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MoI may use troops to stop opposition demo Oppn adamant electoral law be changed back
CIA response to Benghazi attack under scrutiny WASHINGTON: Nearly two months after a deadly attack on a US consulate in Libya, a bitter row is still raging over who is to blame for the security breakdown, with the spotlight now shifting to the CIA’s role. Due to the clandestine nature of its work, the Central Intelligence Agency was initially spared from scrutiny, but now the spy service and its director, former US Army general David Petraeus, are on the defensive. The Wall Street Journal suggested Friday that the CIA’s fixation with secrecy may have led to confusion over security at the compound and crossed signals with the State Department. According to the report, the US Benghazi mission was essentially a CIA operation instead of a diplomatic post, and most staff worked for the spy agency. The State Department believed there was a formal agreement the CIA would provide back-up security in an emergency, but the intelligence service had a different view, the paper said. The focus on the CIA reflects fresh questions about the spy service’s response as well as a turf war inside the government bureaucracy, as officials seek to shield their departments from criticism. — AFP (See Page 7)
Al-AIN: HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (left) meets UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan — AFP
Islamist Al-Nusra Front, and showed a missile launcher mounted on the back of a pick-up truck firing on regime positions. The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, said an operation had begun “to liberate the Taftanaz airbase”. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britainbased watchdog, said “heavy fighting” had broken out near the base in Idlib province, where rebels have seized new ground this week. Continued on Page 13
LATAKIA, Syria: An image grab taken from a video filmed in July and uploaded on YouTube yesterday shows a Syrian pro-regime fighter holding a severed human ear in this northwestern region. — AFP
NY cancels marathon
ARBIL, Iraq: Kuwait SC club players celebrate as they hold the trophy following their victory over Arbil club of Iraq in AFC Cup final football match in this Iraqi city yesterday. Kuwait SC were crowned AFC CUP championship after winning the match 4-0. — AFP
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior may call in the army to help security forces stop a march called by the opposition for today after the government vowed to use force if necessary, Al-Anbaa newspaper reported. The move came after security forces used tear gas to disperse a demonstration by thousands of protesters on Wednesday, injuring more than 30 and drawing condemnation from international human rights watchdogs. “The interior ministry will use all means necessary to prevent illegal processions,” Al-Anbaa quoted a security source as saying yesterday. “The army and national guard may be called in if needed to deal with any breach of public order,” the source added. The opposition has called the march to protest against an amendment to the electoral law ordered by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah last month ahead of a snap Dec 1 parliamentary election. Almost all opposition groups have said they will boycott the poll in protest at what they see as a bid to create a rubberstamp assembly. The opposition, made up of Islamists, nationalists and liberals, won a February general election but the constitutional court quashed the vote in June and reinstated the previous pro-government parliament. Kuwait introduced parliamentary elections as long ago as 1962, but the Amir and the ruling Al-Sabah family continue to hold all key Cabinet posts and retain enormous powers. The opposition wants to create a constitutional monarchy and has called for an elected government and the legalisation of political parties, which remain formally banned. Continued on Page 13
PM urges stability
Syrian rebels target airbase before talks DAMASCUS: Syrian rebels said yesterday they had launched a major assault on a northern airbase used to deploy regime air power, on the eve of a crucial meeting to decide the future of the opposition. The attack on the Taftanaz base, from where helicopter gunships raid opposition positions and rebel-held areas, comes after troops launched an unprecedented wave of air strikes this week in a bid to reverse rebel gains. A video posted on the Internet said eight battalions were taking part in the attack, including the radical
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NEW YORK: The famed New York marathon slated for today has been canceled in the face of a rising death toll, crippled city infrastructure and widespread fuel shortages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy. The lights finally came back on in Manhattan yesterday, but a severe shortage of gasoline continued to hamper efforts to get the New York area back on its feet. Power was restored to nearly all of Manhattan after flooding plunged the lower half of New York’s most densely populated borough into darkness. “By and large there is enough light and activity certainly to get a lot of people out into the street and get rid of that movie set look, as if we’re in some sort of ghost town or horror movie,” Bob McGee, a spokesman for utility company Con Edison, told NY1 television. Continued on Page 13
KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yesterday visited Lance Corporal Ahmad Issa AlIssa who was admitted to Al-Farwaniya Hospital after being injured in a hit-andrun incident during protests last week. During the call, he said the wounded policeman is an example of the sacrifices being offered by the security personnel for the safety of the homeland. “The political leadership holds in high esteem the limitless sacrifices of security men. We hope that stability will prevail again,” he said. “The state doesn’t favor the use of force but if the security of the nation and the safety of citizens are in jeopardy, we don’t hesitate in using force in the framework of law and constitution in order to uphold the rule of law,” he made it clear. The prime
minister called on everybody to respect and abide by the law and cooperate with the security services in maintaining public order and the security of the nation. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah also visited Issa, wishing the policeman a speedy recovery and expressing his appreciation of the role assumed by security personnel in ensuring the safety and security of the country. “The challenges and difficulties that face security personnel are illustrated in the need to deal with legally offensive acts in a civilized and elevated manner,” he said. “The loyal people of Kuwait stand by the men of the law and condemn the attacks some of them are faced with while on duty, which is entirely not accepted by law and national principles and traditions,” he stressed. — KUNA
KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak visits Lance Corporal Ahmed Al-Issa at Farwaniya hospital yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh
in the
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Surgery of injured athlete successful ATHENS: Surgery for one of the Kuwaiti athletes injured in a bus accident in Greece was successful, said Kuwaiti Ambassador to Greece Raed Al-Rifai yesterday. Players from Kuwait’s national water polo team were injured in the road accident which occurred in the city of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece two days ago, with one of the members suffering an injury to the spine which required surgery. “As a result of the commitment and directions of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to provide the utmost care and assistance to the injured Kuwaiti athletes, the embassy has been able to assign one of the most specialised spine surgeons in Greece to conduct the operation, which was thoroughly successful,” said the ambassador. Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah had also informed the embassy to provide the team with all forms of assistance, facilitations and their sufficient needs. (See Page 2)
Three policemen shot dead in Egypt’s Sinai CAIRO: Gunmen killed three Egyptian policemen and seriously wounded a fourth yesterday in El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, state television said. “Armed men who might belong to a jihadist group attacked a police vehicle and fired on its passengers before fleeing,” a security source said. The dead and wounded were taken to the general hospital in El-Arish, where one of the policemen died from serious wounds,” a medic said. A civilian was also wounded. Security forces threw up a cordon around the city in an attempt to capture the gunmen. Security in the desert and mountainous region collapsed after an uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak in Feb 2011. Since then, several militant attacks in the Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have targeted police and soldiers, including a brazen August 5 ambush on an army outpost that killed 16 soldiers.
Bahrain detains senior human rights activist DUBAI: Bahrain authorities yesterday ordered the detention for seven days of a senior Shiite activist, accusing him of taking part in a banned demonstration, his lawyer said on social network Twitter yesterday. Yosuf AlMahafdha, a member of the board of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested late on Friday in the Shiite village of Darraz near Manama where an unauthorised protest took place, Mohammed Al-Wasta wrote. Mahafdha, in a separate statement on Twitter, said he had gone into Darraz “at the end of the protest” and saw people carrying away someone who was injured. The activist tweeted that relatives of the wounded person, whom he did not identify, said he was standing outside his home when he was hit by buckshot. Mahafdha has been probing whether Bahraini authorities have violated the rights of prominent Shiite activist Nabeel Rajab who is serving a three-year sentence for taking part in anti-regime protests.
Barak disavows aide’s comments on Morsi JERUSALEM: Defence Minister Ehud Barak disavowed yesterday comments by a top aide who said he doubted there would be any dialogue between Israeli leaders and Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. “The comments by (policy department chief) Amos Gilad do not reflect the policy of the defence ministry,” Barak said in a statement quoted by public radio. “Amos Gilad did not intend to interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs but was merely expressing his concern about possible upheaval in the Middle East.” Gilad has long served as the defence ministry’s pointman with Egypt, visiting frequently for talks with military commanders both before and after the overthrow of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak. In comments broadcast by public radio on Friday, he said there had been no dialogue between Israeli leaders and Morsi since the Egyptian president took office in June and doubted whether there would be. (See Page 8)
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Increase in participation of women in protest rallies Surprising development in Kuwait By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The current political situation and recent events have introduced some strange and negative phenomena into the conservative Kuwaiti society. The most visible is the participation of women in the protests and demonstrations held over the past two months. Although such events used to be attended by mainly by men, the recent protests and illegal gatherings were also attended by some women. What was more surprising was that these women were not political activists or from modern sections of society, but were rather from the Bedouin conservative families. Ruqayya Al-Mutairi is a 38year-old Kuwaiti who participated in the last two protests held in Kuwait. “I participated in these protests as I agree with the demands of the protestors. I
believe that we are in a democratic country, and we have the right to express our opinion freely through any means. I also believe that there is corruption in Kuwait, and by holding such protests we may help solving or bringing focus on this problem,” she told the Kuwait Times. She defended some of the demands that she protested for. “I think that our country is not developing, the performance of our government is weak, and the general situation is below expectations. Also, the most important issue for me is the issue of loans as it is exhausting many Kuwaiti families, including me. I have a loan and the interest on this loan is consuming most of my salary. I also admit that the MPs did not do anything useful for the country, so we need change,” stressed Ruqaya. “Although I am from a Bedouin family, yet my father or
brother did not stop me from participating in the protest. They went as well, and gave me the freedom to decide whether to go or not. In fact, they encouraged me to join the protest,” she added. Many people think that such behavior is not suitable for women at all. “The protests are attended by thousands or at least hundreds of men, who are mostly from far conservative areas where they are not used to mingling with women. I think that they may be harassed during such events, and I would never let any woman of my family to attend such a protest,” said 40-year-old Mohammed, a father of four. Others think their participation is important. “I am all for women participating in the protests as they make for more than half the population, and they have the right to express their opinion. I think that these demonstrations
are safe for them as the participants are demonstrating for a purpose,” noted Faisal, 38-yearold citizen. Most women are against such an idea. “Those who encouraged the women to participate in this nonsensical illegal protest did so for a reason. They wanted to attract the policemen towards these women, and to then use them as protective shield, as they know that the police would not attack a woman or a child. I am against this protest in general. We should thank God for the peace in Kuwait, and we should all respect our religious and legal rules to keep our country safe. What do they want? The majority of the participants do not even know why they are going there. We have everything in Kuwait, and we should learn a lesson from what happened in other Arab countries,” stated 45-yearold Manal.
Amiri Diwan advisor criticizes misquotation of his words KUWAIT: Amiri Diwan Advisor Dr Adel Al-Tabtabie criticized yesterday the much-circulated misquotation of a political analysis, he had published in a book in 1994, by some people on social networking websites aimed at creating confusion among nationals. “Some social networking websites have published an image of a page from a book I had written and the first edition of it was published in 1994 including an analysis of the dissolution of the National Assembly and HH the Amir’s decision to resort to voters to end the dispute between the National Assembly and the government,” reads the statement by Dr Al-Tabtabie. “It is quite clear that the book content was related to the issue of dividing electoral constituencies. But some people, unfortunately, tried deliberately or due to lack of accurate understanding of the content to falsely link it to the issue of reducing electoral votes.
“It is clear to everyone who reads the book that it has nothing to do with this issue.” Al-Tabtabie underscored that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah has the full legal right to determine the number of votes each voter can cast. “Determining the number of votes is entitled to the legislator and the legislative power, in case of the dissolution of the National Assembly, is at the hands of HH the Amir. Only the National Assembly can review or amend the law after it resumes work and the Constitutional Court if it received a legal challenge to the Amiri decree in this regard.” He went on to stress that “HH the Amir’s issuance of draft laws during the dissolution of the National Assembly is being done in accordance with Article (71) of the Constitution. It is a right of HH the Amir during the National Assembly’s dissolution period”. — KUNA
Kuwaiti athlete recovering after surgery in Greece ATHENS: Surgery for one of the Kuwaiti athletes injured in a bus accident in Greece was successful, said Kuwaiti Ambassador to Greece Raed Al-Rifai yesterday. Kuwait’s national water polo team members were injured in the road accident which occurred in the city of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece two days ago, with one of the members suffering an injury to the spine which required surgery. “As a result of the commitment and directions of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to provide the utmost care and assistance to the injured Kuwaiti athletes, the embassy has been able to assign one of the most specialised spine surgeons in Greece to con-
duct the operation, which was thoroughly successful,” said the ambassador. Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah had also informed the embassy to provide the team with all forms of assistance, facilitations and their sufficient needs. The embassy is fully carrying its role on the issue and is closely monitoring the situation, Al-Rifai added. As a result of this, the embassy has opened a short-term consulate office in Thessaloniki, which will operate sevendays-a-week, to receive the team’s and their families’ calls and requests during this time. The consulate will be open until the team returns home to Kuwait safely, stressed the ambassador. —KUNA
KFH signs MoU with World Bank KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Austria Ulrich Frank hosted a reception at his residence over the weekend on the occasion of the Austrian National Day. High-ranking officials, diplomats and other dignitaries attended the reception. —Photos by Joseph Shagra
Six Kuwaiti inventors take part in iENA in Germany NURMBERG, Germany: Six Kuwaiti inventors of Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC) are currently taking part in the 64th International Trade Fair “IdeasInventions-New Products” (iENA) with inventions that are designed for finding solutions for difficulties that intercept human life. The four-day international event, which kicked off on Thursday and concludes today, is a major international exhibitions that provides a platform to display more than 750 inventions, product innovations, and new ideas of various scientific fields from over 34 participating countries around the world, in which inventors compete for first ranks, as well as the gold, silver and bronze medals of the exhibition’s areas and themes. The participating Kuwaiti delegation, which arrived in Nurmberg on Thursday, included Khaled Al-Hasan, team leader of the Kuwait office of inventors at SACGC, Shaimaa Al-Shareedah, head of media and public rela-
tions at SACGC, and inventors Sami Al-Mutairi, Bassam Al-Rejaib, Sulaiman Al-Khattaf, Ahmad Abdullah, Abdulretha Al-Saffar, and Hana AlSulaiteen. All inventors hold certified patents for inventions from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Inventor Al-Mutairi showcases his alarm device for drivers, which is designed to alert them during their dozing while driving. The device is modeled as a strap to wear around the neck and contain sensors that determine the driver’s physical status while driving. Meanwhile, inventor Al-Rejaib presents his device that is designed to prevent water pollution. The device would remove oceanic wastes from the dipped part of the boat or yacht. Furthermore, inventor Al-Khattaf showcases his temperature bedding mattress designed to provide appropriate body temperature for children by increasing and decreasing heat depending on child’s body
temperature to provide more relaxation to their sleep. In the same context, inventor Abdullah presents his device that is designed to test horses’ tendons and ligaments, which consist of a monitor and a rotating base with a sensor that determines areas of injuries via examining one of the horse’s hoofs. Moreover, Al-Saffar presents a device that works by an agricultural irrigation system via using groundwater, while inventor AlSulaiteen displays an educational method of simulation plants growth process which clarifies growth process without human intervention. The SACGC participation comes under the center’s keenness to showcase Kuwaiti inventors’ works in international arenas, as well as gaining them with more experiences and knowledge of other international inventions and cultures in order to refine and market their scientific skills and creativities. — KUNA
KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Research Limited signed an MoU with the World Bank to bolster efforts in developing Islamic financing, said a statement here yesterday. According to a KFH Research Limited statement, the memo was the first of its kind to be signed with the World Bank. Chairman of the Board for KFH Research Limited Fahad Khaled AlMukhaizeem said the memo was integral to develop Islamic financing on a global scale, especially with the fact that there was an ever-growing international interest in Islamic banking. The memo, he said, would enable exchanging views and expertise on Islamic financing between KFH Research and the World bank. KFH Research Ltd is the world’s first
Islamic investment research arm to be established by an Islamic Bank. A direct subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, KFH Research was established in 2007, comprising of industry professionals and star research analysts with broad experience in Islamic finance and global markets. Based in Malaysia, KFH Research plays a crucial role in linking the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the rest of Asia and other emerging Islamic financial markets. The research house produces a wide range of publications which covers an analysis of macroeconomic and sector trends, country-specific issues and trends, currency movements, commodities, developments in Islamic capital markets as well as sovereign and investment products. — KUNA
Tunisian PM lauds Kuwait role in Arab intellectual awakening KARAM, Tunisia: Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Al-Jebali praised here yesterday Kuwait’s “pioneering” and “historical” role in Arab intellectual, cultural, and scientific awakening. Kuwait has always provided intellectual and cultural contributions via books, writings, and publications at a time when the Arab world was overshadowed by “dictatorial regimes”, Al-Jebali added in a statement on the sidelines of his visit to the Kuwaiti pavilion at the 29th International Tunisian Book Fair, which is held at the Exhibition Palace in Al-Karam area. Also, the Tunisian Prime Minister indicated that Kuwait’s cultural position is wellrecognized by all, explaining that he himself was an avid reader of Al-Arabi magazine when he was a student which proves
Kuwait’s status and contribution to Arab cultural and intellectual awakening. In addition, he valued Kuwait’s “distinctive” participation in this year’s exhibition, wishing at the same time Kuwait and its people further progress and success in this field. In the same context, Abulaziz AlAazmi, the acting charge d’affaires of the Kuwaiti Embassy in Tunis, and Khaled AlKhalfan, supervisor of Kuwaiti pavilion at the exhibition, presented Al-Jebali with a commemorative present, which the Tunisian prime minister valued, and asserted that it represents Kuwait’s genuine and depth in human civilization. Nearly 317 participants from 24 Arab and international countries are taking part in this 10-day international event, which kicked off today and is to conclude on Nov 11. —KUNA
Abrams to take part in small business workshop
KUWAIT: The Kuwait Dive Team carried out a successful mission recently to lift a sunken boat near Kubbar Island’s coral reef despite unstable weather conditions. The operation, carried out in cooperation with the Coastguards General Department, saw deployment of airbags and other tools to lift the 25-feet-long, two ton boat to the surface before it was carefully removed to the shore while avoiding any damage to the surrounding coral reefs.
KUWAIT: The Leaders Group for Consulting and Development is organizing an interactive workshop on Nov 11, featuring American small business expert, syndicated columnist, best-selling author and speaker Rhonda Abrams. The announcement was made in a statement released yesterday in which Leaders Group’s General Manager Nabila Al-Anjari welcomed Abrams “who brings over 20 Nabila Al-Anjari years of experience in small Rhonda Abrams projects advising and counselof development and ecoing in the United States that made her the most famous in this field.” The one-day work- nomic growth,” Al-Anjari said. This is the first shop aims to increase awareness about the trip to Kuwait and the Middle East for best mechanisms governing small and medi- Abrams, who writes a weekly column for the um projects “which are important at a time USA Today newspaper, read by an estimated when Kuwait witnesses an increased atten- 24 million people and has published more tion on small projects as a main component than 15 books that were translated to more
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
local
Job performance linked to physical fitness KUWAIT: The repeated casualties or deaths in case of cadets at military academies or casualties among laborers at their work site happen due to job specific physical requirements. That is why it is important to take physical fitness for particular jobs into consideration and consider it as a tool to protect not just from fatalities but even from job-specific afflictions that could affect quality of life and cost time and efforts lest resources are invested in a person who is later found not fit for that particular job. Dwelling on the subject, director of professional health administration, Dr Ahmad Al Shatti said that the aim of physical fitness was to develop and enhance the level of mental and physical health of people working in any profession. While it is neces-
$54 billion to boost GCC energy until 2015
KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned home yesterday after a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates and another private visit to Sultanate of Oman. His Highness was accompanied by Deputy Chief of the National Guards Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. HH the Amir was received at Kuwait International Airport by HH Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, HH Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah and senior sheikhs and state officials.
Opposition urges demonstrators to avoid clash with police ‘No more cooperation with PM’ By A Saleh KUWAIT: The opposition reiterated its demand for reinstating the four votes per voter election system followed in the previous four polls even as preparations were on for another mass demonstration, second since the emergency decree that reduced the votes a citizen can cast from four to one. The latest statements came during a dinner gathering held in honor of a tribal chief where an oppositionist figure vowed not to cooperate with Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah in the future. “From now on, the Abdullah Al-Salem hall (inside the parliament’s building) will never bring us together with Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak,” former MP Musallam Al-Barrak told thousands who attended the event held on Friday in honor of chief of the Awazem tribe Falah bin Jame’a. Al-Barrak explained that the decision was a result of “Sheikh Jaber’s government standing against the people” following the events a couple of weeks ago when police forcibly dispersed an unauthorized gathering in Kuwait City. The opposition insisted that the gathering in which scores of people were reportedly arrested was a peaceful demonstration. Al-Barrak urged his supporters on Friday to take part in the second demonstration planned for tonight, while urging them to maintain peace. “Expose them by avoiding retaliation if you are beaten by special task forces,” Al-Barrak added. Meanwhile, Bin Jame’a addressed a capacity crowd where he criticized the use of violence against demonstrators, but also rejected the sit-ins and marches “that add fuel to the fire and lead to unnecessary confrontations.” Pledging allegiance to HH the Amir, Bin Jame’a called for a return to the old voting mechanism as he reiterated the Awazem’s decision to join the opposition in boycotting the elections. “The Awazem tribe is boycotting the elections, and I have already informed HH the Amir about this,” Bin Jame’a said, before indicating that his
disagreement with the emergency decree does not affect his “support to HH the Amir and the Al-Sabah” ruling family. Former MP Falah Al-Sawagh, who hosted the event at his house, reasserted that tonight’s demonstration “is peaceful and will send a message that we are sophisticated people.” “Creating insecurity for the country or the ruling family is not part of our goals,” Al-Sawagh said, before pledging allegiance to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah. Meanwhile, the government refuted rumors that hinted that it was considering canceling the decree which reduced the number of votes as a way out of the current ordeal. “The decree is irreversible, contrary to what is being suggested by baseless rumors,” a cabinet insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. Meanwhile, fourth constituency candidate Mu’ayed called upon the organizers of tonight’s demonstrations to obtain “official approval” from state authorities in order to prevent any instigation or chaos. In another development, Sharia Professor at the Kuwait University, Dr. Tariq Al-Thawari, said that preparations were on for a meeting between HH the Amir and a delegation “featuring religious scholars and members of the opposition” based on the team’s request. Separately, sources with knowledge of the Islamic Constitutional Movement’s thinking revealed that the group, widely considered as the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in Kuwait, believed that the ongoing situation was not in its favor and requires efforts to reach a compromise with the government. “Former MP Jamaan Al-Harbash’s recent call for national reconciliation and former MP Mubarak Al-Duwailah’s activity behind the scene are result of discussions during a recent meeting of ICM leaders,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They suggested that the ICM was going to move towards more “calm and reconciliation with concessions made by all parties in exchange of the emergency decree’s cancelation.”
FAO embarks on Kuwaiti initiative ROME: The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is studying a Kuwaiti-proposed initiative to cooperate with Iraq and Iran in developing fishery resources in northern Arab Gulf. Engineer Faisal Al-Hassawi, Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to FAO, said that he has recently invited to official meeting with Iraqi and Iranian counterparts to discuss thoroughly the initiative. He pointed these meetings were also attended by deputy managing director of FAO and several senior experts at the UN food organization. Al-Hassawi said that FAO has showed
great interest in backing this initiative to bring it to light soon.He noted that three sides have agreed on seeking a USD 1 million-loan from the Islamic Development Bank to finance the project. He disclosed that the initiative, raised by Kuwait two years ago, is meant to increase fishery resources and protect marine beings. It also includes launching an information network to exchange data about the marine resources in the Gulf. Al-Hassawi revealed that the FAO will offer technical assistance to the three countries to help better implement the initiative. — KUNA
News
in brief
New political activities KUWAIT: The wheel of political activities once again began rolling today with the arrival of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad back to Kuwait. Ministerial sources said that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak will chair the normal cabinet meeting tomorrow, Monday, as the Cabinet is expected to give its final approval to two decrees on transparency and revealing one financial statement and amendments to sports laws. Regarding the protest slated for today, listed as “Honor of a state #2”, and whether any decision has been taken about it, sources said that Ministry of Interior has warned against any protests and violation of law, and the council of ministers was waiting for the report of the first deputy prime minister and minister of interior in this respect. Pay hike for expat doctors KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health is planning to increase the salaries of non-Kuwaiti doctors on an equivalent scale, informed sources revealed. Currently, timetables are being prepared for such an increment, and very shortly, a letter will be sent to the Civil Service Bureau in this regard to get the table approved for such increments. The amount of increment will be decided on the basis of any doctor’s area of specialization and experience, with priority being accorded to those specializations in where there was a resource crunch. KNPC wins Arab corporate award KUWAIT: The 2012 Arab corporate social responsibility award was given to Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) for it’s vital contribution to society, said an official here yesterday. Head of Public Relations and Media at KNPC Mohammad Al-Ajmi told KUNA that the award was handed to KNPC executives at the Arab Award for Corporate Social Responsibility which was held in the UAE, adding that the achievement showcased the company’s on-going commitment to social welfare. He revealed that 58 companies representing 11 Middle East and North African nations took part in the event. 7,453 traffic violations KUWAIT: Surprise traffic raids by the Ministry of Interior’s traffic department during the weekend resulted in recording 7,453 traffic offences, the compounding of 277 vehicles, including motorbikes, and the apprehension of six people. The traffic violations were recorded across Kuwait’s six governorates with the highest number of violations released in The Capital governorate, including 2,103, and the lowest in Mubarak Al-Kabir, 112. The highest number of compounded vehicles was recorded in Hawalli governorate of 56, while lowest was in Al-Ahmadi governorate of only two. Meanwhile, a raid restricted to Kuwait International Airport saw 884 fines, 145 vehicles compounded and six people apprehended. The Interior Ministry called on drivers to be responsible and to comply with traffic regulations in order to limit such offences and to ensure the safety of themselves and their fellow drivers.
KUWAIT: The Gulf Cooperation Council countries plan to invest $54 billion to increase electricity production by 32,000 megawatts by 2015, a local newspaper reported yesterday. “The GCC states worked as per joint coordination to come up with a road map to meet the projected demand in the light of estimated demographic increase set to exceed 50 million people within a decade,” sources within Kuwait’s Ministr y of Electricity and Water said. Meanwhile, the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity further indicated that the GCC countries plan to invest $252 billion in energy during the upcoming five years starting from next year. This amount will be spent exclusively on “building new power plants”, and would not cover accompanying projects such as electricity distribution networks. The sources also noted that these projects “will be enforced along with procedures to rationalize consumption and adjust electricity and water consumption tariffs.”
sary to maintain the highest standards of health, people must be employed in an environment that is suitable for them physiologically as per their health. He added that there are certain jobs and professions that require physical fitness like military, air force, and civil aviation, fire department, and civil defence since the nature of work demands from the employees a certain level of efficiency and skills set in performing the job, and any extra body weight can affect their efficiency levels. As per the World Health Organization statistics, after the USA Kuwait is the first among Arab countries and second worldwide when it comes to obesity, and is followed in the third position by Saudi Arabia.
1,200 labor complaints a month KUWAIT: An average of 1,200 complaints a month are registered at the General Labor Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting the department’s Assistant Manager Hadi Al-Enizy. Complaints are investigated within a month after they are lodged at the department’s main office inside the Behbehani Complex in Kuwait City or at its branches around Kuwait, Al-Enizy explained. “Most complaints pertain to financial disputes such as end of service payments, as well as disputes over residency cancelation and transfers,” he added during an interview with Al-Rai. Al-Enizy noted in this regard that the department “awards the worker the right to cancel his residency and seek work with a new employer in case a delinquency was found on the original employer’s part.”
Kuwaiti elected chairman of Arab news committee TUNIS: Khaled Khalaf Al-Enezi, head of the news and political programs department at Kuwait T V, was elected yesterday as Chairman of the Standing Arab News Committee at the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). “Wining this post is an honor for all the Kuwaiti media, and news and political programs sector in particular,” AlEnezi said on this occasion. He vowed to exert strenuous efforts to develop the committee work and upgrade its products. “The committee will develop its work in the coming period to enhance exchange of programs, news and all media materials among member states,” Al-Enezi said. He also promised to buttress coordination among media outlets in the member states for the better coverage of important Arab and international events. “The committee will give more attention to the training center and exchange of expertise among professionals and workers in all Arab media outlets,” he pledged. He pointed out that he plans to develop the technical systems and software used in the exchange and archiving of media prod-
ucts. The Standing Arab News Committee started its two-day fifth annual meeting here Saturday. The committee meeting will tackle several key issues related to the news and multimedia products exchange among member states. It is one of the affiliates of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) is one of the oldest pan-Arab institutions, belonging to the League of Arab States system. It is a professional organization, established in February 1969 in Khartoum, with the objective of “strengthening ties and promoting cooperation among broadcasters in the Arab States for better production and content development.” ASBU provides important services to member broadcasters and to others, such as engineering and consulting services, radio and television exchange of news, programming and sports, as well as radio and TV training. It also strives to acquire broadcasting rights at preferential rates for a number of competitions and sports events to the benefit of its members, as well as to ensure the appropriate broadcasting coverage of such events. — KUNA
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
LOCAL
Local Spotlight
In my view
Freedom needs to be secured
Everyone equal in front of law
By Abdallah Bwair
By Muna Al-Fuzai
muna@kuwaittimes.net
local@kuwaittimes.net
I
C
ontinuously aggravating tensions over the past few weeks have reached a stage where they now pose a threat to the stability of our beloved Kuwait. The latest of these events took place a couple of weeks ago when things escalated to the point of disobedience, assaulting police officers and instigating violence. The demonstrators clearly had premeditated intention to carry out an evil plan to go out for unauthorized gatherings featuring marches in which roads were blocked, violence was deliberately instigated and private property was damaged.
“Kuwait is for us all. If it is gone, so are we.” These words of assurance were given by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in a recent statement, reiterating the fact that Kuwait will remain safe for our future generations only by the dint of our cooperation, unity and devotion. “Kuwait is for us all. If it is gone, so are we.” These words of assurance were given by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in a recent statement, reiterating the fact that Kuwait will remain safe for our future generations only by the dint of our cooperation, unity and devotion. He also reiterated the fact that Kuwait will continue to be a safe place as long as its devoted children remained together. HH the Amir reiterated the belief in Kuwaitis’ devotion towards their country and its safety and stability, and reasserted his commitment to maintain loyalty and devotion towards this country. HH the Amir also insisted that the law will continue to be implemented equally on all, including members of the ruling family, and proved that everyone was equal in front of the law by pointing out that legal action was taken against two ruling family members for violations they committed. HH further mentioned “a group of people we have been patient with for three years while they were creating troubles,” and promised to “find solutions to all our problems.” Kuwaitis always stand by each other’s side whenever any of them faces a problem. Yes, your highness, Kuwait is safe as you reasserted, and thank God that we can say that we live in a country where a person can go to sleep feeling safe without locking the front door. As long as the ship is being steered by a wise captain, there is no need to feel otherwise. God save Kuwait and its people.
kuwait digest
Realize value of our country By Fahad Al-Handal
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still remember the unprecedented feeling of shock, fear and concern I felt on Aug 2, 1990, the day when we were rendered without a country or an identity and were forced to become refugees in our own lands or outside. I still remember the confused look on the children’s faces, and the feeling of dismay expressed by the adults who feared the fate that befell their country as they lived through the first page of this dark chapter in its history. I remember the patriotic songs that were in our hearts and kept echoing inside our heads as we tried desperately to avoid breaking into those songs at the checkpoints where soldiers looked for any evidence of loyalty to Kuwait to judge and execute anyone. I still remember the crowds in Arab and non-Arab nations led by Kuwaitis demanding the return of their legitimacy that we had embraced for hundreds of years. Statements made by Kuwaitis in parliaments worldwide about Kuwait’s exceptional model of democracy still ring in my ear to this day. I still reminisce about the words of senior citizens confident that we would get our country back despite all the suffering we had been through. Just like they were convinced that sailors will return home from their trade journeys in old Kuwait, they were confident that Kuwait will be reverted to its rightful citizens. I still remember the tears falling from the eyes of the late Amir HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah when he was addressing the United Nations, telling the world about the cause of his people and the country which was a safe haven for all, Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis. This painful memory makes us realize the value of the country in our lives. It is not a bank where our salaries are deposited at the end of the month, nor is it a pass that gives is access to exclusive privileges. It is not a VIP ticket, rented
properties, or private properties. It is a lot more than that. A country’s value cannot be summarized in a few sentences. It is what has been trusted to us by the forefathers, and eventually we would have to do the same for our future generations. When our country was lost, gone with it was our identity, stability, peace and life in general. Nothing can ever compensate for that. No matter how long or how far a person might travel, he always yearns to come back home. Is not this also your feeling always? Then why do you keep turning it into a battlefield for its children to fight among themselves? The issue is not about democracy that started in recent past and requires a period of peaceful growth or perhaps some more time to mature naturally. Is an electoral vote and parliamentary chair worth burning the entire country for? Let us honestly ask this question: where was the talk about ‘fairness and equality’ when elections were held as per a 25-constituencies system for 22 years? Where was equality before naturalized Kuwaitis got the opportunity to vote and a chance to finally prove their loyalty to the country? Where was the issue of equality when Kuwaiti women had to fight their way into political work after 44 years of parliamentary work, and are now going through a similar fight to get into judiciary work with the same people who opposed their political rights? Where is fairness when the law is only applied to serve sectarian, tribal or other individual interests? If we want to criticize a certain mentality, let us criticize the collective way of thinking that led to a situation in which we came to live with chronically deceitful atmosphere not only because we no longer are incapable to have faith in ourselves, but also because we failed to earn the trust of our own country. — Al-Rai
am one of those who are really concerned about human rights and freedom of expression not only in Kuwait but across the Arab world as a whole. The problem, as I see, lies in the fact that the concepts of human right and freedom of expression are being perceived as a threat to the rulers but this is not just an exaggeration. It is a misperception and a misinterpretation about how someone can exercise his civil rights in a developed society. The freedom of expression is something that has to be implemented by the National Assembly and backed by a free press, without any fear that someone could be sent to jail not for doing something but merely for saying something or having an opinion, thus turning people into political prisoners. That someone could be sent to jail for a year or killed or hanged because his ideas may be perceived as too revolutionary is a terribly wrong thing to happen, but it did happen to many politicians in the Arab world throughout history. Although, in many cases, such allegations in the case of deaths of some key leaders were never proven, and in some cases never denied, the possibility that something like this could happen in a civil conflict or chaos is not entirely ruled out. Both former MPs, Abdulla Al-Nebari and Hamad Al-Jowan, were injured during attempts to assassinate them. I not only apprehend but never want to see such a thing happening again. Luckily, both are among us today. This is not something that I am just making up; these are stark facts. I do not wish anything like this to ever happen again to either one of them, regardless of the fact whether I agree with them or not in issuing provocative calls. People in the Gulf region were born under a welfare system that took care of them in every aspect of life, and they used to live and die in that system only. Kuwait was no exception. In the 60s, it may have made sense and been deemed suitable, but we no longer live in the same world. Things have changed and people have to change with the times. The state-will-take-allcare policy has to change to keep pace with the international requirements of human development and the needs of today. But what is it that is needed today and which we have failed to provide? Social justice is the key here. There has been an increase in corruption while our people lack in good education. People have so much of spare time in a conservative society that is ruled by religious men who neither practice any tolerance nor accept the ideas of freedom of expression or any break with conventions. All this makes our youth angry who then call for radical change, and there are always certain politicians who find this an atmosphere perfect to gain some more popularity. People with a different agenda then chose to join demonstrations, protests and start calling for change. They may not understand the consequences of such calls but still become a part of it. It is the same thing that is slated to happen in Kuwait in the shape of November 4 demonstrations. Some social websites say that many of those who are due to take part in this march are not aware what they are getting involved into or the objectives of such marches. It may not seem sensible or acceptable but it is happening. So those who talk or rely on pubic awareness and the role of youth must be cautioned against being carried away. Freedom, I think, needs to be secured, protected and observed not necessarily by the police and the authorities but by everyone in the larger society. On top of it all, we need responsible media figures to call for peace, sense and reforms in our society besides fighting against corruption and improving our education sector.
kuwait digest
I chose side of Kuwait! By Arwa Al-Waqian
A
t this critical point in Kuwait’s history, the most controversial question is whether one is progovernment or anti-government. The funny part is that like many others, I am not on either side. We are hurt and miffed with the governmental corruption and also the corruption indulged in by opposition’s representatives. In fact, the latter is even more agonizing. So, I will never join any of these two sides because I have already chosen my side, which is Kuwait. I chose to love my country despite despair on both sides. I chose to work harder and show more love towards my nation instead of rioting on the streets. I chose to vote for Kuwait if I find a suitable candidate. I chose to keep trying despite my earlier poor experiences with previous parliaments. I know that they were the rowdiest and the most embarrassing in Kuwait’s history, and acted puny. However, I will never cease pushing the cause of Kuwait. I chose peace rather than rowdiness; I chose love rather than slogans; I chose not to be ashamed for not belonging to the orange or the blue teams because my team has four distinctive colors - black, red, white and green. My slogan is my country’s flag, my flag is my affiliation to Kuwait and my enemy is anyone who gives more priority to his religious group or sect or tribe than to Kuwait itself. Yes, indeed, I will choose to go on working without complaining because of I am sick of cribbing. We have become the laziest people because of too much complaining. We are very good when it comes to talking about and claiming that we understand politics. Half of our people are being driven by the herd theory, as per which they follow the majority merely because belonging to the larger herd makes its leader feel stronger and more supported. As for myself, I am not interested in joining any herd and there are a humongous number of people who are in the same situation. They might even describe themselves as the ‘silent majority’ but I would rather describe us as ‘the majority that truly loves Kuwait and would not harm it, the majority that shows reverence to the symbol of Kuwait, HH the Amir. There is no bravado in yelling, violating protocols, slandering and threatening the authori-
ties. The real power lies in having the means and channels of communication open with the authorities and an ability to work towards achieving developmental projects rather than destroying them for sheer personal interest. To love my country means not to assault or insult
As for myself, I am not interested in joining any herd and there are a humongous number of people who are in the same situation. They might even describe themselves as the ‘silent majority’ but I would rather describe us as ‘the majority that truly loves Kuwait and would not harm it, the majority that shows reverence to the symbol of Kuwait, HH the Amir. my fellow citizens. It means finding ways of communicating with them so that we can, together, cooperate in times of distress. We are not experiencing a revolution or an ‘Arab Spring’ in Kuwait. What is really happening is that we are experiencing a political ‘luxury’ and welfare that is not worth all this exaggeration. Yes, we do have corruption and are thinking of ways to fight it. But how can corrupt people fight corruption while pretending and claiming to be ideal and righteous. How can we the national representatives, these MPs, fight corruption when they are corrupt themselves? Yes, I will go on choosing and prioritizing Kuwait above anything else. — Al-Jarida
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
LOCAL
‘Signs of solutions’ to end Kuwait political ordeal Oppositionist holds talks with Amir KUWAIT: Former MP Mohammad Hayef met His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah on the eve of Eid Al-Adha, and held discussions about the political situation after which he felt there were “signs of solutions” to end the ongoing political ordeal. Hayef revealed this on Friday amid expectations among the opposition about “a near breakthrough” in the efforts to end the political crisis. According to sources close to the Majority Bloc - a coalition of 34 oppositionists who won majority seats in elections held last February and annulled by a constitutional court ruling four months later - Hayef later discussed details of his meeting with HH the Amir during a meeting with bloc members Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Jamaan Al-Harbash, Mohammad Al-Kandari, Falah Al-Sawagh, Faisal Al-Yahya, Badr AlDahoum, Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Faisal Al-Mislem
and Ammar Al-Ajmi. Meanwhile, former MP Khalid Al-Sultan talked about a scenario to end the crisis “through a committee of experienced personalities featuring three to five members from the opposition side and a similar number from the ruling family, as well as other state figures.” Al-Sultan hoped that a similar committee can “prepare a formula to end the crisis that would be in keeping with the constitution.” However, the leading oppositionist insisted that any initiative can only be successful “if the decree to amend the electoral law is canceled and the next elections are held as per the unaltered law.” In the meantime, the Kuwait Democratic Forum called upon the organizers of tonight’s planned mass demonstration to either “cancel the event or delay it as a goodwill gesture” in order to avoid tensions that have built up since
a similar demonstration held two weeks ago in Kuwait City was forcibly dispersed by the police. Following the statement, unconfirmed news emerged suggesting that former MP Saleh AlMulla has resigned from the liberal group because he had a “different point of view.” Regarding the opposition’s plans after tonight’s demonstration, Majority Bloc member Khalid Shukhayyer suggested that “civil disobedience and labor strikes” could be the likely next step, and promised the opposition’s support for “protest moves undertaken by labor unions.” A total of 41 candidates had registered for the upcoming elections by Friday, two days after the registration period was officially inaugurated. Compared to this, 246 candidates had registered during the first three days for registration in last February’s elections.
Al-Najma Account daily draw on Marina FM KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait’s ‘Al-Najma Account’ daily draw in addition to the KD100,000 grand prize draw are now taking place during the ‘Dewaniya’ radio show live on Marina FM (88.8 FM), the CBK announced. The announcement came in a statement yesterday in which Assistant General Manager, Public Relations and Media Department, Amani Al-Waraa, explained that the step “comes as part of the CBK’s commitment to stay in touch with consumers.” Al-Najma account costumers have the opportunity to win KD7000 every day, the largest daily prize by a bank in Kuwait, in addition to four grand prizes for KD100,000 each carried out four times a year on the occasion of the Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha, National Day and CBK Anniversary on June 19.
Amani Al-Waraa
Malaysian to walk non-stop for 12 hours in Kuwait By Sajeev K Peter
KUWAIT: Rawdha Secondary Girls’ School hosted the closing ceremony of the “Promising journalist program,” which was sponsored by “MEPI”, in the presence of Ambassador Mathew H Tueller and Arts and Letters Prof Nouf Al-Falah. Supervising teachers and students were honored on this occasion. School Principal Fatima Ali supervised the event.
Kuwait, Houston museums sign cooperation agreement HOUSTON: Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Sheikha Hussah Sabah Al-Salem AlSabah, director of the Dar Al-Athar AlIslamiyyah (DAI), Kuwait, and co-owner with Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed AlSabah of The Al-Sabah Collection, yesterday jointly announced the signing of an extraordinary agreement of cooperation between their two institutions. The privately held Al-Sabah Collection, one of the greatest collections of Islamic art in the world, will place some 60 objects, ranging from carpets, ceilings and architectural fragments to exquisite ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, scientific instruments and manuscripts, on long-term loan in a dedicated gallery at the MFAH. The Museum will reciprocate with staff exchanges and training and, at a future date, exchange of works of art and exhibitions. The initial term of the renewable agreement is five years, and the first display is expected to be on view for at least one year, beginning January 26, 2013. This display, which contains objects from the 8th to the 18th centuries, made in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, will demonstrate the development of new aesthetics in Islamic visual culture, based on calligraphy, geometric ornamentation and the arabesque. The primacy of the written word, exemplified by early illuminated manuscripts of the Quran in Kufic script, will be seen in ceramics, stone capitals, textiles and inlaid metal work. Intricate geometric ornamentation decorates a 15th-century Spanish ceiling panel; a Mamluk rug made in Egypt; manuscripts and works on paper; and glass and metal vessels. Arabesque decoration, derived from scrolling vines and other vegetal motifs, will be seen on 17th-century Ottoman textiles, Iznik pottery and tiles from
Persia and Central Asia. Finally, selections of Mughal paintings, illuminated manuscripts and ceramics made in north India and Iran in the 17th century, as well as examples of spectacular Mughal jewelry, will complete the display. The Al-Sabah Collection is widely recognized as the greatest holding of Mughal jewelry in the world. The loans to Houston include an engraved emerald weighing more than 85 carats, a very important inscribed spinel (ruby), an emerald-anddiamond turban ornament, enamel vessels and jeweled jade court daggers. These jewels were previously seen in Houston in 2002 at the MFAH in the exhibition Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals (TOW), drawn exclusively from The Al-Sabah Collection. The agreement was negotiated by the two directors with the assistance of Mahrukh Tarapor, senior advisor for international initiatives for the MFAH. The initial selection of objects was proposed by Giovanni Curatola, professor at the University of Udine and a consultant for the DAI, who will assist the MFAH with the presentation in Houston. The Museum will honor Sheikha Hussah AlSabah at its Arts of the Islamic World Gala on January 25, 2013. “I am thrilled that the legendary Al-Sabah Collection has decided to place masterworks from these extraordinary holdings on display in Houston,” said Tinterow. “With one stroke, we will be able to show our public the glorious achievement of Islamic visual culture in a comprehensive display, perhaps the finest between the East and West coasts of the United States. Houston is home to a large and diverse Muslim community, and I am very happy that the art and culture of the Islamic world will now take its rightful place in the Museum.”
New security steps KUWAIT: A security source said the interior ministry plans to deal with today’s demonstration include a new team in civilian clothes that will mingle into the crowd of demonstrators to catch those violating the law. He said buses will remain at standby to detain suspects and trouble makers. Special Forces may use new and special gases to deal with the demonstrators. Meanwhile, the number of arrested suspects for the attack on policemen during Wednesday’s demonstration rose to five, as a former uniformed man admitted to being
among the demonstrators and throwing stones at policemen. During interrogation of those who attacked policemen, a major was removed from the case after it was discovered that he tried to tamper with the statements and official minutes. He was caught red handed while trying to get the fingerprints and signature of the policeman who had suffered fractures while he was still under the effect of anesthesia on a paper which read “I do not wish to file a complaint and want to drop the charges.”
“In many ways, this new cooperation is a continuation of the relationships with a city that began decades ago, and with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston which began in 2002,” noted Sheikha Hussah al-Sabah. “It was a son of Houston, the Honorable George H.W. Bush, who spearheaded the UN coalition that liberated Kuwait from Iraq in 1991. It is the hospitality of Houston that encourages the Muslim community to be part of the city and share their culture, in part through this exhibition. And, of course, it was the exceptional experience we enjoyed while working with the museum on the Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals (TOW) exhibition that made the decision easy. Houston and Kuwait share much more than a common interest in oil production; there is also a common interest in learning from and about other cultures. We are proud that, together, the MFAH and the DAI will give all the people of Houston a new opportunity for sharing.” Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) is a cultural organization based on the Kuwaiti private art collection of Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, founder of The Al-Sabah Collection, and his wife, DAI director general and cofounder Sheikha Hussah Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. The collection preserves and presents all aspects of Islamic art and includes more than 30,000 pieces extending from Spain to China, from the 1st to 13th centuries AH (7th to 19th centuries AD). Established in 1983, DAI was created to manage The Al-Sabah Collection permanent loan to the State of Kuwait, under the auspices of the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters. In addition to a highly specialized library that includes rare books, DAI is also involved in the publication of scholarly books on Islamic art and culture. Finally, while the rehabilitation project of DAI’s buildings at the Kuwait National Museum is under way, the Amricani Cultural Centre is the temporary home of DAI. The Amricani Cultural Centre is the setting for most of the organization’s activities and events, including local temporary exhibitions and DAI’s cultural season events. Established in 1900, the MFAH is the oldest art museum in the region, with collections spanning antiquity to the present. The MFAH main campus comprises the Audrey Jones Beck Building, designed by Rafael Moneo and opened in 2000; the Caroline Wiess Law Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe and opened in 1958, with an extension completed in 1974; and the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi and opened in 1986.
KUWAIT: Setting a stunning record in Middle East Sports history, Malaysian athlete legend Manikam will walk non-stop for 12 hours at Kaifan Stadium, Kuwait from 3 am to 3 pm on Nov 9. More than 5,000 people including a host of dignitaries and hundreds of school children will be on hand to cheer the athlete during the record-setting event which is being organized by Valaikuda Vanambadi Poets Association, Kuwait. Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Adnan Haji Othman, Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta, Kuwait Airways Deputy director Khalil Hammadi, Dept of Arts & Design, Kuwait Chairman Yousef Al-Salem Khader Al-Awadhi and Indian Central School Principal Shanta Natarajan are among the dignitaries who are scheduled to be present at the event. A skilled and qualified athletic trainer, Manikam has a long experience in race walking. He began his career in 1969 at Kuala Pilah, Malaysia at the age of 18. Till now he has participated in more than 1,000 walking and race events. Manikam also has won nearly 700 racing events that include international athlete competitions in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, India and the Philippines. During his stay in Kuwait, Manikam will give athlete training to children in some local schools, according to organizers.
