented com-munities.

Their content will be fea-tured at LIFEWTR.com and

their individual artwork will also be displayed on a collection of 20 bottles starting next month. There’s also a #LifeUnseenContest on Instagram which in-cludes a chance for fi ve more artists to be mentored by Rae and provided $10,000 each for future projects.

“It’s always been a mission to make sure that peo-ple have a place within this industry,” said the “Inse-cure” creator and star. “It’s about opening the door, and even the talent that we selected, we hope that that will be their mission as well.”

The campaign aligns with what Rae already does: extending her hand to pull others up. Industry col-leagues and co-workers often sing her praises for offering opportunities in what’s perceived as a ruth-less industry. Last season on “Insecure,” she tapped several young directors to lead episodes, like rising filmmaker Thembi Banks and Rae’s own co-star, Jay Ellis.

“If you have the opportunity to give people the chance that they’re looking for, then why not provide that opportunity? I have nothing to lose and I have only things to gain by watching passionate people de-liver,” said Rae, who recently won the NAACP Image Award for outstanding actress in a comedy series.

SucceedRooting for others to succeed, especially Black

people who have been historically underrepresented in Hollywood, has been Rae’s mantra. Her viral “I’m rooting for everybody Black” response during a 2017 Emmys red carpet interview was something she said off the cuff and is now found on T-shirts, stickers, pins and other trinkets.

“I still think about leaving the carpet that day and my publicist being like, ‘Oh my God, you’re every-where!’ And I was like, ‘They didn’t like the dress?’” she said, with a huge belly laugh. “’Then she told me, ‘Oh, no, everybody’s saying this phrase.’”

Rae’s Hoorae production company is now focused on the fi nal season of “Insecure.” Serving as co-crea-tor, executive producer and lead, Rae says it’s time to close this novel — even if the fans aren’t ready.

“That’s like being mad that you’re reaching the end of a book. And I understand that sentiment — it’s a compliment that people want it to continue. But you bought this book and you saw the length of it, and we’re at the end of it.”

But does she feel pressure to end the show in a way that’s pleasing to both her and her loyal viewers?

“I have no doubt that if people don’t like the end-ing, they’re going to make it clear to me and make it known for the rest of my life,” she laughed. “So in that way, yes, there is pressure, but I’m happy with where things are ending. I like stories ending.”

Up next for Rae is “Rap Sh(asterisk)t,” a series loosely based off the firecracker female rap duo City Girls, as well as a remake to the cult classic “Set It Off.” She’s also completed her first script for a movie she hopes to film soon. Hoorae is said to be juggling more than a dozen projects in various stages.

With magazine cover shoots and glamourous red carpet looks, Rae is far from those early lean years despite still hustling like one. So what would she go back and tell that awkward Black girl?

“She should not be afraid to dream big and to pos-sibly dream even bigger,” said Rae. “And you’re still going to be awkward, so just embrace it.” (AP)

Rae

Television

This combination of photos shows rejected theatrical poster art from various productions, designed by Frank Verlizzo and available for purchase. All proceeds go to the aid organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. (AP)

Memorabilia from Springsteen to ‘Phantom’ set for auction

Rejected ‘posters’ on sale to help artistsNEW YORK, April 20, (AP): Letting the world see your failures is usually something most people try to avoid. Not for theatrical poster designer Frank Verlizzo — he hopes you’ll put his on your wall.

Verlizzo is selling prints of his re-jected posters for such shows as “Cab-aret,” “Equus” and “Matilda” with all proceeds going to the aid organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

“It’s exciting for me because it’s work that I particularly loved that I didn’t think anyone was ever going to see,” says the artist. “So it’s kind of wonderful that they’re now out in the world, for better or for worse.”

The 16 posters included in the series — each goes for $399 with a frame — were either rejected, never pitched or part of a group of submissions that Verlizzo made that allowed only one winner.

One highlight is an alternative poster for “The Lion King.” Disney, of course, went for Verlizzo’s stark animal mane stamp that has become iconic. But now people can mount an unpublished design of his which uses paw prints from King Mufasa and newborn Simba to illustrate both the past and the future.

Favorites“There are a million reasons why a

poster gets rejected for a show,” he ex-plains. “It’s a room full of people. It’s like one big beauty contest. Everybody has their favorites.”

The offerings include an intriguing one for “Matilda” that uses letters of the alphabet to make up a graphic por-trait of the imaginative heroine. Verliz-zo created it for the Broadway run of the musical but producers decided to keep the previous West End campaign.

Verlizzo, who designs under the moniker “Fraver” — a combination of his two names — says opening his vault and helping fellow artists during the pandemic was a “no-brainer.”

“The devastation in the theater in-dustry was unbelievable. So many of my friends were unemployed instant-ly,” he says. “I hope it raises a lot of money.”

The project is in partnership with Gelato, the global production platform that enables artists to sell their designs to customers anywhere in the world using a network of local producers, which means carbon emissions are minimized.

Julie Ryland, who led the project for Gelato, said each poster takes you be-hind the creative process and in some

ways celebrates the people who work on Broadway who often aren’t seen.

“Each one has a story. And and I think we crave stories during this time. We crave creativity,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that wall art has become so popular. Customers are just craving art and things to put up on their walls and bring into their homes now that we can’t access it in other ways.”

CampaignsPosters play a key role in a show’s

life. Until word of mouth takes over, ad campaigns have to entice patrons to be willing to pay high ticket prices for something they may know little about.

“It’s defi nitely the fi rst thing any-body sees about any show. And the thing I like most about it is it’s the thing that stays behind when the show’s no longer around,” Verlizzo says.

The latest set — on top of a collec-tion of his work, “Fraver By Design: 5 Decades of Theatre Poster Art from Broadway, Off-Broadway and Be-yond,” show Verlizzo’s range, which includes everything from woodcuts to elaborate typography to stylized illus-tration.

