emergency number no. 17620 16 pages 150 fils iran may cut … · 2021. 2. 22. · of iran’s...
TRANSCRIPT
THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 / RAJAB 11, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17620 16 PAGES 150 FILS
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TEHRAN, Feb 21, (AP): The head of the United Nations’ nu-clear watchdog met Sunday with Iranian officials in a bid to pre-serve his inspectors’ ability to monitor Teh-ran’s atomic program, even as authorities said they planned to cut off surveillance cameras at those sites.
Rafael Grossi’s arrival in Tehran comes as Iran tries to pressure Europe and the new Biden administration into re-turning to the 2015 nuclear deal, which president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mo-hammad Javad Zarif, who un-der President Hassan Rouhani helped reach the nuclear deal, said the cameras of the Interna-tional Atomic Energy Agency would be shut off despite Gros-si’s visit to follow a law passed by parliament.
“This is not a deadline for the world. This is not an ultimatum,” Zarif told the government-run, English-language broadcaster Press TV in an interview aired before he was to meet Grossi. “This is an internal domestic is-sue between the parliament and the government.”
Implement“We have a democracy. We
are supposed to implement the laws of the country. And the parliament adopted legislation – whether we like it or not.”
Zarif’s comments marked the highest-level acknowledgement yet of what Iran planned to do when it stopped following the so-called “Additional Protocol,” a confidential agreement between Tehran and the IAEA reached as part of the nuclear deal. The IAEA has additional protocols with a number of countries it monitors.
Under the protocol with Iran, the IAEA “collects and analyzes hundreds of thousands of images captured daily by its sophisti-cated surveillance cameras,” the agency said in 2017. The agency also said then that it had placed “2,000 tamper-proof seals on nuclear material and equipment.”
In his interview, Zarif said authorities would be “required by law not to provide the tapes of those cameras.” It wasn’t im-mediately clear if that also meant the cameras would be turned off entirely as Zarif called that a “technical decision, that’s not a political decision.”
“The IAEA certainly will not get footage from those cameras,” Zarif said.
The Vienna-based IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Zarif’s comments. The agency last week said the visit was aimed at find-ing “a mutually agreeable solu-tion for the IAEA to continue essential verification activities in the country.”
There are 18 nuclear facilities and nine other locations in Iran under IAEA safeguards.
Grossi met earlier Sunday with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear pro-gram. Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, later tweeted that “Iran and the IAEA held fruitful discussions based on mutual respect, the result of which will be released this evening.”
ApprovedIran’s parliament in December
approved a bill that would sus-pend part of UN inspections of its nuclear facilities if European signatories do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions by Tuesday.
Already, Iran has slowly walked away from all the nuclear deal’s limitations on its stockpile of uranium and has begun enriching up 20%, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. It also has begun spinning advanced centrifuges barred by the deal, which saw Iran limit its pro-gram in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
An escalating series of inci-dents since Trump’s withdrawal has threatened the wider Mid-east. Over a year ago, a US drone strike killed a top Iranian general, causing Tehran to later launch ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American troops in Iraq.
A mysterious explosion also struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear fa-cility, which Iran has described as sabotage.
‘Internal issue’
Iran may cut surveillance camerasOpinion
‘Cap’ rescued China, headband choked Kuwait’s economy
MP submits bill
Remittance tax back in playIn and out ... On and off
Expat arrival ban extendedKUWAIT CITY, Feb 21, (Agencies): The Directorate General of Civil Avi-ation on Saturday extended a ban on entry of non-Kuwaiti travelers to the country until further notice.
Based on the state health authori-ties’ instructions and after evaluating the global coronavirus situation, the suspension of the entry of non-Kuwaiti passengers into Kuwait will remain ef-fective until further notice, the DGCA said in a press release.
It added that Kuwaitis; first-degree relatives of Kuwaitis and their accompa-nied domestic workers; and diplomats, their families and accompaning domes-tic workers as well as public and private medical staff and their families will continue to enter the country and be sub-jected to mandatory 14-day quarantine (seven days at one of the approved local hotels and seven days at home).
The DGCA, however, exempted from hotel quarantine the following: Kuwaiti patients and students; unac-companing minors (under-18-years-old); and diplomats, their families and accompanied domestic workers as well as public and private medical staff and their families.
But they have to quarantine at home for the whole 14 days period, it clari-fied. The DGCA stated that all trav-elers have to register in its ‘Kuwait Mosafer’ platform.Those who do not register will not be allowed to board the plane, it warned.
The DGCA said all passengers ar-riving via direct flights from high-risk countries will be obliged to submit to in-stitutional quarantine in a local hotel for 14 days at their own expense by register-ing on the ‘Kuwait Musafer’ platform.
The rest of the passengers arriving from other countries (countries which do not make the high-risk) will be obliged to quarantine in a local hotel for 7 days at their own expense by reg-istering on the Kuwait Musafer plat-form, provided that the quarantine pe-riod is completed for another (7) days in in their respective homes
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has added 33 new countries to the list of high-risk countries, bringing the to-tal to 68 countries. The newly-added countries are South Africa, Portugal, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Re-public of the Congo, Republic of Cape Verde, Estonia, Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Japan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bolivia, Mozambique, Na-mibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Suriname, Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland, Ven-ezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guyana,
French Guiana, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emir-ates, Germany, and United States of America.
Last August Kuwait had banned di-rect entry of nationals of 35 countries: India, Iran, China, Brazil, Colombia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Syria, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegov-ina, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iraq, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Montenegro, Dominicans, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Argentina, France, Yemen, and Britain.
People who enter the country fol-lowing the opening of the border points, will have to strictly abide by all instructions issued by the Council of Ministers and the health authorities, reports Al-Rai daily.
The daily added, those who are quarantined at hotels will have to strictly adhere by the laws. No one will be allowed to leave unless after the quarantine period is completed.
The daily added, the hotel entry and exits will be manned 24/7 by the spe-cial security authorities to ensure com-pliance with the laws.
The sources disclosed, the authori-ties are in no mood to “tolerate any traveler who does not abide by the quarantine instructions and that viola-tors will be punished by fine or impris-onment.
By Ahmed Al-JarallahEditor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
FOR how long will chaos prevail if no serious moves are taken to resolve matters which keep on becoming grim every day?
The Kuwaiti advisors can neither provide sat-isfactory solutions nor offer any benefit to the of-ficials. All they do is present technical reports and constitutional opinions that serve their interests. They also echo what their employers want to hear, but as soon as they are relieved of their positions, they start attacking the same institution or rather room that they once occupied.
This indicates a lack of self-confidence or a lack of experience. The only loyalty they recog-nize is the one attached to their interests, because in one way or another, they are part of, or even contribute to, what they are criticizing. This is tantamount to someone who murders a person and then participates in his victim’s funeral.
Based on this fact, the many opinions today regarding the activation of article 106 of the Con-stitution suggest that the matter is improvised and was not subjected to an in-depth study.
Consequently, those who criticize a purely sov-ereign order of His Highness the Amir want to distort the truth. They seek to prolong the consti-tutional vacuum by inflaming the situation further.
In 1986 after the political events in the coun-try, the security breach, and other factors that weakened the prestige of the state, the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad summoned the speaker of the National Assembly at that time Ahmad Al-Saadoun, and said to him, “Tell your colleagues not to push him to do something that he would hate doing.”
It seems the message was not properly con-veyed, so His Highness the Amir issued an Amiri order to suspend the Constitution and dissolve the National Assembly for four years. He also ordered the Head of the National Guard Sheikh Salem Al-Ali to close the parliament and prevent anyone from entering it.
Unfortunately, the government did not benefit from the opportunity that had presented itself at that time due to the lack of a rescue program. This is what the current situation looks like.
What we need today is a government that has a clear vision to lift the country out of its deep cri-sis. It is not shameful to seek foreign expertise, as was the case in the development of the structural plan for Kuwait in 1951, when the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem sought help from foreign consultants – advisors Menoperio, Spensley and McFaren. The result was modern cities, but it also ended in the grabbing of public land.
Same thing happened in the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash in 1982.The late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad had summoned foreign experts to help solve the problem. Unfortunately, the gov-ernment did not act according to the opinions put forth by the experts. The Minister of Finance in-stead came out proudly to say, “The solution is with the Kuwaiti headband”. What he meant by this was that only Kuwaitis can solve it. However, this headband ended up choking people instead of liberating them.
It is unfortunate that it seems the use of foreign expertise has become a shame at this stage due to the exaggerated selfishness of some officials in depending on Kuwaiti advisors who are actually their friends and cliques at diwaniyas, and be-cause they realize that they will not deviate from the main script, even if such a script has mistakes.
Every concerned person should know that time is ruthless, and the problem is growing. There is no sign of hope on the horizon as long as the situ-ation remains as it is. There is no doubt that the official who runs the executive authority has not moved a finger to deal with the current chaos.
The government is the one to bear direct re-sponsibility because it did not act decisively to confront the crisis, let alone the chaos, which if neglected would render our situation similar to that of Iraq, Lebanon and some Arab countries where institutions weakened when the wave of the Arab Spring erupted, and then fell into a sea of unrest and chaos.
The use of foreign expertise is not a shame. What rescued China was a British expert of Iraqi origin, and today it is an economic superpower.
Email: [email protected]
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Shiite faithful pilgrims visit the shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in Baghdad, despite a curfew imposed by the government to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, Feb 20. The curfew runs all day Friday to Sunday, and from 8 pm to 5 am the rest of the week. (AP)
A woman holds a dead sea turtle covered in tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea in Gador nature reserve near Hadera, Israel, Feb 20. Hundreds of volunteers are taking part in a cleanup operation of Israeli shoreline as investigations are un-derway to determine the cause of an oil spill that threatens the beach and wildlife, at Gador Nature Reserve near the northern city of Hadera, the tar smeared fish, turtles, and other
sea creatures. (AP)
By Saeed Mahmoud SalehArab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: The attempt to impose tax on remit-tances continues with the bill submitted by MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji who proposed taxing the money transfers of foreigners in any currency.
The bill covers remittances of individuals, companies and organizations; excluding the exempted categories stipulated in the treaties on protecting investment and capital transfer.
The bill authorizes the Central Bank of Kuwait to specify the categories according to the amount of transfer and the corresponding tax, as well as the methods of monitoring and collecting tax. The collected tax will be handed over to the Central Bank, while banks and licensed companies that will not remit the collected tax to the Central Bank will be fined KD 10,000 maximum.
Individuals, companies and societies that violate the law by transferring money through unaccredited exchange centers and banks will be imprisoned for five years or fined double the amount transferred.
The Council of Ministers will issue the executive decree of the law within three months after its ratification.
Meanwhile, MP Hassan Jawhar asked all the interim min-isters about the procedures they have adopted to strengthen cyber security. He wants to know the number of Kuwaiti and expatriate employees in every ministry who completed train-ing course on cyber security since 2012 when the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) announced the plan to train 5,000 employees from 50 ministries and public institutions.
He asked if every ministry has its own policy or all of them have adopted the unified cyber security strategy of the State, demands of each ministry in light of the international criteria for database protection, department in charge of cyber secu-rity in each ministry, if a ministry or any of its subsidiaries have a contract in this regard with a private company, if such a company is capable of transferring the national database outside the country or not, procedures taken to prevent such transfer as it exposes national security to penetration, criteria for providing cyber security, and if a neutral institution has been assigned to evaluate the level of cyber security in each ministry.
MP Mubarak Al-Arow forwarded queries to interim Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water Muhammad Abdul-lah Al-Fares about the settlement of tender number RFB2066003 in favor of two Egyptian companies – Sino Tharwa Drilling Company and Egyptian Drilling Com-pany (EDC) – for KD 12.944 million while the lowest bid was KD 10.864 million.
He asked if there was a recommendation to choose the abovementioned companies or not, why these two companies were not obligated to offer the lowest price especially since the quality of work and adopted criteria are the same, if the ministry is aware that Sino Tharwa Drilling Company incurred losses amounting to $33 million in 2019 and it has yet to start the works stated in tender number JOsc448/w018 which was signed with Gulf Petroleum Company in 2019 because of its problems, and if penalties were imposed on these Egyptian companies for the delayed execution of the works specified in the tender
MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf asked interim Minister of Finance Khalifa Hamada about the number of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects, which will be handed over to the State by fis-cal 2022/ 2023.
He requested for copies of the reports on the operating con-ditions of every project, action that the ministry will take in case the projects do not meet the criteria, public institution which will monitor the projects, role of the Higher Committee for Partnership Enterprises in this regard, report of the com-mittee on every project, and ways the State will manage the projects.
MP Osama Al-Shaheen submitted questions to interim Min-ister of Health Dr Basel Al-Sabah about the recent decisions of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), such as requiring arriving passengers to undergo institutional quaran-tine in hotels for seven or 14 days.
Newswatch
KUWAIT CITY: The Central Bank of Kuwait has stressed on local banks and companies not to deal or en-ter into direct or indirect investments in the digital cur-rency ‘Bitcoin’ and other similar currencies, stressing that some local banks have internal policies that prohibit dealing in currencies, reports Al-Anba daily. The sourc-es said according to the instructions of the Central Bank, it is not permitted to fi nance any person or institution for the purpose of investing in the Bitcoin currency.
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KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait said 768 people tested positive for coronavirus with fi ve related deaths reported on Sun-day taking the total cases up to 184,090 as deaths rose to 1,044 respectively, according to the health ministry.
The ministry also reported that 967 more people have been cured of the virus, raising the total of those to have overcome the disease to 172,227, spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad told a press conference.
The number of people hospitalised with the virus currently stands at 10,819, with 147 of them in inten-sive care units, he added, revealing that some 6,006 swab tests were conducted over the last day out of a total of 1,731,704. (KUNA)
ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
editor’s choice
Trump looks to reassert himself after acquittal
‘Trump-plus the way back in 2022’
Former president Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up to supporters as he rides by in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb 15, 2021. People lined up the street on President’s Day to show support for Trump who lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. (AP)
Donald Trump took in the win at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by friends and family. His lawyers celebrated with hugs and smiles. One joked,
“We’re going to Disney World!”Now acquitted in his second Senate impeachment trial, Trump is prepar-
ing for the next phase of his post-presidency life. Feeling emboldened by the trial’s outcome, he is expected to reemerge from a self-imposed hibernation at his club in Palm Beach, Florida, and is eyeing ways to reassert his power.
But after being barred from Twitter, the former president lacks the social media bullhorn that fueled his political rise. And he’s confronting a Republican Party deeply divided over the legacy of his jarring final days in office, culminating in the Jan 6 storming of the Capitol. Searing video images of the day played on loop during his impeachment trial, which ended Saturday.
Trump remains popular among the GOP base, but many Republicans in Washington have cooled to him. Never before have so many members of a president’s party — seven GOP senators, in his case — voted for his removal in a Senate trial.
Some may work to counter efforts by Trump to support extreme can-didates in next year’s congressional primaries.
Undeterred, friends and allies expect Trump to resume friendly me-dia interviews after weeks of silence. He has met with political aides to discuss efforts to help Republicans try to take control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms elections. He remains fixated on exacting revenge on Republicans who supported his impeachment or resisted his efforts to overturn the results of the November election won by Demo-crat Joe Biden.
“I imagine you’ll probably be hearing a lot more from him in the com-ing days,” senior adviser Jason Miller said.
In a statement after the vote, Trump offered few clues, but was defiant as he told supporters their movement “has only just begun.”
“In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look for-ward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” he said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spoke with Trump on Saturday night, ac-knowledged that Trump is “mad at some folks,” but also “ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party” and “excited about 2022.”
In their conversations, Graham has stressed to Trump, who has threat-ened to start his own party to punish disloyal Republicans, that the GOP needs him to win.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party. Trump-plus is the way back in 2022,’” Graham, R-S.C., told “Fox News Sunday.”
“My goal is to win in 2022 to stop the most radical agenda I’ve seen coming out of the Democratic presidency of Joe Biden. We can’t do that without Donald Trump, so he’s ready to hit the trail and I’m ready to work with him,” Graham said.
Graham said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit but then delivered a scalding denunciation of Trump, “got a load off a chest, obviously.” Graham said later in the interview: “If you want to get something off your chest, fine, but I’m into winning.”
At his Palm Beach club on Saturday night, Trump was in a joyous mood as he enjoyed dinner on a patio packed with people. After a mel-low last several weeks, one member described a party atmosphere not felt since before the election.
Still, Trump isn’t in the clear yet. No longer protected by a Justice Department opinion against the prosecution of sitting presidents, he now faces multiple ongoing criminal investigations.
In Georgia, the Fulton County district attorney has opened a crimi-nal investigation into “attempts to influence” the election, including Trump’s call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding that
the official find enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory.In New York, Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether
Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of his assets on annual financial statements in order to secure loans and obtain tax ben-efits. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. continues his own investigation, which has included grand jury testimony.
“He didn’t get away with anything — yet,” McConnell, R-Ky., after the vote. “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being ac-countable by either one.”
McConnell voted to acquit Trump on the grounds the trial was un-constitutional because he is no longer in office, but insisted, “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
That sharp rebuke from his once-loyal defender underscores how dramatically Trump’s stock has fallen in Washington since his first im-peachment trial just over a year ago. But the desire to be rid of Trump is not shared across the country, where Republicans who have dared to admonish him have faced swift rebuke.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., was forced to defend her third-in-line lead-ership position after she voted in favor of impeachment. On Saturday, Louisiana’s Republican Party quickly censured Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the seven Republicans senators who voted for Trump’s conviction.
In an interview Sunday with ABC’s “This Week,” Cassidy seemed at peace with his decision.
“I think his force wanes,” he said of Trump. “The Republican Party is more than just one person. The Republican Party is about ideas.”
But how long Trump retains his grip remains an open question, es-pecially with a slew of likely 2024 candidates now trying to take the mantle. (AP)
People discouraged from coming to US
Biden faces pressure in new course on immigrationAfter a weeklong bus ride from Honduras, Isabel Osorio Medina ar-
rived in northern Mexico with the hope President Joe Biden would make it easier for people like him to get into the United States.
“It seems the new president wants to help migrants,” Osorio said as he got ready to check in to a cheap hotel in downtown Tijuana before heading to the US “They’re saying he is going to help, but I don’t know for sure how much is true or not.”
The 63-year-old is among thousands of people who have come to the US-Mexico border with the hope they will be able to ask for asylum and make their way into the US now that former President Donald Trump is no longer in office.
While Biden has taken some major steps in his first weeks in office to reverse Trump’s hardline immigration policies, his administration hasn’t lifted some of the most significant barriers to asylum-seekers.
In fact, it’s discouraging people from coming to the country, hoping to avoid what happened under both Trump and former President Barack Obama — border agents getting overwhelmed by migrants, including many Central Americans with children.
“Now is not the time to come,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a recent briefing, “and the vast majority of people will be turned away.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken struck a similar tone on Feb. 6 as he
announced official steps to end Trump-era agreements with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala that required many asylum-seekers to seek refuge in one of those countries instead of the US.
“To be clear, these actions do not mean that the US border is open,” Blinken said. “While we are committed to expanding legal pathways for protection and opportunity here and in the region, the United States is a country with borders and laws that must be enforced.”
That message hasn’t reached everyone. More people have been arriving at a encampment in Matamoros, Mex-
ico, a dangerous city just south of the Texas border where hundreds of asylum-seekers have been waiting under Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program.
It’s possible even more may come after the Biden administration an-nounced Friday that it would slowly allow an estimated 25,000 people to enter the US as their cases are reviewed. The first wave is expected Feb 19.
Walter Valenzuela, a 37-year-old Honduran, said he had been waiting in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, for months for a chance to either seek asylum or risk an illegal crossing.
For years, asylum-seekers who met the initial threshold of demonstrat-ing a “credible fear” of persecution in their homeland could generally stay in the US until an immigration judge decided whether they qualified for permanent residency, which can take years.
Trump administration officials believed many asylum claims were fraudulent or lacked merit, submitted by people simply looking to re-main in the US But the issue is murky as tens of thousands flee violent gangs, natural disasters and political upheaval.
The Biden administration has signed several executive orders on im-migration, including allowing in more refugees and establishing a task force to find the parents of about 600 children who were separated under Trump and still haven’t been reunited.
But it hasn’t ended a public health order Trump issued at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that allows US Customs and Border Protec-tion to immediately expel nearly everyone, including asylum-seekers.
Psaki said the government is still working to develop a “humane, com-prehensive process” to evaluate people coming to the US.
“Asylum processes at the border will not occur immediately,” she said. “It will take time to implement.”
Alan Bersin, who held top positions dealing with border security dur-ing the Clinton and Obama administrations, warned that Biden is headed for a crisis if he releases all asylum-seekers into the United States. That would invite fraud and abuse, he said.
“There’s such a pressing sense in the advocate community that is con-trolling the Biden immigration agenda — they want to reverse all Trump actions,” he said. (AP)
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ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 3
Fajr ........ 05:02Sunrise .. 06:22Zohr ....... 12:02
Asr .......... 15:16Maghrib .. 17:42 Isha ........ 18:59
Prayer Timings
VACCINE REGISTRATION WEBSITE: https://cov19vaccine.moh.gov.kw/SPCMS/CVD_19_Vaccine_Registration.aspx
Nasser Sa’ad Al-DoussariSunni
Fifth Constituency
NASSER SA’AD AL-DOUSSARI was born in 1986. He holds Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Police Science.
