03 Nov

CR IP TI ON BS SU

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Syria accepts Arab plan as more killed in crackdown

WikiLeaks’ Assange loses battle against extradition

www.kuwaittimes.net

THULHIJJA 7, 1432 AH

Joy as conjoined Philippine twins separated

Ronaldo brings up century, Real ease into last 16

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debate on striking Iran

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20 7Israel10tests missile 29 amid Israel speeds up settlements • Aid boats head to Gaza

JERUSALEM: Israel test-fired a missile from a military base yesterday, two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the “direct and heavy threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear program. The noon launch near Tel Aviv, which had not been announced in advance, coincided with a week-long surge of speculation in local media that Netanyahu was working to secure cabinet consensus for an attack on Israel’s arch-foe. Netanyahu’s office declined comment on the reports, which were unsourced and unconfirmed, and which some commentators suggested might be disinformation designed to jolt war-weary foreign powers into stepping up sanctions against Tehran.

The Defence Ministry described the launch from Palmachim base as the test of the propulsion system of a missile on which it declined to elaborate. “This is an impressive technological achievement and an important step in Israel’s advances in the realms of missiles and space, which has been a long time in the planning,” Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement. Israel Radio’s military affairs correspondent, who is regularly briefed by top officials on defence matters, said a “ballistic missile” had been launched. The term generally applies to long-range missiles for delivering warheads.

Israel is widely assumed to have such weapons, known as Jerichos, as well as Shavit rockets for putting satellites into orbit. It has also, with US help, been upgrading its Arrow aerial shield, which uses interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles above the atmosphere. The missile fired from Palmachim flew at a high angle skyward, witnesses told local media several minutes before the Defence Ministry formally announced the launch.

Iran’s military chief, General Hassan Firouzabadi, warned yesterday that his country would “punish” any Israeli strike against it. “We consider any threat - even Continued on Page 13

Youth activist detained over offensive tweets

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The public prosecution yesterday ordered the detention of well-known youth activist Hamad Al-Olayan until today pending further investigations for writing tweets deemed offensive to HH the Amir, his lawyer Jaber Al-Ghareeb said. AlOlayan was summoned for investigation by the detective department along with another youth activist Tareq Al-Mutairi and two others tweeters for interrogation over similar charges. Al-Olayan was then referred yesterday to the public prosecution which ordered his detention until today to complete questioning, while Mutairi was released by the detectives and asked to go to the public prosecution today.

The two were among prominent activists who organized rallies and protests earlier this year calling for changing the prime minister and the government. The activists have denied publishing any tweets that “undermine the status of the Amir”, who is immune against criticism by the Kuwaiti constitution. Kuwait has in the past few months cracked down heavily on tweeters over a variety of alleged violations including religious offenses, insulting Gulf leaders, besides undermining the status of the Amir.

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Israeli machinery uproot olive trees and destroy structures that according to Israeli authorities were built without permission in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Atur yesterday. (Inset) A picture taken near Israel’s coastal Palmachim military base shows the launching of a rocket-propulsion system yesterday. — AFP

Gulf struggles to shift jobs to choosy locals ABU DHABI: Ibrahim Hasanain worked as a tour guide at a Dubai tourism company for four years but quit to study law at the University of Dubai, hoping to land a better-paying government job. All eight United Arab Emirates nationals who worked for the company eventually quit, not only because of disappointingly low wages but also because of difficulties fitting in with their co-workers, who were mostly South Asian and Western, he said. “We were all hired because the company had to fill their required quota of Emiratis,” said Ibrahim, 24, as he walked the aisles of a glitzy shopping mall in Dubai.

Across the Gulf, Arab governments are seeking to create more private sector jobs for their citizens while reducing their economies’ reliance on hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, who fill posts in sectors ranging from construction and public transport to tourism, retail and financial services. The motive is partly economic; finding private sector jobs for citizens cuts the fiscal burden that governments must pay in the form of unemployment benefits or state salaries for workers at government agencies and corporations, which are traditional tools for job creation in the region.

But it is also political - social unrest across the Arab world this year underlined the risks posed by unemployed youths. Even countries which experi-

enced little or no unrest on the streets, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, want to reduce unemployment among their citizens to avoid storing up potential trouble for the future. “We should invest in people, not stones,” said Abdulrahim Naqi, secretary general of the Federation of GCC Chambers, a regional business association, referring to the Gulf-wide obsession with building skyscrapers, swanky hotels and shopping malls - and using foreign labour to do it.

As Ibrahim’s case underlines, though, governments face a tough task trying to change labour market patterns established over decades. Accustomed to social benefits and cushy jobs paid for by oil wealth, many Gulf nationals find employment at private firms unattractive because it involves harder work, longer hours, and in many cases smaller salaries and benefits compared to the state sector.

And the lack of enthusiasm cuts both ways. Many private firms in the region remain reluctant to hire Gulf nationals because of workers’ insufficient training and high salary expectations, said Azfar Khan, a senior migration specialist at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. He said undertrained Gulf nationals even posed problems to governments which wanted to increase the proportion of locals employed in their Continued on Page 13

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Manila bans its workers from 41 countries MANILA: The Philippines said yesterday it had banned Filipinos from travelling to work in 41 countries and territories that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect them from abuse. The Department of Labour and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers. Neither have these countries signed agreements with the Philippines “on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers”, the resolution said.

They also do not have their own laws protecting foreign workers, it added.

Included in the list were strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Carlos Cao Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan. Carlos Cao, head of the government’s overseas employment agency, said the 41 countries did not receive too many Filipino workers so a ban would not have a very large effect. “These are the smaller countries with small markets. The negative impact is not going to be very big,” he told AFP. The ban will also not affect Filipino workers Continued on Page 13

French paper firebombed after anti-Islam edition PARIS: The offices of a French satirical newspaper that published a special Arab Spring edition with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the cover as “guest editor” were destroyed in a suspected firebomb attack yesterday.The attack came after Charlie Hebdo renamed the weekly newspaper Charia (Sharia) Hebdo for the occasion and featured a front-page cartoon of the prophet saying: “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter!” The newspa-

per’s website also appeared to have been hacked, with its regular home page replaced with a photo of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and a message reading: “No god but Allah”. The website was later unavailable.

French officials were quick to denounce the attack. “Freedom of expression is an inalienable right in our democracy and all attacks on the Continued on Page 13

PARIS: French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s publisher, known only as Charb, looks at documents removed by firemen yesterday in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo after they were destroyed by a petrol bomb attack overnight. — AFP

‘Revolutionary’ Jazeera turns 15

DOHA: Tunisian mother of Mohamed Bouazizi holds an award as she stands with the new director of Al-Jazeera Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassem Al-Thani (left) and presenter Mohammed Kraishan during a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the launching of the Qatar-based Arabic satellite news channel late Tuesday. — AFP

DOHA: Al-Jazeera, which prides itself as one of the champions of the Arab Spring, is celebrating 15 years on the air with a new leadership for the television network accused of Islamist leanings. The pan-Arab satellite network enjoys renown for providing a platform for dissent in an Arab world ruled mostly by monarchs and despots, a reputation bolstered by its coverage of uprisings in the region this year. Relentless in its non-stop reporting of the street protests in Tunisia and Egypt, as well as the rebellion in Libya, Al-Jazeera is now celebrating its 15th anniversary while boasting of its contribution to the revolutions.

“On this occasion, we are celebrating the ‘Arab Spring’ because our coverage has deepened the Arabs’ awareness of their rights and their causes,” Mustafa Sawaq, the director of the network’s 24-hour Arabic news channel, told AFP. Praise for the network has also come

from prominent figures of the Arab Spring.

Rached Ghannouchi, chief of the Islamist Ennahda party, victors in Tunisia’s first democratic elections since the fall of long-time dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, has described the network as a “partner in the Arab revolutions”.

For its coverage of the Egyptian revolt, the pan-Arab network was awarded a top prize in the breaking news category by the Online News Association in September. The praise heaped on the network comes amid the shock resignation of its longtime chief, Wadah Khanfar, who stepped down in September after eight years at the helm. Khanfar’s departure was announced after whistleblowing website WikiLeaks released a US government cable suggesting that he had agreed to alter content on the channel’s website following a US request.

He was replaced by a Qatari royal, Sheikh

Ahmed bin Jassem Al-Thani, an engineer by training. Two other senior posts were reassigned since Khanfar’s resignation, including the appointment of Sawaq, an Algerian, to the top position at the Arabic news channel and Egyptian Ibrahim Hilal to the head of the newsroom. The management shake-up has stoked speculation that Al-Jazeera is gearing up for a change in an effort to deflect criticism that its reporting takes on the Islamist cause.

“The latest changes at the network indicate a desire to re-balance the network’s editorial direction currently leaning towards certain political currents,” said Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, chief editor at the Qatari daily Al-Arab, hinting at Jazeera’s Islamist leanings. Arab press veteran Abdelwahab Badrakhan was more explicit.

“Al-Jazeera needs to reconsider its often...

Islamist agenda,” he said.

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KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries at the opening of Amricani Cultural Center in Al-Qibla area yesterday.

Amir attends opening of Amricani Cultural Center KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attended yesterday the opening ceremony of Amricani Cultural Center in Al-Qibla area.

HH the Amir was received by Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, M inister of Electricity and Water and Acting Minister of I nformation and Communication Salem Metheeb Al-Uthayna and Dar Al-Athar AlIslamiyyah (DAI) Director General Sheikha Hussah Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.

The opening celebration was also attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Jassim Al-Khorafi, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser

NBK offers female customers 50% discount on mammogram screening KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK ) will offer all its female customers special discounts up to 50 percent on mammogram screening and medical tests for early detection of breast cancer, in collaboration with AlOmooma Hospital.

“This initiative aims at protecting our clients against breast cancer by encouraging them to go through medical checkups,” said Manal Al-Mattar, NBK’s Executive Manager, Public Relations and Advertising.

All NBK’s female customers can

enjoy up to 50 percent special discounts on mammogram, gynecologist consultation and other lab tests at the hospital.

This offer comes is par t of NBK’s continuous effor ts to increase social awareness on breast cancer and promote ways of prevention.

“This initiative reflects NBK’s commitment toward social responsibility. NBK enjoys a long track record of initiatives and activities to support the society and all its members,” concluded Al-Mattar.

Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and top state officials.

I n the opening speech, Al-Uthayna expressed his appreciation for HH the Amir’s attendance and stressed the country’s pride for holding “ The Al-Sabah Collec tion’s Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals.”

Then, Secretary General of Kuwait National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Ali Al-Yoha thanked HH the Amir for the rehabilitation of this historical monument. Later, HH the Amir signed the guest book and viewed a documentary about “The Story of the Amricani.” HH the Amir also took a tour around the Treasury of the World exhibition.— KUNA

Peruvian Embassy opens in Kuwait

By Ben Garcia

Manal Al-Mattar

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Peru to Kuwait yesterday inaugurated the country’s new embassy in Sharq, Al-Arabiya Tower.

Ambassador Amador Velasquez Garcia-Monterosso opened its new embassy after holding temporary office at his Marina residence in Salmiya since March.

The new embassy building reflects the way in which the Peruvian people want to project and promote their country overseas, explained the ambassador. Speaking to the Kuwait Times, Ambassador Garcia-Monterosso said that he wanted to ensure that the embassy was as welcoming and accessible as possible for every visitor. “I want people to know that they are welcome and that we are happily looking forward to their visit,” he explained. The new embassy building houses several important artifacts of ancient and modern Peruvian history and culture, reminding visitors of the country’s rich cultural heritage, the ambassador revealed, adding that the opening of the new embassy in Kuwait would pave the way to greater cooperation and understanding in all fields between the two nations.

“We want to promote and strengthen our bilateral ties and people-to-people contact,” said the ambassador, also lauding Kuwait’s intention to open an embassy in the Peruvian capital, Lima, shortly: “They said they are just waiting for us to open our embassy here and since we are already here, we expect them to open theirs there soon too.”

Ambassador Garcia-Monterosso voiced hope that Peru’s increased visible presence in Kuwait would ensure that bilateral relations would grow and become stronger. “Of course, with our presence here we would love to see greater links between our peoples,” he explained. “We’d also like to see a strengthening in our relationship politically, culturally, economically and in tourism.” The ambassador has been extremely busy since his arrival in Kuwait: “Within a few months of receiving my ambassadorial post here, I was able to draft several resolutions and ensure the probability of signing a number of treaties, especially in the areas of agriculture, education, health, trade and commerce,” he revealed. “My country would love to see more Kuwaitis come to our country. There’s lots of interest being shown by their side but since we previously had no bridge to achieve that, it remained plans and ideas, but now is the time.”

Ambassador Garcia-Monterosso is keen to see more people visit Peru and find out more about its amazing history and cul-

Ambassador Amador Monterroso ture. “As many will know, we have a massive list of things to be proud of, as with any country. One of the Seven Wonders [of the World] is located in our country,” he pointed out, referring to the breathtaking Incan city of Machu Picchu. “We want to capitalize on this and tempt everybody to visit this once Inca city which is amazingly well preserved to get the recognition for our wonders of the ancient world. Besides being home to one of the wonders, we have many more things to be proud of too, from our well preserved Incan antiquities to our mineral resources to agricultural products and the hospitable people of Peru,” he said. Peru currently exports only a small amount of goods to Kuwait, including some fruits and vegetables and a number of textiles, but the ambassador hopes that the exchange of trade will grow over time.

Since the embassy has only just opened and some staff have yet to arrive, those submitting applications for visas to travel to Peru in Kuwait will, for the time being, still have to wait until they are processed in the country’s other regional embassies in Doha or Dubai, although this only takes a short time and, in some cases, can be completed in as little as a day.

“When my staff arrive here, all visa applications will be processed in Kuwait,” the ambassador explained. “As you know, our consular section is ready, their offices are ready and I am just awaiting [the staff members’ arrival.”

BLS hosts dinner for members

KUWAIT: A group photo of the BLS members during the dinner.

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Familiarizing members with Kuwaiti culture, the British Ladies Society (BLS) held its monthly dinner on Tuesday at the Movenpick Hotel Al-Bida. At least 32 BLS members attended the event in which a raffle draw was also held.

Also, the BLS member Iman Martin delivered a speech that offered glimpses into the Kuwaiti way of life. Martin also gives presentations at the AWARE Center and organizes tours for women to the Grand Mosque.

The Society holds a monthly dinner in honor of its members. “Next month (December), a very special dinner will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Society has about 250 to 300 members, of which about 70 percent are British nationals.

The remaining 30 percent belong to different nationalities,” Anne Napier, the newly elected President told Kuwait Times.

Founded in 1993, the British Ladies Society(BLS) provides British women residing in Kuwait with the opportunity to meet one another, form lasting friendships and learn more about the culture and customs of Kuwait. The BLS also invites women from other countries to join the Society through its Associate Membership program. The membership is renewed every September. In June, the Society will renew its annual membership. The purpose of the Society is to provide a plat-

form for members to meet, support each other, share ideas and interests. They will participate in social and cultural activities, support charitable causes and become better acquainted with the customs and culture of Kuwait.

“The Society supports two charitable trusts, one Kuwaiti and one British. These (charitable trusts) change every year.

This year 2011-2012, we are supporting the Ruqaya Al-Qatami -Breast Cancer Committee (Hayat 4 Cancer) from Kuwait, and the Help for Heroes from the UK,” stressed Napier.

The BLS offers a slew of activities to members. It hosts weekly coffee mornings, Mums and Tots sessions, walking and bridge groups, monthly evening dinner meetings, and an active book club. It organizes excursions to places of interest around Kuwait as well as a variety of family-oriented events.

Also, the Society will hold special seasonal festivities such as the annual Christmas bazaar and dinner as well as many other events. Past events sponsored by the BLS include a Mothering Day luncheon, a family Easter egg hunt, a fashion show, black tie balls, and garden tea parties. In addition, the Society provides its members with valuable resources such as a well-stocked (and very social) library, a Kuwait Information Guide Book complete with maps and a ‘Yellow Pages’ directory. Members were offered discounts to popular restaurants, shops and organizations around the country.

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Kuwait, UAE excluded in deployment ban of Filipino workers

By Ben Garcia and Agencies KUWAIT: Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been officially exempted from the list of 41 countries to which Filipino domestic workers, including housemaids, will no longer be supplied.

The ban will be implemented in midNovember. “We are pleased to hear a new report but I think it is temporary,” said Dolor Suarez Elinany, one of the owners of recruitment agencies, told the Kuwait Times. “ The exemption was granted because some Kuwaiti MPs requested that the country be excluded [referring to the visit of some Kuwaiti MPs earlier last month]. We donít know next year.

However, from our part of course, it’s a good decision as many workers will surely be affected if the ban is imposed in Kuwait,” she noted. Philippine Embassy officials in Kuwait could not be reached for a comment.

The Philippines authority had earlier announced its readiness to stop employing its domestic workers in countries that do not comply with Republic Act 10022 or the Amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. The ban will only be applicable to new recruits.

However, it will affect housemaids that plan to return. The countries mentioned in the list has allegedly failed to sign an international treaty that protects Filipino workers. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were previously included in the list. The one published yesterday, however, did not mention the two Gulf Arab countries.

These countries have not signed bilateral agreements with the Philippines “to protect the rights of overseas Filipino workers.” We also do not have laws to protect

foreign workers, the resolution added.

Included in the list were strife-torn countries like Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Chad and Pakistan. Also mentioned in the list were: Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Croatia, Cuba, North Korea, Dominica, East Timor Leste, Eritrea, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Palestine, Serbia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.

Labor and Employment Secretary (Minister) Rosalinda Baldoz said that the countries mentioned in the list issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) were not major labor markets. “It would have very minimal impact on the hiring of OFWs because most of the countries (in the list of noncompliant countries) are countries that do not receive many workers,” Baldoz said.

Manila will stop supplying Filipino workers from mid November, Baldoz added. An estimated nine million Filipino overseas workers, or about 10 percent of the country’s population are working abroad, official statistics show. Many work as maids, laborers or seamen in areas where they are vulnerable to abuse. Many Filipinos also work in higher positions in Western countries. Their dollar remittances have kept the Philippine economy afloat, although reports of abuse are common. While Manila has in the past banned manpower supply to war-torn areas, many Filipinos still leave through illegal means rather than take low-paying jobs at home.

MoD releases suspended military men for Eid KUWAIT: The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Kuwaiti Army, Lieutenant General Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, on Tuesday issued a directive ordering the release of all military officers previously suspended for disciplinary action on the occasion of the upcoming celebration of the holy Eid Al-Adha festival.

I n a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense to announce the

move, it was explained that the decision was taken on the orders of Deputy Prime Minister and defense minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah.

“This generous and spiritually uplifting gesture comes from Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, enabling military men to celebrate the holy Eid Al-Adha among their families”, the statement concluded. — KUNA

KUWAIT: (Left) Health ministry Undersecretary Dr Ibrahim A Al-Abdulhadi and Indian Ambassador Satish Mehta jointly cut the ribbon to open the IMTD 2011 at Mishref Ground yesterday. (RIght) Minister Dr Al-Sayer and Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta pose with other delegates during the inauguration of the IMTS 2011.

India a favored medical tourism hub: Dr Al-Sayer ‘IMTD 2011 Kuwait’ opens

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: A two-day international exhibition and conference titled ‘India Medical Tourism Destination (IMTD) 2011 Kuwait’ got off to an impressive start yesterday at the International Fair Ground, Mishref where India’s state-of-the-art healthcare facilities went on display. Health Minister Dr Hilal Musaed Al-Sayer inaugurated the ‘IMTD 2011 Kuwait’ at a ceremony held in Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tuesday evening in the presence of a large number of Kuwaiti and Indian doctors, conference delegates and attendees. Kuwait’s Health Ministry Undersecretary and Dr Ibrahim A AlAbdulhadi and Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta jointly cut the ribbon to officially open the exhibition yesterday morning in which 33 leading Indian hospitals and a number of topnotch Indian doctors participated.

Thanking the organizers for coordinating and conducting such a large and varied medical exhibition, Dr Abdulhadi said that the exhibition would provide an opportunity for the local health sector to interact with medical professionals from India and to share with them latest developments in medical knowledge and technologies.

In his inaugural speech on Tuesday, Minister Dr Al-Sayer said India has emerged as a favored medical tourism destination due to the impressive advancement of its health-

Toddler dies in accident KUWAIT: A toddler died a tragic accident in Ali Sabah AlSalem after his father, who had not seen the child playing behind his car, unwittingly backed the vehicle over the boy. Horrified neighbors who rushed to alert the father, arriving a moment too late to prevent the tragedy, immediately informed him what had happened before calling the emergency services hotline.

Paramedics arrived shortly afterwards to find the distraught father desperately attempting to revive his unconscious son. Although paramedics tried to resuscitate the child, his injuries were too severe and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The body was removed for autopsy and the traumatized father faces manslaughter charges.

Teen thugs Three teenagers were arrested in Fahaheel after stabbing a bus driver. The three had apparently boarded the bus in Sabahiya without paying any fare and attempted to get off again in Fahaheel.

When the driver prevented them doing so by closing the automatic doors, refusing to let them escape until they paid their fares, they attacked

him, with one stabbing him.

Police were quickly at the scene and the driver was rushed to Adan Hospital whilst the three teenage thugs were taken into custody to be charged.

years in prison, with the new charges also including a felony count of conspiracy to traffic in drugs since the amount of hashish in his possession exceeded the usual limit allowed for personal use.

Dopey driver A Kuwaiti man who recently completed a five-year prison term for drug-related offences faces returning to jail after police caught him in possession of hashish and driving whilst in an intoxicated state.

Two patrol officers approached the man after spotting him behaving in a suspicious manner whilst parked in a location in Salmiya. When he saw the officers, the man initially attempted to escape, but quickly gave up o the idea. The man then voluntarily showed the officers a quantity of hashish which he said was for his personal use. On being taken into custody, the man told officers during questioning that he had returned to drug use after failing to readjust to normal life following his release from prison, also apparently telling them that he had become so institutionalized that he missed the prison environment. The suspect now faces a few more

Rape thwarted An Arab man is facing a charge of attempted rape after seizing a woman in a Hawally street and trying to sexually assault her. The woman, a Filipina expatriate, was apparently making her way home after finishing work at a takeaway restaurant in the area when the man leapt out and grabbed her before attempting to sexually assault her. Thankfully, her screams alerted passersby, who rushed to her aid, seizing the man as he attempted to flee the scene and calling police. After the suspect was taken to a nearby police station to be charged, his family apparently offered money to the victim to drop the charges, but she declined this attempt at bribery and the man remains in custody awaiting trial.

Tweet twit Police are set to arrest a State Security Department officer accused of slandering senior state officials, including

the Prime Minister, via his Twitter account. Police began tracking the account which includes insults to the premier, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed AlSabah and the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud AlSabah, as well as a number of MPs. They were able to identify the suspect as a State Security Department employee who was appointed the use of wasta (unlawful mediation) by a former director of the security body. According to a police insider, the same ‘mediator’ has pressurized the police to prevent the suspect’s apprehension “but the police are not yielding.”

Bad teacher A teacher at a Rumaithiya kindergarten is facing assault charges after allegedly hitting one of the children there hard enough to leave bruises. The case came to light when the teacher filed a case against the boy’s mother at the local police station, accusing her of assault, and providing a medical report showing bruises which the teacher said were sustained during the “unprovoked attack.” When the mother was summoned for questioning, however, she admitted that she had attacked the teacher, but said that she had done so after spotting bruises on her young son, which he explained he had sustained when the teacher beat him. The aggrieved mother also provided a medical report showing the bruises her son had sustained to support her claims.

Investigations are continuing into the case.

ID fraud Two Egyptian men have been arrested for using a stolen ID card to rent cars and cell phone lines which they then sold on illegally. An investigation began after the ID card owner, also an Egyptian, told officers at Shuwaikh police station that he had been horrified to find that eight different car rental offices which he had never visited were set to take legal action against him. — Al-Rai, Al-Anba, Al-Watan

care system over the last few years.

“In 2010 alone, over half a million people from all over the world visited India for medical tourism,” he said.

“Around 60,000 doctors graduate every year from various medical colleges in India helping the country radically transform its healthcare system,” he said. A significant number of

graphic proximity between the two countries have helped the nations forge deep-rooted relationship, he said.

Walking down memory lane, the minister said he spent many of his formative years in India since his family was based in Mumbai. He did his schooling and college education in

KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer delivers the inaugural speech at the IMTD 2011 Kuwait at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Tuesday evening.

Indian doctors are working not only in Kuwait, but also in other GCC countries. Similarly, about 60,000 Indian doctors are working in some of the best hospitals in the US and UK. This speaks volumes about the quality of Indian medical professionals,” he pointed out. He hoped that the exhibition will help in exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge between the two countries.

Dr Al-Sayer said Kuwait’s relationship with India goes back hundreds of years. Cultural similarities and geo-

Mumbai, he recalled.

“As a medical doctor myself, I had the pleasure of working closely with many Indian doctors including my personal mentor and late Dr Jacob Oommen, who was a great human being and a brilliant surgeon,” the minister recalled with a tinge of sadness.

“It is no surprise that the number of Indian doctors working in Kuwait is rising rapidly as they have earned great respect among their peers due to their professional competence,

diligence, sincerity and dedication,” the minister added.

Earlier, the Indian ambassador in his keynote address gave an overview of ‘IMTD Kuwait 2011’ by presenting India’s advantageous position as an emerging medical tourism hub.

Dr Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Bharathi Reddy, CEO Vijaya Hospital, Chennai, Dr N Nampoory, Indian Doctors Forum and Jayesh Ranjan, Hyderabad Tourism Dept addressed the conference.

Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Director Lt Col Vivekanand Kodikal welcomed the gathering.

In addition to showcasing the topend medical facilities available in India, the ‘IMTD Kuwait 2011’ also facilitates networking opportunities for medical industry professionals and academics and provides a forum for organizations and institutions in Kuwait. A series of seminars being held during the two-day event under the banner ‘India-Kuwait Engagement in Medical Tourism: Opportunities and Challenges,’ will witness presentations of papers by eminent medical professionals and experts from India.

IMTD 2011 Kuwait is being organized by FICCI and Trident Exhibitions in collaboration with the Embassy of India, Kuwait and Indian Doctors Forum (IDF), Kuwait.

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kuwait digest

Oppressed, maltreated employees

A long-term vision for Kuwait

By Sami Al-Nisf

By Hamad Nayef Al-Enezi he oil sector employees threatened to go on strike and their demands were met. The same happened with the customs and Kuwait Airways employees.

Well, well-done and good for them because our government seems to know no other way in handling matters. It never takes initiative and willingly and periodically reviews the payrolls of the oppressed and maltreated employees. This never happens under a lazy sluggish government!

Our wonderful government could have prevented things from going so far had it only urged the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to pass the cadres, requested over five years ago, for all government employees. Unfortunately, this resulted in employees becoming accustomed to being ignored. Eventually they grew fed up with such ignorance and decided to declare mutiny and go on strikes as the only ‘language’ understood by the government.

Before blaming employees for the strikes, one has to put his self in their shoes and imagine

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Our wonderful government could have prevented things from going so far had it only urged the Civil Service Commission to pass the cadres, requested over five years ago, for all government employees.

Unfortunately, this resulted in employees becoming accustomed to being ignored.

Eventually they grew fed up with such ignorance and decided to declare mutiny and go on strikes as the only ‘language’ understood by the government. demanding a one or two hundred raise for years while the government turns a deaf ear. Then, the same poor employees start reading about deposits worth millions in MPs bank accounts and transactions that move public funds into the accounts of certain people to win their political dedication and loyalty. Such employees are too frustrated on account of seeing those fiercely defending a faulty government while they were working their hearts out for a few pennies.

As a matter of fact, there is a close link between the recent wave of strikes and the tumult created by news about the cash deposits of millions, which was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and made simple employees run out of patience and tolerance.

The poor guys used to believe silly excuses about the budget being consumed and overburdened with payrolls and kept silent out of their patriotism. But now, they will not be the scapegoats for the budget anymore. Let’s go after those who usurped the millions and those who made it easy for them to do so! —Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

The opposition’s questionable move

By Mohammad Hayat here appears to be a consensus that the curWhile Parliament may be ‘kidnapped’ by the rent government is unable to deal with the government-with the government buying MPs’ current crises. Even pro-government politi- allegiances to achieve majority suppor t-this cians realize that the Cabinet of HH the Prime does not mean that the oppositionists should Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah is give up on the government and stop seeking to unable to fulfill its responsibilities. Some politi- cure it of its ills. cians have even demonstrated that they will keep While the oppositionists had effective memsilent for the right price. bership in parliamentary committees last term, In politics, it is natural that a countermovement the government was nonetheless able to influwill emerge where a struggling or corrupt cabinet ence their work through its supporters. What do is found. This movement is called the opposition, you think will happen now that the committees which is supposed to promise reform and turn are oppositionist-free? their words into actions in When you consider the order to get the govern- That oppositionist MPs boycotted fact that 19 MPs walked ment back on the right out of the elections and track. For the opposition to the elections for parliamentary add to that the five memdo that effectively, it must committees during the inaugural b e r s o f t h e N a t i o n a l commit to its constitutional session of Parliament’s new term Action Bloc, that makes a rights and use its constitutotal of 24 MPs who had tionally-mandated tools to was, in my opinion, an unfortunate the potential to constiperform its monitoring and move. It exposed the opposition- t u t e n e a r l y 4 0 % o f t h e legislative duties. ists’ disunity and their willingness committees’ membership.

In order to thwart govThe oppositionists, ernment violations or mis- to forsake their rights, which however, chose to waive management, the opposi- makes one question their ability to their right to participate tion must work hard to pass perform their legislative duties. a n d i n s t e a d a b s t a i n e d legislation that protects the from participating in and three branches of govern- With their actions, they handed running the committees. ment-executive, legislative Parliament to the Cabinet on a sil- In doing so they left the and judicial-and fight cor- ver platter. door open for the comruption in all its forms. mittees to be staffed by That oppositionist MPs individuals they accuse of boycotted the elections for parliamentary commit- corruption. I hope to soon see the oppositiontees during the inaugural session of Parliament’s ists back on the right track so that they can help new term was, in my opinion, an unfortunate Parliament and the Cabinet reorient themselves. move. It exposed the oppositionists’ disunity and To do that, the oppositionists must commit to their willingness to forsake their rights, which their constitutional responsibilities in full and makes one question their ability to perform their avoid taking reckless actions that could risk the legislative duties. With their actions, they handed very stability of organized political work in the Parliament to the Cabinet on a silver platter. country. —Al-Rai

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kuwait digest

in my view

My Japanese experience

uwait is currently living off oil — 98 per cent of the state’s income is from oil-and that must soon change. The only way to do that is to quickly transform Kuwait into an investment and tourism hub; the Kuwaiti government has already allocated approximately $137 billion to reach this end. Without this transformation, Kuwait will in the future become a desert, devoid of inhabitants.

Tod ay, te n s o f m i l l i o n s o f to u r i s t s a n d investors have deserted Egypt given the recent upheavals there, and this in spite of all the country has to offer both groups. It must be understood that the hundreds of billions of dollars allocated for the transformation of Kuwait into a financial center with the requisite infrastructure will be wasted unless we come to a social understanding about the recent strikes.

Why have foreign investors and tourists left financial centers found in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman, coming instead to our state?

Has anyone heard of strikes and demonstrations in those countries?

An analysis of Amir’s speech

It must be understood that the hundreds of billions of dollars allocated for the transformation of Kuwait into a financial center with the requisite infrastructure will be wasted unless we come to a social understanding about the recent strikes. Why have foreign investors and tourists left financial centers found in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman, coming instead to our state? Has anyone heard of strikes and demonstrations in those countries?

In support of this transformation project the government will require a specialized central negotiating committee that will attend all negotiations held between ministers and labor union officials and report to the Civil Service Commission. This will ensure justice for all and equalit y bet ween different state sec tors.

Matters should not be left to personal whims, which tend to differ from one person to another.

Meanwhile, union work should be separated from politics and political groups should stay out of unions’ affairs - a unprecedented development not witnessed in other countr y on earth. Unions for their part should examine the state they are operating in and consider whether all of their requests are reasonable.

They should not denigrate public officials - an act that transforms the legal work of a union into personal and political bickering.

Finally, the Kuwait that is daily being destroyed by demonstrations is the same Kuwait that we shed bloody tears for when we lost it for six months in 1990. What will we say when we lose Kuwait forever as a result of our selfishness and shor t-term vision? I do not know. —Al-Anbaa

By Abdullah Al-Naibari

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf spent part of the past summer with Japanese friends and it was an eye-opening experience. This nation, which lived in near total isolation until the early 20th century, is entirely self-dependent in stark contrast to many oil-producing nations of the Gulf. The Japanese have overcome obstacles, including a lack of natural resources, being a country composed of 3,000 islands, the devastation of World War 2 and that of natural disasters, to become one of the world’s strongest economies.

This was made possible because Japan focused on the individual as the country’s national wealth. This is why illiteracy does not exist in Japan, for example.

Having put their dark colonial history behind them after World War 2, the Japanese have earned the world’s respect with their conduct and commitment to ethics in all walks of life. The Japanese showcase integrity and elegance far superior to other countries, including those that purport to take their moral guidance from religion.

During this year’s earthquake and tsunami crises in Japan, the entire world watched footage of abandoned houses, markets and villages left untouched by thieves and saboteurs. In other disaster-afflicted countries, such discipline and respect is woefully absent. The Japanese were not discouraged from these activities due to a fear of divine punishment but rather from the lessons instilled during their upbringing.

My Japanese friends also explained to me that ‘the art of lying’ is absent in Japan. The Japanese, I was told, do not swear, as individuals in Japanese society do not need to do so to convince others that they are speaking the truth. I also noticed that the Japanese language lacks the obscene terms prevalent in other languages; swear words in Japanese pale in comparison to those we use in Arabic. This is due to the high Japanese sense of morality, attained via discipline in upbringing and at school where children are taught to respect their elders.

The flip side of the coin is that senior Japanese officials rarely make bold public statements and tend not to confront others.

Can’t we learn to embody a similar level of respect, patience, integrity and honesty to the Japanese? —Al-Qabas

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uwait’s Amir reprimands the Parliament and Cabinet,’ was the headline of Asharq Alawsat newspaper on the parliamentary session held on October 25. The article describes HH the Amir’s speech as “one of the strongest ever to be made on local events and political tussle between the Parliament and Cabinet.”

In my opinion, Asharq Al-Alawsat hit the nail on its head because we have never seen HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah make a speech as strong as the one made during the inaugural session of the current parliamentary term.

The speech includes resentment against practices that fuel sectarianism, fundamentalism and tribalism, used to achieve personal gains for individuals who aren’t bothered if such aspects spread in the society. HH the Amir also expressed frustration at the political tension and struggle between the Parliament and Cabinet, as well the mudslinging practiced among politicians.

He also criticized the acts of holding public demonstrations to address subjects within the Parliament’s building as per the Constitution. Also, the speech criticizes certain media outlets that contribute to tensions, as well as practices which reflect personal conflict between people who are supposed to cooperate for Kuwait’s common good.

In the meantime, the speech focuses on the importance of overcoming differences in light of the current risks in the fields of security and economics.

The subjects addressed in the speech were mostly mentioned by HH the Amir during previous occasions. The difference this time, however, is that the Amir used a direct and harsh tone that reflects his frustration. The speech also avoids referring directly to the suspicious cases of the cash deposits scandal.

In an attempt to analyze the Amiri speech, we can infer the following: First, the ruling family doesn’t generally favor public demonstrations due to the conservative nature of local ideology, as well as the approach of overreaction usually taken during rallies. Raising ‘demand’ in the Kuwaiti society is a result of the society’s unorganized nature. Despite the presence

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of civil society organizations and unions, spontaneity still dominates people’s ideologies due to the lack of groups that organize public activities. We have to admit though that demonstrations are so far peaceful, as well as the fact that public rallies constitute citizens’ constitutional right.

Second, the speech touches upon sectarianism, which we have to admit have become a phenomenon dominating the political and social scenarios.

These have became very influential catalyst during the election process. It is also strongly present in the public sector, and in the appointment of Cabinet members. The spread of sectarianism was helped with the emergence of Islamic political groups because whenever religious ideologies gain ground in a particular scene, sectarianism will eventually follow. In the meantime, tribal loyalties flourished thrived when the door opened toward wasta (unlawful mediation or connections with influential people) as a result of weak supervision.

The next most important factor is that the Amiri speech talks about the deteriorating level of parliamentary behavior, which escalated to the point where MPs engaged in verbal and physical confrontation, accusing each other without proof.

Interestingly, these practices are repeated by MPs who are form the pro-government majority, each of whom is supported by ruling family member that serves as an influential person when needed. If this connection can be severed, the unruly behavior of abusive MPs can be calmed.

Also, the speech points out at certain press and media outlets that aggravate public conflicts.

Kuwait has fifteen dailies; four or five of which are independent. Six are funded by ruling family members whereas four or five others are considered partisan. In the meantime, out of six private TV stations in Kuwait, there’s one or two that can be considered independent. The rest are either funded by ruling family members or are loyal to certain parties.

In a conclusion, we can say that there are members from the ruling family who share a large part of the responsibility regarding the political scene’s current deterioration. They share this responsibility with ministers, MPs, and the public. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Sacrificing the government

By Thaar Al-Rashidi here is a well-known joke about a gynecologist who “had to sacrifice the mother and baby so that the father could live.” This can be modified in accordance with the Kuwaiti context “(we) had to sacrifice the government and public so that the opposition can thrive.” Jokes apart, isn’t this really happening?

Political maneuvering aims to oust the government off its pedestal. Oppositionists who call for dissolving the Parliament have not really offered a viable solution to resolve the situation.

Yes, these blocs have demanded that the government be held accountable for the cash deposits scandal but have not come up with a clear cut program.

They talk about bringing about a new form of governance. They haven’t really enlightened us about the innovative approach, what it should be like or in what manner it suits people? Why don’t they tell us who the new MPs are?

Caught between mindless rhetoric, people’s lives haven’t changed a bit. The perplexed public who did not choose the government and at the same time did not authorize half a dozen anti-government political blocs to speak on their behalf, must now usher in ‘change’ by electing a new set of MPs who receive bribes.

The people do not want the government along with the opposition and tainted MPs. This is not achievable unless the people unite for the sake of their country, severing allegiance from areas, tribes, sects and political parties.

Blindly taking some MPs sides who have hidden agendas will not help achieve an kind of political stability in the country —Al-Anba

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Local

Public sector employees pay raise after Eid holidays KAC apologizes over airport strike problems

KUWAIT: The Deputy Managing Director for North Kuwait at the Kuwait Oil Company Husseina Hashim inaugurated an international conference this week. It was organized by the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) - Kuwait Branch. She delivered a speech on behalf of CEO and Managing Director Sami Al-Rasheed, acknowledging the role played by petrophysics in boosting the efficiency of oil production.

Eid weather changeable, rain expected KUWAIT: Kuwait’s skies are set to be moderately cloudy today and tomorrow, with the country likely to see changeable weather with a chance of scattered showers during the upcoming Eid AlAdha holiday, according to a senior local meteorologist.

Speaking to KUNA yesterday, Ali AlMuttawa, the head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s meteorological department, said that although temperatures will remain pleasantly warm until Friday evening, at between 30 and 32 degrees Celsius, a seasonal low pressure front coming from Sudan is expected to arrive in the country on Saturday or ‘Arafa Day,’ the day before the start of Eid AlAdha, bringing overcast skies and a high probability of rain on Saturday evening and during Sunday.

On Sunday, the first day of Eid, AlMuttawa predicted brisk northwesterly winds, with more placid weather returning on Monday. Temperatures are expected to fall sharply on the second and third days of Eid, Monday and Tuesday, with moderate northwesterly winds bringing relatively chilly weather during the nighttime and early morning periods.

The eminent meteorologist also warned of a possible increase in choppy seas offshore and in dusty weather in open inland areas over the next couple of days caused by rising northerly winds.

Some areas of Kuwait saw scattered rain on Monday this week, with local weather stations in the desert area in Mtarbah and in Abdally recording rainfall levels of 3.6 millimeters and 1 millimeter respectively. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The government will revise the salary scales of public sector employees, in addition to paying allowances to those whose applications were submitted to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) shortly after Eid Al-Adha holidays. More than a month ago, the CSC commissioned a three-month feasibility study of the public sector payroll section. This is to devise a mechanism to restructure the payroll system by doing away with unequal pay structure. The step was taken following strikes staged by employees demanding financial privileges including salary raises and allowances, reported AlJarida.

On Tuesday, legal staff from civil departments continued to strike demanding equal pay with that of their peers from the Fatwa and Legislative Department. Director of the Labor Relations Depar tment from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor(MSAL) Nabeel Al-Baloul explained that the strike paralyzed work by slashing productivity level by 60 percent.

He added that the striking employees will

KUWAIT: Kuwait ’s Minister of Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar recently met with a delegation of members from the Arab Union of Municipality and Tourism Employees’ Executive Council for discussions on wage demands put forward by Kuwaiti municipal per-

sonnel, revealed council chairman Abdullah Al-Aradah yesterday.

Al-Aradah revealed that during the meeting, Safar, who is also Minister of Public Works, agreed to backdate the increased payments of some allowances for employees directly employed by the council.

The minister assured the delegates that he would contact the Civil

KUWAIT: A group of inspectors carry out inspections of outlets in Jahra area yesterday.

ation and to avoid disruption to air traffic.

Al-Humaidi assured the public of KAC’s absolute commitment to providing the best services to all its customers and its resolve to ensure their comfort and safety, citing its excellent operational and health and safety record as evidence of its success in this field.

The senior executive explained that KAC has developed a detailed operational plan which aims to continue the airline’s record of constantly striving to provide the best services to all its customers. He emphasized K AC ’s abilit y to provide ever y ser vice required by pilgrims taking par t in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, as well as to all other holidaymakers during the upcoming Eid AlAdha festival and holidays.

Al-Humaidi concluded by expressing appreciation on KAC’s behalf for the cooperation and understanding of all the airline’s customers and thanking the relevant authorities for their concerted efforts to deal effectively with the recent strike action, voicing hope that it would be the last such disruption of its kind.

‘The Big Science Challenge’ launched KUWAIT: The British Council and Rolls-Royce have teamed up to launch ‘The Big Science Challenge,’ a competition aimed at secondary schools across the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman , Jordan and the United Kingdom. The competition will run from now until Feb 3, 2012.

‘The Big Science Challenge’ invites students aged between 11 and 16 in the Middle East and UK to research and design an original, innovative solution to a problem concerning water, either locally, nationally or globally. Entries will be judged at a national level by a panel of experts.

The winning teams from each Middle East country will be awarded a visit to London for a week-long program of cultural exchange and educational activities. In addition, students will get a unique insight into real-life research and engineering processes during a visit to one of the biggest Rolls-Royce centers in the UK. Students from one winning school in the UK will also win a five-day visit to Dubai to experience life in one of the most dynamic, iconic

Minister approves backdating municipal workers’ allowances

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

be penalized for obstructing the smooth flow of work.

The MSAL will hire legal staff from Morocco to complete unfinished work. According to sources, Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, Mansour Al-Mansour lead a ministerial team that went to Rabat, Morocco on Tuesday “to cooperate with Moroccan officials on this subject.” When contacted to elicit a comment, an official from the labor union representing legal staff said that the move is not related to the strike, reported Al-Qabas.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Air ways Corporation (KAC) yesterday stressed its determination to deal effectively with the problems resulting from the recent strike action by staff at Kuwait International Airport and to minimize any negative effects on its loyal customers and passengers.

In a statement issued on the airline’s behalf by Captain Yousef Ahmed Al-Humaidi, the chairman of its board of directors, KAC emphasized that the strike action was beyond its control, despite the measures taken and plans put in place to contain the situ-

Service Commission to take all the necessary steps, said Al-Aradah, adding that this would directly benefit 2,000 Municipal Council workers.

In other news, a recent clean-up campaign by the municipal cleaning department in Jahra resulted in the clearance of 40 tons of construction debris and trees from the area, with 14 abandoned vehicles also being impounded and taken to the scrap yard. Announcing the clean-up operation, Sami AlSuaidan, the Acting Director of the Jahra municipality office, said that several other owners of carelessly abandoned cars had been issued with warnings instructing them to remove the vehicles or face having them towed away. Al-Suaidan lauded the hard work of the council team, adding that the operation to confiscate and remove all abandoned vehicles across the area would continue until all such vehicles were either reclaimed by their owners or impounded. He added that those cars towed away would not be released to their owners until all the fees were paid in full.

On a separate issue, the minister, Dr. Safar, said yesterday that the municipality would continue to ensure that Kuwait is safe and that no foodstuffs unfit for human consumption are sold in the countr y without the vendors being severely punished. Dr. Safar said that council inspection teams constantly monitor local foodstuff manufac turers, supermarkets, restaurants and other food outlets, paying regular unannounced visits to all these venues and conducting tests on the merchandise in order to ensure consumer safety, adding that they are especially vigilant with the approach of the Eid AlAdha festival.

The minister was speaking after he accompanied a group of inspectors as they carried out inspections of outlets in the Jahra area, with the operation being headed by the director of the inspection and services monitoring department, Saleh Al-Kandari. During the operation, 15 citations were issued to vendors, with three of the latter signing undertakings compelling them to change their health and safety practices.

Middle Eastern cities.

The Ministry of Education in Kuwait expressed its strong support for the initiative. Over 3,000 schools are being invited to participate across the Middle East and UK. All entrants will be encouraged to collaborate with students in other participating countries to share ideas and exchange information, emulating how international scientific co-operation and discovery works in practice.

Patrick Brazier, Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, British Council said, “The British Council is delighted to be working with RollsRoyce, one of the world’s most respected and innovative companies.

As a pioneer in the field of research and development, we feel that RollsRoyce is an ideal company for a young aspiring scientist.

“Water is the focus of the initiative as it is a critical resource for everyone around the world and today’s young people - the scientists of the future have a big role to play in its preservation. The Big Science Challenge will

bring young people from the Middle East and the UK together to address real challenges facing our global society and develop the skills they need for work in a global economy.”

Rob Watson, Middle East Regional Director for Rolls-Royce said, “‘We are pleased to be working with the British Council, a name long associated with cultural exchange and engagement with youth, offering opportunity for growth and development.”

He added, “‘by focusing on one of the world’s biggest issues ‘The Big Science Challenge’ gives young people a true taste of what real scientists are working on and allows them to put their own scientific research and technological skills into practice. With most of the region’s population under the age of 30, it is imperative that we do what we can to support public programs for training and skills development. There is a shortage of engineers and it is important to address this for the next generation through the region’s youth.”

Entertainment City to celebrate Eid KUWAIT: The Entertainment City will host several activities throughout Eid Al-Adha holidays to provide a festive mood to visitors, announced Jarrah AlOmani, Acting Director of the Operations and Activities Department in the Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC). Jarrah Al-Omani “ The Enter tainment City hosts activities to visitors of all ages, including a cartoon characters show, musical concerts and cultural band displays,” Al-Omani said. It will welcomes visitors between 3:00 pm and 12:00 am. Al-Omani noted that November 5, 2011 will be a day off that coincides with the Day of Arafat.

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local

US hails Kuwaiti democratic experience as regional model

Kuwait calls for global strategies to tackle climatic change effects UNITED NATIONS: The State of Kuwait has urged the international community to devise strategies to minimize the impact of climate change and promote a culture of using clean energy resources worldwide.

In a speech delivered to the UN Economic Affairs Committee on Tuesday on behalf of the Kuwaiti delegation, Iman Ahmad AlShaaban called on the world’s states to adopt national and regional strategies to address climate-related issues and minimize the negative consequences of the anticipated dramatic changes in weather and climate patterns globally. Extreme phenomena resulting from climate change, such as overheating resulting from excessive emissions of gases, and increasing levels of irregularity in weather seasons may lead to rising sea levels and the submersion of whole island nations, she warned, adding that these are amongst some of the dramatic impacts predicted by climatologists as a result of the environmentally unfriendly usage of technology, materials and substances worldwide.

In her address during the commission meeting, which is being held as part of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, AlShaaban stressed that the nations of the world should be prepared to cope with the predicted catastrophes resulting from the climate changes. The Kuwaiti representative expressed hope that the states taking part in the upcoming international convention on climate change, due to take place in Durban, South Africa, later this month, would succeed in reaching positive results that would limit the negative impact of the increasing global weather irregularities.

Elaborating, Al-Shaaban said that the nations of the world, most particularly the developing and least developed countries, are currently facing enormous challenges hindering development schemes, namely the phenomenon of climatic alterations and natural catastrophes, in addition to the effects of the global financial and economic crises and the problem of the sovereign debts. These challenges can be better confronted by these nations’ effective participation in the international decision-making process, which would render it more democratic and transparent, in addition to supporting dialogue between the South and the North, she said, adding that this would also secure resources for development projects and honor obligations regarding support for development plans.

On the subject of Kuwait, the senior diplomatic official said that the Gulf state has continued to support international efforts to help the developing nations realize sustainable development through its contributions to

development ventures, alluding particularly to the financial aid given by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) since its establishment in 1961 to more than 104 states.

The KFAED has aided nations around the world with soft loans for projects in various sectors, including transport, energy, agriculture and water. Kuwait’s assistance to other countries is also secured by its contributions via other funds, such as the OPEC Development Fund and the African Development Fund.

In line with Kuwait’s belief in the necessity of development, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has launched several major initiatives, such as the establishment of the $2 billion special fund for supporting medium and small enterprises and construction in East Sudan to help the East Sudanese people cope with rising levels of poverty and unemployment, which resulted from the soaring prices of food and energy.

At the domestic level, Kuwait has implemented a $100 billion five-year development plan for the 2010-14 period, which aims to upgrade the state’s various sectors, including infrastructure, educational and health services, and to minimize its dependence on oil as the source of income, transforming the country into a financial-commercial hub in compliance with the desire of HH the Amir in a drive to support the national economy and advance the development process.

The State of Kuwait also seeks to preserve its environmental and ecological diversity, said the Kuwaiti diplomat, briefing the other delegates at the UN commission meeting on some of Kuwait’s accomplishments in this area. She cited the establishment of the Environment Public Authority, which aims to devise national strategies to preserve Kuwait’s ecological diversity.

Other national institutions are also involved in research in the field of biological diversity, said Al-Shaaban, citing the example of the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. She added that non-government organizations and public welfare bodies, such as the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, the Agricultural Engineers Society and the Kuwait Volunteers Center, are also involved in this work. In this field, Kuwait has achieved other noteworthy accomplishments, said the senior diplomat, citing the state’s creation of natural reserves, its establishment of a number of breeding programs for rare animal species facing extinction, and its establishment of cattle farms, laboratories and centers for grain technology. — KUNA

Special role to play this year KUWAIT: The US hailed Kuwait’s democratic experience in the Middle East as a model for the region, describing the newly-approved Palestinian UNESCO membership as a “symbolic gain” that is “unfortunate” and “a diversion” from negotiations with Israel. “As I think the Kuwaiti experience demonstrates, they’ve had a parliamentary system for a number of years now and very open debate inside Kuwait. But it doesn’t come automatically; the skills inherent to democratic politics are something that everyone needs to learn and every society is constantly seeking to perfect,” the US Deputy Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Tamara Wittes told reporters.

She was speaking in a live televised web conference from Washington, aimed at discussing the Arab Spring revolutions.

“I think that one of the most important ways that we can do that is by bringing those newly-emerging democracies together with other democratic societies, whether they’re from Europe, the western hemisphere, or Southeast Asia. The community of democracies is very diverse and every democracy has its own experiences to offer.”

Responding to a question, she said “Kuwait has a special role to play this year in working together with its neighbor governments. This year, Kuwait will be hosting the Forum for the Future, which is an annual meeting of the G8 governments and the governments from the region along with civil society organizations from all across the Middle East. It’s an annual opportunity for governments

and citizens to dialogue together about the need for reform, about setting priorities, and about how to advance the process together, working as partners. So I’m glad that Kuwait is hosting that meeting. We look forward to participating, and I hope to be there in a few weeks.”

On the Middle East issue, she said that the US fully backs a two-state solution where Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace, and that achieving what she described as “symbolic gains”, referring to Palestine’s recent UNESCO membership, is not going to get Palestinians any closer to their aspirations of statehood.

“What we’ve been focused on in our own work has been bringing the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, where they can settle the remaining issues between them and achieve that negotiated two-state solution. That is the only path to lasting stability and peace for both peoples, the peace that they both so richly deserve, so the vote at UNESCO was in our view unfortunate and a diversion in many ways from the real work that needs to get done at the negotiating table.”

On the US role in the event of an apparent assumption of power by tribal and religious movements in Yemen, who might practice corrupt means in office, she said it was up to the Yemeni people to address the situation “who need to hold their new leaders accountable for the promises that they’ve made.

“In order to do that, you need good democratic rules, good institutions, and you need an environment

in which rights are respected, so that Yemeni citizens can speak freely about what’s going on and can hold their governments to account. All the work the US has tried to do diplomatically with others in the international community to promote a political transition in Yemen is that we have held in mind these aspirations.”

On this same threat in other Arab Spring countries, she added that “There’s no doubt that political transitions are uncertain and we’ve seen through periods of history, that great revolutions ... were hijacked by those with an extreme agenda, who then pushed others out of the political sphere and began trampling on democratic rights and values.”

She said countries worried about these developments “should pay attention that the aspirations of citizens are respected in the way these transitions move forward,” explaining that, that meant people should be able to express their ideas freely amid a government that commits itself to not using violence to achieve political goals and treats all equally.

On US policies toward the Middle East amid accusations of political party funding, she said that “it is not US policy to fund any political party, not in the Arab world and not anywhere else in the world. In fact, it’s against our policy to fund political parties.

