04 Jan 2012

ON IP TI SC R SU B

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

Syrian rebel leader threatens to escalate attacks

Moroccan king unveils Islamist-led government

Another postcard day for the Rose Parade

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Family first as Beckham rules out PSG move

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NO: 15318

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Iran warns US warship, sends tensions soaring

40 PAGES

150 FILS

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www.kuwaittimes.net

SAFAR 10, 1433 AH

US dismisses threat, vows to maintain Gulf presence

Kuwait protests Iran moves on Dorra gas field KUWAIT: Kuwait lodged an official protest with Iran yesterday over statements that Tehran plans to unilaterally develop a disputed gas field, the official KUNA news agency said. Foreign ministry Undersecretary Khaled AlJarallah summoned Iranian Charge d’Affaires Sayed Tahabi and handed him a protest letter over the statements made a few days ago by a top Iranian oil executive, KUNA said. The head of Iran’s Offshore Oil Co, Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh, was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying Tehran would unilaterally develop the Arash gas field if Kuwait does not accept an offer for joint development.

Jarallah told the Iranian diplomat that the disputed area, known as Dorra in Kuwait, is under negotiation between the two parties for border demarcation, said KUNA, citing a statement by the foreign ministry. “The two parties should not take any unilateral action in the area until it has been demarcated,” Jarallah told the Iranian diplomat. Kuwait and Iran have been involved in unsuccessful talks for more than 10 years to resolve the decades-old dispute over their maritime border area, which is rich with natural gas. Saudi Arabia is also a part of the dispute since it shares with Kuwait maritime gas and oil resources in the area. — AFP

HORMUZ: This Nov 12, 2011 photo shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s military warned one of the US navy’s biggest aircraft carriers to keep away from the Gulf. — AP

Max 19º Min 09º High Tide 08:13 & 19:29 Low Tide 01:51 & 12:22

TEHRAN: Iran’s military yesterday warned one of the US navy’s biggest aircraft carriers not to return to the Gulf, escalating a showdown over Tehran’s nuclear drive that could pitch into armed confrontation. “We don’t have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once,” Brigadier General Ataollah Salehi, Iran’s armed forces chief, said. The US carrier would face the “full force” of the Iranian navy if it returns, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, told Iran’s Arabic television service Al-Alam. The US Defence Department brushed aside the warning, saying its “deployment of US military assets in the...Gulf region will continue as it has for decades”.

The developments sent oil prices sharply higher, gaining more than three percent in New York trade to $102 a barrel. The unprecedented warning by Iran came a day after it completed 10 days of naval war games by testing three anti-ship missiles. The display of force was meant to show it controlled the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows. The aircraft carrier referred to was the USS John C Stennis, one of the US navy’s biggest warships. The nuclear-powered “supercarrier” and its escort destroyers have been deployed in the Gulf for the past few months.

Last Thursday, it moved east through the Strait of Hormuz and out of the Gulf, through a zone being used for the Iranian naval manoeuvres. An Iranian military aircraft filmed the US vessel, with its bow number - CV-74 visible. “We advise and insist that this warship not return to its former base in the...Gulf,” Salehi was quoted as saying on the armed forces’ official website.

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Kuwait income, Tabtabaei threatens to quit surplus surge polls if Mislem disqualified KUWAIT: Kuwait’s provisional budget surplus in the first eight months of the fiscal year doubled to KD 11.6 billion ($41.8 billion) on high oil price and output, the finance ministry said yesterday.

Revenues until the end of November rose a massive 41.6 percent to 18.7 billion dinars ($67.3 billion) from $47.5 billion in the year-earlier period, according to data on the ministry website. The revenues are 39.2 percent higher than full-year estimates of $48.4 billion.

Kuwait has calculated oil income at a conservative price of $60 a barrel while the average price of Kuwaiti crude was above $105 in the eight-month period.

The budget also assumed oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day in accordance with previous OPEC quota, but Kuwait has been producing 3.0 million bpd for the past few months. Oil income surged 43.9 percent to KD 17.75 billion ($63.8 billion) and was 44.3 per-

cent higher than estimates for the whole fiscal year.

Revenue from oil represented 95 percent of total public income.

Spending remained almost unchanged at KD 7.1 billion ($25.5 billion) and is way below the year’s estimated spending of KD 19.4 billion ($70 billion).

However, capital spending on development projects dropped 16.3 percent to $2.6 billion from $3.1 billion. Continued political crises in the oil-rich emirate have been blamed for the delay in key development projects. Kuwait’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. The state has ended the past 12 fiscal years in the black, amassing surpluses of around $200 billion. Kuwait, which says it sits on 10 percent of proven global crude reserves, also holds assets of more than $300 billion run by the Kuwait Investment Authority, the state’s sovereign wealth fund. — AFP

By B Izzak KUWAIT: Former Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei threatened yesterday that he will withdraw his candidacy for the forthcoming National Assembly elections if his Islamist colleague and partner in the Reform and Development Bloc Faisal Al-Mislem was disqualified. Writing on his Twitter Account, Tabtabaei described attempts to disqualify Mislem as a conspiracy against the lawmaker who was the first MP to grill the former Kuwaiti prime minister. Mislem’s chances for re-election hang over a highly-anticipated ruling of the appeals court in a case against Mislem on charges of revealing confidential bank information, considered in Kuwait as a felony.

The lower court has convicted

Faisal Al-Mislem Mislem and fined him KD 200 along with a former bank employee on the charge of breaching the bank’s confidentiality but was acquitted of a second charge of dishonesty. The case was brought by Burgan Bank after Mislem displayed a photo-

Waleed Al-Tabtabaei copy of a cheque of the bank that was issued by former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to a former member of parliament. The cheque was displayed during a grilling of Sheikh Nasser in a secret Assembly session in 2008.

Iowa opens White House contest DES MOINES: Iowa Republicans cast the first votes of the 2012 White House campaign yesterday with Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul leading in a highstakes battle to win the party’s kick-off nominating contest. The Iowa contest has been marked by weeks of negative campaigning. Former frontrunner Newt Gingrich yesterday called Romney a liar over an outside fundraising group that has paid for attack advertisements that have pummelled Gingrich’s campaign.

Asked if he was calling Romney a liar on the Super PAC ads, Gingrich, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives, said, “Yes”. “This is a man whose staff created the PAC, his millionaire friends fund the PAC, he pretends he has nothing to do with the PAC. It’s baloney,” Gingrich said on CBS’ “The Early Show”.

Polls give Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, a narrow lead over social conservative Santorum and libertarian Paul ahead of yesterday evening’s caucuses, the first voting in the frequently shifting Republican contest to pick a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov 6 election. Gingrich dropped in Iowa polls after an onslaught of attack ads from Paul and the Super PAC backing Romney. Gingrich’s jab at Romney was a sharp departure from his promise to run a positive campaign.

More than 100,000 voters will gather across the midwestern state in schools, libraries and other public spots to render judgment in a contest that could provide momentum and a surge of new donations as the nominating race moves to next week’s primary election in New Hampshire. Forecasters said the weather was expected to be fairly cold, but dry, which should boost turnout.

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DES MOINES, Iowa: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney arrives onstage to speak during a campaign rally yesterday. — AFP

Later, the bank sued Mislem and a bank employee who was accused of passing on the cheque.

Mislem’s lawyers have argued that the lower court’s ruling was based on a wrong interpretation of the Kuwaiti constitution which provides a full guarantee to lawmakers to say whatever they want under the chamber of parliament and prevents courts from trying them. The court has based its ruling on the law that forbids exposing or revealing confidential and classified information of local banks, especially those related to clients. Tabtabaei said that he totally rejects holding to account MPs for statements they make in the Assembly, reiterating that a conspiracy was being hatched against Mislem.

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Taleban to open office in Qatar KABUL: The Afghan Taleban said yesterday they have reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office in the Gulf nation of Qatar, and asked for the release of prisoners held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The Taleban office is seen by Western and Afghan officials as a crucial step to moving forward with secretive attempts to reach a negotiated end to a decade of war in Afghanistan. It was welcomed by one of the Afghan government’s top peace negotiators as a “gesture of good faith”, from a group which in the past has laid down strict pre-conditions for any talks including the withdrawal of all foreign forces.

“We are right now ready ... to have a political office overseas, in order to have an understanding with the international (community),” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement.

“In this regard we have reached an initial understanding with Qatar and relevant sites.” The Afghan government had pushed for an office in Saudi Arabia or Qatar, but said in late December that Kabul would accept a Taleban liaison office in Qatar, if its officials retained control of the negotiating process.

A senior member of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, the body charged with seeking a negotiated end to the country’s decade-long war, said he welcomed the Taleban’s decision to set up a political office in Qatar.

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Senegal music star Youssou Ndour enters presidential race

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

Women’s ornamentation is another trait in Abdus Shakoor Shah ‘s works. (Right) Over a large span of his career, Abdus Shakoor Shah has been working on folk motifs and ancient ballads. — dpa

Solo exhibition portrays Bengali identity A

bdus Shakoor Shah is widely recognised for his folk motifs and ballads. His present solo exhibition at Gallery Chitrak in Dhaka unfolds new ground in its technical and material aspects. It is clear that the paintings seem more time consuming and precisely unique than ever before. Over a large span of his career, Shakoor has been working on folk motifs and ancient ballads. Folk ballads of Mymensingh-the famous Mahua and Malua love stories, Nakshi Kanthar Maath, Gazir Pata, Manasha Pata have found prominent places in his works.

At the exhibition, different types of birds and flowers, peacocks and parrots have featured on a large scale in his paintings. The painter also uses animal figures such as elephants, bulls, cats, tigers, birds, serpents and reptiles. Shakoor’s works define various types of male and female figures, based on rural

ambience. A number of his works focus on the expressions of female faces, specially the eyes. Women’s ornamentation is another trait in his works. The painter said about his current exhibition, “I contemplate on mainly pure colours and keep the woman’s simple look and her facial expression in my mind.

Texts for my paintings come from different ballads such as the ‘Mahua’ and ‘Malua’ stories. I have used traditional motifs like alpana patterns. I have also used some geometrical shapes, for instance rectangles, oval, straight lines and circular forms,” said the artist.

At the exhibition, a number of his works predominantly use collages and he directly pastes pieces of colourful saree, gamcha on his canvas. He has used the objects as a part of his experimentation. The canvas appears more vivacious for its lit-

tle bit of cracked surface. Each of his painting depicts a complete story that hides our national and traditional identity. In Shakoor’s “Story of Mahua” series one gets glimpses of dusky village women who adorn themselves with various ornaments.

In the series of paintings, females wear bright clothes and silver jewellery. His “Face” series represents the rustic lifestyle, bringing to his canvas a blend of sensations, poverty and conflict.

At the exhibition, some of his paintings depict wild flowers, leafs, birds with male and female forms. The paintings seem to be primitive and at the same time modern in their way of expression. Line has played a significant aspect of his artworks.

The painter has used straight, curves and scribbles while portraying human figure and objects. The treatment of lines is simple in nature giving an illustrative expression to his paintings.

The artist usually uses four mediums, ink-drawing, opaquewatercolour, acrylic and oil. Among them he mostly uses ‘opaque-watercolour’ and acrylic.

Shakoor’s painting career began in 1978 when he was studying in Baroda University in India. His passion for art was fuelled by discussions on arts by his teachers in the university. During his study in Baroda University, he started experimenting with different styles, forms and colours. He was highly influenced by Gazir pata, Laxmi Sara, alpana, shital pati, nakshi kantha, wood works, wall paintings and other folk art forms. He was specially moved by the spirit of Bengali art. The works of Jamini Roy also influenced him at the beginning of his career. But over the years he developed a unique style, adapting it from our folk art. The exhibition will continue till Jan 10. — dpa

Restoration threatens Georgian mediaeval masterpiece B

agrati cathedral, a world-renowned but crumbling masterpiece of mediaeval Georgian architecture, is suffering not only from wear and tear but also from the impact of human meddling. Keen to please the influential Orthodox Church, the government in the deeply religious former Soviet republic has defied world heritage body UNESCO by starting to rebuild the 11th century monument. The cathedral was badly damaged in the 17th century during an Ottoman invasion, and as its elegant facades slowly crumble and a hole gapes where there was once a majestic cupola, experts fear it could be reduced to rubble.

“The monument is collapsing and will fall apart without urgent intervention,” said Georgian art historian

Dimitri Tumanishvili. But instead of conservation, the government started reconstruction work that risked distorting the monument’s original look, prompting outcry from the United Nations culture agency UNESCO as well as experts at home. “Bagrati’s reconstruction will lead to the loss of its authenticity,” said David Khoshtaria, an architecture conservationist. “It is more about constructing a new building, rather than reconstructing a historical monument,” he added.

In Kutaisi, Georgia’s second-largest city where Bagrati’s imposing silhouette dominates the urban landscape, locals appear to be happy with the reconstruction.

“Bagrati is a holy place and Kutaisi’s main landmark. It must be restored and again be a functioning church,” said

local resident Naili Dzotsenidze. Built in the early 11th century by Bagrat III, the first king of unified Georgia, the ancient cathedral is seen as a symbol of the unity of the Georgian state-an idea that still resonates strongly because the country has lost two provinces to separatist rebels in recent years.

President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration, which has pledged to restore control over the Moscow-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is keen to restore Bagrati too. “We will invite the best specialists from abroad in order to do everything well,” Saakashvili promised in 2009 as he launched an ambitious project to renovate Kutaisi, where he is also relocating parliament to an ultra-modern steel-and-glass building. —AFP

Photo taken on November 19, 2011, shows the 11th century Bagrati cathedral clad in scaffolding in Georgia’s second largest city of Kutaisi. — AFP

Hockney takes a swipe Wealth brings art to Delhi’s new gallery district at Hirst over work ethic I (From left) A combo of file pictures created yesterday, shows British artist David Hockney attending a photocall at the Tate Britain gallery in central London on June 11, 2007 and British artist Damien Hirst posing for photographs during a photocall at Sotheby’s art gallery and auction house in central London, on September 8, 2008. —AFP

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ritish painter David Hockney has criticized controversial fellow artist Damien Hirst for employing other people to help create his works of art, saying it was “insulting”. A poster for a major exhibition of landscapes by the 74-year-old Hockney opening in London this month reads: “All the works here were made by the artist himself, personally.” Asked in a magazine interview whether he was having a dig at Hirst, who uses assistants for his prolific output, which includes a life-sized platinum cast of an 18th-century skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds, Hockney nodded.

“It’s a little insulting to craftsmen, skilful craftsmen,” he told the Radio Times. He added: “I used to point out at art school, you can teach the craft, it’s the poetry you can’t teach. But now they try to teach the poetry and not the craft.” Hockney quoted a traditional Chinese saying, that to paint “you need the eye, the hand and the heart.

Two won’t do”. “The other great thing they

said-I told this to (late painter) Lucian Freud-is, ‘painting is an old man’s art’. I like that!,” Hockney said. A major exhibition of Hockney’s paintings inspired by his native Yorkshire, entitled “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture”, goes on display at the Royal Academy of Arts in London on January 21.

It is the result of three years of work and Hockney admitted it had been hard work, saying: “It took me three days to say, ‘Yes, OK...’ There was quite a lot of work, but I’m an opportunist... We rose to the occasion.” The artist was appointed to the Order of Merit, a special honor granted by Queen Elizabeth II for achievement in the arts, learning, literature or science, on Sunday. He turned down a knighthood in 1990. Hirst was a leading member of the 1990s ‘Young British Artists’ movement alongside Tracey Emin, and won fame with works featuring animals suspended in formaldehyde in glass cases, including a shark and a cow. — AFP

t’s late in the evening and the Indian capital’s moneyed art crowd is spilling out of congested galleries into a narrow maze of streets, sipping glasses of wine as they peer at catalogues. Lado Sarai, a warren of bylanes and haphazardly constructed buildings in New Delhi’s hinterland, has become a thriving new art district where Mercedes and BMWs jostle with bullock carts for space to pass. “With this uncertain economic climate, I’m only making investments in ‘real’ assets like gold, real estate-and art,” said banking executive Suresh Basu, 34, as he flipped through a catalogue with a female companion.

Just as China’s economic boom helped develop

Indian boys play carrom board game at the kites’ outlet in Hyderabad, yesterday, for the forthcoming Makar Sankranti kite festival which occurs on January 14, 2012. Kite flying is the major activity on the day of Makar Sankranti festival celebrating the beginning of the harvest season. —AFP

an important domestic art scene, fast-expanding India has been experiencing its own vogue for art buying among the upwardly mobile middle class.

Lado Sarai, one of many villages that the mushrooming capital has engulfed, sprang up as an art district when gallery owners were looking for a space to open their galleries. The attraction of Lado Sarai is its status as an autonomous village, which means it is not subject to the restrictive planning policies of the municipal authorities.

And rents are far lower than in central Delhi.

“Gallery owners can get much larger spaces here,” said Neha Kirpal, director of the annual India Art Fair. The bustling area was pioneered as an art dis-

trict by businesswoman Mamta Singhania who needed a new space after municipal planners said she could no longer operate her gallery in a residential neighborhood. Singhania came across Lado Sarai-close by the posh enclaves of south Delhi —and gave the nondescript neighborhood, crowded with small retail outlets selling food, clothing and other items, its first gallery in 2009.

“I couldn’t find any place in my budget so I started up here and other galleries followed-there are a lot of people now,” Singhania told AFP. “The neighborhood has become a vibrant, humming place.”

India’s local media has dubbed the area the capital’s new “high street of art”. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

lifestyle T R A V E L

Plunging into

Atlantis Paradise Island Resort

By Kerri Westenberg

M

y daughter circled the sun, bobbing around the yellow mosaic tile work at the bottom of the pool. Everywhere in the Royal Baths, the water was no deeper than 3 feet, which meant that my 9year-old could touch the bottom wherever she happened to float. I felt no need to play lifeguard. My iced coffee was within arm’s reach. A newspaper, unopened, lay at the foot of the lounge chair. I closed my eyes, preparing to take my own dive, not into water but deep relaxation, the tropical kind that leaves you sweating, listless and absolutely blissful. That’s when I heard the shriek.

A woman was racing down the Leap of Faith-a near-vertical slide that starts at the top of a mock Mayan temple and shoots riders in a clear tube through shark-infested waters-and she was screaming all the way. A few minutes later, another daredevil, another cry; the rhythm kept up all day and soon was nothing more than background noise, like the squawk of an insistent bird.

Complete relaxation was not in the cards for me at Atlantis Paradise Island, and I never should have dreamed it was. The resort, on a spit of land called Paradise Island near the Bahamas’ capital city of Nassau, is designed to recall the mythic lost city of Atlantis. It boasts a 141-acre, open-air water park with two rivers, including a mile-long version with rapids and rolling waves, 18 water slides and so many swimming pools that visitors can choose a different one each day for nearly two weeks.

The resort also has more than a dozen marine habitats that show off the likes of clown fish, sea turtles, starfish and sharks. There’s “Atlantis Pals,” where you can create a keepsake stuffed animal, a pottery place, a Caribbean cottage-styled shopping complex and a movie theater. Given all the enticing options, my daughter and I were often on the run-or plunging down a slide.

More quiet, grown-up pleasures include a spa, a posh hotel with an adults-only pool, restaurants by bigname chefs and a golf course. Parents can drop their children at a variety of kids’ clubs if they want to partake. I left those experiences to others, except for the shortcut to dinner through the casino, where even the cigarette smoke didn’t stop my daughter from pausing to ogle the slots with their whirling fruit, flashing lights and chiming bells. You have to marvel at anyone who might go to Atlantis and leave richer.

I was at the resort because last winter, banner ads kept popping up on my computer: Atlantis was offering a free airline seat for a companion!

The fourth night for free! The fourth night for free plus two free dolphin experiences! The dolphins finally did me in. My daughter had long wanted to frolic with her favorite marine mammal. More important, I had grown increasingly intrigued by the onslaught of offerings. I knew the resort was huge. With six distinct hotels in a range of prices, it has an abundance of rooms to fill. I also surmised that the economic downturn had left plenty of vacancies. But were

A dolphin and trainer work in a pool at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas.

—MCT photos

and the sundry sunglasses and stuffed-animal purchases added up.

“We waited in line 30 minutes for dinner last night. When we finally got to our seat, we learned it was $49 (each) for the two of us and $25 for the kids,” a mother of three from Charlotte told me on the beach after my daughter and I ventured beyond the manmade watery world to soak up God’s real thing, the gorgeous, salty Atlantic.

That mom and I bemoaned the long marches to dinner on the tangle of walkways between hotels. We clucked about the costs. She warned me that if you want photos of your child cuddling a dolphin-and who

If you go

A

tlantis is on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, which is connected to New Providence island by a bridge. We flew into Nassau, on New Providence, and took a bus transfer that I had previously arranged through Atlantis. The cost of the bus for two was $39 round-trip. We flew from Minneapolis-St Paul on US Airways, with a stop in Charlotte. Many other carriers fly to Nassau, including Delta, United and AirTran. A recent search found no nonstop flights from the Twin Cities.

Understanding how much your vacation will cost can be tricky because the menus that Atlantis shows online do not include prices. Visitors can determine a budget before departure by purchasing a meal plan. A variety are offered; the more you spend, the wider range of restaurants from which you can choose.

The resort frequently offers deals. Last month, for example, guests who booked by Dec. 26 got a free fourth night of lodging and up to $400 in airfare credit.

For more details and to book, click on the Bahamas button (as opposed to Dubai) at www.atlantis.com or call 1-888-877-7525. —MCT Guests can race down twin water slides. the deals actual bargains?

A freebie frolic with a dolphin certainly is, but we still spent boatloads of money. An average of $160 a day flew out of my wallet (or rather, was garnered with a swipe of my room key, making purchases a bit more mindless) — and that was beyond the $1,000 cost of the room. Granted, we declined the gratis fourth night, so we packed a lot of souvenir buying into three days. And vacationers looking for a more predictable price can sign up for a meal plan. But for us, the $20 breakfasts at Starbucks (two drinks, two muffins and fruit), the snorkeling equipment rental, the pricey dinners

Visitors get a ride through rocky tunnels and over rapids on the mile-long Current.

A swinging bridge crosses the shark tank.

A lion fish swims in one of the many aquariums at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.

doesn’t? — it’ll cost you $60 for the basic package and more than $200 for one that includes photos and a CD of all images snapped by the resort photographer. That’s because you are forbidden from carrying your own camera into the water for the dolphin experience, even if you are only wading thigh-deep. Then, after the laments, my newfound friend said, “Still, we’re very happy here.” “Yeah, we are, too,” I said, gazing over the aquamarine water.

I decided that the resort lures visitors with giveaways, but gets their money anyway. And frankly, I am glad the tactic worked with me. I had far

more fun than I had imagined I would, riding the swells on the river in a double inner tube beside my squealing girl, racing down slides and diving into ocean waves. It was not just easy access to the Atlantic, or the impeccably groomed grounds, or the riotous water park that made me like Atlantis so much. It was also the remarkable marine life, which Atlantis features almost everywhere.

A ray flipped up a wing, as if to welcome us, even before we checked into our room at the Royal Towers hotel. The main lobby is open to the lower level, where expansive windows offer views of an ocean’s worth of fish as part of a display known as the Dig. That aquatic showcase plays up the lost-city theme with grouper, sharks and other species gliding among imaginary Atlantis ruins. The Dig also holds special tanks for venomous lionfish, seahorses, jellyfish and moray eels, among other looky fish. The lighting is dim, the hallways are maze-like and the ruins have mysterious petroglyphs, so you feel as though you’re on an under water expedition. The great find is not the lost city, but the amazing, graceful creatures of the ocean. We spent hours there.

The next day, after paddleboarding in the calm lagoon, my daughter and I grabbed lunch at an open-air restaurant that overlooks a shark pool. The meal was nice, but the best treat came afterward, when we headed downstairs to the powder room.

There again we found walls of windows for up-close views of marine life.

Then we rounded a corner and came upon an arched, acrylic-covered walkway, as long as a football field, with the predators swimming overhead.

The experience was probably the closest I’ll ever come to scuba diving. My daughter liked it almost as much as the puffer fish pond near our hotel.

On our last full day at Atlantis, we walked to Dolphin Cay, a man-made environment filled with seawater and dolphins. We joined a group of 10 others, shimmied into wet suits, watched a video about dolphins and finally headed into the water to meet our pal. The trainer told us a bit about dolphins, pointing out that the film over its eyes protects it from saltwater and sun (so “don’t touch it!”). Then it was playtime. We got to hug and kiss the bottlenose, feed it and watch it twirl and jump with other dolphins in a grand finale show, culminating in a goodbye wave of flippers. The experience was a microcosm of Atlantis itself: a tad expensive (I couldn’t resist the photos), entirely wonderful and over much too soon.

Visitors stroll through a tank of rays and other marine life.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

The Arcadia High School Apache Marching Band.

The Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band marches during the 123rd Rose Parade.

Another postcard day for the

Rose Parade

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housands turned out under pictureperfect skies Monday for Pasadena’s 123rd Rose Parade and were treated to an imaginative procession of brightly colored floats with surfing dogs and a replica of a royal palace, as well as a crowd-pleasing grand marshal with an inspiring story. Officials had braced for anti-Wall Street protesters who joined the tail end of the parade with an Occupy Octopus entr y, but even that hardly dampened the festive mood along the 5 {mile route.

Crowd estimates have been subject to debate for years. This year’s attendance may have been less than in previous years because of the weekday timing, a security official said. The parade was held Monday because New Year’s Day fell on Sunday, which traditionally is avoided so as not to inter fere with church ser vices. “Just Imagine...” was the theme of this year’s parade, which featured 44 petal-covered floats, 16 bands from the United States and other countries and more than 300 colorfully decked-out horses and riders, who strutted along Orange Grove, Colorado and Sierra Madre boulevards.

Another wrinkle was a demonstration by hundreds of members of the group Occupy the Rose Parade, who carried signs drawing attention to income inequality and then marched at the end of the parade with their self-made float: a 70-foot-long creation constructed of recycled plastic bags. Extra law enforcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Depar tment, the California Highway Patrol and other agencies were called in to monitor the event, but no incidents were reported. Police arrested 10 people overnight for various offenses, but no arrests were made after 5 a.m. “ The protesters were peaceful and respectful of spectators and didn’t interfere with the parade,” said Pasadena police spokeswoman Lt Phlunte Riddle.

“They were allowed as agreed on to follow the parade at the conclusion. Groups of spectators and others who chose to demonstrate their cause were allowed to

join.” Reaction to the protests was mixed: A group of onlookers on an apartment balcony cheered and waved, while some people in the grandstands booed. One man walked past a group of protesters and said, “You guys had your 15 minutes.”

But the activists were largely ignored by the majority of parade-goers, many of whom spent the night camped out on air mattresses and in sleeping bags to claim coveted positions along the parade route.

Sue Murphy arrived with her husband from Saco, Maine, to participate in her first parade.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life to get here,” said Murphy, 60, who had a banner that read “Happy Trails From Maine” for Roy Rogers because she grew up watching him. “I love it all, the whole spirit of the marching bands, the arts, the plants.

It’s unbelievable. “ Daniel Powell, from Solano Beach in San Diego County, came by himself after other family members proclaimed the event’s 8 am start time too early. He began the day by participat-

Smoke bellows from a dragon’s nose as part of the China Airlines’ entry.

The Arcadia High School Apache Marching Band from Arcadia, California, marches in the 123rd Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on Monday. — MCT photos

The Cal Poly University’s “To the Rescue” float.

Rose Queen Drew Washington and members of the Royal Court ride in the Macy’s “Presenting The Royal Court” float.

ing in a triathlon, finishing in time to catch the first float.

“I just can’t stay away,” said Powell, 52, who said he has attended the parade for the last 25 years and marched with the University of Southern California band at the event in 1979 and 1980.

Carla Watson held up a bright green sign that read “retired teacher 99 percent,” with a rose and an American flag attached. She and friend Nancy Kredell, 69, who said she was a parade princess 51 years ago, planned to join Occupy protesters in the middle of the parade route.

“We believe in the Rose Parade, but we believe that it is time for the people to be heard,” said Watson, 70. Attendees at this year’s procession had to shed layers of garments as the chilly morning gave way to warm sunshine. Members of Girl Scout Troop 9491 camped overnight with their

families, a first for the group, which has helped decorate floats for the last six years.

“It was so warm that it was the year to do it,” said Liz Dailey, 45, of South Pasadena, a troop co-leader. One of the members, Lorie Meza, 12, rode in the Girl Scouts float that commemorated the organization’s centennial. A Marine marching band from Camp Pendleton and grand marshal J.R. Martinez were big hits with the crowd. Martinez, an actor and former soldier who was the fan favorite on television’s “Dancing With the Stars,” won loud applause and whoops of encouragement from the crowd. The retired Army infantryman suffered burns over 40 percent of his body while serving in Iraq in 2003.

“He’s recuperating and really showing others that you can live on after war,” said Jack Thrall, 76, an Arizona resident attending the parade with his wife, Joan.

Tournament of Roses officials awarded the Sweepstakes Trophy to Dole’s “Preserving Paradise” float. It was the second consecutive year a Dole float received the tournament’s highest honor. This year’s entry featured a temple styled after Thailand’s Royal Palace, along with an elephant, a tiger and, of course, lots of fruit.

The Grand Marshal’s Trophy for most creative concept and design again went to a Discover Card float, “ The Dream Believers.” Other award-winning floats included the Republic of Indonesia’s “Wonderful Indonesia” display, which won the President’s Trophy for most effective use and presentation of flowers, and Kaiser Permanente’s “Every Body Walk” float, which nabbed the Lathrop K. Leishman Trophy for the most beautiful entry from a non-commercial sponsor.

The tournament gave out a total of 24 awards.—MCT

The Kinect For Xbox 360 “You Are The Controller” float.

The Burbank Tournament of Roses Association’s “The Dream Machine” float rolls down Colorado Boulevard.

Marchers alongside Wells Fargo’s “Just Imagine...” float.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

lifestyle

M U S I C

&

M O V I E S

Bret McKenzie discovers secret of Muppets music B

ret McKenzie had a simple approach to a gig that led to some of the year’s most delightful onscreen musical numbers. “I took the job very seriously,” he said, “even though it’s also a very silly job.” The New Zealand-based singer, songwriter and actor was talking about his role writing songs for “The Muppets.” But he could have used the same words to describe the project for which he originally became known in the United States, the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords.”

In that series, which ran for two seasons, McKenzie was one half of the hapless but brilliantly endearing folk-pop duo from which the show took its name. The program, interspersed

Bret McKenzie with the Muppet show characters. with marvelously funny and low-rent videos, followed the travails of McKenzie and bandmate Jemaine Clement as they tried to launch a career in New York City.

Call it a 21st Century version of “ The Monkees”-but instead of turning McKenzie and Clement into teen idols, it made them cult figures. And when the show’s creator Jason Bobin, was hired to direct “ The Muppets,” it put McKenzie in line to make his mark on a franchise he’d seen as a kid growing up halfway around the world. “One of the strange things about growing up in New Zealand is that Hollywood and America felt not only far away, it felt like another universe,” McKenzie told TheWrap from his home country. “It wasn’t like you’d grow up with a dream of going to Hollywood. That was not an option. So it was very surreal to find myself working with the Muppets.”

Bobin had already invited a number of songwriters to submit demos for the film, but he hadn’t found an appropriate opening number. So he asked McKenzie to write “a song that was incredibly positive and catchy.” McKenzie came up with “Life’s a Happy Song,” which serves as the basis for a large-scale production number involving Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Segel’s Muppet “brother” Walter, and the entire population of the small town in which they live.

“It came very quickly,” said McKenzie of the song. “I was in a very good mood at the time. And I’m not an accomplished piano player, so it’s all on the white keys.” McKenzie wrote “Man or Muppet,” a very earnest and very funny song of yearning and confused identity that McKenzie admits is “the most Conchordian song” in the film. “That was a slightly more complex track,” he said, dead-

pan.”I used a few black notes.” Looking to write a power ballad, McKenzie listened to the work of Harry Nilsson (“Without You”) and Eric Carmen (“All by Myself”) before writing the song.

“There’s nothing funnier to me than a power ballad with all the high drama and the high stakes,” he said. “And the aim of that song was just to make it as dramatic as I possibly could.” The result, he said, is his favorite musical sequence from the film. (I’d go further and say it is the best musical number from any film in 2011.) “The song and the visuals really connect on that one,” he said. “The song felt cohesive, if I can say so myself.

Jason and Peter Linz, who plays Walter, did incredible vocal recordings. And James did an amazing job making sure that the music and the visuals really connected.” McKenzie’s work on the film also included co-writing the Amy Adams/Miss Piggy tune “Me Party” and Chris Cooper’s bad-guy rap “Let’s Talk About Me.” He was then hired to serve as the movie’s musical

‘Iron Lady’ enjoys strong bow in limited release

“T

he Iron Lady” proved her mettle this weekend. The Weinstein Company’s biopic of Britain’s former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, opened to a remarkable $280,409 at four theaters-a per-screen average of $70,102. That’s the third-highest specialty opening of the year, after “Midnight in Paris,” “The Tree of Life” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” The PG-13 movie, starring Meryl Streep, will expand to more theaters Jan 13. “We couldn’t be

In this film image released by The Weinstein Company, Meryl Streep portrays Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” — AP happier with the results,” Erik Lomis, the Weinstein Company’s distribution chief, told TheWrap on Monday. “Obviously it’s the number one screen average by a mile for the weekend.”

Also opening over the weekend were Focus Features’ “Pariah” and Sony Pictures Classics’ “A Separation,” an Iranian drama that was written, directed and produced by Asghar Farhad.

“Separation,” already nominated for a Golden Globe, is a strong contender for the Academy Award for foreign language picture. The PG-13

movie enjoyed a solid opening weekend, taking in $79,481 at three locations-a per-location average of $26,494. The R-rated “Pariah,” written and directed by Dee Rees, grossed $65,093 over the four- day weekend. The movie, which screened at four locations, had a per-location average of $16,273. “Pariah” is a coming-of-age tale about Alike, a 17-year-old African-American lesbian who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn.

Two other noteworthy items among indie films: Steve McQueen’s NC-17 “Shame,” from Fox Searchlight, is expected to pass $2 million today. The movie grossed $266,000 over the past four days-a per-location average of $4,800.

The movie, starring Michael Fassbender, is playing in 55 theaters in its fifth week of release.

Another Fox Searchlight movie, Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” crossed the $40 million mark over the weekend and returned to the top 10 at the domestic box office. The R-rated movie starring George Clooney is in its seventh week of release and is playing at 758 locations.

It grossed $3.4 million over the weekend-a perlocation average of $4,485.

“This is a terrific weekend for the film, which is up 30 percent over last week’s four-day average,” Sheila DeLoach, Fox Searchlight’s executive VP of distribution, said in a statement. “It’s the only film that opened prior to Thanksgiving and is playing in less than 1,000 theatres in the Top 10. It indicates the movie has crossed over to the general audience.”

Among other holdovers, FilmDistrict’s “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” a love story set in the Bosnian War, dropped from three to two locations in its second week. The movie, which marks Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, grossed $12,539 —$6,270 per location. It now has grossed $52,202.

Also in its second week is Wim Wenders’ well-received “Pina,” a 3D documentary about the dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. The movie, showing at three locations in New York, took $93,000 — a per-location average of $31,000. In its 11 days in release, “Pina” has grossed a solid $316,000. In its third week, Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” expanded from seven locations to 12, and grossed $124,151 — a per-location average of $10,347. The R-rated Sony Pictures Classics film has taken in a total of $379,605. —Reuters

supervisor-which, he said, consisted mostly of “overseeing all the songs to make sure they all sounded like they would fit into the world of the Muppets.”

And what does it take for a song to fit into that world, which in the past produced songs like Paul Williams’ Oscar-nominated “ The Rainbow Connection”? “We listened to a lot of the original Muppets music and there were some key ingredients,” he said. “They usually feature banjo, baritone sax and the tack piano, which is a piano with thumbtacks on all the hammers, so that when the strings hit they have that twinkle.” He also kept in mind something that Muppets creator Jim Henson used to say: “If the music sounds too good, it’s not right.”

McKenzie recorded all the songs before the movie began shooting-a process, he said, that led to a number of surreal moments when he had to supervise a group of grownups singing in funny voices. He also found that in the world of the

Muppets, there are certain lines you can’t crossnot even for a joke. In one song, a line for one Muppet to sing — “I remember when I was a little piece of felt”-was immediately killed.’ “You’re not allowed to say that,” he said, “because the Muppets are real.” He paused. “Actually, the Muppets are a lot like SantaClaus. They’re real until you’re old enough to know thatthey’re not real, and then you don’t talk about it.”

Since “The Muppets,” McKenzie has acted in the comedy “Austenland,” a romantic-comedy spoof directed by Jerusha Hess, the co-writer of “Napoleon Dynamite.” He’s also planning to work on new Flight of the Conchords songs with Clement (“it just requires us being in the same town for a while, which hasn’t happened lately”), and do some tour dates in 2012.

And he wants to make another Hollywood musical. “On HBO, they let us do whatever we want,” he said. “So it was a new experience having to deal with executives and a big studio. But I’m

excited about doing another big-studio musical because once you have those budgets, it’s really fun doing large-scale musical numbers.”

Before he does that, though, McKenzie will appear onscreen in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit.”

In “ The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films, McKenzie’s three-second appearance as an elf somehow ignited a furor online, where fans dubbed his character Figwit (an acronym for “Frodo is grea ... who is THAT?”). This time around, though, the expectations are higher. “I’m playing an elf again,” said McKenzie. “But I’m hoping for ten seconds this time.”—Reuters

Senegal music star Youssou Ndour enters presidential race W orld-renowned Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour has announced he is running for president in a bid to unseat incumbent Abdoulaye Wade, whose plans for a third term have stoked tensions in one of Africa’s most stable countries. “I am a candidate” in the February 26 election, Senegal’s most famous export declared late Monday on his privately-owned television station after weeks of speculation about his plans.

Ndour has emerged as an outspoken critic of Wade, whose bid for a controversial third term

This file photo taken on March 28, 2008 shows Senegalese singer Youssou N’dour performing on stage in Brussels. — AFP in office has opposition and civil society groups fuming, and tensions have led to violent clashes in recent months.

“I have listened, I have heard, and I am responding favorably,” Ndour said, referring to numerous requests that he throw his hat into the political ring. “It is a supreme patriotic duty,” he added of the race in which he hopes to use his massive star power to overthrow the 85year-old Wade. Clashes between the ruling party and opposition last week left one person dead and three injured, pointing to heightened tensions in the run-up to the poll.

Ndour, 52, announced at a concert in November that he had put performing on hold and formed his own political movement, Fekke ma ci bolle (“I am involved” in the Wolof language). “It’s true, I haven’t pursued higher education, but the presidency is a function and not a job. I have proved my competence, commitment, rigour and efficiency time and time

Senegalese pop star Youssou Ndour, center, greets government officials at the launch of his television station, TFM, in Dakar. (file) — AP again. “I have studied at the school of the world. are often critical towards Wade’s government.

Wade was first elected president in 2000 for Travel teaches as much as books.” Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the world’s greatest a seven-year term, and re-elected in 2007 for singers”, Ndour has achieved huge international five years after a constitutional reform shortsuccess with his mixture of Senegal’s popular ened presidential terms. In 2008, the seven-year Mbalax music style with samba, hip-hop, jazz term was re-introduced, raising confusion over whether Wade had exhausted his two-term limand soul.

He was born in October 1959 in Dakar’s it. The opposition says yes, he says no, and the populous Medina suburb to a modest family constitutional court will rule on the issue later and is an icon in his home country. Abroad he this month. Some 20 candidates will be taking has collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sting, part in the election. Wade said in an New Year’s Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and address that he envisaged a government of many other famous names. In his declaration national unity if he won next month.

Former colonial power France is reportedly Monday, Ndour said his campaign would include initiatives for peace in the troubled against the elderly Wade’s candidacy but, while southern Casamance region, good governance, trying to shake off its reputation for interfering as well as agricultural and social development in African affairs, is remaining publicly neutral. projects. “My life is 10 percent inspiration and “It’s for the Senegalese to decide, democratical90 percent perspiration,” he said. The singer has ly,” Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday, been heavily involved in social and political when pressed on Ndour’s candidacy, “France issues while carving out his musical career. In has no candidate. It’s for the Senegalese them1985 Ndour organized a concert for the release selves to decide, in elections that we hope will of South Africa’s then-apartheid prisoner be as transparent as possible,” he told the Tele Nelson Mandela who went on to become the news network. — AFP country’s first black president. He has been involved in scores of benefit concerts. He owns private media group Future Medias which includes a radio station RFM, a television station TFM and daily newspaper L’Observateur which

36

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

lifestyle G O S S I P enise Richards is launching a haircare line. The 40-year-old actress - who has daughters Sam, seven, and Lola, six, with ex-husband Charlie Sheen as well as adopted baby Eloise - has teamed up with famous salon stylist Cristophe for the range, which will include shampoo and conditioner.

Announcing the collection, she wrote on her blog: “I’ve been hard at work on this project for the past few months and I am so excited to share it with you. “I teamed up with hairstyling guru Cristophe to create The Denise Richards Volume Extend hair care line, which strengthens and protects hair from the damage continuous styling can cause, boosting the hair’s health and volume.” Denise promises the five-product range will make hair thicker and more healthy-looking.

She added: “The line - which consists of shampoo, conditioner and three styling aids - is an entire system that is focused on beautiful, healthy-looking hair. The shampoo’s rich lather is the first on the market to actually condition the hair, and the advanced technology in the conditioner penetrates and plumps the hair shaft, increasing its diameter for thicker hair.” The collection will launch later this month.

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Richards launching a haircare line

Franklin to wed longtime friend retha Franklin, 69, is making plans to tie the knot with longtime friend William “Willie” Wilkerson, the Queen of Soul said Monday through her publicist. “We’re looking at June or July for our date and no, I’m not pregnant,” said the Grammy-winning voice behind such classics as “Respect,” “Think,” “Chain of Fools” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” Miami Beach is the likely wedding venue, she said, with the reception to be held on a private luxury yacht. Franklin is considering Donna Karan, Valentino and Vera Wang as designers for her gown. It will be Franklin’s third time to the altar; she was previously married to manager Ted White and, from 1978 to 1984, actor Glynn Turman.

She underwent surgery in December 2010 for an undisclosed ailment, but returned to the stage in a matter of months and sang at last October’s dedication of the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington.

A

Moore takes Steinem role in ‘Lovelace’ film

Tyler, longtime companion to wed

emi Moore, Adam Brody and Eric Roberts have joined the cast of “Lovelace,” a biopic about porn actress Linda Lovelace, the producers announced on Monday. Moore will play the iconic feminist Gloria Steinem, while Roberts will be play a lie-detector expert.

Brody will play “Deep Throat” male lead Harry Reems.

Lovelace’s role in the notorious 1972 hardcore-porn movie made her one of the best-known figures in adult entertainment. As previously announced, Amanda Seyfried will play the title role in the movie, which Millennium Films is making with the cooperation of Lovelace’s estate. Peter Sarsgaard will portray Lovelace’s husband, Chuck Traynor, and James Franco will play Hugh Hefner. Other castmembers include Hank Azaria, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Noth,

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Lady Gaga left ‘ blood’ in hotel bath

Robert Patrick, Wes Bentley, Sharon Stone and Juno Temple. “Lovelace” is directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (“Bowl,” “The Celluloid Closet”). The screenplay was written by Andy Bellin (“Trust”). The film has an estimated budget of $10 million and is currently filming. A release date has not been set. “Lovelace” is being produced by Heidi Jo Markel, Laura Rister, Jason Weinberg and Jim Young. Boaz Davidson, Danny Dimbort, Mark Gill, W Merritt Johnson, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short and John Thompson are executive producing. “Lovelace” is one of two Linda Lovelace projects now under way. Writer-director Matthew Wilder’s “Inferno: A Linda Lovestace Story,” based on Lovelace’s autobiography, is due in 2013. Malin Akerman will star in that movie.

Star Wars saber-master dies aged 89 ob Anderson, Olympic swordsman and the man inside Darth Vader’s helmet during many iconic lightsaber battles in the Star Wars films, has died aged 89, the British Academy of Fencing said Monday.

Anderson, who represented Britain in fencing at the 1952 Games, “passed away peacefully” at 0400 GMT on Sunday in an English hospital, the fencing organization announced. “He was truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer, and both the fencing community and film world will miss him,” said Philip Bruce, president of the academy. Although arch-villain Vader was played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl, Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill later revealed that “Bob Anderson

B A

erosmith front man and “American Idol” judge Steven Tyler is tying the knot with longtime companion Erin Brady, the rock star’s manager said Monday. “I can confirm he’s engaged,” Eric Sherman told AFP, giving no other details, amid reports that Tyler, 63, surprised model Brady, 38, with a five-carat diamond ring either just before or during a Christmas holiday in Hawaii. Tyler-just off an Aerosmith tour of Latin America and Japan-has been married twice before. He was also in a brief relationship in the 1970s with model and singer Bebe Buell, the mother of their actress daughter Liv Tyler. Tyler and Brady have been an item since 2006.

Hayek to receive ‘knighthood’ alma Hayek is to receive a ‘knighthood’ in France. The 45-year-old actress will be given the Legion d’Honneur medal award by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysees Palace in Paris within the next two months. Salma - who is married to French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, with whom she has four-year-old daughter Valentina - will join the five-tiered academy with the grade of Chevalier, or ‘knight’ in English. Following the pinning of the medal, she will be invited to attend a banquet at which all of those gifted with the honor will

S

go to. She will not be the only person in her family to receive the award this year - her father-in-law Francois Pinault has been promoted to the rank of Grand Officer. Previous recipients - who are allowed to wear a small pin rosette indicating their rank - include Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and Robert De Niro. The award was introduced by French leader Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 as a merit award for service to France, but unlike a British knighthood it is not solely reserved for the French.

was the man who actually did Vader’s fighting.” “It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told (director) George (Lucas) I didn’t think it was fair anymore,” Hamill told Starlog magazine in 1983. “Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition.” Anderson wielded the famous saber in two of the three original Star Wars films, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”.

The sword-specialist was born in Hampshire, south England, in 1922 and served in the elite Royal Marines during World War II. After his professional sporting career, Anderson went on to forge a living in the film industry, working on James Bond films “From Russia With Love” and “Die Another Day” and also on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

L

ady Gaga allegedly left “large amounts of blood” in a hotel bath. The eccentric singer reportedly shocked staff when she checked out of London’s lavish Intercontinental Hotel last summer and they discovered a pool of red liquid in the tub of her suite.

One housekeeper claimed the pop superstar was “bathing in blood as part of a Satanic ritual”. She told website Truthquake: “Lady Gaga left large amounts of blood in the suite during a stay this summer. The incident was reported to the concierge, who was told to put it out of her mind.” Other sources believe Gaga could have been using the red liquid as part of a “weird” stage costume or prop. An insider said: “All of the hotel’s staff are convinced she was bathing in it or, at the very least, using it as part of one of her new costumes or weird stage routines.” While it is unclear whether the liquid actually was blood or what the singer had been using it for, it is not the first time Gaga has been accused of unusual behavior in hotels.

It has previously been claimed that she is terrified of evil spirits and reportedly has every hotel and tour venue scanned by a team of paranormal investigators before she will agree to stay there. The ‘Edge of Glory’ hitmaker - who has previously said she believes she is inspired by the spirit of her dead aunt - allegedly splashed out £30,000 on state of the art Electro Magnetic Field meters to detect spectres. A source said: “She believes in paranormal activity and won’t take any risks when she is on the road. It’s important to her to be safe from spirits.” — Agencies

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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FIRE BRIGADE STATE ST TATE T OF KUW K KUWAIT WA AIT

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Ext.: 2627 262 27 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW .MET.GOV V..KW W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

03/01/2012

Ministry of Interior

07:00

Time Issue Time

Expected Weather Weather for the Next 24 4 Hours Mostly y sunny with moderate to fre fresh esh north westerly wind, with h speed of 22 - 42 km/h caus causing sing raising dust open over op pen areas

BY Y DA DAY: AY:

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24848075

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24849807

Friday

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18 °C

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21 °C

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PRAYER PR RA AY YER TIMES

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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

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03/01/12 04:15 UTC

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PHARMACIES

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ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

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Ahmadi

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Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

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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 22921555 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

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

34

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 547

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Procrastination is not all bad. Sometimes that extra push on the throttle just floods the engine or spins the wheels. Let it rest a bit. A good plan of action will emerge soon. There is a natural tendency to experience some delays at this time, which may be the cause of some frustration.

However, like the little train that climbed the mountain—you can see this day through to the end and walk away with many accomplishments. You may find yourself in deep discussions about the world and the progress of different countries or technologies. Taxes, investments and other financial ties or obligations may grab your attention as well. Get outside, weather permitting of course, and enjoy some fresh air this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Allow for delays today—exercise patience. Some people do not care for challenges, but if you did not have challenges in your life it would be easy for you to become bored. Today you will be able to show off your problem-solving abilities. If you are humble in your attempt to help others, you will make many friends. If you are looking for the answer to a haunting problem from the past, you will find it now. This can be a lucrative time for you, but there are risks as well as rewards. A good example of this might be an investment in the stock market that looks as though it may be on an upswing.

You are motivated to give some personal time to a family member this evening.

A healing of emotions may take place tonight.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. The sign language used in the United States.