He was an officer with the rank of captain in the Ministry of Interior. He also served as acting direc-tor of the Citizenship, Passports and Immigration Affairs General Department.
He ran for the 2016 parlia-mentary elections; winning 3,296 votes which put him in ninth place in his constituency.
He also won in the 2020 elec-tions with 4,750 votes and ranked eighth in the Fifth Constituency.
StatementAl-Doussari previously denounced
French President Emmanuel Macron, while calling for a unified Islamic position against the President of France for attacking Islam and allow-ing a magazine to publish cartoons deemed offensive to Islam.
He also criticized the Public Authority for Handicapped Affairs (PAHA) director whom he accused of handling the affairs of the dis-abled poorly and increasing their suffering by disrupting the comple-tion of their transactions. He then stressed the need to appoint a direc-tor from the qualified employees in the authority, instead of a parachute appointment.
Voting Record
■ Grilling motion against Min-ister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh in January 2018 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Minis-ter of Electricity and Water Bekheit Al-Rashed in 2018 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Min-ister of Commerce and Industry Khalid Al-Rawdan in 2019 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Muhammad Al-Jabri in 2019 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Minister of Finance Naif Al-Hajraf in 2019 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Minister of Finance Barrak Al-Shitan in 2020 – ab-
stained■ Grilling motion against Dep-
uty Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anas Al-Saleh in August 2020 – rejected
■ Grilling motion against Minis-ter of Education and Higher Edu-cation Dr Soud Al-Harbi in August 2020 – approved
■ Demographics Law in 2020 – absent
■ Amendment of Handicapped Affairs Law number 73/ 2010 in 2020 – approved
■ Law on supporting those who suffered from damages due to coronavirus in 2020 – rejected
■ Amendment of National As-sembly Law number 12/1962 in 2020 – rejected
■ Competitiveness Protection Law number 70/2020 in 2020 – approved
mp profile getting to know you
Al-Doussari
Mabanee Co drops 6 fi ls, Tamdeen Investment gains
Kuwait index treads water in volatile session, volume plungesBy John MathewsArab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: Kuwait stocks trod water on Sunday as it kicked off the week on a tame note. The All Shares Index ticked 0.85 pts lower to 5,690.49 points after a volatile session even as the overall mood remained fi ckle.
The Premier Market eased 0.54 points lower to 6,212.46 pts while Main Mar-ket tripped 1.61 points. The BK Main 50 Index slipped 8.85 pts to 4,836.50 points.The volume turnover meanwhile plumbed a multi-month low. Over 162 million shares changed hands – a 34 pct drop from the last session.
The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Insurance outperformed the rest with 0.90 percent gain whereas Technology skidded 9.51 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 54.3 million shares while Banking sec-tor dominated in value with KD 8.2 million.
SharesIn the individual shares, sector bellweth-
er National Bank of Kuwait added 3 fi ls be-fore closing at 835 fi ls with a volume of 2.7 million shares whereas KIPCO was down 3 fi ls at 168 fi ls after pushing 1.2 million. Mabanee Co gave up 6 fi ls before settling at 684 fi ls.
Zain inched 1 fi ls higher to 623 fi ls on back of 4.8 million shares while Oore-doo slipped 4 fi ls to 656 fi ls. stc stood pat at 928 fi ls after vacillating earlier in the session whereas logistics major Agil-ity retreated 4 fi ls to 723 fi ls. Humansoft Holding shed 25 fi ls and Boursa Kuwait Securities tripped 1 fi l.
The market opened on a choppy note and dipped briefl y before pulling higher. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,695 points and fl ipped to plumbed the day’s lowest mark of 5,680 pts and hour into the session. It moved sideways before, heading north and clawed back most of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Metal and Recy-cling Co sprinted 6.6 pct to 129 fi ls and First Takaful Insurance scaled 5.92 percent to stand next. Automated Systems Co skid-ded 9.5 pct, the steepest decliner of the day while Kuwait Real Estate Co topped the volume with 7.6 million shares.
Despite the day’s tame fi nish, the losers outnumbered the winners. 38 stocks ad-vanced whereas 72 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Sunday, 18 closed fl at. 8,365 deals worth KD 26.9 million were transacted during the session.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was un-changed at 217 fi ls with a volume of 3.2 million shares and Kuwait Finance House followed suit to end at 720 fi ls. Kuwait In-ternational Bank dialed down 1 fi l whereas Burgan Bank and Boubyan Bank stood pat at 223 fi ls and 546 fi ls respectively.
Ahli United Bank BSC held ground at 234 fi ls after pushing 7.6 million shares and Commercial Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 500 fi ls with thin trading. Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait took in 1 fi l whereas Ahli United Bank Kuwait gave up 2 fi ls.
National Investment Co paused at 166 fi ls whereas Al Imtiaz Investment clipped 2 fi ls with a volume of 4.2 million. Ku-wait Investment Co slipped 4 fi ls to 126 fi ls whereas International Financial Advisors stalled at 106 fi ls. KMEFIC gave up 4 fi ls and Arzan Financial Group crept 0.9 fi ls
into green.Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz)
eased 1.1 fi ls to 82 fi ls whereas Gulf In-vestment House added 1 fi l. Bayan Invest-ment ticked 0.5 fi l lower and KFIC edged 0.7 fi l up to 44 fi ls. KAMCO fell 1.9 fi ls to 78.1 fi ls and Noor Financial Investment slipped 7 fi ls. Tamdeen Investment Co scaled 12 fi ls.
Gulf Insurance Group dropped 7 fi ls to 610 fi ls whereas Al Ahleia Insurance Co sprinted 19 fi ls with thin trading. Warba Insurance rose 4 fi ls to 115 fi ls on back of 2.3 million shares and Kuwait Reinsurance Co dialed up 2 fi ls. National Real Estate Co clipped 1 fi ls whereas Salhia Real Estate galloped 31 fi ls to 584 fi ls.
National Industries Group took in 2 fi ls on back of 2.2 million shares whereas Gulf Cable eased 1 fi l to 860 fi l. Boubyan Petro-chemical Co and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 1 fi l each while Integrated Hold-ing slipped 8 fi l to 412 fi ls. Aznour closed 2 fi ls in red with a volume of 3.2 million.
VolumeJazeera Airways dropped 19 fi ls to 639
fi ls and ALAFCO inched 1 fi l lower. Bur-gan Company For Well Drilling gave up 6 fi ls and Inovest BSC took in 1 fi l. Al Rai Media Group fell 3.7 fi ls to 39.1 fi ls and KGL Logistics clipped 1.2 fi ls. Soor Fuel crept 1 fi l up to 122 fi ls and Oula Fuel was fl at at 120 fi ls.
Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 221 fi ls and Kuwait Portland Cement scaled 5 fi ls to close at 887 fi ls. Shuaiba Industrial was down 7 fi ls at 150 fi ls and HEISC gained 14 fi ls. Kuwait Foundry Co dialed down 1 fi l while ACICO Industries trimmed 0.6 fi l.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 3.4 fi ls to 52.5 fi ls and Automated Systems Co shed 8.8 fi ls. KCPC erased 3 fi ls while KPPC inched 0.5 fi l into red. Independent Petroleum Group dropped 5 fi ls whereas Ed-ucational Holding Group paused at 328 fi ls.
The market was mixed during the previ-ous week. The main index closed higher in three of the fi ve sessions erasing 4 points week-on-week. It has shed 90 points so far during the month and is up 145 points year-to-date.
Photos by Mahmoud Jadeed/Mohammad MorsiKuwait International Airport wears a deserted look as the government extended the ban on entry of non-Kuwaiti travelers until further notice.
Doors at the arrivals section remain shut and no movement of any trolleys or labor was noticed (inset).
‘First line of defense’
Thermal cameras arrive at MoEBy Abdulrahman Al-Shimmari
Al-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: Almost after a year of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education joined with digital technology to determine the temperature of visitors and employees visit-ing the Ministry’s offi ce building with the use of thermal camera instead of the manu-ally taking the temperatures all this time.
This digital device for measuring tem-perature is the first line of defense in the General Office of the Ministry of Educa-tion to prevent the spread of the “corona” virus, as the Ministry receives hundreds of employees and visitors on a daily ba-sis and this requires rapid interaction to secure the application of health require-
ments and ensuring that everyone entering the premises wears masks and adheres to social distancing.
It seems the issue of legal procedures put in place by the Civil Service Commission for those violating the health requirements and deterrent penalties has fi nally paid off in the form of a commitment by a large num-ber of employees as well as visitors wearing masks and adhering to other health require-ments.
However, it is clearly evident there are still some arrogant people down there who refuse to take precautionary measures while some do sport masks they don’t cover their nose and mouths, but their chins.
Such behavior need a follow-up by the concerned authorities inside the Ministry’s building without complacency.
Kuwait population on declineIndians top exodus
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: The population of Kuwait decreased by 105,694 during the “Corona Year” (2020) amid a decline in the number of expatriates and an increase in the number of citizens. The total population in Kuwait decreased by 2.2 percent, reach-ing 4 million and 670,000 people by the end of the year 2020, compared to 4 million and 776,000 at the end of 2019, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to offi cial fi gures issued by the Public Au-thority for Civil Information (PACI), the number of ex-patriates residing in Kuwait in the year 2020 witnessed a decline of four percent because around 134,000 expatri-ates left during the period from January 2020 to Decem-ber 2020. This brings the total number of expatriates to 3 million and 210,000 people in 2020 as compared to 3 million and 344,000 people at the end of 2019.
In detail, 94 percent of the expatriates who left Kuwait are men - about 126,000 in number - and the percentage of women who left Kuwait is six percent, which is about 8,000.
In terms of nationalities, the Indian community witnessed the largest rate of exodus - about 52 percent of the total expa-triates who left the country in 2020. Compared to the size of the community, its number decreased by 6.57 percent, which is about 69,592 Indians, thus reaching about 989,270 in 2020 compared to a million and 58,000 in 2019.
EgyptianThe Egyptian community came in second place in terms of
its members leaving Kuwait in the “Coronavirus Year”, with 22.5 percent of the total departures. In terms of the size of the community, 4.3 percent of them, which is 300,032 people, left, thus reducing the size of the Egyptian community in Kuwait from 696,082 at the end of 2019 to about 666,050 in 2020.
The Bangladeshi community came in third place, as 13,076 of them left in 2020. This accounted for about ten percent of the total departing expatriates. The number of this community decreased from 282,591 in 2019 to 269,515 at the end of 2020.
As for the Filipino nationality, it witnessed a decline in the number of its citizens in Kuwait by 6,111 in 2020, constituting 4.5 percent of the total departures, and thereby reaching 241,113 at the end of 2020 compared to 247,224 at the end of 2019.
As for the number of citizens, it witnessed an increase in 2020 by about 1.95 percent, which is about 27,925 men and women. The total number of citizens reached one million and 459,000 by the end of 2020, compared to one million and 432,000 at the end of 2019.
‘Apply for permit in 2 months’Kuwaiti army frees inmates 60 volunteers for hospitalsKUWAIT CITY, Feb 21, (KUNA): Chief of the Ku-waiti Army General Staff Lieutenant General Khaled Saleh Al-Sabah on Sunday issued a decree to release military detainees on the occasion of the National Day and Liberation Day.
The decision was based on the directives of the Ku-waiti Deputy Prime Min-ister and Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, said the Directo-rate of Moral Guidance and Public Relations of the Ku-waiti Army in a statement.
Sheikh Khaled wished for Kuwait continuous se-curity and security under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prime Min-ister.
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: The General Administration of Civil Defense said 60 volunteers have been summoned to work in big government hospitals, to deal with visitors and support the public relations department employees, reports Al-Rai daily quoting senior defense offi cials.
The offi cials told the daily this comes following a request from the Ministry of Health to assist the public relations em-ployees in performing their duties in dealing with the sick people and visitors to the hospitals to reduce the severity and problems that may arise, especially since many of the employ-ees working for the public relations are expatriates who are most often than not are not respected by the general public.
However, the Ministry of Interior responded to the re-quest, and last Thursday summoned 60 Kuwaiti volunteers to work in 6 hospitals in the six governorates, starting, Sun-day, Feb 21, 2021.
It is noteworthy to mention the Civil Defense Department at the Ministry of Interior has a registered force of nearly 23,000 volunteers, 17,000 of whom are Kuwaitis, and are fully prepared for volunteer work whenever asked to do so.
Meanwhile , a responsible source at the Public Authority for Manpower said an employer who obtains the approval to recruit a worker from abroad must submit a request to is-sue a work permit for the fi rst time for the recruited worker within two months of the worker’s entry into the country instead of one month as was the requirement earlier, reports Al-Anba daily.
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Expected weather for the next 24 hours:
By Day: Fair and with light to moderate northerly wind to north easterly wind with speeds of 15-35 km/h with a chance for scat-tered light rain later on.
By Night: Rather cold and partly cloudy to cloudy with light
to moderate freshening at times north easterly wind with speeds of 12-40 km/h with a chance for scattered rain.Station Max Exp Min RecKuwait City 22 15Kuwait Airport 22 09Abdaly 24 10
Bubyan - -Jahra 24 12Failaka Island - -Salmiyah 20 16Ahmadi 21 16Nuwaisib 21 16Wafra 22 13Salmy 22 10
Weather
Kuwait jumps to third placeas vaccination rate on rise
By Marwa Al-BahrawiAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: In an indication of the increasing de-mand for COVID-19 vaccines in the country, the vaccination index has jumped to 165,172 as of Sunday afternoon, by 3.87 percent of the population, according to the global vaccination count. This indicates that the Ministry of Health has amended its shortcomings and improved its vaccination rate after the country was ranked last among the GCC member states with only 56,000 administered vaccines.
The daily statistical statement issued by the Ministry of Health is devoid of any information on the vaccination rate. Also, the statements issued by the Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Basil Al-Sabah at the parliamentary session on the number of vaccinated people in the country turned out inconclusive. However, the global vaccination count index www.covidvax.live revealed a remarkable progress for Kuwait in this regard, as it has jumped to the third place within the Gulf region and the 42nd globally among the 96 countries that began the COV-ID-19 vaccination.
In the same context, the Ministry of Health yesterday started providing COVID-19 vaccination for residents at the Kuwait Vaccination Center in Mishref particularly for the elderly and those suffering from chronic and immunological diseases, as these groups are most at risk of the COVID-19 infection and the occurrence of complications.
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
4
R E M E M B E R W H E N
A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION
diwaniya‘Kuwaitis tired of political absurdity ... work for country’s interests’“WHEN the political practice turns into absurdity, any action that results from it will be futile and destructive, especially when the politician uses his influ-ence, money and power to liquidate his opponents and fight them, which is something that we did not see before in Kuwaiti political work which has now become crystal clear from the behavior of some of them which has devastating effects on the life of society and the fate of citizens and state institutions,” columnist Dr Mohammad Al-Ruwaihel wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“The political futility practiced by our politicians has become a method and a culture for most of them and may even influence the new younger generation who believe this is the only way to deal with everyone who disagrees with them intellectually and politically and that it is a clear enemy that must be done away with and fought as is the case in our present life.
“This actually means our politicians will be preoccu-pied by such futile political wars while ignoring nation-building, development and achievements, so we have to ring the alarm bell to warn of this destructive behavior that the homeland and human life is embroiled in, therefore the wise and the decision-makers must be aware of the danger of this catastrophic tampering and cut off its tail.
“When a politician uses his influence, power, money and the law to destroy
and fight his opponents, it will inevitably result in a state of hatred and grudge and the community will sympathize with the other side and will accept any reaction, no matter how violent or absurd, or a state of rebellion against the law, which is a human nature that cannot be denied.
“This will also lead to destructive chaos with unprecedented consequences, therefore the choice of experienced and distinguished politicians will always be wise and intelligent, but we have not seen this for a while, neither in most of the people’s choices when they elect their representatives or from the choices of the authority in choosing ministers.
“We have been experiencing political absurdity since adopting the one-man one-vote rule which is now the master of the situation and the one who domi-nates the scene after sober political action has been absent.
“Therefore, it is everyone’s national and historical responsibility in these difficult circumstances that the nation is going through in front of political, economic and social crises, as well as the current epidemiological situation that requires urgent calming down of the political situation and reduce tension and allow the country and the political elite to search for ways to overcome the dangers imposed by this absurdity which seems to be continuing, without regard to its danger.
“Oh politicians …! The people are tired of your promises, your tampering, your manipulation, your opponents and your struggles, all of which you are well aware of. The citizens are not gullible to tamper with their rights and the capabilities of their homeland, so work out your minds before it is too late. The
people want politicians who respect themselves and respect their people. “The situation is getting out of hand as a result of this absurdity. It is getting
worse as a result of your futile struggles and catastrophic wars, while the coun-try and the citizen groan as a result of this tampering, so will you help and return to your senses before it is too late?”
Also:“You go to any part of the world,– East, West, North, or South,– people look
upon doctors with great respect, because they deserve it due to the importance of their presence among us.There is no doubt that the importance of doctors increases during the spread of diseases, pandemics and disasters, as is the case now, because of the role they play in confronting the coronavirus, wherever they are,” columnist Hussein Al-Rawi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“What happened in the Parliament session last Tuesday made me a little sad but I was excited a lot when a specialized team of doctors attended the session to inform us about the data, information, warnings, news, research and studies in their medical bags, all related to the coronavirus and they are thankful but unfortunately their great effort and their honorable presence was interrupted by one of the MPs who got into a dispute with those doctors who had left their jobs and important tasks in their respective places but as a result of the dispute they did not divulge even a quarter of what they carried in their bags.”
— Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli
Al-Ruwaihel
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. Courtesy of The Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait
Although the face of Sheikh Mubarak is out-of-focus in this photograph, his gold-embroided dress clearly shows. Sheikh Mubarak’s daily procession through Ameer Street in his beauti-ful Victorian carriage, drawn by two fi ne horses, for a formal audience with his subtects, was met with great admiration for a beloved ruler.
Ever since Sabah I assumed leadership in Kuwait in 1756, his descendants have ruled over Kuwait unchallenged. Some rulers governed Kuwait for as long as 70 years, others spent only a few years as rulers. It was Sheikh Mubarak, however, who ‘put Kuwait on the world map.’ Under his fi rm rule, Kuwait became a fl ourishing and attractive place. The success of the pearling
industry and the trade with Arabia improved the city’s econo-my and attracted people from all over Najd and the Gulf ports. When Sheikh Mubarak died in 1915, Kuwait was in need of a strong and just ruler like him.
After Mubarak, his son Jaber ruled Kuwait for less than two years. When he died in 1917, his brother Salem took over and succeeded in defending the city against the danger from the desert. Sheikh Salem died in 1921 and was followed by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber who ruled Kuwait for thirty diffi cult years, including the depression years of the 1930s. When Sheikh Ahmad died in 1950, oil from Kuwait was beginning to reach the factories of Europe. (From the book ‘Old Kuwait: Memories in Photographs’)
RULERS OF KUWAIT
‘MoE lacks vision’‘Top officials do not believe in their usefulness’
By Abdulrahman Al-ShimmariAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: Educational researcher Abdulrahman Al-Jasser said education in light of the corona pandemic is at a dangerous juncture more than ever before, and reform is still expanding and the biggest problems facing education in the State of Kuwait are due to the absence of vision, lack of clarity of goals and lack of strategic educational planning, even if there is a plan.
What is written and published on the Ministry of Education website, is nothing more than ink on paper, he said, and explained that the senior education officials do not believe in their usefulness and do not take into account its contents, and as a result all that we find is instability, confusion and staggering perhaps most of the time, and add to this the contradictory decisions that are being taken from time to time.
The educational arena has become a testing ground for every official who occupies the position according to his orientation and thought, and what is seen are the projects on which millions of dinars are spent from the ministry’s budget that do not happen within a short time until these projects get scrapped with the departure of the person at the helm.
Al-Jasser pointed out in a diagnostic study he prepared on the reality of education in Kuwait, that if “we want to develop education, we must start by developing a clear and stable educa-tional strategy that does not change by changing leaders, and is not subject to individual whims and goals, so the task of leaders is to implement this strategy and its applications, and in order to develop this strategy, it is imperative to establish a national con-ference to save education at the high-est level that includes competent national experts from the Kuwait University, the Ministry of Education and from other educational areas, and the task of the conference should be to develop an educational strategic plan compatible with Kuwait’s vision and the needs of the labor market”.
He added the Supreme Education Council and the National Center for
KUNA photoHH the Crown Prince with Speaker Al-Ghanim.
HH Crown Prince receives ranking officialsHis Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received, at Seif Palace Sunday, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim.
His Highness the Crown Prince hosted, at Seif Palace, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
He also received Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah and Minister of Interior Sheikh Thamer Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. (KUNA)
‘Social Affairs’ doors open to all regulatory authorities’
By Fares Al-AbdanAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Musallam Al-Subaie, said the ministry’s doors are open to all regulatory authorities that follow up the work of ministries and govern-ment agencies, and said the Ministry of Social Affairs welcome any super-visory authority as long as the public interest is the goal.