“What we do in our efforts to support democratic development is to provide training and assistance on a non-partisan basis to political parties, political candidates, and campaign managers, who want to learn how they could be more effective in the electoral process. We provide that

assistance in a non-partisan way through NGOs that open their programs to all parties that reject violence and embrace the democratic process. We are very interested in promoting a quality democratic process. We are not pushing for a particular outcome.”

Wittes asserted that deep underlying developments in the region illustrated signs of the approach of the Arab Spring clearly. She explained that “those include the demography; the fact that more than half the Arab world are young people under the age of 30, the developments in economics, to be frank; the stagnation and concerns about corruption in many places and changes in the information environment-in the media environment, the fact that people have more access to information, about what was going on in other countries, so that they could compare their situations to others and really look at what it was they wanted to achieve.

“All of these changes have been building for years, for a decade or more, and Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton in fact made note of these changes just under a year ago, last January, before (former President Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali left Tunisia, before what became known as the Arab Spring really got underway. She told Arab leaders gathered in Doha at the G8 MENA Forum for the Future that they needed to respond to the aspirations of their own citizens for change and that without that, they would not be able to build strong foundations for their societies and for the region to the future.” —-KUNA

Women play vital role for social security KUWAIT: Kuwaiti women joining the national police have added weight to the efforts of the Interior Ministry to maintain security of the homeland and citizens, said a ranking official of the ministry. Dalal Al-Ruwaished, the assistant director-general of the back-up authority of Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences, asserted the Interior Ministry’s relentless efforts for safeguarding the homeland.

These efforts “have been completed” with the women joining of the police squad, role of which constituted basic back-up for the social development

process, she added.

Al-Ruwaished, addressing the final session of a symposium, themed “The woman role from perspective of civic associations for development,” affirmed the pioneering role of the state for furnishing the Kuwaiti women with all possible facilities to enable them play the aspired role for the development of the society. Development of the Kuwaiti society is based on the effective role of the woman, namely her role at the level of development, said AlRuwaished at the conclusion session of the two-day

seminar that began on Monday.

She stressed that the vital role of the Ministry of Interior for the national development is based on assuring citizens about their safety and security at the political, social and economic levels, and against any hazards that may target their souls, funds or honor. The seminar was organized by the Kuwait Union for Women Societies in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, as part of the implementation of the 2011-2012 government action plan. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Narjes Al-Shatti, Public Relations Officer for the International Women’s Group in Kuwait hosted an event at Crowne Plaza Hotel to bid farewell to Amira Balaish, wife of the outgoing Moroccan Ambassador. The spouses of ambassadors from different countries attended the event. Members of the International Women’s Group and dignitaries also graced the occasion.— Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: (From left) Al-Shatti, Inaam Bahar Al-Aloom, wife of Iraqi ambassador to Kuwait and Balaish at the event.

KUWAIT: Suhad and Widad Al-Qanae, Narjes Al-Shatti and Balaish, wife of the outgoing Moroccan ambassador to Kuwait are seen at the reception held on Tuesday evening.

KUWAIT: (From left) Ahmad Mansour, Irina, Balaish and Al-Shatti are seen at the event.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Assange loses UK battle against extradition

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Deadly attacks in Homs kill at least 20 BEIRUT: Machine-gun fire and explosions erupted inside a Syrian city at the heart of the country’s uprising yesterday as activists reported two grisly attacks that killed at least 20 people in the past 24 hours. The fresh bloodshed suggests Syria is sliding toward chaos nearly eight months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad. The Arab League was expected to unveil a plan yesterday to ease the violence, calling for withdrawal of tanks and armored vehicles from the streets and free elections, diplomats involved in the process said.

The violence shook residents of Homs, which has endured the brunt of the Syrian government’s brutal crackdown on dissent since the revolt began in mid-March. It was not clear who was behind the latest attacks, and there were increasing signs that the crisis was exacerbating religious and sectarian tensions. The Syrian opposition’s two main activist groups said gunmen attacked factory workers in the village of Houla yesterday, killing 11 people. Majd Amer, an activist in Homs, said some of the men were decapitated and others shot in the head, their hands tied behind their backs. Amateur videos posted online showed the men, bound and gagged, lying on the ground. The killing spree amounted to a “massacre,” said the activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist network. The wave of violence apparently started late Tuesday. Amer and activist Mohammad Saleh in Homs said gunmen attacked a bus carrying workers returning from their jobs, killing nine passengers. They said the gunmen stopped the bus, released the women passengers, and then killed the others. The activists said the army brought in heavy reinforcements to the streets of Homs yesterday morning. Heavy machine-gun fire and explosions could be heard on the streets and residents said most people had stayed home because of the violence.

Syria has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups. Yesterday the Arab League was set to unveil its proposal on the Syrian crisis during a meeting at the group’s headquarters in Cairo.

Details have not officially been released, but it appears to be the most wide-reaching effort yet to address the uprising and comes with a sharp rebuke to Assad’s regime for its bloody crackdowns on anti-government protesters. The UN says some 3,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in March. —AP

RAKKA: A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows a huge Syrian flag as people rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Rakka, northeast of Damascus yesterday. —AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Khamenei accuses US of ‘terror’ attacks in Iran TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday he had 100 “undeniable documents” proving the United States has been behind “terrorist acts” in the Islamic state and elsewhere in the Middle East. His comments come after Washington accused Iran of being involved in a plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, a claim Iran has dismissed as baseless.

“We have undeniable documents which show America was behind the curtain of terror in Iran

and the region,” Khamenei said during a commemoration of the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by revolutionary students. “By presenting those 100 documents, we will disgrace America in the world,” he added. He did not make it clear when he would produce the documents and to whom.

Last month, the United States said it had uncovered a plot by two men with links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to assassinate the Saudi

envoy by planting a bomb in a Washington restaurant. The Iranian government denies any involvement. “America tried to exert pressure on Iran and rescue itself from the Wall Street movement and its problems by the absurd terrorist scenario,” Khamenei said during a televised address to an audience of students.

“They want to accuse the most virtuous warriors and fighters in Iran of terrorism. “The course of events have changed in the world and by the

grace of God the fight of virtue, with the pioneering of Iran, has started against the pharaoh of hegemony and will continue to its final collapse.”

U.S. President Barack Obama hopes the foiled alleged plot will lead to tighter sanctions against Iran-already under several rounds of UN measures over its nuclear program- and repeated that all options are on the table to deal with the Islamic republic-a tacit threat of possible militar y action.— Reuters

UN chief urges Libya to secure Gaddafi’s weapons Interim leader assures weapons will be secured

SANAA: Yemeni protestors flash the V-victory sign during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen yesterday. —AP

At least 18 killed in renewed Yemen violence SANAA: At least 18 people have been killed and more than 40 others wounded in renewed clashes in Yemen’s capital and its second city, medics and activists said yesterday, after a brief period of calm. Armed clashes broke out early yesterday in the flashpoint city of Taez between government forces and tribesmen who support a mass protest movement calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s resignation, said activists.

Eight civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, and two gunmen were killed and 43 people wounded, mostly civilians, in the ensuing violence, according to the latest toll provided by medical officials. The ministry of interior said five Yemeni soldiers were also killed in the clashes, accusing the opposition of targeting its troops. But residents and gunmen said pro-Saleh troops were targeting Taez neighborhoods with heavy weapons, including mortar and tank shells, damaging some high-rise buildings.

Witnesses said fires and smoke were seen rising from the city, where clashes continued into the afternoon with heavy shelling rocking central and northern

Taez. In Sanaa, intermittent clashes erupted late Tuesday in Hasaba district between government troops and gunmen loyal to influential tribal chief Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, killing two tribesmen and a policeman, said medical officials and the interior ministry. At least seven others were wounded in the restive district, the scene of fierce clashes and shelling in past weeks, said the medics.

The violence comes after a brief lull in bloodshed as government troops battle a nine-month uprising by pro-democracy activists, dissident soldiers, and tribal gunmen against Saleh’s 33-year-rule.

International and regional mediators have failed to secure a Gulf-sponsored deal between Saleh and his opponents that would ensure a peaceful transition of power to the vice president until early elections for a new president. The deadlock has left Yemen’s economy and government in turmoil, and triggered a wave of unrest costing hundreds of lives and injuring thousands more since the start of the anti-Saleh protest movement in January.— AFP

Yemen protest singers whip up revolutionary zeal SANAA: By nightfall, thousands of anti-government protesters in a scrappy tent city in Yemen’s capital Sanaa catch their breath and begin to cheer musicians clambering onto a rickety stage. “Let’s give a round of applause for the big hit, “Mother of the Martyr, Bride of Blood”, their host shouts. Sometimes jubilant, sometimes mournful, protest songs-or revolutionary anthems, as their creators call them-are the pulse of a nine-month-old movement still struggling to end the 33-year rule of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Streets that earlier swarmed with motorbikes whisking bloodied protesters away for treatment are instead filled with candy vendors and children. The smell of popcorn drifts through crowds of men cross-legged in the street as singers croon on a platform plastered with photos of those killed in protests. “They stir my love for the revolution, they lift my spirits,” said protester Salem Jabbar, 23, sitting transfixed in “Change Square”, the 4-km (2.5mile) stretch in the heart of Sanaa that protesters occupy with their ramshackle tents.

Some songs extol freedom and bravery, others tell tales of young lives cut short by guns and rocket fire in bloody government crackdowns. In the morning, organisers crank out catchy, upbeat numbers to draw protesters to the streets. Men, young and old, dance and cheer before heading off on marches that have often sparked deadly clashes with pro-Saleh army units. “Revolutionary anthems keep your feet moving,” said Yahya Aziz, a 23-year-old dancing with friends, stomping and waving their arms in the air. “We don’t love death, but there’s no going back. We must bring down the regime.”

The most popular anthem by far, Yahya’s friends agree, is “Hurriya” (freedom) by Khaled al-Zaher. Zaher, a Yemeni university student, plays the song in a friend’s living room-turnedstudio with the grimace of a jaded rock star tired of fans clamoring for the same old hit. The chorus, sung to an addictive dance beat, translates as: “Freedom. A free people, rooted deep in the mountains. Freedom. With faith to go down the path of struggle. Freedom.”

Zaher said he had called up the beat to order. “You tell the music mixer what rhythm you want: oriental, Bedouin, Western. With ‘Hurriya,’ I requested a samba beat,” he said. “But I’m thinking next time I want to try rap.”

Revolutionary anthems, Zaher says, are a collaborative process: singers compose a tune and then coordinate the lyrics with local poets.

Then they send the composition to a mixer for special effects and background music.

Zaher, a household name for protesters, is harassed by Saleh loyalists at home. He hides out in his friend Abdullah’s studio, where they make do with a lone microphone and computer. The music business has soaked up their savings. Both are unemployed and they pay for their mixes, and like most protest musicians, they refuse money for their songs. “There’s no financial profit in the revolution. You do it out of personal conviction. It’s our jihad (holy struggle). We pass the message of revolution in our songs. This is the least we can do,” Zaher said. “I would accept donations though.”

The musical messages have evolved with the protest movement. Songs like “Hurriya,” with themes of freedom and justice, were popular at first. Later, musicians turned to songs praising those who were killed in demonstrations. “We talk about what themes we want to focus on next... Right now our songs are about revolutionary victory, to encourage our youths to keep going,” said Abdullah, Zaher’s singing partner. Zaher’s latest song, “Allahu akbar (God is great)” was inspired by his experience of marching in protests in September, when clashes with the army killed around 100 people. “The army fired and the people in front of me didn’t move,” he recalled. “I felt a fervor when I heard them shout, ‘Allahu akbar.’ You are flushed with emotion, you can’t back down.”

If you need lyrics, Zaher says, you go to Duhaq al-Dhabyani, a wistful 38-year-old poet, who wanders through Change Square in a worn leather jacket, whiling away the day talking politics or writing songs. “My relationship with poetry started in childhood. I’ve been trying to write since I was seven years old,” Dhabyani says, sipping tea at a run-down cafe surrounded by protest tents made of plastic tarpaulin. Dhabyani has written about 40 protest songs for artists across Yemen. He raises his finger and interrupts himself to recite the chorus he wrote for Zaher’s latest song.

“Allahu akbar, the revolutionaries are coming, closed ranks for the great day forward. One heart beats, one voice shouts.” Dhabyani, on strike from his post at the education ministry since protests began, says music brought the movement to life. “I wrote the first revolutionary anthem, they sang it on the first day of protests. I believe music helped set off the revolution. When we first tried to protest, we were still very scared. It is as if the song broke a wall of fear.” —Reuters

TRIPOLI: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Libya’s new leaders to quickly bring under control unsecured munitions following the 8month civil war that ended with the capture and killing of Muammar Gaddafi last month.

Speaking to reporters in Tripoli yesterday, Ban said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, Libya’s interim leader, assured him that the weapons would be secured.

Among the thousands of weapons taken from Gaddafi’s arsenals are shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles that can bring down civilian aircraft. This week the UN Security Council urged Libya to prevent such weapons from reaching terrorists and other armed groups. It also called on Libyan authorities to destroy chemical weapons stockpiles in coordination with international authorities.

Groups of Libyan fighters involved in a personal feud exchanged fire at a major hospital, leaving one dead and five wounded over two days of battles, the hospital’s security chief said Tuesday. It was one of the most serious cases of personal score-settling by revolutionary forces since they toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi late last month, capturing and killing the former dictator. Libya is awash in weapons, and the country’s interim leaders have promised repeatedly they would collect them, now that the eight-month civil war is over. However, the government has not followed through, and rival military commanders jockeying for position appear reluctant to be the first to have their fighters disarm.

The most recent incident began Sunday with a clash in a Tripoli neighborhood between fighters from the towns of Zintan and Misrata. A Zintan fighter was killed and another, from

Misrata, was wounded and taken by his friends to Tripoli’s Central Hospital, said Abdel Nasser AlMohandes, security chief at hospital. Gunmen from Zintan followed their Misrata rivals to the hospital. One sneaked into the operating theater and fired one round, apparently trying to kill the wounded Misrata man, but was disarmed, AlMohandes said.

On Monday, another armed clash erupted between the two sides outside the hospital, leaving four wounded, the security chief said. He said three Zintan fighters were arrested and that they had been drunk. Last week, a woman from

TRIPOLI: UN chief Ban Ki-moon (C), who arrived in Libya for a surprise visit yesterday holds a joint news conference with Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil following their meeting in Tripoli. —AFP

Iraq desert dispute could reignite sectarian feud AL-NUKHAIB: An administrative spat between Iraq’s Shiite-majority Kerbala province and Sunni-dominated Anbar over a disputed tract of western desert could refuel sectarian conflict as Iraq emerges from years of war. A deadly ambush of Shiite pilgrims as they headed through the desert in September re-ignited a long-simmering feud between Kerbala and Anbar over a vast expanse of sand known as Al-Nukhaib, a route to western neighbors Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Iraq’s disputed territories are potential flashpoints as US troops depart, more than eight years after the invasion that unseated Saddam Hussein. The areas that usually stir greatest concern are in the north, around oilrich Kirkuk. Little known is the decades-old argument over Nukhaib- once part of Kerbala but handed over to Anbar by Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein-which erupted anew when 22 mostly Shite pilgrims were marched off a bus and shot dead on Sept 12.

“The Al-Nukhaib crime has succeeded in a way even greater than planned, and delivered this (dispute) to the level of an explosion,” said a senior official in the Kerbala government who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. “Just one other small incident similar to what happened in Nukhaib and everything may blow up,” the official said.

Graffiti and black banners adorn the exterior walls of government buildings in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala, mourning the victims of Nukhaib and demanding revenge. On dozens of posters, bearing pictures of the victims’ coffins on a stark black background, the message reads: “The simplest thing that we offer to the martyrs of al-Nukhaib is to restore it to Kerbala.” Shortly after the Sept. 12 attack, Kerbala authorities travelled to neighboring

Tripoli’s once staunchly pro-Gaddafi Abu Salim neighborhood was killed after an argument with a Zintan fighter.

Libya’s interim leaders have tried to play down the risk of the massive presence of weapons, saying Libyans are a close-knit society bound by tribal laws. However, there has been a recent rash of violent score-settling by former rebel fighters. Government spokesman AbdelHafiz Ghoga said the authorities are monitoring the incidents and would not tolerate what he called “deviation.” He did not present any practical steps for dealing with the problem.— AP

Anbar and arrested a number of suspects, further fueling tension.

About a third of Anbar’s territory, Nukhaib covers about 4,000 square km (1,500 sq miles) of desert punctuated by valleys and hills. The area is dotted with huge caves ideal for use as hideouts by armed groups. “The Al-Nukhaib area belonged to the holy city of Kerbala until 1977, when the dissolved Revolution Command Council decided to (annex it to Anbar),” said Naseif J Mohammad, deputy head of the Kerbala Provincial Council.

“The goal was to prevent Kerbala from owning access to the international border.”

Nukhaib’s importance lies in its strategic location as the transit area for pilgrims to Sunniruled Saudi Arabia, and it lies near “160 Kilo”, a major hub of restaurants and fuel stations along the highway to Jordan and Syria.

Sectarian tensions have eased since the bloodletting of 2006-07, when thousands of people were killed. Shiite-majority Iraq is governed by a fragile cross-sectarian coalition led by the Shiite Maliki. The constitution, drawn up after the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam, outlines procedures including a census and public referendum to resolve territorial disputes. Official maps show Nukhaib as a part of Kerbala in several years during the 1970s, but a 1966 map indicates it was part of Anbar. A map of Iraq woven into a 1939 carpet on display at a British museum shows Kerbala stretching to the Saudi border.

Many Anbar officials have taken the position that there is no dispute. “This issue is settled,” Anbar Governor Qassim Mohammed told Reuters. “There are no disputed territories (in Anbar).” “Whoever speaks about this issue can drink from the sea,” Mohammed said, using an Arabic expression whose English equivalent might be “go jump in the lake”. — Reuters

Egyptian army ‘did not fire at protesters’: Report CAIRO: The Egyptian army did not use live ammunition to disperse protesters during clashes in which 28 people were killed last month, a member of a government-backed fact-finding committee said yesterday.

But he said an independent investigation was needed to establish the full facts. The violence in central Cairo on Oct 9 between protesters, mostly Coptic Christians, and the army was the deadliest since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February and drew condemnation from rights groups and Egyptian citizens.

“The majority of witnesses said there were no live bullets fired by the army,” said Hafez Abu Saeda, a senior figure in the government-sponsored National Council for Human Rights, which set up the committee. The committee said military police used blank rounds when it tried to disperse the crowd and said most witnesses blamed unknown agitators for firing at protesters. “Witnesses pointed to a certain incident in which someone was seen on top of the Sixth of October Bridge on a truck and who had a gun which he pointed at victims,” Abu Saeda said.

Some people were crushed by armored vehicles driven into the crowd. The report found that 12 people died as a result. Abu Saeda said an independent investigation was needed and some state institutions did not cooperate fully with the committee. “The armed forces did not cooperate enough as they did not present us with the names and information about their victims,” he said. Some rights activists criticised the report for a lack of detail. “They should have mentioned the kinds of bullets that were in the bodies of the victims as that would be an indicator of what kind of weapon was used,” said Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information. He said he did not trust the National Council for Human Rights. “The history of the council as a defender of the government is not easily forgotten,” he said.— Reuters

Egypt constitution to allow expats to vote

BAGHDAD: A handout picture released by the Iraqi prime minister’s office shows Iraq’s Premier Nuri Al-Maliki (R) during a meeting yesterday with Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Baghdad.—AFP

CAIRO: Egypt’s justice ministry has agreed to a constitutional amendment to allow millions of Egyptians living abroad to vote in parliamentary elections, a government newspaper reported yesterday. Under the new amendment, Egyptian expatriates can cast their ballots in the next general poll at their country’s diplomatic missions, without a judicial supervision, Al-Ahram newspaper said.

Egyptians will begin voting on November 28 in the first elections since a popular uprising ended president Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-rule in February. According to a constitutional declaration issued by Egypt’s military rulers, polls and referendums are held under full judicial supervision.

An estimated eight million Egyptians live abroad, many of them in other Arab countries, out of a total population of 80 million. An administrative court on last month ruled that Egyptian expatriates, deprived of the vote under Mubarak, will have the right to cast their ballots in the poll.

Several political parties and politicians have repeatedly demanded that Egyptians in the diaspora be allowed to take part in the vote.— AFP

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Cuban dissident ‘detained and beaten’ HAVANA: Guillermo Farinas, a leading Cuban dissident and winner of the European parliament’s top human rights prize, was arrested Tuesday and for the first time beaten in detention, said his mother and activists.

Farinas, who won the Sakharov rights prize in 2010 after going on a 135-day hunger strike to press for the release of political prisoners, had gone to a hospital in Santa Clara to visit another dissident on a hunger strike, said his mother Alicia Hernandez from Santa Clara.

“According to what I was told by someone who was with him, he was on his way in and (state agents) told him no, and there was some kind of melee and they arrested him,” Hernandez told AFP. One of the agents “held him kept him in place, while another

beat him. They have him in the police unit,” she added, noting: “They had never before physically abused him.”

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said Farinas, who had gone to visit dissident Alcides Rivera, was still being detained yesterday. Farinas, 49, also a dissident journalist who has pressed for a free press and against Internet censorship in Cuba, was also detained in September when he tried to take part in a street protest in Santa Clara, a city east of Havana. He has launched more than two dozen long hunger strikes in over 15 years, in an ongoing, bold confrontation with the Americas’ only one-party

Communist government. Farinas, who has said he is willing to die for the cause of Cuba’s political prisoners and opposing censorship, has been mentioned as a possible Nobel peace prize candidate. Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata died in Cuba on February 23, 2010 on the 85th day of his hunger strike. Zapata’s death at the age of 42 drew global attention to the plight of political dissidents, and the human rights situation, in Cuba.

Farinas was awarded the Sakharov prize last year following the February death of fellow dissident Zapata. He ended the protest when President Raul Castro authorized the release of 52 political prisonersout of a group of 75 arrested in 2003 — on the heels

of talks with senior Roman Catholic Church clerics in Havana. Farinas was the third Cuban to receive the Sakharov prize, after dissident activist Oswaldo Paya in 2002 and the 2005 award to the Ladies in White, a group of women whose dissident husbands are jailed.

A former soldier and supporter of Fidel Castro’s revolution, Farinas distanced himself from the regime in 1989 when he opposed the execution of general Arnaldo Ochoa, who was accused of drug trafficking.

The Cuban government, which skirts the issue in its official media outlets, still denies holding any political prisoners; it says they are mercenaries in the pay of the United States.— AFP

4 suspected Georgia militia members accused in plot Group tried to obtain unregistered explosive device

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama looks while signing a proclomation in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday in Washington, DC. —AFP

Obama approval rating rises WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama’s approval rating climbed to 47 percent in a new poll released yesterday, closing on a level which could help him run a competitive reelection bid next year. In a Quinnipiac University poll, Obama’s approval rating rose from 41 percent in October, and the president held leads of five to 16 points over potential Republican challengers in the 2012 election.

“President Barack Obama appears to be improving in voters’ eyes almost across the board,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“He scores big gains among the groups with whom he has had the most problems-whites and men. Women also shift from a five point negative to a four point positive,” Brown said. The poll was conducted between October 25 and 31, following the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the release of some slightly more hopeful US economic data, which could have boosted Obama’s standing. While Obama’s approval stood at 47 percent-one point higher than his rating in a CBS/New York Times poll last month-his disapproval rating stood at 49 percent.

Incumbent presidents generally need to keep their approval ratings in the high 40s or preferably over 50 percent to stand a good chance of winning a second term.

“The movement allows the White House a sigh of relief, for the president’s approval had been stuck in the low 40s for some time,” Brown said. The poll also offered a snapshot of the Republican nominating race to take on Obama in the 2012 election. It found that former pizza executive Herman Cain led the field with 30 percent, followed by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at 23 percent, former House speaker Newt Gingrich at 10 percent and Texas Governor Rick Perry at eight percent.

But the poll was conducted before stories broke that Cain had been the subject of sexual harassment complaints in the 1990s, which could dent his political prospects. The sur vey suggested that Obama has improved his prospects against potential Republican rivals, leading Romney 47 percent to 42 percent, Perry by 52 percent to 36 percent and Cain by 50 percent to 40 percent.— AFP

ATLANTA: Federal agents arrested four suspected members of a Georgia militia on charges of plotting attacks with toxins and explosives in Atlanta and against unnamed government officials. The four, who authorities arrested Tuesday, were expected to appear in federal court in Gainesville, Ga. They were part of a group that also tried to obtain an unregistered explosive device and sought out the complex formula to produce ricin, a biological toxin that can be lethal in small doses, according to a federal complaint.

One suspect discussed ways of dispersing ricin from an airplane in the sky over Washington, court records state. Another suspected member of the group intended to use the plot of an online novel as a model for plans to attack US federal law officers and others, authorities said. Court documents state that 73-year-old Frederick Thomas told others he intended to model their actions on the online novel “Absolved,” which involves small groups of citizens attacking US officials.

The four listed in the indictment are Thomas; Dan Roberts, 67; Ray Adams, 65; and Samuel Crump, 68. The men live in the north Georgia towns of Cleveland and Toccoa. At least two of the suspects are former federal

Canada stops funding for UNESCO over Palestinians TORONTO: Canada joined the US on Tuesday in cutting off funding for the UN cultural agency UNESCO because it approved a Palestinian bid for full membership. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Monday’s decision by UNESCO is not in the best interests of peace in the Middle East, so Canada is freezing all future voluntary contributions to the agency. Canada contributes about $10 million a year.

“We’re just deeply concerned with the decision that UNESCO has taken,” Baird said. “This issue should be negotiated between the two parties. It is not in the best interests of peace in the Middle East and we’re, you know, tremendously disappointed.”The United States also has announced it will pull its $60 million in funding from UNESCO, which depends heavily on US funding. The UNESCO vote was a fallback plan for the Palestinian leadership after its bid for UN recognition as a state and full membership in the global body failed in September.

UNESCO is funded by both legally binding and voluntary contributions from member states. A spending plan for the Foreign Affairs Department tabled in Parliament shows Canada plans to give UNESCO about $12 million a year until 2014 as part of its legally binding obligation. Those payments will continue. UNESCO admitted Palestine as a full member state Monday by a vote of 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions. Canada and the United States, both staunch allies of Israel, were among the 14 countries in opposition.— AP

Amid furor, Cain visits Capitol Hill WASHINGTON: Dogged by sexual harassment allegations from the 1990s, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is trying to project an image of campaign business as usual yesterday even as the lawyer for one of his accusers seeks to free her from a confidentiality agreement so she can tell her side of the story. The pressure on Cain only increased when a pillar of the GOP establishment suggested that the Georgia businessman should ask the National Restaurant Association to waive the agreement so that the woman can talk openly about her allegations.

“What are the facts?” asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on MSNBC. “If you have a confidentiality agreement that keeps the public from finding out something that the public is interested in knowing the facts, you ought to go on and get the facts out.”“Herman Cain’s interest is getting this behind him,” added Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman.—AP

employees, court records show. Adams used to work as a lab technician for a US Department of Agriculture agency known as the Agricultural Research Service.

Court documents say officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that another suspect, Crump, worked there in the past for a contractor that did maintenance at the Atlanta-based agency.

On Sept. 17, prosecutors say Crump was recorded by a confidential informant as saying he would like to make 10 pounds of ricin, which would be simultaneously placed in several US cities. Prosecutors say possible cities mentioned were Washington; Newark, NJ; Jacksonville, Fla; Atlanta and New Orleans and Crump suggesting the ricin could be blown out of a car speeding down an interstate highway.

The group had been talking about “covert” operations since at least March, according to court records, discussing murder, theft and using toxic agents and assassinations to undermine the state and federal government.

At one meeting, investigators say, Thomas openly discussed creating a “bucket list” of government employees, politicians, corporate leaders and members of the media he felt needed to be “taken out.” “I’ve been to war, and I’ve taken life before, and I can do it again,” he told an undercover investigator, according to the records. Thomas’ wife, Charlotte, called the charges “baloney.” “He spent 30 years in the US Navy. He would not do anything against his country,” she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Thomas and Roberts are accused of buying what they believed was a silencer and an unregistered explosive from an undercover informant in May and June.

Prosecutors say he discussed using the weapons in attacks against federal buildings. Thomas is accused of driving to Atlanta with a confidential informant on May 24 and scoping out an Internal Revenue Service building there and an ATF building “to plan and assess for possible attacks,” the indictment states.

“We’d have to blow the whole building, like Timothy McVeigh,” Thomas said during the Atlanta trip, referring to the man executed for bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City, the indictment states. Adams, meanwhile, is accused of showing an informant the formula to make ricin and identifying the ways to obtain the ingredients.

Charlotte Thomas said her husband was arrested in a restaurant in Cornelia, Ga., and federal agents were at her home when she returned from the grocery store Tuesday afternoon. She said the agents wouldn’t let her in her home. “They tore up my house,” Charlotte Thomas said. She said her husband doesn’t have an attorney yet.

Margaret Roberts of Toccoa said FBI agents showed up with a search warrant and went through her home, handcuffing her and taking a computer and other items. She said her husband is retired from the sign business and lives on pensions.

“He’s never been in trouble with the law. He’s not anti-government. He would never hurt anybody,” she said. Listed numbers for the other two suspects could not be found. Attorneys for the men were not identified, and the federal defender’s office had no immediate comment. US Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the case is a reminder that “we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our own borders who threaten our safety and security.” — AP

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WikiLeaks’ Assange loses UK battle against extradition Extradition would be unlawful: Judges

MINSK: A photo taken through the bars of the defendant’s cage shows the head of Vyasna (Spring) rights group, Ales Beliatsky, in a court in Minsk yesterday.—AFP

Top rights activist goes on trial in Belarus MINSK: The head of a leading rights group went on trial in Belarus yesterday on charges of tax evasion in a case that has stoked international outrage against the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Ales Beliatsky, head of Vyasna (Spring), was detained on August 4 after authorities received information from Lithuania and Poland about bank accounts he held in their countries to support his work at home.

Rights activists say the trial is part of an unprecedented crackdown Lukashenko unleashed against the opposition following his controversial re-election last December.

Dressed in a red shirt and looking pale and haggard with his grey hair closely cropped, Beliatsky appeared in court placed inside an iron cage and said he was being punished for his beliefs. “I am convinced that I am being persecuted for my political views, for human rights activities, and for my criticism of the current authorities,” he said.

Prosecutor Valery Saikovsky said the rights activist had 550,000 euros in his accounts in Lithuania and Poland but did not declare those funds. “Being a Belarussian tax resident and knowing about the duty to file tax returns, he avoided paying a large amount of taxes,” Saikovsky said, accusing him of evading a debt of around 30,000 euros ($41,000) in taxes. Beliatsky denies any wrongdoing, saying he could not understand what amount should be considered his income.

He confirmed that several foreign rights organizations as well as the Dutch foreign ministry had sent money to his foreign accounts to support his rights activities.

Vyasna lost its official registration after repeated run-ins with the Belarus authori-

ties in 2003 and was forced to keep its offices and finances in European capitals.

His colleagues said they were bracing for the worst. “We are expecting the harshest verdict possible,” Vyasna deputy chairman Valentin Stephanovich told reporters.

The courtroom was bursting at the seams, with former political prisoners, rights activists and diplomats from Britain, Germany, Lithuania and the United States attending the hearing.

If convicted, Beliatsky faces up to seven years in prison. Lithuania and Poland have said they regretted providing the data to the authoritarian regime of Lukashenko, who has stayed in power in the ex-Soviet state for the past 17 years. The Lithuanian justice ministry said the information it had provided to Belarus could not be used as evidence in the trial. “Several months ago we officially informed Belarus authorities that we had recalled the information provided by the Lithuanian justice ministry in line with the legal assistance treaty and that it cannot be used as legal evidence in court,” Justice Minister Remigijus Simasius said in a statement.

“Legal assistance provisions and the system of international cooperation is intended to track down terrorists and criminals, to ensure safety and cannot be used to serve political interests,” the statement said.

Human Rights Watch this week called on Lukashenko to immediately release the activist. “Human rights defenders like Beliatsky are being forced into a legal grey area that the government exploits to punish them,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at the activist group. “In reality, what happened to Ales Beliatsky is pure entrapment.”—AFP

LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday lost a bitter legal battle to block his extradition from Britain to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. Two judges at the High Court in London rejected arguments by the 40-yearold Australian, whose anti-secrecy website has enraged governments around the world, that his extradition would be unlawful.

“The court dismissed the appeal,” said a summary of the judgment, before detailing the four counts on which Assange had appealed against a decision by a lower court in February that he should be sent to Sweden.

Assange said he would consult his lawyers about whether to make a further appeal to England’s Supreme Court, the highest legal authority in the land. He has 14 days to do so, but only if his lawyers can first convince judges that the case is of special public interest.

“We will be considering our next step in the days ahead,” the former computer hacker told a scrum of reporters and cameramen gathered from around the world, in a brief statement from the court steps. “I have not been charged with any crime in any country.

“Despite this, the European arrest warrant (EAW ) is so restrictive that it prevents UK courts from considering the facts of a case, as judges have made clear here today.”Assange has strongly denied the allegations, claiming they are politically motivated and linked to the activities of WikiLeaks. He has been under virtual house arrest since he was first detained in December.

During the appeal hearing in July, Assange had argued that the warrant under which he was held last December was invalid because it was issued by a prosecutor and not a court.

However, the two judges presiding yesterday said it had been subjected to proper judicial scrutiny in Sweden. They also rejected his assertion that the claims made by two women of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and an accusation of rape would not be offences under English law. One woman alleged that Assange had unprotected sex with her while she was asleep, and the judges rejected his lawyers’ contention that

consent to sex with a condom remained consent when a condom was not used.

Thirdly, the judges also rejected Assange’s argument that he should not be extradited because he was only wanted for questioning and had not been charged, saying he was “plainly accused” of the crimes. And they denied the arrest warrant was disproportionate, given that Assange had offered to be questioned via videolink. The WikiLeaks boss

LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (C) speaks to the waiting media upon leaving London’s High Court yesterday after losing his legal battle to avoid extradition from Britain to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. —AFP has been living under strict bail conditionsincluding having to wear an electronic ankle tag and observe a strict curfew-at the east England mansion of Vaughan Smith, a supporter and former army captain.

Smith told reporters outside court that Assange’s morale was holding up. “I find it amazing he’s able to take the blows, and the blows have been considerable. He’s been remarkably robust but then he’s very commit-

ers closed down roads leading to Baidoa airport on Saturday, a Nairobi-based security official said. Hours later, residents heard heavy weaponry being fired, he said, citing information from informants in the town. The organization the official works for does not allow him to be identified by name.

Mohamud Abdulahi Wehelie, a member of Somalia’s parliament, said he spoke to three witnesses who said a white plane landed with weapons. AlShabab men hurried to offload it, the witnesses told him, and some items that appeared to be bombs or grenades fell from the door. The Kenyan military did not say from where the planes carrying weapons originated. The UN report said Eritrea consistently denies providing military support to armed groups in Somalia, but that “new information ... not only confirms many previous allegations of Eritrean military involvement, but also offers firm grounds to believe that Eritrea still retains active linkages to Somali armed groups.” Eritrea gives about $80,000 a month to Al-Shabablinked individuals in Nairobi, the report said. Kenyan forces moved into Somalia in mid-October to attack insurgents following a string of kidnappings by Somali gunmen inside Kenya. Kenya has said the military incursion had been planned for months. Al-Shabab has threatened to carry out terror attacks in Nairobi in response. Elsewhere, a small group of AlShabab militants fired rocket propelled grenades at a Kenyan army convoy near the border late on Tuesday, said Ali Hussein, a Somali military commander.

All the grenades missed except one which damaged a vehicle, he said.

Chirchir said one Kenyan soldier received minor wounds in the attack. — AP

KIEV: Veterans involved in the clean-up operation after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, shout slogans during a protest in front of riot police in Kiev, Ukraine yesterday.—AP

Ukraine prepares for government reshuffle KIEV: Ukraine yesterday braced for its first cabinet reshuffle since President Viktor Yanukovych’s election last year-a period that has seen Kiev hurt its relations with both the European Union and Russia.

Yanukovych made a rare appearance at an expanded cabinet session during which he lashed out at his trusted prime minister and singled out other officials for allegedly paying too little attention to voters’ economic needs.

The head of the president’s administration said on the eve of yesterday’s meeting that Yanukovych was on the verge of announcing his first reshuffle since beating Yulia Tymoshenko for the presidency in February 2010. “It could be announced yesterday or in the next few days,” administration chief Serhiy Liovochkin told reporters.

Local media reports said the dismissal could affect up to five ministers including those responsible for finance and defence.

An unidentified government source told the independent censor.net.ua online publication that even Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s position was not safe. Yanukovych did not spare his long-standing ally from criticism but appeared to save his harshest comments for Health Minister Oleksandr

Anishchenko-a relatively low-level official also rumored to be on the way out. “Please could you tell me if there is any hope left at all that we might have order here one day?”

Interfax quoted Yanukovych as asking his health minister at one point.

“It is hard to work with you-really hard,” he is reported to have added. Several reports said Azarov was currently trying to save the job of Finance Minister Fedir Yaroshenko amid attempts by some groups to replace him with the hawkish head of Ukraine’s SBU state security ser vice.

Analysts said talk of a reshuffle appeared to have been sparked in part by attempts by Yanukovych to distance himself from domestic criticism and improve his government’s credibility at a time of tensions with the West.

But analysts also point to a heated rivalry within the president’s Regions Party that has spilled out into the open less than a year before October’s elections to the Verkhovna Rada upper house. The talk of impending government changes results from “a fight for government access between big business and political groups,” said Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta political studies group.— AFP

Politician convicted of gay hate speech in Serbia BELGRADE: A court in Belgrade condemned a controversial Serbian ruling party member of parliament for discriminatory remarks about homosexuals, a gay organization said yesterday. “The court decided that Dragan Markovic committed a serious act of discrimination and ordered him not to repeat it again,” Aleksandar Olenik, a lawyer representing Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), told AFP. The court did not impose any sentence or fine on Markovic although he

was ordered to pay the trial costs. In August, Markovic said he was against a planned march of gays in Belgrade “where they want to show something that is an illness as something normal”.

His comments came during tense preparations for a gay pride parade scheduled to be held in Belgrade October 2 but ultimately banned by the police due to security concerns.

A number of ultranationalist groups had announced they planned to disrupt

and he will be tortured,” she said. However, the lawyer for his two female accusers welcomed the ruling, saying they “feel a certain degree of relief”. “It has been very trying for them to live with this uncertainty, especially since they themselves have found themselves attacked,” Claes Borgstroem told the TT news agency. He added that Assange “has really been grabbing at every straw” to fight extradition to Sweden.— AFP

Zimbabwe to get diamond boost, but activists irate

We will destroy weapons flown into Somalia: Kenya NAIROBI: Kenyan military aircraft will target and destroy weapons that were flown into Somalia on two planes and delivered to Islamist militants, a military official said yesterday. A UN arms monitoring group has documented many instances of money, fighters and weapons being given to militants or flown into areas of Somalia they control.

Kenya’s military on Tuesday said it had reliable information that two aircraft landed in the Somali town of Baidoa with weapons on board intended for AlShabab militants.

A July report by the UN ‘s Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said that Al-Shabab controls two large airports and one former military airport with asphalt runways. Al-Shabab may then be capable of chartering and receiving deliveries by aircraft, it said. The report also said that illicit flights with weapons or fighters for Somali militants could be originating from Eritrea, Yemen or the United Arab Emirates.

Kenyan militar y spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said yesterday that military planes would target and attack those weapons so they cannot be used.

He said intelligence showed that the weapons were transported to a militant camp. “Our focus is to reduce the effectiveness of those particular weapons,” he said. “At the end of the day you get weapons but these are weapons they cannot use.”

Chirchir has warned that the Kenyan military will attack 10 Somali towns where it believes Al-Shabab has a presence and advised civilians to stay away from Al-Shabab camps. Kenyan forces are moving in on the port city of Kismayo, one of the places with a large runway that Al-Shabab controls. Al-Shabab fight-

ted and believes in what he’s doing,” he said.

Assange has previously expressed fears that his extradition to Sweden would lead to his transfer to the United States to face as yet unspecified charges of spying.

His mother Christine told the Australian Associated Press news agency yesterday that her son was now “even closer to a US extradition or rendition”. “If (the Australian people) don’t stand up for Julian, he will go to the US

the march. The GSA, one of several gay rights groups active in Serbia, said in a statement it was “satisfied with the verdict and fast reaction by the justice system.” “This case has a strategic importance because this is the first time such a verdict is issued against a politician,” the group said. It added that “such remarks should be sanctioned by the judiciary because politicians have the highest responsibility for promoting tolerance, a democratic society, non-violence and

respect for human rights.”

The first gay pride in Belgrade in 2001 was smashed by hooligans, while another attempt to hold a march in 2009 was cancelled by organizers when police barred them from the city centre because of security concerns. In 2010, the gay pride was held but violent riots followed. More than 150 people, mostly police officers, were wounded in clashes between security forces and ultra-nationalists and hooligans.— AFP

HARARE: Zimbabwe could earn billions of dollars a year selling diamonds from a region scarred by army abuse, officials said yesterday after a crisis that left the global “blood diamond” watchdog badly tarnished.

Opponents slammed the decision by the Kimberley Process (KP) to let the country resume sales of diamonds from Marange, saying it risked making the watchdog’s seal of approval meaningless, and would fund rights abuses by President Robert Mugabe’s party ahead of elections.

“It’s really a travesty, and calls into question the future of the Kimberley Process and its credentials as a scheme which provides consumers with any kind of guarantee that their diamonds are blood-free,” Mike Davis of rights group Global Witness told AFP. “The prime beneficiaries may well be particularly dubious and in some cases violent figures within the political establishment in Zimbabwe who are looking for ways to pay for the kind of abusive and intimidatory tactics which they typically use in the run-up to elections.”

The decision allows two firms, state -owned Marange Resources and state joint venture Mbada Diamonds, to sell gems from the Marange region, one of Africa’s biggest diamond finds in decades and the site of gross human rights violations. Human Rights Watch says Mugabe’s army killed more than 200 people in late 2008 in an operation to clear small-scale miners from the area, and Kimberley investigators confirmed abuses that resulted in a ban on the region’s diamonds. Tuesday’s deal came after negotiations involving Zimbabwe, the European Union, South Africa, the United States and the World Diamond Council, which monitors KP compliance. It resolves a deadlock that had threatened to derail the KP, with India and China supporting a resumption of Marange sales over bitter opposition from Western nations, rights groups and the industry. A US State Department spokeswoman said the United States had abstained from the vote in order to help the KP move past “a debilitating impasse”.

“We continue to have concerns about the situation in Marange,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau of the US embassy in Pretoria said in an email. “The United States continues to support the KP strongly and is committed to working with all stakeholders to strengthen the process.” Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, a Mugabe ally, said Zimbabwe stands to rake in more than $2.0 billion (1.5 billion euros) a year in diamond revenues thanks to the decision, calling it a needed boost to the economy.

“We want to shock and shake the world,” he told journalists. “Now we are going to unleash our worthiness to the world. Zimbabwe will not be begging from anybody. “Zimbabwe will not be the same again. There is going to be prosperity, development and full sovereignty of our resources.” But Edward Cross, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s rival MDC party, said yesterday the KP should not have cleared the sale. “I think it was absolutely wrong to allow the Marange diamonds to be sold,” he told AFP. “I have evidence that the value and volumes of Marange diamonds are being underestimated and are being used to subvert the democratic process in Zimbabwe.” Rights groups accuse Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, which shares power with Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change in a tense coalition government, of funneling profits from Marange diamonds to senior military officials and party leaders. Under the power-sharing deal, Zimbabwe is due to draft a new constitution to pave the way to fresh elections, which could be held as soon as next year.—AFP

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Years

i n t e r n at i o n a l

Nepal parties hope to build on deal on ex-rebels Leaders agree to integrate Maoist rebels

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Abdullah Gul, right, and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai speak during the Istanbul Conference for Afghanistan in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday.—AP

Ten years on, delegates discuss Afghan war ISTANBUL: A decade after the Taleban were ousted from power, regional leaders yesterday pledged to find ways to improve security and economic development in Afghanistan as international combat forces prepare to leave by the end of 2014. The one-day conference in Istanbul followed the September assassination of an Afghan peace envoy and other high-profile assaults in Afghanistan that have diminished prospects for a negotiated settlement and intensified suspicion of Pakistani support for the insurgency, an allegation that Pakistan’s government denies.

In an opulent hall on the shores of the Bosporus Strait, delegates delivered speeches promising support for Afghan sovereignty, and endorsed a transition to Afghan security leadership, efforts for a political solution to the war and economic development. As a show of solidarity, the meeting was a success, but it was also a reminder of how much remains unsolved. “The terrorism, extremism, as well as drugs and human trafficking that Afghanistan is struggling against are not problems that one country can deal with on its own,” Turkish President Abdullah Gul said.

“It is our duty as neighbors to contribute to Afghanistan’s unity, stability and prosperity,” Gul said. “It is also a necessity for the sake of our common interests.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, discussed a joint inquiry into the Sept 20 killing by a suicide bomber of Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former Afghan president and peace council leader. But the relationship is strained. Afghan and US officials want Pakistan to crack down on militants who operate on its territory and cross into Afghanistan to conduct attacks.

“As recent setbacks have indicated, the peace process will not succeed unless we are able to get the top leadership of the Taleban , based in Pakistan, to join it,” Karzai said in a speech. “Our hope is that, with help from our brothers in Pakistan, we will manage to wean away the Taleban leadership from some of the long-established networks of support they enjoy outside Afghanistan and integrate them into the peace process.”

Pakistan denies it shelters militants and notes the deaths of many Pakistani soldiers in battles with such groups. Its leaders bristle at US criticism that they play a double game, fighting militants in some areas and supporting them in others where they might be useful proxies in a future conflict with India, its archenemy. China, India and Iran were among countries with envoys at the conference. The United States and other Western countries with troops in Afghanistan also sent repre-

sentatives. “ Ten years of conflict in Afghanistan have taught us that military means alone are not sufficient to solve this crisis,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a speech to the delegates.

“We need a political solution with active support from the region.” Karzai said his country was looking for a major international conference on Afghanistan, which will be held next month in Bonn, Germany for “steadfast support” of its international partners for an economic transition.

“At the Bonn Conference, we will share our vision for the next ten years - it will be a vision of consolidating Afghanistan as a stable and democratic country, with a prospering economy,” Karzai said. “And we will seek a commitment from our friends in the international community to continue to support us as we work towards that vision.” In a message ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Afghan High Peace Council, which had been led by Rabbani, urged the country’s neighbors to stop meddling in Afghan affairs and support talks.

“It is time that our neighboring countries stop their interference, and rather than increasing violence in Afghanistan, allow the Afghan people to live in peace and prosperity,” the council said in a statement. It said it was continuing work to open negotiations with the Taleban , but would not talk to anyone whose identity could not be verified or who appeared to be pushing the political goals of other countries. “ The Council requests that Pakistan be honest and take some practical steps toward peace in Afghanistan,” the statement said.

Afghan official seek regional support for the idea of a “New Silk Road,” an integrated trade and transportation network that would run through Afghanistan. The nation was at the crossroads of the historic east-west trade route known as the Silk Road. The US has also pushed economic cooperation as a way to wean Afghanistan off international assistance and undercut the appeal of extremism.

Amnesty International said Afghanistan should work with neighboring countries to protect human rights in the run-up to NATO’s withdrawal and afterward. Sam Zarifi, AsiaPacific program director for the group, said progress had been made since the US -led invasion that toppled the Taleban in 2001, citing a decrease in discrimination against women and better access to education and health care. But advances have faltered in justice and policing, and in improving conditions for some 450,000 people displaced by the conflict, according to Zarifi.— AP

KATMANDU: Nepal’s main political parties said yesterday that they hope a historic agreement allowing some former rebel fighters to enter the country’s army and giving others cash to start new lives will create momentum for reaching a full peace deal.

The leaders of the country’s four main parties agreed late Tuesday to integrate onethird of the former Maoist rebels into the army and give money to the remainder.

The agreement removed a major stumbling block in efforts to finalize a peace agreement following the bloody Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006. But it now puts pressure on the coalition government to overcome political paralysis and get on with the job of writing a new constitution that will determine how Nepal develops after years of civil war and upheaval. The parties agreed to finish a draft of the longdelayed constitution within a month.

Maoist party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the agreement should give reassurance that the South Asian nation was on the right track. “The agreement is what the people have been anticipating for a long time. It is now our challenge to complete the peace process,” said Dahal, whose party of former rebels is now the largest in Parliament.

Under the agreement, 6,500 of the 19,000 former Maoist rebels who had been demobilized and living in camps for five years will be integrated into the national army, but only in noncombat roles.

The remaining ex-fighters will be offered a rehabilitation package with up to 900,000 rupees ($11,500) in startup cash to begin their new lives. The Maoists had been pushing for their fighters to be folded into the army, a demand resisted by military leaders and other parties. Both sides appeared to have compromised. “It took years to reach this point and now the path is open,” said Pradeep Gyawali, of Nepal’s Marxist party.

The U.S. welcomed the agreement.”We commend all parties for their statesmanship

and leadership in forging this consensus, which we believe is a crucial step toward ensuring a democratic, stable, and prosperous future for Nepal,” State Department spokeswoman Vic toria Nuland said in Washington. The new deal put pressure on the Maoists and their recently installed coalition government to quickly finish the

KATMANDU: Tibetan exiles hold up letters written in blood appealing to G20 world leaders to back their protest for fair treatment for Tibetans in their homeland, from a rooftop at the Tibetan Refugee Camp at Jwalakhel in Kathmandu yesterday.—AFP job of restoring normalcy to a country still recovering from war, mired in poverty and suffering from political paralysis.

“It is now up to the Maoists as the party leading the government and key role player in the peace process to steer things forward in the right direction and soon. We have done all we can,” said Prakash Man Singh of the Nepali Congress party.

The movement in the stalled peace efforts

Karzai seeks aid in fight against Afghan ‘terror’ ISTANBUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned yesterday that there would be no hope for peace in his war-ravaged nation without help from its neighbors to combat “terror groups”. “Terrorist networks are by far the major threat to Afghanistan’s security,” Karzai said at a global conference in Istanbul aimed at mapping out his country’s future.

“They continue to have sanctuaries outside of our border from where they conduct their merciless campaign of destruction,” he said.

“Unless regional cooperation is assured to address the core and root of this issue peace in Afghanistan will remain elusive.”

Representatives from some 20 countries have joined aid agency members at the one-day Istanbul meeting, being held almost 10 years after the Taliban militia were driven out of power in Kabul by a US-led coalition. But the hardline Islamists remain a deadly force in Afghanistan, continuing to wage attacks against Afghan, US and NATO forces.

Kabul, like Washington, has complained that Islamabad is not doing enough against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda whose militants have found refuge in Pakistani tribal areas on the Afghan border. “When it comes to terrorism, a threat that targets not only Afghanistan, but other countries in the region and the world, we require the sincere, resultoriented cooperation of all of our neighbors... and particularly the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told AFP. The Istanbul talks are intended to chart the way ahead for Afghanistan, with the USled NATO mission already locked into military drawdowns that are scheduled to bring all foreign combat troops home by 2014.

Mosazai said the conference, which was continuing behind closed doors, was also discussing regional issues such as “terrorism, extremism, narcotics, human trafficking and organized crime.”

A press conference is expected at 1330 GMT with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Afghan counterpart Salmai

came after the Maoists, who had been forced out of the government by a coalition of smaller parties, took power again in August.

Now the parties are hoping to concentrate on the last major hurdle - the new constitution.

An interim constitution was to have expired in May 2010, but with coalition governments repeatedly collapsing, the legisla-

Rassul. Karzai had been expected to announce new areas in up to 17 provinces in Afghanistan that would transfer from NATO to Afghan security control in the second phase of a handover process launched in July.

However, Mosazai said the plans would not be unveiled yesterday in Istanbul but in the near future. The Istanbul gathering is taking place a day after a trilateral summit hosted by Gul brought together the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan in a bid to ease tensions between the two neighbors.

Tuesday’s talks saw Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to cooperate with an investigation into the September assassination of former Afghan leader and peace negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani. Kabul has accused Islamabad of refusing to cooperate in the probe of the murder, which Afghan authorities say was planned in Pakistan and committed by a Pakistani suicide bomber. Pakistan was the Taliban’s chief diplomatic backer when it was in power and is repeatedly accused by both Kabul and Washington of attempting to destabilize its northern neighbor. The Taliban’s resilience was again underlined on Saturday when it killed at least 17 people in a car bomb attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul, the deadliest attack yet on international forces in the Afghan capital. Absent from Wednesday’s conference was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who cancelled after the death of her mother and was replaced by her deputy William Burns.

Clinton has said Washington is now pursuing a three-pronged strategy of “fight, talk, build”, but with the Taliban still mounting high-profile attacks, there has been little public evidence of their willingness to talk. The United States provides more than two-thirds of a total of 140,000 foreign troops currently in Afghanistan. As well as the US, the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council-Britain, China, France and Russia-are taking part in the talks, along with US archrival Iran which shares a long border with western Afghanistan.—AFP

tors made little headway in drafting a permanent document. The interim document has been extended three times, with the latest deadline for a new constitution in a month.