Malaysian athlete Manikam Manikam, who takes his athletic career as a challenge, hopes that the event in Kuwait would help raise the importance of race walking among the people here and educate them about the style of race walking.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
LOCAL
Kuwaiti driver busted with drugs, unloaded weapon Foes resume fight at police station KUWAIT: A driver was arrested for possessing drugs and an unloaded firearm during a recent patrol operation in Na’eem district of Jahra. The 31-year-old Kuwaiti man reportedly pointed his gun at the patrol officers when they moved to search his car. After overpowering the man, the officers found some hashish and marijuana as well as other drug paraphernalia inside his vehicle. The suspect was referred to the proper authorities to face charges. Naseem fight Six people were detained inside the Naseem police station where they resumed a fight that they had come to report. The dispute began by the roadside in the area when the two groups, with three members each, clashed and then landed up at the police station with the purpose of filing charges of physical assault against each other. However,
both the groups started fighting again during the interrogation, forcing the police to intervene. Three suspects reportedly assaulted a number of police officers during the quarrel. One of the suspects had to be rushed to a hospital to receive medical attention for injuries sustained during the initial scuffle, while another suspected of being under the influence of liquor was taken for a blood alcohol level test. Kidnap bid foiled Two kidnappers, who tried to abduct a man in Al-Na’eem but were thrashed by his brother and two others, were hospitalized, with one of them sustaining serious injuries. The kidnapping attempt was foiled when a man rushed outside his dewaniya after learning that his brother was being kidnapped. He was quick enough to thwart the plot, and with the help of two friends, badly beat up the
kidnappers, leaving one seriously injured and the other with multiple wounds. The three then handed over the suspects to the local police who called for an ambulance to take them to the hospital for medical attention before legal procedures go underway.
indicated that she suffered symptoms of severe poisoning resulting from consumption of some toxic substance. Her employer further told the police that the worker was dealing with family issues back home, a fact that further supported the suicide theory.
Suicide attempt A Sri Lankan-origin domestic worker, who tried to commit suicide at her employer’s house on late Thursday night, was hospitalized. The woman was found unconscious inside her room at the Faiha’a house before her Kuwaiti employer made an emergency call. She was brought to the Amiri Hospital with a faint pulse but her condition later stabilized in the intensive care unit. Preliminary investigations indicate that the maid attempted suicide since chlorine bleach was found at the scene. The speculation matched the diagnoses report which
Driver injured A Syrian-origin tow-truck driver was badly injured recently in a fight with the Kuwaiti driver of a car after a dispute over fare to be charged for towing the car. The car driver was arrested after the incident in Farwaniya where the 35-yearold victim was planning to leave with the car. The two failed to agree on the fare amount. The car owner struck his opponent on the head with a metallic car jack lever, leaving him severely bleeding. He was rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital while the car driver was taken to the area’s police station to face charges.
KUWAIT: The outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Umit Yalcin hosted a reception at his residence on the occasion of the 89th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. High ranking officials, diplomats and media people attended the reception. —Photos by Joseph Shagra
VIVA hosts annual dealers recognition convention KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, announced yesterday that it organized and held its ‘Annual Dealers Recognition Convention’ which took place in Dubai, from Oct 12 to 15. VIVA’s Annual Dealers Recognition Convention, which was attended by VIVA’s Senior management, was planned in an effort to reinforce relations with VIVA’s dealers, the company’s advocates and brand ambassadors, while rewarding them for their continuous support and efforts. Dealers’ efforts were recognized at the convention during a special ceremony, where all dealers were presented with personalized, company and categorized rewards based on Best Prepaid Sales, Best Postpaid Sales, Partner Since Launch and Biggest Expansion Dealer. Commenting on this special event, VIVA’s Chief Executive
Officer, Eng Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Badran said, “This event is one of VIVA’s main events for 2012, as it brings together VIVA’s local brand ambassadors and advocates in an effort to reward them for their ongoing and invaluable support and efforts in representing VIVA, its products and its services in Kuwait” “VIVA dealers are without a doubt, an integral part of VIVA and a significant element of success that has helped VIVA reach the leading position it enjoys today”. VIVA also treated its dealers to the renowned GITEX exhibition that was running during their stay in Dubai and where VIVA was an active participant and exhibitor. VIVA spares no efforts in maintaining its pioneering role in the market, and will continue to mark and take on promising opportunities that will further contribute to its success and the success of its business partners. For more information about
Kuwait calls for ridding world of nuclear arms UNITED NATIONS: Kuwait called on the international community to work vigorously on ridding the world of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. This statement came during a speech delivered by third secretary at the Kuwait permanent delegation to the United Nations, Ibrahim Al-Arfaj, to the committee meeting on weapons disarmament and world security of the 67th UN General Assembly. Al-Arfaj said Kuwait believed that the only means to rid the world of such weapons was to work in earnest to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms, stressing that by doing such, the world would live in peace and harmony. Regional conflicts, such as the ones in the Middle East region and other parts of the world, are fueling the race for nuclear arms acquirement, said the Kuwaiti diplomat, adding that allowing states like Israel, which refused to sign the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT), to have nuclear capabilities would hinder the goal of a free nuclear Mideast. In regards to the Iranian nuclear file, AlArfaj said that Kuwait hoped that the IAEA and Tehran would continue to cooperate in order to resolve matters of dispute and to prevent the region from drifting into more conflicts. —KUNA
VIVA customers can visit any of VIVA’s 14 branches or authorized dealers, or simply visit the website www.viva.com.kw or contact its 24 hour call center at 55102102. VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communi-
cation, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market
by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.
Alghanim Industries receives ‘Treasury Team of the Year’ KUWAIT: The Alghanim Industries’ Treasury function was recently named ‘ Treasury Team of the Year’, by the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), at its Middle East Awards ceremony in Dubai. The Alghanim Treasury Team was recognized for its successful implementation of a modernization process which has made the company’s treasury function more effective and innovative. A number of initiatives were put in place to streamline processes as well as place a focus on the treasury team and their own personal development. The judging panel, which included representatives from the Mubadala Development Company, Clifford Chance (Dubai), KPMG, Etihad Airways (UAE), Rothschild (UAE) and ACT, stated, “This is an impressive example of a treasury function leading from the front through modernisation and innovation.” Mark Schmitz, Alghanim Industries’ Chief Financial Officer, commenting on the award, stated, “This award is further evidence of AI’s ongoing efforts to become the most successful and admired company in the region, while
Stage ready for ‘Beat Diabetes’ walkathon KUWAIT: Landmark Group, the region’s leading retail and hospitality conglomerate, readies to host the third edition of its annual ‘Beat Diabetes’ walkathon in Kuwait. Registrations are now open and can be done across all Centrepoint, Max, Home Centre and New Look outlets. The walkathon is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Nov 17 and will flag off from the Yacht Club and end at Green Island. It is held in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes Institute. The Group will also conduct walkathons across other countries including UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and India, during November which is the International Diabetes Awareness Month. On Saturday, Nov 17, approx 6000+ people are expected to take part in this cause to highlight the simple fact that diabetes can be managed and prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Open to all age groups, participation in the walkathon is free of charge and all walkers are given complimentary t-shirts, caps and wristbands. Free blood glucose test will be conducted from Nov 1 to 3 across all Centrepoint stores in Kuwait and on the day of the walk. The Group will also be distributing awareness pamphlets to educate the public about the condition. Saibal Basu, Chief Operating Officer, Landmark Group Kuwait, said “We are pleased to host the walkathon for the third year in a row. The Beat Diabetes initiative aims to create awareness about the causes, effects and dangers of this condition in the countries the Landmark Group has a presence. Over the last 3 years we have received tremendous response from the Kuwait community and we are sure that this support will continue”. Dr. Kazem Behbehani, Director-General of Dasman Diabetes Institute added, “Dasman Diabetes Institute does not save any effort to promote and shed light on the awareness of diabetes and general health amongst the public. The involvement of the Institute in the ‘Beat Diabetes Walkathon’ stems from our mission to improve the lifestyle of the population of Kuwait. Adopting a healthy lifestyle, which includes regular exercise and physical activity such as the upcoming walkathon, is essential in living well with diabetes.” In 2011, the Landmark Group’s ‘Beat Diabetes’ walkathons in six countries attracted over 35,000 people and over 40,000 people were administered free blood glucose test. In Kuwait alone over 5000 people participated in the walk and the number is expected to grow to over 6,000+ this year. All Centrepoint stores will have free diabetes testing on Nov 1, 2 and 3, from 6pm to 9.30 pm. Diabetes is growing at an alarming rate and currently affects over 366 million people worldwide. Landmark Group adopted the ‘Beat Diabetes’ initiative with a focused view to spread awareness on the causes, effects and dangers of the condition. Launched in 2009, the initiative today encompasses seven countries - UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, KSA and India. As part of the initiative Landmark Group conducts year round activities and these cumulate with the Beat Diabetes Walk organized in November - World Diabetes Month. Last year the Group organized a series of walkathons in 6 countries, which drew the participation of over 35,000 people, and a huge drive to provide free blood glucose tests. The Group has also partnered with several organizations, including the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and local institutions in every country, to spread awareness about diabetes. Founded in 1973 in Bahrain, the Landmark Group has successfully grown into one of the largest and most successful retail organizations in the Middle East and India. An international, diversified retail and hospitality conglomerate that encourages entrepreneurship to consistently deliver exceptional value, the Group operates over 1300 outlets encompassing over 20 million square feet across the GCC, India, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan. Landmark Group has a strong workforce of 40,000 employees and provides a value-driven product range for the family through its retail concepts: Centrepoint, Babyshop, Splash, Shoe Mart, Lifestyle, Beautybay, Iconic, Emax, Home Centre, Q Home DÈcor, Candelite, Max, and Shoexpress. In addition to the brands developed in-house, the Group also holds the franchise rights for some of the world’s leading fashion and footwear brands in the countries where it operates. The Group has also diversified in the leisure, food, hospitality and healthcare segments with Fun City, Spaces, Citymax Hotels, Fitness First, Balance Wellbeing 360, Foodmark, the restaurant division, which operates the Group’s own and franchise food outlets and iCare Clinics, primary healthcare clinics for the family.
Ministry releases book marking anniversary of constitution
maintaining our focus on developing passionate, empowered and high-performing teams.” Rob Farrow, Alghanim Industries’ Treasurer, added, “We are truly honored to have our Treasury team recognized in this way. The award cements our reputation as best-in-class treasury practitioners in the Middle East, and will greatly enhance our investor relations effort.”
The ACT is an internationally recognized body established to qualify, support and represent professionals working in treasury, risk and corporate finance. ACT Middle East was established in 2008 and provides a valuable network for professionals working in this increasingly critical role in the GCC. ACT has been awarded the Order of Grant of Royal Charter and will become a Chartered body effective Jan 1, 2013.
KUWAIT: Al-Kuwait Magazine of the Ministr y of Information has published a new book marking the 50th anniversary of the Kuwait Constitution, titled “the Kuwaiti Constitution .. Kuwait’s Permanent Spring.” The book will be distributed along with the coming edition of the magazine early this month. Ali Ghazi Al-Adwani, the managing editor of the magazine, said in a statement the book, the ninth to be published by the magazine, was printed in line with the initiative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to proclaim 2012 as the year for celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Kuwait Constitution. This initiative explicitly signals the top leaders’ pride of this great national achievement, the National Constitution that was endorsed in 1962. Contents of the book include contributions by legal experts, writers and journalists who were involved in the historic experience of drafting the constitution. The articles and items in the issue address diverse issues related to the birth of the constitution, its cultural and social dimensions as well as its provisions that affirm freedoms. Other topics address the national identity, a comparative study between the Kuwaiti and American Constitutions, interviews with the figures who experienced its drafting and enacting and “the political system of the country in the shadow of the constitution.” —KUNA
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
‘Communism camp’ for China’s future leaders
Blindfolded boy to select Coptic pope
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BENGHAZI: In this file photo, Libyans walk on the grounds of the gutted US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Witness accounts gathered by The Associated Press give a from-the-ground perspective for the sharply partisan debate in US over the deadly incident. — AP
CIA under fire over Benghazi attack Bitter row rages over who is to blame WASHINGTON: Nearly two months after a deadly attack on a US consulate in Libya, a bitter row is still raging over who is to blame for the security breakdown, with the spotlight now shifting to the CIA’s role. President Barack Obama, the State Department and the Pentagon have come under fire since the September 11 assault in Benghazi that killed US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Republican supporters of Obama’s rival Mitt Romney pounced on the issue in a hard-fought presidential campaign, keeping it in the spotlight. John McCain and other Republican senators called for Senate Armed Forces Committee hearings to address whether there was sufficient military personnel in place in Benghazi at the time of the attack. Due to the clandestine nature of its work, the Central Intelligence Agency was initially spared from scrutiny, but now the spy service and its director, former US Army general David Petraeus, are on the defensive. The Wall Street Journal suggested Friday that the CIA’s fixation with secrecy may have led to confusion over security at the compound and crossed signals with the State Department. According to the report, the US Benghazi mission was essentially a CIA operation instead of a diplomatic post, and most staff worked for the spy agency. The State Department believed there was a formal agreement the CIA would provide back-up security in an emergency, but the intelligence service had a different view, the paper said. The focus on the CIA reflects fresh questions about the spy service’s response as well as a turf war inside the government bureaucracy, as officials seek to shield their departments from criticism. Intelligence officials took the unusual step of giving reporters a timeline of events, which they said showed the CIA acted swiftly and decisively. “The officers on the ground in Benghazi responded to the situation on the night of 11 and 12 September as quickly and as effectively as possible,” a senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity. At the CIA compound in Benghazi, dubbed the “annex” in previous reports, news that the nearby consulate building was coming under attack first came in at 9:40 pm, said the senior official. A security team of seven agents moved out to secure the consulate, arriving at 10:30 pm after coming under fire. The team evacuated the staff but could not find the ambassador, and then drove back to the annex. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sent an unarmed surveillance drone over the area, which arrived within about 90 minutes. He also ordered troops from the United States and special operations forces in Europe to a NATO base in Sigonella, Italy for a potential rescue operation. But by the time the units arrived in southern Italy, the consulate had been torched and ransacked. “The fact of the matter is these forces were not in place until after the attacks were over,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Friday. As heavily-armed militants laid siege to the consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Petraeus directly to ask for help from the agency, according to the Journal. In Benghazi, the security team returned to the annex, where they faced sporadic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. They returned fire and the attackers withdrew. Another CIA security team, sent as reinforcements out of Tripoli, arrived at the compound at 5:15 am. Militants then launched a fresh assault against the annex and within minutes, two CIA employees were killed by a mortar round. The intelligence official rejected allegations the agency had failed to coordinate with the State Department. But, contrary to what some State Department officials believed, the cooperation occurred “without formal interagency arrangements,” the official said. “If you’re on the ground in a dangerous place, you partner up. And that’s exactly what happened in Benghazi.” Officials also defended the role of Petraeus, saying he was “fully engaged from the start,” especially in the rescue mission. Petraeus was faulted by some for choosing not to appear at a ceremony marking the return of the bodies of the slain CIA employees and for attending the premiere of the film “Argo” the day lawmakers grilled the State Department over the attack. The CIA chief stayed away from the ceremony at Dover Air Force Base because the three officers’ link to the agency had been kept secret and attending may have blown their cover, officials told
the Journal. An army general who rose to fame as commander of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Petraeus “receives daily updates on the issue and personally reviewed intelligence reports after the attack,” the official said. “This idea that he is somehow not engaged is baseless.”— AFP
News
in brief
Jordan Islamists fume over Halloween party AMMAN: Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood yesterday condemned Halloween celebrations held in an Amman cafe as “Satanic” and homosexual, while a newspaper reported acts of vandalism at the party. “We watched with disgust and shame last night (Friday) homosexual and Satanic rituals in an Amman cafe,” the Brotherhood said in a statement on its website. “This presents a challenge to the values of the Jordanian people and their Arab and Muslim identity, as well as a violation of religious laws,” it added. The group demanded that those who organized the party be tried for the “grotesque act,” decrying that such events are allowed to go ahead when the people are “stricken by poverty and amid political crises” in Jordan. Al-Ghad newspaper, meanwhile, reported that violence broke out when “angry youths tried to prevent the Halloween celebrations from taking place” in the cafe in Amman. ‘Militia attack’ kills 13 in North Darfur KHARTOUM: Militia in Sudan’s North Darfur state attacked a village and killed 13 people, a local source said yesterday, adding to an upsurge of deadly violence in the area. The attack on Friday targeted Sigili village, about 30 kilometers southeast of the state capital El Fasher, said the source, who cannot be further identified for security reasons. “Basically it was a tribal clash between local militia and Zaghawa,” the source said, adding that five people were also reported missing. Since July, civilians have been increasingly at risk from inter-communal fighting, harassment by militia groups, and sporadic clashes between rebel and government troops, particularly in North Darfur, UN chief Ban Kimoon said in a three-monthly report issued on October 16. Disputes between farmers and pastoralists over land use triggered most of the inter-communal violence, he said. Tensions escalated when tribal militia aligned to the government became involved, along with antiregime rebels. Suicide bomber kills four in NW Pakistan PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber targeted a vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Buner District yesterday, killing the head of a local peace committee and three of his guards, police said. The bomber struck as Fateh Khan, whose committee opposes Islamic militants, left a petrol station in the main city of Buner - 150 kilometers northeast of Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “The suicide bomber blown himself up in front of Fateh Khan’s vehicle. Three guards boarding the vehicle were also killed in the attack,” Jehanzeb Khan, the district police chief said. He said that up to five people had also been injured in the attack, adding that he was unable to immediately confirm reports of two passersby being killed. Another senior police official confirmed the death toll. “We can confirm the death of four people from the suicide attack in the Buner district including the head of local peace committee Fateh Khan,” Akhter Hayat Khan, a senior police official in Malakand division said. Suicide and bomb attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents have killed more than 5,200 people since July 2007 across nuclear-armed Pakistan.
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Dissident tries to unite fragmented Syria oppn Seif’s initiative is centre plank of Doha meeting AMMAN: The fragmented Syrian opposition will attempt once again this weekend to forge a common policy to gain international respect, obtain weapons and, most importantly, topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, a formerly imprisoned dissident said. “An alternative to the regime is dearly needed,” said Riad Seif, a liberal politician who is battling cancer and managed to leave Syria only a few months ago after having been imprisoned. “We are talking about a temporary period that begins with forming a political leadership until a national assembly that represents all Syrians meets in Damascus, once Assad falls,” Seif said in an interview with Reuters in Amman. He spoke after talking to opposition figures in advance of a of a meeting of the wider opposition movement in Doha this weekend to form a united front to help end the 19-month uprising against Assad that has claimed more than 32,000 lives, left many parts of the country in ruins and threatens to widen into a regional conflict. Divisions between Islamists and secularists as well as between those inside Syria and opposition figures based abroad have thwarted prior attempts to forge a united opposition. On Wednesday, the United States called for an overhaul of the Syrian opposition’s leadership, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest of the groupings abroad, and bring in those “in the front
lines fighting and dying”. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signaling a more active stance by Washington in attempts to form a credible political opposition to Assad, said the meeting in Qatar would be an opportunity to broaden the coalition against him. Unlike previous efforts that failed to come up with a unified leadership, Seif said the Doha assembly will be more inclusive, representing a myriad of religious and activists’ groupings as well as more members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect and Kurdish political leaders. Among those Seif met in Amman was former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected to Jordan three months ago and is playing a major role in the new effort led by Seif. He also met with Suhair Al-Atassi, an organizer of peaceful street demonstrations early in the revolt, and physician Kamal AlLabwani, a long-time political prisoner who is now an outspoken advocate for armed struggle. “We have 10 million Syrians who need everything from housing to security to public services, and a regime we have to take every possible measure to remove to avoid more losses,” Seif said, referring to inhabitants of areas under rebel control or where central authority had collapsed. The charismatic 66-year old, who has been suffering from cancer for years, is one of Syria’s most prominent dissidents. Having been assaulted by Assad’s security forces at a prodemocracy demonstration early in the
revolt, he commands respect on the ground as well from opposition figures, whose bickering has undermined the rebellion and made Western and regional powers wary of recognizing the opposition. While still in Syria, Seif was secretly chosen as a member of the Syrian National Council, which has come in for domestic and international criticism as being under-representative of activists on the ground and dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. After leaving Syria early this summer, Seif spent weeks receiving medical treatment in Germany before his condition improved and he began a concerted effort to bring together the disparate opposition groups. An initiative bearing his name will form the basis of discussions at meetings starting in Doha on Sunday. A previous large gathering in Cairo in July failed to appoint a committee that would have acted as the opposition’s face to the world. But most delegates agreed that Assad had to be toppled and replaced by multi-party democracy. Seif said the Cairo documents remain the opposition’s political manifesto. He proposes the formation of a new, 50-member civilian group that will later chose a temporary government and coordinate with the military wing of the revolt. He said the 50-member assembly will represent the “effective powers in the revolution” and “be convincing to the Syrian people”, adding that efforts were being made to bring the rebels under a
LATAKIA, Syria: An image grab taken from a video filmed in July and uploaded on YouTube yesterday shows a Syrian pro-regime fighter cutting the ear of a killed man —AFP unified military command. Western, Turkish and Arab recognition of the new opposition structure, Seif said, will help channel anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to the rebels and “decide the battle”. Seif said independent figures, such as Syrian intellectual Sadeq Jalal Al-Azm, will be in the group to lend credibility. Representatives of opposition local councils that are providing services in Syria’s 14 governates also will be on board. Opposition sources said the success of Seif’s initiative would depend on
how much he can resist pressure from the SNC to put more of its members in the new assembly, and reach a consensus on how respond to international initiative to deal with what is increasingly becoming a Syrian civil war. “There is already talk that most of the members of the new assembly will be from the SNC. If this turns out to be true then Seif’s initiative may be doomed to failure,” said an SNC member who has been advocating a more representative opposition.—Reuters
Kidnapped aid workers freed in Niger, 1 killed NIAMEY: Five African aid workers kidnapped last month in central Niger have been released after being held captive in the deserts of Islamist-controlled northern Mali, officials said yesterday. A sixth aid worker - who was also kidnapped was shot during the abduction and later died of his wounds, the officials said. “The violent death of our colleague Aime Soulembaye is an unjustifiable tragedy,” said Sani Sayadi, director of Nigerien aid group BEFEN, which helps women and children in the impoverished West African state. “BEFEN and its partners are, however, relieved to learn about the release of its other colleagues.” Gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda factions operating in the Sahel and Sahara zone have kidnapped people in Niger and taken them to neighboring Mali in the past, though they usually target Westerners for ransom payments. The threat of kidnapping has slowed investment in the country, the top supplier of uranium to France’s nuclear power industry. French firm Areva delayed the planned start up of its Imouraren mine in Niger after sev-
en of its workers were kidnapped in 2010. Unidentified gunmen kidnapped the six aid workers last month, who included four citizens of Niger and one from Chad, from the town of Dakoro in central Niger overnight on Oct. 14. A government official said the five freed aid workers had arrived in the western Nigerien village of Yassan, near the Mali border, during the night on Friday. “According to them, they were being held in northern Mali and one of their colleagues died after sustaining a gunshot wound,” the official said, asking not to be named. The Islamist takeover of the north of Mali has created a security vacuum, opening up a safe haven for extremists and organized crime groups in the Sahara desert. Representatives from Niger’s uranium exploration companies met President Mamadou Issoufou late on Friday to ask for tighter security in the north. “We explained all the difficulties we are facing in our work as a result of the security conditions,” said Ibrahim Alasso, speaking on behalf of the companies.— Reuters
Erdogan hails AKP’s decade in power ANKARA: Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday hailed his AKP government’s 10 years in power as a “revolution” in Turkish politics, ending a legacy of military coups and exalting the will of the people. “Not only a new party came to power... but a revolution in mentality took place,” Erdogan told his party’s rank and file at an annual camp in Kizilcahamam near Ankara. Erdogan, whose Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) first won election on November 3, 2002 on a wave of popular support after years of unstable coalition governments, said his party introduced a new understanding of politics. He declared that the AKP believed in advanced democracy, rights and freedoms, and not the “pro-coup” and “elitist mentality” which had dominated Turkish politics for decades. “Genuine republicans who embraced the nation” came to power a decade ago, he said in a speech often interrupted by applause. Erdogan hailed Nov 3 as marking a “milestone” and a “new beginning” not only for his AKP but for the entire country. After coming to power in 2002, Erdogan has sought to tackle head-on Turkey ’s power ful military, the selfappointed guardians of the secular state which carried out four coups over half a century and had threatened the AKP with a political ban. “Neither the state nor the republic needs a guardian,” said Erdogan. “Nor does the nation need a nanny. This glorious nation has the will and strength to protect its own republic and state.” Erdogan’s AKP government has trimmed the powers of the once-mighty generals through an extensive legal process which has seen more than 300 army officers put behind bars for alleged coup plots. “It might be possible to rule the country under the control of a handful of elites ... but in a democratic republic, you must take your strength from the people,” said Erdogan. For 10 years, the AKP has boasted of major success in transforming the economy after a devastating meltdown in 2001 and has introduced strict budgetary discipline, record-
ing growth rates of over eight percent in the last two years alone. In his speech, Erdogan praised the government’s economic achievements and big infrastructure projects but failed to comment on the sharp slowdown forecast in Turkey ’s growth in 2012 owing to the crisis in the eurozone, its main market. Turkey’s tough-talking leader also enters a new decade under a cloud of criticism over the country’s human rights record, the Kurdish conflict and the intentions of his Islamic-rooted party. Under Erdogan’s rule, the split has become more pronounced between supporters of the AKP government and its opponents who fear Turkey’s secular traditions are in peril. “The Turkish people have no problem with the republic,” said Erdogan, accusing the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of spreading fears that the country’s secularism is under threat. In his speech, however, Erdogan failed to address Ankara’s rights record, an issue also raised by the European Union. He merely complained over the stalled EU accession talks saying the 27-nation bloc had “kept Turkey waiting at its door for 50 years”. On the nearly three -decade -old Kurdish conflict, Erdogan said like Turkey’s other problems, it would be resolved through “stronger democracy, more freedoms and a stronger economy”. The violence has escalated in tbe Kurdish-majority southeast since the collapse of talks with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2011, nixing the prospect of a negotiated settlement to the conflict which has already claimed some 45,000 lives since 1984. Yesterday, Erdogan warned hunger strikers demanding the release of an imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader against “blackmail”. “We will not release the terrorist chief just because you say so or resort to such an action,” he said. Around 700 hunger strikers are calling for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence in a remote island off Istanbul since 1999. —AFP
CAIRO: A combo picture shows candidates vying to become Egypt’s new Coptic pope (left to right) Father Seraphim Al-Souriani, 53, Father Rafael Ava Mina, 70, Bishop Tawadros of the Nile Delta province of Beheira, 60, Bishop Rafael of central Cairo, 54, and Father Pachomious Al-Suriani, 49. — AFP
‘Mother’s joy’ to pick pope for Egypt Copts Blindfolded boy to select new pope CAIRO: A blindfolded boy will today select the new pope for millions of Coptic Christians in Egypt, becoming his mother’s pride and joy in the process. Nearly 2,500 eligible voters made up of Coptic public officials, MPs, journalists and local councilors have already preselected three candidates to succeed pope Shenuda III, who died in March at the age of 88. They are Bishop Rafael, 54, a medical doctor and current assistant bishop for central Cairo; Bishop Tawadros of the Nile Delta province of Beheira, 60; and Father Rafael Ava Mina, the oldest of the five original candidates at 70. Their names will now be written on separate pieces of paper and placed in a box on the altar of St Mark’s Cathedral, for God to guide the boy’s hand towards the winner-in
the beliefs of the Church and the faithful. The final choice will be left to a boy, aged between five and eight, explained Bishop Pola from Tanta in the Nile Delta, in the first such contest since Shenuda was selected by the same method more than four decades ago, in 1971. “A lot of families propose the names of children, that’s why we lay down precise criteria and ensure the faithfulness of the family and the child to the Church,” said the bishop. Dozens of families have come forward. “I pray my son George is selected to carry out the will of God,” said one mother, Merihan Moros. Yesterday, the interim head of the Church, Father Pachomius, will choose 12 boys to be invited to the ceremony. Tomorrow, he will instruct that one of them
be blindfolded. That boy will choose a piece of paper bearing the name of the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa in the Holy See of St Mark the Apostle. Pola told reporters that strict measures are taken to ensure there is no foul play: the three pieces of paper are all the same size, tied up the same way and placed in a transparent box. The entire process is also televised before a large, live congregation. Some Copts say the procedure should be updated. “The faithful should vote after having prayed and fasted,” according to Gamal Asaad, an intellectual in the community. The Coptic pope serves as the spiritual leader of the countr y ’s Christians, who make up between six and 10 percent of Egypt’s 83-million-strong population.—AFP
Israel defense minister disavows comments on Egyptian president JERUSALEM: Defense Minister Ehud Barak disavowed yesterday comments by a top aide who said he doubted there would be any dialogue between Israeli leaders and Egypt ’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. “The comments by (policy department chief ) Amos Gilad do not reflect the policy of the defense ministry,” Barak said in a statement quoted by public radio. “Amos Gilad did not intend to inter fere in Egypt ’s internal affairs but was merely expressing his concern about possible upheaval in the Middle East.” Gilad has long ser ved as the defense ministr y ’s pointman with Egypt, visiting frequently for talks with military commanders both before and after the overthrow of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak in February last year. In comments broadcast by public radio on Friday, he said there had been no dialogue between Israeli leaders and Morsi since the Egyptian president took office in June and doubted whether there would be. “ There is no dialogue between our top political echelon and this president, and in my opinion there’s not going to be,” Gilad said, adding he was wor-
CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (right) meets with former Arab League secretary general and presidential candidate Amr Mussa at the presidential palace in Cairo yesterday. — AFP ried about the growing power of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi emanated. “If I am apprehensive about anything, it ’s the Muslim Brotherhood because the Muslim Brotherhood is an ideological movement and they are undergoing a revival,” he said. Israel has watched warily as the Brotherhood has gained
increasing power in post-uprising Egypt, fearing for the future of the crucial, if cold, peace treaty between the two states. Morsi, the country’s first Islamist president, has kept Israel at arm’s length since he took office. Egypt, Israel’s giant neighbor, was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979. But presenting his creden-
tials to Israeli President Shimon Peres last month, new Egyptian ambassador Atef Salem brought a measure of reassurance. “I came with a message of peace and I came to confirm that we are really working for mutual trust and transparency and we are committed to all the agreements we signed with Israel,” he said.— AFP
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Obama ditches poetry, finds new voice LIMA: Barack Obama made his name with elevated rhetoric, though his professorial soliloquies can draw yawns and conservatives mock him as an empty suit hostage to the teleprompter. But in the last days of his last campaign, the US president is finding a new voice as he plays to gritty crowds in down-on-its luck Ohio rather than the starry-eyed thousands seduced by his change crusade four years ago. Obama, who has struggled for a persuasive tone while running a rather joyless re-election campaign, has finally boiled his case for himself, and against Republican Mitt Romney, down to a couple of pithy paragraphs. He told small but vocal crowds on a small town tour of Ohio-possibly the pivotal state in Tuesday’s election-that America was “on the move.”“In 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today, our businesses have created nearly 5.5 million new jobs and this morning, we learned that companies hired more workers in October than at any time in the last eight months. “The American auto industry is back on top. Home values, housing starts are on the rise. We’re less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last 20 years ... the war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan is ending. Al-Qaeda has been decimated. Osama bin Laden is dead.” A raspy-voiced Obama pounded out his populist mantra
over rising cheers from crowds packed into two school gymnasiums and a sandy barn Friday, as he stumped for blue collar votes in rustbelt towns ravaged by globalization. How his campaign team must wish he was as succinct in a doleful first debate performance in October that let Romney back into the campaign. It is an irony that the re-election of Obama, who won power by expanding the electoral weight of African Americans, Hispanics and the highly educated middle class, may depend on minimizing his losses among working class whites. That is what brought him to sometimes hostile territory outside one of Ohio’s three main cities, Columbus, on Friday. As long as he has been in big time politics, Obama has faced the rap that he is a lofty intellectual, whose anthems to the common working man ring hollow. But, perhaps realizing that after Monday, he will never again be a candidate, he is campaigning with renewed passion, freed from the cares of office that grayed his brand. “This is coming from his loins,” said Obama’s longtime messaging guru David Axelrod, before adding, after reporters chuckled, “I just wanted to get loins in the story.” “I have known him for 20 years, have worked closely with him for 10, and I have never seen him more exhilarated. When he looks out at those crowds, he can see
who he is fighting for.” Between events Friday, Obama’s motorcade wound across empty prairies where grain silos glistened under a watery late autumn sun in a tedious landscape broken only by power lines. Now and then, his bulky armored limousine cruised through ragged towns of wooden houses with peeling paint, nail salons and funeral homes, with the coming of winter foretold by stacks of firewood in overgrown backyards. In the former smokestack town of Lima, in Allen County, which went 60 percent to 40 percent to Republican John McCain in 2008, Obama achieved new brevity and power with an argument against Republican economics. “We tried it, and what did we get? We got falling incomes, record deficits, the slowest job growth in half a century, and we ended up with an economic crisis that we’ve been cleaning up after ever since,” Obama said. “We tried our ideas-they worked. We tried their ideas-didn’t work,” Obama said, comparing the 1990s golden age of Bill Clinton’s presidency with the crisis he says was induced by George W Bush. There was something about the simplicity of Obama’s argument and accompanying hand gestures that made an onlooker wonder if the president had been watching tapes of Clinton, whose intellect was disguised by the common touch of a master campaigner. Obama, who in 2008
spoke of the “fierce urgency of now” and told Americans “we are the change we seek,” avoids such poetry now, after a presidency haunted by economic woes and humbled by unmet expectations. But Romney, in his latest political incarnation proclaiming himself an agent of change, will not steal Obama’s calling card without a fight. “Now, the thing is, we
know what change looks like, and what he’s selling ain’t it,” the new staccato Obama said. “Refusing to answer questions about the details of your policies until after the election-not change,” Obama said in another Ohio town. “Now, in four days, Springfield, four days-four days for four years ... in four days, you’ve got a choice to make.” —AFP
VIRGINIA: US First Lady Michelle Obama greets supporters as she arrives for a campaign rally for her husband, President Barack Obama at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.— AP
Dirty tricks smear US presidential election Uglier tactics could end up backfiring
NEWINGTON: Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney, passes out Whoopie pies to members of the traveling press on the campaign plane following a campaign rally yesterday in Newington, New Hampshire. — AFP
Romney didn’t serve in military, Mormons do WASHINGTON/SALT LAKE CITY: While neither of the candidates in next week’s US presidential election was in the military, Mitt Romney’s age - he was eligible to serve in Vietnam - has raised questions during the campaign about why he didn’t serve and whether his Mormon faith had anything to do with it. Guy Hicks, a Mormon and former officer in the Army Reserve Special Forces, said there is a public misperception that members of the Mormon Church do not serve in the military. “There is a sense in our culture and in our religious belief that we have an obligation to serve our country, and that’s found in military service; it’s also found in public service,” said Hicks, a senior vice president at aerospace and defense firm EADS North America. The participation of Mormons in the armed forces is roughly equivalent to their proportion of the population; senior figures in the Church served during World War II; and at least 10 Mormons have won the Medal of Honor. According to Pentagon records, nearly 18,200 military service members identified themselves as belonging to the Mormon Church as of March, about 1.3 percent of the nearly 1.4 million active-duty personnel. Around 2 percent of the US population identify as Mormons. Romney was a 19-year-old student at Stanford University in the spring of 1966 when opponents of the military draft occupied a campus building. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the formal name of the Mormon Church) was a strong supporter of the Vietnam War, and the clean-cut young Romney protested against the protesters. Photographs show him carrying a placard saying: “Speak Out, Don’t Sit In.” Rather than joining the armed forces, however, Romney later that summer chose another path. He obtained a deferment allowing him to avoid military service and traveled to France to work as a missionaryfor his Church, a traditional form of service for young Mormons. Romney’s five sons all followed in his footsteps, serving as missionaries but not soldiers. Military service used to be a crucial element of a presidential resume, adding gravitas to the person applying for the job of commander-in-chief. But in recent years it has become less of a requirement, and neither Obama nor Bill Clinton served. In the last election, Barack Obama, who is 51, faced an opponent who was a Vietnam War hero, Senator John McCain, and his predecessor as president, George W Bush, served in the Texas Air National Guard. Mormon Church members say the decision to enter the military, government or some other form of service is a personal one. Those who do serve as missionaries are considered officials of the Church, which qualified them for a draft exemption. “During the Korean conflict and Vietnam War, the Church voluntarily placed restrictions on the number of missionaries sent out from each ward. A bishop could
recommend one young man every six months for missionary service,” said Mormon Church spokesman Eric Hawkins. “Young men who had received induction notices or whose draft number was likely to be called were not recommended for missionary service.” Romney was prepared to serve in the military after his student deferments expired in the early 1970s, but he wasn’t called, his campaign said. “His career choices did not take him into the military, but he has deep respect for all who have served,” a spokesperson said. Although Romney, 65, is not a veteran and is running against an incumbent whose administration tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, he heads into Election Day on Nov 6 with strong support among the military and veterans. Polling by Reuters/Ipsos during October found that active-duty military personnel and their families support Romney over President Obama by 49 percent to 43 percent. When military veterans and their families are included, Romney led the president 53 percent to 38 percent. Romney’s wife, Ann, told television interviewers recently that the decision by her husband and sons not to serve in the military was unrelated to their religious beliefs. Both Church missionary work and military service help young people to grow and mature, she said. “My boys did all serve missions, and they went away for two years,” she said on the television program ‘The View.’ “I sent them away boys and they came back men ... and I think this is where military service is so extraordinary, too, where ... you are working and helping others. And that changes you.” She noted, however, that those who serve in the military deserve particular respect for putting their lives on the line. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints boasts plenty of former servicemen. Church President Thomas Monson joined the US Navy as a teenager in the closing months of the Second World War. Boyd Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a Church governing body, was a bomber pilot in the Pacific. Other senior Mormon leaders also have served in the military, including retired four-star General Bruce Carlson, who was head of the Air Force Materiel Command before retiring in 2008. He now is a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, another Church body. The Mormon tradition of US military service dates back to the Church’s early history following its founding by Joseph Smith and other leaders in 1830. When war broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, President James Polk asked Church leaders to raise a Mormon battalion of some 500 troops, agreeing in exchange to support the Mormons’ move to the Salt Lake area. The Mormon battalion marched from Iowa to Southern California, where it performed occupation and border duties until it was disbanded in mid-1947. It never engaged Mexican forces in battle. — Reuters
CHICAGO: Scare-mongering ads, voter registration forms dumped in the trash and misleading statements on the stump: the list of dirty tricks sullying the US presidential election is seemingly endless. With the high-stakes race culminating with voting Tuesday, experts warn that the unfortunately typical attempts to keep a rival’s supporters from the polls or sway voters with flat out lies could end up deciding the outcome. “If an election is close those kinds of things can matter,” said Kathleen Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. “We’ve had the chastening experience of 2000. And 2004 was close as well.” Some of the uglier tactics could end up backfiring, Jamieson said, citing a DVD sent to voters in swing states claiming to have uncovered nude photos of President Barack Obama’s mother in a bondage magazine. “The problem when that sort of sleaze is distributed is you’d have to be a hardcore partisan to believe it. It’s not like they changed anyone’s vote,” Jamieson said. “You run the risk that you alienate more people than you mobilize.” False and misleading statements on the stump and in advertisements run the risk of alienating voters by undermining a candidate’s trustworthiness. But given the “abysmal” level of political knowledge among most voters, the payoff often outweighs the risk, said FactCheck.org editor Brooks Jackson. “The level of deception or the degree to which candidates stray from the facts or reality has more to do with the closeness of the election and the perception of how high the stakes
are than just about anything else,” he said. “I think we can move the needle a little bit, but only by increasing the level of public knowledge. Not by shaming politicians. There’s too much at stake.” Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney recently came under fire from both Democrats and the heads of General Motors and Chrysler for ads that falsely implied an automaker rescued by Obama is now shipping American jobs to China. The Obama campaign has also told its share of whoppers, including claiming that Romney plans to outlaw all abortions when he has clearly stated his support for exceptions in the case of rape, incest and a threat to the life of the mother. Fringe presidential candidate Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist, is able to sidestep decency laws and air gruesome ads depicting aborted fetuses by turning it into protected political speech. One ad declares that “a vote for Obama helps Muslims murder Christians and Jews” after showing images of decapitated and bloodied bodies. Most of the dirtiest tricks-many of which are illegal-are carried out by third parties. The list of known incidents is long: Voters in the crucial swing states of Florida and Virginia reported calls from fraudsters telling them they could cast their ballot by phone. The FBI is investigating letters sent to voters in Florida, many of whom were Republican, falsely claiming that election officials were questioning their citizenship. The Republican National Committee fired a voter registration firm long dogged by allegations of
fraud after reports surfaced in September that it submitted forged forms in Florida, Colorado and Nevada. Another Republican contractor, Colin Small, was fired last month after he was caught tossing registration forms from Democrats in Virginia into a dumpster. The Democratic National Committee fired Texas staffer Stephanie Caballero after an undercover video showed her giving advice on how to vote in two states. The son of Virginia Congressman Jim Moran, a Democrat, resigned after the same muckraker caught him on tape talking about how to cast ballots under someone else’s name. Billboards warning “voter fraud is a felony” in predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods in the battleground state of Ohio were taken down last month after complaints they were aimed at intimidating voters. Meanwhile, a conservative group called True the Vote has sparked fears of voter intimidation with its vow to train thousands of volunteers to challenge any “suspicious” people at the polls as they seek to ferret out voter fraud. While tossing out voter registration forms is a serious problem, many dirty tricks don’t have much of an impact on the outcome, according to elections expert Rick Hasen of the University of California, Irvine. “What is likely to have a larger impact is changes in laws, especially laws passed by Republican legislatures, which have the potential to moderately suppress Democratic turnout such as cutting back on early voting, making registration more difficult and voter ID laws,” said Hasen.— AFP
Obama, Romney take aim at key Midwestern swing states HILLIARD: President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney made late pitches in the political battlegrounds of the upper Midwest on Friday, a region likely to decide the winner in next week’s closely fought election for the White House. In dueling campaign appearances in the swing states of Ohio and Wisconsin, the two contenders battled over the economy on a day when the government reported the jobless rate ticked up to 7.9 percent in October but that employers stepped up their hiring. In Wisconsin, where polls show Romney trailing Obama, the Republican laid out the case for his election and said the jobs report was more evidence of the president’s failing leadership. “The question of this election comes down to this: do you want more of the same or do you want real change?” Romney said in a suburb of Milwaukee after getting the endorsement of former Green Bay Packers star quarterback Bart Starr. Romney stepped up his attack at two stops in Ohio, including a huge rally in West Chester, a community near Cincinnati, where Kid Rock warmed up the crowd with the Romney signature song, “Born Free,” and a host of Republican leaders spoke. “Your state is the one I’m counting on,” Romney told thousands of cheering supporters on a chilly night. “This is the one we have to win.” With four days left until Tuesday’s election, Obama and Romney are essentially tied in national polls, but the president holds a slight edge in the battleground states that are crucial to gaining the 270 electoral votes needed to win. On a stop in Ohio, the most heavily contested swing state and a vital cog in the electoral math for both candidates, Obama said the jobs
report was evidence “we have made real progress.” Obama, whose federal rescue of the auto industry has been popular in a state where one in eight jobs is auto industry-related, hammered Romney for a recent statement that Chrysler planned to move Jeep production to China. Chrysler has refuted that, noting it was adding workers to build more Jeeps in Ohio, and the two campaigns have aired advertisements over the issue. Obama said Romney, who opposed a government auto bailout, was trying to scare workers in a desperate bid to make up ground in Ohio. “I know we’re close to an election, but this isn’t a game. These are people’s jobs, these are people’s lives,” Obama said. “You don’t scare hardworking Americans just to scare up some votes.” Obama’s advisers said the Jeep controversy, which has fea-