“This was a criticism I always came up against at school — ‘You don’t have a style. You don’t have your own style,’” he says. “It’s like, ‘Well, I like all sorts of things. I like wood cuts. I like illustration. I like graphic design.’ I don’t see why I have to tie myself down to any one particular look or style.”

To make his posters, Verlizzo starts with a script and dreams up an image that can be shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp newspaper ad or blown up to be on a billboard.

“I read it quickly fi rst and try to get visual impressions, which is re-ally what I’m reading it for,” he says. “Sometimes there’s a theme that I see evolving that I think would be that I could express graphically.”

He works so far ahead that often the script isn’t fi nished yet and there have been no casting decisions yet. He tries to come up with something to “catch your eye or intrigue a possible audi-ence member.”

In addition to art for “The Lion King,” Verlizzo has made his mark on Broadway with hundreds of posters for such shows as “Sweeney Todd” and “Sunday in the Park with George.”

He has no hard feelings if his design isn’t picked by producers. “When I fi nally do get to the theater to see the show, I always understand why they

made the choice they did. It always makes perfect sense to me,” he says.

Also:NEW YORK: Bruce Springsteen, Hugh Jackman, Elton John, Bette Midler, Christine Baranski, Steve Martin and Tina Fey have all raided their closets to offer up personal items for a charity online auction, with one prize being a key prop from the world-wide smash musical “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers has unveiled the slate of stage and screen items for its live auction event on April 28, which includes a Wol-verine jacket from Jackman’s closet, glasses from John, and boots, jeans and a T-shirt from Springsteen. A por-tion of proceeds from every item sold will benefi t The Actors Fund.

The highlight package includes a “Phantom” prop: A music box in the shape of a barrel organ with the fi gure of a monkey playing the cymbals at-tached. It is used in the prolog to set up the musical. The rare prop is from the West End production and the package also includes admission for two when-ever “Phantom” reopens on Broadway.

“We are delighted to offer this ex-tremely rare artifact for auction, sup-porting The Actors Fund, and I look forward to greeting the winning bidder at our fi rst performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ back on Broadway,” com-poser Andrew Lloyd Webber said.

Other items up for bids include Bob Mackie dresses from Burnett, a Dol-ce & Gabbana dress worn by Glenn Close at the opening night of “Sunset Boulevard” in 2017, a black sequin gown worn by Midler, a banjo signed by Martin and three gowns that Baran-ski wore for appearances at the Golden Globes, Emmys and Kennedy Center Honors.

More treasures include Celeste Holm’s Golden Globe awarded in 1947 for “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” signed books from Julie Andrews, the dress worn by Fey to the 2013 Emmy Awards where she won for writing “30 Rock” and the leather suit Alan Cum-ming wore to the Tony Awards when he won the best actor in a musical tro-phy in 1998 for “Cabaret.”

More one-of-a-kind items are an Oscar de la Renta gown worn by Renée Fleming when she sang at the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II in 2012, a limited edition copy of the “Downton Abbey” fi lm screenplay, and some leather jackets from the TV show “The Good Wife.”

Theater

Carly Pearce accepts the award for single of the year for ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now’ at the 56th annual Acad-emy of Country Music Awards on, April 18, at the Grand Ole Opry in

Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

Rob Diddy

NEW YORK: Rapper Black Rob, known for his hit “Whoa!” and key contributions to Diddy’s dominant Bad Boy Records in the 1990s and early 2000s, has died. He was 52.

Black Rob died Saturday in Atlanta, according to longtime friend and former labelmate Mark Curry, who said he was holding the hip-hop performer’s hand at the end. He’d been hospitalized and suffered multiple health problems in recent years, and died of cardiac arrest, Curry said.

“Rest in power, King,” Diddy wrote on Instagram. “You have made millions of people all over the world feel good and dance!”

Born Robert Ross and raised in Har-lem, New York City, Black Rob started rapping even before he became a teen-ager. After signing to Bad Boy, he made striking guest appearances alongside labelmates in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Diddy’s “Bad Boy for Life” and remixes of Total’s “What About Us” and 112’s “Come See Me.”

He spun a 13-bar story of revenge on the 1998 posse cut “24 Hrs. to Live” alongside DMX, who died earlier this month.

His debut album “Life Story,” released in 2000, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts and went platinum, led by the infectious single “Whoa!”

”‘Whoa!’ carried us through a signifi -cant point of our time in hip-hop,” Curry said. “He always felt like he took the label on his back.”

His second album, “The Black Rob Report,” was his last with Bad Boy, and his career stalled due to legal troubles. He served four years in prison in connec-tion with a 2004 hotel robbery. (AP)

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HONG KONG: A Chinese painting from 1924 is expected to fetch at least $45 million in an auction in Hong Kong, as collectors’ appetite for art continues to rise even amid economic uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pan-demic.

The painting by infl uential Chinese modern artist Xu Beihong depicts a slave hiding in a cave and a lion. It is based thematically from ancient Roman my-thology and Aesop’s Fables, according to Christie’s auction house, which unveiled the painting Monday.

Xu frequently uses the lion in his work to exemplify his faith in the rise of the Chinese nation. The lion in the paint-ing is wounded, but remains dignifi ed, righteous and proud — a symbol of the Chinese spirit, the auction house said.

The “Slave and Lion” painting is considered a groundbreaking work that inspired Xu’s later paintings and one of the most important oil paintings in Chinese art history.

“Xu Beihong himself is one of the most important modern artist in China who has infl uenced generations of paint-ers and artists,” said Francis Belin, President of Christie’s in Asia Pacifi c.

Variety

Carrie Underwood performs at the 56th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on, April 17, at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. The awards

show aired on April 18 with both live and prerecorded segments. (AP)

“That kind of work and that kind of size, and that kind of prestige, does not come to the market very often.”