The parties agreed Tuesday to at least have a draft constitution by then. The Maoists gave up their decade-long armed revolt in 2006, confined their fighters to UN - monitored camps, locked up their weapons and joined mainstream politics.— AP

Maoists abduct 15 bridge builders in India PATNA: Suspected Maoist rebels in India abducted 15 workers from a bridge construction site in poverty-ridden Bihar state, one of the many hotbeds of the leftwing insurgency, police said yesterday. About 50 armed guerrillas ambushed the site on Tuesday, local district police chief RN Singh told AFP. He said police suspected the company building the bridge had refused to pay money to the Maoists, who are often accused of extortion. Senior officials in state capital Patna said efforts were on to rescue the 15 hostages. The latest attack followed the slaughter in July of six men in Bihar by Maoists who raided a village wearing police uniforms and opened fire. The Maoist movement, which began in 1967, feeds off land disputes, police brutality and corruption, and is strongest in the poorest and most deprived areas of India, many of which are rich in natural resources. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the insurgency India’s main internal security threat.— AFP

Pakistan approves India as ‘most favored’ nation ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani cabinet yesterday approved a proposal granting India the status of “most favored nation” in a move towards normalizing trade relations between the two nuclear-armed arch rivals. The cabinet’s decision is final and could represent a breakthrough in efforts to thaw relations between the South Asian neighbors who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

“The federal cabinet has unanimously approved India as the most-favoured nation,” Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. “This will bring economic benefits to us and this decision has been taken in the national interest,” Awan added, conceding that some cabinet ministers had initially voiced objections to the proposal from the commerce ministry.

Pakistan has already bestowed the designation on more than 100 countries, including China-Islamabad’s closest foreign ally and India’s key rival.

Objections from cabinet ministers related to the decadesold dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan, and Pakistani perceptions of national security. “The prime minister reviewed all the objections and took the cabinet into confidence that it will not hurt our national security, and then they unanimously approved this summary sent by the ministry of commerce,” Awan said. When Pakistani Commerce Minister Amin Fahim visited India in September, both sides agreed to more than double trade within three years to $6 billion, set up a second trade border post, and facilitate business visas for their citizens. —AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

i n t e r n at i o n a l

China military accepting bigger recruits, tattoos BEIJING: China’s military is accepting recruits who are heavier and have more visible tattoos, conceding to rising prosperity and individuality among the nation’s young. In keeping with a drive for better-educated recruits, the military is also opening up to university students willing to take time off to serve, offering them an additional 6,000 yuan ($944) annually to subsidize their educational costs and guaranteeing that their university places will be there for them when they return to campus.

The changes announced by the Defense Ministry yesterday took effect during the People’s Liberation Army’s current winter recruitment drive.

The People’s Liberation Army is the world’s largest, with 2.3 million people in uniform. The ministry said would-be recruits will no longer be rejected for having face or neck tattoos as long as the body

art doesn’t exceed 3/4 inch (2 centimeters). The changes also allow for body weight up to 25 percent greater or 15 percent lower than the military’s standard, in contrast to the former limits of 20 percent greater and 10 percent lower.

Prohibitions on ear piercings will also be eliminated, as long as the holes are not too obvious. The reforms reflect how China’s educated youths are becoming increasingly selective about jobs at the same time as the military rapidly modernizes. As in the West, increased food consumption and more sedentary lifestyles are producing recruits who are less fit and more choosy about the physical activities they engage in.

With China’s enormous population and huge amounts of excess rural labor, the army in the past could afford to be highly selective in whom it

admitted, requiring recruits to meet strict standards for height and weight and automatically tossing out those with less than perfect vision or other slight physical defects. While China’s growing economy offers numerous alternatives, military pay and benefits have been improving in line with double-digit annual percentage increases in the defense budget.

The armed forces also retain a privileged position in communist society, and a military background can lead to careers in security, local government, and other areas, so serving remains a relatively attractive choice.

While China maintains a draft, the army has been essentially all-voluntary for many years as so many young men sought to join. Rejection rates among those taking the basic physical exams have

run at about 70 percent in past years. The US military changed its policy for recruits in 2006 to ban any tattoos above the collar, including on the neck, head, or face, as well as those anywhere on the body of an extremist, sexist, racist, or indecent nature. The rules set no limits on piercings, but forbid earrings and other such body decorations except in some cases for female soldiers.

Chinese soldiers are required to be slightly taller than US recruits, with a minimum height of 5 feet, 3 inches (162 centimeters) for men, as opposed to 5 feet (152 centimeters) for Americans. While American male soldiers can weigh between 97 and 259 pounds (44 and 117 kilograms), depending on age and height, the People’s Liberation Army calculates its standard weights only by height, starting at 115 pounds (52 kilograms). — AP

Thailand flood holdouts complicate relief efforts Thousands ignore govt warnings to evacuate BANGKOK: There’s no food left for sale anywhere near Thipawan Pipatkul’s house. In fact, there’s not much of her house left above the surface now that the fetid black waters have poured in. Yet, like thousands in Bangkok’s flood zones, she’s ignoring government warnings to evacuate. Instead, Thipawan and her husband are making a four-hour slog through stinking water that shines with oil and is littered with garbage as they head to dry ground in search of essentials. It is a grim routine they’ve repeated several times in the week since Thailand’s worst floods in a half century turned their neighborhood near Don Muang airport into an inland sea.

“Every time we go out, we bring as much food and supplies back as we can,” the 30-yearold mother of three said. “We have to help ourselves.” As Thailand struggles to cope with the historic floods, holdouts like Thipawan’s family are frustrating authorities who say victims’ reluctance to leave behind their few possessions is complicating an already difficult relief

effort. Many of Bangkok’s government-run shelters sit largely empty, even as the submerged streets in some of the city’s hardest-hit areas are still bustling with a constant stream of people wading, floating and boating in and out.

“We try to do the best we can but we can’t cover every house in flooded areas,” said Jate Sopitpongstorn, a spokesman for the city government. “We don’t have the manpower to get to everyone and to get three meals a day to them.” Monsoon rains since July have inundated a third of Thailand, costing billions of dollars in damage to submerged homes, businesses and crops. The worst-hit provinces are just north of Bangkok, but floodwaters began swamping districts on the capital’s northern outskirts last month.

In recent days, floodwater has deepened in the city and oozed into new districts. Yesterday the government said the nationwide death toll had risen to 427. The city says it has no estimate for the actual number of Bangkok’s 9 million residents affected by the deluge, but popula-

BANGKOK: People sit on the back of trucks as they cross floodwater in a street next to the Chao Praya river in Bangkok yesterday. The death toll from Thailand’s worst floods in decades surged above 400 as public anger simmered over the authorities’ handling of the crisis. —AFP

tion figures suggest they have impacted a far greater number than the 11,000 who have moved into the city’s evacuation centers. Don Muang district alone - which the government says is nearly 100 percent flooded - is home to 166,000 people.

Many in Bangkok’s 15 flooded districts have likely moved in with relatives or friends in unaffected areas, but swamped neighborhoods still show signs that life goes on despite disaster.

Along Don Muang’s Chang Akat Uthit Road, the neighborhood duck restaurant was closed. So were the two convenience stores, the gold shop and even the Party House pub. The car wash was deserted except for two Honda hatchbacks submerged in the driveway, and a construction site with the sign advertising “Cheap Land For Sale” was quiet.

But in the middle of the street people were ferrying supplies into the neighborhood, some carrying jugs of cooking oil, sacks of rice or boxes of fresh food, while others were leaving, carrying valuables such as TVs and electric fans toward drier ground. Chaiyut Baannak, 49, said he was on his way to find a boat to purchase, but promised he would be back. Wearing a bright orange life jacket with a bottle of water tucked into a pocket, he said it was a sense of community that keeps him from leaving. He acknowledged that he and his neighbors desperately need mobile toilets and it was becoming more difficult to find food, with many in the area now dependent on relief supplies. Still, he said he needed to stick around to look out for the homes and to care for the 20 or so neighborhood dogs.

“No matter what happens,” he said, “I’m going to stay here to protect others.” Pavinee Youprasert of the Thai Red Cross Society said her group has been sending 3,000- 3,500 relief packs every day into flood-hit neighborhoods in Bangkok as well as the nearby provinces of Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi. “We cannot say how bad the situation is going to be, but it doesn’t look rosy when it comes to humanitarian assistance,” she said. “From what we’ve got from the field, in every area that has been flooded, there is a dire need for access to basic supplies.”

In recent days, politicians, the military and private businesses have all been out in flooded neighborhoods handing out relief goods. —AP

Philippine govt, rebels in standoff over commander MANILA: The Philippine military said yesterday it would continue to hunt down a fugitive guerrilla commander accused of beheading marines after the country’s largest Muslim rebel group vowed not to surrender him. The standoff over Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Dan Laksaw Asnawi hanged over already shaky peace talks that were expected to resume Thursday in Malaysia, which has been brokering negotiations to end decades of bloody Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines.

Military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said law enforcement operations aimed at capturing Asnawi on southern Basilan island will continue, but stressed that the rebel group was not the target. Asnawi escaped from a Basilan jail in 2009. Nineteen troops were killed Oct. 18 in Basilan’s remote Al-Barka town in a failed attempt to arrest him in the biggest military loss in years. It sparked calls for President Benigno Aquino III to break a truce and order an

offensive against the 11,000-strong rebels.

Aquino rejected the calls and decided to pursue talks, a decision backed by the United States, Britain and Japan - countries supporting the yearslong negotiations. Aquino ordered a probe to find out what sparked the ambush. “We will uphold the law and arrest these criminal elements. The MILF is not a target but if its members will provide sanctuary or coddle these lawless elements, then they will become legitimate targets,” said Col. Dickson Hermoso, who heads the military office monitoring the peace talks.

“It is very clear that no one should be above the law and that includes the MILF,” the army said. Military officials were considering the deployment of at least 100 more soldiers to Basilan, an impoverished Muslim province about 550 miles (880 kilometers) south of Manila, Burgos said. Rebel vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar denied Asnawi’s involvement in the 2007 beheadings. He said that under existing cease-

fire rules, any lawbreaking guerrilla should be punished by the rebel group and not the government. “They say they want to uphold justice and due process but Asnawi was denied that process,” Jaafar said, adding the rebels would fight back if they come under attack by authorities trying to capture Asnawi. Hermoso countered that the rebels were under an obligation to surrender members accused of crimes or outlaws who seek refuge in their strongholds under a 2002 agreement. Asnawi was among guerrillas involved in a clash that killed 14 marines in AlBarka in 2007. Ten of the marines were later found beheaded, angering the military.

A government-rebel cease-fire committee investigation later cleared Asnawi of the beheadings, which reportedly were done by four militants from the brutal Abu Sayyaf group who strayed into the battle scene and mutilated the scattered bodies of the marines, rebel spokesman Von Al Haq said. — AP

Japan restarts first plant since disaster TOKYO: Japan yesterday restarted its first nuclear reactor since the Fukushima disaster in March, in a boost to its beleaguered atomic power industr y faced with a deeply sceptical public. Power began flowing from the Genkai nuclear power plant reactor in the south of Japan, Kyushu Electric Power said, less than a month after the facility automatically shut down following a safety alert. The reactor is expected to reach its normal level of power generation on Friday, a spokesman for the plant told AFP. The reactor is the first to resume operations since the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11 sparked an atomic emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the northeast of the country. The restart came as the operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima plant denied that signs of a new nuclear reaction at the stricken plant were a setback to recovery efforts there.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into Reactor No 2 after scientists detected the possible presence of xenon 133 and xenon 135, byproducts of a nuclear reaction. The two substances have short halflives-five days for xenon 133 and just nine hours for xenon 135 — indicating that any nuclear fission was recent. “Considering the half-life of xenon 133 and 135, we believe nuclear fission may have occurred in the recent past,” said Junichi Matsumoto, TEPCO official in charge of nuclear operations.

There is a possibility that criticality, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, occurred temporarily, Matsumoto said, but added it would not have lasted long enough to pose any risk. The temperature at the reactor No. 2 had been brought to below 100 degrees celsius (212 Fahrenheit), TEPCO said, one of the conditions for the utility to declare so-called “cold shutdown”.

The possible fission “has no major impact on the reactor’s state of being cooled down”, Matsumoto told a news

conference. Technicians have been battling since the tsunami to achieve cold shutdown of the reactors, a stable condition in which temperatures drop and no reaction takes place. Since the nuclear disaster struck in March, Japan’s atomic industry has been struggling to overcome the scepticism of a public largely unwilling to allow operations to restart at dozens of stalled reactors nationwide.

Yesterday’s restart at Genkai was seen as a boost to the industry, even though Kyushu Electric officials said the situation there was different from that at other suspended reactors, which have to undergo government-mandated stress tests. The Genkai reactor was halted after an “abnormality ” in its steam condensing unit emerged on October 4, Kyodo news reported, adding that Industry Minister Yukio Edano, who oversees the sector, had attributed the fault to “human error”.

Edano said on Tuesday the final decision on restarting the reactor rested with Kyushu Electric because the country’s nuclear regulator had found its procedures to be sound, but he urged the company to consult the local community.

Reactors halted for checks must pass stress tests before they are allowed to resume operation, but local authorities have the power to veto the restarts. Public officials in Saga gave their assent to the restart there after the nuclear safety agency gave its stamp of approval. Saga Governor Yasushi Furukawa told reporters: “If the state made the judgment after a full examination, we’ll accept it,” Kyodo reported. Before the disaster at Fukushima, Japan relied on nuclear power for around a third of its electricity, and has since had to ramp up its imports of thermal fuels to plug the supply gap as the number of active reactors dwindles.

A nationwide campaign to save energy over the summer is to continue over the winter, amid warnings of a shortfall that could be particularly acute in western Japan, which is more heavily dependent on nuclear power.— AFP

Bomb, gun attacks kill 6 in Thai south

Cambodian floods spark shortage of rat meat: PM PHNOM PENH: So many rats have drowned in Cambodia’s worst flooding in over a decade that the cross-border trade in the rodent’s meat has plummeted, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. “Each year 17 tons (about 37,000 pounds) of rats are exported to Vietnam.

This year there is a shortage of rats for export because the rats have died in the floods,” he said, citing reports from officials at the southern Chrey Thom border checkpoint.

While there are no clear figures on the scale of the industry, rat meat is considered a cheap and tasty treat in Vietnam and the country is a keen importer of live rats from Cambodian villages along the border. Ros Sothea, chief of Chrey Thom border checkpoint, told AFP he had no statistics on the impact of this year’s floods on the trade but he had noticed very few rats were being sold to Vietnam. “Almost no rats are being exported to Vietnam because the floods have killed them,” he said. “Last year, a lot of rats were exported,” he said. Cambodia’s deadliest floods since 2000, triggered by heavy rains, have killed at least 247 people and destroyed nearly one tenth of the nation’s rice paddy. — AFP

FUKUSHIMA: An undated handout photo released by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and obtained yesterday shows Unit Three of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Japan yesterday restarted its first nuclear reactor since the Fukushima disaster in March, in a boost to its beleaguered atomic power industry faced with a deeply sceptical public. —AFP

NEW DELHI: An exile Tibetan shouts slogans against China as he is detained by Indian policemen during a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, India, yesterday. Tibetan protestors called upon G20 leaders to raise the issue of human rights violation and crackdown on monasteries in Tibet. —AP

BANGKOK: Suspected Muslim insurgents killed six people in a bomb and gun attack in Thailand’s deep south yesterday, police said, the latest in a string of blasts to rock the region in recent weeks. A roadside device struck a pick-up truck carrying a group of seven villagers in Narathiwat province’s Ra Ngae district and then unknown gunmen opened fire. “A team of soldiers went to the area to rescue them but militants triggered a second explosion,” injuring two troops, a police officer in Ra Ngae told AFP by telephone.

Thailand’s southernmost provinces have been plagued by more than eight years of conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 4,800 people, both Muslims and Buddhists. People in the region complain of a long history of discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation, including alleged abuses by the armed forces.

Attacks have become more frequent

and intense in recent months, obser vers say. On October 25, 15 explosions blamed on suspected Muslim rebels ripped through a town in neighboring Yala province, killing at least one civilian and wounding dozens more.

That attack coincided with the seventh anniversary of a protest in the region that left 85 anti-government demonstrators dead, most of whom suffocated or were crushed to death while being transported to a detention centre.

Rights groups have said the failure of Thai authorities to hold security forces to account over the deaths has fuelled further violence and alienation in the southern region bordering Malaysia. On Sunday a dozen small explosions shook five districts of Narathiwat province but there were no serious injuries, hours after gunmen shot dead three Buddhists at a petrol station.— AFP

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NEWS Gulf struggles to shift jobs...

‘Revolutionary’ Jazeera turns 15 Continued from Page 1 Among the network’s harshest critics is the US government, which accuses the channel of anti-American bias and has denounced its policy of airing tapes by the likes of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other militants. The network’s new chief, Sheikh Jassem, denies the management reshuffle was intended to reflect a change in Al-Jazeera’s editorial outlook. Quoted on Tuesday in Qatar’s Al-Sharq newspaper, he said the network “would not change an editorial policy that has elevated us to the highest levels of success”.

Owned by the ruling family of the wealthy

Gulf state of Qatar, Al-Jazeera was launched in 1996, broadcasting into the homes of millions of Arabs that until then relied primarily on staterun channels for their news. Since its inception, Al-Jazeera has maintained an antagonistic relationship with most Arab regimes and, as a result, has had its offices shut down, its bureaux ransacked, its journalists arrested and its signals jammed in the region’s capitals.

In January, when a decades-long silence was broken and millions of Arabs emerged into the streets demanding freedom, the satellite news station gave them a voice. In Bahrain, however, where a brutal government crackdown crushed a Shiite-led rebellion against the Sunni-ruled

kingdom in March, Al-Jazeera was absent, a sign that despite claims of independence, the network would not challenge its owners’ interests.

With more than 65 offices around the world, a global network of some 400 journalists, 24hour English and Arabic news channels, a documentary channel, a children’s channel and more than a dozen sports channels, Al-Jazeera dominates the Arab media industry.

Competition is on the rise, however. The Saudiowned Al-Arabiya is Al-Jazeera’s main challenger but the network shares the air waves with BBC Arabic, France 24, Russia Today and the up-and-coming Sky News Arabia, which plans to launch in 2012. — AFP

French paper firebombed after...

Continued from Page 1 freedom of the press must be condemned with the greatest firmness. No cause can justify such an act of violence,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a statement. “Of course everything will be done to find the perpetrators of this attack, and this must certainly be called an attack,” Interior Minister Claude Gueant told journalists at the scene.

Police said the fire at the newspaper’s offices in eastern Paris started around 1:00 am (0200 GMT). No one was injured in the blaze, which a police source said was suspected to have been caused by a petrol bomb.

The magazine’s publisher, known only as Charb, said he was convinced the fire was linked to the special edition. “On Twitter, on Facebook, we received several letters of protest, threats, insults,” which had been forwarded to the police, he said. “This is the first time we have been physically attacked, but we won’t let it get to us.” Gueant said “all leads will be pursued” in the investigation.

“The investigation will determine who was responsible for this and, I hope, allow us to quickly find the guilty parties so they can be brought to justice.”

In a statement, the newspaper said it was

“against all religious fundamentalism but not against practising Muslims”. “We are for the Arab Spring, against the winter of fanatics,” it said, adding later that all 75,000 copies of the edition had quickly sold out. The weekly had said it would publish a special edition to “celebrate” the Ennahda Islamist party’s election victory in Tunisia and the transitional Libyan executive’s announcement that Islamic Sharia law would be the country’s main source of law.

It would feature Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as guest “editor”, the newspaper said.

As well as the cover cartoon, a back-page drawing featured Muhammad (PBUH) wearing a red nose and accompanied by the words: “Yes, Islam is compatible with humour.”

The depiction of the prophet’s face is strictly prohibited in Islam. A Paris court in 2007 threw out a suit brought by two Muslim organisations against Charlie Hebdo for reprinting cartoons of Muhammad (PBUH) that had appeared in a Danish newspaper, sparking angry protests by Muslims worldwide.

The Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, sent a message of solidarity to Charlie Hebdo. “I remember very clearly all the messages we ourselves received in connection with

the...case,” Lars Munch, who heads the media group that owns Jyllands-Posten, said in an interview published on the paper’s online edition. “It means a lot that one doesn’t feel alone in that situation,” Munch said, stressing that “it is terrible and completely unacceptable that a medium’s freedom of expression is threatened with violence.”

The head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, Mohammed Moussaoui, condemned the attack. “If this was a criminal fire, we firmly condemn it,” he told AFP. But the council also said in a statement that it condemned “the newspaper’s mocking tone with regards to Islam and its prophet”.

Documents and equipment were strewn outside the newspaper’s offices after the fire, an AFP reporter said, and windows and glass doors were broken at street level and on the first floor. “Our problem now is to be able to put a paper out next Wednesday,” Charb said.

“There is soot everywhere, the computers are in my opinion dead, the electrical system is melted.” The managing editor of left-leaning newspaper Liberation, Nicolas Demorand, said on Twitter that Charlie Hebdo’s editorial team would temporarily move into his newspaper’s offices until they could find a new home. — AFP

Israel tests missile amid debate on striking Iran Continued from Page 1 those with low probability and distant - as a definite threat. We are on full alert,” he said, quoted by Fars news agency. “With the right equipment, we are ready to punish them and make them regret (committing) any mistake,” he said. Firouzabadi also said the United States “will suffer serious damages should there be a military attack by the Zionist regime against Iran”.

Dan Meridor, minister for nuclear and intelligence affairs and a member of Netanyahu’s eight-man inner cabinet, played down the relevance of the launch to Israel’s view on Iran.

“The two things are separate,” he told Army Radio. Meridor lambasted as “unconscionable” a flurry of newspaper and television discussions, triggered by a front-page report in the biggest-selling Yedioth Ahronoth daily, about the possibility that Netanyahu and Barak were secretly planning, against the counsel of their security chiefs, to attack Iran. Three other members of the inner cabinet similarly denounced the Israeli media yesterday. None denied the speculation outright, and one minister, Benny Begin, accused former defence officials of leaking classified information.

On Monday, Barak was forced to deny media reports that he and Netanyahu had already decided to launch an attack against Iran over the opposition of military and intelligence chiefs. “It doesn’t take a great genius to understand that in 2011 in Israel, two people cannot decide to act by themselves,” he said.

“There are at the ministry of defence and the prime minister’s office thousands of pages of minutes of the discussions that have been had in the presence of dozens of officials and ministers,” he added. On Tuesday, Barak appeared to suggest in remarks to parliament that Israel could be forced to act alone against Iran. “A situation could be created in the Middle East in which Israel must defend its vital interests in an independent fashion, without necessarily having to rely on other forces, regional or otherwise,” he said.

Iran, which denies wanting to make nuclear bombs, wants Israel’s demise, prompting Netanyahu to liken it to the Nazis - potent rhetoric for a Jewish state born of the Holocaust. “A nuclear Iran will pose a serious threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and it of course poses a direct and heavy threat to us,” Netanyahu said in a parliamentary address on Monday, echoing comments he has made in the past. Netanyahu gave no hint of what action Israel might take. He has said that all options are on the table in trying to stop Iran from building nuclear arms.

Raviv Drucker, political commentator for Israel’s Channel 10 television, saw both diplomatic and domestic gains for Netanyahu in the media focus on a military option, which follows an Oct 18 prisoner swap with Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Israel also hopes to help stiffen international sanctions on the Iranians around an upcoming publication by the UN nuclear watchdog that Western diplomats say will include intelligence about military aspects to their nuclear project. “This speculation works rather well for Netanyahu, as he can be portrayed as keen to deal with Iran, but is being ‘held back’ by others in the

(Israeli) establishment,” Drucker said.

The Israelis bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 and launched a similar sortie against Syria in 2007, precedents lending weight to their veiled threats to take similar action on Iran if foreign pressure fails to curb its uranium enrichment. But many independent analysts see the mission as too much for Israel to take on alone against Iran. Though reputed to have the Middle East’s sole atomic arsenal along with a technologically superior air force, Israel lacks long-range bombers which could deliver lasting damage to Iran’s distant, dispersed and fortified facilities.

“The military option (against Iran) is not an empty threat, but Israel should not leap to lead it. The whole thing should be led by the United States, and as a last resort,” Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, told Army Radio on Tuesday. By contrast to the intensity of the public discourse around Iran, Israel’s strikes on Iraq and Syria were surprises.

Israeli officials still refuse to discuss the latter raid, against a desert site the United States described as a North Korean-supplied reactor, amid denials from Damascus.

Separately, Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel’s decision to accelerate settlement building was a fundamental right, not punishment for the Palestinians joining UNESCO. But US, UN, European and Arab officials condemned the move as a blow to Middle East peace efforts. They also sharply criticised Israel’s decision to suspend the transfer to the Palestinian Authority of duties it levies on imports to the territories.

“We build in Jerusalem because it is our right and our obligation; not as punishment but as a basic right of our people to build its eternal capital,” Netanyahu told members of parliament. His inner cabinet decided yesterday to speed up construction of Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, a day after the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation accepted Palestine as a full member.

Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its “eternal, indivisible capital”, including the city’s eastern sector, which it annexed shortly after capturing it in the Six Day War of 1967 in a move never recognised by the international community. But the Palestinians demand east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state. “Jerusalem will never return to the state it was in on the eve of the Six Day War,” Netanyahu told parliament, denying that the settlement plan could be construed as punitive.

But the decision to speed up settlement construction was described by a senior Israeli government official, who spoke to AFP on Tuesday, as “punishment after the vote at UNESCO”. And the decision to speed up the building of the 2,000 settlement homes was accompanied by a plan to “temporarily freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority,” the official said.

The White House said yesterday it was “deeply disappointed” that Israel decided to speed up settlement building. “We are deeply disappointed by yesterday’s announcement about accelerated housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “As we have said

before, unilateral actions work against efforts to resume direction negotiations and they do not advance the goal of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon said he is “deeply concerned” over Israel’s move. Ban is also “worried at the trajectory of developments” between Israel and the Palestinians and called on both to “refrain from provocations,” said his spokesman Martin Nesirky. “The secretary general calls on the government of Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to continue to transfer VAT and customs revenues that belong to the Palestinian Authority and are essential to enable it to function, in line with Israel’s obligations,” the spokesman said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Israel to backtrack on the settlement push. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision,” Ashton said. Britain, France and Germany also individually condemned the moves, with British Foreign Secretary William Hague warning that the cash freeze was likely to backfire on the Jewish state by undermining the Palestinians’ ability to keep order. “(It) is in noone’s interests, least of all Israel’s, since it has direct implications for the Palestinian Authority’s ability to maintain effective security in the West Bank,” he said in a statement Neighbouring Jordan joined the public condemnation. “This Israeli escalation is a blow to international peace efforts,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Kayed, told the staterun Petra news agency. Jordan, which signed a 1994 peace treaty with the Jewish state, “demands Israel stop its illegal provocations and action, and take practical steps towards peace talks with the Palestinians,” he said.

The Palestinians too have roundly condemned the Israeli measures. “These measures are no more than collective punishment in violation of all international norms, conventions, agreements, and standards, against Palestinians for demonstrating their right to be represented within the UN and other international forums,” Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s office said. “The Israeli decision to speed up settlement construction with the construction of 2,000 new housing units is an Israeli decision to accelerate the destruction of the peace process,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP. “And the freezing of funds is stealing money from the Palestinian people.”

In another development, pro-Palestinian activists said two boats set sail yesterday for Gaza in another attempt to breach Israel’s naval blockade. Amjad Shawwa, a spokesman for the activists in Gaza, said 27 people from nine countries are aboard the ships carrying medicine for Gaza. Activists said the vessels left Turkey and could reach Gaza in 48 hours.

Israel imposed a sea blockade on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas militants seized control there.

Israel says the blockade is needed to keep weapons out the hands of the militants. Critics say it is collective punishment. Israel says aid can be delivered to Gaza over land and considers attempts to reach Gaza by sea as political provocations. Last year, nine Turkish proPalestinian activists were killed in a botched Israeli raid on a similar flotilla. The incident severely damaged relations between Israel and Turkey. — Agencies

Continued from Pagee 13 public sectors. “There is a funny paradox that the governments want to create jobs for their nationals, but are themselves reluctant to employ them,” he said.

Localising jobs has been a long-term goal of many Gulf governments for years, but efforts are accelerating. At a ceremony in Abu Dhabi last month, labour ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - handed out awards to firms in recognition of their role in employing Gulf nationals. “When it comes to my number one concern, it’s Emiratisation,” UAE labour minister Saqr Ghobash said on the sidelines of the ceremony, using the local term for giving UAE citizens more of a role in the workforce.

The UAE is a prime example of both the potential for localisation and the difficulty of implementing it. The country does not regularly release up-to-date jobless figures; an ILO estimate in 2009 put unemployment among its citizens at 14 percent, but UAE citizens account for under 20 percent of the population of more than 6 million, which is largely made up of South Asians and Southeast Asians. Like most other government officials in the region, Ghobash said his country had no plans to reduce the number of foreign workers - it was simply trying to provide more access to jobs for qualified locals.

Although the UAE does not operate an official quota system for local employees, it uses incentives to encourage private sector firms to have certain proportions of UAE citizens in their workforces, a labour ministry official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the policy, told Reuters. But if the government presses companies too hard, it could hurt private business and conflict with another plank of the UAE’s economic policy, which is to diversify the economy away from oil and spur the creation of innovative small and medium-sized firms.

So authorities are also planning to subsidise jobs for Emiratis at private firms - a move that would initially cost the government, but would ensure higher salaries and hopefully in the long run help to change the habits of job seekers. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have already tried similar policies.

“Why do we need subsidies?” said Ghobash.

“It’s because the gap between the public salaries and the private sector salaries is quite big. Unless you do these subsidies, there is very little chance to succeed with Emiratisation.”

Another area under study is education.

Heavy public investment has created a network of colleges and universities in the UAE; now there is pressure to orient them more closely to teaching job-related skills rather than just producing degrees. Naqi at the Federation of GCC Chambers said GCC countries should tailor their education systems to cater to their local job markets. This would allow Gulf nationals to fill more technical and managerial positions that are now occupied by highly trained foreigners, he said.

But Khan at the ILO said localisation would be hard to achieve in the UAE as 70 to 80 percent of the foreign workforce was employed in the construction sector, the services sector and as domestic servants mostly jobs that locals would shun. “Are they taking away the jobs from the nationals?” he said. “Or, to rephrase the question: would any national want to take up these activities? I think no.”

Saudi Arabia, where locals account for just 10 percent of private sector employees and the most recent official estimate for unemployment is 10 percent, launched its latest localisation program in June. The scheme codes companies according to the proportion of Saudis on their payrolls - red for the least and green for the most.

Companies in the red zone may face punitive measures, labour minister Adel Al-Faqih said. For example, workers in red-zone companies may join firms in the green zone without having to ask their current employers for permission to leave. “For many coming years, we will still be in need of a large number of foreign labourers to build our home countries in the Gulf region,” Faqih told Reuters. “But the main goal is to have balanced opportunities for our sons and daughters so that they can get jobs.”

Once again, however, Saudi Arabia has to move carefully to avoid damaging growth of the private sector, which is already lagging the oil-fuelled public sector.

Pinak Maitra, chief financial officer of Kuwait Projects Co, a big regional conglomerate, said the localisation program was a major challenge for business in Saudi Arabia. “In the region, we have made the mistake of depending on expats. It was easy. We’re focused on trying to grow local talent,” he said.

Yet Saudi Arabia’s local talent has become notoriously choosy about where it works. So-called withdrawals, where employees who have been trained by one firm jump ship for another after a short period, have become endemic. “The rate of withdrawals is among the highest worldwide. In our company, it has reached 60 percent,” said Abdulmajeed Alhokair, head of Saudi retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. And some measures which the Saudi government is taking to reduce social discontent appear directly opposed to the goal of localising jobs. Earlier this year, the government announced $130 billion of additional spending on welfare programs, subsidised housing and other social spending.

By strengthening the social safety network, the government may be reducing the incentive for people to join the private workforce. A foreign banker in Saudi Arabia recalls that on the day after social benefits were increased this year, few of the security personnel at his bank’s offices were at their posts - some had evidently decided that the benefits of staying in their jobs were no longer attractive enough.

With unemployment among its citizens low at around 4 percent, gas-rich Qatar has little economic reason to worry about giving more private sector jobs to locals, but officials say limiting foreign workers involves social and security issues. Qataris make up only about 16 percent of the 1.7 million population. Qatar’s solution may be increasingly imitated across the Gulf: where it is unable to find local citizens to move into jobs, it appears to be encouraging the use of Arab workers from other countries, rather than the South Asians and East Asians who have traditionally done much of the hard labour.

“We have now started to limit foreign labour,” said Hussain Yousuf Al-Mulla, undersecretary at Qatar’s labour ministry. “When I say foreign, I mean Asian workers. “The instructions that have come to us from the government are to stick to Arab labourers.

Foreign labourers caused many problems their number is big, their customs and habits are not similar to ours, besides social and security problems.” — Reuters

Manila bans its workers from...

Continued from Page 1 who are already in those countries so they will not have to come home until their contracts expire, Cao added.

Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the law also exempts international companies and US military facilities that might be operating in these countries. As many as 8,000 Filipinos worked in US military bases in Iraq and about 5,000 Filipinos worked in bases in Afghanistan, officials previously said.

Garry Martinez, chairman of Migrante, an activist group for overseas workers, said that the ban might just lead to more Filipinos going to work illegally in these 41 countries.

He said the government should actually

investigate cases of abuse rather than setting up a loose criteria for a ban.

There are an estimated nine million Filipino overseas workers, or about 10 percent of the country’s population, official statistics show. Many of them work as maids, labourers or seamen in areas where they are vulnerable to abuse although many Filipinos also work in higher positions in Western nations. Their dollar remittances have traditionally kept the Philippine economy afloat, although reports of abuse are common. While Manila has in the past banned deployment to some areas locked in conflict, many Filipinos still leave through illegal means rather than take low-paying jobs at home. — AFP

Youth activist detained over...

Continued from Page 1 Last month, Kuwaiti courts sentenced a Sunni Islamist activist for six months for writing tweets deemed offensive to Shiism while a Shiite activist was sentenced to three years in jail for insulting Gulf leaders on his Twitter account. Opposition MPs strongly blasted the government and the prime minister over the arrests, warning authorities against turning the country into a police state by suppressing freedom of speech.

MP Musallam Al-Barrak said the actions against the two activists is an indication that the government was getting less tolerant of public freedoms and wants to silence people. He accused the interior minister of increasingly resorting to this police method away from the rule of law.

MP Mubarak Al-Waalan said the government has taken these oppressive actions against tweeters on the basis of a wrong interpretation of their tweets and called for immediately releasing them. MP Dhaifallah Buramia said the interior ministry is still run by an oppressive police mentality, adding the arrests of the tweeters represents a breach of the constitution and the law. The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) rejected in a statement terrorizing tweeters and called on security agencies to abide by the constitution and the law. The

ICM called on other political groupings to take a collective action against such oppressive measures.

MP Al-Barrak meanwhile claimed that 26 MPs are now against the prime minister and for appointing a new premier and called on Sheikh Nasser Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah to carefully read the message. If opposition MPs file a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, it needs just 25 votes in the 50-member Assembly to pass. If passed, the issue will be referred to the Amir who will either dismiss the prime minister or dissolve the Assembly or both.

Two youth groups meanwhile warned in separate statements the government from underestimating the popular resentment against the spread of corruption and failure of the government to run the affairs of the country. Nahaj, an umbrella of youth and political groups, warned that any attempt by the prime minister to protect himself with allegedly corrupt MPs will be strongly confronted by the Kuwaiti people.

The group welcomed the new position of the National Action Bloc in supporting a potential grilling of the prime minister and its readiness to go to the end. Also, the Fifth Fence youth group strongly criticized the government and blamed the current political disputes to alleged infighting within the ruling family.

14

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

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Issues

Russia, China may blunt West pressure on Iran

By Fredrik Dahl ussian and Chinese reluctance may complicate any Western campaign to parlay a UN watchdog report this month into political momentum for tougher sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, diplomats and analysts say. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), due next week, has exposed divisions among world powers on how to best handle the long-running row over Iranian nuclear activities the West fears are aimed at developing atom bombs. The IAEA document is expected to bare detailed intelligence pointing to military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme but stop short of saying explicitly that Tehran is trying to build such weapons.

Its content may increase tension at a sensitive time: Israel test-fired a missile yesterday amid a heightened public debate in the Jewish state over the possibility of a pre-emptive Israeli attack on arch-foe Iran’s nuclear sites.

Western envoys believe the UN agency’s findings - which they describe as incriminating for Iran - will help turn up the heat on the Islamic Republic to curb its sensitive nuclear work and finally address international concerns about its aims. In contrast, Moscow and Beijing have signalled concern that the report will box Iran into a corner and dim any chance of diplomacy resolving the dispute, which has the potential to spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. “The Russians in particular have been lobbying quite intensively,” one senior Western diplomat said.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano will still go ahead and submit his report to member states ahead of a Nov 17-18 meeting of the agency’s 35-nation governing board, diplomats said. But Western countries may face an uphill struggle to win Russian and Chinese support for strong follow-up action, especially for any board resolution that would report Iran once again to the UN Security Council, as happened in 2006. “Without China and Russia agreeing, a non-compliance resolution on Iran would be stillborn,” said nuclear expert Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The IAEA is tasked with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and member states are obliged to cooperate transparently with the agency, which says Iran has failed to answer questions about the nature of its atomic work for the past three years. Iran has repeatedly rejected Western allegations of military-linked nuclear activity as forged and baseless.

Peter Crail, a Washington-based analyst, said Russia did not appear to be objecting to what he called the evidence about Iran’s activities but the prospect of making it public. “It seems Moscow realises that an IAEA report detailing Iran’s warhead development would require a response from the (IAEA) board,” said Crail, of the Arms Control Association, a research and advocacy group. The United States and its allies have gradually increased sanctions pressure on Iran over a uranium enrichment programme they suspect is geared to yielding bombs. Iran says it needs to refine uranium for a planned network of nuclear power plants.

Russia and China - which together with the United States, France, Germany and Britain make up the six world powers involved in nuclear diplomacy with Tehran - have backed four rounds of UN sanctions on Iran since 2006. But they criticised the United States and the European Union last year for taking extra unilateral steps against Iran and Moscow has made clear its opposition to any new UN Security Council measures against Tehran.

Both countries have commercial and other links with Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers. China is a major importer of Iranian crude, even though Beijing has put the brakes on oil and gas investment in the country.

The United States is now seeking European support for more sanctions on Iran, both as part of efforts to deter Tehran from pursuing nuclear capabilities and in response to an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington. The IAEA board makes decisions by simple majority but both China and Russia could veto any subsequent Security Council action. “It would be preferable to have another Security Council (sanctions) resolution. But I don’t have the feeling that the Chinese and Russians are prepared for that,” said Oliver Thraenert, a senior fellow of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. As an alternative to directly reporting Iran to the Security Council, Western diplomats said they were considering an IAEA resolution that would give Iran until the next board meeting in early 2012 to address questions raised by the agency’s report.—Reuters

R

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Egypt judges shoulder hopes for democracy

By Dina Zayed gypt’s judiciary has emerged from the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak as one of the few institutions retaining some credibility, but the weight of public expectations may have forced it to take on too much, far too fast. Dozens of prosecutions are under way against businessmen and former officials accused of corruption, including most notably Mubarak, his sons and associates. The rush to prosecute people and companies who may have profited illegally under Mubarak is understandable, judges and lawyers say. But barely eight months after Mubarak was ousted, neither the courts nor the laws are yet up to the challenge, making it harder for Egypt to turn the page.

“Engaging the judiciary with such a large number of cases - most of which are critical for Egypt’s future - without having institutional reform means that judges will find themselves put in a very difficult situation,” Moataz El Fegiery, of the International Committee for Transitional Justice, told Reuters. Judges are wrangling over the wording of new laws that will among other things erase the traces of past leaders’ attempts to meddle in the courts, but the result looks months away.

For now, Egyptians will have to make do with what they’ve got, and there will inevitably be disappointments. “I hope that the Egyptian judiciary does not pay the price for the mistakes committed by other political institutions in Egypt,” Fegiery said. Some are suggesting that what Egypt needs to deal

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with past injustices is a kind of truth and reconciliation commission.

One of the first Arab states to establish a judiciary, Egypt has a legacy of judicial independence that endured even after a 1952 coup ushered in successive military rulers. For decades, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) and other courts provided avenues for opposition parties, rights groups and activists to meaningfully challenge authorities. The SSC ruled election laws illegal in 1987 and 1990 - during the Mubarak era - forcing the dissolution of parliament, overhauls of the electoral system and early elections. At least 11 political parties owe their existence to court verdicts.

In 2000, a court ruling demanded full judicial monitoring of elections for the first time in Egypt’s history, achieving by constitutional litigation what opposition parties had failed to bring about in decades of parliamentary debates. Mubarak was able to rein in the judiciary significantly, however. He and his predecessors empowered the executive branch to control judicial budgets, promotions and appointments, and to discipline judges and even to set their salaries.

Judges recall how the former justice minister, a political appointee, demanded that no case be filed against an official without his nod. In other cases, judges were brought to disciplinary hearings for exposing election fraud. Even more heavy-handed was how the government disregarded some court verdicts, notably in Egypt’s 2010 parliamentary election, when courts ruled several district results

illegal. Parliament was not dissolved and the results stood, stoking public anger about election-rigging in the weeks before the uprising against Mubarak’s 30-year rule erupted in January. “In Egypt, we always say we have independent judges but not an independent judiciary,” Judge Mohamed Hamed El-Gamal, a former head of the State Council, said in an interview.

Judges hope the uprising will propel reforms to stop the executive branch of the government - the president’s office - interfering in the judiciary process. “We have been fighting for over 30 years for independence and now the time may be right,” Zaghloul AlBalshy, a senior judge and vice chairman of the Court of Cassation, told Reuters. The latest draft of new laws governing the judiciary would ban the appointment of judges in government posts and set clearer rules for secondments of judges to ministries as consultants, a practice that has often confused their loyalties.

The draft also calls for judges in the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appeal court, to be elected by peers, so that the most competent jurists can be promoted to the most influential positions. It would bring judicial inspections under the authority of a judicial council, effectively ending the ability of the Justice Minister to “discipline” judges. It also stipulates that the prosecutor is selected by judges, not appointed by the president as before, and tasks judicial bodies with monitoring the illicit gains authority, the main body responsible for graft investigations, to

make it answerable to judges and not to government ministers.

Different judges’ associations and lawyers are haggling over some of the clauses of the draft and the cabinet has said no law will be issued without parliamentary approval.

Egypt’s parliamentary vote is set to begin on Nov. 28. The new chamber is tasked with drafting Egypt’s constitution, meaning the judicial bill will be pushed back for months.

The interim ruling army council says it is committed to judicial independence.

While the draft laws are being drawn up, the wheels of the old system continue to turn.

A slew of high-profile cases has been brought against former officials and foreign and domestic investors, sometimes without full investigation. The rush means dozens of hastily prepared cases have come to court, which analysts fear may result in awkward acquittals that end up embarrassing the judiciary. In other cases, it is drawing the judiciary into complicated battles as some seek to overturn what they say are abuses of the past.

The risk is that the protracted courtroom dramas will further undermine investor confidence. A September court verdict alarmed investors when the sales of three former state firms to private investors were ordered to be annulled and their assets returned to state hands. “It is of concern when contracts are being cancelled one after the other,” said Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist with investment house EFG-Hermes. “Even if this isn’t the judiciary’s fault, the end-result is a negative view of Egypt.” —Reuters

NTC struggles to stay the ‘good guys’

By Barry Malone aving picked a new prime minister, Libya’s fractious interim ruling council must now restore its own credibility, dented by unseemly haggling over Muammar Gaddafi’s rotting remains. The nature of the man’s death - insulted, battered and abused before being shot dead - has done some damage to its standing, with many observers asking themselves, just who are the men who have replaced him? “The good guys,” one Western diplomat insisted when asked that question in Tripoli last week.

But the halo awarded to the so far unelected National Transitional Council (NTC), hurriedly put together as the war against Gaddafi started, is under temporary review by their foreign backers as the headaches of state-building emerge. The selection by the NTC of little known academic Abdurrahim El-Keib as interim prime minister on Monday also highlighted how mysterious the internal workings of the new ruling group can be to perplexed diplomats, journalists and Libya analysts, as well as especially - to an increasingly impatient Libyan public. “Your time is done, NTC,” a young Libyan blogger wrote this week. “Thank you - the Libyan people.”

Many of them are worried about whether a coalition of armed factions that were bound mostly by hatred of Gaddafi can hold together now his regime has crumbled and he has been buried. Rights groups are attacking the NTC, too. First it was accusations of the illegal detention and torture of thousands of pro-Gaddafi fighters and, now, reports from Human Rights Watch that fighters loyal to the NTC may have executed scores of captured Gaddafi loyalists in his hometown. Revenge attacks are common in other parts of the country. Reuters reporters have heard residents of one Tripoli suburb shout, “You’re just the same as he was! One dictatorship for another!” at a patrol of NTC fighters, combing the neighbourhood for locals they say still worship a dead man.

Another sign that the road ahead for postGaddafi Libya could be rocky is the wrangling and political horse-trading that took place over Gaddafi’s corpse - four days of haggling about

H

its fate before it was finally buried in a secret grave. It all adds up to a clock of patience slowly ticking down - amid a potentially dangerous power vacuum - as the NTC faces its biggest challenge so far - shepherding the country peacefully to what it has promised will be a functioning democracy.

Keib has promised he will select an interim cabinet over the next couple of weeks after which it will serve for an eight-month run-up to an election for a national assembly charged with drawing up a new constitution. That will then sit for a year before elections proper - what kind of elections will depend on the form of the constitution. The question for Libya is whether or not the country can get there without regional, religious and policy divisions knocking things off course or back towards violence.

“A basic problem is that the allegiance of most fighters who helped defeat the proGaddafi forces is firstly to their own militias, whose identity is mostly based on specific towns, and only second to the NTC,” Alex

Warren, of Frontier MEA, a Middle East and north Africa research and advisory firm, told Reuters. “That raises the question of who could maintain stability in the case of any major clashes between the different armed groups themselves. I don’t think those will necessarily happen, but it is vital that the NTC take steps to form a centralised armed force or disarm the militias, both of which will be very delicate and difficult tasks in the current environment.”

Leaders of those cities, the most powerful being Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata, are all heavily involved in the debate over the future direction of both the NTC and Libya. Most attend political meetings with heavily armed bodyguards. “They’re treating government like a big chocolate box where they’re bargaining over who gets the toffee,” one diplomat said. “‘You give us defence and you can have internal affairs’. But what are they arguing about really?

There still haven’t been any elections. They can’t keep the jobs long term.”

It is those regional divides that are seen in

A National Transitional Council fighter sits on a tank at sunset at the Drua military base in the southern Libyan town of Soqna in the oasis of Joffra on Tuesday. – AFP

Libya as being potentially fractious - and the biggest challenge the NTC faces - rather than the debate between secularists and Islamists that has provoked some alarm in the Western media. Many analysts believe that as long as the organisation around the interim arrangements can stay cohesive until the elections, the outcome can be good for ordinary Libyans. With Gaddafi gone, the mantle of the glue holding the NTC together has been handed to its chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, a consenus-builder respected by people from all regions and by moderates, conservatives, Islamists and secularists. It is not clear, however, what Abdel Jalil’s ambitions are. “He’s tired,” one NTC official said of Gaddafi’s former justice minister. “I don’t think he wants to lead Libya. I think we’ll see him go for any of the top jobs when we have the elections.” With the spectre of Abdel Jalil perhaps stepping aside and with an unknown appointed as prime minister for the interim, it is proving difficult for potential investors and for other Libyan officials to know whom to do business with at this stage - let alone who may emerge once full elections are held. “It’s hard to know which horses to bet on when you don’t have very accurate odds on them,” a diplomat from an Arab state told Reuters. “But countries are making bets, anyway.”

On how long the NTC glue can hold, prognoses vary wildly. Some see a return to all out civil war between rival militias. Others bet on the emergence of a fledgling democracy with the potential to become a regional powerhouse. Most analysts, though, fall somewhere between the two, predicting peaceful politicking with some low-level skirmishes possible as Libya moves down a bumpy path of change. For many, it would be a worry if the men at the top were not openly arguing over the spoils of war or engaging in debates about what role Islam should play in politics - secularists lining up against, for now, their Islamist allies. “It’s good because it’s the essence of democracy,” said Libyan political scientist, Ahmed Al-Atrash. “But we’re learning. Libyans are not aware of how democracy works yet. But we are very serious about moving this forward - to establish a democracy without this international criminal in charge.” —Reuters

A

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e niv rsar n

Years

Thorpe prepares comeback

Penev named Bulgaria coach

Yang happy to inspire in Asia SINGAPORE: Asia’s first major winner YE Yang is honored to be an inspiration to other golfers from the continent but his first priority is to get back in the winners’ circle, starting at next week’s Singapore Open. The Asia-Pacific leg of the global golfing calendar is underway with most of the world’s best players heading to the region for this week’s $7 million WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the $6 million Singapore Open and Australian Open the following week. It was his victory at the HSBC Champions in 2006 that first gave South Korean Yang international profile before he wrote himself into the annals of golf with his breakthrough win at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine three years later.

While no other Asian player has yet been able to follow the trail he blazed in winning one of the game’s four major prizes, Yang believes standards in Asia are rising and a second winner will come within a decade.

“I really don’t see myself as a role model or inspiration to others. I don’t have a grandiose view of myself so I hope I don’t get too obnoxious with my success,” the 41year-old said. “But at the same time, if I have inspired anyone, it will be my privilege and honour of doing so. I just hope that the bar for golfing in Asia has been raised internally ... “And if my small win in Hazeltine has anything to do with kids and parents lifting up golf bags instead of cleats or high tops, then I am so much more satisfied with my career. —Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

sp orts

SOFIA: Bulgaria appointed former international striker Luboslav Penev as national coach yesterday, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said.

“He (Penev) knows the players very well and I think he is the best choice from among the coaches we could have picked,” BFU president Borislav Mihaylov told a news conference.

Penev, 45, led Litex Lovech to the Bulgarian league title last season but left them last week. He succeeds German Lothar Matthaeus, whose contract was not renewed following Bulgaria’s dismal Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. “I’m honored to lead the national team,” said Penev, who will be in charge for the duration of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and his contract could be extended for two more years. “ This is a step forward in my coaching career,” added Penev, who will make his debut in the friendly

SYDNEY: Five-times Olympic champion Ian Thorpe has warned Australians not to expect too much of him too soon as he prepares to make his return to competition in Singapore this week.

The 29-year-old is on the comeback trail after coming out of a four-year retirement in February in an attempt to compete at next year’s London Olympics.

Thorpe will be swimming in the 100m butterfly and individual medley this weekend but said fans should not be disappointed if the “Thorpedo,” who once demolished world records for fun, was not immediately apparent. “Just don’t expect too much from me right now and don’t judge too quickly,” Thorpe told yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.

“I always said that my number one intention in making a comeback was to be better than at the peak of my career. I’m not here to make up the numbers and I want to succeed. “But Friday is just the beginning of racing again and whatever happens over the next few weeks, I’m here to swim and I won’t give up.

London is my ultimate goal and win or lose here in Singapore, nothing changes long term.”

Thorpe has shed 10 kilogrammes in body weight since his return and has just completed t wo weeks of training at altitude in Switzerland. —Reuters

game against Hungary on Feb. 29. “I believe we have good players and we can achieve something significant.”

Penev, capped 62 times by the Balkan country, will have the tough task of piloting Bulgaria through a World Cup qualifying group that contains Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Armenia and Malta.

Matthaeus became the first foreigner to coach Bulgaria since 1966 when he replaced Stanimir Stoilov in September 2010 but achieved little success and was criticised for not understanding the mentality of Bulgarian soccer.

Bulgaria finished bottom of Euro 2012 qualifying Group G with only five points from eight matches. They also failed to score in their four home games-their worst ever performance in major tournament qualifying. —Reuters

Capitals edge Ducks in OT

SHANGHAI: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits out of a bunker in this file photo. —AP

Sprint to the finish for Mcllroy SHANGHAI: The smattering of conversations suddenly gave way to the constant shutters of cameras at Le Meridien hotel, and there was no mistaking who was causing all the commotion yesterday. US Open champion Rory McIlroy could barely make his way across the room without being stopped. He stood tall as he posed with a Chinese businessman, and stooped over for another picture with a young girl, smiles everywhere. At his side was Caroline Wozniacki, the No. 1 player in women’s tennis and the girlfriend of golf’s newest star.

McIlroy wasn’t bothered by all the attention.

As he said earlier yesterday before a room packed with reporters at the HSBC Champions, it comes with his expanding territory. Only now, the fuss is for more than just his golf. It already has been a long year for McIlroy, who now embarks on a sprint to the finish when he tees off on Thursday in the final World Golf Championship of the year.

On the course, he went from a Sunday meltdown at the Masters to blow a four-shot lead to an overwhelming performance in the US Open at Congressional, where he won his first major and shattered the scoring record in an eight-shot win. Off the course, he is part of sport’s new power couple - “WozIlroy” - and then really caused a sensation when he chose to leave longtime agent Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management to join Horizon Sports Management, a Dublin agency that represents good friend and fellow US Open champion Graeme McDowell.

“It’s been an interesting year,” McIlroy said. “A lot has happened. There’s been incredible highs and the one very disappointing low. But I think that disappointing low was needed to experience the incredible high of Congressional. So it’s been a great year. When I get a chance to reflect on it over Christmas and the new year, it’s been a fantastic year and I wouldn’t take it back.” The reflection can wait. McIlroy won’t get into specifics over why he left Chandler, only that he wants to concentrate on winning tournaments.

Chandler raised the notion that Wozniacki had become a big influence on him, while Lee Westwood tweeted that the move was “bizarre.”

In his first tournament since the split, McIlroy opened with a 64 against a world-class field last week in the unofficial Shanghai Masters, then beat Anthony Kim in a playoff to win $2 million, the richest payoff of any tournament in the world. He can only hope that serves as a springboard toward a spectacular finish.

McIlroy is about $1.8 million behind Luke Donald on the European Tour money list going into the final month of the season. Donald, who won the U.S. PGA Tour money list by closing with a 64 to win at Disney World two weeks ago, was unable to play the HSBC Champions because his wife is expecting their second child.