tured heavily in the state’s media, had helped the president solidify his lead in Ohio. “We all felt prior to this week we were in very solid shape in the state of Ohio, and our expectation is that our position’s been strengthened by this,” White House senior adviser David Plouffe told reporters. While campaigning in the Midwestern heartland, Obama’s team was casting an eye on the Northeast where New York-area motorists were scrambling for gasoline on a third day of panic buying after the storm Sandy devastated the area. Obama won plaudits for turning his attention to storm relief earlier this week, but growing frustration among victims could hurt the Democrat if the federal response is deemed unsatisfactory. A variety of state polls show Obama still has slight leads in four states - Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and
OHIO: A supporter listens to US President Barack Obama as he addresses a campaign rally at Lima Senior High School in Lima, Ohio. — AFP
Wisconsin - that would give him 277 electoral votes, barring any surprises elsewhere. Obama plans to visit Ohio each of the next three days, and will close the campaign on Monday with a swing through his Midwestern safety net of Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa. “We want to make sure we lock it in and that it’s definitely in our column,” Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs said on “CBS This Morning,” when asked why Obama was focusing so much on Wisconsin if he had a solid lead there. Romney needs a breakthrough in one of those Midwestern states, or an upset in another state where Obama is even more heavily favored, to have a shot at making his electoral math work. Romney is within striking distance of Obama in four other states with a combined 55 electoral votes Florida, Virginia, Colorado and New Hampshire. A series of Reuters/Ipsos online state polls found Obama led Romney among likely voters by a narrow margin of 3 percentage points in Virginia and 2 points in Ohio and Florida. They were tied in Colorado. The Romney campaign launched ads this week in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota Democratic-leaning states where Obama’s lead has dwindled in recent weeks - in an effort to expand the playing field, and Romney will visit Pennsylvania on Sunday. Republicans say the move is a sign of momentum, while Democrats call it a sign of desperation. “By every metric, the Obama campaign is doing far worse than they were four years ago. They will continue playing defense on turf they once took for granted Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania,” Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer said.— Reuters
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Flooded NY plans to tame the sea, but who pays? Flood defense plan could cost up to $29 billion NEW YORK: When Jeroen Aerts, a Dutchman tasked with crafting a plan to defend New York City from flooding, first looked at its coastline seven years ago, he was taken aback by how vulnerable it was. Unlike some of the other large cities around the world, such as London and Amsterdam, that have comprehensive flood defense systems with levees and storm surge barriers, New York was completely at the mercy of the elements. “I was looking at the water and wondering where are the levees?” said Aerts, a professor of environmental risk management at the VU University in Amsterdam and an adviser to New York City. “Nobody was doing anything on flood risk.” As the devastation after super storm Sandy this week made all too clear, little progress has been made since Aerts first looked at the Atlantic Ocean from New York’s shores. The storm caused widespread flooding, power outages, travel chaos and left more than 40 people dead in New York City. Early estimates predict it also caused up to $18 billion in economic losses in New York state alone. New York state and city officials have started talking about the need for a comprehensive flood defense system, but many obstacles remain. According to Aerts’ top estimate, it could cost as much as $29 billion to build and implement. The question of who will pay for it remains unresolved. Most comprehensive proposals for storm surge defenses involve a system of two to four barriers, each spanning from a third of a mile to six miles and towering about 30 feet above sea level. This is to be supplemented by levees, dikes, bulkheads and beach strengthening. One of the most prominent plans calls for a 0.84-mile East River storm surge barrier from Whitestone in Queens to Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx, and a much longer 5.92-mile Outer Harbor barrier linking Sandy Hook in New Jersey to the Rockaway Peninsula in Long Island. Aerts estimates storm surge barriers could cost between $10 billion to $17 billion, while additional defenses such as levees and adding sand to eroding beaches could cost another $10 billion to $12 billion. Even if the city were to find that kind of money, an infrastructure project o n
such a scale can take more than eight years to build, which means New Yorkers would be exposed to the fury of any such storm in the meantime. As shown in the past week, the city’s current strategy is to take precautions - such as evacuations from areas that flood easily - then take the hit and try to recover as best as it can. “The city’s approach is something that they call ‘resilience’. If they are hit by a storm and they have flooding there will be damage but after the storm they can clean up... kind of repairing the damage after it’s happening, bouncing back,” said Malcolm Bowman, an oceanography professor at Long Island’s Stony Brook University. “Obviously it is not enough.” New York City and state officials did not respond to a request for comment on the question of flood barriers. A city spokesperson also did not respond to a request to comment on the significance of Aerts’s role. The city will occasionally tap advisers to carry out research. WHO PAYS To many New Yorkers, Sandy’s destruction came as a shock. But to scientists, engineers, environmentalists and public officials, this was a tragedy waiting to happen. A 2007 study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked greater New York second among the world’s large port cities most exposed to coastal flooding based on the value of their property. “People have said for many years - specifically since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans - that New York City was prone to such a super storm,” New York City Comptroller John Liu said on Thursday. Still it took Hurricane Irene in August last year for the city to seriously start exploring a flood plan, according to Aerts, who said the city asked him to develop a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for a flood strategy. After Sandy, the momentum behind such a plan is set to build. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, said this week that infrastructure will need to be re-examined and reinforced. But it is not clear how New York will pay for it, and it may well take an act of Congress to prevent the next act of God from bringing the world’s financial center to its knees
again. “We have to weigh our damages against the cost of building such a levee system,” said Liu. On paper, New York City has the capacity to borrow more to spend on infrastructure. The latest relevant report from Comptroller Liu’s office projects the city to be $18.28 billion below its general debt limit by July 2013 and $18.74 billion by July 2014. “I don’t see tight debt capacity as a hurdle down the road,” said George Friedlander, chief municipal strategist at Citigroup Inc. But the city’s government is likely to be loath to jeopardize its strong credit in the municipal bond markets. It will have to clinch a deal with the s t ate, the federal government, as well as other states vested in this, particularly New Jersey, at a time when relations between Democrats and Republicans are highly polarized. “When we saved New York City from bankruptcy thirty years ago, Governor (Hugh) Carey got people together and made them understand they were better off talking to each other,” said Wall Street veteran Felix Rohatyn, currently a special adviser to Kenneth M. Jacobs, CEO at the Lazard investment bank. “I’m worried this is something we cannot do today.” FEDERAL MONEY Federal money may prove key to any major flood protection program. This would mean negotiating funds with Congress rather than relying on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which reimburses states and cities for recovery projects. And getting that kind of money is going to be increasingly difficult given the lack of consensus in Washington on how to handle the US government’s large budget deficit and soaring debt. “We have to get a long-term commitment from the federal government to put money up, which can be contingent on the state and local governments producing a significant match,” said former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Rendell, a major advocate of private sector involvement in infrastructure finance, argued that public-private partnerships could be part of the funding mix for such projects. Even though something like levees would be not be revenue-gen-
NEW YORK: Volodymyr Krupa takes a cigarette break on his street while cleaning out his flood damaged home in the Staten Island borough of New York. — AP erating, private ownership or management was still an option, said Raj Agrawal, head of infrastructure for North America at investment firm KKR & Co LP. “If you get this under private ownership or private operation, you can certainly raise more capital than you could in the bond market by getting a capital infusion of funds from a private party,” he said. POLITICAL DECISIONS In Europe, the Delta Works in the Netherlands, as well as the Thames Barrier in Britain, were both kicked off after the North Sea Flood of 1953 and are early examples of how major storms can result in significant infrastructure investments. The United States has not always been quick off the mark in erecting such defenses. Storm surge barriers off Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts were constructed in the 1960s as a result of a hurricane in 1938, said Graeme Forsyth, a technical director at engineering consultancy Halcrow. “The design may take two years, the construction might take six, and the rest of it is more to do with getting the ball rolling politically, getting the funding in place and
all that kind of thing,” said Forsyth, whose firm is behind a storm surge barrier for St. Petersburg, Russia, that cost $6.9 billion. Still, construction of the storm surge barrier in New Orleans was completed in 2011 just six years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. “My experience in other countries with this kind of project is that these are political decisions. If the population is in favor of it, then a politician will say we’ll go for it. ... Now we have momentum,” said Aerts. Some skeptics argue that barriers and other large-scale infrastructure projects are not cost-effective because they protect only specific areas. “There is too much coastline. In a funny kind of way you can protect one area at the expense of another. I don’t think huge capital infrastructure like that is going to be constructive,” said Steven Cohen, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Aerts, though, says he is producing an estimate for the cost of barriers to give to the city’s government. “In the short-term you can look at existing building codes to make sure that they are maintained. In the longer term, the barriers come into play,” Aerts said.— Reuters
US Congress may have old look after election Some see chance of 50-50 split in 2013 Senate
NEW YORK: Sheila and Dominic Traina hug in front of their home which was demolished during Superstorm Sandy in Staten Island, NY. — AP
In ‘forgotten’ New York borough, anger boils NEW YORK: Returning to the house where she has lived for more than a decade, Colleen Jablonski sobbed as she trudged through a smelly layer of mud and scooped up soiled old family photographs. Like many of her neighbors in New York City’s southern borough of Staten Island, she and her family hauled out to the curb most of her worldly possessions-furniture, clothes, a televisionall destroyed by superstorm Sandy. Her tears turned to anger as she and her husband spoke of how officials handled Sandy, which killed nearly 100 people in the eastern United States and knocked out power to millions after barreling down on Monday. “The response? What response? This is old-school politics. If you’ve got connections, they come to you, but otherwise they don’t,” said her husband Anthony as he offered choice words about Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On leafy residential streets clogged with piles of collapsed shelves and at least one cracked set of decorative pink flamingos, volunteers went door to door handing out homemade pancakes and set up stations to serve free pizza, coffee and pasta in tomato sauce, heated from a portable generator. “People are coming out to help and even offering to cook. My son’s third grade teacher sent $200 in case we needed help. I couldn’t believe it-I was so touched,” said Darren Bennett. But many residents resent what they see as a lack of government attention to Staten Island, the least densely populated of New York City’s five boroughs that has a suburban feel far removed from the hustle of Manhattan. Susan Kenney helped clear out the devastated basement of a friend, who said she survived the storm by standing atop bricks outside clutching her three children and two dogs through waist-high water. “We’re always the forgotten borough. We’ve been wait-
ing four days and no one has come,” Kenney said as her friend tried to salvage remaining family photographs. James Molinaro, the borough president of Staten Island, on Thursday called the American Red Cross an “absolute disgrace” and even suggested that residents consider ending donations, saying the response was too slow after the storm. More than a dozen Red Cross trucks were seen in Staten Island on Friday. Staten Islanders’ anger marks a study in contrast to the more subdued mood in neighboring New Jersey, where many residents appeared to take their losses in stride and occasionally conceded that they should have heeded evacuation orders. On Staten Island, much of the resentment is directed at Bloomberg, who had initially insisted that the city’s famed international marathon would go ahead as planned on Sunday. “He is a moron. People are dead, people have suffered, and these guys are worried about a marathon,” said John Jaramillo, charging that the billionaire mayor “doesn’t know anything about the regular person.” Bloomberg, who had argued that the marathon would show the reputed City That Never Sleeps was recovering and raise money for storm relief, canceled the marathon late Friday due to the controversy. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano toured Staten Island on Friday, offering condolences and vowing that the federal government “will be here for the duration.” Addressing reporters, Bloomberg acknowledged that people who lost homes would face a “long and difficult” recovery but pointed to progress in restoring power and providing food to the hardest-hit. The city has set up 13 sites in affected areas where residents can pick up to three pre-packaged meals and bottles of water. Bloomberg said that 290,000 meals and nearly 500,000 bottles of water were distributed Thursday.—AFP
WASHINGTON: The US Congress fell to new depths of public disapproval in the past two years, yet no big shake-up of the Senate or House of Representatives is expected in Tuesday’s general election. With days remaining before the vote, Democrats were expected to fend off what is seen as a fading Republican challenge for control of the Senate, with a 50-50 tie also a possibility. The most likely victor is the status quo, with neither Democrats nor Republicans on track to win the super-majority necessary to quickly advance legislation, leaving each party capable of blocking almost anything they please. Coupled with a House of Representatives that is expected to stay in Republican hands, the Congress to be sworn in next January to grapple with daunting budget and tax controversies may look an awful lot like the current, deeply divided legislature. Whether it has any more success carrying out its basic responsibilities is an open question. Scholars of Congress generally regard the current version as one of least productive - and most destructive - in modern history. It has failed to complete its most fundamental task of appropriating money to run the government, except on a temporary basis. The showdown in 2011 over the debt ceiling between Republicans and Democrats resulted in a downgrading of the US government’s creditworthiness. In return, the public has disapproved of Congress at record levels, with the lowest rating of 10 percent coming in August, according to a Gallup poll. Democrats have held the majority in the Senate since 2007. For months, Democrats expressed confidence that they could maintain their 53-47 edge in Tuesday’s
elections, when one-third of the chamber’s 100 seats will be in play. Their optimism was bolstered by what many perceived as Republican missteps this year: Romney’s poor early performance at the top of the Republican ticket coupled with the perception that some candidates, such as Tea Party activist Richard Mourdock in Indiana, could be too conservative for their states. Mourdock now trails his Democratic challenger by 11 points, according to a new Howey-DePauw poll, offering a strong hint that Republicans will lose a seat that was first won in 1976 by one of their few remaining moderates, Senator Richard Lugar. Some Republican candidates may have turned off voters with inflammatory comments on the campaign trail. Todd Akin’s late summer musings on “legitimate rape” complicated what was considered to be his clear shot at unseating Democratic US Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri. In addition, Republicans suffered a blow when Olympia Snowe, the popular moderate from Maine, decided to retire, opening a path for the state’s former governor, Angus King, to run as an independent who likely would align himself with Democrats if elected. The non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report predicts that Republicans will have a net gain of no more than three seats, one short of the number needed to ensure control. Rothenberg sees three Senate races as real toss-ups: Montana, Virginia and Wisconsin, all of which are currently held by Democrats. Plenty of other races are too close to call, including Massachusetts, where Democrat Elizabeth Warren has been gaining momentum against Republican incumbent Scott Brown. Still, with the presidential
race and many of the 33 Senate races tightening up, Republicans in the final days of the campaigns have become more encouraged about their prospects of taking over the chamber. One Senate Republican leadership aide pointed to narrowing presidential and Senate races in Pennsylvania as giving hope for a Republican takeover of the chamber. Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, was less convinced. “A 50-50 Senate is certainly possible,” he said, adding that Democrats “have a decent shot at 52 or even 53” seats. That would be a reversal of last year’s conventional wisdom. Throughout 2011, political junkies looked at the sluggish US economy under Obama, did some simple math and concluded that in 2013, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell would finally win his quest to hold the “majority leader” title. The simple math is that in this election, Democrats are defending 21 seats, plus two more that are now controlled by independents who generally side with them. Republicans, with just 10 seats to defend, have more opportunities to pick up seats and fewer chances to lose them. “On the whole, Democrats have done much better than they looked likely to do a year ago,” Sabato said. “This election could have been a disaster for Senate Democrats, but it doesn’t look to be now.” If Tuesday’s voting produces a 50-50 Senate, it would be just the third election in history to do so. In this situation, control of the Senate would go to the party that wins the White House - either Obama’s Democrats, or Romney’s Republicans because the US vice president serves as the president of the Senate, a titular position but one with the power to break tie votes. —Reuters
NY keeps lid on crime during Sandy NEW YORK: New York has kept a lid on crime and looting despite days of electricity blackouts, in contrast to the disorder that marred New Orleans seven years ago after Hurricane Katrina. The August 2005 storm in Louisiana saw widespread violent crime and looting while the authorities were distracted with search and rescue operations in rapidly deteriorating circumstances. In contrast, the New York Police Department, the most modern in the country, was quickly deployed through the city on Monday as Sandy began spreading floods, fires and wind damage. Despite huge power cuts as a result of flooding and wind, looting and other crime have been kept low, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Kelly said Thursday he was only aware of two incidents: 18 people who broke into a food store on Coney Island and two people arrested for robbery during another incident on Staten Island. The key, the police chief said, was to establish a robust presence on the streets. “We have a large number of police officers deployed, we have light towers deployed,
radio cars patrolling. We are focused on the blackout areas,” he said. “ We are doing, I think, an excellent job.” New York media outlets have reported cases of looting in pharmacies and shops in the Coney Island neighborhood ahead of the arrival of police. However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was pleased with the crime rate, saying “I don’t think that we had a murder in two or three days.” In pitch-dark southern Manhattan, with traffic and street lights out, and public transport crippled, residents were sometimes reduced to using cellphones as torches to navigate their way home. Bartender Chris Schiffer, 29, said the first night he had to walk home, he carried a knife for self-protection, although the journey turned out to be entirely peaceful. “Last night, I walked all the way. There was no light, not a single car. I took a little something for myself, a knife, because I didn’t know what I would find,” he said. Fran Sanchez, a resident of Staten Island, said that her neighbors had told her not to open the door to people in uniform unless they showed a badge, fearing that they could be criminals
NEW YORK: A police officer (right) helps Jason Bravo push an out-ofgas van into a gas station in the Brooklyn borough of New York. — AP impersonating police. “How low can you be to think of looting at a time like this?” she asked. “If you’re going to rob a bank, sure, but it’s so horrible to take from anyone who has lost everything already.” Greg Zac, another Staten Island resident, said that despite criticism, police were doing a thorough job of patrolling. Asked whether the city could experience looting of the
kind seen after Hurricane Katrina, Zac said: “New Yorkers stick together. That’s how people are around here.” The painful lessons of Katrina extend not just to street safety but to other crimes as well. Federal law enforcement officials issued a statement reminding the public of a “potential for disaster fraud in the aftermath of a natural disaster.”—AFP
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
India’s embattled Congress to stage massive rally NEW DELHI: India’s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and Premier Manmohan Singh were set to speak at a big rally today to whip up support for contentious economic reforms ahead of 2014 elections. Italian-born Gandhi, India’s political grand matriarch who led Congress to back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2009, is moving into high gear as she seeks to persuade voters to elect the party for a third straight term, analysts say. At the rally in the Indian capital, the leaders will defend the government’s blitz of reforms to allow wider foreign investment in the retail, insurance and aviation sectors aimed at spurring a sharply slowing economy and creating jobs. “We want to tell people
these are people-friendly measures-these are for the betterment of the common man,” a senior Congress party official, who asked not to be named said. “Holding this rally in New Delhi means this message will go out the length of the country-it is part of laying the ground (for the elections),” he said, adding the gathering would be “one of the biggest by the party in some time”. The grounds where the event is to be staged can hold over 100,000 people. The left-leaning Congress is deeply wary of a voter backlash in the elections due within 18 months over the reforms that have drawn strong political opposition in the still heavily poor country of 1.2 billion people. Congress faces a broad spectrum of opposing forces from political par-
ties hostile to foreign firms to trade unions worried about job losses and is now a now a minority in parliament, having lost an ally who quit over the sensitive issue of allowing foreign supermarkets into the familydominated retail sector. But at the same time, the party knows it has to restore its credibility as a force fit to govern in the face of a drumroll of corruption charges that have put it on the defensive almost since the last elections in 2009, analysts say. “The attempt now is to shift the debate from negativism of corruption to positives like growth and employment to which the aspirational India responded (in the 2009 elections),” said Indian Express columnist D K Singh. The rally is being staged a week
after Singh, 80, overhauled his cabinet to give it a more youthful face with the inclusion of younger ministers to appeal to the country’s vast youth population. The party official said also due to speak was Sonia’s son Rahul Gandhi, 42, expected to be projected as the candidate for prime minister in the polls. Rahul, whose family has dominated politics in India for most of its post-independence history, has rebuffed attempts to get him to join the cabinet, leading to doubts about his appetite for the demands of political life. But he has insisted he prefers to work at the grassroots to “build the party” and Congress officials say he is tipped soon to be named second in the party hierarchy after the 65-year-old Sonia. — AFP
Uganda vows to pull-out from regional hotspots UN accuses Kampala of supporting Congolese rebels
CHIMALHUACAN: A street vendor offers her wares in front of graves during the Day of the Dead at Los Rosales cemetery, Chimalhuacan community, State of Mexico.— AFP
As Mexicans mark Day of the Dead, some no longer believe TLACOTEPEC: Isaac Carrasco and his two daughters dutifully adorned the graves of several relatives with beds of marigolds and crosses made of red flowers for Mexico’s Day of the Dead. But the nearby tombstones of his grandparents were bare and surrounded by metal bars, left this way by his aunts, who no longer mark the annual ritual. Like a growing number of Mexicans, Carrasco’s aunts became Protestant and no longer believe in a tradition that dates back from the Aztec era and was later fused with Catholic beliefs. “I would be sad if my daughters forgot about by grave like the way they abandoned by grandparents’ graves,” Carrasco, a farmer in his 60s, said at the San Lucas Cemetery in the central Mexican town of Tlacotepec. All across Mexico, people decorated graves and put up altars in their homes on Thursday and Friday, placing photos of their loved ones along with gifts such as sugar skulls, tequila and cigars. Mexicans believe that the souls of the deceased return during the night to enjoy this feast with their loved ones. They sing and laugh, and some even sleep in the cemetery next to portable stoves with burning incense. The cemetery of Tlacotepec, a town of 10,000 people, is one of the oldest in the central Mexican region, which is known of its chile poblano-a mild chili pepper-and is home to the Popocatepetl
and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes. Around 10 percent of the nearly 1,000 graves in the San Lucas Cemetery were not decorated this year, according to the local priest, Marco Antonio Ramos. The number of graves without decorations has steadily increased over the last five years, he said. Catholicism has lost some ground in Mexico with the rise of Protestantism. Over the last decade, the number of Catholics has dropped from 88 percent to nearly 84 percent of the population, according to a document released by the Archdiocese of Mexico before the March visit of Pope Benedict XVI. There are now 11 million Protestants in Mexico, compared to almost 93 million Catholics in a country of 112 million people. Mexico still has the second biggest Catholic population in Latin America after Brazil. “We will cling to this tradition,” Carrasco said as he dug a hole in the earth with a machete to place a candle. “Maybe one soul has already come to drink his mezcal,” he said, referring to the booze made from the maguey plant. At another grave site, Emiliano Chino and his large family held a party of around 20 dead relatives, drinking a warm punch, singing and dancing into the evening. “How else are we going to transmit the tradition to the young ones?” Chino said. “We joke around and the night goes by fast.” — AFP
Myanmar state media details new foreign investment law YANGON: Myanmar’s new foreign investment law allows overseas firms to fully own ventures and offers tax breaks and lengthy land leases, state media said yesterday, releasing details of legislation passed by parliament this week after a long delay. The law, approved by President Thein Sein on Friday, had gone back and forth between the legislative and executive branches since March in a tussle involving a government eager to attract foreign investment, tycoons determined to protect their monopolies, and small businesses keen not to be shut out. Thein Sein took office in March 2011 at the head of a quasi-civilian government that brought almost 50 years of military rule to an end. He has undertaken economic and political reforms that have persuaded Western countries to suspend sanctions and prompted an upsurge of interest in the country from multinational firms, which see potential in Myanmar’s abundant resources and a primitive, low-cost economy bordering India and China. Most major firms have been waiting to see the new law before committing significant funds. The details in Myanmar-language state newspapers said joint ventures between foreigners and Myanmar citizens or the government would be permitted with any stake ratio agreed between the partners. Foreigners can still own 100 percent of businesses without the need for a local partner, as in the previous law dating from 1988. But there could be restrictions in some areas. A previous draft had said foreigners would only be able to hold a maximum 50 percent of a firm in certain sectors deemed sensitive, including agriculture, and that foreigners would have to hold at least 35 percent of any start-up joint venture. A parliamentary source told Reuters this week that additional regulations covering the restricted sectors could follow later. One article of the new law says the Myanmar Investment Commission can allow foreign investors into the restricted sec-
tors with the approval of the government, in the interests of the people and the country. LONG LEASE Under the new law, foreign investors can lease land from the government or from authorized private owners for up to 50 years, depending on the type and size of the investment, and the deal can be extended twice, for 10 years each time. The old law did not define land lease periods but in practice contracts tended to cover 30-year terms, extendable for two periods of five years. Foreign firms may be entitled to a tax holiday for the first five years of operation and other forms of tax relief may be available depending on the investment, if deemed in the national interest. The old law allowed for a three-year holiday. Foreign manufacturing companies may be entitled to tax relief of up to 50 percent on profits made from exports. Tax exemption or relief can be granted providing it is reinvested in the business within one year. The new law states that output can be used for “both export promotion and import substitution”. The old law stressed export promotion. Like the old law, the new legislation guarantees that an enterprise formed under this law will not be nationalized during the contract term or its extension. A previous version had raised concern by also saying that, if a company were nationalized in the public interest, compensation would be offered. This clause has now been dropped. However, one clause says an enterprise allowed under the law will not be stopped “without sufficient reason” before the contract expires. As under the old law, foreign investors will be entitled to withdraw capital on expiry of the contract in the foreign currency the original investment was made in. The new law says it supersedes the old one enacted in November 1988 and that foreign firms who set up business under the old law would now be governed by the new legislation. — Reuters
KAMPALA: Uganda will tell the United Nations it is withdrawing its forces from military operations in Somalia and other regional hotspots after the world body accused it of supporting Congolese rebels, the security minister said on Friday. Minister Wilson Mukasa said the decision was irreversible and another Cabinet minister would explain Uganda’s position at the United Nations in New York. However, it was not immediately clear if an irrevocable decision had been taken. UN diplomats told Reuters the Ugandan delegation, which was led by Ruhakana Rugunda, special envoy and minister of information and communications technology, did not threaten to withdraw troops from international peacekeeping missions during discussions with UN officials in New York this week. A read-out of the Ugandan delegation’s meeting on Friday with Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, the president of the UN Security Council this month, also made no mention of threats to pull out troops. The information was made available to Reuters by India’s UN mission. Ugandan troops account for more than a third of the 17,600 UN-mandated African peacekeepers battling Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Somalia and their withdrawal could hand an advantage to al Shabaab. Its soldiers, backed by US Special Forces, are also leading the hunt for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic, with some stationed in South Sudan. In a leaked report, a UN Group of Experts last month accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the so-called M23 rebel group commanded by Bosco Ntaganda, a warlord indicted by the International Criminal Court nicknamed “the Terminator”. India’s statement said the Ugandan delegation expressed “grave concern” about the report of the Group of Experts, and added that the Security Council’s Congo sanctions committee had yet to formally consider the experts’ report. Puri noted that “views expressed by the independent experts do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations,” the statement said. It added that Uganda was an important U.N. troop contributor playing a vital role in Somalia and elsewhere. ‘TIRED OF BEING MALIGNED’ Mukasa said Uganda would withdraw troops from Somalia, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo to concentrate on domestic security. “We are tired of being maligned even after sacrifices have been made to ensure that our friends, our neighbors are okay. The ‘thank you’ we get is that you are now aiding this, you are this and that, so we are tired,” he told reporters in Kampala. A Ugandan army spokesman, Felix Kulayigye, said the military had
BAIDOA: A Ugandan soldier prepares to leave a convoy as the Ugandan contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) advanced further along the Afgooye-Baidoa road to a point, 133 kms away from Baidoa. Uganda has threatened to pull its troops out of United Nation peacekeeping missions in response to UN allegations that it is backing a rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. — AFP received no orders yet but was ready to act when it did. “We’ll not stay an extra day in Somalia when we get that order,” he said. UN diplomats said it was not clear whether Uganda meant the threats seriously or was merely trying to pressure Security Council members from taking action on the Group of Experts’ recommendations. The experts called for UN sanctions against individuals supporting the M23 rebels. The African force has been vital to propping up a string of interim governments in Somalia and driving al Shabaab militants from all their urban strongholds over the last 15 months, including the capital, Mogadishu, and southern port of Kismayu. A sudden reduction in its numbers, especially in Mogadishu, would risk unravelling the security gains that allowed the first presidential elections in more than four decades to be held in the capital in September. Somalia’s poorly equipped and ill-disciplined army is more a loose affiliation of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president. Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for Al Shabaab’s military operation, said it was unaware of Uganda’s intention to withdraw and it would keep fighting the African peacekeepers. “After Ugandans leave, what else, it will be easier
to fight the remaining invaders. We shall finish them,” he said. Uganda has earned significant Western support for deploying its soldiers to a war zone few foreign powers outside the region have the stomach for. It also benefits financially for its AMISOM contribution while at the same time a troop presence in Somalia, Central African Republic and South Sudan gives the Ugandan military a big footprint across the region. “It’s just politics and playing to the gallery. They won’t pull out. Things will be quietly settled behind closed doors with perhaps future reports not being so critical,” said London-based Somali-analyst Hamza Mohamed. The confidential 44-page report by the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts, a body that monitors compliance with the UN sanctions and arms embargo in place for Congo, said M23 has expanded territory under its control, stepped up recruitment of child soldiers and summarily executed recruits and prisoners. The report said Rwandan officials coordinated the setting up of the rebel movement as well as its military operations. Uganda’s more subtle support to M23 allowed its political branch to operate from within Kampala. Uganda and Rwanda have repeatedly denied the accusations.— Reuters
Papua New Guinea welcomes Britain’s Charles and Camilla PORT MORESBY: Britain’s Prince Charles and wife Camilla arrived in Papua New Guinea yesterday where they were welcomed with a 21-gun salute and traditional songs and dances as a threatened protest failed to materialize. Several thousand well-wishers had earlier gathered at Port Moresby’s Jackson’s International Airport to catch a glimpse of the royal couple who are on a tour from November 3-16 which includes Australia and New Zealand. Among those greeting the royal visitors were scores of school children as well as young dancers daubed in body paint and wearing traditional dress. Anticipation for the visit, which is part of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, had been building in impoverished PNG, with the Post-Courier newspaper on Friday declaring: “Welcome to Papua New Guinea, Your Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla!” The paper said the visit would be like a “home-coming” for Charles who first travelled to PNG in the 1960s when he was an exchange student in Australia and stayed at the Martyrs’ Memorial Anglican School for boys in Northern Province. “The Prince did not stay with the school principal,” it said. “He stayed with the boys at Sefoa Garden House, slept with them, ate kaukau (yams) and bananas and did what they did.” Charles has been back to the Pacific nation twice since, but it is the first visit for Camilla, who has reportedly been on a private holiday at a holistic health retreat in India ahead of their arrival. Britain proclaimed a protectorate over what became known as British New Guinea in the late 1800s. Australia later took over but Papua New Guinea proceeded to full independence in 1975. The royals touched down as scheduled at 6pm (0800 GMT), untroubled by disgruntled local landowners who had threatened to disrupt the arrival, claiming they are still owed some 4.5 million kina (US$2.1 million) in compensation for the land on which Port Moresby’s airport is built. “If it means shutting down the airport on the arrival
of Prince Charles, then we can do it and face the consequences,” their spokesman Kila Joe Gabutu had said last week. Instead, a joyous crowd of several thousand people cheered the couple, earning the smiles and waves of the prince and duchess. PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill had encouraged his people to welcome the British visitors whose trip follows that of Prince William and his wife Catherine to the Pacific states of the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. “ Their Royal Highnesses are honored guests and their visit
reflects the strong relationship between PNG, Her Majesty The Queen, our Head of State, and the Royal Family,” O’Neill said ahead of the visit. While in PNG, Charles and Camilla are due to visit the capital Port Moresby and also Boera village, where locals are restoring coastal mangroves. Traditional sing-sings will be on the agenda, where tribes or villages gather to show off their distinct culture, dance and music, dressing in elaborate costumes and war paint. The couple leave PNG on Monday for Australia and wrap up their tour in New Zealand. — AFP
PORT MORESBY: Britain’s Prince Charles (2nd right) and wife Camilla (right) are greeted by Papua New Guinea’s Governor General, Sir Michael Ogio and Lady Ogio after arriving in Port Moresby yesterday, as the royal couple begin a three country -16 day tour which includes Australia and New Zealand. —AFP
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
China’s painful past displayed under political shadow CHENGDU: A group of museums commemorating China’s violent Cultural Revolution is opening up normally tightly controlled discussion of the chaotic era-but only up to a point. Businessman Fan Jianchuan has opened six museums about the ten year period beginning in 1966 when China’s then-leader Mao Zedong called on ordinary citizens to struggle against entrenched interest groups-including government officials. The 55-year-old says he’s filled six warehouses with artifacts from the period, when young people formed often violent “Red Guard” groups and those labeled as “capitalist roaders” were publicly tortured at mass rallies. “I see myself as an archaeologist of the Cultural Revolution,” Fan, a former government official who made a fortune as a real estate developer, told AFP in his museum office in the southwestern city of Chengdu. But what he calls “political sensitivity” has meant that he keeps the vast majority of his collection hidden from view. “What I have on display is barely five percent of what I’ve collected,” said Fan, who plans to open a seventh museum on the era next year. The ruling Communist Party keeps detailed discussion of the Cultural Revolution out of mainstream Chinese media, worried that an open debate could be used to justify unrest and also undermine its official history of a period it refers to as a “serious setback” for the party. Mao Zedong set the period of lawlessness in
motion to boost his authority, previously undermined by the disastrous effort to modernize China known as the “Great Leap Forward,” which led to a famine that killed millions in the late 1950s. China has never stated estimates of how many died in the decade of political campaigns, which saw citizens turning on their neighbors and caused half a million deaths in 1967 alone, according to US-based British historian Roderick MacFarquhar. The spectacular downfall this year of Bo Xilai-former party boss of the southwestern megacity of Chongqing, who is set to face trial for corruption and other crimes-has thrust the Cultural Revolution into the spotlight. Bo’s revival of “Red culture,” which saw Maoist quotes sent to citizens’ mobile phones and massive “Red song” concerts, along with his charismatic leadership style, reminded many party insiders of Mao’s excesses. China’s Premier Wen Jiabao-lawyers for whom this week rejected a New York Times report on the wealth of his family membershit out at Bo’s administration in March, when he also called the period “a historical tragedy.” ‘AIRBRUSHING’ HISTORY An increase in social discontent over the past 10 years, evidenced by rising numbers of protests, has made Chinese leaders more reluctant to mention the period, Guobin Yang, professor at USbased Barnard College said. “I see a tightening of space for discussion of
the Cultural Revolution over the last decade, including on the Internet,” he said. “There is a fear that the Cultural Revolution could be a resource for protesters to justify their activities.” Fan’s collections have seemingly escaped censure by mostly avoiding the violence of the time, and by not using the term “Cultural Revolution”. Due to government pressure the period is instead referred to as the more-neutral “Red Era”, said a museum assistant, who requested anonymity. Most government-funded museums in China avoid mentioning the period altogether. China’s National Museum, renovated in 2011, commemorates the era with a lone photograph, and three lines of written text. “The government’s first concern is with keeping society stable, and they know that it would stir up too much criticism to open a museum about the period,” Fan said. “I think it will take at least another 20 years before we can talk openly about the Cultural Revolution.” Fan’s museums are part of a growing trend of private museums and galleries being opened in China over the past five years. Of all museums in the country, 13 percent are private, according to the China Daily. Fan opened his first museum in 2005 in Chengdu and has since expanded to put more of his collectionboasting more than 100 tons of documents including 20,000 diaries - on display. Each has a different theme, such as
CHENGDU: Visitors look at a display at Fan Jianchuan’s Cultural Revolution museum near Chengdu, in Sichuan province. A series of museums commemorating the decade of violence during China’s Cultural Revolution is opening up normally tightly controlled discussion of the chaotic era - but only up to a point. — AFP household objects or Mao pin-badges items he collected “touch on too many and clocks. Though most of his exhibits painful memories”. One group that avoid the dark side of the 1966-76 social hopes to break the silence are Chinese experiment, some do address the vio- liberals, who see the chaos as an illustralence. Letters on display in one of the tion of the need for democracy and museums tell the story of a Chinese independent checks on the power of the actor who committed suicide in 1967 one-party state. Any mention of the era after prolonged beatings by Red Guards, at China’s upcoming party congressone of thousands who died during the where a once-in-a-decade leadership political campaigns. But Fan says he is transition will be announced-could be reluctant to exhibit items implicating his interpreted as expressing the new leadfellow citizens in violent crimes “out of ership’s commitment to legal and politirespect for their privacy”, adding that the cal reforms. — AFP
North Korea ‘proud’ of its human rights record Pyongyang rejects as baseless a UN monitor’s report
PYONGYANG: Photo shows a general view of the uncompleted Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. An enormous pyramid-shaped hotel which has stood half-built for decades in North Korea’s capital is on track to open its doors next year, a luxury international hotel chain said according to reports yesterday. — AFP
‘Communism camp’ for China’s future leaders JINGGANGSHAN: In the remote Jinggang mountains, China’s future communist elite are being trained in Mao Zedong’s former guerrilla base, an effort to buttress the revolutionary roots of a regime striving to maintain its legitimacy. The Communist Party’s embrace of state-directed capitalism has utterly transformed China since Mao died in 1976. But heading into a once-a-decade power shift next week, it still plays a balancing act with its founding ideology. At the Jinggangshan leadership academy, high-ranking officials of the party gather round on stools for lessons intended to deepen their understanding of the revolutionary communism espoused by Mao, who founded Red China in 1949. “Many cadres, after hearing stories about the martyrs of the revolution, they ask themselves questions. They want to work more in order to better serve the people,” said Yao Yuzhen, a teacher at the institute and grandson of a Mao-era army veteran. Since 2005, trainees have been attending courses for days or weeks at the institute in the central Chinese town of Ciping, a hotspot for “red tourism” honoring Mao, the architect of collectivism and state control. In the 1930s some of Mao’s revolutionary fighting force set off from the remote, mountainous area on the Long March that kept alive their struggle to take over China, and the teachings aim to inspire future leaders with their ideology. “It is here that the system of Maoist thought took form. For every Chinese, for party members and leaders, it is a sacred place,” said Liu Fusheng, a trainee and manager of the major port in the northern city of Tianjin. “Mao left the Chinese people, including me, a very precious heritage,” he added. Mao remains both venerated and feared-his successor Deng Xiaoping appraised his performance as “70 percent good, 30 percent bad”. His giant portrait continues to hang over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and his embalmed body rests in perpetuity in a mausoleum at the opposite end of the square. “The Cultural Revolution is a very sad page in history. Many people, including my parents, were attacked. It was a tragedy,” said Liu, referring to the chaotic and bloody era spanning 1966-76 when Mao encouraged fanatical followers to purge China of “impure” elements. Seared by that experience, and by the folk memory of Mao-era famines linked to
disastrous economic policies, today’s leaders crave stability above all else. Helping cadres keep the faith is seen as vital for the long-run future of the Communist Party. Despite having 82 million members and drawing popular support from decades of economic growth, the party has disenchanted many Chinese. Widespread corruption and a year of scandal surrounding disgraced regional boss Bo Xilai leaves China’s new crop of leaders-who are set to be named at the party’s 18th congress starting Thursday-facing an identity crisis. Bo, who will go on trial for corruption and other crimes, had led a Mao revival in the megacity of Chongqing with the singing of “red songs” and building of statues of the “Great Helmsman”, striking a chord with many Chinese. Mao’s image resonates with some in part due to nostalgia for the extreme egalitarianism he imposed, especially as today’s “red capitalism” is associated by many with the pampered “princeling” offspring of high officials. In September, the party demoted senior figure Ling Jihua after his son reportedly crashed a Ferrari in Beijing in a high-speed fatal accident that caused another embarrassing scandal. The backlash against the perceived excesses and cronyism that have accompanied economic reform has given rise to a “conservative” left-wing including intellectuals and neo-Maoists. So the party has to balance its espousal of market reforms with a purer strain of Maoist teaching taken from a simpler age, long before China became the world’s second-largest economy. Heading the communism school in Jinggangshan is Li Yuanchao, the powerful chief of the party’s Organization Department, which appoints key posts in the party and state-owned enterprises. Under his leadership, there is official acknowledgement at the school that the country is thriving thanks to open markets and globalization. Along with tomes on the revolution, the library includes “many books” on the economy and modern finance as well as biographies of Western leaders such as Charles De Gaulle and Franklin D. Roosevelt, said Kuang Sheng, the school’s head of learning. At the same time, he said: “To elevate party members’ level of theory, we have books on MarxistLeninist thought.”— AFP
UNITED NATIONS: North Korea’s UN delegation declared yesterday that it was proud of Pyongyang’s social system and human rights record and rejected as baseless a UN monitor ’s report that described appalling human rights abuses in the reclusive country. Pyongyang was reacting to a report to the UN General Assembly ’s Third Committee, which focuses on rights issues, from UN special rapporteur on North Korea Marzuki Darusman that described “a wide range of human rights violations.” Among the abuses Darusman referred to in his annual report on North Korea were the alleged “extensive use of political prison camps, poor prison conditions and prisoners being subjected to forced labor, torture and corporal punishment.” North Korean delegate Kim Song read a statement to the committee, which includes all 193 UN member states, that said: “My delegation totally and categorically rejects the ... groundless allegations.” “The report of the special rapporteur is a product of the hostile policies of the United States and European Union against the DPRK (North Korea) and is a typical example of politicization, double standards and selectivity on the issue of human rights,” Kim said. Darusman complained that North Korea had refused to cooperate with him during his assessment of the human rights situation in the impoverished nation. He also said there had been “no improvement in the dire situation of human rights” in North Korea since his last report in March. Pyongyang’s delegate said North Korea had previously cooperated with UN and European Union human rights bodies but stopped doing so in 2006 after the EU began sponsoring annual
General Assembly resolutions condemning Pyongyang for its rights record. “We have nothing to hide,” Kim said. “We have nothing to be afraid of. On the contrary, we are proud of our superior system of promoting and protecting human rights in our country, including free medical care and free education system.” “We will further develop and strengthen our social system that guarantees promotion and protection of human rights,” he added. ‘BIG MISTAKE’ US, Japanese, EU and other delegations gave statements criticizing Pyongyang’s rights record. Darusman reiterated his concerns about North Korean prison
camps, which he told the committee held between 150,000 and 200,000 prisoners. China and other countries complained about the practice of adopting General Assembly resolutions that single out countries for their records on human rights. The North Korean envoy said Darusman’s allegations were based on “distortions and falsity.” “We neither recognize nor accept the mandate of the special rapporteur appointed by a resolution against the DPRK,” Kim said. “This is our principled position and it will not change in the future.” “It is a big mistake if certain countries expect any change from DPRK through political pressure,” he added. “ We remain consistent in our peaceful
position to solve all problems through negotiation and dialogue.” The assembly ’s Third Committee is expected to pass a resolution condemning the rights situation in North Korea later this month, to be followed by formal adoption in the General Assembly in December. Such resolutions are an annual UN ritual for North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. The Third Committee is also expected to pass a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Syria due to the 19-month conflict between government forces and rebels there. The General Assembly passed such a resolution on Syria last year. — Reuters
PYONGYANG: North Koreans exercise on gym equipment inside a recently opened fitness center in the capital city Pyongyang. — AP
Facts: Communist Party BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party opens its 18th congress in Beijing on Thursday, a major political event to appoint a new leadership to head the world’s most populous nation over the next decade. At this congress, which is expected to last about a week, more than 2,000 Party delegates from across China will meet in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, the symbolic centre of communist power. ANOINTING NEW RULERS The main task for delegates will be to select a new Central Committee that is made up of about 200 people. The Central
Committee appoints a Politburo of 25 members and the powerful Central Military Commission, which controls the nation’s armed forces. The Committee will also appoint the elite Politburo Standing Committee, China’s highest decision-making body, comprising seven to nine members who will be chosen from within the Politburo. The Politburo Standing Committee, China’s innermost core of power, is headed by the party’s general secretary, the most important post in the country currently held by President Hu Jintao. The congress is widely expected to appoint Vice President Xi Jinping as the new general secretary. Xi would then
replace Hu as president next March. ELECTION OR SELECTION? In theory, the delegates are to elect China’s next generation of leaders. But in practice, the appointments for senior posts are apparently decided on by top party leaders and retired officials in an opaque bargaining process which intensifies during the months running up to the congress, with elections only held after congress delegates indicate that they will vote for the pre-chosen candidates. THE MIGHTY COMMUNIST PARTY China’s Communist Party,
made up of 82 million members, is the biggest political party in the world. Its first congress, a small gathering of about a dozen people, took place in Shanghai’s French concession in 1929 at a school for girls that was closed for vacation. Since 2002, the party has insisted congress delegates not only represent the party, but also different social groupings, including capitalist entrepreneurs. Since 1977, the party’s congresses have been held once every five years. None was held between 1956 and 1969, years which saw chaotic political upheavals such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. — AFP
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NEWS MoI may use troops...