The painting is estimated to fetch between $45 million to $58 million in a single-lot auction on May 24.

Belin said there is a diverse appetite

for modern and contemporary master-pieces and the market is expected to remain strong.

Last year, a 700-year-old Chinese painted scroll titled “Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback” from the Yuan Dynasty fetched $41.8 million

at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: The tiny red hearts that appear under Instagram photos of kids, kittens and sandwiches can be a source of stress for many users, an insidious way of measuring self worth and popularity.

Now Facebook says it’s going to test out — again — an option for users to hide those “like” counts to see if it can reduce the pressure of being on social media. Instagram, which Facebook owns, will soon allow a small group of random users to decide whether or not they want to see the number of likes their posts and those of others receive.

The social media giant says it’s also exploring the feature for Facebook. Com-ments will still be available for people who chose to hide likes — they just won’t see whether it was 2, 20 or 20,000 people who liked their posts.

Instagram began hiding likes in 2019. While many users welcomed the feature, others, including some infl uencers, wor-ried it might take away from the social media experience. At the time, the plat-form didn’t give users a choice to hide or unhide the like counts.

“Some people found this benefi cial but some still wanted to see like counts so they could track what’s popular,” the company said in a statement. Then COVID hit, and Facebook said it prior-itized dealing with the pandemic. (AP)

WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): The PGA Tour is telling its players they will not have to be tested for the coronavirus if they are vaccinated, and those who aren’t will have to pay for their own tests starting this summer.

In a memo sent to players, the tour strongly en-couraged them to get vaccinated. It stopped short of saying it would require players to be vaccinated to compete in tournaments.

Players would be deemed inoculated 14 days af-ter the full course of the vaccine. They would no longer be subject to testing for the coronavirus and, in accordance with CDC guidelines, would be able to gather in small groups without face coverings.

Social distancing and face coverings still would be required at tournaments. Anyone who has been vaccinated and comes in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus would need to

quarantine only if they have symptoms.Players have been subjected to testing since golf’s

return last June, which was paid for by the tour. The testing operation will stop at the end of June. The tour did not specify a date. That would be after the Travelers Championship in Connecticut or the Rock-et Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

After that, the tour said players or staff wanting to take part in a tournament would be required to pro-

vide a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arriving.The tour said it would reimburse the cost of test-

ing for those who can’t get vaccinated because of a medical condition.

Three players, including former U.S. Open cham-

pion Gary Woodland, tested positive at the Honda Classic last month. That was the most recent posi-tive test in the last four PGA Tour events through last week at the RBC Heritage.

In the memo, the tour highlighted Pfi zer and Mod-erna as “two highly effective FDA-approved vac-cines,” though it later said anyone already vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca would be exempt from routine testing.

The tour said it still may conduct periodic testing after June.

Meanwhile, a limited number of spectators will be allowed at the U.S. Women’s Open in San Francisco and the U.S. Open in San Diego in June provided they are vaccinated or can show proof of a negative test for the coronavirus.

The USGA announced the policy Monday after consulting with California health offi cials.

SPORTSARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

14

Red Sox ‘pummel’ White Sox onPatriots’ Day with no Marathon

Mariners use 2 HRs, Moore’s defensive gem to top Dodgers 4-3

BOSTON, April 20, (AP): Kiké Hernández led off with a replay-aided home run and Bobby Dalbec worked a 14-pitch walk in a six-run fi rst inning against Lucas Giolito, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 11-4 in the fi rst Patriots’ Day game played apart from the Boston Marathon.

The Marathon was moved to Oct 11 because of Massachusetts limits on crowds during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Patri-ots Day game, with a start shortly after 11 am, has been played by the Red Sox since 1959. It drew a limited crowd of 4,738.

Giolito (1-1) was removed with two on and no outs in the second. He allowed eight runs – seven earned – and eight hits as his ERA more than doubled from 2.55 to 5.79.

Nathan Eovaldi (3-1) matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts in 6-1/3 innings, allowing four runs and nine hits with no walks.

Brewers 3, Padres 1In San Diego, Brandon Woodruff

and three relievers combined on a two-hitter and Luis Urias homered in his return to Petco Park before leaving with an injury as Milwaukee beat Joe Musgrove and San Diego.

Billy McKinney also homered off Musgrove (2-2), who set a career-high with 13 strikeouts in his first home start since throwing the Padres’ first no-hitter on April 9 at Texas. The big right-hander, who grew up in suburban El Cajon, is 0-2 since throwing the no-no.

Pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor hit Milwaukee’s third homer of the night, off Drew Pomeranz, leading off the eighth.

Woodruff (1-0) held San Diego to one run and one hit in six innings, struck out seven and walked three. J.P. Feyereisen walked one in the seventh, Brent Suter gave up a sin-gle to Caratini in the eighth and Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader works against a San Diego Padres batter during the ninth inning of a baseball game, on April 19, in San Diego. (AP)

Kings win by 45 runs

Chennai crushes Rajasthan in IPLMUMBAI, India, April 20, (AP): Allrounders Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja spun out Rajasthan Royals’ middle order and led Chennai Super Kings to a resounding 45-run victory in the Indian Premier League.

Ali took 3-7 with his offspin and left-arm spinner Jadeja trig-gered the collapse by claiming two wickets in one over as Rajasthan reached only 143-9 after Chennai posted 188-9.

“It was good to have Moeen, it was turning a bit,” Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. “The wicket became a bit sticky, (but) glad we scored 180.”

Rajasthan was on course to chal-lenge Chennai’s total on a slow pitch until the team slipped to 90-4 when Jadeja clean-bowled top-scorer Jos Buttler (49) and had Shivam Dube (17) leg before wicket in the 12th over.

Ali then claimed three quick wick-ets as Rajasthan fell to 95-7 that included the key wickets of David Miller and Chris Morris. No. 9 bats-man Jadev Unadkat (24) and Rahul Tewatia (20) delayed the inevitable as Chennai cruised to its second vic-tory in three games.