Winning at Sheshan International comes with a $1.2 million check, which could make a big dent in the deficit as players make their way to the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

“With him not being here this week ... I feel like I’ve got a chance to cut into the lead a little bit,” McIlroy said after enduring a steady rain in the pro-am. “It would be fantastic to get another win, the second win in two weeks, and cut into that lead. But it’s such a strong field here, and there’s a lot of guys with a chance to win.”

Missing from the field is Tiger Woods, winless in two years and ineligible for the first time at a WGC. Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of the HSBC Champions, chose to stay home with family before consecutive weeks in the Singapore Open and Presidents Cup. Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson aren’t playing. Even so, the field remains strong with a heavy influence of European players and enough US PGA Tour players - Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan, FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas and all four major champions - that there will be no shortage of challengers. And it’s meaningful for plenty of these players, such as US PGA champion Keegan Bradley. The HSBC Champions counts on the US tour if one of its members wins, and that would give Bradley a tour-leading three wins this year, including a major.

No one argues that Donald has had the best year - not Bradley, not even McIlroy - although the US PGA Tour delayed sending out the awards ballots until after this week.

“Luke Donald has had such a great year,” Bradley said. “I think it would be difficult to beat him. But I definitely think a win would help.” It’s been a great year, and certainly a memorable one, for McIlroy. First came his collapse at Augusta National, where he shot 80 in the final round to blow a four-shot lead. That was followed by a flawless performance at the US Open to capture his first major. He stumbled at the British Open, on the links and after his round when he complained about too much wind, and he had a jarring moment at the US PGA Championship when he tried to hit a 7-iron through a tree root and injured his right arm. —AP

Cook replaces Jordan in Presidents Cup LOS ANGELES: John Cook, an 11-times winner on the PGA Tour, has been appointed as an assistant to United States captain Fred Couples for this month’s Presidents Cup in Australia, the tour said on Tuesday.

American Cook will replace basketball great Michael Jordan, who withdrew from the role due to the ongoing labor dispute and player lockout in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jordan, a majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, had initially been appointed as one of two assistants, along with PGA Tour veteran Jay Haas, for the Nov. 17-20 competition at Royal Melbourne.

“John has been a friend of mine since we broke in together on the PGA Tour in the early 1980s,” Couples said in a statement. “Having achieved success at the highest levels in the golf world, I value his opinion greatly. “I would

like to thank Michael for his significant contributions, both as a captain’s assistant and his role as ambassador for the Presidents Cup. “While the team will miss his friendship, spirit and leadership, we certainly understand the complexity of his current team obligations.”

Jordan, who served as an honorary captain’s assistant to Couples at the 2009 Presidents Cup, said: “It is with regret that I have decided to cancel my trip to Australia later this month.

“With the NBA labor situation unsettled, as the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, I feel it is necessary that I remain in the country. It was an honor to have been chosen by Fred Couples to serve as a captain’s assistant.”

The Presidents Cup is a Ryder Cup-style competition which pits a US team against a line-up of International players from countries outside Europe. The US won the trophy in 2009 for the sixth time in eight editions. —Reuters

WASHINGTON: Nicklas Backstrom scored the equalizing goal with 42 seconds left in regulation, then added the game-winner at 2:18 of overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 54 comeback victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

The Capitals trailed 3-0 in the second period and 4-2 with 10:47 left in regulation before rallying. It was 4-3 when Washington pulled goaltender Tomas Vokoun in the final minute, and Backstrom hammered home the rebound of a shot by Jason Chimera to force the extra session. Washington improved to 6-0 at home and ended a two-game skid.

Teemu Selanne had two goals and two assists for the Ducks, who have lost three straight. Jonas Hiller stopped 35 shots. Now in his 20th season, the 41-year-old Selanne leads the Ducks in goals (five) and assists (nine). He has three goals and eight assists in his last six games.

Joel Ward, Dennis Wideman and Troy Brouwer scored for the Capitals, who remained unbeaten in the United States following losses at Edmonton and Vancouver. Corey Perry scored a power-play goal for Anaheim at 9:13 of the third period for a 4-2 lead.

Bruins 5, Senators 3 At Boston, Johnny Boychuk and Daniel Paille scored 47 seconds apart to break open an even game in the third period to help Boston end a three-game losing streak.

Chris Kelly had a goal and an assist, and Zdeno Chara had two assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who were 3-7 in October - the worst mark in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins also ended the Senators’ six-game winning streak.

Boston took a 3-2 lead via goals by Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly, then put in two more after Ottawa’s Jared Cowen tied it with his first NHL goal with 14:56 left. That was a big enough cushion for Tim Thomas (4-4), who made 23 saves.

Craig Anderson (6-3) stopped 36 shots for Ottawa, which hadn’t lost since Oct. 18. Nick Foligno finished with a goal and two assists, and Stephane DaCosta had a goal and an assist.

Hurricanes 4, Lightning 2 At Raleigh, Jeff Skinner and Chad LaRose each scored twice to lift Carolina over Tampa Bay. Skinner, last season’s NHL rookie of the year, has six goals and 12 points in 12 games this season.

Carolina improved to 1-2-1 against Southeast Division rivals. Tampa Bay had won three straight on the road against Carolina by a combined score of 15-5.

Carolina’s Cam Ward (5-2-2) made 27 saves.

Tampa Bay counterpart Dwayne Roloson (2-31) stopped 26 shots. Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen sustained an apparent injury to his left knee early in the third period and didn’t return.

Brett Connolly, with his first NHL goal, and Teddy Purcell scored for the Lightning.

Wild 2, Red Wings 1 At Detroit, Devin Setoguchi’s power-play goal 1:33 into overtime gave Minnesota a comeback win over the home team.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Red Wings, who were beaten 1-0 by the Wild in Minnesota on Saturday night. Mikko Koivu also scored for Minnesota, and Josh Harding stopped 36 shots. Nicklas Lidstrom netted the lone goal for the Red Wings, who got 25 saves from Jimmy Howard.

DETROIT: Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) collides with Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding (37) during the third period of an NHL hockey game. —AP

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Tuesday.

Boston 5, Ottawa 3; Carolina 4, Tampa Bay 2; Minnesota 2, Detroit 1 (OT); Washington 5, Anaheim 4 (OT); Vancouver 5, Calgary 1. (OT denotes overtime win) Eastern Conference Western Conference Atlantic Division Central Division W L OTL GF GA PTS Chicago 7 2 2 37 29 16 Pittsburgh 8 3 2 39 28 18 Nashville 5 4 2 28 31 12 Philadelphia 6 4 1 41 36 13 Detroit 5 4 1 23 25 11 NY Rangers 4 3 3 25 25 11 St. Louis 5 6 0 28 31 10 New Jersey 4 4 1 20 24 9 Columbus 2 9 1 28 40 5 NY Islanders 3 4 2 18 23 8 Northwest Division Northeast Division Edmonton 7 2 2 25 18 16 Toronto 7 3 1 36 35 15 Colorado 7 4 0 32 29 14 Ottawa 7 6 0 42 50 14 Minnesota 5 3 3 23 24 13 Buffalo 6 4 0 29 22 12 Vancouver 6 5 1 36 34 13 Montreal 4 5 2 29 30 10 Calgary 4 5 1 23 28 9 Boston 4 7 0 27 28 8 Washington Florida Carolina Tampa Bay Winnipeg

Southeast Division 8 2 0 40 27 6 4 1 29 29 5 4 3 32 37 5 5 2 35 39 4 6 1 30 39

16 13 13 12 9

Dallas Los Angeles San Jose Phoenix Anaheim

8 6 6 5 5

Pacific Division 3 0 28 3 2 26 4 0 30 3 2 30 5 2 26

23 22 26 30 33

16 14 12 12 12

Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

Canucks 5, Flames 1 At Calgar y, Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler scored and added two assists while Rober to Luongo made 28 saves to help the Canucks rout the Flames.

Chris Higgins, Alexandre Burrows, Daniel Sedin and Cody Hodgson also scored for Vancouver (6-5-1), which kicked off a six-

game road trip. Alex Tanguay scored the lone goal for Calgar y (4-5-1), ruining Luongo’s shutout bid with 32 seconds left in the game.

Luongo was coming off a miserable October in which he went 3-3-1 with a 3.54 goals-against average and a meager .869 save percentage. —AP

Bradley’s long road leads to China SHANGHAI: Keegan Bradley remembers how special it felt to be driving home from South Carolina at the end of the Nationwide Tour season, knowing that he had earned his way to the big leagues and curious where it might lead. “I definitely didn’t have China on my schedule,” Bradley said.

Yet there he was in the Bund district of Shanghai, posing in the middle of a paper dragon during a promotion for the HSBC Champions. Later that night, he was at dinner with former - and fellow - PGA champions David Toms and Martin Kaymer, all of them swapping stories about what they did with the Wanamaker Trophy.

Bradley’s photo covers one of the elevator doors at Le Meridien, the host hotel at the final World Golf Championship of the year. In conversa-

tions about the PGA Tour player of the year, his name still gets mentioned.

And to think that drive home from South Carolina was a year ago this week. “It’s kind of surreal to be here,” Bradley said.

Bradley is putting the final touches on an amazing rookie season in which he won the Byron Nelson Championship in a playoff, then rallied from a five-shot deficit with three holes to play to win the PGA Championship in a playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Since then, he has traveled to Bermuda for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which he won. He was invited to the lucrative Shanghai Masters last week. And he is featured at Sheshan International, site of the HSBC Champions that starts today.

It’s a tournament he wants to win

because so many of the best players in golf are here - the four major champions, former world No. 1 Lee Westwood, defending champion Francesco Molinari and FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas, the American who kept Bradley from a spot on the Presidents Cup team.

That would be the one negative to his rookie season, and it’s not enough to spoil anything.

“It’s been a great season,” he said.

“And to think that a year ago, I was just graduating from the Nationwide Tour.

It’s pretty special.” Perhaps there is more to come.”

Bradley didn’t realize the HSBC Champions would count as official if a PGA Tour member were to win it.

Neither did the PGA Tour, which is why it delayed sending out its postseason award ballots until after this week. —AP

SHANGHAI: Keegan Bradley of the US hits out of a bunker on the 4th hole during the third round of the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters. —AP

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

sp orts

Congressman Rush compares NCAA to Mafia

SAN FRANCISCO: Surfer Dusty Payne of Hawaii competes during the first heat of the Rip Curl Pro Search 2011 surfing contest.

Payne, a professional surfer competing in a contest at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, left the water in the middle of a heat after saying he saw a large shark. — AP

Pro surfer says he saw shark during SF contest SAN FRANCISCO: A professional surfer competing in a contest Tuesday in the cold waters of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach left the waves before the end of his heat after saying he saw a large shark.

Surfer Dusty Payne, 22, of Hawaii left the surf while competing against Jordy Smith of South Africa. Payne said he spotted a large shark fin just outside the “lineup,” where surfers sit in the water and wait for their turn.

“I was just sitting there, and I was waiting for a wave. I’ve seen dolphins before, and it

wasn’t a dolphin,” Payne said during an interview on the beach with the Rip Curl Pro Search event’s camera crew. “It was the biggest fin I’ve ever seen in my life coming straight at me.”

A contest boat floating just offshore called in after the alleged sighting, saying they saw a dolphin, not a shark, said Dave Prodan, media director for the Association of Surfing Professionals. “This obviously doesn’t preclude the situation of having both a dolphin and shark in the water at the same time, and event organizers launched a jet ski to further assess

the situation,” Prodan said. “Aside from Payne’s initial report, no further sighting of the animal was confirmed and the competition resumed without pausing.”

The sighting follows an attack by a 9-foot shark on a surfer Saturday at Marina State Beach in Monterey County, about 100 miles south of San Francisco. Eric Tarantino suffered injuries to his neck and arm, but was released from the hospital Monday.

While the waters off San Francisco are known to be host to white sharks, attacks are

rare. The last attack, which was not fatal, occurred Nov. 2, 2005, according to the Shark Research Committee.

Despite Tuesday’s alleged sighting, the contest continued all day. Ten-time world champion Kelly Slater, 39, won his heat, needing only one more winning heat during the San Francisco contest to capture his 11th title.

The contest in San Francisco began Tuesday, and is the first professional surfing event in the city in decades. It is scheduled to begin again late yesterday. — AP

Qatar outreach widens with ping pong ‘diplomacy’ DUBAI: Much has changed since the age of “ping pong diplomacy” 40 years ago when nine American players first looked across the net at Chinese opponents, breaking the barriers between the two world powers.

The Cold War has been buried for two decades. China is now an economic powerhouse nipping at America’s heels.

And the Gulf state of Qatar is emerging as an international sports giant with a relentless appetite for headline-grabbing events, including hosting an updated edition of table tennis-as-political icebreaker.

Ten countries - including foes United States and North Korea, and tense neighbors India and Pakistan are scheduled to send players to Doha for a friendly tournament Nov. 21-22 in what’s been billed by Qatar as the latest showcase of its global aspirations. It comes on top of the Gulf nation’s hosting of football’s 2022 World Cup and a new bid to try bring in the Olympics.

The event’s aura, however, has been somewhat diminished by a snub from Iran, which was initially listed as a participant - and raised the groundbreaking possibly of an Iranian-American joint team during a mixed-nation portion of the tournament.

No reason was given by Iran for its sudden withdrawal, said Valerie Amant, spokeswoman for Monacobased group Peace and Sport, which is helping organize the tournament.

Iran’s table tennis officials did not respond to requests for comment.

“This is ping pong diplomacy in a 21st century form,” said Khalil al-

Mohannadi, chairman of Qatar’s Table Tennis Federation. “We are very committed to the idea that athletes can reach across barriers that may block politicians and diplomats.” It’s also in keeping with Qatar’s wide-net policies with sports: Troll for just about everything out there.

A year ago, Qatar nabbed the biggest sporting prize apart from the Olympics, the right to host football’s World Cup finals in 2022. It immediately brought questions about whether the little nation of 1.7 million people used its mammoth energy wealth to effectively buy support through promises to build stadiums and aid sports programs in poor nations.

No violations have been found.

But even the embarrassment of a full-blown bribery scandal failed to slow Qatar’s ambitions.

Just months after football’s governing body FIFA banned Qatar’s Mohamed bin Hammam for life for allegedly bribing voters in his bid for the FIFA presidency, Qatar was finetuning bids to host the 2017 athletics world championships and the 2020 Olympics.

Qatar also has made no secret that it could someday seek a spot on the Formula 1 calendar - especially with lingering doubts about whether the Grand Prix can return to nearby Bahrain amid its political tensions and clashes.

“We have big dreams for sports in Qatar,” said al-Mohannadi. “We also have big goals in political affairs.

They go together in this event.”

Qatar has hosted talks to ease conflicts in Lebanon and Sudan’s

GERMANY: In this Friday, Nov. 5, 1971 file photo, a woman holds up Ping-Pong paddles with US President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong caricatures on them in Dortmund, Germany. Much has changed since the age of ‘ping pong diplomacy’ began when nine American players first looked across the net at Chinese opponents more than 40 years ago.—AP

Darfur region, and is leading Arab League efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria. Qatar once even broke ranks with Gulf neighbors and allowed an Israeli trade office, which was closed in anger over attacks in Gaza three years ago.

The upcoming table tennis event brings more political back stories to Qatar’s shores. India and Pakistan have come close to war several times over tensions including the disputed Kashmir region. The two Koreas have been in a technical state of war since the 1950s and territorial disputes still flare, including two military attacks on South Korea last year. Meanwhile, relations between Pakistan and America have soured over US drone attacks and the secret mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

Other nations scheduled to compete in the $100,000 tournament are: China, Japan, Russia, France and Qatar. But why ping pong as a tool for diplomatic outreach?

Forty years ago, it was one of the few sports that the Chinese dominated and offered a chance to upstage the lesser-ranked Americans on their home soil. “We knew they could eat us for lunch.

The Chinese let us win a few matches as a gift,” said Connie Sweeris, a member of the 1971 U.S. team. “I’m sure of that.” But other theories are tossed about for its enduring connection as a political safe zone.

Michael Cavanaugh, the CEO of the sport’s American federation, USA Table Tennis, believes there is a special intimacy in playing on a nine-foot (2.74-meter) table. He also credits a tradition of fair play in the sport, including the tacit rule of intentionally missing a point if an opponent benefited from a blown referee call.

“It’s about competition and winning, yes,” said Cavanaugh. “There’s also the inherent spirit of camaraderie and friendship built into the sport.”

In December, the captain of the 1971 team, Jack Howard, and two teammates - Sweeris and Judy Hoarfrost - are scheduled to return to China for exhibition matches.

Joining them will be Sweeris’ husband Dell, who played the Chinese national team on its visit to the White House in 1972 after President Richard Nixon’s historic trip to China.

“When we were first invited to play in China, we really had no idea of what it could lead to,” said Connie Sweeris, 64, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. “We’re still kind of amazed that we are part of this historical event and really proud that our sport is still seen as something that can bring people together.”— AP

BEVERLY HILLS: (From front left) Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA players union, Los Angeles Clippers guard Mo Williams and Derek Fisher, president of the NBA players union, at podium, take question from reporters after a basketball player’s meeting on labor negotiations in this file photo. — AP

Stern puts hefty price on loyalty NEW YORK: If canceling opening night and the rest of the NBA calendar for November failed to prove how serious David Stern is about saving his owners money, there’s this: The commissioner reportedly fined Miami Heat honcho Micky Arison a cool half-million for a tweet suggesting he wasn’t one of the owners willing to sacrifice games to save money.

In response to someone who labeled the parties involved in the lockout “greedy ... pigs,” Arison tweeted, “Honestly u r barking at the wrong owner.”

That’s a lot more per letter than anyone has ever paid on “Wheel of Fortune.” And speaking of game shows, the closest thing to a competition involving an NBA player anywhere on TV came Tuesday when New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul showed up with his relatives in tow for an episode of “Family Feud.”

It was a poor substitute for watching the Dallas Mavericks raise last season’s championship banner into the rafters before taking on the Chicago Bulls, one of three games originally on the schedule. On the bright side, Robin Paul demonstrated where her son gets some of his fire from. “We all are competitive,” she said. “Very, very, very.”

The same could be said about both sides in the lockout, though at this late juncture they seem just as interested in cannibalizing their own as the other side. Stern’s levy on Arison marked the third time he’s lightened an owner’s pocket for talking out of school about the lockout - Charlotte’s Michael Jordan and Washington’s Ted Leonsis had already contributed $100,000 each to league coffers - but the extraheavy hit might reflect more than the commissioner’s growing impatience with rule breakers. Though Arison later endorsed the league’s party line about the tweet being taken out of context, it’s clear that his real sin was exposing the owners’ less-than-unified stance.

Arison paid plenty to bring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to Miami and made plenty in return, not just for his franchise, but everywhere the Heat

played last season. Even if the league’s claim that 22 teams are losing money is correct, successful teams such as the Heat, Knicks, Lakers and Bulls can’t be thrilled with the prospect of losing an entire season of profits to help the poorer franchises squeeze a more favorable deal from the players. But desperate as the fine made Stern look in his bid to hold ownership together, he still has a much easier task at the moment than his counterparts at the union.

The 400-plus members of the players association are being tugged in different directions by executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher. They staked out different positions on the central question in the negotiations - what percentage of basketball revenues the players will settle for - and the campaigning behind the scenes has grown uglier by the day.

Fisher has been accused of secretly negotiating a deal with Stern to get the players to agree to a 50-50 split in exchange for a cushy job with the league down the road. The rumors grew so loud he was forced to respond to the players in an email, saying, “There have been no side agreements, no side negotiations or anything close.”

For his part, Hunter has been adamant about the players keeping 52 percent - a drop from the 57 percent they got in the last agreement - which would still transfer more than $1 billion back to the owners in any new deal. He walked out of a bargaining meeting last week to dramatize his threat the players won’t consider a penny less, but the players’ weakening position suggests it was little more than grandstanding.

At this point, most insiders and likely even the players themselves know the final deal will get made at 50-50 or not at all. Hunter’s intransigence has led to speculation that he’s taking a hard line to impress players and hang onto his job as much as he’s worried about theirs. If the result is a bad deal - and whenever it’s finalized, it likely will favor the owners - at the very least it gives him an alibi.—AP

WASHINGTON: A Democratic congressman compared the NCAA to the Mafia over how it controls the lives of student athletes.

“I think they’re just one of the most vicious, most ruthless organizations ever created by mankind,” Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush said of the NCAA at a congressional forum on college sports Tuesday. “I think you would compare the NCAA to Al Capone and to the Mafia.”

Rush made the accusations at the forum called to look at the impact of “back-room deals, payoffs and scandals” in college sports. The congressman spoke after hearing from a couple of mothers of former studentathletes who complained of ill treatment by schools after their sons suffered injuries.

“Congressman Rush obviously doesn’t know the NCAA,” Bob Williams, a spokesman for the organization, said in an email Tuesday night. “The NCAA and its member institutions provide over $2 billion per year in scholarships, financial assistance and academic support to student-athletes ... second only to the federal government. Studentathlete success is our mission.”

One mother, Valerie Hardrick, said the University of Oklahoma refused to grant a waiver for medical hardship that would allow her son, Kyle Hardrick, to play basketball at junior college after transferring from OU. Prior to Tuesday ’s forum, Hardrick’s family provided to The Associated Press documentation showing that team doctors diagnosed him with a torn meniscus in his knee and wrote down on practice logs that he should be held out because he was hurt.

Hardrick’s family said the university has refused to pursue the waiver unless the family agrees to a settlement that would prohibit him or his family members from enrolling at Oklahoma or any of the universities governed by its board of regents.

The proposed settlement also would prevent the Hardricks from filing a lawsuit against the university.

“My insurance does not cover all of Kyle’s medical bills,” an emotional Valerie Hardrick said. “The University of Oklahoma refused to pay for Kyle’s surgery, his rehab, and his medication. The university actions also allowed Kyle to be released without appropriate medical treatment before consulting his original surgeon.”

Kyle Hardrick, a for ward who played a total of 6 minutes during his two seasons with the Sooners, said he has since transferred to a community college in Kansas but isn’t able to play without the waiver.

Jeff Capel, Hardrick’s coach at OU, wrote a letter on behalf of Hardrick in September saying a medical hardship waiver is justified in his case.

Capel was fired after last season and is now an assistant coach at Duke.

In response to phone and email messages left for Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, the university issued a statement late Tuesday night saying it had informed the Hardricks it “would facilitate the opportunity” for the family to seek a hardship waiver and asserting it had “acted responsibly in this matter.”

Oklahoma pointed out that any NCAA institution where Hardrick would transfer could also apply for a waiver. However, he has instead transferred to the junior college level, which is not governed by the NCAA. Oklahoma’s statement indicated that athletic officials could not discuss Hardrick’s case in detail because of student privacy guidelines.

The NCAA requires schools to certify that an athlete has insurance coverage for athletically-related injuries, up to the deductible of the NCAA Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program (currently $90,000). The insurance coverage can be offered by the school, a parent or a personal policy of the athlete.

Two NBA players also participated in the forum, Thaddeus Young of the Philadelphia 76ers and Shane Battier, a free agent who last played with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Young, who went pro after one year at Georgia Tech, presented one of the few positive accounts of college sports at the forum.

“Georgia Tech is a tremendously hard and difficult school, so they definitely put more time into academics than basketball,” he said.

“The teachers - they don’t care if you’re a student-athlete, they just care about student.”

Battier described a college regimen at Duke that included a workout at 6:30 a.m., followed by classes, practice between 4 and 7:30 pm, and wrapping up schoolwork at 11:30 or midnight. “It is a full-time job,” he said.—AP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

S P ORT S

Little sympathy in Pakistan for disgraced cricketers CHANGA BANGYAAL: The mother of one of the Pakistani cricketers disgraced in a bribery scandal said yesterday her teenage son’s actions were understandable because he was still a child.

“I’ve had this in my hand for a year and a half,” said Naseem Akhtar, mother of 19-year-old Mohammad Amir, pointing to prayer beads in her hand. “Children make mistakes. Amir became a big name in cricket, but he is still a child.”

Other Pakistanis were not as forgiving, saying the fiasco has hur t the South Asian countr y, already tainted by widespread allegations of government corruption, where cricket is a way of life and to many an expression of national identity.

Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty on Tuesday of taking bribes to fix part of a test match against England in a case that prosecutors said revealed rampant corruption at the heart of international

cricket.

Former captain Butt, 27, and opening bowlers Asif, 28, and Amir, who had admitted his part in the scam before the trial started, plotted to bowl deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times during the Lord’s test in August last year.

The men will be sentenced late yesterday, with Butt and Asif facing up to seven years in jail or large fines. The three players have already been banned from playing by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a minimum of five years.

“I hope they are sent to jail as well, so that they become a symbol for the future cricketers.

Corruption should not be tolerated anywhere and at any level, and I am very happy that justice has been done,” said Adeel Azhar, a Pakistani radio host and cricket fan.

“Let’s just hope now that our media does not look for conspiracy theories and start blaming

Western or Indian cricket lobbies for all this, and thus making a hero out of these corrupt cricketers.”

Many Pakistanis and officials often blame their country’s problems-from militancy to power cuts to natural disasters- on arch-rival India, ally to the United States, or Israel.

During the three-week trial in London, the jury heard how an undercover reporter recorded sports agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, boasting he could arrange for Pakistan players to rig games for money and how huge sums could be made for gambling syndicates.

Cricket is by far the most popular sport in Pakistan, with children in poor areas using old bats and makeshift equipment to imitate star players like Butt, Asif and Amir, while the rich enjoy leisurely days at private cricket grounds.

In Amir’s home village of Changa Bangyaal, a small collection of modest cement houses sur-

rounded by wheat fields, some hoped he could one day redeem his image and bowl again.

“He has made a mistake. But we all pray he will come back and play for the country,” Mohammad Shafeeq, a farmer who was leading a buffalo to his homestead.

Asfandyar Khan, a security guard, showed no mercy. “These people make so much money and yet want more money through illegal means,” he said. “I am sure that there must be some other players involved too, but at least those who were caught have been punished.”

Shahid Afridi, one of Pakistan’s highest-profile players, wondered if Pakistan could ever recover from the scandal and said he hoped future generations of players could learn from the dark episode in Pakistani cricket. “Our country, our cricket, has been disgraced. This is a lesson,” he told reporters yesterday. — Reuters

Bishoo bashes B’desh as Windies claim series

KUWAIT: Male shooters with Sheikh Salman and other officials.

Triumphant Kuwaiti shooters return home

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Kuwait shooting officials and athletes returned home yesterday after participating in the Arab clay shooting tournament in Morocco. Kuwait was first overall after winning eight gold, four silver and two bronze medals in the skeet, trap, and double trap in the men, women and junior events.

President of the Asian and Kuwait Shooting Federations Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, Acting Director of PAYS Jassim Yacoub and other officials received the shooters at Kuwait International Airport.

Head of the delegation, Secretary General of the Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federation Obaid Al-Osaimi said “Kuwait’s shooters proved their outstanding skills by taking first place during the tournament, that witnessed strong competitions at all levels. He said that the strategies put forth by KSSF officials are successful and are taking Kuwait Shooting to new levels.

PAYS Acting Director Jassim Yaqoub said, I am honored to receive our “champions”, as a qualitative leap was made in the sport of shooting. He said KSSF has accustomed us to winning. He said that this is due to the major role of the board of directors, who are now experienced at planning and preparing the shooters for their participations. He said PAYS will always support the shooting club and its athletes.

Shooter Sarah Al-Hawal, the winner of the gold medals in the women’s individual and team events said the competition was strong and that motivated her into scoring a new personal best.

Shooter Misfi Al-Mutairi said, the tournament was held for the first time in Morocco, on newly built ranges, yet the competition was very strong with the Qatari and UAE shooters. Shooter Fuhaid Al-Daihani said as the tournament was of high standard and competition was tough, I went in convinced of breaking the world record.

Pakistan keen to wrap series with win over SL SHARJAH: Pakistan is keen to score a victory against Sri Lanka in the third and final cricket test starting today and leapfrog its opponents in the test rankings.

Pakistan, forced to play the home series in the United Arab Emirates due to lingering security issues in its own country, can jump above Sri Lanka into fifth spot with a victory in the series finale. Sri Lanka, winless in 13 tests dating to July 2010, would slip to sixth should it lose in Sharjah.

Pakistan, which leads the series 1-0, dominated the first two tests, failing to force a win in Abu Dhabi but clinically seeing off the Sri Lankans in four days in Dubai.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq said there were no thoughts of playing defensively. “We’ll go for the win. We’ll try to win,” he said. “We’ll try to play positive cricket, good cricket and try to win the test match.” Pakistan is expected to field the same team which won by nine wickets in Dubai.

Misbah was pleased with all aspects of the team’s performance in the second test, singling out the four-man attack for praise.

Offspinner Saeed Ajmal claimed the man of the match but left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and pace pair Umar Gul and Junaid Khan were also magnificent in support. “They are match-winners,” Misbah said. “We are not trusting of one bowler. We are playing as a team, we are relying on everybody and I think that’s the key to perform.”

Pakistan will need to avoid being distracted by Tuesday’s guilty verdicts against former captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif for spot-fixing incidents that blighted the tour of

England in the summer of 2010. Since that scandal, under Misbah’s leadership, the team has blossomed and is yet to lose a series, winning four tests, drawing four and losing just one.

Misbah is one of three players in the Pakistan team, alongside fellow batsmen Taufeeq Umar and Younus Khan, who have played tests previously at the venue. Sharjah has hosted a world record 200 one-day internationals but only four tests, all back in 2002.

Pakistan defeated West Indies in the first two tests, in January-February, but then suffered innings defeats against then-No. 1 Australia in both tests later that year, including a humiliating twoday defeat after being bowled out for 59 and 53.

Sri Lanka’s batting in the current series has been a concern, and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said the key to his side’s improvement lies with its batsmen.

“I am worried about our batting. We have to come strong next match in this area,” he said. Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara has been a standout in the series, but fellow veterans Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene are yet to register a half century.

Sri Lanka has been bowled out for 197, 483, 239 and 257, its only substantial total coming on the back of a Sangakkara double century.

Dilshan may be tempted to move up the order to the opening position where his attacking game has flourished in the past.

The Sri Lankans are expected to bring in offspinner Suraj Randiv to replace one of the three seamers, with Suranga Lakmal the most likely to miss out. —AP

DHAKA: Spinner Davendra Bishoo completed his maiden five-wicket haul as Bangladesh collapsed either side of lunch on the fifth day of the second test to succumb to a 229-run defeat to the West Indies yesterday.

Resuming after the interval on 263 for six, Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for just 15 runs in a little over seven overs to be dismissed for 278 as the tourists secured a 1-0 victory in the two-match series.

Bishoo claimed two wickets in the first over after the break when he trapped Nasir Hossain lbw for three before Suhrawadi Shuvo offered up a catch to skipper Darren Sammy at slip without scoring a couple of deliveries later.

Naeem Islam (three) soon fell to Bishoo to give the leg-spinner his fifth wicket, before Kemar Roach bowled last man Rubel Hossain (also for three) to complete an easy victory that had appeared to be drifting away from the tourists earlier on.

West Indies were largely frustrated in the morning session before they removed home skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan in a three-over span before lunch after the duo frustrated had them with a dogged 88run fifth-wicket stand.

Sammy claimed the wicket of Shakib, who managed to spoil all of his good work by mistiming an improvised shot that took a leading edge to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at slip for 55.

Rahim soon followed when Bishoo bowled him for 69 to expose the tail and the spinner eventually finished with test-best figures of 590 as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for 22 runs in less than 12 overs.

“It’s really good to win,” Sammy told reporters. “We left home hoping to come out here and play well. After playing and working hard, it’s good. We all knew that Bangladesh would put up a fight.

“The captain, Shakib and Tamim (Iqbal) posed challenges but we believed in our bowling unit that showed that we could achieve things.”

Bangladesh captain Rahim rued an inability among his batsmen to apply themselves to the task at hand. “Our top order batsmen could not play big innings which was really important to save the match,” he said.

“Getting out when we looked set is our main problem. We lack in temperament, we

DHAKA: West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy and Devendra Bishoo (left) hold the trophy after winning the series against Bangladesh. — AP

SCOREBOARD DHAKA: Scoreboard after West Indies beat Bangladesh by 229 runs on the fifth and final day of the second test yesterday: West Indies first innings 355 Bangladesh first innings 231 West Indies second innings 383-5d Bangladesh second innings (overnight 164-3) T. Iqbal c Sammy b Bishoo 83 I. Kayes c K. Edwards b F. Edwards 9 S. Nafees c & b Sammy 18` R. Hassan c Sammy b Samuels 17 M. Rahim b Bishoo 69 S. Hasan c Chanderpaul b Sammy 55 N. Islam lbw b Bishoo 3 N. Hossain lbw b Bishoo 3 S. Shuvo c Sammy b Bishoo 0

need to develop the habit of playing big innings and spending longer at the crease.”

Chasing a world record target of 508, Bangladesh resumed on 164-3 and suffered a major blow in just the third over of the morning when the third umpire ruled that opener Tamim Iqbal was caught by Sammy off Bishoo

S. Hossain not out 1 R. Hossain b Roach 7 Extras (b-6 lb-1 nb-6) 13 Total (all out; 80.2 overs) 278 Fall of wickets: 1-26 2-73 3-124 4-168 5-256 6260 7-264 8-264 9-271 10-271 Bowling: F. Edwards 14-0-56-1 (nb-3), K. Roach 13.2-2-49-1(nb-3), D. Sammy 13-4-19-2, D. Bishoo 25-6-90-5, M. Samuels 15-2-57-1.

Result: West Indies won by 229 runs West Indies win the two-match series 1-0 Man of the match: Kirk Edwards Man of the series: Shakib Al Hasan

for 83. The on-field official was unable to determine if the fuller delivery was a bump ball but the third umpire clarified the delivery had hit the ground before the bat and gave Tamim out after he had added a single to his overnight total. The rain-hit first Test was drawn in Chittagong last week. — Reuters

New Zealand stay on top BULAWAYO: New Zealand maintained the upper hand in their one-off Test against Zimbabwe yesterday, despite the hosts fighting back strongly throughout the second day at Queens Sports Club.

Zimbabwe went to stumps on 82 for one, with opener Vusi Sibanda unbeaten on 53, as they responded to New Zealand’s first innings total of 426 all out.

While the Black Caps will be happy to have the runs on the board on a pitch which is beginning to take turn, Zimbabwe could reflect on a good day’s work with both bat and ball that coach Alan Butcher labelled their best since returning to Test cricket in August.

Fast bowler Chris Mpofu claimed career-best figures of four for 92 as New Zealand lost their last five wickets for just 25 runs, leaving them short of the hefty total they looked destined for when they resumed on 275 for three on the second morning.

Although Zimbabwe opener Tino Mawoyo was trapped lbw by Daniel Vettori in the left-arm spinner’s second over, Sibanda put on an unbroken stand of 58 with Hamilton Masakadza to leave Zimbabwe 344 runs adrift at the close of play with nine wickets in hand.

Morning rain meant that play was delayed by 45 minutes at the start of the day by a wet outfield, but Njabulo Ncube made the most of the moist conditions early on when he claimed his first wicket in Test cricket. New Zealand captain Ross Taylor had failed to add to his overnight score of 76 when he chased a wide delivery in Ncube’s first over and was caught behind. Mpofu picked up the other wicket of the morning session, surprising BJ Watling with a lifting delivery that caught the edge on its way to wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva, who took a good one-handed catch low to his right. Dean Brownlie and Vettori took the fight to the Zimbabwe bowlers after lunch in a quest for quick runs, and added 74 in just 14 overs as Brownlie recorded a half-century in his first Test innings.

However Zimbabwe responded to the onslaught well, tightening up their lines and dismissing both Brownlie and Vettori as the batsmen attempted big shots.

Ray Price had Brownlie caught at slip for 63, while Mpofu accounted for Vettori on 40 before claiming two more wickets as the tail was wrapped up swiftly. Sibanda led the Zimbabwe response with aplomb, and when the umpires finally pulled stumps the hosts were able to claim bragging rights for the day. —AFP

BULAWAYO: New Zealand fielder Brendon McCullum fields off the batting of Zimbabwean Hamilton Masakadza as wicket keeper Reece Young watches in the second day of the only Test match. — AFP

SCOREBOARD BULAWAYO: Scoreboard at close on the second day of the Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand at Queens Sports Club yesterday: New Zealand 1st innings M. Guptill c Taibu b Masakadza 109 B. McCullum b Jarvis 14 K. Williamson run out (Price/Chakabva) 49 R. Taylor c Chakabva b Ncube 76 B. Watling c Chakabva b Mpofu 39 D Brownlie c Taylor b Price 63 D. Vettori c Taylor b Mpofu 40 R. Young not out 9 D. Bracewell b Mpofu 0 J. Patel c Mawoyo b Mpofu 12 C. Martin b Price 0 Extras (7b, 3nb, 2wd, 3lb) 15 Total (all out, 143.3 overs, 578 mins) 426 Fall of wickets: 1-40 (McCullum), 2-115 (Williamson), 3-247 (Guptill), 4-275 (Taylor), 5-

320 ( Watling), 6-401 (Brownlie), 7-407 (Vettori), 8-407 (Bracewell), 9-425 (Patel), 42610 (Martin) Bowling: Jarvis 28-6-98-1; Ncube 25-4-80-1; Mpofu 43-10-92-4; Price 42.3-7-118-2; Masakadza 11-4-20-1; Waller 3-0-8-0.

Zimbabwe 1st innings T. Mawoyo lbw Vettori 5 V. Sibanda not out 53 H. Masakadza not out 22 Extras (2lb) 2 Total (1 wkt, 40 overs, 148 mins) 82 Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Mawoyo) Bowling: Martin 8-3-26-0, Bracewell 10-7-13-0, Vettori 13-5-23-1, Patel 9-1-18-0.

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When is a bet not a bet? A day at the Iran races NOWRUZABAD: As Rio Collection galloped across the finishing line, Sardar hooted with joy and high-fived his friends. He had just won 200,000 rials (almost $20). Not by “betting” on the horse, he insisted-betting is illegal under Iran’s Islamic law-but by “predicting” Rio Collection would win.

“I knew he would win. I predicted correctly,” said the 18-year-old. Under Islamic sharia law, gambling is generally seen as illegal and Sardar’s wager, made with a friend, was actually not permitted. But thanks to certain religious rulings, many race-goers are permitted to put money on the horses legally as long as they are “predicting” through official channels.

The Quran describes gambling as “evil, unclean and Satanic” and people found guilty of illegal gambling in the Islamic Republic can be sentenced to flogging and jail. However, three forms of gambling are permitted under Islam, said a cleric consulted on the matter by Reuters. “All forms of gambling are haram (forbidden by Islam) except for horse racing, camel racing and archery,” said Mohsen Mahmoudi, a cleric at

a north Tehran mosque, adding that those manly, warrior sports were all encouraged by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

But technically, he added, only the archery contestants and riders of the horses or camels in the races are permitted to bet. To make it possible for spectators to take part, the Equestrian Federation of Iran sought permission from senior clerics known as “sources of emulation”, to whom Shi’ite Muslims turn for guidance on moral issues. “In negotiations with some sources of emulation, we finally managed to receive permission to bet on horses under certain conditions,” said Ebrahim Mohammdzadeh, an official at Tehran’s horse-racing committee.

The way it works is that jockeys authorise the horse-racing committee to place bets for other people on their behalf.

In pre-revolutionary Iran, horse riding was considered an elite sport. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi-the last shah who was overthrown in the 1979 uprising led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini-was a keen horseman and aimed to expand racing.

After the revolution the idea fell out of favour and today there are only four racetracks in the country. Camel racing- popular in some Arab countries across the Gulf-is not a significant sport in Iran and archery has no great popular following.

The 2,000-capacity Nowruzabad track off a major highway to the west of Tehran is the only track easily accessible to the population of the capital. It hold races over a 10week season each year.

Despite its limited availability, people from many walks of life crowd the “predictions” office next to the track in Nowruzabad where legal betting takes place inside a building where an electronic screen advertises: “Make a prediction, win a prize”. Inside, a dozen women, wearing obligatory headscarves, sit behind windows, taking predictions and paying out winnings. As well as a computer screen with race details, each has a basket into which they toss the takings.

Prediction tickets can be bought for as little as 10,000 rials (around $1) with no official upper limit, although large bets are

rare. Odds are not given before the race and returns are calculated afterwards.

People can also place bets on horses through the federation’s website, but that misses out on the spectacle. As the horses pass the finishing line, the spectatorsincluding dozens of women-jump up from their seats near the track and rush to the predictions office to see how much they have won and place money on the next one. “I just paid 50,000 rials. I hope I can win something,” said Erfan, 15. “I always buy prediction tickets from this office but my dad bets directly with others,” he said. “He once won 30 million rials.”

Betting among individuals is not legal but still goes on. Wearing loose black trousers and speaking with a strong local accent, Sardar, a carpenter, said he chose not to buy prediction tickets as winnings were limited. “People are reluctant to place big bets with the prediction office,” he said .

“Big bets take place unofficially and the winnings are exchanged from hand-tohand.” The really big bets happen at bigger tracks, particularly at the 10-000 capacity

Gonbad-e Kavoos hippodrome in northern Iran. “Last year someone won $75,000 there in a bet,” a race official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Cleric Mahmoudi warned of the dangers of gambling.

“The bettor makes gains easily, without working and this causes others to lose money with consequent dissatisfaction and grief,” he said, pointing out one reason Islam regards gambling as “haram”.

Most of the people buying prediction tickets legally from the racetrack office did not seem concerned, however.

“I just lost 30,000 rials but I had a lot of fun,” said fine arts student Tamanna, 30, showing her ticket printed with a line that says cash spent buying the ticket goes to support the horse races, rather than in the hope of winning.

Of the total money coming into the official betting office, some 70 percent is given out as winnings with the remaining 30 percent going to cover the costs of racing. “I had a great time,” Tamanna said. “In a way we are donating this money to help develop the races.”—Reuters

Bahrain to host Gulf Cup

TEL AVIV: England’s Stoke City fooball team take part in a training session at Bloomfield Stadium on the eve of their Europa League Group E qualifying football match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.—AP

Udinese take on Atletico Europa League LONDON: While Udinese is on the verge of progress in the Europa League ahead of today’s meeting with Atletico Madrid, Lazio urgently needs victory to avoid an embarrassing early exit.

The Italian rivals are performing well in Serie A, where they are both one point behind league leader Juventus. But only Udinese has carried that domestic form into Europe’s second-tier club competition.

Lazio hosts FC Zurich, two weeks after drawing 1-1 in Switzerland against the same side. The Rome club at least has the consolation that Zurich and Romania’s Vaslui are performing equally poorly in Group D, with all three clubs tied on two points and vying to advance alongside likely group winner Sporting Lisbon.

And Lazio’s forwards are in form. Miroslav Klose has been finding the target frequently, with eight goals in 11 matches in all competitions since joining from Bayern Munich, and Djibril Cisse set up two goals in Sunday’s 3-0 Serie A win over Cagliari.

Vaslui hosts Sporting in the other Group D match, with the Portuguese club on seven points and sure to advance if it wins.

Udinese has its own in-form striker ahead of its trip to Atletico, which it beat 2-0 in Italy with two late goals. Antonio Di Natale has led Serie A in scoring the past two seasons and again tops the chart this season with seven goals through the club’s opening nine matches. England’s Tottenham is unbeaten since Aug. 28 with eight wins and three draws from its past 11 matches but will again rest many key players for its Europa League assignment at Rubin Kazan. The likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Scott Parker and Brad Friedel all sat out Spurs’ 1-0 win over the Russian side two weeks ago.

In a sign that the Europa League trails the Premier League as a priority for Tottenham, manager Harry Redknapp - who will also miss the trip because of what the north London club said is a medical procedure - even joked

with reporters asking who he would send on the five-hour flight to Russia.

“I don’t know,” Redknapp said. “Are you fit?” Fringe players Giovani Dos Santos, Tom Carroll, Jake Livermore and Danny Rose seem likely to reprise their starting roles from the previous match.

Spurs lead Group A, with English rivals Stoke and Birmingham also topping their pools. Group E pacesetter Stoke heads to Maccabi Tel Aviv, which it beat 3-0 in its last tournament match, without defender Ryan Shawcross and midfielder Marc Wilson after the pair limped out of Monday’s 3-1 Premier League defeat to Newcastle with muscular injuries.

“We always knew this week was going to be a massive ask, and now the second and third games will seem even tougher for us,” manager Tony Pulis said. “This was the game where we hoped we would be nice and fresh, ready to go. But it hasn’t worked out that way, so now we must make sure we bounce back in Tel Aviv.”

Birmingham hosts FC Bruges knowing that victory would give it sole charge of Group H over the Belgian side.

The fourth English club in the competition, Fulham, could draw level with FC Twente at the top of Group K with victory over visiting Wisla Krakow. But the Polish side has already beaten Fulham 1-0 and Twente is up against an Odense side it routed 4-1 in Denmark two weeks ago.

In other of today’s 48 matches, Besiktas hosts Dynamo Kiev, FC Copenhagen hosts Hannover, PSV Eindhoven hosts Hapoel TelAviv, Paris Saint Germain hosts Slovan Bratislava, Celtic hosts Rennes and Steaua Bucharest hosts Maccabi Haifa.

Copenhagen is in great shape after beating Odense 3-1 in the Danish league, helped by two goals from Brazilian player Cesar Santin. Copenhagen tops the 12-team Super League tournament by six points from FC Midtjylland.—AP

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian midfielder Nene controls the ball during a training session on the eve of the UEFA Europa League football match PSG vs Slovan Bratislava. —AFP

DUBAI: Bahrain will replace Iraq as host of the 2013 Gulf Cup, the island kingdom’s sports officials said yesterday, a decision that Iraqis say was politically motivated.

As a majority Shiite country, Iraq has backed Shiite -led protests against Bahrain’s Sunni rulers earlier this year after uprisings against autocratic rulers erupted across the Middle East.

The general secretar y of Bahrain’s Olympic Committee, Sheik Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa told The Associated Press that the decision to move the tournament to Bahrain was made by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six oil-rich Gulf states.

Sheik Ahmed did not give the reason for the decision for the venues’ swap. “When the decision came to us, we said we are ready,” Sheik Ahmed said. “It will be the fourth Gulf tournament for Bahrain so for us it has become a regular exercise.”

The 2013 Gulf Cup was originally awarded to Basra, Iraq’s

second largest city, but Bahrain’s state-run media said Basra’s stadium and hotel construction were given a poor review by the GCC football committee. Iraqi sports officials were angered and disappointed by the decision.

“The decision to give the Gulf Cup to Bahrain instead of Basra was unfair and unjust,” said Munis Abdullah, a senior member of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in Baghdad. He said the Gulf officials, who toured Basra’s Gulf Cup sites last week, had “some concerns about the pace of work,” but Iraq assured them the venues will be completed in time for the tournament. “There was some politics involved in this decision because of the stance of the Iraqi government toward the uprising in Bahrain,” Abdullah said. “Gulf states deemed this negative.”

In addition to Bahrain, the GCC is comprised of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, which last year became the first Arab country to be awarded the World

Cup as the 2022 host nation.

The impoverished Yemen hosted eight teams during the last edition of the Gulf Cup in 2010 amid tight security due to raging conflicts across the countr y, located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Bahrain was the host of the inaugural Gulf tournament in 1970. Since then, the Gulf kingdom has raised its profile by becoming the first Arab country to host a Formula One Grand Prix in 2006, although this year’s season-opening race was canceled due to the unrest.

Violence has subsided significantly in Iraq over the past years, although concerns of renewed conflict have increased since US President Barack Obama last month announced all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year.

Decades of war and years of crippling economic sanctions have stalled Iraq’s efforts to renovate the country’s infrastructure that would attract high-profile international events and

sports tournaments.

In September, the football’s world governing body banned Iraq from playing any home qualifiers. FIFA said the decision was prompted by the “general security situation” in Iraq, and stadium failures in the Kurdish city of Irbil when Iraq hosted Jordan in a World Cup qualifier.

Waleed Hameed, the head of Spor ts and Youth Council in Basra, said the decision to strip Iraq of Gulf Cup’s hosting rights is not based on the “reality on the ground.”

“When the Gulf officials visited the sites, they praised our work,” Hameed said. He added that 70 percent of the venues, including eight six-story buildings that would make up the teams’ and delegations’ living quarters, are finished and the project will be completed by June 2013.

“They issued their report that has nothing to do with reality on the ground,” Hameed said. “I think that politics played a great role in this.”—AP

Tevez offered olive branch by Mancini

Carlos Tevez seen in this file photo

LONDON: Manchester City outcast Carlos Tevez has been offered a way back into the Premier League club’s plans by manager Roberto Mancini but only if he apologises for refusing to warm up in their Champions League match at Bayern Munich in late September.

British media quoted Mancini telling reporters at Valencia airport on Tuesday on the way to their Champions League game at Villarreal that the Argentina striker needed to say sorry for refusing to take instructions during their 2-0 away defeat.

“Sorry is a little word, an easy word,” yesterday’s Guardian newspaper reported Mancini as saying. “Everything depends on Carlos. But I think these are easy words-very, very easy. “If he apologises then everything will be like before. If not, then we look at (selling him in) January. This is what I’ve told him: all of us can make a mistake.

“The important thing is to apologise and then

it’s finished. And he can finish it. It is easy. These are crucial words. But these are easy words.”

Mancini added this was the reason he had invited Tevez to his house after the Argentine’s two-week suspension.

“But this was 20 days ago. It wasn’t yesterday. I told Carlos 20 days ago to apologise, and he said no. I don’t know his agent (Kia Joorabchian) but I think the people around Carlos are giving him bad advice.”

Reflecting on his own career as a player, which involved some controversial moments, Mancini said: “Every time I made a mistake, I apologised, It’s a very easy word to say.”

Asked if Tevez, who has been fined two weeks’ wages by the club, would play for City again if he said sorry, Mancini replied: “We’ll see. He needs to do it first.”—Reuters

Cassano to have heart surgery MILAN: Italy striker Antonio Cassano will have “minor” heart surgery that will likely enable him to play again in a few months, AC Milan said yesterday.

Cassano has been at the Policlinico facility since Saturday, when he was taken for tests after suffering what the club described as a brain problem on the team plane following the team’s 3-2 victory over Roma.

Cassano was reportedly joking with teammates on the plane, before suddenly developing problems with his vision, speech and movement.

Milan said in a statement that Cassano will undergo the heart procedure sometime in the next few days, and that his recovery time will be better determined after the surgery.

“Presumably within four, five or six months Cassano should be cleared to play,” Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said. Cassano has a cardiac anomaly which caused a brain problem due to impaired blood flow, the club said.

“He has a minor heart problem that caused this minor discomfort and over the next few days he will undergo surgery to close the opening,” Galliani said.

Combined with knee surgery for Giuseppe Rossi last week, Cassano’s condition leaves Italy without its two starting forwards as

it prepares for next year’s European Championship.

Cassano already missed the 1-1 draw with BATE Borisov on Tuesday that qualified Milan for the next round of the Champions League.

After Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against BATE, teammate KevinPrince Boateng celebrated by lifting his jersey to reveal another jersey with Cassano’s name and No. 99 on it. A steady stream of current and former teammates have been visiting Cassano, and even Diego Maradona wrote a letter of support that was published in Corriere dello Sport on Wednesday.

“I know about the thoughts, worries and torments that are going through your mind. I know that feeling of confusion and, why not, even solitude, that makes everything suddenly look black,” Maradona wrote. “I know well, and that’s why I feel close to you and Rino Gattuso, who is also experiencing a sad period.”

Cassano’s hospitalization came less than a week after Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso announced the extent of a nerve problem affecting his left eye, which could keep him out for months, or the rest of the season.

Milan has also been without forward Alexandre Pato due to a thigh injury, leaving Ibrahimovic and Robinho as the club’s only two healthy strikers.—AP

ITALY: In this picture taken Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, AC Milan forward Antonio Cassano controls the ball during a Serie A soccer match. —AP

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Toure double helps City see off Villarreal

ITALY: Inter Milan Argentine defender Walter Samuel (left) celebrates with his teammate Brazilian defender Lucio after scoring during a Champions League, Group B soccer match. —AP

Inter close in on knockout rounds MILAN: Inter Milan took a huge step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout rounds with a 2-1 victory over French champions Lille at the San Siro here yesterday.

The victory kept the troubled Italians top of Group B, knowing that another victory will assure them of qualification.

Argentine pair Walter Samuel, with a header, and Diego Milito, from close range, scored the goals that ensured Inter have won more games in the Champions League than they have in Serie A this season.

Tulio De Melo scored for Lille, who now probably need to win both their remaining games if they are to progress.

Inter almost got off to a dream start as Lille’s defence was caught napping and Milito ran clear onto a ball over the top but his chip over goalkeeper Mickael Landreau agonisingly came back off the bar.That was a rare moment of excitement in a mostly drab first 45 minutes. Most of Lille’s best work came from Englishman Joe Cole, who tricked and turned Samuel before sending a whipped cross into the box, but Moussa Sow could not capitalise.

On 18 minutes Mauro Zarate burrowed into the box and got off a shot that squirmed under Landreau but trickled narrowly wide.

Yet from the resulting corner, Samuel outjumped Rio Mavuba and powered home an unstoppable header. Lille were offering little going forward but highly coveted Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard’s bouncing shot almost caught

out Luca Castellazzi, who pushed it away.

Milito has been short of confidence recently and the chance he missed at the start of the second period would not have helped him.

Dejan Stankovic got on the end of a Wesley Sneijder free-kick and headed it back into the middle of the goal where Milito, six yards out, had a simple tapin, only to volley the ball well over the bar.

He had missed a similar sitter a week ago in a 1-1 draw at Atalanta, although that time he was only a pair of yards from the line.

Moments later he scampered clear of the backline and with just Landreau to beat his finish was weak, lacking in conviction and too close to the goalkeeper.