4. An ancient Hebrew unit of dry measure equal to about a bushel.

9. United States labor organizer who ran for President as a socialist (1855-1926).

13. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

14. Poor enough to need help from others.

15. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

16. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

17. An Arab country on the peninsula of Qatar.

18. A river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea. 19. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

21. Plant bearing large mild thick-walled usually bell-shaped fruits.

24. An edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle.

25. A state in northwestern North America.

26. Small pointed structure serving as a skeletal element in various marine and freshwater invertebrates e.g. sponges and corals.

30. A unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure.

33. A cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment).

34. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

38. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

40. A federal agency that supervises carriers that transport goods and people between states.

41. A genus of Ploceidae.

44. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.

47. Large west African tree having large palmately lobed leaves and axillary cymose panicles of small white flowers and onewinged seeds.

50. (Irish) Chief god of the Tuatha De Danann.

54. A state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico.

57. (sociology) The conventions that embody the fundamental values of a group.

58. A rule made by a local authority to regulate its own affairs.

60. The universal time coordinated when an event is received on Earth.

61. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

64. A primeval personification of air and breath.

65. Of or relating to a member of the Buddhist people inhabiting the Mekong river in Laos and Thailand.

66. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

67. A small cake leavened with yeast.

DOWN 1. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

2. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

3. The act of slowing down or falling behind.

4. (Sumerian) Legendary friend of Gilgamish.

5. Small beads made from polished shells and formerly used as money by native Americans.

6. Made warm or hot.

7. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.

8. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.

9. Distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers.

10. (Norse mythology) Goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match.

11. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

12. Marked by quiet and caution and secrecy.

20. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

22. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates.

23. A rechargeable battery with a nickel cathode and a cadmium anode.

27. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

28. A digital display that uses liquid crystal cells that change reflectivity in an applied electric field.

29. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

31. A soft gray malleable metallic element that resembles tin but discolors on exposure to air.

32. A type of submachine gun that is designed and manufactured in Israel.

35. The cry made by sheep.

36. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

37. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

39. Small cubes with 1 to 6 spots on the faces.

42. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

43. A member of a widespread group of Amerindians living in northeastern South America.

45. Designer drug designed to have the effects of amphetamines (it floods the brain with serotonin) but to avoid the drug laws.

46. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

48. The square of a body of any size of type.

49. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.

51. Pasture grass of plains of South America and western North America.

52. The brightest star in Cygnus.

53. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

55. A small constellation in the northern hemisphere near Cygnus and Draco.

56. Of or being the lowest female voice.

59. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

62. A Mid-Atlantic state.

63. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You feel very good about yourself today—others tend to support your self-confidence. If you enjoy your work, this is a good day to expand your horizons. If you consider your job little more than drudgery, this is a good time to begin a vacation or to make vacation plans. You may find yourself reviewing some sales technique or some old project this afternoon. This is the best time to clear away the debris. You may insist that whatever does not contribute to security and other long-term goals are trivial. Your ambition is intensified. This evening you may enjoy a good movie, book or perhaps a computer game that you have not had a chance to investigate. You enjoy sharing your game with a family member and may have to keep track of the time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You make all the moves and seem to have the last say in situations today. This is fun for a while but carries a lot of responsibility.

Everything points to your taking the initiative. This is a great time to be with others and to work together. You may be sought after as just the person for a particular job.

You could feel great support from those around you. You are very aware of other people and their needs. Your receptiveness to the input from others may encourage them to ask for your help. Doing so should give you a great sense of satisfaction. Spiritual matters are highlighted and it is not enough merely to understand what something is—you need to know what it means. You may be able to feel especially kind toward a friend or loved one this afternoon.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Ambition, practicality and achievement are admirable, but they are means to an end—not ends in themselves. It is important that you share the responsibilities to complete an old project now. If you can be a bit flexible, you will see successful results from most anything you try to involve yourself with now. Your focus and self-discipline are admirable and others may want some advice on how to do what you do. It is time to build a solid foundation for yourself. This may mean in the workplace, home or in a volunteer organization. Whatever the case, a spirit of cooperation is the most important asset. There may be a little scattered energy today but you will come across as very organized. You can relax with friends tonight.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You may be reminded of your various responsibilities at this time. You are able to cut through the red tape and find exactly what is needed to solve most problems. In-depth discussions and probing conversations find you at your mental best. Your analytical abilities are at a high point.

Lunchtime is a good time to get down to the basics and take care of some personal business you had set aside. Past obligations may come to your attention. A meeting with someone older or in authority is insightful. Harmony with friends and loved ones is the order of the day. A healing between neighbors is possible this afternoon. You will enjoy socializing or just spending time with a loved one tonight. This is a good time to try to improve your love life.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Spend some extra time to study a special problem today.

There is much too much rushing and the time is not right to move on a special project just yet. Contracts and ventures need to be analyzed carefully, making sure that all signatures, dates and addresses are correct. You are very aware of other people and their needs. Your receptivity to input from others may encourage them to ask for your help. Doing so should give you a great sense of satisfaction. Spiritual matters are highlighted—it is not enough merely to understand what something is; you need to know what it means. You may decide to join a choir or take some sort of creative lessons in the evening. This could also involve you and another member of your family.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Work moves along well today, although there could be a few delays. This may be an important time to change a delivery company, particularly if this is one of many times a delay has happened. A massage set up for later in the day will help to alleviate some of the stress you have recently been experiencing. This afternoon you may find that groups have gathered for ideas on how to help people in need. There is talk of needing a senior math or reading mentor program, recruiting retirees as volunteers would actually be benefiting many. This volunteer work is for helping young people learn the basics or helping the elderly maintain a sharp mind. This volunteer work is within your expertise and will fill you with a great deal of satisfaction.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

You should find no problem in communicating with regar This is a productive day. Your creativity is called on and you are full of ideas that are helpful and bring quick results. You could come up with new solutions. Your schedule was so full last year there was hardly time to refurbish your energies. Consider cutting some of your work and study activities to leave some open time for relaxation. A luncheon will help you find some helpful hints and advice. There is a tendency to be too strict and to insist that whatever does not contribute to security and other long-term goals is trivial. The current flow of energies is upbeat and now is the time to blend in a fitness routine. This will improve your stamina and help your endurance on the job and in the lecture hall—whether you are listening or teaching.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

A perfect balance between your career needs and personal needs should bring about an inner peace today that you rarely get a chance to enjoy. The lighter side of you usually has to struggle with the more serious side of you. In addition, you have a super-sensitive awareness of the moods and needs of others; making this an excellent time to run seminars or work with groups. Do not skip any breaks—take this allotted time to recharge your energy. You may find yourself serving to guide someone younger than you in matters of importance this afternoon. You could also perceive how to precede with plans and decisions in regard to your life goals. Any problems you encounter should have easy solutions. You socialize with friends this evening.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Negotiations and persuasions to change or update an old technical way of doing things are met with success this morning. This clarity is a bit unusual just now. You do not have to draw a picture to get your message over to others—communications are clear. In-depth thinking brings success with work of a mental nature. Your intuition will prove valuable in a business meeting after lunch. Work is definitely on the back burner this afternoon, although you could be inspired to do something to beautify your home or surroundings. You enjoy being around people in general, but the rapport between you and your significant other is especially strong at this time. With this understanding, you both can be nurturing without being pushy.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Today is an easy, relaxing day if you avoid extremes. You are inclined to expect that the world will come to you; do not expect too much. It is important to pay attention to the way you handle stress. You are more successful in the workplace than most when it comes to sharp minds. It is important that you have an awareness of your stress level and positive ways to balance it. Begin to develop and increase the time you are in-touch with the spiritual side of yourself.

Moneymaking ideas do not interest you but substantial ways to increase your income or investments is where you are focused this afternoon. A friend’s scheme may actually turn you in a direction that will help you to increase your savings. You enjoy the family this evening.

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR PIA JZR QTR ETH MEA ETH THY UAE QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA KAC THY DHX FAH JZR JZR BAW KAC AFR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB GFA FCX IRA RBG KNE JZR RKM IRM MEA KAC MSR JZR SVA CLX KAC GFA MSR SYR FDB KAC UAL IRC QTR KNE SVA RJA ABY KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR IYE JZR ETD UAE KAC GFA SVA JZR RBG ABY JZR ALK JZR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC AIC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA DHX GRF MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR SAI JZR UAL AXB DLH

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 4/1/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 205 LAHORE/PESHAWER 539 CAIRO 6130 DOHA 2620 ADDIS ABABA 400 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 6702 PARIS 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 213 BAHRAIN 203 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 3555 ALEXANDRIA 839 JEDDAH 165 DUBAI 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 5066 MASHAD 404 BEIRUT 382 DELHI 610 CAIRO 201 DAMASCUS 9421 JEDDAH 792 LUXEMBOURG 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 341 DAMASCUS 57 DUBAI 790 MEDINAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 6791 MASHAD 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 123 SHARJAH 284 DHAKA 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 561 SOHAG 824 SANAA/DOHA 213 DEIREZZOR/ALEPPO 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 550 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 269 BEIRUT 3564 ASSIUT 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 227 COLOMBO/DUBAI 177 DUBAI 63 DUBAI 542 CAIRO 618 DOHA 787 RIYADH 786 JEDDAH 614 BAHRAIN 674 DUBAI 975 CHENNAI/GOA 166 PARIS/ROME 102 NEW YORK/LONDON 774 RIYADH 61 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 647 MUSCAT 372 BAHRAIN 81 BAGHDAD 402 BEIRUT 217 BAHRAIN 136 DOHA 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 441 LAHORE 239 AMMAN 981 BAHRAIN 393 KOZHIKODE/COCHIN 636 FRANKFURT

Time 0:20 0:25 0:50 1:15 1:15 1:40 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:40 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:40 4:50 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:20 6:40 6:45 7:00 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:30 10:40 10:45 11:05 11:20 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:45 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:15 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:45 13:50 14:00 14:05 14:20 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 14:45 15:00 15:00 15:20 15:25 16:10 16:35 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:10 20:15 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:40 23:50

Airlines UAL AXB BBC AIC DLH PIA ETH MEA KAC ETH QTR THY GRF KAC FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD MSR QTR THY JZR GFA JZR FDB KAC BAW AFR KAC JZR KAC KAC JZR JZR UAE ABY ETD KAC FDB QTR KAC GFA RBG JZR IRA FCX KNE KAC JZR KAC RKM MEA IRM KAC JZR MSR SVA GFA MSR FDB SYR CLX KAC KNE UAL IRC ABY RJA KAC SVA JZR KAC KAC QTR JZR IYE ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA RBG ABY KAC SVA JZR JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC FDB DHX KAC KAC JAI OMA KAC DHX MEA GFA FAH QTR JZR KAC UAE KAC JZR KAC SAI

Departure Flights on Wednesday 4/1/2012 Flt Route 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 390 MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE 44 DHAKA 982 AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD/ 637 FRANKFURT 206 LAHORE 2621 ADDIS ABABA 401 BEIRUT 283 DHAKA 621 ADDIS ABABA 6131 DOHA 773 ISTANBUL 94 DUBAI/KANDAHAR 381 DELHI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 200 DAMASCUS 54 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 6702 DUBAI/HONG KONG 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 549 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG 789 MEDINAH 560 SOHAG 212 ALEPPO/DEIREZZOR 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 302 ABU DHABI 117 NEW YORK 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 177 FRANKFURT/GENEVA 214 BAHRAIN 3563 ASSIUT 268 BEIRUT 602 SHIRAZ 204 DUBAI 840 MEDINAH/JEDDAH 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 405 BEIRUT 5065 MASHAD 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 2321 JEDDAH 220 BAHRAIN 622 ASSIUT 58 DUBAI 342 DAMASCUS 792 VIETNAM 673 DUBAI 746 JEDDAH 982 BAHRAIN 6792 MASHAD 124 SHARJAH 641 AMMAN 617 DOHA 503 MEDINAH/JEDDAH 786 RIYADH 613 BAHRAIN 773 RIYADH 141 DOHA 238 AMMAN 824 SANAA 304 ABU DHABI 538 CAIRO 135 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 3556 ALEXANDRIA 128 SHARJAH 153 ISTANBUL 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 134 BAHRAIN 228 DUBAI/COLOMBO 64 DUBAI 184 DUBAI 361 COLOMBO 62 DUBAI 171 BAHRAIN 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 COCHIN 571 MUMBAI 648 MUSCAT 543 CAIRO 373 BAHRAIN 403 BEIRUT 218 BAHRAIN 102 DUBAI 137 DOHA 554 ALEXANDRIA 301 MUMBAI 860 DUBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 502 LUXOR 415 KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA 442 LAHORE

Time 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:05 1:20 1:25 2:15 2:40 2:40 2:45 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:00 4:55 5:50 6:55 7:00 7:30 8:25 8:30 8:40 8:45 9:00 9:00 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:35 10:40 11:25 11:25 11:40 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:15 12:30 12:50 12:55 13:20 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:05 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:20 15:25 15:35 15:40 15:45 15:50 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:35 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:20 20:40 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:35 23:45 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available, Gnadeer Clinic, Bahrain street, Salmiya, near big jamiya. Contact: 66792392, 66047295, 60625120. (C 3807) 4-1-2012 Sharing accommodation available for a single person in a fully furnished C-A/C building, in Farwaniya near Burger King with kitchen & parking facilities, if interested please contact: 99038601. (C 3803) 1-1-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Pottantevida Latheef, holder of Indian Passport No: G3954651 hereby change my name to ABDUL LATHEEF MOIDEEN. (C 3806) 4-1-2012 I, Orsu Vijaya Laxmi, holder of Indian Passport No. F1883273 hereby change my name to ORUCHU VIJAYAMMA. (C 3804) 1-1-2012 SITUATION VACANT Required cook for house, good experience, all kinds of food, professional cook, good salary + good accommodation + Air ticket, full time & part time. Contact: 23901053 / 55828597.

(C 3802) 28-12-2011

FOR SALE For sale Sony TV 21”, two wall fan, 8’ Dish for TV, small table. Contact: 66625253.

(C 3805) 3-1-2012 Chalet for sale at Almohana in Khieran. Contact: 66352426.

30-12-2011 Toyota Corolla 2009, white color, 77,000 km, Excellent condition, Price KD 3,150/-.

Contact: 66729295.

(C 3800) Underground Gold discovery device. New type, works by direct photography at a

depth of 20 meters, determines the type, depth and size. Already tried with guarantee. 66145558 A farm in Abdaly, covering 50 thousand meters squared, one street. Fenced with chicken wire, workers residence + electricity + treated water. 55555235 Electric generator 3700 Watts, Astra brand, 2011 model, 1st grade Chinese made + pressure and gas gauges + 2 sockets, smooth noise, yellow, new in a carton. Price KD 85. 60066891 27-12-2011

TUITION Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901 English teacher (3) years

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A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291 A Syrian Arabic Language teacher. Masters, for secondary, intermediate, religious institution, universities, and establishment of the elementary stage using the Aleppo method “the alphabet then the word”.

50513599

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 01:45 02:40 03:35 04:30 05:25 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:10 12:00 12:55 13:20 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:25 20:15 20:40 21:10 22:05 23:00 23:55

I’m Alive Animal Cops Houston Wildest Africa Big Five Challenge I’m Alive Dogs 101 Animal Cops Houston Monkey Life Wildlife SOS Gorilla School Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Breed All About It Dogs 101 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS Animal Cops Specials 2009 Animal Cops Houston Wildest Africa Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Talk To The Animals The Really Wild Show Dogs 101 Bondi Vet Breed All About It Dogs 101 Wildest Africa Wildest India Untamed & Uncut

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:20 01:40 01:55 02:20 02:50 03:20 04:00 04:20 04:35 04:50 05:00 05:05 05:25 05:35 05:50 06:10 06:25 06:35 06:45 06:50 07:10 07:20 07:35 08:05 08:35 09:20 09:50 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:35 16:25 17:10 17:40 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:20 23:50

Last Of The Summer Wine Last Of The Summer Wine Tweenies Balamory Jackanory Junior Buzz & Tell After You’ve Gone As Time Goes By The Weakest Link Balamory Jackanory Junior Penelope K, By The Way The Large Family Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Nina And The Neurons Balamory Jackanory Junior Penelope K, By The Way The Large Family Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Nina And The Neurons My Family After You’ve Gone The Weakest Link EastEnders Doctors Holby City New Tricks As Time Goes By My Family The Weakest Link EastEnders Doctors Holby City New Tricks The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Casualty My Family Gavin & Stacey Small Island After You’ve Gone The Green Green Grass Elephant Diaries Blackadder the Third The Weakest Link

00:05 00:55 01:45 02:35 03:20

Antiques Roadshow James Martin’s Brittany Indian Food Made Easy 10 Years Younger Celebrity Fantasy Homes

04:05 04:50 05:40 06:25 08:00 08:20 08:45 10:25 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 15:25 16:10 17:00 17:45 18:35 19:00 19:50 20:40 21:05 23:40

James Martin’s Brittany Indian Food Made Easy 10 Years Younger Celebrity Fantasy Homes Cash In The Attic USA James Martin’s Brittany Masterchef Australia Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me 10 Years Younger What Not To Wear Celebrity Fantasy Homes House Swap Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA James Martin’s Brittany Indian Food Made Easy Cash In The Attic USA What Not To Wear Bargain Hunt

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 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 17:45 18:20 18:45 Doo 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:55

Johnny Bravo 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 Duck Dodgers The Garfield Show Pink Panther And Pals Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm New Yogi Bear Show Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show Pink Panther And Pals The Scooby Doo Show Tom & Jerry Dastardly And Muttley Top Cat New Yogi Bear Show Puppy In My Pocket Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Jetsons Duck Dodgers Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Garfield Show Pink Panther And Pals The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Puppy In My Pocket Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry The Scooby Doo Show Scooby-Doo And ScrappyScooby Doo Where Are You! A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas New Yogi Bear Show Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Dexters Laboratory

00:40 Samurai Jack 01:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 02:20 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 03:10 Best Ed 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Adventure Time

04:50 Generator Rex 05:15 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 05:40 Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 05:55 I Am Weasel 06:55 Powerpuff Girls 07:45 Angelo Rules 08:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 08:30 The Amazing World Of Gumball 08:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 09:15 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:40 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 10:05 Angelo Rules 10:30 Chowder 10:55 Adventure Time 11:20 Eliot Kid 11:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 12:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:15 I Am Weasel 13:40 Best Ed 14:05 Cow & Chicken 14:30 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:50 Eliot Kid 15:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 15:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 16:05 Courage The Cowardly Dog 16:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 16:55 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:10 Adventure Time 17:35 Regular Show 18:00 Cow & Chicken 18:25 Generator Rex 18:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 19:15 Angelo Rules 19:30 Total Drama World Tour 19:55 Hero 108 20:25 Sym-Bionic Titan 20:50 Adventure Time 21:25 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 21:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 22:25 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 22:50 Cow & Chicken 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Ben 10 23:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:20 06:45 Cody 07:05 07:55 08:10 09:00 10:30 10:45 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:30 14:20 14:45 15:00 16:30 16:35 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:35 18:41 20:00 20:25 21:15 Cody 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperor’s New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Hannah Montana Recess The Suite Life Of Zack And Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Halloweentown Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Fish Hooks Den Brother Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Have A Laugh A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana The Suite Life Of Zack And Sonny With A Chance Shake It Up Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

THE HUDSUCKER PROXY ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 14:10 16:00 16:55 17:50

Destroyed In Seconds Animal Cops South Africa Dirty Jobs Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Curiosity Mythbusters How It’s Made Cake Boss Border Security Auction Hunters Airplane Repo Extreme Machines Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:35 The Colony 02:25 The Tech Show 02:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 03:40 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 04:35 How Does That Work?

05:00 How Stuff’s Made 05:25 Superships 06:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 07:10 The Future Of...

08:00 Bad Universe 08:50 How Does That Work?

09:15 How Stuff’s Made 09:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 10:35 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 11:25 Superships 12:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 13:15 The Gadget Show 14:05 The Future Of...

14:55 How Does That Work?

15:20 How Stuff’s Made 15:50 Bad Universe 16:40 The Tech Show 17:05 Da Vinci’s Machines 18:00 The Gadget Show 18:50 Superships 19:40 Weird Or What?

20:30 What’s That About?

21:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 22:10 Bad Universe 23:00 Weird Or What?

00:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Gourmet Farmer 01:30 Unwrapped 01:55 Guy’s Big Bite 02:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:35 Food Network Challenge 04:25 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 05:15 Kid In A Candy Store 05:40 Unique Sweets 06:05 World Cafe Asia 06:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 06:50 Food Network Challenge 07:35 Barefoot Contessa 08:00 Food Network Challenge 08:50 Gourmet Farmer 09:15 Barefoot Contessa 09:40 Kid In A Candy Store 10:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 10:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 10:55 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 11:20 World Cafe Asia 11:45 Everyday Italian 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 13:00 Ten Dollar Dinners 13:25 Guy’s Big Bite 13:50 Aarti Party 14:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 14:40 Barefoot Contessa 15:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:30 Unwrapped 15:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 16:20 Mexican Made Easy 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Gourmet Farmer 18:00 Barefoot Contessa 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Aarti Party 19:15 Kid In A Candy Store 19:40 World Cafe Asia 20:05 Guy’s Big Bite 20:30 Food Network Challenge 21:20 Unwrapped 22:10 Kid In A Candy Store 23:00 Unique Sweets

00:20 Special Agent Oso 00:50 Jungle Junction 01:15 Little Einsteins 01:40 Higglytown Heroes 02:10 Jo Jo’s Circus 02:30 Special Agent Oso 03:00 Jungle Junction 03:25 Little Einsteins 03:50 Higglytown Heroes 04:20 Jo Jo’s Circus 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:10 Jungle Junction 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Higglytown Heroes 06:30 Jo Jo’s Circus 06:50 Jungle Junction 07:15 Higglytown Heroes 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 The Hive 09:20 Handy Manny 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 The Hive 10:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 10:25 Timon And Pumbaa 10:45 The Hive 10:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:20 Handy Manny 11:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 12:20 Imagination Movers 12:45 Lazytown 13:10 Handy Manny 13:25 Jungle Junction 13:40 Imagination Movers 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Special Agent Oso 14:25 Little Einsteins 14:50 Lazytown 15:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

15:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:05 Handy Manny 16:30 The Hive 16:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:55 Imagination Movers 17:20 Special Agent Oso 17:30 Handy Manny 18:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:30 Jungle Junction 18:45 Handy Manny 18:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:25 The Hive 19:35 Little Einsteins 20:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 20:30 Animated Stories 20:35 Handy Manny 20:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:20 The Hive 21:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 21:33 A Poem Is...

21:40 Jungle Junction 21:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 22:35 Special Agent Oso 22:50 Little Einsteins

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!Es 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 Ths 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Bridalplasty 10:15 Ths 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 Ths 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Dirty Soap 17:55 E! News 18:55 Ths 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Kourtney & Kim Take New 22:25 E! News

00:00 I’ll Do Anything 00:50 Dragrace High 01:15 Final Fu 01:40 Mantracker 02:30 World Combat League 03:20 Dragrace High 03:45 Final Fu 04:10 I’ll Do Anything 05:00 Ed’s Up 05:50 Mantracker 06:40 World Combat League 07:30 Ride Guide Snow 2009 08:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 09:00 Asian X Games 2010 09:25 Blood, Sweat And Gears 10:15 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

11:05 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

11:55 Dr Danger 12:45 Fantasy Factory 13:35 Final Fu 14:25 Mantracker 15:15 World Combat League 16:05 Dr Danger 16:55 Fantasy Factory 17:45 Asian X Games 2010 18:10 Blood, Sweat And Gears 19:00 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

20:40 Mantracker

00:40 01:30 02:15 03:05 03:50 04:40 05:25 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:25 11:10 11:35 11:55 Jones 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:25 15:50 Jones 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20

Extreme Forensics The Haunted Psychic Witness Couples Who Kill Deadly Women Extreme Forensics The Haunted Psychic Witness Mystery Diagnosis FBI Files Forensic Detectives Undercover Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Undercover Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Undercover Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite

00:00 Meet The Natives: USA 00:30 Inside 01:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 01:30 Lockdown 02:00 Treks In A Wild World 02:30 Hunter Hunted 03:00 Cycling Home From Siberia With Rob Lilwall 03:30 Deadliest Journeys 03:30 Lockdown 04:00 Eccentric Uk 04:30 Air Crash Investigation 04:30 Which Way To 05:30 Dino Death Trap 05:30 Graham’s World 06:00 Meet The Natives: USA 06:30 Naked Science 2.5 07:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 07:30 Inside 08:00 Treks In A Wild World 08:30 Lockdown 09:00 Cycling Home From Siberia With Rob Lilwall 09:30 Air Crash Investigation 09:30 Deadliest Journeys 10:00 Eccentric Uk 10:30 Hunter Hunted 10:30 Which Way To 11:30 Graham’s World 11:30 Lockdown 12:00 Meet The Natives: USA

THE TENDER HOOK ON OSN CINEMA

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Let Me In-R 4.3.2.1.-18 Sniper: Reloaded-18 Last Breath-PG15 Game Of Death-PG15 The Karate Kid III-PG The Morgue-18 Game Of Death-PG15 Stonehenge Apocalypse-PG15 The Morgue-18 Ninja Assassin-18 The Eagle-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:45 21:00 23:00

A Single Man-R The 19th Wife-PG15 Jonah Hex-PG15 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 The 19th Wife-PG15 The Tender Hook-PG15 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 Love N’ Dancing-PG15 The Tender Hook-PG15 Tron: Legacy-PG15 The Eagle-PG15 Tyrannosaur-PG15

02:30 The Cleveland Show 12:00 Two And A Half Men 12:30 Will And Grace 13:00 Melissa And Joey 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 16:30 The Office 18:00 Friends 18:30 Friends 19:00 Friends With Benefits 19:30 Parks And Recreation 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 American Dad 22:30 Neighbors From Hell 23:00 The Cleveland Show OSN FIRST 00:00 Private Practice 01:00 Royal Pains 02:00 Terriers 03:00 Grey’s Anatomy 04:00 White Collar 05:00 Good Morning America 07:00 The Cape 08:00 Emmerdale 08:30 Coronation Street 09:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 10:00 The Martha Stewart Show 11:00 The View 12:00 Private Practice 13:00 Grey’s Anatomy 15:00 Live Good Morning America 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 18:00 Emmerdale 18:30 Coronation Street 19:00 Once Upon A Time 21:00 True Blood 22:00 Terriers 23:00 White Collar

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:15 15:15 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00

From Within-PG15 Sniper: Reloaded-18 The Devil’s Tomb-PG15 The Thirteenth Floor-18 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 Alive-PG15 Ransom-PG15 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 Fast Lane-PG15 Mindhunters-18 Deadtime Stories-R Blood Out-18

00:00 Guarding Tess-PG 02:00 The Dukes-PG15 04:00 Addams Family Values-PG 06:00 Saved!-PG15 08:00 That Old Feeling-PG15 10:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 12:00 Rat-PG 14:00 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star-PG15 16:00 Guarding Tess-PG 18:00 Out Cold-PG15 20:00 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie-PG15

01:00 02:45 04:45 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:00 19:00 PG15 21:00 23:00

Asylum-18 Courage Under Fire-PG15 Paris-PG15 The Hudsucker Proxy-PG15 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 Private-PG15 The Rookie-PG15 Unstrung Heroes-PG15 Witness To Jonestown-PG15 Moonlight And ValentinoAmerican History X-18 Kings And Queen-18

01:00 Nine Months-PG15 03:00 Lottery Ticket-PG15 05:00 From Justin To Kelly-PG 07:00 The Sorcerer’s ApprenticePG15 09:00 Did You Hear About The Morgans?-PG15 11:00 One Hot Summer-PG15 13:00 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG 15:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 17:00 Did You Hear About The Morgans?-PG15 19:00 Black Death-PG15 21:00 Personal Effects-18 23:00 Piranha-R

00:30 02:30 09:30 10:00 14:00 21:00

Scottish Premier League Live Test Cricket Volvo Ocean Race Highlights WWE Vintage Collection Test Cricket Cricket Twenty20

00:30 European Tour Weekly 01:30 World Hockey 02:00 ICC Cricket World 02:30 Live Test Cricket 09:30 World Hockey 10:00 Futbol Mundial 10:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 11:00 Live Cricket Twenty20 14:00 Test Cricket 21:00 Cricket Twenty20

00:00 Scottish Premier League 02:00 European Tour Weekly 03:00 PDC World Darts Championship 07:00 European Tour Weekly 08:00 Pro 12 Celtic League 10:00 World Cup of Pool 11:00 World Pool Masters 12:00 US Bass Fishing 13:00 World Hockey 15:30 PDC World Darts Championship 19:30 European Tour Weekly 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 Masters Football

01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

V8 Supercars Championship Speedway Le Mans Series Highlights UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship WWE SmackDown Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Speedway Powerboats WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 03:30

Ancient Discoveries Life After People How The Earth Was Made American Restoration Pawn Stars

04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Ancient Discoveries Life After People How The Earth Was Made American Restoration Pawn Stars Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Ancient Discoveries Life After People How The Earth Was Made American Restoration Pawn Stars Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Ancient Discoveries Life After People How The Earth Was Made High Hitler Dead Men’s Secrets Gestapo

00:05 Big Rich Texas 01:00 Jerseylicious 02:00 Videofashion Daily 02:55 Videofashion News 03:25 How Do I Look?

04:20 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

06:10 Homes With Style 06:35 Area 07:05 Clean House 08:00 Videofashion News 09:00 Videofashion Daily 10:00 Open House 10:55 How Do I Look?

11:50 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

12:50 Clean House: Search For The Messiest...

13:50 Clean House 14:45 Tia And Tamera 20:25 Open House 20:50 Open House 21:20 Tia And Tamera 23:10 How Do I Look?

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 Rides 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

Far Flung Floyd Globe Trekker Glutton For Punishment Far Flung Floyd Far Flung Floyd Cruise 1st Planet Food Globe Trekker World’s Greatest Motorcycle Cruise 1st Far Flung Floyd Globe Trekker Sophie Grigson In The Orient Cruise 1st Cruise 1st Far Flung Floyd Far Flung Floyd Glutton For Punishment Globe Trekker Cruise 1st Cruise 1st Far Flung Floyd Far Flung Floyd Sophie Grigson In The Orient Cruise 1st Cruise 1st Cruise Today Essential

00:25 Escape From Fort Bravo-FAM 02:05 Key Largo-PG 03:45 Love Me Or Leave Me-PG 05:45 The Wonderful World Of The...-FAM 08:00 Above Suspicion-PG 09:30 The Four Horsemen Of...-PG 12:00 Honky Tonk-FAM 13:45 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo-PG 16:00 Meet Me In St. Louis-FAM 17:50 Seven Women-PG 19:15 Action In The North AtlanticPG 21:20 Manpower-PG 23:00 Singin’ In The Rain-FAM

30

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

Happy belated birthday to Alma Trisa.

You rock with your smile and style.

We love you. From Cherish, Liva, Marita, Martin and Michael.

Marina Hotel hosts students from Bibi Al Salem School

R

eiterating its commitment towards the society, Marina Hotel Kuwait recently welcomed 30 female students along with their teachers from Bibi Al Salem High School. Abdulrahman Al Habbad, Human Resource Manager, Marina Hotel offered a presentation to the students illustrating the way a hotel

functions. The students were familiarized with the various departments of the hotel including Food and Beverage, Housekeeping, Front Desk, Administration and Fitness & Spa and were taken for a brief tour within the hotel premises Nabil Hammoud, General Manager of

the hotel said: “Marina Hotel has an ongoing cooperation with government institutions in Kuwait. It is a privilege to welcome students from academic institutions who visit us to gain an understanding on the hospitality sector. We have always been proactive with schools and this visit serves as an opportunity for

the students to gain invaluable insight into work-life and environment and attain a professional service orientation.”

As part of its ongoing commitment towards supporting the youth and society, Marina Hotel Kuwait is always keen to work with the government and private institutes in Kuwait.

Happy birthday to Mohd Sajid. Best wishes from father Mohd Nasim and mother Aktari Begum.

Dr Bose to speak at NSS celebration

A

top Indian civil service official and eminent orator Dr C V Ananda Bose IAS will be the guest of honor at the Nair Service Society (NSS) Kuwait’s Mannam Jayanthi celebration on Jan 6. Dr Bose, who is also the head of the prestigious Supreme Court Committee on Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, will deliver a keynote speech during the grand celebration to be held on Friday from 6 pm at Marina Hall, Touristic Park, Abbassiya. Dr Bose is the founder of many innovative movements and institutions such as affordable housing, good governance, science and technology, and in other fields such as Nirmithi Kendra (Building Centre) and District Tourism Council.

NSS Kuwait, the official affiliate of NSS Kerala, is a leading Indian sociocultural organization in Kuwait. The celebration is held to mark the 135th birth anniversary of Bharatha Kesari Mannathu Padmanabhan, a prominent social reformer, freedomfighter and founder leader of NSS. Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta will inaugurate the function. A leading advocate and member of the Board of Directors of NSS Kerala, N V Ayyappan Pillai, will preside over the function.

Pillai is the president of NSS taluk union, Karunagappally and the member of Bar Council of Kerala.

A dazzling classical dance performance by leading South Indian actress Remya Nambeesan will be one of the key attractions of the event. World renowned pianist and composer Stephen Devassy and his band along with playback singer Nikhil Raj will lead a musical concert and fusion on the occasion. Addressing a press conference to announce the Mannam Jayanti celebration, NSS Kuwait President Muralee Krishnan P said NSS Kuwait is one of the largest sociocultural organization in Kuwait with more than 3,500 people as their members. Others who attended the press briefing included general secretary Manikandan K P, Prasad, Mohana Kaimal and Ravindran Nair.

Admission to the event is restricted to invitees only.

For more details, contact: Riggae/Farwaniya - 97601637 / 99570668; Abbasiya / Hasawi -94067350/97909965; Abu Halifa/Mahboula - 94067350/99865708; Salmiya/Hawally/Kuwait City - 65595479/99698168 and Fahaheel/Mangaf/ Ahmadi - 66120051/99597046.

SMCA Christmas-New Year celebration

S

yro Malabar Cultural Association (SMCA) Christmas New Year celebration will be held on Friday, January 6 at Delhi Public School, Auditorium, Ahmadi from 3pm till 10pm. Visiting singers Sicily and Antony will lead the concert.

Many other cultural programs are also arranged.

Rak Dance holds New Year celebration

A

non-profit charity show was organized by Rak Dance Academy on Saturday, 31st Dec 2011 at Carmel School, Khaitan. The event started with the lighting of the lamp by Chief Guest Chejarla Indra Kumar Raju and Indrakala along with the Rak Dance Academy President Kothurieswarbabu and honorable guests Akula Prabakarareddy, Malapati Suresh Babu, Sattymurthi, Sanjay Rome and Akula

Narasaiah The full event was hosted by Darla Srinivas Achary and Mr Joail.

An enthusiastic mix students of Rak Dance Academy Group participated Habeeb, Tanusha, Anjali, Munisha, Asmma, Salma,Vishal, Vinod, Yeshwant ,Ramesh, Khader, Mani, Venkat, Hymant, Kumar, Fahad, Chikku, Deepak, Jyothi, Aslisha, Manasanithan, Kalian, Sai, Chandini, Kishore and Retham. Dance Group members Anusha, Jolita, Anjali

and Joeial presented a spectacular dance program. A ventriloquist performance and magic show by Mr Gugampoo had the audience spellbound. A colourful extravaganza with rhythm and a mindblowing classical dance performed by Anusha added luster to the event.

The event was a mega success with a huge gathering and the unique cultural programs enthralled and captivated the Telugu audience till the end. They appre-

ciated Rak Dance Academy President Eswar Babu for the extra ordinary arrangements. The members of Rak Savasamithi volunteers thanked for the smooth conduct of the program.

Kothurieswarbabu presented the activities of the academy and highlighted the achievements made by the academy since its inception. Achary addressed the gathering and explained the charitable activities conducted by the academy.

M

cDonald’s Corniche hosted Kuwaiti prodigy Hamad Al-Humaidhan at its restaurant on Saturday 31 Dec. Dubbed by international media as Young Picasso, Hamad used his colorful imagination and passionate strokes of his brush to put the final touches on an exclusive painting for McDonald’s Kuwait. The painting called “McDonald’s Family” portrays Ronald McDonald and the culture of McDonald’s in an impressionistic form and can now be seen displayed at McDonald’s Corniche. McDonald’s Kuwait is a constant supporter for local talent and is keen to provide a platform to allow individuals to showcase their creativity and talent.

An avant-garde art exhibition

K

ondalraj, a famous painter and art teacher in the Indian community of Kuwait, recently held an exhibition - with a difference. He exhibited ‘letters’ - not ordinary ones - but ones which had beautiful poetic words alongside a painting to picturise the words. Those were the letters cherished by Kondalraj - they were from his esteemed teacher and celebrated artist, the Late S S Manian and his friend Muthu Vaapa working in Saudi Arabia. The artists had used multifarious media- Indian ink, watercolours, oil colours, crayons and so on.

Earlier, Mr Muthukumaran, the convener of the Toastmaster’s and Gavel Club, had been pleasantly surprised when he saw these letters of Kondalraj, and offered to hold an exhibition of them in his residence in Mangaf.

The exhibition was held on the 24th and the 25th of December 2011. On the first day, around 100 children visited the venue, and, inspired by the beautiful artwork, created their own pieces of art. On the second day, a demonstration was held by Kondalraj for approximately 100 fine art patrons and children about painting. Overall, this interesting exhibition provided a feast to the eyes of art connoisseurs in Kuwait.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy

New art group launched

Information

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new association for Indian expat artists in Kuwait was formed under the banner Progressive Art Realization Troop (PART). The new organization, comprising of 25 founder members was inaugurated by prominent Indian artist Sujathan in Abbassiya recently. Appreciation and recognition of art and artists are among the objectives of PART, said PART president PG Sreenivasan. Following are the office bearers of PART: Vice President Sunil Pookkode, Secretary Sasikrishnan, Joint Sec Sherly Biju Treasurer Mukundan. The press release said PART will organize an art symposium in mid-this month.

Anyone interested to join PART please contact: 99510814. partofkuwait@gmail.com

EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

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. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

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. nnnnnnn

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 FRANCE The French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed today for the New Year. Best Wishes for the New Year! nnnnnnn

ESF presents Shakespeare’s tragedy

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ear 10 IGCSE Drama students at The English School Fahaheel worked hard at William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello”. ESF offers a full IGCSE course in drama in the new modern Drama Studio. Othello was performed recently in the New ESF Drama Studio at The English School Fahaheel. “Othello” was a deeply challenging task for first year IGCSE drama students, who have applied hours of rigorous rehearsal time to this performance. The play directed by their drama teacher Ms Mackenzie, was selected specifically to challenge the acting talents of the students involved. The scenes are full of emotions, confrontations and tension and the students have done well to engage in such a complex text.

Study franchising abroad with GUST

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nterested in developing your entrepreneurial skills?

Thought about buying a franchise? You can study franchising in New York City this June through a special course developed by Gulf University for Science & Technology. Profiting Through Franchising is designed to help people learn the inside information about franchising.

It’s particularly of interest to people who plan to acquire a franchise from abroad and expand it in the Middle East, as well as people who are thinking about starting their own franchise, or expanding an existing business. The course will meet for one week in New York City and two weeks at GUST from June 10-28, 2012.

“If you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur and learning more about how to franchise your own business and export it to other countries, or how to buy a franchise and import it to the Middle East, this is an important course for you,” explained Dr. Issam El-Moughrabi, director of GUST’s MBA program. GUST MBA students will earn 3 credit hours for this course; members of the public may join the course for non-credit.

Seven class sessions in New York City, between June 15 and 22, will occur during the International Franchise Expo (IFE), the premier annual event that draws franchise companies from around the world. “The expo is a gateway for people who are searching for a franchise to develop, and an important educational opportunity” said Dr John P Hayes, a 30-year franchise veteran, and a professor in GUST’s College of Business. He designed the course and will teach it. “While we’re in New York, students will meet the executives of franchise companies and, if interested, discuss opportunities to bring these businesses to Kuwait and the Middle East.” Dr Hayes has taught at the IFE for more than 20 years and he has been both a franchisee and

the CEO of a major American franchise company. After studying at the IFE, students will receive a special certificate of completion from MFV Expositions, which produces the IFE in affiliation with the International Franchise Association. Four “field trips” to franchise headquarters will occur in New York City. “The personal contacts that our students and delegates make abroad will be invaluable to them as they pursue their business careers,” Dr Hayes continued. “Where else will you have an opportunity to meet founders, marketers, lawyers, financiers and international directors of major franchise businesses? You will also meet .. government officials and franchise association executives. Students will return from New York with an impressive list of contacts.”

Cost of the course is KWD 1,900 per MBA student (KWD 1,450 for others) and includes 3 hours of MBA credit, airfare to/from New York City, hotel accommodations for 8 days, ground transportation, and educational fees abroad. New York’s PACE University will host the students and provide classroom space. To register kindly contact khateeb.s@gust.edu.kw or call 2530 7447. A non-refundable deposit of KWD 500 is required by 15 February 2012.

After you register you will be invited to a franchise blog that will provide additional information between now and June. The course syllabus includes the following topics: Defining Franchising, Evaluating Franchise Opportunities, Understanding the Franchise Offering Circular, Creating the Franchise Development Plan, Financing Franchises, Managing Franchises, Sub-Franchising, International Master Licensing, Franchisor & Franchisee Relationships, Marketing & Promoting Franchise Brands, Adapting a Franchise to a Local Market, and more. Students will produce a franchise development plan for Kuwait.

Upcoming events Aware Center Arabic lessons The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will be on until January 12th, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: lIntroductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic lCombine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings lProvide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105/104/0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

Get ready get set - RunQ8 Registrations are now open for RunQ8, the annual 10km charity race to be held on January 21, 2012.

Organized by the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute (FSRI) and Agility, the race route will run from Marina Crescent in Salmiya along the Gulf Road up to the Third Ring Road and back. The race is aimed at supporting health issues affecting our community and raising awareness around them. In its second year, RunQ8 is promoting road traffic safety. 2011-2021 has been named the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety with a goal to stabilize and then reduce global road traffic fatalities by 2021.

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF PERU Peruvian Permanent Expo will be temporarily closed from December 2lst 2011 to January 21st 2012. The Expo will reopen on January 22nd 2012 and offer once again “Peruvian Private Gastronomy Tasting Lunches” and much more like Peruvian culture, tourism, trade and great possibilities of investment. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation invites all the Russian residents in Kuwait to visit the Consulate for registration and updating your database. This information is necessary for prompt notice, assistance and warning in case of emergency. The consulate reception hours: 10:00 13:00, Sunday - Wednesday. The Embassy is located in Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. Tel: (+965) 22560427, 22560428. Fax: (+965) 22524969, e-mail: rusposkuw@mail.ru, consdepkuw@mail.ru Information also available on the website: www.kuwait.mid.ru 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.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

H E A LT H

Uninsured turn to daily deal sites for health care Deals are popping up across the US

DUISBURG: Zookeeper Mario Chindemi holds koala bear “Alinga” during an inventory at the zoo in Duisburg, western Germany, yesterday. — AFP

Malaysia on red alert over bird flu PETALING: Malaysia’s health ministry is working closely with its Chinese counterpart in monitoring the development of the H5N1 avian influenza virus which killed a man in Shenzhen, China. Minister Liow Tiong Lai said there was still no report of transmission of the virus, which recorded a fatality rate of 60 per cent between human beings, and urged Malaysians to remain calm. “What happened to the man in China is an isolated case,” he said at the opening ceremony of Chempaka Medical Services Centre here. However, he said Malaysians still needed to be cautious to ensure that they did not contract the virus. “They must refrain from visiting chicken farms and immediately consult the doctor if they catch the flu or fever,” he said. Liow said the ministry would continue to screen the temperature of passengers at all airports.

“Anyone coming from the affected countries like China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia who show high temperature during the screening will be sent to the hospital for quarantine,” he said, adding that no such patient had been sent to hospital so far.

The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen, died on Saturday in Shenzhen, a

city that borders Hong Kong, where thousands of chickens have already been culled after three birds tested positive for the H5N1 virus last month.

He developed a fever on December 21 and was taken to hospital four days later diagnosed with severe pneumonia, according to the health department in Shenzhen, a city of more than 10 million people. The department said the man had no direct contact with poultry in the month before he was taken ill, nor had he left the city.

On another matter, Liow said the five most common serious ailments among senior citizens were hypertension, diabetes and problems related to the eye, lungs and joints. “The five most common risks among older persons are high blood pressure, physical inactivity, cigarette or tobacco smoking, abnormal blood glucose level and obesity.” Liow added that nine hospitals in the country had geriatric units with 13 geriatricians and eight psychogeriatricians serving patients aged above 60. Malaysians above 60 years old are now entitled to free healthcare, which covers medical examination, treatment, counselling and rehabilitation, at all government hospitals and clinics.—dpa

NEW YORK: The last time Mark Stella went to the dentist he didn’t need an insurance card.

Instead, he pulled out a Groupon.

Stella, a small business owner, canceled his health insurance plan more than three years ago when his premium rose to more than $400 a month. He considered himself healthy and decided that he was wasting money on something that he rarely used.

So when a deal popped up on daily deals site Groupon for a teeth cleaning, exam and an Xray at a nearby dentist, Stella, 55, bought the deal - which the company calls a “Groupon” - for himself and another for his daughter.

He paid $39 for each, $151 below what the dentist normally charges.

Daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial are best known for offering limited-time discounts on a variety of discretionar y goods and ser vices including restaurant meals, wine tastings, spa visits and hotel stays. The discounts are paid for upfront and then it’s up to the customer to book an appointment and redeem a coupon before it expires. Merchants like the deals because it gives them exposure and a pop in business.

Customers use them to try something new, to save money on something they already use, or both. The sites are increasingly moving beyond little luxuries like facials and vacations and offering deals that are helping some people fill holes in their health insurance coverage. Visitors to these sites are finding a growing number of markdowns on health care services such as teeth cleanings, eye exams, chiropractic care and even medical checkups. They’re also offering deals on elective procedures not commonly covered by health insurers, such as

wrinkle-reducing Botox injections and vision-correcting Lasik eye surgery. About one out of every 11 deals offered online is for a health care service, according to data compiled by DealRadar.com, a site that gathers and lists 20,000 deals a day from different websites.

“I was accustomed to going to the dentist every six months,” said Stella who owns SmartPhones, a store and wholesale business in Miami that sells mobile phone covers and accessories. “This filled the gap.”

The deals are popping up across the nation. In New York, a full medical checkup with blood, stool and urinalysis testing sold for $69 in December on Groupon - below the regular price of $200.

In Seattle, a flu shot was offered on AmazonLocal for $17, down from $35.

In Chicago, LivingSocial sold a dental exam, cleaning, X-rays and teeth whitening trays for $99, a savings of $142.

About 9 percent of all offers on daily deal websites in November were for dental work or some kind of medical treatment, up from 4.5 percent in the beginning of 2011, said Dan Hess, CEO and founder of Local Offer Network, which runs DealRadar.com. The growth in health-related deals is good news for millions of Americans.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46.3 million Americans under 65 have no health coverage.

The number of health care deals began rising as copycat websites attempted to get a piece of the market. Search leader Google and shopping site Amazon.com have recently gotten into the game. Not all have been successful. In August, social networking site Facebook

dropped its plan to start a daily deal business, and Yelp, a site that allows customers to write reviews of restaurants and other businesses, scaled back its daily deal efforts. Many smaller sites have closed. But the shakeout in the industry hasn’t hurt the number of health deals being offered since the industry leaders, like Groupon, are offering more deals and are moving into more markets, Hess said.

The health care deals may be attractive for people with gaps in their coverage or no insurance, but jumping from one health care provider to the next isn’t ideal.

Visiting the same doctor or dentist makes it easier to monitor how a patient’s health is progressing, said David Williams, cofounder of medical consultancy group MedPharma Partners and author of HealthBusinessBlog.com. Also, it’s important for patients to do their own research before buying a medical or dental deal, Williams said. “A referral from someone you trust is the best path,” said Williams. Dental deals are the most popular among users of local deal websites - likely because even more people lack dental insurance than health insurance. Among the 172 million people under 65 who have private health insurance in the US, about 45 million don’t have dental coverage, according to the CDC. Dentists have traditionally offered deals by mailing out coupons, but paper coupons have a low redemption rate, Williams said. Local deal sites are more attractive to doctors and dentists because they get paid up front and they reach new clients. “ We reached a whole new demographic who other wise

wouldn’t find us,” said Dr. Gregg Feinerman, an ophthalmologist who runs Feinerman Vision Center in Newport Beach, Calif.

He offered a 58 percent discount on Lasik eye surgery through Groupon. “It’s a better way to market,” he said.

He used Groupon as a way to bring in patients under 30-years old with the hope that they would recommend his services to friends and rate him on review website Yelp. A good review might persuade someone else to visit his office, Feinerman said. He charges $5,000 for the surgery on both eyes; a price that he said can be “overwhelming for 20-to 30-year-olds.”

Feinerman approached Groupon about listing the eye surger y for $3,000. Groupon, which is based in Chicago, pushed him to lower the price to $2,100. Feinerman got exactly the type of patient he was looking for in Thomas Cho. Cho, 29, bought the offer and after the surgery wrote a review on Yelp.