“It was a good score to chase down, but we lost too many wickets in the middle,” Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson said. “The dew didn’t come, the ball was turning, and that was a bit shocking to see.”

Earlier, after being put in to bat, opening batsman Faf du Plessis made a 17-ball 33 to top-score for Chen-nai while Ambati Rayudu (27) and Ali (26) made useful contributions. Dwayne Bravo added a cameo of 20 off eight deliveries.

Left-arm fast bowler Chetan Sa-kariya claimed 3-36 and Morris re-turned 2-33 but Rajasthan has one win from three games.

CRICKET

GOLF

BASEBALL

California allows fans for US Opens if vaccinated or tested

Tour plans to make non-vaccinated golfers pay for COVID test

MLB Results/Standings

WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): Re-sults and standings from the MLB games on Monday.Boston 11 Chicago Wht. Sox 4Tampa Bay 4 Kansas City 1Texas 6 LA Angels 4Seattle 4 LA Dodgers 3San Francisco 2 Philadelphia 0St Louis 12 Washington 5Milwaukee 3 San Diego 1

American LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBBoston 11 6 .647 _Tampa Bay 9 8 .529 2Baltimore 7 9 .438 3-1/2Toronto 7 9 .438 3-1/2New York 5 10 .333 5

Central Division W L Pct GBKansas City 9 6 .600 _Cleveland 8 7 .533 1Chicago 8 9 .471 2Minnesota 6 8 .429 2-1/2Detroit 6 10 .375 3-1/2

West Division W L Pct GBSeattle 11 6 .647 _Los Angeles 8 6 .571 1-1/2Oakland 9 7 .563 1-1/2Texas 8 9 .471 3Houston 7 8 .467 3

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBNew York 7 4 .636 _Philadelphia 8 8 .500 1-1/2Miami 7 8 .467 2Atlanta 7 9 .438 2-1/2Washington 5 9 .357 3-1/2

Central Division W L Pct GBCincinnati 9 6 .600 _Milwaukee 9 7 .563 -1/2St Louis 8 8 .500 1-1/2Pittsburgh 7 9 .438 2-1/2Chicago 6 9 .400 3

West Division W L Pct GBLos Angeles 13 4 .765 _San Francisco 10 6 .625 2-1/2San Diego 10 8 .556 3-1/2Arizona 6 10 .375 6-1/2Colorado 4 12 .250 8-1/2

St Louis Cardinals’ Tommy Ed-man hits a two-run homer during the third inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, on April 19, in

Washington. (AP)

second save. Mariners 4, Dodgers 3

In Seattle, rookie Taylor Trammell homered and added a key RBI double, third baseman Dylan Moore thwarted a Dodgers rally with a terrific defensive play in the seventh and Seattle beat Los Angeles in a matchup of early sea-son division leaders.

Seattle handed the Dodgers a sec-ond straight loss, the first time on the young season Los Angeles dropped consecutive games. It came on the strength of a couple long balls off Dodgers starter Dustin May (1-1) and a strong start by Justus Sheffield.

José Marmolejos got Seattle started with a two-run shot in the first inning that barely cleared the

wall in right field. Trammell, one of Seattle’s top young prospects, added a solo homer to deep left-center in the second inning, and his RBI double with two outs in the fourth capitalized on an error by second baseman Chris Taylor for a 4-2 lead.

Sheffield (1-1) threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, three walks and striking out six.

Giants 2, Phillies 0In Philadelphia, Brandon Belt hit

a two-run homer, Kevin Gausman niftily pitched out of trouble in six innings and San Francisco beat Philadelphia.

San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler became the first manager in major league baseball history to start his career 200-200. Kapler, who was

161-163 as Philadelphia’s manager in 2018-19, was booed when he brought out the lineup card.

Gausman (1-0) allowed six hits, walked four and struck out five. He lowered his ERA to 2.45. Wandy Peralta finished off the seven-hitter for his second save.

Phillies starter Chase Anderson (0-2) yielded two runs and five hits in four innings.

Cardinals 12, Nationals 5In Washington, Paul DeJong hit

two of St Louis’ five homers, including a grand slam, Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt went deep back-to-back and the Cardinals offered Jack Flaherty his usual strong run support.

DeJong clanged a solo shot off the left-field foul pole in the second

inning for the first run allowed by Joe Ross (1-1) in three games this season after he sat out 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns. DeJong later ended the right-hander’s evening with another drive to left, this one off a high fastball after Dylan Carlson was walked intentionally to load the bases, making it 10-2 in the fifth.

Flaherty (3-0) is used to that sort of cushion. The Cardinals are aver-aging 11 runs in his four starts this season – and 3.25 runs in the 12 games started by other pitchers.

Rays 4, Royals 1In Kansas City, Mo., Josh Fleming

pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning, and Kevin Kiermaier led a strong effort from the bottom of Tampa Bay’s batting order.

Fleming (1-1) struck out three in 5–1/3 innings, getting big cheers from friends and family who jour-neyed over from his hometown of Bridgeton, Missouri. The 24-year-old left-hander has allowed just one run in 10-1/3 innings this year.

Relievers Ryan Thompson and Hunter Strickland carried the baton out of the bullpen and held Kansas City to two hits, both in the eighth. Chris Mazza shut the door in the ninth.

Danny Duffy (2-1) struck out eight in six innings and allowed two runs – neither earned – and four hits with two walks.

Rangers 6, Angels 4In Anaheim, California, Adolis

García homered and doubled off Dylan Bundy, Kohei Arihara took a shutout into the sixth inning and Texas got its offense on track.

Texas eclipsed its entire output during a three-game home series against Baltimore over the week-end, when it totaled just four runs.