Syrian rebels target airbase before talks
NY cancels marathon
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Opposition leaders insist they have no desire to undermine the Al-Sabah family and late on Friday pledged their loyalty to the Amir while renewing their demand for the electoral law to be changed back. Wednesday’s demonstration was called to protest against the detention of opposition leader Musallam AlBarrak on charges of undermining the status of the Amir. He was released on bail the following day. It was the second time in 10 days that security forces had bloodily dispersed an opposition rally. On Oct 21, more than 100 protesters were injured as police attempted to break up a demonstration that the opposition said was the largest in Kuwait’s history with more than 100,000 people taking part. Amnesty International called on the Kuwaiti authorities on Thursday to respect the right to demonstrate. “The Kuwaiti authorities must ensure the people of Kuwait are free to peacefully express their opinions, including about the electoral law, the elections and the Amir,” the human rights watchdog said. “The security forces must abide by international policing standards and refrain from using unlawful force in response to peaceful demonstrations.” — AFP
Analysts said the assault came as rebel forces clearly have the momentum in the battle for Syria’s northwest. The Observatory, meanwhile, released new videos of pro-regime fighters apparently killing prisoners and cutting ears from bodies, after footage showing rebels executing soldiers raised international concerns. The purported video of the rebels - also released by the Observatory -showed about 10 soldiers being beaten, then lined up on the ground and executed with automatic rifles. The UN human rights body said the video appeared to show a war crime and warned that “accountability will follow” for those who commit atrocities, while London, Paris and Washington raised concerns. One of the two new videos released yesterday, reportedly filmed in July in the northwestern Latakia region, shows a man in military fatigues brandishing a severed ear and a knife, laughing at the camera. “Here is the ear of a dog - we will teach them a lesson,” he says, referring to the rebels. The other, reportedly filmed
in February in the southern Daraa province, shows fighters using automatic weapons to execute a group of rebels lying on the ground. The authenticity of the videos could not be verified. The Observatory said at least 116 people were killed in violence yesterday. That is on top of more than 36,000 who have died since the uprising against Assad’s rule broke out in March 2011, first as a protest movement inspired by the Arab Spring and then as an armed rebellion after brutal repression by the regime. In other developments, Israel complained to the United Nations yesterday after three Syrian tanks breached the demilitarised Golan Heights zone that separates the two countries, a military spokeswoman said. “The rebels’ gains in the north seem irreversible,” said Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh’s Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies department. He said regime forces appeared to be concentrating their efforts in the region on defending embattled commercial hub Aleppo, which rebel advances in the past month have cut off from Damascus and the
Mediterranean coast. “The problem with this strategy is that the Aleppo garrisons are now largely isolated. It is likely they will fall in the months to come,” he said. The fresh clashes came as the opposition prepared for key talks starting today in Qatar, where the United States is expected to push for a new umbrella organisation to unite the country’s fractured regime opponents. Reports have emerged that Washington will press for an overhaul of the opposition and its main body, the Syrian National Council (SNC), with long-time dissident Riad Seif touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative. In a statement from Amman, a group of opposition figures including Seif sought to quell concerns the overhaul is aimed at building an opposition that would be willing to negotiate with President Bashar Al-Assad. “Assad and his entourage leaving power is a nonnegotiable precondition for any dialogue aimed at finding a non-military solution, if that is still possible,” the group said after talks in the Jordanian capital. — Agencies
Crews were working to restore supplies both to schools that reopen tomorrow and for polling places to be used in Tuesday’s presidential election. Much of the rest of New York, however, continued to experience widespread power outages that could last for as long as another week. As New Jersey police raised the state’s death toll to 22, increasing the overall US total to at least 103, the biggest hurdle to recovery continued to be a severe lack of gasoline. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced rationing of fuel to curtail the long lines and growing frustration outside gas stations. Starting yesterday, drivers with license plates ending in an even number will be allowed to fill up on even-numbered dates and those with number plates ending in odd numbers plates on odd-number dates. New York officials meanwhile announced the deployment of military fuel trucks that will give 10 gallons of gasoline to drivers free of charge. State Governor Andrew Cuomo said the critical situation should ease rapidly as delays in the arrival of fuel ships had been remedied. Some areas of life in New York were almost back to normal following one of the most damaging storms in US history. The city subway system was 80 percent up and running, Cuomo said. The transit authority ended the suspension of fares that had allowed New Yorkers to ride free during the immediate aftermath of the calamity. However, today’s annual New York marathon was abruptly canceled late Friday after Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed his earlier position and bowed to public pressure. — Agencies
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
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West Sahara sands shift in UN favour By Guillaume Klein orocco and the UN envoy for Western Sahara, who was spurned by Rabat in May, are back on speaking terms, but analysts say the situation over the disputed territory has noticeably altered to the kingdom’s detriment. The rising importance of the security issue in the Sahel region, where a military intervention could take place against Islamists in northern Mali, is lending weight to the regional influence of Algeria, a supporter of Western Sahara’s independence-seeking Polisario Front. Christopher Ross’s return to Morocco six months after the kingdom said it had no confidence in the UN envoy came without fanfare. His visit was discussed in the local media but the two parties restricted their communication to keep the international media at bay. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s representative spent four days in Rabat before going to Laayoune, Western Sahara’s main town, his first time there since taking up the post in 2009. Beyond the standard meetings with Moroccan officials, he also met a wider range of actors, including political and civil society figures from all sides of the dispute over the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. These developments prove that “the environment has changed radically”, notably in the “new context” of the Arab Spring, said Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a university professor in France and specialist on the Maghreb region. “We are seeing the UN role being redefined,” she added, saying that “the people (of the sparsely populated territory) will from now on be partners (in the process)”. Mohsen-Finan said that above all, Ross’s remaining in his post even after Rabat accused him of being biased and partial, followed by his return to the region, was “an affront” to Morocco. On Tuesday, the Akhbar al-Youm newspaper said Morocco had made “two mistakes” on the Ross issue. “The first one was when it decided to expressly withdraw its confidence in him without getting a green light from the US, and the second was when it accepted his return as if nothing had happened,” it said. The UN envoy has returned, but “will certainly not forget the incident”, the newspaper added. “No one has explained to the public the reasons for (Ross’s) return,” said Abdelfettah Benamchi, head of think tank the Moroccan Centre for Parallel Diplomacy and Dialogue of Civilisations. Rabat “should have stuck to its decision or not taken it in the first place”, he said. This opinion is not shared by everyone. Mustafa Naimi, a university professor and member of the Royal Advisory Council For Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), said that Morocco is the prime beneficiary of its actions. Rabat “did what was necessary” to defend its interests and the Ross visit simply appeared to come as an “inaugural tour”, he said. It showed, according to Naimi, Rabat’s “flexibility” at the same time as involving “stakeholders who will illuminate the issue (for Ross)”. Ross’ vision for resolving the conflict was based solely on the referendum option, demanded by the Polisario Front, Naimi added. Rabat “put its foot down by saying it could not support” a unilateral approach, he said. Morocco proposes granting broad autonomy to the former Spanish colony, an initiative backed by permanent UN Security Council member France. But the Polisario Front rejects the proposal and demands “the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination” via a referendum, which Algeria supports. According to Naimi, much of the conflict’s resolution will necessarily go through Algeria, whose regional weight appears to grow with the increasing importance on the international stage of the security situation in the Sahel. As Ross visited Rabat, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to try and obtain his support for African military action in northern Mali, whose border with Algeria runs 1,400 km in length. Northern Mali has been occupied by Islamist militants since earlier this year, prompting Bamako to seek UN authorisation for outside help, most probably a joint African effort, in reclaiming the region. — AFP
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English game wrestling with beauty and beast By Martyn Herman ven by the hyperbolic standards of English soccer the opening skirmishes of the new season have provided a dizzying overdose of the good, the bad and the downright ugly sides of what was once referred to as the beautiful game. The past week alone has provided a tumultuous microcosm of a season that is not even three months old. Arsenal’s incredible 7-5 League Cup victory over Reading having trailed 4-0, not to mention Chelsea’s 5-4 defeat of Manchester United in the same competition, illustrated exactly why English football is so addictive. Luis Suarez’s “pantomime villain” performance for Liverpool in last weekend’s Merseyside derby, complete with his comical self-mocking dive in front of Everton boss David Moyes, added a much-needed dash of humour to a day that ended with another racism saga unfolding and more on-field theatrics. Chelsea’s 3-2 Premier League defeat at home to Manchester United last Sunday veered from being a “classic” of its time to yet more ammunition for those who believe English soccer is hurtling out of control into the abyss. Mark Clattenburg, one of England’s elite referees, sent off two Chelsea players, the second, Fernando Torres, for apparent diving and was later accused of using “inappropriate language” directed at Nigerian John Obi Mikel. The cake was
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egged still further by a nasty injury to a pitch-side steward as Chelsea’s fans vented their anger at United’s celebrations of their late winner. A Football Association investigation into the so-far unsubstantiated allegations of racist language by Clattenburg to Mikel has begun. In the same week, two England players were amongst 12 people charged with violent conduct by Serbia police after a mass brawl following a Euro Under-21 qualifier last month. The match ended in near anarchy with the England player Danny Rose allegedly subjected to monkey taunts from the crowd before and after being sent off. All this with Chelsea skipper and former England captain John Terry in the middle of a four-match ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand a year ago - a case that has threatened to poison the racial harmony that the English game has achieved after the bigoted days of days gone by. Such has been the fallout from Terry’s drawn-out case that several players, Manchester United Rio Ferdinand the most prominent, have openly boycott the anti-racism campaign Kick It Out and raised the possibility of a breakaway players’ union. Exciting as ever on the pitch, there appears to be a severe lack of harmony off it in the Premier League. “There are things happening at the moment that don’t benefit the game,” Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas, who was in charge of Chelsea when Terry first crossed words with
Ferdinand last October, said this week when discussing the latest round of ugly newspaper headlines. “Things like that take the beauty away from the game and the headlines are replaced with the nasty part of the game. “That is a pity because (the Chelsea v Man Utd) games were two great games of football.” It is all a far cry from the few blissful summer weeks in London when sport was showcased in all its glory as Britain basked in the glow of one of the most successful Olympic and Paralympic Games ever staged. It was a time when personal sacrifice, human endeavour and stories of triumph, adversity and mind-boggling feats of skill and athleticism gripped a worldwide audience. While the doom-mongers predict that football is in danger of disappearing into the void, the game itself continues to thrive despite sky-high season ticket prices and the growing sense that millionaire players are removed from the “man in the street”. Chelsea, for all their off-field sagas, have been a joy to watch on it with Roberto di Matteo’s emphasis on creativity rather than physicality winning plaudits. Watching the likes of Spanish playmaker Juan Mata, Brazilian lightweight Oscar and Belgian Eden Hazard unpick Manchester United’s defence was a thing of beauty last Sunday. Sadly, English football still has to conquer the beasts within if this season is to be remembered for the right reasons.— Reuters
Jilted Africa cool after Obama fever fades By Njuwa Maina and Tosin Sulaiman n the tiny Kenyan village of Kogelo, US President Barack Obama’s ancestral homeland, some people talk of hurt feelings of the kind experienced when a favourite relative has failed to get in touch. Four years ago, Kogelo, and Africa in general, celebrated with noisy gusto when Obama, whose father came from the scattered hamlet of tin-roofed homes, became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States. Looking across the Atlantic to the Nov. 6 presidential election, the continent is cooler now towards the “son of Africa” who is seeking a second term. There are questions too whether his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, will have more to offer to sub-Saharan Africa if he wins the White House. Obama, who hailed his “African blood within me”, only visited sub-Saharan Africa once in his four years - a stopover of less than a day in Ghana in between summits elsewhere. In Kogelo, which was put on the tourism map by Obama’s election and where his grandmother still lives, locals take this personally. “He should have come to at least say ‘hi’ to the people of Kenya so that we can know that we are still together in spirit, rather than abandoning us as if he was not our son,” said Steven Okungu, 21. “It is a disappointment.” Many in Africa feel their enthusiasm for Obama was not requited by him in terms of increased US commitment and fresh concrete initiatives on the world’s poorest continent, a deficit they see being filled by other emerging players such as China, Brazil, India and South Korea. Sub-Saharan Africa has gone virtually unnoticed as a topic in the US presidential election campaign, focused heavily as it has been on pressing domestic issues such as the lack of jobs and how to prod America’s stuttering economy into faster growth. But analysts see a strong counter-terrorism focus increasingly driving US policy towards Africa, as Washington throws its weight behind efforts on the continent to confront the spreading presence there of Al-Qaeda and its Islamic jihadist allies in hotspots from Somalia to Mali and Nigeria. “These concerns don’t recognise borders,” Mark Schroeder, Director of Sub-Saharan Africa analysis at STRATFOR Global Intelligence, told Reuters, predicting this security focus will figure strongly whoever wins the election. In 2009, China overtook the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner. According to the Brookings Institution, President Hu Jintao of China has made up to seven trips to Africa, five as head of state, and has visited at least 17
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countries. In contrast, Obama’s 20-hour 2009 sojourn in Ghana has been his only trip to subSaharan Africa as president. “We would have expected to see more American involvement instead of a retreat. If you go to many countries and ask them about who is doing more, they will tell you China,” said Mwangi Kimenyi, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Africa ‘an Afterthought’? John Mbadi, a deputy minister in the office of the Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, agrees. “He did not show enough concern to reverse the trend of China’s influence on trade with Kenya and Africa as a whole,” Mbadi said. Defending the Obama record in Africa, David Young, a senior official in the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said the president had held meetings at the White House with 12 African leaders. “The administration has in fact been very focused on Africa,” Young told Reuters. He said US exports to subSaharan Africa increased 40 percent from 2009 to 2011 and are on track to double by 2013/14. A multi-stop swing through Africa in August by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her fourth as the top US diplomat, appeared aimed at promoting America as a more principled and reliable partner than China. But while trade between the United States and subSaharan African countries totalled $94.3 billion in 2011, China’s Africa trade totalled $127.3 billion, eclipsing the U.S.-Africa trade record of $104.1 billion in 2008. Obama carried on initiatives launched by his predecessors. These include Bill Clinton’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which waives import duties on thousands of goods exported to the US from eligible countries, George W Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US aid vehicle that assists countries with good governance. But the Obama administration’s own signature “US Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa”, in which the president calls Africa “more important than ever to the security and prosperity of the international community” and “the world’s next major economic success story,” was only released in June this year. “That contributes towards this perception that Africa was an afterthought,” said Todd
Moss, vice president and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington. Obama’s aides have made clear that if re-elected he can be expected to focus on subSaharan Africa as part of the unfinished business from his first term, including anti-AIDS initiatives, food security and economic development programmes. But such projects could be limited by fiscal realities, with congressional pressure for austerity expected to extend to foreign aid spending. Obama Still Favoured Despite the disappointment with Obama, prevailing sentiment in Africa seems to favours his re-election, reflecting still the continentwide rapture surrounding his 2008 victory. “Obama love the black people. He get attention to the black people, said Violet Williams, a 42-year-old unemployed woman at Congo Cross junction in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. “Restrained Obama better than ‘Rambo’ Romney,” wrote Pallo Jordan, a former South African culture minister and member of the ruling ANC’s National Executive Committee, in a newspaper op-ed on Thursday explaining his preference. Romney’s campaign team takes pains to present Africa as “not a problem to be contained, but an opportunity to be embraced”, urging much more private sector participation in U.S. trade and development initiatives in Africa, in addition to the more traditional programmes for education and HIV/AIDS. “If you say the word Africa, in most Americans’ minds what you basically come up with is the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Everything is negative. Famine, pestilence, degradation, war,” said Ambassador Tibor Nagy, Chair of the Romney campaign’s Africa Policy Working Group. Nagy, a former ambassador to Ethiopia and Guinea, had worked for the Obama campaign in the last election four years ago. “So you look around and where is the progress? Where have we moved forward? I have been very sorely disappointed,” he said. A Romney administration would take a fresh, more positive approach, he said: “I would say look at
Africa through the windscreen and not the rearview mirror”. ‘Put Our Own House in Order’ In an extensive foreign policy debate between the two US presidential contenders on Oct. 22, Africa south of the Sahara gained only a passing mention - by Romney, who said the north of Mali had been taken over by “AlQaeda-type individuals”. And even this was framed in a wider verbal joust over who would be tougher against America’s old nemesis, AlQaeda, a theme driven by recriminatory campaign sparring over the killing of the US ambassador to Libya in Benghazi on Sept. 11. Most American voters are wary of “boots on the ground” foreign entanglements after costly US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. But African leaders are hoping Washington will actively support - with equipment, intelligence and training - a plan to send in African troops to try to expel al Qaeda and its allies from northern Mali, an area the size of Texas these groups control after hijacking a Tuareg separatist rebellion. “We are worried about Mali ... Africa is increasingly also having these problems of terrorism,” said the spokesman for Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma, Unisa Sesay, who also cited the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in Nigeria. Obama’s deployment last year of 100 military advisers to help African forces hunt Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army was a calculated but limited operation that responded to public outrage over the LRA’s alleged atrocities. US national security concerns also underpinned a US diplomatic offensive this year in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania to shut off imports of Iranian oil and the reflagging of Iranian oil tankers, part of Washington’s efforts to tighten international sanctions against Tehran. There are those who see the perceived neglect by Obama of Africa as unjust criticism. “The idea that somehow there was some magic button Obama would be able to push in terms of Africa policy, I think that was unrealistic,” said Rod Alence, associate professor of international relations at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand. Many Africans believe too it is time for the continent to stop looking outside for help and stand on its own two feet. “Obama failed us ... Now, I don’t mind who comes next, they are all the same. This only means our leaders should start doing things right. We have the resources on the continent - gold, cocoa, oil etc, but our problem is mismanagement,” said Kojo Marfo, a 53-yearold commercial driver in Ghana. “Unless we put our house in order, we will not get anywhere,” he said. — Reuters
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
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China teen takes lead
Vinokourov paid Kolobnev to win 2010 Liege -report
Indonesia lifts ban on Olympic badminton pair
MILAN: Emails and details of bank transfers that allegedly demonstrate how Alexandre Vinokourov paid off breakaway companion Alexandr Kolobnev to win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege cycling classic were printed by an Italian newspaper yesterday. Having obtained access to legal documents from prosecutors in Padua investigating doping, Corriere della Sera reported that Vinokourov allegedly paid Kolobnev Ä150,000 (nearly $200,000) to win the prestigious single-day race. Corriere printed alleged emails in Cyrillic from the pair that include the exchange of banking information, adding that Swiss authorities provided details of the bank transfers. The victory was Vinokourov’s biggest after returning from a two-year suspension for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France. — AP
JAKARTA: The Indonesian Badminton Association lifted a ban yesterday on its leading women’s doubles pair over the play-to-lose scandal at the London Olympics. Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were kicked out of the games along with the Chinese world champions and two South Korean teams for trying to deliberately lose group matches to gain an easier path through the later stages. The association, known as PBSI, banned the pair and their coach Paulus Firman in September for four months from all national and international tournaments. The suspension was reduced to three months on Oct. 22 after the players expressed remorse for their actions. “They well aware of their mistake and eager to defend the red and white,” PBSI secretary general Koesdarto Pramono said, referring to the country’s national flag. “We believed it will not happen again in the future and they deserve to get our support.” He said Polii and Jauhari have been training during their three months out in preparation for the Yonex-Sunrise Super-series in Hong Kong from Nov. 20-25. Indonesia has called for future Olympics to return to a straight knockout tournament to prevent any manipulation of the draw. — AP
BANGKOK: Guan Tianlang of China is one round away from becoming the first 14-year-old to play in the Masters. Guan overcame some early nerves and a difficult course at Amata Spring yesterday with a par 72 to take a two-shot lead over Oliver Goss of Australia going into the final day of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. “Everybody looked a little bit nervous to start with, and there was not much talking,” Guan said. “I then started to focus on my own game and felt pretty relaxed on the back nine, got a few birdies, so it was all right.” The winner gets an invitation to play in the Masters, along with an exemption to the final stage of qualifying for the British Open. The youngest competitor in Masters history was Matteo Manassero of Italy, who was 16 in 2010. The third round showed that Guan still has a long way to Augusta National. Goss, a quarterfinalist in the US Amateur and winner last week in the Western Australia Open, shot a 69 in tougher conditions. — AP
ABU DHABI: McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the first free practice at the Yas Marina racetrack. —AP
Hamilton storms to Abu Dhabi pole ABU DHABI: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton denied Red Bull a fourth successive pole position yesterday with a sizzling Abu Dhabi qualifying lap that pushed Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel off the front row. Hamilton, the 2008 champion, will have Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber alongside him for today’s start instead of the German, who had been on the front in all three races to date at Yas Marina. Vettel qualified third under the floodlights but with a question mark over his placing after the team and their Renault technicians ordered him to stop immediately on track as he headed back to the pits after the chequered flag.
Red Bull were summoned to stewards to explain why the car had not driven back to the pits under its own power, a failing that could send the German to the back of the grid if it is due to having an insufficient amount of fuel on board. There was still no decision three hours after qualifying had ended. Hamilton was sent to the back of the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix in May for insufficient fuel after he stopped on track after securing pole position in Barcelona. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Vettel’s closest title rival who has a 13-point gap to close on the 25-year-old with three rounds remaining, would line up a distant seventh for the day-to-night race as matters stand.
Champions Red Bull had locked out the front row of the last three races. “It’s the first time for a long time to be ahead of the Bulls and starting at the front,” said Briton Hamilton, who was last on pole in Singapore last month but has always started on the front row in the Emirate. “It’s going to be tough in the race and I hope we are strong enough to fight them once again. The car’s felt beautiful all weekend,” he added after his 25th career pole and sixth of the season. Vettel, who had brake problems that sidelined him for most of final practice in the afternoon, had played down the qualifying problem. “I don’t know why I had to stop. I was asked to stop. Probably some
problem. But it shouldn’t be something major,” the German, chasing his fifth win in a row and looking good for a third successive title, told reporters. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said immediately after qualifying that it was “a request that came from the engine ranks, but at the moment I have no idea why”. Vettel also brushed the guardrail in the first part of qualifying, sending out sparks, but appeared to escape without damage. He and Hamilton are the only drivers to have ever won at the harbourside track. Webber, who is effectively out of the championship, inevitably faced questions about so-called ‘team orders’ in favor of his team mate with Red Bull also able to win the
Johnson on Texas pole
Westwood joint leader in China SHENZHEN: Lee Westwood clambered to the top of the HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament leaderboard with an 11-underpar third round at Mission Hills yesterday but the Englishman’s flawless 61 was still just the second best score of the day. Brandt Snedeker carded a course record 60, and came within a whisker of the first 59 on the European Tour, to sit on a combined 13 under and five shots behind joint leaders Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen. Bogey-free Westwood said he enjoyed his late-year trips to Asia. “It’s generally pretty hot here and it was quite steamy out there today,” he added. “But obviously the conditions here suit me with the grasses and the style of golf courses. “And I have always been a middle-to-theend-of year good player.” Then he added with a smile: “Other than that, the reason for playing well ... must be the grain or rice or something like that.” After being heavily criticised for his poor putting in the Majors this year, Westwood said he was pleased to have holed a couple of 20-foot birdie putts, an element that had been missing from his game most. Oosthuizen had set a blistering pace in the first two rounds with scores of 65 and 63 but could not sustain it yesterday, when he shot a two-under 70. “It was frustrating,” said the South African. “Early on I didn’t play really well and then I
constructors’ championship today. Alonso, whose car has shown better pace on Sundays than Saturdays in recent races, said he had done the best he could in the circumstances. “We were not competitive today. I’m happy with my performance. We struck the maximum,” the Spaniard said. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado qualified a strong fourth for Williams with Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen, third in the championship with Lotus, lining up fifth and alongside McLaren’s Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher, who has not scored a point for four races and is retiring at the end of the season when Hamilton takes his seat, qualified 14th for Mercedes while team mate Nico Rosberg starts eighth. —Reuters
CHINA: Lee Westwood from England tees off during the first round of the WGC-HSBC Champions golf tournament in Dongguan. —AP started to find a little bit of form on the back nine but just didn’t make any putts. “I missed two six footers for birdie and one of them I didn’t hit a good putt. It was frustrating seeing all the other low ones out there.” Compatriot Ernie Els looks set to challenge for his second big win of the year following his British Open triumph at Royal Lytham, the ‘Big Easy’ was five under for the front nine but dropped back after a double bogey at the par five 15th when he pulled his second shot into water. But the round of the day belonged to Snedeker, who just missed the hole on the
18th green with a putt of 20 feet which, had it dropped, would have been the first 59 in any tournament sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours. “I was disappointed not to shoot 59, because in a career you might only get a couple of chances to do it,” he said. “When I made eagle at the 15th the idea of shooting 59 came to me but I knew I needed to make birdie at the last three holes. “I rattled off a couple at 16 and 17 and then played a great shot from a fairway bunker to set up the chance at the last. “I hit a good putt but I misread it a little bit. I was disappointed but I knew it had put me back in the tournament.” —Reuters
FORT WORTH: Jimmie Johnson snatched pole position in a NASCAR Sprint Cup event for the second week in a row, taking the top spot at Texas on Friday after superstitiously remaining seated in his car while rival after rival failed to match his qualifying time. “I was just watching everybody go by and catch a glimpse of the Jumbotron over there and see where they pop up on the board,” he said. “I’ve watched more interviews where a guy climbs out of a race car to a microphone, and just at that point in time, they fall to second. I didn’t want it to happen. I knew I put down a good lap.” “I was ready to get out, and my engine tuner stuck his head in and said, ‘Hey, man, you’re going to be sitting here a long time this week,’” Johnson said. “I’m not superstitious, but I’ll sit here. ... It doesn’t mean anything, but at this point in the season, you have to pull out all of the stops.” Johnson’s 29th career pole is his first at Texas, where he was the runnerup in April. “It was a while-knuckle lap. I can say I didn’t leave anything on the table with that one,” Johnson said. “A couple of opportunities to kind of lose control there, but staying on the throttle definitely kept the car pointed in the right direction and blasted off a great lap.” With his win from the pole at Martinsville last week, Johnson regained the series points lead, by two over Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski qualified in eighth spot, again. He also qualified eighth his previous two races at the high-banked track, where he has never had a top-10 finish. It was the best qualifying effort for Keselowski since the 12-driver championship chase started two months ago. He’s trying to win the first Sprint Cup championship for Roger Penske. “We’re in strong position to control our own destiny as far as the Chase is concerned and having a shot at winning it,” Keselowski said. “That’s really about all you can ask. Certainly you’d like to have a big lead, but that’s not very realistic when you’re racing the best and competing against the best.” Johnson has finished in the top 10 in 13 of his 18 starts at Texas Motor Speedway, where all around the facility are election-style signs touting the top two challengers for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with three races left. In April at Texas, Johnson was the runner-up to Greg Biffle, who will start his No. 16 Ford on the front row today after qualifying second. Kyle Busch qualified third, just ahead of Clint Bowyer, who is third in the Sprint Cup standings behind Johnson and Keselowski. Kasey Kahne, who is fourth in season points, qualified 13th. And Johnson was sitting much of the time watching everybody else during qualifying. —AP
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
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Knicks cool Heat
SHANGHAI: Silver medalist Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia (left), the gold medalist Mao Asada of Japan (center) and the bronze medalist Kiira Korpi of Finland (right) pose for the photographers during the award ceremony of the Ladies free skating at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China Figure Skating competition.—AP
Asada wins Cup of China SHANGHAI: Two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan came from behind to win the Cup of China after a strong performance in the free skate yesterday. Asada, who was second after Friday’s short program, earned 181.76 points to overtake Russian teen Julia Lipnitskaia, who lacked the speed and polish she displayed to win the short program. “I didn’t perform to the best of my ability but, considering I hadn’t competed in so long, I’m really happy to win,” Asada said. “I have a lot of things to work on. I’m going to have to include more difficult elements.” Kiira Korpi of Finland finished third on 169.86 points. She overtook Mirai Nagasu of the United States, who was third after the short program but stumbled on the landing of a double axeltriple toe loop combination to come fourth. Tatsuki Machida was the surprise winner in men’s singles, upstaging compatriot and short-program winner Daisuke Takahashi to capture his first Grand Prix title. Machida, who was second in the short program, prevailed with a total score of 236.92 despite falling on his quad toe loop. The 22-year-old Machida skated to “The Firebird” and hit seven triple jumps in an impressive performance. Having finished third at Skate America last month, he is now in position to qualify for the Grand Prix Final in December in Sochi. Takahashi, the 2010 world champion, came second with 231.75. The Vancouver Olympic bronze medalist was unable to land a quad in his free skate and fell on a triple
loop late in his program. Sergei Voronov of Russia was third on 217.61, while Adam Rippon of the United states took fourth on 205.48. Asada skated elegantly to “Swan Lake” but once again chose not to attempt her trademark triple axel. The silver medalist at the Vancouver Olympics landed six triple jumps in the free skate, with a lone blemish coming when she doubled a planned triple lutz midway through her program. It was a good start to the season for the 22-year-old Asada, who finished a disappointing sixth at last season’s world championships. She will skate next at the NHK Trophy in Sendai later this month. Lipnitskaia, competing in an all-white costume to “Pas de Deux” from “The Nutcracker,” fell on the back end of a double axel-triple toe loop combo. Local favorites Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China captured the pairs with a score of 188.82. The duo, which finished second at Skate America last month, retained their lead after the short program. Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov of Russia placed second on 183.53. Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia took third at 172.55. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France won the ice dance with a tally of 169.73. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri of Russia placed second with 159.46, moving up from third after the short dance. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada finished third on 158.97. The Cup of China is the third of the six-event ISU Grand Prix series.—AP
KSSC to host shooting tourney KUWAIT: Kuwait Shooting Sports Club will host the tournament of the late Sheikh Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah shooting tournament from Nov 8-10. Competition is in the Olympic skeet, trap, double trap, 10m air pistol and rifle. Men, women and juniors are eligible to participate registration for the tourna-
Obaid Al-Osaimi
ment began October 29th and will close this evening, Nov 4th, 2012. Kuwait shooting Sports Club Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi said the tournament has a special significance in Kuwait Shooting Community, and it is always on the agenda of the club’s activities. He said the tournament comes in commemoration of the late sheikh’s contributions and achievements for his country Kuwait, in various fields of service he led. It is also for the extreme efforts he exerted when he was defence minister after the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi aggression, and took the responsibility of rebuilding Kuwait’s armed forces, he added. Al-Osaimi said the late Sheikh had an outstanding contribution to the development of the sport of shooting in Kuwait, as he headed the first Kuwait shooting delegation to the international military sports (CISM), and supported shooters tremendously when he was defence and interior minister.
Injuries send Springboks squad on European Tour JOHANNESBURG: South Africa will field a young team in upcoming Tests in Ireland, Scotland and England as injured seasoned players stay home, while coach Heyneke Meyer starts preparing for the 2015 World Cup. The Springboks leave for the British Isles late yesterday ahead of the Ireland game on November 10, but Meyer was hoping for a more experienced team as a full season takes its toll. He’ll start honing the youngsters instead for the next World Cup. “The aim of this tour is two-fold: we need to try and win every test, but we also need to start looking forward up through to the World Cup,” he said in Cape Town ahead of traveling north. “The Rugby World Cup in 2015 also takes place in England, so we will use this tour to see how our players adapt to the conditions as we look ahead to that very important tournament.” With recently promoted flyhalf Johan Goosen left out of the squad with injury, Meyer has favoured upcoming star Patrick Lambie to have a go. “He is tried and tested at Super Rugby level but I want to go forward with two flyhalves from here and I want to use this opportunity to see what Pat can do at this level.” Meyer still didn’t say outright if the 22year-old Lambie would wear the number 10 jersey against Ireland next Saturday, or if he’ll field current second choice Elton Jantjies or the recalled Morne Steyn in the starting match. Injuries will keep several senior play-
ers from traveling. Centre Frans Steyn, wing Bryan Habana, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and loose forwards Schalk Burger and Pierre Spies were not considered for the tour, prompting some tentative suggestions that the South African system should allow players more rest. Ireland remain formidable opponents, despite South Africa’s victory in their last encounter in 2010. “Although the Springboks won on their last visit to Dublin, they lost three in a row before that,” said Meyer. Luckily captain Jean de Villiers has been declared fit to tour after he pulled a hamstring during training two weeks ago. Ironically injuries in the Irish camp, notably of captain Brian O’Driscoll with a hurt ankle, may count in the Springboks’ favor. Meanwhile Scotland have been on an upward streak with victories against Australia, Fiji and Samoa in June, after crashing out in the group stages in last year’s World Cup and losing all five of their matches in the Six Nations. The Springboks will hope for a victory at Murrayfield on November 17 after losing there two years ago, though they won the two previous encounters. South Africa’s 2-0 home victory over England in the Test series in June may help them relax going into their November 24 showdown. A draw in their last Test encounter however ended the Springboks’ nine-victory streak against England and should make them more careful going to Twickenham.—AFP
NEW YORK: The New York Knicks gave the city’s suffering residents something to cheer with a surprisingly comfortable 104-84 win over the Miami Heat in their storm-delayed NBA season opener on Friday. In the first sporting event in New York since Superstorm Sandy, the Knicks dominated a game the Heat players weren’t sure should even be played with the city still so devastated. But the Knicks hoped they could provide a distraction for a few hours, and fans who were able to watch surely loved what they saw from a team that could barely compete with Miami last season. Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 10 rebounds while Steve Novak, a non-factor against the Heat in last season’s playoffs, added 17 points off the bench. LeBron James scored 23 points for the Heat, so impressive in a season-opening victory over Boston on Tuesday but never really in this one. As much as the Knicks may be pleasing their fans, the Los Angeles Lakers are letting down theirs. The Lakers made it an 0-3 start to the season with a 105-95 loss to their co-tenant Los Angeles Clippers. Even 40 points from Kobe Bryant was not enough to prevent the Lakers slipping to 0-3 for the first time since 1978. They also lost all eight of their preseason games. Chris Paul had 18 points and 15 assists for the Clippers, who pulled away steadily in the second half. Along with the Knicks, another team that looks to have improved - they could scarcely have got worse - is the Charlotte Bobcats, who edged the Indiana Pacers 90-89. The Bobcats lost their final 23 games last season to finish 7-59, the worst winning percentage (.106) in NBA history, prompting owner Michael Jordan to proclaim the franchise had “hit rock bottom.” But they played with newfound aggressiveness on defense under new coach Mike Dunlap - they forced 19 turnovers - and started this season strongly against a Pacers team that won 19 of 33 road games last season. Kemba Walker scored a career-high 30 points for Charlotte, which hung on in a tight finish, with the two teams scoring only two points between them in the final 3:27. The Houston Rockets had a 109-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks, thanks chiefly to new signing James Harden, who scored a career-high 45 points. Harden, arriving from Oklahoma City, has topped 30 points in both his appearances for his new team. Another new Rocket, Jeremy Lin, had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Harden’s old team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, beat the Portland Trail Blazers 106-92 to notch a fourth-straight win in home openers. Russell Westbrook scored 32 points while Kevin Durant had 23 points and 17 rebounds for the Thunder, which pulled away in the last quarter. The Chicago Bulls crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-86, sinking 44 of 69 shots from the field. Richard Hamilton and Carlos Boozer each scored 19 points. It’s the first time in 10 years that the Bulls have won their opening two games, despite missing star point guard Derrick Rose, who is expected to miss the first half of the season. The Milwaukee Bucks also got off to an uncharacteristically good start, winning their first season opener for six years with a 99-88 win at the Boston Celtics. Brandon Jennings had 21 points, 13 assists and six steals for the Bucks who never trailed after the first 6 minutes. The New Orleans Hornets needed a driving layup by Greivis Vasquez with 1.3 seconds left to secure an 88-86 win over the Utah Jazz. The hosts snuck home despite rookie center Anthony Davis the No.1 overall pick in the draft - leaving the game
for good after being hit to the temple by a stray elbow late in the first half. The Orlando Magic had a more comfortable home win, sprinting out to an early lead before cruising to a 102-89 win over the Denver Nuggets. Glen Davis scored 29 points for the Magic, who lost forward Hedo Turkoglu to a broken left hand. The Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a weak shooting performance to beat the the Sacramento Kings 92-80. JJ Barea had 21 points and five assists in 28 minutes. The Memphis Grizzlies ruined Golden State’s home opener, running away from
the Warriors in the second half to notch a 104-94 victory. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley both scored 21 points. Warriors forward Brandon Rush injured his left knee in a scary fall and will have scans on Saturday. The Phoenix Suns brought up their first win of the season, beating the Detroit Pistons 92-89, with Marcin Gortat having 16 points and 16 rebounds. Detroit got no closer than six points until the final minute but still had a chance to tie it on the last possession. Brandon Knight, however, threw up an air ball at the buzzer.—AP
NEW YORK: JR Smith No. 8 of the New York Knicks shoots over Dwyane Wade No. 3 and Udonis Haslem No. 40 of the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.—AP
NBA results/standings Charlotte 90, Indiana 89; Orlando 102, Denver 89; Milwaukee 99, Boston 88; Houston 109, Atlanta 102; Chicago 115, Cleveland 86; NY Knicks 104, Miami 84; New Orleans 88, Utah 86; Oklahoma City 106, Portland 92; Minnesota 92, Sacramento 80; Phoenix 92, Detroit 89; LA Clippers 105, LA Lakers 95; Memphis 104, Golden State 94.
NY Knicks Philadelphia Toronto Boston Brooklyn Chicago Milwaukee Cleveland Indiana Detroit Charlotte Orlando Miami Washington Atlanta
Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB 1 0 1.000 1 0 1.000 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1.5 0 0 0 0.5 Central Division 2 0 1.000 1 0 1.000 0.5 1 1 .500 1 1 1 .500 1 0 2 0 2 Southeast Division 1 0 1.000 1 0 1.000 1 1 .500 0.5 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
Western Conference Northwest Division Minnesota 1 0 1.000 Oklahoma City 1 1 .500 0.5 Portland 1 1 .500 0.5 Utah 1 1 .500 0.5 Denver 0 2 0 1.5 Pacific Division LA Clippers 2 0 1.000 Golden State 1 1 .500 1 Phoenix 1 1 .500 1 LA Lakers 0 3 0 2.5 Sacramento 0 2 0 2 San Antonio Houston New Orleans Memphis Dallas
Southwest Division 2 0 1.000 2 0 1.000 1 1 .500 1 1 .500 1 1 .500
1 1 1
CSKA thrash Besiktas to stop Turkish treble BELGRADE: Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes delighted Istanbul fans with remarkable wins in Europe’s premier club basketball competition but CSKA Moscow spoiled the Turkish party with a 85-58 rout of Besiktas on Friday. Holders Olympiakos Piraeus scraped a 79-77 home win over Euroleague debutants Cedevita Zagreb while 2010 champions Barcelona eked out an 85-82 victory against 1992 winners Partizan Belgrade thanks to an audacious three-pointer by Brazilian guard Marcelinho Huertas. CSKA stretched their perfect start to four wins after Sonny Weems, October’s most valuable player in the Euroleague, continued to torment his
rivals with another devastating display of skills honed during his threeyear stint in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors. The versatile guard, who averaged 20.33 points last month to top the competition’s scoring chart, poured in 18 points and Serbian centre Nenad Krstic added as many for last season’s runners-up. “This was a very important win against an excellent and well organised team still unbeaten in the Turkish league and it came primarily as a result of outstanding defence,” CSKA’s Italian coach Ettore Messina told the club’s official website (www.cskabasket.com). “We played with understanding and desire and our good movement
of the ball in attack opened up a lot of uncontested long-range shots.” Besiktas coach Erman Kunter added: “CSKA proved today that they are one of the biggest candidates for the Final Four, they made a big impact in the beginning of the game and we had no reply for their scoring runs.” Fenerbahce beat six-time champions Panathinaikos 73-64 thanks to a barrage of three-pointers in the second quarter, with Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic nailing three of his four in quick succession. Efes pulled off the biggest feat of a rip-roaring fourth round in the preliminary group stage when they outscored home side Caja Laboral 4616 in the second half to beat the Spanish outfit 76-64 in front of noisy
ISTANBUL: Besiktas’ Gasper Vidmar (left) vies with CSKA Moscow’s Sasha Kaun during an Euroleague basketball match between Besiktas JK and CSKA Moscow. —AFP
fans in the Basque city of Vitoria. Caja seemed in complete control after taking an 18-point lead into the dressing room at halftime but looked disjointed in their inexplicable collapse after the break. They ended the match hitting only 14 of 36 shots from two-point range and seven of 27 behind the three-point arc as former Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar scored 18 points for Efes, burying eight of his 10 shots from the field. “It was a huge difference between the first half and the second, our offence was completely illogical as we limited our game to long-range shooting and didn’t try to penetrate or put the ball inside,” Caja’s Montenegrin coach Dusko Ivanovic said. “ They played much better defence, they got tougher and covered the passing lines very well while we came out relaxed and couldn’t get back into the game after throwing away the lead.” Barcelona also made it four wins out of four but were made to sweat by a spirited Partizan side who came agonisingly close to registering their first Euroleague victory this season. With the game hanging in the balance in a knife-edged climax, man of the match Huertas hurled a loose ball from eight metres towards the basket and the buzzer-beating shot cannoned in off the board - to the dismay of Partizan’s bench and much to the relief of the home fans and players. “We knew that Partizan are a very intense team that plays with a lot of energy but we hit our three-point shots at crunch time and it’s a matter of confidence,” said Huertas, who scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half. Lithuanians Zalgiris Kaunas, who won the title in 1999, overcame Emporio Armani Milan 92-87, eight-time winners Real Madrid beat Italians Cantu 80-66 and Maccabi Tel Aviv strolled to a 9362 home rout of Polish rivals Asseco Prokom. —Reuters
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
S P ORT S
New Zealand steps up to the plate at Classic qualifier WELLINGTON: Starved of funding, given little public attention, and overshadowed by a more popular close cousin, baseball has had it rough in New Zealand, the sport’s chief executive concedes. But all that could be about to change and Baseball New Zealand (BNZ) Chief Executive Ryan Flynn told Reuters he sees the World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament in Taiwan as a potential game changer for growth. The Diamond Blacks, a mix of locals, North Americans with New Zealand heritage, and Australian-based players, were invited to the Nov. 15-18 final qualifying tournament along with the eighth-ranked host country, Thailand and the Philippines. The winner of that tournament will claim a place at the World Baseball Classic, effectively baseball’s World Cup, which is being held in Taiwan, Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States next March, shortly before Major League Baseball’s new season begins. “This is the real deal right now. It doesn’t get more real than this,” Flynn told Reuters in a telephone interview before the team leaves for six games in Australia en route to Taiwan. “This is a nation of people who have thrown a ball and swung a bat (and) it was just waiting to
blow up, is how I look at it. Everything is in place for this country to be the Dominican Republic, in terms of baseball skills, of the Pacific. “That’s a pretty big comment and standard to reach but we believe it is the perfect storm for baseball in this country.” The sport has enjoyed a remarkable growth spurt since American Flynn, who has a long career in baseball administration, was appointed chief executive in January 2010. When Flynn arrived in New Zealand, there were 900 registered players in the country. That figure now stood at 6,000, he said, adding that he hoped it could reach as high as 100,000 in 10 years time. More coaches are being recruited and facilities developed, and importantly, there is growth outside the game’s heartland of Auckland. Establishing development pathways, competitions and management systems were major reasons why New Zealand had been invited to Taiwan, Flynn said. That invitation also puts the sport in the shop window in a country obsessed with rugby. “We had to prove something first,” Flynn said. “They (Major League Baseball) looked at our potential and what we have done for the last couple of years. “We jumped past 50-70 nations in one decision (of being invited to the tournament) but they had
the vision and we believe they got it right.” Coupled with the sport’s development has been news the organisation has just received confirmation that it will receive its first centralised funding from Sport New Zealand. The funding will be welcomed by the sport, which operates on a budget of about NZ$190,000 ($156,712) a year, mostly covered by New Zealand’s sports betting agency while Flynn uses business contacts to find additional funding. “We don’t have a ton of funding. We’re making do on very little and trying to be clever with the resources we have.” MLB chipped in about NZ$200,000 for the WBC qualifying tournament. BNZ had to find an additional NZ$230,000, with a charitable trust providing $100,000 of that. Baseball New Zealand’s board, however, contains heavyweights of the local business community, with John Fellet, the chief executive of pay television provider Sky Television, and John Hartmann, the chief executive of a major building supplies company, both involved. “Getting a very strong board is an advantage when you have very limited dollars,” Flynn said. “When you have nothing, and $190,000 a year is really nothing, then you need every other advantage you can get your hands on.”
Flynn said that since New Zealand children grew up playing softball and cricket they already had all the basic co-ordination, throwing, fielding and hitting skills required for baseball. One of the hurdles, however, is the popularity of baseball’s cousin softball. The New Zealand men’s team are the five-times world champions and the World Championships are scheduled to be held in Auckland next March. Flynn recognised that New Zealand was out of step with the rest of the world in that softball is principally played at the elite level by women, while baseball is played by men. While baseball and softball are on friendly terms in New Zealand, there is no formal relationship between the two. He hoped, however, that a detente between the international baseball and softball federations in an effort to be reinstated to the Olympics in 2020 could be mirrored in New Zealand under a unified “Diamond Sports” umbrella. “Around the world they don’t conflict ...(and) every nation that has a great softball programme has a great baseball programme. “They have already come together internationally to get back into the Olympics so why would we be the only country in the world where the two sports haven’t come together?” — Reuters
Janowicz sends Simon packing
PRAGUE: Serbia’s team (left to right) Dejan Vranes, Ana Ivanovic, Jelene Jankovic, Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic pose for a photo after the draw for their Fed Cup tennis final match against Czech Republic. — AP
Czechs close to Fed Cup defence against Serbia PRAGUE: Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova breezed past their Serbian rivals to give holders Czech Republic a 2-0 lead in the Fed Cup final here yesterday. Safarova, the world number 17, first beat 12-ranked Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 41 minutes. And Kvitova, ranked eighth, then cruised past 22-ranked Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-1 in just an hour and 20 minutes to make it 2-0 for the hosts after day one. On the hardcourt of Prague’s O2 Arena, the Czechs now need to win only one of Sunday’s three rubbers to lift the trophy for a second straight year. Ivanovic, a former world number one, never found the pace to match left-handed Safarova, making 32 unforced errors against Safarova’s 18. Serbian number one Ivanovic was broken twice in both sets, letting Safarova improve her head-to-head winning streak to four victories. “We both started very nervous, luckily I was the first one who improved and got the first set, which was very important,” Safarova said. “Then I even upgraded my game, I was pushing her, going through her backhand ...(and) using the leftie rotation to her backhand, which was very effective,” she added. Despite the score, she said, “it was a very close second set, she had many break points on my serve and I think the key was that I held those break points and kept my focus.” Pushed by a frantic home crowd of more than 13,500 fans, “I had goosebumps throughout the match, the atmosphere was unbelievable,” she added. Ivanovic did not conceal her disappointment. “At the beginning of the match I wasn’t really letting go on my shots and they were ending quite short,” said the Serb. “This let her be aggressive and this was I think the key to today’s match. “I’m very disappointed I didn’t manage to get the first point for our team,” added Ivanovic,
who slammed her racket against the ground in frustration several times. “I thought I had plenty of opportunities and I just wasn’t executing when it was important.” “It was very frustrating, I felt like I could turn the match around, but I just wasn’t winning the most important points.” In the second rubber, Kvitova had to cope with the effects of a cold that had forced her to pull out of the W TA Championship last week. “I didn’t know what I could expect from myself on the court from the beginning,” she said. “And at the end, I really wanted the match to be over,” added Kvitova, who dominated the game, relying on a first serve that Jankovic could not resist. “Actually I’m surprised (at) how I played,” said Kvitova. Jankovic said she had little chance against her rival who “was really on a roll.” “I had chances in the first set, I was up 42, but she came back with some unbelievable shots. There was nothing I could do at times,” said Jankovic. “You have to try to break her and to do something but I was very late and wasn’t setting up well for my shots,” she added. Today, Kvitova will first face Ivanovic, before Safarova plays Jankovic in the final singles tie. The Czech Republic’s Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka are then due to face Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunic in the closing doubles rubber. “We just need the final point tomorrow, and of course I’ll want to finish it and win this beautiful trophy we’ve had at home for the whole year,” said Kvitova. The Czech Republic are defending the trophy after they beat Russia in Moscow 32 in 2011. Former Czechoslovakia, which split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, lifted the Fed Cup five times between 1975 and 1988.Serbia are playing their first Fed Cup final. — AFP
Doolan dominates South African attack SYDNEY: Alex Doolan stroked his highest first class score as Australia A’s middleorder coped comfortably with South Africa’s pace attack and moved into a 352-run first innings lead by the close of the second day of their match yesterday. Doolan was on 161 not out when captain Andrew McDonald declared Australia A’s first innings closed at 480 for seven after lunch, as the visitors toiled on the slow-paced wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The visitors were 128 for one at the close of play, with Hashim Amla (27) and JP Duminy (two) together after Alviro Petersen was the only South African wicket to fall. Petersen went after mistiming a sweep shot from spinner Glenn Maxwell and Nathan Coulter-Nile took the catch, dismissing the opener for a patient 38 from 108 balls. South Africa captain Graeme Smith had retired on 60 to give other players in the side some valuable time in the mid-
dle as his side build up for their first test match against Australia at the Gabba on Nov. 9. Doolan and several other of the second-tier Australian side’s middle order made a mockery of reputedly the best pace attack in world cricket with the Tasmanian 26-year-old combining with Maxwell (64) and wicketkeeper Tim Paine (60) for 133 and 152-run partnerships respectively. Australia A had begun the day on 325 for seven, with Doolan on 76 and Paine on one and proceeded to keep the South Africans in the field until well into the fifth session of the match as Doolan scored his fifth first-class century and surpassed his previous high score of 149. Opening batsman Rob Quiney (85) and Steve Smith (67) had both scored half centuries on the first day. The world’s top ranked bowler Dale Steyn was the pick of the South African attack, finishing with three for 54 from 22 overs as he continually troubled the Australian A batsmen. —Reuters
PARIS: Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz continued to be a thorn on the side of higher ranked opponents this week as he reached the Paris Masters final with a 6-4 7-5 win over local favorite Gilles Simon yesterday. World number 69 Janowicz, who beat US Open champion Andy Murray in the third round, used his big serve and his magic touch to see off Simon in just 89 minutes. He will face either Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer or France’s Michael Llodra today. Janowicz, who did not face a single break point, broke the 20th ranked Simon in the fifth game with a booming service return winner and comfortably held serve to claim the opening set with a forehand winner. The Pole, who missed only three first serves in the first set, was less dominant in the second set. Simon, however, fell 0-40 down in the 11th game and Janowicz sealed the decisive break with a dropshot winner. He ended the contest with yet another dropshot winner on his second match point, falling down on his knees sobbing and hitting the court with his hand in apparent disbelief. On Friday, Gilles Simon thrilled home fans by reaching the semi-finals of the Paris Masters as he beat Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4 only to find himself next facing the surprise packet of the week. There was disappointment for fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as he lost to Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer 6-2, 7-5. Tsonga went down after saving two match points as Ferrer, winner of his sixth title of the season last week in Valencia, advanced in 80 minutes. “I lost, and, well, I won’t have much time, anyway, because I will be in London tomorrow and Monday I will be on the court, I guess,” said Tsonga. Michael Llodra defeated American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 to next play Ferrer. Simon has been making his own luck all week after starting out by beating former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis and then putting out lucky loser Victor Hanescu, who replaced absent top seed Roger Federer in the draw.
PARIS: French Gilles Simon hits a return to Polish Jerzy Janowicz during their Paris Tennis Masters Series indoor tournament match. — AFP Simon had a free pass into the quarters as to finally do well... “I had good feelings today, I Japan’s Kei Nishikori pulled out before their made very few unforced errors. I was very consistent during the whole match.” third-round match with an ankle injury. “I hope I’ll go even further,” he added. Simon said he was satisfied with his performance and was happy to play well at a tourna- Berdych has been on a roll, winning 22 of his last ment that he loves in front of a home crowd, 26 matches at the Masters event which he won in 2005. He has now lost to Simon in five of sevincluding his young son. “I grew up not far from here (Fontenay-sous- en matches. “He was just too good today, he Bois). It’s the tournament that I watched when I made no mistakes at all,” said Berdych. “I lost to a was young. I’ve always wanted to do well. Up better player today, he played well and deserved until not it’s always not gone badly. It feels good to win.” — AFP
Royal Delta shines on day of upsets ARCADIA: The 2012 Breeders’ Cup opened its $25.5 million two-day programme on Friday with a command performance by Royal Delta, a string of upsets and a record 16th win for veteran jockey Mike Smith. Royal Delta lived up to her billing as the top female horse in the United States by retaining her title in the $2 million Ladies’ Classic in stunning fashion at a sun-drenched Santa Anita Park. With Smith on board, the Kentucky-bred filly took control of the race by the first turn and easily fended off late bursts by My Miss Aurelia and Include Me Out down the stretch. The previously unbeaten My Miss Aurelia finished one-and-a-half lengths back with Include Me Out in third, a further one-and-aquarter lengths adrift. Smith, 47, was elated after pulling ahead of fellow Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey with his 16th career win at the Breeders’ Cup, which is billed as the world championship of thoroughbred racing. “It’s incredible to be with the riders on this list,” Smith smiled. “It’s truly an honour. I hope to be around a few more years to add to it.” Royal Delta, an overwhelming 8-5 favourite when she entered the starting gate, was the only fancied horse to win on Friday on a sixrace card. Other winners in front of a Santa Anita crowd of just over 34,000 were: Zagora in the Filly and Mare Turf; Beholder, who upset favourite Executiveprivilege in the Juvenile Fillies; and Calidoscopio in the Marathon. French raider Flotilla took the Juvenile Fillies Turf and long-shot Hightail captured the Juvenile Sprint, the first race of the day. But the stand out on Friday was Royal Delta, who raised comparisons with 2009 Breeders Classic champion Zenyatta, a retired thoroughbred mare who was ridden by Smith for 17 of her 20 starts. “She is close to it,” Smith said when asked how Royal Delta matched up to Zenyatta’s impressive physique. “She has that kind of stride. She has a tremendous stride. She does it with ease. “She actually waits for competition, and once they get to her she locks on them and seems like she can get around them again.” Royal Delta, a daughter of 2003 Belmont
Stakes winner Empire Maker, had also been entered for the marquee Breeders’ Classic on Saturday but that plan was shelved, mainly due to her trainer Bill Mott. Mott will have three other horses running in the $5 million Classic, a race he won last year with Drosselmeyer. “We’ve got three good chances in there tomorrow, and we’re certainly not counting our chickens before they hatch, but ... I think any one of the three has a chance,” Mott said. “I know it’s a deep race and there are good horses and horses that have proven themselves well over this race track. You’ve got to push forward and look to tomorrow.” French-bred mare Zagora stormed home to win the Filly & Mare Turf in what will likely be the last start of her career. Due to be sold at auction later this month, Martin Schwartz’s five-year-old stormed down the home straight with jockey Javier Castellano aboard to overtake the fancied
Marketing Mix and hold off the highly favored The Fugue. Zagora prevailed by three-quarters of a length, giving trainer Chad Brown just his second Breeders Cup win. “She had everything go her way today,” Brown said. “She got the turf she likes, she got a great trip and she’s been training great.” Hightail, a 15-1 longshot, upset odds-on favorite Merit Man in the Juvenile Sprint, winning by a nose after a storming late surge from inside the rail. Suggestions that Hightail might have interfered with Merit Man’s line down the stretch were cleared after a post-race inquiry. Hightail’s stunning victory extended Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’s record total of Breeders’ Cup wins to 19. “At my age it’s significant,” smiled the 77-year-old Lukas. “I don’t know how many (wins) there are, but I always thought we could get one more. It’s exciting. They don’t come that easy.” — Reuters
ARCADIA: Ryan Moore rides George Vancouver pass the finish line to victory during the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Park. —AFP
18
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
S P ORT S
Hammers frustrate City West Ham 0
Man City 0
LONDON: M anchester Cit y failed in their attempt to move level on points with Premier Le ague leaders M anchester United af ter being held to a goalless draw by West Ham United at Upton Park yesterday. But it could have been much worse for Rober to M ancini ’s side, still the only unbeaten team in English football’s top flight this term, after West Ham
captain Kevin Nolan’s fif th minute effort was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Chelsea’s failure to beat Swansea earlier in the day meant City came into the game knowing a four-goal victory would take them to the top of the table. There were few signs they were capable of getting anywhere near that target, however, during a first half in which West Ham were the more impressive of the two sides. Instead, City were forced to grind out a draw that keep them in third place and the match was marked by another display of petulance from Mario Balotelli, clearly aggrieved with Mancini after being substituted in the second half.