Al-Subaie told Al-Seyassah daily after a meeting with a number of offi-
cials in the Civil Service Commission and the Audit Bureau, separately, that the ministry is keen to adhere to all regulations and laws governing the conduct of work in light of the spread of the corona pandemic.
He added there is direct contact with officials to respond to any inquiry or note in all sectors of the ministry to correct errors, if any, noting that based on the directives of the Minister of Social Affairs, Issa Al-Kandari, all officials in the ministry were instruct-ed to respond promptly to all inquiries and observations.
Education Development are important, but in order for them to have the desired role, they must work indepen-dently, so their subordination is trans-ferred to the Council of Ministers directly, and the task of the Supreme Education Council is to set educational plans, and the mission of the National Center for Education Development is to oversee and set development studies with an emphasis on assigning compe-
tencies, and the Ministry of Education must devote itself to the executive and operational side, because it is unrea-sonable to see that the one who is implementing is also supervising so who should be held accountable when something goes wrong?
He said, “If we want to know the extent of the success of an institution from its failure, we must know the effectiveness of the senior officials.”
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
5
KUNA photoHH the Amir (right) with HH the Crown Prince.
HH Amir receives senior officials
Amir condoles with Ecuador on former president’s death
KOC planning to issue changeorder for construction of JPF3
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Seif Palace Sunday His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
His Highness the Amir also received, in separate sessions, National Assem-bly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim and
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
Later in the day, he separately host-ed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah and Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh. (KUNA)
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21, (KUNA): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Sunday addressed a cable of condolences to Ec-uadorian President Lenin Moreno on de-mise of the republic’s former president, Gostavo Noboa.
Their Highnesses the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, respectively Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, sent cables of identical content to the Ecuadorian president.
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: According to reliable sources from the oil sector, Ku-wait Oil Company (KOC) is planning to issue a change order worth $200 mil-lion for the construction of the Jurassic Production Facility (JPF3) in the West Rawdatain oil fields in order to develop the facility, add some modifications to the units, and make the most from its produc-tion of light fuel and natural gas, reports Al-Anba daily.
They explained that the Kuwaiti-based oil and gas contractor SETCO has been implementing the project for four years with a value of $377 million. The scope of the work in the first phase of the project includes building a gas processing facility and another for oil treatment, with a ca-pacity of 100-120 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 40,000 barrels of oil per day in a row, at a rate of 200 tons per day of sulfur production. The first phase became fully operational at the end of March 2018.
It should be noted that the Early Pro-duction Facility project is being imple-mented by KOC for implementation, which is a leasing system that ends with ownership and is an alternative to the en-
gineering, purchasing, construction and supply model.
The SETCO contract was one of the three contracts that formed the second phase of the natural gas production plan in Kuwait, while the other two contracts were won by the American company Sch-lumberger.
The three contracts that formed the second phase of the non-associated gas production program in Kuwait required the production of about 120,000 barrels of wet oil per day, and more than 300 mil-lion cubic feet per day of sour gas from Rawdatain and Sabriya oil fields, the northeast of Rawdatian, and Umm Niqa fields in northern Kuwait.
The Jurassic reservoirs were discov-ered in the fields of northern Kuwait (Rawdatain, Sabriya, Dhabi, Umm Naqa and Bahrah), which necessitated the con-struction of four Jurassic facilities for the production of light oil and non-associated gas, which is the EPF-50 facility that was operational in 2008, and the JPF-Sabriya facility, which was commissioned at the end of 2017, as well as the facilities in west and east Rawdatain which were commissioned in 2018.
Move to employ newly-graduatedKuwaiti engineers in Mutla offices
Engineering offices union meets with youth affairs minister
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: The head of the Ku-waiti Engineering Offices and Consulting Houses Union, Engineer Badr Al-Salman, announced that the Union and the Min-istry of State for Youth Affairs have agreed on a mechanism to activate the initiative to qualify and employ newly- graduated Kuwaiti engineers in the offices and advisory hous-es in Mutla, which in-cludes about 28,000 hous-ing units that have been distributed in batches for eligible citizens, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
The project needs engineer-ing offices and advisory houses to carry out design work, li-censes and supervision. It also needs contractors and suppliers of building materials and equip-ment and other engineering and technical works.
Al-Salman referred to a meeting he held recently with the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Min-ister of Information Abdul Rahman Al-Mutairi in the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry in the Minister’s Offi ce Dr Meshaal Al-Shaheen Al-Rabie and Head of the Team of Hope Makers Dr Hashem Al-Tabtabaei and a mem-ber of the Technical Committee of the Union Eng. Nasser Al-Mutairi, Director-General of the Federation Engr Aqil Murad and a member of the Ministry’s Team of Hope Makers Marzouq Al-Hassam, and pointed to the activation of the min-istry’s initiative in cooperation with the union was discussed.
He praised Minister Al-Mu-tairi’s response to launch this initiative and establish a mecha-nism to employ Kuwaiti youth, pointing out that more than 100 Kuwaiti engineering offi ces and consulting houses will be ready to employ the newly-graduated Kuwaiti engineers to work in the design, licensing, supervision, implementation of Al-Mutla resi-dential city.
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
7
Embassy organizes discussion session via Zoom platform
Bangladesh Embassy marks Martyr’s Day & International Mother Language DayKUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait observed “Mar-tyr’s Day & International Mother Lan-guage Day-2021” at the Chancery in a befi tting manner with the presence of embassy offi cials and representa-tives of the print and electronic media on Sunday 21st February 2021. The participation was limited maintaining health instruction commending CO-VID-19 situation in Kuwait.
On this day, in the early morning, HE Major General Md Ashikuzzaman, ndc, afwc, psc, G, Ambassador of Ban-gladesh to Kuwait hoisted the National Flag at half-mast ceremoniously in the presence of Embassy offi cials and rep-resentatives of the Print and electronic media. Later on HE the Ambassador along with other offi cers of the Em-bassy placed wreath of fl ower in front of temporary Shaheed Minar (Martyrs Monument) and observed one minute silence to commemorate those sac-rifi ced their lives during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952.
The main program started with the recitation from the Holy Quran through zoom platform. Special Dua and Munajat were offered seeking divine blessings for the souls of the language martyrs’ and prayed for the continued progress of the country. The messages given by the Hon’ble President, the Hon’ble Prime Min-ister, the Hon’ble Foreign Minister, Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs were read out by Officers of the Embassy. Three short films and one documentary film were shown
at the program. Niaz Morshed, First Secretary & Head of Chancery moderate this part of the program through Zoom platform.
As a part of celebrating “Martyr’s Day & International Mother Language Day-2021” the Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait organized a discussion ses-sion on Zoom platform at 1400 hrs in Dhaka time and at 1100 hrs in Kuwait time. H.E. Mr. Asaduzzaman Noor, MP, Ex-Minister for Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh attended as chief guest,
Professor Dr. Mijanur Rahman, Vice Chancellor of Jagannath University, Dhaka and Professor Dr Syed Anwar Husain, Bangabandhu Chair Professor, Bangladesh University of Profession-als attended as discussant at the dis-cussion session. Participants Bangla-desh Ambassador/High Commissioner abroad, senior government offi cials, eminent personalities and members of Bangladeshi community in Kuwait and abroad has actively participated in the above mentioned discussion ses-
sion. HE Major General Md Ashikuz-zaman ndc, afwc, psc, G, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait moderate the discussion session.
During the session, the eminent dis-cussant of Bangladesh spoke on “Sha-hid Dibash & International Mother Language Day-2021” highlighting “Contribution of language movement to the independence of Bangladesh” and “Importance of International Mother Language Day”. The discus-sion took place in a very lively atmo-
sphere as a good number of partici-pants from the community took part. They highlighted various important events that took place before and after the language movement.
Honorable Chief Guest, Asaduzza-man Noor, MP, in his speech paid deep homage to the Father of the Nation, his family and the souls of the ‘language martyrs’ and prayed for their departed soul. The Chief Guest thanked the eminent speakers and participants for their elaborate discussion on various
aspects of “Martyr’s Day & Interna-tional Mother Language Day”. He also said that defi nitely this discussion ses-sion has enriched our knowledge on our history.
The online discussion session came to an end with the vote of thanks given by HE Major General Md. Ashikuz-zaman, ndc, afwc, psc, G, the Ambas-sador of Bangladesh in Kuwait. The entire program were live telecasted from offi cial Facebook page of the Embassy.
Photos from the event.
Ambassadors congratulateAmir, Kuwait on nat’l days
The following is a message from H.E. Miguel Ángel Isidro, Ambassador of Mexico to the State of Kuwait:
I am truly privileged and hon-oured to celebrate alongside the friendly nation of the State of Ku-wait and its people, the milestone of the 60th Independence Day and 30th Liberation Day celebrations. On this historic occasion, I wish to extend to His Highness Amir of the State of Kuwait, His High-ness the Crown Prince, His High-ness Prime Minister, the Govern-ment and the people of the State of Kuwait our heartfelt congratu-lations and best wishes. We wish the people of Kuwait continue to be blessed with enduring peace, prosperity and happiness under the strong leadership and wisdom of His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait and His Highness Crown Prince.
I am convinced that our coun-tries boast great potential on the way to developing mutually ben-efi cial cooperation. I express our commitment to continue build-ing on the existing bilateral ties of partnership, as well as to raise them to a qualitatively new level for the benefi t of our peoples.
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The following is a mes-sage form His Excellency Igor Hajdušek, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the State of Kuwait:
On behalf of the people, Gov-ernment and Embassy of the Slovak Republic to the State of Kuwait, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, His High-ness Sheikh Meshaal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince, the Government and the friendly people of Kuwait on the occasions of Kuwait’s 60th Independence and 30th Liberation Days.
This year Kuwait is celebrating its National and Liberation Days under the leadership of H.H. Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, all my best wishes for every success in His Highness new tasks. Kuwait can be rightly proud of its achievements since independence. The country has always been an example of stability and economic growth.
Recently the COVID-19 pan-demic shocks the entire world, Ku-wait manages to deal professional-ly with the crisis that was met with acclaim and praise by many of the International Organizations for the efforts made by the Government. I wish Kuwait to continue serving as an oasis of peace and welfare in the region.
Let me finally conclude my message of greetings by extend-ing to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, the heartfelt congratulations of H.E. Mrs. Zu-zana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic on this special occasion.
I wish the best for good health, success and personal well-being to His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Meshaal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince, the Gov-ernment and to offer the people of Kuwait the best wishes for continued welfare and prosperity.
❑ ❑ ❑
The following is a message from H.E. Sarmen Baghdasar-ian, Ambassador of the Repub-lic of Armenia to the State of Kuwait:
On behalf of the people, the
Government, and the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to the State of Kuwait, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, His High-ness Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince, the Government, and the friendly peo-ple of Kuwait on the occasions of Kuwait’s 60th Independence and 30th Liberation Days.
Ever since its independence and liberation, Kuwait has been a country of peace, thanks to its wise Leaders and their remarkably bal-anced foreign policy that helped the country successfully navigate through many hardships and criti-cal stages throughout its history.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the leadership of the State of Kuwait for their support and cooperation with the Embassy as well as for their kindness to-wards the Armenian community that gives them the privilege to en-joy the benefi ts of this great coun-try and play a bridging role in the ties between Armenia and Kuwait.
I would like to conclude my message with my best wishes for good health, success and personal well-being to His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sa-bah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince, the Government as well as to offer the people of Kuwait the best wishes for continued welfare and prosperity.
Embassy Greetings
H.E. Miguel Ángel Isidro, Am-bassador of Mexico to the State
of Kuwait.
H.E. Igor Hajdušek, Ambassa-dor of the Slovak Republic to
the State of Kuwait.
H.E. Sarmen Baghdasarian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the State of Kuwait.
KUNA photoVietnamese Ambassador during his visit to KRCS headquarters.
Vietnamese ambassador commends Kuwait humanitarian, relief efforts
Envoy lauds KRCS efforts in fight against COVID-19
By Arwa Al-Wagayan
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 21, (KUNA): The Ambassador of Vietnam to Kuwait Lee Toan Thang commended the distinguished Kuwaiti role, as well as the coun-try’s comprehensive and qualitative efforts in the field of humanitarian and relief work.
After Thang’s Sunday meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Dr Hilal Al-Say-er, he told KUNA in a statement that he appreciates KRCS’ role in supporting people exposed to natu-ral disasters and reducing their hu-man suffering.
Thang was briefed on the dis-tinguished humanitarian and relief activities provided by KRCS with the aim of supporting humanitar-ian and relief work worldwide, he said, underlining that it is work to serve all of humanity.
MeasuresHe commended what KRCS pre-
sented in combating COVID-19 lo-cally and internationally, noting that the association provided a distin-guished model regarding awareness and preventive measures for all citi-zens and residents.
During the meeting, they dis-cussed ways to enhance KRCS’ ef-forts in Vietnam, documenting links and promoting areas of partnership with the competent authorities in hu-manitarian affairs there.
Thang indicated that his country has strong ties with Kuwait, as the two countries seek to develop the existing political and economic rela-tions between them.
In a statement to KUNA, Al-Sayer said that Thang’s visit to
KUNA photoDr Hilal Al-Sayer receives Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Lee Toan Thang.
KRCS’ headquarters supports its humanitarian orientations and strengthens the various areas of relief interventions, as KRCS will remain at the good expectations of everyone by making more efforts that raise the contents of humani-tarian work and achieve its aspi-rations on the humanitarian arena that faces many challenges.
KRCS continues to fulfi ll its hu-manitarian role and duty in provid-ing relief to the affl icted people and participating in every international effort to alleviate the suffering of these people, Al-Sayer added, noting that KRCS supports any humanitar-ian work for the Vietnamese people.
During the meeting, both sides reviewed the most vital humanitar-ian work and activities carried out by Kuwait to aid and assist countries in the areas of government contribu-tions, humanitarian and relief aid, also medical aid.
Burgan Bank announces names ofYawmi account daily draw winnersKUWAIT CITY, Feb 21: Burgan Bank announced today the names of the daily draw winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a cash-prize of KD 5,000.
The lucky winners are: 1. Mohammad Asghar Haidar2. Mohammad Ali Negahban3. Shahni Umesh Shahani4. Mashael Owaidhah Almanea5. Baqer Hussain JaafarIn addition to the daily draw, Bur-
gan Bank also offers a Quarterly Draw with more chances to win higher re-wards, offering the chance to one lucky customer to win KD 125,000 ev-ery three months. The Yawmi Account offers Daily and Quarterly Draws, wherein the Quarterly Draw requires customers to maintain a minimum amount of KD 500 in their account for
two months prior to the draw date. Ad-ditionally, every KD 10 in the account will entitle customers to one chance of winning. If the account balance is KD 500and above, the account holder will be qualified for both the quarterly and daily draws.
Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances of becoming a winner. The higher the level of the deposit, the higher the likelihood to win.
For more information on opening a Yawmi account, the new quarterly draw or on any of the bank’s products and services, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080. Customers can also log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.
Market Movements 19-02-2021
Business Change Closing ptsCHINA - Shanghai SE +20.27 3,675.36
Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries -3.35 7,155.47JAPAN - Nikkei -56.10 30,236.09GERMANY - DAX -36.10 13,873.17FRANCE - CAC 40 -39.80 5,726.04EUROPE - Euro Stoxx 50 -22.88 3,676.97S. KOREA - KRX 100 -111.35 6,652.76PHILIPPINES - PSEi -116.79 6,849.64
in a blow to Ryanair, EU court approves state help measures
A top court has ruled that mea-sures introduced by France and Sweden to help some airlines weather the fallout of coronavi-rus restrictions are compatible with European Union law, deal-ing a major blow to low-cost carrier Ryanair which chal-lenged them as unfair.
The General Court of the European Union handed down two decisions. It said a system introduced by France to defer
tax payments for airlines hold-ing a French operating license “does not constitute discrimina-tion.”
The Luxembourg-based court also ruled that a loan guarantee scheme put in place last year by Sweden to support airlines with a Swedish operat-ing license “is presumed to have been adopted in the inter-est of the European Union.”
The EU’s executive arm, the
European Commission, which polices state aid and other competition issues, approved the two plans last year, weeks after the pandemic began spreading throughout Europe and border closures and other restrictions hit air travel.
Ryanair which says it was transporting around 149 million passengers a year before the coronavirus hit, went to court to have that approval annulled,
arguing that the schemes con-stitute unfair state aid bailouts for national carriers.
The decisions come as the 27 EU member countries pon-der how long to continue to provide support to businesses and economies to help them survive the impact of coronavi-rus restrictions amid concerns that some companies are gain-ing an unfair advantage through state help. (AP)
A United Airlines jet is towed after being deiced at
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Feb 16,
in Houston. (AP)
Decision holds broad implications for the gig economy
UK top court gives Uber drivers benefits in landmark rulingLONDON, Feb 21, (AP): Uber drivers in Britain are entitled to benefits like paid holidays and minimum wage, the country’s top court ruled Friday, in a decision that threatens the company’s business model and holds broad impli-cations for the gig economy.
The ruling that the drivers should be classed as “workers” and not self-employed is a big defeat for the ride-hailing giant. And it could inspire similar legal action against other com-panies who rely on gig workers as well as influence courts in other countries grappling with the issue, experts said.
The seven Supreme Court judges who heard the case unanimously rejected Uber’s appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that two Uber drivers were “workers” under British law.
Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar, the two drivers, cheered the outcome.
“This ruling will fundamentally re-order the gig economy and bring an end to rife exploitation of workers by means of algorithmic and contract trickery,” said James Farrar said by email. The pair took Uber to the tribu-nal in 2016, which ruled in their favor. The decision was upheld in two rounds of appeals before it arrived at the Supreme Court.
San Francisco-based Uber, which has 65,000 active drivers and 5 million regular users in the UK, had argued that Aslam and Farrar were indepen-dent contractors. The company said it respected the court’s decision, which it argued focused on a small number of drivers who used the Uber app in 2016.
“Since then we have made some significant changes to our business, guided by drivers every step of the way,” Jamie Heywood, Uber’s region-al general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said in a statement. “These include giving even more con-trol over how they earn and providing new protections like free insurance in case of sickness or injury.”
Heywood said the company would consult with its UK drivers to under-stand the changes they want.
The ruling clarified that drivers are considered to be on the job when they are logged in to the Uber app in their territory and ready and willing to accept rides, which could be used to calculate minimum wage and holiday pay. Uber had argued that drivers were only working when they were making a journey with a paying passenger.
The case is now expected to return to the employment tribunal for deci-sions on compensation over lost pay for about two dozen drivers involved in the original claim. Another 2,000 drivers’ cases had been stayed pending the decision. Drivers could be entitled to an average of 12,000 pounds ($16,800), estimated law firm Leigh Day, which is representing drivers.
Uber drive Conrad Delphine looked forward to getting paid time off after years of working without holiday or sick pay.
“I am very pleased. It means I can go on holiday without having to worry about how to pay for it,” Delphine said. “Things have been worse because of coronavirus. If we catch the virus we should be entitled to sick pay. It’s about time we had some decent pay and conditions.”
Uber and other app-based ride-hail-ing services avoided a similar attempt in California to classify drivers as employees eligible for benefits and job protections. The companies bankrolled Proposition 22, a ballot measure exempting them from the state’s gig-economy laws by keeping drivers clas-sified as independent contractors able to set their own hours. Voters approved it in November.
The British judges on Friday cited a number of factors in their decision: Uber sets fares and contract terms and penalizes drivers who reject or cancel rides. It also uses passenger ratings to control drivers and minimizes com-munications between drivers and pas-
But only briefly assuming refineries get up
Gulf freeze may boost gas prices: expertsTEXAS, Feb 21, (AP): Add one more potential item to the list of economic hardships dealt to Americans in the past 11 months: rising gas prices.
But you can’t blame it on the coronavirus pandemic. This one is on Mother Nature.
A deep freeze in the Gulf state region and beyond that killed dozens of people, left millions without power and jeopardized drinking water systems also forced as many as 11 refineries offline, according to travel app GasBuddy. The resulting capacity cuts could drive gas prices up by about 10 to 20 cents per gallon, said Patrick DeHaan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
The national average for a gallon of gas is currently between $2.54 and $2.57 depending on who you ask, meaning prices could rise to around $2.75 per gallon fairly quickly. Fortunately, it shouldn’t last long, assum-
ing refineries get up and running at full strength after the frigid weather moves out.
“Once power is restored, once temperatures rise above freezing, refineries will restart, oil production will restart and it shouldn’t have more than a several-weeks impact,” DeHaan said.
Also, because gas demand has fallen as the pandemic forced millions of people to work from home, there are adequate reserves to prevent prices from rising too much.
“In terms of transportation fuels demand, it’s kind of an opportune time,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. “Gasoline demand is quite low and it’s going to con-tinue to be low well into March. And we have very, very high inventories of product.”
In this file photo, a passer-by walks past an employment hiring sign while entering a Target store location, in Westwood, Massachusetts.The Federal Reserve says there’s evidence that hiring has picked up in recent weeks,
though the job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic. (AP)
Uber drivers of the (ADCU), App Drivers & Couriers Union, celebrate as they listen to the court decision on a tablet computer outside the Supreme Court in London on Feb 19, 2021.The UK Supreme Court ruled Friday that Uber drivers should be classed as ‘workers and not self employed. (AP)
sengers, which results in the service being “very tightly defined and con-trolled by Uber.”