Lille almost made him and Inter pay but David Rozehnal blazed a half-volley over the bar.

On 65 minutes, inspirational captain Javier Zanetti slalomed through the Lille defence and crossed for Milito, who as ever was in the right place at the right time, and this time from six yards out and with an open goal, he found the net.

Hazard kept Castellazzi on his toes with a free-kick from 25 yards that the goalkeeper pushed behind. Seven minutes from time Stankovic and Lucio got in each other’s way on the edge of their own box, allowing the ball to run through to De Melo, who dinked a simple finish over Castellazzi. But there was to be no grandstand finish as Inter held out. —AFP

VILLARREAL: A brace from Yaya Toure helped Manchester City cruise to a 3-0 victory away to rock bottom Villarreal in Champions League Group A yesterday and give them a fighting chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

Despite leading the way in the Premier League, City made a slow start in Europe but now with home and away victories over Villarreal, who are yet to pick up a point, they have moved up to seven points, two more than Napoli who lost to leaders Bayern Munich who have ten.

City’s chances of progressing are in their own hands with a match away to Napoli and then finally they entertain Bayern in Manchester.

Toure, who won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2009, put City ahead after 30 minutes and then Mario Balotelli added a second from the penalty spot in first half injury time. City always looked a class above their Spanish rivals and Toure sealed the win on 70 minutes.

Villarreal have had a disappointing start to the season due in part to an injury crisis and their win at the weekend over Rayo Vallecano was their first in eight games.

They lined up against City without a whole host of first team regulars including the attacking duo of Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar while Bruno Soriano was a last minute withdrawal through a stomach upset.

There was no place for Sergio Aguero, who scored the winning goal in their first match, in manager Roberto Mancini’s starting lineup in Spain with the Argentine rested while Stefan

Savic was given his chance in defence with Joleon Lescott on the bench.

Hernan Perez tested City keeper Joe Hart from distance in the opening minutes but the visitors quickly began to dominate in the middle of the pitch as Villarreal seemed happy to sit back and

game and hit a free-kick against the wall after being upended by Wakaso Mubarak on the edge of the area.

City had not created a clearcut chance before Toure put them ahead on the hour mark with a finish that was made far too easy by the Villarreal defence.

SPAIN: Manchester City’s Yaya Toure from Cote d’Ivoire, celebrates after scoring against Villarreal during their Group A Champions League soccer match. —AP counter-attack.

The plan seemed to be working as City, who had Balotelli as a loan striker, were kept away from dangerous areas while youngster Joselu Moreno, making his Champions League debut, failed to latch onto a lofted ball over the City defence when he might have done better.

In-form David Silva began to exert more of an influence on the

Receiving the ball from Silva he was given time inside the box to set himself up and fire past keeper Diego Lopez.

A dispirited Villarreal tried to pick themselves up and Jose Catala from 25 yards had a strong shot comfortably saved by Hart but City went into the break with a two-goal cushion after Mateo Musacchio pulled back Balotelli in the box.

footed half volley that rattled into the top right hand corner.

The Spanish Under-20 international had gone desperately close to giving them the lead in the opening minute after being teed-up by veteran Argentinian Pablo Aimar, but his shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Ezequiel Garay should have doubled their advantage in the 20th minute as he rose unmarked to meet Nicolas Gaitan’s cross but completely missed the target.

Further misses in the second-half by Rodrigo, Garay and then Gaitan cost the hosts dearly and against the run of play Huggel ran on to Australian star Scott Chipperfield’s splendid ball in from the left and slotted it into the net. —AFP

Champions League results/standings Champions League group stage results and standings yesterday: Group A At Munich, Germany Bayern Munich (GER) 3 (Gomez 17, 23, 42) Napoli (ITA) 2 (Fernandez 45, 79) At Villarreal, Spain Villarreal (ESP) 0, Manchester City (ENG) 3 (Y. Toure 30, 71, Balotelli 45+3-pen) Group B At Milan, Italy Inter Milan (ITA) 2 (Samuel 18, Milito 65) Lille (FRA) 1 (De Melo 83) At Trabzon, Turkey Trabzonspor (TUR) 0, CSKA Moscow (RUS) 0

Group C At Manchester, England Manchester United (ENG) 2 (Valencia 8, Sarghi-og 87) Otelul Galati (ROM) 0 At Lisbon Benfica (POR) 1 (Rodrigo 4) Basel (SUI) 1 (Huggel 64) Group D At Lyon, France Real Madrid (ESP)2 (Ronaldo 24, 69-pen) Lyon (FRA) 0 At Amsterdam Ajax (NED) 4 (van der Wiel 20, Sulejmani 25, de Jong 65, Lodeiro 90+2) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 0

Champions League group stage tables after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Group A Bayern Munich Man City Napoli Villarreal Group B Inter Milan CSKA Moscow Trabzonspor Lille

4 4 4 4

4 4 4 4

3 2 1 0

3 1 1 0

1 1 2 0

0 2 2 2

0 1 1 4

1 1 1 2

8 6 6 1

6 7 2 4

3 4 5 9

4 5 4 6

10 7 5 0

9 5 5 2

Group C Benfica Man United Basel Otelul Galati

4 4 4 4

2 2 1 0

2 2 2 0

0 0 1 4

5 8 6 1

Group D Real Madrid

4

4

0

0

Ajax 4 Lyon 4 Dinamo Zagreb 4

2 1 0

1 1 0

1 2 4

10 0 12 - qualified 6 3 7 2 6 4 0 9 0

2 4 7 7

8 8 5 0

without causing too much danger but it was enough as the home side could not construct any moves of their own.

A weak strike from Borja Valero after 61 minutes was all that Villarreal could muster and City at a canter added a third with 20 minutes to go through Toure. The powerful midfielder burst past Catala and then shot clinically into the corner. —AFP

Ajax thrash Dinamo Zagreb

Basel keep hopes burning LISBON: A late goal by Basel’s veteran Swiss international Benjamin Huggel rescued a share of the points in a 1-1 draw with Benfica in their Champions League Group C clash yesterday.

Huggel’s goal-Basel’s first in four visits to Portugal-maintained the Swiss side’s hopes of reaching the last 16 for only the second time, though, they trail both Benfica and Manchester United by three points with two matches remaining.

Benfica will be kicking themselves that they failed to seal a win that would have guaranteed them a place in the knockout stages.

The hosts got off to the ideal start as Spanish striker Rodrigo, who had opened his account for his side with a double at the weekend, scored with a sweet left-

It was Balotelli who coolly dispatched the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way. After the break City were happy to ease their way through the game and Villarreal were comfortably outplayed.

Balotelli and Silva continued to trouble the Villarreal backline

TURKEY: Trabzonspor’s Adrian Mierjezewski (right) and CSKA Moskva’s Georgi Schennikov fight for the ball during their UEFA Champions League Group B soccer match. —AP

Goalless stalemate frustrate Trabzonspor TRABZON: Trabzonspor failed to take advantage of having a man advantage late in their Champions League Group B clash against CSKA Moscow yesterday, leaving their home fans frustrated with an insipid scoreless draw.

After the Russians had dominated most of the match, the hosts were given a muchneeded boost when Ivory Coast forward Seydou Doumbia was red-carded in the 74th minute.

But Trabzonspor, who slipped to third after the 3-0 defeat in Moscow last time out, failed to capitalise despite a nervous finale in which both teams came close to snatching a winner.

After Inter Milan beat bottom placed Lille 2-1, the Turks remain in third on five points-level with second-placed CSKA and four behind the Italians.

Trabzonspor appeared to have their minds elsewhere in the first half as CSKA threatened to take the lead in the opening exchanges and they failed to create any goalscoring opportunities.

After just two minutes Doumbia had his effort cleared off the line by Giray Kacar after he ran on to a through ball and rounded goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.

Vagner Love then had a shot blocked, and he tested Zengin again with a 20 metre drive which the keeper tipped over the bar.

It was more of the same for Trabzonspor following the restart and coach Senol Gunes opted to shake things up with a double substitution for the last half hour.

Brazilian Paulo Henrique replaced Halil Altintop and compatriot Alanzinho came on for Serkan Balci.

Barely 10 minutes later Alanzinho had hearts racing when he set off on a mazy run past Vasili Berezutski to give Vladimir Gabulov his first taste of action although the CSKA keeper did well to hold the Brazilian’s shot.

With the home fans calling for goals, Gunes sent on Aykut Akgun for Mierzejewski in an attempt to prise open the Russian defence. However it was CSKA who came closest to breaking the deadlock, with Love brilliantly holding possession and finishing off a neat exchange with Aleksandrs Cauna to test Zengin with a snap shot which the keeper did well to save.

Two minutes later Ondrej Celustka did well to find Yilmaz when he cut in from the right, but the Turk’s first-timer from 10 metres out went straight to Gabulov.

In the dying seconds the visitors squandered a golden chance to snatch the winner when Berezutski rose to meet Alan Dzagoev’s free-kick to head just wide of the post. —AFP

AMSTERDAM: Ajax scored twice in each half to beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 yesterday and stay second behind runaway leader Real Madrid in Group D of the Champions League.

Gregory van der Wiel drilled an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from a difficult angle in the 20th minute for a 1-0 lead after a clever backheel from Christian Eriksen.

Miralem Sulejmani, back in the Ajax lineup after a brief injury layoff, doubled the lead five minutes later after finishing off a move started by Siem de Jong.

De Jong made it 3-0 in the 65th with a 10-meter shot before substitute Nicolas Lodeiro scored the fourth in injury time.

“I really liked the way we played tonight,” Van der Wiel said.

“It’s always nice if you can score a goal.”

Ajax is second with seven points, three ahead of Lyon. The Dutch side is assured of earning at least a Europa League berth.

Real Madrid leads Group D with 12 points after winning all four of its games. Dinamo could have pulled one back a minute into the second half when Luis Ibanez fired a long-range drive, which Kenneth Vermeer saved but spilled back into play before captain Jan Vertongen make a clearance.

De Jong had a chance to put the scoreline beyond Dinamo’s reach after perfectly controlling Toby Alderweireld’s pass in the area but goalkeeper Ivan Kelava made a point-blank save.

Earlier on, some miscommunication between Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen almost led to a Dinamo goal in the 16th but the Ajax captain recovered to clear the ball away from danger.

After missing a couple of chances in the opening minutes, Ajax had Van De Wiel to thank after his ferocious shot gave Kelava no chance.

The second goal was just as eye-catching. Eyong Enoh powered past the Dinamo midfield before the Cameroon midfielder picked out De Jong, who laid the ball into Sulejmani’s path. The Serbian striker dribbled past a badly-positioned Kelava before prodding the ball into an open net.

Van der Wiel started the move that led to Ajax’s third. From the right flank, the Netherlands international teased past two Dinamo defenders before flighting a cross toward goal. Eriksen intervened with another flick leaving De Jong with a simple task of beating Kelava from close range. —AP

AMSTERDAM: Miralem Sulejmani of Ajax (bottom) trips up in front of Jerko Leko (right) of Dinamo Zagreb during the Group D Champions League soccer match. —AP

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Bishoo bashes B’desh as Windies claim series

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Udinese take on Atletico in Europa League

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Bahrain to replace Iraq as host of Gulf Cup Page 18

United down Galati to edge closer to last 16 MANCHESTER: Manchester United edged closer to the knockout stage of the Champions League here yesterday with a 2-0 victor y over Romanian minnows Otelul Galati.

An eighth minute goal from Antonio Valencia and a late deflected shot by Wayne Rooney secured the win for United, who now head Group C on goal difference from Benfica with two matches left.

But the win could not disguise a largely unimpressive performance from the English giants, who struggled to break down a stubborn Galati side still looking for their first ever Champions League point.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had named an attacking line -up, with Dimitar Berbatov partnering Michael Owen in front of a midfield comprising Nani, Valencia, Anderson and Wayne Rooney in an unusual deep-lying role.

And it looked as if a rout could be on the cards when Valencia shot United ahead with the game only a few minutes old.

Berbatov released the overlapping Phil Jones down the right, and the England defender curled in a superb low cross which Owen just failed to touch on before Valencia

jabbed home from close range.

Owen’s role in the goal was to be his last meaningful contribution of the night, with the former England striker being substituted on 11 minutes for Javier Hernandez after picking up an injury.

United’s challenge waned over the remainder of the half however as Galati regrouped well to frustrate Ferguson’s side, playing their first home match since last month’s 6-1 thrashing by Manchester City.

Fabio brought the crowd to its feet with a stirring individual run which carried the Brazilian fullback from inside his own half into the Galati penalty area but the foray came to nothing.

Jones, by far United’s most threatening player early on, went close on 33 minutes but his curling shot was deflected behind for a corner.

United’s best spell came in the closing minutes of the first half, with the lively Hernandez stretching the visiting team’s back four.

The Mexican livewire was released by Berbatov down the left only for Galati captain Sergiu Costin to snuff out the danger with a well-timed tackle.

Costin was pressed into action

again in the 41st minute, again thwarting Hernandez after a lovely through ball from Rooney.

Yet Galati caused a scare for United in the 42nd minute, when Ionut Neagu pounced on a stray pass from Nani to home in on goal.

The striker’s shot took a wicked deflection off Rio Ferdinand but David de Gea did brilliantly to save one-handed as United breathed again.

United started the second half with more purpose but despite the best efforts of Rooney, the game remained strangely flat.

United’s early pressure almost yielded a goal soon after the restart but Berbatov ’s low cross for Anderson was well cut out by keeper Branko Grahovac.

On 58 minutes Anderson and Berbatov combined again to threaten the Galati goal, playing a neat one -two before Anderson dinked his shot beyond Grahovac only for Costin to scramble the goal-bound effort off the line.

With the clock running down, Rooney made sure of the victory when his shot from outside the area took a big deflection off Cristian Sarghi to beat Grahovac on 87 minutes. —AFP

Ronaldo brings up century as Real stroll into last 16 LONDON: Manchester United’s Nani (left) vies for the ball against Otelul Galati’s Ionut Neagu during their Champions League Group C soccer match at Old Trafford. —AP

LYON: Real Madrid finally ended their Stade de Gerland hoodoo as Cristiano Ronaldo scored in each half to give the Spanish giants a 2-0 win over Lyon here yesterday that seals their place in the Champions League knockout stages.

Ronaldo’s brilliantly-struck freekick set the visitors on course midway through the first-half, and the Por tuguese netted his and his side’s second from the penalty spot after 69 minutes to bring up his century of goals for Real after just two years there.

His goals also gave Real their first win in five attempts in Lyon and maintained their per fect record after four games in Group D. With 12 points, they are now beyond the reach of both Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb-who lost 3-0 to Ajax in the evening’s other Group D game-and a win against the Croats at the Santiago Bernabeu later this month will ensure that Jose Mourinho’s men go into the last 16 as winners of the section.

Lyon meanwhile, can ill afford a slip up when they host Ajax in their next game if they are to reach the knockout stages for the ninth season running.

Half a dozen years ago, Lyon could have been considered favourites coming into this game, but times have changed, and Real’s comfortable wins in their last two meetings with the Ligue 1 club in Spain proved that they no longer had any reason to fear coming here.

OL were deprived of two of their main attacking threats in Michel Bastos and Lisandro Lopez-both injured-and they never recovered from being utterly outplayed in the opening half-hour.

Preferred to Gonzalo Higuain in attack against his former club, Karim Benzema could have given the visitors the lead inside ten minutes, but, when clean through on goal, he saw his shot turned behind by France colleague Hugo Lloris. However, with Lyon unable to deal with their opponents’ work rate and incessant pressing, a goal was not far away, and it duly arrived midway through the first period.

Benzema was brought down

Lyon began to show some signs of life as half-time approached, with Kim Kallstrom’s speculative effort almost surprising Iker Casillas before Yoann Gourcuff, who had been anonymous for most of the first half, was denied by a good Casillas save after being played in

by Bafetimbi Gomis.

For all their control, Mourinho must have had concerns about his team’s inability to kill the game off, and Lyon came out fighting after the restart.

FRANCE: (From left) Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso, Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mesut Ozil, celebrate after Ronaldo scored a goal against Lyon during their Champions League soccer match. —AP just outside the box, and Ronaldo stepped up to whip the resulting free-kick over the wall and into Lloris’ bottom-right corner for the club’s 900th in an illustrious European history.

Things could have been worse for Lyon, too, but Lloris again saved from Benzema after Ronaldo had beaten the offside trap and teed up the France striker.

Ederson-the Brazilian making a rare start after an injury-ravaged year was denied twice in quick succession by Spain’s World Cup-winning captain as Madrid lived dangerously.

But then Ronaldo tumbled inside the area midway through the second half, before getting up to score from the spot to effectively seal the three points for his side. —AFP

Bayern survive scare as Napoli fight back MUNICH: Bayern Munich suffered a second-half scare before sealing a 3-2 win over Napoli in the Champions League to stay top of Group A yesterday as both teams finished with 10 men.

Having cruised to a 3-0 lead at the break thanks to Mario Gomez’s first-half hat-trick, Bayern were left rattled as Argentina defender Federico Fernandez scored the second of two headers with ten minutes left to set up a tense finale.

Gomez’s treble means he has now scored 19 goals in all competitions this season for Bayern and this was the ninth time he has scored three goals or more for Munich since joining from Stuttgart in 2009.

After Manchester City’s win over Villarreal in Spain, Bayern are now three points clear at the top of Group A with two games remaining.

Defeat means Napoli drop to third in the table and will be without Colombia winger Juan Zuniga for their next game at home to City on November 22 after he was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

Likewise, Bayern will be without Germany defender Holger Badstuber for their next game at home to Villarreal the same night as he was also shown two yellow cards.

Bayern’s victory may have come at a heavy price as Bayern had Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger stretchered off in the second-half with a suspected dislocated right shoulder.

Bayern opened the scoring on 17 minutes when Gomez turned his defender and smashed his shot past Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis. The 26-year-old then left the Italians reeling when he netted his second just six minutes later.

A long-range pass from Germany colleague Toni Kroos found him unmarked at the far post and with the Napoli defence desperate for him to be offside, the flag stayed down and he volleyed home to make it 2-0 after just 23 minutes.

To add injury to insult, while Napoli struggled to get a replacement on for injured defender Salvatore Aronica, the hattrick was completed on 41 minutes when De Sanctis parried a Kroos shot and Gomez had an easy tap in.

Napoli started the fight-back when Fernandez headed home on 45 minutes. It was the first time Bayern have conceded a goal in Munich since August 7, having scored 36 goals in the process.

Napoli were reduced to ten men when Zuniga scythed down Ribery on 70 minutes, just a minute after earning his first yellow for a similar offence and referee Bjorn Kuipers had no hesitation in giving him a second booking and the red card.

Badstuber followed soon after for a heavy foul on Edison Cavani on 77 minutes which saw him earn his second yellow of the game before Fernandez struck again to set up a tense final ten minutes. —AFP

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Sony warns of fourth annual loss, flags $2.2bn TV loss Page 25

Wall St fears US debt crisis as Europe reels Page 26

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

India says ‘more needs to be done’ on euro crisis

BEST Electronics launches Kuwait’s biggest electronics showroom Page 26

Page 22

CANNES: Oxfam, activists wearing masks, left to right, of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, unidentified unmasked Oxfam activist, US president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of Mexico Felipe Calderon, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, during a demonstration in Nice, southeastern France, against G20 summit of Cannes, yesterday. — AP

EU told of referendum plan: Greece Banks warn G20 over higher capital demands ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told EU countries of his intention to put the European bail-out plan to a referendum, official spokesman Ilios Mossialos said yesterday in reply to criticism. “He informed them of his intentions,” Mossialos told Vima radio, while admitting that Papandreou gave no timing for the announcement, saying it was “confidential.”

Papandreou’s surprise announcement late Monday that he planned to put the package to a national vote sent markets plunging and prompted an angry response from politicians in other European Union members. The referendum threw into doubt the eurozone’s plan to resolve the crisis with a major write-off of Greek debts, support for banks to absorb their losses and a major boost in the firepower of the EU rescue fund.

Mossialos defended Papandreou’s actions in the name of “national sovereignty” and said a referendum was needed to iron out the “hypocrisy” in Greece’s mostly right-wing

opposition, accused of publicly criticising a plan which is generally accepted lower down in the party ranks.

The referendum could be held as soon as “the general principles” of the new aid package are set out, he said. Papandreou was battling for his political life yesterday after narrowly securing cabinet backing for the controversial referendum ahead of a confidence vote in parliament planned for Friday.

The Greek premier was expected to face tough questions at a working dinner later Wednesday in Cannes, France, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU president Herman Van Rompuy, EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

Since Monday there had been a general warming to the idea of the referendum, said Mossialos, leaning particularly on what he called a “not critical” reaction from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble yester-

Divided Fed meets to discuss battle plan WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve is not expected to declare any strong steps to boost the economy yesterday even as high joblessness, weak consumer spending and the lifeless housing sector boost arguments for more stimulus.

But minor adjustments to policy could emerge at the end of the two-day meeting that could aim at shoring up the confidence of businesses to invest and hire over the long term. With economic growth tepid but not slowing, the central bank’s policy committee, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), has been divided over whether more stimulus is merited, with a handful of members warning that the return of higher inflation is the greater danger.

Analysts think the Fed will remain more focused on the economy’s deep weaknessesespecially sluggish job creation-and seek to send a strong signal as to how long it will try to keep interest rates at their current ultra-low level. The main indicator could be the Fed’s new forecasts for economic growth, through 2014, analysts say.

“It will be interesting to see how those pan out, as the staff has talked in the minutes (of the previous FOMC meeting) about lower and lower expectations for growth, but third-quar-

ter GDP was so much better than expected,” said Chris Low of FTN Financial Group.

Last week the government’s first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product growth, at 2.5 percent, was nearly double the prior quarter’s rate, surprising most analysts.

But it was still not seen as strong enough to begin reeling in any stimulus measures.

The FOMC policy statement, to be released at 1630 GMT, will follow releases of private-sector October jobs statistics early yesterday that showed a decline in planned job cuts and a slower increase in job creation. The latest data offered no sign of significant improvement in the distressed labor market, where the unemployment rate stood at 9.1 percent for the third straight month in September.

The Fed has limited tools to boost the economy: its key interest rate has been locked at 00.25 percent for nearly three years; it has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy, via bond purchases, to push down lending rates; and it has promised to keep interest rates low through mid-2013. At the September FOMC meeting, its conventional arsenal limited, the Fed announced it would shift $400 billion in shorter-term bond holdings to longer-term ones, with the aim of lowering long-term interest rates. —AFP

day. Schaeuble called on Greece to rid itself of any doubts about accepting the EU summit deal “as quickly as possible”, all the while reiterating that there were “strong arguments” for agreeing to the deal.

But French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesterday he regretted Greece’s “unilateral” call for a referendum and that Greeks must say quickly if they want to keep the euro. He said “there is nothing to reproach the Greek prime minister for in holding a referendum.” But he added: “He can be reproached for having negotiated for hours and hours to reach a unanimously signed deal without ever indicating the possibility of holding this referendum to his partners in the EU.” The International Finance Institute-which represents the world’s biggest banks-also reiterated its desire to move forward with a deal, again encouraging private banks to accept losses of up to 50 percent so as to avoid default. The government believed that “it would all work out” to put the EU deal in place,

said Mossialos.

Meanwhile, leading global banks warned the Group of 20 major economies yesterday that demands for higher capital levels could push Europe’s economies back toward recession. In a letter to the G20 leaders, meeting in Cannes, France, Thursday and Friday, the Institute of International Finance, which represents hundreds of major banks worldwide, said recapitalization plans for Europe’s banks would cause “a number of serious problems” in a region still mired in crisis.

Banks are already weighed down by their holdings of debt of financially weak eurozone countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal, the IIF said. Moreover, banks are unlikely to raise new capital in current market conditions, with bank shares trading at half their book value and the cost of new debt issues some two percentage points higher than a year ago, it said.

Against that backdrop, it is inevitable that many European banks will shrink risk assetscut lending-rather than try to raise expensive

capital or accept forced capital injections, the IIF said. “This will add to the financial sector deleveraging and contractionary pressures already evident in Europe.”

The IIF said that if banks resort only to tapping earnings and cutting their risk assets to strengthen capital under targets for next year, that could mean cutting their euro-area loan exposure by five percent, effectively crunching credit to all borrowers. The banks warned that the broader global efforts for a tougher capital regimen “seem increasingly to be detached from the negative effect that they are having on the economic and financial market outlook.”

“Neither bank capital nor long-term funding can be raised in the quantities implied by the totality of current requirements without significant cost implications,” tightening the supply and raising the cost of credit. “With unemployment in the euro area now at over 16 millionan increase of over half a million in the past six months and nearly 5 million from pre-crisis levels-this is a very pressing concern.” — AFP

US job market in doldrums WASHINGTON: The unemployment scourge ravaging the United States showed no sign of letup in October, as the world’s biggest economy struggles to recover from recession, according to data released yesterday.

With Europe’s debt crisis escalating, threatening global growth, the entrenched high US jobless rate undermines the economy’s resilience against external shock. And it poses a challenge to President Barack Obama, whose $447 billion jobs creation bill is stalled in a gridlocked Congress, where Republican foes oppose new stimulus spending in the face of growing deficits.

The jobless rate has been stuck at 9.0 percent and above for all but two of the past 29 months.

After a pair of data releases Wednesday showed no significant improvement in private-sector jobs in the past month, analysts expect Friday’s Labor Department release of both private and public-sector employment figures for October will show the unemployment rate stuck at 9.1 percent for the fourth straight month. Private payrolls firm ADP reported yesterday that US companies added 110,000 net jobs last month, down from 116,000 in September.

The jobs growth in October, the start of the fourth quarter, was entirely due to the massive service sector and small and medi-

um-sized businesses, the firm said. The report “suggests that the recent trend in private employment remains moderate, and probably is below a pace consistent with a stable unemployment rate,” ADP said.

Another report, by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said, showed US-based employers planned fewer job cuts in October after they hit a 28-month peak in September. But its data revealed the number of planned job cuts in the first 10 months of the year was still 16 percent higher than the same period last year.

With those unimpressive numbers under the belt, most analysts predict that Friday’s official data for last month will show the economy having spawned a total of just 85,000 net nonfarm jobs, down from created 103,000 in September, with private posts falling by 20,000, to 117,000.

“The sluggish recovery in employment is continuing, with private payroll growth still not even fast enough to keep unemployment from rising further in the mediumterm, never mind bringing it down,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.

ADP noted that October’s job creation reflected the sluggish pace of US economic growth seen earlier in the year. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) — the nation’s

output of goods and services-nearly stalled in the first half, rising only 0.4 percent in the first quarter and 1.3 percent in the second quarter.

But the GDP growth pace nearly doubled in the third quarter, to 2.5 percent. According to ADP, the service sector added jobs for the 20th consecutive month, but the number fell by 8,000 from the prior month, to 114,000.

Employment in the goods-producing sector and the manufacturing sector fell by a combined 12,000 jobs. Small firms, those with up to 49 workers, and medium-sized businesses, those with 50 to 499 workers, remained the engine of job growth, pumping out 58,000 and 53,000 posts, respectively. Bigger businesses eliminated 1,000 jobs.

According to Challenger, downsizing activity fell 63 percent to a June low, but the layoffs were still up 12.6 percent from October 2010.

The biggest declines in October job cuts occurred in the financial and government sectors, they still remained the top job-cutting sectors for the year. And John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, warned they remain most at-risk in potential mass layoffs amid the struggling economy. “The two sectors are not out of the woods, by any means,” Challenger said. — AFP

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BUSINESS

Canon Middle East strengthens presence of imageFormula document scanners in Kuwait

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

BEST Electronics launches Kuwait’s biggest electronics showroom KUWAIT: To implement its geographic expansion plan aiming at opening more BEST showrooms in the next years, Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons Co. organized a special celebration on the occasion of opening the biggest BEST electronics showroom in Kuwait, in Al-Rai Area. The event was attended by the Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait, the Company’s owners, a number of VIP guests and prominent figures, customers, media specialists and journalists.

The fourth showroom based in Al-Rai and to be the biggest in Kuwait, will enhance the special partnership between the internationally known BEST Denki Corporation and Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons Co. Through increasing the number of its showrooms, it seeks to enhance and provide its services to the largest possible base of customers. Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons Co. opened its first store of “BEST” Electronics in the Middle East in Hawally City on September 29, 2009. BEST Electronics has future plans to have partnerships with other international brands from all over the world when it opens its future showrooms.

Abdulaziz Al Yousifi, President of Best Electronics, delivered the opening address as he welcomed the honorable guests and attendees and thanked them for participating in that great celebration. On the same occasion, BEST Electronics invited a traditional Japanese Sumo sport wrestler to give the opportunity to its customers to take photos with a wrestler of such a famous sport. All customers were also invited to get a feel and see various modern products, exciting promotions and special prices.

As a preferred partner for some of the world’s leading brands, Easa Husain AlYousifi & Sons Company retail network has made it a natural choice for manufacturers like BEST Denki who wish to establish their products in Kuwait’s market.

The company’s concentration on improving the quality of life for its customers has been rewarded in more than financial terms.

It received ISO-9002 certification in 1999 and ISO-9001 certification in 2000.

DUBAI: Canon Middle East (CME), the world’s leading innovator of imaging products, has strengthened its lineup of imageFormula document scanners for digitization of documents and archiving solutions. A series of product demonstration seminars aimed at resellers and endusers in Kuwait was conducted recently, as part of initiatives to further strengthen its presence in the country’s robust market.

The Kuwait OIP DIMS seminar was organised by Naser Mohamed Al-Sayer Communications Co WLL, Canon Middle East ’s authorised distributor in the Kuwait market. The highlight among the product demonstrations OIP range of products included the personal, desktop, depar tmental, production and cheque scanners .

Seminar attendees included resellers and end-users from approximately 50 elite businesses from Banking, Government and Private sector who lauded CME and Al-Sayer, for the initiative, allowing them to understand the products better and appreciate how they can best help customers and end-users with their scanning needs.

“Canon Middle East is committed to providing the highest standards of support in the industry, with a customer focused approach to both sales and service. The Kuwait T2 & enduser seminar provided the right platform for resellers and end users to understand our range of products and how these

can help drive their respective businesses,” said Mr Naoshi Yamada, Deputy Managing Director, Canon Middle East.

Amongst the products that received an enthusiastic response from the attendees include cheque scanners touted as the fastest in the market and P-150 personal scanners were lauded for their compact design, featuring the world’s first “plug & scan” technology, automatic document feeder and unbeatable scan speeds. Also launched were 2 new models imageFormula DRC125 & DRM160 in desktop work group criteria setting a new benchmark in speed while not compromising on quality (resolution). “ There was also a strong positive feedback from the attendees on speed, imprinter, auto dust-cleanup & staple detection functionality on the production line up which gives them and endusers greater confidence in the quality and reliability, in addition to the outstanding ‘solution bundling’ of the product,” said Nabil Iskandarani, General Manager, Naser Al-Sayer.

The OIP DIMS seminar in Kuwait is the latest in a series of ‘Closer to Customer’ events organised by CME to commemorate the occasion of 10 years celebrations for business in Middle East region and provided Tier Two partners and endusers with insight into the new Canon line up and forthcoming strategies relating to the new products, development of Channels and marketing initiatives.

IKEA recalls a limited number of PAX AURLAND Mirror Door KUWAIT: IKEA kindly asks customers who have a PAX wardrobe with AURLAND mirror door to immediately return it to the IKEA store where they will receive a full refund.

It has been reported that the large mirror of the wardrobe can detach and

fall, creating sharp shards when it breaks. The mirror is heavy and combined with the risk of breaking it poses a hazard to users. The affected PAX AURLAND production weeks are 39 to 48 (2010). The product name PAX AURLAND and the production week and supplier number is printed on the rear of the mirror door, lower edge.

Customers with a PAX AURLAND mirror door are asked to contact IKEA Customer Service toll-free at 1840408 to receive instructions on how to receive a replacement mirror door for free of charge.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2720000 .4370000 .3760000 .3080000 .2680000 .2840000 .0040000 .0020000 .0745780 .7265880 .3810000 .0700000 .7122870 .0040000 .0430000

.2780000 .4500000 .3880000 .3190000 .2770000 .2930000 .0072500 .0035000 .0753270 .7338900 .4010000 .0760000 .7194450 .0072000 .0530000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2747000 .27680000 GB Pound/KD .4398910 .4432540 Euro .3784400 .3813340 Swiss francs .3108870 .3132640 Canadian dollars .2707200 .2727900 Danish Kroner .0508600 .0512490 Swedish Kroner .0417030 .0420220 Australian dlr .2861550 .2883430 Hong Kong dlr .0353550 .0356250 Singapore dlr .2164530 .2181070 Japanese yen .0035180 .0035450 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0056490 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0025200 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0032340 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0036520 UAE dirhams .0748200 .0753920 Bahraini dinars .7289370 .7345130 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .3915130 Saudi Riyal/KD .0732730 .0738330 Omani riyals .7137850 .7192410 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0065050

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.553 5.598 3.204 2.501 3.554 217.400 35.546 3.617 6.432 8.957 0.271 0.273

GCC COUNTRIES 73.656 75.893 717.420 733.630 75.211

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 48.650 46.244 1.264 194.640 390.050 185.300 5.963 34.341

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 276.100 Euro 380.600 Sterling Pound 442.590 Canadian dollar 272.560 Turkish lire 154.440 Swiss Franc 313.390 Australian dollar 285.760 US Dollar Buying 274.900

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria

SELL CASH 289.900 733.910 3.730 274.600 542.000 36.700 53.000 167.800 48.120 382.500 36.220 5.960 0.032 0.226 0.240 3.630 391.640 0.187 90.840 46.400 4.250 222.400 1.788

51.500 716.780 3.260 6.560 76.340 73.680 221.820 37.010 2.607 445.000 43.800 315.000 5.500 9.360 198.263 75.240 276.300 1.200

716.600 3.215 6.445 75.910 73.680 221.820 37.010 2.500 443.000 313.500 5.500 9.160 75.140 275.900

10 Tola

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 443.000 275.900

Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL DRAFT 288.400 733.910 3.618 273.100

221.800 46.267 381.000 36.070 5.600 0.032

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

290.33 275.22 317.08 383.16 444.55 3.59 3.630 5.597 2.504 3.500 3.203 75.10 733.88 46.27 392.52 717.04 76.08 73.67

292.00 277.00 317.00 385.00 446.00 3.62 3.705 5.930 2.600 4.250 3.350 75.50 734.00 48.10 392.00 717.00 76.50 74.00

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 391.030 0.186 90.840 3.520 220.900

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

Selling Rate 273.850 277.615 442.140 389.790 317.635 726.070

UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

74.535 75.165 72.990 385.475 45.923 2.482 5.619 3.164 3.606 6.425 671.723 3.710 9.070 5.765 3.560 90.965

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

GOLD 1,784.190

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

GOLD 316.000 160.000 82.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Currency Rate per 1000 (Tran) US Dollar 275.900 Pak Rupees 3.205 Indian Rupees 5.600 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.515 Bangladesh Taka 3.630 Philippines Peso 6.475 UAE Dirhams 75.220 Saudi Riyals 73.730 Bahraini Dinars 733.500 Egyptian Pounds 46.290 Pound Sterling 446.300 Indonesian Rupiah 3.190 Yemeni Riyal 1.550 Jordanian Dinars 392.000 Syrian Pounds 5.750 Euro 384.100 Canadian Dollars 276.400 Nepali rupee 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 275.550 Euro 382.400 Pound Sterling 443.300 Canadian Dollar 273.900 Japanese Yen 3.555 Indian Rupee 5.608 Egyptian Pound 46.225 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.500 Bangladesh Taka 3.620 Philippines Peso 6.430 Pakistan Rupee 3.205 Bahraini Dinar 733.850 UAE Dirham 75.100 Saudi Riyal 73.550 *Rates are subject to change

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

BUSINESS

Get prepaid internet from VIVA with daily, weekly subscriptions KUWAIT: In line with its commitment to continuously provide unique and special offers to its customers, Kuwait Telecommunication Company VIVA is pleased to announce the launch of its new prepaid internet plans with daily and weekly subscriptions. The subscribers for this offer will have multiple chances to win luxurious cars presented by VIVA in the ongoing “Win a car every week” campaign.

This new offer is designed to make it easier for customers to surf the net anytime and communicate with friends and families, as it is available in affordable prices suitable to all of its customers’ needs and requirements.

VIVA Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Abdul Razzaq Al Essa commented “this offer comes as part of a bundle of packages that VIVA has launched lately to meet the customers’ expectations and provide them with reliable internet services, as our network covering all regions in Kuwait, has been upgraded lately to

Dr Manar A Al-Moneef

GE appoints veteran Dr Manar Al-Moneef to drive innovation DUBAI: GE has announced the appointment of Dr Manar A Al-Moneef, a Saudi Arabian national and experienced healthcare professional, as the Managing Director of Imagination Breakthrough in the Middle East and Pakistan.

Dr Al-Moneef will be responsible for leading the business development of GE Healthcare, the healthcare operations of the company in the region, and providing strategic and technical consultancy for launching new applications and products in key emerging markets before taking them globally.

Ali Saleh, GE Healthcare’s General Manager, for Market Development, Eastern and Africa Growth markets said: “The Middle East region is focusing on innovation and original thinking to meet the pressing healthcare challenges, including a growing incidence of lifestyle diseases and rising healthcare bills. Dr. Manar Al-Moneef has proven competencies in the healthcare sector of the region, and she will drive our healthcare business growth with a focus on healthymagination, GE’s commitment to deliver better quality care to more people at lower costs.”

Dr Al-Moneef said: “The healthcare requirements of the region are unique and call for ingenious solutions in addressing local challenges. GE’s emphasis on innovation and imagination enable our professionals to think beyond conventional boundaries, and create breakthrough innovations that will help improve the state of medical care.”

Regarded as an enterprising visionary who combines outstanding life science and business development talents, Dr Al-Moneef was the Director General of Health Care & Life Sciences at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), previously.

She has worked as Director of Molecular Pathology & Genetics at King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was also appointed as an Assistant Professor at King Saud University for Medical Studies.

Dr Al-Moneef has a Doctoral Degree in Molecular Oncology from Leicester Warwick University, United Kingdom and a Master Degree in Molecular Medicine form Cambridge University, United Kingdom. She has published several papers on Molecular Medicine, health care and life science strategies.

With over 10,000 GE healthcare technologies serving a large network of hospitals and healthcare providers, GE has a strong presence in the Middle East. The company has a long history of public and private sector partnerships in the region, where it supports healthcare providers with advanced technologies and solutions to address the full spectrum of medical needs.

cope with the latest broadband technologies” The offer comes in two packages, daily and weekly with an internet speed up to 7.2 mbps. The daily offer lasts for 24 hours during which the subscriber gets 500 MB along with 3 chances to enter the weekly draw for VIVA cars, and all that is for 1 KD only.

Whereas, the weekly offer gives the subscriber 2 GB that can be used within 7 days, starting from the day of subscription, in addition to that the subscriber gets 15 chances to enter the weekly draw.

To subscribe for these packages, customers can visit any of VIVA branches or their authorized dealers, and each subscriber can have a football USB for an extra 3 KD only.

For more information about this offer & other promotions & services, kindly visit any of our branches in Kuwait, or you can visit our website www.viva.com.kw.

Abdul Razzaq Al-Essa

Deputy King praises Bahraini people’s cohesion BAHRAIN: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Deputy King and Crown Prince of Bahrain emphasized that the greatest guarantee for continuity of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s blessed development and growth under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Monarch of the Kingdom of Bahrain is the cohesion of citizens and residents who love this good land and coexist in the spirit of one united family and he praised the efforts and contributions of people active in the various economic sectors to preserve the interest of our beloved Kingdom.

His Royal Highness praised the role of businessman Yusuf Ali, proprietor of Lulu International Group and Lulu Hypermarket departmental stores in the GCC when His Royal Highness received the Indian dignitary in Riffa Palace yesterday and lauded the keen efforts he undertook for the best interest of Bahrain and his supporting of the country under all circumstances which truly expresses the fraternity, amity and loyalty of the Indian community who are resident in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

On the other hand, businessman Yusuf Ali expressed his utmost gratitude and appreciation for the support provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain’s wise leadership to develop the business sector which is one of the vital sectors in the country and hailed His Majesty the King, the government, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the people for their support and hailed the role of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in supporting the economic sector which is the sure guarantee for continuous growth of investments in the Kingdom.

Yusuf said that he strongly believe in the noble values for which everybody in the Kingdom of Bahrain is well-known that gives the assurance, and reiterated his commitment to reciprocate to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s generosity in view of the advantages and facilities offered by Bahrain to the business sector and praised the good atmospheres enjoyed by the Indian community here over the decades.

The meeting was attended by the Crown Prince court’s president Shaikh Khalifa bin Daij Al Khalifa.

BAHRAIN: Businessman Yusuf Ali with Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa

IFC to inject $800m in Iraq’s private sector BAGHDAD: The World Bank’s investment arm aims to pump around $800 million mainly into Iraq’s energy and banking industries over the next three years to help boost development in the private sector, a senior IFC official said yesterday.

Rashad Kaldany, vice president of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), said between $300 million and $500 million of the capital would go to projects to collect gas that is currently flared at oilfields. “What we are looking to do over a three-year period is to provide financing (of) about $800 million ... (this) would be our goal,” Kaldany told Reuters in an interview.

Kaldany said the IFC would focus primarily on developing the gas, power generation, banking and construction materials industries, but also the agricultural and housing sectors. Iraq’s infrastructure needs a massive overhaul after decades of war and economic sanctions and investment is required in all sectors.

Private industry remains relatively small compared with stateowned enterprises and the government is still the biggest employer almost nine years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Iraq depends on oil exports for 95 percent of government revenue. The IFC granted a $400 million seven-year debt facility to the Iraqi unit of Kuwait-based tele-

coms firm Zain in February to help it expand and improve services. Kaldany said the IFC was in talks with another mobile operator in Iraq for a loan, but declined to give further details.

The IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. It opened its first office in Iraq this year. Kaldany said the IFC was looking at providing between $50 million and $100 million through a combination of loans and taking stakes in power generation projects run by both local and foreign firms.

It also plans to dedicate $50 million to $100 million to loans or equity of private banks. OPEC member Iraq sits on the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves. Its estimated gas reserves are the world’s 10th largest, according to data from the US energy department. But in most of Iraq, people receive only a few hours of electricity a day from the grid and intermittent power is one of Iraqis’ biggest gripes. Kaldany said two of the biggest hurdles in the development of Iraq were bureaucracy and a primitive financial sector. “What we are looking to do is to support the development of the banking system both through funding but also to help them with the advisory services and to get new financial instruments into the market,” Kaldany said.—Reuters

Hisense Partners with X-cite

by Alghanim Electronics Hisense Group has recently partnered up with X-cite by Alghanim Electronics to introduce its wide range of products to the Kuwaiti market.

Founded in 1969, Hisense has now developed into a multibillion-dollar global conglomerate, which has two listed companies and owns three famous trademarks (Hisense, Kelon and Ronshen). It provides a wide range of products and services including multimedia, home appliances, telecommunication devices and information technology. Hisense continues to expand its business into the top of high-end industries through dedicated technological research and development.

Hisense products are sold in over 130 countries and employs 60,000 people globally with six R&D centers spread across the world and 20 manufacturing facilities dispersed throughout South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and China, in addition to sales offices in the United States, Europe, Australia, Middle East and Southeast Asia. With our international footprint, we can ensure that Hisense’s technological innovation and products are always at the forefront of the consumer electronics industry.

Hisense has partnered with retail and electronics market leader, X-cite by Alghanim Electronics to launch its innovative and smart products in Kuwait. Alex Zhu, President, Hisense Middle East and Africa expressed that, “Kuwait is of strategic importance in the Middle East and we want to ensure that we are partnered with the best in the market.” Samer Sayegh, Vice President of Alghanim Electronics, “At X-cite, we take pride in bringing the best products from all over the world to our customers in Kuwait.

Hisense is a market leader with great potential in Kuwait and we are proud to introduce Hisense products in all X-cite by Alghanim Electronics outlets in Kuwait.”

X-cite is the largest consumer electronics retailer in Kuwait and the Middle East. The retailer delivers a modern, dynamic and convenient shopping experience with the primary objective of delighting its customers. With touch and feel displays, cash and carry shopping, a highly trained multilingual sales staff and the latest gadgets and gizmos, shopping at X-cite is an unforgettable experience. Operating a network of 16 stores, X-cite’s customers are offered an unparalleled shopping experience by providing access to amazing range of international brands under one roof at guaranteed lowest prices. The X-cite experience is further enhanced by providing customers with Easy Credit, 24-hour shopping in select outlets and extended warranty programs with 24-hour free delivery and installation services.

Global food prices remain high, hits poorest nations WASHINGTON: Global food prices remain high and volatile, hitting the poorest countries hardest and adding to the strains facing the global economy, according to the World Bank Group’s new Food Price Watch released ahead of the G-20 Summit in Cannes, France. While the Bank’s food price index has dropped 5 percent from its February 2011 peak and dipped marginally in September by one percent, it remains 19 percent above its September 2010 levels.

“The food crisis is far from over,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick, who has urged the G-20 to put food first. “Prices remain volatile and millions of people around the world are still suffering. The World Bank has been working closely with the French Presidency of the G20 and our partner international organizations on actions to protect the most vulnerable from the dangers of food price volatility, while also addressing some of its root causes. Let’s remember, averting crisis is not just about banks and debt. Millions of people around the world face a daily crisis of hunger and malnutrition. At Cannes, the G-20 can and should take steps to address their needs.”

The Group of 20 heads of government, who are meeting in Cannes Nov. 3- 4 to discuss the global economy, are expected to endorse a package of concrete actions to improve transparency and policy coordination to detect and correct problems early; to help countries manage price volatility using sound risk management tools; to pro-

mote more productive and resilient agriculture; and to get food to the needy fast through emergency regional humanitarian food reserves and agreement not to ban exports of food for World Food Programme.

As the world population reaches a staggering 7 billion people, it is more important than ever for the global community to galvanize around actions to improve food security.

According to Food Price Watch, a quarterly report, recent floods in Thailand?the worst in 50 years?may add uncertainty in the short run following estimated production losses of between 16 to 24 percent of total production. In the meantime, the food crisis in the Horn of Africa continues, affecting over 13.3 million people in the regionan additional million since August, and the outlook remains frightening.

The report said prices of grains rose 30 percent (September 2010-September 2011), with maize increasing by 43 percent, rice by 26 percent and wheat 16 percent.

Soybean oil went up by 26 percent. Over the last quarter, however, an increase of 3 percent in the price of grains was roughly offset by a 3 percent decline in the prices of fats and oils.

Volatility, which is higher in low income countries, is expected to persist in the medium term due to multiple global and domestic factors. Structural factors contributing to the volatility include rising populations and changing diets, increasingly intertwined relations between food

and energy prices, and increasing production of biofuels.

On the other hand, a favorable outlook on supply and stocks is likely to relieve some of the pressure on global food prices. Latest forecasts show global wheat stocks reaching a 10-year high in 2011-12, global production of maize to rise by 4 percent from increased production in Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia, and Ukraine. Global rice output is also likely to get a boost in 2011-12 due to an expected bumper harvest in India following very favorable monsoon rains.

These production gains in some markets underscore the critical need to keep international markets open, to get food where it is needed, provide incentives to farmers who expand production, and avoid panic behavior created by export bans.

While a troubled global economy could dampen demand and push food prices down, the effect on developing countries would be mixed-hurting food exporting countries and poor producers in rural areas, and benefiting food importers and consumers. The problem, Food Price Watch warns, is that developing countries might have now limited resources to protect vulnerable populations following the economic crisis and stimulus spending.

In addition, fears associated with the global economy may affect medium to longterm investments in agricultural research and more productive agricultural techniques, especially amid persistent volatility.

Among the ongoing efforts to improve

Food Security Program (GAFSP), set up by the World Bank Group in April 2010 at G-20’s request, to assist country-led agriculture and food security plans and help promote investments in smallholder farmers. To date, six countries and the Gates Foundation have pledged about $971.5 million over the next three years, with $571 million received.

volatility-related information, the G-20 agriculture ministers introduced the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), officially launched in September, to increase market transparency on the short-term global food outlook, especially stocks, and to identify abnormal international market conditions in order to prompt early responses.

How the World Bank Group is helping to put food first • In the Horn of Africa, the World Bank Group is providing $1.88 billion to save lives, improve social protection, and foster economic recovery and drought resilience. More than 13 million people are affected by the crisis.

•

A first-of-its-kind World Bank Group risk management product, provided by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will enable up to $4 billion in protection from volatile food prices for farmers, food producers, and consumers in developing countries.

•

The Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP) is helping some 40 million people through $1.5 billion in support.

•

The World Bank Group is boosting its spending on agriculture to some $6 to $8 billion a year from $4.1 billion in 2008.

•

Supporting the Global Agriculture and

•

The World Bank Group is coordinating with UN agencies through the HighLevel task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and with NGOs.

•

The World Bank Group supports the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), which it helped to establish in 1971. In 2008, the CGIAR with the support of the World Bank and other donors launched a reform process, which culminated in the adoption of a comprehensive strategy that determines the new global research programs and a new funding model that prepares CGIAR to absorb and attract vastly more program funding, with a target annual budget of $1 billion by 2013, to which the World Bank contributes some $50 million per year. With agriculture production needing to rise some 70 percent by 2050, and with a five- to tenyear window to develop new varieties and get them to farmers, increased funding from the international community for global research is critical.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

business

KSE price index ends in green GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed yesterday’s session at a higher closing. The market started the early trading session on lower note and continue the south move most the trading hours. The last minute trading did the job as usual and reverse all the red colors to green.

Market Indices Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.33 percent, at 184.42 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day, reaching KWD30.19bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,916.8 point, adding 0.70 points (0.01 percent) to its previous close.

Market Breadth During the session, 98 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 37 equities declined versus 27 that advanced.

Daily Trading Activity Total volume traded was down by 45.06 percent with 94.09mn shares changing hands at a total value of KWD15.02mn (34.91 percent lower compared to Tuesday’s session). Investment sector was the volume leader, accounting for 46.93 percent of total shares exchanges. Bayan Investment Company was the session’s most traded stock with 15.28mn shares exchanged.

The services sector was the value leader, having 31.70 percent of total traded value.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, Al Dar National Real Estate Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 8.82 percent to its share value and closing at KWD0.0185. On the other hand, Al-Safat Investment Company shed 5.95 percent and closed at KWD0.079 making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors-Wise Three sectors witnessed gains during the day led by the banking sector, as Global Banking Sector Index increased by 1.24 percent on the back of the gains registered by Commercial Bank of Kuwait (+4.05 percent), and the two heavyweights, National Bank of Kuwait (+1.75 percent) and Kuwait Finance House (KFH).

KFH - the 3rd biggest stocks in terms of market capitalization in the market - registered a 27.27 percent decrease in net profit for 9M2011 compared to the corresponding period of 2010.

KFH net profit stood at KWD70.80mn for the

9M2011 compared to KWD97.34mn in 9M2010.

The scrip surprisingly closed up by 1.14 percent at KWD0.890.

Global Food index was the second biggest gainer, up 0.34 percent. The sector was backed

by Kuwait United Poultry Company and Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Company, which boosted by 7.94 percent and 5.32 percent, respectivly.

On the other hand, Global Investment index witnessed the steepest decline amongst sectoral indices, down 0.85 percent. Al-Safat Investment Company was a major loser in the market as mentioned above, followed by Al-Qurain Holding Company. The scrip closed down by 4.65 percent at KWD0.0205.

Services index was also a notable loser, down 0.38 percent on the back of a 1.06 percent decline in share price of Zain Company. In Global analyst comment on the company’s 3Q2011 results; the company reported net profit for the quarter was almost in-line with our estimate of KWD68.1mn (variance of 2.8.%).

The group’s top-line number for 3Q also came in-line with our estimate with a variance of 1.0%.

In 9M11, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of KWD988.1mn, reported a YoY decline of 2.2%.

The consolidated EBITDA reached KWD444.4mn in 9M11, down marginally by 0.7% YoY, with EBITDA margin of 45% (up from 44.3% in 9M10). The group reported a net profit (att. to

equity holders of the parent co.) of KWD210.2mn in 9M11. The company press release stated that 9M11 net profit was adversely affected by currency variances totaling USD100mn (KWD27.6mn).

Corporate News In reference to Avaiation Lease And Finance Company aircraft acquisition contracts in 2007, the company announced the amendment to the previous contracts where the number of contracted aircraft have decreased from 20 to 14. As a result, the company will realize a profit of KWD13mn, which will be reflected in the company’s financial statement for first quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Mena Real Estate Company announced that its fully owned subsidiary, MENA Turk Real Estate Company (Turkey), has entered into an 80:20 alliance with Sinan Real Estate Company to construct a 60,000 square meters residential project in Sapanca (Turkey) under the name of “Bahja”, for a total cost of USD21mn.

Oil News The price of Kuwaiti crude oil increased to USD105. 48pb on Tuesday, said the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday. The decrease came in light of US data that showed a slowing pace in growth in the industrial sector as well as fears of Greece’s bankruptcy.

MIDEAST STOCKS

Saudi index up ahead of holidays, Gulf mixed DUBAI/CAIRO: Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s markets closed higher yesterday, supported by gains in world stocks and higher oil prices ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that may hint at more monetary easing, while other Gulf markets slipped.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) added 0.5 percent after the petrochemicals producer launched a new venture capital arm to invest in new technology. The kingdom’s benchmark rose 1 percent, trimming 2011 losses so far to 6.1 percent. It ended lower on the previous three days after hitting a 12-week closing high of 6,236 points on Saturday.

“The market broke through 6,197 points for three days in high volume, which gives a buy signal and target of 6,350 points,” said Adel Al Badr a portfolio manager with Alinma Bank. Al Rajhi Bank , the largest listed lender by market value, was the main support, rising 1.8 percent. Samba Financial Group gained 3.8 percent and Banque Saudi Fransi climbed 3.5 percent.