Mancini’s thoughts will now turn to the midweek Champions League meeting with Ajax when the Premier League champions must win to retain any hope of advancing to the knockout stages of the competition. To do so they will have to improve considerably, especially up front where, with Sergio Aguero rested in anticipation of the European clash, they lacked bite. The visitors’ cause at Upton Park wasn’t helped by the disruption caused by the loss of James Milner to a hamstring injury during the warm up, prompting a late call-up for Gareth Barry. And with the back-four carrying an unfamiliar look after
LONDON: Manchester City’s Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez vies with West Ham’s English midfielder Gary O’Neil (up) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP
injuries to Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott-Kolo Toure was employed as a makeshift right back - it was perhaps unsurprising that Mancini’s side appeared disjointed during the early stages. West Ham were quick to exploit any weakness and they should have been ahead after in the fifth minute when Nolan volleyed home from Mark Noble’s free-kick. The effort was ruled out for offside although replays suggested the decision was harsh on the Hammers skipper. That was the first of a number of openings created by the home side, with Matt Jarvis and Mohamed Diame causing Toure problems down the City right, particularly in the build up to Diame’s rising shot that almost caught out England goalkeeper Joe Hart. Hart was also called into action to tip away Yossi Benayoun’s volley and when Andy Carroll sent a left foot shot inches wide, a home breakthrough appeared imminent. City, though, improved the longer the first half went on with Carlos Tevez becoming increasingly influential. The Argentina forward had been given a rousing reception by the home supporters on his return to the club he helped save from relegation in 2007. But City’s best chances fell to Balotelli, who twice failed to convert from good positions and his reaction suggested this was not going to be one of the striker’s better days. City continued where they had left off after the break but they struggled to find a way through the West Ham backline. Instead it was the Londoners who created the better chances with Nolan again coming close with a header after being set up by Carroll. Then England forward Carroll produced a spectacular overhead kick that was deflected to safety when the striker looked as though he would register his first goal for the club. —AFP
Sidwell’s late leveller deny Everton Fulham 2
Everton 2
LONDON: Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell grabbed the late equaliser that forced Everton to settle for a frustrating 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage yesterday. David Moyes’ side climbed above Tottenham into fourth place in the Premier League despite Sidwell’s leveller, but the Merseysiders left London with only regrets after failing to turn their dominance into three points. An unlucky own goal from Toffees goal-
keeper Tim Howard gave Fulham an early lead before Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini scored twice in the second half to give Everton reward for a commanding performance. However, Everton couldn’t kill off the hosts and Fulham made them pay when Sidwell netted in the last minute. Fulham were ahead in the seventh minute as Bryan Ruiz curled a free-kick over the Everton wall which Howard could only push against the woodwork. With the American prone, the ball cannoned down into Howard’s back and deflected off the helpless keeper into his own net. Everton striker Nikica Jelavic wasted a decent sight of goal after a fine cross from Leighton Baines, but the visitors were beginning to turn the screw. A curling shot from Seamus Coleman was saved by Australian
LONDON: Sunderland’s Spanish defender Carlos Cuellar (left) vies with Aston Villa’s Dutch defender Ron Vlaar (right) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP
Agbonlahor sinks Sunderland Sunderland 0
Aston Villa 1
SUNDERLAND: Gabriel Agbonlahor’s first Premier League goal of the season fired Aston Villa to a vital 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light yesterday. Agbonlahor’s three goals this term had all come in the League Cup, but Villa manager Paul Lambert kept faith with the former England forward, preferring him to Darren Bent once again, and was rewarded with his first league strike since November 2011. After 29 league games without a goal, Agbonlahor picked the perfect time to end his drought. His winner gave Villa only their second victory in 10 league games, lifting them five points clear of the bottom three and level on points with 16th placed Sunderland, who have won only one of their last 17 league games. With out-of-favour Bent missing from
Lambert’s squad at the Stadium of Light, the pressure was on Agbonlahor and his strike partner Christian Benteke to lead Villa to victory. Sunderland had the ball in the net after just five minutes when Steven Fletcher, the only Black Cats player to have scored a league goal so far this season, lifted the ball over goalkeeper Brad Guzan, but the Scotland striker’s effort was ruled out for offside. Benteke threatened twice in quick succession in the early stages before Agbonlahor had a shot blocked by Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley. Martin O’Neill’s men went close when Adam Johnson pulled the ball back for Lee Cattermole to curl a shot just over. But it was Villa who took the lead in the 57th minute when Benteke climbed high above Bardsley at the far post to knock down Matt Lowton’s right wing cross. Agbonlahor, latching onto Benteke’s header, finally showed his predatory instincts as he pounced ahead of Carlos Cuellar to volley into the roof of the net. Cattermole came close to snatching a point for Sunderland when he took aim from long range with six minutes left, but Guzan saved at the second attempt to preserve the win. —AFP
goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, while Phil Jagielka blasted wide from a good position. Moyes’ team kept pressing for an equaliser after the break and it arrived in the 55th minute when Kevin Mirallas surged through the Fulham defence to set up Fellaini and the Belgian drilled home from close-range. Dimitar Berbatov was denied by Howard as Fulham tried to respond, but it was Everton who got the next goal in the 72nd minute. Coleman’s long ball was chested down by Fellaini and the Belgian fired home his fifth goal in 10 matches. Fellaini should have put the result beyond doubt moments later, but he struck a post and was also denied by a fine save from Schwarzer. Fulham took advantage of those let-offs to rescue a point when Sascha Riether’s cross was lashed in by Sidwell in the 90th minute. —AFP
Preview
Rodgers still has high hopes for Gerrard LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes there is plenty to come from Steven Gerrard as he prepares to make his 600th appearance for the club, against Newcastle at Anfield today. Gerrard, 32, is rated as one of Liverpool’s greatest players but despite winning the Champions League with the Merseysiders in 2005, he has never enjoyed a domestic title triumph. The midfielder twice turned down the chance to join Chelsea-in 2005 and 2006 — and is now set to spend the rest of his career at his home town team. His loyalty to Liverpool is matched by his importance to the club and Rodgers claims the willingness of England captain Gerrard to improve his game, even at an age where many players are thinking about retirement, is what marks him out. “He’s been brilliant since I came in,” said Rodgers. “He’s 32 years of age, captain of the England team and he and I are still looking at ways to improve his game-and that is a big mark of respect to him because he’s achieved many things in the game. “We’re looking at videos, analysing his game one to one and looking at areas he can improve - I think that says everything about him, about his mentality and his willingness to want to improve. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he’s an iconic figure for this football club and
hopefully on Sunday he gains that 600th appearance. “I think he’s still got a lot left in the tank because of his motivation. Mentally he wants to achieve and physically he’s looking very good at the moment,” Rodgers added. The Liverpool manager is desperate to reverse the miserable away form of his team, who have only managed three league victories at Anfield all year. The Reds have won their last seven home league matches against Newcastle, only scoring less than three goals in two of those games. But Rodgers, who claims he will have enough money to add reinforcements in the January transfer window, is keen to boost his team’s home points tally. “It’s something we want to improve. We tend not to want to look back so much and try and look forward. “We’ve had difficult games this season at home and been unfortunate not to have won more of those in the league. “We know it’s going to be a tough game against Newcastle. I respect every team that comes to Anfield-it’s a big moment in their careers and always has been over many years. “That doesn’t change because of the history and support of the club.” Liverpool defender Glen Johnson is doubtful with a muscle problem but striker Fabio Borini,
midfielder Lucas, and defender Martin Kelly are all long-term absentees. Newcastle look likely to be without seven-goal top scorer Demba Ba as they go in search of their first victory at Anfield for 18 years. The Senegal international is struggling with a calf problem that forced him off early in the 2-1 victory over West Brom, which pushed the north-east club into the top half of the Premier League table. Papiss Cisse, who came off the bench to score his first league goal for five months against Steve Clarke’s side, is set to replace his compatriot up front alongside Shola Ameobi. James Perch will again deputise in midfield for Cheick Tiote, the Ivory Coast international who serves the second of a threematch suspension for his sending off at Sunderland last month. Newcastle have failed to win in their last 17 visits to the red half of Merseyside, but Perch is confident Alan Pardew’s side can end the long, fruitless run to continue their encouraging start to the season. The 27-year-old said: “We’ve not done too well there on our last few visits, but Liverpool have had a couple of disappointing results in the last week and we’ll go there to win. “They’ve got a new manager who is trying to get them to play his way, and it won’t happen overnight.” —AFP
LONDON: Wigan Athletic’s Omani goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi celebrates Ben Watson’s opening goal in the English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. —AFP
Resurgent Wigan stun Spurs Tottenham 0
Wigan 1
LONDON: Wigan beat Tottenham Hostpur 1-0 at White Hart Lane yesterday to continue their climb away from the relegation zone with a second-half toe-poke from Ben Watson. A week after beating West Ham this was Wigan’s third league win of the season, and Tottenham’s third defeat. With three at the back and with a fast passing game Roberto Martinez’s resurgent Wigan were dominating Spurs when they took the lead during a goalmouth scramble on 56 minutes as Watson poked the ball over Brad Friedel’s goalline. Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas reacted by taking off Jermaine Defoe and replacing him with Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor, albeit to howls of derision from the home fans. After winning this fixture 9-1 three seasons ago Tottenham could be fairly expected to do well against their north-
ern opponents, but despite their strong early-season form Spurs were frustrated here, the home fans booing at full-time. They had started the match brightly with striker Clint Dempsey seeing his second-minute shot deflected wide, while a Jan Vertonghen volley also flew narrowly wide for the Londoners before Wigan settled and started to out-pass them. Having sold Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart in the close season and with Moussa Dembele and Scott Parker already out injured, Tottenham’s midfield options were further weakened when Sandro limped off after 23 minutes. Wigan had a great chance to open the scoring late in the first half when Arouna Kone played a one-two with Shaun Maloney only to see Friedel make a brilliant save from his flashing volley. This was further vindication of Spurs coach Villas-Boas once again selecting the American ahead of French international stopper and summer recruit Hugo Lloris. Some desperate late attacking from the home side kept Wigan’s Ali Al-Habsi, solid all afternoon, busy in the Wigan goal, but the Latics held firm to earn a deserved three points. —AFP
19
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
SPORTS Soccer results/standings Fulham 2 (Howard 7-og, Sidwell 90) Everton 2 (Fellaini 55, 72); Man Utd 2 (Van Persie 3, Evra 67) Arsenal 1 (Cazorla 90); Norwich 1 (Johnson 44) Stoke 0; Sunderland 0 Aston Villa 1 (Agbonlahor 57); Swansea 1 (Hernandez 88) Chelsea 1 (Moses 61); Tottenham 0 Wigan 1 (Watson 56); West Ham 0 Man City 0. Playing today QPR v Reading, Liverpool v Newcastle. Playing tomorrow West Brom v Southampton. English Football League results Championship Birmingham 0 Ipswich 1; Burnley 2 Wolves 0; Charlton 1 Middlesbrough 4; Crystal Palace 2 Blackburn 0; Derby 4 Blackpool 1; Huddersfield 1 Bristol City 0; Hull 1 Barnsley 0; Nottingham Forest 1 Millwall 4; Sheffield Wednesday 2 Peterborough 1; Watford 2 Leicester 1, Played Friday Brighton 2 Leeds 2. Scottish Premier League results Dundee 1 (Lockwood 22) Hearts 0; Hibernian 2 (Griffiths 37, 65) St Mirren 1 (McLean 32); Kilmarnock 1 (Kelly 56) Inverness CT 2 (Shinnie 22, McKay 77pen); Ross County 2 (Reynolds 37-og, Ross 49) Aberdeen 1 (McGinn 77); St Johnstone 1 (Robertson 88) Motherwell 3 (Murphy 1, 38, Law 73). Playing today Dundee United v Celtic. Scottish Cup results 3rd round Airdrie 2 Raith 2; Albion 1 Morton 1; Ayr 2 Clachnacuddin 1; Brechin 2 Bonnyrigg
Rose 2; Buckie 0 Turriff 1; Cowdenbeath 8 Vale of Leithen 1; Dumbarton 4 East Stirling 1; Edinburgh City 0 Queen Of The South 2; Elgin City 5 East Fife 1; Forfar 3 Nairn County 3; Inverurie Loco 3 Arbroath 3; Partick 2 Cove Rangers 1; Rangers 7 Alloa 0; Stenhousemuir 1 Berwick 1; Stirling 0 Deveronvale 1; Stranraer 1 Queen’s Park 1. English FA Cup results 1st round AFC Fylde 1 Accrington 4; Aldershot Town 2 Hendon 1; Barnet 0 Oxford Utd 2; Bishops Stortford 1 Hastings 2; Boreham Wood 0 Brentford 2; Bournemouth 4 Dagenham and Redbridge 0; Bristol Rovers 1 Sheffield Utd 2; Bury 1 Exeter 0; Carlisle 4 Ebbsfleet 2; Chelmsford 3 Colchester 1; Cheltenham 3 Yate 0; Chesterfield 6 Hartlepool 1; Coventry 3 Arlesey 0; Crewe 4 Wycombe 1; Doncaster 3 Bradford Park Avenue 1; Fleetwood Town 3 Bromley 0; Forest Green 2 Port Vale 3; Gillingham 4 Scunthorpe 0; Guiseley 2 Barrow 2; Hereford 3 Shrewsbury 1; Kidderminster 0 Oldham 2; Lincoln 1 Walsall 1; Luton 1 Nuneaton 1; Mansfield 0 Slough 0; Met Police 1 Crawley 2; Morecambe 1 Rochdale 1; Northampton 1 Bradford City 1; Portsmouth 0 Notts County 2; Preston 3 Yeovil 0; Rotherham 3 Stevenage 2; Southend 3 Stockport 0; Swindon 0 Macclesfield 2; Torquay 0 Harrogate 1; Wrexham 2 Alfreton 4; York 1 AFC Wimbledon 1. Playing today Braintree Town v Tranmere, Burton v Altrincham, Gloucester v Leyton Orient, Dorchester v Plymouth. Played Friday Cambridge City 0 Milton Keynes Dons 0.
English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Chelsea Man City Everton Tottenham Arsenal Fulham West Ham West Brom Newcastle Swansea Wigan Liverpool Norwich Stoke Sunderland Aston Villa Reading Southampton QPR
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 10 10 9 10 10 9 10 8 9 9
8 7 6 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 2 0 1 0
2 1 0 1 3 3 3 3 3 2 4 5 3 4 3 2 5 4 7 6
26 22 18 19 17 15 21 13 13 11 15 11 12 8 8 6 8 11 14 7
14 10 9 13 14 8 16 11 11 13 14 16 14 18 10 9 14 17 26 18
24 23 22 17 17 15 15 15 14 13 12 11 10 10 9 9 9 4 4 3
English Football League table Championship Cardiff 14 9 1 4 M’brough 14 9 1 4 Crystal Palace 14 8 3 3 Leicester 14 8 1 5 Hull 14 8 1 5 Blackburn 14 6 5 3 Huddersfield 14 7 2 5 Nottingham 14 5 6 3 Wolves 14 6 3 5 Brighton 14 5 5 4 Derby 14 5 5 4 Leeds 14 5 5 4 Burnley 14 6 2 6 Millwall 14 5 4 5 Watford 14 6 1 7 Blackpool 14 5 3 6 Bolton 14 5 3 6 Birmingham 14 4 4 6 Sheffield 14 4 3 7 Barnsley 14 4 3 7 Charlton 14 3 5 6 Peterborough 14 4 0 10 Bristol City 14 3 2 9 Ipswich 14 2 4 8
27 25 25 21 21 19 19 21 18 18 22 22 28 27 19 23 21 15 20 15 15 17 24 11
17 19 21 14 18 16 19 18 16 11 19 21 29 25 22 22 23 22 24 21 19 22 29 26
28 28 27 25 25 23 23 21 21 20 20 20 20 19 19 18 18 16 15 15 14 12 11 10
Scottish Premier League table Hibernian 12 6 3 3 Celtic 10 6 2 2 Inverness CT 12 4 6 2 Aberdeen 12 4 6 2 St Johnstone 12 5 3 4 Motherwell 11 4 4 3 Kilmarnock 12 4 3 5 Ross County 12 3 6 3 Hearts 12 3 4 5 Dundee Utd 9 3 3 3 St Mirren 12 3 3 6 Dundee 12 2 1 9
23 19 25 15 15 16 17 15 12 9 16 5
16 9 20 11 16 16 15 16 13 11 22 22
21 20 18 18 18 16 15 15 13 12 12 7
German League table Bayern Munich 10 Schalke 10 Eintracht 10 Dortmund 10 Leverkusen 9 Hanover 10 Mainz 9 Hamburg 10 Stuttgart 10 Borussia 10 Freiburg 10 Werder Bremen 9 Hoffenheim 10 Nuremberg 10 Duesseldorf 9 Wolfsburg 10
30 20 21 20 15 20 12 11 10 13 14 15 16 8 7 6
4 11 14 11 12 16 10 14 15 19 13 14 22 15 12 17
27 20 20 16 15 14 14 13 13 13 12 11 11 11 10 8
9 6 6 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2
0 2 4 5 2 3 3 3 2 4 3 2 4 4 6 6 3 4 1 3
0 2 2 4 3 2 2 1 4 4 3 2 2 2 4 2
1 2 2 2 2 4 3 5 3 3 4 4 5 5 3 6
Greuther Augsburg
10 10
1 4 5 1 3 6
7 16 5 15
7 6
Italian Seria A table Juventus 10 9 1 0 22 5 28 Inter Milan 10 8 0 2 19 9 24 Napoli 10 7 1 2 15 6 22 Lazio 10 6 1 3 16 11 19 Fiorentina 10 5 3 2 12 7 18 Parma 10 4 3 3 14 14 15 AC Milan 11 4 2 5 17 13 14 Roma 10 4 2 4 22 19 14 Cagliari 10 4 2 4 10 13 14 Udinese 10 3 4 3 13 15 13 Atalanta 10 4 2 4 8 12 12 Catania 10 3 3 4 11 16 12 Torino 10 2 5 3 11 9 10 Sampdoria 10 3 2 5 12 14 10 Chievo 11 3 1 7 10 21 10 Genoa 10 2 3 5 10 14 9 Palermo 10 1 5 4 8 13 8 Pescara 10 2 2 6 6 17 8 Bologna 10 2 1 7 11 16 7 Siena 10 2 3 5 11 14 3 Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in ‘Calcioscommesse’ illegal betting scandal.
Matches on TV (Local Timings)
English Premier League QPR v Reading Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 Liverpool v Newcastle Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 4 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5
16:30
19:00
Spanish League Valencia v Atletico 0:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Sociedad v Espanyol 14:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Deportivo v Real Mallorca 18:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Osasuna v Real Valladolid 19:50 Aljazeera Sport +5 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Granada v Bilbao 21:45 Aljazeera Sport +5 Sevilla v Levante 23:30 Aljazeera Sport +2
Italian League Pescara v Parma Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Napoli v Torino Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Fiorentina v Cagliari Aljazeera Sport +5 Sampdoria v Atlanta Aljazeera Sport +6 AS Roma v Palermo Aljazeera Sport 1 HD
14:30 17:00 17:00 17:00 22:45
Record breaking Barca beat Celta as Real play catch-up MADRID: Real Madrid beat Zaragoza 4-0 yesterday but remain eight points behind record breaking Barcelona who earlier won 3-1 against Celta Vigo. Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Maria struck in a two minute blitz midway through the first half while Michael Essien and Luka Modric added another two late on but despite their recent good form it will be difficult to claw back the Catalan side, who have made their best start to a season. Barcelona now have nine wins and a draw which beats their previous record by Louis van Gaal’s 1997-98 side. Madrid’s defensive problems eased with the return of Alvaro Arbeloa who came in on the left of defence with Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao both still injured. It freed up Michael Essien to move back into midfield where Madrid were without Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, suspended and injured respectively. Zaragoza arrived at the Bernabeu with confidence restored after back-to-back wins and they made it difficult for Madrid with their organisation. Madrid got their opening breakthrough out of the blue from a corner. Raul Albiol leapt to power a header which Roberto got down well to save but Higuain smashed in the rebound from close range. Zaragoza fell further behind as Di Maria had a left-footed shot from a tight angle saved by the keeper but he then cracked in the rebound. The visitors came out for the second half with more attacking intent and seemed to take Madrid by surprise who were sitting back and allowing them to come at them. They were mainly reduced to shots from distance and came closest to scoring with a drive by Jose Mari from 25 yards which crashed against the crossbar but Ronaldo also hit the woodwork for Madrid
SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien (left) vies for the ball with Zaragoza’s forward Victor during the Spanish league football match.—AFP with a late freekick. Essien and Modric added gloss to the result with goals in the 88th and 91st minutes. Earlier, Adriano Correia put Barca ahead against Celta after 21 minutes and while Mario Bermejo momentarily brought the visitors level minutes later, David Villa quickly restored the lead while Jordi Alba secured the win in the second half. “What is important are the points not the record. To have 28 from a possible 30 points is not easy and shows the desire of the players. In every game we have kept going until the end,” said Barca coach Tito Vilanova. Ahead of the game Lionel Messi showed off his Golden Boot trophy
which he was presented this week after scoring 73 goals last season, while he was also the focus following the birth of his first child Thiago on Friday. Barca were still without Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol at centre half and this time Sergio Busquets was chosen to play alongside Javier Mascherano. Messi had the first clear chance after 18 minutes which keeper Javi Varas was equal to and the open nature of the game was shown as immediately the ball went to the other end, where Iago Aspas was denied by Victor Valdes. Adriano Correia, joining the attack, put Barca ahead. Pedro Rodriguez got in front of full-back Roberto Iago on the right and
crossed for the Brazilian to knock the ball home from close range. The celebrations had barely finished though before Celta were level. An Alex Lopez pass split the Barca defence and Bermejo fired past Valdes on the rebound. Barca restored their advantage with a delightful move as Villa back-heeled the ball to Iniesta, who got to the deadball line and pulled it back for Villa to score. Right after the restart Aspas had a shot which went inches wide from a tight angle but Alba increased Barca’s lead after 60 minutes. Villa flicked on an Iniesta pass to the full-back who did well to round the keeper and finish but replays showed he was clearly offside.—AFP
Bayern rout Hamburg to open seven-point gap
ITALY: AC Milan’s forward Giampaolo Pazzini (right) vies with Chievo’s Argentinian defender Santiago Morero during an Italian Serie A football match.—AFP
AC Milan bag five in morale boosting win MILAN: Former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic and Dutchman Urby Emanuelson scored their maiden AC Milan goals as the struggling Serie A giants secured a precious 5-1 win over Chievo at the San Siro yesterday. Ahead of a crucial Champions League test against Malaga on Tuesday, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri had called for his stuttering side to show they can still be a force to be reckoned with. Giampaolo Pazzini started as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation but barely got a sniff of goal in the opening half as Milan’s impressive midfield stole the show. After winger Stephan El Shaarawy first tested Stefano Sorrentino with a weak shot on the quarter hour Emanuelson’s debut Milan goal came moments later. Guinean defender Kevin Constant’s cross from the left wing found its way to the edge of the Chievo area, where it was eventually headed down by defender Marco Andreolli into the path of Emanuelson. The Dutchman’s firsttime strike took a slight deflection but beat Sorrentino low to the keeper’s right. Milan’s weakness at set-pieces, however, came back to haunt them a minute later when Sergio Pellissier rose above El Shaarawy at the near post to beat a diving Christian Abbiati with a glancing back header to pull Chievo level. Milan went on to take control but on a rare Chievo foray French midfielder Cyril Thereau forced a diving save from Abbiati when he unleashed an angled drive from the edge of the area. A minute later Milan took the lead through Riccardo Montolivo, who drove the
ball through Chievo’s defence following a well-worked move involving Emanuelson, El Shaarawy and Bojan. Although Abbiati had to look sharp to keep out a low angled shot from Thereau in the 40th minute, Milan extended their lead when Bojan’s shot from edge of the area took a deflection off Dario Dainelli before wrongfooting Sorrentino. Chievo proved more determined in the second half but their resistance was short-lived. Just before the hour El Shaarway showed nice control on the edge of area to set up Massimo Ambrosini but his shot went high and wide. Constant then sent an inviting ball in for Pazzini only for the ball to be bundled to safety. Emanuelson was then replaced by Kevin Prince Boateng, and when Constant’s low cross came in from the left it was dummied by the Ghanaian for El Shaarawy, whose low strike went just wide. In the 75th minute El Shaarawy’s persistence was rewarded when he left Romanian midfielder Adrian Stoian behind him to latch on to Cristian Abate’s cross-goal ball and score his eighth league goal in 11 games. Bojan was denied his second in the dying minutes when Sorrentino saved his close-range shot after Pazzini’s pass in the area. However, the Spain international played a pivotal role in Milan’s fifth with a long, curling pass to El Shaarawy on the left which allowed the Italy international to stroll into the area before crossing for Pazzini, who tapped home from a metre out.—AFP
BERLIN: Bayern Munich went seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday as the Bavarian giants cruised to a 30 win at Hamburg with their Germany stars running riot. With second-placed Schalke 04 suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at Hoffenheim, Bayern took the chance to extend their lead with an emphatic victory as they bounced back from last Sunday’s shock 2-1 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. Germany midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller and Toni Kroos all scored as Hamburg’s previous run of four wins in six games came to a sudden halt while Munich warmed up for Wednesday’s Champions League clash at home to Lille. “The goal felt really good, especially as it was an important one,” said Mueller after Bayern set a new record having not conceded a goal in their first five away league games with a 15-0 record. “Finally we won in Hamburg, which has been a dangerous place for us recently.” Bayern took the lead on 30 minutes when Kroos’ cross found Schweinsteiger unmarked at the far post. Mueller then added a sublime second on 48 minutes when played into the area by France wing Franck Ribery and with Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler covering the near post, Mueller simply curled his shot into the far corner from a tight angle. With confidence buoyed, Bayern poured forward and Kroos added the third on 53 minutes after exchanging passes with Ribery and blasted home past Adler. “Bayern were simply too strong for us and we did not have our best day,” said Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink with his side eighth. Hoffenheim enjoyed their first win in five games against Schalke after striker Kevin Volland put the hosts ahead on 13 minutes before midfielder Roman Neustaedter levelled with a header on 37 minutes for the Royal Blues. Brazilian midfielder Roberto Firmino then converted a 67th-minute penalty after Volland was fouled in the box. It had looked as though Schalke had rescued a point after Japan defender Atsuto Uchida had scored a late equaliser to make it 2-2 draw on 82 minutes. But two minutes after coming off the bench, midfielder Sven Schipplock hit the 91st-minute winner when played through to draw Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall and fire home before the Royal Blues host Arsenal on Tuesday in the Champions League. Eintracht Frankfurt remain third after their 1-1 draw with Guerth Fuerth on Friday. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund are fourth after they were held to a goalless draw by VfB Stuttgart and remain four points behind Frankfurt. Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl is an injury doubt for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Real Madrid after he broke his nose. The 32-year-old has to be replaced with 20 minutes gones after taking a stray elbow in the face while challenging for a ball with Stuttgart’s Raphael Holzhauser, who was given a yellow card. “Even if it is possible, it will have to be with a mask,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp when asked if Kehl will be fit for match at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium. “It was an intense game with three clear chances for us. “We have to live with it that a draw at home feels like a defeat.” Nuremberg won the battle of the basement teams as midfielder Timo Gebhart scored the winner with a 76thminute header to move up to 14th and take some of the pressure off coach Dieter Hecking with their first win in seven games.—AFP
Messi becomes a dad BARCELONA: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi announced Friday the birth of his first child, Thiago, although the club say he will still play yesterday. Messi’s partner, Antonella Roccuzzo, delivered their son at the Dexeus hospital about 700 metres (less than half a mile) from Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium. “Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son was born and thanks to God for this gift! Thanks to my family for the support! A hug to everyone,” the 25-year-old Argentine said on his Facebook page.
Messi had permission to miss football training in the morning “for a personal matter” on the eve of Barcelona’s home game against Celta de Vigo, Barcelona said in an online statement. But coach Tito Vilanova said the Argentine is still expected to play at the Camp Nou. “In principle he will be there for the game. It does not change anything that he has not trained for one day, it’s not important,” Vilanova told a news conference. In an interview published this week, Messi said he will not be pushing Thiago to lace up his football boots as a career. “He should be what-
ever he wants to be,” Messi told Spain’s top selling daily Marca. “When he grows up he will get to know what he wants and what he chooses will be fine for me, for his mother and for everyone.” Thiago’s arrival caps and no doubt overwhelms a string of good news for Messi in the past week. The football wonder picked up the Golden Boot award on Monday for scoring 50 goals last season and he is favored this year to win his fourth Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best footballer. Last weekend he also scored his 300th career goal.—AFP
Knicks cool Heat
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Hammers frustrate City
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Hamilton storms to Abu Dhabi pole
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LONDON: Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder MIkel Arteta (right) challenges Manchester United’s Dutch forward Robin van Persie during their English Premier League football match at Old Trafford. —AFP
Van the man as United beat Arsenal Man United 2
Arsenal 1
MANCHESTER: Robin van Persie scored against his former club and Patrice Evra was also on target as Manchester United secured a 2-1 win over 10-man Arsenal at Old Trafford yesterday. Van Persie, 29, who ended an eightyear spell with the Gunners to join United in a £24 million ($39 million) deal in
August, received plenty of abuse from the travelling supporters. But he took fewer than three minutes to put United, now top of the table albeit Chelsea will regain first place if they win at Swansea later Saturday, ahead before refusing to celebrate in front of his former fans. Wayne Rooney missed a penalty just before half-time-his seventh miss in 20 attempts in the Premier League-to leave United with a record of just one successful effort from their last five spot-kicks. But France defender Evra doubled the advantage midway through the second half with his first goal at Old Trafford in almost two years before Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, making just his second appear-
ance after a long-term injury, was sent off after being shown a second yellow card. Santi Cazorla curled in a late consolation goal for the Gunners but defeat left Arsenal, who haven’t won a major trophy since 2005, nine points off top spot just 10 games into the league season. While Arsenal remain bitter about van Persie’s exit, his move to United has been an undoubted success, with his effort against his old team-mates, his eighth goal in the Premier League and tenth in 13 matches in all competitions. The 29-year-old Dutch striker wasted no time in taking advantage of a Thomas Vermaelen error to score with his first touch. Antonio Valencia flicked on Rio
Ferdinand’s pass to send Rafael clear down the right flank and although the Brazilian’s cross was poor, Vermaelen failed to clear and van Persie struck a firsttime finish from just outside the area. Van Persie threatened once again midway through the opening period when he was picked out by a Rooney pass and outpaced Vermaelen, only to have his shot from a narrow angle saved by Vito Mannone. David de Gea was finally forced into some work when Evra misjudged Bacary Sagna’s long ball and Aaron Ramsey broke into the area before seeing his drive to the near post palmed away by the United goalkeeper. Just before the break, Per Mertesacker
had an anxious moment when his sliced clearance from Rooney’s cross flew just past the top corner. But the corner that followed led to Young’s cross being handled by Cazorla, only for Rooney to send his penalty past the left post. Just a minute after the restart, another Vermaelen error allowed van Persie through but the unmarked Valencia failed to even make contact with the Dutchman’s cross eight yards from goal. Michael Carrick also saw his drive fly narrowly wide after a Rafael effort was charged down. As Arsenal pressed forward, Jonny Evans failed to make contact with a Santos cross and Olivier Giroud’s
Chelsea stumble in title race Swansea 1
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SWANSEA: Chelsea endured a frustrating end to a controversial week as they failed to reclaim top spot in the Premier League after Pablo Hernandez earned Swansea a 1-1 draw with an 88th-minute equaliser. Victor Moses’s first league goal for the Blues had looked set to secure an away victory at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday before Hernandez continued the Swans’ recent resurgence under Michael Laudrup with a superb strike. Chelsea have claimed just a point from their last two league matches after defeat by Manchester United last weekend. They now trail new leaders United by a point following the Red Devils’ 2-1 win against Arsenal at Old Trafford earlier yesterday. Although the match lacked the controversy of last weekend’s contest, John Obi Mikel was booed by some sections of the crowd in the early stages. This appeared to be a nod to the Blues’ decision to lodge a formal complaint with the Football Association over allegations Mark Clattenburg used “inappropriate language” towards the Nigeria midfielder during the United match an allegation the referee denies. The visitors were almost caught off guard as early as the third minute when Angel Rangel was threaded through down the right channel only for Branislav Ivanovic to make a last ditch interception to cut out his cross to Michu. Laudrup’s team had Leon Britton to thank when he hooked a Fernando Torres header off the line in the 12th minute. But soon afterwards the hosts threatened again when Hernandez’s
clipped ball dissected the Blues defence, however Michu was unable to divert goalwards with his outstretched boot. Moses, man of the match in the thrilling 5-4 midweek League Cup win over United, looked lively again and Torres could only head tamely into Gerhard Tremmel’s hands after the Swans goalkeeper had parried the Nigeria international’s cross into the Spaniard’s path. Mikel came to Chelsea’s rescue with a fine block to deny Ki Sung-Yueng after he was teed up by Wayne Routledge, while shortly before half-time Ashley Williams foiled a swift Blues counter-attack when he did well to prevent Torres squaring to the advancing Eden Hazard. Although clear-cut chances had been at a premium, it had been an even and entertaining first half, yet the European champions, who replaced Oriol Romeu with Ramires upon resumption, then increased their grip on proceedings. Tremmel excelled by tipping a Hazard freekick around his post but, from the resulting corner, Chelsea got their goal. Oscar’s pinpoint set=piece was headed goalwards by Gary Cahill and Moses, inside the six-yard area, executed a sublime headed flick which flew in off the underside of the crossbar. It was only Moses’s second goal since his pre-season arrival from Wigan, the other having come against Wolves in the League Cup, and he received a standing ovation from Chelsea fans when replaced by Daniel Sturridge in the 72nd minute. Incessant hailstones made the conditions difficult for both sides and Chelsea keeper Petr Cech was almost caught out by Swans substitute Nathan Dyer’s audacious chip with 75 minutes gone. It looked as though the Blues had done enough to escape with all three points, yet Hernandez had other ideas as he exchanged passes with substitute Itay Schechter before driving a low shot into the bottom-right corner which escaped Cech’s reach.—AFP
effort glanced off the outside of the post. Van Persie though beat the offside trap to latch on to Young’s through-ball but saw his guided shot pushed just wide of goal by Mannone. However, United did make the match safe when, from a short corner Rooney collected a return pass from Young and clipped in a cross that was headed in at the near post by Evra to make it 2-0. United’s task was made even easier when Wilshere, who was booked for an early challenge on Tom Cleverley, was sent off for a lunge at Evra. Cazorla curled in from the edge of the area with the final kick but it was little consolation for Arsenal.—AFP
Norwich get past Stoke Norwich 1
Stoke 0
LONDON: Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi vies with Swansea City’s Canadian-born Dutch midfielder Jonathan de Guzman (right) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP
NORWICH: Bradley Johnson’s header a minute before half-time proved the difference as Norwich beat Stoke 1-0 in the Premier League at Carrow Road yesterday. Victory saw the Canaries stretch their unbeaten run to four matches across all competitions following their midweek win over Tottenham which took them into the quarter-finals of the League Cup. And it left Norwich six points clear of the bottom three. Stoke though could consider themselves unlucky not to have taken at least a point from a match which came in a week marking the 10th anniversary of manager Tony Pulis’s initial appointment as Potters boss. Norwich were bolstered by the return of captain Grant Holt and first choice goalkeeper John Ruddy but it was the visitors who nearly opened the scoring when Charlie Adam curled a low shot wide. However, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 44th minute when, from a free-kick by Robert Snodgrass following a foul on the Scotland winger, Johnson headed the ball into the corner. Snodgrass almost made it 2-0 before the break, just failing to get on the end of a cross from Anthony Pilkington. Early in the second half, Norwich’s Wes Hoolahan tried to catch Asmir Begovic unawares with a shot from the halfway line which the Stoke keeper had to tip behind from a corner. Stoke might have equalised but Ruddy parried Sebastien Bassong’s shot from point-blank range. Pulis sent on Kenwyne Jones for fellow striker Jonathan Walters and the Stoke substitute saw a header gathered by Ruddy before dragging a close-range shot wide of the target. Despite four minutes of stoppage time, Stoke couldn’t find a way through and Norwich held on for only their second league win of the season.—AFP
Business
Myanmar details new foreign investment law Page 22 Kuwait may post KD10bn budget surplus
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
Page 23 US jobs report arouses new optimism
BMW, MINI sales accelerate 31% in Kuwait Page 25
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MADRID: People, some in danger of being evicted from their homes for not being able to keep up with mortgage payments, prepare some documents as they camp outside a Bankia bank in Madrid, Friday. — AP
Obama knocks Romney on auto industry Blunt message for voters from key battleground Ohio LIMA, Ohio: President Barack Obama drove home a crucial contrast between himself and rival Mitt Romney on the campaign trail Friday, saying his auto bailout saved jobs while the Republican was willing to let the industry stall. Venturing to the auto manufacturing heartland of Ohio, Obama and his surrogates had a blunt message for voters in this critical battleground state just four days from election day. “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” crowed Ohio’s Democratic former governor Ted Strickland as he warmed up a crowd in the city of Lima ahead of Obama’s appearance. This region relatively close to Detroit-Motor City, the historic birthplace of the American auto industry-is a parts manufacturing powerhouse, with hundreds of thousands of jobs depending on the industry. Chrysler has a factory in Ohio assembling its popular Jeep Wrangler 4X4. The vote in critical battleground Ohio is leaning slightly to Obama, most polls show, but with one in eight Ohio jobs connected to the auto industry, assembly line workers and other car company employees are crucial pieces to the winning puz-
zle in a state many say will decide the November 6 election. The financial crisis sent the automobile industry into a nosedive in late 2008, and America’s “Big Three” automakersGeneral Motors, Ford and Chrysler, asked for billions of dollars in bailout funds. The US government dug deep into its pockets 2009 to rescue GM and Chrysler Ford ended up not taking bailout fundsand on his three-city swing through Ohio on Friday, Obama was quick to remind voters of how he oversaw the bailout that revived an industry. Obama argued that he offered tough love to the car companies, forcing them to restructure. GM shuttered some factories and dealerships and abandoned brands like Pontiac and Saturn, while Chrysler struck an alliance with Italy’s Fiat. Both US giants emerged from bankruptcy and returned to profitability, and “an American auto industry that had been written off is back on top of the world,” Obama boasted to loud cheers in Lima. As he has done countless times during the months-long campaign, Obama highlighted how Romney penned an op-ed
piece in which he argued to “let Detroit go bankrupt” without much federal assistance. “I understand governor Romney has had a tough time here in Ohio because he was against saving the auto industry,” Obama said. The president also accused Romney of running widely debunked advertisements that imply that US car companies like Chrysler are shifting jobs overseas to places like China, a charge Obama angrily denied as “not true.” “The car companies themselves have told Romney: knock it off,” Obama said. Indeed, Fiat’s and Chrysler Group’s boss Sergio Marchionne rejected the Romney assertion, saying flatly that “Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China.” “This isn’t a game. These are people’s jobs at stake,” Obama said. “You don’t scare hardworking Americans just to scare up some votes.” Romney-the son of the one-time chief executive of American Motors Corporation, which was eventually sold to Chrysler-kept mum about the auto industry as he too campaigned in Ohio. But he has not distanced himself from the ads. Instead, he flung economic arrows at Obama, including
Europe must support Greece reforms: US WASHINGTON: Europe must support debt-riddled Greece as it struggles to undertake tough reforms under an international bailout program, a senior Treasury official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Obama administration has been following the discussions between Greece and the so-called “troika” of international lenders-the IMF, the EU and the ECB-”very closely.” “The troika and Greece are close to an agreement on the reforms commitment necessary to complete the pending program review” of the troubled euro-zone nation’s performance under the bailout program, the official said in a conference call with reporters. “It is extremely important that as Greece undertakes these continued very challenging reforms... Europe comes together in support of these reforms, and helps Greece stay on the path of sustainability,” the official said. The Treasury official’s remarks suggested the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank should agree to restructure Greece’s debt.
Governments in the euro-zone are still holding to the line that there can be no question of restructuring Greek debt again, since this would mean losses and costs for their taxpayers and would increase political tensions. Greece’s negotiations with its international lenders for a vital installment of rescue funds needed before bankruptcy looms in mid-November are stuck, the IMF said Thursday. The IMF said talks stalled over the conditions for financing Greece, as it seeks a two-year extension to meet fiscal goals. Greece and the troika have been locked for weeks in discussions on revising terms for the country’s bailout, after it fell short of targets which had to be met for the release of the next installment of funds from the three lenders. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said the coffers in Athens will run dry on November 16 — when a three-month treasury bill worth five billion euros must be repaid-unless his country receives the next 31.2 billion euros ($40.1 billion) in rescue funding. Eurozone finance ministers are due to make a final decision on the payout by November 12. — AFP
the rise of the official unemployment rate from 7.8 to 7.9 percent in October, despite better-than-expected growth of 171,000 new jobs. The president of the United States presides over a nation under his leadership where unemployment is higher than the day he took office,” Romney said in Etna, a town outside Columbus. A number of voters at Romney rallies in Ohio defended the Republican’s position on the bailout, saying it left the state’s workers in no better shape than if the companies were left to fend for themselves. “Free enterprise! If they don’t make it, they don’t make it,” said Jack Oney, 70, a retired air traffic controller. In the short run, the bailout may have saved some jobs, Oney acknowledged. But, he added, “someone else would have done a better job and hired more people in the long run.” As for Ohio’s unemployment rate steadily dropping to 7.0 percent, well below the national average, Oney argued that Obama does not deserve the credit. “It’s because of (Ohio Governor) John Kasich, because he drew more manufacturers back to Ohio, not Obama,” he said. — AFP
Guinea and UAE sign bauxite supply deal
CHICAGO: A KIA logo is seen on a wheel rim at a dealership in Chicago. Major automakers reported that sales increased for last month despite losing three days of business to the punishing rain and wind from superstorm Sandy. —AP
DFM Q3 loss narrows DUBAI: Dubai Financial Market Co’s third-quarter net loss narrowed to 1.7 million dirhams ($463,000) from 9.3 million in the same period last year, the company said yesterday, citing increased trading activity. The publicly owned company, which runs securities trading in Dubai, said its third-quarter revenue grew to 36.8 million dirhams, compared to 31.7 million
dirhams a year ago in an emailed statement. Its net profits for the first nine months of 2012 more than quadrupled to 38.9 million dirhams compared to last year, the company said, citing new income from its margin trading business. The third quarter included Ramadan and the Eid Al-Fitr holiday in the Gulf when business is slower. — Reuters
DUBAI: Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) signed a long-term supply agreement with the United Arab Emirates for bauxite, the main raw material in aluminum, the Gulf country’s state news agency reported. The Emirates News Agency did not report the duration or value of the contract, which was concluded between CBG and the Emirates’ investment fund Mubadala Development Co. But Guinean Mines Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana was quoted as saying at a signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi that the deal would add $500 million to Guinea’s gross domestic product. “The agreement with Mubadala will make a significant contribution to Guinea’s economy by enabling the expansion of CBG to more than 20 million metric tons of bauxite per year,” Fofana was quoted as saying by the news agency late on Friday. Guinea’s government said in a separate press release that Mubadala had said it needs 5 billion tons of bauxite by 2017. The Guinean company CBG - a joint venture between the Guinean state and a consortium of companies including Halco Mining Inc, Alcoa, Rio Tinto, and Dadco - has an annual production of 13.5 million tons. A CBG official in Conakry told Reuters it would take the company at least three or four years to raise production to 20 million tons per year. “We can’t do it right away,” he said, asking not to be named. “We will definitely need to proceed with an expansion project first.” In March, Fofana said Guinea had started negotiations for Mubadala to take a stake in CBG. But Guinea said the supply deal did not result in Mubadala taking a stake. Guinea is the world’s largest exporter of bauxite. The UAE’s Dubai Aluminium Co (Dubal) produces around 1 million tons a year of aluminum, according to Gulf business website zawya.com. — Reuters
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BUSINESS
Myanmar details new foreign investment law
Bayt.com weekly report
12 career facts you wish you knew in your twenties
Overseas firms could fully own ventures YANGON: Myanmar’s new foreign investment law allows overseas firms to fully own ventures and offers tax breaks and lengthy land leases, state media said yesterday, releasing details of legislation passed by parliament this week after a long delay. The law, approved by President Thein Sein on Friday, had gone back and forth between the legislative and executive branches since March in a tussle involving a government eager to attract foreign investment, tycoons determined to protect their monopolies, and small businesses keen not to be shut out. Thein Sein took office in March 2011 at the head of a quasicivilian government that brought almost 50 years of military rule to an end. He has undertaken economic and political reforms that have persuaded Western countries to suspend sanctions and prompted an upsurge of interest in the country from multinational firms, which see potential in Myanmar ’s abundant resources and a primitive, low-cost economy bordering India and China. Most major firms have been waiting to see the new law before committing significant funds. The details in Myanmar-language state newspapers saidjoint ventures between foreigners and Myanmar citizens or the government would be permitted with any stake ratio agreed between the partners.