He gave the vision center five stars - the highest rating on the website.

Cho said in an interview that his health insurance plan only covers 20 percent of the regular price of Lasik since it is considered a cosmetic procedure. He would have paid about $4,000 if he had used his insurance discount. Cho decided to buy the Groupon, paying $2,100 initially.

After consulting with the doctor, he upgraded his surgery to an all-laser procedure for $1,000 more. At the time, Cho’s credit card issuer was offering a 20 percent cash back promotion on Groupon purchases. In all, he saved more than $1,300. “I had my post-op checkup and I am seeing 20/20,” Cho wrote on Yelp.

“I couldn’t be happier.” —AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Skin condition shingles is tricky and very painful BERLIN: It often begins with mild itching on the back, chest or below the ribs - annoying, but nothing dramatic. But tingling, burning and stabbing pain in the affected area soon follow.

After about three days blisters or lesions appear on the skin and spread in a band on one side of the torso or rib cage. By then the diagnosis is clear: Herpes zoster, a viral skin condition commonly known as shingles.

Shingles can only occur in people who have had chickenpox, which includes well over 90 per cent of the adult population. The reason, explained the German Green Cross (DGK), an independent organization dedicated to improving disease prevention and health communication, is that shingles is caused by the varicellazoster virus, which also causes chickenpox.

Some fears surrounding the condition are unfounded. “The belief that you’ll die if the band of blisters completely encircles the torso is

utter nonsense,” remarked Uwe Meier, chairman of the Professional Association of German Neurologists (BDN).

The virus is, however, sneaky. It causes chickenpox the first time it invades the body, but does not go away when the chickenpox fades.

Rather, it travels to nerve cells called dorsal root ganglia near the spinal cord, where it remains for the duration of the person’s lifetime.

“It lies dormant there and causes no symptoms,” noted the DGK’s Andrea Grueber. But this can change. If the person’s immune system has been weakened - for example due to illness, cancer treatments or stress - the virus can become active again.

“Suddenly the virus causes another rash along the sk in segments ser ved by these nerves. That’s why the pain and blisters extend along this nerve area,” Meier said. The blisters are not only unsightly, Grueber said, “they con-

tain the varicella-zoster virus, which can be transmitted by direct contact with the blisters’ contents. People who have never had chickenpox can become infected and develop chickenpox.”

Klaus Doubek, chairman of the Wiesbaden branch of Germany ’s Association of Gynaecologists, warned pregnant women who have never had chickenpox to “make sure the affected areas of skin are carefully covered when you have contact with shingles patients.”

According to the BDN, shingles is contagious until the blisters have scabbed. It takes them a week to 12 days to dry up, and the skin is completely healed in about three weeks, the DGK said. Patients take an antiviral drug orally for about a week. “This checks the virus and limits the extent of the illness,” Meier said. “It can be supported topically with analgesic ointments.”

The pain is extremely discomforting for most

patients, he noted. “Stimuli are felt more intensely. The slightest touch can be torture,” he said. Some patients still have pain weeks after the rash has cleared up, a condition known as post-herpetic neuralgia. “The skin is intact but the nerve can be damaged,” Meier said. “The entire pain-processing system may even change.”

To help ease the severe pain, Meier added, a doctor may prescribe an anticonvulsant or antidepressant. These drugs subdue the overexcited nerves or disrupt their transmission of pain signals to the brain. “The right dosage must be found for the patient, and the drugs don’t take effect right away,” he said. “This can be burdensome for affected persons.”

Pain-numbing lidocaine patches can also be applied. But the sooner that shingles is treated, the better the chances of preventing chronic nerve pain, Meier pointed out. — dpa

Caring for dementia sufferers People with dementia become paranoid

MARSEILLE: A picture taken yesterday in Marseille, southeastern France, shows a breast implant produced by the implant manufacturer Poly Implant Prothese company (PIP) with PIP identity card. The now-bankrupt PIP was shut down and its products banned in 2010 after it was revealed to have been using industrial-grade silicone gel that caused abnormally high rupture rates. —AFP

Medical information on the web has pros and cons BERLIN: You feel a twinge in your stomach and there is no obvious explanation. Or maybe, for no apparent reason, you get a stabbing headache. To whom - or to what do you turn first? According to various studies, there is a good chance it is the internet.

“About 65 per cent of respondents now state that they have recently searched for health content on the internet,” said MarieLuise Dierks, co-director of the Hanover Patients’ University, an independent education institution at Hanover Medical School in Germany. Some, though by no means all of them, try to diagnose themselves.

Independently researching a health-related matter on the internet can indeed be useful, said Dierks, who said it is a good way to boost one’s self-reliance and confidence in dealing with illnesses, doctors and medicine.

But she added a caveat: “It’s important, however, that information from the web always be called into question.”

Health care professionals are divided on the internet as a source of medical information. “There is nothing wrong with informing oneself,” said Ursula Marschall, medical director of Barmer GEK, a German public health insurance company.

But she said it is dangerous to regard the internet as more credible than one’s doctor.

Noting that “patients always have their own notions about their illness,” she said those who did internet research were at risk of latching onto information that supports their preconceptions, even if those are completely wrong.

Maria Gropalis, a psychologist at Mainz University’s Department of Psychology, also sees risks. “The danger of misinformation is very high on the internet. The overabundance of information can be a problem as well” particularly for hypochondriacs, she said.

“There’s the risk that the internet will intensify existing fears.”

A word has even been coined for unfounded anxiety concerning the state of one’s health brought on by visiting medical websites: “cyberchondria.” While Gropalis views the neologism as mainly a vogue word, she said the phenomenon it described was definitely a modern variety of hypochondria.

“Hypochondriacs don’t imagine their symptoms, but they interpret them incorrect-

ly,” remarked Gropalis, who said the internet was a dangerous intensifier in this regard.

While many people go online to calm their health fears, she noted, oftentimes the opposite happens. A web search can quickly turn a common headache due to fatigue or dehydration into a brain tumour in the mind of the searcher.

Gropalis has an especially low opinion of online discussion forums, where people often lay out their personal medical history. She said most participants in such forums have had negative experiences - long waits for a diagnosis or misdiagnoses, for instance.

“Forums are very often a source of disquiet,” she said.

For non-hypochondriacs, surfing the internet in search of possible reasons for feeling unwell is much less problematic. But independent research, Marschall warned, can never replace patient-doctor communication.

“This communication, just like the physical examination, is an extremely important diagnostic tool. You get neither on the internet,” she said, pointing out that doctors make a diagnosis not only on the basis of acute symptoms. “They take them as a point of reference, ask questions based on them and look at the patient as a whole.”

For people who seek medical information online, Marschall recommends medical societies’ patient guidelines. “They translate medical jargon into everyday language, and the information is provided by experts and based on the latest research,” she said. Websites of governmental agencies and public health insurance companies are reliable sources in the view of Dierks, who advised people doing health-related research online to always look to see whether someone is responsible for the content, and if so, who the person is. She also issued a warning: “I’d be wary of websites where something is for sale.”

Dierks said it was also important how patients dealt with online information when consulting a doctor. They should use credible web information to help formulate their questions, not present the doctor with a pack of computer printouts along with their preconceived diagnosis.

With the right approach, she said, the web-savvy patient will be better able to understand his or her physician. — dpa

ASHLAND: In this Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 photograph, Dr Daniel Shuman, a member of the medical staff at Ashland Health Center, leaves the records area in Ashland, Kan. The center draws doctors to rural Kansas by offering paid time for international mission work. — AP

BERLIN: A pair of trousers is in the dishwasher and the kitchen counter has been wiped four times - a fairly standard turn of events when living with someone suffering from dementia. It is not easy and, if the person’s language skills are seriously impaired, communication is difficult. But there are a number of means by which family members can smooth the relationship.

Some countries rely on high technology. In Japan, for example, a robot modelled after a baby seal and covered with artificial fur is employed in nursing homes, where it is said to help otherwise withdrawn patients open up.

According to a study by the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, the seal robot gets patients to talk to each other more and to reflect on their condition. Many display positive expressions of emotion such as smiling when petting the robot.

It is generally very difficult to determine what things elicit happiness in dementia sufferers. “The people affected are often unable to provide any insight,” remarked Philipp Stude, assistant medical director at the Bergmannsheil Neurological Clinic in the German city of Bochum.

Stude said that a patient’s feelings of well-being are open to interpretation. Positive signs include making eye contact, having a peaceful mood and reacting when spoken to. In many dementia patients, well-being can be triggered by old hobbies, music, art or animals. “Family members usually know what makes the patient happy,” Stude noted. Many people with dementia become paranoid and are convinced that a strange person is in their room or that someone has stolen money from them. “ These patients need to feel they’re being taken seriously,” advised Sabine Bartholomeyczik,

chairwoman for epidemiology and nursing science at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Gudrun Piechotta-Henze, a nursing scientist at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, agreed. Family members should address such fears and not simply dismiss them. If a dementia patient says something like, “Someone has stolen from me,” she said, an appropriate response might be, “That must be upsetting to you.”

Caring for dementia sufferers is especially difficult if they have lost the ability to express themselves verbally. Family members can at least partially offset the absence of speech with other sensory stimuli.

“It’s important to create ‘memory islands.’ This can be done, for instance, by touching or with certain foods,” Piechotta-Henze pointed out. She had good results, she said, with a project in

which poems were recited that dementia patients had learned in school. “Even those unable to express themselves verbally any more knew the poems by heart in the end,” she said.

It is also impor tant not to speak with others about dementia patients in their presence.

“You should never say, ‘He won’t understand,’” warned Piechotta-Henze, who said that in her experience patients were very sensitive and still picked up on a lot of things at a non-verbal level. It is better, she said, to bend to the patient’s eye level and to try to speak to him or her directly. “ This signals to the patient, ‘I’ve got time for you,’” she said. And family members who are caregivers should also take care of themselves. As neurologist Stude pointed out, “It’s important to get a day of relief during the week ” and have someone else care for the dementia sufferer. — dpa

Three ill in Australia from Death Cap mushrooms SYDNEY: Three people were in a Sydney hospital yesterday after eating poisonous Death Cap mushrooms, in an incident which triggered a health warning about the deadly fungi.

Reports said the people hospitalised believed the mushrooms were an edible type found in China when they ate them at a party in Canberra on New Year’s Eve and had no inkling of the plant’s toxicity.

Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital confirmed that three people who had been transferred from Canberra were in its care. “RPA is treating three people,” a spokeswoman for the hospital said, adding that no further information would be available out of respect for the patients’ privacy.

One other patient was discharged from a Canberra hospital after recovering, a spokesman for Australian Capital Territory Health told AFP. All parts of the Death Cap mushroom, which are difficult to distinguish from an edible mushroom, are poisonous and eating just one of the silky whiteto-greenish-brown capped, whitegilled fungi can be fatal.

“The mushroom looks very similar to a mushroom known as the Paddy Straw mushroom which is common in Southeast Asia and is a delicacy and

people eat it regularly as a source of food,” Michael Hall, director of The Canberra Hospital’s emergency department, told ABC TV. Officials believe that recent summer rains have allowed the poisonous mushrooms, which cause vomiting within hours and are potentially fatal within days due to liver failure, to sprout in Canberra ahead of their normal season. An introduced species, the fungi grows in southeast Australia. “People should should not eat any mushroom unless they can be absolutely certain that it is not poisonous,” Hall said in warning statement issued by the Australian Capital Territory government. “It can be difficult for even experienced collectors to tell poisonous and safe species of wild mushroom apart.” Hall said anyone who suspected they may have eaten Death Cap mushrooms, otherwise known as Amanita phalloides, should seek urgent medical help, because the sooner treatment begins, the better the patient’s chances of survival.

Three people have died in the Australian Capital Territory during the last decade due to Death Cap mushroom poisoning, while there have been about a dozen cases of illness.—AFP

HONG KONG: A worker collects water for drinking after water supply was stopped for cleaning process at the government headquarters in Hong Kong yesterday. Bacteria that cause Legionnaire’s disease have been found throughout Hong Kong’s brand new, $670-million government headquarters. — AP

Mind-body medicine blends treatments with self-healing BERLIN: While conventional and alternative medicine, such as naturopathy, often seem incompatible, there is growing realization among practitioners from each side that this is not necessarily so. “Integrative medicine” combines elements of both, allowing more effective treatment of disorders. It includes “mind-body medicine,” which uses the power of a patient’s thoughts and emotions to complement conventional care.

Focused concentration on one’s body can benefit healthy people as well as ill ones.

“Basically it has to do with self-awareness, relaxation and lifestyle changes,” said Anna Paul, a researcher and instructor at Germany ’s University of Duisburg-Essen’s Chair of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, which was established in 2005.

Mind-body medicine, which is a very complex field, originated in American scientific and academic institutions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services and the country’s medical research agency, defines it as “practices that focus on the interactions among the brain, mind, body and behaviour, with the intent to use the mind to affect physical functioning and promote health.”

The health-promoting potential that lies dormant in every person can be awakened in various ways. “As is so often the case in naturopathy, it depends on the people themselves,” Paul said.

The basis for the success of the method, which is also called lifestyle management, is being mindful of oneself.

“We foster people’s ability to be mindful of themselves,” she said. Subsequent steps in mindbody therapy deal with nutrition, exercise, relaxation response and stress alleviation. They can include techniques such as yoga, qigong, autogenic training, an individual exercise programme and a healthy diet plan.

At the Clinic for Naturopathy and Integrative Medicine in Essen, mind-body medicine has been practiced alongside conventional medicine since 1999. The spectrum of maladies treated is broad, ranging from cancer, rheumatic diseases and pain syndromes such as migraines, to coronary heart disease.

“For us, integrative medicine means we select what’s best for the patient from the medical systems,” said Paul, head of Mind-Body Medicine and Organizational Development at the clinic, which is attached to a day hospital.

Most of the about 20,000 patients who have been treated at the clinic now pay more attention to self-care in their daily lives, remarked Paul, who said records showed that they took fewer medications and had more energy.

People without any physical complaints or diagnosed illnesses can also benefit from the body’s self-healing forces - namely to stay healthy. Tobias Esch, a German general practitioner and neuroscientist, has set out to make

mind-body medicine available to the healthy population.

“I’ve always been fascinated by what it means to focus on activating healthy people’s inner potential and self-healing forces,” Esch said. So he and his wife, who is also a physician, founded the Institute for Mind-Body Medicine in Potsdam in 2007. It offers the elements of mind-body medicine to companies as well as individuals within the framework of health training.

In order to convey the elements and efficacy of mind-body medicine in a workplace healthpromotion programme, Esch said, a different name for it sometimes has to be used. “This might mean that in a business context the instruments of mind-body medicine are offered as ‘stress management’ or ‘health coaching,’ for example,” remarked Esch, who also established a course of studies in integrative health promotion at Germany’s Coburg University of Applied Sciences. With psychological “burnout” a hot topic in Germany these days, Esch noted that more and more companies were opening up to burnout-prevention programmes focused mainly on stress management. Along with the everyday stress in our hurry-up world, many people lack the ability to pause and reflect, he said.

“People have got to become aware of their own needs again,” Esch added. And this is where mind-body medicine comes in to help strengthen one’s inner resources and better cope with the stresses of everyday life.— dpa

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

India’s flashy new rich drive luxury car boom Top global marques flocking to country

LG to unveil State-of-the-Art IPS monitors DOHA: LG Electronics (LG) will unveil its 2012 IPS monitor line -up at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. LG’s new IPS monitors will provide consumers with the most optimal 3D viewing solution, offering immersive 3D viewing with higher resolutions from wider viewing angles. The new IPS monitors are divided into the DM92, DM82 and DM52 series, in addition to the D43 3D monitor.

“The quality and technological superiority of LG’s 3D display products are second to none, according to the findings of internationally renowned research organizations and respected media outlets,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company.

“The 2011 IPS monitor line-up shows LG’s commitment to further build upon on this reputation and technological prowess in order to provide consumers with the most immersive home entertainment experience possible.”

The DM92 series showcases a premium design by employing the slim bezel of LG’s technology and designdriven CINEMA SCREEN whose aesthetic superiority is accompanied by the lustrous chrome stand. Through the monitor T V ’s attractive 27-inch display, users can access files on their PC, play games or simply kick back

and watch their favorite TV shows.

The DM92 series is also optimized for enjoying exciting 3D content. By incorporating an IPS panel, the DM92 series enables greater depth, consistent color and brightness at wider viewing angles compared with conventional 3D displays.

The 23-inch DM82 series exhibits a chic and futuristic design, employing a metallic neck supported by a square, slim base.

The 3D display quality is among the industry’s best, with superior color tone from any viewing angle. The beautiful images are accompanied by 7-watt builtin speakers, enabling the DM82 to function as a comprehensive entertainment centerpiece.

The 27- and 23-inch DM52 series offers versatility and efficiency in a flexible package. Combining immersive 3D with IPS, the DM52 series comes equipped with a range of connectivity features, such as HDMI and USB, for content-sharing with external devices.

Optimized for 3D, LG’s D43 monitor offers a host of new technologies and features. The monitor ensures bright 3D images as well as SUPER Resolution and vivid colors through the 3D effect mode.

The D43 easily converts 2D content into 3D without any additional software. A 3D hot key enables users to easily adjust and control the depth of 3D images.

How to find greener electronic products SAN JOSE: So you’re a holiday shopper or just an electronics lover - who cares about treading lightly on the planet. How do you know if that shiny new gadget was made with hazardous materials, or whether the manufacturing process created tons of carbon emissions? Several organizations are offering tips and detailed guides on how to buy green electronics this year. And there are a few surprises: The environmental group Greenpeace, which staged a noisy protest outside Hewlett-Packard’s Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters just two years ago, bestowed its highest rating on the giant PC and printer manufacturer for 2011. HP also ranked highest among consumer tech companies in a recent report by Newsweek, which relied on two private consulting firms to assess the environmental practices of the 500 largest public companies in America.

Both reports praised HP’s efforts to document and control greenhouse gas emissions from its own manufacturing processes as well as its extensive network of suppliers. Greenpeace’s annual guide to consumer electronics goes further - reporting in detail, for example, on the components used in HP’s computers and other products.

Most big companies today boast of their efforts to reduce pollution, consume less energy and encourage recycling. Both the Greenpeace and Newsweek reports attempt to sort through the corporate hype by evaluating specific practices and standards.

Among consumer tech companies, Dell and Apple also won relatively high ratings on both reports. Research In Motion, which makes BlackBerry smartphones, was

ranked last by Greenpeace after the environmental group concluded the company lagged far behind its competitors in disclosing detailed information or goals in such areas as energy efficiency, carbon emissions and use of toxic materials. In response, RIM said in a statement: “We are continuing to improve our sustainability practices and have a number of initiatives under way.”

Greenpeace in particular says it hopes consumers will use its findings as a shopping guide. But the group doesn’t provide much information about individual products. More specific ratings can be found at websites maintained by the federal Energy Star program and the EPEAT organization, which is supported by a coalition of industry, government and environmental advocacy groups. Every product with an Energy Star designation is certified to meet minimum federal standards for energy efficiency. The Energy Star website includes detailed tables of information, but it can be difficult to wade through the technical information and draw a comparison.

To help consumers compare products, the federal Energy Star program recently announced that it will start identifying models that are among the “most efficient” 5 percent of their product categories. For now, the new designation is only offered for appliances and televisions, but it may be extended to other categories next year.

EPEAT provides more helpful comparisons by rating individual models of electronic products, based on criteria such as energy efficiency, use of hazardous materials and whether the manufacturer helps recycle old products. — MCT

Designer behind Apple’s products knighted in UK LOS ANGELES: Fans of the clean, inviting look of the iPhone, iPad and other blockbuster Apple products are legion, and that includes Queen Elizabeth II. The British monarch has awarded a knighthood to Jonathan Paul Ive, a Brit and head of Apple Inc.’s design team since the mid-’90s. Ive received a KBE, short for Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The honor was announced Saturday for services to design and enterprise. “To be recognized with this honor is absolutely thrilling and I am both humbled and sincerely grateful,” Ive said in a statement. “I discovered at an early age that all I’ve ever wanted to do is design. I feel enormously fortunate that I continue to be able to design and make products with a truly remarkable group of people here at Apple.”

Ive is credited with helping the late Steve Jobs bring the consumer-electronics compa-

ny back from the brink of financial ruin in the late 1990s with his whimsical design for the iMac computer, which originally came in bright colors at a time bland shades dominated the PC world. He later helped transform Apple into a consumer-electronics powerhouse and the envy of Silicon Valley with the iPod, the iPhone and, most recently, the iPad. The knighthood is the second royal honor Ive has received. He was awarded a Commander of the British Empire honor in 2006 for achievements in British design and innovation. Britain’s honors are bestowed twice a year by the monarch - at New Year’s and on her official birthday in June. Recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public. Most of the honors go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to community or industry, but they also reward a sprinkling of famous faces. —AP

MUMBAI: From farmers who swapped fields for cash to 20something CEOs that inherited the family business, hot new money is flooding India’s luxury car market as roaring sportscar engines announce the country’s growing wealth on its roads. No senior Indian executive feels complete without his sleek German-made saloon, while Italian sportscars are the new calling cards for the country’s rich young things at exclusive nightclubs that screen guests at the main gate, not at the door. “There is a rush to luxur y,” says Mohan Mariwala, managing director of Auto Hangar, surrounded by gleaming Mercedes Benz sportscars in one of his four Mumbai showrooms for luxury cars.

“Farmers, tiny industrial families, the younger generation with different value systems...You can’t imagine the kind of people who invest in extremely exotic cars today.”

Headline growth in Asia’s thirdlargest economy may be stuttering, but decades of growth has spawned a new upper class with global tastes and aspirations that is driving a $1 billion luxury car market expanding at 40 percent annually, say industr y analysts and research firms. Five years ago, Daimler AG’s Mercedes Benz was the only established luxury carmaker in India and sightings of sports cars on the dusty and poorly-maintained roads were rare.

Today, crowds gather along Mumbai’s famous seafront to catch a glimpse of supercar parades, while a Facebook group for luxury car sightings explodes with excited chatter over a blurry photo of an Aston Martin Rapide, a car that costs more than $300,600 in a country where more than 500 million people live on less than $1.25 a day. “The new Indian luxury consumer is pursuing a lifestyle where owning exclusive items and owning them first is a clear sign of wealth and power,” Andrea Baldi, Southeast Asia and Pacific sales manager for Lamborghini said.

Growth in overall car sales will likely be flat in the financial year that ends in March, India’s auto industry association has said, as mainstream firms struggle with faltering demand thanks to rising interest rates and higher prices.

Luxury automakers, however, are rushing to set up shop. Britain’s Aston Martin, famously James Bond’s car of choice, and Fiat’s Italian brands Ferrari and Maserati all opened showrooms in India in 2011, joining established brands such as Volkswagen AG’s Audi and BMW. “India’s young population is affluent and dynamic, the environ-

NEW DELHI: Managing Director of India’s Bajaj Auto Rajiv Bajaj poses with newly launched vehicle - RE60 at a function in New Delhi yesterday. — AFP ment is just right,” said Baldi.

Lamborghini introduced its Aventador LP 700-4 in the country in November, priced at 36.9 million rupees ($693,000). It has taken orders from India for more than 20 Aventadors and buyers must wait 18 months for delivery.

JUMPING SEGMENTS Not long ago, a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry was considered a luxury car in India, where small, cheap cars predominate and the best-selling model is Maruti Suzuki’s Alto, which starts at 232,247 rupees.

“There is a distinctive shift happening. People are jumping segments...from a Honda Civic into a Mercedes Benz E-class,” said Mariwala, who sells around 100 Mercedes vehicles a month from his four Mumbai showrooms.

Haresh Punjabi, 46, who lives in Gurgaon, a booming modern suburb of Delhi, owns a Mercedes ML350 sport utility vehicle, a BMW 740 Li, and a Porsche 911 Carrera.

Punjabi, who exports home furnishings to the United States, said expensive cars have become commonplace in his neighborhood. “If five years ago you bought a BMW or a Mercedes, people still looked at it. Today if you buy a BMW, Audi or Mercedes it’s not as big a headturner,” he said.

Spending on luxury cars in India grew 36 percent in 2009-10 to $1 billion, according to a recently released report by AT Kearney, out-

stripping growth in jewelry, electronics and watches. Demand for high-end cars goes beyond India’s biggest cities. While BMW sells 70 percent of its cars in Delhi and Mumbai, most of the 36 new showrooms it plans over the next four years will be in smaller cities. In 2010, the city of Aurangabad, deep in the heart of the western state of Maharashtra, made headlines when residents ordered almost 150 Mercedes-Benz cars.

India has around 2 million households with annual incomes of more than $36,000, a number set to swell to around 8-10 million households by 2015 if the country’s economic growth stays on track, according to global research firm McKinsey & Co. “The mindset of the luxury autos customer has shifted from being a discreet buyer who wants to stay under the radar to someone who is not shy of flaunting their wealth,” said Rajat Dhawan, a partner at McKinsey in India. “This trend will further accelerate...It is one of the biggest things you can have to flaunt that you have arrived.”

POTHOLES AND TAXES BMW won India’s luxury sales race in the year to March 2011, selling 7,079 vehicles compared to 6,670 for Mercedes. Both are on track to meet targeted sales of 10,000 cars this fiscal year. Despite its fast growth, India’s luxury car market lags far behind China,

where Mercedes and BMW sold a combined 320,000 vehicles in the first nine months of 2011. Taxes of up to 110 percent levied by the government on imported luxury goods mean supercars bought in Mumbai are far more expensive than those bought in Monaco.

As demand increases, manufacturers can reduce levies to 40 percent on models assembled domestically, a tactic already employed by BMW, Mercedes and India’s Tata Motors, which owns the British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover.

Another speedbump is slowing economic growth. While analysts say luxury sales are likely to stay strong, dealerships say the recent monetary tightening by the central bank has eaten into demand as financing costs rise. A rupee that fell 16 percent in 2011 makes imported models more costly.

Luxury carmakers and sellers also cite India’s crowded, pot-hole scarred roads and the lack of a robust highway network, where owners can flex their powerful engines, as drawbacks for the sector. Punjabi said he mainly drives his Porsche early on weekend mornings in order to avoid traffic. In Mumbai, owners of high-performance cars use flat-bed trucks to carry their vehicles in order to avoid the bumps and scrapes that are common on the city’s congested streets as they make their way to a nearby expressway where they hold invitation-only parades.—Reuters

Photos of the dead aim to bring new life to cold cases MILWAUKEE: The corpses’ faces are mostly bloated, their skin pale and discolored. One man’s lips are stiffened into a grim frown and he stares with halfopen eyes. Another man appears to be sleeping, his color natural enough that he almost looks alive.

Forensic investigator Michael Simley knows some people will find the photographs unsettling, but he said he decided to post them online for an important reason: the bodies are unidentified. All were found in Wisconsin’s most populous area, Milwaukee County, and have been without names for years decades, in some cases - and Simley said he’s desperate to find answers.

“We’re not doing these people justice to let them go unidentified. These are family members, friends, people who are missed,” Simley said. “Everyone deserves to be recognized as who they were in life.

Being buried as a Jane or John Doe doesn’t sit well with me.” Investigators nationwide use a variety of tools when asking for the public’s help identifying corpses. Many release sketches or 3-D clay models, along with photos of tattoos, clothing or jewelry of the deceased. But a handful are now taking the more extreme step of releasing photographs of faces.

The practice has helped Las Vegas’ coroner identify dozens of bodies. Other medical examiners seem hesitant to embrace it but are generally supportive of their colleagues’ intentions. Simley’s website has not led to any identifications yet, though it has been active for about a month. It lists the cases of 17 unidentified bodies along with facial pictures of six of the adults and one infant. Simley said there have been no complaints, and he noted that several of the pictures were touched up to remove evidence of decomposition.

Users must navigate through a series of warnings that advise viewer discretion before the pictures become viewable. Once there, many of the images are disconcerting. “We did take into consideration the concern about kids viewing them,” Simley said.

“Even though these pictures are of a graphic nature, the main thing is to get these people identified.”

Some medical examiners said they understand Simley’s reasoning, but others said the tactic is illconceived.

Nici Vance, a forensic anthropologist for the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Oregon, said she would never publicly release photographs of the dead. She said sketches are far better, because artists can leave out wounds or other signs of violence and draw the face with eyes and mouth closed. “A photo could be

MILWAUKEE: Milwaukee County forensic anthropologist Michael Simley poses at his office in Milwaukee. — AP pretty traumatic for the family to see,” she said. “A Plus, some sketches are left somewhat vague so sketch allows a family to focus on the features rather viewers aren’t too quick to conclude they don’t than see a half-lidded, pale, pasty visualization of know the person.That’s why Mike Murphy, the corotheir loved one.” Each of the Milwaukee County ner in Nevada’s Clark County - home to Las Vegas - is entries links to a broader profile in the national data- a strong supporter of photographs. He started postbase NamUs, or National Missing and Unidentified ing photos online shortly after he was appointed to Persons System. The website lists more than 8,000 the job in 2003 - when, Murphy admits, he was too open cases, allowing law enforcement agencies to inexperienced to realize the potential backlash.

The website launched amid controversy and search a single site rather than thousands of disconplenty of media coverage, but Murphy received nected ones.

Most of the publicly viewable images are limited quick validation: Within 24 hours, a corrections offito sketches and maps of where the bodies were cer recognized one unidentified body as that of a found. A recent search by The Associated Press frequent inmate, and a second body was identified turned up several dozen photos of faces of the 48 hours later. Since then, the online photos have deceased, though they rarely showed signs of trau- led to nearly 50 identifications, he said. Another 200 ma. Among those that did was a photo from or so remain unidentified. Murphy said he’s motivatRiverside County, Calif., of a woman with small ed by seeing how painful life becomes for relatives bloody scrapes on her cheek and forehead. Figuring of the missing, and he said families helped by the out what images to make public can be tricky. Some public photos are grateful. “They’re searching for photos are simply too gruesome. In other cases, a their loved one 24 hours a day, seven days a week body is bloated or partially decomposed, enough going shopping, driving their car, they’re always that a photo or sketch might be unrecognizable looking,” he said. “When you can give them resolution, you give them peace.” even to close relatives.

Atlanta-based medical examiner Randy Hanzlick, Three-dimensional clay models of a head might be easier to recognize, but those artists often base who helps moderate NamUs, predicted that comtheir interpretations on a skull, so guesswork is puter-imaging technology would eventually involved. One of the most favored options is the improve enough that it could replace the need for sketch, which can be expensive or take a long time. sketches or photographs. — AP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

business

KIA roadshow rocks Marina Crescent Khalil: KIA’s ‘New Generation’ of models continues to impress KUWAIT: The power to surprise continued for KIA on December 2nd at the KIA Road Show where a record number of visitors marveled at the fresh new range of KIA models.

The KIA Road Show, the fourth in two years, is a continuation of KIA Motors’ strategy aimed at giving customers first-hand exposure to its new generation of award-winning cars and to strengthen bond with the community. “This is our most successful road show yet, and it reinforces KIA’s new role as an innovator of design, performance and technology,” said Medhat Khalil, KIA Kuwait Brand Manager and representative of National Agencies Group.

Hundreds of people showed up to the all-day event, which included test drives, 1-on-1 interactions with KIA staff, family activities, a live DJ and prize giveaways.

Speaking on the spirit of the event, Medhat added: “We believe it’s important to directly interact with our customers and listen to their thoughts.

Our road shows create an environ-

ment where people can freely explore our entire fleet and experience firstrate KIA hospitality. We definitely have more of these events planned for the future.” All ten models on display were fully booked for test drives during the entire show, which lasted from 11:00 am until 7:00 pm. Among the most attention-grabbing vehicles were allnew releases such as the five-door Rio compact sedan, Optima midsize sedan, Cadenza luxury sedan and completely redesigned Sportage compact SUV. The Road Show gave participants the chance to win a 47” LCD TV along with laptops, mobiles and valuable AlShaya shopping vouchers. The names of the lucky winners are Samy Moussa, Abdul Majeed Torra, Mohammed Mohammed, Ahmed Salem, Baha’a Mohammed, Wael Ali and Rana Shennawy. KIA is currently undergoing a dramatic design-led transformation that is changing the perception people have of KIA cars around the world, and is making it the preferred choice in segments across the board. KIA’s

German labor market shrugs off downturn FRANKFURT: The German labor market shrugged off the euro-zone debt crisis and unemployment dropped to its lowest level in 20 years last year, new data showed yesterday. “The labor market continued to develop positively at the end of 2011 and we can look back on a good year, when unemployment dropped sharply, employment increased and demand for labor remained very high throughout the whole year,” said the head of the Federal Labor Agency, Frank Weise. Taking 2011 as a whole, the jobless total fell by 263,000 to 2.976 million in nominal or unadjusted terms, equivalent to 0.6-percent decline in the jobless rate to an annual average 7.1 percent, the agency said.

Both the jobless total and the jobless rate were therefore at their lowest level since unification in 1991, noted German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler. “2011 can be described as the most successful since German unification for working people,” Roesler said.

“Demand for labor remains very high, despite the current economic risks.

Overall, the upturn in employment should continue, albeit at a slower rate. The labor market remains one of the main pillars of our economy,” the minister said. The day before, the national statistics office Destatis calculated that the number of employed people in Germany hit a new record of 41.04 million in 2011, with more than half a million jobs created last year. It was the first time the number of people working in Germany has risen above the 41-million mark, Destatis said. The population of the country is nearly 82 million.

Looking at jobless data, the unemployment total actually increased slightly in raw or unadjusted terms in December.

Economists point out, however, that unemployment tends to rise in the winter months as sectors such as the construction sector slow down and lay off workers due to the cold weather. Adjusted for such seasonal factors, the numbers actually showed a monthly decrease of 22,000 to 2.888 million, according to separate data calculated by the Bundesbank. The seasonally-adjusted jobless rate slipped to 6.8 percent in December-the lowest level since 1991 — from 6.9 percent in November. “The German labor market has

remained in fairly good shape in spite of the ongoing debt crisis and the cooling in global growth,” said Barclays Capital economist, Thorsten Polleit. Natixis economist Felix Eschwege saw the data as “very good

BERLIN: German Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press conference yesterday in Berlin, to announce the unemployment data for last month. — AFP news” for the German economy, Europe’s biggest, and said the data “make us confident with our scenario of an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent for the whole of 2012.” Heinrich Bayer at Postbank Research predicted a “tangible tailing off of upward momentum” on the labor market in 2012.

“Weak growth at the turn of the year will have left its mark ,” he said.

“Nevertheless, the German labor market will remain relatively robust and, in spite of all the crisis talk, 2012 will prove to be another record year for the labor market, both in terms of unemployment and employment.” Timo Klein at IHS Global Insight was somewhat more cautious.

“Milder-than-usual winter conditions probably helped December data additionally, so that it should still be expected that the economic slowdown observed since about mid-2011 will be reflected in less benign numbers during 2012,” he said. — AFP

Austria watchdog clears IPIC plan to up OMV stake VIENNA: Austria’s competition watchdog has cleared Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IPIC’s plan to raise its stake in energy group OMV to at least 25 percent, the agency said yesterday.

IPIC had informed the Austrian Competition Authority last month of its plan. Parties potentially affected by the move had until Jan 2 to comment.

“We did not issue a review application yesterday so it has been cleared,” a spokesman for the agency said. The approval covers potential cartel concerns. Under Austrian law, IPIC as a non-

European investor would still need government approval to increase its OMV stake.

IPIC had already raised its stake in OMV to 24.9 percent in October, calling the Vienna-based group a “cornerstone” of its portfolio. Austrian state holding company OeIAG holds a 31.5 stake in OMV and coordinates with IPIC any changes in stakes.

OMV declined comment. Its shares edged up 0.1 percent to 24.05 euros by 0930 GMT, while Austria’s blue-chip ATX index gained 0.4 percent. — Reuters

new fleet is characterized by the distinctive tiger nose grille and sleek, sporty design elements that can easily be recognized from any angle. The man largely responsible for KIA’s new breakthrough identity is Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the German mastermind behind the notorious Audi TT design. Mr. Schreyer is the winner of numerous prestigious awards including 2012 Automobile Magazine “Man of the Year ” and Honorar y Doctorate at the Royal College of Arts in London.

“In the past, the KIA cars were very neutral. When you saw one on the road, you didn’t really know if it was Korean or Japanese. I think it’s very important that you are able to recognize a KIA at first sight,” Schreyer said.

KIA’s recognizability it defined by its exterior and interior designs, nevertheless the automaker has made strides in performance with several KIA models offering highly competitive engine power.

In terms of technology, KIA is standardizing many innovative features

that are usually only found on more expensive vehicles, such as push-button start with smart key, high-end audio systems, panoramic sunroofs,

success of the KIA Road Show is expected to inspire another in 2012.

The official dealership and representative for KIA Motors in Kuwait is

automatic folding side mirrors, Intelligent Stop & Go (ISG) technology and elegant lighting.

The full list of KIA models present at the show are: Sorento, Carnival, Mohave, Optima, Cadenza, Rio, Cerato, Soul, Carens & Sportage. The growing

National Agencies Group (NAG), a subsidiary of Abdulaziz Al-Ali Al-Mutawa Group of companies. NAG has been part of the KIA Motors family since 1997. KIA Motors was established in 1944 and is one of the fastest growing automotive brands around the world.

Spain jobless rate hit 15-year high in Dec Stiff challenge to conservative government MADRID: Spain’s jobless numbers rose for the fifth straight month in December to a new 15year high, official data showed yesterday, posing a stiff challenge to the country’s new conservative government.

The number of registered unemployed rose from the previous month by 1,897 people, or 0.04 percent, to 4.42 million, its highest level since the labor minister started collecting the figures in 1996.

The number of jobless was up in December from the same year-ago period by 322,286 people, or 7.86 percent. “The figures for the number of registered unemployed for the month of December confirm the deterioration of the economic situation during the second half of the year,” the labor ministry said in a statement. Spain, once the motor of job creation in the euro-zone, has struggled to find jobs for the millions thrown out of work by the collapse of a labor-intensive property bubble in 2008.

The Bank of Spain warned last week that the economy shrank in the fourth quarter of 2011 as tourism and exports, the drivers of a modest recovery, weakened. The grim report fueled fears that Spain, the euro-zone’s fourth-largest economy, was heading back into recession after the economy posted zero growth in the third quarter of 2011.

The new government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to make fighting unemployment and fixing the country ’s finances its top priorities. It plans to present a major labor market reform this month which will change hiring laws and the collective bargaining system to try to encourage the hiring of workers.

The secretary of state for employment, Engracia Hidalgo, said the successive labor reforms carried out by the previous Socialist government “never made the labor market more dynamic and flexible”. Spain’s welfare system only allows workers to receive unemployment benefits for a maximum of two years. But Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s gov-

ernment on Friday extended a monthly payment of 400 euros ($520) for people whose benefits have run out. The payments had been due to expire in February. Rajoy was sworn in as prime minister on December 22 a month after his Popular Party won a general election in a landslide, putting an end to nearly eight years of Socialist rule.

Spanish unemployment rate soared to a 15year high of 21.52 percent in the third quarter, the highest among major industrialized nations.

The rise in the number of jobless in Spain is in sharp contrast with the situation in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, where unemployment dropped to its lowest level in

MADRID: Economy Minister Luis de Guindos (centre left) is surrounded by the media after the swearing-in of high level officials at the Economic ministry in Madrid yesterday. — AP The National Statistics Institute, which uses a different method of calculation to the labor ministry, says the number of unemployed rose to 4.978 million people in the third quarter from 4.834 million in the previous three months. According to those figures, the

20 years last year. The jobless total in Germany fell by 263,000 to 2.976 million in nominal or unadjusted terms, equivalent to 0.6-percent decline in the jobless rate to an annual average of 7.1 percent, the country’s Federal Labor Agency said yesterday. — AFP

Countdown to Burgan Bank’s Al-Thuraya account draw on Winner to take home KD 60,000 KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that there are only a few days left for the Al-Thuraya Account bi-annual draw, and as the draw counts down to a close; the bank will promptly announce the lucky winner of the grand KD60,000 prize on January 8, 2012 at its headoffice.

Burgan Bank’s Al-Thuraya Salar y Account presents a

diverse array of exclusive benefits and features to its holders that are unique to Kuwait. The bank’s Al-Thuraya Account is the only salary account that offers chances to win cash prizes up to KD 120,000.

Al-Thuraya Account is a default salary account that provides multiple features and benefits as well as a chance to win the grand prize. Al-Thuraya

Account is a non-interest bearing account with a bi-annual draw of KD 60,000/-.

Al-Thuraya Account’s features range from opening an account with a minimum KD 50, the option to hold money in Kuwaiti dinar and any other major currency, access to account-related services such as standing orders, loans and credit cards and much more, bringing Burgan Banks

clientele considerably the best features available.

Opening an Al-Thuraya account is simple, just visit your nearest Burgan Bank branch and get all the details.

Or simply call our Call Center 1804080 and our customer service representative will be more than happy to assist you. For further information visit www.burgan.com

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

business

US auto industry to post another good year DETROIT: After hitting a 30-year low in 2009, US auto sales are poised for a second straight year of growth - the result of easier credit, low interest rates and pent-up demand for cars and trucks created by the Great Recession.

The sales forecast bodes well for the industry’s continued recovery and for the broader American economy. In 2009, Detroit automakers were in peril. Car sales plunged as unemployment soared, and loans became harder to get. Chrysler and General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. Ford avoided bankruptcy only by borrowing billions. Now credit is more available, interest rates are low and Americans need to replace old cars and trucks they kept during and after the downturn. Millions of drivers in their teens and 20s are expected to buy vehicles, too. That could mean more jobs, more factory shifts and overall growth.

Vince Powell, a retiree from Winfield, Pennsylvania, recently traded in his wife’s 7-year-old Chrysler 300 luxury sedan for a 2011 model. The old car had 145,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) on it, but it was the deal he got that most attracted him: a low interest rate (2.7 percent per year), a

six-year loan term and a big discount off the $31,900 sticker price. “I’m getting a $300 per month payment,” he said just before closing the sale at a nearby auto dealer. “I’ve never had a new car for 300 bucks a month.”

In their effort to survive, all three automakers downsized and positioned themselves to turn profits even if sales remained depressed.

Now that sales are rising, the outlook has brightened considerably.

Automakers report US sales for 2011 today. When final figures are calculated, sales of new cars and trucks are expected to reach 12.7 million, up from 11.5 million in 2010 and 10.4 million in 2009, the worst year since 1982. In 2012, they could climb as high as 13.8 million, close to what experts consider a healthy market around 14 million. December sales could reach an annual rate of 13.4 million, which would make it the secondstrongest month of the year. Only November was better. Auto website Edmunds.com forecasts a 37 percent rise in sales at Chrysler Group LLC in December, thanks to new and revamped products such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and the Chrysler 200 midsize sedan.

Carmakers have announced plans

to crank up factories and add thousands of jobs. Last January, Ford said it would hire 7,000 workers over the next two years. During the summer, GM said it would add 2,500 at the Detroit factor y that makes the Chevrolet Volt electric car.

Volkswagen hired 2,000 for a new plant in Tennessee, and Honda added 1,000 in Indiana. The industry will add 167,000 jobs by 2015, a 28 percent increase over current levels, predicts The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

During the summer, the auto industry was adding jobs at a faster pace than airplane manufacturers, shipbuilders, health care providers and the federal government. It kept adding jobs even when the national unemployment rate rose above 9 percent, Standard & Poor’s downgraded US debt for the first time and the stock market tumbled. Government estimates show Americans spent roughly $40 billion more on new cars and trucks in 2011 than in 2009. Based on annualized figures from the first quarter of 2011, new-car spending totaled $206 billion, or 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product, Commerce Department data shows.

That compares with $166 billion in

2009, about 1.2 percent of the country’s economy. And the momentum in auto sales is likely to continue because people need to replace aging cars, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an automotive consulting company in Troy, Michigan. The average American car is now 11 years old. US auto sales peaked at 17 million in 2005, when Detroit’s automakers were much bigger and overproduced cars that they were forced to discount heavily. Sales could eventually reach that level again around 2018, said Schuster, because of 70 million socalled millennials born between 1981 and 2000 who need to set up households and buy cars. Other trends emerged in 2011.

Many people bought smaller vehicles as gas prices hit a record average of $3.53 per gallon. Fuel-efficient compact cars, which have been vastly improved by automakers, are likely to unseat the midsize sedan as America’s favorite passenger car for the first time in 20 years. At the other extreme, pickups rebounded as businesses started to replace older trucks. Sales for the year were expected to rise 11 percent, and Ford’s F-Series will remain the country’s top-selling mod-

el, a title it has held for more than three decades.

For much of the year, US-based automakers took advantage of Japanese car shortages to increase sales, especially in the compact car segment normally dominated by the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

Japanese companies ran short of popular models after an earthquake and tsunami disrupted production in Japan in March.

Ford, GM and Chrysler saw their combined share of the US market rise by 200,000 cars and trucks between the end of 2010 and November, 2011.

The Detroit Three’s market share rose from 45.1 percent last year to 47 percent through November of last year.

At the same time, Honda’s share fell 1.6 percentage points to 9 percent, while Toyota’s dropped 2.5 percentage points to 12.7 percent.

Schuster expects Japanese carmakers to take back some of the sales they lost. Geoff Pohanka, who runs a chain of car dealers in the Washington area, said his December has been strong, thanks especially to the restocking of cars at his Honda and Toyota showrooms. He predicts Japanese car companies will offer incentives to regain lost sales. — AP

Greece risks being out of euro-zone if no bailout Athens in talks with EU, IMF, bankers on rescue

PARIS: Workers of the cross-channel ferry company SeaFrance set of a flare as they gather in front of a Paris court yesterday. SeaFrance, a subsidiary of French railway operator SNCF, is the ferry operator that links Calais, France to Dover, Britain and has suspended the ferries. — AP

Workers in last-ditch bid to save SeaFrance ferries PARIS: A French court was to rule on a worker cooperative’s bid to rescue the ailing cross-Channel ferry business SeaFrance after President Nicolas Sarkozy made a surprise U-turn to back the takeover. With unemployment threatening to rise above 10 percent of the workforce four months ahead of a presidential election, the unpopular Sarkozy has made preserving jobs a priority of his as-yet unannounced bid for another mandate.

The right-wing president held a meeting with key ministers on Monday and backed the cooperative-known as Scopto be financed by workers’ lay-off payments from SeaFrance’s parent company, state-owned rail firm SNCF. “I have asked the SNCF to set-up an exceptional supralegal indemnity for sacked workers to allow them to use these funds to finance the Scop,” Sarkozy wrote in a letter to Scop-SeaFrance.

The cooperative’s offer, backed by the CFDT union, is the only one remaining to save the last French business plying the formerly lucrative Dover-Calais route after the Paris commercial court rejected other bids in November.

The company directly employs 880 people in France’s hard-hit northwest and at least as many jobs again indirectly. The workers would finance the new cooperative with their lay-off payments as well as the “exceptional” payments, which Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said could amount to

between 50,000-60,000 euros per worker.

Regional authorities have said they could contribute 12 million euros to the company, which along with the workers’ indemnities would cover the 40-50 million euros necessary to restart the business. With many seeing a political coup for Sarkozy, who will not be seen as to blame if the cooperative venture fails, the workers themselves remain sceptical about the Sarkozy’s U-turn.

“It’s a good thing for the state to be interested in SeaFrance,” said the workers’ lawyer Philippe Brun. “But the way it’s doing it, the solutions it’s proposing, are bad. It’s a preposterous legal arrangement that has little chance of leading anywhere.” SeaFrance competes with the British firm P&O in carrying millions of passengers a year across the world’s busiest sea route but both companies have suffered from competition from the Channel Tunnel since 1994.

SeaFrance was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, and in 2010 it shed 700 jobs and was put into receivership. A P&O spokesman told AFP that the company would take action at European Union level if the cooperative takeover went ahead.

“If it’s true, it beggars belief,” the spokesman said. “If there is any suggestion that the French state will continue to support this company, we will lodge an immediate complaint with Brussels and we will pursue that complaint most vigorously.” — AFP

Citibank turns rewards into ‘social currency’ NEW YORK: Credit card rewards are the new social currency. Citibank customers can now use Facebook to pool their rewards points online. The bank yesterday launched a Facebook application that lets users team up to use their points, whether it’s for charity, a group gift or a personal goal. Citi says it’s the first bank to offer such a feature.

The app builds on a service Citi introduced last year that lets customers transfer points to one another on the bank’s homepage. After getting feedback, executives decided to expand the rewards sharing capability and offer it through social media.

“Now we’re delivering it to where customers are every day,” said Ralph Andretta, who heads Citi’s loyalty programs and co-branded cards.

Andretta noted that customers will have far more flexibility with their points, whether it’s to help a friend fly home from college or team up for a big-ticket reward. The company is giving away 2,500 free rewards points to

each of the first 4,000 customers to sign up. Customers can then start a rewards pool by naming a recipient and explaining its purpose.

The recipient of the points maintains control of any contributions, so it’s best if you know and trust that person. Pool recipients must be individuals and cannot be an organization, even if the intended goal is a charitable donation. Users can promote their goals by sharing links on their Facebook pages or privately inviting other Citi customers to contribute.

Donors can see the total number of points a cause has amassed. The app can collect personal information from Facebook profiles. But Citi says it does not share any customer account information with Facebook.