Brent crude rose 1.2 percent to $110.85 a barrel at 1241 GMT, up after three days of losses, supported by hopes the Federal Reserve might hint at more measures to boost the US economy. World stocks held their gains. “Europe is still in flux. If there is evidence for a resolution, that could help give a direction,” said Asim Bukhtiar, head of research at Riyad Capital.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the backing of his cabinet yesterday to hold a referendum on a 130 billion euro bailout package, sending markets into a tailspin. Papandreou will later face the leaders of France and Germany, who summoned him for crisis talks in Cannes before a G20 summit of major world economies to push for quick implementation of the bailout deal.

Saudi Arabia’s bourse traded for the last day ahead of a week-long holiday marking Eid al-Adha. Other Gulf markets will be shut starting Nov. 6. In Qatar, the index ended 0.6 percent higher, recovering most of the losses of past two sessions.

“Markets are moving in a similar pattern as global trading,” said Robert Pramberger, acting head of asset management at Dohabased investment company The First Investor. Qatar National Bank gained 0.7 percent and was the main support. Industries

Qatar rose 1.4 percent.

Pramberger said that volumes picked up in the last week, with foreigner buyers coming in with a long-term view and on valuations. “Volumes will come back after Eid again, but I don’t see any major catalysts (for Qatar).” Elsewhere, Dubai’s index lost 0.4 percent, down for a third-day from Sunday’s four-week high.

Emaar Properties shed 1.1 percent, Dubai Investment slipped 1.7 percent and Aramex fell 1.7 percent.

“You’re having to change your investment horizon, which is short anyway, from bear to bull within 24-hours,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments. “For those weary investors, you need to stay out of that volatility and stick with low risk assets,” Arabi added.

Abu Dhabi’s index closed down 0.3 percent and Oman’s market shed 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s main index ended flat as buying of small and mid-cap stocks offset a decline by banks after Moody’s downgraded its ratings on five Egyptian lenders. National Societe Generale Bank fell 1.1 percent, Commercial International Bank shed 0.5 percent and Al Baraka Egypt Bank slipped 0.6 percent. The wider EGX70 index jumped 2.8 percent as local investors targeted companies that lagged a rally by the biggest stocks in the past three weeks, traders said.

SAUDI ARABIA The measure rose 1 percent to 6,216 points.

QATAR The benchmark gained 0.6 percent to 8,580 points.

DUBAI The index fell 0.4 percent to 1,377 points.

ABU DHABI The measure slipped 0.3 percent to 2,490 points.

OMAN The measure declined 0.5 percent to 5,556 points.

EGYPT The index eased 0.04 percent to 4,389 points.

KUWAIT The index edged up 0.01 percent to 5,917 points.

BAHRAIN The index advanced 0.2 percent to 1,148 points. — Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

BUSINESS

Global CCS investment on track, despite setbacks SINGAPORE: The world is on track to have 20 carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects by 2020, despite the high-profile cancellation of $l.5 billion in funding for a British plant last month, a leading industry proponent said yesterday.

A report by the Global CCS Institute on Wednesday also says CCS can be a cost-effective tool to curb greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gasfired power stations when compared with other lowcarbon emission technologies.

CCS involves trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) otherwise emitted by fossil fuel power plants, and piping it underground for long-term storage in spent oil fields or aquifers. The technology is also used in the natural gas sector and fertiliser making.

CCS is not yet competitive for the power sector but governments and the International Energy Agency see it as a key way to fight climate change by trapping and burying greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining stable energy supply.

While CCS is regarded as a part of the energy mix in coming decades, there are doubts about how

quickly it will be adopted and the rate at which the technology’s costs will fall. “Our view is a bit different,” said Brad Page, CEO of the Global CCS Institute, which is backed by governments and industry and based in Australia.

“Our latest status report shows there are 74 projects in progress around the world today. There are 8 in operation and another six under construction. Of those, 6 are power projects,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week. Another 12 would reach final investment decision over the coming year, with more than half of those power projects.

“If they keep going at the rate they are then the 20 projects by 2020 will be realised,” he said. He pointed to $25 billion pledged by governments globally to support CCS. The first two CCS projects for the power sector are under construction, one each in Canada and the United States, with these to earn money by using the recovered CO2 for oil extraction and then pumping the CO2 underground.

“The area that is a bit under-done at the moment

is around steelmaking and cement where we are not seeing any investment,” Paige said.

Costs, though, remain a major issue for cashstrapped governments. A British government decision last month to withdraw funding for the country’s first and most advanced CCS project at Longannet in Scotland has underscored critics’ doubts that CCS can reach commercial scale by the end of the decade.

Late last month, the government said it had dropped funding for the project that would have trapped emissions in a 330 megawatt unit but that the one billion pounds in subsidies would be dedicated to a different CCS project. Projects have also been delayed or cancelled in Norway, Dubai and the United States. CCS also consumes large amounts of a power stations’ energy, adding to costs.

The institute’s report said it found hydropower and onshore wind technologies to be among the lowest-cost options for reducing emissions from the power sector. Once these technologies are fully exploited or in countries where they are not an

option, CCS becomes very competitive, it said.

The cost of cutting or avoiding CO2 emissions for a coal-fired power plant fitted with current CCS technology ranges from US$23 to $92 per tonne of CO2 and is a little higher for natural gas-fired power plants, the report said.

This compared to an avoided cost of $90 to $176 per tonne for offshore wind, $139 to $201 per tonne for solar thermal and more for solar photovoltaic, or PV. Page was optimistic about China’s move towards CCS. “China has six projects that we can identify already. These are at earlier stages than others but they are also large and ambitious projects.”

But he couldn’t see major investment in CCS in Australia in the short-term, despite parliament’s expected approval of carbon pricing scheme next week. The scheme starts July 2012. He said a carbon price starting at A$23 was not about to trigger huge investment in CCS to cut emissions from coal-fired power stations, which supply about 75 percent of the nation’s electricity. “The cost gap is probably double that in Australia.” — Reuters

Sony warns of fourth annual loss, flags $2.2bn TV loss Trims sales target for cameras, computers

BEIJING: In a picture taken on November 1, 2011 visitors look at a train on display during the Metro China 2011 at the China international exhibtion center in Beijing. China’s cashstrapped railways ministry will receive 200 billion yuan ($31.5 billion USD) in financial support to help fund projects, the official Xinhua news agency said. China has developed its vast transport network at breakneck speed, building the world’s largest high-speed rail system from scratch in less than a decade. — AFP

Chinese economy on track despite risks BEIJING: China’s economy is on the right track and the government will take a flexible policy approach to dealing with the risks it faces, Vice Finance Minister Li Yong said yesterday. He singled out global inflation pressures that would likely extend into next year, adding prices were still elevated in China, and said the world’s second-biggest economy faces rising protectionism and foreign exchange volatility.

“China’s economy continues to move in the right direction. Growth is relatively fast,” Li said, speaking at a conference organised by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. He said macroeconomic policies will be more “forward-looking and flexible” to deal with any difficulties ahead.

Li’s concerns about external conditions were echoed in separate comments by a vice chairman of China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission.

“Commodity prices in the international markets may become more volatile next year,” Peng Sen said in a statement on NDRC’s website (www.ndrc.gov.cn).

International commodity prices are a key area of concern for Chinese policymakers given the country’s huge consumption and imports of raw materials.

Peng was more sanguine about China’s inflation risks, saying he expected the headline consumer prices index to ease further in the coming months. “At present, prices are stabilising and are under overall control,” Peng said. “China’s CPI has peaked at 6.5 percent in July before easing to 6.2 percent in August and 6.1 percent in September, and we are expecting to see a further fall in the coming period of time.”

Recent data on the Chinese economy has been patchy. GDP grew 9.1 percent from a year earlier, the third consecutive quarterly slowdown in growth after 9.5 percent growth in the second quarter and 9.7 percent in the first.

Other figures suggest the domestic economy is growing healthily. Fixed-asset investment, the main driver of growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, and retail sales-published alongside GDPwere stronger than expected .

Meanwhile China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Tuesday fell to 50.4 as big manufacturers ran at their slowest pace in October since early 2009.

The National Bureau of Statistics blamed the drop on weak European and US economies .

There were signs of a bounce-back at smaller firms in a private sector PMI survey, by HSBC and data firm Markit, rising in October to 51.0 from 49.9 in September, its first rise above 50 that demarcates contraction from expansion since June.

Exporters have struggled as the global economic backdrop has darkened.

Exports were a net drag on China’s economic growth in the first nine months of the year, and Li said firms in the sector

faced difficulties from a combination of appreciation of the yuan currency and protectionism.

The yuan has gained around three percent this year versus the dollar, continuing a trend that has seen it rally about 40 percent in real inflation adjusted terms against the greenback since a July 2005 landmark revaluation.

Some international economists believe China may be preparing to slow that appreciation, given the external economic risks, repeating action taken at the peak of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis when the yuan was essentially put on hold before being released again in mid-2010 .

China’s sensitivity to the currency issue-and criticism of its foreign exchange regime-was highlighted in a commentary on Wednesday by the state news agency, Xinhua, headlined: “Targeting yuan is no antidote to global economic woes”. Li said the government’s pro-active fiscal policy since the global financial crisis had not only supported infrastructure projects but also helped curb inflation by boosting the supply of agricultural products.

He said the government would spend more on low-cost housing projects and tax cuts for the service industry and that Beijing needs to deepen fiscal reforms.

China raised the threshold for valueadded and business taxes on Monday in a move seen as an effort to support small and medium-sized businesses.

The recent run of data reinforces the consensus view that Chinese interest rates will remain on hold as Beijing balances a fight against inflation with concerns that growth is slowing. Many investment bank economists believe China will conduct more fine-tuning via a policy of so-called selective easing to help specific sectors of industry.

Li, meanwhile, played down the risks surrounding local government debt and Chinese banks’ exposure to possible bad loans, two areas of concern to international investors. Li said China was alert to risks in the domestic property market, where prices in key cities across the country have risen 10-fold in the last 10 years, fuelling a speculative bubble and public discontent as ordinary working families have been priced out of the market.

“China faces big risks in controlling the property sector,” he said, adding that China will not repeat other countries’ failure in warding off property bubbles. The popping of the US real estate bubble triggered the global financial turmoil of 2008/2009, fallout from which set off Europe’s debt crisis.

Europe-China’s largest export marketis still struggling to resolve its debt problems, leading many investors to believe external risks to the Chinese economy are high. Li said China would work with other countries and multilateral lenders, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to help Europe cope with its debt crisis. — Reuters

TOKYO: Sony Corp surprised investors yesterday by warning it is heading for its fourth straight annual net loss and that its TV business alone would produce a loss of $2.2 billion due to tumbling demand and a surging yen.

The maker of Bravia TVs, Vaio computers and PlayStation game consoles cut its sales forecast for TVs, cameras and DVD players yesterday and said it may report 90 billion yen ($1.1 billion) net loss in the current financial year, scrapping its earlier net profit estimate of 60 billion yen.

Investors had expected Sony to reduce its profit forecast, but not flag a swing to massive losses.

Sony vowed to bring an end to losses in its TV division, which it expects to report its eighth straight annual loss. But it gave scant details of a plan to halve losses next year and drag the unit into the black by March 2014.

“I am surprised at the extent of the losses and I was anticipating TV restructuring, so I feel let down on both counts,” said Shigeo Sugawara, senior investment manager at Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management, which owns Sony shares. “We were focused on what would happen to Sony’s TV division, but I don’t see any drastic restructuring steps, in fact I can’t even see any signs they’ve begun to cut,” he added. Sony said it would revamp LCD panel procurement, but second-in-command Kazuo Hirai declined to comment on reports it would end a panel joint venture with Samsung Electronics.

The lack of firm details from Hirai, in a rare appearance at an earnings conference yesterday, dashed investor hopes that the once-stellar brand is at last getting to grips with its struggling TV business and can challenge smartphone rivals.

Sony said it expected TV losses to be 175 billion yen ($2.2 billion) this financial year, including a 50 billion yen impairment charge. It cut TV sales forecast by 9 percent to 20 million sets, its second reduction this year.

“The TV business is an essential part of Sony’s growth strategy. We, as management, feel a great sense of crisis after seven straight years of losses,” Hirai, executive deputy president, told a briefing.

He described this year’s losses as a necessary step towards recovery.

Hirai, appointed to the company’s No. 2 position this year, must map out a plan for earnings growth if he is to take over the top job from Welsh-born Howard Stringer, analysts said.

Shares of Sony tumbled 3.6 percent to 1,520 yen yesterday, although the results were released

after the close of Tokyo’s market. It resumes trading tomorrow after a public holiday today. Sony, which also cut its full-year operating-profit outlook by 90 percent to its lowest level in three years, said earlier this week that it would split its television business into three divisions of outsourcing, LCD TVs and next-generation TVs from Nov. 1 to turn around the operation.

Sony might also pull out of its flat-screen venture with Samsung Electronics Co, sources say, which will enable it to cut panel supply costs and improve its TV business earnings. The company revealed no details of such a plan yesterday.

“Sony has not done enough to rescue its TV business,” said Jeff Yeh, chief investment officer of Taiwan-based Capital Investment Trust’s overseas portfolios, which has $1 billion of client assets.

“It took them 15 years to become an electronics giant, but it only took them the last five years to plunge to where they are,” he added, saying he would not buy Sony shares in the near future and did not own any currently.

Many global TV brands including Panasonic and Philips are losing money from TV sales, hit by faltering demand and growing competition from

TOKYO: Sony Vice President Kazuo Hirai, left, speaks with Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato during a press conference in Tokyo, yesterday. Sony Corp. reported a 27 billion yen ($346 million) loss for the latest quarter and downgraded its annual earnings forecast yesterday to stay in the red for the fourth year straight, battered by the strong yen and poor sales of flat panel TVs. — AP

Nissan raises full-year forecast on sales outlook TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co. said yesterday its net profit for the July-September quarter slipped 4.3 percent from a year earlier, but the automaker raised its earnings outlook for the full-year on projections of higher sales.

Japan’s second-biggest vehicle manufacturer seems to be weathering the strong yen and tsunami disaster better than some its rivals, including Honda and Mazda. “In spite of unfavorable currency fluctuations, numerous natural disasters and a volatile global economy, we remain on track to deliver a significantly profitable full-year performance,” CEO Carlos Ghosn said in a press release.

Sales are growing in Europe, China and the US, said the maker of the March subcompact and Leaf electric car. Nissan, which is allied with Renault SA of France, raised its forecast for the full-year through March 2012 to 290 billion yen ($3.63 billion) from the 270 billion yen projected in June.

Still, that would represent a 9 percent fall from

low-cost producers. Dutch electronics firm Philips agreed on Tuesday to transfer its loss-making TV business into a joint venture with TPV Technology.

Once a symbol of Japan’s high-tech might, Sony is struggling to come up with hit devices and finds itself outmanoeuvred in TVs by Samsung Electronics and in the booming smartphone market by Apple. Sony posted an operating loss of 1.6 billion yen for July-September, well below analysts’ consensus forecast of 40 billion yen profit.

Sony shares have fallen 48 percent since the start of the year, compared with a 16 percent fall in the broader market , hit by the March earthquake and a massive security breach on its PlayStation and other networks, as well as yen strength and the Thai flooding disaster.

Sony blamed the deluge in Thailand for cutting 25 billion yen in expected earnings, but said it had not yet factored their impact into unit sales forecasts, which it trimmed for a range of major products. It is the latest in a lengthening list of Japanese firms that have posted poor quarterly results due to the strong yen, flooding and weak demand in the United States and Europe. — Reuters

profit of 319.2 billion yen in the previous year. It projects annual sales will grow to 9.45 trillion yen from an earlier forecast of 9.4 trillion yen. It also raised its unit sales forecast 3.3 percent to 4.75 million vehicles for the fiscal year.

Sales projections for China - 1.25 million units are nearly as high as the forecast for North America, at 1.35 million. Nissan’s quarterly net profit declined to 98.4 billion yen ($1.26 billion) from 101.73 billion yen last year, while half-year profit slid 12 percent to 183.4 billion yen ($2.3 billion) as sales rose 1.1 percent to 4.367 trillion yen ($54.73 billion).

During the first half of the fiscal year, sales in China rose 18.2 percent to 595,000 vehicles, claiming about 7 percent of the market there. In other regions, sales in Europe increased 22.6 percent to 339,000 vehicles, and those in North America grew 10.8 percent to 642,000. Sales in Japan declined 14 percent to 283,000 vehicles.— Reuters

YOKOHAMA: In this June 29, 2011, file photo, a man walks by a car on display at the global headquarters of Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Yesterday, Nissan said its net profit for the half-year through September slipped 12 percent from a year earlier, but it raised its earnings outlook for the full-year on projections of higher sales. — AP

Dubai developer Deyaar in black in third quarter DUBAI: Dubai developer Deyaar , the emirate’s second largest developer by market value, eked out a small profit in the third quarter and reiterated it would hand over two towers by year end.

Deyaar, badly hit by Dubai’s property bust, had a profit of 600,000 dirhams ($163.4) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, according to Reuters calculations based on past financial statements. That compared with a loss of 145 million dirhams in the prior-year period.

The developer did not provide quarterly results. It said it earned a net profit of 45 million dirhams in the first nine months of the year, compared to a loss of 489 million dirhams last year, according to a statement on Dubai’s bourse website.

Revenues for the nine months to September rose 54 percent to 665 million dirhams year-on-year, it said, adding it would deliver an office tower and residential tower in Dubai this year. Dubai’s housing market will lose another 10 percent of its value before it starts to improve, possibly not until 2013, a Reuters poll in October showed.

House prices and rents in the Gulf emirate have already plunged nearly 60 percent from their peak in 2008. Deyaar’s shares closed 0.4 percent lower yesterday, in line with weakness on Dubai’s bourse .

It released results after market close. Rival Dubai developer Emaar Properties reported a 34-percent-drop in third quarter net profit last month. — Reuters

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

business

Brand-addicted Indians propel luxury sector NEW DELHI: India’s luxury sales are expected to expand by a scorching 20 percent annually until 2015, according to a new report, as brand-smitten consumers snap up big names to flaunt their wealth.

Luxury sales were slow to take off in India a decade ago, disappointing retailers who had rushed into what they hoped would be the next China-a vast market of over a billion people with an eye for status symbols. But now Indian consumers “are quickly catching up with global trends”, according to Neelesh Hundekari, head of Indian luxury retail at consultancy AT Kearney and author of the recent “Indian Luxury Review” report.

Global labels are jostling to make their mark in India where 153,000 dollar millionaires-and many thousands just a notch below-have created a luxury market in a nation also home to untold millions living in poverty.

India’s luxury sales grew by 20 percent to reach $5.75 billion in 2010, despite high tariff barriers, a

lack of retail infrastructure and costly rents, according to the AT Kearney report.

That figure is expected to rise at a similar pace annually to reach $14.72 billion by 2015 — around half of the forecast $27-28 billion for the sector in neighbouring China by the same date. “We expect this strong Indian upward trajectory to continue,” Hundekari told AFP, with the market propelled by increasingly affluent and “brand conscious” shoppers.

Indians are buying everything from high-end handbags, jewellery, electronics and cars to expensive wines and spirits, with all the big names present in the market from Gucci and Chanel to Porsche and Ferrari. Hermes has just launched a limited-edition sari range, while international high-end brands are spreading from niches in the lobbies of five-star hotels to branches in new shopping malls.

The vast DLF Emporio mall, which opened in 2008, was built on rough ground on the outskirts of Delhi with a mission to sell only luxury goods-it

now houses names including Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Dior.

“This is just a beginning where the big boom is waiting to happen,” said Sanjay Kapoor, managing director at Genesis Luxury, which distributes brands like Bottega and Cavalli. For many Indians, who are casting off the mantra of frugality espoused by independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, wealth is a novelty that they “like to flaunt”, Hundekari said.

“If they spend money, they want to get social recognition. They are not buying for intrinsic satisfaction-their primary motivation is to show off.” The Internet and social media are also making it possible for luxury firms to connect with once hard-toreach consumers in smaller cities and rural areas.

Angela Ahrendts, chief executive of iconic British brand Burberry, told an industry conference in Delhi last month that some 500,000 Indians are among its 8.5 million Facebook fans.

Also fuelling the lavish spending is the large amount of so-called “black money” on which peo-

ple have paid no taxes. “They need to do something to do with it,” said one analyst who did not wish to be named.

India’s luxury market is still weighed down by a combination of 35-40 percent import tariffs on luxury goods and bureaucratic red tape. “World-over, customs duty varies from 15 to 20 percent, but in India, it’s much higher, making brands very expensive,” said Pradeep Hirani, chairman of designer retailer Kimaya Fashions.

Some Indians shop abroad for cheaper luxury prices but many of the well-heeled do not want to wait. Global luxury firms are pushing India to cut import taxes on prestige goods and to lift a 51 percent cap on foreign ownership of Indian units that they say undermines their brand value.

India is “looking at how we can make it for you people to come here”, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told the Delhi conference, adding that the government was considering raising the foreign investment retail cap. — AFP

Wall St fears US debt crisis as Europe reels ‘European crisis imperiling the weak US recovery’

FRANKFURT: A trader works in front of a board displaying the chart of German share index DAX at the stock exchange in Frankfurt/M., western Germany, yesterday. Europe’s main stock markets reacted amid fears that a Greek referendum on its latest bailout deal could derail the Europe’s grand plan to fix the region’s crushing debt crisis. — AFP

German labour market still resilient in face of slowdown FRANKFURT: New jobless data yesterday appeared to show the German labour market is resisting the downturn, but analysts warned that Europe’s economic powerhouse may finally be running out of steam.

On the face of it, German unemployment fell to 2.73 million or 6.5 percent of the population in October, the lowest level since unification, according to raw data published by the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg.

But unemployment usually falls at this time of year as a result of the autumn pickup in hiring. And seasonally-adjusted data calculated separately by the Bundesbank actually showed a slight increase of 10,000 in the number of people claiming dole and a rise in the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate to 7.0 percent in October from 6.9 percent in September.

The increase, the first in unemployment in Germany since June 2009, took analysts by surprise. Labour agency chief Frank Weise insisted that “all in all, the latest data show that the positive development on the labour market is continuing.”

While he saw risks from the debt crisis and growing concerns over a new global slump, Weise said: “We don’t see a turnaround in the labour market just yet.”

Economy Minister Philipp Roesler was similarly upbeat, but noted that “even if the fundamentally positive trend is unbroken... progress on the labour market is slowing and the slower economic growth increasingly making itself felt.”

Unemployment is regarded as a lagging indicator, because companies usually need time to adjust their workforce to upturns or downturns in the economy. But some analysts believed the recent boom in the German labour market is finally over. While the increase in seasonally-adjusted unemployment “is small and comes after a significant decrease in September, the positive trend seems to be broken,” said Berenberg Bank senior economist Christian Schulz.

With the economy likely to fall into mild recession in the winter, unemployment may rise further, he predicted. At 7.0 per-

cent, the German unemployment rate was still very low by recent historical standards, Schulz said.

“Rising wages and a reasonably stable labour market should cushion the economic downturn somewhat, as long as the recession remains brief, but this requires that the eurozone debt crisis is brought under control quickly,” the analyst said.

“The figures should be a reminder to the German government that the domestic economy is not insulated from the fall-out of the crisis,” he concluded.

Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics in London, also believed that the rise in seasonallyadjusted unemployment in October “confirms that the eurozone’s largest economy is experiencing an underlying economic downturn.”

Admittedly, unemployment was still considerably lower than elsewhere in the region, “but the recent fall in German survey measures of hiring suggests that October’s deterioration might mark the start of a trend,” she said. By contrast, UniCredit economist Alexander Koch said the rise in the adjusted numbers “should not mark the end of the impressive upswing on the German labour market.”

He believed the looming downturn would prove to be only a “temporary dip... (and) should not be enough to completely reverse the positive trend in unemployment.”

Koch predicted jobless rates “should stabilise just below the 7.0-percent mark” in 2012. Timo Klein of IHS Global Insight said “employment and vacancies are still increasing steadily at present, signalling that the demand for labour is not about to show a sudden drop.”

The main risks presently stemmed from ramifications of the eurozone debt crisis, related banking sector concerns, and the slowing US economy, the analyst said.

“Overall, Germany’s economic recovery nonetheless appears to have enough underlying domestic stamina to prevent a recession.” — AFP

MADRID: A broker exercises by walking around the Stock Exchange in Madrid yesterday a day after Greece’s stunning decision to put a hard-fought European debt deal up for a risky public vote. — AP

WASHINGTON: Even as Europe’s debt crisis spirals out of control, Wall Street is casting an eye on a fast-approaching congressional deadline that could spark a debt crisis this side of the Atlantic. US investors-for weeks preoccupied with the tumult raging in Greece and the broader eurozone-are starting to look with trepidation at the November 23 deadline for a Congressional committee to agree to $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts.

If the deadline is missed, a series of automatic and draconian cuts will enter into force. It is a prospect that is spooking Wall Street, which has great sway over the price the US pays to borrow.

The bipartisan group still appears far from reaching a deal, alarming investors who warn the economy will be battered if compulsory cuts are introduced. “The (Barack) Obama administration aims to include a maximum of elements from the American Jobs Act in the debt super committee’s proposal,” said Michala Marcussen, an economist with Societe Generale.

“Failure to agree even a minimum of the American Jobs Act will see our US growth forecast for 2012 pushed down to 0.6% from 1.8% all else being equal.” With high unemployment and a moribund jobs market, spillover from the European crisis already is imperiling the weak US recovery.

In joint testimony on Tuesday, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson-party luminaries who came up with their own deficit plan-warned the “super committee” it must act, now. “Time is not on our side and we truly can no longer afford to wait.”

“Our great nation’s fiscal house is now made out of straw and any significant blow-an oil shock, a collapse in Europe-can blow our house down.” But there seemed little evidence that the message was heard.

“I would hope we can get something done there, but, you know, if they can’t get it done, they can’t it done,” said Senate majority leader Harry Reid. The Republicans, he claimed, want “this grand bargain without any sacrifice to their people that have most of the money in this country ... it takes two to tango.”

With just over a year left until the 2012 presidential elections lawmakers have largely stuck

to party talking points. Republicans have rejected any hint of tax cuts and Democrats have insisted on a mix of stimulus spending, tax increases and longer-term spending cuts.

According to Gary Thayer, chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo “the next few weeks of deficit negotiations are going to be difficult.” “The logic was that the automatic spending cuts would be so undesirable that the super committee would agree to other deficit reduction that would be more acceptable.”

“Between now and late November, investors may begin to worry about the deficit reduction talks. If it looks like very little progress is being made investors could turn negative.” If the markets were sufficiently spooked it could spark a bond sell-off-raising the interest rates the US must pay to bondholders-a pattern that has

become common in Europe over the last year.

Conversely reaching a deal could also result in a growth premium according to Barry Knapp of Barclays Capital, by keeping some stimulus in place. “Our expectation (is) for an agreement that keeps stimulus in the system through 2012, with a couple of additional supply-side measures,” he said.

“This might seem optimistic, given the lack of (super committee) progress, but we believe both House Republicans and Senate Democrats need a deal if they expect to hold majorities in the 2012 elections.”

“A late-year deal that avoids significant fiscal tightening in 2012 could have a positive effect on capital markets and business confidence, much like the extension of (George W.) Bush-era tax cuts in December 2010.” — AFP

NEW YORK: In this Nov. 1, 2011 photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

World markets were plagued by uncertainty yesterday, over whether the Greek prime minister’s decision to take the bailout plan to a referendum was a miscalculation and escalating concerns that contagion will reach politically vulnerable Italy. — AP

India says ‘more needs to be done’ on euro crisis NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday that “much more needs to be done” to restore investors’ confidence in the eurozone and urged leaders to take difficult decisions “swiftly.”

The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone “has emerged as the principal source of concern for the global economy,” Singh said ahead of his departure for a two-day summit of G20 countries in Cannes, France. Greece, which is at the heart of debt worries in Europe, plunged the region back into crisis on Tuesday with a shock call for a referendum on a rescue package reached just days before.

“The twin summits of the European Union and eurozone a few days ago have helped to restore a measure of confidence in the markets, but much more needs to be done,” Singh said. “It is imperative the difficult decisions needed to address the economic challenges in Europe and elsewhere are taken swiftly,” the Indian prime minister said in his strongest statement yet on the eurozone crisis. The Group of 20 industrial and developing economies are expected to spend much of their time at the summit seeking to rescue the plan finalised last week by the European Union to cut Greece’s debt.

“It is important for the Cannes Summit to signal a strong and coordinated approach to put the global economy back on track,” Singh said. Indian policymakers have been deeply concerned about “contagion” effects of the debt crisis spreading to other economies and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has warned of “dark clouds” casting a shadow on India.

But the government, faced with a slowing economy and near double-digit inflation, has been reluctant to contribute to any eurozone bailout fund. Mukherjee said separately yesterday that the G20 wants European nations to resolve the eurozone crisis by themselves.

“Only after the issue is settled by them can a supplementary financing option be considered,” Mukherjee said.

European leaders have been courting Beijing and other emerging market nations to invest in a eurozone bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). China, with its $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, is the only developing economy with sufficient resources to make a sizeable contribution but it has been non-committal about pumping in money.—AFP

Qantas ‘sabotage’ probe as chief set to face inquiry SYDNEY: Australian police are investigating the alleged sabotage of a Qantas plane, they said yesterday, as the airline’s chief was called to explain to parliament why he grounded the strike-hit carrier.

Qantas stranded tens of thousands of travellers around the world Saturday when chief executive Alan Joyce ordered the immediate shutdown of all flights to counter the threat of escalating industrial action from unions. The alleged sabotage, described by union leader Steve Purvinas as relating to an in-flight entertainment system, occurred before the grounding, which Joyce said he was forced to call because strike action was bleeding the carrier.

Qantas refused to comment on the matter, but Australian Federal Police (AFP) said they were investigating an alleged incident involving a Qantas aircraft which was undergoing maintenance at Brisbane Airport on 26 October. “This matter is the subject of an AFP investigation,” the force said in a statement, adding that it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Purvinas, secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association, said his members had discovered some damage to wires in a new system being installed and reported it immediately to Qantas management. “We suspect that those errors most likely had occurred in the course of manufacture,” he said, adding it posed no threat to safety.

“I think this is another media stunt from the airline to try and take some heat out of the situation where they’ve left 140,000-odd passengers stranded in two days around the globe to try and draw attention away from their despicable actions.” The airline, which faced a stern warning from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over compensation to travellers for the surprise two-day grounding, said it will

reimburse passengers “all reasonable losses.”

“Qantas has always intended to ensure that disrupted customers incur no financial loss,” it said in a short statement. The Qantas shutdown, which came as Prime Minister Julia Gillard was hosting world leaders at a Commonwealth summit in Perth, ended after the government took the case to its industrial tribunal, which terminated the action.

The airline and unions now have 21 days to strike a deal over wages and conditions.

The period could be extended by another 21 days, but if this process fails the watchdog can force a binding decision on both sides.

But the 46-hour grounding of Qantas’ entire fleet, which ended Monday afternoon, has caused a political firestorm for Gillard over whether she could have acted sooner to avert or halt the unprecedented shutdown.

Qantas head Joyce, who has stridently defended his actions as necessary, is now set to be questioned by a senate parliamentary committee about what he told the government before the dramatic grounding of Qantas’ entire fleet.

“The role of senate inquiries is to try and clear the air on matters like that,” Greens leader Senator Bob Brown told ABC radio.

Joyce is due to appear before a Senate committee looking at amending two pieces of legislation relating to the airline, including the Qantas Sale Act which stipulates that the iconic carrier must remain 51 percent Australian owned.

The Qantas labour row centred on plans to start two new Asian airlines in a bid to salvage its sinking international business, which is facing stiff competition from airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Singapore Airlines.

Virgin Australia has vowed to compete fiercely with Qantas for ticket sales while yet another competitor will be added to the mix this week with the launch of new budget carrier “Air Australia”. — AFP

A

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Years

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Tech-obsessed Koreans drive smartphone boom SEOUL: Technology-obsessed South Koreans fell in love with the smartphone relatively late, but are making up for lost time at astonishing speed. The number of smartphone subscribers hit 20.1 million late last week in a country of just under 49 million people-compared to 10 million in March this year and fewer than 500,000 only two years ago. With free wireless networks and cutting-edge gadgets widely available, users will likely number 30 million in the first half of 2012 and 40 million at the end of next year, said Lee Sang-Hak, director of the Korea Communications Commission’s telecommunications policy planning division.

“We’ll likely exceed the US in terms of the percentage of smartphone users in the total population early next year,” he told AFP. South Koreans got their first taste of Apple’s iPhone only in November 2009, a year or two after the United States and Europe, when regulators dropped restrictions which had largely closed off the local market. The iconic device became an instant hit, unnerving Korean cellphone giants like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics which rushed to roll out competing models.

Samsung, the world’s second-largest maker of all types of mobile phones after Nokia, unveiled its flagship Galaxy S smartphone series in June 2010. In the third quarter of this year it even overtook Apple in the global smartphone market, shipping almost 28 million units compared to 17 mil-

lion by the US technology giant, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Lee said Samsung’s success has helped fuel the local smartphone craze. “Having such a big player at home helps a lot, since Samsung can market, sell and distribute more easily and faster here than elsewhere,” he said.

The country’s widespread broadband network also helped drive growth, he said, as existing networks can offer wi-fi services and let smartphone users access the Internet with no extra data charges. South Korea is one of the world’s most wired societies, with 95 percent of homes using broadband Internet. It also has the world’s top Internet download speeds, according to a study released by Pando Networks.

SK Telecom, the country’s leading wireless operator, has invested a record 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion) this year to upgrade networks to handle growing data traffic caused by its own 10 million smartphone users. Another 6.8 million use KT, and 3.3 million subscribe to LG Uplus.”We didn’t expect that the number would rise at this speed... investment in network infrastructure is one of our top priorities now,” said an SK Telecom spokesman. Other wireless operators have also strengthened networks, and the capital city joined in as well.

In June it pledged to spend $44 million to offer free wi-fi in 10,430 locations-parks, streets and most public places-by 2015.

Kang Jeong-Soo, a researcher at the Yonsei Communications Institute in Seoul, said Koreans’ passion for gadgets means

AT&T announces first phones for new network

Facebook Security Tips by Kaspersky Lab

A

fter the spread across the Internet of several youtube videos and announcements by “Anonymous” on taking Facebook down, and then denying any “official” involvement in the announcement of the attack on November 5, Kaspersky Lab’s specialists highly rate the degree of protection of Facebook infrastructure against cyberattacks. The IT security team at Facebook proactively creates measures to protect users’ accounts and also the system itself.

Therefore, it’s most unlikely that the Facebook infrastructure will be affected by cyberattacks; however, hackers may still be able to get into some user accounts by breaking their passwords.

To protect an account on Facebook, it is recommended to follow sound security practices, such as: • having a unique, complex password for every single online account • activating secure browsing (HT TPS) in Account Settings • enabling login notifications in Account Settings • enabling login approvals in Account Settings • Making sure the operating system is up to date, including all third party software such as MS Office and Adobe Reader • using a modern, secure browser such as Google Chrome • on Windows, if not done already, considering upgrading to Windows 7 64 bits • running a security suite such as Kaspersky Internet Security 2012

are hardly discouraged by higher prices of smartphones or costlier phone bills, he added. “No one here wants to be left out when a new big technology comes out... especially when everyone else is mingling on Twitter or Kakao Talk,” he said, referring to a local mobile messenger app which claims 25 million downloads.—AFP

SEOUL: In this picture taken on November 1, 2011 a woman uses her smartphone on a street. — AFP

Sound Advice: Most TV viewers don’t like wide-ratio ‘black bars’

NEW YORK: This product image provided by AT&T Inc, shows the HTC Vivid, a smartphone that runs on Google Inc’s Android software. — AP

NEW YORK: The first two phones to run on AT&T’s new high-speed data network will go on sale Sunday. The phones are the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. Both are big touchscreen smartphones that run Google Inc’s Android software. They’ll cost $200 and $250 respectively, with a two-year service contract requirement.

Dallas-based AT&T Inc is building a network based on Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, technology.

It offers higher data speeds and offloads traffic from the current data network.

The network covers Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, so far. On Sunday, it will be expanded to Boston, Washington, Baltimore and Athens, Ga. By the end of the year, the goal is to have the network live in 15 cities.

The two LTE phones can also use AT&T’s regular, nationwide data network. They will be sold with data plans that are identical to those required for other smartphones. For $15 per month, subscribers get 200 megabytes of data usage per month. For $25, the limit is ten times higher, or 2 gigabytes per month.

So far, the only devices that have been able to use AT&T’s LTE network are plug-in data sticks for laptops. Verizon Wireless has been selling Android phones for its LTE network since this spring.— AP

they waste no time trying out new technologies. “Average South Korean consumers replace mobile phones every nine months, compared to more than two years in countries like Germany or France,” he told AFP. Many South Korean mobile users are far more sensitive to trends than to prices and

The $79 Spin-Clean Record Washer is simple and elegant, as most great inventions are.

Fill the trough with water, add the supplied cleaning fluid, insert a record and spin it by hand three times. —MCT

Users charge Apple over iPhone 4S battery issues SAN FRANCISCO: Apple’s last iPhone was plagued by reception problems that were later coined Antennagate. Now the smartphone giant could be facing “Batterygate” as increasing numbers of users of its newly released iPhone 4S complain about rapidly-depleting charge from their phone’s batteries.

Technology websites and Apple discussion boards have been filled with users complaining about their battery drain, which according to the British newspaper The Guardian has prompted Apple engineers to contact some iPhone 4S owners to ask them to install special monitoring software to get details about device usage.

The Washington Post reported that some Apple owners have been told to bring in their devices for an exchange, but most owners have to suffice with DIY fixes such as

reinstalling user data and disabling some apps such as auto-time zone settings, location-based services and iCloud. On the main Apple discussion board there were some 2,500 postings Monday by iPhone 4S users complaining about their poor battery life.

“My iPhone 4s battery seems terrible!” wrote a user called Scarface from New Jersey, while fdean from Delaware complained, “I have now had my phone on for 4 hours. It has 50 per cent left. I have not used the phone that much and have turned almost everything off. Wow this is horrible.”

The Apple 4S launched earlier this month, just days after the death of Apple co-founder and long-time chief executive Steve Jobs and was an instant success selling a record 4 million units in its first three days on sale. — dpa

Q. I have multiple extra pay channels for movies that are almost always shown full screen on my 16:9 TV, even though they were filmed in the wider 2:35 aspect ratio. This leads to the image being cropped and I feel cheated because we cannot see everything that was originally released to theaters. Some of our friends cannot tolerate watching a movie when it has the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. I have not been successful in explaining to them that they are not seeing the entire image from the movie. They simply don’t care. Why do pay services not broadcast in the original aspect ratio, and is there any hope in getting them to do so?

RR, Minneapolis A. You hit the nail on the head when you said, “Some of our friends cannot tolerate watching a movie when it has the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.” Sadly this is the majority of the public and broadcasters are accommodating them. I still get emails stating, “I hated black bar movies on my old TV, which was not widescreen. Now I have widescreen and the bars are back! I can’t escape them!” This usually happens when they play Blu-ray movies, which are almost always recorded in the original aspect ratio to please purists like you.

This is unlikely to change until the majority of the public changes its mind and demands movies be broadcast as originally recorded. I can tell you that based on almost 10 years of public interaction writing this column that things are unlikely to swing in your direction.

You may want to consider renting Blu-ray

copies of your favorite films to see them as they were originally filmed. You will get a better picture and sound as well.

Holiday product highlight: Cleaning vinyl records makes them sound better and last longer. Doing a thorough job usually requires a record-cleaning machine. These machines apply cleaning fluid, scrub it into the record grooves then vacuum the dirty fluid off, getting out the grit and leaving behind a clean looking, clean sounding record. Typically only audiophiles and record collectors have used these expensive machines, leaving most listeners to rely on simple brushes and cleaning fluids that are not very effective. Now you can clean your vinyl records perfectly without the big expense.

The $79 Spin-Clean Record Washer is simple and elegant, as most great inventions are. Fill the trough with water, add the supplied cleaning fluid, insert a record and spin it by hand three times.

The internal brushes get off the dirt and the cleaning solution keeps it suspended, so when you pull out the wet record the dirt is left behind. Dry it off and you are ready to go.

The simplicity and purity of its design makes the Spin-Clean very reliable and effective. In fact, I think the Spin-Clean did an even better job on extremely dirty records than my record-cleaning machine since Spin Clean totally immerses the record grooves as it scrubs them. If you listen to a lot of records and do not have a fancy cleaning machine, you need a Spin-Clean! You can see the product and a video demo at www.spincleanrecordwasher.com..—MCT

Solar firms’ flight to Mojave Desert sparks environmental friction MOJAVE DESERT: At first glance, the vast Mojave Desert seems barren: mile after mile of dust, sand and scrubby creosote bush under a blistering sun. But the huge desert, which spans an area larger than West Virginia, is becoming speckled with gigantic solar power plants that are creating hundreds of construction jobs and, when complete, will generate electricity for millions of homes.

California’s Solar Gold Rush is under way, fueled by billions of dollars of federal stimulus funding and a new state law that requires utilities to buy a third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. While the collapse of Fremont, Calif., solar manufacturer Solyndra Inc. has dominated the news in recent weeks because it received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, several other solar companies that got loan guarantees appear to be thriving.

Sun-concentration The project furthest along is BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which has been under construction for one full year and is currently being built on federal land near the California-Nevada border with the help of a $1.6 billion loan guarantee.

BrightSource, which is based in Oakland, uses mirrors to concentrate the sun and turn turbines that generate electricity. When complete in 2013, Ivanpah will be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world, generating enough electricity for 140,000 homes.

Currently, more than 800 construction workers are on the sprawling 3,600-acre site. The steel shell of a massive tower that eventually will be taller than coastal redwood trees is rising from the dust near a parking lot filled with cars, trucks and construction vehicles. Most of the workers

arrive before dawn to beat the searing late-afternoon heat, and engineering managers pore over plans in air-conditioned trailers.

Ivanpah is one of nine solar thermal power plants approved by the California Energy Commission last year. In addition, scores of other solar projects are in the pipeline. In August, the federal Bureau of Land Management was processing applications for 17 solar power plants in California’s deserts.

Solar currently accounts for less than one percent of the state’s electricity, most of which comes from natural gas, two nuclear power plants and hydropower. But advocates - including California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat want solar to play a key role in the state’s energy future, in part because each project generates hundreds of construction jobs. Brown hopes to add 20,000 megawatts of renewable generation - about one-third of the state’s current power needs - to California’s electric grid by the end of the decade.

“We use a lot of energy in California, and we have aspirations to electrify our vehicle fleet, our ports and to develop high-speed rail,” Commissioner Karen Douglas of the California Energy Commission said. “We need significant amounts of utility-scale renewable electricity.”

Fears But critics and grassroots organizations such as Solar Done Right fear the West’s last remaining tracts of pristine public lands are being industrialized by “Big Solar” in the name of clean energy, bringing irreparable harm to native plants and threatened species. They want “smart from the start” planning that allows renewable energy development in some parts of the desert while protecting the rest as conservation land. They want people to know that California’s deserts are

as beloved to some residents as its beaches, parks and redwood trees are to others.

“There’s plenty of desert out there - just put it in the right place,” said Jim Lyons, senior director for renewable energy at Defenders of Wildlife, a national organization that opposes the proposed 4,613-acre Calico Solar Project east of Barstow, Calif., because of its effects on desert tortoises, burrowing owls and bighorn sheep. “It’s a lot like real estate: location, location, location.”

The Ivanpah facility embodies many of the hopes and fears of solar power plants in the desert. It will generate 370 megawatts of electricity, which BrightSource says will displace 13.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the plant’s 30-year life. Google Inc. has invested $168 million in the project, while utilities PG&E and Southern California Edison have signed longterm contracts to purchase the electricity.

“Solar thermal technology projects like Ivanpah are playing a vital role in helping us meet our state renewable goals while providing for a secure and sustainable energy future,” Fong Wan, senior vice president for energy procurement at PG&E, said in a statement.

Unlike rooftop solar panels, which directly convert sunlight into electricity, solar thermal plants concentrate the sun’s rays with mirrors or lenses to boil water to create steam; the steam then turns turbines that generate electricity.

Ivanpah consists of three separate power plants, each with a 459-foot-tall “power tower” and tens of thousands of mirror-like “heliostats” - 173,500 in all. While land has been cleared for the construction site, BrightSource has taken pains to leave much of the native vegetation intact.

Thousands of pylons protrude from the ground amid vegetation that has been trimmed, but not plowed. “This has the lowest environmental impact of any project in solar,” BrightSource CEO

John Woolard said in remarks to media members who toured the project. “We’re using a minimal amount of water, and there is low impact on the soil and terrain.”

But Jim Andre, a botanist and plant ecologist at the University of California-Riverside, says native plants will not survive under the newly created shade. “You’re altering the conditions that the species have evolved in,” he said. “It goes against conservation biology 101.”

Controversy The biggest environmental controversy at Ivanpah is the endangered desert tortoise.

Though BrightSource expects to spend at least $45 million on everything from salaries for biologists to the purchase of thousands of acres of conservation habitat, activists worried about the tortoise protested outside the company’s Oakland, Calif., headquarters.

While alienating some environmentalists, Big Solar has many supporters among the ranks of the state’s unemployed. Ivanpah is a welcome source of jobs in San Bernardino County, which has been hit hard by the housing crash.

Iraq War veterans Ross Bowlin and Kenneth Platten carpool more than 200 miles from their homes near Riverside, Calif., to get to Ivanpah, and they share an inexpensive hotel room in Nevada during the workweek. Both obtained their jobs via “Helmets to Hardhats,” an apprentice program that helps veterans transition to careers in the construction trades.

“Before this job I had no construction experience at all, and I was on unemployment for a while,” said Bowlin, a former Marine who served two stints in Iraq. “But this job reminds me of being in the military, in that we have a job that’s bigger than ourselves. We’re facing an energy crisis.”—MCT

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Beijing vows better pollution data after smog anger BEIJING: Authorities in Beijing have pledged to improve the way they measure air quality amid accusations they massively underestimate pollution in the Chinese capital, state media said yesterday. Thick smog that blanketed the city on Monday and Tuesday highlighted a huge discrepancy between official data ranking the pollution at the time as “slight” and US embassy measurements ranking Beijing’s air quality as “hazardous”.

With growing numbers of Beijing residents trusting the American figures over their own government, the popular state-run Global Times newspaper said city authorities were considering overhauling their own measuring system. “The Beijing bureau applies the current national standard, which is undergoing an amendment,” the Global Times quoted Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau’s Du Shaozhong as saying. The discrepancy is because China currently only measures large particles that pollute the air, while the US system also includes the smaller particles that make up much of the pollution in Beijing, the paper said. China currently measures particulate matter between 2.5 and 10 micrometres (393.7 microinches) in diameter, known as PM10. Scientists say Beijing’s pollution is mostly caused by fine particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometres, or PM2.5, which are considered more dangerous to human health. “Technically we are ready to adopt the PM2.5 standard,” Du said on his microblog site.

International organisations including the United Nations list Beijing as one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly due to its growing energy consumption, much of which is still fuelled by coal. The discrepancy between the two sets of figures has sparked a debate in Chinese media and among web users, with some saying they suffered from headaches and nausea and disputing the government’s assessment of the pollution as “slight”.

The Global Times on Monday urged the government to “be cooperative in avoiding confusing information” about air pollution. “Figures by some local governments show the air pollution index is dropping in some cities, such as Beijing... But some Beijing citizens complain the figures do not match their experience,” it said in an editorial.—AFP

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Patients look to developing nations as healthcare costs soar “Healthcare is no longer a national enterprise. It is a global enterprise today. With ever-rising healthcare costs in developed nations like Kuwait and western countries, healthcare is now going to seek a new level where patients have the freedom to go places where cost-effective and high quality healthcare is offered.”

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: Developed nations may find it increasingly difficult to provide high quality healthcare services to all their citizens as medical care costs are rising sharply in these countries, said an eminent medical doctor and a healthcare specialist here yesterday.

Talking to the Kuwait Times in an interview on the sidelines of the ‘India Medical Tourism destination 2011 Kuwait (IMTD)’ exhibition and conference, Dr Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, said, “Healthcare is no longer a national enterprise. It is a global enterprise today. With rising healthcare costs in developed nations like Kuwait and western countries, healthcare is now going to seek a new level where patients have the freedom to go places where cost-effective and high quality healthcare is offered.”

Dr Nair said, today, healthcare insurance companies are ready to offer competitive premiums to those who are willing to travel for healthcare needs. And in the coming years, the developed countries may find it hard to provide low-cost, high quality healthcare services to all of their citizens. “Those who are well-off or coming under the government’s insurance cover maybe able to cope with the rising costs.

But those economically disadvantaged sections will not be able to get quality medical services,” Dr Nair said.

Many governments have already started contracting with insurance companies in developing countries like India in order to obtain healthcare services for their citizens at lower costs.

“So patients are going to seek this out as healthcare is going to become an immensely costly affair.

The kind of insurance premiums governments are paying to insurance companies, no government can afford to provide free healthcare services to all their citizens,” Dr Nair said.

Why India healthcare costs in India is anywhere from one tenth to one twentieth of the cost of similar quality healthcare in a developed country, Dr Nair said answering why India must be an ideal destination for patients.

“Nobody would have thought of doing a heart sur-

Dr Prem Nair

gery in India a few years back. They would have gone to the UK or the US. Today, No one will go abroad for a heart surgery as there are very specialized centers in India that perform cardiac surgeries, Dr Nair said.

Talking specifically about the Healthcare facilities available in Amrita Hospital, he said all advanced treatments such as cosmetic surgery, pediatric surgery, dermatological procedures, cardiac surgeries, etc are performed at very cost-effective rates in the hospital.

“We have outstanding cancer treatment in Amrita which is second to none. Delegates from Mayo Clinic and Beaumont Hospital of the University of Michigan, who visited Amrita Hospital recently, commented that the healthcare services available in the hospital are on par with any hospitals in the US or UK. The hospital boasts a dedicated team of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to provide highest standards of medical treatment, he said.

Admission The hospital has a hassle-free admission procedure for international patients. A fast-track system and a fully dedicated section on the second floor of the hospital will fully cater to the needs of patients arriving from abroad. According to him, Amrita Hospital receives a large number of patients from the US, Europe, Gulf region, African countries, Sri Lanka etc.

“As we participate in this event, we hope to collaborate with healthcare institutions in Kuwait which will be mutually beneficial,” Dr Nair said, who presented his paper on ‘Liver Transplant’ during the seminar at the exhibition yesterday.

Once skeptic now agrees global warming is real

WASHINGTON: In this photo of July 14, 2011, released by MELA Sciences, Dr Joseph Gulfo works with the MelaFind medical device. The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a first-of-its-kind device, called MelaFind, that makes detailed, digital images of skin growths and uses a computer to analyze them for signs of cancer, offering a sort of second opinion to doctors. —AP

New device uses light to screen for melanoma WASHINGTON : Dermatologists will soon get some high-tech help deciding which suspicious-looking moles should be removed and checked for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a first-of-its-kind device, called MelaFind, that makes detailed, digital images of skin growths and uses a computer to analyze them for signs of cancer, offering a sort of second opinion to doctors. The device is approved only for dermatologists and only for use on growths that don’t have obvious signs of cancer but still have one or two worrisome traits.

The hope is to find more melanomas sooner. Nearly all patients diagnosed with earlystage melanoma can be treated and cured, but 85 percent of patients with late-stage melanoma die from it within five years. More than 70,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with melanoma this year, and 16 percent are diagnosed only after the disease has spread to other parts of the body, according to estimates from the National Institutes of Health.

To diagnose the disease, doctors decide which moles to remove and biopsy using an entirely visual set of guidelines involving size, shape and color. Most dermatologists easily spot late-stage lesions that have obvious signs of cancer, including irregular edges, uneven color and a width greater than 6 millimeters.

But many others are tough calls.

“Every day patients come in with 20 moles on their back and the dilemma is, which ones are suspicious and need to be biopsied?” said Dr David Pariser, former president of the American Academy of Dermatology. “The diagnosis of melanoma is the most serious one a dermatologist makes, and we have sleepless nights worrying about it,” said Pariser, who consulted for the device’s maker, Mela Sciences Inc. of Irvington, NY, on its presentation to FDA. The device’s handheld attachment, about the size of a blow dryer, emits light that penetrates below the surface of the skin, taking multicolored images that reflect the depth and shape of skin growths. A computer compares these to a database of 10,000 archived images and recommends whether a biopsy should be done. In a company-sponsored study published last year involving around 1,300 patients, some with multiple growths, doctors reported that MelaFind correctly suggested biopsies on 125 of 127 melanomas that doctors had removed. However, the device did not raise an alarm about non-melanoma growths only about 10 percent of the time; that was still better than doctors in the study who correctly

ruled out melanoma in less than 4 percent of such cases, on average. The study was published in the Archives of Dermatology.

The company’s study was not intended to show that screening with the device saves lives, only that it can help improve a doctor’s ability to spot melanoma. For now, experts say MelaFind will help dermatologists make better decisions on which moles to remove. “There is no such thing as 100 percent certainty in medicine,” said Dr George Elias, a melanoma expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center who had no ties to the company or the device. “Ultimately it’s the responsibility of the dermatologist to use his clinical judgment to make the best decision. This machine is there to help him, not replace him.”

Elias voted with the majority of an FDA panel that narrowly endorsed the device last year.