Foreigners can still own 100 percent of businesses without the need for a local partner, as in the previous law dating from 1988. But there could be restrictions in some areas. A previous draft had said foreigners would only be able to hold a maximum 50 percent of a firm in certain sectors deemed sensitive, including agriculture, and that foreigners would have to hold at least 35 percent of any start-up joint venture. A parliamentary source told Reuters this week that additional regulations covering the restricted sectors could follow later. One article of the new law says the Myanmar Investment Commission can allow foreign investors into the restricted sectors with the approval of the government, in the interests of the people and the country. Under the new law, foreign investors can lease land from the government or from authorized private owners for up to 50 years, depending on the type and size of the investment, and the deal can be extended twice, for 10 years each time. The old law did not define land lease periods but in practice contracts tended to cover 30-year terms, extendable for two periods of five years. Foreign firms may be entitled to a tax holiday for the first five years of operation and other forms of tax relief may be avail-
able depending on the investment, if deemed in the national interest. The old law allowed for a three -year holiday. Foreign manufacturing companies may be entitled to tax relief of up to 50 percent on profits made from exports. Tax exemption or relief can be granted providing it is reinvested in the business within one year. The new law states that output can be used for “both export promotion and import substitution”. The old law stressed export promotion. Like the old law, the new legislation guarantees that an enterprise formed under this law will not be nationalized during the contract term or its extension. A previous version had raised concern by also saying that, if a company were nationalized in the public interest, compensation would be offered. This clause has now been dropped. However, one clause says an enterprise allowed under the law will not be stopped “without sufficient reason” before the contract expires. As under the old law, foreign investors will be entitled to withdraw capital on expiry of the contract in the foreign currency the original investment was made in. The new law says it supersedes the old one enacted in November 1988 and that foreign firms who set up business under the old law would now be governed by the new legislation. — Reuters
KSE posts biggest fall since 2004 KUWAIT: Benchmark of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) posted lowest fall, since August 2004, in last hours of the past week trading, amid liquidity shrinkage and sell-off pressure resulting from political events. Al-Oula finance brokerage company said in a report released yesterday the KSE resumed trading on Tuesday, following Eid Al-Adha’s two-day holiday, on a weak note, and local political conditions resulted in losses, posted in three consecutive sessions till end of the week. Political worries fed investors’ jitters and prompted bulk of the traders to abstain from involvement in deals. Although the main index dropped 3.6 percent in October amid heightened political tension, its losses turned to be limited upon the weekend closing, to 111.5 points, with increase of a number of trades, amounting to 3,514 transactions, worth KD 15 million. Thus, the benchmark closed the month operations amid a lackluster atmosphere. The report said increasing political complications dashed hopes, pinned upon the team of economic experts for tackling the national economic defects, thus affecting the business environment. Most of the banks which continued disclosing financial results during the past declared growth in operational proceeds. Nevertheless, traders remained anxious with regard of the results of the listed companies for the third quarter of the year. This eventuality was forecast to affect coming trades and flow of liquidity. —KUNA
NEW DELHI: Indian day laborers wait for work on the side of a road in the Old Quarters of New Delhi yesterday. India’s economic growth has slowed to a pace not seen since the beginning of the 2000s, and projected growth in the current fiscal year will reach around 6 percent, a slowdown from the already low 6.5 percent growth in the previous year, according to the World Bank. — AFP
Oman hosts forum on boosting SMEs MUSCAT: A forum themed “benefits of added value” got underway here yesterday addressing issue of supporting small and medium enterprises, sectors that secure jobs for many young Omanis. The forum, organized by Muscat Bank and attended by eminent figures, namely Malaysian former premier Mahathir Mohammad, and representatives of international organizations namely the World Bank, is aimed at promoting existing investment and commercial opportunities and means of backing small and medium businesses.
Mohammad, in a statement at start of the forum, spoke about his nation’s experience in this realm and the need to support such enterprises to create jobs for the youth and diversify resources of national income. There are some 121,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Sultanate of Oman, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI). They account for 90% of economic activity. While more than 40% of SMEs are in the retail sector, small businesses also have a significant presence in construction and contracting. — KUNA
he career advisors at Bayt.com, the leading job site in the Middle East, list below twelve things that you need to consider today to help you get your career goals back on track: 1. Your degree will only take you so far Your degree and the learning it represents matters a lot, especially in differentiating you from other contenders for that first job and defining how well you fit the role. However, how you play and interact with other people matters too. Your interpersonal skills, team skills, leadership skills and competitiveness will serve you just as much in life as the lessons you learned in the classroom. Character matters too; considerably. Ethics, integrity, fairness and tolerance are all essential for professional success. 28.8% of employers in the Middle East look for ‘hunger, drive and ambition’ as the most important factors when making a hiring decision, above technical skills, career track record and education, as per Bayt.com’s Hiring Practices in the MENA Poll (February 2012). 2. It’s never too early to start a career Even if you can’t get a proper paid internship while in college you can try to dabble with projects you can learn from. Identifying such opportunities to learn and grow can be as challenging as the actual work you do! Whether it’s a lemonade stand in front of your villa on a sunny day, or a franchise of new-age vans that sell ice-cream and icy drinks that you turn into a reality, there is a lot to be learned from both success and failure. 3. It’s never too late to change careers For better or for worse, gone are the days of lifelong security with an employer. In today’s workplace people change careers often with some completely reinventing themselves. Some people change careers because of changes in their life circumstances, others due to changes in their circumstances in the workplace, some change to purse a dream they have always had or have suddenly developed. Radical career shifts are becoming more and more commonplace and professionals are learning every day to adapt and adjust to new work realities and new interests to carve a niche in brand new domains often very different from their previous career path. 34% of MENA professionals are considering an industry shift as per Bayt.com’s Top Industries Survey (December 2011). 4. Learning is a lifelong endeavor If you thought you read your last book the week before graduation, think again! Lifelong learning is essential to retaining your competitive edge and staying relevant in the workplace. Seek to read constantly not only to stay up to date but also to acquire new skills, deepen your expertise and broaden your interest zone. 30.5% of professionals claim that the willingness to learn is the most important quality required to succeed in one’s career as per Bayt.com’s Career Advancement in the MENA poll (July 2011). Moreover, 28.6% say that not updating existing skills is the biggest mistake regional professionals can make in their career.
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5. Seek to be known as an expert in your field If it’s worth doing, its worth doing well. Accept nothing less than a commitment to becoming an expert in your chosen role and give generously of your expertise so that you are recognized as such. 6. Be passionate about what you are doing If you want your employers, peers and clients to be passionate about you, you need to feel and emanate passion for what you do! Don’t lie low and plod casually through your daily tasks; lukewarm nonchalance is very transparent and is not a career strategy that readily translates to professional excellence. Passion pays in your career and the more passionate you are about what you do the more others will be too. 7. Leave your insecurities and defensiveness at home Nothing is more frustrating to a manager than a team member who does not accept constructive feedback professionally. When you are given advice in the workplace from managers and peers you respect and admire take it for what it is and leave the personal out of it. Excessive stubbornness and pride are recipes for career disaster. 8. Perfect your points of contact with other people A colleague or subordinate today may be a boss or client tomorrow. Keep your contact points positive, sincere and constructive at all times and never burn bridges. You never know who you will need a lead, reference, vote or helping hand from in the future. Be helpful just for the sake of being helpful too; good energy and a sincere, pleasant disposition will only benefit you in the long run. 9. Stand on the shoulders of giants Don’t be afraid to hire people better, smarter, cooler, older or younger than you. A majority (74.6%) of regional professionals say they don’t mind hiring a candidate who is more qualified, skilled and capable than them as per Bayt.com’s Hiring Practices in the MENA Poll (February 2012). Moreover, 59.6% of professionals wouldn’t mind hiring a candidate who is older and more experienced than them (Hiring Practices in the MENA -February 2012). 10. Good enough isn’t good enough If you want to stay competitive you need to aim for nothing less than the very best you can do. Seek perfection and even if you don’t achieve it; few do; at least you can aim to excel. You may not think of yourself as the most ambitious person in the world but that doesn’t mean you need to aim or settle for mediocrity. 11. Your attitude is your altitude Remember it’s not just about the destination; it’s also about the quality of the journey; nothing will serve you more in optimizing both than a great attitude! Seek to stay positive and to spread good vibes and energy and always look at roadblocks as opportunities for growth and learning. 12. Reach for the stars If you think you can do it, you can! Just concentrate on the how’s, focus, persevere, and aim for nothing less than all you ever wanted to be!
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 Egyptian pounds
.2740000 .4480000 .3600000 .2980000 .2780000 .2880000 .0040000 .0020000 .0762300 .7426870 .3870000 .0720000 .7280720 .0430000
CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2808000 GB Pound/KD .4502350 Euro .36622880 Swiss francs .2998240 Canadian dollars .2804630 Danish Kroner .0485640 Swedish Kroner .0419890 Australian dlr .2904030 Hong Kong dlr .0362310 Singapore dlr .2297680 Japanese yen .0035140 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0764810 Bahraini dinars .7451240 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0749000 Omani riyals .7296350 Philippine Peso .0000000
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES
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
3.523 5.250 2.940 2.158 3.289 231.830 3.675 3.440 6.859 9.176 0.271 273
.2845000 .4610000 .3720000 .3080000 .2900000 .2980000 .0067500 .0035000 .0769960 .7501510 .4060000 .0780000 .7353900 .0510000 .2829000 .4536020 .3649980 .3020660 .2825610 .0489270 .0423030 .2925750 .0365020 .2314870 .0035400 .0052810 .0021860 .0029640 .0034970 .0770530 .7506970 .4001410 .0754600 .7350920 .0069040
Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham
GCC COUNTRIES 75.203 77.488 732.490 749.040 76.791
ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.129 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.316 Tunisian Dinar 179.780 Jordanian Dinar 397.800 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.892 Syrian Lier 3.856 Morocco Dirham 33.243 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 281.900 Euro 366.050 Sterling Pound 456.110 Canadian dollar 285.900 Turkish lire 157.490 Swiss Franc 303.120 Australian dollar 294.300 US Dollar Buying 280.700 GOLD 332.000 167.000 86.500
20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram
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
295.800 749.290 3.670 285.700 553.300 45.900 49.900 167.800 48.410 369.400 37.050 5.480 0.032 0.161 0.248 3.640 399.270 0.191 95.480 45.300 4.330 235.200 1.825
50.400 731.850 3.070 7.030 77.930 75.230 232.370 36.380 2.684 457.000 43.400 305.900 4.100 9.540 198.263 76.820 282.100 1.360
731.670 2.955 6.845 77.500 75.230 232.370 36.380 2.164 454.000 304.400 4.100 9.380 76.720 281.700
GOLD 1,816.410
10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar
COUNTRY
Currency
TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 455.000 281.700
SELL DRAFT
294.300 749.290 3.467 284.200
232.400 46.137 367.900 36.900 5.205 0.031
SELL DRAFT
Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar 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
297.14 286.77 308.03 369.43 281.30 457.51 3.60 3.462 5.210 2.166 3.268 2.942 76.66 749.01 46.06 400.76 732.11 77.68 75.22
SELL CASH
297.000 285.000 306.000 370.000 282.350 458.000 3.690 3.600 5.550 2.320 3.750 3.150 77.350 749.600 48.200 399.000 740.000 78.850 75.750
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 399.240 0.190 95.480 3.270 233.700
Rate for Transfer
US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro
Selling Rate
281.650 283.565 453.730 365.370
Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar 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
302.535 745.660 76.660 77.310 75.070 397.025 46.132 2.161 5.201 2.935 3.442 6.830 690.890 4.535 9.245 4.370 3.380 91.950
Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.
UAE Exchange Centre WLL
Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY
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
Rate per 1000 (Tran)
US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee
282.000 2.955 5.265 2.175 3.450 6.860 76.880 75.355 749.700 46.180 457.500 2.990 1.550 371.700 289.900 3.345
Al Mulla Exchange Currency
Transfer Rate (Per 1000)
US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change
281.250 367.500 457.100 285.000 3.540 5.255 46.100 2.160 3.445 6.832 2.938 749.150 76.700 75.210
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
BUSINESS
Kuwait may post KD10bn budget surplus Spending increases 9% to KD21.2 billion NBK ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: HH the Amir recently approved by decree the much-delayed budget law for FY 2012/13, which had been held up by the absence of a sitting parliament. The budget shows a 9% increase in planned spending to KD21.2 billion, which should in principle be supportive of an economy struggling to gain momentum. However, actual spending traditionally undershoots its target and because of this year’s delay, it is subject to even greater uncertainty than usual. Either way, another large budget surplus looks likely. All of the increase in planned expenditures comes from current spending (including wages, subsidies and transfers, amongst other things), which is budgeted to rise 12% to KD18.6 billion. Of this increase, more than half comes from spending on power generation. Traditionally, budget targets in this area reflect the government ’s oil price assumption, which dictate the theoretical cost of purchasing fuel. This year, however, the increase in the budget oil price from $60 per barrel (pb) to $65 pb seems too small to have generated such a large effect. The bulk of the increase could instead stem from increased power output in light of recent capacity additions. The rest of the increase in current spending comes largely from (civilian) wages and salaries, which are seen rising 16%. Around half of this increase comes from the Ministry of Education. The planned increase in total wages and salaries, although significant, is lower than the 24% increase the previous year. Nevertheless, it should still provide support for growth in consumer spending, which has been the backbone of the non-oil economy in recent years. In total, wages and salaries account for 24% of overall budget spending, up slightly from previous years. Disappointingly, capital spending is budgeted to decline by 6% this year, to KD 2.6 billion. This comes at a time when higher government investment is
much needed both to suppor t the economy and to kick-start lackluster infrastructure spending in the government’s development plan, which is now in its third year. A combination of bureaucracy, technical challenges and political constraints has already slowed project execution to a crawl. While a concern, the budget figures on capital spending need not be quite as bad as the headline figures suggest.
Overall, total spending looks set to provide modest support for the economy for the remainder of this year. Actual spending in FY2011/12 stood at KD 17.0 billion, 88% of its targeted budgeted level. A rise in the execution rate to a more historically typical 94% would see total spending rise by 17% y/y. However, the budget ’s delayed approval and the absence (so far) of some of the budgetary detail - notably
of this fiscal year. Although no official data has yet been published, we estimate that the government may have reached its total year revenue target in September. Non-oil revenues are projected to rise by 2% to KD 1.2 billion. However, they account for a very small share of total projected revenues, at 8%. Both (corporate) income tax charges and revenues from land sales are expected to
in lower than projected. In reality therefore, the overall fiscal position is expected to remain extremely strong. Using the conservative official oil price assumption, the government projects a deficit of KD 7.3 billion for FY12/13 - a record high. But with oil revenues likely to be stronger - and spending levels weaker - than projected, we think another large surplus is more likely, the fourteenth in a row. If oil prices stay at
Firstly, given the budget’s late approval, lower investment spending targets may reflect the limited time remaining this year rather than a lack of ambition. Secondly, the drop in capital spending stems entirely from a fall in investment in the power sector, which may reflect the end of a recent project cycle; excluding this, capital spending is projected to rise 10%. Finally, because of an especially weak execution rate last year, actual investment spending could still rise this year, despite the lower budget allocation. Note also that some public capital spending takes place off-budget.
on the large ‘Miscellaneous and transfers’ segment, which includes some important transfer payments - increase the uncertainties surrounding any projections. Elsewhere, total budget revenues are projected to rise 4% to KD 13.9 billion. Oil revenues account for nearly all of this increase. Despite nudging up its oil price assumption, the government’s revenue projection remains extremely conservative and - as in previous years budget revenues are likely to end up much higher than expected. Indeed, the price of Kuwait Export Crude has averaged $106 pb in the first 7 months
rise strongly. Miscellaneous payments (which include UNCC payments as a legacy from the Iraq war) are expected to fall, but have substantially overshot budget projections anyway in recent years. Judging by previous experience, non-oil revenues will come in somewhat higher than expected. Based upon the government’s projected spending numbers and revenue assumptions, we estimate that the oil price needed to balance the official budget is $97 pb, up from $86 last year. The number falls sharply if - as we expect - oil production turns out to be higher or government spending comes
recent levels, a surplus of KD 10 billion looks plausible. This would equate to around 20% of GDP, compared to a surplus of 30% of GDP recorded last year. Finally, it is worth noting that allocations to the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG) have increased to 25% of total revenues, from 10% in previous years. This appears to be partly an accounting change - directing funds to the RFFG that would otherwise be held by the General Reserve. Total allocations to the RFFG are budgeted to rise to KD 3.5 billion. Under our higher revenue estimates, however, they could be as large as KD 7 billion.
In Venezuela, flipping used cars is a thriving industry
MADRID: A civil guard tries to stop a protester waving a banner at the entrance of a government building and bank during a march to hand in mortgage documents at the Bank of Spain in an effort to have them reviewed in Madrid yesterday. — AP
Troubled Saudi Al-Mojil Group extends losses RIYADH: Saudi construction company Mohammed al-Mojil Group, due to hold an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss breaking up, yesterday reported a third quarter loss of 33.8 million riyals ($9 million) as project revenue faltered. The contractor said in September its liabilities exceeded its assets and shareholders were left with a deficit of 279.8 million riyals after it ran into problems on some large contracts. Accumulated losses in September also exceeded 75 percent of MMG’s capital, forcing it to call an emergency meeting to discuss whether the company should be dis-
solved. Trading in MMG stock was suspended earlier this year. However, the company said in a statement posted on the website of the Saudi bourse, that its third quarter loss had narrowed from the previous quarter as it reduced spending in a restructuring plan. The company’s construction of the Manifa natural gas development for Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) generated a loss of 355.2 million riyals in the first nine months of 2012. MMG added, in a statement posted on the website of the Saudi bourse, that its cost of borrowing had also risen by 10.9 million riyals. — Reuters
A sign advertising a sale is seen posted on a storefront in Philadelphia. A flurry of reports released showed that US consumers are growing more confident and spending more, boosting still-weak economy just five days before the presidential election.— AP
CARACAS: With the world’s largest oil reserves and the cheapest gas anywhere, you’d think Venezuela is a driver’s paradise. Wrong. New cars are scarce and sellers of used ones-even clunkers-make a killing. The counter-intuitive economics stem from rules imposed in 2003 by populist President Hugo Chavez that make it difficult for businesses to obtain hard currency and thus wildly expensive to import new cars and spare parts. So demand for second-hand vehicles is huge, and they are even used as investments-a hedge against inflation so voracious it makes no sense to park money in a bank account. “Only in Venezuela can the price of used cars go up,” said a man who gave his name as Alfredo, as he leaned against a 1995 Ford Lariat he wants to sell at a tidy profit of 8,000 bolivars, or $1,860, after owning it for three months. Other great deals, if you’re on the selling end of the transaction: a Mitsubishi Lancer purchased second-hand in 2006 for 55,000 bolivars ($12,800 at the official exchange rate) now goes this for nearly twice as much. A 2002 Mercedes 320 SLK, purchased in 2008 for 180,000 bolivars, has appreciated in value 55 percent. No matter the model, year or number of previous owners, the price always goes up. For years now, prospective car buyers who go to auto dealerships find the lots empty or almost empty. Waiting lists to buy such vehicles
are endless. Venezuela has a population of nearly 30 million people, but only about 121,000 new cars were sold last year, a drop of 8.2 percent from 2010, according to the Automotive Chamber, an industr y group. Economist Jesus Casique explains that the Chavez government makes it virtually impossible to acquire dollars at the official exchange rate of 4.3 bolivars to the greenback. So business people have to buy them at the higher black market rate. In Venezuela, it is illegal to even publish what that number is. “That raises prices. It makes it so that hardly anyone can buy new cars, therefore demand for and prices of second hand cars shoot up,” Casique told AFP. Enter other factors: inflation running at an annual rate of 25 percent the past two years, and a limit on how much profit dealers can make on new cars but no such restriction when it comes to selling a used one, the economist added. “Only in Venezuela,” Casique said. The bottom line is that for many Venezuelans, used cars are attractive savings tools to protect against inflation, or a nice investment. For some, flipping used cars is a way to make a living. Such is the case of Alfredo, the fake name of this former Caracas stock broker who for the past 15 years has done nothing but buy and sell second hand cars. “To stay afloat you have to make a profit of between 5,000 and 8,000 bolivars
(about $1,200 and $1,860) per car”, he said while showing a prospective buyer the interior of the blue Ford Lariat. His showcase is a street in western Caracas. Right now, Alfredo has five cars in stock, including a Chevrolet Gran Blazer that he bought a month ago for 128,000 bolivars and, after fixing it up a bit, wants to turn around and sell at a 13 percent profit. “If I leave that money in the bank, it loses value or I earn a tiny bit,” Alfredo. With his carflipping business, he can earn 10 percent in a matter of just a few months. “The best thing to do is buy and sell fast so the profit margin is higher than the increase in the rate of inflation,” he explains. Then there is the case of Rocio, a 27-year-old journalist, whose father gave her a Renault Symbol in 2002. It cost him about 10,000 bolivars. A decade later she could sell it for six to nine times as much. “I have always been very happy with this car. But now the situation is changing. I am thinking I could sell it to pay help pay for a masters degree abroad, or even help my parents pay for my younger brother’s studies abroad,” she said. She said she also thought of unloading it and using the profit as a down payment on a brand spanking new car. But this is Venezuela. “With my salary I could not make the payments. Even with a bank loan it is not a viable scenario,” Rocio added. — AFP
Austria sixth in purchasing power in Europe VIENNA: Austria is number six in purchasing power in Europe, according to figures published by the market research institute GfK, cited by Austria Press Agency (APA) yesterday. The ranking, which compared the purchasing power among 42 European countries, showed Liechtenstein as number one with a per capita purchasing power of 56,978 euros. The annual per capita purchasing power in Austria was 20,613 euros and significantly above the European average of 12,802 euros. Germany ranked 8th best in the list with 20,014 euros and the lowest amount of money was in Moldawian pockets with only 1,257 euros. In total, consumers in Europe had 8,6 billion euros at their disposal, with a growth rate of 2.1 percent, according to GfK. The three countries Germany, France and Great Britain have almost half of the entire purchasing power in Europe at their disposal, while 39 countries share the remaining 53 percent. Meanwhile, another report broadcast by the APA showed that Austria ranks 16th in items of prosperity among nations of the world, falling back by two ranks compared to 2011. The annual Prosperity Index was published by the London-based public policy group Legatum Institute. Three Scandinavian countries were among the top three: Norway,Denmark and Sweden. Ranking fourth to tenth were Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland. The USA was no longer among the best 10 and only reached the 12th position in 2012.
The Prosperity Index evaluated 142 countries according to their performance in the following eight categories: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital. Austria fell back significantly in the area of education and now only ranked 24th - seven ranks below the 2011 result. Regarding its economical situation, Austria lost two ranks and its
now 11th. According to the index, Austria was however able to improve in the field of personal freedom and now ranked 21st, up by four ranks. The index covers 96 percent of the world population and 99 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). While overal prosperity increased in almost all of the areas examined, people felt more insecure according to the study published by Legatum. — KUNA
BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, center, is reflected in a coffee pot as he talks to Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, right, at the weekly cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. — AP
24
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
business
Korea suffers from global economic slowdown KCIC WEEKLY ASIA ANALYSIS KUWAIT: The South Korean economy grew at its slowest pace inthe third quarter, since recovering from the financial crisis nearly three years ago. The latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures show that growth in Asia’s fourth largest economy continued its descent, as it has been gradually doing so over the past two years. Growth softened to 1.6% year-on-year (YoY) in the third quarter of 2012, from 2.3% YoY in the previous quarter. Amid slowing external demand, driven by a recessionary euro-zone, a slow US recovery and sluggish growth in China, exports have come off their usual rate of double-digit growth. South Korea is an economy highly dependent on its export sector, which makes up about half of total GDP, even more so than China (about a third of GDP). And just as the Chinese economy is decelerating on falling external demand, even more so is South Korea, which exports forty percent of its goods to the US, EU and China. Apart from the shrinking contribution of exports to growth, the major reason for the third quarter’s deceleration in output was the decline in investment. Private-led investments contracted 0.7% YoY, slightly worse than last quarter’s 0.6% decline. Although the phenomenon is domestic, the origin is external: negative global sentiment has slashed growth expectations, forcing companies to cut spending given lower expected earnings, especially in the case of export-oriented companies. The financial sector is also at risk given the increasing burden of growing household debt saddled with a weakening housing sector. Real GDP is a measure of the economic output of an economy - adjusted for inflation or deflation. It is the sum of the adjusted values of all final
US cargo industry suffers huge losses in wake of storm NEW YORK: Superstorm Sandy caused an estimated $1 billion in damages to the cargo industry in the Northeast, which is still struggling, an international consultant said Friday. The Port of New York and New Jersey’s maritime container terminals remain closed and ships have begun diverting to other cities. But trucking companies and railroads are restoring service to the region, and federal officials are prepared for cargo diverting to other ports. Charles Clowdis, managing director for transportation and consulting services at IHS Global Insight, says the estimated costs include labor and maintenance for trucks and trains that still aren’t moving through the flooded area and businesses that remain shuttered for lack of power. “It looks like we’re losing close to $80 million a day on that,” Clowdis says. “Through yesterday, we have probably lost close to $1 billion on cargo delays.” Blocking cargo threatens the entire economy because manufacturers and retailers increasingly rely on shipments for their business operations, rather than warehousing material. Airlines have been slowly resuming service after canceling more than 20,000 flights because of the storm that swamped New Jersey and New York earlier in the week. But the giant Port of New York and New Jersey, which averages 234,000 tons of ocean-borne cargo a day, remains closed since evacuating maritime facilities by noon Monday. Engineers are inspecting port facilities for damage and repair work, with a goal of ensuring the safety of workers. The waterways have mostly reopened, except for a few areas around Arthur Kill south of the Goethals Bridge, and Bay Ridge and Red Hook channels, according to Justin Ward, spokesman for the Army Corps. A shoal was found on one side of Sandy Hook channel, he says. Commercial vessels aren’t yet allowed to wait for the terminals to reopen. “If you don’t have an approved berth, you can’t come in and sit for a week and wait for something to open,” Ward says. Ocean shippers are rerouting ships to other East Coast ports, such as Philadelphia. For example, Evergreen Marine, a shipping company based in Hong Kong, told customers Friday that it would steer vessels to Baltimore or Norfolk until the New York port resumes normal operation. Kevin McAleenan, acting assistant commissioner of customs and border protection, says the agency is prepared to handle more cargo at other ports because of the high volume of shipping expected with the approach of the holidays. “We’re prepared for the additional traffic,” McAleenan says. “The global supply chain will not stop-it will find a way to divert cargo that would have been destined to Newark to other seaports on the East Coast.” Trucking companies and railroads are restoring service with some backlogs of deliveries. CSX Corp. has fully restored rail service in the Northeast, although trains continue to operate slowly because of commercial power outages and other issues, the company said in a statement. Customers should continue to expect delays of at least 72 hours for traffic operating near or through the region, the company says. —MCT
goods and services produced by that country or region over a given time period. The values depend on the quantities (volume) of the goods produced and their prices (value). Real GDP is a measure that holds prices constant by using a given year’s value (the base date) for all items and services. Then, these values are used to calculate GDP for years prior to the base year and subsequent years. GDP can be measured in several ways: theBank of Korea (BOK), the country’s central bank, publishes GDP both by sector and expenditure. The three main sectors are the primary (raw materials and basic foods such as agriculture); secondary (mining, manufacturing, pro-
cessing, construction, etc.); and tertiary (the services industry such as retail, transportation, entertainment, tourism, etc.). On the other hand, the four sources of expenditures are private consumption, government consumption, investment and trade. The global economic environment is not expected to improve in the short run, and therefore South Korea is likely to continue to witness sluggish export and investment growth. Domestic demand should remain steady, but is not expected to reach last year’s higher levels in Q4-2012as real estate prices are still coming down. However, there is room for monetary and fiscal expansion-
ary policies. The BOK is aware of the need to support the economy, as shown by the recent 25bps rate cut last month, to 2.75%, a widely expected move that followed a similar cut in July. If slowing global demand continues to linger, low inflation figures could encourage the central bank to stimulate the economy further. Annual inflation was at 2.1% in October, up from 1.2%,but is still below the BOK’starget rate ceiling of 3.5%.On the fiscal side, the government already increased its stimulus package in September, by temporarily easing taxes on consumption and property transactions and by increasing public credit for small businesses, worth $5.2 billion. However, looming presidential elections in December make it politically difficult to endorse any fiscal action before the end of the year. Thus, although there is room for more stimuli, the chances of seeing any strong expansionary policies this year are slim, and will only occur if the slow recovery witnesses further setbacks. Both the BOK and the government have reduced their growth outlooks several times this year. The central bank expects 2.4% GDP growth, well below its July projection of 3%. The government’s growth outlook, already downgraded twice this year, currently stands at 3.3%, in spite of having admitted to sharing the same position as the BOK. This means both entities expect at least 2.8% growth in the fourth quarter. Given the low likelihood of more stimuli this year, a recovery in exports, investment, and domestic demand, we expect fourth quarter growth to be lower than the rate expected by the Korean authorities. A rebound in growth will have to wait at least until next year.
US jobs report arouses new optimism ahead of elections Employers add 171,000 new jobs in October WASHINGTON: The final major economic report before Election Day, showing employers added a solid 171,000 new jobs in October, may not change many minds, but it does suggest that whoever wins Tuesday could enjoy increased economic momentum heading into next year. Businesses stepped up their hiring last month, and more people jumped back into the job market, signs that the economy is picking up steam even as unemployment remains high. Job numbers expanded across a broad range of industries, including the longdepressed construction sector. That part of the economy should get a further lift in the next couple of months from rebuilding after the devastating storm that hit the northeast this week. What’s more, the statistics indicated that payroll growth in the past two months had been sharply higher than previously thought. Revisions in the numbers boosted optimism among economists that the nation’s job-creation machine could kick into higher gear. The jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in September, but that wasn’t because of swelling ranks of unemployed workers, but rather gains in the number of people returning to the labor market —- a positive sign that workers may be feeling more confident about their job prospects. For all that, the stronger-than-expected jobs report Friday from the Labor Department isn’t likely to have a huge impact on the presidential vote. The numbers were not eye-poppingly different from last month; the vast majority of voters already have made up their minds about the economy and more than 25 million Americans have cast their ballots, closing in on one-fifth of the likely turnout. Nonetheless, the report, along with other recent indicators showing improvements in the housing market and consumer confidence, does suggest smoother sailing for whoever wins-though the looming possibility of a sudden increase in taxes and reduction in government spending come Jan. 1 continues to act as a drag on the economy. “The US economy is beginning to find its rhythm,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. But he noted that if lawmakers fail to avert the so-called fiscal cliff-the automatic tax increases and spending cuts set to take place-
”the improvements of the past few months will be quickly unwound.” Lawmakers also need to tackle the thorny issue of raising the debt ceiling early next year. Heading into the final weekend before the election, President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney stuck to their scripts in responding to the report. The White House, as it has throughout the campaign, noted that the economy has steadily climbed back from the extraordinarily deep recession with, now, 32 months of private-sector job growth. Romney and his Republican backers turned the spotlight on the still-high unemployment rate as an indication of what they see as inef-
told thousands gathered at a state fair pavilion outside Milwaukee. “Think of that-unemployment today is higher than on the day Barack Obama took office.” Obama, campaigning in the battleground state of Ohio, said: “You know, in 2008 we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And today our businesses have created nearly 5 million new jobs.” Those job gains don’t constitute boom times. “It wasn’t a home-run kind of report,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors Inc. in New York. “I wouldn’t say the labor market is out of the woods.”
NEW YORK: Job seekers wait in line to see employers at the National Career Fairs’ job fair in New York. According to government reports released on Friday the US economy added 171,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9 percent.—AP fective economic policies under Obama. The unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when Obama took office in January 2009, and it rose to a high of 10 percent in October of that year before slowly coming down. The rate fell below 8 percent in September for the first time since Obama’s inauguration, but the tick up to 7.9 percent last month was just enough to give Romney a fresh attack line Friday. “Unemployment is higher today than when Barack Obama took office,” Romney
Still, the latest increases marked a continuing improvement from sluggish hiring last spring. With 171,000 new jobs in October and upward revisions that added an additional 84,000 jobs to the August and September totals, employers have expanded their payrolls an average 173,000 a month since July. That’s strong enough to absorb new workers coming into the labor market and to bring down the jobless rate, albeit only slowly. “Employment growth has kicked up a notch,”
said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute. Still, she noted, at a pace of 170,000 new jobs a month, the economy wouldn’t return to the pre-recession unemployment rate until the end of the decade. “We need it to kick up a lot more notches,” she said. One reason for hope about further improvements is the housing market. After several years of depressed activity, home sales and construction are growing _ and that is helping consumer confidence, which rose in October to its highest level since late 2007, as measured by the University of Michigan survey of consumers. The improvements in home sales and building also have boosted hiring. Construction payrolls were up 17,000 last month, following smaller gains in the previous four months. Raymond Gaster, owner of a lumber and hardware business in Savannah, Ga., said he recently hired two workers, a yard man and a driver, and he is looking for more sales people to add before year’s end. Gaster expects his company’s sales to show a 17 percent increase this year. He sees the potential to do double that next year. “Right now, I’m optimistic,” he said. Stocks initially rose after the jobs report but ended down Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling more than 1 percent and giving up all of the gains from a day earlier. One reason may be that though employment growth beat analysts’ expectations for 125,000 jobs, the monthly data also showed stagnant wages-partly reflecting the fact that many of the new jobs pay low wages-and there was no gain in average employee hours worked, a leading indicator. A broad swath of service industries saw job gains in October. So did manufacturing payrolls, which rebounded after dropping in the prior two months. If the debt crisis in Europe turns the corner, as some experts see happening, that would give a lift to trade and economic growth. And it would remove a major head wind for American businesses. US exports and business spending for equipment have been big growth engines since the recovery began in mid-2009 but have weakened in recent months. Companies have pulled back amid uncertainties about future economic and tax policies. But that picture will become clearer after next Tuesday. — MCT
US stocks avoid a loss after storm-rocked week
NEW YORK: Shortly before the gas ran out, customers wait in line at a Hess station where the line of cars snaked 10 blocks, and at least 60 people waited to fill red gas cans for their generators, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, New York on Friday morning. Courier Winston Alfred said he had been there in his van since 4:20 am, and was second in line, when he was turned away four hours later. —AP
NEW YORK: US stocks managed to hold steady in a week that saw the US financial markets shuttered entirely for the first time since the 9/11 attacks due to the devastating superstorm Sandy. But traders were also on edge for the presidential election coming next Tuesday, with the race between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney-who promises a different future for the finance industry-too close to call. The first weather-forced two-day closure on Wall Street since the Great Blizzard of 1888 came as Sandy flooded the lower reaches of Manhattan, halted East Coast transportation, and left millions powerless, including some of the world’s most powerful banks, investment managers and brokerages. Trade came back up on Wall Street on Wednesday, but many traders were still hobbled by the power shortages and telecommunications problems. With quarterly
results still coming in largely showing slowing gains, the S&P 500 ended the week up a bare 0.2 percent from the previous Friday, at 1,414.20. The narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chips was down 0.1 percent 10 13,093.16. And the Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.2 percent to 2,982.13. The heavy effects of Sandy-total losses estimated to hit $50 billion, and insured losses that could reach $20 billion-offset the impact of a positive jobs report for October released Friday. While the jobless rate ticked upward slightly to 7.9 percent, the number of new jobs created jumped to 171,000, sustaining a moderate pace. The numbers gave an initial upward push to the market, but it fell back into negative territory. Some took that to raise the question of whether the Federal Reserve could cut short its ultra-
low rate policy sooner than expected, a bearish sign for stocks. “As welcome as these numbers are, they aren’t strong enough to deter the Fed from expanding QE3 next year to offset the expiration of Operation Twist,” countered Nigel Gault and Paul Edelstein at IHS Global Insight. At any rate the election loomed over everything, another reason stocks moved sideways. “Perhaps markets are wary of being fooled by distorted year-end jobs numbers again... Or perhaps markets are holding their breath ahead of the elections like everyone else,” the IHS Global Insight economists said. “Either outcome could provide a ‘certainty’ dividend for markets looking for clarity, though a Romney win might be cheered more forcefully,” they said. Post-election will bring the fiscal cliff battle, with the Democrats and Republicans fighting over how to right the budget
deficit without forcing the country into recession, a distinct possibility if they fail to reach a compromise before December 31. At the same time it opens the holiday shopping season, which can be boon or bust for many retailers and their share prices. Forecasts are for healthy growth but not better than last year’s. “It is that time of year again, as consumers gear up to head to the stores for the holiday shopping season,” said Wells Fargo Securities. “We estimate holiday retail sales will post a modest rise of 3.8 percent year over year, an increase in sales, but off last year’s 5.7 percent growth pace.” “Several factors that will likely hold back consumer spending this year along with slow personal income growth, including increased economic uncertainty and the impending fiscal cliff of government budget cuts and tax increases slated to go into effect in January.” — AFP
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
BUSINESS
Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive showroom
BMW and MINI sales accelerate 31% in Kuwait during first nine months KUWAIT: Building on its impressive performance in the first half of the year, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive is well on track for another successful year-end in Kuwait with a reported 31% growth in BMW & MINI sales for the first nine months of the year. The company also retained its position as one of the three best performing BMW Group importers in the region. Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive’s year-to-date results clearly demonstrate the continued growth of the luxury automotive industry in Kuwait, and are a direct result of its exceptional standards across all areas of the business and ongoing investment in the BMW Group brands. “We are extremely pleased with our 2012 results to date. Our business continues to grow, which is due to the combination of a strong economic climate, a growing portfolio of desirable premium BMW Group vehicles, and the ongoing commitment and professionalism of our staff, said Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive. “However, we will not allow success to make us complacent. We will continue with the same dedication and stamina to ensure that we end 2012 with more car sales than in 2011,” he added. Cars sales during the first nine months of the year were driven by the brand’s top-of-the-range models, with the BMW 6 Series range performing the best. The Coupe, Convertible and recently launched Gran CoupÈ - the first four door coupÈ in the history of the brand - grew by 915%. The BMW 5 Series and BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle were also popular models with 45% and 20% growth respectively, while the flagship BMW 7 Series grew by 10%.
Offering new levels of luxury, comfort and power, the new and refined 7 Series model went on sale in Kuwait last month. Expected to further amplify BMW’s 7 Series success story in the Middle East, the latest generation is set to be a strong driving force behind Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive’s future sales achievements.
Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive Sales team
August this year saw MINI turn 53. Since its introduction in 1959, the small car with a big attitude has become an object and subject of obsession for so many people across the world. In fact, it was the first small car to achieve genuine global success. Over half a century later and the MINI brand is still as popular as ever. Reaffirming its position as the fastest growing pre-
Kuwait’s 2030 oil and gas strategy in focus Kuwait Energy and Infrastructure Projects Conference 2012 KUWAIT: Industry experts will head to the 8th Annual Kuwait Energy and Infrastructure Projects Conference 2012, a four-day conference hosted by MEED, a primary source of business intelligence for the Middle East. Kuwait’s ambitious plans will be put under the spotlight once again as the conference will highlight up to date business intelligence on the fast and expanding energy and infrastructure project sectors of Kuwait. More than 30+ handpicked country experts and over 200 local and international delegates will be attending the conference which runs until 7 November, 2012 at Marriott Courtyard. The event includes keynote speeches by Farouk Al-Zanki, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Eng. Abdulaziz AlKulaib, Undersecretary, Ministry of Public Works, Kuwait, and Adel Al-Roumi, Director General, Partnership Technical Bureau. The opening day will focus on energy projects with presentations from the KPC, KOC and KNPC among others. Day two will be dedicated to infrastructure, while the third day has been set aside for a special PPP focused day led by the Partnership Technical Bureau. A keynote speaker at the conference, Farouk Al-Zanki, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, said:” The scale of opportunities in Kuwait is unprecedented, and Kuwait Projects 2012 will also provide exclusive insight into the country’s long-term blueprint for economic success. The country boasts one of the most buoyant projects market in the region, with plenty of opportunities. These opportunities will be the main focus of the conference.” Al-Zanki will use his address at the conference to update delegates on opportunities and progress developments in exploiting the hydrocarbons sector to optimize Kuwait’s energy resource. Building on last year’s event the 8th Annual Kuwait Energy and Infrastructure Projects Conference 2012, has been expanded to include more client-led presentations and case study analysis, providing an in-depth look to give an in-depth insight into the opportunities available in the market. Increased focus on market research data with detailed sector profiles and forecasts providing invaluable future project information will add a new dimension to the debate with three days of interactive discussion. Other confirmed speakers addressing vital issues include:
• • • • • •
Eng. Saud A. Azeez Al-Naki, Assistant Undersecretary (Roads) , Ministry of Public Works Eng. Khaled Al-Khazi, Asst. Under Secretary Engineering Sector, Ministry of Public Works Khaled Mubarak Al-Mushileh, ManagerCorporate Planning, Kuwait National Petroleum Company Qasem Al-Mejadi, Deputy Managing Director (Technical Affairs), Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) Eng. Mohamed Boshehri, Asst. Under Secretary Water Operation & Maintenance, Ministry of Electricity and Water Eng. Saad Soud Al Muhailby, Director of Master Plan Department, Kuwait Municipality
•
Nahed Al-Hajri, Senior Engineer Projects Engineering Group, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) • Naser Al Anezi, Manager Corporate Planning, Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) • Dr Salah Al Mudhi, Director General, Environment Public Authority Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) is a Supporting Partner along with the Ministry of Public Works and Partnership Technical Bureau (PTB) The event’s primary focus will be on the major private sector players to discuss various projects and key associated challenges across sectors including oil & gas, power & water, social & transport infrastructure and finance.
EMC reports Q3 2012 financial results DUBAI: EMC Corporation yesterday reported financial results for the third quarter of 2012, highlighted by record third-quarter consolidated revenue, net income and EPS. Third-quarter consolidated revenue was $5.28 billion, an increase of 6% compared with the year-ago quarter. Third-quarter GAAP net income attributable to EMC increased 3% year over year to $626 million. Third-quarter GAAP earnings per weighted average diluted share increased 4% year over year to $0.28. Non-GAAP1 net income attributable to EMC for the third quarter was $881 million, an increase of 7% compared with the year-ago quarter. Thirdquarter non-GAAP1 earnings per weighted average diluted share were $0.40, an increase of 8% year over year. During the third quarter, EMC generated operating cash flow of $1.44 billion and free cash flow2of $1.14 billion, a year-over-year increase of12% and 16%, respectively. Additionally, the company ended the quarter with $10.6billion in cash and investments. Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “EMC’s third-quarter revenue and profit growth reflect the
mium brand in the world as well as in Kuwait, MINI witnessed a 68% sales growth during the first nine months of 2012. Sales were led by the MINI Countryman, which witnessed a 115% increase compared to the same period late year. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, AlQatami added, “With our January-September results
resiliency of our business in a more uncertain global economic environment. We remain very well positioned to capitalize on - and drive - the transformative trends of cloud computing, Big Data and trusted IT. These major waves of change in IT become increasingly more important to customers and partners as they navigate through a cyclical slowdown, look to gain maximum value from their investments, and focus on their longer-term IT and business transformations.” David Goulden, EMC President and Chief Operating Officer, said, “For the third quarter, EMC’s business continued to grow faster than overall IT spending growth and we gained market share in what turned out to be a more cautionary environment than we expectedheading into the quarter. We remain extremely confident in our strategy, best-of-breed product portfolio and solid operational and financial model. Going forward, we fully believe that EMC will continue to grow faster than our addressable markets and take share, reinvest for the future, and deliver earnings leverage for shareholders.”
setting the pace for another successful year, we have an overall record for 2012 firmly in our sight. Customers in Kuwait believe in the BMW Group brands, and as such, we will continue to invest in our staff and customer services. We will also further grow our product portfolio with the launch of new and refined models, such as the latest generation 7 Series which is now on sale.”
Obama’s shoes hard to fill, even for himself WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: Regardless of the results of Tuesday’s US presidential election, the next four years will be a tough act to follow from Wall Street’s vantage point. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has rallied 66 percent since President Barack Obama took office - one of the most impressive runs ever for stocks under a single president. Admittedly, the timing of his inauguration - just before the market hit a nadir in March 2009 - is part of the reason. The national polls show a tight race between Obama and his challenger, Republican candidate Mitt Romney, but leaning toward a win by the president. “The market might like the fact of an Obama win since it would mean less uncertainty,” said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research, in Cincinnati. Strategists have said the market’s pattern of late also suggests status quo - an Obama win. A “Romney rally” is a 1-in-3 possibility, taken betting site InTrade’s odds of an Obama win at about 67 percent right now. Other prognosticators put his chances of re-election even higher. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll shows both candidates garnering 46 percent of the vote - but polling averages show Obama with small but critical leads in swing states Ohio, Virginia and Iowa. There’s a conventional line that says a victory by longtime businessman Romney would be better for the equity market, given his predilection for fewer regulations and lower corporate tax rates. Still, any move in the market, no matter the outcome, is likely to be limited. “I think the market has priced in an Obama victory, but no matter what, any knee-jerk reaction after the election will unwind over the next few days,” said Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, in New York. “The fiscal cliff is also on everyone’s mind, but that will really take hold after the election, since the winner could indicate what happens.” Strategists at LPL Financial have been tracking two baskets of stocks to judge whether the market believes Obama or his challenger Romney will emerge with a win. The “Obama” stocks include health care facilities companies, food and staples, utilities, construction companies and homebuilders. The “Romney” stocks include financials, coal stocks, oil and gas drillers, telecom,
and specialty retail names. The Obama index peaked in early October, before the first debate, largely seen as being won by Romney. Yet in terms of “relative strength,” the index still modestly favors the president. The move in the market during Obama’s administration was in part due to timing as the US economy started to recover from the deepest recession since the Great Depression. The US Federal Reserve has used three rounds of asset purchases, one of which is under way, as a way to keep interest rates low and stimulate the economy as the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession has been painfully slow. Romney has criticized the Fed’s policy and is seen replacing Chairman Ben Bernanke with someone more likely to tighten monetary policy. “With Romney, we’d expect a little more weakness off the gate. He might want to put a stop to the Fed’s stimulus. That’s where that uncertainty comes in,” Detrick said. The Fed’s current policy stance is seen as helping Obama. Consumer confidence recently rose to a more than 4-year high, and housing prices are rising again. However, unemployment remains at 7.9 percent nationwide, and the lack of good jobs is constraining growth. Regardless of the winner in Tuesday’s election, the market will have one less uncertainty to deal with. It will shift its focus to the roughly $600 billion in mandated spending cuts and tax increases that could kick in next year and send the US economy reeling - if a deal to prevent it is not reached. The possibility of a new recession - if Congress fails to agree on how to avoid the cliff - has many market participants counting on resolution, with the election as a variable in terms of when any legislation will pass - not if it will happen. The end result in both an Obama or a Romney presidency would be a deal. But the status quo would probably mean a more protracted solution and market volatility, according to Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management, in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “From an investing standpoint, what I care more about is the likelihood of getting some sort of deal to avoid the tax increases and spending cuts at the end of the year,” he said. — Reuters
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business
Nissan’s bold new NV350 Urvan works smarter Vehicle to deliver efficiency, capacity and convenience DUBAI: Nissan Middle East has yesterday announced the unveiling of the fully redesigned NV350 Urvan in the presence of Hideto Murakami, Corporate Vice President, Nissan Motor Company. The all-new NV350 Urvan significantly improves on previous generations with best-in-class fuel efficiency for gasoline and diesel engine models, a larger cargo space, lower running costs, and enhanced driver and passenger convenience. Featuring a strong, bold design, the new NV350 Urvan adopts advanced equipment for greater convenience and comfort than is currently available in commercial vehicles. “Nissan’s expertise in commercial vehicles spans more than eight decades and today boasts one of the widest range of LCVs (Light Commercial Vehicles) in the world serving a diverse customer base with the broadest possible breadth of requirements,” said Murakami-san. “When developing the new NV350 Urvan, Nissan had to produce a vehicle flexible enough to meet these needs while also offering class-leading durability, reliability and efficiency, whilst providing exceptional driver and passenger comfort. We believe the new NV350 Urvan achieves all this with a bold new design which will appeal to our customers.” Atsuo Kosaka, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East commented: “Nissan NV350 Urvan’s combination of low run-
ning costs, durability and flexibility have been helping large and small Middle Eastern businesses deliver on time and on budget for four generations. New NV350 Urvan builds on this solid foundation by offering more transmission options, body variants and innovative features. With its refreshed and reinvigorated offering, Nissan Middle East is confident enough in the NV350 Urvan to have set an ambitious target of doubling sales in the next three years.” At the occasion of this event, the cooperation between Red Bull Racing and Nissan was presented. Read Bull Racing, which is based in Milton Keynes in the UK, is making use of Nissan light
commercial vehicles. To assist with Red Bull’s transportation needs, Nissan’s Light Commercial Vehicle Business Unit is supplying a fleet of more than 30 vehicles and related services to the team. Nissan support vehicles have been based at the team’s UK headquarters and used for all European events. Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull Racing team manager, commented: “Within such a high-pressure and challenging environment as Formula One, we need reliable partners taking care of all our versatile transportation needs all over the world. Extensive travel is part and parcel of Formula One, and the transportation of our material and staff are an essential part
of our successful operations. We are very reassured that the NV350 Urvan will be supporting our race operations at this year’s Japanese Grand Prix.” Highlights * Best in class fuel efficiency in both petrol and diesel variants * Ample load capacity with cargo space length improved +145mm(STD body)/+230mm(Long body) * Wide-body NV350 Urvan derivative is offered to the Middle East for the first time raising maximum load-space from 7.7m3 to a cavernous 9.2m3 * Smooth ingress and egress has been realised by the optimal positioning of
hand grips for both driver’s and front seats * Access to the rear accommodation has been dramatically improved by raising the height of the sliding door aperture * Improved legroom for all three front passengers * Dash-mounted gear-shifter * Vehicle information display placed at the centre of the meter panel * Utility Nuts that can easily affix storage racks, tools and other items, placed on the side panel of the cargo space, which can be used to personalize the space according to each customer’s needs.