The program isn’t only for credit card holders either. Citi checking account customers can also earn ThankYou points. Citi introduced its lineup of ThankYou credit cards last year. — AP

ATHENS: Greece will have to leave the eurozone if it fails to clinch a deal on a second, 130 billion euro bailout with its international lenders, a government spokesman said yesterday.

It was an unusually public stark warning from the embattled country, aimed at shoring up domestic support for tough measures and possibly also at the lenders themselves. “The bailout agreement needs to be signed otherwise we will be out of the markets, out of the euro,” spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told Skai TV. “The situation will be much worse.”

Greece is racing against the clock to agree with the EU, the IMF and private bondholders on the details of the rescue plan before a major bond redemption in March. It risks a default if there is no deal by this date. Athens and its EU partners have repeatedly ruled out a euro exit, which could drag the bloc even deeper into crisis, and usually avoid saying this is a possible scenario.

But top Greek officials, who need to push through unpopular reforms to clinch the bailout deal, have warned over the past few days that a return to the drachma would be “hell” and that the country must stick to austerity to avoid it.

EU, IMF and ECB inspectors are expected in Athens mid-January to flesh out the new bailout plan agreed in principle by EU leaders in October to avoid a Greek default and a euro exit. Opinion polls show Greek voters want the government to do all it takes to stay in the

euro even if they disagree with austerity reforms.Asked if the government would have to take extra austerity measures to make up for last year’s fiscal slippages, Kapsis said: “We will see. There could be a need for extra measures.” The talks with bankers on a debt swap deal that is a key aspect of the rescue plan are

ATHENS: Homeless people eat a New Year’s day meal distributed by the municipality of Athens on Sunday. — AP

Gold moves up as euro recovery stymies dollar LONDON: Gold rallied yesterday, boosted by a rise in the euro against the dollar after the price hit its lowest in nearly six months last week in a flurry of year-end speculative selling. Mounting tensions between Iran and the United States over a possible disruption to oil supply boosted crude oil futures but did little to elicit any safe-haven buying of gold, which remains tightly tethered to the ebb and flow of the euro. Gold’s correlation with the euro/dollar exchange rate is at its most positive in nearly two years, meaning the bullion price is more likely to move in lockstep with the euro than at any other time since January 2010.

German Bund futures slipped but the debt crisis was expected to limit falls as refinancing pressure grows on the bloc’s lower-rated sovereigns, while the euro edged higher after better-than-expected Chinese data boosted riskier assets.

particularly difficult. “The next three to fourth months are the most crucial and that is the reason this government exists,” Kapsis said.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said in a New Year’s Eve address over the weekend that Greece must stick to reforms to stay in the euro. — Reuters

Speculators placed their heaviest bets ever against the single European currency last week, in light of the lack of a lasting solution to the euro-zone debt crisis and the knock-on effect on the regional economy. Spot gold was last up 1.5 percent at $1,588.80 an ounce by 1043 GMT, set for its largest one-day rise since midDecember. “Gold didn’t really react to the safe-haven issue in Iran that much. Oil has, obviously, but you haven’t really seen that safe-haven, geopolitical risk investor come in at all really so far,” RBS commodities analyst Nikos Kavalis said.

“I would say it all really depends on the euro for the time being. This is really where gold takes its cue from.” Military exercises in the Mideast Gulf by Iran and the movement of US naval vessels in the area have raised fears of a confrontation between Tehran and Washington that could cut off oil exports from the region. — Reuters

LONDON: Protesters hold a banner calling for lower rail fares during a demonstration by the TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) union and a group called Farefail at St Pancras Railway Station in central London yesterday the first working day after a rail fare increase. Rail fares in Britain went up on average by 5.9 percent, with some fairs going up as much as 10 percent, hitting commuters pockets. — AFP

KPN’s CFO quitting over corporate governance AMSTERDAM: The chief financial officer of the largest telecommunications company in the Netherlands, Royal KPN NV, will quit in April because she doesn’t approve of its new governance structure, it was revealed yesterday. The resignation is noteworthy both because of the reason cited and because Carla Smits is one of only a handful of women to occupy top jobs at blue chip companies in the Netherlands. It also comes at a time when KPN is under investigation for colluding in price increases with industry peers.

The company said Smits had “come to the conclusion she does not agree with the internal governance of the company” after changes announced in May. It did not say what Smit’s specific objections were.

KPN said Smits has rejected any severance package and that the CFO job will be split between Belgian head of operations Eric Hageman and “Corporate Market” chief Steven van Schilfgaarde until a replacement is found. KPN’s share price fell 3 percent to euro 9.048 in early trading in Amsterdam.

The main change to KPN’s governance has been the establishment of an “executive committee” of 12 top managers to oversee operations - essentially an expanded version of the typical Dutch management board. The supervisory board is unchanged. “As a team, we can guide the organization decisively and efficiently, so that we can better take advantage of new developments and changing desires of our clients,” CEO Eelco Blok said yesterday of the new structure, which went into effect the day before.

The new structure was the result of an emergency strategy review in response to a dismal financial performance in the first quarter of 2011. KPN’s earnings fell as customers with smartphones began switching en masse to mobile Internet services such as Skype rather than KPN’s more expensive text and voice offerings.

KPN’s initial response was to try to charge customers extra for using such third party services.

But that move backfired badly as a public outcry led Parliament to forbid such charges entirely with one of the world’s first strong “Net Neutrality” laws. The law blocks KPN from either giving quality preference to its own offerings on its network or charging extra for rival applications such as Google Voice or Microsoft’s Skype.

Immediately following Parliament’s approval of the law in June, KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile hiked their prices for mobile Internet access, arguing that was now the only way they could earn a fair return on investment in their infrastructure. — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

business

KSE stocks drop amid rising selling pressure GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) continued to decline during the second session this year after heavyweight and mid cap stocks witnessed selling pressure. Global General Index recorded its lowest level since August 25, 2010, ending at 177.27 points.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day down by 0.34 percent, at 177.27 point. Market capitalization was down for the day, reaching KD28.99bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,780.9 point, shedding 10.8 points (0.19 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 98 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 37 equities retreated versus 34 that advanced. Volume and value of shares traded on the exchange ended the day on a mixed note. Total volume traded was up by 35.88 percent with 100.62mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD12.77mn (8.80 percent lower compared to Sunday’s session). Services sector was the volume leader. The sector accounted for 35.25 percent of total shares exchanges. Trading was intense on the counter of Hits Telecom Holding Company with investors exchanging 13.48mn shares, with a total value of KD0.73mn. The same sector was the value leader, having 35.04 percent of total traded value.

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, Al-Salam Group Holding Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.09 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.108. On the other hand, share price of IFA Hotels & Resorts Company retreated by 10.53 percent

and closed at KD0.425, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors Global Services Index has been the biggest loser yesterday, decreasing by 1.00 percent, to close at 759.15 points, driven by Zain and NMTC, which declined by 1.12 percent and 1.03 percent respectively. In the meantime, IFA Hotels & Resorts Company was the biggest decliner in the market as mentioned above.

Global Food index retreated by 0.94 percent today. Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana) and Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Company shed 1.35 percent and 1.05 percent respectively. Global Industrial Index, was the third biggest decliner decreasing by

0.59 percent to close at 168.61 points.

The index’s drop was caused by heavyweight National Industries Group (Holding) and Kuwait Cement Company which decreased by 2.42 percent and 1.09 percent respectively. On the other hand, Global Real Estate index was the prominent gainer among the sectors adding 0.16 percent after Al-Enma’a Real Estate Company rose by 3.09 percent to close at KD0.100.

Corporate news Combined Group Contracting Company (CGC) received award letter No 1-1745, dated December 28, 2011 from the Tajik Ministry of Communications. The company won a tender to construct Kulyab -

Kalaikhumb Road (Shurabad Shagon Section) in Tajikistan, in cooperation with Turkey-based Tekar Teknik Ara?tirma Ticaret Ltd. The tender, which is valued at $94.02mn (approx KD 26.33mn), will last three years. CGC owns 70 percent of this project. It will inform the KSE management of relevant updates.

Oil news The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) prices - propane and butane - for January. KPC said in a statement that the propane will be sold for $850 per metric ton in the current month of January, an increase of $80 compared to December price that reached $770 per metric ton. The

Oil above $110 on Iran, China data LONDON: Crude oil rose above $110 a barrel yesterday as tension between Iran and the United States stirred fear of a possible disruption to oil supplies from the Middle East and as Chinese data showed economic activity increasing.

Oil was one of the best performing assets in 2011, with North Sea Brent posting an annual gain of 13 percent, to a record average of nearly $111 a barrel, as unrest in North Africa and the Middle East disrupted supply. The market began the new year strongly on signs of rising demand from emerging economies and supply concerns. ICE Brent crude futures climbed $2.97 to a high of $110.35 a barrel by 1145 GMT yesterday, the first day of trading for 2012. US crude futures were up $2.70 at $101.53 a barrel after hitting an intraday high of $101.68. Military exercises in the Gulf by Iran and the movement of US naval vessels in the area has raised fears of a confrontation between Tehran and Washington that could cut off oil exports from the region.

Iran has said it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of world oil is shipped, if sanctions were to be imposed on its crude exports.

Iranian state news agency IRNA on Tuesday quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying Iran would take action if a US aircraft carrier returned to the Gulf. The Iranian semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as recommending and warning the United States against the return of the carrier, which had left the area because of Iran’s naval exercises: “Iran will not repeat its warning.”

Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said the Iranian mili-

tary manoeuvres and comments had added to the risk premium for oil and other commodities.

“The risk premium is supporting oil prices,” Fritsch said.

Olivier Jakob at consultants Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland, said markets were rattled by the inceasing level of rhetoric on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz. “Some of the rhetoric can at times be part of a public relations show, but it can quickly spin out of control,” Jakob said. “In this environment of increasing tensions and rhetoric, global asset managers are unlikely to give up their long exposure to oil.”

Activity at big Chinese manufacturers expanded slightly in December, temporarily putting to rest fears that the world’s second-largest economy could slow sharply in the wake of the euro-zone crisis and hurt oil demand.

The official Purchasing Managers Index for non-manufacturing sectors rebounded strongly to 56.0 from 49.7 in November, data showed yesterday.

Victor Shum, oil consultant at Purvin & Gertz, said the direction of the oil market would be determined over the next few months by a balance of economic issues in Europe and the US versus bullish geopolitical factors and the reality of economic growth in major Asian economies. “Oil in 2012 will see a continuing strengthening trend as there are more upside risks,” he said, adding that he expected Brent to average $110 and US crude $105 a barrel this year.

Brent crude is expected to average $105 a barrel in 2012, lower than 2011’s $111, on worries about the impact of the euro zone crisis on economic growth, a Reuters poll found. — Reuters

23

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

BUSINESS

Asian shares rise on China economic data HONG KONG: Asian shares mostly rose yesterday, taking a lead from European markets which started this year in positive territory, and after China announced better-thanexpected manufacturing data.

Australian shares closed up 1.1 percent, or 44.6 points, at 4,101.20, Seoul added 2.69 percent, or 49.04 points, to end at 1,875.41, while Hong Kong ended 2.4 percent higher, or 443.02 points, at 18,877.41.

Financial markets in mainland China, Japan and Thailand were closed for public holidays. “We are starting the new year on a positive note and data such as better than expected PMI (purchasing managers index) out of China over the weekend will help to give investors new confidence,” said Jason Hughes, head of premium client manage-

ment at IG Markets.

“However, the major issues of 2011 still have to be resolved with meaningful solutions required from Europe-until this is finally put to bed we are likely to have an amount of uncertainty remaining around global markets.” China’s manufacturing unexpectedly rebounded last month on holiday shopping, as the world’s number two economy showed some resilience despite strife in key export markets. The purchasing managers index (PMI) reached 50.3 in December, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement Sunday.

A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding. “This is quite encouraging because China and India’s upbeat manufac-

turing indicators for December suggest Europe’s debt problems haven’t had a big negative effect on Asian exports and doomsday scenarios have not yet materialized,” Lim Hosang, an economist at Samsung Futures in Seoul, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Meanwhile, European shares closed higher Monday after figures showed private consumption in Germany was at its strongest level for more than a decade in 2011, despite the ongoing euro-zone crisis.

Separately, official data showed the number of people in work hit a record 41.04 million, with more than half a million jobs created last year.

Positive US economic data last week, including rising home sales, also helped buoy markets as investors look for signs of

resurgence in the world’s biggest economy.

In early trade yesterday, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 1.84 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 0.80 percent and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.28 percent.

However, the euro-zone’s still-unresolved fiscal woes continue to weigh on investor sentiment with observers saying the debt crisis would loom over markets into 2012.

Spain, one of several euro-zone economies struggling to keep its massive debt under control, last week announced 8.9 billion euros in budget cuts and higher taxes as it moves to curb a bigger-thanexpected public deficit. On currency markets, the euro rose to $1.2983 from $1.2939, while the dollar was trading at 76.83 yen from 76.98 yen late Friday in New York.

The European unit also firmed against the yen, changing hands at 99.75 against 99.62 late Friday.

New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, gained $1.64 to $100.47, while Brent North Sea crude for February delivery added $1.32 to $108.70.

Taiwan’s weighted index rose 1.46 percent, or 101.17 points, at 7,053.38. Leading IC design house MediaTek was 2.56 percent higher at Tw$280.0 while smartphone maker HTC gained 3.14 percent at Tw$492.5.

Philippine shares closed 0.57 percent higher, or 25.14 points, at 4,422.22. Digital Telecommunications Philippines gained 0.62 percent to 1.61 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. added 0.46 percent to 2,580 pesos. —AFP

Subsidy protesters block Nigerian petrol stations Lagos protest turns violent

BANGKOK: A Thai worker hangs over railings while painting during renovation works in front of a hotel in Bangkok yesterday. The number of foreign travelers entering Thailand in November shrank from 17.5 million to 1.2 million year-on-year following from the flood crisis in the country, according to the Bank of Thailand (BOT) Domestic Economy Department. —AFP

Memo to Eddie Lampert: Dump Kmart to save Sears If hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert wants to save one of the oldest retail empires in the United States, he should consider shutting down Sears Holdings Corp’s Kmart discount chain and focus on revamping its Sears department stores.

Such is the advice of half a dozen retail executives and restructuring experts who have watched the company’s sales shrink every year since 2005, when Lampert formed Sears Holdings by combining two of the most iconic American chains in an $11 billion deal.

After a dismal showing this holiday season due to dowdy merchandise, run-down stores and a reputation for poor service compared with rivals such as Macy’s and Target, the retailer last week said it would close 100 to 120 of its 3,500 U.S. stores. The news wiped more than a quarter off Sears Holdings’ market value, which now stands at just $3.4 billion.

The company needs to take much more radical action to turn around its business, the experts said, pointing to 18 straight quarters of sales declines and Lampert’s propensity to spend company cash on buying back shares instead of upgrading stores. His ESL Investments Inc owns 45 percent of Sears Holdings.

“Trimming down a hundred stores is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Craig Johnson, president of retail strategy and consulting firm Customer Growth Partners, whose clients include J C Penney Co Inc and Toys R Us. “This is a company that needs not just cosmetic surgery, not just minor surgery, but radical surgery.”

Johnson and others said Sears Holdings should close as many as 1,000 stores to cut costs and recoup what it can from selling off inventory and related real estate. Then, it needs to significantly revamp its remaining stores and expand its online business to reverse its years long decline.

Such a culling would be very painful, likely resulting in layoffs for tens of thousands of the company’s 280,000-strong US workforce and loss of the major retail store in some communities, according to retail specialists.

Once the largest US discount chain, Kmart has declined over the years as it has been unable to keep up with Wal-Mart’s low prices and Target’s more upscale though still affordable offerings. Kmart went bankrupt nearly a decade ago and never fully recovered-its 2010 sales of $15.6 billion were only about 5 percent of Wal-Mart’s US sales.

“In a world that has Wal-Mart and Target, there is really no need for a Kmart,” said Roger Goddu, who was CEO of the Montgomery Ward department store chain, which went out of business in 2001.

“The one I would choose to save is Sears,” said Goddu, now a partner in private equity firm Brentwood Associates. Kmart accounted for about 36 percent of the company’s sales in 2010 but only 32 percent of gross profit, reflecting the discount retailer’s thinner margins compared with Sears. Restructuring experts said it was difficult to estimate how much Kmart would be worth if it was liquidated because the company does not break out inventory by business unit, and the value of its roughly 1,300 stores would depend on when leases expire.

Sears Holdings declined to comment specifically on the future of Kmart, but said the company was an “asset rich enterprise” with well over $3.5 billion of liquidity.

For those trying to predict the future of Sears Holdings, one key date is Feb. 23, when the company will report annual results.

Lampert typically publishes a letter to shareholders at around that time.

Investors lost 56.6 percent on their Sears’ stock last year.

It hit $193.98 in April 2007, but ended 2011 at just $31.78.

Sears was once one of the most successful US retailers with a history going back to 1886, when Richard Sears began to sell watches as a train station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota. Its sprawling empire had included a radio station in Chicago, Allstate Insurance Co, and Chicago’s Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building when it was completed in 1973. The department stores were beloved by generations of Kenmore appliance buyers, while the do-ityourself crowd scooped up Sears’ Craftsman tools. But the company has let its stores deteriorate over the years, say critics, who also faulted poor locations and ho-hum merchandise.

Sears Holdings is now the tenth largest US retailer, with annual sales of $43.3 billion in 2010, down from $53 billion in 2006.

Analysts expect it to post an annual loss for the first time in 2011, as their average estimate for fourth quarter net profit of $105 million will not fully offset the $743 million loss that it reported for the first nine months.

Sears Holdings worried Wall Street last week by announcing a 5.2 percent drop in sales at established stores in the 8 weeks leading up to Christmas. It also said that it tapped its credit line, something that alarmed investors since retailers are typically flush with cash during the holiday season.

Fitch Ratings responded by cutting Sears Holdings’ credit rating to CCC from B, and Standard & Poor’s put its rating on review for a possible downgrade. The cost of insuring Sears Holdings’ debt rose as investors saw higher risks of default.

Fitch saw rising risk that Sears Holdings’ earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) could turn negative in 2012, and said it may need to restructure.

“If Sears is unable to access the capital markets or find other adequate sources of availability, and EBITDA remains at the current rate or lower, there is a heightened risk of restructuring over the next 24 months,” Fitch said. A CCC rating is defined by Fitch as indicating substantial credit risk, with default a real possibility. When asked to comment on the company’s financial position, Sears Holdings spokesman Chris Brathwaite said: “There’s a considerable difference between disappointing operating performance and liquidity.”

He noted that Sears Holdings had roughly $700 million in cash and $2.9 billion available on its credit facilities. It also has historically had between $8 billion and $10 billion of inventory and a substantial real estate portfolio, he added.

A Sears Holdings’ collapse is not seen likely in the near future. But that could change if key vendors lose faith and demand cash on delivery, decide to ship in smaller quantities, or ask for letters of credit, according to bankruptcy experts. “The hurdle is going to be when one of the suppliers for a category that is important to them says we want letters of credit to back our receivables, at which point the unused bank lines get used very fast,” said John Hempton, chief investment officer of a small hedge fund, Bronte Capital, in Australia. He has a short position on Sears.

Whirlpool Corp and LG Electronics Inc said there were no changes in their business ties with Sears and declined to comment on payment terms. Other suppliers General Electric Co, Newell Rubbermaid Inc and Stanley Black and Decker Inc declined to comment. —Reuters

LAGOS: Hundreds of demonstrators in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos shut petrol stations, formed human barriers along motorways and hijacked buses yesterday in protest against the shock doubling of fuel prices after a government subsidy was removed.

The fuel regulator announced the end of subsidies on Sunday, part of sweeping economic reforms designed to improve fiscal discipline in Africa’s biggest oil producer, a hugely unpopular act that could cause social unrest, at least in the short term. More than 1,000 people in the main market area of central Lagos sang, chanted and waved placards reading: “no to fuel price hikes” and “we demand living wages”.

A group of demonstrators set up a roadblock of burning tires on a major Lagos highway.

An angry mob protesting spiraling fuel prices assaulted a soldier yesterday while police shot another man at the demonstration, a sign of growing unrest over the government’s hugely unpopular decision to end a subsidy program that had kept gas costs down for more than two decades.

Police in riot gear kept watch, but the protest was largely peaceful. “The prices of everything will increase, transport, housing, school fees, food, etc. The common man will not be able to survive. We will say no and oppose bad government policies. We will say no and oppose IMF (International Monetary Fund) policies,” said Ganiat Fawehinmi, widow of a human rights lawyer.

Economists say the subsidy filled the fuel tanks of middle-class drivers at the expense of the poor, encouraged massive corruption and waste, and handed over billions of dollars of government cash to a cartel of wealthy fuel importers. Removing it pushed pump prices to 150 naira ($0.92)

per liter from 65 naira overnight.

The subsidy removal is part of efforts to cut Nigeria’s exorbitant cost of government, a flagship policy of President Goodluck Jonathan and his economic management team, alongside fixing the broken power sector and speeding up ports.

Finance Minister Ngozi OkonjoIwealahas said removing the subsidy would save more than 1 trillion

ous attempts to end subsidies.

There has not yet been an organized response.

“Our struggle is not just against fuel subsidy, it is against bad governance. Jonathan has shown that he can’t be trusted,” Issa Aremu, vice president of the National Labor Congress, told demonstrators.

“He said he was engaging in dialogue and all of a sudden he went ahead and increased the price.”

Warri-Port Harcourt highway, in Delta state, until three van loads of soldiers turned up to chase them away.

Many Nigerians fear any savings will be consumed by corrupt politicians. The committee would produce monthly savings estimates and make sure the funds are transferred to a special account in the central bank which would fund poverty alleviation programs,

LAGOS: Labor unions and civil rights activists march in Lagos to protest the removal of petroleum subsidies by the government yesterday. Nigerian police fired tear gas to disperse a small crowd burning tires in Lagos and arrested demonstrators in the northern city of Kano as protests continued over soaring fuel prices. —AFP naira ($6.16 billion) in 2012. Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi is also behind the move.

But with the majority of Nigerians living on less than $2 per day, slashing subsidies is politically explosive. The Trades Union Congress and Nigerian Labor Congress called on Sunday for mass action to repeat strikes and street protests that thwarted previ-

Jonathan released a statement saying he had appointed a committee to ensure the money saved in subsidies was well spent and to “dialogue with organized labor, civil society and stakeholders.”

Protesters in Jonathan’s Niger Delta region in the southeast, including ex-militants who brought havoc to the region until a series of peace deals in 2010, blocked the

Jonathan’s statement said.

Lawmakers have been divided on the subsidy removal, leaving the future of the measure potentially in doubt. If they decide to block it, they can add a subsidy to the 2012 budget which they have still to vote on. But they would need to find a way to pay for it, probably by cutting spending elsewhere. —Agencies

China’s Wen warns of ‘difficult’ first quarter

COLOMBO: The new Kia Rio car is pictured during its launch in Colombo yesterday. President of Sri Lanka Rajapakse devalued the currency by three percent during December’s budget presentation and said he was keen to reduce imports of goods that could be easily manufactured on the island. —AFP

Total makes $2.3bn bet on Chesapeake sale venture OKLAHOMA CITY: Chesapeake Energy Corp said yesterday it will sell part of its Ohio oil and gas business to a unit of French energy company Total SA. Total will pay Chesapeake and a smaller partner $2.32 billion for access to Chesapeake’s 619,000 acres in Ohio with a 25 percent ownership interest. The land, spread across 10 Ohio counties, sits atop the oil-rich Utica shale formation.

The petroleum industry recently has been clamoring to tap the Utica as oil prices rise. Doing so requires drillers to tunnel several thousand feet below the surface and employ a technique called hydraulic fracturing to unlock oil and gas trapped within.

The price for benchmark oil in the US jumped 19 percent in 2011, and many analysts expect crude prices to rise further in 2012. Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, has been aggressively

snapping up land in the US to give it more access to oil deposits. The company owns 1.5 million acres with access to Utica shale. Overall, it plans to more than double its oil production in the next two years, with production reaching 72 million to 76 million barrels in 2013.

Chesapeake, which will operate the joint venture with Total, is getting $610 million up front. It expects to receive an additional $1.42 billion by the end of 2014.

Chesapeake announced plans for the joint venture in November but did not identify its partner then. This is Total’s second venture with Chesapeake. The earlier one was a $2.25 billion deal for a natural gas field in Texas. Chesapeake shares rose by 71 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $23 and Total shares added 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $51.90 in premarket trading. —AP

BEIJING: China’s Premier Wen Jiabao has warned of a difficult start to the year, the government said yesterday, amid rising concerns over a potential sharp slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.

He also reiterated pledges to expand domestic demand as authorities try to ward off the effects of crises in the United States and Europe-key markets for China’s export-dependent economy.

“The first quarter of the year may be quite difficult,” Wen told business people to mark the New Year, according to a statement by the State Council, China’s cabinet.

“We are now in a situation where pressure from an economic downturn and high prices both exist,” he said. Wen added slowing external demand and the rising cost of doing business domestically further complicated the situation when compared with the financial crisis in 2008.

“We have a relatively cool market. This is the core of current problems,” he said. Beijing is anxious to prevent a sharp slowdown in the economy but at the same time it wants to avoid reigniting inflation, which hit a more than three year high of 6.5 percent in July but has since slowed.

China’s economy grew an estimated 9.0 percent or more year-on-year in 2011, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary late Saturday-slower than 2010, when annual growth was more than 10 percent. The economy is widely expected to slow even further this year.

In a bid to boost growth and counter turmoil in Europe and the United States, leaders in December cut the amount of money banks must hold in reserve for the first time in three years. Last month, China’s leaders also vowed to maintain “prudent” monetary policies after a major meeting to set the nation’s economic course in 2012, and agreed to “guarantee steady growth”-a pledge reiterated by Wen. —AFP

22

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

BUSINESS

EU scheme may inflate fares, say Gulf airlines Emirates, Etihad fault EU carbon trading system DUBAI: Fast-growing Gulf airlines Emirates and Etihad Airways warned of higher ticket prices yesterday as they look to pass on costs of a European Union carbon trading scheme to passengers.

Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, Dubai’s flag carrier and the world’s largest long-haul airline, told the Gulf News newspaper that the company would spend over 40 million euros ($51.93 million) in 2012 to purchase additional emission allowances.

“Unfortunately, while we always try to make our fares as competitive as possible, the additional costs of the EU Emissions Trading System program will almost certainly have to be passed on to customers, but how this will be done has not yet been determined,” he said.

Under plans to tackle climate change that came into effect on Jan. 1, airlines touching down or taking off in the 27nation European Union and three neighboring nations must account for their CO2

emissions as part of an expansion of the world’s largest carbon market.

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways echoed Emirates’ views. Etihad will end up bearing an extra cost of 310 million euros over the next nine years, Linden Coppell, Etihad’s head of environment told the paper. “It is inevitable that such a cost would have an impact on fare levels. This is why we want to ensure we have a fair global system,” Coppell said.

No immediate comment was available from either Emirates or Etihad.

The statements from the Gulf airlines come close on the heels of German carrier Lufthansa warning on Monday of higher ticket prices. The EU says the new scheme, which already applies to other industries, is the fairest way to cope with aviation’s contribution to global warming.

However, it has sparked a trade spat, with the United States, China, India and others accusing it of infringing their sovereignty. —Reuters

Saudi PMI eases, growth still solid RIYADH: Growth in business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector slowed marginally in December because of slightly weaker expansion of output and new orders, said a survey published yesterday.

The SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures activity in the OPEC member’s manufacturing and services sectors, slipped to 57.7 in December from a threemonth high of 58.1 in November. But employment rose at its fastest rate since August, helping to keep the overall index well above the 50 mark, which distinguishes overall growth from contraction. The new order index eased to 65.4 in December from 67.7 in the previous month. The survey of more than 400 private companies showed new orders rising most quickly among larger companies.

Backlogs of work continued to build; although only moderate, the rate of increase was the highest for seven months and above the long-run series average.

Both input and output prices rose in December, but input price inflation was the lowest for over a year while output price inflation was the lowest in the survey’s 29-month history.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and the Middle East’s largest economy, is enjoying strong economic growth, estimated by the finance ministry at 6.8 percent in 2011, because of firm crude oil prices and heavy government spending. —Reuters

Kashya Hildebrand reportedly exchanged a large sum of Swiss francs weeks before the Swiss National Bank moved to devalue the currency by imposing a minimum value against the euro. The SNB has since said an independent inquiry revealed no foul play.

Le Temps newspaper reported on Tuesday that Blocher delivered extracts from the couple’s banking documents

S Korea officials to carry the can for price rises SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak proposed yesterday that government officials be held responsible for price rises among key products, in a bid to make curbing inflation a new year priority.

Lee told a cabinet meeting that officials should be publicly assigned to particular farm and factory goods, which they would then have to monitor and try to control their prices, his spokesman Park Jeong-Ha told reporters. “I’ve seen no one taking responsibility even if prices of essential items like cabbage rise,” Park quoted Lee as saying.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s central bank yesterday cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 8.0 percent from a previous forecast of 9.0 percent, citing the global slowdown and the European debt crisis.

The economy of the Indian Ocean island has boomed since the end of the country’s ethnic war in 2009, which pitted Tamil separatists against government forces in a decades-long fight that cost up to 100,000 lives. Last year, the economy grew by 8.3 percent, boosted by growth in the industrial and tourism sectors, central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said in his annual monetary policy address.

India’s Tata calls for belt tightening

European companies including utilities have been forced to buy gas at higher levels than they can sell power and gas to their own customers. SocGen said that the current economic crisis would have a more severe impact than the 2009 crisis on the pricing model of those contracts.

Gazprom is already in arbitration courts with several European companies over its gas prices, and Statoil is due to renew several contracts in 2012. “As we move into 2012, the market should be focusing on the renegotiations between Statoil and European buyers (and) the current crisis could prompt Statoil to become more flexible and innovative again in terms of pricing,” SocGen said.

“We believe Statoil could end up further reducing the assumed 75 percent oilindexation for continental buyers in order to boost medium-term demand for gas (as a fuel for power generation). We suspect that after tough negotiations, it

Swiss politician faces bank fraud charge GENEVA: A scandal that threatened the standing of the Swiss central bank chief Philipp Hildebrand turned its focus onto a leading politician and critic of the banker yesterday.

Swiss media reported that Christoph Blocher, the outspoken figurehead of the far-right Swiss People’s Party, had sparked an investigation into a money transaction by Hildebrand’s wife.

in brief

Sri Lanka cuts growth forecast to 8.0%

EU gas demand seen below 2008 until 2017: SocGen LONDON: European gas demand will remain below 2008 levels until 2017 and the weak outlook could force suppliers like Russia’s Gazprom and Norway’s Statoil to reduce their gas prices, French bank Societe Generale said yesterday.

SocGen said in a research note that it expected year-on-year demand for gas to grow by 2.5 percent in 2012, compared with a record 9.5 percent drop in 2011.

“Our model sees gas demand reaching pre-crisis 2008 levels only in 2017 (estimate), which is not positive for gas demand going forward,” the bank said.

SocGen said the weak demand outlook would put pressure on Russia and Norway to adjust gas pricing models with European customers. Around 75 percent of Europe’s long-term gas supply contracts with Russia or Norway are based on indexation to oil prices.

With oil prices outperforming the power and gas markets in past years,

News

to then president Micheline Calmy-Rey after requesting a meeting on December 15. Blocher, who has been critical of the SNB’s 1.20 floor for the franc against the euro, believing it should be higher for the sake of Swiss exports, stoked speculation over his involvement by merely telling media: “There’s a time to speak and a time to stay quiet. It is time to stay quiet.” —AFP

could be reduced to 55 percent from October 2012.” SocGen said that if Statoil reduced the oil indexation in its continental European contracts this year, Gazprom would also have to become more flexible, especially for continental buyers that are able to access spot hub gas. SocGen said the weak demand outlook meant it had revised its benchmark British National Balancing Point (NBP) gas price forecast downward as Libyan exports increase, following the end of the civil war, and as delayed Russian exports are expected to flow to Europe.

Because of the low demand in 2011, some European buyers delayed contracted Russian gas deliveries from last year into 2012. “We reiterate our recommendation to sell NBP summer 12 as we expect prices to be held down by an increase in Russian obligations and greater Libyan exports into Italy,” the bank said. —Reuters

MUMBAI: The head of India’s giant Tata conglomerate has urged group companies to revise their future projections and cut costs drastically because of global financial turmoil, a report said yesterday. “All our companies will need to review and moderate their earlier future projections,” Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata told staff in an internal New Year message, according to the Times of India. “Expansion schemes will need to be in sync with the current realities,” the 74-year-old, who stands down this year, added.

Temasek sets up arm to tap N Asia firms SINGAPORE: Singapore’s state-linked investment giant Temasek Holdings said yesterday it was setting up a new arm to invest in privately-owned North Asian firms with a particular focus on China. Pavilion Capital will be helmed by Temasek’s former chief investment officer Tow Heng Tan, the firm said in an email response to AFP queries. “Tow Heng Tan has taken on a new role to establish a new investment platform, Pavilion Capital Pte Ltd, to compliment and expand Temasek’s coverage and capacity for North Asia, including China,” the reply read. “This new platform will focus on funds and direct investments on North Asia, particularly to expand our current reach and coverage of the opportunities with Privately-Owned Enterprises (POEs) and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in China,” it added.

KPC announces LNG prices for January KUWAIT: The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced yesterday the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) prices - propane and butane - for January.

KPC said in a statement that the propane will be sold for $850 per metric ton in the current month of January, an increase of $80 compared to December price that reached $770 per metric ton.

The butane will be sold at $910 per metric ton during January, with a rise of $90 compared to $820 per metric ton in December.

The prices of propane and butane are affected by hikes and drops of international oil prices. They are also affected by raising and dropping of the US dollar compared to main currencies.

The hike in gas prices is also due the

escalation of political tension in the Middle East and North Africa which caused fear of gas supplies shortage from these regions to rest of the world.

The winter season, as usual, played a vital part in increasing gas prices. The propane and butane are of multi-purposes, as they are used in cooking, heating and production of petrochemical substances. —KUNA

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

.2730000 .4290000 .3580000 .2930000 .2710000 .2830000 .0040000 .0020000 .0753630 .7342410 .3810000 .0700000 .7197910 .0040000 .0430000

.2812500 .4400000 .3670000 .3040000 .2810000 .2930000 .0070000 .0035000 .0761210 .7416210 .4020000 .0770000 .7270250 .0072000 .0520000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2776000 .2797000 GB Pound/KD .4315710 .4348360 Euro .3603940 .3631210 Swiss francs .2958860 .2981240 Canadian dollars .2734840 .2755530 Danish Kroner .0484820 .0488490 Swedish Kroner .0404260 .0407320 Australian dlr .2858310 .2879930 Hong Kong dlr .0357300 .0360000 Singapore dlr .2148770 .2165030 Japanese yen .0036130 .0036410 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0052850 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0024620 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0031210 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034240 UAE dirhams .0756090 .0761810 Bahraini dinars .7366330 .7422050 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .3956150 Saudi Riyal/KD .0740460 .0746070 Omani riyals .7213200 .7267770 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0064310

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 3.598 5.337 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

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 47.500 46.282 1.272 189.860 392.670 1.865 6.003 33.814

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750

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 288.500 741.630 3.870 278.200 547.700 44.500 49.600 167.800 48.060 366.000 36.580 5.640 0.032 0.206 0.242 3.730 395.460 0.189 90.910 46.100 4.290 220.900 1.807

47.700 724.320 3.250 6.680 77.140 74.450 217.150 37.200 2.657 437.500 41.500 301.100 5.100 9.250 198.263 76.030 279.200 1.280

724.140 3.110 6.370 76.710 74.450 217.150 37.200 2.445 435.500 299.600 5.100 9.060 75.930 278.800

10 Tola

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 435.500 278.800

Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL DRAFT 287.000 741.600 3.410 276.700

217.200 46.268 364.500 36.430 5.240 0.031

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

291.38 279.25 301.87 365.26 437.18 3.69 3.400 5.233 2.447 3.280 3.095 75.89 741.60 46.28 396.64 724.58 76.88 74.44

289.00 279.00 305.00 366.00 438.00 3.70 3.750 5.620 2.660 4.150 3.300 76.65 741.00 48.20 395.50 725.50 77.25 74.85

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 395.140 0.188 90.910 3.300 219.400

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

Selling Rate 278.500 275.585 436.990 366.765 298.040 737.505

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

75.800 76.445 74.225 392.025 46.238 2.441 5.241 3.106 3.401 6.331 683.150 3.675 8.935 5.865 3.370 92.510

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

GOLD 1,658.020

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

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 278.800 Pak Rupees 3.100 Indian Rupees 5.235 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.455 Bangladesh Taka 3.404 Philippines Peso 6.405 UAE Dirhams 75.995 Saudi Riyals 74.495 Bahraini Dinars 741.200 Egyptian Pounds 46.225 Pound Sterling 439.200 Indonesian Rupiah 3.190 Yemeni Riyal 1.550 Jordanian Dinars 396.100 Syrian Pounds 5.750 Euro 367.800 Canadian Dollars 280.500 Nepali rupee 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 278.650 Euro 363.300 Pound Sterling 434.800 Canadian Dollar 275.500 Japanese Yen 3.625 Indian Rupee 5.234 Egyptian Pound 46.235 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.447 Bangladesh Taka 3.367 Philippines Peso 6.375 Pakistan Rupee 3.108 Bahraini Dinar 742.000 UAE Dirham 75.850 Saudi Riyal 74.450 *Rates are subject to change

Nigeria protesters block petrol stations Page 23

Greece risks being out of euro-zone if no bailout Page 25

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

KSE stocks drop amid selling pressure

EU scheme may inflate fares: Gulf airlines Page 24 Page 22

FUVEAU, France: A shopkeeper shows a note of 200 French francs, the old French currency, used by one of her client in her shop yesterday in the French southeastern town of Fuveau where a majority of shopkeepers have decided to accept payment with francs notes until the end of the month. — AFP

US stocks leap on first day of 2012 Global markets cheer on positive data NEW YORK: US stocks opened sharply higher yesterday in the first trading of 2012 after positive economic reports from around the globe.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 260 points. The gains gave the market a head start on the new year after a flat 2011.

Banks and materials and industrial companies posted the largest gains.

Bank of America rose 5.4 percent and Caterpillar Inc. 4.7 percent, the biggest winners among the 30 stocks in the Dow. The gains were broad. All but one of the 30 Dow stocks, Johnson & Johnson, were higher, and nine out of the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose.

Utilities, traditionally conservative

stocks to own, were the only sector to fall. Global stock markets were buoyant after a run of solid economic news, notably out of the US, helped keep concerns over the European debt crisis at bay.

The euro also bounced back, trading 0.7 percent higher at $1.3041. Last week, it hit a 15-month dollar low of $1.2857 on worries that the European debt crisis will escalate this year and envelop Italy, the third-largest economy in the 17-nation euro-zone.

Europe’s debt woes will likely remain the main catalyst to markets over the coming days and weeks, but without any fresh bad news, trading in 2012 has got off to a solid start.

Surveys showing that growth in China and India may be picking up momen-

tum has helped shore up the underlying mood. A strong US manufacturing survey also helped sustain the buying mood on Wall Street’s first trading day of the year. The Institute for Supply Management said its main index of activity rose to 53.9 in December from the previous month’s 52.7, while the employment subinex spiked sharply higher to 55.1 from 51.8. Anything above 50 indicates expansion and augers well for this Friday’s closely watched US non-farm payroll figures for December.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 1.6 percent at 6,174 while the CAC-40 in France brushed off earlier losses to trade 0.3 percent higher at 3,233.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index of leading British shares, which was closed

Qatar hits 11-month high; Kuwait slips MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI/CAIRO: Qatar’s index posted its largest one-day gain in four weeks and ended at an 11-month high yesterday on renewed buying ahead of annual results, while Egypt’s bourse slipped on lingering political uncertainty.

Kuwait’s bourse slipped 0.2 percent, falling for the fourth session in five.

Doha’s index rose 1.1 percent to its highest close since February 2011. It broke the strong resistance level of 8,800 points, which now provides support. Heavyweight Qatar National Bank gained 1.7 percent and Qatar Telecom and Doha Bank each ended 2.3 percent higher.

“Both Qatar and UAE are reacting to positive sentiment at the start of New Year in Asian markets,” said Samer Al-Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co. “Expectations in Qatar are still of higher dividends than in 2010 and investors are buying ahead of 2011 financial statement announcements,” he added.

Better-than-expected data from China’s manufacturing sector boosted global stocks on their first day of trading in 2012. In Egypt, the main index dipped 0.7 percent in muted trade.

Egyptians voted in the third round of a parliamentary poll yesterday but must wait until the conclusion of a presidential vote later this year to know whether a promised handover from military to civilian rule has succeeded.

“We’ve got to get rid of some of the uncertainty,” said Tariq Hussein, a senior manager at brokerage CIBC. “Once we have a fairly elected parliament in place, that should bode well for sen-

timent.” Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s index climbed 0.2 percent, helped by petrochemical and banking stocks. Bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) gained 0.5 percent, Advanced Petrochemical climbed 2.1 percent and National Industrialization rose 0.6 percent.

Rising tension in the Gulf pushed crude above $110 a barrel after Iran test-fired two long-range missiles. Saudi petrochemical stocks tend to track oil prices, with crude impacting their bottom line.

Banque Saudi Fransi ended 1.7 percent higher. It proposed a 25 percent capital increase through a bonus share issue to help fund the bank’s expansion, according to a bourse statement.

“Everybody is looking for Q4 results and it looks like a good year for most companies in Saudi,” said Mohammed Yasin, CAPM Investment chief investment officer. “Banks will be the star performers.”

In United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s index ended 0.7 percent higher and Abu Dhabi’s measure rose 0.5 percent. Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate fell after recent gains, closing 3.2 percent and 4.8 percent lower respectively.

“Volatility is high in these stocks so we can see profit-taking and perhaps a technical rebound. We hope to see higher volumes in UAE but it seems unlikely before we start to hear announcements,” Jaouni added.

Elsewhere, Oman’s benchmark climbed 0.2 percent, rallying for a fifth straight session as investors made a play on earnings. — Reuters

Monday, was trading 1.9 percent higher at 5,678. In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 2.1 percent at 12,473 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose by the equivalent rate at 1,284.

Europe’s ongoing battle to contain a debt crisis that’s threatening the future of the euro currency is likely to return to the forefront of investors’ attention. Both France and Germany will be tapping bond markets this week for fairly large amounts of money, testing market confidence. Next Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be holding their first meeting of the new year. Progress on Greece’s talks with private creditors about taking a bigger loss on their

Greek bonds will also be closely monitored. As part of the country’s second massive financial bailout, private creditors have been asked to forgive 50 percent of their Greek holdings, but many in the markets think that’s not enough. There’s speculation the socalled Greek haircut may have to rise, possibly up to 75 percent.

Greece warned yesterday that it would have to ditch the euro if it fails to finalize the second, euro130 billion ($169 billion) international bailout.

Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said negotiations over the next three or four months with international debt monitors will “determine everything,” including whether Greece escapes a disastrous bankruptcy.

In the latest sign of strength in the

U.S. economy, manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in six months. Construction spending jumped in November as builders spent more on single-family homes, apartments and remodeling projects.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, reported that the number of people unemployed last year was the lowest in two decades. And a Chinese manufacturing index rose in December, reversing a November slide and raising hopes that China’s economic slowdown is under control. January is traditionally a fairly good predictor of the year to come for US stocks. In the past 83 years, the full year has taken its direction from the first month 60 times, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P. — AP

China pays record premium to cover Iran crude supply SINGAPORE: Chinese trader Unipec paid a record premium for a February cargo of Russian crude, as the world’s second largest oil consumer looks to cover for reduced Iranian supplies. China slashed Iranian crude imports by more than half for January as the two haggle over 2012 payment terms, industry sources have told Reuters. The latest deals show that the dispute could be dragging on into talks for February cargoes. Tehran is facing tougher sanctions from the West that could hurt its oil exports into Europe and Asia, giving top Iranian

crude buyer China a strong hand in contract negotiations as one of a shrinking group of customers.

China appears prepared to pay up for alternative crude supplies to keep Iran under pressure. Unipec, the trading arm of top Asian refiner Sinopec, won the cargoes of Russian ESPO crude from Rosneft by paying nearly a dollar per barrel more than other refiners have paid recently for the same crude. “They are prepared to pay extra to get supply from Kozmino as crude from West Africa and the Middle East will take a longer time to get there,” Roy Jordan,

AHMEDABAD: An Indian farmer sorts through fresh tomatoes loaded onto a truck near a field in the village Aghol of Kadi Taluka, some 45 km from Ahmedabad yesterday. Majority of tomatoes grown here are exported to Pakistan. —AFP

London-based consultant at FACTS Global Energy said, referring to the shipping port for the Russian crude.“ESPO is an obvious replacement because it is conveniently located and it’s a better quality crude.”

China, which bought nearly 11 percent of its oil from Iran in the first 11 months of 2011, is Iran’s top trading partner and has resisted UN sanctions that include measures targeting the Islamic Republic’s oil sector. It has also criticized sanctions imposed outside of the UN framework. — Reuters

Hawks end Miami’s perfect start 100-92

Oklahoma St beat Stanford in Fiesta Bowl

18

17

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

Family first as Beckham rules out PSG move

Page 19

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Belgian footballer Vincent Kompany (right) heads the ball towards team-mate Yaya Toure (2nd left) as they play against Liverpool during their English Premier League football match in Manchester yesterday. — AFP

Man City crush Liverpool 3-0 Man City 3

Liverpool 0

MANCHESTER: Manchester City moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League as a comfortable, if eventful, 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Eastlands maintained their incredible home form. First half goals from Sergio

Aguero and Yaya Toure were followed by the 72nd minute dismissal of City midfielder Gareth Barry for a second bookable offence. But within 60 seconds, James Milner had extended City’s lead from the penalty spot against a Liverpool side that was without Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, his club having decided before kick-off not to appeal the eight-match suspension handed to him for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. After 10 minutes, City took the lead at a home stadium that had been virtually impregnable in 2011, the team having collected 52 points out of an available 54 in home league games

during the calendar year.

Milner robbed the ball from Dirk Kuyt on the left and found David Silva whose touch opened the path for Aguero to unleash a 20-yard shot which should have presented the Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina with no problem, only for the Spaniard to allow the ball under his body and into the goal. A difficult task was rendered virtually impossible after 33 minutes when City doubled their lead. Reina made amends for his earlier error when he spectacularly tipped a Vincent Kompany header over his crossbar from a Milner corner.

However, from the resulting Silva flag

Defoe fires Hotspur into the title race Spurs 1

West Brom 0

LONDON: Jermain Defoe fired Tottenham into the Premier League title race as his second half strike clinched a 10 win over West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane yesterday. Defoe’s clinical finish shattered Albion’s stubborn resistance and moved Harry Redknapp’s third placed side within three points of second placed Manchester United, who travel to Newcastle today. Spurs remain six points behind leaders Manchester City but that gap will be cut to just three if the north Londoners win their game in hand at home to Everton next week.

Redknapp has been coy about Spurs’ chances of mounting a serious title challenge, preferring instead to concentrate on clinching the top four place that would guarantee Champions League action next season.

This victory was a boost to that European ambition, but it also provides Spurs with a realistic opportunity of catching the top two. The only negative for Redknapp was a pair of injuries to Brazilian midfielder Sandro and French defender William Gallas and he will hope neither is sidelined for long. With Scott Parker absent due to a knee problem, Redknapp handed England striker Defoe his first league start for a month. It proved a shrewd move. Just 48 hours earlier Albion were beaten at home by Everton and Roy Hodgson’s players looked lethargic in the opening stages as Spurs won five corners in quick succes-

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspurs’ Welsh player Gareth Bale (right) shoots at goal past West Bromwich Albion’s Craig Dawson during their English Premiership football match yesterday. —AFP sion. That initial flurry from Spurs produced only a Defoe shot that drifted wide and a blocked effort from Luka Modric. But, with Albion content to defend deep, Redknapp’s side had so much of the ball that it was only a matter of time before they fashioned a better opportunity. Gareth Bale was the catalyst as Spurs finally got behind Albion’s stubborn rearguard. The Wales winger surged away down the left and slipped a low cross towards Rafael van der Vaart, who met the ball with a first-time strike that Ben Foster tipped over at full stretch.

Redknapp was forced to make a change when Sandro limped off after half an hour to be replaced by youngster Jake Livermore.

In truth, Spurs hardly needed anyone to play the midfield anchor role. Such

was Tottenham’s total domination of possession, the first half resembled a training ground exercise of attack against defense. Defoe volleyed over from Emmanuel Adebayor’s clever back-flick early in the second half and threatened again moments later with a deflected effort that crept wide of the far post.

Albion, now without a goal in their last three matches, had displayed little attacking intent but almost snatched the lead when Craig Dawson rose highest to head a corner just wide. Simon Cox went even closer with an incisive run and shot which forced Brad Friedel into action for the first time.

But Spurs have too many creative talents to be subdued for long and they made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute. —AFP

kick, Liverpool’s marking was found wanting and Yaya Toure was allowed the space to guide an unstoppable header into the goal via the underside of the bar. Events might have unfolded very differently had the visitors taken the game’s first real chance after just seven minutes when Jordan Henderson played a clinical through ball for Stewart Downing only for the winger to be denied by Joe Hart’s sprawling body. But, as in that instance, Liverpool’s best opportunities would be limited to the counter-attack and, even before the goal, Reina had been forced to save at the foot of his post from Edin Dezko’s shot on the turn.