Dermatologists say it’s too early to tell whether MelaFind will lead to fewer unnecessary biopsies. “A biopsy takes a few minutes in my hands, so if there’s an issue with any lesion we will always biopsy, whether we have a MelaFind picture or not,” said Dr. Leonard Goldberg, a dermatologist at the Texas Medical Center and vice president of the Skin Cancer Foundation, a disease awareness group that accepts donations from makers of sunscreen.

MelaFind underwent a contentious, yearslong review by the Food and Drug Administration, which initially rejected the device and concluded it could “potentially cause more harm than good.” Regulators worried that the device could give physicians a false sense of certainty, leading to fewer biopsies. Another concern was that doctors could misinterpret the device’s feedback, particularly error messages when a mole cannot be scanned. About 8 percent of growths scanned in the company study came back as “unevaluable.”

At a meeting last fall, FDA scientists said Mela Sciences had not shown how its device would influence day-to-day decisions by doctors. The agency also worried about its use by general doctors not accustomed to identifying suspicious skin moles. Despite these concerns, the panel of advisers narrowly backed the overall safety and efficacy of the device in a 8-7 vote. Regulators said this week that they ultimately approved the device after Mela Sciences agreed to limit its use to board-certified dermatologists who undergo a specialized training course. “The device is only good for certain lesions, and that’s why you have to be a dermatologist to be able to classify and categorize those lesions appropriately,” said Christy Foreman, director of FDA’s Office of Device Evaluation. —AP

WASHINGTON: A prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. In the end, he determined they were right: Temperatures really are rising rapidly. The study of the world’s surface temperatures by Richard Muller was partially bankrolled by a foundation connected to global warming deniers. He pursued long-held skeptic theories in analyzing the data. He was spurred to action because of “Climategate,” a British scandal involving hacked emails of scientists.

Yet he found that the land is 1.6 degrees warmer than in the 1950s. Those numbers from Muller, who works at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, match those by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. He said he went even further back, studying readings from Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. His ultimate finding of a warming world, to be presented at a conference Monday, is no different from what mainstream climate scientists have been saying for decades.

What’s different, and why everyone from opinion columnists to “The Daily Show” is paying attention is who is behind the study. One-quarter of the $600,000 to do the research came from the Charles Koch Foundation, whose founder is a major funder of skeptic groups and the tea party. The Koch brothers, Charles and David, run a large privately held company involved in oil and other industries, producing sizable greenhouse gas emissions.

Muller’s research team carefully examined two chief criticisms by skeptics. One is that weather stations are unreliable; the other is that cities, which create heat islands, were skewing the temperature analysis. “The skeptics raised valid points and everybody should have been a skeptic two years ago,” Muller said in a telephone interview. “And now we have confidence that the temperature rise that had previously been reported had been done without bias.” Muller said that he came into the study “with a proper skepticism,” something scientists “should always have. I was somewhat bothered by the fact that there was not enough skepticism” before. There is no reason now to be a skeptic about steadily increasing temperatures, Muller wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages, a place friendly to skeptics. Muller did not address in his research the cause of global warming. The overwhelming majority of climate scientists say it’s manmade from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Nor did his study look at ocean warming, future warming and how much of a threat to mankind climate change might be. Still, Muller said it makes sense to reduce the carbon dioxide created by fossil fuels. “Greenhouse gases could have a disastrous impact on the world,” he said. Still, he contends that threat is not as proven as the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it is. On Monday, Muller was taking his

results - four separate papers that are not yet published or peer-reviewed, but will be, he says - to a conference in Santa Fe, NM, expected to include many prominent skeptics as well as mainstream scientists.

“Of course he’ll be welcome,” said Petr Chylek of Los Alamos National Lab, a noted skeptic and the conference organizer. “The purpose of our conference is to bring people with different views on climate together, so they can talk and clarify things.”

Shawn Lawrence Otto, author of the book “Fool Me Twice” that criticizes science skeptics, said Muller

from Muller about there no longer being a need for skepticism. Muller’s study found that skeptics’ concerns about poor weather station quality didn’t skew the results of his analysis because temperature increases rose similarly in reliable and unreliable weather stations. He also found that while there is an urban heat island effect making cities warmer, rural areas, which are more abundant, are warming, too.

Among many climate scientists, the reaction was somewhat of a yawn. “After lots of work he found exactly what was already known and accepted in

CALIFORNIA: In this Friday, Oct 28, 2011 photo, Richard Muller, left, and his daughter, Elizabeth Muller, hold a globe as they talk about their study on climate at their home in Berkeley, Calif. —AP should expect to be harshly treated by global warming deniers. “Now he’s considered a traitor.

For the skeptic community, this isn’t about data or fact. It’s about team sports. He’s been traded to the Indians. He’s playing for the wrong team now.”

And that started on Sunday, when a British newspaper said one of Muller’s co-authors, Georgia Tech climate scientist Judith Curry, accused Muller of another Climategate-like scandal and trying to “hide the decline” of recent global temperatures.

The Associated Press contacted Curry on Sunday afternoon and she said in an email that Muller and colleagues “are not hiding any data or otherwise engaging in any scientifically questionable practice.”

The Muller “results unambiguously show an increase in surface temperature since 1960,” Curry wrote Sunday. She said she disagreed with Muller’s public relations efforts and some public comments

the climate community,” said Jerry North, a Texas A&M University atmospheric sciences professor who headed a National Academy of Sciences climate science review in 2006. “I am hoping their study will have a positive impact. But some folks will never change.” Chris Field, a Carnegie Institution scientist who is chief author of an upcoming intergovernmental climate change report, said Muller’s study “may help the world’s citizens focus less on whether climate change is real and more on smart options for addressing it.”

Some of the most noted scientific skeptics are no longer saying the world isn’t warming. Instead, they question how much of it is man-made, view it as less a threat and argue it’s too expensive to do something about, Otto said. Skeptical MIT scientist Richard Lindzen said it is a fact and nothing new that global average temperatures have been rising since 1950, as Muller shows. —AP

Viking ‘sunstone’ more than a myth, finds study PARIS: Ancient tales of Norse mariners using mysterious sunstones to navigate the ocean when clouds obscured the Sun and stars are more than just legend, according to a study published yesterday.

Over 1,000 years ago, before the invention of the compass, Vikings ventured thousands of kilometres from home toward Iceland and Greenland, and most likely as far as North America, centuries ahead of Christopher Columbus.

Evidence show that these fearless and fearsome seamen navigated by reading the position of the Sun and stars, and through an intimate knowledge of landmarks, currents and waves. But how they could voyage long distances across seas at northern latitudes often socked in by light-obscuring fog and clouds has remained an enig-

ma. Enter the sunstone. While exper ts have long argued that Vikings knew how to use blocks of light-fracturing crystal to locate the Sun through dense clouds, archeologists have never found hard proof, and doubts remained as to exactly what kind of material it might be.

An international team of researchers led by Guy Ropars of the University of Rennes in Brittany, marshalling experimental and theoretical evidence, says they have the answer. Vikings, they argue, used transparent calcite crystal-also known as Iceland sparto fix the true bearing of the Sun, to within a single degree of accuracy. This naturally occurring stone has the capacity to “depolarize” light, filtering and fracturing it along different axes, the

researchers explained. Here’s how it works: If you put a dot on top of the crystal and look through it from below, two dots will appear. “ Then you rotate the crystal until the two points have exactly the same intensity or darkness. At that angle, the upward-facing surface indicates the direction of the Sun,” Ropars explained by phone. “A precision of a few degrees can be reached even under dark twilight conditions.... Vikings would have been able to determine with precision the direction of the hidden Sun.” The human eye, he added, has a fine-tuned capacity to distinguish between shades of contrast, and thus is able to see when the two spots are truly identical. The recent discovery of an Iceland spar aboard an Elizabethan ship sunk in 1592 — tested by the researchers-bolsters

the theory that ancient mariners were aware of the crystal’s potential as an aid to navigation.

Even in the era of the compass, crews might have kept such stone on hand as a backup, the study speculates. “We have verified ... that even only one of the cannons excavated from the ship is able to perturb a magnetic compass orientation by 90 degrees,” the researchers wrote.

“So, to avoid navigation errors when the Sun is hidden, the use of an optical compass could be crucial even at this epoch, more than four centuries after the Viking time.” The study appeared in Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, a peerreviewed journal published by Britain’s de facto academy of science, the Royal Society.— AFP

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

H E A LT H

Joy as conjoined Philippine twins separated in US Team works for 10 hours

CALIFORNIA: Angelica Sabuco, 2, right, and her twin sister Angelina play together at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital on Mondayin Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the twoyear old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. —AP

FRANCISCO: US surgeons on Tuesday successfully separated conjoined two-year-old girls born in the Philippines, bringing tears to the eyes of their mother who praised God for keeping them alive. A team of 20 doctors helped by 15-20 operating staff at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital worked for 10 hours to separate Angelina and Angelica Sabuco, who had spent all of their lives so far joined at the chest and abdomen.

“I thank God for everything; words cannot express how the family feels for the successful separation of our twins, Angelica and Angelina,” said their crying mother Ginady Sabuco. Lead surgeon Gary Hartman at the hospital in the northern Californian city of Palo Alto, said they expected the girls to make a “complete recovery.”

“We’re very pleased .. It could not have gone better,” he said. “They’re very resilient. The long-term prognosis is that we would expect a happy, healthy set of girls. We don’t see any barriers to a complete recovery.” The

twins were in intensive care and sedated, but may begin to be woken up yesterday and are likely to spend a week in the ICU and another week in hospital if all goes well, the hospital said. Hartman told reporters the surgery took slightly longer than anticipated, with the riskiest part, dividing the girls’ livers, going slowly but smoothly.

“There was really no blood loss during that part of the procedure,” he said, adding: “We were able to close the abdominal muscles without a graft, and the chest closure also went better than we anticipated.” Plastic surgeon Peter Lorenz, who led the reconstruction procedures, said there would be relatively little sign of the twins’ past, after the operation.

“They will have a long scar from the middle of their chests down to the belly button, a straight line,” the surgeon said, adding: “That’s all that will show.” The girls, who turned two in August, were joined at the chest and belly but had separate brains, hearts, kidneys, stomachs and intes-

tines. Before the operation doctors said they expected to take six hours to separate the girls and two to three hours more to conduct reconstruction work. It was lead surgeon Hartman’s sixth operation on conjoined twins. The most recent set separated at the hospital were Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias of Costa Rica in November 2007.

Ginady learned her babies were conjoined when she was seven months pregnant and her husband was working in San Jose, California.

She joined her husband, Fidel, in California in late 2010, more than a year after the birth, and the couple began meeting with doctors. “I want them to live normally, like other children,” said Ginady. The twins were recovering Tuesday night in the pediatric intensive care unit. “They will be sedated and on assisted ventilation throughout the night. If their condition is good, they may be awakened from sedation tomorrow and taken off of ventilators within the next few days,” said the hospital.— AFP

CALIFORNIA: Ginady Sabuco, center, holds back tears as she prepares to talk to the media next to pediatric surgeon Gary Hartman, at right, and plastic surgeon Peter Lorenz following surgery on her twin daughters at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Tuesday.—AP

Plain-packet cigarettes delayed in Australia SYDNEY: Australia’s world-first plan for plain packaging on cigarettes has been delayed, giving tobacco firms extra time to prepare, the government said yesterday, with the first sales now due in December 2012. Health Minister Nicola Roxon said final voting on the laws had been pushed back due to “shenanigans” in the upper house of parliament, meaning tobacco companies would have an extra six months before plain packets were introduced.

Roxon said a “lack of enthusiasm” from

conservative lawmakers had stalled the laws for so long that the industry would now face an unreasonably short time to bring in the new packaging by next July, as originally planned. “I don’t agree with the tobacco companies about very much, but I do agree that they should be entitled to an appropriate lead time to implement this very big change,” Roxon said.

“So the new date, the day that people will see plain packaged cigarettes on their shelves ... (will be) 1 December next year.”

Under the proposed legislation aimed at reducing Australia’s 15,000 annual smokingrelated deaths, all logos will be removed from cigarette packaging, with company brand names printed in a uniform font.

Packets will be a bland olive-green, with graphic health warning pictures printed on them, such as black, diseased gums, blinded eyes and hospitalized children.

Strongly opposed by the tobacco industry, the laws were passed by the lower house in August but the centre-left Labor

government has been unable to get them to a vote in the upper house due to procedural delaying by the opposition. Roxon said it was a “small setback” and she was confident that the laws would pass in coming weeks, with pledges of support from all parties. “I think having a few last gasps for the tobacco companies doesn’t stop the fact that we are going to put an end to marketing of tobacco products in Australia,” the health minister said. The proposal is being closely watched by other countries consid-

ering similar policies, including New Zealand, Britain and Canada.

But the enraged tobacco giants claim there is no evidence that plain packaging will reduce smoking rates and complain that counterfeit products will flood the market, reducing their profits.

They have threatened to take Canberra to court over the plan, with Philip Morris launching an intellectual property lawsuit in Asia and British American Tobacco mulling similar action.— AFP

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Announcements EDA Onam 2011 Ernakulam District Association Kuwait (EDA) ‘Onam 2011” celebration will be on November 4th at Indian Community School, Salmiya (Senior Girls). It will be a full day of entertainment from 9 am to 5 pm. Indian Ambassador Satish C. Mehta will be the chief guest. EDA family will be staging various cultural activities bringing back the nostalgic memories of a bygone era of prosperity, equality and righteousness under the golden reign of Mahabali. In addition, a sumptuous traditional meal “ONASADYA” will be served to all the members and invitees. All members and their families are requested to participate in the event. Contact Baburaj (66080256), Bipin (66024732) or visit our website www.edakuwait.com Free medical camp MES conducts their 12th Free Medical Screening Camp on Friday 11th November at Central School - Abbasiya in association with Kuwait Medical Association (KMA), Indian Doctors Forum (IDF), Kuwait Heart Foundation and Indian Dentists Alliance in Kuwait. The camp will be from 8 am to 2:30 pm. Around 50 specialized doctors from IDF will lead the examination. Thousands of poor and needy community members were benefited from the past 11 Medical Camps.

Doctors specialized in Gynecology, Ortho, Cardiology, Surgical, Pediatrics, Diabetes, Ophthalmology, ENT, Skin, General Medicine and Dental are available in the camp.

Applicant should bring any medical records he/she have i.e.

X-ray, Lab Test Report. Application forms are available at all the Branches of Gulf Mart, Tasty Restaurant, Al-Yaqza Book Shop (Kuwait City), Dress Mart (Fahaheel), Highland Supermarket (Abbasiya), Azizia Book Shop (Salmiya). Duly filled application will be acceptable maximum by 5th November 2011. For details contact Zubair (99826195) & Hassan Managad (99131104).

Indian Lawyers’ Forum Onam Indian Lawyers’ Forum will celebrate Onam, the unique, secular, harvest festival of Kerala on 18th November, 2011 Friday 10.30 am at Hi-Dine Restaurant Auditorium, Abbassia. Celebrations will include traditional variety entertainments, with the grand ‘ONASADHYA’. All Indian Lawyers & Law graduates working here in Kuwait are invited with their families.

For details contact Panicker 97203939, Pulikkal 97260159.

Email: advpanicker@gmail.com

KES holds Olympic Sports Day

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uwait English School Reception Department students displayed their athletic prowess before large crowds of proud parents gathered in the KG playground to watch the special Olympic Sports Day. Representing High Management Naela Al-Saddah, KES Vice Chairman, and Rula Al-Saddah, Financial Controller, attended the event. “Welcome to our Olympic version of Sports Day” said Mrs Searle, Head Teacher.

The warm and sunny Wednesday morning began with a parade of all the Reception children into the playground, each class representing an Olympic sport and passing on an Olympic flame to the

following team. The weightlifters in RB were followed by rowers in RM and the basketball players in RT. Mubarak passed the flame to the swimmers in RJ who were followed by the tae kwondo team in RK. The trampolining RW were followed by the volleyball team of RP. The national anthem was followed by a display of gymnastics by the Year 3 and 4 squad. Appreciative parents clapped and cheered and the Reception children gasped in amazement. “Thank you very much Years 3 and 4, that was lovely”, Mrs Searle said. The mock Olympic games began with a fast running race, followed by a funny quoit on the head race. “I

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arliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi met with students from the Khalifa School who attended the parliament’s session on Oct 27, 2011 which addressed the subject of people with special needs, as part of Kuwait’s celebrations of the 7th National Day for Solidarity with Disabled Citizens.

Enjoy your Eid at Kuwait Hyatt Hotel

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appy belated birthday to Jason de Roma.

May the rest of this year and the rest of your life be as sunny and shining as this picture. With best complements from friends.

Kala(Art) Kuwait NIRAM 2011 children’s day competition tomorrow

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ala(Art) Kuwait “Niram 2011 - B Natural “ painting competition will be held at Indian Community School, Khaitan on Friday, November 4th at 2:00 pm, as a part of Children’s’ Day celebration marking the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.

Students have been requested to report to the venue at 1:00 pm for collecting their cards. For more details please visit website www.kalakuwait.net or contact by e-mail at kalakuwait@gmail.com or the following telephone numbers 24891490, 99489078, 97449419, 97959072, 67001038, 97982935.

Kala(Art) Kuwait President Samkutty Thomas, General Secretary Jaison Joseph, Program General Convener sought the wholehearted cooperation of all Indian schools and parents to make the painting competition a great success.

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uwait Hyatt Hotel is well prepared to welcome its guests during Eid Al Adha in a totally different family perspective. Families wishing to spend their holidays at the hotel are invited to enjoy the astounding Holy Adha room package offering you a luxurious executive room with complimentary breakfast.

Exquisite breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are delicately prepared by the Executive Chef at the Al Shallal Restaurant. Diners can expect to indulge in dishes from all corners of the world, while enjoying the charm of genuine Arabic welcome within a warm family

atmosphere.

The Kuwait Hyatt makes your Eid Al Adha more memorable with a wide range of fun activities .This Eid offers an exciting opportunity to discover Kuwait’s oldest and most impressive lavishness getaway. Seize this golden opportunity and book your room now at the Kuwait Hyatt Hotel, Maidan Hawally, where fun and surprise await you.

The celebrate the joy of Eid al Adha and experience of Leisure and enjoyment at Kuwait Hyatt Hotel with your family to make the Eid holidays a memorable event.

athanamthitta District Association, Kuwait held Onam 2011 celebrations on a grand scale with a large gathering at Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbasiya on Oct 28, 2011 with spectacular cultural programs performed by well-known artists from Kerala.

Indian Ambassador inaugurated the public function by lighting the traditional Lamp and Pathanamthitta Loksabha Constituency MP Anto Antony was the chief guest and delivered the keynote address. The function was presided over by the Association President, Oommen George. The president in his speech explained the various social and welfare schemes planned by the Association such as insurance coverage for all members, establishment of a legal cell to support the members, family security scheme, emergency relief fund, education fund, medical treatment fund, etc., and also raised various issues faced by the Indian community for the attention of the MP, such as the exorbitant bribes to be paid for selection of Hospital nurses, and rehabilitation scheme for persons returning from the Gulf.

The welcome speech was given by the Association General Secretary, Benny Pathanamthitta and felicitation speeches were made by Anil Thomas, Pathanamthitta District Association’s Support Coordinator in India, veteran Indian community leaders and industrialists, M Mathews (Toyota Sunny) and John

Mathew, eminent Indian Medical Professional, Narayan Nampoothiri, Popular Group Chairperson, Marykutty John, Sam Painumoodu- KALA President, Raju Zachariahs- KUDA Secretary General, and Association Vice President, Harish Kumar. General Convenor, P T Samuelkutty offered the vote of thanks. Association’s Onam souvenir was released by Jacob Thomas of Five Star Group by giving a copy of the souvenir to Marykutty John of POPULAR GROUP, Pathanamthitta. The function was attended by Joy Mundakkat KUDA Chairman, Varghese Puthukulangara of OICC, Jacob Varghese, President of Maramon Association and other dignitaries in Kuwait and India, sponsors of the event, media representatives, and representatives of other local social and cultural organizations and a large gathering of people from the different regions of Pathanamthitta District working in Kuwait.

Orchestra led by veteran Malayalam Film Playback Singer, G Venugopal, the promising female Film Playback singer and Jeevan TV Queens Ilayanila Program Singer Sangeetha Prabhu, the highly talented comedy and mimic artist from Pathanamthitta, Nariyapuram Venugopal, Veteran Singer Kottayam Sabu, Asianet Idea Star Singer fame, Neelima, and Saiju. The event turned out to be one of the biggest held in Kuwait recently and was liked and appreciated by all who attended.

Turkish Grill opens in Al Bahar Center

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n Oct 30, 2011 Turkish Grill (TG) opened its eighth branch in the food court of Al Bahar Center - Hawally. The eighth TG Branch officially opened its doors among many invited guests as well as the public. The attendants enjoyed good food, good music and a great time while they mingled and sampled the flavorful flame grilled menu full of delicious mouth watering choices.

The innovative concept behind Turkish Grill is a fusion of traditional Turkish cuisine delivered in fast food style directly to your door; with this

Santhwanam Kuwait organizes free medical awareness seminar

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ANTHWANAM Kuwait invites all Indian expat community to their Free Medical Awareness Seminar that will be held on Friday, the 4th November 2011 at 04:00 p.m. at Al Jawaharath Arabic School Auditorium, near Riggae Ramada Hotel.

The medical seminar is organized in association with Indian Doctors Forum (IDF), Kuwait. IDF Doctors Dr. Unnikrishnan, Dr. Noble Zacharia & Dr. Thomas will be taking classes in the presence of Dr. Nampoory, Dr. Murali & Dr. Amir Ahmad. General Health Issues (Kuwait’s Life Style related medical issues), Cardiac Diseases - Awareness and Precautions etc. will be the topic for the seminar. A Special session for interaction between audience and Doctors is arranged to clarify the queries on health issues.

Organizers appealed to contact at following telephone numbers for free transportation facility available from various parts of Kuwait.

Fahaheel/Mangaf: 97943767/99826877; Abu Halifa/Mahboulla: 97881626/97861967; Abbassiya: 97213475/97820382; Salmiya/Farwaniya: 66364515/66546609; Riggae/Kuwait City: 66446575/66363561.

which the students had to grab their school bag, put on a cap and race to their class. The parents than participated in separate events for mums and dads in races with a beanbag between their knees. “No cheating! I know dads are notorious for cheating” Searle said, but apparently a few dads could not find their knees. ‘Well done children and well done mums and dads and thank you very much for coming” concluded Searle.

Pathanamthitta District Association celebrates Onam

Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva- 23726164, Suma Bhatt97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq: Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana- 66585077 Sanath Shetty- 67712409.

Greetings

think some children have better hair than others for this” Searle remarked. The children balanced bean bags on bats as they ran in the next race. Two hoop races followed with children climbing through three hoops and then placing and collecting bean bags from inside hoops.

The penultimate race for the children was an obstacle race, where children had to leap across shark infested waters. The last race was a ‘Late for school’ race’ in

Kuwait Mar Thoma parish convention

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he Annual Convention of Kuwait Mar Thoma Parsh will be held from 1st November (Tuesday) to 4th November (Friday) at Marina Hall, Jleeb Al Shuyoukh. The convention timing is from 7PM to 9 15 PM, except

on Friday. On Friday, it will be held at 6 30 AM along with the usual worship service. Renowned convention speaker from India, Mr. Paul Mahesh will preach the word of God. All are invited.

theory, flame grilled mouth-watering food is available to each and every person. Turkish Grill provides its customers with an extensive menu which offers grilled chicken, meat, kebabs, salads and even dessert, all of which has been prepared to perfection by experienced and creative Turkish chefs. During the opening TG’s Marketing Manager, Kamel Al Zyoud, announced that with the opening of the Bahar location, there is an expansion plan in the near future. New locations will be opening soon and new items will be added to the menu.

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BSK students welcome German Puppet Group

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tudents were entranced recently with the visit to The British School of Kuwait of the prestigious German puppeteers the ‘Augsburger Puppenkiste’. This famous European troupe perform with hand carved marionettes to tell children’s stories yet delight young and old alike. Affiliated with the Goethe Institute in Abu Dhabi the players gave the only school performances of their Gulf tour in BSK’s Shakespeare Theatre.

The charming puppets gave the children an entirely new experience to form the basis of discussion and writing in literacy classes thereby capitalising on the creative stimulus represented by the show. Goethe Institute Liaison Officer Isabell Achterberg commented on how pleased the crew were with the behaviour exhibited and thoughtful questions posed to the German team by the BSK students.

BSK Primary Head Teacher Mark Brisbane saw the children give the puppeteers a standing ovation and is ready to welcome the group back should they return to Kuwait. “To be

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRIA The Austrian Embassy would request to take note that in respect of the official mourning in the State of Kuwait in memory of the former Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz of Saudia Arabia, the reception of the Austrian Ambassador on the occasion of the Austrian National Day on October 26th has been cancelled. The official reception is now rescheduled to Monday, October 31, 2011 from 19:00 to 21:00. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The British Embassy - Consular Public Counters will be closed today and will re-open on 02 November 2011. For the latest FCO travel advice please visit: www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-livingabroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-eastnorth-africa/kuwait nnnnnnn

chosen by the Goethe Institute to host such an event was an honour and further strengthens The British School of Kuwait’s partnership with

the German community in Kuwait” he remarked. The British School of Kuwait would like to thank the Augburger Puppenkiste, the Goethe

Institute and the German Embassy in Kuwait for its time and effort in bringing such a worthwhile experience to Kuwait’s children.

Kuwait Bilingual School, Jahra KG department, celebrated Crazy Hats Day this week. Students from Pre-KG to kindergarten stage 2 surprised everyone with their varieties of hats as teachers also took part with their lovely crazy hats.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form.

All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants.

Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF FRANCE On the occasion of Eid Al Adha, the French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed on Sunday 6th and Monday 7th of November 2011. nnnnnnn

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he Premier GOAL Academy in association with Everton FC organized a Friendship Football tournament for Under 10, 11 and 12 teams at the weekend. Eight teams from the PGA/Everton, Hawally Pakistan English School and Canadian Bilingual School participated in the event, sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company. Pictured are players and their coaches from some of the teams.

K’S PATH holds annual charity golf tournament

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Holiday Inn Kuwait Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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uring the month of October and in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility, Holiday Inn Kuwait Salmiyah honored Breast Cancer Awareness Month with various initiatives throughout the hotel. All hotel management and staff wore pink ribbon pins as a symbol of their support and awareness of one of the most common and dangerous forms of cancer. A large majority of our male colleagues also wore pink ties another way of showing their support of all women.

In addition, pink ribbon signs and pins were placed in all outlets, as well as at reception, thereby making them freely available to all hotel guests and visitors.

There were also numerous informative signs prepared by the hotel’s social committee, which were placed in all common areas visited by the employees - such as

their coffee break lounge, cafeteria, corridors, and accommodation - to provide them with more information and advice about this type of cancer.

Besides the activities mentioned, Holiday Inn declared its true commitment to raising awareness of Breast Cancer, by organizing “Pink Thursday” on October 27th 2011. All female employees, guests and members of the Health Club were invited to attend an educational presentation given by a reputable doctor from a hospital specializing in Breast Cancer. The presentation included information regarding the disease, its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. After the presentation, the floor was given to the attendees for questions - all of which were answered in a clear and concise manner.

All attendees then enjoyed a light coffee break, and various group photographs.

’S PATH (Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat) in association with Gulf Bank, successfully held its 2nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament on Oct 29, 2011 at the Sahara Golf Club on a bright, cheerful day amidst splendid weather.

Over 110 golfers and spectators - families and individuals - attended the fundraising event to enjoy a good game of 4-man Texas Scramble and to express their support for K’S PATH. Proceeds from the fundraiser event will go towards K’S PATH’s various programs for habitat protection, animal welfare and environmental education.

“All player spots for our 2nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament were fully booked days before the event and we’ve seen a high level of interest from Kuwait’s golfing community”, says K’S PATH Chairman Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi.

“This year’s tournament has truly carried forth the success of last year’s tournament and we were glad to see families and friends have a great time while supporting a worthy cause. Big thanks to Gulf Bank for their kind sponsorship and

the Sahara Golf Club for hosting a wellplanned tournament. We also presented amazing prizes thanks to all the companies who came out to demonstrate their support of the work we do at K’S PATH.” The first prize was bagged by David Sims, Scott Dunning, Ron Miller and Colin Bambrook who won coveted VIP entries to the Emirates Airline Invitational plus a complimentary round of golf at the Yas Links Abu Dhabi and brunch at the Movenpick Hotel and Resort Al Bidaa. The second place went to Chris Sampson, Dave Foreman, Paul Thomas and Mark Westendorf with a fabulous dinner at the Al Boum Radisson Blu and delightful gift vouchers courtesy Safat Al Ghanim and 10.oh.8 Restaurant. Other prizes were generously extended by renowned brands such as Baskets Made Perfect, Ethan Allen, Hotel Missoni, Reina, Miglio Designer Jewellery, Trendz Salon, Organica Fish and Chips and Organic Pet and Feed. The memorable day ended with a luncheon and a special function to present prizes and thank sponsors for their contribution.

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following dates during the month of November 2011: November 6, 2011 (Sunday)- Idu’l Zuha (Bakrid) and November 10, 2011 (Thursday) - Guru Nanak’s birthday. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SPAIN On the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, this Embassy will be closed, on 6-7 and 8 November 2011, and will re-open Wednesday 9/11/2011. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of Eid Al Adha, the South African Embassy will be closed from Sunday, 6 November 2011 to Monday, 7 November 20111 The Embassy will resume it s normal working hours on Tuesday, 8 November 2011, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the Working hours will be from 8h00 to 16h00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8h30 to 12h30. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF US The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Leadership for Democracy Fellows Program is now accepting applications - deadline Nov 1, 2011. The MEPI Leaders for Democracy Fellowship (LDF) Program is an exciting, selective 3-month program in the United States for 20-25 young civic leaders from the Middle East and North Africa. The program begins with 6 weeks of academic coursework, where fellows focus on the concepts of leadership, democracy, communication, and conflict resolution among other issues. After completing the academic portion of the program, participants engage in a 6-week professional assignment with a political, non-governmental, or public policy organization in Washington, DC. For more information about the program, please email: kuwaitmepi@state.gov Visit us @ USEmbassyQ8 http://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyQ8 nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

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00:50 Beast Lands 01:45 Dogs 101 02:40 Planet Earth 03:35 Wildest Africa 04:30 Untamed & Uncut 05:25 Beast Lands 06:20 Dogs 101 07:10 Animal Cops Specials 2009 08:00 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 08:25 The Really Wild Show 08:50 Growing Up...: Clouded Leopard 09:40 Breed All About It 10:10 Bad Dog 11:05 Dogs 101 12:00 Animal Cops Phoenix 12:55 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 13:50 Wild Animal Repo 14:45 Planet Earth 15:40 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 16:30 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Baby Planet 18:25 Dogs 101 19:20 Must Love Cats 20:15 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 21:10 Dogs 101 22:05 Planet Earth 23:00 Queens Of The Savannah 23:55 Untamed & Uncut

00:30 Green Green Grass: Xmas Special 2007 01:15 Dinnerladies 02:25 The Weakest Link: S11: Set 02 03:10 Casualty: Set 3 04:05 Dinnerladies 04:40 3rd & Bird: set 01 04:50 Bobinogs 05:00 Boogie Beebies: Set 4 05:15 Spot’s Musical Adventures 05:20 Me Too: Set 1 05:40 Fimbles: Set 2 06:00 3rd & Bird: set 01 06:10 Bobinogs 06:20 Boogie Beebies: Set 4 06:40 Me Too: Set 1 07:00 Charlie & Lola: Set 2 07:10 Fimbles: Set 2 07:30 3rd & Bird: set 01 07:40 Bobinogs 07:50 Boogie Beebies: Set 4 08:05 Spot’s Musical Adventures 08:10 Me Too: Set 1 08:30 Charlie & Lola: Set 2 08:40 Fimbles: Set 2 09:00 3rd & Bird: set 01 09:10 Bobinogs 09:20 Boogie Beebies: Set 4 09:35 Me Too: Set 1 09:55 Charlie & Lola: Set 2 10:10 Fimbles: Set 2 10:30 Dinnerladies 11:35 The Weakest Link: S11: Set 02 12:20 Emma (2009) 13:15 Doctors: Set 2 13:45 Eastenders: set 253 14:15 Casualty: Set 3 15:00 Dinnerladies 16:05 Last of the Summer Wine: Series 28 16:40 Emma (2009) 17:30 The Weakest Link: S11: Set 02 18:15 Doctors: Set 2 18:45 Eastenders: set 253 19:15 Casualty: Set 3 20:10 Emma (2009) 21:00 The Weakest Link: S11: Set 02 21:45 Doctors: Set 2 22:15 Eastenders: set 253 22:45 Incredible Journeys With Steve Leonard 23:35 Coast

00:00 01:15 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:40 05:05

Masterchef Australia The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me What Not To Wear Masterchef Australia The Naked Chef Come Dine With Me

05:55 What Not To Wear 06:45 Masterchef Australia 08:00 Cash In The Attic USA 08:20 Daily Cooks Challenge 09:50 Antiques Roadshow 10:40 Bargain Hunt 11:25 Antiques Roadshow 13:05 Come Dine With Me 13:55 Daily Cooks Challenge 15:50 Bargain Hunt 16:35 Antiques Roadshow 18:15 Come Dine With Me 19:05 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 19:30 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 19:55 Rhodes Across Italy 20:40 Come Dine With Me 21:30 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 Hardtalk 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 World Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:10 06:35 07:00

The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Johnny Bravo Duck Dodgers King Arthur’s Disasters The Scooby Doo Show Popeye Classics Tom & Jerry Popeye The Jetsons The Flintstones Looney Tunes Pink Panther & Pals Tex Avery Yogi’s Treasure Hunt The Garfield Show

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 07:15 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:30 11:55 12:20 12:35 13:00 13:15 13:40 13:55 14:20 14:45 15:15 15:40 16:05 16:30 16:55 17:20 Doo 17:45 18:10 18:35 19:00 19:25 19:50 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:55

New Yogi Bear Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals Top Cat New Yogi Bear Show Puppy In My Pocket Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Jetsons Duck Dodgers Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Tom & Jerry The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Scooby-Doo And ScrappyDastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show The Flintstones Pink Panther & Pals Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Top Cat Wacky Races Tom & Jerry The Scooby Doo Show Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Johnny Bravo Dexters Laboratory

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder 05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Eliot Kid 08:04 Cow & Chicken 08:12 Eliot Kid 08:25 Angelo Rules 08:50 Best Ed 09:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:05 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 10:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 10:55 Cow & Chicken 11:20 I Am Weasel 11:35 Adventure Time 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 12:50 The Secret Saturdays 13:15 Samurai Jack 13:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 14:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 14:30 Skunk Fu! 14:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 15:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 15:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy 16:05 Camp Lazlo 16:30 Chowder 16:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 17:25 Cow & Chicken 17:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 18:15 I Am Weasel 18:40 George Of The Jungle 19:05 Casper’s Scare School

THE SIEGE ON OSN ACTION HD

19:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 19:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 20:20 Generator Rex 20:45 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 21:10 Hero 108 21:35 Bakugan: New Vestroia 22:00 Total Drama Action 22:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 22:50 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:50 The Secret Saturdays

00:00 Backstory 00:30 World Sport 01:00 The Situation Room 02:00 World Report 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 World Sport 06:30 Talk Asia 07:00 World Report 07:30 Backstory 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Eco Solutions 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 American Morning: Wake-Up Call 12:30 Living Golf 13:00 World One 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 The Brief 18:30 World Sport 19:00 Prism 20:00 International Desk 20:30 Living Golf 21:00 Quest Means Business 22:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:25 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Swamp Brothers Swords: Life On The Line Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made How Do They Do It? Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How It’s Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters Dual Survival One Man Army Ultimate Survival River Monsters: Killer Catfish Swamp Brothers Cash Cab Us Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Cash Cab Us One Man Army Ultimate Survival Nothing Personal

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 The Tech Show 01:35 Mighty Ships 02:25 Green Wheels 02:50 Weird Or What?

03:40 Brainiac 04:35 The Gadget Show 05:00 The Gadget Show 05:25 How Stuff’s Made 05:50 Mighty Ships 06:40 Stuntdawgs 07:10 Engineered 08:00 Catch It Keep It 08:50 Moon Machines 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:00 The Gadget Show 11:25 Engineered 12:20 Sci-Fi Science 12:45 How Stuff’s Made 13:15 Weird Or What?

14:05 Moon Machines 14:55 Stuntdawgs 15:20 Green Wheels 15:50 Mighty Ships 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Catch It Keep It 18:00 Brainiac 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Bang Goes The Theory 20:30 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 21:20 Ecopolis 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 The Gadget Show 23:00 Bang Goes The Theory 23:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:20 Cody 06:45 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:35 09:00 09:15 09:25

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperor’s New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School The Suite Life Of Zack And Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction The Hive

09:35 Handy Manny 09:50 Imagination Movers 10:15 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Emperor’s New School 10:50 Good Luck Charlie 11:15 Phineas And Ferb 11:35 Suite Life On Deck 12:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:25 Sonny With A Chance 12:45 Good Luck Charlie 13:10 Hannah Montana 13:30 Suite Life On Deck 13:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 14:20 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 14:55 Good Luck Charlie 15:20 Phineas And Ferb 15:45 Fish Hooks 16:10 Shake It Up 16:35 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 17:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 17:25 Good Luck Charlie 17:50 Fish Hooks 18:15 Shake It Up 18:45 Suite Life On Deck 19:35 Good Luck Charlie 20:00 Emperor’s New School 20:25 Fish Hooks 20:50 Hannah Montana 21:15 Sonny With A Chance 21:35 Good Luck Charlie 22:00 Shake It Up 22:25 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 22:50 Sonny With A Chance 23:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 THS 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 Christina Aguilera 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Khloe And Lamar 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Fashion Police 13:35 Extreme Close-Up 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Giuliana & Bill 15:30 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Ice Loves Coco 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Giuliana & Bill 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Bridalplasty 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:40 01:30 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:50 04:40 05:25 05:50 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:45 09:35 10:20 10:45 11:05 11:50 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:50 16:15 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted Dead Tenants Dead Tenants I Almost Got Away With It FBI Case Files Dr G: Medical Examiner Dead Tenants Dead Tenants The Haunted Mystery Diagnosis Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Ghost Lab FBI Files Murder Shift On The Case With Paula Zahn Fugitive Strike Force Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Ghost Lab FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Fugitive Strike Force Cuff Me If You Can Forensic Justice

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Best of Treks in a Wild World Destination Extreme First Ascent City Chase Rome City Chase Marrakech Departures Departures Best of Treks in a Wild World Destination Extreme First Ascent City Chase Rome City Chase Marrakech Departures Best of Treks in a Wild World David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue: Bali Travel Madness Deadliest Journeys Cruise Ship Diaries Ultimate Traveller Warrior Road Trip David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue: Bali Travel Madness Deadliest Journeys Deadliest Journeys Cruise Ship Diaries Ultimate Traveller

00:00 Splinter-18 02:00 The Siege-PG15 04:00 The Heavy-18 06:00 The Devil’s Teardrop-PG15 07:30 Bad Girls-PG15 09:30 Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse-PG15 11:00 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of CobraPG15 13:00 Bad Girls-PG15 14:45 Spartacus-PG15 18:00 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of CobraPG15 20:00 The Grudge 3-18 22:00 The Final-18 23:45 Alive-PG15

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS ON OSN CINEMA

01:15 Vinyan-18 03:15 Bustin’ Down The Door-PG15 05:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 07:15 Winx: Secret Of The Lost Kingdom-PG 09:00 How To Train Your Dragon-PG 11:00 Bustin’ Down The Door-PG15 13:00 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star-PG15 15:00 Good Hair-PG15 17:00 Easy Virtue-PG15 19:00 Date Night-PG15 21:00 Paranormal Activity 2-18 22:45 Biutiful-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 South Park 02:00 American Dad 02:30 Entourage 03:00 Friends 03:30 Friends 04:00 According To Jim 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Dharma And Greg 06:00 Weird Science 06:30 Just Shoot Me 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 According To Jim 08:30 Friends 09:00 Dharma And Greg 09:30 The League 10:00 Parks And Recreation 10:30 Just Shoot Me 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 According To Jim 13:00 Friends 13:30 Dharma And Greg 14:00 Just Shoot Me 14:30 The League 15:00 Parks And Recreation 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Weird Science 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 19:00 Community 19:30 Wilfred 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Funny Or Die Presents 22:30 Entourage 23:00 South Park 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Terra Nova True Blood Big Love Once Upon A Time The Invisible Man Good Morning America Law & Order: Criminal Intent Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Terra Nova Once Upon A Time Live Good Morning America The Invisible Man The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Turn Back Your Body Clock Eureka The X Factor (US) Treme Law & Order: Criminal Intent

00:00 Law & Order 01:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 02:00 Terra Nova 03:00 True Blood 04:00 Once Upon A Time 05:00 The Good Guys 06:00 Law & Order 07:00 Outsourced 07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Burn Notice 09:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior 10:00 Terra Nova 11:00 Once Upon A Time

13:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 22:30

12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Outsourced Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Burn Notice Law & Order The Simpsons The Ellen DeGeneres Show Bones Eureka The X Factor (US) Treme No Ordinary Family

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 PG15 11:15 14:00 16:15 PG15 18:30 20:00 21:45 23:45 PG15

Assassination Tango-PG15 Penny Dreadful-18 Blood River-18 Lost In Space-PG15 The Day After Tomorrow2012-PG15 What Lies Beneath-PG15 The Day After TomorrowArmored-18 Juice-18 Medium Raw-PG15 The Burningmoore Incident-

00:00 Yogi’s Great Escape-PG 02:00 Out Cold-PG15 04:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 06:00 A Pyromaniac’s Love StoryPG15 08:00 Checking Out-PG15 10:00 Ball & Chain-PG15 12:00 Captain Ron-PG15 14:00 Someone Like You-PG15 16:00 Yogi’s Great Escape-PG 18:00 Lower Learning-PG15 20:00 Roommates-PG15 22:00 The Night Of The White PantsPG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:45 12:30 14:15 16:30 18:45 21:00 23:00

Confidences Trop Intimes-18 Greener Mountains-PG15 Robin Hood (1991)-PG15 In God’s Hands-PG Guarding Tess-PG Return To Rajapur-PG15 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 The Rookie-PG15 The Lovely Bones-PG15 Moulin Rouge!-PG15 Hollywood Homicide-PG15 Taking Woodstock-18

01:00 Case 39-18 03:00 13 Going On 30-PG15 05:00 The Client List-PG15 07:00 Stomp The Yard Homecoming-PG15 09:00 Bond Of Silence-PG15 11:00 Get Low-PG15 13:00 Mean Girls-PG15 15:00 The Ramen Girl-PG15 17:00 Bond Of Silence-PG15 19:00 Grown Ups-PG15 21:00 Paranormal Activity 2-18 23:00 The Tender Hook-PG15

2:

00:00 Gold Diggers: The Secret Of Bear Mountain-PG 02:00 The Amazing Zorro-FAM 04:00 Christmas In New York-PG 06:00 Gold Diggers: The Secret Of Bear Mountain-PG 08:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG 10:00 Nativity!-PG 12:15 Legend Of Sleeping Beauty-PG 14:00 Like Mike-PG 16:15 Tom And Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes-FAM 17:45 Nativity!-PG 20:00 The Karate Kid-PG 22:45 Legend Of Sleeping Beauty-PG

02:00 RWC 2011 Tournament Highlights 04:00 Trans World Sport 05:00 Le Mans Cup 06:00 Live European PGA Tour 11:00 Trans World Sport 12:00 Le Mans Cup 13:00 Auqabikes

European PGA Tour WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Countdown Futbol Mundial Live Premier League Snooker

00:00 Asian Tour Golf Show 00:30 Rugby League 4 Nations 02:30 Beach Volley Ball 03:00 Challenge Series Golf 03:30 Asian Tour Golf Show 04:00 Equestrian World 04:30 Spirit of Yachting 05:00 Volvo Ocean Race 06:30 Beach Volley Ball 07:00 Rugby World Cup 09:00 Total Rugby 09:30 Futbol Mundial 10:00 Rugby League 4 Nations 12:00 Equestrian World 12:30 Spirit of Yachting 13:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 13:30 Beach Volley Ball 14:00 Trans World Sport 15:00 Equestrian World 15:30 Total Rugby 16:00 Scottish Premier League 18:00 Futbol Mundial 18:30 Rugby League 4 Nations 20:30 Total Rugby 21:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 21:30 Trans World Sport 22:30 Live Premier League Snooker

00:00 Futbol Mundial 00:30 European Tour Weekly 01:00 Golfing World 02:00 Premier League Snooker 05:30 The Challenge Series Golf 06:00 Live European PGA Tour 11:00 Golfing World 12:00 Asian Tour Golf 12:30 Trans World Sport 13:30 European Tour Weekly 14:00 Golfing World 15:00 European PGA Tour 20:30 Golfing World 21:30 RWC 2011 Tournament Highlights 23:30 Total Rugby

00:00 01:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Super Formula V8 Supercars WWE Tough Enough UFC Unleashed UFC Countdown WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Tough Enough Intercontinental Le Mans Cup WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line V8 Supercars Prizefighter WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 137 Countdown UFC 137

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Ancients Behaving Badly IRT: Deadliest Roads Engineering An Empire Dogfights World War II: Lost Films World War II: Lost Films Ancients Behaving Badly IRT: Deadliest Roads Engineering An Empire Dogfights World War II: Lost Films World War II: Lost Films Ancients Behaving Badly IRT: Deadliest Roads Engineering An Empire Dogfights World War II: Lost Films World War II: Lost Films Ancients Behaving Badly IRT: Deadliest Roads Engineering An Empire Ax Men Ax Men Swamp People

Classifieds THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Room for rent in Maidan Hawally new building central A/C fully furnished master room, family or working ladies. Tel: 97896765.

(C 3720) 2-11-2011

English. References on request. 97524681. (C 3723) 3-11-2011 Required urgently live in experienced Indian house boys, should speak, understand English and / or Arabic. Please call 99872524, 22413210.

(C 3721) 2-11-2011

FOR SALE Toyota Corolla 2004, 1.8cc, km 101000, golden metallic, no accident, original paint and excellent condition, cash KD 2150. Contact: 66825635. (C 3724) PC Compaq P4, Intel original 2.4, Ram 512, HD 80 GB, with LCD monitor, excellent condition, price KD 45.

Contact: 99322585.

(C 3726) 3-11-2011

SITUATION VACANT Looking for American/ British family to host 15 years Kuwaiti boy from reputed Kuwaiti family. Daily for an hour to converse in

SITUATION WANTED Qualified and Experienced accountant needs job urgently.

Contact: 66825635. (C 3725) 3-11-2011

CHANGE OF NAME I, Virgilio Mathew Rangel, holder of Indian Passport number A2741932 hereby change my name to Virgilio Anthony Rangel. (C 3722) 2-11-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION `

Airlines JZR KAC KLM JZR JZR ETH THY UAE KAC QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA KAC THY DHX FCX JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC IRA KAC JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC UAE ABY QTR RJA FDB ETD GFA IRA JZR KNE MEA SYR MSC MSR JZR UAL KAC GFA MSR FDB VOS OMA QTR KNE MSR SVA

Arrival Flights on Thursday 3/11/2011 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 1948 JEDDAH 447 AMSTERDAM/BAHRAIN 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 1950 JEDDAH 138 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 352 COCHIN 617 AHWAZ 302 MUMBAI 531 ASSIUT 332 TRIVANDRUM 284 DHAKA 605 ISFAHAN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 5504 AMMAN 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 3463 TEHRAN 165 DUBAI 789 JEDDAH 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS/DEIREZZOR 9621 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG 610 CAIRO 201 DAMASCUS 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 57 DUBAI 93 KANDAHAR/DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 2122 CAIRO 500 JEDDAH

Tim 0:20 0:30 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:40 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:40 4:50 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:50 7:50 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:15 8:15 8:20 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:35 9:55 10:15 11:20 11:20 11:55 12:35 12:45 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:50 14:15 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:30

KAC RJA KAC JZR IRC YYY JZR LMU KAC QTR GFA MEA JZR MLR JZR ETD KAC UAE FDB GFA SVA KAC ABY JZR RBG ALK JZR MSC FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC MSR KAC KAC KAC RJA KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA MSR DHX GFA MEA GFA LMU QTR UAE JZR UAL KLM AIC IRA JZR JZR AXB BBC DLH

552 640 788 257 6791 1111 241 407 546 134 2219 408 535 403 357 303 118 857 8067 215 510 1672 127 777 3553 227 177 9623 63 502 542 125 786 2130 618 614 674 5534 104 774 562 61 572 647 618 372 2223 402 217 409 136 859 135 981 445 981 3465 513 239 389 43 636

DAMASCUS AMMAN JEDDAH BEIRUT AHWAZ IRAQ AMMAN ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA DOHA BAHRAIN BEIRUT CAIRO COLOMBO/DUBAI MASHAD ABU DHABI NEW YORK DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI SHARJAH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO/DUBAI DUBAI SOHAG DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN JEDDAH CAIRO DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN LONDON RIYADH AMMAN DUBAI MUMBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN ASSIUT DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM CHENNAI/HYDERABAD/AHMEDABAD TEHRAN SHARM EL SHEIKH AMMAN KOZHIKODE/MANGALORE DHAKA FRANKFURT

14:35 14:40 14:50 15:00 15:05 15:05 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:25 15:35 16:20 16:25 16:40 16:50 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:00 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:10 18:15 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:10 19:15 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:45 21:00 21:10 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:05 22:20 22:20 22:45 23:35 23:45 23:50

Airlines MEA AXB AIC PIA JZR DLH KLM ETH THY FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD QTR THY JZR GFA JZR FDB KAC BAW IRA JZR KAC KAC JZR IRA KAC KAC JZR UAE ABY RJA FDB QTR ETD GFA JZR IRA KAC KAC KNE JZR MEA KAC KAC SYR KAC MSC JZR MSR UAL GFA MSR FDB KAC KAC KNE OMA

Departure Flights on Thursday 3/11/2011 Flt Route 407 BEIRUT 394 COCHIN/KOZHIKODE 976 GOA/CHENNAI 216 KARACHI 530 ASSIUT 637 FRANKFURT 447 AMSTERDAM 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 200 DAMASCUS 54 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 606 MASHAD 256 BEIRUT 671 DUBAI 551 DAMASCUS 534 CAIRO 604 MASHAD 787 JEDDAH 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 240 AMMAN 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 5505 AMMAN 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 356 MASHAD 3406 MASHAD 165 ROME/PARIS 541 CAIRO 790 JEDDAH 776 JEDDAH 405 BEIRUT 1671 DUBAI 501 BEIRUT 342 DEIREZZOR/DAMASCUS 785 JEDDAH 9622 ASSIUT/HURGHADA 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 982 BAHRAIN 220 BAHRAIN 622 ASSIUT 58 DUBAI 561 AMMAN 673 DUBAI 746 JEDDAH 646 MUSCAT

Tim 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:10 1:15 1:20 1:45 2:45 3:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:55 5:50 6:55 7:00 7:30 8:25 8:30 8:40 8:50 9:00 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:25 9:35 9:35 9:40 9:45 9:55 10:05 10:10 10:20 10:40 10:50 11:15 11:45 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:55 13:00 13:00 13:35 13:40 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:20 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:15

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

MSR RJA JZR KAC LMU SVA IRC JZR KAC KAC QTR GFA JZR MEA YYY ETD MLR JZR FDB QTR VOS UAE GFA ABY RBG SVA JZR JZR ALK FDB MSC JZR MSR RJA KAC FDB KAC KAC DHX KAC JAI OMA MSR KAC DHX GFA KAC LMU MEA GFA FCX QTR JZR KAC UAE KAC KLM JZR JZR KAC UAL IRA KAC

2123 641 124 617 408 505 6792 512 613 773 141 2220 238 409 1111 304 404 538 8068 135 82 858 216 128 3554 511 266 134 228 64 9624 184 2131 5535 283 62 343 331 171 351 571 648 619 543 373 2224 675 410 403 218 102 137 554 301 860 205 445 268 528 415 981 3408 411

CAIRO AMMAN BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT JEDDAH MASHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN AMMAN BEIRUT HONG KONG ABU DHABI DUBAI/COLOMBO CAIRO DUBAI DOHA BAGHDAD DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI ASSIUT DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DHAKA DUBAI CHENNAI TRIVANDRUM BAHRAIN COCHIN MUMBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN/AMSTERDAM BEIRUT ASSIUT KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA WASHINGTON DC DULLES MASHAD BANGKOK/MANILA

15:30 15:35 15:50 15:55 15:55 16:00 16:05 16:05 16:20 16:25 16:30 16:35 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 17:45 18:00 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:30 19:55 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:45 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:45 23:50 23:55

34

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 488

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Your self-confidence is high and you feel the warm urges of ambition. Outer circumstances are favorable and it should be easy for you to push forward in projects and in all aspects of your life. Things may seem almost magical in the way they work to your favor. This is a great time to get things accomplished. You find that you are able to bring more imagination to bear on your goals and ambitions. You appreciate your particular situation and enjoy support from those around you. This afternoon is a good time for surrounding yourself with friends and for having a good time. If you are celebrating the seasonal activities, now is a good time to order the food or reserve your hotel room. Make plans to enjoy some time with the people you love.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your self-confidence is strong and you feel the nudge from somewhere that says it is time for you to make yourself known in the workplace. This is the day you speak up and make yourself known. This afternoon you may learn new ways to relieve stress. You might be embarrassed about doing yoga and relaxation exercises, but you will enjoy the results. This may mean you sign up to be in a group to learn these techniques. This evening, a friend in need or something you believe in that will suffer from a lack of your support is the issue that comes to your attention. You may be called on to lend a hand—start thinking of ways in which you can be helpful—do not wait until the last minute to solve problems.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant.

4. A city in central Illinois on the Illinois River.

10. (Judaism) Sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

13. United States musician (born in Japan) who married John Lennon and collaborated with him on recordings (born in 1933).