“Drivers are in a position of subor-dination and dependency to Uber,” with little ability to improve their eco-nomic position and the only way to increase their earnings is by “working longer hours while constantly meeting Uber’s measures of performance,” said judge George Leggatt, as he read out a summary of the ruling on a court livestream.
Uber said some features cited in the ruling no longer exist, noting that since 2017 drivers face no repercussion for rejecting multiple consecutive trips.
Providing more benefits for its drivers is likely increase costs for Uber, which already was struggling to make a profit and had previously run into regulatory trouble in London, where authorities had sought to revoke its license. The changes could ultimately push up fares for riders, experts say.
The decision also comes as the coronavirus has upended Uber’s oper-ating environment. The company slashed more than 6,000 jobs last year as the virus decimated demand for trips while boosting demand for its Uber Eats food delivery service. The ruling doesn’t affect Uber Eats couri-ers.
Experts said the ruling does not have a major immediate impact on other companies because the judges cited business practices specific to Uber, which in the UK has to operate under specific regulations governing minicabs.
Federal Reserve sees ‘modest’pickup in hiring during month
Job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic
WASHINGTON, Feb 21, (AP): The Federal Reserve says there’s evidence that hiring has picked up in recent weeks, though the job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic.
In its semi-annual monetary pol-icy report released Friday, the Fed said it has been watching job data compiled by payroll processor ADP. The Fed has constructed its own measurement of hiring using the ADP data, and said that gauge has closely matched the govern-ment’s monthly jobs reports throughout the pandemic.
“The ADP data indicate that employment improved modestly through early February,” the Fed’s
report said. It also said that its mea-sure shows that the battered leisure and hospitality industry – which includes restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues – has started adding jobs again, after a “temporary downturn” at the end of last year.
The Fed has in the past several years turned increasingly to non-governmen-tal sources of economic data to get a quicker, more timely read on the econ-omy. In its report, the central bank said this has proved particularly useful dur-ing the pandemic given the speed of the recession, which eliminated 22 million jobs in just two months this spring. Just 55% of those jobs have been recovered.
The report will form the basis for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony next week before committees in the House and Senate.
Hiring has stalled in the past three months, with job gains averaging just 90,000 a month from November through January. And the Fed’s report underscored that the job mar-ket is a long way from what the cen-tral bank considers “full employ-ment.”
Roughly 4 million Americans have fallen out of the labor force since the pandemic began, meaning they are no longer working or look-ing for work. Powell has previously noted that if they were counted as unemployed, the jobless rate would be roughly 10%.
Still, Fed officials believe the eco-nomic outlook for later this year has brightened, according to minutes of their January meeting, released on Wednesday.
The distribution of vaccines and the enactment of a $900 billion eco-
nomic rescue package late last year has lifted the economy’s prospects, the minutes said.
Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, one of the Fed’s 12 regional banks, echoed this view in a speech Friday at the Yale Economic Development Symposium.
“A successful vaccination rollout by the middle of the summer sug-gests that by the second half of this year a robust economic recovery should be underway,” Rosengren said in prepared remarks.
In a separate section of the semi-annual report, the Fed also spelled out changes in its thinking that has led it to push harder for lower unem-ployment and place less emphasis on potential threats of inflation.
“Economic performance in recent decades, including during the previ-ous economic expansion, has dem-onstrated that a strong labor market can be sustained without inducing an unwanted increase in inflation,” the Fed said.
In 2019, the unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5%, with-out any sign of inflation. Powell and other Fed officials have pointed to that trend as justification for keeping rates ultra-low until hiring has fully recovered. The Fed has pinned its short-term interest rate at nearly zero since last March, when the pandemic intensified.
Previously, Fed officials often felt it was necessary to raise its bench-mark rate when the unemployment rate neared its estimate of maximum employment, just on the prospect that inflation would soon increase. But Fed policy now is to not raise rates until inflation has sustainably reached its target of 2%.
BUSINESSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
9
Ahold Delhaize sales soar Google fires AI manager
Online sales at retailer Ahold Delhaize soared nearly 72% in the fi nal quarter of 2020, the company said, as the global pandemic forced many custom-ers to shop from home.
Global net sales at the mul-tinational that owns the Stop & Shop, Food Lion and Hannaford stores in the United States rose by nearly 13% to 19.6 billion eu-ros ($23.7 billion).
The company recorded a 9 million euro net loss for the
quarter, mainly due to previ-ously announced US pension plan withdrawal and settlement agreements totaling 841 million euros.
CEO Frans Muller paid tribute to staff for their work during the pandemic, which he said “cre-ated unprecedented challenges for the Ahold Delhaize brands.”
The company said that the COVID-19 pandemic “continues to create signifi cant uncertainty in 2021.” (AP)
Google has fi red a leader of its artifi cial intelligence ethics team in the fallout from the recent depar-ture of another former employee involved in the same fi eld.
The internet company con-fi rmed the fi ring after Margaret Mitchell announced her ouster on Twitter.
The fi ring comes a month after Mitchell also vented on Twitter about the handling of her former colleague, Timnit Gebru, who parted ways with Google late last
year. Gebru, a Black woman, said she was fi red in a dispute over a research paper, while Google said it had accepted her resignation.
Hundreds of Google employ-ees have signed an online peti-tion protested Gebru’s departure. Mitchell, though, was even more outspoken in a Jan 19 tweet t hat insinuated that a meeting compa-ny CEO Sundar Pichai had sched-uled with the leaders of historically Black colleges and universities was merely window dressing. (AP)
This Sept 24, 2019, fi le photo shows a sign on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif. (AP)
Closures create business boom for commercial auctioneers
Pandemic restaurant closures produce glut of used equipmentSAN LEANDRO, California, Feb 21, (AP): The pandem-ic’s heavy toll on the restaurant industry can be seen in Jose Bonilla Jr.’s cavernous warehouse, which is packed with industrial ovens, grills, mixers, refrigerators, dining tables and chairs.
Bonilla’s family business, American Restaurant Supply in San Leandro, Calif, buys used appliances, furniture and other equipment when restaurants close in the San Fran-cisco Bay Area.
“We have an overfl ow of equipment that’s been coming in,” said Bonilla, whose family started the company more than 40 years ago.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced tens of thousands of restaurants to permanently shut their doors as dining re-strictions keep customers away. But it has also been a boon for commercial auctioneers that buy used equipment and sell them to restaurants that managed to stay afl oat, particu-larly ones that have expanded their takeout business and are eager to snatch up supplies at bargain prices.
“As the pandemic has continued to impact businesses, the auction industry has actually become busier and busier as the economy has weakened, especially in small busi-nesses and in food service equipment,” said John Schultz, a board member of the National Association of Auctioneers.
Schultz is the chief marketing and technology offi cer at Grafe Auction, a Rochester-Minn.-based company that helps restaurants and other businesses nationwide sell their used assets when they shut down.
The company conducted 289 auctions in 2020, up from 203 in 2019, and had its most profi table month in August since the company was founded in 1959, Schultz said.
“It’s a bittersweet thing for me as I see these businesses closing,” Shultz said. “It’s sad for me, but for us it’s been actually a record year” in 2020.
A new report by the National Restaurant Association shows the pandemic’s devastating impact on the restaurant industry, which last year lost 110,000 businesses - about 17% of the nation’s total.
“We’ve never seen that kind of loss,” said Sean Ken-nedy, executive vice president at the National Restaurant Association. “This is as dire a situation for the restaurant industry in this country as we’ve ever seen.”
The National Restaurant Association is calling on Con-gress to help the country’s beleaguered restaurants as they negotiate a COVID-19 relief package with President Joe Biden.
“We need specifi c funding targeted at restaurants or the nation’s second largest private sector employer is not going to be around much longer,” Kennedy said.
Over the past year, Bonilla’s been fi elding a fl urry calls from restaurants that are shutting down and need to quickly sell their equipment before the next rent check is due.
Unfortunately, Bonilla said, he can’t help most of these restaurant owners because his warehouse is already stuffed with roughly 2,000 pieces of equipment. And he doesn’t have enough workers to pick up, inspect and fi x the used appliances.
“It’s heartbreaking because people, you know, they take their pride in the restaurants,” Bonilla said. “They’ve put every resource they could possibly put into their business to try to survive, and they just cannot survive.”
Among the hardest hit are restaurants that relied on in-door dining, especially in states that have imposed the most severe restrictions, industry offi cials say.
Before the pandemic, Johnny Metheny ran four res-taurants in San Francisco, which has had some of the na-tion’s strictest rules on dining. He temporarily closed two downtown restaurants and permanently shut down a third, Solstice, because it didn’t have a good setup for outdoor dining.
“Unfortunately, I had to give the keys back there because after 10 months of not being able to operate, you just can’t survive,” Metheny said. “We had 19 employees that unfor-tunately we had to lay off. And it’s devastating for them and it just crushes me.”
Metheny tried to sell the restaurant’s equipment, but his friend who runs a commercial auction business declined to buy it because he already has too much inventory he can’t sell.
“He told me, ‘I’ve taken in so much equipment and no-body wants it.’ So we just put it in storage,” said Metheny, who is considering opening a new restaurant when the pan-demic ends.
Yellen warns against ‘paring’Biden’s $1.9tn relief package
‘We are digging out of a deep hole’
WASHINGTON, Feb 21, (AP): Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that recent signs of improvement in the U.S. economy are no reason to scale back the administration’s $1.9 trillion relief plan because the economy remains in a “deep hole” with many people still hurting.
Yellen said in a CNBC interview that in addition to the relief plan’s $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded unem-ployment benefi ts, the Biden adminis-tration is planning to unveil later this year an infrastructure program also aimed at boosting growth.
“We are digging out of a deep hole,” Yellen said. “Last year was the worst year for economic growth since World War II.”
Yellen rejected arguments being made by Republicans that President Joe Biden’s proposal is too big following the nearly $4 trillion in government support approved last year.
She said that even with the support already approved, the country still has 9 million people out of work and another 4 million who have dropped out of the labor force. She noted that the
Congressional Budget Office has pro-jected that without the Biden plan, it could take the economy until 2024 to get back to full employment. With the extra support, that goal could be achieved by next year, she said.
“The costs of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big,” Yellen said. “I really think the ben-efits will far outweigh the costs in the long run.”
Yellen also dismissed concerns that the increased government spending and soaring budget deficits could trigger unwanted inflation. She said the Federal Reserve, which she headed from 2014 to 2018, had the tools to deal with infla-tion.
The greater threat is “scarring” that would leave people out of work for long periods, making it harder for them to get back into the labor market and taking a permanent toll on their lives, she said.
She said parts of the administration’s infrastructure proposal would be paid for with tax increases on wealthy corpora-tions and high-income individuals, something Republicans also object to. Asked how much this “Build Back Better” plan would cost, Yellen said the plan was still being developed and the administration did not have a cost esti-mate yet.
In this Aug 14, 2019 fi le photo, former Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks with FOX Business Network guest anchor Jon Hilsenrath at the Fox Washington bureau in
Washington. (AP)
An employee cleans used equipment for sale inside the warehouse of American Restaurant Supply, which is packed with appliances and furniture from restaurants that have shut down during the pandemic, in San Lean-
dro, Calif, on Jan 14. (AP)
‘Economy improving in rural parts of 10 states’OMAHA, Nebraska, Feb 21, (AP): The economy is slowly improving in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but employment remains below the level it was at before the coronavirus pandemic began last year, according to a new monthly survey of bankers released Thursday.
The overall index for the region increased to 53.8 in Feb-ruary from January’s 52. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy, while a score below 50 suggests a shrink-ing economy.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who over-sees the survey, said the number of jobs in the region is down roughly 146,000, or 3.3%, from the level it was at before the pandemic began. The survey’s hiring index hit 51.9 in February, up from January’s weak 46, to suggest businesses are now hiring, but Goss said it will take several month’s of steady growth to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
The bankers surveyed are optimistic about the economy as grain prices and exports continue to increase. The survey’s confi dence index increased to 64 in February from Janu-ary’s 60. Goss said the Federal Reserve’s current record low short-term interest rates are also helping the economy.
Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minne-sota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.
BUSINESSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
10
Kia and Hyundai recovering from days-long network outages
Kia Motors America says it’s restoring services crippled by a computer network out-age that began Saturday and which apparently affected dealers’ ability to order vehi-cles and parts and knocked offline a smartphone app that owners use to remotely start and warm up vehicles.
Both Kia and affiliated automaker Hyundai Motor America, which reported a
less severe IT outage it said also began Saturday, said they had no evidence the problems were caused by ransomware. Neither would provide an explanation for what caused them.
In a statement on Thursday, Kia cited “online speculation” that it was hit by ransomware, which scrambles data until a victim pays to have it decoded. “At this time, and based on the
best and most current infor-mation, we can confirm that we have no evidence that Kia or any Kia data is subject to a ransomware attack,” the com-pany said.
The cybersecurity news outlet BleepingComputer reported Wednesday that it obtained a note in which the ransomware gang Dop-pelpaymer was demanding $20 million from Hyundai to
decode scrambled data. The report said the gang was threatening to leak online data stolen from Hyundai unless the South Korean au-tomaker paid up.
Kia said its UVO app, which offers the “remote start” func-tion, was coming back online Thursday. It would not con-firm that the outage delayed vehicle deliveries and main-tenance. (AP)
In this file photo, the company sign stands over a row of un-sold 2021 Seltos models at a Kia dealership, in Centennial,
Colorado. (AP)
Social media giant urged to return to negotiating table with media organizations
Australian leader urges Facebook to lift its news blockadeCANBERRA, Australia, Feb 21, (AP): Australia’s prime minister urged Facebook to lift its ban on news access for Australian users and return to the negotiating table with media organizations, warning that other countries would follow his government’s example in mak-ing digital giants pay for journal-ism.
Prime Minister Scott Morri-son described Facebook’s move Thursday to prevent Australians from accessing and sharing news as a threat.
The blockade has escalated a fi ght with the government over whether powerful tech companies should have to pay news organiza-tions for content.
“The idea of shutting down the sorts of sites they did yesterday, as some sort of threat - well, I know how Australians react to that and I thought that was not a good move on their part,” Morrison told re-porters.
“They should move quickly past that, come back to the table and we’ll sort it out,” he added.
Australian news organizations could not post stories and people who tried to share existing news stories got notifications saying they were blocked from doing so.
There was public outrage at how the Facebook blockade was
bungled, cutting access - at least temporarily - to pandemic, pub-lic health and emergency ser-vices.
Newspaper headlines included: “No likes for unsocial network,” and “Faceblock.”
An article about how fake news would replace credible journal-ism in Australian feeds carried the headline, “’Fakebook’ shows
all it cares about is profit, not people.”
Some non-Australian outlets also appeared affected, with posts disappearing from Facebook pages belonging to Britain’s Daily Tele-graph and Sky News. Both share names with news outlets in Aus-tralia.
The blockade was a response to the passage of a bill by the House
of Representatives on Wednesday night that would make Facebook and Google pay Australian media companies fair compensation for the journalism that the platforms link to. The legislation must be ap-proved by the Senate to become law.
Google has responded by quick-ly working out licensing content deals with major Australian media companies under its own News Showcase model.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has announced a wide-ranging deal with Google covering operations in the United States and Britain as well as Australia.
Major Australian media or-ganization Seven West Media also reached a deal earlier in the week. Rival Nine Entertainment is reportedly close to its own pact, and state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. is in negotia-tions.
Morrison said he discussed the Facebook dispute with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. Morrison was also dis-cussing Australia’s proposed law with the leaders of Britain, Canada and France.
“There is a lot of world interest in what Australia is doing,” Mor-rison said.
“That’s why I invite, as we did with Google, Facebook to con-
structively engage because they know that what Australia will do here is likely to be followed by many other Western jurisdic-tions.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the minister responsible for the pro-posed News Media Bargaining Code, had a telephone conversa-tion with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg after the block-ade began on Thursday and again on Friday.
“We talked through their remain-ing issues & agreed our respective teams would work through them immediately. We’ll talk again over the weekend,” Frydenberg tweeted on Friday.
“I reiterated Australia remains committed to implementing the code,” Frydenberg added.
Frydenberg maintains that Facebook had been having con-structive negotiations with Aus-tralian media on pay deals im-mediately before the surprise blockade.
News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller was more equivocal about Facebook negotia-tions.
“Having been someone who’s dealt with Facebook over the past months, we have some weeks where we’re getting good engagement and think we’re progressing and then you get si-
lence.“I think the door is still open,”
Miller told a Senate inquiry into Australian media diversity.
“While Facebook may have moved away, they don’t move out,” Miller added.
News Corp. owns most of Australia’s major newspapers and some analysts argue the U.S.-based international me-dia empire is the driver for the conservative Australian gov-ernment making Facebook and Google pay.
“This legislation is pure protec-tionism out of the brain of Rupert Murdoch to try to create a tax on his competitors,” Jeff Jarvis, a journalism expert from the City University of New York, told ABC recently.
Facebook said on Thursday the proposed Australian law “fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it.”
Morrison said his government was “happy to listen to them on the technical issues,” but remained de-termined to pass the law.
“It’s not OK to unfriend Aus-tralia because Australia is very friendly,” Morrison said. “We’d like to remain very friendly and it’s time for them to friend us again.”
Vaccine delays leave groceryworkers feeling ‘expendable’
11 states have no clear plan for prioritizing grocery workers
NEW YORK, Feb 21, (AP): As panicked Ameri-cans cleared supermarkets of toilet paper and food last spring, grocery em-ployees gained recognition as among the most indis-pensable of the pandemic’s front-line workers.
A year later, most of those workers are waiting their turn to receive COVID-19 vaccines, with little clarity about when that might happen.
A decentralized vaccine cam-paign has resulted in a patchwork of policies that differ from state to state, and even county to county in some areas, resulting in an incon-sistent rollout to low-paid essential workers who are exposed to hun-dreds of customers each day.
“Apparently we are not front-line workers when it comes to get-ting the vaccine. That was kind of a shock,” said Dawn Hand, who works at a Kroger supermarket in Houston, where she said three of her co-workers were out with the virus last week. She watches others get-ting vaccinated at the in-store phar-macy without knowing when she’ll get her turn.
Texas is among several states that have decided to leave grocery and other essential workers out of the second phase of its vaccination ef-fort, instead prioritizing adults over 65 and people with chronic medical conditions.
Focusing on older adults is an approach many epidemiologists support as the most ethical and ef-fi cient because it will help reduce deaths and hospitalizations faster. People over 65 account for 80% of deaths in the country, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.
“Our main goals with vaccines should be reducing deaths and hos-pitalizations,” said William Moss, executive director of the Interna-tional Vaccine Center at Johns Hop-kins University School of Public Health. “In order to do that, we need to begin vaccinating those at the highest risks.”
But many grocery workers have been surprised and disheartened to fi nd that they’ve been left out of such policies, in part because a CDC panel had raised their expectations by recommending the second phase of the vaccine rollout – 1B – include grocery and other essential employ-ees.
Even when grocery workers are prioritized, they still face long waits. New York opened up vac-cines to grocery workers in early January, along with other essential employees and anyone 65 and over. But limited supply makes booking an appointment diffi cult, even more
so for the workers who don’t have large companies or unions to advo-cate for them.
Edward Lara had to close his small grocery store – known as a bodega – in the Bronx for 40 days when he and his employees con-tracted the virus last spring. He has tried for weeks to get a vaccine ap-pointment and fi nally fi gured out he could register through the website of a network of health care provid-ers, which will notify him when a slot opens.
Lara’s father-in-law died of the virus in March. His mother-in-law died in November. Last week, a friend who manages his bodega’s insurance policy also died. And a cousin in New Jersey got the virus for a second time, leaving him terri-fi ed it could happen to him.
“Nothing to be done. Cross my fi ngers and hope that God protects me,” Lara said after registering for the waitlist.
Only 13 states are currently al-lowing grocery workers to sign up for vaccines, according to the Unit-ed Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 1.3 million U.S. grocery, meatpacking and oth-er front-line workers.
Some states are still working through an initial phase that pri-oritizes health workers and nursing home residents. Many states have divided the second phase into tiers that put grocery workers lower than others, including people 65 and over, teachers and fi rst responders. Eleven states have no clear plan for prioritizing grocery workers at all, according to research from United 4 Respect, a labor group that advo-cates for workers at Walmart, Ama-
zon and other major retailers.At MOM’s Organic Market, a
21-store grocery chain in the Mid-Atlantic region, chief culture of-fi cer Jon Croft initially thought the company’s 1,500 workers would be vaccinated by the end of January. He now thinks it will be more like March or April. The company has only been able to pre-register work-ers from two stores in Maryland and two in Virginia.
“Folks feel they deserve to have an opportunity to be vaccinated having been on the front line,” Croft said. “The politicians and the health departments have been singing the praises of grocery workers but now they have been silent.”
Major food retailers say they are doing their part to get their work-ers vaccinated. Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, said it has been vaccinating employees in Il-linois ever since they became eligi-ble, but grocery workers aren’t yet eligible in most of the jurisdictions in which the company operates. Target and Walmart also said they would offer their workers vaccines at their own pharmacies as soon as they are eligible.
Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Target and online delivery service Instacart have offered bonuses or extra paid time off for workers who get the vaccine.
When grocery chain Lidl got word from Suffolk County on Long Island that it would be given ap-pointments for its local workers, it immediately contacted those who it knew to be at highest risk. So far, more than 100 employees in Suffolk County have now gotten shots.
Joseph Lupo, a Lidl supervisor
who fell ill with the virus in March, is one of them.
“I never ever want to get COVID again, or see anybody else get it,” said Lupo, 59.
But for many grocery workers, the realization that they won’t be eligible any time soon adds to the sense of being expendable. They have fought a mostly losing battle for hazard pay, which a handful of companies offered in the spring but ended despite multiple resurgences of the virus.
A year into the pandemic, some shoppers still refuse to wear masks and managers often don’t force them to follow the rules.
“There are the people who come in wearing a mask halfway down or take it off as soon as they get in the door,” said Drew Board, who makes $13.50 an hour handling gro-cery pick-up orders at a Walmart in Albemarle, North Carolina. “I ask them politely to pull it back up and they do and then take it back down when they walk away.”
Francisco Marte, president of the Bodega and Small Business Association of New York, said he tells his own workers not to risk their lives confronting shoppers who won’t wear masks. In Au-gust, an angry customer slashed thousands of dollars worth of goods at a Bronx bodega after be-ing asked to wear a mask.
“It should be the job of the po-lice,” said Marte, whose organiza-tion handed out 150,000 free masks in the spring when they were scarce. “I tell the employees, keep your dis-tance and wear your mask but don’t put yourself in danger because we are the ones who lose.”
In this file photo, a customer asks Lidl employee Joseph Lupo, (right), for help finding a product inside the Lidl grocery market in Lake Grove, New York. (AP)
In this file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. For years, Facebook has been in a defensive crouch amid a slew of privacy scandals, antitrust lawsuits and charges that it was letting hate speech and
extremism destroy democracy. (AP)
SCIENCEARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
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‘Don’t shed masks yet’
What is ‘safe’ afterCovid vaccination?LOS ANGELES, Feb 21, (AP): You’re fully vaccinated against the coronavirus — now what? Don’t expect to shed your mask and get back to normal activities right away.
That’s going to be a disappointment, if not a shock, to many people.
In Miami, 81-year-old Noemi Caraballo got her second dose on Tuesday and is looking forward to seeing friends, resuming fi tness classes and running errands after nearly a year of being extremely cautious, even ordering groceries online.
“Her line is, ‘I’m tired of talking to the cats and the par-rots’,” said her daughter Susan Caraballo. “She wants to do things and talk to people.”
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t yet changed its guidelines: At least for now, people should fol-low the same rules as everybody else about wearing a mask,
keeping a 6-foot distance and avoiding crowds — even after they’ve gotten their second vaccine dose.
Vaccines in use so far require two doses, and experts say especially don’t let your guard down after the fi rst dose.
“You’re asking a very logical ques-tion,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, responded when a 91-year-old California woman recently asked if she and her vaccinated friends could resume their mah-jongg games.
In that webcast exchange, Fauci only could point to the CDC’s recommendations, which so far are mum about exceptions for vaccinated people getting together. “Hang on,” he told the woman, saying he expected updates to the guidelines as more people get the coveted shots.
What experts also need to learn: The vaccines are highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, especially se-vere illness and death — but no one yet knows how well they block spread of the coronavirus.
It’s great if the vaccine means someone who otherwise would have been hospitalized instead just has the sniffl es, or even no symptoms. But “the looming question,” Fauci said during a White House coronavirus response briefi ng last week, is whether a person infected despite vaccination can still, un-wittingly, infect someone else.
Studies are underway to fi nd out, and hints are starting to emerge. Fauci pointed to recent research from Spain showing the more coronavirus an infected person harbors — what’s called the viral load — the more infectious they are. That’s not surprising, as it’s true with other illnesses.
ProtectedSome preliminary fi ndings from Israel have suggested peo-
ple infected after the fi rst vaccine dose, when they’re only par-tially protected, had smaller viral loads than unvaccinated peo-ple who got infected. That’s encouraging if the fi ndings hold up. Israel has vaccinated a large fraction of its population and scientists worldwide are watching how the outbreak responds as those inoculations increase.
Also critical is tracking whether the vaccines protect against new, mutated versions of the virus that are spreading rapidly in some countries, added Dr Walter Orenstein, an infectious disease expert at Emory University. He’s been vaccinated and is scrupulously following the CDC guidelines.
There are practical reasons. “It’s hard to tell who got vac-cinated and who didn’t if you’re just walking around the gro-cery store,” noted University of Pennsylvania immunologist E. John Wherry.
And experts like Wherry get asked, repeatedly: Yes, there are rules for being in public, but what’s safe for Grandma to do at home, with family or close friends, after she’s vac-cinated?
Not everyone’s immune system is boosted equally from vaccines — so someone with cancer or the frail elderly may not get as much protection as a robust 70-something.
But most people should feel “more confi dent about going shopping, for example, or going to see your grandkids, or giv-ing your daughter a hug,” Wherry said.
That’s because the chances of a fully vaccinated person get-ting seriously ill, while not zero, are low.
“Friends coming over for dinner, we should still try to fol-low the guidelines,” Wherry added. “You never know who is compromised, where the vaccine may not work as well.”
What if the fully vaccinated are exposed to someone who’s infected? The CDC did recently ease those rules: No quaran-tine as long as the vaccinated person shows no symptoms and it’s been at least two weeks but not longer than three months since their second dose.
Getting on an airplane? Vaccinated or not, the CDC still urges essential travel only.
International travel is an even tougher prospect. Expect countries that already have different quarantine and test re-quirements to come up with varying post-vaccination guide-lines — especially since multiple types of vaccines, some bet-ter proven than others, are used around the world. There’s also the concern about carrying those worrisome mutations from one country to another.
Stay tuned for updates to the advice as more people get vac-cinated. Meanwhile, don’t underestimate how important it is for the vaccinated to feel less anxiety as they run errands or go to work while still following the public health measures, said Dr Luciana Borio, a former Food and Drug Administra-tion scientist.
Even with a trip to the grocery store, “there was always this anxiety about, ‘Was that the contact that’s going to make me infected’?” Borio said. “That is a very powerful change in one’s living situation.”
Also:PRAGUE: Authorities in central Europe warned on Friday that they are seeing a surge in coronavirus cases across their region amid the discovery of new variants.
The Polish health minister, Adam Niedzielski, said the fi rst case of a variant fi rst found in South Africa had been discov-ered in Poland, and that some 10% of all cases now involve the variant that emerged in England.
“We are entering a crisis situation again. It is up to us where the peak of this third wave will be” Niedzielski said. “Respon-sible behavior is key.”
The Czech Republic, one of the hardest-hit countries in the 27-member European Union, moved Friday to further tighten restrictive measures amid a surge of the English variant. The government said the worsening situation has forced it to abandon its plans to reopen all stores as early as next week.
Neighboring Slovakia is also badly hit. It became the coun-try with the most COVID-19 deaths by size of population in the world this week amid a surge of the English variant.
The number of COVID-19 patients in Slovakia’s hospitals reached a new record high of 3,900 on Thursday — a situation that has prompted leaders to appeal for outside help. So far, Austria, Poland and Hungary have agreed to deploy medical staff to Slovakia.
In Hungary, where a steady decline in daily infections and deaths from December reversed course early this month, there are now fears of a new surge even as the country began receiv-ing shipments of Russian and Chinese vaccines.
“We are clearly in the ascending phase of the third wave,” Chief Medical Offi cer Cecilia Muller told an online press briefi ng Friday.
Czech Health Minister said residents will also have to wear better masks in places where large numbers gather, includ-ing stores, hospitals and public transportation. He said cloth masks used so far by many will no longer be good enough and medical-grade masks, safety respirators or two surgical masks will instead be required.
“We’ve agreed that it’s necessary to do all we can to prevent the infection from spreading,” Blatny said.
Coronavirus
Dr Rania Azmi President of ‘Fadia Survive & Thrive.’ Fadia Survive & Thrive is a Kuwait-based organization that revolves around cancer patient advocacy, cancer prevention, control, and alleviating its side effects by improving the patient’s quality of life with evidence-based knowledge put into action.
Northup Grumman’s Antares rocket lifts off the launch pad at NASA’s Wal-lops Island flight facility in Wallops Is-land, Va, Feb 20. The rocket is deliv-ering cargo to the International Space
Station. (AP)
ISS launch honors mathematician: A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic launch.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule — dubbed the S.S. Katherine Johnson — should reach the International Space Station on Monday following its launch from Virginia’s eastern shore.
Johnson died almost exactly a year ago at age 101.
“Mrs Johnson was selected for her hand-written calculations that helped launch the fi rst Americans into space, as well as her accomplishments in breaking glass ceiling after glass ceiling as a Black woman,” Frank DeMauro, a Northrop Grumman vice president, said on the eve of liftoff. “A homework assignment for all of you is to go watch that movie after the Cygnus launch.”
Johnson’s numbers contributed to the Feb. 20, 1962, fl ight in which Glenn be-came the fi rst American to orbit the world. The fi lm, released in late 2016, depicted the effort put forth by Johnson and other Black women at NASA’s Langley Re-search Center in Hampton, Virginia, dur-ing the early days of space exploration. Langley is 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the launch site at Wallops Island.
Northrop Grumman launched the 4-ton shipment for NASA in the early afternoon from Wallops, where temperatures were just above freezing. The Antares rocket was visible from the Carolinas to Con-necticut, at least where skies were clear.
This will be the space station’s second delivery in less than a week. A Russian capsule pulled up Wednesday with apples and oranges, among other things.
“Oh, we love fresh food!!!” tweeted Jap-anese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. He noted that the space station fl ew over Virginia just 10 minutes ahead of Saturday’s launch.
Noguchi and his six US and Russian crewmates can expect more apples once the Cygnus arrives, along with tomatoes, nuts, smoked salmon, Parmesan and ched-dar cheeses, caramels and coconut strips.
The capsule also holds 120,000 tiny roundworms for a muscle experiment, as well as off-the-shelf computer equipment to increase data processing speed at the space station. Also fl ying: radiation detectors in-tended for NASA’s astronaut moon-landing program, and a new system to convert more of the astronauts’ urine into drinking water.
It is Northrop Grumman’s 15th station supply run for NASA. SpaceX is NASA’s other shipper. (AP)
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‘Pellets threaten fl amingos’: Con-servationists in Cyprus are urging authori-ties to expand a hunting ban throughout a coastal salt lake network amid concerns that migrating fl amingos could potentially swallow lethal quantities of lead shotgun pellets.
Martin Hellicar, director of Birdlife Cy-prus, said fl amingos are at risk of ingest-
ing the tiny pellets lying on the lakebed as they feed. Like other birds, fl amingos swallow small pebbles to aid digestion but can’t distinguish between pebbles and the lead pellets.
“Last year, we had tens of losses of fl a-mingos,” Hellicar said.
Cyprus is a key stop on the migration path for many types of birds fl ying from
Africa to Europe. The Larnaca Salt Lake, a wetlands network of four lakes, typical-ly welcomes as many as 15,000 fl amingos from colder climates to the southern coast of the island nation in the eastern Medi-terranean. They stay through the winter and leave in March. Other water fowl fre-quenting the lake include ducks, waders and seagulls.
Hunting is banned around most of the salt lake, but hunters are still allowed to shoot ducks in the network’s southern tip.
The government’s Game and Fauna Service says in the fi rst two months of last year, 96 fl amingos were found dead in the Larnaca Salt Lake wetlands as a re-sult of lead poisoning. Cyprus Veterinary Services offi cial Panayiotis Constantinou, who has conducted autopsies on fl amin-gos, said lead from the pellets poisoned the birds.
The high number of deaths is mainly attributed to heavy winter rain two years ago that stirred up the lake sediment and dislodged embedded lead shot.
A sport shooting range near the lake’s northern tip closed nearly 18 years ago and authorities organized a clean-up of lead pellets in the lakebed there.
But Hellicar says the clean-up was ap-parently incomplete. A European Union-funded study is underway to identify where signifi cant amounts of lead pellets remain so they can be removed. Prelimi-nary results of the study showed “very high” lead levels in the wetland’s southern tip and continued duck hunting there could compound the problem, Hellicar said. (AP)‘Fadia Survive & Thrive’ event on World Cancer Day.
Fadia Association helps patients ‘survive & thrive’
Cancer cases to rise to 21.6mn by 2030By Chaitali B. Roy
Special to the Arab Times
According to Globocan 2020, last year, around 19.3 million people
were newly diagnosed with cancer. It is expected that by 2030, this number will rise to 21.6 million. This alarm-ing trend requires decisive action at a national and global level. The role and contribution of advocacy programme in this context acquire added sig-nificance. Cancer advocates speak for those who can’t, and they bridge the gap between groundbreaking research and cancer patients, families and care-givers by ensuring that the needs of the patients are always top of mind. Advocates help the cancer community navigate the often challenging cancer landscape and play an essential role in creating a better future for cancer pa-tients. Fadia Survive & Thrive is a Ku-wait-based organization that revolves around cancer patient advocacy, can-cer prevention, control, and alleviat-ing its side effects by improving the patient’s quality of life with evidence-based knowledge put into action.
“The journey of Fadia Survive & Thrive started about nine years ago. At first, it was a friendly gathering sup-porting family and friends impacted by cancer,” says Dr Rania Al Azmi, President of Fadia Survive & Thrive. “Our aim from the very beginning has been to find reliable, evidence-based, real-world information that can be put into action to serve cancer patients better. Between 2012-2013, we began with small initiatives in the neighbour-hood to search for and better use reli-able information. We would share this knowledge with patients, especially metastatic cancer patients. Then “Sur-vive & Thrive”, a countrywide initia-tive, was launched in collaboration with Kuwait’s main Cancer Control Center, that was very well received.” In 2016, ‘Fadia Survive & Thrive” was formally founded in the name of Dr Al Azmi’s mother, Fadia Ibrahim, who was until her death its most active sup-porter. “While metastatic cancer took her life, my mother left the Association more determined,” shares Dr Al Azmi. “Her painful loss spurred us to start advocating for critically ill patients and advocate for more preventive
measures throughout a patients’ cancer journeys to reduce complications and deaths, especially related to sepsis.”
According to Dr Al Azmi, much re-mains to be done in the quest to end cancer. “Our work includes cancer patient advocacy; cancer prevention and control; promoting/supporting al-leviating cancer therapy side effects, and improving patients’ quality of life by putting evidence-based knowledge into practice. In all this, we keep a special focus on those with metastatic cancer. We have worked on simplify-ing scientific information for the pub-lic, running prevention campaigns, publishing our advocacy issues in scientific journals, presenting in inter-national cancer conferences, and much more. “
AdvocacyWhen asked about how their work
of advocacy was affected by the pan-demic, Dr Al Azmi shares, “We have been even more active utilizing vir-tual and in-person platforms during the past year. We got involved in at least three projects with the Union for International Cancer Control. We raised awareness about various critical issues of relevance to cancer patients (including the problems of delayed or postponed diagnosis or treatment of primary or metastatic cases result-ing from various COVID measures in the countries we observe, which has been quite similar across countries). We were active internationally, hav-ing signed an MoU with the Oncology Department in Tashkent State Den-tal Institute (Republic of Uzbekistan) to collaborate, especially on patient advocacy efforts. Fadia Association also formed a new scientific advisory board including eminent oncologists, scientists, researchers, survivors and patients from the US, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Egypt, and Uzbekistan to contribute to our global fight against cancer and advocating for the better quality of life for patients. We held two community events, including one on World Cancer Day on Feb 4, 2021.”
When asked about developments during the pandemic, Dr Al Azmi shared, “We came to know from vari-ous researchers and clinicians in our circle that the fatality of cases with COVID-19 heavily depend on under-
lying health conditions, including sec-ondary infections. Common comorbid-ities include Hypertension, Diabetes, Cardiac Conditions and Immunocom-promised status. The most critical cases show a progression to conditions like septic shock, metabolic acidosis, and coagulation dysfunction.” The fear of infection and sepsis is overriding in cancer patients, and infection from coronavirus is an added concern. “Ac-cording to medical institutions, 1 in 5 deaths worldwide is associated with sepsis. Sepsis is always caused by an infection like pneumonia or diarrheal illness. Sepsis is the final common pathway to death from most infectious diseases worldwide, including viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. Thus, it is es-sential to closely monitor all facets of possible infections to manage both the cancer and COVID19 diseases better.”
Cancer patients are presumed to be at increased risk from COVID-19 infection-related fatality due to under-lying malignancy, treatment-related immunosuppression, or increased co-morbidities. “Since research shows that COVID19 in patients with cancer is associated with a significantly in-creased risk of case fatality, this sug-gests the need for proactive strategies to reduce the likelihood of infection and improve early identification in this vulnerable patient population,” shares Dr Rania Al Azmi. This increases the urgency to raise awareness and pre-vent any infection in cancer patients and take safeguards against the risk of sepsis. “Doctors, patient advocates and all other cancer stakeholders should have the shared responsibility of rais-ing that awareness to prevent unnec-essary and very sad mortalities from such infections, especially in the era of COVID19.
Lastly, we must remember that can-cer patients, especially metastatic, usu-ally suffer from multiple side effects, such as diarrhoea, lack of appetite, nausea, severe pains and lack of sleep, which not only compromises their quality of life but is also confused as acceptable treatment side effects when they might be symptoms for something way more fatal such as sepsis. At Fadia Survive and Thrive, we call for united coordinated efforts in prevention and raising awareness about that critical issue.”
Health
Discovery
Johnson Noguchi
Fauci
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This image released by Lionsgate shows Kristen Wiig in ‘Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.’ (AP)
‘Big Little Lies’ author has new novel out in September
An insider’s look behind the ‘60 Minutes’ stopwatchBy Jeff Rowe
‘Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,’ by Ira Rosen (St. Martin’s Press)
Long-time multi-award winning producer Ira Rosen has written a sometimes sad, often funny, always revealing portrait of American tel-evision’s most famous and successful news show, “60 Minutes.”
Rosen certainly had reporting time for this book — he was a pro-ducer at the CBS show for nearly 25 years.
In anecdotes and conversations, Rosen offers an engaging tutorial on how “60 Minutes’” signature high-quality mini-documentaries are produced but perhaps the book’s most important contribution comes in ratifying the essential role of skilled, tenacious journalism in maintain-ing a democracy.
In 2007, for example Rosen produced a piece on how members of Congress sold stock based in information learned in closed meetings — insider trading.
“The more you know about politicians, the worse they appear,” Rosen writes.
Misdeeds of our elected representatives provided a steady stream of story topics for “60 Minutes” in the Rosen years, less so now as more show segments appear to be linked to the news and fewer pieces are investigative.
“60 Minutes” emerges as a less-than great place to work, at least in
the era of founder Don Hewitt. He shunned staff meetings and essen-tially let producers and correspondents fi ght it out for stories and air-time. Correspondent Mike Wallace thrived in that untamed workplace, poaching stories from his fellow correspondents, berating producers and abusing women staffers.
Rosen produced for Wallace for nine years but never truly learned to manage the star correspondent’s outbursts and general bad behavior.
Rosen related how Wallace once barged into Rosen’s offi ce, demanding to know who was on the phone. Rosen said nothing, handed the phone to Wallace and left the room. Rosen had been talking to his mother.
Wallace never again interrupted Rosen’s phone calls.And for critics who consider the news media as collectively left-
leaning, consider this: In a post-presidency interview with Jimmy Carter, Wallace avoided asking Carter a question the answer to which likely would refl ect badly on the Reagans. Wallace was a “friend and defender” of the Reagans, the book notes.
A fundamental journalism tenet is that a principled reporter cannot be friends or have relationships with people or institutions in their re-porting orbit.
By contrast, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Anderson Cooper emerge as stand-out reporters and polite, considerate, caring people. Ed Bradley was a producer favorite.
Rosen produced “60 Minutes” pieces into the Trump presidency, a traumatic time for journalists everywhere. He retired in 2019 and
misses the powerful investigative pieces of the program’s glory days.“We were not dismissed as fake news,” he said. “We solved prob-
lems... our reporting uncovered crooked congressmen... we got the wrongfully convicted out of prison” (and we) persuaded “whistleblow-ers, con men and mob bosses to tell their stories.”
Also:NEW YORK: The new novel from “Big Little Lies” author Liane Mori-arty will be a story of family, tennis and a mysterious absence.
Henry Holt announced Wednesday that Moriarty’s “Apples Never Fall” comes out Sept. 14. Its characters include retired tennis coaches Stan and Joy Delaney and their four adult children as the author once again brings readers “behind the closed doors of seemingly tranquil suburbia.”
“Now Joy Delaney has disappeared and her children are re-examin-ing their parents’ marriage and their family history with fresh, fright-ened eyes,” according to Holt. “Is her disappearance related to their mysterious house guest from last year? Or were things never as rosy as they seemed in the Delaney household?”