After his error for the opening goal, Reina was soon tested again when Aguero’s intelligent chip had the goalkeeper back-pedalling to make a solid catch and, in the 22nd minute, Dzeko maintained the pressure with a shot which deflected off Glen Johnson and passed inches wide, with Reina wrongfooted. Liverpool finally found their feet around the midway point of the clash with Charlie Adam’s 20-yard free-kick beating the City wall and forcing Hart into a diving save and, moments later, Henderson chanced his arm with a ferocious 25-yard drive which flew just past Hart’s right-hand post.

Nadal overcomes scare DOHA: Spain’s Rafa Nadal had to fight hard not to lose his opening match of 2012, going a break of serve down in the final set before surviving against an opponent ranked outside the top 40 in the Qatar Open yesterday. The French Open champion fought back with typical courage in his 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber but it was a patchy performance which left an impression that tennis is a bit of a struggle for him at the moment. Nadal found it hard to achieve rhythm and consistency with his ground strokes, sometimes leaving the ball short, and allowing his intensity to subside surprisingly during a second set spell when he went 1-4 down.

But after dropping serve in the first game of the final set, the world number two began to hit some more solid blows, particularly with inside out forehands taken from the backhand corner, and finished looking much more in charge. “I didn’t have a chance to practice much, I had problems with my shoulder and knee, and arrived feeling so-so,” Nadal said, referring to an off-season curtailed by the late finish of the 2011 Davis Cup. “So a victory was very important. The beginning was a bit risky but I came back well and played a bit more aggressive.”

This was not though the Nadal depicted in his New Year resolution, one who aims to become more permanently an aggressive player, taking the ball on or inside the baseline at every opportunity. “When I say I want to be more aggressive, it doesn’t mean that I want to try that every day,” Nadal explained. “It doesn’t mean it will happen in the first match. “I need time. But I have decided to play aggressive. This is something which is needed.” Nadal was probably referring both to his long term physical survival on an increasingly arduous tour, and the extra dimension needed to answer the surge of Novak Djokovic, who took over as world number one last

Liverpool’s general attacking play improved after Kenny Dalglish introduced Steven Gerrard and former City forward Craig Bellamy as 57th minute substitutes but Bellamy’s inaccurate 65th minute shot from outside the area was the first attempt on goal in the period. Liverpool were handed brief hope when Barry brought down Daniel Agger and, after a first half caution for fouling Jay Spearing, was sent off. However, within a minute, City were further in front when Martin Skrtel checked Yaya Toure in the Liverpool area, conceding a penalty which Milner converted emphatically.—AFP

Sunderland 4

Wigan 1

Sunderland rout Wigan Rafael Nadal year. Later Nadal’s perennial rival Roger Federer had an utterly different start to the year. The second-seeded defending champion from Switzerland needed less than an hour to get past the former champion, Nikolay Davydenko, by 6-2, 62. Federer admitted he surprised himself with the level of his performance against the Russian opponent who beat both himself and Nadal while winning the 2010 title here. “I played aggressively, served well, and I had good movement, which is surprising early on in the season,” said Federer. “But there again every match is new, and I will have to work on my game because every match in the draw is potentially tough.”

He next plays Grega Zemlja, a qualifier from Slovenia who won 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 against Sergei Bubka, a wild card entrant who is the son of the Soviet pole vaulter (of the same name) who was repeatedly voted the world’s best athlete. Later Gael Monfils, the fourth-seeded Frenchman, joined his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round when he won 7-5, 63 against Rui Machado, the world number 67 from Portugal. Monfils, a finalist here six years ago, quickly recovered from the disappointment of failing to close out the first set on his serve at 5-4, combining his familiarly brilliant court coverage with an increased ratio of attacking at the net. “That is what I want to do to try to improve my game,” said Monfils.—AFP

WIGAN: Sunderland maintained its revival under Martin O’Neill by moving into the top half of the English Premier League standings with a 4-1 win over Wigan yesterday. Following the shock 1-0 win over league leader Manchester City last Sunday, Sunderland won its fourth match from six since O’Neill took over as manager from Steve Bruce. Wigan, without suspended captain Gary Caldwell, dominated the first half but hit the posts twice, and Sunderland led into halftime thanks to Craig Gardner’s 30-meter free kick goal. James McClean made it 2-0 before Hugo Rodallega halved the deficit, but Sunderland finished strong with scores to Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan.—AP

Albacete hold Athletic 0-0 MADRID: Spanish third-tier team Albacete sprung another surprise in the Copa del Rey yesterday by holding topflight club Athletic Bilbao to 0-0 at home in the first leg of their round 16 match. Albacete, which knocked out Atletico Madrid in the previous round, kept Athletic at bay with relative ease in Carlos Belmonte Stadium in southeast Spain. Athletic’s best chance fell to fullback Andoni Iraola, who raced onto Ander Iturraspe’s pass and grazed the outside of the post in the 21st minute. The surprises continued, as third-tier Mirandes claimed a 2-0 home win against topflight Racing Santander and second-tier Alcorcon had a 2-1 home victory against high-flying top division club Levante. In yesterday’s late match, Real Madrid hosted Malaga.—AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Beckham dreams over for big-spending PSG Family first as Beckham rules out PSG move

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney

Rooney set for return MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is set to recall Wayne Rooney for the Premier League clash at Newcastle today following the England striker ’s surprise absence against Blackburn. Ferguson has revealed Rooney will be available after the forward did not even make the substitutes’ bench for the champions’ shock 3-2 defeat by relegation candidates Blackburn at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve. It has been reported that Ferguson fined Rooney and United team-mates Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson, and forced them to train on their day off last week, after they were seen on a night out on Boxing Day. But Ferguson seems willing to hand Rooney a recall at St James’ Park, telling Sirius XM radio station on Monday: “Anderson should be better, he had 45 minutes on Saturday after four months out. And Wayne Rooney will be available of course. “We had a few training sessions which he (Rooney) missed. You’ve got to be fit to play in this league, you

can’t miss training sessions.” Several British newspapers reported that Rooney was punished for a below par training session on December 27 after a Boxing Day evening out with wife Coleen and Evans and Gibson against team orders.

Rooney was fined approximately a week’s wages - £200,000 ($310,000) with Northern Irish international defender Evans and Republic of Ireland midfielder Gibson also fined, the reports said.

The trio were then ordered by Ferguson to come in today-a day off and train on their own as well as report for training on the morning of the Blackburn defeat. Although the incident has revived memories of Rooney’s threat to leave the club in October 2010 before he was handed a vastly improved contract, several papers said the player’s future at Old Trafford was not in jeopardy. The Daily Mail cited sources with knowledge of the situation as saying Ferguson’s punishment of Rooney would not have a long-term impact on the duo’s working relationship.— AFP

Ferguson demands response from Utd MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking for a typical response from his Manchester United side when they head to Newcastle today. The Premier League champions suffered a surprise 32 home defeat on December 31 and although leaders City also slipped up with a defeat at Sunderland, Ferguson will still be deeply frustrated at the lost points. United are still in the grips of an injury crisis and there will be plenty of attention on Wayne Rooney ahead of today’s match.

The England striker missed the Blackburn game and has reportedly been fined, along with Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson, after an ill-timed night out following the 5-0 victor y over Wigan. Ferguson has acknowledged that the manner of United’s defeats this season have been particularly painful.

After the 6-1 home loss to neighbors Manchester City in October, they were k nocked out of the League Cup by Championship team Crystal Palace and also slipped out of the Champions League with a shock defeat in Basel.

Ferguson described the 3-2 home defeat to Blackburn, which came on his 70th birthday, as “a disaster.” But as he looks for his United team to bounce back once again, at least he can console himself with their impressive recent record at St James’ Park. United have not lost there since a 4-3 defeat in 2001 but they will be keen to make up for their 1-1 home draw with Newcastle in November. Despite his team’s ongoing injury concerns, Ferguson does not expect to dip into the transfer market this month.

The United manager has consistently ignored the winter window in recent years and has not made any major additions since snapping up Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra in 2006. “The reason there may not be many big signings in January is because the players clubs want are not available,” Ferguson said. “ To be honest with you, who would want to sell their best player in January?

“I don’t see it happening. There are cases of players whose contracts are running out in the summer but they won’t get the same money anyway. It’ll be well reduced.” Ferguson has already allowed young Italian striker Federico Macheda to join QPR on loan for the rest of the season.

But he insists he will bide his time before deciding on whether to allow any more youngsters to leave Old Trafford on a temporary basis. “We don’t need to do anything until the end of January. We can take our time with that one. We’ve got, say, three weeks before we can make up our mind on that issue,”

he said. “I’d like to get one or two on loan, particularly the young strikers but, at the moment, we don’t need to do anything and don’t need to make a decision.” Evans, Rio Ferdinand, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley and Michael Owen all look set to miss out once again, while Darren Fletcher and Vidic are long-term absentees.

Gabriel Obertan, who left Old Trafford for Newcastle in the summer, is likely to miss out against his former team after sustaining a foot injury in the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool.

Newcastle have raised plenty of eyebrows with their impressive start to the campaign - though their recent form has dipped - but their Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul sees no reason why Alan Pardew’s team can not maintain their good showings. “This year I want to stay in the team at Newcastle and double the points that we have now and if I can go to the European Championships in the summer, that would be amazing,” he said. “2011 was a breakthrough year for me. I made my debut for my country, I have been playing for Newcastle week in, week out as number one this season and it has been an incredible change for me.”— AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

Dubai International Challenge AC Milan v PSG Aljazeera Sport 1

18:30

English Premier League Newcastle v Man United Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5

23:00

Everton v Bolton Abu Dhabi Sports HD 4 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 6

23:00

Spain Copa del Rey Real Sociedad v Real Mallorca 22:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Tomorrow Barcelona v Osasuna Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

0:00

DOHA: David Beckham will not join Paris St Germain due to family reasons, the big-spending Ligue 1 soccer club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told Reuters in Qatar yesterday. “We didn’t reach an agreement - he’s a great player, I met him and it’s bad luck we didn’t reach an agreement,” AlKhelaifi said on the sidelines of a news conference in Doha. “We weren’t far (from reaching an agreement), but there are family issues and I think that was the reason. It was very difficult to move the family.”

The former England captain had been linked with a possible move to the Qatar-backed Ligue 1 pacesetters last month given that his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy ran out on Dec 31. However with four children and his singer and fashion designer wife Victoria based in California, the move fell through.

“It’s over. It’s a shame. But the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily,” said PSG sporting director Leonardo.

Al-Khelaifi told French radio station RMC the 36-year-old midfielder would stay in the United

David Beckham

States, saying: “David Beckham is in Los Angeles and he’s going to stay over there.” The Parisian club’s new Qatari owners bank rolled a close -season spending spree of some 85 mil-

lion euros ($110.34 million), almost half of which went on snapping up Argentina international Javier Pastore from Palermo. Their ambition was highlighted last week when they

appointed Italian Carlo Ancelotti as their coach, having parted ways with Antoine Kombouare despite the club being top of the French league at the midseason break.— Reuters

Wenger rages at referee LONDON: Arsene Wenger blamed referee Lee Probert following Arsenal’s dramatic 2-1 defeat at Fulham and claimed his team have been unfairly denied penalties in four of their last five Premier League games. The Frenchman believed his side should have been awarded spotkicks against Manchester City, Aston Villa, QPR, and then early in the loss at Craven Cottage on Monday when Gervinho appeared to be caught by former Gunners defender Philippe Senderos.

Arsenal took the lead through Laurent Koscielny but were forced to play the closing stages with 10 men after Johan Djourou’s dismissal, with Fulham taking advantage through goals from Steve Sidwell, a former Gunners midfielder, and Bobby Zamora in the final five minutes. “The referee influenced the game completely the wrong way in my opinion,” said Wenger after a defeat which, combined with Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Wolves also on Monday, dropped his side into fifth place in the table. “We cannot influence that,” added Wenger, whose remarks about Probert could land him in disciplinary trouble with the Football Association.

“We had a good first half. In the second half, we were more tired and in the last 10 minutes we lost the game because we were down to 10 men.” Arsenal could have secured the points well before the late drama if Probert had awarded a penalty for Senderos’s trip on Gervinho in the 13th minute. “I am surprised,” Wenger said. “You

want the right decision.” He added: “We had a penalty in the last game (against QPR), a clear handball. We had a penalty at Man City, we had a penalty at Villa Park. “You should not ask me. I don’t know.”

Swiss defender Djourou’s first booking was for a slide on Mousa Dembele and his second, which led to an automatic dismissal, came when he fouled Zamora.

“The first yellow card was not a yellow card, the second yellow card was a foul for us,” Wenger said. “It was 100 percent a penalty for us in the first-half. “It was bad for us, the fact we didn’t take our chances in the first-half and it made the difference,” added Wenger in a rare admission Arsenal had contributed to their defeat before saying Fulham had conspired to get Djourou dismissed. “When Djourou got the first yellow, every time they went down to get him the second yellow and he did nothing at all. “I saw it coming because when (Karim) Frei came on, the game was all (about) look for the second yellow card for Djourou and in the end, he got it.”

Djourou’s suspension gives Wenger another headache as Bacary Sagna, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Thomas Vermaelen are all injured, leaving Arsenal short of full-backs.

“He has done well, we are short, we have lost three left-backs and two right-backs. What can you do? You cannot buy 10 full-backs,” Wenger said.

Zamora’s goal came after he’d struggled with injuries and amidst

Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger

reports of a decline in his relationship with Fulham manager Martin Jol. But Jol said: “He was injured.

He had problems with his Achilles and ankle.” And Zamora played down talk of a rift, saying: “A lot of it has been blown well out of pro-

portion. I’m looking forward to playing, doing well and hopefully scoring a few goals.” On whether he will stay at the club, the England striker added: “I think so, I have a few years on my contract yet.”— AFP

Brazil inmates seek WCup redemption BELO HORIZONTE: Football is like a religion in Brazil and the 2014 World Cup is offering inmates in the South American host nation a shot at redemption. “My life has changed direction,” said sun-beaten Thiago Ferreira, a 26-year-old convicted drug trafficker who is helping renovate the Belo Horizonte soccer stadium, which will host a number of World Cup games.

Ferreira, who joined a state reintegration program said he regretted his drug-dealing days and regarded his new job-he looks after the tools on the site -as “a great second chance” to rebuild his life. Under an agreement between the Brazilian government and local authorities in the 12 cities hosting 2014 World Cup games, at least five percent of the workers building or renovating the stadiums must be prisoners. The inmates are selected after a rigorous evaluation process by a group of social workers, lawyers and psychologists.

In Belo Horizonte, capital of the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, Ferreira is one of 16 inmates from a local prison selected to work on the stadium alongside almost 1,500 other workers. Every morning, he wakes up at 4:00 am to help complete the renovation of the

67,000-seat Mineirao stadium by the late 2012 deadline. Once finished, the stadium will host the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and the World Cup the following year. For three days of work, each inmate earns one day off his sentence. “For us who are in the semi-open prison regime, this is a great opportunity that we must seize. Because a life of crime has only two possible outcomes: the wheelchair or six-feet under,” said Ferreira.

After two years and five months in jail, he cannot wait to walk free in February and continue working at the Mineirao arena, where he is paid around 250 euros ($320) a month, slightly above the minimum wage. With that pay, he can support his wife, his one-monthold son and his mother. “I hope to show my son all that I went through so that he does not make the same mistakes, and to give him all the things I did not have in my life,” said Ferreira, who was entitled to conjugal visits, proudly showing pictures of his baby boy on his cellphone. At 11:00 am workers leave the rubble of the Mineirao and drop their tools in the shed run by Ferreira, turning the area into a makeshift cafeteria.

Francisco das Chagas Queiroz, who spent 17 years in jail for a bank robbery, is one of

this month’s model employees and has been rewarded for his efficiency and devotion to duty by being put in charge of logistics. The 52-year-old Queiroz sees the recognition from his supervisors as “a great honor” and hopes to continue working on the site when he completes his sentence in January. “It is clear I came here to make a difference. And with God’s help, I succeeded and they appreciate my work. I was promoted after 12 days to help coordinate things,” Queiroz said.

“Work on the (stadium) reconstruction is an honor. To be valued in a big company is something that makes you feel good.”

Queiroz expressed no remorse over his past crimes, saying: “I am what I am because of the difficulties I went through.” The former shopkeeper has a punishing daily schedule, starting work at the stadium at 5:00 am, going to nursing school at 6:00 pm, before returning to his cell close to midnight. Reminiscing about his past, he said he began stealing in the 1980s when he was battling the military dictatorship (1964-1985). He claimed that in 1977-78, he knew Dilma Rousseff, then a Marxist guerrilla and now Brazil’s first woman president. “She was awesome,” Queiroz said admiringly. “She risked her life for others.”— AFP

18

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Hawks end Miami’s perfect start 100-92 Mavs silence Thunder MIAMI: Joe Johnson scored 21 points and Tracy McGrady hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Atlanta Hawks ended Miami’s perfect start by beating the Heat 100-92 in the NBA on Monday. McGrady and Al Horford each scored 16 for the Hawks, who opened the final period on a 153 run to take control. McGrady made perhaps the two biggest plays of the night in the final minutes, first throwing a lob to Josh Smith for a dunk, then hitting a 3-pointer that gave the Hawks a 93-84 lead with 2:26 left. LeBron James scored 28 points, Chris Bosh had 19 and Dwyane Wade finished with 12 for Miami, which led by as many as 10 in the early going and took a fourpoint lead into the final quarter.

The Heat had won their first five games to start the season.

Thunder, who had won five straight to start the season.

CELTICS 100, WIZARDS 92 In Boston, Ray Allen scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics won for the second straight night over Washington. Paul Pierce had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who improved their record to .500 after losing their first three games of the season.

PISTONS 89, MAGIC 78 In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Gordon scored 26 points as the Pistons overcame early foul trouble to beat Orlando. Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince added 14 points apiece for the Pistons, who have won two in a row after losing their first three games of the season. Dwight Howard had 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals for Orlando, which was playing a

PACERS 108, NETS 94 In Newark, New Jersey, Paul George scored 21 points as the Pacers topped the struggling Nets for their fourth win in five games. Danny Granger added 15 points and David West scored 13 for Indiana, which shot a season high 52.6 percent from the field.

Deron Williams scored 22 points and rook ie MarShon Brooks added 21 for the Brook lynbound Nets, who have not led for a second in their two losses at home in their final season in New Jersey. The Nets, who have lost five straight, played without Brook Lopez (broken foot) and Kris Humphries (sore shoulder).

TIMBERWOLVES 106, SPURS 96 In Minneapolis, Kevin Love had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead Minnesota over San Antonio, which lost Argentine star guard Manu Ginobili to a broken left hand. Luke Ridnour had 19 points and nine assists and Wes Johnson added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who ended an 18game losing streak with a win over Dallas on Sunday. Ginobili injured his shooting hand in the second quarter. The two-time All Star will be examined in San Antonio. Tim Duncan had 16 points and five assists and Richard Jefferson scored 16 for the Spurs.

MAVERICKS 100, THUNDER 87 In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 10 of his 26 points during the third quarter as the NBA defending champion Mavericks sent Oklahoma City to its first loss.

Shawn Marion scored 17 points, Jason Terry had 15 and Vince Carter added a season-high 14 for Dallas, which lost to the Thunder on a buzzer-beater in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Jason Kidd didn’t score but had a season-high nine assists. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 27 points for the

MINNEAPOLIS: Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Love (right) tries to intercept a pass from the fallen San Antonio Spurs’ Tiago Splitter, of Brazil, in the second half of an NBA basketball game, on Monday, Jan 2, 2012. —AP Rookie Greg Stiemsma, making his first start, had 13 points and seven rebounds. Andray Blatche led the winless Wizards with 28 p o int s and nin e reboun ds, JaVale McGee had 17 points and 14 boards, and John Wall had 11 points. Boston beat the Wizards 94-86 in Washington on Sunday.

night after rallying to beat Toronto.

Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson each added 13 points for the Magic.

RAPTORS 90, KNICKS 85 In New York, Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan each scored 21 points as Toronto held off the Knicks to end a three-game losing

NBA results/standings NBA results and standings on Monday.

Phoenix 102, Golden State 91; Indiana 108, New Jersey 94; Toronto 90, NY Knicks 85; Detroit 89, Orlando 78; Atlanta 100, Miami 92; Boston 100, Washington 92; Minnesota 106, San Antonio 96; Dallas 100, Oklahoma City 87; Denver 91, Milwaukee 86; Utah 92, New Orleans 88.

Philadelphia Boston Toronto NY Knicks New Jersey Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Cleveland Detroit Miami Atlanta Orlando Charlotte Washington

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL 2 2 0 3 3 0 2 3 0 2 3 0 1 5 0 4 4 2 2 2

Central Division 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 3 0

5 4 4 1 0

Southeast Division 1 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 5 0

streak. Jose Calderon added nine points and 12 assists for the Raptors, who opened up a 17point advantage at halftime and withstood a late New York rally.

Toronto blew a 16-point lead Sunday in Orlando before losing 102-96. Carmelo Anthony had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who played their second straight game without Amare Stoudemire, who has a sprained left ankle.

PCT .500 .500 .400 .400 .167 .800 .800 .500 .500 .400 .833 .800 .667 .250 0

GB 0.5 0.5 2 1.5 1.5 2 0.5 1 3 4.5

Oklahoma City Portland Denver Utah Minnesota

Western Conference Northwest Division 5 1 0 3 1 0 4 2 0 2 3 0 2 3 0

LA Lakers LA Clippers Phoenix Sacramento Golden State

3 2 2 2 2

San Antonio Houston New Orleans Dallas Memphis

3 2 2 2 1

.833 .750 .667 .400 .400

1 1 2.5 2.5

Pacific Division 3 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 0

.500 .500 .400 .400 .400

0.5 0.5 0.5

Southwest Division 2 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 3 0

.600 .500 .400 .333 .250

0.5 1 1.5 1.5

Murray scrapes into 2nd round in Brisbane BRISBANE: Top seed Andy Murray survived a tense examination from unheralded Mikhail Kukushkin to scrape into the second round of the Brisbane International yesterday. Murray struggled for almost two and a quarter hours before finally seeing off the world number 91 from Kazakhstan 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in an enthralling match in the Pat Rafter Arena. The world number four arrived on court with his right knee bandaged and appeared to hobble throughout, calling for the trainer twice in the opening two sets and at times seeming to grimace in pain.

Murray later played down any talk of injury problems ahead of the Australian Open. “(My body) just takes time to get used to playing competitive matches again,” he said. “I’ve had a few little niggles over the past couple of weeks but they’ll be gone by the Australian Open. I just need to play through them now and hopefully feel better. “I’ve always turned up for the first few matches a bit sore, so it’s nothing to worry about.” An inspired Kukushkin took full advantage of Murray’s discomfort and had the top seed in big trouble early as he sent down a barrage of brilliant winners from all over the court.

Kukushkin broke Murray twice and raced to 4-0 and 5-1 leads before Murray at last began to find his range, fighting back to 5-5 only to lose his serve and hand the first set to his opponent.

However, Murray slowly began to take a grip on the match, breaking Kukushkin early and holding on to level the contest at one set apiece. In the decider Kukushkin finally ran out of steam

and a relieved Murray closed out the match to the delight of a packed centre court. “He was hitting winners from all over the place,” Murray said. “I was a little bit slow but I wasn’t expecting him to come out swinging like that.

“He was hitting the ball great so I was glad I was able to turn it around. “You’re meant to be ready from the start and I wasn’t quite there today,” he added. “But I played better towards the end, I started to move a little bit better. My body loosened up a little bit so hopefully I will pull up okay tomorrow.” Japan’s Kei Nishikori rallied from behind in his match, losing the first set and being 4-1 down in the third to overhaul German Cedric-Marcel Stebe 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The fifth seeded Nishikori will now take on crowd favorite Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

The 22-year-old said he had watched Baghdatis play on Monday night and was expecting a solid performance from the man he acknowledged as “always a good player”.

Nishikori was joined in the second round by fellow countryman Tatsuma Ito, who accounted for Australian wildcard Ben Mitchell 6-4, 6-2.

Former champion Radek Stepanek also played and beat an Australian wildcard, Matthew Ebden, although the sixth seed had to fight all the way before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Seventh seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria was beaten 6-1, 75 by German Philipp Petzschner, while other winners included Fin Jarkko Nieminen, Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo and Russian qualifier Igor Andreev, a 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 winner over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. —AFP

SUNS 102, WARRIORS 91 In Phoenix, Steve Nash scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and rookie Markieff Morris added 16 points to lead the Suns past Golden State. Jared Dudley had 15 points and Channing Frye and Shannon Brown added 10 each for the Suns, who have won six straight games against the Warriors. Phoenix has not lost to Golden State at home since March 8, 2005 - a 13-game stretch. Monta Ellis had 18 points, Dominic McGuire scored 14 and Brandon Rush finished with 13 for the Warriors, who lost their first road game after opening the season with four straight wins at home.

JAZZ 94, HORNETS 90 At Salt Lake City, Al Jefferson scored 22 points and Devin Harris added 19 to lift Utah over New Orleans. Josh Howard added 13 points, including six straight in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 80. C.J. Miles had 11 points and four rebounds for the Jazz, who have won two at home to offset three blowout losses on the road.

Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 27 points as New Orleans dropped its third straight.

NUGGETS 91, BUCKS 86 At Denver, Danilo Gallinari scored 21 points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds, as the Nuggets topped Milwaukee. Al Harrington added 17 points and Ty Lawson 16 for the Nuggets, who were playing their third game in as many nights.

Stephen Jackson scored 17 points and Carlos Delfino added 14 for the Bucks, who were denied their third straight win. The Nuggets were without center-forward Nene, who sat out with a bruised left heel. —AP

SAN RAFAEL: Hummer driver Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar and co-driver Cruz Luca from Spain, compete in the second stage of the 2012 ArgentinaChile-Peru Dakar Rally between Santa Rosa de la Pamapa and San Rafael, Argentina. —AP

Al-Attiyah strikes back in Dakar second stage SAN RAFAEL: Qatar’s defending Dakar Rally car champion Nasser Al-Attiyah rebounded from losing 10 minutes on the first stage by taking Monday’s second stage here. The 31-year-old - who had an engine problem with his Hummer in Sunday ’s opener - beat Mini’s Stephane Peterhansel of France by 54 seconds in the 290km drive from Santa Rosa de la Pampa. Peterhansel - a sixtime Dakar motorcycling champion and three times in the car section - took the overall lead ahead of Al-Attiyah’s Hummer team-mate Robby Gordon of the United States.

Al-Attiyah, who moved up to sixth, won despite his windscreen smashing and admitted that he needed to drive more carefully in the forthcoming stages.

“We broke the window, and it was very difficult because it took a lot of time to pass the other cars,” said the Qatari, who started in 38th position. “I just said that we had to have a good strategy and show we were still in the race. “However, we must be more clever.” Peterhansel said that he had not found many opportunities to gain time on his rivals. “The start of the special was fast, so it wasn’t possible to steal a march on any of the other drivers,” said the 46-year-old. “We felt better at the end when it started to bump around a bit and get trickier around the dunes.”

Gordon cursed his luck at not taking the stage on what was his 43rd birthday.

“It was a good day for us, everything about the car was good,” said Gordon, whose best finish in the race was third in 2009. “However, we hit a big rock and got

a puncture and I reckon that, without that, we could have won the stage.”

Motorcycling champion Marc Coma had earlier won his 17th career stage in the race. The Spaniard moved to the top of the standings after winning the 295km second stage which also saw him extend his lead over KTM team-mate and main rival Cyril Despres.

Despres finished second in the stage but was 1min 18sec in arrears of Coma.

First stage winner Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez of Chile was ahead at the first time marker but faded to finish fourth over two minutes behind Coma. Coma said that he had enjoyed the initial tussle with Lopez. “Chaleco and me were riding at top speed and let me tell you, the Aprilia is very, very quick,” said Coma.

“After that, we arrived at the second part of the special with sand and dunes. It was a lot more technical, with some navigation to do as well. I took the lead and kept riding at a good pace. I’m happy because I didn’t get lost. So, it’s been a good day for me!” added the 35-year-old.

Despres nevertheless experienced a better day than he had on Sunday when he finished 13th - and the threetime champion is nearly three minutes adrift of Coma. “The first special was a good warm-up and this second special has done my confidence good... It was a good day overall,” said the Frenchman.

One of Despres’ compatriots Bruno Da Costa was not so fortunate. The 38-yearold Yamaha rider crashed into a cow which was killed instantly - and was taken to hospital with what appeared to be a serious kidney injury. —AFP

Pain makes me stronger: Federer DOHA: Grand Slam record-holder Roger Federer believes that his capacity for playing through pain is one of the reasons why he can challenge for the top titles again in 2012. Speaking the day before starting the defense of his Qatar Open title, Federer cut an optimistic figure as he contemplated life on an increasingly taxing tour well into his 31st year. “I’m happy to see I’m holding up well. You know, I definitely think that’s a key to success, as much as playing well and being well prepared,” Federer said. “But also one looks at the big picture, longevity, not just thinking in the very moment.

“I didn’t panic after some really tough losses through the summer. “I was able to actually not only just maintain a good level of play but I almost increased it towards the end of the season,” he added, referring to the sequence of 17 wins and three titles with which he ended last year. “I never worry at moments like now that I won’t hold up for the entire season, because I

do, I think, plan decently and well, so I manage all the expectations for myself.

“Sometimes you just go through tougher moments. “It’s also part of a good player, being able to put that aside and still play good tennis. I promise you I had a lot of pain throughout my career, and I’ve managed to play with it.”

Federer also made hopeful noises about being able to continue his unbeaten run, citing geography, conditions, and mindset as reasons why he can start the year well.

He felt that the distance from his last tournament, in London, was not that great, and that his confidence levels are high enough to adjust to the difference between playing indoors in Europe and outdoors here. “It takes a little bit of adjustment, but you can definitely take confidence from the end of the year and just carry it over because you’re in a good mindset,” Federer said.

“You know, you just believe you’re doing the right things in the court. —AFP

Clijsters comes back from the brink

BRISBANE: Kim Clijsters of Belgium plays a shot in her match against Ana Ivanovic of Serbia during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane yesterday. —AP

BRISBANE: Four-time Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters fought back from the brink of defeat to overcome Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 16, 6-3 in the second round of the Brisbane International yesterday. In a match of contrasting fortunes, Clijsters stormed through the first set in imperious fashion, only to quickly surrender the second and find herself 3-0 down in the decider and facing a break point for 4-0. But the Belgian picked herself up and fought her way back into the match, winning the next six games against an increasingly demoralized Ivanovic to maintain her perfect record against the Serbian former world No.1.

“I knew that if I could just give myself the opportunity to get back into the match I had to not give her anything for free,” Clijsters said. “If I could make her go for her winners and dictate the points then maybe there was a chance... she would start to make a few more unforced errors. “Her serve wasn’t quite as good as it had been in the second set and up until the middle of the third. “I was able to get a better look at her second serve and dictate the point from there and try and be more aggressive to her backhand.” Second seeded German Andrea Petkovic moved into the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 win over Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

Runner-up to Petra Kvitova last year, Petkovic has jumped 20 places in the world rankings over the past 12 months to reach No.10 and said she wanted to consolidate in 2012. “This is really a year for me to see if I can keep up with the higher expectations and if I can still improve my game and sort of just stay level headed and focus on myself,” she said. “I’m trying to change up my paces a little bit and trying to get into the net more.

“I think I have to change those things if I want to be able to win the big titles.” She remains on course for a possible semifinal against third seed Francesca Schiavone, who beat Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva 6-4, 6-4. Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova ended the run of American qualifier Vania King with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Rangers down Flyers in Winter Classic Varlamov helps Avs overcome Kings PHILADELPHIA: Mike Rupp scored twice and Henrik Lundqvist stopped Danny Briere’s penalty shot with 19 seconds left as the New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 Monday in the Winter Classic, the NHL’s annual outdoor game.

Playing on a temporar y rink at Citizens Bank Park, the home field of Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies, the Rangers made the league’s fifth Winter Classic a memorable one, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to stay atop the Eastern Conference standings. The temperatures dipped below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) and snow began falling during the second period, forcing the nearly 50,000 fans to bundle up for the big game. Brad Richards scored the goahead goal early in the third period for the Rangers, who beat the Flyers for the third time this season. Rookie Brayden Schenn scored his first career goal and Claude Giroux added one for the Flyers.

Bill Polian

Colts fire the Polians as cleansing begins INDIANAPOLIS: Bill Polian used his first draft pick in Indianapolis on Peyton Manning. Not getting an adequate backup for Manning at some point over the next 13 years cost Polian and his son, Chris, their jobs. Less than 24 hours after finishing a 2-14 season with Manning on the bench, team owner Jim Irsay started the housecleaning by firing the architect of the Colts’ success and his hand-picked successor. Coach Jim Caldwell is safe, for now, though the evaluation continues.

The moves caught Colts players off-guard. “Shock, man, just shock,” safety Antoine Bethea said after finding out the Polians were gone. “I knew there were going to be some things happening, but I didn’t expect them to come so soon.” While swift moves are common right after the season for struggling NFL teams, stability has been a key part of the Polian regime. Since making Manning the top overall pick in 1998, the Colts have celebrated 141 regular-season wins, 11 playoff appearances, six division titles, two AFC championships and one Super Bowl title. During that span, there have been only three head coaches, two offensive coordinators and one family making the personnel moves.

The problem in Indianapolis was losing, which came in bunches this season. “I felt that it was time for a change, that there was a need for a change,” Irsay said, flanked by his three daughters. “Bill had entered a role where he was less involved, but still quite a bit involved because of the lockout and Peyton’s injury and the losing streak. He was around a lot more than he probably anticipated or I did. But it really was a question about both situations. I thought that it was time to change the personnel department on the football side of things that wasn’t involved with the coaching.”

Bill Polian declined to comment when The Associated Press contacted him by phone, but did issue a statement through the team. “I’m grateful for all the support the fans have shown us in good times and bad,” Polian said.

“Indianapolis has been a wonderful place to live and work.

Most of all, I would like to thank the players coaches and staff who have played the pivotal role in this magnificent journey. I will miss them all.” Those players became increasingly dismayed with Polian’s comments, particularly those made on his weekly radio show. And the most vocal critic was Manning, probably the only person in the organization with more leverage than the team’s vice chairman.

Manning missed the entire season with a neck injury after signing a five-year, $90 million deal in July, about six weeks before he needed his third neck surgery in 19 months. When Polian told listeners to his show that he and Manning had discussed drafting his eventual successor and that Manning was “OK” with it, the four-time league MVP later said he and Polian had never discussed the 2012 draft and it would be inappropriate for him to have those discussions.

And just before Christmas, Polian told reporters that Manning would fail his season-ending physical. Following Sunday’s 19-13 loss at Jacksonville, Manning said: “That’s news to me.”

An even bigger problem was that the lack of a backup plan. With Manning struggling to come back from May surgery on his neck, Indy brought 17-year veteran Kerry Collins out of retirement in late August with a $4 million contract.

He didn’t last a month. Collins was replaced by Curtis Painter, who started well but struggled badly after Bill Polian said he felt “vindicated” by Painter’s success. The Colts lost their first 13 games, finished with the second-fewest victories since the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and wound up with the No 1 draft pick. Bill Polian repeatedly said he should be blamed if there was a talent deficiency.

Chris Polian, who was named the team’s GM four years ago but didn’t start making the day-to-day decisions until this season, got caught in the crossfire. He was seen leaving the team complex Monday afternoon, just about the time word leaked of the firings. “To think that just less than less than two years ago we were getting ready to go to Miami and play in a Super Bowl, and we were cleaning off the confetti from the turf in Lucas Oil Stadium, it has been a very sharp decline,” Irsay said. “Even after going 10-6 last year, if people had said you would have the No 1 draft pick and go 2-14, nobody would have believed it.” Irsay has not established a timeline for finding a new general manager, though he said he would start contacting other GMs and teams Monday night.

No decision on Caldwell is expected to be made until after the GM is hired, though players have overwhelmingly supported him. “One thing about Jim is that he’s a stand-up guy, and guys respect that,” cornerback Jerraud Powers said.

“He’s a great coach, a good guy, and it was unfortunate situation this year. But he never lost the locker room.” In fact, Irsay said, there’s a good chance Caldwell will be back.

Whoever replaces Polian faces an abundance of decisions in a major rebuilding effort. Manning never played after undergoing his third neck surgery in 19 months, a fusion of two vertebrae to fix a damaged nerve that was causing weakness in his throwing arm.

He did, however, start throwing to teammates in midDecember and received good reviews from both Bill Polian, who was watching, and running back Joseph Addai, who was catching balls. Doctors familiar with the procedure who did not treat Manning say he should return to a high level of play now that the fusion has healed. If he is healthy, Irsay has promised to bring back Manning regardless of the $28 million bonus he is owed in March, potentially putting two franchise quarterbacks-Manning and Andrew Luck-on the same roster. “I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning said Sunday. “I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.” —AP

SENATORS 3, DEVILS 2, OT In Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson scored his 401st goal on a power play four minutes into overtime to give the Senators a win over New Jersey. Alfredsson, who scored his 400th goal in overtime Friday against Calgary, beat Martin Brodeur with 59.4 seconds left in the extra period after David Clarkson was called for hooking. Ottawa’s Erik Condra tied it at 2 with a shorthanded goal 13:17 into the third.

Craig Anderson made 27 saves for Ottawa, which has won three in a row.

SHARKS 3, CANUCKS 2, SO In Vancouver, British Columbia, Michael Handzus scored the only goal in a shootout to lift San Jose over the Canucks. Handzus faked twice before beating Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo on the stick side.

Benn Ferriero and Patrick Marleau also scored in regulation for the Sharks, who won for the first time against Vancouver in three tries this season. The Canucks also beat the Sharks in five games in last season’s Western Conference finals.

OILERS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3 In Chicago, Ryan Smyth, Taylor Hall and Andy Sutton scored in the second period as Edmonton bounced back from Daniel Carcillo’s nasty hit on defenseman Tom Gilbertto to beat Chicago. Jordan

Eberle had two assists for the Oilers, including a perfect backhand pass to Sutton for the tiebreaking score.

Ben Eager added an insurance goal in the third period as Edmonton ended a three-game slide. Carcillo launched Gilbert into the boards 7:23 into the second period, resulting in a major boarding penalty and a game misconduct. Carcillo and Gilbert both went down after the vicious hit and had to be helped off the ice.

AVALANCHE 2, KINGS 1, SO Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves and defied the Los Angeles Kings in the shootout to provide the foundation for the surging Colorado Avalanche’s 2-1 victory on Monday.

Varlamov was unable to prevent Dustin Brown from scoring early in the second period as the Kings took a 1-0 lead, but he was perfect the rest of the way to keep the Avs involved in the contest long enough to go on and steal victory.

Thriving in games that extend beyond overtime, Varlamov improved to 6-0 in shootouts this season. “Nothing special. I don’t know, maybe good luck,” Varlamov told reporters, explaining his success. “I don’t like shootouts. We play shootouts a lot.

I just try to stay on the ice and wait to see what the player going to do. Just wait, wait, wait.” Ryan O’Reilly tied the game for Colorado at 14:17 in the third before they survived a scoreless overtime and got a winning shootout goal from Milan Hejduk, the only one allowed in the session. It was the eighth win in nine games for the Avalanche (22-18-1) while Los Angeles (19-14-7) remained one point ahead of San Jose at the top of the Pacific division despite the loss.

The Kings have earned a point in all seven contests under new coach Darryl Sutter but were left lamenting their latest defeat. Los Angeles had a goal disallowed in the first period and also squandered a power-play with 1:35 left in overtime.

They finished 0-for-5 on power-play chances.

“I thought we played hard. We played our game we just stop shooting the puck in the second,” Sutter said. The Kings held a 12-5 advantage on shots after the first and outshot the Avs 32-21 for the game.

Jonathan Quick, who had his shutout spoiled late in the third, finished with 20 saves. — Agencies

VANCOUVER: Ryan Kesler #17 of the Vancouver Canucks knocks down Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks while battling for the puck along the side boards during the third period in NHL action on January 02, 2012. — AFP

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Monday: NY Rangers 3, Philadelphia 2; Ottawa 3, New Jersey 2 (OT); San Jose 3, Vancouver 2 (SO); Edmonton 4, Chicago 3; Colorado 2, Los Angeles 1 (SO). (OT denotes overtime, SO = shootout) Western Conference Eastern Conference Central Division Atlantic Division Chicago 24 11 4 128 111 52 W L OTLGF GA PTS Detroit 24 13 1 123 84 49 NY Rangers 24 9 4 110 79 52 St Louis 21 12 5 95 85 47 Philadelphia 22 11 4 125 109 48 Nashville 21 14 4 105 108 46 Pittsburgh 21 13 4 121 100 46 Columbus 10 23 5 93 128 25 New Jersey 21 15 2 105 108 44 Northwest Division NY Islanders 13 17 6 84 113 32 Vancouver 24 13 3 131 99 51 Northeast Division Minnesota 21 13 6 95 95 48 Boston 24 10 1 123 68 49 Colorado 22 18 1 110 116 45 Ottawa 20 15 5 123 135 45 Calgary 18 17 5 99 111 41 Toronto 18 15 5 118 125 41 Edmonton 16 19 3 104 107 35 Pacific Division Buffalo 17 17 4 100 112 38 Los Angeles 19 14 7 87 92 45 Montreal 14 18 7 99 110 35 San Jose 20 11 4 102 85 44 Southeast Division Dallas 21 15 1 100 107 43 Florida 20 12 7 103 107 47 Phoenix 19 16 4 102 103 42 Winnipeg 19 14 5 104 107 43 Anaheim 10 21 6 87 124 26 Washington 20 15 2 111 109 42 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Tampa Bay 17 17 3 104 122 37 point in the standings and are not included in Carolina 13 21 6 103 135 32 the loss column (L)

NFL: No quick fix seen as axes fall NEW YORK: The NFL coaching carousel is moving already but those fans hoping for an instant solution for their underachieving teams are likely to be disappointed. The St Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired their head coaches on a relatively restrainted ‘Black Monday’ but other vacancies could emerge in the coming days and weeks as plenty of teams look to rebuild after disappointing campaigns. The only problem for owners looking for that quick fix of a big name coach to excite fans and motivate the playing staff, is that few such options appear to be on the market.

The Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars had already removed their head coaches during the season and unless they opt to give a chance to their respective interim coaches that means at least five clubs are seeking a new head coach. That list is likely to get longer - Jim Caldwell at the Indianapolis Colts escaped the chop which fell on vice-chairman Bill Polian and general manager Chris Polian, but his position after a 1-15 season hangs by a thread. “In terms of the coaching staff, I met with Jim Caldwell. Right now that is still under evaluation,”

owner Jim Irsay told reporters on Monday.

Although Irsay said Caldwell, who took over from Super Bowlwinning coach Tony Dungy in 2009, had a “real possibility” of returning, that decision could well wait for a new management team. Norv Turner at the San Diego Chargers (8-8) who missed the playoffs for a second year running with a team many expected to do better, is another waiting by the phone. “I’m going to sleep on this for a couple of days. There are a lot of things I want to think about,” president Dean Spanos told the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. One factor that Spanos will no doubt weight up is the absence of many proven NFL winners, or exciting college coaches currently available. It is illustrative of the scarcity of obvious candidates that the biggest name being linked with the vacancies is Jeff Fisher, who was fired last year after 16 years with the Tennessee Titans franchise. Fisher had a good record at the Titans, reaching the post-season six times and making the Super Bowl in 2000. But he is hardly going to set pulses racing among fans in the way that Jim Harbaugh did when San Francisco brought him in from

Stanford University last year. The 49ers beat off competition from Miami this time last year and have reaped the benefits with a strong 13-3 regular season resulting in a first-round bye in the playoffs. Most of the names being linked with the Buccaneers and Jaguars are current coordinators looking for a step-up, often a route that brings success but unlikely to boost season tickets, a factor for some franchises, especially the three Florida teams.

Two of the names most frequently linked with a return to the league are former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and ex-Tampa boss Jon Gruden but both have let it be known that they would rather stay in their current work as television analysts. The absence of coaches who can generate real confidence in a turnaround and who will be sat at home watching this month’s playoffs is particularly acute this year. But is also a reminder of a fundamental truth in the NFL - there rarely is a shortcut to success in the league. There is no substitute for smart work in the draft, wise moves in free agency, intelligent trades and good coaching in all the specialist areas. — Reuters

Oklahoma St overwhelm Stanford in Fiesta Bowl No 24 Penn St falls to No 20 Houston GLENDALE: Brandon Weeden threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns and Quinn Sharp hit a 22-yard field goal in overtime to give Oklahoma State a 41-38 win over Stanford in college football’s Fiesta Bowl on Monday. The teams put on an impressive offensive show in the most anticipated postseason game outside the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title matchup between No 1 LSU and No 2 Alabama.

Stanford (11-2) had a chance to win in regulation, but Jordan Williamson hooked a 35-yard field goal wide left as time expired. He also missed from 43 yards in overtime. Oklahoma State (12-1) had just 15 yards rushing on 13 carries, but Weeden made up for it, completing 29 of 42 passes and the three scores to Justin Blackmon, who had eight catches for 186 yards.

It was Oklahoma State’s first win in a BCS bowl game.

ROSE BOWL Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38 At Pasadena, California, Darron Thomas passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns and freshman De’Anthony Thomas scored on runs of 91 and 64 yards to lead Oregon past Wisconsin in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever played.

The Ducks (12-2) got their first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years and their first postseason win under coach Chip Kelly, who has led the team to three straight bowl appearances. Lavasier Tuinei caught eight passes for 158 yards and two TDs for the Ducks, who racked up 621 total yards, just shy of the Rose Bowl record. Montee Ball rushed for 122 of his 164 yards in the first half for the Badgers (11-3), who lost the Rose Bowl for the second straight year despite managing 508

yards of their own. The 83 total points scored surpassed the previous record of 80 set by Washington and Iowa in 1991.

OUTBACK BOWL Michigan State 33, Georgia 30 At Tampa, Florida, Kirk Cousins threw for 300 yards and a touchdown and Dan Conroy kicked a 28-yard field goal in the third overtime to lead Michigan State past Georgia in the Outback Bowl. Georgia missed an opportunity to send the game to a fourth overtime when Blair Walsh’s 47 yard field goal attempt was blocked on the final play of the game. Michigan State (11-3) ended a five-game bowl losing streak with its first win since the 2001 Silicon Valley Bowl. Georgia (10-4) finished the season on a two-game losing streak, including a lopsided loss to top-ranked LSU in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

GATOR BOWL Florida 24, Ohio State 17 At Jacksonville, Florida, Andre Debose returned a kickoff 99 yards - the longest scoring play in bowl history - and Chris Rainey blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown as Florida beat Ohio State in the Gator Bowl. The speedsters helped the Gators (7-6) avoid their first losing season since 1979 and pick up some much-needed momentum after losing six of their previous eight games. Ohio State (6-7) lost four in a row to end the season and finished below .500 for the first time since 1986. The game pitted former Florida coach Urban Meyer’s old team against his new one. Meyer won two national championships with Florida before

ARIZONA: Stanford tight end Zach Ertz dives into the end zone for a touchdown against Oklahoma State during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game in Glendale, Ariz. — AP resigning at the end of last season. He was hired to take over at Ohio State last month and officially starts this week.

CAPITAL ONE BOWL South Carolina 30, Nebraska 13 At Orlando, Florida, Connor Shaw threw two touchdown passes and South Carolina’s defense had six sacks as the Gamecocks dominated Nebraska over the final three quarters to win the Capital One Bowl. The victory gave South Carolina 11 wins in a season for the first time in school history and ended a string of three straight bowl losses. Alshon Jeffrey had four catches for 148 yards and a touchdown for South Carolina (11-2) before being ejected in the third quarter after a fight with Cornhuskers cornerback Alfonso Dennard. Nebraska (9-4) lost its second consecutive bowl game.

TICKETCITY BOWL Houston 30, Penn State 14 In Dallas, Case Keenum threw for 532 yards and three touchdowns as Houston beat Penn State to win the TicketCity Bowl, a dispiriting finish to the Nittany Lions’ season following the child sex-abuse scandal that led to the firing of longtime coach Joe Paterno. Penn State (9-4) allowed 162 passing yards per game this season, but Keenum had more than double that by halftime.

Patrick Edwards finished with 10 catches and 228 yards for two touchdowns for Houston (13-1).

It was Penn State’s first bowl game without Paterno as head coach since the 1962 Gator Bowl. He was fired on Nov 9 after child sexabuse charges were leveled against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

sp orts Terry fumes over India anti-smoking picture NEW DELHI: England captain John Terry’s representatives plan to take legal action after a blurred picture resembling the player was used in India’s anti-smoking campaign, a local newspaper reported yesterday. “We have reviewed this matter with our client and have today instructed solicitors to take appropriate action,” Keith Cousins of Elite Management was quoted as saying in the Indian Express after the picture of a bare-chested man appeared on cigarette packets above the slogan ‘Smoking kills’. An advertising agency official denied the picture was of the Chelsea central defender.