14. Of or relating to the lips of the mouth.

15. Flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes.

16. The large trunk artery that carries blood from the left ventricle of the heart to branch arteries.

18. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

20. Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in northernmost Burma and adjacent China and India.

21. On a ship, train, plane or other vehicle.

23. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

26. An edge tool used to cut and shape wood.

27. A yellow pungent volatile oil (trade name Agene) formerly used for bleaching and aging flour.

30. (Sumerian) Water god and god of wisdom.

31. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

34. (British) An open river valley (in a hilly area).

35. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

37. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

39. An acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety.

42. Date used in reckoning dates before the supposed year Christ was born.

43. A member of a nomadic people of the northern Ural mountains.

45. An agency of the United Nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.

47. A hard brittle blue-white multivalent metallic element.

48. Capital city of the Apulia region on the Adriatic coast.

49. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

52. Mar or spoil the appearance of.

55. Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean.

56. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

59. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

60. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

61. A member of a people inhabiting the Arctic (northern Canada or Greenland or Alaska or eastern Siberia).

64. The compass point midway between south and southeast.

65. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade names Acular and Toradol) that is administered only intramuscularly.

66. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. The process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid).

2. Small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns.

3. Meat from a domestic hog or pig.

4. Flesh of large European flatfish.

5. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

6. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

7. Gear (including necessary machinery) for a particular enterprise.

8. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

9. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

10. Any of various Spanish fortresses or palaces built by the Moors.

11. Located in or toward the back or rear.

12. Scottish sea captain who was hired to protect British shipping in the Indian Ocean and then was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701).

17. A feudal lord or baron in Scotland.

19. Surface layer of ground containing a matt of grass and grass roots.

22. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

24. Spread or daub over.

25. (Sumerian) Consort of Dumuzi (Tammuz).

28. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

29. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

32. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

33. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

36. Goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment.

38. Enchanter's nightshade.

39. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

40. A Bantu language spoken in the coastal regions of eastern Kenya.

41. Cut with or as if with scissors.

44. A fraudulent business scheme.

46. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

50. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

51. Wild or domesticated South American cud-chewing animal related to camels but smaller and lacking a hump.

53. Oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food.

54. A golf shot that curves to the right for a right-handed golfer.

57. A Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.

62. A white trivalent metallic element.

63. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) This is a very good day for job-related events. You could represent or speak for your company or communicate about your skills.

Things are happening and your career or path depends on your own ambition and drive, which is strong now. Your common sense is good and you move in the right direction for your professional advancement. Taking action now is an important move.

You can improve your financial situation and you think about ways in which to do so at this time. Your optimistic outlook helps you to teach other people things you have learned through your own life experiences. This afternoon you think about ways to improve your image, appearance or health. You may end a destructive relationship or become very lucky in love this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You are riding a high now in terms of taking advantage of the cycles in your life. This time may be a high-water mark; however, this is also a time during which you should begin to consolidate and tie down the advances you have made recently. It may be best to begin to dig in and strengthen your current position rather than expand outward too much. An award may come to you through your work today. This afternoon you will find your mind turning away from the external or the material, to become more concerned with spiritual ideas. All of this will become clear soon. You tend towards mental pursuits and admire intelligence. There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connection between things, places and people.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your energies run effectively toward making yourself felt in the material, tangible outer world. You are an action person who gains the attention of others and seems to get things moving. The circumstances of your life suggest extroversion. Self-discipline is an important issue in your life now as that is what stabilizes your work, as well as your relationships. Today you may be looking for a new vehicle. A better means of transportation has been needed for some time and now is a good time to look around and make some decisions. There are opportunities to improve your career through travel, writing or studying some new technique. A family meeting keeps you on your toes. You are encouraged to express yourself this evening.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Right now, the key to your career involves attending to nagging details. You could talk someone out of a lawsuit this morning. You will be saving yourself and perhaps another of much frustration, money and time. Your attitude and talents move in the direction of self-expression along with your particular ideas and thoughts. You could be leading a group discussion today and it may deal with some sort of academic crusades. You will be able to sway others to your way of thinking. Science, philosophy and religion are likely to seem as if they hold the ultimate answers. True wisdom lies in discovering that there are no ultimate answers, only good questions. A good conversation with those you love is possible tonight.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There are makings for a bright day. You should be able to get your ideas across with ease. Your communication skills are at a highwater mark. You seem to gravitate to those things which last and hold true in your life just now. You could teach better business techniques to executives as well as those that choose to stay at home to work or run a family. Consider teaching your techniques at a junior college this next year. Matters of law, religion and philosophy are where you want more education. This afternoon, you may find a long list of chores to do. You make a good impression on family members by saving energy and accomplishing so many chores so quickly. Some of these short-cuts might be useful in the workplace—take notes.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) At heart, you have a deep sense of responsibility and purpose.

Others can see your seriousness and they respect your status in the workplace. Someone may need your advice today regarding a problem at work. You seem to enjoy helping others. You have the interest and the energy to achieve longterm personal and professional goals and will many times combine your goals into one. You may decide to own a business instead of managing a business at this time.

Your self-confidence is high. You feel the warm urges of ambition and you influence others in positive ways. A story that is hard to believe can be checked out this afternoon. Take advantage of all the opportunities to do some valuable networking this evening as you attend a social event.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Skim a little off the top of your paycheck for a rainy day.

Some earnings may slip too easily through your fingers.

How about a budget? At least give it a consideration. Good health, good marriage, good friends and a good job or career are often more important than money. Gifts do not have to be extravagant—sometimes they can be just as simple as a picture in a frame. People who are good for you enter your life this afternoon. Circumstances arise that give you the freedom and the opportunity to do something you have never done before. This may mean an opportunity to enjoy a hot air balloon ride or perhaps to ask that special someone for a date.

Many of you may be in the beginning of a start-up business from your home. You are definitely moving in the right direction, but if you are asking for a loan, be sure to ask for more than you think you need so you will have a pay-back cushion, so to speak. Whether you are in sales or public relations, you may be wondering if the people you come into contact with today are okay. Everyone seems to be in such a hurry . . . interruptions, difficult communications, etc. More than one person will seek your advice about sensitive matters this afternoon so, weather permitting, move on outside for a bit of exercise, if possible. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others—this afternoon and evening belong especially to you—relax.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) As an early riser, you have probably already run several miles before your workday begins. More than likely, others are just getting up by the time you have completed a half day of work. This is beneficial to you and helps you to greet the day with a feeling of success. If you are taking a test, an exam or studying today, you may have to have a long talk with yourself in order to stay in your chair and keep at it. The same goes for calculating or shuffling papers. Some of your work could be boring and an extra concerted effort may be needed all during this day. Take a break at least twice during the day—if possible, enjoy a bit of fresh air and body movement. End results are positive! Adaptability is essential for a happy relationship.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You could sing positive, up-beat songs—you do your best to eliminate any negative and are a good mentor to others. You could work as a coordinator of events, a social worker or a customer relations manager. You have a boundless amount of optimism with irrepressible energy. Be as self-confident and assertive as you like, because you are going to get what you want in this life. You are a very attractive and inspiring person—luck and determination is on your side.

Any dispute you may have will quickly come to a satisfying end. You move through most problems quickly. A totally new diet or exercise program can improve your life and you are a good influence to others in this way. Love and compassion are wonderful friends this evening.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

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0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

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A

36

e niv rsar n

Years

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Grant becomes a dad, but mother s a mystery

Lohan returns to court, may return to jail

L

judge had sentenced Lohan to serve 120 hours doing janitorial work at coroner’s office in April, but expressed hope that the actress would benefit from working three times that amount of hours at a women’s shelter. Lohan, 25, was terminated from the shelter program after failing to show up nine times at the center. She told her probation officer the assignment was not fulfilling, according to the actress’ probation report. The actress’ morgue service has not been without drama - she was turned away the first day after showing up 40 minutes late. She has shown up early several times since then. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined to characterize how Lohan’s service was progressing Tuesday.

There are few, if any, untried punishment options if Sautner determines Lohan violated her orders. The former Disney star has been sent to jail, rehab, counseling and community service numerous times since being arrested twice for drunken driving in 2007. Her probation on that case is nearly over, but her release remains supervised after Lohan in May pleaded no contest to misdemeanor theft for taking a $2,500 necklace without permission in January. Once a headlining actress, Lohan’s court and personal troubles have overshadowed her career for years.

Cancer-suffering Korean song contestant rivets nation im Yoon-taek sings in a quartet battling for the crown in the third season of the South Korean equivalent of “American Idol,” with the semifinals looming this Friday. But the slight, bespectacled Lim is also fighting stage four stomach cancer, and his plight has captured the attention and sympathy of the nation. The 32year-old leader of the group Ulala Session shocked viewers and judges alike in September by revealing his illness when asked why his hair was so short. He said he had had his stomach and duodenum removed in June, during the preliminary rounds of the hit Superstar K program. “I think that how one lives is more important than how long one lives. So I don’t feel too bad,” Lim said on the show. Lim’s group is one of three remaining since the final, onair rounds began in August. If they make it through Friday’s show they’ll be headed for the finals next week. Their song last week, “Western Sky”, was the soundtrack of a film starring an actress who later died of stomach cancer. It subsequently became the single most downloaded song on Naver, the Korean equivalent of Google. Signs have emerged that Lim is struggling. He has lost 7 kg (15 lb) since July, along with his hair

L

and eyebrows, and missed the rehearsal for last week’s show. But his determination has drawn the admiration of many across the nation, where celebrities tend to conceal their illness if they have cancer. “No words are necessary. All of the judges are applauding with gratitude and respect for your enthusiasm for music and display of your fighting spirit on stage,” said judge Lee Seung-chul after one show in October.

Lim’s fellow band members, who are also friends of long standing, said that if they scooped the top prize of 500 million won ($450,000) — minus costs for recording an album-they would use it for Lim’s medical costs. “Of course he will recover soon, but before he gets worse, we want to show the world everything we have as if this is the last time,” Park Gwang-sun, one member of the band, said on the show’s website. For many fans, Lim has already done enough.

“The show’s slogan is ‘Sing the Miracle’, but I think he is already a miracle,” said Park Hong-joo, a 26-year-old office worker.

Yoko Ono: Imagine tune is bigger than expected oko Ono says John Lennon’s iconic “Imagine” wasn’t initially embraced by the public. She says the song, released in 1971, “was not really accepted ... it wasn’t ‘Wow!’” Ono, who is listed as co-producer on the track, says she remembers when Lennon created it, calling that time “really beautiful.” Lennon’s 78-year-old widow made the comments at the launch of Hard Rock and WhyHunger’s “Imagine There’s No Hunger” campaign in New York City’s Times Square on Tuesday. The global campaign aims to raise money and awareness for childhood hunger and poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Imagine” at No 3 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

Y

Deschanel separates from musician husband ctress Zooey Deschanel (ZOH’-ee deh-shuh-NEHL’) and her husband, musician Ben Gibbard, are breaking up. Deschanel’s publicist Lauren Auslander confirmed Tuesday the couple has separated after two years of marriage. Auslander describes the split as “amicable,” with “no third party involved.” Deschanel’s career is

A

on a high note with the success of her Fox sitcom “New Girl.” Her band She & Him just released a Christmas album, and last month she sang the national anthem at the World Series. Gibbard is the lead singer of the rock band Death Cab for Cutie.

News of the separation was first reported

by Us Weekly.

ritish film star Hugh Grant, 51, has become a father for the first time, it was announced Tuesday, but the identity of the mother remains a mystery. “I can confirm that Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl,” his New York publicist Carrie Gordon told AFP by email. “He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive,” she said. “He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms.” Last April, the star of “Notting Hill,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” was seen in London with a Chinese starlet, Hong Tinglan, who according to some tabloids appeared to be pregnant. Grant was previously in long-term relationships with model and actress Elizabeth Hurley and socialite Jemima Khan.

B

Charicecalls for justice for slain father inger Charice Pempengco of the hit TV show “Glee” appealed yesterday for justice for her father, who was stabbed to death in her Philippine hometown, as police offered a reward and hunted for the suspect. Authorities were preparing murder charges and will distribute public photographs of a man they said was intoxicated when he became angry after 40-year-old construction worker Ricky Pempengco brushed against him, San Pedro town police chief Kirby Kraft said. Pempengco was buying cigarette from a store late Monday when he was stabbed with an ice pick in the chest and back. The suspect fled the following morning after talking to his mother about the killing, Kraft said, adding they had at least two witnesses. Police and local officials offered a reward leading to the suspect’s arrest. Charice flew back to the Philippines and paid respects to her father early yesterday.

She also apologized for canceling the rest of her tour dates, saying “my family comes first.” She had been scheduled to perform in Singapore.

“Whoever did this must be brought to justice.

Justice must be served, not just for my father but for everyone concerned,” she told a radio interview. Charice had been estranged from her father but said they had a great relationship, even though they had not had time to bond. “I loved him and I will still love him,” she wrote. “He’s still my Dad after all.” The 19-year-old songstress, born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, is known throughout Asia from concerts and

S

Biebermarks record 2 billion views on YouTube

indsay Lohan returned to court yesterday to learn whether a judge will agree with a prosecutor advocating that the actress be returned to jail for failing to complete a community service assignment at a women’s shelter.

Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner revoked Lohan’s probation at a hearing nearly two weeks ago, but now must formally determine whether Lohan violated the terms of her sentence. The judge has asked prosecutors to calculate how long of a jail term the actress would have to serve if she is formally found in violation of her probation for misdemeanor drunken driving and theft cases.

Sautner, who is the fifth judge that Lohan has faced since her first arrest in 2007, has expressed exasperation with the actress and California’s budgetstrapped jail system. “If jail meant something in the state of California now, maybe I’d put her in jail,” Sautner said at Lohan’s last court appearance. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is advocating jail time for the actress, however spokesman Frank Mateljan declined to say Tuesday what sentence a prosecutor would seek. Lohan’s spokesman, Steve Honig, declined comment before the hearing. The “Mean Girls” star has been reporting to the Los Angeles morgue regularly, which Sautner ordered her to do at the last court appearance. The

TV talent shows in the Philippines and South Korea. She plays a recurring role on “Glee” as exchange student Sunshine Corazon. In an interview with The Associated Press in 2010, Charice talked about the possibility of reconnecting with

her father: “When he left us, I was 3 years old, and it’s been 15 years now and I haven’t seen or heard from him, but still, I wanna thank him because he’s my dad, and I want to thank him for everything that he did, even if it’s just a short time. “But all the credit I want to give to my mom because she stayed for us for however many years.”

ustin Bieber has become the first person in history to reach two billion hits on YouTube. The ‘Never Say Never’ hitmaker - who was discovered on the video-sharing site in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who later became his manager - hit the milestone by gaining 95 million views on his official Vevo YouTube channel in the past month. The 17year-old teen heartthrob has surpassed Lady Gaga’s record after she was the first music artist to reach one billion views on YouTube in October 2010. Justin’s official channel on the website was first created in September 2009 and enables his fans - who are known as ‘Beliebers’ to watch an array of his songs,

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including tracks from his Christmas album ‘Under the Mistletoe’, which was released yesterday The ‘Baby’ singer - whose songs ‘Silent Night’ and ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ are available to listen to on the site has paid tribute to his army of supporters, which includes more than 13.9 million twitter followers, by praising them on the social networking webpage. He tweeted: “i love my fans and i love music. thank u 4 helping me share my dream with all of u. proud of this album. hope u like it. Under The Mistletoe (sic)”. —Agencies

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LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

Macau’s ‘sweet language’ on verge of disappearing ona Aida de Jesus is 96 years old and still runs the family restaurant in Macau. She is also something even more remarkable: one of the last custodians of a dying language. “My friends all died, nobody speaks Patua with me anymore,” says de Jesus, as she helps serve Brazilian black beans, Portuguese stewed fish and Chinese choi sum to customers in her restaurant, Riquexo. De Jesus’ mother tongue is Patua, once also known as “Christian speech” or the “sweet language of Macau”-a creole that blends Portuguese with Cantonese and Malay, plus traces of Hindi, Japanese and the languages of other stops on the travels of the Portuguese over the past few centuries.

It was once the language of Macau’s Eurasians, called the Macanese: people who served as interpreters and cadres for the Portuguese colonisers in the Chinese territory, and who still hold onto a distinct social identity. In 2009 Patua was classified by UNESCO as “critically endangered”. Local enthusiasts say that only a handful of original, fluent speakers like de Jesus remain in Macau, and perhaps a few hundred overseas among the Macanese diaspora. Since Macau was handed back to the Chinese in 1999, and then swelled into the world’s largest gambling city, bigger forces that had already got the better of Patua seemed to sound its death knell.

“It has lost its social utility,” admits Miguel Senna Fernandes, a lawyer who has headed the effort to hold onto Patua as a medium of Macanese culture. “Reviving Patua is giving life to a lost memory.” But Fernandes’ energetic arrival on the Patua scene, plus a growing awareness of heritage in general,

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David Arquette and his partner Kym Johnson perform on the dancing competition series “Dancing with the Stars,” in Los Angeles. —AP

Seventh celeb leaves ‘Dancing With the Stars’ t was the last tango for David Arquette. The 40-year-old actor was dismissed Tuesday from “Dancing With the Stars.” He earned 47 points out of 60 for his two dances on Monday’s episode, landing in second to last place.

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Judges’ scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which celebrity contestant is ousted each week. Nancy Grace finished last Monday, but fans kept her in the contest.

She will dance again next week, along with Ricki Lake, JR Martinez, Rob Kardashian and

Hope Solo. Chaz Bono, Carson Kressley, Chynna Phillips, Kristin Cavallari, Elisabetta Canalis and Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, have already been eliminated this season. —AP

of the 20th century it had become a women’s language. It was spoken in homes, with children and sometimes on the street, not in schools or workplaces.

This meant its functions were limited, but poets like the 20th-century writer Jose dos Santos Ferreira-known as AdÈ and still revered by the communitytreasured it for its rawness, as well as its reflection of a lively hybrid culture.

“It was the voice of the common Macanese,” said Fernandes. Fernandes says one of his favourite words in the language is “saiang”, a Malay-derived word for “longing” similar to the Portuguese “saudade”. Manuel Noronha of the University of Macao, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Patua, says the language mingled international influences even within a single word.

“Babachai”, a word for “baby”, seems to combine the Hindi word baba (father) with chai, a Cantonese suffix for a little person. Another word reflects the arrival of the British in neighbouring Hong Kong: a “beefy” is a vaguely pejorative word for an English or English-speaking person.

Although Patua’s foundations are in Portuguese, its grammar is more like Cantonese: it does not conjugate verbs, and words are repeated for emphasis. In many ways Patua, already based on archaic Portuguese, is now frozen in time. Noronha, who also heard Patua spoken by ageing relatives when he was a child, said he would not know how to describe an iPhone or cappuccino in the language. Instead it has words like “caxa hap-loh”, a Portuguese-Cantonese fusion word describing a traditional box given to the groom’s family by the bride’s relatives at weddings, and “barung”, a

Trial climax looms as Jackson doc stays mum ichael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray declined the right to testify in his own defense Tuesday, as lawyers rested their cases and paved the way for closing arguments in the six-week trial. Judge Michael Pastor adjourned the trial until Thursday, when prosecution and defense attorneys will summarize their cases after nearly six weeks of testimony which has heavily implicated Murray over Jackson’s 2009 death.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve

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whether to take the stand himself.

“My decision is that I will not testify in this matter,” said Murray, who only a day earlier had surprised observers by saying he had not yet decided, fueling intense speculation that he could do so. Most observers have assumed that Murray, whose account of Jackson’s death was given in a two-hour interview with police, would not testify as it could only harm his case. That point of view was bolstered Monday when prosecutor

Murray faces up to four years in jail if convicted over Jackson’s death from “acute propofol intoxication” in Los Angeles, where the singer was rehearsing for a series of planned comeback shows.

The prosecution claims that Murray, who was being paid $150,000 (105,000 euros) a month, killed Jackson by administering a deadly cocktail of drugs to help him sleep, and then abandoning him at the crucial moment. The defense has sought to present

Prosecution witness Dr Stephen Shafer speaks at the witness stand as Deputy District Attorney David Walgren (2nd left) looks on during the rebuttal testimony in the final stage of Conrad Murray’s defense. —AFP seen and heard all of the evidence in this case,” Pastor told the sevenman, five-woman jury at the Los Angeles Superior Court, where the trial started on September 27.

The announcement came shortly after Murray, charged with involuntary manslaughter over Jackson’s death from an overdose of powerful sedatives, announced his much-anticipated decision on

David Walgren staged a forensic cross-examination picking apart the testimony of the defense’s star witness, Doctor Paul White, which he could have repeated on Murray.

But others argued that given how many holes prosecutors have picked in his defense case, Murraywho has sat in grim silence for the last five weeks-could have decided to appeal directly to the jury.

Jackson as a desperate drug addict, who would have ended up killing himself with an accidental overdose with or without Murray’s help. Murray’s decision not to testify was announced shortly after White stood down after being hammered by prosecutor Walgren for a second day, following his grilling Monday.

The defense then announced

For S Korean singles, home is where the heart is indful of soaring house prices, a South Korean matchmaking firm has launched a program to bring together women property owners with men unable to provide a marriage home. The idea goes against the Korean tradition in which the man provides the home and the woman supplies “honsu”-the household contents. But the Sunoo company says 480 men and 150 women, all aged in their thirties, have signed up for its program since it was launched three weeks ago.

Sunoo arranges dates between men with decent jobs but no property and women who already own a home. Marriage traditions have been changing slowly, especially among young people, Park Young-Sun, spokeswoman for Sunoo, told AFP yesterday. “Usually, men would be wealthier than women when they are paired up by us, but due to changes in circumstances

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such as economic difficulties there can be a reversal of roles,” she told AFP. She said the response to the program, especially from men, had been much better than expected, with more than 60 matches made as of last week.

“Men think they can buy a home in Seoul when they start working. A few years later, they figure out it’s impossible even to get one to rent,” Park said. “Women understand such difficulties, so they just want someone with a decent job and a good personality.” Younger women in the program tend to come from rich families, while the older ones had saved enough from their businesses to buy property. Park said some older bachelors were still shy about such a match because it hurts their self-esteem. But other singles were realistic. “It doesn’t matter who’s richer as long as they can help each other for a better start in life,” she said. —AFP

they were resting their case, while the prosecution called its own star witness, Dr Steven Shafer, back to the stand briefly to rebut White’s expert testimony. On Monday, White conceded that Murray should have called 911 more quickly when he found the star not breathing, but maintained his theory that Jackson injected a fatal dose of propofol while the medic was out of the room. On Tuesday prosecutor Walgren asked Shafer: “Does it absolutely rule out the hypothesis put forth by Dr White?”“Absolutely,” replied Shafer.

After the jury was dismissed, the judge spent much of the rest of the day with lawyers going through exactly which evidence is allowed to be considered by jurors.

They also discussed instructions to be given to jurors about the requirements for a guilty verdict. They “must agree unanimously on a specific act committed in a gross negligent manner or a specific failure of a legal duty allegedly committed in a grossly negligent manner” in order to find him guilty, Pastor said. In addition they must “consider all the circumstances established by the evidence,” and return a guilty verdict “only if there is a substantial factor causing the death” of Jackson, he added. The TMZ celebrity news website had reported that Murray’s defense lawyers, Ed Chernoff and Michael Flanagan, were split over whether he should take the stand.

Chernoff, who has battled to defend his client against a powerful prosecution case, believed Murray should not stand, while his assistant counsel Flanagan thought the doctor should, the website said. Murray, when asked by Pastor Tuesday whether he had made his decision “freely and voluntarily,” replied simply: “Yes.” —AFP

have helped to place Patua, as local journalist Harald Bruning says, “on life support”. Fernandes writes and directs a satirical community Patua play every year, which revives a tradition dating back at least a century. He adapts the language to mock contemporary Macau.

His most recent production, “Que Pandalhada!”, took pandas as its theme, after two giant pandas arrived in Macau from the central government to much fanfare to mark the tenth anniversary of the handover to China.

Through a host of characters, including one in a panda suit, the play poked fun at the government and striking workers, too much hilarity from the audience. Yet to learn Patua at all, Fernandes had to persuade his reluctant grandmother to explain the words. One of the key reasons for Patua’s downfall was a policy in Portuguese-language schools of discouraging and even punishing the use of what was seen as a debased language. Fernandes characterises this attitude, which pervaded through the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, as “Boy, you speak proper Portuguese! Don’t speak this rubbish!”

‘Keeping the memory alive’ Dating back to the 16th century, when the first Portuguese travelers arrived in Macau from Malacca-where a related creole, Papia Kristang, is still spoken by a small community-the language later began to bloom when colonists intermarried with locals. They brought along some words used by their African slaves for good measure.

But as education spread in the 19th century, Patua declined, and by the start

Southeast Asian word used in Macau for an all-purpose kitchen cleaver.

Noronha said that the identity of the Macanese themselves, of whom about 8,000 still live in Macau, is increasingly diluted. Large numbers left before the handover to the Chinese, for economic reasons or fearing discrimination. Now, many young people with Macanese heritage would simply describe themselves as Chinese, while there is just one Portuguese-language school left in Macau. But Macanese culture still survives in other ways: those same young people may well cook and eat “ta-chu”, a Portuguese hotpot adapted to contain Chinese sausage and pork skin, and served with a pungent Malay shrimp sauce called balichao.

Since Fernandes began his campaign in the early 1990s, young people with no previous knowledge of Patua have joined his theatre group, which receives government funding. However, in a territory where 95 percent of people are ethnically Chinese, Fernandes says the government can appear lukewarm: “They want to preserve, but they don’t know exactly what they are preserving.”

Bruning, of the Macau Daily Post, has become a passionate Patua campaigner despite coming from Germany. He is urging that audio recordings be made of fluent speakers like de Jesus while the opportunity is still there. Still, Bruning is sanguine about the chances of Patua surviving in some form. “It’s on its deathbed and the doctors are rushing in, but more has been done in this decade than in many before,” he said. “Nowadays there is a chance of keeping the memory alive.” —AFP

‘Housewives’ episode portrays Armstrong negatively

ussell Armstrong appeared on screen for the first time in the second season of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” Monday. And you’d have to say the late businessman was portrayed in a negative light. Armstrong and wife Taylor hosted co-stars Kyle Richards and her husband, Mauricio, for a dinner party at their home, where, in an uncomfortable scene, Armstrong showed an Us Weekly article that claimed he and his wife had separated that day.

Armstrong then told his guests that he had already discussed with his attorney the possibility of suing another “Real Housewives” co-star, Lisa Vanderpump, who he believed was responsible for giving the information to the magazine. But earlier in the episode,

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File photo shows Dona Aida de Jesus, 96, gestures as she works in the family restaurant Riquexo, in Macau. —AFP

Vanderpump had invited Taylor Armstrong to an engagement party for her daughter, hosted by a

family friend. And she explained that only Taylor was invited; Vanderpump’s friend, she said, had “fallen out” with Russell Armstrong and didn’t want him in his home. Adding to the awkward picture of the Armstrong family in the “Otherwise Engaged” episode: Taylor Armstrong’s visit to a pricey Beverly Hills baker, where she talked about planning a lavish party-with 200 guests-for her 5year-old’s birthday.

The episode was Taylor and Armstrong filmed just months

before Russell Armstrong’s August suicide. He was reportedly distraught about his failing marriage and financial woes. Taylor Armstrong had also publicly accused him of a history of abuse against her when she filed for divorce in July. It remains unclear how Bravo will handle the Armstrongs’ spiraling relationship throughout the rest of season two, as even their co-stars were perplexed about their marriage during filming.

“Taylor will tell us things that will make us not like Russell. And it’s very difficult, because then when we see him, he’s very polite and seems to be a nice person,” Richards said in last night’s episode. “It’s very confusing for everyone.” —AP

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Four Tops musical leader Rountree dies

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key behind-the-scenes associate of the famed Motown quartet the Four Tops, George Rountree, has died. He was 61. The Sun reports Rountree, who worked as the group’s musical director for more than 30 years, died Sunday in a Las Vegas hospital. Rountree, known simply as Tree, also performed other roles for the group, including arranger, composer and keyboardist. Rountree, a Detroit native, performed with some of the music industry’s biggest stars, including the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves, Frankie Valli, Bill Withers, Freda Payne and David Ruffin.

Suspect pleads not guilty to celebrity hacking

Australian fans take photos of American reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian, left, as she arrives at the launch of her handbag fashion range in Sydney, Australia yesterday. — AP

Kardashian insists marriage was for love, not TV R

eality television superstar Kim Kardashian yesterday hit back at speculation her lavish wedding was a stunt, saying her short-lived marriage to Kris Humphries was for love, not television. In Sydney to promote her new handbag range, the celebrity revealed her pain after filing for divorce on Monday from basketball player Humphries, who she married less than three months ago. “It’s a hard time right now,” said Kardashian, known for the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, who was mobbed by photographers and fans as she arrived at Sydney airport.

“I don’t really think I’m ready to get into the details of it. You know, I am following my heart,” she told Australia’s Network Ten. The 31-year-old, who has been married and divorced once before, said it was painful to hear talk that her August 20 wedding to towering New

Jersey Nets power forward Humphries, 26, was not genuine. “I think that’s probably the hardest part, just from the start there have been so many different reports that just aren’t true. Like my wedding cost $10 million,” she said. “I married for love, anyone that would, you know, get married for a TV show, it’s just, you know, ridiculous and it’s just sad that I even have to defend that.

“I guess that’s the kind of scrutiny you get when you live your life on a reality show but everything I do is, you know, just for love. I’m a hopeless romantic.”

Kardashian said had made a donation to a charity to cover what people would have spent on wedding gifts, feeling that this would be a better contribution than returning the presents. Asked why she decided to continue with her plans to come to Australia so soon after the break-up she said he wanted to honor her prior commitment. “I guess I kinda

wanted to escape and come out here,” she said.

Kardashian became a household name in 2007 thanks to a sex tape with her then-boyfriend, and the ongoing “Keeping Up” series which tracks the dramas of her affluent Los Angeles family.

She announced her impending divorce on Monday, with court documents citing “irreconcilable differences” as the basis of the application. In a statement on her website on Tuesday, Kardashian said she wanted “a family and babies and a real life so badly that maybe I rushed in to something too soon.” “I felt like I was on a fast rollercoaster and couldn’t get off when now I know I probably should have,” she said. “I got caught up with the hoopla and the filming of the TV show that when I probably should have ended my relationship, I didn’t know how to and didn’t want to disappoint a lot of people.”—AFP

Florence + The Machine earns praise for ‘Ceremonials’

A Minute With:

Kal Penn on Harold, Kumar and Obama File photo shows reality T V personality Kim Kardashian, right, and her fiance, NBA basketball player Kris Humphries, at the Kardashian Kollection launch party in Los Angeles. —AP

Die-hard fan builds shrine to Bollywood’s Khan

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arold and Kumar return to theaters Friday in “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,” the third film in the comedy franchise that includes “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.” This time, the dope-smoking friendsnow estranged and each with new sidekicks-reunite to replace a prized Christmas tree Kumar accidentally burned down. While doing so, they get involved with Ukrainian mobsters, a waffle-making robot and a Christmas pageant starring Neil Patrick Harris.

Actor Kal Penn, 34, reprises his role as Kumar after taking a sabbatical to work for President Barack Obama in the White House Office of Public Engagement. He spoke to Reuters about the film, his time away from Hollywood and what he’s been doing since coming back.

Q: Why make a Harold and Kumar Christmas movie?

A: “What I love about the ‘Harold & Kumar’ movies is they aren’t stoner movies like ‘Cheech & Chong’ and ‘Pineapple Express.’ Compared to them, Harold and Kumar aren’t high for most of their movies. So I always view them as a buddy comedy first, which I think gives them liberty to do a Christmas movie, or a Guantanamo Bay movie.”

Shah RukhKhan ollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has a legion of fans all over the world, but not many will be able to beat Vishal Singh’s obsession with the star. The 38year-old Indian businessman has plastered every square inch of his house with Khan’s pictures and spent his honeymoon waiting outside the actor’s house in Mumbai, hoping to catch a glimpse of his idol. “I will do anything that will make Shah Rukh Khan happy,” Singh, who runs a homeopathic medicine business from Lucknow city, told Reuters.

Singh’s house is a shrine to Khan. There are cutouts of Khan on the ceiling, the television and even on cushions.

Singh has even changed his name to Vishahrukh Khan.

“No one can be like Shah Rukh Khan, but I wanted my name to have his name. My children are named Simran and Aryan, which is his son’s name,” he said. Simran is the female lead in one of Khan’s biggest movies.

His family was initially less than impressed with his adoration of the star, Singh said. “My parents were very worried about me, but now they know that my love for Shah Rukh will never end,” he added.

Khan has met his fan several times, including on Singh’s honeymoon, when Singh drove more than 1,300 km (810 miles) with his wife to Mumbai. Khan has not returned the favour as yet, even though he’s promised to visit Singh’s home. “I’ve been wanting to open up a store of homeopathic medicines, but I won’t open it until Shah Rukh comes and cuts the ribbon,” he said. —Reuters

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Q: But Christmas movies have very specific holiday themes and don’t usually involve characters like Harold and Kumar.

A: “This is a traditional Christmas movie in a lot of ways: there is a lot of heart, it is about friendship more than anything else and about a mysterious package bringing people together. Sure Harold and Kumar are obnoxious and vulgar, but it comes from such a pure-hearted place.”

and I went back and finished. Now I’m acting full time.”

Q: Did you leave Washington a changed man?

A: “It does change you as a person. I feel like I’ve become a lot more patient. Change is not a tweet. You don’t just send a tweet and suddenly the world changes. It takes a lot of work, a lot of advocacy.”

Q: You consider yourself an Independent, unaffiliated with either major political party. Do you think President Obama got enough done during his one term, or does he deserve another?

A: “If you look at the list of things he accomplished in just three years it’s astronomical. The stuff I worked on, like the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the president increased it to $2500. That’s $2500 to anyone who wanted to go to college. Then there was the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. But there’s always more that can be done. There’s immigration reform and climate change that he’s still trying to advocate for, so yes, I do think he needs more time to accomplish everything.”

Q: Where is the future for you, Hollywood or Washington?

A: “I’m on ‘How I Met Your Mother’ through the end of the year and I’m developing a workplace comedy for NBC. I’d love to do a fourth or fifth ‘Harold & Kumar’ if it’s in the cards. I’m also currently helping with the president’s reelection campaign. I hope to still do both.”—Reuters

Q: Has President Obama seen the “Harold & Kumar” movies?

A: “I never figured out a good moment to tell the President of the United States that I was a stoner who escaped from Guantanamo Bay. When do you tell him that? Is it after he announces to the world that he took care of Bin Laden ... You know what I mean?”

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lorence Welch may be indulging in her own ceremonial celebration Tuesday after critics praised her widely-anticipated new album, “Ceremonials.”

After scoring a huge hit with debut album “Lungs” in 2009, the 25-year-old Welch, lead singer of the British band Florence + The Machine, brought out “Ceremonials,” a 12track record exploring themes of love and romance amid death and violence. The singer reunited with “Lungs” producer Paul Epworth, and the new album is the new album is receiving mostly positive reviews.

Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen called “Ceremonials” “dark, robust and romantic,” and praised Welch’s ability “to turn the ridiculous into the sublime.” The Washington Post’s Bill Friskics-Warren called the album “an unabashedly big record,” adding that listeners should “let the majesty and bombast wash over you and not only do these performances redeem their rococo excesses, they deliver their share of catharsis as well.” The Los Angeles Times’ Margaret Wappler gave “Ceremonials” three and a-half of four stars, praising Welch for becoming “a better actor, a keener listener and still manages to let it rip on occasion.” But not all critics are sold on Welch’s grandiose style in her new record. Kitty Empire of British newspaper The Guardian said the record “more closely resembles a banshee convention in a wind turbine. It should come with a scarf.” The Grammy-nominated singer achieved international chart success with singles like “Dog Days Are Over” and “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up),” from “Lungs,” which was inspired by a failed relationship.

Redmayne nabs role in ‘Les Miserables’

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Q: This is your first project since leaving Hollywood for Washington. How did you get lured back?

A: “When I left (the TV series) ‘House,’ I was going to do a two-year sabbatical in D.C. After I finished my first year, I got a call from the ‘Harold & Kumar’ producers who said, ‘We’re doing another movie this summer.’ I said, ‘I’m on a two-year sabbatical, how about next summer?’ But I had a contractual obligation to do the movie when they wanted to do it. So I had to resign from my post to go shoot it.”

Q: But you went back to the White House. What happened?

A: “I was only gone for two and a half, three months.

When I was done, they still hadn’t filled the position (in Washington) with a full-time person, so I reapplied. I told them, ‘I made the commitment to serve for two years and I need to finish my additional year.’ It ended up working out

News in brief

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Florida man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to hacking into the emails of Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera, Mila Kunis and other celebrities, following his arrest last month.

Christopher Chaney, 35, appeared in court in Los Angeles three weeks after he was detained following an 11-month investigation by agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was allowed to remain free but his bail was increased from $10,000 — set when he initially appeared in court in Florida-to $110,000, and a tentative trial date of December 27 was set. Chaney, who pleaded not guilty to charges including identity theft, unauthorized computer access and wiretaping, faces up to 121 years in jail if found guilty on 26-count list of indictments. Judge Patrick Walsh ordered him to wear an electronic tag, stick to a nightly cur few, avoid all use of computers of Internet-connected devices, and have no contact with anyone under 18 without his parents being present. “You have to stay away from the celebrities,” the judge told him. His arrest by FBI agents grew out of an 11-month investigation dubbed “Operation Hackerazzi” into the hacking of over 50 celebrities, of whom Johansson, Aguilera and Kunis were the highest-profile named. Aguilera’s computer was hacked last December, when racy photos of her also hit the Internet. Kunis’s cell phone was hacked in September with photos of her, including one in a bathtub, spread online.

Hacked pictures of Johansson, star of “The Horse Whisperer” and “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” appeared in mid-September and showed her in a state of undress in a home setting. The FBI alleges that Chaney used open-source, public information to try to guess a celebrity’s email password, and then would breach the account. He then allegedly communicated directly with contacts found in the hacked email account’s address list and searched the account for photos, information and other data. One of Chaney’s lawyers, Christopher Chestnut, said Tuesday that his client would return to Florida and respect all conditions of release.

“He’s not running from this,” he said.

In this image released by Warner Bros Pictures, John Cho, left, and Kal Penn are shown in a scene from “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” — AP

e can seduce Marilyn Monroe, but can he sing? Eddie Redmayne, the ginger-haired star of “My Week with Marilyn,” has nabbed the key role of Marius in the upcoming film version of “Les Miserables,” TheWrap has confirmed.

Redmayne joins Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crowe in the bigscreen version of the Broadway musical.

Tom Hooper, who picked up an Oscar this year for “The King’s Speech,” will direct the film from a script by William Nicholson.

Redmayne has had key supporting roles in films such as “TheGood Shepherd” and “The Other Boleyn Girl.” He also starred inthe Starz mini-series “The Pillars of the Earth.” Deadline first reported Redmayne’s casting. — Agencies

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Music fans listen to a performance by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

New PBS series plums the depths of bluegrass I

n decades of ceaseless touring, bluegrass icon Ralph Stanley thought he’d played in every venue imaginable. Then he got an invite to play a “Bluegrass Underground” show earlier this year. “It’s a good day to be here,” Stanley told a crowd of several hundred fans, some of whom hung from rocky ledges around the rim of the Volcano Room 333 feet below ground. “I hope we can get out. I’ve been playing for 65 years now, and I’ve never played in a cave.” In a few shor t years, “Bluegrass Underground” and the Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns near McMinnville, Tenn, have become a hot destination for top bluegrassers and acoustic musicians around the country. And a new weekly show on PBS should help raise the profile of one of the nation’s most unique concert spaces even more.

The show kicked off in September and acts like Ricky Skaggs, Darrell Scott, Justin Townes Earle, Mountain Heart, The Farewell Drifters and 18 South will appear in episodes this season. A second season’s wor th of shows will be taped early next year with a lineup that includes a few all-stars who are intrigued by the possibilities. “I figure I’ve played everywhere above ground,” Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill said. “We might as well go see what happens when you go underneath.”

Todd Mayo had a similar sense of curiosity when he visited Cumberland Caverns for the first time as a tourist over Memorial Day Weekend in 2008. Mayo had never visited a cave before and learned a handful of interesting facts on a tour with his family. Tennessee, for instance, is the nation’s most cavernous state because of its limestone formations.

And the cave, discovered in 1810, is the second largest in the US east of the Mississippi, winding away under the hills of middle Tennessee for more than 32 miles. His interest was really piqued, however, when they reached the Volcano Room, an unexpected cathedral-like space with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling about 40 feet above.

He immediately saw the possibilities. “I asked the tour guide, ‘Do y’all ever have live music down here?’” Mayo said. “And she said, ‘No, but that would be a good idea.’” Mayo ran with it. His biggest concern was how the cave sounded and shortly had sound engineers take a look. Everyone was expecting it to sound like ... well, a cave. Turns out it was a pretty special cave. “When they came down they were amazed,” Mayo said. “I’m not a sound engineer but they said it basically has better acoustics than any manmade structure in the world, Carnegie Hall or wherever you want to say. It’s literally akin to going to see a live concert in a recording studio.”

Doyle Lawson, center, and Quicksilver perform in the Volcano Room at Cumberland Caverns, 333 feet below ground, in McMinnville, Tenn. —AP photos That has been hard to believe for many of the performers scheduled to make the trip three stories down. Doyle Lawson, a two-time “Bluegrass Underground” performer, thought the sound might be a muddled mess. Instead, he found the acoustics “excellent,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect the first time we came here, but I found out the acoustics were just great. I was worried not so much for us -

Pixar co-founder says shares his Hollywood star with Jobs

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ixar co-founder John Lasseter thanked lots of people when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, from his wife to the directors, actors and composers who helped make Pixar the most successful and

acclaimed animation studio of its era. But only once did Lasseter’s voice break, and only once did he struggle to find words as he held back tears. That came when he ended his speech by paying tribute to the late Steve Jobs, who bought Pixar from ILM in

(From left) Country music superstar Brad Paisley, actor John Ratzenberger, actor Patton Oswalt, comedian Don Rickles, actress Emily Mortimer, Nancy Lasseter, director John Lasseter, actor Owen Wilson, composer Randy Newman, actress Bonnie Hunt and actor Cheech Marin pose together at John Lasseter’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star presentation ceremony, in Hollywood, California. —AFP

1986 and watched as it morphed from a tiny tech company to a creative powerhouse.

“There is one last person I want to share this with, and that is my partner Steve Jobs,” said a choked-up Lasseter. “... Without him, Pixar would not exist.” At their first meeting in 1987, recalled Lasseter, the CalArts grad-who’d won student Academy Awards for short films in 1979 and 1980 — pitched the idea of a short that would demonstrate the capabilities of the computer-animation software that was the young company’s specialty.

“I had this crazy idea that toys are alive when you’re not around,” said Lasseter, who outlined the concept that led to the Oscar-winning short “Tin Toy” and, later, to the three “Toy Story” movies. “I pitched the whole story to Steve,” he said. “And after it was all over, the only thing Steve Jobs ever asked of me was, ‘John, make it great.” Two dozen years later, Pixar is known not for its technical innovations, but as the most creative and successful studio of its day, with Oscars for three shorts and eight features, including “Up,” “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo.”

Curiously, while Lasseter won Academy Awards as a student, and was given a Special Achievement Oscar for “Toy Story,” the last Pixar release not to win the Best Animated Feature prize was the one he directed, “Cars.” And Lasseter’s 2011 sequel, “Cars 2,” is far from the prohibitive favorite that Lee Unkrich’s “ Toy Story 3,” Pete Docter’s “Up” and Andrew Stanton’s “Wall-E” were. Lasseter’s ceremony took place in front of the El Capitan theater and came, fittingly, on the day that animated-feature entry forms were due at the Academy. —Reuturs

we use in ear monitors so the separation would always be fine for us. What I was worried about was would the resonance be too much for the audience, too much bouncing around or whatever.”

Turns out nature has been working out the kinks for a very long time. “The Volcano Room has been formed by 31/2 million years of water and time entwining,” Mayo said.

“There were two rivers running through the Volcano Room, one north-south, one eastwest, and they created a whirlpool that through the ages carved out these wonderful porous, uneven spaces.”

Just a few months after star ting the process, Mayo put on his first show. He quickly lined up a radio deal, but had bigger things in mind. He hooked up with local producer Todd Jarrell, who has a history with PBS, and with the help of friends they built a show they hope will one day be as popular as PBS mainstays like “Austin City Limits” and “Soundstage.”

Joining Gill in Season 2 will be The Del McCoury Band, The Civil Wars and Lawson with his band Quicksilver. So far, 60 PBS markets, including Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Seattle, have picked up the show, with about 60 percent showing it in primetime. And it continues to grow.

Even before the boost of TV exposure, however, the monthly show became a destination. Mayo has had several attendees from overseas and audiences often have a mix of locals and visitors. Mayo recently asked a couple where they were from. They responded California, but said they had heard about the show from friends in Michigan who’d already been.”It’s kind of a bucket list destination for folks,” he said.— AP

The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store

Top Songs: 1. “We Found Love (feat Calvin Harris),” Rihanna 2. “Sexy and I Know It,” LMFAO 3. “Someone Like You,” ADELE 4. “Pumped Up Kicks,” Foster the People 5. “Moves Like Jagger (Studio Recording from “ The Voice” Per formance) (feat Christina Aguilera) 6. “Without You (feat. Usher),” Usher, David Guetta 7. “Stereo Hears (feat. Adam Levine),” Gym Class Heroes 8. “Princess of China,” Rihanna, Coldplay

9. “Mr Know It All,” Kelly Clarkson 10. “Good Feeling,” Flo Rida Top Albums: 1. “Mylo Xyloto,” Coldplay 2. “Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson 3. “Christmas,” Michael Buble 4. “21,” ADELE 5. “Fire & Ice,” Kaskade 6. “Bad As Me,” Tom Waits 7. “Clancey’s Tavern,” Toby Keith 8. “Sigh No More,” Mumford & Sons 9. “ A Very She & Him Christmas,” She & Him 10. “All About Us,” Blare LeVoir —AP

Star Academy Arab world to perform at TROPFEST Arabia KUWAIT: TROPFEST Arabia announced that stars from season eight of Star Academy Arab World, one of the region’s most popular reality TV shows, will perform at the short film festival taking place on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi tomorrow. Star Academy Arab World is the Arabic adaptation of the French television show Star Academy. Since its launch in 2003, the Pan Arab reality TV show has become a massive hit across the region and shares the goal of supporting emerging Arabic talent with TROPFEST Arabia.

As part of the musical addition to the film line-up are performances by various Star Academy season eight favorites including the Lebanese Franco-Armenian Artist

Gilbert Simon, Palestinian Lian Bazlamit known for her popular song Laylat, and Egyptian Nesma Mahghoub who trained at the age of ten at the Children’s Choir of the Cairo Opera House under the leadership of the Maestro Selim Sahab. Joining them will be Egyptian super star Ahmed Ezzat, who is best known for the beauty of his voice and unbeatable stage presence, Tunisian Oumayma Taleb and Syrian Sarah Farah.

In its inaugural year, TROPFEST Arabia has received short film submissions of exceptionally high standard from across the Arab world, from Iraq to the UAE, Oman to Egypt. The films have been shortlisted by John Polson, founder of TROPFEST, and Ahmed Helmy, co-director of

TROPFEST Arabia. Ahmed Helmy, TROPFEST Co Director, said: “I have been amazed by the quality of the films that we received for the inaugural TROPFEST Arabia film festival. The future of the Arab film industry is in very safe hands with these young talents, and I’m sure several will have to get used to walking the red carpet very quickly.

“I would urge everybody who can make it to Abu Dhabi tomorrow to come down to the beach, enjoy all the great entertainment and give these aspiring filmmakers all the support they deserve.” The 12 finalists will be premiered and publicly screened for the first time in front of celebrity judges and the audience on the night.

The judging panel includes leading UAE film director

Nayla Al Khaja; Saudi film maker and actress, Ahd, and the director Mamdouh Salem; Lebanese film maker and actress, Nadine Labaki; co-founder and director of Lebanese web series Shankaboot, Amin Dora; Egyptian producer and scriptwriter, Mohammed Hefzy and TROPFEST Australia 2011 winner, Damon Gameau. The shortlisted films will also be available online, giving some of the region’s rising talent an opportunity to show their creative work to the whole world. Part of Yasalam, Abu Dhabi’s city-wide celebrations throughout October and November, TROPFEST Arabia is set to bring some of the glamour of the movie industry to the community in the UAE.

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Kardashian insists marriage was for love, not TV Years

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011

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A house structured entirely from bamboo at Green Village.

Kindergarten children are shown with their teacher in a classroom at the Green School in Bali, Indonesia. — AP photos

Green School students are seen in a bamboo classroom.

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ff Bali’s beaten track, past a towering banyan tree and next to an ancient Hindu temple, the world’s largest bamboo commercial structure is slowly taking shape: a chocolate factory. The three-story, 23,000-square-foot building - made from more than 3,000 long, flexible poles is crowned with a graceful, sloped ceiling nearly 50 feet high. Frederick Schilling, coowner of the Big Tree Farms factory, calls it his “bamboo cathedral.” The tropical plant, favored in the West for flooring, furniture and household accessories, is increasingly being touted as the construction material of choice by green advocates from South America to Africa.

Bali is leading the charge, attracting carpenters, architects and designers from across the globe to use bamboo in building everything from a school and luxury villas to exclusive resorts. The plant, found in almost every equatorial nation, can grow up to 4 feet in a single day, reaching the height of a giant oak in less than six months.

Some species are strong enough to be used for construction in five years. Cheap - costing just $3 to plant and maintain one piece until it’s ready to go - tough as concrete, with the ability to bend, and incredibly abundant, the possibilities are almost limitless. “Bamboo is definitely regarded as one of the most sustainable building materials in the world,” said Schilling, whose factory is scheduled to start pumping out four to six varieties of rich organic chocolate bars in January.

“As a bonus, it’s also very beautiful to work with.” Bali’s craze, bringing together entrepreneurial expats and local craftsmen, started six years ago with the founding of a local bamboo production company for the construction of Green School, an exclusive international school with 275 students. Since then, more than a dozen projects have sprung up across the so-called “island of the Gods.”

Green Village, a collection of designer villas with individual price tags as high as $750,000, sits down the Ayung River from Green School. Fivelements, a holistic healing retreat, is just a few miles north.

Working with the plant requires a huge shift in the way designers think. “We’re really comfortable in our cul-

ture and in architecture with straight lines,” said Elora Hardy, the creative director at Green Village. “And bamboo is not a straight line.” Some poles start in the earth and rise three floors. In both plans and building, “we have to really keep in mind the curve ... where it’s going to end up at the top.” That’s exciting and “infinitely complicated,” Hardy said.

Ben Ripple, Schilling’s partner and the founder of Big Tree Farms, which makes spices, salts and other artisanal products sold at gourmet food stores such as Dean & DeLuca, said Bali is a “microcosm” for the art. “What you get is a situation where five years on Bali shows what happens over a 20-year-plus period in other more developed areas.” But whether the success of bamboo here can be replicated in cooler, dry climates remains to be seen.

Strict building codes in Europe and the United States make large-scale construction projects more difficult to take on, said Victor van Praag, co-owner of PT Green Home, a bamboo design company. Like any new industry, bamboo construction remains in a constant state of innovation, he added. The absence of well-defined standards allows for unrestrained creativity: from developing longer-lasting treatments to experimenting with design.

But it also leaves room for unexpected problems.

Gove DePuy, a sustainability planner who has lived and worked in Bali full-time since 2004, said bamboo construction as it exists on the resort island was too young to be a viable option in the West. “When you manufacture bamboo into a product, it can be tested. It can be given certifications,” he said, using flooring as an example. “But if you’re just picking bamboo, cutting it down and putting it up, you’ve left the certification to nature.”—AP

Frederick Schilling from Ashland, Ore, right and Ben Ripple, from Hartford, Conn, stand in front of their unfinished bamboo chocolate factory.

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ew York’s autumn art sales got off to a weak start Tuesday with a celebrated bronze sculpture by Degas, two important Picassos and a dreamy Matisse among works failing to sell at Christie’s. Only 51 of 82 lots sold, a total of 62 percent, possibly reflecting jitters among big collectors at a time of renewed anxiety over stock markets and the stability of the euro. “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans,” which shows a childlike ballerina with one foot extended, was meant to be one of the highlights of Christie’s impressionist and modern sales, but failed to find a bid higher than $18.5 million and was withdrawn. It had a presale estimate of $25 to $35 million.

Two major Picasso paintings, which had also been billed as pillars of the auction, suffered the same fate.

“Femme endormie” and “Tete de femme au chapeau mauve,” both estimated to sell at $12-18 million, passed without finding buyers. Another disappointment was Matisse’s “La robe violette,” which had been estimated at

$4-6 million, with Renoir’s “La Lecon,” estimated at $5-7 million, and Alberto Giacometti’s bronze “Femme de Venise,” estimated at $10-15 million, following suit.

There were bright spots. Bidding sent Picasso’s “La femme qui pleure,” estimated at $1.5-2.5 million, shooting up to a final sale of $5.12 million, a world record for a single print. “The stolen Mirror,” by surrealist Max Ernst, also saw a record for the artist, selling at $16.32 million, far above the $4-6 million pre-sale estimate. “It was difficult.

The market seems more sensitive and more selective than we thought,” said Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s director for impressionist and modern art. Yesterday, rival Sotheby’s holds its impressionist sale. Next week both houses will hold sales of contemporary art. — AFP

“Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans” by Edgar Degas is on display at Christie’s during a preview of their Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York on October 28, 2011. — AFP