The Australian writer’s previous books also include “Truly Madly Guilty” and “Nine Perfect Strangers,” which came out in 2018 and is being adapted for a Hulu miniseries starring Nicole Kidman. “Big Little Lies,” published in 2014, is the basis for the Emmy-winning HBO series that stars Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley. (AP)
NEW YORK: They already knew she looked good in a coat.
So the designers at Proenza Schouler decided to dress Ella Emhoff — art student, knitwear designer, fl edgling model and stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris — in a couple of coats (plus a pantsuit) for her mod-eling debut in their new collection, unveiled Thursday for New York Fashion Week.
Designers Lazaro Hernan-dez and Jack McCollough said the fashion world took quick notice when 21-year-old Emhoff appeared at the inauguration in January, dressed in a quirky Miu Miu coat with bejeweled shoulders along with a starchy white collar. Social media took notice, too.
Soon after, the designers were planning their February show — actually a digital short, for pan-demic reasons — and the casting director mentioned Emhoff. “And we said, ‘We were just talking about Ella.’ Seemed like everyone was kind of talking about her,” McCollough said in an interview.
As it turns out, Emhoff, a senior and art major at Parsons School of Design (where Hernandez and McCollough met and began their partnership), had just signed with IMG Models, joining an even big-ger breakout star of the inaugura-tion: poet Amanda Gorman.
The outdoor shoot took place recently on a blustery weekend at the Parrish Museum in Water Mill, New York. It was the fi rst time Emhoff had walked a runway.
“I have to say I was a little nerv-ous,” Emhoff, daughter of Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff, said later in a streamed talk with the design-ers, also released. “I defi nitely lost a little sleep the night before. I’m walking for the fi rst time, I’m in this professional environment for the fi rst time ... the anticipation was really high.” She spoke of her love for knitting and textiles, and her dream of her own knitwear brand.
“She kind of reminded us of of our friends and ourselves in a lot of ways back when we were at Parsons,” McCollough said. He and Hernandez launched their own brand from their senior thesis collection.
For Emhoff, the designers chose a long gray wool coat with fl uffy em-bellishments on the shoulders, then a midnight navy leather trench-type
coat, and fi nally a black pantsuit. Also walking in the virtual runway show is Meadow Walker, daughter of the late actor Paul Walker.
Emhoff also wears some of the label’s typically unique foot-wear — leather socks topped by a strappy sandal. (AP)
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ORLANDO, Fla: A dance instruc-
tor who appeared on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” is accused of sexually abusing girls at an Or-lando dance studio.
Kevin Cosculluela, 25, pleaded not guilty following his arrest in December the Orlando Sentinel reported.
He has also been fi red from his job at Peaches Dance and Music Orlando, the newspaper reported.
The charges followed an inves-tigation by Winter Garden police, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and the Department of Children and Families, which uncovered accusa-tions of manipulation and sexual battery by two teenage girls who took lessons with Cosculluela.
One student told investigators that she idolized Cosculluela and had considered him famous and
important because of his appear-ances on the reality television show about dance kids, their moms and their studio.
The investigation found that Cosculluela often took students to lunch, watched movies with them and celebrated their birthdays, a police report said. He also con-nected with students over social media, the report added. (AP)
Film
Variety
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Dornan is naturally funny
In ‘Barb & Star,’ ode to mid-aged joyBy Lindsey Bahr
It’s hard to pin down exactly when Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo started dreaming up “Barb
and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” but on some level it’s decades in the making. The friends and Os-car-nominated screenwriters have been drawn to middle aged characters going back to their days as young women at the Groundlings. They’d even written Barb and Star-like characters into “Brides-maids,” in Maya Ruldoph’s Costco-loving mother and friends. That was all cut, however. After all, Mumolo laughed, they had nothing to do with the movie. But they couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun they’d had writing it.
“Kristen said, one day we’re going to write these characters into a movie and we’re going to write freely and we’re not going to overthink any-thing,” Mumolo said.
And about six years ago they started in earnest, improvising with abandon and playing all the characters as they went. Both wondered at vari-ous points whether they were going to be the only ones who would like what they’d written. That anyone agreed to make it was the biggest shock of all.
Now available to rent online, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” is a neon-hued, cocktail-soaked and music-fi lled bundle of joyous absurd-ity. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise that a studio like Lionsgate would want to fi nance Wiig and Mumolo’s fi rst fi lm since the runaway success of “Bridesmaids.” But “Barb and Star” is defi nitely weirder and, as more than a few critics have written, is on a wavelength all its own ( for most, that’s been a good thing ).
There’s a talking crab named Morgan Free-mand “with a D” who sounds a lot like Morgan Freeman and an evil albino woman plotting to un-
leash killer mosquitoes on a small town. There’s an extended monologue about the name Trish and a seagull-centric rock ballad sung by Jamie Dor-nan’s love-stricken character Edgar. And there’s Barb and Star themselves, the culotte-loving Ne-braskan “mid-lifers” who decide to treat them-selves to a vacation after a friend tells them about the magic of Vista Del Mar.
“It’s just not common that a studio will let you just do something purely in your voice without freaking out,” Mumolo said. “We were just very lucky with them.”
There were some compromises. Originally there were more talking animals than Morgan Freemand. But other aspects only grew in scope and ambition, like the musical numbers, which Mumolo said kind of started out as a joke. They’d always loved writ-ing songs together, but never thought they’d actu-ally make it into the fi lm and on the scale they did, with backup dancers and production value and not just “two people in robes singing.”
SubmittedThe studio even submitted one of their tunes, “I
Love Boobies,” sung by Richard Cheese’s lounge singer, for best original song consideration at the Oscars. It did not make the shortlist.
“We actually didn’t know about that until it happened,” Mumolo said. “And we were like, ‘Oh, what about the other songs?’ It’s not a bad one but we probably would have wanted to submit some of the other ones for fun.”
One of the biggest breakouts so far is “Edgar’s Prayer,” performed passionately by Dornan on a seagull-fi lled beach. A GIF of him tearing his shirt off in the ocean has been making the rounds on Twitter since the fi lm debuted Friday.
Dornan proved to be a bit of a revelation for all. The handsome Irish actor may be most known
for dramatic work, but even a passing glance at his Instagram shows that he’s a lot sillier than his brooding roles would suggest.
“You never know until you get there how things are going to go and how people are going to be. But from minute one, he was so perfect. He was just bursting with comedic timing. He’s naturally funny. And he had a very diffi cult line to walk,” Mumolo said. “It’s really not easy what he did.”
Dornan said that for years he’d been telling everyone he could that he wanted to do comedy. When this came his way, he knew he was in on the name alone.
“Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m not a serious person 99% of the time,” Dornan said. “This just suited me really well.”
When his family visited him on the Cancun set, his wife looked on and laughed.
“She was like, ‘Oh my God, do they know that this is just you? That this is the actual you?’” Dor-nan said. “I was like, yeah I think they’re starting to realize it.”
And he’s grateful that he now gets to call both Mumolo and Wiig friends.
“They’re two of the funniest people in the world,” Dornan said. “They don’t know how how clever they are to write a movie like this that is so off-the-wall silly, nodding to ‘Top Secret,’ ‘Hot Shots,’ ‘Naked Gun’ and all these ridiculous com-edies that people love, but to also have these char-acters who you truly care about? But my favorite thing is how they make each other laugh more than anyone else in the world makes them laugh. They’re just the right people for each other.”
Mumolo knows this too and thinks that maybe it won’t be another decade before they do this again.
“Having a creative relationship like this? There’s no greater joy other than, like, your chil-dren,” Mumolo said. (AP)
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People & Places
NEWS/FEATURESARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
13
MusicFoo Fighters having fun
Edie Brickell displays her ‘power’ yet again
By Scott Bauer
Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, “Hunter and the Dog Star” (Thirty Tigers)
The renaissance for Edie Brickell and New Bohe-mians continues on “Hunter and the Dog Star,” the band’s second record in just over two years following a 12-year recording hiatus.
Best known for the breakout Top 10 hit “What I Am” released in 1988, Brickell has spent the 30-plus years since creating a diverse body of music that in-cludes bluegrass records with Steve Martin, a Broad-way musical and recently (and luckily) a reconnection with her original bandmates.
There’s a chemistry with New Bohemians that nev-er went away and the songs on “Hunter and the Dog
Star” are as fresh, buoyant and funny as any the band has ever laid down.
Brickell and New Bohemi-ans’ songwriting strength is the effortless way they can tell a story in under fi ve minutes that’s instantly relatable, some-times heartbreaking, and deliv-ered in a variety of musical styles. Each track on “Hunter and the Dog Star” feels like a mini, musical screenplay.
“Sleeve” gleefully tells the story of a woman who “got herself one” tattoo and “now she got a sleeve.”
“Angels, peace sign, and a heart that says, mom,” Brickell sings on the jaunty opening track. “Octopus, wizards, ace of spades, yin yang and Tweety Bird.”
“Don’t Get in the Bed Dirty” is a cautionary tale about falling for empty online romances. “Horse’s Mouth” is a lighthearted ear worm about the pitfalls of believing gossip.
The standout track is “Rough Beginnings,” where Brickell effortlessly tells the tale of Jasmine, “a sunny girl living in Abilene/a pretty thing” who overcomes the odds for a successful life. The whole record builds toward “My Power,” which could easily be sung by Jasmine.
“Coming into my own now/I don’t feel so alone now now now,” Brickell sings triumphantly to close the record. “Coming back from a fall y’all/It takes all/My Power.” Listeners should be glad that Brickell and New Bohemians are back, showing all of us, once again, their power.
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Foo Fighters, “Medicine at Midnight” (Roswell/RCA)
“Medicine at Midnight” is what happens when the Foo Fighters embrace grooves instead of riffs. Who asked for that? No one, really. But we should have.
The nine-track album clocks in at a swift 36 min-utes and it’s the band’s coolest in years, throwing out sounds they’ve rarely shown before — David Bowie, hair metal and glam rock. The band sounds like it’s having fun.
Adele and Kelly Clarkson producer Greg Kurstin — who also helmed the band’s 2017 album “Concrete and Gold” — has turned the often dour Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl into a party songwriter with an al-bum that sometimes veers toward parody but never crosses the line. “Making a Fire” has fi nger snaps and na-na-na lyrics (listen for Grohl’s 14-year-old daugh-ter, Violet, on backing vocals). “Cloudspotter” sounds like Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” and has a Jimi Hendrix-style riff along with a nods to him in the lyrics (“Re-fuse me while I kiss the sky”).
“Holding Poison” has a Hüsker Dü feeling and “Chasing Birds” is like a psychedelic mood-changer that The Flaming Lips could have recorded, with Grohl singing: “The road to hell is paved with broken parts/Bleeding hearts like mine.”
The anti-war “No Son of Mine” has a Metallica-ish feel and the title track, we swear, has a slinky Roxy Music vibe and a guitar solo reminiscent of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Speaking of Bowie, there more than a touch of The Thin White Duke to “Shame Shame” — a little “Fame” at least.
The old Foos are not entirely erased. The last song, “Love Dies Young,” is a classic rocker that could have come from any of the band’s previous nine albums.
But the fact that they can still surprise and create great new sounds after 10 albums is enough to cheer. “Go and put that record on,” Grohl sings in one song — and you should.
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Emmet Cohen, “Future Stride” (Mack Avenue Records)
Stride provides a starting point on jazz pianist Em-met Cohen’s new album. The opening cut, “Sym-phonic Raps,” is a New Orleans ragtime tune recorded by Louis Armstrong nearly a century ago, and Cohen plays it as though his piano is rolling downhill, ac-celerating until he leaves the rhythm section behind.
That momentum sends Cohen on an exploration of other jazz stylings, with stride as an antecedent and recurring reference point. Common threads on “Fu-ture Stride” include swinging, often unpredictable rhythms, inventive interplay and wit.
Take, for example, the title cut. Written by Cohen and drummer Kyle Poole, it’s a joyful swirl with shift-ing tempos, including a cowboy saunter and a three-way conversation that also includes bassist Russell Hall.
The beat is also big on another Cohen original, “You Already Know.” It’s bebop given extra pro-pulsion by trumpeter Marquis Hill and saxophonist Melissa Aldana, who both sit in on several cuts.
Hill overdubs a second trumpet for call and re-sponse on the prayerful, lyrical closer “Little Angel.” The fi nal chord leaves the tune unresolved, suggesting more to come. As the album title might suggest, “Fu-ture Stride” ends with Cohen looking ahead.
Also:ORLANDO, Fla.: Singer Ricky Martin will be a spokesman for a foundation that is building a memo-rial and museum to honor the 49 victims who died during a massacre at a gay Florida nightclub nearly fi ve years ago, foundation offi cials have said recently.
In the unpaid position, Martin will make public service announcements promoting tolerance and also support the foundation by making social media posts, taping video messages and possibly narrating some exhibitions, foundation offi cials said.
“His global platform allows us to share our mission with even more audiences, ensuring Pulse’s legacy of love lives on forever,” said Earl Crittenden, chair of the onePulse Foundation board, in a statement.
Starting on Valentine’s Day, the foundation is launch-ing a fundraising campaign with a goal of getting 1 mil-lion people to donate $49. The goal of the outlovehate.com campaign is to raise $49 million, with proceeds go-ing toward building a permanent National Pulse Memo-rial & Museum, foundation offi cials said. (AP)
Brickell
Adrian Quesada, (left), and Eric Burton, of Black Pumas, pose for a portrait in Austin, Texas on Feb. 5, 2021. Their deluxe debut album is nominated for album of the year at the 2021 Grammy Awards and their single ‘Colors’ is nominated for record of the year and best American roots performance. (AP)
Band break out with rock, soul fusion
Black Pumas grab Grammy attentionNASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb 21, (AP): When Eric Burton and Adrian Quesa-da fi rst started playing together in an Austin studio in 2017, they had just met each other and weren’t even en-tertaining the idea that one day they’d be performing live.
“We weren’t really a band. We were a studio project,” said Quesada, a veteran guitarist-producer who had been honing his craft for years in about a half dozen bands.
“I just knew that it was going to be something enchanting and very beau-tiful just between the both of us,” said Burton, who sings, writes and plays guitar. “I don’t think that we could ever have guessed that we’d end up playing the inauguration and being nominated for four Grammys.”
But creativity sparked in Que-sada’s analog studio and this cross-cultural fusion of retro and modern, psychedelic rock and soul became Black Pumas, going from under the radar to breakout band in just a few short years.
After releasing their self-titled al-bum in 2019, Black Pumas earned their fi rst nomination for best new artist at last year’s Grammy Awards, but they lost when Billie Eilish swept the awards show. They are back again with three nominations for album of the year, record of the year and best American roots performance.
Quesada, 43, is used to getting the question about the “overnight” suc-cess of their band, but back-to-back nominations in the top Grammy cate-gories makes him think of all the hard work they both had put in before they met each other.
“It’s defi nitely humbling. And then sometimes I have to remind myself of how many ups and downs I have been through, how many ups and downs Eric has been through,” said Quesada, who has two decades of ex-
perience in music. There were times when he had to take a job delivering pizzas to make money for his family while also working as a musician.
Burton, 30, was raised in the San Fernando Valley and grew up singing in church, then moved on to musical theater. He busked at the Santa Mon-ica pier to raise a little money before making his way to Austin where he sang at the corner of 6th Street and Congress.
Quesada is a man of multitudes: he was part of the Grammy-winning Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma who also had gigs as a backing band for Prince and later played in bands such as Brownout and Echocentrics. Before Black Pumas, Quesada pro-duced an album in 2019 of Chicano-Texas soul music that brought new light on the contributions of Latino artists and music.
Inclusive“It’s like this perfect intersection of
Black, brown, white, all kinds of dif-ferent people,” he said of soul music. “What I love about it is it’s actually the most inclusive.”
They were playing in Europe when the pandemic hit and shut down tour-ing, so they did what came natural to them. They went back into the studio and recorded new songs and live ver-sions for a 2020 deluxe edition of their debut record that includes fan-tastic covers of the Beatles’ “Elea-nor Rigby” and “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.
Their song “Colors” has been a No. 1 hit on Triple A stations and got some love from Top 40 and rock radio as well, but they are an underdog in the record of the year category alongside platinum hits by Eilish, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Post Malone, Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.
But the momentum of the band earned them a chance to perform the uplifting anthem as a part of Presi-dent Joe Biden’s inauguration night TV special.
The duo doesn’t easily fi t into genre lines with songs inspired by gospel, funk and ’60s era rock, but anchored by a tight percussive and modern beat. The pair, who won emerging act of the year at the 2020 Americana Honors and Awards, said they let their label decide what genre categories to nominate them in.
“One thing we have in common is we also didn’t want to be just a soul band,” said Quesada, who said they both are heavily infl uenced by hip-hop rhythms as well. “We like it kinda being rock ‘n’ roll.”
Burton said their fi rst album to-gether felt like a handshake and now they really know each other’s musi-cal tastes as they go back in the studio to start on their second album, which he promises will be different than the fi rst.
“My favorite thing about what we do is that we have successfully made something that feels very familiar yet relevant and new and fresh,” said Burton.
Also:LOS ANGELES: Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day, best known for the R&B hit “Rise Up,” has earned two Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the Hulu fi lm “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” which premieres Feb. 26. But on Friday the fi lm’s soundtrack featuring songs recorded by Day will be released. The album has 13 tracks including “Tigress & Tweed,” an original Day wrote with veteran singer-producer Raphael Saadiq. It is nominated for best orig-inal song at the Globes.
Music
This cover image released by Thirty Tigers shows ‘Hunter And The Dog Star’ by Edie Brickell & New Bohemi-
ans. (AP)
Manson Di Modica
ROME: The artist who sculpted Charging Bull, the bronze statue in New York which became an iconic symbol of Wall Street, has died in his hometown in Sicily at age 80.
Arturo Di Modica died at his home in Vittoria on Friday evening, the town said in a statement on Saturday. Di Modica had been ill for some time, it said.
The sculptor lived in New York for more than 40 years in New York. He arrived in 1973 and opened an art studio in the city’s SoHo neighborhood. With the help of a truck and crane, Di Modica installed the bronze bull sculpture in New York’s fi nancial district without permission on the night of Dec. 16, 1989.
The artist reportedly spent $350,000 of his own money to create the 3.5-ton bronze beast that came to symbolize the resilience of the US economy after a 1987 stock market crash.
“It was a period of crisis. The New York Stock Exchange lost in one night more than 20%, and so many people were plunged into the blackest of depressions,” Rome daily La Repubblica quoted Di Modica as saying in an interview earlier this month.
He said he conceived of the bull sculp-ture as “a joke, a provocation. Instead, it became a cursedly serious thing,” destined to be one of New York’s more visited monuments.
In the La Repubblica interview, Di Modica detailed how he, some 40 friends, a crane and a truck carried out a lightning-swift operation to plant the statue near Bowling Green park, a short stroll from the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange, without official authorization.
“Five minutes. The operations shouldn’t have lasted more. Otherwise, we’d risk big,” he recalled. “After a couple of scout-ing trips, I had discovered that at night, the police made its rounds on Wall Street every 7-8 minutes.”
Di Modica left Vittoria, Sicily, at age 19 for Florence, where he studied at the Fine Arts Academy.
At the time of his death, he was working on prototypes for a twin horse sculpture he planned to make for the Sicilian town. It was envisioned as a 40-meter-high (132-foot-high) work to be erected on the banks of a river. (AP)
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LOS ANGELES: Detectives are investi-gating allegations of domestic violence against rocker Marilyn Manson involving incidents that occurred about a decade ago in West Hollywood, authorities said Friday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Variety
Christie’s employees adjust an oil on canvas painting by Sir Winston Churchill painted in Jan. 1943 called ‘Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque’ during an Art pre-sale photo call at Christie’s auction house in London, Feb. 17. The painting cur-rently owned by actress Angelina Jolie, has an estimate of 1,500,000-2,500,000 UK pounds (2,056,489- 3,427,482 US Dollars) and will go up for sale in the
Modern British Art Evening Sale at Christie’s on March 1. (AP)
Special Victims Bureau opened the investigation after a woman approached authorities to report the allegations, sher-iff’s Lt John Adams said. The incidents reportedly occurred between 2009 and 2011, when Manson lived in the city of West Hollywood.
“Our people are just in the very begin-
ning stages of an investigation into this,” Adams said. He would not describe the allegations or say when the woman came forward.
Word of the investigation came less than three weeks after actor Evan Rachel Wood publicly accused Manson, her ex-fi ancé, of sexual and other physical abuse, alleging
she was “manipulated into submission” during their relationship.
Adams declined to identify the woman who contacted the Sheriff’s Department, as is typical in domestic violence cases.
Manson, 52, whose real name is Brian Warner, has denied Wood’s allegations as “horrible distortions of reality.”
Wood, 33, who stars on HBO’s “West-world,” had previously spoken about being abused in a relationship but did not name the person until she detailed the allegations on Instagram on Feb 1.
“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood said. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifi cally abused me for years.”
The relationship between Wood and Manson became public in 2007 when he was 38 and she was 19. They were briefl y engaged in 2010 before breaking up.
Manson responded to Wood’s allega-tions with his own Instagram post the same day as her post.