“The health ministry of the government has already issued a clarification on the issue, saying it has got nothing to do with John Terry,” the official from the Directorate of Audio and Visual Publicity, who asked to remain anonymous, said by telephone. “It was purely a piece of artistic imagination and I don’t know why an issue is being created.” — Reuters

Buccaneers fire head coach TAMPA: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired head coach Raheem Morris on Monday after he posted a 17-31 record over three years, including a 10-game losing streak to end the current season.

The team announced the change one day after the Bucs lost their final game of the season to the Atlanta Falcons, 45-24. The 10game winless streak was the longest in a single season since 1977, when the Bucs lost 12 in a row to extend the longest losing streak in National Football League history to 26 consecutive games over two years. At 32 years old, Morris was the league’s youngest coach when he was hired in January 2009, replacing Jon Gruden after Tampa Bay lost the final four games of 2008 to miss the playoffs following a 9-3 start.

Morris guided the team to a 106 mark in 2010, with the Bucs narrowly missing the playoffs. The team also had a strong start to the current season, posting a 4-2 record with wins over playoff-bound Atlanta and New Orleans, before collapsing. “In these things it is not just one thing, but I will point to just the progress of the team and where we’re at,” Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said at a news conference.

“Again, you can’t point to one thing or another. You look at totality of the situation when making your decision.” While injuries did contribute to the season-ending slide, so did inconsistent play - starting with quarterback Josh Freeman. He threw for 16 touchdowns and 22 interceptions after tossing 25 TD passes and being intercepted just six times in 2010. — AP

Twente sack Adriaanse ROTTERDAM: Twente Enschede sacked coach Co Adriaanse yesterday and have been strongly linked with re-appointing Steve McClaren who led them to the Dutch title in 2010. Twente said on their website they had terminated Adriaanse’s one-year contract and that chairman Joop Munsterman will give a statement. Adriaanse joined the Dutch Cup winners last July, after previous spells at AZ Alkmaar and Ajax Amsterdam. He won domestic titles with Porto in Portugal and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.

Twente are third in the standings, five points behind leaders Alkmaar.

Regional newspaper TC Tubantia are reporting that McClaren is set to return to the club. McClaren enjoyed a successful period in charge of Twente from 2008-10, winning the Dutch title in his final season, before experiencing disappointing spells at Wolfsburg in Germany and Nottingham Forest back in his native England — Reuters

Australia take charge after restricting India Tendulkar’s century quest continues

CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s batsman Alviro Petersen plays a stroke during the first day of the third cricket Test match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Sahara Park Newlands Stadium in Cape Town yesterday. — AFP

Kallis puts South Africa in control of series decider CAPE TOWN: Jacques Kallis hit 159 not out in his 150th test yesterday to guide South Africa to a dominant 347-3 at stumps on day one of the series decider against Sri Lanka at Newlands.

Kallis marked the milestone match at his home ground with a 41st test hundred and shared a 205-run partnership with recalled opener Alviro Petersen (109). Kallis was in attacking form from the start in the third test to boost South Africaís hopes of a first home series win since 2008. The 36-year-old right-hander took just 42 balls to reach 50 and 114 balls for his century.

He hit 21 fours and a six in all as Sri Lanka was made to pay for its decision to send South Africa in to bat on a true pitch in Cape Town. Dhammika Prasad had 2-85, while Chanaka Welegedara dismissed Petersen for his 1-75, but Kallis then combined with A.B. de Villiers (45 not out) for an unbroken 86run stand in the late afternoon to see South Africa through to the close in complete control.

Kallis celebrated becoming the sixth man to play 150 tests with a century just before tea and Petersen reached 100 early in the final session as South Africa capitalized after being given the chance to bat first by Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan. Prasad marked his first match on tour with a wicket off his first ball when South Africa captain Graeme Smith played on for 16. Prasad also had Hashim Amla (16) out lbw to leave South Africa on 56-2. But Petersen and Kallis responded with a record partnership for South Africa against Sri Lanka. The pair hit boundaries all around the ground to overtake the 165-run stand between Jacques

Rudolph and Andrew Hall in Colombo in 2006. Kallis stroked a string of straight and cover drives to go to 50.

The right-hander didnít let up in the afternoon session to produce a precious innings with the three-match series on the line at 1-1.

He hit 17 fours in his century to complete a career set of hundreds against every test nation. Only Indiaís Sachin Tendulkar (51) has made more test centuries than Kallis. Petersen had provided South Africa with the early initiative in his first test for his country in a year after he was recalled in place of Ashwell Prince. He had 12 fours and a six to go to the brink of three figures by tea, then reached 100 with a clip to the legside soon after the break. South Africa scored at nearly five runs an over through the first two sessions of the match.

Boosted by its 208-run win in the second test in Durban last week, Sri Lanka is chasing a first ever series win in South Africa but appeared have made a major mistake by putting the home team in to bat. Prasad did make an immediate impact after being introduced in the fifth over when Smith was cramped for space and chopped on to his stumps. Amla was trapped on the back foot in front of leg stump but after that the batsmen were barely troubled in ideal batting conditions until the Petersen-Kallis third-wicket partnership was broken.

That breakthrough came when Petersen chipped a catch to Dilshan in the covers off Welegedara but South Africa were already 261-3 and inspired by Kallis - on course for a big first-innings total. — AP

SCOREBOARD CAPE TOWN: Close of play scores in the third and final Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Newlands on yesterday: South Africa, first innings G. Smith b Prasad 16 A. Petersen c Dilshan b Welegedera 109 H. Amla lbw b Prasad 16 J. Kallis not out 159 A. de Villiers not out 45 Extras (nb2) 2 Total (3 wkts, 90 overs) 347 Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Smith), 2-56 (Amla), 3-261 (Petersen) Bowling: Welegedera 21-5-75-1 (2nb), Perera 14-1-81-0, Prasad 18-2-85-2, Mathews 9-0-34-0, Herath 26-4-63-0, Dilshan 2-0-9-0.

To bat: J. Rudolph, M. Boucher, V. Philander, D. Steyn, M. Morkel, Imran Tahir Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad Match situation: South Africa are 347 for three in the first innings.

SYDNEY: James Pattinson took four wickets as Australia bundled India out for 191 on the opening day of the second test yesterday, before coming through a top order crisis of their own to finish a frenetic day on 116 for three. Michael Clarke (47) and his predecessor as skipper Ricky Ponting (44) put on an unbeaten 79 for the fourth wicket to put Australia 75 runs behind after India’s Zaheer Khan had removed their top three batsmen with just 37 runs on the board.

As in their 122-run first test victory in Melbourne last week, Australia had pace bowlers Pattinson (4-43), Peter Siddle (3-55) and Ben Hilfenhaus (3-51) to thank for constricting the world class Indian batting lineup. Siddle ended the India innings with his 100th test wicket after Hilfenhaus had mopped up most of the tail but it was 21year-old Pattinson who again caught the eye in just his fourth test.

Bowling with genuine pace, Pattinson took just three balls of the morning to take the wicket of Gautam Gambhir before adding those of the other opener Virender Sehwag and dangermen VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. “I’m loving it,” Pattinson told reporters. “I’m honored to be out there playing against some of the best batsmen in the world and getting Sachin out is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, it’s an amazing feeling.” Tendulkar came out to a huge ovation and had looked by far the most comfortable Indian batsman before he chopped a widish Pattinson delivery onto his stumps for 41, as he was thwarted in his latest quest for a 100th international century.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was to hit a team-high 57 not out, won the toss and elected to bat on a hot, sunny morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was, perhaps, a good toss to lose as Pattinson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus reprised their Melbourne barrage of pacey, good length deliveries on a pitch with a slight green tinge to it. “I think we have to give the Australian bowlers credit today, they bowled some good line and length and put our batsmen under pressure,” India coach Duncan Fletcher said. “We did that first up but Ponting and Clarke batted well at the end. It’s important that we get back to those lines and lengths tomorrow.”

Embattled opener Gambhir will be disappointed with the jab at a Pattinson delivery that had him caught in the slips for a duck but he was not alone. Rahul Dravid (five), a jitterylooking Sehwag (30) and Laxman (two) quickly followed the lefthander back to the pavilion to leave the tourists languishing on 59-4. Virat Kohli and Tendulkar combined to ease the crisis before they were separated by a peach of a delivery from Siddle, which the former edged to Brad Haddin behind the stumps for 23.

Tendulkar, whose average at the SCG was a shade over 221 runs per innings, continued to pick his shots but back came the irrepressible Pattinson to end the 38-year-old’s innings.

Dhoni and Ravi Ashwin put on 54 for the seventh wicket before Hilfenhaus finally got reward for his efforts with the wickets of Ashwin (20) and Zaheer (0) from successive balls. After missing out on the hat-trick after the tea break, the dependable quick soon had

Ishant Sharma out for a duck and Siddle performed the coup de grace on Umesh Yadav (0). Zaheer soon had the Australian batsmen in all sorts of trouble, however, removing David Warner for eight when Tendulkar took the catch after a Laxman juggle in the slips.

Laxman made no mistake on Zaheer’s next ball in his following over, Shaun Marsh taking the long walk back to the dressing room with

a cartoon golden duck for company and the paceman steaming in for his own hat-trick chance. It was not to be, but Zaheer did not have to wait too long for his third wicket when Ed Cowan was beaten for pace and trapped leg before for 16. “We’re in a great spot as a bowling group,” Pattinson added.

“Hopefully tomorrow the batsmen can dig in and get a bit of a lead on it.” — Reuters

SYDNEY: India’s Sachin Tendulkar (second left at bottom) catches out Australia’s David Warner, center, after India’s VVS Laxman (left at bottom) juggled the ball, off the bowling of Zaheer Khan (left at center) in their cricket test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday. — AP

SCOREBOARD SYDNEY: Scoreboard at the end of play on the first day of the second test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday: India won the toss and elected to bat India first innings G. Gambhir c Clarke b Pattinson 0 V. Sehwag c Haddin b Pattinson 30 R. Dravid c Cowan b Siddle 5 S. Tendulkar b Pattinson 41 V. Laxman c Marsh b Pattinson 2 V. Kohli c Haddin b Siddle 23 M. Dhoni not out 57 R. Ashwin c Clarke b Hilfenhaus 20 Z. Khan c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0 I. Sharma c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0 U. Yadav c Haddin b Siddle 0 Extras: (b-3, lb-6, w-2, nb-2) 13 Total (all out, 59.3 overs) 191 Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-30 3-55 4-59 5-96 6-124 7-178 8-178 9-186 Bowling: Pattinson 14-3-43-4 (nb-1, w-2),

Hilfenhaus 22-9-51-3, Siddle 13.3-3-55-3 (nb1), Hussey 2-0-8-0, Lyon 8-0-25-0.

Australia first innings D. Warner c Tendulkar b Khan 8 E. Cowan lbw Khan 16 S. Marsh c Laxman b Khan 0 R. Ponting not out 44 M. Clarke not out 47 Extras (lb-1) 1 Total (for three wickets, 26 overs) 116 Fall of wickets: 1-8 2-8 3-37 Still to bat: M. Hussey, B. Haddin, P. Siddle, N. Lyon, J. Pattinson, B. Hilfenhaus.

Bowling (to date): Z Khan 9-2-26-3, U Yadav 8-1-42-0, I Sharma 6-0-30-0, R Ashwin 2-0-110, V Sehwag 1-0-6-0.

Australia lead the four-match series 1-0.

Shiffrin under pressure after stunning ski result ZAGREB: Mikaela Shiffrin suddenly faces an aspect of skiing altogether new to her - handling pressure. The 16-year-old American had a remarkable third-place finish in a World Cup slalom last week. In only her eighth race on the circuit, Shiffrin was even faster than idol and world champion Marlies Schild in winning the second run in Lienz, Austria.

Now comes Tuesday’s night slalom on the Sljeme hill, and all the expectations. “Mikeala has to learn to deal with that,” US women’s head coach Alex Hoedlmoser said Monday. “I think she is very focused and down to earth and she knows what she’s capable of. She should just stay cool and do her thing.”

Hoedlmoser has spoken several times with Shiffrin the last few days. “She should stay focused ...

and just ski like a 16-year-old,” Hoedlmoser said. “She must now look from one run to the other and not think ahead too much.

Just ski up to her ability. If she does that, she can be there again.”

The race in Lienz marked only the second time Shiffrin earned World Cup points. The other came when she was eighth in Aspen, Colo., in November. “We knew that in tough conditions, she can ski very fast as she’s very solid in her position on the skis,” Hoedlmoser said. “We know she’s definitely able to be a top-10 skier already this season. With her confidence now, she just can go out there, ski up to her best and have fun.” Also enjoying the slalom is Shiffrin’s teammate Lindsey Vonn, who after years of struggling seems to have gained strength in the technical races as

well. “Normally I am looking forward to the speed races again this time of the year,” Vonn said.

“But now, I am just really happy to race in slalom. I just feel comfortable in any race right now.”

Vonn’s last victory in slalom came three years ago in Garmisch-Par tenkirchen, Germany. She has not had a topthree result in the slalom since Levi, Finland, in November 2009.

“Lindsey knows her slalom is there,” Hoedlmoser said. “She’s been training well and her mind is fresh.” Teammate Julia Mancuso, who skied out after just a few seconds into her opening run last week, skipped yesterday’s slalom to prepare for this weekend’s speed events in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria. “Slalom is not her priority,” Hoedlmoser said. “If it’s too much traveling, she’s not going to do them.

Zagreb is a little bit out of the way.”

Defending overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who trails Vonn by 286 points, has een slowed by a cold. On Monday, the German Olympic champion left training early and later skipped the public bib draw in Zagreb’s central square. Schild won on this run last year and has been unbeatable in all four slaloms this season. Another win by the Austrian would put her within two of Swiss great Vreni Schneider’s record of 34 slalom victories. Schild also would be closing in on her fiance Benjamin Raich’s tally of 35 World Cup victories. “I hope he will have some wins in the new year so it will be harder for me to overtake him,” Schild said. Raich will attack the same hill during a World Cup slalom tomorrow night. — AP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

analysis

Campaign has yet to fully test Romney

By Charles Babington itt Romney’s surprisingly easy rise to the top of Iowa presidential polls, aided by his Republican rivals’ in-fighting, masks vulnerabilities he will have to confront eventually. Even if he wins yesterday’s caucuses that lead off the state-by-state nominating contests, Romney has yet to excite his party’s restless conservative base. And his rivals’ focus on each other has let Romney skate along with minimal focus on his contentious health care record and his changed positions on abortion, gay rights and other issues since his days as Massachusetts governor.

Groups friendly to President Barack Obama plan to use the “flip-flopper” label against Romney if he’s the nominee. They hope it will damage him as much as it did Democrat John Kerry in 2004. Romney has run a smart, nearly mistake-free campaign so far. But his string of luck and efficiency might have a dark lining. He hasn’t been forced to hone incisive answers to tough questions certain to rise in debates if he faces only one or two remaining Republican opponents, or Obama.

Romney appears testy on the rare occasions when pressed about his policy shifts and his Massachusetts program that required residents to obtain health insurance. Democrats enjoy replaying a Nov 30 Fox News interview of Romney expressing irritation at such questions. But Romney has benefitted from a relatively weak field of rivals who, from the start, mostly criticized each other in hopes of becoming the party’s conservative alternative to Romney.

Those candidates’ various problems have left them “too weak to exploit Mitt Romney’s vulnerabilities”, which include his tenure at a corporate takeover firm and “the number of times he has reinvented his positions”, said Jen Psaki, a former Obama White House aide.

“But regardless of when the field narrows,” she said, “there will be plenty of time to explore his record in more depth”.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has all but conceded that Romney will out-perform him, and perhaps everyone else, in the Iowa caucuses. But Gingrich, the victim of withering TV attacks funded by Romney allies, says Romney will come under hotter fire in New Hampshire, whose primary is Jan 10. “New Hampshire is the perfect state to have a debate over Romneycare and to have a debate about tax-paid abortions, which he signed,” Gingrich told reporters Sunday in Iowa. “And to

M

have a debate about appointing liberal judges, which he did.”

It’s not clear that Gingrich will have enough money to wage an effective campaign against Romney in New Hampshire or South Carolina, which votes on Jan 21.

But Romney’s consistent failure to galvanize the Republican base leaves a door open for the others to keep asking conservatives to coalesce around an alternative. If that fails, and Romney becomes the nominee, then Democrats can hope right-wing disenchantment will depress Republican turnout in November.

Many Republicans scoff at the idea.

Animosity toward Obama and his economic record will unite conser vatives, they say.

Playing off that idea yesterday, former Pennsylvania Sen Rick Santorum urged Iowa’s undecided Republicans to nominate a true conser vative, himself.

Alluding to Romney, Santorum implored voters to “not settle for someone as your nominee who might be able to win the election but it might be a pyrrhic victory”. In the type of second-tier squabbling that has shaped the campaign for months, Romney didn’t need to wage a counter-attack on Santorum by himself. Texas Gov Rick Perry called Santorum a weak candidate who can’t defeat Obama.

On MSNBC, Perr y noted that Santorum badly lost his 2006 Senate re-election bid in Pennsylvania, proving “he can’t win races when it matters against a liberal Democrat”.

The Des Moines Register’s final poll of Iowa Republicans highlights Romney’s inability thus far to attract a large and enthusiastic plurality of voters

in his party, let alone a majority. One in four likely caucus-goers named Romney as their top pick, essentially tying him with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Romney held an overwhelming lead on one key question: who is most electable next fall. He trailed far behind Gingrich on “who is most knowledgeable”. And Iowa Republicans ranked Romney fifth when asked who is “best at relating to ordinary Iowans”.

With Romney’s Republican rivals doing little to hit his soft spots, Obama’s supporters are stepping up.

Democratic officials moved into Iowa over the weekend for a host of events and campaign videos aimed at Romney. Speakers included Randy Johnson, who worked at an Indiana paper plant bought in 1992

by Bain Capital, a corporate reorganization firm that Romney once headed. Johnson, one of the workers laid off when the plant closed after Bain took on heavy debts, said Romney seemed more concerned about profits than employees.

Romney faced similar charges in 1994, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate from Massachusetts against Sen. Edward Kennedy. His campaign says Bain Capital had many success stories and a handful of failures in its efforts to make companies more efficient and competitive. Obama campaign aides have expressed disappointment that the Republican presidential candidates have done so little to capitalize on the Bain record and Romney’s policy switches. The flip-flop issue might be less useful to Obama than to Romney’s Republican rivals, who are trying to woo staunchly conservative voters in the primary.

By reminding general election voters that Romney once supported legalized abortion and gun control, Obama might make the former Massachusetts governor more attractive to allimportant independent voters. If that happens, Romney’s campaign savvy and luck will prove long-lasting. — AP

Indonesians have new symbol for injustice

By Niniek Karmini ndonesians have found a new symbol for their growing frustration at uneven justice in their young, democratic nation: cheap, worn-out flip-flops. They have been dropping them off at police stations all over the sprawling archipelago to express outrage over the arrest and trial of a 15-year-old boy for lifting an old pair of white sandals from outside a boarding house used by police in northern Indonesia. “This is insane,” said Titis Anissa, a high school teacher in the capital, Jakarta, noting that government officials found guilty of plundering state coffers get off with a slap on the wrist. “And a young, poor boy takes a pair of $3 sandals? Enough already!”

The boy snatched the shoes while he and several friends headed home from school in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, in November 2010. He was later interrogated and badly beaten by three officers, and faces up to five years in prison if found guilty - the same sentence given to many terrorists, drug pushers and rapists. He will appear today before the court in Palu for the second hearing of his trial, which opened last month. Indonesia has made tremendous strides since the ouster of longtime dictator Suharto just over a decade ago, implementing sweeping reforms that have freed up the media, scrapped

I

oppressive laws and given citizens the right to directly pick their leaders for the first time.

But the judicial system remains a weak point. The flip-flop case has captured headlines since the trial began and is one of the most popular trends on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Thousands have joined in the sandal donation protest. A batch of 1,000 flip-flops will be given to Sgt. Ahmad Rusdi Harahap, owner of the stolen shoes, as “compensation,” said campaign organizer Budhi Kurniawan. The boy, not identified by name because of his age, said he found the dirty old flip-flops near a garbage bin outside the boarding house. Six months later, he was summoned by Harahap, who accused him of theft.

“At first, I didn’t understand what he was talking about,” he told AP. “I’d forgotten all about those sandals.” “He called a few of his colleagues and they started beating me up, hitting me with a piece of wood,” he said. “I fell into a steep trench.

My legs were bleeding.” The boy said the officers made him promise to give each a new pair of sandals, but his father, after seeing the cuts and bruises on his son’s body, decided to report the men to their superiors. Harahap, who along with the other two officers is facing charges of violating police ethics, responded by taking the teenager to criminal court.

It was a move Andreas Harsono, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said was obviously “excessive” and vindictive. Ayu Laksmi, a Balinese artist, brought 10 pairs of sandals to the National Commission for Child Protection on Tuesday to show her displeasure. “This just goes to show, once again, that our laws discriminate,” she said. “It’s tough on the poor and weak

when it comes to those with money or power.” The teenager is not the first minor to face trial over a small criminal offense. Last year, a 14-year-old boy was brought to court after spending three weeks in a Jakarta prison for allegedly stealing a $1.15 cellphone voucher.

Judges finally dropped the charges, arguing the investigation of the case was “defective”. — AP

Indonesian activists line up pairs of sandals they’ve received at the office of Indonesian Commission for Child Protection in Jakarta yesterday to help protest for a 15-year-old boy who is being prosecuted for lifting an old pair of sandals in Central Sulawesi province. – AP

Wind of change felt in Orban’s Hungary

By Geza Molnar espite being criticised abroad, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has remained powerful at home, but that may be slipping away given the scale and anger of recent protests, analysts said yesterday. Tens of thousands of Hungarians - 100,000 according to the organisers and 70,000 say independent observers - rallied in Budapest on Monday night against what they see as an erosion of democracy in the European Union member state.

Organised largely via social networking websites, the spark was the entry into force on Jan 1 of a new constitution that Orban’s detractors say dangerously undermines vital checks and balances on the power of the centre-right government.

Adopted in April 2011 thanks to a two-thirds parliamentary majority enjoyed by Orban’s party, the constitution has drawn fire from the EU, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amnesty International, amongst others.

Critics say it tightens Orban’s grip on a range of state bodies meant to be independent of government interference including the judiciary and the central bank, while also changing the electoral system in favour of his Fidesz party.

Significantly, yesterday’s protest ignored by the main public broadcaster MTV which showed footage of practically deserted streets - brought together the main opposition parties and civil organi-

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sations. This was the first time that such a joining of forces has taken place since Orban swept to a second term in office with a landslide victory in April 2010 elections, political analysts said.

“Yesterday’s demonstration was a turning point,” Kornelia Magyar, head analyst at the Hungarian Progressive Institute, told AFP. “Previous protests had had a light, fun atmosphere while this one was pugnacious, angry and disappointed....

Neither Fidesz nor Orban would have

thought 18 months ago that people would demonstrate against them on the streets of Budapest.”

The era of Orban enjoying the support of an overwhelming majority has “clearly ended,” said Gabor Torok, analyst of Vision Politics, another thinktank. Indeed, according to polling institute Tarki, Fidesz’s support has crumbled to around 19 percent from the 52.7 percent the party enjoyed when it took office, although 51 percent still have no

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) arrives on Monday at the Hungarian National Gallery next to Budapest’s Mayor Istvan Tarlos. – AFP

party preference. “But in two years there can potentially be a coalition with can absorb these undecided votes,” Magyar said. Moreover, a new electoral law that entered into force with the constitution favours two competing large blocks as opposed to a host of small parties, forcing more cooperation, she added. “We suspected that democracy was going to suffer under the reign of the two-thirds (in parliament),” the left-leaning Nepszabadsag daily said in an editorial yesterday. “The new constitution played a key role in bringing so many people onto the streets.”

Hungary’s economy, meanwhile, has been hit hard by a sharp fall in its currency and problems issuing bonds, leading Moody ’s and most recently Standard & Poor’s to cut their rating on the countr y ’s debt to “junk ” status.

Orban has turned to the International Monetary Fund and the EU for a possible credit line of Ä15-20 billion ($19.526.0 billion), but initial talks broke down in December over Orban’s reforms of the central bank. The European Commission on Tuesday warned Hungary to safeguard the independence of its central bank before negotiations could resume, with a spokesman saying the bloc’s concerns remained “very strong”. Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso had voiced “serious doubts” last month about the compatibility of the law with the EU treaty, but Orban rebuffed his call to postpone the text’s adoption. — AFP

Focus

Fears Nigerian decree will lead to military abuses

By M J Smith

state of emergency declared in Nigeria in areas hit by attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram has sparked concerns that the military will use the measure as legal cover to carry out further abuses.

A military task force in Borno state, Boko Haram’s stronghold, has been accused a number of times in recent months of killing civilians and burning homes after bomb attacks, alleging residents collaborated with the militants. Soldiers and police have also faced accusations in the past of gunning down civilians and carrying out summary executions in central Plateau state, which has been hit by years of clashes between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups.

Such actions have only worsened the situation and turned residents who might not otherwise support the extremists against the military, some analysts say. The emergency declaration in parts of four states, including Borno and Plateau, gives security agencies extra powers to search and arrest. “They’ve already been committing abuses,” said Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development think-tank in Abuja. “It will just legalise it, in a sense.”

President Goodluck Jonathan declared the state of emergency on Saturday in response to scores of attacks attributed to Boko Haram, par ticularly bombings on Christmas that killed 49 people, most of them in a gruesome blast at a Catholic church as services were ending. While Boko Haram has been carrying out increasingly deadly attacks for months, including an August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that left 25 dead, the Christmas violence triggered intense fear and outrage. It also led to warnings from Christian leaders that they would defend themselves if such attacks continued, raising more worries in a country roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

Amid mounting frustration over authorities’ failure to stop the violence, Jonathan announced the measures and declared that Boko Haram would be crushed. The concern that has been expressed over the military and police is whether they will engage in killings, round-ups and invasions of people’s homes.

“We see it as a blank cheque given to the military to perpetrate all sorts of abuses in the name of bringing an end to the violence,” said Shehu Sani, a northern-based activist and head of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria.

“We are of the belief that as a democracy, Nigeria’s government must fight the insurgenc y within the ambit of the law and respect for fundamental rights of citizens.”

But there are also questions over what the emergency declaration will mean in practice apart from closing borders in hard-hit areas, which began on Monday. Military spokesmen did not want to discuss details of the operations, but one said training had occurred to address past abuses. “We have reviewed and we continue to review our modus operandi as far as this fight against terrorists is concerned,” said army spokesman Major General Raphael Isa. Nigeria’s military, West Africa’s largest, has a long history of abuses - though it has at the same time gained respect as an important supplier of troops to international peacekeeping missions. The country has also seen six militar y coups since independence in 1960, but the emergency decree applies to such a small portion of the vast country analysts said they did not see any such danger under the current situation. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, has been under civilian rule since 1999.

Some who voiced their support for the emergency declaration also hoped that it would be accompanied by dialogue with the militants. Tanko Yakasai, a respected veteran northern politician, called the decree a “necessary evil” and said he believed the government would keep the military on a tight leash to keep the situation from spiralling further out of control. “I believe the government will make sure that the military will handle the situation more professionally, with more care, realising the implication of misbehaving in this kind of situation,” he said.

Others were not as sure and questioned why an emergency decree was even necessary, with military task forces already operating in a number of violence -hit areas.

Speaking of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, Ibrahim said that “the whole city has been militarised and that did not have an impact on what was going on.” “I don’t see how the declaration of emergency on its own would have an impact,” he said. — AFP

A

14

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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Issues

Soweto is the disillusioned home of ANC

By Claudine Renaud he cradle of the anti-apartheid movement, Soweto is no longer the ANC bastion it once was, with locals disillusioned by poor service delivery and constant squandering of public money. Even after 17 years of unbroken African National Congress rule, and as the party prepares for its 100th birthday this week, South Africa still remains one of the world’s most unequal societies. While the ANC has built 2.8 million homes since taking power in 1994, around 20 percent of South Africans still have no electricity and 10 percent no running water and service delivery protests are frequent.

Grim statistics like those and frustration with the pace of delivery of basic services has seen some of the party grassroots lose faith in the leadership, even in Soweto, once home to anti-apartheid icons Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Open criticism has replaced the cheers which once greeted the party here. “The ANC is not what it used to be. They are corrupt to the core which is unacceptable,” says Zoliswa Jayiya, 23. “They did a great service but that is the past and we cannot live in the past. They are resting on their laurels.”

The young university graduate works near the memorial to the Freedom Charter, a document ANC and other anti-apartheid groups published in 1955 to demand equal rights to education, work, wealth, and a decent living. “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white,” the Charter claimed at the height of white minority rule, which ended when Nelson Mandela’s ANC swept to power in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. In a public square flanked by a hotel and a market, the manifesto’s words are engraved for posterity on a circular concrete stone.

But race still defines many people’s thinking, says Jayiya, and the economic divide is as large as ever. A new complacency has taken hold, she says, and many of her peers don’t even bother to vote. “It is like a rich kid who loses things and knows that his parents will buy another one. It’s easy to forget that we didn’t have these voting rights 20 years ago.”

Disillusioned voters might turn to the political opposition over “these guys who fly to Dubai or Switzerland to see their girlfriend”, she says, referring to an ANC minister who travelled at the state’s expense to visit his girlfriend in a Swiss prison. The minister, Sicelo Shiceka, was sacked last October.

“Quality and standards are horrible,” says an exasperated Jayiya.

Party stalwarts like Soweto resident David Meyers are stung by the internal criticism, but agree that money set aside for a lavish ANC birthday party in the city of Bloemfontein could be better spent. “For the centenary, they should have given grants to young people for education or doing business and improving life for the next centenary.”

Corruption among government officials has made international headlines, but Meyers blames individuals who weren’t ready to handle large sums of money rather than the party. “It’s like a bumped car, they just have to fix it. There are people they have to sort out.”

But he was surprised that all Sowetans didn’t agree with him in local elections last May, when the ANC predictably topped the poll in Soweto but lost the ward where the Freedom Charter was launched, to the opposition Democratic Alliance.

Even Meyers admits that people tell him: “We are fed up. They are eating the money.” But like so many, Meyers sees the ANC as the way forward for South Africa, with no alternative in the opposition for voters. The party was “the first to develop my ability, to let me think and not to be afraid,” the 51year-old said. “We grew up in trauma. For us, it was the lifestyle to suffer, to be nobody, and beaten by the police. You couldn’t even go from Durban to Johannesburg, you had to ask a permit. What I like with the ANC, they see every man on the street as a potential director.”— AFP

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All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Blocs pursue short-term fixes for crisis

By Suadad Al-Salhy ooking to step back from the brink, Iraq’s fractious political blocs are working on short-term solutions to cool a crisis that threatened a slide back into sectarian strife, but fundamental differences may be left to smoulder. Political leaders from Sunni Muslim, Shi’ite Muslim and Kurdish factions are looking to a national conference this month and the courts to defuse hostilities triggered when Shiite Prime Minister Nuri AlMaliki called for the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi after the last US troops left. “People are talking about dialogue. It does look like calm and wisdom are prevailing. I think we have stepped back,” said one Western diplomat.

The outcome of the crisis has wider implications in a region where Syria’s anti-government upheaval is taking on a sectarian tone and Shiite power Iran, Sunni Arab Gulf nations and Turkey to Iraq’s north are all jostling to extend their influence. At stake in Baghdad is the survival of an uneasy powersharing government among Maliki’s Shiite alliance, Sunni-backed Iraqiya and the Kurdish blocs that divides up ministries and posts but has struggled to work, hamstrung by deep mistrust. In two apparent gestures over the past two days to calm the atmosphere, Maliki appealed for political stability and parliament speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi called on Iraqis to “build the present and the future with one heart and one hand”.

The rival blocs appear to have agreed to attend the conference later this month proposed by Nujaifi, a Sunni, and President Jalal

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Talabani, a Kurd, and to let the courts resolve Maliki’s allegations that Hashemi ran death squads. But a senior Shiite politician who asked not to be named saw little hope that national dialogue would produce results. “It is not expected that this conference will offer anything new, but it offers an acceptable reason for Iraqiya leaders to end their boycott and save face,” the lawmaker said.

For the moment, Iraqiya’s boycott of parliament stands and suggestions for early elections - not due until 2014 - and other measures for long-term change are not gaining traction. Whether Iraqiya’s boycott survives may become apparent on Tuesday when parliament is due back from a recess and Maliki’s cabinet convenes its regular weekly meeting.

Last week, two Iraqiya Sunni ministers, including Finance Minister Rafie Al-Esawi, boycotted the cabinet and four were absent with excuses, but two others attended, highlighting the longstanding schism in the bloc.

A senior Shiite lawmaker said on Sunday he was leaving the bloc over dissatisfaction with its leaders’ decision-making and handling of the Hashemi crisis, joining 11 other Iraqiya lawmakers who have departed in the last three months. “Iraqiya is really divided, broken,” said a senior Sunni leader in the bloc.

“All (its leaders) want is to go back to their jobs. Maliki humiliated Iraqiya (leaders) and now they are ready to sacrifice Hashemi.”

If some Iraqiya ministers quit, others within the bloc may be ready to claim their jobs, strengthening Maliki’s hand. Should Iraqiya walk out or splinter, Maliki would likely turn to Kurdish partners and Iraqiya dissidents who have already split from their bloc, seek-

ing a majority government. “The majority government is one of the options, not the only one, and not the current solution,” said Kamal al-Sadi, a senior leader in Maliki’s Dawa party. Maliki could also face opposition within his own bloc, where some factions appeared to be using the crisis to push for a new prime minister or to negotiate for posts or other benefits.

Maliki’s move against Hashemi and his demand that parliament dump Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, another Sunni leader, sparked Iraq’s worst political crisis in a year. The Shi’ite leader has presented Iraqiya with a challenge to sideline Hashemi, one of its senior leaders, or lose its sway in government. Iraqiya may ultimately have to decide whether it stays together or splinters, and cracks have already appeared. Iraq’s crisis could still go two ways: pulling back from the abyss once again or falling into deeper turmoil that shatters the frail cross-sectarian government and renews bloodshed after the mid-December withdrawal of the last US forces. The rising tensions could unravel Iraq’s US-backed democratic experiment as the country’s still-rebuilding security forces grapple with a weakened but still lethal Al-Qaedalinked Sunni insurgency that carries out daily attacks. Political infighting could open the door to foreign intervention and to Shiite and Sunni armed groups to ramp up attacks, reviving sectarian conflict. Politics in Iraq, despite inflammatory rhetoric, is a slow boil with hours of back-room negotiations leading to deals. The power-sharing arrangement itself took more than half a year of horse-trading and cajoling as blocs bargained over

posts. US Vice President Joe Biden, Maliki’s Shiite partner anti-US cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr and Kurdish President Masoud Barzani have been odd bedfellows in trying to pull the government back together.

But the major question now is Iraqiya’s next move. The party is in talks with other blocs and lobbying for a parliamentary vote of no confidence against Maliki. Any stand against Maliki will require backing from the Kurds and a Shiite bloc within Maliki’s coalition. Iraqiya will have to measure the potential loss of its government posts against any possible gain made by opting out of the government. It holds parliament speaker, a vice presidency, a deputy prime minister post and the finance ministry.

The risk for Maliki is if Iraqiya and the Kurdish blocs team up. But the Kurds may see more advantage in using the crisis as leverage to negotiate with Maliki over their own issues, such as control of oil resources and territories disputed between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan, rather than backing Iraqiya.

“Frankly, Kurds are not ready to sacrifice their strategic interests and alliances because of Hashemi,” one senior Kurdish leader said. “I don’t think Iraqiya will succeed.”

But Sunni discontent with Maliki is deep, and Iraqiya has already accused him of reneging on power-sharing agreements. Nearly nine years after the invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein, sectarian friction still runs close to the surface in Iraq, where sustained violence between Sunni and Shiite communities killed thousands of people in 2006-07.

Maliki’s manoeuvres are fanning minority Sunni fears of political isolation.— Reuters

US hopes sanctions more scalpel than axe

By Andrew Quinn he United States has armed itself with some of the toughest sanctions yet targeting Iran but must carefully assess how to avoid catching energyimporting allies such as Japan, South Korea and India in the crossfire. President Barack Obama signed the law on Saturday imposing sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank, the main clearinghouse through which OPEC’s No. 2 oil exporter deals with clients around the world. The new US sanctions were pushed through Congress despite misgivings among administration officials, who now must consider how to implement the law without roiling global energy markets or upsetting friendly governments that depend in par t on Iranian crude oil imports.

Political analysts said Washington hopes the new sanctions will spur foreign banks to change their behavior before the United States is required to begin freezing them out of US financial markets. “The sanctions will force a choice between buying Iranian oil or engaging in the US financial system, the largest in the world. That is going to change the risk calculus for a lot of folks,” said Brian Katulis, a security expert at the Center for American Progress. “They are going to wait to see how this signal is received before they take any further steps.”

The new US measures target both private and government-controlled banks, including central banks, and would take hold after a two- to six-month warning period depending on the transactions. US officials acknowledge that allies such as Japan have concerns, and have built in several provisions designed to make the new law more of a scalpel than an axe. The law allows Obama to exempt institutions in a country that has significantly reduced its dealings with Iran. He may also grant

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waivers deemed to be in the US national security interest or otherwise necessary for energy market stability.

Obama would need to notify Congress and waivers would be temporary but they could be extended. White House officials declined to say which countries have sought waivers or how they expect the sanctions to impact US relations with Iran’s oil customers. China, the No. 1 customer for Iran’s oil, and Russia have both

nuclear ambitions.

“There is increased frustration from many of these nations when they see that previous rounds of sanctions haven’t done what they were intended to do,” said Trita Parsi, an Iran exper t and head of the National Iranian American Council. “Part of the administration argument going into an election against a Republican candidate is that Obama has been able to create a much stronger international coalition

Iranian Navy boats take part in maneuvers during the ‘Velayat-90’ navy exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran yesterday. — AFP resisted additional sanctions on Tehran and are unlikely to be swayed by the new US law, analysts said. But for countries such as Turkey, which gets about 30 percent of its oil from Iran, or India, which gets 11 percent, the prospect of a US waiver could reduce anxieties over the sanctions and consolidate support for Washington’s aggressive stance on Iran’s

against Iran. You can’t make that argument if you end up in a conflict with some of those allies.” Waivers also could be selectively granted for humanitarian reasons or for institutions that have forward contracts with Iranian companies - blunting the immediate impact of the new law, while retaining the threat of full implementation.

The new US sanctions came at a

moment of increasing tension with Tehran, which in recent days Iran has tested longrange missiles and staged 10 days of naval exercises in the Gulf. Iran also warned it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of world oil is shipped, if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports. Oil markets have been closely watching the standoff between Tehran and the West, with oil prices finding some support from Iranian threats to cut off the Strait of Hormuz last week.

Top global exporter Saudi Arabia has sought to assure markets, pledging to make up for any shortfalls in Iranian crude supplies to Europe. Tehran already is subject to four rounds of UN sanctions because of its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities and faces more pain if the European Union follows the United States and bans imports of Iranian crude oil. Tehran signaled during the weekend that it was ready to resume talks on its nuclear program with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany that stalled in January.

Western officials have said repeatedly they still want to talk to Tehran but only if it is ready to discuss the core concerns about its nuclear program. Tehran says the nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes but the United States and others fear it is aimed at producing atomic weapons.

George Lopez, a sanctions expert at the University of Notre Dame, said the new US sanctions could strengthen Washington’s hand going into any new talks with Iran after a year of steadily increasing economic pressure. “This is the book-end to a series of measures that began late last spring in coordination with the EU,” Lopez said. “It sends a strong message to (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and also to domestic constituents that we’re not backing off. But it is also a strong message that they should come back to the table.” — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

NEWS

SEAFORTH, Canada: A barred owl is wrapped in a blanket at Hope for Wildlife rehabilitation and education centre in Nova Scotia yesterday. The owl was caught in a rabbit snare and is being treated for a damaged leg. — AP

Tabtabaei threatens to quit polls if Mislem.. Iowa opens White House contest expelled from the house while the for- decide whether some of them should Continued from Page 1 In a related development, lawyer Bader Al-Zair yesterday submitted a request to the election department demanding that former MP and candidate Khalaf Dumaitheer should be disqualified from running in the election over a court ruling. A few months ago, the court of cassation convicted Dumaitheer of forgery but refrained from penalizing him, asking him to maintain good conduct. The ruling led to a legal controversy in the previous Assembly when former opposition MPs called for him to be immediately

mer speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi and several other former MPs insisted that he should not be expelled. The issue was then decided in a vote in which Dumaitheer’s membership was maintained.

Former opposition MPs have argued that since Dumaitheer was convicted by the highest court in a final judgement in a case related to honesty, he should be disqualified from running for the Assembly. The government has formed a legal committee that will later review the nomination papers of all the candidates to

be disqualified. Three more candidates withdrew from the race yesterday, bringing the number to 374 including 26 women. None of those who have already dropped out is a key contender.

The public prosecution meanwhile continued its interrogation of dozens of tribesmen on charges of taking part and organizing outlawed tribal primary elections. But tribes continued to hold primaries with Otebis electing one candidate late Monday night and Rasheedi tribe started their primary in the fourth constituency late yesterday.

Iran warns US warship, sends tensions...

Continued from Page 1 The USS John C Stennis started its current seven-month deployment at sea in late July 2011, according to US navy websites. The US Defence Department did not say whether the carrier was meant to travel back into the Gulf before its scheduled return to the United States.

But it said in a statement that it regularly sent one or more of its 11 aircraft carriers and their accompanying ships on rotation to the Gulf to support military operations in the region.

“Our transits of the Strait of Hormuz continue to be in compliance with international law, which guarantees our vessels the right of transit passage,” it said. The statement also underlined the United States pledge to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying “we are committed to protecting maritime freedoms that are the basis for global prosperity; this is one of the main reasons our military forces operate in the region”.

Iran has threatened to close the strait if it comes under attack or if new sanctions hit its oil exports. At the weekend, US President Barack Obama activated such a sanction, signing into law measures targeting Iran’s central bank, which processes most of the Islamic republic’s oil sales. The European Union, which is mulling an embargo on Iranian oil, is expected to announce further sanctions of its own at the end of January.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said yesterday he wanted to see “stricter sanctions” applied on Iran.

The Western sanctions, which add to four sets of UN sanctions, punish Iran for maintaining nuclear activities that the United States and its allies believe are being used to develop a weapons capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency published a report in November strongly suggesting Iran was researching nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Tehran denies the allegations, saying its nuclear program is exclusively

for medical and power generation purposes. Underlining the progress it is making, Iran’s atomic energy organisation said on Sunday its scientists had made the country’s first nuclear fuel rod from domestically-mined uranium.

The Islamic republic has been responding to the pressure by both threatening a military response and trying to keep the door open to resuming negotiations over its nuclear programme that were suspended nearly a year ago. Iran was waiting for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to set a date and venue for a meeting to discuss resuming talks that have been stalled for nearly a year, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters yesterday. But a spokesman for Ashton shot back that Iran “must first respond” to an October letter from Ashton proposing renewed talks, “and then we’ll take it from there”.

The negotiations were being held with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus non-permanent member Germany. The international pressure has already hit Iran’s economy, scaring off foreign investors and complicating payments for oil exports. Officials said recent volatility in Iran’s currency, the rial, that worsened after the latest US measures were enacted on the weekend, had nothing to do with sanctions.

The Iranian central bank injected foreign currency into the domestic market yesterday to reverse a 12-percent fall in the rial on Monday, according to Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari, quoted by the state IRNA news agency. He said “a number of measures to control the exchange market” would soon be implemented. The head of the central bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, said: “I declare absolutely that the international sanctions have not created any economic problem for the country. The enemies know that and are trying to create psychological tensions. But we won’t play their game.” — AFP

Taleban to open office in Qatar Continued from Page 1 “It is important for the Taleban to negotiate with the international community, especially with the US, and we welcome their decision to set up a political office,” Arsala Rahmani, a top negotiator on the high peace council, told Reuters. “It is a gesture of good faith.”

Mujahid’s emailed statement also said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - the name of Afghanistan under Taleban rule - has “requested for the exchange of prisoners from Guantanamo”. He was referring to a Taleban demand that the US military release about five Afghan prisoners believed to be affiliated with the Taleban from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Taleban are holding Bowe Bergdahl, a 25-year-old US Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, who is the only US soldier held by the insurgents. He was taken prisoner June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan. Senior US officials told Reuters last month that, after 10 months, talks with the Taleban had reached a critical juncture, and as part of the accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy, the United States is considering the transfer of several high-profile Taleban prisoners from Guantanamo into Afghan custody. The reported progress came as three bomb blasts hit Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, killing 13.

The call for a permanent international address for the Taleban came after a series of failed efforts towards talks by Afghans and their Western allies, some of them with interlocutors who turned out to be frauds. These culminated in the Sept 2011 killing of Karzai’s top peace

envoy, former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, by a man accepted as a Taleban representative, which appeared to temporarily destroy the president’s appetite for negotiations.

An office in Qatar would also help address Afghan worries about the influence of the Pakistani government over the insurgent group, whose leaders are mostly believed to be based across the border from their homeland. But Afghan leaders have expressed concerns that any office be used only as an address to help negotiators verify the identity of anyone claiming to represent the Taleban, rather than as a base to build political clout. They are also concerned about being marginalised in a process they do not control.

Karzai declined immediate response to the statement, but may be concerned by its emphasis only on communication with the international community there is no reference to the current Afghan government.

Both the president’s team and US officials working on negotiations have repeatedly insisted that they be “Afghan-led” but the Taleban statement explicitly casts their war as a battle only with foreigners.

“The two main sides which were involved in this are the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and on the other side is the United States and their foreign allies,” Mujahid said, using the Afghan Taleban’s own name for its movement.

The Taleban statement also dismissed as untrue reports about talks that appeared in the “Western press”, and specified that the office aimed to improve ties - suggesting any further progress might be slow.— Agencies

Continued from Page 1 Ice or snow would keep some voters home rather than venture out to attend meetings that can last for hours.

Iowa’s nominating contest has a spotty track record of picking winners, but has traditionally cleared the presidential field of losers and elevated surprise contenders. Obama launched his White House run with an Iowa win in 2008. This time, Obama is the only Democrat running, but the party is holding caucuses anyway and he was to address caucus-goers by video yesterday night.

Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, is the latest candidate to rise in Iowa polls in a race that has seen a handful of hopefuls roll through the top spot. His conservative views on issue like gay marriage and abortion make him popular with evangelical Christian voters, a strong force in Iowa Republican politics. “Get folks and bring them to the caucus with you,” Santorum told supporters in Perry, Iowa, on Monday as the candidates made final pitches for votes and tried to bolster their turnout.

Surveys show Romney performs best of all the Republicans in headto-head matchups with Obama in a general election campaign certain to

focus on the economy and high unemployment. But some voters in Iowa, which has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates, were torn between their urge to reclaim the White House from Obama and their search for a candidate who best meets their conservative principles.

Iowa polls showed many voters could still change their minds, increasing the race’s uncertain outlook. “I’m undecided, and I’m still in the same boat as when I came,” said Zander Morales, a hospital worker in Des Moines after he attended a rally on Monday for Paul, a US congressman from Texas. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

Republican voters in Iowa gathered for the caucuses at more than 800 sites across the state beginning at 7 pm CST (0100 GMT). Results were to begin coming in within a few hours. The caucuses start a frenzied schedule for the Republican presidential hopefuls that will include a half-dozen debates in January and three more state votes - on Jan 10 in New Hampshire, Jan 21 in South Carolina and Jan 31 in Florida. The stakes are high for each of the six candidates competing in Iowa.

Romney is aiming for a win that could ease persistent conservative doubts about his record and propel

him toward clinching the nomination early. “We’re trying to finish strong, trying to close this momentum. We feel good about where we’re at and we’re going to look on to New Hampshire and beyond,” David Kochel, Romney’s Iowa strategist, said late on Monday.

Struggling rivals like Texas Governor Rick Perry and US Representative Michele Bachmann are fighting for at least a fourthplace finish that could keep their flickering White House hopes alive.

Gingrich, who led the race just weeks ago, aims to end his slide and prove he can make a comeback. “I don’t think anybody knows who’s going to get what right now,” Gingrich said on CBS yesterday.

“Everywhere we go there are a large number of undecided people who walk in, genuinely interested, and tell you up front they haven’t made their mind up. I think anybody could come in first.” Santorum was trying to consolidate fractured religious and social conservatives in Iowa and emerge as the leading conservative alternative to Romney. But Perry, Paul and Romney criticized Santorum for backing costly spending bills when he served in the Senate, hoping to halt his rise in the final hours of the campaign. — Reuters

First hybrid sharks found off Australia SYDNEY: Scientists said yesterday that they had discovered the world’s first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, a potential sign the predators were adapting to cope with climate change.

The mating of the local Australian black-tip shark with its global counterpart, the common black-tip, was an unprecedented discovery with implications for the entire shark world, said lead researcher Jess Morgan. “It’s very surprising because no one’s ever seen shark hybrids before, this is not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination,” Morgan, from the University of Queensland, told AFP. “This is evolution in action.”

Colin Simpfendorfer, a partner in Morgan’s research from James Cook University, said initial studies suggested the hybrid species was relatively robust, with a number of generations discovered across 57 specimens. The find was made during cataloguing work off Australia’s east coast when Morgan said genetic testing showed certain sharks to be one species when physically they looked to be another.