Justin Upton homered for the Angels, while Bundy (0-2) gave up five runs and seven hits and was knocked out the game during the Rangers’ five-run sixth inning. The right-hander had six strikeouts with two walks.

Arihara (2-1), in his fourth major league start, retired Angels star Shohei Ohtani in two at-bats, although one was a deep fly to cen-ter that García caught while crash-ing into the padded wall. Arihara and Ohtani were teammates in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters from 2015-17.

SPORTSARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021

15

Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brayden Point (21) avoids the check from Carolina Hurricanes’ Brady Skjei during the first period of an NHL hockey game on April 19, in Tampa, Florida. (AP)

Gourde lifts Lightning over Hurricanes in OTGolden Knights top Sharks 3-2 in shootout on historic night

TAMPA, Florida, April 20, (AP): Yanni Gourde scored 2:50 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Light-ning a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup between Central Division contenders.

Alex Killorn and Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning. An-drei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves.

Andrei Svechnikov and Brady Skjei scored for Carolina, which has only one regulation loss in the past eight games. Petr Mrazek stopped 33 shots.

Carolina and Florida are tied for the Central Division lead with 63 points, though the Hurricanes have two games in hand. The defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning are one point behind the co-leaders.

Golden Knights 3, Sharks 2, SOIn Las Vegas, Alex Tuch scored

the winner in a shootout and streak-ing Vegas beat San Jose as Sharks forward Patrick Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.

Robin Lehner stopped 29 shots and the Golden Knights won their seventh in a row, overcoming a two-goal deficit behind a pair of power-play goals from captain Mark Stone.

The 41-year-old Marleau played in his 1,768th career game to break Howe’s record in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,950 that included his wife, Christina, and four sons. That wouldn’t have been possible in San Jose, where fans still aren’t allowed in the arena during the pandemic.

Martin Jones made 38 saves for the Sharks, including fi ve spectacu-lar game-saving stops in overtime.

Lehner, who denied all three San Jose attempts in the shootout, im-proved to 8-0-1 since returning from a concussion on March 19.

Predators 5, Blackhawks 2In Nashville, Tennessee, Luke

Kunin and Calle Jarnkrok each scored a goal and added an assist to lead Nashville over Chicago.

Matt Duchene, Mattias Ekholm and Tanner Jeannot also scored and Mikael Granlund had two assists for Nashville, which snapped a two-game skid.

Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf scored for Chicago, which has lost two of three.

Nashville has won all six meetings between the teams so far this season as they battle for fourth place in the Central Division. Dallas, which de-feated Detroit in a shootout Monday, also is involved in a tight three-way race for the division’s fi nal playoff spot.

Stars 3, Red Wings 2, SO In Dallas, Denis Gurianov

scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give Dallas a win over Detroit, and a vital extra point for the defending Western Conference champions in their push to get back in the playoffs.

Roope Hintz and rookie Jason Robertson both scored in regulation for the Stars, with Miro Heiskanen assisting on both goals. Robertson also converted the fi rst shootout at-tempt for Dallas.

Anton Khudobin stopped 20 shots before the shootout, including a glove save reaching around a de-fender with less than three minutes left in regulation.

After Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin got a puck through Khudo-bin’s legs in the fi rst round of the tiebreaker, the Stars goalie stopped the next four attempts, including Fil-ip Hronek’s try after Gurianov had beaten Thomas Greiss at the other end.

Greiss fi nished with 34 saves, and both goalies had three in overtime.

Luke Glendening, with only three goals in his fi rst 44 games and none since March 11, scored two tying goals

San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau (12) attempts a shot on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) during the first period of an NHL hockey game on April 19, in Las Vegas. (AP)

NHL Results/Standings

WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Monday.

Florida 4 Columbus 2Tampa Bay 3 Carolina OT 2Dallas 3 Detroit SO 2Nashville 5 Chicago 2

Edmonton 4 Montreal 1Minnesota 5 Arizona 2Ottawa 4 Calgary 2Vegas 3 San Jose SO 2

East Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAWashington 46 29 13 4 62 163 141NY Islanders 45 28 13 4 60 127 105Pittsburgh 45 28 14 3 59 152 126Boston 43 25 12 6 56 125 110NY Rangers 45 23 16 6 52 151 118Philadelphia 45 20 18 7 47 128 162New Jersey 44 14 24 6 34 109 150Buffalo 45 12 26 7 31 111 154

Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GACarolina 44 29 10 5 63 142 107Florida 46 29 12 5 63 147 125Tampa Bay 45 30 13 2 62 152 117Nashville 47 25 21 1 51 126 132Dallas 44 18 14 12 48 125 111Chicago 46 21 20 5 47 129 144Detroit 47 16 24 7 39 105 148Columbus 47 15 23 9 39 116 158

West Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAVegas 45 32 11 2 66 150 100Colorado 43 30 9 4 64 154 101Minnesota 44 28 13 3 59 137 117Arizona 46 20 21 5 45 123 146St Louis 43 19 18 6 44 124 135San Jose 45 18 22 5 41 120 152Los Angeles 42 16 20 6 38 114 127Anaheim 46 14 25 7 35 103 147

North Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAToronto 45 28 12 5 61 147 120Winnipeg 45 27 15 3 57 144 120Edmonton 44 27 15 2 56 141 121Montreal 43 19 15 9 47 126 123Calgary 45 19 23 3 41 118 133Vancouver 38 17 18 3 37 103 122Ottawa 46 16 26 4 36 126 166

Note: Two points for a win one point for overtime loss. The top four teams in each division will qualify for playoffs under this season’s temporary realignment.

for Detroit in the second period. The Stars have earned points in a

season-best seven games in a row (5-0-2). They moved into fi fth place in the Central Division with 48 points, one ahead of Chicago, with 12 reg-ular-season games left. Nashville is fourth with 51 points, but only nine games remaining.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor

McDavid scored the winner late in the third period and Edmonton de-feated Montreal.