“My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners,” his post said. “Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”
In 2018, Los Angeles County prosecu-tors declined to fi le charges against Manson over allegations of assault, battery and sexual assault dating to 2011, saying they were limited by statutes of limitations and a lack of corroboration. The accuser in that case was identifi ed only as a social acquaintance of Manson. (AP)
On Sunday, he was third after the opening run, close behind surprise leader Adrian Pertl of Austria and Alex Vinzatzer of Italy, before posting the fastest time in the fi nal run.
Pertl ended up 0.21 seconds behind for silver, while Vinatzer dropped to fourth, missing the podium by 0.74.
“It’s amazing to fi nish off like this,” Foss-Solevåg said. “I know the two guys in front can also put it together, but I fought from the start to the bottom and I did it.”
Foss-Solevåg became the fi rst slalom world champion from Norway since Tom Stiansen won the title in 1997.
Kristoffersen, last season’s World Cup slalom champion, contributed to the Norwegian success story.
Sixth after the opening run, he moved up three spots and fi nished 0.46 behind Foss-Solevåg to earn a slalom medal at the worlds for the fi rst time. He was fourth in both 2015 and 2017.
KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb 21, (AP): Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi and Af-ghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan spurred Lahore Qalandars to a four-wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League on Sunday.
Afridi bagged 3-14 and Rashid didn’t concede a boundary in his impressive PSL debut fi gures of 0-14 as Peshawar were restricted to 140-6.
Rashid’s belligerent unbeaten 27 off 15 balls that included a winning six over midwicket helped Lahore cruise to 146-6 in 18.3 overs to give last year’s fi nalists a winning start.
“I call that shot the mini-helicopter, just try to go for it,” said Rashid, who will be playing in just one more PSL game before joining Afghanistan for its series against Zimbabwe.
SPORTSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
14
Luna Rossa outrace Team UK to seal 7-1 win in Prada Cup fi nalAUCKLAND, New Zealand, Feb 21, (AP): Italian challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will race defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th match for the America’s Cup after beating Britain’s Ineos Team UK in two races Sunday to seal a 7-1 win in the best-of-13 race challengers series fi nal.
Luna Rossa came into the fourth day of the fi nal series with a 5-1 lead and won the fi rst race of the day by 1 minute, 45 seconds to move to 6-1 and match point.
Thriving in light winds, it controlled and comfortably won the second race by 45 seconds to clinch the series and set up a showdown with Team New Zealand in the Cup match which be-gins on March 6.
“Time for high fi ves,” Italian co-helmsman Francesco Bruni said as Luna Rossa sailed to-wards the fi nish line. “Bravo to the team, bravo Italy. Fantastico.
“It’s a great day for us, it’s a great day for Luna Rossa and it’s a great day for Italy. We’re in for a great fi ght for the America’s Cup now.”
Italy’s race boat Luna Rossa clearly demon-strated it’s speed advantage over Team UK’s Britannia in light winds and that was evident again in both of Sunday’s races - the seventh and eighth of the series.
Luna Rossa and Britannia crossed the start line side by side in the fi rst race of the day but Luna Rossa steadily pulled away in the light breeze,
especially exerting its edge in upwind speed.Racing in the challengers series has shown
that Britannia and Luna Rossa are closely matched in winds of 12 knots or more and that Luna Rossa has a signifi cant edge in 12 knots or less. As the British team faced the prospect
of elimination yesterday, needing to win at least one race to keep the series alive, Auckland again turned on light winds which played into the hands of the Italian team.
Stronger winds are forecast for the coming week and if Team UK had been able to live to
fi ght another day, it might have extended the comeback that began when they won the second of two races on Saturday. But that chance was snuffed out when the wind, around 10 knots at the start of race seven, stayed around that mark and allowed Luna Rossa to show its strength.
With around 10 knots also in the second race of the day there were no passing lanes on the course.
Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie is Britain’s most cel-ebrated modern sailor, a winner of four Olym-pic gold medals, famous for his competitive-ness and his ability to come from behind even in the most dire circumstances.
But even he was powerless on Sunday when conditions proved the adage that the fastest boat always wins.
“They’ve got about two knots faster, so it’s pretty hard to race against that,” Ainslie said. “We’ve been trying everything to get on top of it but clearly we can’t.”
Ainslie was magnanimous when Team UK’s campaign fi nally came to an end.
“Well done to Luna Rossa, well done to Ita-ly,” he said. “I know it’s a big deal in Italy to get into the America’s Cup fi nal.
“They sailed brilliantly and deserved to take
the fi nal. We’re obviously disappointed we couldn’t get through but we have to go away, get back to the drawing board and see what we can do.”
The fi rst race Sunday started with Luna Ros-sa windward of Britannia. The boats extended starboard tacks to the boundary, then tacked si-multaneously. Coming back on port, Team UK couldn’t live on Luna Rossa’s hip and had to tack away again and the Italian extended to a lead it maintained for the rest of the race.
Luna Rossa led by 16 seconds at the fi rst mark and 21 seconds at the second. Rounding the third mark, Team UK attempted a complex maneuver, splitting from Luna Rossa and head-ing for the left hand side. In doing so it wore off boat speed and Luna Rossa gained to lead by 1 minute, 7 seconds at the top mark.
Team UK made a small gain downwind on the fourth leg but Luna Rossa pulled away again on the last upwind.
In an aggressive pre-start to the second race Sunday, Luna Rossa crossed the start line early and conceded a penalty. When it discharged that penalty Team UK was ahead at the fi rst cross.
But at the second cross on the fi rst leg, Luna Rossa showed its upwind edge and crossed ahead. It led by 12 seconds at both the fi rst and second marks but by 34 seconds after the second upwind and at that point it’s lead was insurmountable.
Italian challenger set up showdown with Team New Zealand in AmCup match
Italy’s Luna Rossa team celebrate after defeating Britain’s INEOS Team UK in race eight of the Prada Cup on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, New Zealand on Feb 21. (AP)
Norway’s Sebastian Foss Solevaag speeds down the course during the men’s slalom, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb 21. (Inset): Solevaag shows his gold medal for the men’s
slalom. (AP)
Irish Jockey David Egan (left), rides his horse Mishriff as he wins the fi nal race of the $20 million Saudi Cup, at King Abdul Aziz race track in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb 20. (AP)
John Gosden-trained Mishriff wins Saudi CupRIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb 21, (AP): Mishriff powered home to wear down American ace Charlatan and win the world’s most valuable horse race, the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh.
The fi rst prize was $10 million.The John Gosden-trained colt, owned
by Prince Faisal, made his stamina tell
over the nine furlongs after the two US heavyweights, Charlatan and Knicks Go,
had gone head-to-head in the early stages.Mishriff’s 21-year-old jockey, David
Egan, was able to stay on their heels as the star pair turned for home at King Abdulaziz Racetrack.
Knicks Go dropped away, leaving Mishriff to gradually reduce Charla-tan’s lead and get up in the closing stages to win by a length. Great Scot fi nished third.
Foss-Solevåg ‘hands’ Norway2nd gold medal at ski worlds
Pertl claims silver, Kristoffersen takes bronze
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 21, (AP): The Norwegian ski team arrived at the world championships without many of its injured stars. It left on Sunday with two gold medals and a bronze.
Sebastian Foss-Solevåg triumphed in the concluding event, the men’s slalom, while fellow Norwegian Hen-rik Kristoffersen took the bronze.
The success came four days after Foss-Solevåg led Norway
to gold in the team event.The Norway team was missing Aleksander Aamodt Kil-
de, Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath, all due to knee injuries, which mainly affected its chances in the speed events and the giant slalom.
“We had too many crashes, too many injuries,” Foss-Solevåg said. “With a small team, we have two gold medals, that’s very good.”
Foss-Solevåg is having his breakout season on the World Cup circuit, with four top-fi ve fi nishes including his fi rst win, in Flachau, Austria, last month.
Logano holds overall record
Gibbs wins fi rst career NASCAR raceDAYTONA BEACH, Florida, Feb 21, (AP): Joe Gibbs celebrated his fi rst NASCAR victory as a grandfather, watching from the pits as 18-year-old Ty Gibbs won his Xfi nity Series debut on the road course at Daytona Interna-tional Speedway.
It was the very fi rst NASCAR na-tional series race for Ty Gibbs, who jumped two steps from ARCA to Xfi n-ity for his debut. He plowed through the fi eld on the last two restarts to beat Xfi nity Series champion Austin Cin-dric in double overtime.
Gibbs became the youngest driver to win an Xfi nity road course race at 18 years, 4 months, 16 days. Cindric held the record at 20 set on the road course at Mid-Ohio in 2019.
Joey Logano holds the overall re-cord. He won 21 days after his 18th birthday in his third race - also driv-ing for Gibbs. Ty Gibbs is the second-youngest winner in Xfi nity Series his-tory.
Gibbs drove through the grass, used the top lane on the oval and dove inside in the turns in his shocking fi rst win. He’d never raced an Xfi nity car before, never done a live pit stop before and COVID-19 restrictions cut practice and qualifying for Saturday’s race.
“Dreams really do come true. I’m completely depleted, I left everything out there,” said Ty Gibbs. “I thought maybe I was going to run in the top seven, eight? I completely surprised myself. In coming up to a bigger series like this, these are some of the guys I dreamed of racing. I’m a train-wreck right now.”
Joe Gibbs, a member of the NAS-CAR and Pro Football Hall of Fames, watched stoically from behind the pit stand. Shielded by a mask, he gave no indication of emotion. But as his grand-son crossed the fi nish line, his glasses
fogged and he hugged a Joe Gibbs Rac-ing team member.
Joe Gibbs Racing has fi ve Cup Se-ries championships, 185 Cup wins and four Daytona 500 victories - none as emotionally fulfi lling as this Xfi nity stunner. When Joe Gibbs called home to speak to his wife, Pat, he said she was crying too hard to talk.
“This is such an experience for our family,” Joe Gibbs said. “I’ve been blessed to enjoy so much, but this,
he had not made a lap in the car. We didn’t dream about him being up front like that.
“This is the only thing Ty has want-ed to do since he was 2-years-old. Any parent or grandparent would tell you, it’s like a dream come true.”
Ty Gibbs dropped to his knees be-side his Toyota and bowed his head into his hands.
Then he admitted he didn’t know how to do burnouts, either.
“I don’t even know what’s going on,” he said. Gibbs choked on tears, wiped away his eyes and apologized for giving a poor interview.
Ty Gibbs celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfi nity Series road course auto race at Daytona International Speedway, on Feb 20, in Daytona
Beach, Florida. (AP)
CAR RACING
HORSE RACING
SKIING
SKIING
CRICKET
Lahore beats Peshawar in PSL
Lahore Qalandars’ Mohammad Ha-feez plays a shot during a Pakistan Super League T20 cricket match between Peshawar Zalmi and La-hore Qalandars at the National Sta-dium, in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb
21. (AP)
SPORTSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
15
Crosby has 2 assists in 1,000th NHL game, Penguins top Isles
Avalanche edge Golden Knights in long outdoor game at Lake TahoeSTATELINE, Nevada, Feb 21, (AP): Na-than MacKinnon scored a dazzling goal more than nine hours after assisting on another to highlight a most unusual and lengthy outdoor game at Lake Tahoe that the Colorado Avalanche won 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Devon Toews added an insurance goal and Philipp Grubauer fi nished with 27 saves for the Avalanche.
Penguins 3, Islanders 2In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby had two
assists in his 1,000th NHL game and Pittsburgh beat the Islanders.
Kris Letang scored twice, including a tiebreaking goal in the third period, to help Pittsburgh win for the fourth time in fi ve games. Mike Matheson also scored, and Tristan Jarry made 33 saves.
Oilers 7, Flames 1In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor McDa-
vid scored a natural hat trick and added two assists, leading Edmonton in a rout of Calgary.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and Alex Chiasson and Josh Archibald also scored for Edmonton. Mikko Koski-
nen made 43 saves for the Oilers.Maple Leafs 5, Canadiens 3
In Toronto, Auston Matthews scored twice to increase his NHL-leading goals total to 18 and added two assists in To-ronto’s victory over Montreal.
Matthews scored both goals against the Canadiens on the power play.
Rangers 4, Capitals 1
In Washington, Alexis Lafreniere scored his second NHL goal, Artemi Panarin had two assists and New York made the best of a new-look lineup, beating Washington for its second consecutive victory.
The Capitals struggled to match the Rangers’ energy early in a game moved up to an afternoon start, falling behind 3-0 before Dmitry Orlov scored his fi rst goal of the season with 38.2 seconds left in the second period.
Hurricanes 4, Lightning 0In Raleigh, N.C., Alex Nedeljkovic
made 24 saves for first NHL shutout and Carolina beat Tampa Bay. Vincent Trocheck, Sebastian Aho, Cedric Pa-quette and Andrei Svechnikov scored for the Hurricanes. They have won
five of six and have a six-game points streak. It was the first of four consecu-tive games between the teams, with Saturday’s game coming as part of a revised schedule.
Sharks 5, Blues 4In St Louis, Logan Couture scored his
second goal of the game midway through the third period and San Jose held off St. Louis.
After the Blues overcame defi cits of 3-0 and 4-1 to tie it during a wild second period, Couture scored on a wrist shot with 8:09 left in the third.
Sabres 3, Devils 2In Newark, N.J., Sam Reinhart scored
two goals and Buffalo beat New Jersey to snap a four-game losing streak.
Defensemen Colin Miller also scored and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves for the Sabres, who had not won since beating the Devils in a shootout Jan. 30.
Kings 4, Coyotes 2In Glendale, Ariz., Alex Iafallo scored
two goals, Cal Peterson stopped 22 shots and Los Angeles beat Arizona for its fourth straight victory.
The Kings beat the Coyotes 3-2 on Thursday when Gabriel Vilardi scored in the fourth round of a shootout. Vilardi came through again, beating Darcy Kue-mper with a wrister shortly after Arizo-
na’s Phil Kessel tied it. Red Wings 2, Panthers 1
In Detroit, Mathias Brome scored his fi rst NHL goal late in the second period and Detroit held off Florida.
Patrik Nemeth added his fi rst goal of the season for the Red Wings, and Jona-than Bernier made 38 saves.
Alex Wennberg scored for Florida.Predators 4, Blue Jackets 2
In Columbus, Ohio, Calle Jarnkrok scored in the fi rst and third periods, Pekka Rinne made 21 saves and Nashville beat Columbus to split the two-game series.
The Predators broke a 2-2 tie with two goals in the fi rst 45 seconds of the third period. Jarnkrok beat Elvis Merzlikins from the slot 16 seconds in, and Filip Forsberg followed with his team-leading eighth goal off a faceoff.
Wild 5, Ducks 1In Anaheim, Calif., Kevin Fiala had
two goals and an assist, Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves and Minnesota beat Ana-heim to sweep the two-game set.
Joel Eriksson Ek, Victor Rask and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild.
New York Islanders’ Oliver Wahlstrom (26) brings the puck upice as Pitts-burgh Penguins’ John Marino (6) defends during the second period of an
NHL hockey game, on Feb 20, in Pittsburgh. (AP)
ICE HOCKEY
Nunn & Butler help Heat beat Lakers in NBA Finals rematch
Rozier, Hornets capitalize on Green’s blow up to top Warriors
LOS ANGELES, Feb 21, (AP): Kendrick Nunn scored 27 points, Jimmy Butler had 24 points and eight rebounds, and the Miami Heat held off the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 in an NBA Finals rematch.
Bam Adebayo had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat in the teams’ fi rst meeting since the Lakers won their 17th champion-ship with a six-game victory over Miami in the Florida bubble four months ago.
LeBron James had 19 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for the Lak-ers. The defending NBA champions lost their second straight game without starters Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder.
James stole the Heat’s inbounds pass with 8.4 seconds left to create one last chance for the Lakers, but the 17-time All-Star passed off to Alex Caruso, who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Heat scored only 15 points in the fourth quarter and barely held off Los Angeles down the stretch for their second straight win after a three-game skid during their seven-game trip.
Los Angeles also lost back-to-back games for the fi rst time since Jan. 27-28, falling to East contenders Brooklyn and Miami at Staples Center.
Davis missed his third straight game after aggravating his strained right calf last weekend, and Schroder missed his second straight under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Hornets 102, Warriors 100In Charlotte, N.C., seconds after
Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected, Terry Rozier hit an off-bal-ance jumper from the left corner as time expired to give Charlotte a wild victory.
Rozier - who had 36 points - made the winner after Green received two technical fouls and was ejected with 9.3 seconds for arguing the outcome of a jump ball.
The Warriors were leading by two when offi cials ruled Hornets coach James Borrego had called a timeout as Gordon Hayward came down the jump ball. Green immediately began jump-ing around the court, screaming at offi -cials that the Warriors had tied up Hay-ward as he was falling to the fl oor and it should have been another jump ball.
Rozier sank two free throws for the technical fouls to tie it. Then, he took the inbounds pass from midcourt and drove to the corner where he made the winning jumper.
Warriors star Stephen Curry went through warmups but was a late scratch after he became ill during warmups. The team said the illness is not COVID-19 related and that Curry
was “just not feeling well.”Kelly Oubre Jr. led Golden State
with 25 points.Suns 128, Grizzlies 97
In Memphis, Tenn., Devin Booker scored 23 points, hitting fi ve of Phoe-nix’s franchise-record 24 3-pointers, and Chris Paul passed Oscar Robert-son for six place on the NBA’s career assist list in a romp over Memphis.
Paul had 16 points and six assists. He has 9,891 assists, four more than Robertson had in his Hall of Fame career. Phoenix won for the eighth time in nine games. The Suns made 22 3-pointers Friday night in New Or-leans in a game where they outscored the Pelicans 41-12 in the fourth quarter in a 132-114 victory. Paul had 19 as-sists in that game. Gorgui Dieng led Memphis with 15 points.
Wizards 118, Trails Blazers 111In Portland, Ore., Russell West-
brook had 27 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, and Washington snapped Portland’s six-game winning streak.
Bradley Beal scored 37 points, help-ing Washington to its fourth straight win
Damian Lillard had 35 points and 12 assists, but was 10 for 30 from the fi eld for Portland. Enes Kanter had 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Bulls 122, Kings 114In Chicago, Zach LaVine scored 38
points and Chicago beat Sacramento.The Bulls bounced back after get-
ting dominated by Joel Embiid in a tight loss at Eastern Conference-lead-ing Philadelphia on Friday night.
Sacramento’s Marvin Bagley III tied a season high with 26 points and had 11 rebounds.
Gonzaga remains unbeaten
Brakefi eld scores go-ahead basket, Duke edges VirginiaDURHAM, N.C., Feb 21, (AP): Fresh-man Jaemyn Brakefield scored the go-ahead basket on a reverse layup with 1:58 left and Duke came up with a final-possession stop and upset No. 7 Virginia 66-65.
Matthew Hurt scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (10-8, 8-6 Atlan-tic Coast Conference). They claimed a much-needed third straight win to im-prove their uncertain chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
Brakefield’s scoring drive, while drawing a foul on Jay Huff, finally got Duke a slim lead. Freshman DJ Steward had a chance to increase the margin, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity with 9.6 seconds left.
Huff got the rebound and got the ball to Kihei Clark, who bobbled the dribble at the other end to lose time and had to force up an off-balance 3-point attempt over Hurt to beat the clock. The ball was well short, with Huff catching the airball and stuffing it in well past the final horn.
Huff finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers (15-5, 11-3). They followed a blowout loss at No. 16 Florida State with a second loss this week in yet another close matchup with the Blue Devils.
Gonzaga 106, San Diego 69In Spokane, Wash., Drew Timme
scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, Jalen Suggs added 17 points and Gonzaga won its 26th straight game, routing San Diego.
Corey Kispert added 16 points to help Gonzaga (22-0, 13-0 West Coast) get its 14th straight victory against San Diego
and 49th consecutive win at home. The Bulldogs are a win away from
matching a program best 50-game home winning streak. Gonzaga will have a chance to break the mark next week with home games against Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount that were re-scheduled to make up for earlier post-ponements.
Josh Parish led San Diego (3-8, 2-5) with 13 points.
Illinois 94, Minnesota 63In Minneapolis, Ayo Dosunmu had
19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the sea-son, Kofi Cockburn scored 22 points in 24 minutes, and Illinois cruised past Minnesota for its seventh consecutive victory.
Trent Frazier added 15 points and six steals to help the Illini (16-5, 12-3) stay in second place in the bruising Big Ten with two weeks to go in league play. The Illini had a 31-8 edge in fast-break points, shot 56% from the floor and forced 18 turnovers by the Gophers (13-10, 6-10).
Freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. led Minnesota with 16 points and six re-bounds, with his father, former NBA player Jamal Mashburn, watching in person for the first time in his college career.
Alabama 82, Vanderbilt 78In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Jaden Shack-
elford scored a season-high 27 points and Alabama beat Vanderbilt to move within a victory of clinching at least a share of its first Southeastern Confer-ence regular-season title in 19 years.
Jahvon Quinerly made a late 3-point-er and a clinching free throw with 2 sec-
onds left to help Alabama (18-5, 13-1) turn back the Commodores (6-12, 2-10).
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 points for Vanderbilt.
Oklahoma 66, Iowa St. 56In Ames, Iowa, Austin Reaves scored
20 points to lead Oklahoma past Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-5, 9-4 Big 12) have won three third straight.