The Australian black-tip is slightly smaller than its common cousin and can only live in tropical waters, but its hybrid offspring have been found 2,000 km down the coast, in cooler seas.

It means the Australian black-tip could be adapting to ensure its survival as sea temperatures change because of global warming. “If it hybridises with the common species it can effectively shift its range further south into cooler waters, so the effect of this hybridising is a range expansion,” Morgan said. “It’s

enabled a species restricted to the tropics to move into temperate waters.”

Climate change and human fishing are some of the potential triggers being investigated by the team, with further genetic mapping also planned to examine whether it was an ancient process just discovered or a more recent phenomenon. If the hybrid was found to be stronger than its parent species - a literal survival of the fittest Simpfendorfer said it may eventually outlast its so-called pure-bred predecessors. “We don’t know whether that’s the case here, but certainly we know that they are viable, they reproduce and that there are multiple generations of hybrids now that we can see from the genetic roadmap that we’ve generated from these animals,” he said.

“Certainly it appears that they are fairly fit individuals.” The hybrids were extraordinarily abundant, accounting for up to 20 percent of black-tip populations in some areas, but Morgan said that didn’t appear to be at the expense of their single-breed parents, adding to the mystery. Simpfendorfer said the study, published late last month in Conservation Genetics, could challenge traditional ideas of how sharks had and were continuing to evolve.

“We thought we understood how species of sharks have separated, but what this is telling us is that in reality we probably don’t fully understand the mechanisms that keep species of shark separate,” he said. “And in fact, this may be happening in more species than these two.” — AFP

This undated handout photo shows a hybrid black tip shark containing both common and Australian black tip DNA in Australian waters. — AFP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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

Pakistan to draw lines in US cooperation ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is reviewing future cooperation with the US as relations flounder between the shaky allies in the wake of a deadly NATO strike, senior military and government officials told AFP yesterday.

Showing the deep mistrust between the two countries whose cooperation focuses on the US-led war in Afghanistan, a senior security official speaking anonymously said “lines

should be drawn” in all future ties. “This is what experience from the recent turn of events suggests,” he said.

“From now on, every understanding will be in black and white. We will ensure that everything is well documented.” US-Pakistani relations have nosedived since the secret raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May and US air strikes on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the border

with Afghanistan.

Pakistan has rejected the findings of a joint US-NATO investigation that concluded that errors on both sides led to the soldiers’ deaths. “The parliamentary committee is reviewing the state of the relationship with the US and the kind of relationship that we should have with Washington in future,” said a senior government official privy to developments.

“One thing that I can say is that the relationship in future will be transparent and there will be new terms of engagement with the US in counterterrorism.” According to a report in the New York Times, US officials believe the counterterrorism alliance can survive only in a limited form, complicating the ability to launch attacks against Islamic extremists based in Pakistan and move supplies into Afghanistan.

Pakistan analyst and retired general Talat Masood said that the authorities had concluded that a more limited relationship was the best way forward.

“I think the army has come to the conclusion that neither the people of Pakistan are satisfied with what has been happening nor is the US satisfied” with the alliance agreed by former President Pervez Musharraf, said Masood. —AFP

Japanese politicians land on disputed isles Beijing protest with Tokyo over the move TOKYO: Four Japanese citizens, including municipal politicians, landed on disputed islands in the East China Sea yesterday, drawing an official protest from Beijing. The group sailed to the uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, on a fishing boat and stayed there for more than two hours, according to the Japan

The foreign ministry also confirmed it had summoned a “diplomatic envoy” from the Japanese embassy in Beijing, without specifying who. The tiny isles, also claimed by Taiwan which said it would lodge a protest with Tokyo, have been a source of tension between Japan and China for decades.

When Japanese Prime Minister

Hsi-lin told repor ters before departing. The pro-China group, including activists from Taiwan and Hong Kong, has made repeated attempts to land on the islands, but apart from one successful foray in 1996 they have been blocked by Japanese patrol vessels.

The Japanese government leases the islands from private

SENKAKU: Huang Hsi-lin (R), the chairman of an activist organization that asserts Chinese sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, stands on the deck of a boat before setting sail for the islets in Hong Kong yesterday. A dozen of activists from Taiwan and Hong Kong left for the disputed islands in the East China Sea yesterday shortly after four Japanese politicians landed on the isles earlier in the day. —AFP Coast Guard.

Beijing said it had “raised its solemn representations and protest ” with Tokyo over the move, which came as Japan and China commemorate the 40th anniversary of normalisation of diplomatic ties this year. “China’s determination to safeguard its sovereignty of the Diaoyu islands is unswerving,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement in which he reiterated Beijing’s “indisputable sovereignty” over the chain of islands.

Yoshihiko Noda visited China on December 25-26, he agreed with Beijing to set up a high-level meeting on maritime affairs in an effor t to reduce tensions. A dozen pro-China activists also headed yesterday for the disputed islands aboard a boat bearing a Chinese flag that set sail from Hong Kong on a journey expected to take two or three days.

“Diaoyu island is ours. It is from our ancestors. We are protesting Japan’s attitude and actions,” their spokesman Huang

land owners, and bans entry in a bid to prevent political incidents.

The Japanese coast guard said that three citizens on board the fishing boat, which sailed from Ishigaki in Japan’s southwest, landed yesterday on one of the islands around 9:30 am (0030 GMT) while the fourth followed 20 minutes later.

Of the four, two were identified as Hitoshi Nak ama and Tadashi Nakamine of the Ishigaki municipal assembly, while the identities of the other two were

not immediately k nown, a spokesman said. Nakama also went to the isles in 2010 without the Japanese central government’s permission.

“The coast guard’s patrol vessels are always near the Senkaku islands.

As their boat approached Senkaku, the coast guard verbally instructed them not to go any closer,” the spokesman said. “We have told them that it was against the law to land on the island. They said they were going fishing. We are not in position to stop them from going to fishing.”

The four men returned to the boat before noon and began their return trip to Ishigaki, the coast guard said.

The pro-China activists who set sail from Hong Kong said it was the group’s first trip from the territory after previous attempts staged from Taiwan were blocked. “This is a new attempt.

We don’t know if we will succeed,” said Huang, who added that since 1996 they had made 15 trips to the disputed islands, whose Chinese name means “fishing islands”.

“Apart from the first year, we have had no success reaching the islands because of attempts to block us. We have been continually harassed by the Japanese side,” he said. “Every year it is the same, Japanese boats will surround our boat and stop us from approaching the islands.” In September 2010, relations between Tokyo and Beijing turned ic y after a collision between a Japanese coast guard vessel and a Chinese fishing boat off the isles which are administered by Tokyo.

After Japan arrested the skipper, a furious China demanded his immediate release, tightening trade restrictions and cancelling diplomatic, political and cultural exchanges. Japan eventually released the fisherman, but the incident fueled antiChina sentiment among the Japanese public. —AFP

Top Taleban commanders ‘at each other’s throats’ ISL AMABAD: Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taleban and Pakistani militants have held a series of meetings aimed at containing what could soon be open war fare between the two most powerful Pakistani Taleban leaders, militant sources have said.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pak istani Taleban, also k nown as the Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP), and his deputy, Wali-ur-Rehman, were at each other’s throats, the sources said. “You will soon hear that one of them has eliminated the other, though hectic efforts are going on by other commanders and common friends to resolve differences between the two,” one TTP commander said.

Any division within the TTP could hinder the Afghan Taleban and al Qaeda’s struggle in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and disrupting safe havens in Pakistan used by the Afghan militants.

Despite multiple repor ts of the Rehman-M ehsud split, Rehman told Reuters yesterday there was no problem between the two. “ There are no differences between us,” Rehman said. The TTP, formed in 2007, is an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan’s unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan.

It has long struggled with its choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan.

There has been a noticeable decrease in militant attacks in Pakistan, but there continue to be random acts of violence across the country. Al Qaeda and Afghan Taleban commanders are asking the TTP to provide more men for the fight in Afghanistan and are looking to smooth over the dispute between Mehsud and Rehman.

Taleban sources said Rehman had ordered his fighters to k ill M ehsud because of his increasing closeness with al Qaeda and its Arab contingent.

M ehsud ’s former deput y has also alleged the T TP chief received money from Pakistan’s arch-rival, India, to kill a former Pakistan spy agency official acting as a mediator bet ween the Pak istani Taleban, Afghan insurgents and the Pakistani government.

The reported enmity between Mehsud and Rehman is not the only conflict within the TTP ranks. Mehsud has a long-standing feud with militant commanders Maulvi Nazeer in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur in Nor th Waziristan, both of whom have non-aggression agreements with the Pakistani military.

Mehsud’s men have also fought with

the militia under the control of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the former TTP head in the Kurram tribal region. He has accused Mehsud of killing his commanders and innocent people and kidnapping for ransom.

Haqqani, who is close to the militant Afghan Haqqani network, broke away from the TTP last year.

A pamphlet distributed by militants in North Waziristan this week announced the formation of a council to try to resolve the conflicts. “All jihadi forces have jointly, on the recommendation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formed a fivemember commission which will be known as the Shura Muraqba,” the pamphlet said, using the term by which the Afghan Taleban describe themselves.

“The Shura Muraqba will be working to resolve differences and problems between mujahideen.” It said that any mujahideenor holy warriors-found to have committed an “unlawful” killing or kidnapping would be punished under Islamic law. It is likely any attack on a fellow mujahideen commander would be considered “unlawful”.

“All mujahideen should respect the decisions of the council that has been set up,” a senior commander of the Haqqani faction in Kurram said. “If people continue to do as they like, the situation will not improve. Things will instead get much worse.” —Reuters

YANGON: A Myanmar prisoner (C) carries her baby as she leaves Insein prison following her release in Yangon yesterday. Activists and Myanmar’s opposition expressed frustration after an order to cut jail terms for all inmates appeared to fall far short of hopes for an amnesty for political detainees. —AFP

Myanmar’s clemency falls short of expectations YANGON: Myanmar began releasing some prisoners yesterday, but activists and relatives said a government clemency fell short of national reconciliation promises and showed that political prisoners may remain behind bars for a long time.

President Thein Sein signed a clemency order on Monday marking this week’s 64th anniversary of independence. He said the sentence reductions were “for the sake of state peace and stability” and on “humanitarian grounds.”

Under the order, death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment, and prisoners serving more than 30 years will have their sentences cut to 30 years. Those serving 20 to 30 years will have their terms reduced to 20 years, while those with less than 20 years will have their sentences cut by one-fourth.

Most political prisoners, both from the pro-democracy movement and from outof-favor government factions, are serving long terms and will remain in prison.

Last week, state-run media reported that the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission had appealed to Thein Sein to issue a general amnesty for prisoners.

Thein S ein has pushed for ward reforms since taking office last March, following decades of repression under previous military regimes. His government is still dominated by a military proxy party, but changes have been made in areas such as media, the Internet and political participation.

“I am very disappointed and feel hopeless because the clemency order makes no difference to political prisoners. Only common criminals will be freed,” student activist Phyo Min Thein said yesterday.

He said the decision will cause a loss of confidence in the 10-month-old nominally

civilian government. Phyo Min Thein was released from prison in 2005 after serving 15 years. His brother-in-law, activist Htay Kywe, had his 65-year sentence reduced to 30 years with Monday’s order, but still has 26 years to serve.

“What families of political prisoners want is absolute freedom,” said Kyi Kyi Nyunt, the sister of prominent student activist and political prisoner Min Ko Naing, whose 65-year term was also reduced to 30 years. “It is very disappointing and devastating. It is clear that political prisoners will not be freed for a long time,” said Win Tin, 82, a prominent journalist and member of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.

“Such a move can cause political instability and the tempo of political demands will increase,” he said. The prisoners reportedly freed Tuesday, including 11 political detainees, had little time remaining on their sentences.

Well-known comedian and social critic Zarganar Thura said the government failed to deliver on its promise. “I once likened the situation of my friends in jail as being in the hands of Somali pirates. I now withdraw this comment. The Somali pirates keep their promise,” he said on his Facebook page. Zarganar was released from three years in prison in an amnesty last October that freed 6,359 prisoners, including about 200 political detainees.

Suu Kyi said in November that there were still about 600 political prisoners, but some human rights groups put the number at about 1,500. The release of political prisoners has been seen as a crucial step in the country’s reforms, and a failure to free a substantial number is likely to be considered inadequate by the United States, the European Union and other nations. —AP

Anwar begins Malaysia tour ahead of sodomy verdict KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim embarks yesterday on a nationwide tour ahead of a verdict in his long-running sodomy trial, to declare his innocence and campaign for a change of government.

The trial, which opened nearly two

Anwar Ibrahim years ago, is the latest crisis for the former finance minister who was sacked and jailed on separate sodomy charges a decade ago, only to make a comeback at the helm of a resurgent opposition.

Ahead of the January 9 verdict which could see Anwar jailed for up to 20 years, he will visit eight states in a whirlwind six-day tour beginning in southern Johor state and ending in a courthouse rally.

“I am mak ing a call for change, enough of this arrogance of power, the abuses of the ruling party, we need

change so that such baseless accusations, the persecution of individuals like myself, do not continue,” he told AFP. “ The tour is not only to declare my innocence but to convince the people that it is time to vote out Prime Minister Najib R azak ’s government so as to move towards greater democracy and openness.”

Najib has until March 2013 to call general elections, but is widely expected to go to the people this year with hopes of winding back the stunning gains the opposition secured in the last polls in 2008.

Anwar’s opposition alliance, led by his Par ti Keadilan R ak yat, won an unprecedented one-third of parliamentary seats in that ballot, stunning the Barisan Nasional government which has ruled for half a centur y. The new sodomy allegations, levelled by a young former aide, were lodged soon after, fuelling Anwar’s allegations that the charges were concocted to destroy his political career.

Anwar’s tour begins in the ruling party’s bastion of Johor before heading to the central states of Negeri Sembilan and Malacca today, and the opposition’s stronghold of Kelantan in the north tomorrow.

Event organisers say they are expecting several thousand supporters at the late-night event in Johor to hear Anwar speak . Anwar is famed for his eloquence and charisma and typically draws large crowds keen for a display of his caustic wit and fiery rhetoric. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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

Murdoch praises Santorum, disses Beck on Twitter NEW YORK: Rupert Murdoch has fallen hard and fast for Twitter, using it to praise Republican presidential nominee Rick Santorum heading into today’s Iowa caucuses, diss former Fox News host Glenn Beck and insult an entire country.

Murdoch joined Twitter on Saturday, and has since used it to praise politicians, promote News Corp. properties and offer his musings about England’s work ethic. He had already gained nearly 88,000 followers as of yetserday morning. As Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, surged in Iowa

polls, Murdoch tweeted Monday night: “Can’t resist this tweet, but all Iowans think about Rick Santorum. Only candidate with genuine big vision for country.” On Sunday he had tweeted: “Good to see Santorum surging in Iowa. Regardless of policies, all debates showed principles, consistency and humility like no other.”

On Saturday, Murdoch put in a plug for another Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, as well as one of his own newspapers: “Great oped in [Wall Street Journal] today on Ron Paul.

Huge appeal of libertarian message.”

Just before his Monday tweet urging Iowans to consider Santorum, Murdoch insulted Beck, who scored strong ratings for Murdoch’s Fox News before they began to slide and he departed to start his own online news network. The insult came amid Murdoch’s praise for “The Five,” the talk show that replaced Beck’s on Fox News.

“Got to watch Foxnews at 5 EST. Liberal Bob Beckel and team great replacement for Beck and much more fun.” Murdoch has already had to pull back from one tweet. He tweeted, “Maybe Brits have too many holidays

for broke country!” before deleting the comment after a slew of complaints from fellow tweeters.

Murdoch is a naturalized US citizen who was born in Australia. The conservative CEO offered praise for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who switched to the Republican party to run for office and then left it, calling him “New York’s best mayor in memory!” He also had kind words for Democratic President Barack Obama: “Obama decision on terrorist detention very courageous - and dead right!” he wrote. Murdoch also offered

his review of Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs,” a book for which he was interviewed. “Steve Jobs biog interesting but unfair,” he wrote. “Family must hate.” Of course, Murdoch may not like what the book says about him.

Isaacson wrote that Jobs bluntly told Murdoch, “You’re blowing it with Fox News,” and called it an “incredibly destructive force force in our society.”

Murdoch, 80, also shared his New Year’s resolutions with the Twitterverse: “My resolutions, try to maintain humility and always curiosity. And of course diet!” — Reuters

LA relieved after arson spree suspect held ‘Our long four-day nightmare is over’

WASHINGTON: In this photo provided by the Pierce Co. Sheriff’s Dept., Pierce County Sgt. Nick Hausner, right, looks on as FBI SWAT team members load the body of Benjamin Colton Barnes into a vehicle Monday, at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. — AP

Gunman’s body found after US park ranger killed MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK: Police found yesterday the body of an Iraq war veteran suspected of killing a US national park ranger, saying it appeared he died of exposure after fleeing into the forest. A manhunt had been underway for 24-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, following the New Year’s Day shooting in snow-covered Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. His body was found in a river called Paradise Creek, wearing only a T-shirt, jeans, and one shoe-and there appeared to be no external wounds, suggesting he likely died from exposure, police said.

“He appears to have not been the victim of any type of violence other than the weather,” said Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff ’s Department. The gunman allegedly killed 34-year-old ranger Margaret Anderson with a high-powered assault rifle after she set up a roadblock to corral the suspect who had sped away from an earlier traffic stop.

The mother-of-two, whose husband is also a ranger, had no chance, the police spokesman said. “If I was sitting in that car or any one of us here, we’d be dead.

There was nothing she could have done.

There’s no speculation on that,” he told reporters at the entrance to the park.A manhunt was launched immediately after the shooting, but it was scaled back overnight as the dark and wintry conditions made it difficult to search the 368square mile national park in Washington state, south of Seattle. Some 200 police and officials had resumed their manhunt at first light Monday, searching the park for the “armed and dangerous” suspect.His body was eventually found above Narada Falls, a popular and scenic

waterfall only about 1-1.5 miles from the site of the shooting “as the crow flies,” said chief ranger Chuck Young.

Despite his military training, Barnes appeared to have boxed himself in shortly after the shooting, leaving himself no route to escape before nightfall and subzero temperatures set in.

“He put himself into a position where he wasn’t going to get out of. They had containment on both ends of the valley.

If he was still moving he wasn’t going to get out,” said Troyer.

All weapons have been recovered, and no shots were fired by anyone other than the suspect, officials said. Barnes suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Seattle Times, which linked him to another shooting earlier Sunday in which four people were injured.

He was believed to have advanced survival and wilderness skills. A photo released by police shows him with a tattooed bare torso brandishing two large guns. The Seattle Times said he tried to commit suicide in January 2011. A car with weapons, body armor, and survivalist gear was discovered, and a park spokeswoman said before his body was found that Barnes appeared “to be somebody who has some good knowledge of surviving and the wilderness.” According to local media outlet KOMO News, Barnes was also believed to be connected to a shooting earlier Sunday that injured four in Skyway, a community approximately 10 miles southeast of Seattle.

A popular destination for hikers and outdoors enthusiasts, Mount Rainier National Park boasts miles of hiking trails offering spectacular vistas of the 14,411foot peak. — AFP

Mother of murdered UK black teen blasts police LONDON: The mother of murdered black British teenager Stephen Lawrence says she is still angry with the police for dragging her family through nearly two decades of agony.

Yesterday a jury found two white men guilty of murdering Lawrence in a brutal racist stabbing that shocked Britain almost two decades ago.

Efforts to prosecute Lawrence’s killers were marred by bungled evidence-gathering and, as a later inquiry determined, racist attitudes within the police. Following the verdict Lawrence’s mother Doreen said she was relieved that the men “can no longer think that they can murder and get away with it.”

A jury found two white men guilty of murdering a black teenager in a brutal racist stabbing that shocked Britain almost two decades ago. Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were convicted yesterday of killing Stephen Lawrence as he waited for a bus in 1993. The pair will be sentenced Wednesday. The case - which has seen multiple court cases but no convictions until now - led to strong criticism of London’s Metropolitan Police and resulted in an investigation that found that the force was “institutionally racist”. Michael Mansfield, who represented Lawrence’s parents, praised the family’s “huge dignity and persistence”

they had shown in seeking justice.

Lawrence’s mother Doreen said she was no longer angry but the sadness remained.

“In the early days I would be angry, definitely, but somehow I don’t feel that anger any more,” she said in a prerecorded interview with Sky Television News. “The sadness is always there but the anger is not,” she said, adding that anger “eats away at you and is not a healthy thing.”

Dobson and Norris both pleaded innocent. When the verdict was announced yesterday, Dobson said: “You have condemned an innocent man here, I hope you can live with yourselves.” Lawrence, 18, was fatally stabbed late on the night of April 22, 1993, as he waited for a bus in southeast London by a gang of white men.

His companion Duwayne Brooks said one of the attackers called out racist insults as he approched.

Norris, Dobson, and others were identified as suspects by police days after the murder but faulty handling of evidence meant prosecutors were unable to convict them until now. Two men, Neil Accourt and Luke Knight, were charged with Lawrence’s murder in June 1993, but were never successfully prosecuted. The case has hinged on whether Lawrence’s killers were motivated by racism. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles chiefs voiced relief Monday after a man alleged to have mounted a four-day arson spree in Hollywood over New Year was arrested, and charged along with another suspect. Authorities said the public should remain vigilant, but said they believe the latest arrest had put an end to the string of more than 50 deliberately-set blazes over four nights.

“Our long four-day nightmare is over,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the LA Board of Supervisors representing West Hollywood. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since last week, and I’m looking forward to one tonight.”

The suspect, named as 55-year-old Alejandro Pineta, was arrested in the early hours, following the detention of a 22-year-old, identified as Samuel Arrington, shortly after the attacks started last week.

The two men were both charged with arson and held in custody, Pineta in lieu of $50,000 bail and Arrington in lieu of $75,000, said Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) commander Michael Moriarty.

In all the 53 deliberately-set fires in Hollywood and surrounding parts of Los Angeles caused more than $2 million in damage, added an LA Fire Department spokesman, Jaime Moore. LAPD chief Charlie Beck said: “I feel very good that we’ve got the right guy .. The suspect had the right stuff in his van, and we are very confident we found our man.”

LA County Sheriff Lee Baca also voiced confidence that the arrest would put a stop to the attacks. “The residents of Hollywood and the city of West Hollywood may now resume the peace and safety they deserve ... A serial arsonist, I believe, has been caught. My partner in chief Charlie Beck and I are relieved,” he said.

The announcements came after 16 new fires during a roughly two-hour period in the early hours of Monday, following nearly 40 over the previous three nights. “To date, these fires have caused well in excess of $2 million in damage to vehicles and to structures,” Moore said, adding: “Fortunately there has

been no loss of life.”

Federal investigators have been called in to help the probe of the string of arson attacks, one of the worst crime sprees in the city since the 1992 race riots. A suspect caught on camera after a blaze in a parking lot near Hollywood’s main tourist area was believed to be in his late 20s to early 30s, with a receding

detained, with a ponytail and smiling as officers discussed what to do with him.

Most of the arson attacks targeted cars either outside homes on in car ports under buildings, which then caught alight. No serious injuries have so far been reported, although one firefighter was injured.

Damaged property included a Hollywood

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jaime Moore, right, addresses the media regarding the arrest of a man in connection with dozens of suspected arson attacks that destroyed parked cars, scorched buildings and rattled much of the nation’s second-largest city over the New Yearís weekend, Monday in Los Angeles. — AP hairline and dark hair worn in a ponytail, police had said.

Amateur video caught the blaze in the basement of the Hollywood and Highland center, near Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where tourists flock to see celebrity handprints and the Walk of Fame stars. The suspect arrested in the early hours of Monday was shown in news footage as he was being

Hills home where singer Jim Morrison of The Doors-whose hits include “Light My Fire”-once lived, and where he wrote the legendary band’s “Love Street.”

City and county officials, along with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF), posted a reward of $60,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible. — AFP

NYC police investigate possible bias crimes NEW YORK: Police kept watch over a globally prominent Islamic cultural center that was firebombed as they investigated other possibly linked attacks that also could be bias crimes.

Although structural damage to the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation building was minimal, the incident Sunday has left the community emotionally shaken, said its assistant imam, Maan AlSahlani.

On Sunday evening, the entrance to the foundation in Queens was struck by two Molotov cocktails, the types of bombs usually made of glass bottles filled with flammable

liquid and corked with rags. A private house that is used as a Hindu house of worship also was hit. A videotape from a surveillance camera shows a car pulling up to the house Sunday night. Someone suddenly appears, lifts his right arm high and hurls a lit object that strikes the house and explodes into flames.

Besides the private house and the Islamic center, the other targets in the suspected arson attacks were a corner store and another house. No one was injured in any of the incidents and no suspects have been arrested. Police have released a

SANTIAGO: A man rests amid the debris of his house, destroyed by a massive forest fire affecting the commune of Quillon in southern Chile’s Bio Bio region, some 500 km south of Santiago. A new forest fire has claimed one life in southern Chile just hours after firefighters tamed a massive blaze that consumed 13,000 hectares in Patagonia, officials said Monday. — AFP

sketch of a suspect in the bombing of the Hindu worship site. With New York Police Department cruisers parked outside and yellow police tape fluttering, Al-Sahlani met Monday with a dozen other clerics from the city’s Muslim community. A news conference was planned for Tuesday. Near a blackened, charred spot on the concrete overhang of the Islamic foundation’s main entrance, the front gates remained wide open to the street on Monday, and anyone could walk in to worship.

“This is America, and we must continue to love one another,” Al-Sahlani, standing in flowing ritual robes in the main prayer hall, said with a smile. On Sunday, about 80 faithful had gathered inside for dinner when a firebomb struck at 8:44 p.m. A second one followed, striking a banner for the center’s school over the door. There was no visible damage there.

“We were very surprised,” AlSahlani said. “ This has never happened here before.” The decades-old foundation is among the foremost Muslim institutions in New York, with branches around the world.

Named for one of the most influential Shiite scholars, it promotes work in development, human rights and minority rights as a general consultant to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

The sprawling complex has two minarets rising over an expressway that leads to the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Visitors over the years have included Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and various New York mayors and international diplomats, Al-Sahlani said. Besides a prayer hall, library, kitchen and other facilities, the center has a full, accred-

ited school that resumes Tuesday after holiday break.

Some parents were concerned about the attack, the imam said.

In releasing the security videotape of the bombed private home, police said they were looking for a man, 25 to 30 years old, about 5-foot-8 and weighing about 200 pounds.

They said he fled the scene in a light-colored, four-door sedan with a sunroof. They were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Other targeted locations were more substantially damaged. Police said at least three firebombs were thrown, though some didn’t explode. The first hit was at 8 p.m., when a bottle was thrown at a counter at a corner convenience store, but the damage wasn’t extensive.

Ten minutes later, a possible firebomb smashed through the glass at a nearby home, setting it on fire and badly damaging it.

About half an hour later, the Islamic center was targeted. And at 10:14 pm, two bottles were thrown at the house police said was used for Hindu worship services, causing minimal fire damage.

Police also were investigating a possible firebombing Sunday night in Elmont, in Nassau County, just east of Queens. A homeowner reported hearing glass shattering and smelling gasoline and found a broken glass bottle on his porch, county police said.

It’s unclear if the attacks are related. Political leaders spoke out against the attacks. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said NYPD hate crimes unit detectives were working with precinct detectives and looking into whether there were any connections to incidents outside the city. — AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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

Putin dreams of sweeping Eurasian Union ALMATY: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a vision for a Soviet Union-lite he hopes will become a new Moscow-led global powerhouse.

But, his planned Eurasian Union won’t be grounded in ideology: This time it’s about trade. The concept of regional economic integration may be losing some of its allure in Europe, where a debt crisis is threatening the existence of the eurozone. But some countries across the former Soviet Union, still struggling economically 20 years after becoming independent, are embracing Putin’s grand ambition.

Russia has moved one step toward this goal under an agreement with former fellow Soviet republics Belarus and Kazakhstan that as of Sunday allows the free movement of goods and capital across their common borders. As Putin envisions it, the stillhypothetical union will eventually stretch from the eastern fringes of Central Europe to the Pacific Coast and south to the rugged Pamir Mountains abutting Afghanistan.

The drive to somehow reform at least a husk of the Soviet Union has been around since 1991. The

Commonwealth of Independent States, which loosely brings together 11 of the original 15 republics, was an early attempt that never amounted to much more than a glorified alumni club. It was Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev who first raised the notion of an Eurasian Union in the early 1990s, but the idea was too premature for nations busy forging their own delicate statehoods. Putin was president from 2000 to 2008 and intends to regain that position in a March election. A wave of protests that began after a fraud-tainted parliamentary election in December is posing the first serious challenge to Putin’s authority, but his hold on power still seems secure.

In anticipation of a new six-year term as president, Putin has made forming a Eurasian Union by 2015 a foreign policy priority. He is promoting the union as necessary for Russia and its neighbors to compete in the modern global economy. His broader goal is to restore some of Moscow’s economic and political clout across former Soviet space and thus strengthen Russia’s position in the world.

If the poorer prospective members are clamoring for Putin’s union so as to become Moscow’s financial beneficiaries, as was the case under the Soviet Union, they may be sorely disappointed. Russia has in recent years taken a more pragmatic line when extending its largesse and that stance is expected to remain largely unchanged.

“Some years ago, Russia came to the position that assistance to former Soviet republics should be monetized,” said Ivan Safranchuk, an associate professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Safranchuk said this meant that Moscow issued lines of credit and then sold countries oil, gas, electricity and military hardware at discount prices.

That strategy has brought Russia closer to gaining control over energy infrastructure in Ukraine, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. While giving Moscow economic leverage over its former subjects, this approach has precluded the exorbitant spending pressure that helped bankrupt the Soviet Union.

The agreement to form a “common economic space” that went into effect

Jan 1 gives Russia up to 30 million new customers in Belarus and Kazakhstan, while these countries gain greater access to Russia’s market of more than 140 million people. The risk to Russian manufacturers is the relatively lower cost of production in the other two countries, which could potentially drive them out of business. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both economically struggling nations in Central Asia, may be the next to join the free trade club. Kyrgyzstan’s former President Roza Otunbayeva said before stepping down in late October that she saw her nation’s fate as inevitably linked with the Eurasian Union. “The natural flow of the work force, services and movement of capital is of course all directed to Russia and Kazakhstan,” she said.

Current President Almazbek Atambayev has made it clear he sees the fate of Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a US air base that acts as a crucial transportation hub for military operations in Afghanistan, as very much tied to Russia. Neighboring Tajikistan, whose long and porous border with Afghanistan keeps many a security

analyst awake at night, has proven a more recalcitrant partner and was recently embroiled in an unseemly diplomatic spat with Russia. But with more than an estimated 1 million Tajik migrants currently working in Russia, the lure of a border-free future could be too compelling to refuse.

Other potential members of the Eurasian Union in the Kremlin’s sights appear more wary about what this means for their sovereignty. Ukraine, which has flirted uncertainly with membership, fears it could further jeopardize its future economic and political engagement with Western Europe. Others, such as Armenia, have proven positively cool on the idea, while Georgia under President Mikheil Saakashvili will likely always be hostile to anything coming out of Moscow.

Dmitr y Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, cautioned against talking up the prospect of the Eurasian Union as a political project. “I see no absolutely no wish on behalf of the Kazakhstani leadership to give up their sovereignty, and I see the Belarusian people not wishing to become part of Russia,” he said. — AP

German president faces resignation calls ‘Wulff’s credibility hit by this plethora of mistakes’

RABAT: Moroccan King Mohammed VI (C) and crown prince Moulay Hassan pose for a family picture of the new government led by moderate Islamist Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane (R) yesterday at royal palace in Rabat. The Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) becomes the first Islamist party to run government in the Arab world’s oldest monarchy after winning the most seats in the November 25 election. — AFP

Moroccan king names Islamist-led cabinet RABAT: King Mohammed yesterday awarded cabinet posts to moderate Islamists for the first time yesterday, giving the foreign, justice and social affairs ministries to the party that came first in a November election, the official MAP news agency said. Abdelilah Benkirane, leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), was earlier designated by the king as prime minister to head a power-sharing cabinet after his party won 27 percent of parliamentary seats in the election.

The king brought forward the election by nearly a year in an effort to pre-empt a popular revolt similar to ones that have rocked the Arab world, toppling four longtime ruling autocrats.

King Mohammed hopes fresh faces at the top of government, and at least the appearance of change, will deflate popular pressure for a more revolutionary transformation inspired by the Arab uprisings.

Benkirane has forged an alliance with two conservative parties close to the monarchy-Istiqlal (Independence), which came second, and the Popular Movement-as well as the smaller leftwing Progress and Socialism Party.

Istiqlal member Nizar Baraka was named Finance and Economy Minister, replacing Salaheddine Mezouar whose party, the National Rally of Independents, opted to go into opposition.

PJD member Mohamed Najib Boulif, who has initially been strongly touted for Baraka’s role, was named minister in charge of general affairs and gover-

nance, putting him in charge of thorny issues such as reforming the burdensome subsidies system.

Mustafa Ramid, a prominent lawyer and human right activist from PJD who has often been critical of the security services’ record, was named Minister of Justice and Public Freedoms. Bassima Hakkaoui of the PJD took over the social and women’s affairs ministry as the only woman in the 31-member cabinet.

Saad-Eddine El-Othmani, another PJD member, was appointed foreign minister while Popular Movement leader Mohand Laenser was appointed interior minister.

A reform programme presented by the palace aims to reduce the king’s sweeping powers in favour of elected officials in response to protests pressing mainly for a British or Spanish-style constitutional monarchy, an independent judiciary and improved curbs on corruption.

The reforms won overwhelming support in a July 1 referendum but protests have continued. The new charter subjects any government appointment to the king’s approval. The new charter was widely expected to limit interference by the royal court in appointments of personnel in justice, religious affairs, interior, defence, foreign affairs and the general secretariat, a legal adviser to the government.

Non-party figures close to the king were named in charge of defence, the general secretariat, religious affairs and the agriculture and fisheries ministry. — Reuters

BERLIN: German President Christian Wulff, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, faced resignation calls yesterday over a home loan scandal and allegations he tried to hush up the story. Wulff, 52, has been hit by accusations that he intervened to try to stop revelations by the mass circulation newspaper Bild last month over a personal loan he received from the wife of a tycoon friend.

He left a furious message on the voicemail of Bild’s powerful editor Kai Diekmann threatening legal action and also reportedly contacted the chief executive of Bild’s publishing house Axel Springer and its main shareholder.

Amid rising anger in the country at a perceived attack on the freedom of the press, the Financial Times Deutschland said he should step down from his office. “On its own, it could perhaps be dismissed as a trifling matter, but there have been so many such trifles for Christian Wulff recently that it is becoming a worrying and slowly unbearable whole,” the paper wrote.

“Everything taken together, it’s slowly becoming too much ... his credibility has been hit by this plethora of mistakes. A man who is dragging around such a burden can no longer remain president,” the FTD said. The influential Sueddeutsche Zeitung chimed in, saying in an editorial: “This abuse of press freedom demonstrates that the job of president is too big for Wulff.”

In a hastily called four-minute television statement in December, Wulff tried to draw a line under the scandal, admitting he should have disclosed to Lower Saxony lawmakers a loan from the wife of business leader Egon Geerkens.

The opposition Greens had asked him whether he had “business ties” with Geerkens or a firm with which Geerkens had dealings.

He denied any such a relationship despite having accepted the loan at an advantageous interest rate from Geerkens’s wife Edith to buy a home. He made no mention of that arrangement. Merkel has thus far defended Wulff, but

the Weser-Kurier regional daily said: “At some stage, the chancellor will have to make the cold calculation that his presence in the office is harming her and the country more than a second resignation.”

Germany was rocked in May 2010 when then president Horst Koehler resigned suddenly, after appearing to suggest German troops abroad were defending Berlin’s economic interests.

BERLIN: Picture taken on August 6, 2010 shows German President Christian Wulff and his wife Bettina outside Bellevue Palace in Berlin. Wulff has been hit by accusations that he intervened to try to stop revelations by the mass circulation newspaper Bild last month over a personal loan he received from the wife of a tycoon friend. — AFP Merkel invested a great deal of political capital to push through Wulff’s subsequent election, which turned into a debacle for her, as members of her own coalition broke ranks and refused to vote for him in parliament.

Wulff ’s spokeswoman said on Monday the president valued the freedom of the media highly and had sought to be transparent.

But the embattled president also found support from his power base draining away,

anti-mafia court opens SOFIA: A special Bulgarian court set up to tackle cases of organised crime opened yesterday after repeated calls from Brussels for swifter sentences in antimafia trials, its chairman Georgy Ushev said.

The court-which begins operations after a sixmonth delay-will tackle organised crime cases such as kidnappings, money-laundering, EU funds fraud and human trafficking. Between 70 to 80 cases are expected to be transferred to the tribunal in the coming days, with the number expected to rise to 300 a year as prosecutors conclude investigations and bring more cases to court, Ushev told national radio.

The new tribunal was set up as a key instrument in Bulgaria’s crime-busting strategy following severe criticism by the European Commission of its failure to wrap up trials and put well-known mafia bosses behind bars. — AFP

Britain battered by storms LONDON: Fierce winter storms battered Britain yesterday, leaving one man dead and disrupting traffic at Scottish airports and the English Channel port of Dover. A van driver in his 50s died after his stationary vehicle was crushed by a falling oak tree in Tunbridge Wells, a town southeast of London, police said. A male passenger escaped unharmed.

A bus driver in Surrey, southeast England, was seriously injured when a tree also fell onto his vehicle.

Flights from Scotland’s biggest airport, Glasgow, were heavily disrupted and train operators were forced to run a reduced service between London and Scottish cities as parts of Scotland were whipped by winds of more than 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour).

Police in the Glasgow area warned drivers returning to work after the New Year

break to avoid going out on the road after several trucks overturned. The busy port of Dover meanwhile closed for several hours because high winds made it too dangerous for ferries to sail to Calais in northern France, port authorities said.

The renowned Epsom racecourse, home of the English Derby, also in Surrey, was evacuated after part of the grandstand roof blew off, although there were no spectators there at the time. A key road bridge between Essex and Kent in southern England was closed because of high winds and parts of Wales also saw gusts of more than 90 mph in the early hours.

The M et O ffice said “wet and ver y windy weather ” would affec t Britain throughout yesterday as a spell of unseasonably mild weather over the Christmas period gave way to the far harsher winter conditions. — AFP

with the deputy head of his party in Lower Saxony, which Wulff used to govern, distancing himself from the president.

“Many party friends have called me. All expressed disappointment over Wulff ’s behaviour,” Karl-Heinz Klare told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung regional daily.

Meanwhile, Hubertus Heil, the deputy parliamentary leader of the opposition Social

LONDON: A woman struggles with an umbrella as high winds and rain sweep the capital city of London, yesterday. — AP

Democrats, said his “personal confidence” in Wulff had been “shaken” by the affair. The German president is head of state and plays a mainly ceremonial role but is also expected to weigh in on moral issues facing the nation.

“The question as to whether Christian Wulff is a good or bad president has been answered with these latest revelations,” said Focus magazine on its website. “He isn’t one and he has never been one.” — AFP

South Sudan flashpoint town under government control JUBA: South Sudan’s army is in “full control” of a flashpoint town, after thousands of villagers fled into the bush to escape a marauding militia army in the world’s newest country, officials said yesterday. A column of some 6,000 armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe marched on the remote town of Pibor in troubled Jonglei state, home to the rival Murle people, who they blame for cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.

“Pibor is under the full control of the government, and the Lou Nuer have been ordered to return to their homes, and they are star ting to do so,” Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

Gunmen burned thatched huts and looted a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in the worst flare-up in a dispute that has left more than 1,000 dead in recent months and threatened to destabilise the fledgling nation. The government and the United Nations-which has warned the ethnic violence could lead to a “major tragedy”-were beefing up their forces in the area. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said “probably well over twenty thousand,” people had fled into the bush “running for their lives and looking for safety.”

Officials fear the fighting has left scores of people dead, while the UN has flown wounded to the capital Juba.

But Benjamin stressed that the violence of the cattle vendetta would be brought under control, saying that “South Sudan is not, and will not become, some kind of Somalia.”

Just one health clinic remains to provide healthcare for some 160,000 people in Pibor county, after Pibor hospital and a clinic at nearby Lekongol village run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres) were looted.

Parthesarathy Rajendran, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, warned that the longer people stay in the bush the “more serious it will become for people who are injured or sick.” “They fled in haste and have no food or water, some of them doubtless carrying wounds or injuries, and now they are on their own, hiding, beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance,” Rajendran said in a statement yesterday.

MSF has has temporarily suspended its operations after the clashes forced them to evacuate staff, but remains ready to provide “emergency care as soon as possible.” Ethnic violence, cattle raids and reprisal attacks in the vast eastern state left over 1,100 people dead and forced some 63,000 from their homes last year, according to UN reports based on local authorities and assessment teams.

Tit-for-tat cattle raiding is common in a grossly underdeveloped region awash with guns and left in ruins by decades of war with nor thern Sudanese forces, who fuelled conflict by backing proxy militia forces across the south. Despite disarmament effor ts, guns remain common in Jonglei, an isolated and swampy state about the size of Austria and Switzerland combined but with limited mud roads often impassable for months during heavy rains. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

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

Boycott, walkout mar Iraq parliament session BAGHDAD: Members of the Sunni Muslim-backed Iraqiya bloc boycotted Iraq’s parliament and cabinet yesterday, accusing Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s bloc of governing alone in a power-sharing coalition that was supposed to ease sectarian tensions.

The political turmoil that has stoked concern of renewed sectarian strife erupted as the last U.S. troops were leaving in mid-December, when Maliki sought the arrest of a Sunni vice president and asked parliament to remove Maliki’s Sunni deputy.

Iraq is still plagued by a lethal Sunni insurgency and Shi’ite militias nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Maliki’s moves against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq and a spate of bombings that have killed at least

72 people in mainly Shi’ite areas of Baghdad have only deepened the fears.

Cross-sectarian Iraqiya, which won the most seats in parliament in the 2010 election with heavy Sunni support, announced the boycott after accusing Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government of concentrating power.

“We are still refusing to go inside, boycotting the sessions,” Iraqiya lawmaker Nada Ibrahim said outside the chamber where parliament met for the first time since the crisis erupted.

“The whole Iraqiya bloc.” “There is no real power-sharing. Things have been governed by one group. This is not what we were waiting for in the new Iraq, democratic Iraq.”

Reporters are not allowed into the parliament chamber but a number of lawmakers from Iraqiya and other blocs said most Iraqiya members

were absent, although Iraqiya leader and prominent Sunni Osama alNujaifi presided as speaker.

The inclusion of Iraqiya in the governing coalition was considered crucial to prevent a slide back into the kind of sectarian violence that killed thousands and carried Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006-7.

Many Sunnis have complained of being sidelined in the political process since Saddam was ousted and majority Shi’ites took power.

Sunni-dominated provinces have pushed for more autonomy from the central government. But despite the angry rhetoric and sectarian overtones, Iraqi officials are work ing behind the scenes to cool tensions.

The blocs appear to have agreed in principle to hold a national conference this month to work out differences, and to let the courts deal with

allegations that Hashemi ran death squads.

All eight Iraqiya cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Rafie alEsawi, also skipped a cabinet meeting yesterday, Cabinet Secretary Ali al-Alaq said. “None of the Iraqiya ministers attended, and the cabinet decided to consider them ‘on leave’ and to appoint acting ministers until they join in again,” Alaq said.

Iraqiya lawmaker Wihda al-Jumaili said the boycott would continue until the government ended an arrest campaign against government opponents, transferred Hashemi’s case to a “neutral” province and met other demands.

“We are sure that he (Hashemi) is innocent. The constitution gives the right to every Iraqi citizen to have a fair and honest trial,” Jumaili said.

“And if the trial is held in Baghdad, it

won’t be a fair trial.”

The Iraqiya boycott failed to delay parliament, which had enough members for a quorum. “This is an important step which represents a respect for the constitution and a respect for the I raqi people’s interest,” said Adnan al-Shahmani, a member of Maliki’s State of Law bloc.

If the boycott continues, Maliki could turn to Kurdish lawmakers and Iraqiya dissidents to govern without the Sunni-backed bloc. Twelve lawmakers have left Iraqiya in recent weeks. In addition to the boycott, Kurdish lawmakers stormed out of the chamber, angry that a member of State of Law accused Iraq’s Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, of illegally harbouring Hashemi, who took refuge in semi-autonomous Kurdistan. The Kurds returned after a brief walkout. —Reuters

Egyptians vote in final phase of landmark polls Activists arrested for handing out flyers

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves to the crowd gathered for the opening of a research center in the West Bank city of Ramallah, yesterday. The chief Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators are set to meet in Jordan later yesterday with the goal of laying the groundwork for the resumption of peace talks. Negotiations have been stalled for more than a year. — AP

Jordan hosts Palestinians, Israelis in rare meeting AMMAN: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators gathered in the Jordanian capital yesterday for their first face-to-face meeting in more than 15 months, but both sides insisted fullblown talks remained some way off.

Israel’s chief negotiator Yitzhak Molcho, his Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and representatives of the Middle East peace quartet started their meeting at the foreign ministry in Amman, a Jordanian official said. Judeh was to hold a separate meeting with Molcho and Erekat, said ministry spokesman Mohammad Kayed.

“We do not want to raise expectations, but holding the meetings between the Palestinians and Israelis is a Jordanian interest first and foremost,” Judeh was quoted as saying by the government-owned Jordan Times yesterday. “Our objective is to bring them together and try to push for a breakthrough in the peace talks.”

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said yesterday the outcome of the meeting would soon be clear. “We will know today or in the coming two days,” he said, indicating that they were looking to find “the right foundation” to resume talks with Israel. “ This is a good thing and we hope Jordanian efforts work,” he was quoted as saying by Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency. Earlier this week, Israeli cabinet minister Dan Meridor said the fact that a meeting was taking place was “a positive development” but said that it did not in itself constitute a return to direct talks.

Erakat made the same point in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio. “This meeting will be devoted to discussing the possibility of making a breakthrough that could lead to the resumption of negotiations. Therefore, it will not mark the resumption of negotiations,” he said on Monday.

Direct talks ground to a halt in September 2010, when an Israeli freeze on new West Bank settlement construction expired and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to renew it. “We will see what the quartet’s position will be in this

meeting and if it is willing to seriously address the obstacles to the peace process and negotiations put by Israel,” PLO secretary general Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine yesterday.

Abbas met with US envoy David Hale in Ramallah late on Monday and told him there would be no resumption of talks unless Israel froze its settlement construction and accepted the 1967 borders as the basis for peace talks, a Palestinian official told AFP. The quartet, which comprises the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, has been trying to draw the two sides back to negotiations, asking them for comprehensive proposals on territory and security.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called Judeh on Tuesday and said Paris backed Amman’s attempt to bring the parties together. “France welcomes Jordan’s initiative,” said foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal. “All contributions to the peace process are welcome and the Jordanian initiative is very positive.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the two sides on Monday to “act boldly” in the search for for peace. “This direct exchange can help move us forward on the pathway proposed by the Quartet,” she said.

But Abed Rabbo said Washington wanted the talks to restart “without any pre-conditions or promises on settlement expansion.

“This does not fulfill the conditions for a resumption of negotiations nor does it enable any negotiations to succeed,” he said.

The meeting sparked an angry reaction from the Islamist Hamas movement which has controlled the Gaza Strip since ousting Abbas’s forces in 2007 and had been inching towards a reconciliation deal with the Palestinian leadership. “Going to such a meeting is only betting on failure,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Monday. The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also criticised the meeting, calling it a “fatal error” which would force the Palestinians back into another pointless waiting game. — AFP

Israel mulls building wall along Lebanon border METULLA: Israel is considering walling off part of its border with Lebanon, fearing sniper fire at newly-built apartment blocks in the frontier town of Metulla, military sources said yesterday. They said Israel was liaising with Lebanese and UN officials with a view to erecting an anti-sniper wall along a kilometre-long section of the frontier between Metulla and Kfarkila, a Lebanese village which at one point had a high-rise casino adjacent to the existing border fence.

Any final decision on such a project would be coordinated with officials in Lebanon, the sources said, in a move which would hopefully prevent sniper attacks during the construction work.

Although the two countries are technically in a state of war, Israeli and Lebanese military officials meet regularly in the company of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL to liaise on border issues.

The sources said Metulla farmers have

come under sniper fire in the past and frequently have stones hurled at them from the Lebanese side. The 79 kilometre (49 mile) frontier is festooned with flags of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, with whom Israel fought a bloody war in 2006, and por traits of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israel Defence Forces confirmed in a statement that it was looking at ways to beef up border security but did not give details. “The IDF is working with UNIFIL and the Lebanese army to examine various options to reduce friction,” it said.

UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh also confirmed that the subject was under discussion. “Given the sensitivity of the area, we consider it imperative to reach agreed solutions with both the sides on practical measures to ease sporadic tensions, minimize the scope for any possible misunderstandings and build confidence among the parties,” he told AFP yesterday. —AFP

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Egyptians trickled into polling stations yesterday in the final round of a landmark post-revolution election that has propelled Islamist movements onto the centre stage of politics. Around 15 million eligible voters have the chance to cast their ballots for the first parliament since an uprising overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February last year.