Jesse Puljujarvi, with a goal and an assist, Ethan Bear and Devin Shore also scored for Edmonton, while Mike Smith made 22 saves. McDavid also had two assists for a three-point game for the Oilers, who trailed 1-0 with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation.

Eric Staal scored for Montreal, which got 25 saves from Jake Al-len after he replaced Carey Price to start the second period. Price, who stopped seven shots in the opening 20 minutes, didn’t come out after the intermission.

The Oilers stretched their home winning streak to eight games, and improved to 2-3-1 against Montreal in 2021.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, fell to 2-6-0 over their past eight games without injured winger Brendan Gal-lagher (broken thumb).

Senators 4, Flames 2In Calgary, Alberta, Connor

Brown scored a short-handed goal and added an empty-netter for Ot-tawa in a win over Calgary.

Josh Norris had a goal and an as-sist and Brady Tkachuk also scored for Ottawa. Senators goaltender Matt Murray made 26 saves for the win.

Elias Lindholm and Michael Stone scored for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom stopped 16 of 19 shots in the loss.

The Montreal Canadiens hold down the fourth and fi nal playoff berth in the North Division. Mon-treal lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, but remained six points ahead of Calgary.

The Flames have 11 games re-maining in the regular season, but

three games in four days against the visiting Habs starting Friday will likely determine if Calgary sees the postseason.

Wild 5, Coyotes 2In Glendale, Arizona, Kevin Fiala

had a goal and an assist, Cam Tal-bot stopped 22 shots and Minnesota stretched its winning streak to four games.

Kirill Kaprizov, Jordan Greenway and Marcus Johansson also scored to help the Wild strengthen their playoff position. Minnesota has 59 points, 14 ahead of fourth-place Ari-zona in the West Division.

Jonas Brodin added an empty-net goal for Minnesota.

Christian Fischer scored his fi rst goal in 48 regular-season games and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Coyotes, who had numerous defen-sive breakdowns in losing for the sixth time in seven games. Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.

Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 2In Sunrise, Florida, Frank Vatrano

scored two goals, Anthony Duclair had a pair of assists and Florida de-feated Columbus.

Sam Bennett and Radko Gudas also scored for the Panthers, who have won fi ve straight games against the Blue Jackets and gone 6-0-1 in their past seven meetings.

Vatrano’s second goal was an empty-netter at 18:38 of the third af-ter he was stopped on a penalty shot earlier in the period.

Florida netminder Sergei Bo-brovsky made 34 saves. Elvis Mer-zlikins turned back 35 shots for the Blue Jackets.

Oliver Bjorkstrand got his team-leading 15th goal and Zac Dalpe also scored for Columbus, which has lost three straight.

Belgian Olympians get priority vaccines

IOC reluctantly accepts plan for ’26 Cortina bobsled trackMILAN, April 20, (AP): The In-ternational Olympic Committee reluctantly accepted plans to spend 50 million euros ($60 million) to rebuild an abandoned bobsled track in Cortina d’Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Games – as long as the funds stay out of the offi cial games’ bud-get.

After the IOC periodic coordina-tion commission’s visit on Monday, which was held virtually, the Olym-pic body said it “again expressed its concerns with regard to the legacy of the track.”

The century-old venue in Cortina was closed 13 years ago for fi nan-cial reasons but is still a source of pride in the Dolomites resort.

The IOC had suggested that in-stead of spending heavily to rebuild the Cortina track, that sliding events for the Milan-Cortina Games could instead be contested at a venue in neighboring Switzerland (St Mori-tz) or Austria (Igls).

Ever since Russia’s overall spend-ing linked to the 2014 Sochi Olym-pics topped $50 billion, the IOC has been anxious to curb all infrastruc-ture spending by local organizers. That policy allows for taking events to another country to cut costs.

“It was pointed out that the IOC

had made a number of proposals for alternative tracks, none of which were accepted,” the IOC said in a statement.

“On the other hand, the com-mission took note that the final plans for the venue are not an investment in a sliding track for the Olympic and Paralympic Win-ter Games but are part of a wider entertainment park project that is completely unrelated to the games. The IOC is therefore not in a position to go any further in this discussion, as this is a sovereign decision of the Veneto region.”

The IOC added the hefty expense “will not form part of the investment budget for the Olympic and Para-lympic Games” and “the track will therefore only be (lent) out to the or-ganizing committee for the duration of the games.”

As for the organizing commit-tee’s risky proposition of holding speed skating at an outdoor oval in Baselga di Piné, no decisions were made.

There were recent tests to stage speed skating at Milan’s outdoor Arena Civica, as well as calls to use the indoor oval in Turin that was built for the 2006 Games.

“Discussions are continuing on the speed skating oval,” the IOC said.

The last time speed skating was held outdoors at the Olympics was for the 1992 Albertville Games, with the IOC having since preferred the controlled environment of in-door venues.

High temperatures in Albertville made the track slushy.

Also:BRUSSELS: Belgian Olympians traveling to Japan for the Tokyo Games were promised priority treatment for COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.

The Belgian Olympic Committee said its 177 Olympic and 55 Para-lympic athletes will get vaccine shots while most of the adult popu-lation of their age must still wait.

The Olympics are set to open on July 23.

“Because of the small group of athletes, the decision will have as good as no impact on the overall vaccination campaign,” the commit-tee said in a statement.

Tokyo 2020 Organizing Commit-tee President Seiko Hashimoto delivers an opening remarks dur-ing Tokyo 2020 Organizing Com-mittee, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and the Japa-nese Paralympic Committee (JPC) three-party joint athletes’ commit-tee meeting, on April 20, in Tokyo. The committee meeting was held with the aim of expanding the op-portunities for athletes’ voices to be conveyed during preparations

for the Games. (AP)

Bencic, Sakkari win opening matches in StuttgartSTUTTGART, Germany, April 20, (AP): Eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic had to face down a stub-born performance by a 17 year old on tour debut to reach the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix.