Iowa State (2-16, 0-13) trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before ral-lying to a 46-45 lead on Tre Jackson’s 3-pointer with 11:29 remaining. The Sooners responded with a 16-4 run.
Rasir Bolton led Iowa State with 14 points and six assists.
Villanova 68, UConn 60In Villanova, Pa., Collin Gillespie
scored 20 points and Jeremiah Robin-son-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Villanova beat UConn.
Justin Moore added 11 points for the Wildcats (14-3, 9-2 Big East).
James Bouknight, in his second game back after missing eight due to elbow surgery, scored 21 points for the Hus-kies (10-6, 7-6).
WASHINGTON, Feb 21, (AP): Results and standings from the NHL games on Saturday.
East Division GP W L OT Pts GF GABoston 15 10 3 2 22 44 33Philadelphia 14 8 3 3 19 48 44Washington 16 8 5 3 19 54 57Pittsburgh 16 9 6 1 19 51 53NY Islanders 17 8 6 3 19 41 41NY Rangers 16 6 7 3 15 40 42New Jersey 12 6 4 2 14 33 33Buffalo 14 5 7 2 12 35 43
Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GACarolina 16 12 3 1 25 62 43Florida 16 11 3 2 24 56 47Chicago 19 9 6 4 22 55 56Tampa Bay 15 10 4 1 21 54 36Columbus 19 8 7 4 20 55 64Dallas 12 5 3 4 14 40 34Nashville 17 7 10 0 14 40 57Detroit 20 5 12 3 13 39 64
West Division GP W L OT Pts GF GASt Louis 18 10 6 2 22 59 56Vegas 15 10 4 1 21 45 34Colorado 14 9 4 1 19 44 29Los Angeles 16 7 6 3 17 51 48Arizona 17 7 7 3 17 44 49Minnesota 14 8 6 0 16 38 36San Jose 16 7 7 2 16 45 58Anaheim 18 6 9 3 15 34 50
North Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAToronto 19 14 3 2 30 72 51Edmonton 20 12 8 0 24 72 62Winnipeg 17 10 6 1 21 57 46Montreal 16 9 5 2 20 55 44Calgary 18 8 9 1 17 47 54Vancouver 21 8 12 1 17 62 74Ottawa 19 4 14 1 9 44 78
NHL Results/Standings
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.
Michigan State’s Joey Hauser (20) puts up a shot against Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) during the second half of an NCAA col-lege basketball game, on Feb 20,
in Bloomington, Indiana. (AP)
Holmes, ETSU mount comeback 24-17 win over Samford
Baughman’s late TD pass lifts Elon past DavidsonELON, NC, Feb 21, (AP): Joey Baugh-man tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Donovan Williams with 32 seconds remaining to lift Elon to a 26-23 victory over Davidson in an FCS spring season opener.
Davidson had a chance to ice it with 2:56 remaining but couldn’t convert on fourth-and-1 at the Elon 32. It ended a 16-play, 59-yard drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes.
ETSU 24, Samford 17In Johnson City, Tenn, Quay Holmes
scored two touchdowns and ran for 125 yards and East Tennessee overcame a slow start to beat Samford 24-17 in the spring opener for both teams.
Tyler Riddell threw a 59-yard touch-down pass to Juliun Lane-Price who beat his defender on an outside route.
Furman 35, W Carolina 7In Greenville, SC, Devin Wynn ran
for 106 yards and a touchdown to help Furman beat Western Carolina 35-7 in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
Wynn became the 13th player in Fur-man history to reach 2,000 career yards rushing, fi nishing the game at 2,063.
The Paladins (1-0) fi nished with 533
yards of total offense and 33 fi rst downs compared to Western Carolina’s 109 yards and fi ve fi rst downs.
N Dakota 44, S Illinois 21In Grand Forks, ND, Tommy Schus-
ter threw three touchdown passes, Otis Weah had 91 yards rushing and a score, and North Dakota beat Southern Illinois 44-21 in a FCS spring season opener.
Weah carried 13 times and his 1-yard TD run midway through the third quar-ter gave the Fighting Hawks a 22-14 lead. Schuster fi nished 15-of-23 passing for 118 yards.
Wofford 31, Mercer 14In Spartanburg, SC, Irvin Mulligan
ran for 90 yards and a touchdown and Wofford opened its season with a 31-14 win over Mercer in the Southern Con-ference opener for both teams.
It was the fi rst game in school his-tory played by the Terriers (1-0) in the month of February.James Madison 52, Morehead St. 0
In Harrisonburg, Va, Latrele Palmer and Jawon Hamilton each rushed for a pair of touchdowns, Percy Agyei-Obese gained 116 yards with a score and James Madison opened the unusual spring football season with a 52-0 blanking of Morehead State.
FOOTBALL
BASKETBALL
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (right), shoots as Los Angeles Lakers guard Wesley Matthews defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, on Feb 20, in Los Angeles. (AP)
NBA Results/Standings
WASHINGTON, Feb 21, (AP): Results and standings from the NBA games on Saturday.Charlotte 102 Golden State 100Miami 96 LA Lakers 94Phoenix 128 Memphis 97Chicago 122 Sacramento 114Washington 118 Portland 111
Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division
W L Pct GBPhiladelphia 20 10 .667 -Brooklyn 19 12 .613 1-1/2Boston 15 14 .517 4-1/2Toronto 15 15 .500 5New York 14 16 .467 6
Southeast Division W L Pct GBCharlotte 14 15 .483 -Miami 13 17 .433 1-1/2Atlanta 12 17 .414 2Orlando 12 18 .400 2-1/2Washington 10 17 .370 3
Central Division W L Pct GBMilwaukee 17 13 .567 -Indiana 15 14 .517 1-1/2Chicago 13 16 .448 3-1/2Cleveland 10 20 .333 7Detroit 8 21 .276 8-1/2
Western ConferenceSouthwest Division
W L Pct GBSan Antonio 16 11 .593 -Memphis 13 13 .500 2-1/2Dallas 13 15 .464 3-1/2New Orleans 12 17 .414 5Houston 11 17 .393 5-1/2
Northwest Division W L Pct GBUtah 24 6 .800 -Portland 18 11 .621 5-1/2Denver 16 13 .552 7-1/2Okla. City 11 18 .379 12-1/2Minnesota 7 23 .233 17
Pacifi c Division W L Pct GBLA Clippers 22 9 .710 -LA Lakers 22 9 .710 -Phoenix 19 10 .655 2Golden State 16 15 .516 6Sacramento 12 17 .414 9
UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) shoots ahead of Xavier guard Car-rie Gross (25) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game,
on Feb 20, in Cincinnati. (AP)
Terps rout Gophers
Uconn women pummel Xavier CINCINNATI, Feb 21, (AP): Christyn Williams scored 22 points and No. 1 Connecticut breezed in its fi rst visit to Xavier, 83-32 for its eighth straight win.
High-scoring Paige Bueckers and Olivia Nelson-Odoba each added 11 points for the Huskies (18-1, 15-0 Big East). UConn led 42-13 at halftime and Bueckers didn’t score after the break. She had seven assists.
Aaliyah Edwards had 16 points for the Huskies, whose only loss was to then-No. 19 Arkansas 90-87 on Jan. 28.
Maryland 94, Minnesota 62In College Park, Md., Ashley Owu-
su scored 24 points and No. 9 Mary-land completed a season sweep of Minnesota with a 94-62 victory.
Diamond Miller added 20 points with three steals and Katie Benzan fi n-ished with 17 points for the Terrapins, who have won fi ve consecutive games by an average of 35 points.
Maryland (16-2, 12-1 Big Ten) sti-fl ed Minnesota with its pressure scored 23 points off 13 turnovers.
Kadi Sissoko led Minnesota (7-11, 6-10) with 16 points and seven re-bounds. Sissoko has scored in double fi gures 12 times this season.
S. Florida 78, Tulane 69In Tampa, Fla., Bethy Mununga
scored 17 points and grabbed 17 re-bounds and No. 12 South Florida pulled away from Tulane for a 78-69 victory.
Sydni Harvey scored 16 points and Elena Tsineke 13 for South Florida. The Bulls have won three straight following a stretch of seven postponements and one cancellation due to COVID-19 pro-tocols. Jerkaila Jordan scored 29 points for Tulane (14-7, 10-6).
Creighton 83, DePaul 72In Chicago, Emma Ronsiek scored
27 points, Temi Carda added 18 and eight assists and Creighton became the first unraked team to beat No. 19 De-Paul this year, winning 83-72.
Carly Bachelor added 13 points for Creighton (7-8, 6-5 Big East Confer-ence), which has won three straight and beat a ranked team for the first team since winning at DePaul last sea-son. Payton Brotzki scored 11 points and Morgan Maly 10 with nine re-bounds.
BASKETBALL
BASKETBALL
Buffalo 3 New Jersey 2NY Rangers 4 Washington 1Detroit 2 Florida 1Los Angeles 4 Arizona 2Carolina 4 Tampa Bay 0Pittsburgh 3 NY Islanders 2
San Jose 5 St Louis 4Nashville 4 Columbus 2Toronto 5 Montreal 3Minnesota 5 Anaheim 1Edmonton 7 Calgary 1Colorado 3 Vegas 2
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ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 16
SportsHarrison Burton (20) and Ty Gibbs (54) lead a fi eld of cars through a turn after a restart during NASCAR Xfi nity Series road course auto race at Day-tona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb 20, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Gibbs won the race. (AP) — See Page 14
Dominant Nole wins 18th major titleMedvedev loses another fi nal
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb 21, (AP): Maybe, just maybe, the thinking went, Novak Djokovic would be just a tad more susceptible to trouble this time around at the Australian Open.
After all, he wrenched his mid-section during a slip in the third round and said he’d torn a muscle. Entering Sunday, Djokovic al-ready ceded fi ve sets in the tourna-ment, the most he ever dropped en route to a major fi nal. And he was facing Daniil Medvedev, owner of a 20-match winning streak.
Yeah, right. We’re talking about Djokovic at Melbourne Park, where his dominance is most certainly intact - nine fi nals, nine championships. Plus, he’s still gaining on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam stand-ings, now up to 18 overall, two shy of the men’s record those rivals share.
Djokovic used superb serving, his usual relentless returning and baseline excellence to grab 11 of 13 games in one stretch and beat Medvedev 7-5,
6-2, 6-2 for a third consecutive Aus-tralian Open trophy.
When the match ended after fewer than two hours, Djokovic dropped onto his back on the court. After greeting Medvedev, Djokovic went to the side-line, lifted his white shirt and peeled off pieces of beige athletic tape along his abdomen.
“It has been a roller-coaster ride for me, especially in the last couple weeks,” Djokovic said, cradling his silver trophy in his left arm.
He offered “special thanks” to his personal trainer, Ulises Badio, for helping him get through it and improve to a combined 18-0 in semifi nals and fi nals on Melbourne’s hard courts.
“Probably, it’s not your last one,” Medvedev said. “I have no words to say.” Djokovic, a 33-year-old from Ser-bia, has won six of the last 10 majors and will stay at No. 1 in the rankings at least through March 8. That will give him 311 weeks in the top spot, breaking another mark held by Federer.
The No. 4-seeded Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam fi nal; he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open.
“He’s defi nitely one of the toughest players that I ever faced in my life,” Djokovic said. “It’s a matter of time before you’re going to hold a Grand Slam, that’s for sure.” And then he joked to Medvedev, a 25-year-old from Russia who hadn’t lost to any-one since October: “If you don’t mind waiting a few more years ...”
Medvedev had won his past 12 out-ings against members of the Top 10, but going up against Djokovic in Aus-tralia is a much different challenge.
As things slipped away, Medvedev bounced his white racket off the blue court, then absolutely destroyed it with a full-on spike. He kept looking up at his coach with palms up as if to ask, “What can I possibly do here?”
It is a familiar sentiment in this sta-dium: Federer, Nadal, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem - all Grand Slam champions, all defeated by Djokovic in semifi nals or fi nals in Melbourne.
So put Djokovic’s nine triumphs in Australia alongside fi ve at Wimble-don, three at the U.S. Open and one at the French Open.
The math looks good for him. He is about a year younger than Nadal and 6 1/2 younger than Federer, who turns 40 in August and hasn’t competed in more than a year after two knee operations.
On a cool, cloudy evening, an event delayed three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic closed with an announced attendance of 7,426. Spec-tators were barred for fi ve days earlier in the tournament because of a COV-ID-19 lockdown, but they eventually were let back in at 50% capacity.
“There are a lot of mixed feelings about what has happened in the last month or so with tennis players com-ing to Australia,” Djokovic said. “But I think when we draw a line at the end, it was a successful tournament for the organizers.”
And for him. Medvedev’s fl at, wrap-the-racket-
around-his-neck forehand was iffy at fi rst, missing wide, long and into the net in the initial 10 minutes. Djoko-vic grabbed 13 of the match’s initial 16 points and a quick 3-0 lead. Soon enough, though, it was 3-all, then 5-all.
But that’s when Djokovic stepped up, and Medvedev stepped back. Djok-ovic held at love, then broke to claim the set when Medvedev slapped a fore-hand into the net just after someone in the crowd called out during the point.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after defeating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles fi nal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia on Feb 21. (AP)
West Ham’s Said Banrahma (right), duels for the ball with Tottenham’s Davinson Sanchez during the English Premier League soccer match be-tween West Ham United and Tottenham at the London Stadium in London,
Feb 21. (AP)
AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, (top), and Inter’s Hakimi vie for the ball dur-ing the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Inter Milan, at the San
Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb 21. (AP)
LONDON, Feb 21, (AP): Raheem Sterling’s goal after 80 seconds proved enough for Manchester City to clinch a 1-0 victory against Arsenal that extended the stroll to the Premier League title on Sunday.The ease of City’s 18th successive win in all competitions was not refl ected in the scoreline against an Arsenal side that offered little attacking threat.
It was Riyad Mahrez who provided the cross for Sterling to head in his 12th goal of the season.
City have turned the season around - helped by defending champions Liverpool imploding - to establish a 10-point lead over Leicester.
Leicester 2, Villa 1Leicester strengthened their posi-
tion in the Premier League’s top four with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa thanks to early goals by James Maddison and Harvey Barnes.
Villa were without Jack Grealish because of injury and made a slow start without their inspirational cap-tain, going 2-0 down by the 23rd minute at Villa Park.
Barnes laid the ball off to Maddi-son, who slotted a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area in the 19th.
The winger then scored himself, forcing home a rebound high into the net after Villa goalkeeper Emi Mar-tinez could only palm away a fi erce effort from Jamie Vardy. Bertrand Traore gave Villa hope by pulling a goal back in the 48th from close range after John McGinn helped on a cross by Matt Targett, but Leicester held on.
West Ham 2, Tottenham 1 West Ham strengthened their un-
likely push for Champions League qualifi cation by beating Tottenham 2-1 to climb into the top four.
Jesse Lingard, rejuvenated after his loan move from Manchester United last month, scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 47th minute after running onto a pass from Pablo Fornals and burying an angled shot with his left foot. Tottenham had also conceded a goal early in the fi rst half with fi t-again striker Michail Antonio converting a loose ball from close range after his initial glancing effort was kept out by goalkeeper Hugo Llo-ris in the fi fth minute.
Everton 2, Liverpool 0A fi rst win at Anfi eld since 1999 for
Everton. The worst form for Liverpool at home in the league since 1923 after a fourth straight loss.
The English title that took 30 years to win again is being surrendered far too easily by Liverpool.
Richarlison scored after three min-utes and Gylfi Sigurdsson netted a late penalty to give Everton a 2-0 victory .
A fi rst Merseyside derby win since 2010 put Everton behind sixth-place Liverpool only on goal difference with a game in hand.
October’s derby was the start of Liverpool’s defensive problems when Virgil Van Dijk was ruled out for the season with an ACL injury after a reckless tackle by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Henderson’s problem appeared to be a groin injury as he pulled up run-ning the ball out of defense in the fi rst half, leaving his side with an 18th different - and most inexperienced -
pairing of Ozan Kabak and substitute Nat Phillips. But by then the damage had already been done as Everton had made its intent clear. Straight from kickoff, the ball was hit forward and, under no pressure, Kabak conceded a corner after six seconds.
Fulham 1, Sheff Utd 0Fulham beat last-place Sheffi eld
United 1-0 to boost their own survival bid. Ademola Lookman broke the deadlock in the 61st minute.
Lookman worked his way into the penalty area from the left-hand side before fi ring a low shot into the net. It secured Fulham’s fourth win from 25 league games this season.
City pip Arsenal for 18th successive winLeicester strengthen top-4 spot
Real win
Cádiz holdBarcelonaBARCELONA, Spain, Feb 21, (AP): Cádiz snatched a late penalty to draw 1-1 at Camp Nou and deal Barcelona an unexpected setback in their bid for the Spanish league title on Sunday.
Five days after being beaten 4-1 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Ron-ald Koeman’s side saw two points slip away when sub-stitute Álex Fernández con-verted an 88th-minute penalty conceded by Clement Lenglet.
L i o n e l Messi ap-peared to put Bar-celona on their way to an easy win in his club re-cord 506th l e a g u e a p p e a r -ance in Spain. But after Messi scored from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute, Barcelona were unable to fi nish off many scoring chances.
The draw leaves Barcelona in third place at eight points behind leader Atlético Madrid, which lost 2-0 to Levante on Saturday. Real Madrid were the biggest benefi ciary of the round, moving three points be-hind Atlético after winning 1-0 at Valladolid also on Saturday. Madrid have played one more
match than Atlético and Bar-celona.
“These are two hard blows this week,” Barcelona defend-er Gerard Pique said after the slip to Cádiz on the heels of enduring a hat trick by PSG star Kylian Mbappe on Tues-day in the fi rst leg of their Champions League round-of-16 match.
“There is a way to go in the league, but we didn’t count on this. If we can get on a good run of play and get good re-sults, we can still have a shot. It is going to be diffi cult,¨ Pique said.
Cádiz, which came up from the second division this season, upset Barcelona 2-1 in early December when Koeman’s side was still fi nding their way under the new coach. Since then, Barcelona has not lost in the league and arrived at the game on a seven-game win-ning streak in the league.
Barcelona had 80% of pos-session and out-shot Cádiz 20-3. But a clumsy foul by Lenglet - when he kicked Rubén Sobrino in the leg while trying to clear a ball on the edge of the area - ruined a strong performance that only lacked a second goal.
“I am very, very disappoint-ed, even more than on Tues-day,” Koeman said. “We were on a good run in the league, and we had a game at home with the chance to cut into the lead of those ahead of us. It is a game that this team, with their talent, have to win.”
Pedri González set up Mes-si’s goal when he was fouled by Isaac Carcelén. Messi rolled his kick to the left side of the net after goalkeeper Jer-emías Ledesma had already given his intentions away.
Cádiz central defender Fali tracked Messi all match long and did well to limit his im-pact. A timely touch early in the game defl ected Messi’s shot wide after Sergio Bus-quets had played him clear. Ledesma also did well to get low and poke away a pass by Messi that was destined for Antoine Griezmann to push in for a second goal.
It then fell to Fernández, the brother of Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernández, to grab Cádiz´s fi rst point at Camp Nou since 1978.
¨Today this was all about Cádiz, but if I can help my brother out then it is all the better,¨ Fernández said.
Messi
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TENNIS
Last laugh for Lukaku as Inter rout MilanMILAN, Feb 21, (AP): Romelu Lu-kaku had the last laugh - and goal - as his Inter Milan side beat Zlatan Ibrahimović’s AC Milan 3-0 on Sun-day in their biggest derby match in a decade.
The game took place almost a month after a heated spat between the two star players.
Lukaku set up Lautaro Martínez for an early opener and sealed the result in the 66th minute with Inter’s third. Martínez had doubled his tally early in the second half, during Milan’s best spell of the match.
“Lukaku works a lot and always makes himself available for the team,” Martínez said. “He is a great person and a great player, we are happy to have him with us. I am convinced that he can still improve a lot.”
Inter remained top but extended its advantage to four points over second-place Milan. Napoli could move to within six points of Milan, having played a match less, if it wins at Ata-lanta later.
The stakes in the Milan derby were higher than they have been in the last 10 years. The last time Inter and Milan went into the Derby della Madonnina occupying the top two spots in the table was in 2011, when Milan was above Inter. The Rossoneri won that match and went on to win the league title - the last team other than Juventus to do so.
There were no supporters in the sta-dium because of coronavirus restric-tions, but thousands of fans from both sides gathered outside to welcome the teams.
The match was even more highly charged because the last time the two sides met, on Jan. 26 in the Italian Cup quarterfi nals, Lukaku and Ibrahimović were involved in a heated confronta-tion that is currently under investiga-tion by the Italian soccer federation.
It was Lukaku who helped Inter get off to the perfect start, with less than fi ve minutes on the clock. His fi rst cross was charged down by a great block from Milan defender Simon Kjær but the ball came back out to Lukaku, who fl oated another cross in for Martínez to easily head into the top right cor-ner. Inter dominated for long stretches of the fi rst half but Milan appeared a side transformed after the break. Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanović had to make three outstanding saves in quick succession in the opening couple of minutes to deny Ibrahimović twice and then Sandro Tonali.
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