The third round of voting which takes place over two days in nine of the country’s 27 provinces is unlikely to change the outcome of the election, which has so far seen Egypt’s main Islamist parties claim a crushing victory. Small queues formed throughout the day outside polling stations which opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) and closed at 7:00 PM (1700 GMT ) in the Nile Delta, the south and the tourist resorts of South Sinai. Voters had to pass through metal detectors before entering polling stations in the Red Sea resort of Sharm elSheikh, site of Mubarak’s second residence. In the Nile Delta province of Qaliubiya, the turnout appeared low compared with the first rounds with only dozens standing outside a school waiting to vote, an AFP correspondent said.

“I’m incredibly happy today, I feel like my country is seeing a huge change,” said Amira, 25. In the southern city of Minya, with a large Coptic population, voters trickled into polling stations in a relaxed atmosphere, an AFP reporter said.

Turnout seemed to pick up slightly in several provinces after people left work.

The first two rounds of voting saw Islamist parties emerge as winners, mirroring a pattern in the region since the Arab Spring uprisings overthrew authoritarian secular regimes. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s best organised political movement which was widely expected to triumph in the polls, has claimed the lead through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

But the surge of Al-Nur, which represents the ultra-conservative Salafi brand of Islam, has raised fears among increasingly marginalised liberals about civil liberties and religious freedom.

Activists from the April 6 movement that helped launch the popular uprising that ousted Hosni

CAIRO: Egyptian voters choose candidates inside voting booths at a polling station in Minya, some 350 kms south of Cairo, during the third and final round of landmark parliamentary elections yesterday.— AFP Mubarak were arrested yesterday for handing out flyers calling for a rally on the revolt’s first anniversary.

Police detained four activists — Sherif Mohammed, Mahmud Zakaria, Mahmud Hossam and Hassan Hafez — as they were handing out flyers and sticking posters calling on Egyptians to take to the streets on January 25, the movement said.

“The continued treatment of political activists in this manner reminds us of the days before the revolution and shows that nothing has changed,” the group said. “This kind of behaviour will not stop the movement from continuing to call for a protest on January 25,” it said.

Activists and political parties have called for a mass rally on January 25 to continue to press for the demands of the revolution that toppled Mubarak and saw power handed to a military junta.

The Islamists’ victory has also raised concerns about the future of the country ’s lucrative tourism industry. “God willing, the FJP will win. They are good people. Tourism is their priority, they will never shut it down,” said one of the voters, Umm Mohammed, a government

employee whose husband works in tourism in Sharm el-Sheikh. Her friend, Umm Esraa, said “most FJP people here work in tourism so they would be the first to be scared for its future.”

The Islamists’ liberal rivalsincluding the country’s oldest party Al-Wafd and liberal coalition the Egyptian Bloc-have fared badly in the first two rounds of voting.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power when Mubarak was ousted, has repeatedly pointed to the elections as proof of its intention to hand the reins to a civilian government. But the vote has exposed a deepening rift among Egyptians.

Some see them as the first step to democratic rule, while others say the new parliament-whose function remains unclear-leaves control in the hands of the military. The SCAF has faced growing outrage over the actions of security forces against demonstrators for an immediate transition to civilian rule, which have resulted in dozens of deaths and been widely criticised as heavy-handed. The SCAF has also come under fire after raids on 17 offices of non-governmental

organisations, three of them USfunded, that prompted hints from Washington that it may review its huge aid programme. The ruling military has decided on a complex electoral system in which voters cast ballots for party lists, that will comprise two-thirds of parliament, and also for individual candidates for the remaining third of the lower house.

The procedure to elect a full assembly ends in February, after Egypt’s military ruler decreed on Sunday that the multi-phase elections for parliament’s consultative upper house, the Shura Council, will be held over a shorter period.

With the final elections wrapping up earlier, the two houses will now be able to move more swiftly towards writing a new constitution. The election for a new president is to take place by June. The final round of voting came as Mubarak was in the dock for a new trial hearing.

The ailing former president, now 83, could be sentenced to death if found guilty of involvement in the deaths of protesters during the uprising that overthrew him in February. —AFP

Libyan capital militia clash with Misrata fighters TRIPOLI: A gunfight erupted in central Tripoli yesterday, killing two, as a group of former rebels from Libya’s third biggest city Misrata clashed with ex-fighters from the capital, witnesses said.

The two groups of former rebels, who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, traded anti-aircraft and heavy machinegun fire as they fought in broad daylight in a Tripoli neighbourhood.

The fighting broke out between Al-Zawiyah and Al-Saidi streets near a building used as intelligence headquar ters by the former regime. AFP repor ters saw the entire neighbourhood surrounded by hundreds of former rebels amid bursts of gunfire.

Massud al-Khadar, a member of a militia from the neighbourhood, told AFP: “ Two of our (fighters) were killed in the clashes which began this morning.” He said the violence started when a rival militia from Misrata attacked his group based near the former intelligence building.

Ex-rebels, who remain organised in militia brigades, are visible in many parts of the capital, and some have taken control of former government buildings to use as headquarters. But witnesses told AFP earlier that forces linked to the new government’s interior ministry may have tried to retake the intelligence building on Tuesday, provoking a clash with the militia group occupying it.

Those repor ts could not be independently verified, and the interior ministry declined to comment, telling AFP it would speak about the clashes later yesterday.

Fathi Ali Bashagha, spokesman of the Misrata military council, played down the clashes. “Such incidents are expected as there are so many arms in the city,” Bashagha told AFP. “It is the fault of the government. There is no authority and the government has lost more than one month of time. It has done nothing” in resolving the security issues, he added. The head of the

TRIPOLI: Libyan gunmen roam along Zawiyah Street in the Libyan capital Tripoli yesterday, after a gun fight erupted killing two, as a group of former rebels from the western city of Misrata clashed with a unit of ex-fighters from the capital. — AFP security committee in the interior ministry, Colonel Mustafa Noah, told the official WAL news agency his ministr y ’s forces were surrounding the neighbourhood and “the situation was under control.”

He said “the clashes occurred

between former thwars (revolutionaries) of Al-Zawiya street and thwars from outside Tripoli. “An investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances and causes of the incident,” he added. —AFP

Moroccan king names Islamist-led cabinet

Page 9 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

Gunman’s body found after US park ranger killed Page 10

DARAA: In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Arab League monitors check Al-Sabil area, in Daraa, Syria, yesterday.

The Arab League called yesterday for an emergency meeting to discuss whether to withdraw the group’s monitors from Syria, where security forces are still killing protesters despite the observers’ presence, an Arab official said. — AP

Syrian rebels threaten to escalate attacks Rebels frustrated by Arab monitors’ lack of progress BEIRUT: The commander of Syria’s armed rebels threatened yesterday to step up attacks on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, saying he was frustrated with Arab League monitors’ lack of progress in ending a government crackdown on protests.

“If we feel they (the monitors) are still not serious in a few days, or at most within a week, we will take a decision which will surprise the regime and the whole world,” the head of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad, told Reuters in an interview.

The Arab League said on Monday its monitors in Syria were helping to stem bloodshed, 10 months into a popular uprising against Syria’s longtime ruling family, and asked for more time to do their job.

But since the team’s arrival last week, security forces have killed more than 132 people, according to a Reuters tally. Other activist groups say 390 has been killed. Eighteen security force personnel were killed in the southern town of Deraa as dozens of deserting soldiers returned fire on a police station that shot at them as they fled their posts, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Security forces also opened fire and killed two people at a protest in the central city of Hama, the same day that activists met monitors and said the team seemed powerless to help them.

The monitors are checking whether Syria is implementing an Arab League peace plan by pulling troops from flashpoint cities and releasing thousands detained in the revolt, among a series of Arab uprisings that have toppled four leaders in a year.

Rebel leader Asaad, whose FSA is an umbrella group of armed factions, said he was waiting for the League’s report on its first week before deciding whether to make a “transformative shift” that he said would mark a major escalation against the president’s security forces.

“Since they (the monitors) entered we had many more martyrs,” he said, speaking by telephone from his safe haven in southern Turkey. “Is it in the Syrian people’s interest to allow the massacre to continue?” A committee of Arab ministers will discuss the monitors’ preliminary report on Saturday, Arab League sources said. The League mission has already been plagued by controversy.

Protesters have complained about its small size and were appalled when the head of the mission suggested he was reassured by first impressions of Homs, one of the main centres of unrest. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said yesterday it was crucial that monitors were able to act independently. Protesters have complained that security forces regularly accompany monitors, making them difficult to approach.

“Do they truly have genuinely free access to information? We are waiting for the report they will produce in the coming days for more clarity,” Juppe said in an interview on TV news channel.

Activists who met the monitors in Hama yesterday said they doubted the monitors had freedom of movement. Mohammed Abul-Khair told Reuters he was among activists that met monitors without security escorts present, handing them details of detainees and suspected detention centres. The monitors said they had found it hard to meet activists until now, but appeared sympathetic, Abul-Khair said.

Others said the team seemed unprepared or unwilling, arguing that they had set up an office in a government- controlled area hard for activists to reach and complaining that many observers who visited them did not bring cameras or notepads.

“I don’t think they are sympathetic, I think they are afraid,” said activist Abu Faisal, also present at the meeting. “We wanted to take them to one of the narrow alleys where there had been a lot of shelling.

They wouldn’t go past the buildings where there were snipers.

“People here are getting shot. They are here to get the facts but they are cowards and too afraid to do it,” he said. Juppe said he was confident about the Arab League’s determination, but the United Nations could not stand idly by as more people died. Russia has continued to block decisive U.N. action on the issue, he said. —Reuters

6

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2011

LOCAL kuwait digest

Satire Wire

Cloned candidates

Fertile grounds

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij lection campaigns are underway and we have until Feb 2 to examine each candidate and assess the agenda they put forward. However, I can say that none of the current candidates are worthy of receiving our votes. Votes can be earned through tribal or sectarian allegiance but not due to clear policies that eventually translate into reform. The candidates contesting elections keep repeating the same old promises. They want to tackle corruption, work for the Kuwait’s benefit and its people as well as save Kuwait from political chaos. How and when do they plan to do it? Each of the more than 300 candidates contesting parliamentary membership should be asked the following questions: How are you going to eradicate corruption? How can you define corruption? What are your plans to achieve reform and work for what is best for national interest?

Unfortunately, all candidates, including independents and those representing political groups did not outline the main goals or an executable

E

The candidates contesting elections keep repeating the same old promises. They want to tackle corruption, work for the Kuwait’s benefit and its people as well as save Kuwait from political chaos.

How and when do they plan to do it? Each of the more than 300 candidates contesting parliamentary membership should be asked the following questions: How are you going to eradicate corruption?

How can you define corruption?

What are your plans to achieve reform and work for what is best for national interest? manifesto in election campaigns. All we hear are promises and proposals, without giving any steps about the goals they announce. This means that candidates depend mostly on popularity within tribal, familial and sectarian groups instead of presenting a clear agenda.

While voters are encouraged to make the right choices in the election process, I believe that the main responsibility of voters is to examine candidates. It’s not enough that a candidate has a good reputation or is supported by a major social group.

A voter should voice out what he/she looks forward to from future lawmakers. This so that candidates will be forced to incorporate their aspirations. The best interest of voters, not that of political group or individuals, should be the main goal of candidates’ focus. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Sawsan Kazak

sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

I kuwait digest

Good intentions are not enough

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadari very election season comes with distinctive fea- influence on the political process, en route to achievtures, that are usually directly connected with ing the desired change in approach to the managepolitical events that precede it. This rule has been ment of the state.

But the deteriorating situation in the state departseen during elections that follow a Parliamentary dissolution. That generally results following a political ment and society in Kuwait means that good inteninstigation in reaction to certain cases that are seen to tions are not enough to achieve change.

Electing new faces to Parliament does not necessarbe deserving of top priority. ily mean it will achieve a The atmosphere of quantum leap in the the 2012 elections are political process. still affected by the mulThe dissolution of the previous Changes in MPs haptimillion-dollar deposits scandal and the public Parliament happened following pened on numerous throughout condemnation that it unprecedented public pressure, led by occasions the history of democracy sparked, especially young citizens. They grew frustrated at here, but they brought among communities of relatively little change to youths. the spreading corruption in state departthe political approach.

The dissolution of the ments and lack of development. They I am not against electprevious Parliament happened following acted to gain influence in the political ing young political to Parliament, unprecedented public process by making it more in line with activists but the current situation pressure, led by young the demands and ambitions of citizens. does not need a change citizens. They grew frusin MPs as much as it trated at the spreading needs changes in political corruption in state departments and lack of development. They acted to projects. They should require candidates to have more gain influence in the political process by making it than just good intentions.

This is what voters need to keep in mind before they more in line with the demands and ambitions of citizens. Today, the same youth movements are calling to decide on a certain candidate to give their vote to. drive new faces into Parliament. They encouraged Voters want to elect young candidates, but they do not young citizens to nominate themselves for want to feel a little later that they made the wrong Parliamentary election so that they will have some choice. — Al-Rai

E

as the second phase of democracy’s destruction begun in Kuwait? Are plots being hatched to destroy it? Don’t ask me who they are. I personally don’t know them. I asked Saleh AlFadhal (a schoolmate) why he gave up working as an MP although he was in the peak of success. His answer was: when does the Parliament even work?

The first phase started with useless arguments that turned into fights. Then began mutual mudslinging citing dishonesty as if the state does not have enough honest people.

Political money and logistical support paved the way for every ordinary citizen opening daily newspapers and TV channels in the name of democracy and free speech. A ‘war of words’ began through different means of communications that turned filthy, with no respect shown to elders. Water and oil can never mix completely. This is the same with MPs and candidates. It is important to pass elections.

After listening to the charismatic speeches of candidates , I feel that the second phase of democracy’s destruction has begun from the inner circles!

There are candidates that put up a good show.

How are they thinking about nominating themselves to contest for such posts without having any real qualifications?

This is an insane thing to do. The attack carried out was not an accident. It was a well-planned move to turn the National Assembly into a comic show of sorts. Similar to incompetent candidates, there are hundreds of voters who are not serious about voting. Some will say, ‘this is freedom and it is everyone’s right to contest elections.’

Yes, he has the right to participate in sports, act and sing as well. Then why does he not represent the state in sports, acting or singing? That is because there is someone to tell him that our qualifications do not allow one to nominate themselves and protect the state and citizens from bad singers!

Representing the nation is not a joke.

It entails shouldering great responsibility. May Allah protect Kuwait from its enemies and protect its citizens. — Al-Anbaa

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kuwait digest

Improve weaknesses, focus on strengths

kuwait digest

Time goes by like a flash

Destroying democracy again

By Salem Al-Subaie

t has recently been reported by the Director of the Central Birth and Death Administration, at the Ministry of Health, Rashed Al-Azemi that Kuwait witnessed 55,732 births and 5,816 deaths in 2011.

Out of those births, 31,525 were Kuwaiti.

For such a small country, over 50,000 births seems like a very big number. There must be something in the country that is causing such high fertility. Is it the weather, with its 10 months of summer and two months of kinda-winter? Maybe it’s the amount of restaurants that are always open all the time. It could be the laidback lifestyle that is causing women to get pregnant in such high numbers than other countries?

Maybe it’s as simple as being in the water we are drinking or the air we are breathing? Whatever it is, the more the merrier as a growing population is better than a shrinking one; these babies are the future.

The even better news is that the battle of the sexes has almost evened out. Kuwait is notorious for having a larger female population than a male one.

For many years now the numbers always pointed to the fact that there were more Kuwaiti women than men. Out of the 31,525 Kuwaiti births the males totaled 15,635 and 15,890 were female; almost equal.

Maybe the trend is about to change and the men will eventually outnumber the women (too soon to tell).

The troubling figure comes when you compare the births with the deaths. There were almost 50,000 more births than deaths. I’m not saying I want more people to die or less babies to be born, but the number seems to be quite disproportionate.

What is going to happen 20 years down the line with 50,000 more births than deaths? It is going to get pretty crowded in Kuwait. I guess the issue now lies in providing for these future generations so that the quality of life only improves with the population growth and not the other way around.

By Fouad Al-Hashim few months ago, the entire world was busy with one subject “will computers be able to recognize the new year, or will they go back to 1999, and cause chaos in banks, airports, governments and six billion people living on the globe?!!

That was in the year 2000, but I said “a few months ago” because time went by like a flash. The months I am talking about are now 12 years...!! The globe in the fifties and sixties was moving at the speed of a bicycle, and now uses an 18 cylinder Bugatti! None of NASA’s scientists or any other agency confirmed that the speed of time has increased, so why are we feeling that the months are flying by faster than air kisses?!

Imam Ali once said, while commenting on this subject, “there will be a time when years will go by like months and months like weeks and weeks like days”.

Here we are in the year 2012, and we did not yet get used to writing the number of last year which was 2011!! In fact I personally, still do not believe that the years 2006, 2007 or 2008 passed by and their days are over until we reached this new number!!

A

The age of a human being in this life, no matter how boastful he gets, is no more than the age of a fly egg or even larva compared to the age of the earth, skies, planets and moons! The human being does not want to admit that he lives on earth for just one thousand months, maybe a little more or less, but he lives under the ground in a dark grave for tens of thousands of years. The evidence is that humans who lived on the European continent 100,000 years ago are still buried in their graves. Only their skulls and tail bones, which are stronger than granite according to orthopedic doctors, remain. They may need half of million years to disappear while under the soil! I was in Sulaibikhat Cemetery ten years ago to recite for our dead the verse of the Quran that starts our daily prayers (Al-Fateha). My attention was drawn to the lines of graves that reached the cemetery fence!! The same night, I met with an old Municipal Council member and I asked “the cemetery is full. Are you going to open a new one”?! The man replied “do not worry. We added 3 km to the current area and that will be enough for us all”! — Al-Watan

kuwait digest

2006 to 2011!

By Dr Hassan Abdullah Jouhar drastic difference can be easily detected between 2006 and 2011. It’s a period during which three parliaments were elected successively. In the 2003 parliament, the whole nation revolted, demanding political reform by reducing the number of electoral constituencies - from 25 to five in a public campaign titled ‘We Want Them Five.’

People refused the government’s manipulation of this issue and staged demonstrations that resulted in the Cabinet’s resignation. It was considered a great democratic victory leading to the 2006 parliamentary elections that opposition MPs won at the expense of other pro-government ones who came second.

The factors were still the same in 2011 with public demands or real-life political acceleration of tension.

A

Once more, a majority of the Kuwaiti people refused to the move to write off the grilling motion filed against the PM and went out to streets in protest against the Cabinet and the Parliament shouting slogans like ‘down with bribe payers and receivers!’

Now we are starting a new era under a new PM. In a similar atmosphere people demanded reducing the number of electoral constituencies. All political powers with different ideologies - Islamists, youth groups, NGOs and student unions were returned to the streets demanding reform as if the same event took place identically within a few years. Reviewing both images of the 2006 and the 2011 experiences one needs to ask : What is the difference? Who rallied up at the Irada Square in 2006 and considered betrayal and eccentric in 2011? — Aljarida

By Lt Gen (rtd) Adel Al-Ibrahim eciding the style of work in a reorganization of the government, like issues presented by the Prime Minister, is considered an important factor in achieving the acceptance and support of the public.

The government, in its new method, is working on opening several files and trying to find solutions as its priority. The worries of the citizens and expatriates in meeting their immediate needs are linked to the work style adopted by the government. Organization of government bodies must be at the top of the priorities of the new government.

Government body dealings with citizens reflects positive or negative effects of government policy.

Government officials, starting with the minister and then high ranking officials in each ministry, must be able to relate to the worries of the citizens. They should not simply sit in their office where no one can reach them except through someone who knows them personally, or an employee who will grant them official access.

The improvement of government performance must start with knowing the points of weakness to improve, and the points of strength to focus on.

This is very important so that the government can reach and achieve its goals. This is not attainable except through a system of measuring the performance of establishments, a system which will aim to develop the performance of government organizations and improve the service level by facing the obstacles.

Some citizens meet officials and quickly solve their problems, but there are many citizens and expatriates who are helpless and suffering. They are victims of red tape, and this is due to bad management which prevents citizens and expatriates from their basic rights.

Such citizens and expatriates, who need some paperwork from government establishments, start asking “do you know anyone in this ministry or that ministry?” This reality cannot be changed overnight, but making some of the regulations I describe will help reduce the agony: • Adopt an open door policy to officials for all citizens and expatriates.

• Activate an office with a new scientific system to serve citizens.

• Decide on a day for each high ranking official in government organizations to meet with citizens and expatriates to solve their problems in cases where there is proof that they have been mistreated.

• Give clear instructions for decision makers and responsibility holders for them to organize the work of government organizations.

• Fight corruption in government organizations and declare the financial status of high ranking government officials.

• Make employees sign an undertaking not to trade directly or indirectly to keep employees away from any suspicious actions.

• The Council of Ministers should be a role model for all government organizations by each declaring their own financial status. — Al-Anbaa

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

local

Local spots attract tourists from abroad, residents Desert camping ‘most popular activity’

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Kuwait is not a touristic country, yet there is much to see and do in this small and beautiful country. There are many activities that can be enjoyed here whether it is summer or winter. In Kuwait, desert camping is the best and most popular activity. Most Kuwaitis usually build their own camp every year, and the family members gather in it. Sometimes young men build a camp to be their place of gathering instead of a diwaniya or cafe. Building a camp in the desert is an expensive matter and a big responsibility. Expatriates do not usually build their own camps, so they enjoy renting a camp or if their company organizes such an outing.

For those who do not like to have the headache of building a camp, Nuzha Tours is a local company offering a trip to the desert to

enjoy camping, and includes the opportunity to stay overnight.

The founder of this company aims to promote Kuwait in way that attracts both tourists from abroad and the residents in the country as well. “He travels a lot and his friends were always telling him they would like to come to Kuwait to see it, but many were afraid to do so. So he aimed to facilitate it for them. He established this company about seven years ago to prove that there are many places worth visiting in Kuwait,” said Fatma Offtada, Operations Manager of Nuzha Tours.

The government allows camps to be set up from November to the end of March every year.

During these five months, people can enjoy the peace and quiet of the desert environment.

“When we first started with the camp idea, we aimed to show life in Kuwait before the oil era.

EPA supports carpooling, filter use KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) presented a study to reduce vehicular pollution by installing catalytic convertors, as well as reducing traffic jam rates by encouraging carpooling, announced a top EPA official.

“The catalytic convertor will help cut down carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions by converting them into less toxic gases,” explained EPA General Director Dr Salah Al-Mudhhi in a recent statement.

He added that the study, handed over to the Supreme Council of Traffic, calls for introducing a system similar to the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes adopted by several other countries. It allocates lanes for the exclusive use of cars carrying more than one passenger. It will would encourage carpooling and reduce traffic jams.

The study also proposes a system to shift routes leading to and branching out from overcrowded areas during rush hours. — Al-Qabas

There was no electricity in the camp. We were using oil lamps to light it. Also there was no television or video games, and visitors only enjoyed the natural surroundings,” she told Kuwait Times. The desert camp consists of a big social tent, open tents, sleeping tents, a toilet, and a playground for football and volleyball. There is a stable with a horse in the camp in cooperation with Kuwait endurance team, games for children, a paintball area, and an archery range,” said Fatma. “Now we developed the camp and divided it into two parts. One part is for those who aim to stay in a natural desert environment. One is equipped with lights and modern games, as not all clients want to live a primitive life style in the camp. Clients can enjoy grilling at the specially prepared barbecue station. They can bring their own food to grill, or the camp can provide catering,” noted Fatma. For those

Eight injured in traffic accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 46-year-old Egyptian sustained a broken left shoulder, and a 34-year-old suffered bruises to his chest during a car accident near Jaber stadium. They were taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

A 19-year-old British expatriate suffered a broken nose due to a car accident on Damascus Street under Rawdha Bridge. He was taken to Amiri Hospital.

A 27-year-old Syrian and a 28-year-old Kuwaiti sustained several injuries during a car accident near the 360 Mall. They were taken to Farwaniya Hospital.

A 25-year-old Kuwaiti woman complained of pain in the back following a car accident near the The Scientific Center in Salmiya. She was taken to Mubarak Hospital.

A 19-year-old Kuwaiti sustained a broken right wrist following a car accident near the popular cafe in Sulaibkhat. He was taken to Sabah Hospital.

A 37-year-old Indian suffered a broken nose during a fight in Salwa. He was taken to Mubarak Hospital.

Joint marine exercise held

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: An exercise was carried out between the marine fire centers, medical emergency, the Coast Guard and Goodwill Projects Mabarra. The theme revolved around a ship on fire en route to Failaka Island with 145 passengers

on board. In the simulated exercise, the fire began in the engine room, creating panic and prompting some passengers to leap into the sea. Sea fire center boats rushed and picked them up before taking them to Salmiya Sea Rescue Center and handed them over to the Medical Contingency Department.

Fire Fighting boats tackled the fire while passengers were evacuated to fire boats. The drill was held according to plan. A field command was stationed on the site of the accident and a fixed command was stationed at Salmiya Sea Rescue Center. The participating teams held a meeting after the exercise was completed.

who are new to Kuwait, or have relatives or friends visiting them here, Nuzha Tours have programs other than the desert camp. “There are many places well worth visiting in Kuwait.

This is why we are organizing sightseeing tours to different historical places of interest. These include the Grand Mosque, Kuwait National Museum, the Tareq Rajab Museum, the Maritime Museum, Jihan House Islamic Museum and Dixon House,” she pointed out.

There are many more places to visit. “We also take visitors to Ahmadi, to see Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and the oil fields, to view the history of oil in Kuwait. Then there are the Kuwait Towers, the Arab Organization Headquarters, the Red Fort in Jahra, the Dhow Harbor in Sharq, and the old markets including Mubarakiya, the Friday Market, the Iranian Market, traditional cafÈs, the Sailor’s Village,

Entertainment City, Green Island, Sha’ab Park and other places. Sometimes we take them to visit Failaka Island, which is one of the most exciting places, and which most expatriates do not know about,” stated Fatma.

During the summer, Nuzha Tours offers yacht trips and tours around Kuwait Bay or to the different islands. “Our trips include diving and other activities. We also hold special occasions during the year. Some companies are visited by business partners and they want us to entertain them and show them the country, so they use our services,” she explained. Finally, Nuzha holds a camp for children during the spring and summer holidays. “We accept about 30 students in each camp. The program includes horse riding, educational tours and entertainment tours.

We take them to see Kuwait’s islands,” concluded Fatma.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

local

Armed robbery attempt thwarted in Khaitan Celebrity fails to save offender KUWAIT: A Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) employee was arrested in connection with injuring a pedestrian he failed to rob in Khaitan. During a routine patrol event, officers were alarmed at the sight of two men fighting exchanging blows in a stationary vehicle. One of the men called an ambulance before fleeing the scene.

Investigations revealed that the Asian victim was stabbed after exchanging heated words with the kidnapper. He bundled him into the car at knifepoint. The suspect reportedly posed as a police investigator and asked that the pedestrian produce his wallet.

However, the man refused to cooperate until he saw the badge. The suspect is currently being held pending legal action.

Syrian dies A Syrian man died of natural causes minutes before boarding a flight to his native country. Paramedics rushed to the Kuwait International Airport after it was reported that a man fell unconscious at the departure lounge. He was pronounced dead on the scene and his body was later referred to the Forensic Department. Police are waiting for the autopsy report to confirm the cause of death.

Illegal resident An Arab man tried to enlist the help of a veteran actress to escape trouble after being arrested for violating residenc y laws.

According to a news report, patrol officers escorted the man to the nearest police station after claiming to be working on renewing his residence permit. He asked officers

to contact his mother, reportedly, a wellknown celebrity. They asked her to arrive and sign an undertaking to release him from custody. It included a deadline within which the man would have to obtain a valid residence permit. Shor tly after the actress arrived, police learnt that she was not the detainee’s real mother. The man was detained.

Students’ row A student was hospitalized after suffering a serious head trauma in a fight that broke out in the Faculty of Commercial Studies building of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training(PAAET). A brawl took place between students who were registering for the next semester and representatives from the students’ union. It evolved from a verbal altercation which began after student representatives complained about the policies of the union. The victim was admitted to a local hospital with a head injury inflicted by a sharp object. Police launched an investigation into the case.

Kidnapped citizen returns Investigations into an abduction case reported shortly after New Year’s eve involving citizens whose kidnappers sought ransom, took a new turn when the victim’s brother reported that he had been released.

Officers at Al-Waha police station launched investigations after a citizen reported that his 40-year-old brother was kidnapped from a stable in Jahra by three citizens who asked for a ransom. The same citizen returned on Monday and asked for the case to be dis-

missed, stating that his brother had returned home. However, when police asked the victim to report, his brother claimed that he had been resting at home. Police summoned the victim for interrogation before dismissing the case.

Suicide case A domestic worker was pronounced dead at a Sulaibiya home recently, while preliminary investigations indicate that she had committed suicide by taking an overdose of medications. Police and paramedics headed to location where a citizen reportedly found the domestic worker lying in her room.

Paramedics performed a failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the 35-yearold Indian woman. Criminal investigators found empty bottles of prescription pills on the scene, based on which a suicide case was filed.

Murder attempt A domestic worker is currently in custody at Ardiya police station after she reportedly attempted to murder her sponsor’s family in a fit of rage. The Ethiopian housemaid reportedly lost her cool following a dispute with her Sri Lankan coworker, with whom she shared a room. The suspect used a kitchen knife to threaten her co-worker and her female employer tried to calm her down.

The female employer locked herself and her children in a room and called her husband.

He returned home within minutes and turned his maid over to police.

Investigations into the case are ongoing.

—Al-Watan, Al-Anbaa, Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s ambassador to Indonesia, Nasser Al-Enizy, met yesterday with Barjas Al-Barjas, Chairman of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society. During the meeting they discussed the latest updates regarding the construction of a school built by KRCS at the Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah village in Indonesia. Al-Enizy acknowledged during the meeting the numerous charity and aid activities that the KRCS has carried out in Indonesia. He said they are “highly appreciated by the Indonesian people and government”.

Armenia keen on developing ties with Kuwait YEREVAN: Armenian Vice-Premier and Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Kuwaiti Intergovernmental Commission Armen Gevorgyan held a meeting here last week with the newly appointed Kuwaiti Ambassador to Armenia, Basam Muhammad Al-Qabandi.

Given friendly political relations, Armenia is interested in developing economic cooperation with Kuwait as well.

Kuwait is the first of the Gulf countries Armenia is forming systematized relations, news agency TERT.AM of Armenia reported.

In October, the Armenian-Kuwaiti Intergovernmental Commission held its first meeting in Yerevan. Both countries have opened their embassies, which is a new impetus for bilateral relations development. A delegation of the Armenian Development Agency (ADA) visited Kuwait recently and held meetings, and

Kuwaiti businessmen visited Armenia to study opportunities for cooperation.

With respect to developing bilateral relations, the two sides stressed the importance of establishing direct air communication.

The two countries signed a relevant agreement at the Intergovernmental Commission’s maiden meeting. Food export from Armenia to Kuwait and cooperation in investment are highly promising. Specifically, Kuwaiti companies can be involved in Armenian programs, particularly infrastructure programs, added TERT.AM As Kuwait’s first ambassador to Armenia, Al-Qabandi last week submitted his credentials to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Al-Qabandi was counselor at Kuwait’s embassy in Belgium before his appointment as ambassador in Yerevan.— KUNA

Al-Zanki in China for refinery talks Yaqoub Al-Baqer

NBK volunteers in a group photo.

NBK holds camping campaign KUWAIT: Hundreds of volunteers joined National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)’s environmental awareness campaign to help keep Kuwait clean and safe during the winter camping season. Launched on December 2nd 2011, the awareness and cleanup campaign has covered

more than 100 camps so far.

This two-part campaign, which demonstrates NBK’s lasting commitment to the community, has attracted a remarkable number of volunteers interested in protecting the environment. NBK staff and volunteers cleaned up camps littered

with trash and other harmful waste and provided awareness initiatives to encourage campers to keep their areas clean. “The environment is one of our most precious resources and as part of our corporate social responsibility program, NBK aims to help keep the environment safe and

clean this camping season,” said Yaqoub Al-Baqer, NBK Public Relations Officer. NBK is an environment-friendly bank and has launched a range of initiatives including electricity conservation and paper recycling aimed at promoting environmental awareness.

Muscat hosts health ministers meeting MUSCAT: The Council of Ministers of Health of the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is to convene its 72nd conference in Muscat today, with focus on “countering spread of non-infectious disease”.

Health Ministry Advisor and member of the council’s executive authority Dr Ali bin Jaafar, in a press release, said the officials would discuss a detailed report on the executive bureau’s activities throughout the previous session. The agenda also includes items on the Manama bill on noninfectious disease, report and recommendations and follow up on the mechanisms to implement the Dubai declaration.

The official said the ministers would also discuss the memo on “a unified GCC framework for high-level representation at UN functions,” review activities in Gulf states as par t of the GCC campaign against non-infectious diseases, and consider a date for the second meeting of the GCC Committee on Countering non-infectious disease—KUNA

BEIJING: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Chief Executive Officer Farouk AlZanki is in Beijing to hold a series of meetings with Chinese oil executives, including on a planned a refinery and petrochemical complex in south China.

The $ 9 billion project with Asia’s top refiner Sinopec, potentially to be the largest Sino-foreign joint venture in China, involves a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery, a 1 million-ton-a-year ethylene plant and retail network in Guangdong Province.

KPC and Sinopec will each hold an equal 50 percent stake in the world-class integrated complex, to which Kuwait will be a sole crude oil supplier. With an eye to starting operations of the refinery part at the end of 2014, construction has already begun.

The Kuwaiti side seeks simultaneous startup of both refinery and ethylene plant, as profit-earning petrochemicals part is inseparable from the refinery part, Al-Zanki told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) during his Asian tour in October.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, regulates fuel prices at 20-30 percent below world market levels to curb inflation. Thus Chinese refineries often lose

money on their refining operations when crude oil prices are soaring.

KPC commits to the whole project as approved by the NDRC in March 2011, which includes both refinery and petrochemicals.

KPC also aims to gain larger share of the retail rights in Guangdong Province, particularly ownership of petrol stations, in order to ensure satisfactory economic returns from the project, Al-Zanki has said earlier.

With a population of some 100 million, Guangdong is China’s largest oil consuming province that creates a huge energy market. Securing domestic marketing rights will generate higher profitability of the downstream joint venture.

The joint venture is one of the pillars of KPC’s expansion strategy for 2030 and expectation for success is very high. Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), KPC’s international refining and market unit, has been representing Kuwait in lengthy negotiations with the Chinese side since 2005.

During his stay in Beijing before heading for Hanoi to discuss another refinery project in Vietnam, Al-Zanki is also scheduled to meet senior officials from major Chinese oil companies and sign agreements. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

local Al-Hammad denies funding Salafists KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt Rashid AlHammad denied reports that a major Kuwaiti charitable organization had paid a large sum of money to a Salafist Egyptian faction. He asserted that Kuwait only promotes charitable events that help the needy.

“Rumors about Kuwait financing Islamist groups in Egypt are completely false,” Al-Hammad told Kuwait’s Al-Rai daily. He asserted his government’s commitment to not interfere in Egypt’s politics.

The ambassador ’s statements come in response to a report released by a fact-finding committee formed by Egypt’s Ministry of Justice.

It found that Kuwait’s Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) paid nearly 114.5 billion Egyptian pounds to the Ansar Al-Sunna society. “The RIHS is an organization which cares for orphans in Kuwait and abroad,” Al-Hamad said.

“The charity it sends to Egypt has been collected by [Egypt’s] Ministry of Social Security in coordination with Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Cairo.” — Al-Rai

Fingerprint scanner detects 1,300 deportees in 9 months KUWAIT: One thousand three hundred expatriates who were previously deported from Kuwait were prevented from re-entering into the country using fake passports, according to figures released at the end of 2011.

The extensive security measures were facilitated by the fingerprint scanning system, which was launched in April 2011 at Kuwait International Airport.

Before Dec 31, 2011, 1,300 suspects with fake identities were sent back home, according to a report quoting a security source with knowledge of the subject.

The source, who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity, explained that the majority of deportees used passports forged in a very skillful manner and it would have been almost impossible for authorities to catch them without the fingerprint verification.

The Ministry of Interior plans to install similar systems at seaports and land border checkpoints, before launching a third phase that will permit police patrol vehicles to access the database of the fingerprint system.— Al-Qabas

Plans to launch solar power plant KUWAIT: Kuwait is about to launch its first solar power plant. The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) in collaboration with the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) will install the plant within the basic education faculty campus in Ardhiya, near to the Jaber Al-Ahmed International Stadium.

Engineer Tareq Shuaib, Manager of the Arab Bureau for Engineering Consultancies, said that the project is expected to cost KD 4.5 million and is due to conclude in June 2013.

It will be the first of its kind. The whole plant will be built over an area of 450,000 square meters, including 40,000 square meters of roofing and generating units.

He said the project is still experimental and includes the use of various solar power generation applications such as photoelectric solar cell panels, photoelectric films, water heaters and outdoor illumination posts.

These applications will help to save 20 per cent of the power consumed within the campus and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about two tons a year. —Al-Jarida

Court absolves student ‘cheat’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Administrative Court ruled in favor of a student who was accused of cheating, and ordered the Ministry of Education to mark the exam papers of a general secondary student again. The court ruled that notes found with the student did not belong to him and ordered them destroyed. Lawyer Fouziya Al-Sabah said the school did not give any evidence in the cheating incident. The supervisor who claimed the discovery of cheating did not inform the school director, and there were no witnesses to sign the report which was supposed to be written.

The lawyer said the student was extremely hurt due to this decision, and had to move to a school other than the one she spent her school year at. Meanwhile, the Criminal Court postponed the case of Mishref sewage station until the January 24 session to hear the testimony of the ninth suspect. Nine persons, including four expatriates, are accused of squandering KD 45 million of public funds due to negligence in maintenance.

Center lauds Amir for support to inventors KUWAIT: Dr. Omar Al-Bannai, Director of the Sabah AlAhmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity lauded here yesterday the support allocated by His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to local inventors and youths.

Al-Bannai said the center recently showcased a medical invention by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Rashdan. He designed a device that addresses problems caused by complications of cardiac catheterization operations.

The Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity aims to nurture Kuwaiti individuals who have exceptional abilities. The center is dedicated to facilitating the integration of knowledge and intelligence by sponsoring gifted and creative individuals. —KUNA

Shrimp prices remain high despite fishing extension

By Ben Garcia

Weather still suitable for shrimp fishing

KUWAIT: There has been no effect on the price of shrimps in Kuwait, even after the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) decided to extend the shrimp fishing season in the country until Feb 1. Originally, Kuwait was supposed to implement a compulsory ban on shrimp fishing, but the PAAAFR decided to preempt the implementation.

Jassem Al-Bader, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager for PAAAFR, confirmed that the ban was supposed to start on Jan 1, but delayed the ban until Feb 1.

The annual ban on shrimp fishing usually takes effect between Jan 1 to midAugust, and was introduced to help shrimp reproduce.

“The decision to extend the shrimp fishing season was based on three reasons; firstly academic studies show that the number of shrimp in Kuwaiti waters are abundant even now. There are enough shrimp in Kuwait. Secondly high demand on shrimps. Thirdly the weather is still suitable for shrimp fishing,” AlBader was quoted by an Arabic daily as saying. Kuwaiti waters supply 20 percent of the needs of the local market. The remaining 80 percent is usually imported from neighboring countries.

“Even when we observe the ban, we are not suffering from any kind of short-

age as we have enough supplies from Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Iran,” said a Fish Market official, who spoke with this reporter anonymously.

Yesterday prices of shrimps per kilo from local Kuwaiti waters was at KD5 for jumbo size, KD3.5 for medium shrimps and KD2.5 for small ones. I mpor ted

KUWAIT: Shrimps were plentiful in Kuwait fish market yesterday as the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources decided to extend the shrimp fishing season in the country until Feb 1.

—Photo by Ben Garcia

shrimps are KD4 for jumbo, KD3.5 for medium shrimps and KD2 for small ones.

“We have an abundant delivery from Iran at this time of year, so prices are absolutely competitive especially for some varieties of fish, but shrimp is traditionally high,” he noted.

Press reports recently claimed that the PAAAFR plans to completely ban fishing in Kuwaiti waters for at least two years.

Some fishermen in Kuwait were not opposed to the plan, but demanded full compensation instead.

Years ago, a group of fishermen, supported by their union, staged days of protest against the PAAAFR for the ban on fishing ordered in certain zones and the ban of using nylon nets.

The PAAAFR ban on using nylon nets was implemented in compliance with the agreement signed between all GCC countries for ecological reasons. The Union of Fishermen in Kuwait proposed replacing the nylon net with cotton net, but some suggested it was weaker or an unsuitable tool for commercial fishing.

The union argued that none of the GCC country signatories to the nylon net ban are enforcing or applying the ban.

Despite the protest and efforts by the Fishermen’s Union, the ban was strictly implemented here and many fishermen caught outside the fishing zone or violating the nylon net ban were reportedly deported.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012

LOCAL

New, social media ‘the tool’ of Assembly elections Chance to interact with female voters KUWAIT: Academicians and those interested in the goings-on ahead of the polls all agree there is a change in approach to ideas and new tools for approaching perspective voters; new and social media to be precise.

They said Twitter is sure to be the most influential among media, ahead of TV channels, papers, and even venues such as election campaign headquarters. Media figure and political sciences professor at Kuwait University (KU) Dr Ayed Al-Mannaa said: “Twitter is ‘the tool’ today to discuss public opinion issues. It would surely prove ‘a make or break tool’ in the 2012 elections.” Having an internet website is also a most important means to interact with the public and speak the language of the younger generation.

As important as the message and agenda might be, just as important are the means of expressing it, timing, and speed of interaction and response, he argued. “This is not to say that the usual approach is of no value,” he stressed.

The widespread use of smart phones, which come with social media applications, further enhanced the influence of these media, noted KU media professor Ahmad Al-Sherif.

Still, as close as Twitter is to laymen’s daily lives, it is not a reliable or accurate source of information. “Failure to use new media such as Twitter, facebook, or YouTube is in essence ignoring the young and failing to communicate with them. It is also a golden opportunity for a candidate’s oppo-

nents to resort to disinformation to influence the odds.” Fellow professor Khalid Al-Qahs said, “along with accounts registered for political candidates themselves, there are unprecedented levels of activity on Twitter, for example, among the public and those wishing to know more and interact with those running.

Furthermore, we can all notice the great number of channels and media outlets that sprang into existence since the decree was issued to dissolve parliament.”

Dean of Social Sciences at KU Dr Yaagoub Al-Kanderi for his part said this boom in usage is partly attributed to the fact that the 2011 controversy and 2012 elections coincided with the boom in creation and usage of social and new media in general across the region.

“One advantage of new media is that campaigning through such channels is lower-cost compared to conventional methods. Campaigners were forced to learn the new technology to approach a wide and widening section of society, but can do so now at less cost.”

This came along with certain groups actually employing people to manage twitter accounts, some selling accounts claimed to have a backbone of influential followers, and some promotion and public relations companies using such widespread Smartphone applications such as whatsapp to gain attention and increase interest.

The professor chose to stress the

issue of ethics. “Impersonating people, setting up websites for malicious campaigning, and being quick to believe and to spread information which could turn out to be rumors is all a sign of an ethics problem.”

Candidates have to setup their official accounts to avoid impersonations, and we as public must combat the notion that “the end justifies the means” where such abuse occurs, he concluded.

Head of KU Media Department Dr Mnawer Al-Rajhi also stressed the need to use the language of the times by candidates. He noted this makes even more sense when one realizes that the majority of the voters in Kuwait are young and more attracted to new and social media than conventional venues for information. “Twitter, especially, has a perfect format to display in clear and concise manner a candidate’s agenda.” “Another advantage of these new media is that they enable candidates to interact with female voters who are less likely to visit campaign headquarters or go to seminars and the like ... The interactivity of these media, too, fosters a feeling of trust due to the quick reply and ability to comment and get response and so on and so forth.”

As for dangers of these tools, he also cited disinformation, doctoring of documents and footage and spreading of rumors. He said a quick reply and clarification is a candidate’s best defense once attacked in this way. — KUNA

Oil sector needs institutional mode of operation to shine KUWAIT: It is very important that the oil sector would adopt an institutional mode of operation in order to excel and shine, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) Hashim Al-Refa’i said here yesterday. He told a forum organized by KGOC that this notion should be promoted through intense converse amongst the sector’s companies to highlight the need to further push the envelope for development in the oil industry. The official

also briefed the forum about the company’s future endeavors and plans.

The Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (K.S.C) was founded on February 10, 2002 to represent the State of Kuwait in the Divided Zone. It began its primary role in that regard on January 5, 2003 when it took over the management of Kuwait DZ off shore area from the Arabian Oil Company Ltd. on the expiry of that company’s concession agreement. The Divided Zone was established between the State of

Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a buffer zone along the International Boundary between the two countries in an effort to improve cooperation for development projects in the vicinity of the border. The interest of hydrocarbon resources is equally divided between the State of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The exploitation of such resources is managed through the joint operations established between the two countries. —KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah receiving the Chairman of the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Science Adnan Shehab and his accompanying delegation yesterday.

By-elections held as authorities continue to investigate KUWAIT: A tribal community in the fifth constituency held by-elections on Monday to nominate a candidate from among ten tribesmen, according to news reports released yesterday.

According to an Al-Qabas daily, only 30 percent Otaiba tribe voters participated in the by-elections hosted in six diwaniyas. The declining figure can be attributed to the disunity between tribe members in holding outlawed primary elections.

Consultative meetings were held to nominate certain candidates to gain the tribe’s full support. The report states that the Al-Rashaida tribe was scheduled to hold primary elections in ten diwaniyas yesterday, at an estimated number of 7,000. They were to nominate four out of ten candidates.

Also, the Public Prosecution Department released 27 citizens on a KD 200 bail on Monday following investigations held in the fifth constituency by Awazem, Hawajer, Ajmi and Mutairi tribes.

In other developments, the Opposition Bloc organized its first seminar on Monday in Al-Ardhiya, in which ten members, all of whom who are candidates. Former MP and fourth constituency candidate Musallam Al-Barrak asserted that

opposition blocs will keep combating corruption and adopt programs to bring in development and reform. Other former MPs present at the seminar were Mohammad Hayef, Ali Al-Deqbasi, Mubarak AlWaalan and Dr Dailfullah Buramia contesting elections in the fourth constituency.

Leading third constituency candidate and ex-MP Ahmad AlSaadoun hinted that the opposition blocs may stage mass demonstrations in the future, “if the government fails to implement the law properly.” Speaking to at a diwaniya in south Surra, Al-Saadoun mentioned the development plan would be fully implemented, reported AlQabas. A report quoting a source indicates that signs of potential coalitions between candidates are formed based on the similarities in approach. Speaking to Al-Rai on condition of anonymity, the source said that a clear coordination is present between candidates Jamaal Al-Omar, Saadoun Hammad, Abdullah Al-Mayouf and Hamad AlTuaijri. There are many similarities in the election campaigns undertaken by candidates Nabil Al-Fadhel, Safaa Al-Hashem and Saud Al-Samaka.

The parallel political ideology of Islamist candidates Faisal Al-Mislem,

Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabae and Faisal Al-Yahya also indicate that they will be backed by the same voter base.

The official also spoke about an obvious coordination between liberal candidates Saleh Al-Mulla, Aseel Al-Awadhi and Mohammad Bushehri.

Coordinating candidates will create a list consisting of four members - the maximum number of candidates that a single candidate can vote for in their respective constituencies.

On the other hand, the source said that former MPs Roudhan AlRoudhan and Naji Al-Abdulhadi will depend on the large support base and avoid forging coalitions with other candidates.

The source also spoke about another aspect of heated competition held between third constituency members. On that regard, an issue occurred between AlMulla and Al-Hashem. The latter was quick to reserve the usual spot that the former takes for election campaigns. He originally inherited it from liberal figure Sami AlMunais. Candidates Hamed AlOmairi and Nabila Al-Anjari reportedly claim possession of the same spot that was allegedly reserved previously. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: Staff members of the Farwaniya Hospital during the sit-in Monday.

Meningitis outbreak: Hospital staff demand answers KUWAIT: Dozens of female employees at the Farwaniya Hospital staged a sit in outside the medical facility on Monday, demanding answers from the Ministry of Health. They accused the hospital administration of covering up a potential meningitis outbreak there.

The Ministry of Health released a statement later that day denying rumors that several patients were diagnosed with the contagious disease at the busy hospital, including one female staff member.

The statement said that the ministry has enough stock of vaccines and medication to handle any potential outbreak cases, but assured that the rates of meningitis infection in Kuwait is very limited. The ministry said only five cases were recorded in 2011.

In the meantime, senior MOH officials clarified during a press conference that the female employee was admitted to the intensive care unit on Dec 29, 2011 due to a brain hemorrhage. The MoH claimed that she was not diagnosed with meningitis.

Hospital staff member holding a sign that reads: ‘How long will you keep ignoring and underestimating staff souls and lives’.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh The Deputy Director of Farwaniya Hospital explained during a press conference that only three meningitis cases were recorded in the medical facility recently, including the case of an Indian man who was pronounced dead ten hours after he was hospital-

ized. The man’s roommate was treated and is recovering well. The third case pertains to a four-month-old Indian child whose father works at the same place as the previous two. The medical condition of the child has also been stabilized. —Al-Rai