Bencic was broken once in the fi rst set and needed six match points against Nastasja Schunk to fi nish a 6-4, 6-2 win.

With a ranking of 928, the young German is more used to playing junior events and came through qualifying in Stuttgart for her fi rst WTA main draw.

Bencic will play Ekaterina Al-exandrova or Karolina Muchova in

the second round. It was the Swiss player’s fi rst win on clay since the 2019 French Open.

Maria Sakkari beat German wild card Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-2. Sakkari broke Petkovic four times in a chaotic opening set. Sakkari next plays seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova or Australian Open fi nal-ist Jennifer Brady.

TENNIS

ICE HOCKEY

OLYMPICS

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ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 16

SportsLeeds United’s Diego Llorente (second right), scores his side’s opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Liverpool at the Elland Road Stadium in Leeds, England. (AP)

Jazz split series with LakersSuns edge Bucks after foul in final second of OT

LOS ANGELES, April 20, (AP): Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points, Joe Ingles added 21 with five 3-point-ers and the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-97 Monday night, splitting their series with the defending NBA cha-mps.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points as NBA-leading Utah avenged the Lakers’ 127-115 over-time victory on Saturday night. The Jazz rested Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley Jr. and Derrick Favors in the first game on the second night of a back-to-back set, but all three returned for the rematch at Staples Center.

Leading scorer Donovan Mitchell is still out for Utah, while LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still out for Los Angeles.

Talen Horton-Tucker scored a career-high 24 points for the Lakers, who dropped to 7-9 without both of their superstars and 14-16 since Davis went down on Valentine’s Day.

Kyle Kuzma scored all of his 17 points in the first three quarters for Los Angeles, and Dennis Schröder had 15 points and six assists. The Lakers have alternated wins and losses for 12 con-secutive games since March 28.

Clarkson hit nine of his 14 shots and Ingles went 8 for 11 against the NBA’s top defensive team for Utah, which never trailed in its fifth victory in seven games. The Jazz doubled their halftime lead to 20 points in the third quarter with 13 from Ingles, who hit three 3-pointers in that stretch.

Suns 128, Bucks 127 OTIn Milwaukee, Devin Booker made

a free throw with 0.3 seconds left after getting fouled on a jump shot to give the Phoenix Suns a 128-127 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks .

After Khris Middleton had tied the game on a 3-pointer with 22.1 seconds left, Jae Crowder inbounded a pass to Booker, who attempted to get free for a shot while getting hounded by Jrue Holiday.

As Booker finally put up a shot from in front of Phoenix’s bench just before the buzzer, P.J. Tucker also approached him. Tucker was called for the foul.

Warriors 107, 76ers 96In Philadelphia, Stephen Curry hit

10 3-pointers and scored 49 points to extend his sizzling stretch, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 107-96 vic-tory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Curry’s 3 that tied the game at 86-all gave him 11 straight games with 30 or more points, topping Kobe Bryant for the most by any player 33 or older. Curry, who turned 33 last month, also has the longest 30-point game streak by a Warriors player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964.

Curry had his fifth 40-point game in April and topped Bryant and Michael Jordan for most 40-point games in a month by a player 33 or older.

Nuggets 139, Grizzlies 137 2 OTsIn Denver, Nikola Jokic scored 47

points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the second overtime, and the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 139-137.

Jokic added 15 rebounds and eight assists, Will Barton scored 28 and Michael Porter Jr. 21 for the short-handed Nuggets. Denver played with-out its top two point guards -- Jamal Murray, who has a torn ACL in his left knee and Monte Morris.

Morris recently missed 11 games with a left quad injury but returned April 4 and played eight games. He hurt his left hamstring in Friday night’s win at Houston and will likely miss multiple games, coach Michael Malone said before the game against the Grizzlies.

Bulls 102, Celtics 96In Boston, the Bulls have a difficult

road to travel if they want to secure a spot in the playoffs.

But they feel like replicating their defensive effort from the past two games might be the thing that helps them get there.

Nikola Vucevic had 29 points and nine rebounds, and the Chicago held off the Boston Celtics 102-96.

Heat 113, Rockets 91In Miami, the Miami Heat were

missing their three leading scorers, and still had more than enough to get past the Houston Rockets.

Kendrick Nunn scored a season-high 30 points, Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic each added 19 and Miami beat Houston 113-91 on Monday night.

The Heat were playing without Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro - a trio that averages 55 points per game - and outscored Houston 59-36 after halftime.

Wizards 119, Thunder 107In Washington, Bradley Beal scored

30 points, Davis Bertans was made six 3-pointers in his return from paternity leave, and the Washington Wizards beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-107 .

Bertans, who missed the previous two games while his wife gave birth to a son, finished with 21 points. The Wizards have won five straight,

matching a season high, and seven of eight to claw back into playoff conten-tion in the Eastern Conference.

Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds for Washington. His 26th triple-double this season was only in doubt because of his dreadful shooting; Westbrook missed nine straight shots in the sec-ond half before a 3-pointer that gave the Wizards a nine-point lead with 3:47 left. He has 172 triple-doubles, closing in on Oscar Robertson’s record of 181.

Darius Bazley scored a career-high 26 points for Oklahoma City, which extended its season-worst skid to 11 games. The Thunder have lost 14 of 15 since leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was sidelined with a foot injury last month. Oklahoma City was even more undermanned without Lu Dort, who sat after scoring 29 points Sunday night against Toronto.

Spurs 109, Pacers 94In Indianapolis, Derrick White and

Jakob Poeltl took advantage of their early mismatches by delivering a

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, (right), goes for a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers in

Philadelphia. (AP)

quick knockout punch and leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 109-94 victory over short-handed Indiana .

White scored 16 of his 25 points in

the first quarter, while Poeltl finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in the Spurs’ second straight win.

Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert

each scored 18 to lead the Pacers, who have lost three in a row. This time, the Pacers played without two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis (sore lower back) and defensive player of the year candidate Myles Turner (right foot). T.J. Warren, who will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Pistons 109, Cavaliers 105In Detroit, Frank Jackson scored 20

points, including a tiebreaking base-line drive in the final minute, lifting the Detroit Pistons to a 109-105 vic-tory over the Cleveland Cavaliers .

Jackson was fouled on his basket with 29 seconds left. He missed the free throw but the Cavaliers couldn’t secure the rebound. Josh Jackson grabbed it and then scored to go up 107-103 with 16.5 seconds remaining, giving the Cavaliers their fifth loss in six games.

Collin Sexton scored 28 points and Darius Garland added 23 for the Cavaliers. The backcourt scored the final 20 points for Cleveland, which is fading in the race for the play-in tour-nament in the Eastern Conference.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder, (right), dives for the ball next to Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. (AP)

BASKETBALL

WASHINGTON, April 20, (AP): NBA results and standings on Monday.Detroit 109 Cleveland 105Chicago 102 Boston 96Golden State 107 Philadelphia 96Miami 113 Houston 91Washington 119 Oklahoma City 107San Antonio 109 Indiana 94Phoenix 128 Milwaukee OT 127Denver 139 Memphis 2OT 137Utah 111 LA Lakers 97

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L Pct GBPhiladelphia 39 18 .684 -Brooklyn 38 19 .667 1Boston 31 27 .534 8-1/2New York 31 27 .534 8-1/2Toronto 24 34 .414 15-1/2

Southeast Division W L Pct GBAtlanta 31 26 .544 -Miami 30 28 .517 1-1/2Charlotte 28 28 .500 2-1/2Washington 24 33 .421 7Orlando 18 39 .316 13

Central Division W L Pct GBMilwaukee 35 22 .614 -Indiana 26 31 .456 9Chicago 24 33 .421 11Cleveland 20 37 .351 15Detroit 18 40 .310 17-1/2

Western ConferenceSouthwest Division

W L Pct GBDallas 30 26 .536 -Memphis 29 27 .518 1San Antonio 28 28 .500 2New Orleans 25 32 .439 5-1/2Houston 15 43 .259 16

Northwest Division W L Pct GBUtah 43 15 .741 -Denver 37 20 .649 5-1/2Portland 32 24 .571 10Oklahoma City 20 38 .345 23Minnesota 15 43 .259 28

Pacific Division W L Pct GBPhoenix 41 16 .719 -LA Clippers 40 19 .678 2LA Lakers 35 23 .603 6-1/2Golden State 29 29 .500 12-1/2Sacramento 23 34 .404 18

NBA Results/Standings ‘We cannot lose this match’

UEFA president Ceferin urges SL owners to reverse decisionMONTREUX, Switzerland, April 20, (AP): In a direct appeal to the owners of the English clubs in the Super League project, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin urged them Tuesday to change their minds out of respect for soc-cer fans.

Ceferin both cajoled and criticized the six-club English group - made up of American billion-aires, Middle East royalty and a Russian oligarch - less than 48 hours after the Super League was launched in alliance with three clubs from each of Italy and Spain.

“Gentlemen, you made a huge mis-take,” Ceferin said in a speech to European soccer leaders at the UEFA annual meeting. “Some will say it is greed, others (will say) disdain arro-gance, flippancy or complete ignorance of England’s football culture. It does not matter.

“What does matter is that there is still time to change your mind. Everyone makes mistakes.” Ceferin urged them to turn back out of respect for fans in England, aiming another barb at what he earlier called “a few selfish people.” “Come to your senses,” he said. “Not out of love for football because I imagine some of you don’t have much of that.” Ceferin also lavished praise on UEFA executive committee colleague Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of French cham-pion Paris Saint-Germain. PSG has so far resisted offers to

be one of the 15 founding Super League members. Bayern Minich and Borussia Dortmund have also stayed out.

“Nasser, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You showed that you are a great man,” Ceferin told the Qatari official before also citing Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

The UEFA president also spoke about an email he received from a fan of Tottenham, one of the six rebel clubs from the Premier League.

“If you read the email you would be close to crying,” Ceferin said of the fan he identified only as Trevor, whom he had given two tickets to the 2019 Champions League

final, when Tottenham lost to Liverpool.Ceferin said fans and governments have supported UEFA

in resisting the proposed 20-team Super League, which threatens to directly challenge the Champions League and damage the historic pyramid structure of European soccer.

“We cannot lose this match,” said Ceferin, a Slovenian lawyer.

The clubs have not said when their planned breakaway league, underwritten by American bank JP Morgan Chase, would kick off.

Earlier Tuesday in a speech that seemed to blame the club owners and absolve players, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he can only “strongly disapprove” of the Super League.

Leeds United ‘deny’ Liverpool top 4 spotLEEDS, England, April 20, (AP): Liverpool conceded an 87th-minute equalizer to draw at Leeds 1-1 on Monday, denying Jurgen Klopp’s team a spot in the top four of the English Premier League.

Which position Liverpool finish might not matter anymore, given the team are one of the 12 clubs behind the creation of a controversial Super League that is threatening to split the historic structure of European soc-cer.

The breakaway league could poten-tially launch as early as next season, rendering meaningless the race for Champions League qualification that currently involves Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham – three of the six rebel English clubs.

Liverpool stayed in sixth place, out-side the Champions League places, after Spain defender Diego Llorente scored with a header from an inswing-ing corner to earn Leeds a point that the team’s second-half fightback might have deserved.

Sadio Mane stroked the ball into an empty net in the 31st minute from a squared pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to give Liverpool the lead and put the deposed champion on course for a fourth straight victory.

A win would have lifted Liverpool above West Ham and into fourth place.

SOCCER

Ceferin