NBK Capital recognized by Global Investor magazine ‘Best broker in Kuwait for 2012’
Maged Barsoum wins KD 125,000 in NBK’s Al-Jawhara draw for Oct KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announces the winner for October’s KD 125,000 Al-Jawhara monthly prize, Maged Samir Aziz Barsoum. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. NBK recently re-launched Al-Jawhara account offering customers more chances to win bigger prizes; KD 5,000 weekly, KD 125,000 monthly and a grand prize of KD 250,000 quarterly draw. Maged Samir Aziz Barsoum, the winner of October ’s KD 125,000 draw expressed his happiness in winning Al Jawhara monthly prize. “Winning KD 125,000 came as a complete surprise. I truly thank NBK for its great services and offers and for always being number one in the market,” he said.
Al-Jawhara account offers numerous benefits to NBK customers. Not only is it an interest-free account with regular deposit and withdrawal privileges, but also entitles account holders to enter the weekly, monthly and quarterly AlJawhara draws. Each KD 50 in an AlJawhara account entitles the customer to one chance in any of the draws. All prizes are automatically credited to the winners’ accounts the day after the draw. The more money held in your AlJawhara account, the greater your chances of winning. Al-Jawhara accounts are available to both Kuwaitis and Expats and can be opened at any one of NBK’s branches around Kuwait. For further information kindly visit www.nbk.com, or call Hala Watani at 1801801.
Moody’s reaffirms GIC’s Baa2/Prime-2 LT rating KUWAIT: The Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) announced that Moody’s Credit Rating Agency reaffirmed its long term and short term ratings at Baa2/P2 and its stand alone BFSR at D, all ratings carried a Stable outlook. The action by Moody’s is a reflection of the consistent and significant improvements on all key financial indicators. The BFSR is an indication of standalone financial strength. It also indicates the corporation’s solid internal control framework, its prudent strategic initiatives and favorable future prospects. Commenting on the recent action by Moody’s, Hisham Al-Razzuqi, CEO, said “The reaffirmation by Moody’s is a reflection of GIC’s success in building a strong franchise while maintaining strong financial condition. We have succeeded in our efforts to grow profits while improving capital adequacy, liquidity, and overall risk profile, despite a challenging market environment. Given the current volatile global economic environment, this action by a leading international rating agency is especially gratifying.” Earlier this year, Fitch as well reaffirmed GIC’s long term ratings and outlook at BBB/Stable. GIC posted a profit of $107 million for the first half of 2012, up 12.6% compared to the $95 million posted for the same period last year. From a financial strength perspective, the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio reached 31.4%, comfortably exceeding the international and
KUWAIT: NBK Capital was recognized by preeminent international finance magazine Global Investor as the “Best Broker in Kuwait, 2012” in the publication’s third annual Middle East Awards. This accolade follows the recent award received by NBK Capital from The Banker magazine for “Deal of the Year”. Global Investor is part of the Euromoney Institutional Investor group, and is the group’s flagship international asset management publication. NBK Capital received this prestigious award based on a series of criteria judged by Global Investors editorial panel and a selection of industry experts. The award was received by Jasem Al Zeraei, Head of Institutional Sales at the 2012 Middle East Awards event held on 17th October in Doha, Qatar. Commenting on the occasion he said, “”NBK Capital takes pride in being selected as the Best Broker in Kuwait for 2012.Receiving this award is yet another great milestone for us at NBK Capital and demonstrates our continued growth and focus on quality.” NBK Capital’s Brokerage division offers clients unparalleled quality of service through a team of experienced professionals. The team provides clients with the full spectrum of brokerage services ranging from traditional brokerage to institutional brokerage dealing in the KSE, GCC, the wider MENA mar-
Jasem Al-Zeraei, NBK Capital Head of Institutional Sales, receives the award. kets and the US. NBK Capital was established in July 2005 as a subsidiary of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK),one of the region’s oldest and highest rated banks. NBK Capital focuses on four principal lines of business: Alternative
Investments, Asset Management, Brokerage & Research and Investment Banking. With offices in Kuwait, Dubai, Turkey, and Cairo, NBK Capital’s team of more than 170 professionals offer superior products and services to clients and investors.
Bain & Company promotes financial investor expert to Middle Eastern partner group DUBAI: Alexander De Mol has been promoted to the global partnership at Bain & Company, the global business consulting firm. Based in the UAE, De Mol has extensive international experience working with private equity funds, financial investors and sovereign wealth funds. De Mol joined the firm in 2002 and has worked in several offices, including Brussels, New York and Boston, before relocating to the Dubai office in 2009. He has worked with a multitude of investors including Sovereign Wealth Funds, Limited Partners and Private Equity funds on topics ranging from commercial due diligence, investment strategy, organization, processes and governance. Additionally, his industry expertise includes Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods and Services and Oil and Gas. “It’s my privilege to announce Alexander’s promotion to Bain’s global partnership and to a leadership position within our Dubai office,” said James Hadley, Managing Director for Bain & Company Middle East. “He is a trusted advisor to our clients, helping them achieve exceptional results despite numerous challenges in today’s economy. We look forward
Alexander De Mol to the value he will continue to bring to our clients and our firm.” Alexander De Mol earned a Master in Physics and Engineering from Ghent University in Belgium in 2002. He also followed specialized courses at Oxford University in 2001, Helsinki University (Finland) in 2000 and University of Lulea (Sweden) in 1999. Prior to joining Bain, Alex
De Mol worked as an intern at Total on operational improvement. De Mol is the co-author of several articles including ‘Private Investment funds face difficulties in attracting investors’ which was published in numerous renowned Middle Eastern business publications. Bain & Company has been making a series of strategic appointments to support the buoyant growth of its Middle Eastern activities. The company has had a strong presence in the Middle East since the early 1990s, managing projects in the GCC, Egypt and Turkey. Bain & Company is the management consulting firm that the world’s business leaders come to when they want results. Bain advises clients on strategy, operations, technology, organization, private equity and mergers and acquisition, developing practical insights that clients act on and transferring skills that make change stick. The firm aligns its incentives with clients by linking its fees to their results. Bain clients have outperformed the stock market 4 to 1. Founded in 1973, Bain has 48 offices in 31 countries, and its deep expertise and client roster cross every industry and economic sector.
Hisham Al-Razzuqi regional requirements while its leverage stood at a conservative 2.3 times. Furthermore, GIC’s liquidity and liability profiles are quite robust. Established in 1983, GIC is a regional financial institution owned entirely and equally by the six GCC states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. GIC strives to provide a comprehensive set of financial services that buttress the development of the private enterprise and foster economic growth in the Gulf region. GIC has emerged as a regional leader in its chosen fields, and has successfully promoted and developed projects in the GCC, across a range of sectors, including financial services, petrochemical, metal, power, utilities, and, communications.
Gulf Bank announces winners of Al-Danah weekly draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its forty-third AlDanah weekly draw on October 30, 2012, announcing a total number of eight Al-Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000. The 43rd Al-Danah weekly winners are: Lateefa Julawi Marhoun Dawoud, Yousef Jasem Mohammed Al-Homadi, Khaled Ghazi Kazem Hamdan, Matrah Nawaf Eid Al-Mutairi, Afnan Zaher Mrwan Al-Dagag, Bedour Bader Omran Al-Qalaf, Ashraf Ahmed Abood AlAryan and Dalal Samah Seqer Al-Mutairi. Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait
to open an Al-Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s AlDanah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers cal-
culate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner. To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al-Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4 , 2012
TECHNOLOGY
GOP makes up for lost time on social media WASHINGTON: No YouTube channel, no account on photo site Flickr and a measly 5,000 followers on Twitter - in 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain had a dismal social media footprint. Four years on, the digital landscape has had a makeover. Millions of Republicans have taken to social networks to wage frenzied debates about topics such as healthcare reform - driven partly by the emergence of the ultra-conservative Tea Party. “In 2008, the Democratic party was so far ahead of the Republican party in terms of their social savvy that they completely owned the conversation about the elections on social media,” said Ron Schott of social media agency Spring Creek. “In 2012, the Republican party made some adjustments and investments in social media in order to try and level the playing field, though the Democratic party still holds an edge after being
first-to-market.” By the time election day came along in Nov 2008, Obama had nearly 2.5 million supporters on Facebook, five times more than McCain. The Democratic candidate was present on Flickr, and he had his own YouTube channel, unlike McCain. On Twitter, he had 118,000 followers compared to 4,900 for his rival. On the actual election day, McCain did not post a single tweet - which in the Twitter-hungry world of today would be unheard of. Four years on, the Democrats may still dominate the digital landscape but they are no longer alone. Republican challenger Mitt Romney is present on all platforms and has a large number of followers. “Tea Party activists helped this,” said Benoit Thieulin, the digital strategist of France’s 2007 Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal and the author of a study on Obama’s 2008 web campaign. “They took Obama’s recipe to organize
62% of GCC users cannot recognize phish message The standard data theft method is social engineering - a potential victim is lured onto an infected web-page or is duped into opening a file attached to an e-mail. It is not always easy to recognize such a message, as a survey conducted in May 2012 by O+ K Research at the request of Kaspersky Lab demonstrates. During the survey, 62 percent of users in GCC region claimed they are incapable of recognizing a phishing message or a forged web-site. The overwhelming majority of phishing messages are delivered through e-mail or social networks. The reason is simple: these are currently the most wide-spread means of communication. According the same research, 80 percent of PC users check their e-mails regularly, and 81 percent communicate in social networks. 54 percent of users chat on the Internet regularly with their smartphones. Cybercriminals who use phishing as a tool to steal data are primarily interested in gaining unauthorized access to social network accounts, accounts in online banking and payment systems, and e-shops. According Kaspersky Lab, in June 68% of phishing messages related to such services were targeted at data theft. The results give indirect evidence that the mass messaging method bears fruit: about half of the O+K Research respondents noticed they have already encountered suspicious correspondence in social networks or email. Thus, 43 percent of PC users in
the GCC got a message with a suspicious link or an attachment, and 27 percent of respondents got letters on the name of a bank (social network, another service, etc.) with a request for confidential information. Moreover 35 percent of PC users in the GCC admitted that their computers had been infected as a result of opening an attachment to a letter, and 14 percent of respondents had entered personal or financial data at suspicious pages. Therefore when fighting against fake and infected messages and websites, instead of relying upon your own efforts it is better to use specific solutions. The new Safe Money technology, presented as a part of Kaspersky Internet Security 2013, helps to detect and block attempts to steal your sensitive data via phishing web-pages and malware linked to online shopping or banking services. A high percentage of users fell victims of mobile devices’ phishing. 25 percent of tablet users and 20 percent of smartphone owners received correspondence with suspicious links and attachments in the GCC. 13 percent and 13 percent respectively had letters on behalf of a bank or social network. One can presume that as we see more and more mobile devices going online, the amount of phishing letters for mobile platforms will also grow. Therefore it is high time to think of protecting you mobile devices with specific anti-phishing solutions. This function is already available in Kaspersky Mobile Security and Kaspersky Tablet Security.
themselves, using the Internet to mobilize on the ground.” The site FreedomWorks - a non-profit organization involved in the Tea Party movement has a “freedom connector” app that allows Conservative activists to connect with like-minded people state by state, county by county, via Facebook. Driven partly by the Tea Party’s social media drive, “the Republicans bridged a bit of the gap during the 2010 mid-term elections, benefiting for instance from the arrival of retirees on social networks,” said Thieulin. “Retired people have time and are consistent,” he added. Zach Green, head of Twitter political consultants 140Elect, said Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate had done a good job on social media. “When they are in Congress and when they try to win a national debate, they do very well,” he said. Nevertheless, @BarackObama still has a lot more Twitter followers than Romney
(21.6 million against 1.65 million). Out of these, only 55 percent live in the United States against 89 percent for @MittRomney, according to people search engine PeekYou. Romney’s followers are also deemed more involved than Obama’s. “One of the best ways to measure influence is retweets because it actually indicates how many of the followers actually are reading your tweet, and how many are engaged, support or share your message,” said Green. “Romney gets more retweets per tweet than Obama does.” During the last week of October, for instance, each @MittRomney tweet was retweeted 1,333 times on average, against 918 times for Obama, according to 140Elect statistics. As for the candidates’ running mates - whose popularity online is more linked to domestic issues - the Republican Paul Ryan is almost twice as followed as Vice President Joe Biden. — AFP
Voting machines remain a worry in US election Technology used close to a decade old WASHINGTON: Few want to even think about it, but the 2012 US election result could be clouded by problems with voting machines ... again. Twelve years after the Florida punch card debacle in which thousands of votes went uncounted in the crucial state, some experts cite similar concerns about voting technology. “I’m not sure we’ve made forward progress since 2000,” said Douglas Jones, a University of Iowa computer scientist and co-author of a book published this year, “Broken Ballots”. “We’ve put a tremendous effort into changing the voting systems, but in many cases we’ve discarded systems too quickly and replaced them with systems that we haven’t examined enough.” Jones said technology used on some vote machines is now close to a decade old and should be updated. And some systems have security flaws or may not allow for recounts or audits, he noted. “Whenever an election is close all of the weaknesses become apparent,” he said. “I expect there will be some states where the margin is so close that people will raise questions about irregularities.” A frequent target for critics is the use of touchscreen voting machines, which lack a paper backup. Around 25 percent of Americans are expected to use paperless electronic voting, according to the Verified Voting Foundation. A report earlier this year by two activist groups and the Rutgers University School of Law said systems used in 20 states were either “inadequate” or needed improvement. That includes 16 states which use paperless machines in some or all jurisdictions. Six states were ranked “good”
and 24 “generally good”. Hurricane Sandy’s destruction has added another element of uncertainty, says Thad Hall, a University of Utah political scientist and researcher for the Voting Technology Project. “No power means that (vote machines) will only operate as long as their batteries last,” he said. “It also means that voters voting on paper ballots will not have the use of scanners to identify errors on their ballots.” The devastation also means “some voters will literally not be able to vote because they will have been evacuated from their local polling place and there is no provision for remote voting”. Hall said the storm probably had a disproportionate impact on supporters of President Barack Obama, creating new political risks even if the incumbent carries those northeast states. Lower turnout “may not mean that Obama does not win the affected states but it could mean that we have a re-run of 2000 - an electoral college winner who does not win the popular vote,” he said. A report last month by the Voting Technology Project, a joint effort by the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found some electronic voting systems had a failure rate as high as punch cards. The report said between four million and six million votes were “lost” in the 2000 election, and that despite some progress since then, it’s not clear whether the problems could be repeated. “What has changed since 2000? In many respects, there have been profound changes in the voting equipment business, but in some
very important respects, very little about this business has changed,” the report said. The report said growth in mail-in and early voting raises new questions and Internet voting available to overseas or military voters raises security issues. Charles Stewart, an MIT professor and member of the project, said the most likely problems may come from mail-in paper ballots, which have increased as states ease absentee restrictions. He said these are problematic because “absentee ballots are not secret ballots, they generally don’t have a secure chain of custody, and they are prone to be disputed”. Jones meanwhile is among computer specialists who argue that paper ballots scanned by computers remain the most reliable method. “Everything is complicated if you have no paper backup,” he said. “If the scanners fail you can hand count the paper ballots. If touchscreens fail, what can you do?” But Paul DeGregorio, a former chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission and currently a consultant, says technology should be seen as the solution, not the problem. “Of course there are the naysayers to progress and change. They believe paper and pencil is the answer to everything; that technology is not our friend and that it cannot be trusted, under any circumstance,” DeGregorio said in a commentary to the CalTech/MIT report. He added that “modern technology can make it easier to confirm legitimate voters and also catch those who are trying to vote illegally,” and that electronic systems have “prevented thousands of voter errors”. — AFP
iPad mini draws N Yorkers but crowds thin elsewhere NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc’s iPad mini hit stores around the world on Friday, attracting sparser crowds than previous Apple launches, but the kickoff still drew hundreds of New Yorkers only days after one of the biggest storms to hit the United States. A proliferation of rival gadgets aimed at the holidays and cheaper tablets from Google and Amazon.com may have sapped interest in Apple’s latest bet, resulting in shorter lines outside stores from Tokyo and Amsterdam to Sydney and Hong Kong. The 7.9-inch iPad mini marks Apple’s first foray into the smaller-tablet segment, and is the company’s first major new device since the death of its co-founder, Steve Jobs, last year. In Manhattan, crowds braved crippled public transit and an early morning chill to line up outside Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship store just two blocks from where a damaged crane dangled from a high-rise building - a stark example of how superstorm Sandy ravaged the city. Some turned up on impulse, lacking power and heat at home. Lisa Sieber, 59, from Germany, rode a bicycle to the store because she said she was going “stir crazy” at her 81-year-old mother’s home in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “There’s not much to do without power and lights,” she said. “I didn’t think I needed an iPad but once you get your first Mac, you slide into the iPhone and the next one and it makes it easy to get more Apple products.” While the city was still grappling with Sandy’s unprecedented devastation, some New Yorkers were angry that Apple delayed the store’s opening until 10 am. “Usually it’s 8 am,” said Vincent Leroy, 27, a student from Long Island City in Queens who showed up at the store at 6:30 am. His friends complained loudly in unison when he told them he had found out about the delayed opening. On the US West Coast, fewer than a hundred people thronged Apple’s new outlet in Palo Alto, California, near the company’s Cupertino headquarters, and staff appeared to outnumber customers. Shares of Apple, which hit an all-time high in September, slid as much as 2.7 percent on Friday to $580.14, their lowest level in more than three months. The iPad mini marks Apple’s assault on the smaller 7-inch-plus tablet segment, hoping to beat back major inroads by Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire this year. It is the latest salvo in a global mobile-device war, with software giant Microsoft Corp angling its Windows 8-driven Surface tablet for the holidays. Unveiled last week, the iPad mini has won mostly positive reviews but criticism centered on a heftier price tag and a screen considered inferior
CHICAGO: Shoppers check out the new Apple iPad mini at the Apple store on Michigan Ave Friday. — AP
to those of rival gadgets like the Nexus 7. It replicates most of the features of its full-sized sibling. Apple will likely sell between 1 million and 1.5 million iPad minis in the first weekend - far short of the 3 million third-generation iPads that sold last March in their first weekend, according to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. “While launch lines and initial weekend sales may not be as impressive as previous iPad launches, the iPad mini will be a hit product for Apple and become a more significant part of the story over the next two to three quarters,” Munster said. The iPad mini is the first device to be added to Apple’s compact portfolio under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over from Jobs months before his death a year ago. Analysts credit Google and Amazon for influencing the decision. Some investors worry that Apple might have lost its chief visionary with Jobs, or that new management may struggle to stay ahead of the pack as rivals innovate and encroach on its turf. Jobs launched the original iPad in 2010, which has since taken a big chunk out of PC sales. On Friday, Apple also began selling the fourth generation of that 9.7-inch device, much the same as before but with a
faster A6X processor and better Wi-Fi. Both devices hit stores across 34 countries on Friday. When Apple’s flagship Hong Kong store opened on Friday, staff appeared to outnumber those waiting in line. In Amsterdam two hours after the store opened, it looked like a typical day, with no lines outside. An Apple employee told Reuters that people had lined up ahead of the store opening. There were queues of 100 or more outside Apple stores in Tokyo and Seoul when the device went on sale. But fewer people turned up in Sydney than for previous iPhone launches. “It’s so thin and light and very cute - so cute!” said Ten Ebihara at the Apple store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district. Reviewers have applauded Apple for squeezing most of the iPad’s features into a smaller package that can be comfortably manipulated with one hand. But at $329 for a Wi-Fi-only model, the iPad mini is a little costlier than predicted, though some analysts see that as Apple’s attempt to retain premium positioning. Some investors fear the gadget will lure buyers away from Apple’s $499 flagship iPad, while proving ineffective in combating the threat of Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7, both of which are sold at or near cost. — Reuters
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
health & science
Affiliate of US meningitis firm extends shutdown FDA tries to plug supply gaps left by Ameridose shutdown
DHAKA: A group of Bangladeshi girls, aged between 12 and 17, hold courtyard meeting to learn about menstruation, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and use of contraceptives at Saghata, a remote impoverished farming village in Gaibandha district, 120 miles (192 kilometers) north of capital Dhaka, Bangladesh. — AP
Judge: Psychiatrist fooled mental health experts REDWOOD CITY, California: A onceprominent Northern California child psychiatrist is set to be retried on charges that he molested patients after a judge sided with prosecutors who argued that he fooled mental health experts into believing he had dementia to avoid prosecution. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge John Grandsaert set a March 2013 trial date for William Ayres, 80, on Wednesday. Ayres was tried in 2009 on charges that he molested several young boys under his care, but a jury couldn’t reach a verdict. He was accused of using physical exams that included the genitals as a cover for the abuse. Prosecutors attempted to retry him, but Ayres was ruled incompetent and sent to Napa State Hospital. Grandsaert said a key factor in his ruling was a report from a psychologist who said Ayres faked or at least exaggerated dementia. The psychologist, John McIlnay, said Ayres was able to perform tasks that
would be difficult for someone with dementia, including spelling “Alzheimer’s” for the nurse filling out his admissions form and recognizing and greeting a fellow psychiatrist he hadn’t seen in more than a year. The defense countered that a dozen mental health professionals who examined Ayres, including two doctors at Napa State Hospital, agreed he had dementia. Ayres is the former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His patients were a mix of private clients from wealthy families who were referred by their pediatricians and troubled juvenile delinquents ordered to undergo therapy by the courts. He was arrested in 2007 after a fouryear investigation, and his license to practice medicine was suspended. Ayres testified at his trial that the exams he conducted on some of his patients were necessary because he had concerns about their physical health. — AP
BOSTON: Ameridose LLC, sister company to the pharmacy at the heart of a meningitis outbreak in the United States, agreed on Friday to extend its closure by two weeks while state and federal investigators continue to examine its facilities. The company will remain closed until Nov 19, according to an agreement between Ameridose and Massachusetts regulators, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. Ameridose has the same owners as the New England Compounding Center (NECC), which distributed a tainted steroid used for back pain that has killed 28 people in the meningitis outbreak. On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the toll was revised down from 29 deaths. Separately, Massachusetts regulators said they had approved emergency regulations to strengthen the oversight of so-called compounding pharmacies such as NECC. Two days ago, Ameridose issued a voluntary recall of all its products following a US Food and Drug Administration directive to improve its sterility testing process. Westborough, Massachusetts-based Ameridose closed on Oct 10. It said on Wednesday that it had not received any reports of adverse reactions to the drugs it is recalling. NECC’s injectable steroids turned out to be contaminated with fungus and as of Thursday, were blamed for 377 cases of fungal meningitis. The FDA has said it is in contact with other manufacturers about filling the supply gap left by the shutdown of Ameridose, which makes and ships sterile injectable drugs. In a blog post on Friday, FDA Commissioner Dr Margaret Hamburg said the agency has identified a number of Ameridose products, including drugs used during surgery and to treat conditions that include congestive heart failure, that were on the current drug shortages list before the recall. “We also know that the supply of other drugs may be affected by the Ameridose recall,” she said. “FDA is doing everything we can to minimize the impact this recall may
FRAMINGHAM: US Rep Ed Markey speaks at a news conference outside the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. Markey outlined a plan to more closely regulate compounding pharmacies like the NECC which is linked to a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak. — AP have on current drug shortages, and to prevent other shortages from occurring.” James DeVita, president of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy, said that new regulations adopted by the body would help “fill the grey area” between state and federal oversight for compounding pharmacies. The changes include giving the state
Planned Parenthood stays in Women’s Health Program GEORGETOWN, Texas: Planned Parenthood will continue to receive funds from a joint Texas and federal program providing health care to lowincome women, despite the state’s promise to exclude its clinics by Nov 1 because they are affiliated with abortion providers. Gov. Rick Perry has pledged to boot Planned Parenthood from the Texas Women’s Health Program after the Republican-dominated Legislature in 2011 reinstated a law prohibiting state funds from going to organizations linked to abortion providers. The federal government funds 90 percent of the program, which costs around $40 million annually, but the Obama administration claimed the Texas law violates federal rules - prompting Perry to vow to use only state money to keep the program going. The governor traveled to a health clinic north of Austin on Wednesday to announce that the state is ready to begin a program with only Texas funds starting Thursday. Health and Human Service Commissioner Kyle Janek said the pro-
Hobby Lobby asks judge to block healthcare law OKLAHOMA CITY: An ar ts and craft supply company owned by a Christian family asked a judge to block a portion of the new federal health care law, claiming that mandated coverage for certain birth control violates its religious freedom rights. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s owners believe the use of morningafter and week-after birth control pills are tantamount to abortion because they prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s womb. At a federal cour t hearing Thursday, a government lawyer said the drugs do not cause abortions and that the US has compelling interest in mandating insurance coverage for them. The company, which is selfinsured, says it will face a daily $1.3 million fine beginning Jan. 1 if it ignores the law. US District Judge Joe Heaton did not rule on the company’s request for an injunction but noted Hobby Lobby ’s deadline for compliance. “This does raise a lot of new and different issues,” he said. “There’s not a lot of guidance out there.” Hobby Lobby is the largest business to file a lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services mandate that forces all companies, regardless of religious conviction, to provide coverage of drugs that the lawsuit alleges are abortion-inducing. The Green family also objects to providing coverage for certain kinds of intrauterine devices that the lawsuit alleges can destroy an embryo by preventing it from implanting in a woman’s uterus. Company lawyer Kyle Duncan said “millions of Americans” would consider drugs that prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb an abortifacient. “The purpose of these drugs is emergency contraception,” Duncan said. “We don’t cover pregnancy termination.” Government lawyer Michelle Bennett disagreed and said failing to mandate insurance coverage for the drugs would increase the number of unwanted pregnancies. Bennett said the drugs “do not terminate pregnancy,” and instead prevent one from
occurring. The morning-after pill works by preventing ovulation or fertilization. In medical terms, pregnancy begins when a fer tilized egg attaches itself to the wall of the uterus. If taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, it can reduce a woman’s chances of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent. But critics of the contraceptive say it is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus. The Green family filed suit in September, saying the law would force them to “to violate their deeply held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines, penalties and lawsuits.” It claims the mandate is unconstitutional. Duncan said the company has no objection to other forms of birth control and includes them in its insurance plan. “Hobby Lobby ought to be able to get a narrow exemption,” Duncan said. Hobby Lobby calls itself a “biblically founded business” and is closed on Sundays, provides spiritual counseling for its employees and does not sell products that are inconsistent with its owners’ religion. Founded in 1972, the company now operates more than 500 stores in 41 states and employs more than 13,000 full-time employees who are eligible for health insurance coverage. The lawsuit also was filed on behalf of Mardel Inc., another of the family’s businesses. The bookstore and education company, also based in Oklahoma City, sells a variety of Christian-themed materials. It operates 35 stores in seven states and has 372 full-time employees. In a separate case involving a Detroit-area company owned by Roman Catholics, Weingar tz Supply Co. on Wednesday won an early round in its lawsuit challenging the health care law’s mandate requiring contraception coverage. A federal judge blocked the government from tak ing any action against that company, which sells outdoor power equipment. The company is challenging the contraception mandate on religious grounds. — AP
board, for the first time, the ability to track the volume and distribution of compounded products. “ This ac tion will assist the Board in determining whether compounding pharmacies are operating in a traditional and necessar y role rather than in a manner analogous to that of a manufacturing facility,” DeVita said. —Reuters
gram will not begin operating immediately and may not take effect until the end of the year since Texas expects federal funding to continue at least until Dec. 31. Complicating matters are three lawsuits that remain unresolved. A state judge last week temporarily ordered the state to include Planned Parenthood in the program as long as it collects federal funds. The judge scheduled a hearing in that case for Nov 8. Janek said he is hopeful the courts will side with the state and allow the exclusion of Planned Parenthood. He said he also hopes the federal government will continue funding the Women’s Health Program, even with the ban on groups linked to abortion providers in place. If the courts decide in the state’s favor, then a new state-funds-only program will be unnecessary. “The state program is ready to go, but we’re continuing in the federal program until such time that the courts say ‘you either let in Planned Parenthood or other affiliate groups,’ or ‘stop the program entirely,’” Janek said. —AP
The JCC in Manhattan shows an unidentified mother and daughter participating in a family Zumba class on New Year’s Day in New York. Many health-conscious Americans have found holiday breaks an ideal time for long-distance races, hikes and other fitness-oriented activities. —AP
Boozy birds pay the price for flying high PARIS: A bizarre spate of young blackbird deaths at a school in England was likely caused by the feathered teens getting drunk on fermented berries, crashing mid-air and falling from the sky, vets said yesterday. Police and animal experts were called in after more than a dozen birds were found dead at a primary school in Cumbria last August-many of them sporting serious injuries. One of the juvenile blackbirds was found alive but appeared “drunk”, pressing its wings into the ground to steady itself and trying to stay upright by leaning against the walls of the enclosure it was taken to. Foul play was initially suspected, but post-mortem examinations ruled out a murder spree or diseases like bird flu. Instead, the examiners found berries in the birds’ stomachs that had a smell of fermentation, said a report in the BMJ Group journal Veterinary Record. Further toxicological test found high levels of pure alcohol or ethanol in the liver of one of the birds. “Some of the birds had died from traumatic injury, possibly related to in-flight collisions secondary to intoxication,” wrote investigators from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency. “Unsteadiness on the feet, a tendency to fall over and losing the ability to steer is considerably more of a problem when life is normally spent in trees or in the air,” added a media statement. The lone survivor made a full recovery and was released back into the wild after sleeping off its hangover. — AFP
LAUSANNE: Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke visits the laboratory, during the opening of the Nestle Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS), at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Lausanne, Switzerland, On Friday. The world’s biggest food company Nestle opened the Nestle Institute of Health SciencesEPFL partnership with three missions: provide education, enable research and technology transfer and conduct research at the highest international level. — AP
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
H E A LT H & S C I E NC E
New Mexico coyote-hunting prompts outcry SANTA FE, New Mexico: A statewide coyote-hunting contest planned for later this month has caused an uproar in New Mexico, pitting environmentalists against ranchers, as heated words flooded social media networks and thousands signed a petition opposing the hunt as cruel. . The furor prompted the Albuquerque gun store owner who originally sponsored the contest to cancel, but a second gun dealer in the southern New Mexico town of Los Lunas, Gunhawk Firearms, stepped in to take over the event on the weekend of Nov 17-18. “Coyotes are a direct threat to the cattle industry,” Gunhawk owner Mark Chavez said on Friday, accusing environmentalists of trying to stir up sentiment against the contest to further their “hidden agenda.” “They’re trying to get rid of the hunting industry and the gun industry,” he told Reuters. According to a New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association, wild predators killed 5,500 sheep and 3,700 lambs in the state in 2009 alone. Caren Cowen, executive director of the association, said coyotes pose a greater threat to sheep than larger livestock, such as full-grown cows, though calves also are vulnerable. “A calf today is worth $1,000,” she said. “In today’s market, how many times can you stand to have $1,000 taken from your wallet?” But Wendy Keefover, director of carnivore protection for the conservation group WildEarth Guardians, said the threat to livestock from coyotes is overblown by the ranching industry. Citing US Department of Agriculture figures, she said predators such as coyotes and feral dogs accounted for less than a quarter-percent of all cattle losses nationwide in 2010, the most recent year for which data was available. The overwhelming majority of livestock deaths are due to disease, bad weather and birthing difficulties, she said. Although the coyote’s natural range has expanded three-fold in recent years,
Keefover called the premise of a hunting contest a “myth,” insisting that killing coyotes would fail to reduce their population in the long run. “Coyotes make up for their losses by changing behaviors, such as more females breeding and with larger litters or increasing migration,” she said. In addition, coyotes play an important role as natural predators in a healthy ecosystem, helping to maintain rabbit and other rodent populations at balanced levels. Neither side in the debate had any figures on the current size of the coyote population in New Mexico. Many other states have held similar annual contests, said Mary Ray, wildlife chair for the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club. But heightened publicity in New Mexico, amplified by Facebook and other social media, has generated a greater level of attention than usual, she said. Nearly 15,000 people responded to an online petition opposing the event as of Friday. Hundreds more wrote on Gunhawk’s Facebook page in support, Chavez said. Chavez said 25 two-person hunting teams have signed up for the contest so far, and he expects about 100 teams will be registered by the start date. The team that bags the most coyotes will win an automatic rifle, he said. “We’ve hunted for many years. It’s my heritage and my right to hunt and to teach my kids to hunt,” Chavez said. Contestants must register with the Los Lunas gun shop and attend an orientation before the contest, but coyote hunting in general is unregulated in New Mexico and requires no license. Keefover said a separate coyote-hunting contest in Montana was canceled on Friday after an article about the event was featured in the Sacramento Bee newspaper. Colorado banned contest hunting in 1997, the only state to do so, she said. “Contest hunting is not ethical hunting. The point of hunting is not to pile up a bunch of bodies,” Keefover said.—Reuters
Jim Kaszubowski walks out of the marsh after a morning of duck hunting at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge on a cold, rainy day in Alabama. —AP
Mars rover still sniffing for elusive methane Gas could point to microbial life or geologic activity CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: Initial analysis of the atmosphere of Mars from NASA’s rover Curiosity has shown no sign of methane, a gas detected previously by remote sensors, researchers said on Friday. On Earth, more than 90 percent of the methane in the atmosphere results from living organisms and its presence in the Martian atmosphere, first detected in 2003, raised the prospect of microbial life on the planet. Although no methane was detected during Curiosity’s first detailed atmospheric analysis, scientists working under the auspices of the US space agency plan to keep looking. “The search goes on,” Curiosity scientist Paul Mahaffy, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland, told reporters on Friday. In addition to chemically analyzing soil and rocks, Curiosity is equipped to sample and study gases in the planet’s thin atmosphere. The rover’s onboard laboratory looked for methane in concentrations as small as five parts per billion. Scientists so far have no explanation as to why Curiosity has found no methane, when orbiting probes and ground-based telescopes have previously found evidence of the gas on Mars. As well as being produced by living organisms, methane is also generated by geological activity. Methane would not have to be released at Curiosity’s landing site inside Gale Crater for the rover to detect it, according to atmospheric
chemist Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. “If there is a source of methane elsewhere, it does not take very long for it to get distributed over the planet - about three months,” Atreya said. “As we monitor (for) methane over time, we may be able to say more about the possibility about any sources in the Gale Crater region,” he said. Measurements of other atmospheric gases have proven more fruitful. An analysis of carbon, argon and other isotopes, which are variations of particular chemical elements, indicates that Mars, as suspected, has lost significant amounts of its atmosphere to space over time. “ The gases in the current atmosphere are a product of Mars’ entire history,” said Curiosity scien-
tist Laurie Leshin of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The goal of the two-year, $2.5 billion Curiosity mission is to determine whether Mars, which is cold and dry today, ever had the chemical and environmental conditions to support and preserve microbial life. “Did Mars once have abundant flowing water, and if so why is the climate so cold and the atmosphere so thin today as to preclude this?” Leshin said. “By studying today’s atmosphere, we can gain clues to how Mars’ environment has changed,” she said. Curiosity, which landed on Mars in August, is NASA’s first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes. —Reuters
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
WHAT’S ON
Arpan Swaralaya on November 15 SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net
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Arabic courses WARE will begin Winter 1 Arabic language courses with new textbooks and curricula will begin on December 2, 2012 until January 24, 2013. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & 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. For more information or registration, please log-on to our website.
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s part of its annual day celebration, Arpan (a socio cultural organization), is going to bring yet another unique program namely “Swaralaya”- A blend of classic music and dance which are sure would be of first in Kuwait . This program will be held on November 15, (Thursday) at ICSK (Indian Community School- Salmiya) auditorium starting 5:30 pm. Arpan, known for conducting unique programs, has planned to bring Srikanth & Aswathy for a stage program. Srikanth- a child prodigy learned his skills under the guidance of several illustrious gurus including Shanmughasundaram Pillai, Dr Saraswati, Dr Padma Subramanyam. He has performed with leading dancers like Chitra Visweswaran, Lakshmi Viswanathan, Anita Ratnam etc.
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He also has won many awards in the field of dancing. Government of India has bestowed him with Junior Fellowship of the Department of Culture. Ashwathy - Daughter of Kalamandalam Saraswathy and Gyanapeeth award winning legendary Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair started stage performance from the age of seven. Aswathy is an expert in Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchippudi. The dancing duo together have performed in many stages around the world, and have won heart and minds of the people with their exceptional skill and talent. The Mega program shall have unique music experience from Vaikom Vijayalaxmi after the stage program by Srikanth and Aswathy. Vaikom V Vijayalekshmi, has achieved
exceptional mastery over Gayatri Tampuru a musical instrument which has only one string. In spite of being a person who requires special care (she is a person who is blind), she plays the instrument with amazing ease and captures heart of the audiences through divine music. Being mesmerized by her exceptional talent over the instrument, the legend of Indian music Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan named the instrument she played as “Gayatri Veena”. With this “Gayatri Veena, she has performed in many a stages across India. The program shall be surely one of the best for all the traditional music lovers in Kuwait.
Agility introduces Arabic website gility, a leading global logistics provider, launched its Arabic-language website on October 30, to cater to Arabic-speaking customers, partners, and shareholders in the Middle East and North Africa. The website has been designed to allow Arabic speakers convenient access to the latest company news, range of products and services, specialized solutions, and other related business and investor information. “We are a global company that operates in more than 100 countries, but we have strong local roots in the countries in which we operate. This is especially true in the Middle East, where we got our start as a company. Our Arabic website is part of our ongoing commitment to serving our customers in the Middle East and North Africa, and to maintaining open communication with our shareholders and partners,” said Elias Monem, Agility’s CEO for the Middle East and Africa. With the newly introduced Arabic version, Agility’s website is now available in four languages, including English, French and German.
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Indian Embassy Announcements Indian Embassy passport and visa Passports and visa applications can be deposited at the two outsourced centers of M/S BLS Ltd at Sharq and Fahaheel. Details are available at www.blsinternational.com and www.indembkwt.org. Consular Open House Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizens on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the Consular Officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall at the Embassy. For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) can be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Indian workers helpline/helpdesk Indian workers helpline is accessible by toll free telephone number 25674163 from all over Kuwait. It provides information and advice to Indian workers as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. The help desk at the Embassy (Open from 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 4:30PM, Sunday to Thursday) provides guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal and other issues. It also provides workers assistance in filling up labour complaint forms. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned attachÈ in the Labour section and the head of the Labour Wing can be contacted. Legal Advice Clinic Free legal advice is provided on matters pertaining to labour disputes, terms of contracts with employers, death/accident compensation, withholding of dues by employers, etc. by lawyers on our panel, to Indian nationals on all working days between 1500hrs to 1600hrs.
KCMA marks Eid Milan uwait Calicut Muslim Association (KCMA) Eid Milan 2012 was conducted in Indian Community School Khaitan on the second day of Eid. The Halcyon Charitable Trust that runs a dialysis center was given a cheque of INR 12 lakh during the occasion. The
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chief guest of the event and Kerala’s Minister of Social Welfare Dr M K Muneer received the cheque from the convener of the dialysis project A V Shamsudheen. The souvenir committee convener A V Naufal of KCMA released the souvenir by handing it over to Sidheeq Valiyagath.
Facilitation speech was given by Dr Ameer, president of Indian Doctors Forum, and by the Patron of KCMA, K V Mohammed Koya. More than Rs 1.5 crore rupee was distributed by KCMA to the poor and sick people over the last 12 years, said General Secretary PNM Subair
in his welcome speech. The function was controlled by O Usman Koya. The exciting and colorful event included a fancy dress, gazal rendition and few other cultural items. A vote of thanks was conveyed by N V Abdul Latheef.
GWS drawing competition s a part of the Goa Day 2012, organized by the Goan Welfare Society (GWS), in association with other Goan clubs and groups, a drawing competition and a collage competition, for children, will be held prior to the main event, as detailed here: date of competitions: November 14, (children’s day). Venue: Salmiya Indian Model School(SIMS), Salmiya, Kuwait. Time: 6 pm to 8 pm. The competitions are open to students, enrolled in Indian schools, from ages 4 - 17 years, who will be grouped as follows: Drawing and coloring competitions: Group A ages 4 - 6 years, Group B ages 7 - 9 years, Group C ages 10 - 12 years. Collage competition: Group D ages 13 - 15 years, Group E ages 16 - 17 years. The theme for drawing and collage competitions will pertain to the State of Goa and will be announced on the spot for each Group, separately. The winners will be announced and prize distributions will be held on Friday, November 30, at the Goa Day 2012 function, to be held at the same venue, Salmiya Indian Model School (SIMS), Salmiya, Kuwait, between 12:00 noon to 8 pm. Online Entries, if desired, may be emailed to GWS email before November 7, with details of participant, as follows: participant’s name, date of birth, school, Std or Class, name of parent or guardian, Tel contact, mobile and email. Please note that entries will not be accepted after November 7.
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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20
EDA celebrates Onam-Eid rnakulam District Association celebrated Onam, Eid festivals together on Friday October 26, at the Indian Community School Khaitan. The functions started at 10:00 am with the arrival of the Chief Guest Satish C Mehta Indian Ambassador to Kuwait. The festival celebrations kicked off with prayer song followed by welcome speech by the Association Gen Secretary Madhu Warrier and was inaugurated by the Ambassador by lighting the traditional lamp. Acting President Capt Johnson gave presidential speech. Felicitation speeches were given by EDA patrons Dr Namboory, ED Titus, Advisory Board chairman Abdul Rahim, Mahilavedhi convener Litty Babu, event convener Geo Mathai and vote of thanks was delivered by the Treasurer Gigi Mathen. The Association honored students of class X for their outstanding performance in the Board Exams. A huge gathering of around 1200 people thronged the auditorium as they witnessed the music and colorful dance
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extravaganza. Apart from the songs and dances by our talented EDA family members and their children, the program also included Opanna Pattu, Kai Kotti kalli, Onam pattu, cinematic dance, Mapilla
pattu etc. The main event and the most awaited program was the thrilling hilarious comedy performance by Asianet Vodafone comedy stars - Shashangan, Binu Adimali, Saji Ochira, Arun Pulimath
and Sumesh Thampi followed by a musical feast led by Fahed of “YUVA” fame, with EdA’s prominent female singer Seethal and Talented Singers Sai Appukuttan and Santhosh.
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
WHAT’S ON
ACK president honored by Canadian University ape Breton University in Nova Scotia Canada honored ACK president Professor Vishy Karri with Honorary Doctorate of Letters. At a fall convocation ceremony at CBU held on the 27thOctober, University Chancellor Annette Verschuren conferred this prestigious recognition to Professor Vishy Karri. Doctorate of Letters is a higher doctorate awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits. Lifetime achievements in science, technology, music, arts, community service and leadership are recognized by the University via conferring these prestigious awards. Chancellor Verschuren said “Cape Breton University is honored to celebrate the successful career and notable accomplishments of Vishy Karri. He is a scholar, teacher and leader who developed international partnerships through his research work that continue to enhance learning opportunities for others.” Professor VishyKarri in addressing 300 graduates said that “Change and transformation are continuous processes, as part and parcel of our existence and we have to work hard to build the comparability between the socioeconomic and technological progress.” He requested the outgoing graduates to practice life-skills along with their professional career development.
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Karri encouraged the graduates to pursue self-development and entrepreneurship for the right reasons. “The business empire will not last long enough if money is the only criteria on which entrepreneurship is built. Most of
the successful entrepreneurs have had ‘money as a mere consequence’ of their implemented intentions built on right reasons. If we are passionate about an aspiration, you live the passion to make it a reality. Entrepreneurship should not be a
hobby but a passion. In my opinion, hobby is a temporary indulgence that has momentary happiness but passion is long lasting and sustainable. The intentions on which the entrepreneurial activities are built are extremely impor-
networking are all very inexpensive, if not free, that contribute immensely to growth.”, he said. In reading Karri’s citation, Professor David McCorquodale the Dean of the faculty of science and engineering praised his international connections. After reading an impressive compilation of Karri’ bio-data the Dean announced “Madame Chancellor, it is my great pleasure to present for the degree Doctor of Letters, honoriscausa, a man who is a visionary, leader, accomplished researcher and remarkably humble, Vishy Karri.”. Professor Karri joins the elite list of other notable recipients of a honorary Doctorate of Letters from the British Commonwealth which include former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown, musicians K J Yesudas, Enya, Sami Yusuf, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, writers Mark Twain, Ezra Pound, MalcolmGladwell, O N V Kurup,RikMayall, J K Rowling and JRR Tolkien.
tant. While ‘embracing the unknown’ is very daunting in the beginning, the skills you learnt and the right intentions ensure that the fear of failure is overcome in the journey. If we examine very closely things like building a great team, assisting families, building friends and
The Regency Hotel launches Barbeque ‘Under The Stars’! ith the advent of this season’s gorgeous weather The Regency Hotel is delighted to announce the autumnal launch of its hugely popular barbeque, set against the hotel’s stunning backdrop of the Arabian Gulf. Presented each Wednesday from 7:00 pm onwards, discerning diners can choose from a vast selection of mouth watering dishes and relax in style under the stars. On the grill is a wide array of Middle Eastern and international items, from Iranian kebabs and kofta to the irresistible Lebanese shawarma. The hotel’s expert Syrian butcher Meydan has specially marinated and seasoned the meats; these are accompanied by a rich variety of seafood. Off the grill, expect delicious Latin, Asian and European favorites. Vegetarian foodies will be thrilled by the hotel’s signature meat-free dishes, a delicious salad bar and a wonderful assortment of bread. For the grand finale over a dozen kinds of delectable desserts made by Italian-born Executive Pastry Chef Raffaele will satisfy those with a sweet tooth. The Regency’s elegant outdoor terraces, unbeatable views of
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the Arabian Gulf and lounge music guarantee a great evening for the entire family and a superb way to
break the week. On the inaugural evening the hotel’s new General Manager, Aurelio
Giraudo and his international team of chefs welcomed guests warmly saying “I am confident our esteemed guess
will marvel at the range and quality of imported Australian premium meats and seafood on offer”. During the
evening Executive Chef Austen Reid affirmed “Here at The Regency we strive to bring the highest quality and choices to our patrons and it is this quest for excellence and the unparalleled location that we hope make their
evenings so special” .The Regency Barbeque starts at 7:00 pm on October 31; for reservations or more details, please call us. Children below six years of age enjoy complimentary supper.
Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. ■■■■■■■
EMBASSY OF CANADA The Canadian Embassy in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 7:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed for lunch from 12:30 to 13:00. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday. ■■■■■■■
EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database. Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■
EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on the following days during the month of November 2012: Nov 13, 2012 - Tuesday - Deepawali Nov 25, 2012 - Sunday - Muharram ■■■■■■■
PAS organized a ‘Graduation Ceremony’ t always remains the tradition of Pakistan Academy School, to encourage the students for their performance in curricular and co-curricular activities. In connection to that IGCSE/FBISE Graduation Ceremony was held on Tuesday, October 23, in presence of their parents. Prof Syed Zakir Ali presided the ceremony. In his speech, he appreciated the students who passed their IGCSE/FBISE examination with flying colors. He emphasized on the importance of character building because good people will form good society. He congratulated
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the students and appreciated the efforts of parents and teachers. The real beauty of the ceremony is the distribution of Gold, Silver and Bronze medal among the students along with cash prizes. The ceremony came to an end with tears of joy and success. Parents appreciated the efforts of the management especially the Director of school Aliya Saad Al-Muhanna who came forward to appreciate the students in such a great way.
EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located in Sharq, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Al Arabiya Tower, 6th Floor. Working days / hours: SundayThursday /9 am - 4 pm. Residents in Kuwait interested in getting a visa to travel to Peru and companies attracted to invest in Peru are invited to visit the permanent exposition room located in the Embassy. For more information, please contact: (+965) 22267250/1. ■■■■■■■
EMBASSY OF UKRAINE
Life Abundant International Fountain (LAIF) Church recently held its graduation ceremony for its discipleship programs. The programs include; New Believer’s Academy (NBA), Discipleship Training Institute (DTI) and Leadership Training Institute (LTI).
The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to remind that the external polling station No 90046 was created in the Embassy’s premises at the following address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str. 6, build. 5. The working hours of the polling station: Sunday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Monday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Tuesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Wednesday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Thursday from 13.00 to 17.00 pm; Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm; Saturday from 10.00 to 13.00 pm On October 28, 2012 the working hours of the polling station from 8.00 am to 20.00 pm. Please be advised to refer to the Embassy to check your data in the Electoral Register as well as to pick up your personal invitation from the polling station if you did not receive this document by post.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
TV PROGRAMS
00:50 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 05:05 05:55 06:45 07:35 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:10 11:05 11:30 12:00 12:25 12:55 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:05 16:35 17:00 17:30 18:25 19:20 20:15 21:10 22:05 23:00 23:55
I’m Alive Animal Cops Phoenix Africa’s Outsiders Bad Dog Cats 101 Wildest Latin America Animal Cops Phoenix Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Wildlife SOS Talk To The Animals Cats 101 Crocodile Hunter Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Breed All About It Natural Born Hunters The Really Wild Show Wild France Wild France Wild France Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Wild Animal Orphans Wild Animal Orphans Bad Dog Your Pet Wants This, Too! World Wild Vet Max’s Big Tracks Into The Dragon’s Lair Wild France Swarm Chasers The Magic Of The Big Blue
23:50 Animal Cops Houston 00:15 Bargain Hunt 01:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 02:25 Come Dine With Me 03:15 Come Dine With Me 04:05 Antiques Roadshow 06:45 Antiques Roadshow 07:35 MasterChef Australia 13:45 MasterChef Australia 14:10 10 Years Younger 15:00 10 Years Younger 15:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 16:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:15 Come Dine With Me 18:05 Come Dine With Me 18:55 Bargain Hunt 19:40 Bargain Hunt 20:25 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 21:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 22:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 22:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:30 Come Dine With Me EditionEdition 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:00 03:25 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:30 11:25 12:20 14:10 14:35 16:25 16:50 18:45 19:10 20:05 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45
Behind Bars Chris Ryan’s Elite Police How Do They Do It? How It’s Made How Do They Do It? How It’s Made How Do They Do It? How It’s Made How Do They Do It? How It’s Made How Do They Do It? How It’s Made How It’s Made How Do They Do It? Dirty Great Machines World’s Top 5 Wheeler Dealers Around The World In 80 Ways Deadliest Catch How It’s Made How It’s Made Dirty Money Dirty Money Border Security Border Security You Have Been Warned Mythbusters Dynamo: Magician Impossible How We Invented The World Curiosity Finding Bigfoot
23:20 Surviving Disaster 00:40 Space Pioneer 01:35 Weird Or What? 02:25 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 03:15 Things That Move 03:45 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 04:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 05:25 Moon Machines 06:15 How The Universe Works 07:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:00 Meteorite Men 08:50 Last Flight Of The Space Shuttle 09:40 Head Rush 09:43 Sci-Fi Science 10:10 Sci-Fi Science 10:40 Robocar 11:30 Things That Move 11:55 Things That Move 12:20 Moon Machines 13:10 Weird Or What? 14:00 Space Pioneer 14:50 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 15:45 Futurecar 16:35 Things That Move 17:00 Head Rush 17:03 The Tech Show 17:30 The Tech Show 18:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:50 Da Vinci’s Machines 19:40 Things That Move 20:05 Things That Move 20:30 Bad Universe 21:20 Bad Universe 22:10 Moon Machines 23:00 Bad Universe 23:50 Bad Universe 20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 00:20 00:50 01:15 01:40 01:55 02:10 02:20 02:30 02:55
Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Lazytown Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Handy Manny Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Animated Stories
03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:30 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:30 Little Einsteins 08:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:20 Imagination Movers 09:45 Mouk 09:55 Lazytown 10:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:30 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:45 Doc McStuffins 10:55 Doc McStuffins 11:05 The Hive 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 Imagination Movers 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:05 Special Agent Oso 13:15 Mouk 13:30 Jungle Junction 13:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 14:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 14:15 Doc McStuffins 14:30 Doc McStuffins 14:40 Mouk 14:50 Art Attack 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 16:05 The Hive 16:20 Mouk 16:35 Handy Manny 16:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:20 Doc McStuffins 17:35 Doc McStuffins 17:45 Art Attack 18:10 The Gruffalo 18:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:05 Mouk 19:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 The Hive 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30 Mouk 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 The Hive 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 A Poem Is... 23:05 Animated Stories 23:10 A Poem Is... 23:15 A Poem Is... 23:20 Timmy Time 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ecial Agent Oso 23:50 Lazytown 00:30 Crusty Demons: Broken Records 01:25 TNA: Greatest Matches 02:20 M1 Selection 2010 03:15 The Cool Guy Files 03:40 The Cool Guy Files 04:10 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 06:00 AMA Motocross 2011 06:55 AMA Motocross 2011 08:00 Winter Dew Tour 10/11 10:45 AMA Motocross 2011 11:40 AMA Motocross 2011 12:35 X-Traordinary 13:00 X-Traordinary 13:30 Winter Dew Tour 10/11 16:15 I’ll Do Anything 17:10 I’ll Do Anything 18:05 Carpocalypse 19:00 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 20:50 Ed’s Up 21:15 Ed’s Up 21:45 The Cool Guy Files 22:10 The Cool Guy Files 22:40 Crusty Demons: Night Of World Records... 23:35 Clay Marzo: Just Add Water
00:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:40 Guy’s Big Bite 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:55 Iron Chef America 02:45 Chopped 03:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:15 Guy’s Big Bite 05:40 Outrageous Food 06:05 Unique Sweets 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Barefoot Contessa 07:35 Barefoot Contessa 08:00 Food Network Challenge 08:50 Barefoot Contessa 09:15 Barefoot Contessa 09:40 Unique Sweets 10:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 10:30 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 United Tastes Of America 13:00 Iron Chef America 13:50 Guy’s Big Bite 14:15 Cooking For Real 14:40 Barefoot Contessa 15:05 Barefoot Contessa 15:30 Unique Sweets 15:55 Charly’s Cake Angels 16:20 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa 18:00 Barefoot Contessa 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives
19:15 19:40 20:05 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50
Guy’s Big Bite Unique Eats Unique Eats Chopped Iron Chef America Food Network Challenge Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Food(Ography)
00:15 Bondi Rescue 00:45 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:40 Roam 02:05 Travel Madness 02:35 Gone to save the planet 03:00 Gone to save the planet 03:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 03:55 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 04:25 Market Values 04:50 Market Values 05:20 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 05:45 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 06:15 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 06:40 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 07:10 Market Values 07:35 Market Values 08:05 Bondi Rescue 09:25 Bondi Rescue 09:55 Danger Beach 10:20 Into The Drink 10:50 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 11:45 Roam 12:10 Travel Madness 12:40 The Best Job In The World 13:05 The Best Job In The World 13:35 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 Market Values 14:55 Market Values 15:25 Dive Detectives 16:20 Bondi Rescue 18:10 Danger Beach 18:35 Into The Drink 19:05 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 19:30 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 20:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 20:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 21:00 Market Values 21:30 Market Values 22:00 Bondi Rescue 22:55 Food School 23:50 Kimchi Chronicles 23:00 Naked Science 00:00 Philly Undercover 01:00 Built for the Kill 01:55 Monster Fish 02:50 Croc Ganglands 03:45 Cheetah: Against All Odds 04:40 Caught In The Act 05:35 Unlikely Animal Friends 06:30 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 07:25 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 08:20 Big Baboon House 09:15 Python Hunters 10:10 Python Hunters 11:05 Great Migrations 12:00 Untamed Americas 13:00 Monster Fish 14:00 Ultimate Vipers 15:00 The Living Edens 16:00 Ultimate Predators GPU 17:00 Cheetah: Against All Odds 18:00 Deadly Summer 19:00 Untamed Americas 20:00 Monster Fish 21:00 Ultimate Vipers 22:00 The Living Edens 23:00 Ultimate Predators GPU Zoo Confidential 23:00 Dangerous Encounters 00:00 The Payback-18 02:00 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown-18 04:00 Charlie’s Angels: Full ThrottlePG15 06:00 Legendary Assassin-PG15 08:00 Warbirds-PG15 10:00 Star Trek: First Contact-PG 12:00 Rocky-PG15 14:00 Warbirds-PG15 16:00 Wild Bill-PG15 18:00 Rocky-PG15 20:00 Alien-18 22:00 True Justice: Blood Alley-PG15 22:00 The Rite-18hting-PG15 22:00 Homecoming-18 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Louie 03:00 Raising Hope 03:30 Last Man Standing 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Raising Hope 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 Seinfeld 10:00 Whitney 10:30 Parks And Recreation 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Last Man Standing 14:30 Parks And Recreation 15:00 Whitney 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Happy Endings 18:30 Hot In Cleveland 19:00 Whitney 19:30 Parks And Recreation 20:00 The Cleveland Show 20:30 Melissa & Joey 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Angry Boys
22:30 Angry Boys 23:00 Louie 23:30 The Cleveland Show Fall on 00:00 Parenthood 01:00 C.S.I. 02:00 Breakout Kings 03:00 Luck 04:00 House 05:00 C.S.I. Miami 06:00 Parenthood 07:00 Emmerdale 07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Royal Pains 09:00 Breakout Kings 10:00 C.S.I. 11:00 House 12:00 Emmerdale 12:30 Coronation Street 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 14:00 Royal Pains 15:00 Parenthood 16:00 Emmerdale 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 18:00 Royal Pains 19:00 House 20:00 The River 21:00 The Killing 22:00 True Blood 23:00 Luck23:00 Grimm23:00 Grimm 01:00 Dorothy Mills-18 03:00 Charlie’s Angels: Full ThrottlePG15 05:00 Unknown-PG15 07:00 All Star Superman-PG15 09:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 11:00 Unknown-PG15 13:00 Largo Winch 2-PG15 15:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 17:00 Drunken Master-PG15 19:00 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 21:00 True Justice: Blood Alley-PG15 23:00 Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night-18 23:00 The Morgue-18
00:00 Killing Bono-18 02:00 The Other Guys-PG15 04:00 Feed The Fish-PG15 06:00 The Beverly Hillbillies-PG15 08:00 Morning Glory-PG15 10:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG 12:00 The Ladykillers-PG15 14:00 Airheads-PG15 16:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG 18:00 The Trotsky-PG15 20:00 Defendor-PG15 22:00 Love And Other Drugs-R 22:00 Frenemy-18 00:45 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:30 13:00 15:00 16:15 18:30 21:00 23:30
Jude-18 Garden State-18 Roger And Me-PG15 The Game Of Their Lives-PG15 Across The Sea Of Time-FAM Another Year-PG15 Le Syndrome Du Titanic-PG15 Across The Sea Of Time-FAM West Is West-PG15 The Social Network-PG15 Any Given Sunday-18 Blame It On Mum-18 Square Grouper-18
00:30 Roger And Me-PG15 02:15 Restless-PG15 04:00 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 05:30 Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure-PG 07:00 Puss In Boots-PG 09:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 11:00 Restless-PG15 13:00 Certain Prey-PG15 14:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 17:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 19:00 Vampires Suck-PG15 21:00 Killer Elite-18 23:00 Black Swan-18
01:00 The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2-PG 02:45 The Nutty Professor-FAM 04:30 Marco Macaco-FAM 06:00 Arrietty-FAM 08:15 Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas-FAM 10:00 Yogi Bear-FAM 11:30 The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2-PG 13:15 The Wind In The Willows-PG 14:45 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed-PG 16:15 Alex & Alexis-FAM 18:00 Yogi Bear-FAM 20:00 Hop-PG 22:00 Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas-FAM 23:30 The Wind In The Willows-PG 22:15 Resident Evil 4: Afterlife-18 02:30 Rugby League Autumn Internationals 04:30 Top 14 06:30 NFL Gameday 07:00 International Rugby League 09:00 NHL 11:00 PGA European Tour 16:30 Prizefighter 19:30 NFL Gameday 20:00 Live NFL 23:00 Live NFL
03:00 Kiteboard World Cup 03:30 Downtown Showdown 04:00 NHL 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Premier League Snooker 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 European Challegne Tour Golf Highlights 12:00 NHL 14:00 Futbol Mundial 14:30 Top 14 16:30 Top 14 18:30 Trans World Sport 19:30 NFL Gameday 20:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter
KUWAIT KNCC PROGRAM FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (1/11/2012 TO 7/11/2012) SHARQIA-1 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM
SHARQIA-2 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM
SHARQIA-3 MISS MOMMY (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D MISS MOMMY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
MUHALAB-1 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM
MUHALAB-2 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM
MUHALAB-3 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:00 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM
FANAR-1 LOOPER (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-2 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) SAMMY 2 (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-3 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) AJAB GAZABB LOVE(DIG) (Hindi) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-4 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED FANAR-5 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA HERE COMES THE BOOM HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA HERE COMES THE BOOM HERE COMES THE BOOM HERE COMES THE BOOM NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-1 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED MARINA-2 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM
AVENUES-4 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM
12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM
AVENUES-1 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
AVENUES-2 LOOPER (DIG) TWILIGHT (Re-Release) LOOPER (DIG) TWILIGHT (Re-Release) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM
12:45 PM
360 º- 9(VIP-1) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM
360 º-10(VIP-2) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM
360 º- 11 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM
360 º- 12 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
AVENUES-7 CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM
360 º- 13 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:15 PM 4:00 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM
AVENUES-8 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM
AVENUES-9 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM
1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM
1:00 AM
1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM
AVENUES-11 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM
HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
AVENUES-6 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) SAMMY 2 (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
AVENUES-10 THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG)
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM
3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM
AVENUES-5 MISS MOMMY (DIG) 1:45 PM NO SAT (03.11.2012) MISS MOMMY (DIG) 4:00 PM NO SAT (03.11.2012) Live Broadcast of Football Match “ Arsinal & Manchester United” 3:30 PM SAT (03.11.2012) MISS MOMMY (DIG) 6:15 PM MISS MOMMY (DIG) 8:30 PM MISS MOMMY (DIG) 10:45 PM MISS MOMMY (DIG) 1:00 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM
MARINA-3 MISS MOMMY (DIG) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
AVENUES-3 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG)
HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM
1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM
360 º- 14 CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG)
1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM
360 º- 15 LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM
AL-KOUT.1 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM
AL-KOUT.2 CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) CHASING MAVERICKS (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM
AL-KOUT.3 THE SWEENEY (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) LOOPER (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM
360 º- 1 THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM
360 º- 2 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM
AL-KOUT.4 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
360 º- 3 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM
BAIRAQ-1 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA(DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED
12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM
360 º- 4 SAMMY 2 (DIG-3D) SAMMY 2 (DIG-3D) SAMMY 2 (DIG-3D) TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
BAIRAQ-2 MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM
360 º- 5 THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) 1:15 PM FRI+SAT TWILIGHT: NEW MOON (Re-Release) 3:45 PM THE RAID: REDEMPTION(DIG) 6:15 PM TWILIGHT: NEW MOON (Re-Release) 8:45 PM TWILIGHT: NEW MOON (Re-Release) 11:15 PM NO SUN+TUE+WED
BAIRAQ-3 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM
360 º- 6 WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) WRECK-IT RALPH (DIG-3D) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED
PLAZA MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG)
4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM
LAILA MISS MOMMY (DIG) THE SWEENEY (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) MISS MOMMY (DIG)
4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM
AJIAL.1 THE SWEENEY (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 THE SWEENEY (DIG) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4
4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM
AJIAL.2 CHAKRAVYUH (DIG)(Hindi) RUSH (DIG)(Hindi) AJAB GAZABB LOVE(DIG) (Hindi)
4:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM
1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM
360 º- 7 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D
2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM
360 º- 8 HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG) HERE COMES THE BOOM (DIG)
1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM
Classifieds SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION
Airlines JAC THY JZR JZR QTR SAI RJA ETH GFA MEA UAE ETD FDB MSR RJA RBG QTR KAC CLX DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE GFA KAC ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA IRA FDB IRC JZR MEA UAE KAC MSR KAC GFA FDB KNE KAC SVA QTR SYR JZR JZR QTR JZR UAE ETD RJA UAL GFA SVA KAC QTR ABY KAC JZR KAC FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI KAC AXB MSR ABY QTR ALK KAC MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE KAC JZR JAI FDB DHX KLM AFG AIC JZR GFA JZR UAL DLH
Flt 574 772 267 539 148 441 5556 620 211 406 853 305 67 612 642 3553 138 544 792 170 770 555 157 412 206 53 382 302 332 352 855 223 284 121 132 55 301 213 603 69 6666 165 404 871 742 610 774 219 57 472 672 500 140 341 561 257 134 535 857 303 640 982 215 510 502 144 127 542 177 786 63 787 166 618 102 674 647 61 572 562 393 606 129 146 229 514 402 136 221 307 859 172 135 576 59 372 417 405 981 239 217 185 981 636
Arrival Flights on Sunday 4/11/2012 Route MUMBAI ISTANBUL BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA LAHORE AMMAN ADDIS ABABA BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN ALEXANDRIA DOHA CAIRO LUXEMBOURG BAHRAIN ISTANBUL ALEXANDRIA LONDON MANILA ISLAMABAD DUBAI DELHI MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA SHARJAH DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI BAHRAIN SHIRAZ DUBAI AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI DAMMAM CAIRO RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA DAMASCUS SOHAG BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN WASHINGTON DC DULLES BAHRAIN RIYADH BEIRUT DOHA SHARJAH CAIRO DUBAI JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH PARIS DOHA NEW YORK DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI AMMAN KOZHIKODE LUXOR SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO TEHRAN BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN COCHIN DUBAI BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM KABUL CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT
Time 0:30 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:30 1:35 1:45 1:50 2:30 2:35 2:45 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:25 3:45 4:20 4:55 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:45 7:55 8:15 8:25 8:40 8:45 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:55 10:40 10:45 11:10 11:20 11:55 12:50 12:55 13:05 13:30 13:35 13:50 14:10 14:10 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:50 15:05 15:30 16:25 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:50 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:30 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:15 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:55
Airlines AIC AXB THY DHX BBC UAL DLH JAI SAI RJA ETH THY MEA FDB UAE ETD RBG MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA RJA THY CLX JZR FDB BAW JZR KAC JZR GFA KAC ABY UAE KAC FDB KAC ETD KAC QTR GFA FDB KAC IRA KAC IRC KAC MEA KAC JZR MSR UAE GFA FDB KAC KAC KNE SYR SVA KAC JZR QTR KAC JZR ETD JZR QTR UAE RJA GFA UAL JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR JZR FDB KAC FDB OMA JAI AXB ABY MSR DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB JZR UAE JAI KAC KAC DHX KLM QTR KAC JZR GFA KAC KAC
Depature Flights on Sunday 4/11/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 390 MANGALORE 5596 ESENBOGA 371 BAHRAIN 44 CHITTAGONG 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 442 LAHORE 5557 AMMAN 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 407 BEIRUT 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 3554 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 643 AMMAN 771 ISTANBUL 792 GIALAM 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 171 FRANKFURT 534 CAIRO 224 BAHRAIN 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 741 DAMMAM 56 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 302 ABU DHABI 773 RIYADH 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 70 DUBAI 541 CAIRO 602 SHIRAZ 501 BEIRUT 6667 AHWAZ 103 LONDON 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 872 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 561 AMMAN 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 342 DAMASCUS 503 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 786 RIYADH 141 DOHA 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 238 AMMAN 304 ABU DHABI 538 CAIRO 135 DOHA 858 DUBAI 641 AMMAN 216 BAHRAIN 982 BAHRAIN 184 DUBAI 511 RIYADH 128 SHARJAH 266 BEIRUT 145 DOHA 134 BAHRAIN 64 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 62 DUBAI 648 MUSCAT 571 MUMBAI 394 KOZHIKODE 120 SHARJAH 619 ALEXANDRIA 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 403 BEIRUT 308 ABU DHABI 137 DOHA 222 BAHRAIN 301 MUMBAI 60 DUBAI 554 ALEXANDRIA 860 DUBAI 575 KOCHI 351 KOCHI 205 ISLAMABAD 373 BAHRAIN 417 DAMMAM 147 DOHA 343 CHENNAI 502 LUXOR 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 415 KUALA LUMPUR
Time 0:05 0:15 0:20 0:40 1:00 1:10 1:20 1:30 2:30 2:35 2:45 2:55 3:30 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:05 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:35 8:15 8:15 8:25 8:45 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:30 9:35 9:45 9:55 9:55 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:05 10:10 10:40 11:25 11:30 11:40 11:45 12:10 12:20 12:55 13:00 13:50 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:40 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:55 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:05 19:25 20:30 20:40 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 22:55 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:35 23:50 23:55 23:55
Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)
ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for couple/ decent working ladies with Keralite family in a 2 BHK, 2 bathroom, C-AC building in Sharq near Amiri Hospital from 1st December onwards. Contact: 99854670. (C 4193) 1-11-2012 One room available in a furnished 2-bedroom flat in Salmiya for a working class lady near the bus stop Call 99702658 30-10-2012 Single bedroom flat for family near Salmiya garden. Rent KD 200 includes water electricity and internet. Furniture/ appliances avail-
option, excellent condition, 86,000 km only. Call 66026259, 66158602. (C4199) 4-11-2012 Mitsubishi Galant, 2006 model, silver color, beige interior, 1,25,000 km, serviced by dealership, owned by American lady, price KD 1,500, o.n.o. 99405067. (C 4196) 3-11-2012
Prayer timings SITUATION VACANT House driver, 20-30 years old, 3-5 years experience driving in Kuwait, speak and read English, transferable residency. Call 99747679. (C 4194) 1-11-2012
Fajr:
04:42
Duhr:
11:32
Asr:
14:38
Maghrib:
17:01
Isha:
18:19
SITUATION WANTED Western educated “Project Manager ” with 2 Engineering-Degrees (Civil/Elec.), 4-Master Degrees (Project Mgmt/ Engineering/ Education & Training/ MBA), plus 17years experience in Middle East/ Australia, seeking Executive Position. Contact: 65695468 email: rav@engineer.com (C 4195) 4-11-2012
No:
15617
FOR SALE Offer for photo studios, Fuji Frontier 340 Machine for sale in a very reasonable price. For inquiries please call 55127477. (C 4198) Toyota Land Cruiser, white color, 2009 model, V8, full
GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net
The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw
Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw
Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw
Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw
Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw
Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw
Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw
Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw
Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw
Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw
Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw
Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw
Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw
Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw
Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw
Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw
Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw
Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw
Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw
Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw
Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital
24812000
Amiri Hospital
22450005
Maternity Hospital
24843100
Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital
25312700
Chest Hospital
24849400
Farwaniya Hospital
24892010
Adan Hospital
23940620
Ibn Sina Hospital
24840300
Al-Razi Hospital
24846000
Physiotherapy Hospital
24874330/9
Kaizen center
25716707
Roudha
22517733
Adhaliya
22517144
Khaldiya
24848075
Keifan
24849807
Shamiya
24848913
Shuwaikh
24814507
Abdullah Salim
22549134
Al-Nuzha
22526804
Industrial Shuwaikh
24814764
Al-Khadissiya
22515088
Dasmah
22532265
Bneid Al-Ghar
22531908
Al-Shaab
22518752
Al-Kibla
22459381
Ayoun Al-Kibla
PHARMACY
ADDRESS
Sabhan
24742838
24575518 24566622
Al-Helaly
22434853
Capital
Ahlam Khaldiya Coop
Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop
22436184 24833967
Al-Fayhaa
22545051
Farwaniya
New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan
Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11
24734000 24881201 24726638
Al-Farwaniya
24711433
Al-Sulaibikhat
24316983
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
Al-Fahaheel
23927002
Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh
24316983
Ahmadi
23980088
Al-Mangaf
23711183
Al-Shuaiba
23262845
Al-Jahra
25610011
Al-Salmiya
25616368
Hawally
ST TAT TE OF K KUW WA AIT
Tel.: e 161
DIRECTORA ATE T GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V AT TION PARTMENT A METEOROLOGICAL DEP DA AY: Y Saturday
Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630
Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .
03/11/2012
INTERNATIONAL CALLS
07:00
Issue Time
Expected Weather e for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:
Sunny with light to moderate north westerly to light variable wind, with speed of 06 - 26 km/h
BY Y NIGHT:
Fair with light variable wind, with speed of 06 - 20 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear
No Current Warnings arnin a
WARNING A
32 °C
14 °C
Al-Mirqab
22456536
NUW WAISEEB A
31 °C
16 °C
Sharq
22465401
WAFRA A
32 °C
14 °C
Salmiya
25746401
SALMI
30 °C
15 °C
Jabriya
25316254
ABDAL LY
33 °C
16 °C
JAL ALIY YAH A
30 °C
16 °C
Maidan Hawally
25623444
FA AILAKA
31 °C
17 °C
Bayan
25388462
AHMADI POR RT
29 °C
23 °C
Mishref
25381200
UMM AL-MARADEM
29 °C
25 °C
W.Hawally
22630786
WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A
29 °C
13 °C
Sabah
24810221
Jahra
24770319
ST TAT TION
SFC. CHART
03/11/2012 0000 UTC
4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY
DA AT TE
WEA ATHER T
Sunday
04/11
New Jahra
24575755
West Jahra
24772608
Monday
South Jahra
24775066
Tuesday
North Jahra
24775992
Wednesday e
North Jleeb
24311795
Al-Ardhiya
24884079
23900322
MAX.
MIN.
Wind Direction
Wind Speed
Mostly sunny
32 °C
15 °C
VRB
06 - 22 km/h
05/11
Mostly sunny
33 °C
16 °C
VRB
06 - 22 km/h
06/11
Mostly sunny
33 °C
17 °C
VRB
06 - 22 km/h
07/11
Mostly sunny
33 °C
18 °C
VRB
08 - 26 km/h
PRA RA AYER Y TIMES
RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT
Fajr
04:41
MAX. Temp.
31 °C
Sunrise
06:02
MIN. Temp.
15 °C
Zuhr
11:32
MAX. RH
47 %
Asr
14:38
MIN. RH
Sunset
17:01
MAX. Wind
Isha
18:19
TOT TA AL L RAIINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.
All times are local time unless otherwise stated.
15 % NW 28 km/h 00 mm
03/11/12 02:40 UTC
V1.00
T1.06
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
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
Dr. Salem soso
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
22639939
Dr. Mousa Khadada
22666300
Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan
25728004
Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra
25355515
Dr. Mobarak Aldoub
24726446
Dr Nasser Behbehani
25654300/3
info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com
Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman
3729596/3729581
Neurologists 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
Kaizen center 25716707
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
Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688
22545171
Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92
KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT
Fintas
Al-Nuzha
Modern Jahra Madina Munawara
22451082
24710044
24810598
Jahra
20 °C
N.Kheitan
Al-Shuwaikh
23915883 23715414 23726558
32 °C
24719048
22545171
Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd
KUW WAIT A CITY
Al-Omariya
Al-Shohada’a Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan
MIN. REC.
24892674
22418714
Ahmadi
MAX. EXP P.
Firdous
PHONE
Al-Madena
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
Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062
Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677
36
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
LIFESTYLE G o s s i p
Brandon Flowers’ teeth rotted away when he was a teenager he Killers frontman admits his perfect white smile now is a result of having to undergo cosmetic dentistry and have veneers fitted because he didn’t look after his gnashers properly when he was younger. He said: “My teeth are fake. I had braces and I didn’t take good care of them. “When it was time to get the braces off, they took pieces of tooth with them. I was 14. “I went to school and people kept trying to tell me I had food in my teeth but they were holes. Eventually I had to get veneers.” Brandon gave up drinking five years ago but that was some years after his worst-ever experience when drunk. He told Q magazine: “Maybe when I was 18 or 19. We used to go to nightclubs and things.”
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Lady Gaga takes tips from Pippa Middleton he pop singer reportedly wants the socialite - sister to the Duchess of Cambridge, who is married to Britain’s Prince William - how to conduct herself with more grace, after reading her new book on party planning, ‘Celebrate’. A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Gaga is obsessed with the royal family and especially with Pippa. “She was so desperate to get her hands on Pippa’s ‘Celebrate’ book she had aides ship it to her via courier to Puerto Rico where she was performing earlier this week.”She hopes it will help her throw better parties and teach her how to be more like a member of the royal family.” Gaga, 26, is also said to be keen to strike up a friendship with Pippa. The source added: “By reading the book Gaga hopes it will give them something to talk about should they ever meet up. “She would love to get pally with Pippa. She’s been
T
intrigued by her since the royal wedding.” Gaga has made no secret of her affections for the royal family, previously saying the late Princess Diana was one of the “most important” people in her life growing up, and writing a song in tribute to her, ‘Princess Die’. Meanwhile, Pippa, 29, has been spotted dating two hunky bankers in the space of a week. She stepped out with Tom Kingston on Thursday, visiting private members club LouLou, days after she was spotted dining with James Matthews, a chief executive of Eden Rock Capital Management Group. Pippa has been single since splitting from long-term boyfriend Alex Loudon last year.
Duchess Catherine is taking horseriding lessons he royal’s husband Prince William would love nothing more than for his spouse to share his love of horses so Catherine - who was known as Kate Middleton before her marriage - has decided to take lessons, even though it is uncomfortable for her to be around them. A source said: “William has always wanted her to ride with him. Horses are a big part of his life. He grew up watching his mother Princess Diana ride and he learned very young. He even had a pony of his own since before he could even ride. “He would love to share his love of horses and horseback riding with Kate and she really wants to make him happy.” Despite her allergies, Catherine is excited about the lessons. The insider added to America’s OK! magazine: “She’s really looking forward to being able to join in all the family activities that involve riding. She feels it’s more than worth it to feel like part of the family.”
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Justin Bieber wants to be a movie star he ‘Beauty And A Beat’ singer is looking at scripts and is interested in trying out action and comedy roles. He said: “I have a few offers after my tour is done. I’m pretty excited, I want to do comedy stuff and some action but I don’t know what exactly. I am a jokestar and I am good at it.” However, he is not planning to give up his successful music career. Justin - whose 3D concert film, ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’, was a worldwide smash - told America’s Star magazine: “I won’t stop making music. I would love to do a song with Stevie Wonder and a duet with Quincy Jones would be crazy.” Justin, 18, recently revealed how he has been in discussions with ‘Boogie Nights’ star Mark Wahlberg about a new movie role.He said: “I’m going to do movies - I’m talking to Mark Wahlberg about my first big movie.”
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Salma Hayek was a prankster in school alma Hayek used to set all the alarm clocks off in the middle of the night at boarding school. The ‘Savages’ star has a mischievous streak in her, which came out when she attended a Catholic girls’ boarding school in Louisiana. She said: “I had a moment or two, like every child does, when I told silly stories to my teachers. But I didn’t do anything really bad. “I look back fondly at that period of my life, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and making all the alarm clocks go off. We just did little things like that.” Salma, 46, hopes her impulsive tendencies rub off on her daughter, Valentina, five, who she has with husband Francois-Henri Pinault but admits she is very strict with her. She added to the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “Definitely, I can see it. It’s funny, I think I am a strict mum sometimes, but I am also quite relaxed. I am fun and I do a lot of things with my daughter. I talk to her and I listen, but I definitely set boundaries, and I think my husband and I have a very good balance, sometimes he is easier and I am harder and vice versa.”
S
Kate Moss
Leonardo DiCaprio and Erin Heatherton split he ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ actor started dating the supermodel in December 2011 but they have now decided to call time on their relationship, according to the New York Post’s Page Six. Leonardo, 37, has previously enjoyed relationships with actress Blake Lively and models Bar Refaeli and Gisele Bundchen but recently insisted he doesn’t think he has met the love of his life yet. Asked about his first love, he said: “My first love? Boy I don’t even remember. I suppose if I’d found my true love I would be married right now wouldn’t I? “ The actor has very
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found her husband on the Internet he 38-year-old supermodel married The Kills rocker Jamie Hince last year and says she only started dating him in 2007 because she had been “Googling men” and liked the look of him when his picture came up. She said: “Jamie’s amazing. Basically, he turned up. I was at my friend’s house in the South of France, and we were Googling men. And I went, ‘Ooh, I like the look of him.’ “A friend set us up. He turned up, and we spent the next four days together. And after we finally woke up, I said, ‘Do you want a bacon sandwich?’ And he just laughed at me. “I didn’t know he was a vegan. We’d been together four days. He wasn’t a vegan for much longer. I did get him with the bacon sandwich.” Kate - who has a 10-year-old daughter, Lila Grace, from her relationship with Jefferson Hack - says she fell in love with The Kills star straight away as they’re so similar. When asked if they fell in love immediately, she told Vanity Fair magazine: “Yeah. He likes to do the same things that I like to do, and he’s got the same sense of humour. He’s really fun. And really grumpy as well. Men are grumpy, aren’t they?” —Bangshowbiz
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specific standards about what he wants in a girlfriend and said he would never date a “pretentious” or “vindictive” woman. He explained: “Pretentious women really turn me off. Vindictive women too. So do opportunistic women. I think what turns me on about a girl is what most men find attractive - which is something genuine about them. Being a good person.” Leonardo was spotted partying with a group of models in New York earlier this week.
Jessica Biel looked like a ‘princess’ at her wedding he 30-year-old actress tied the knot with Justin Timberlake last month and the couple’s friend, 38-year-old talk show host Jimmy Fallon, says the nuptials were “perfect”. He said: “It was just insane. Everything was just beautiful. It was really, really a beautiful night, the perfect temperature.” Jimmy - who is married to Nancy Juvonen - had a great time at the Italian wedding, but admits his emotions got the better of him. He added on Bravo’s ‘Watch What Happens Live’: “Questlove DJed. He’s the best DJ in the world. And I’m just a sucker for weddings. I’m a fun person to invite to a wedding. I dance. I get up. I drink. But then I weep!” Jessica, 30, and Justin, 31, threw a lavish four-day celebratory wedding at the Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia, Southern Italy, on October 19 and Jimmy wasn’t the only one who ended up teary eyed at the ceremony. The ‘Rock Your Body’ hitmaker wrote his new wife an original song to perform at the wedding and Jessica recently admitted that it reduced nearly “everyone” to tears. She said: “That definitely started the tears. Not just for me either, for pretty much everyone who was there”, with Justin adding: “I figured if there was going to be something I was going to be able to offer it was to sing her down the aisle. Grown men were weeping. Hopefully it’s because I didn’t sound bad.”
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
LIFESTYLE
Memories trump
FK Fisher wasn’t the only one, of course, but for many a year she seemed to be toiling alone in the cozy niche of non-cookbook food writing. She led readers on a memorable journey, proving a talented writer could feed a multitude of hungers even if the subject was “only” food. Today, even if she were still alive, one suspects even her fans would be hard-pressed to find Fisher amid the avalanche of memoirs, biographies, investigations, musings and insider whining being churned into print today. Reading about food has become almost as red-hot a subject in America as eating, even among those whose idea of cooking is takeout and whose kitchens serve only as a pass-through to the garage and the SUV. No wonder, then, the majority of authors who spoke on food themes at this past weekend’s Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago were those without a new cookbook in hand. “We’ve become a food-centric country,” said Rux Martin, the executive editor of cookbooks at Houghton Mifflin Co in Boston. “It’s a way broader audience. It’s easier to read about someone’s experience with food than to cook from them. Everyone thinks about food; not everyone is so dedicated they want to spend money on a cookbook.” When Martin began in the book business nearly 20 years ago there was an industry truism that this type of food book just didn’t sell. “We were very cookbook-oriented for a long time and still are in a way,” she said. “It’s almost as if people are recognizing something more important, the heart connection with food.” Of course, you need more than heart in the book business. You need best-sellers. The notion that non-cookbook food books don’t sell has been roundly dispelled by the success in recent years of such bold-face names as chef and television wiseguy Anthony Bourdain (“Kitchen Confidential” and “The Nasty Bits”) and Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl (“Tender to the Bone,” “Comfort Me with Apples,” “Garlic and Sapphires”), and newer faces, such as
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recipes in books
Julie Powell (“Julie & Julia”). It’s the vicariousness of the memoir that’s so appealing to the reader, said Joan Reardon, the author of “Poet of the Appetites,” a biography of MFK Fisher. Readers get to eat or cook along with the author, said Reardon. Martin agreed. “Ruth (Reichl) and other people who are good at this are geniuses at making us identify with them,” she said. “I feel similarly about Jane and Michael Sterns’ book (“Two for the Road”). You can’t help but love these two ... I think the good ones
“It’s terrific to write about yourself and keep a journal, but you need a certain amount of depth,” she said. Martin, too, sees many people called to memoir-writing but not all enjoy success. “A lot of people try to write these books but few actually work,” she said. You need a writer who can really write “sort of unusual in food,” she said - and someone famous enough for people to care about reading their words. “That is the intersection you try to reach,” she said. “There are very few writers who can
expounded on that point in an essay on the role of nostalgia in food writing. “Some memoirs have been straightforward records of the author’s life and his experience of memorable meals, and recipes have been either abundant or completely absent,” she wrote. “In the best of these memoirs, however, the recipes have become an extension of the text. They function as a kind of chart of the emotions evoked by meals or certain moments frozen in time.” Readers are hungry for information
Lynn Andriani, a senior editor at Publisher’s Weekly who served until recently as the Manhattan-based magazine’s book-review editor, said that food is “finally being looked at through a cultural sort of spectrum in a way it wasn’t before.” Andriani, who just came from lunch with a woman finishing up her master’s degree in food studies from New York University, said that food has never been so mainstream in American culture. “People who like to cook like to read,”
really get to you. There are a million sparks of recognition when you read a really good writer.” The commercial success of the food memoir also has sparked much interest among would-be diarists looking to cash in. Yet Antonia Allegra, the author and writing coach based in St Helena, Calif, sees another element at work, particularly among the younger generation. “It’s another form of navel gazing, another way of expressing the self,” she said. Allegra is skeptical at how successful such memoirs can be. She believes one needs experience in traveling and working with food to do it right.
bring it home and say, ‘This is what food does to me.’” The definition of what food does do, to writer and reader alike, has been steadily expanding. Martin recalled that cookbooks published more than 40 years ago often consisted of recipes and little else. Then it became important to put recipes into some sort of context, with headnotes that explained the dishes becoming necessary components to a book. In a way, today’s non-cookbook food book is becoming one giant headnote. Reardon, for example, noted how Reichl uses recipes almost in lieu of illustrations or photographs in her books. Reardon
beyond recipes, said Peter Perez, cookbook marketing manager for Chronicle Books in San Francisco. “People want to know more about what they’re eating,” he said. “It’s trickling beyond people picking up a $20 cookbook. People say, ‘I want to learn where my food is grown.’ “I’m looking at it as a more intellectual reader audience,” Perez added, noting that many of the book proposals being shopped around to publishers would likely have been shunted off to a university press 10 years ago. “It would have been seen as too academic or too controversial,” he said. “Food is just in the news all the time now.”
Allegra said. “You hear of people who buy recipe books to put by their bedside, and then you hear of people who read memoirs like they were novels.” One of her favorites is “The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life,” by the author of “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini,” among other works. “There are long headnotes but he is such a good writer I enjoyed reading it,” Allegra said. “That literary writers are dipping their toes into food writing tells me something.” —MCT
Seoul Lantern Festival
Porsche design revs up popular Adidas classics with FW12 range n Fall/Winter 2012, Adidas Originals is bringing classic driving style to the street with the new Porsche collection. The new collection is inspired by the iconic elements of Porsche racing and driving as well as the contemporary design and technology the brand is known for. The collaboration with Porsche for FW12 is the first time that an apparel range will appear alongside the already iconic footwear range. The apparel, inspired by the Paddock Club and the Pitwalk includes unique versions of classic Adidas favourites such as the track top, polo shirt and track pants and chinos. Much of the footwear has been inspired by Porsche engines, tyres and model badges with sleek silhouettes and black, white and red detailing. A key piece for this range is Porsche 917 Shoe which takes its cues from the Porsche’s rear engine, with a perforated rubber heel. The distinctive Porsche badge sits on the midsole while another Porsche 917 badge is on the heel patch. This design boasts a combination
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of fabrics including white leather and patent with three strips and splashes of red on the tongue, giving it a sporty look. The apparel also plays homage to the popular Porsche models and the items are sleek and sporty in design. The iconic Adidas track top gets a sleek upgrade with the 917 Track Top, influenced by the 917 that won Le Mans in 1970 and bears its logo on the chest and left arm. The classic Adidas polo shirt has been updated with engineered stripes and the Porsche 917 logo on the chest for a more refined casual look. Similarly the track pants have also had a redesign and now feature a Porsche 917 and Porsche badge just below the right pocket with bold logo on the back. Never missing a detail, the thick drawstring also features antique gold aglets sporting the words ‘original driving.’ The new Porsche collection by Adidas Originals is now available at Adidas Originals stores in Kuwait as well as select Adidas Performance stores across the region.
Lanterns are displayed as part of the Seoul Lantern Festival, along Cheonggye stream in Seoul, South Korea,. About 35,000 lanterns are displayed during the festival, the organizer said. —AP
Music: From and for devotion By Sunil Cherian hen Peter Cheranelloor, a job-searching Industrial Training Institute diploma holder, met a laity counselor at Potta Monastery 20 years ago, he did not have any vision that the songs he would compose later would be inevitable for devotional functions from marriage ceremonies to praise and worship services. The layman counselor advised a musically talented Peter to devout his time for God. Now at 39, he has 1,500 songs to his credit and a recording studio, Sneham Digital, at Palarivattom, Ernakulam. Having no academic music background, Peter is a travelling music minister too, singing and presenting devotional music shows, along with his childhood companion Dominic Nixon, a diploma holder in Indian Classical music. The duo was in Kuwait as part of the CSI program over the weekend. “Dominic Nixon was the authority for me to clear my doubts in music”, Peter said. But after college days the duo parted. Peter to recording studios and Nixon to concert stages. Nixon was busier than Peter who waited for chances to happen. “It was a Muslim named Jaleel who helped me to release my first album”, Peter said. That time Peter was meeting his expenses with Rs 150 (KD 1) per week the Potta Monastery was offering him. That amount was equivalent to the pension his widowed mother was getting after his ex-military father died of liver cirrhosis. His mother used the pension amount, Rs 150 per month, to feed Peter
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and his three siblings. Now as a music preacher, Peter would quote the examples of his father and mother as if to remind the audience that every Good Friday has an Easter. Music direction is still a wonder to Peter who
ing with lyricists like Fr Joseph Pampackal and Baby John Kalayanthani and now faded music industrialist Johny Sagariga. When concert events faded and assured no guarantee, Nixon remembered his old pal Peter. And like in the parable of the prodigal son, Peter
attributes that as God-given. When Peter was initiated to music direction, Peter said, he remembered his school music teacher Rajan Antony, a handicapped man of simplicity whose life reflected in his soulful music. Peter added the electronic touch to the melodies to create devotional hits that became popular ringtones and buzzer tones. Many hits were born after associat-
received him and associated him in the music ministry. For Nixon, that is a journey from the material world to the spiritual world. And for Peter, it is taking spirituality into the world.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
lifestyle
Stories of hope and intense drama highlight DTFF’s Arab Film Competition
Asham - A Man Called Hope
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he fourth Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), the annual cultural event organised by Doha Film Institute (DFI) to be held from November 17 to 24, 2012, presents established and emerging faces of Arab cinema in its Arab Film Competition line-up. The Arab Film Competition this year makes a marked evolution in the cinematic sensibilities and approaches of the region’s filmmakers, representing Egypt, Qatar, Tunisia, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, Palestine, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Through their films marked by a distinctive cinematic style, they address issues that were seldom tackled before such as freedom of political expression, family and love stories set amidst strife, and the searing tales of fighters in post-revolution nations. The centerpiece of DTFF, the Arab Film Competition has a total of 27 films including seven documentaries, seven narrative features and 13 shorts from 10 Arab countries including first time entries to the competition from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Arab Film Competition for narrative features and documentaries has five world premieres and two international premieres; the Arab Short Film Competition has eight world and international premieres.
Playground Chronicles Contemporary World Cinema and Special Screenings. This year, DTFF provides audiences a comprehensive and enriching cultural experience with new screening venues in Doha. Indoor and outdoor screenings will take place at Katara Cultural Village, Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA), and Souq Waqif. Narrative Asham: A Man Called Hope (Asham) Director: Maggie M Morgan World Premiere | Feature Narrative | Egypt| 2012 The restlessness of Cairo during the lead-up to the 25 January Revolution provides the backdrop for the stories of six couples at different stages of romantic involvement. Linking these tales of aspiration, disappointment and joy is Asham, a street peddler whose optimism about a better future reflects the hopes of Egpyt. Die Welt Director: Karim Alexander Pitstra World Premiere |Feature Narrative |Netherlands | 2012 For Abdallah and many Tunisians, Europe represents a land where freedom and riches are easily obtained - and it seems closer than ever since he met a vacationing Dutch woman in a nightclub. ‘Die Welt’ explores the existential yearnings of a young, optimistic man, and the hopes and dreams of the people of North Africa. God’s Horses (Les chevaux de Dieu) Director: Nabil Ayouch MENA Premiere | Feature Narrative |Morocco | 2012 Inspired by terrorist attacks in Casablanca in 2003, ‘God’s Horses’ follows two young men over a 10-year period, examining the events that gradually draw them from innocent youthful excitement toward terrorism and, ultimately, sacrifice. The film was a huge success in its native Morocco and has won international critical acclaim.
Fidai The films that make their world premiere in the Arab Film Competition include feature films: Asham: A Man Called Hope; Playground Chronicles; Die Welt and Goodbye Morocco; and the documentary O My Body!. The World premieres in the short film competition section include: Ismail, Sanctity, The Forgotten, The Wall, Bidoon and Tariq. Issa Bin Mohammed Al-Mohannadi, DTFF Vice Chair said: “The most fascinating aspect of this year’s Arab Film Competition selection is their thematic brilliance and attention to cinematic detailing. Bringing together works by renowned auteurs as well as high-calibre debutants, the selection is a clear statement on how Arab cinema has evolved, particularly after the events of the Arab Spring. The Arab film competition serves as a stepping-stone for regional filmmakers to showcase their creativity to the global community and complements our efforts to support the development of a credible regional film industry.” Auteurs competing for top honours include Merzak Allouache, Tahani Rached, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, Nabil Ayouch and Nadir Mokneche. Representing the emerging face of Arab cinema, directors such as Hanan Abdalla, Maggie M Morgan, Karim Alexander Pitstra, Brahim Fritah, Tamara Stepanyan and Damien Ounouri will share the spotlight with established names. Their films present two uniquely different perspectives from the region, highlighting classical works and innovative approaches with several subject matters. DTFF’s Arab Film Competition also highlights the strong inroads being made by Arab female filmmakers with 10 films, more than one third of the total selection, portraying the struggles, aspirations, achievements and hopes of women across the region. To evaluate the impact of the Arab Spring on the region’s cinema, DTFF will also host a panel discussion on ‘Emerging Cinema of Change.’ Chief Arab Programmer Hania Mroue, who works closely with Chadi Zeneddine, Resident Filmmaker and Programmer, to curate the programme for the Arab Film Competition, explained: “Today’s filmmakers are more confident, approaching subject matters that were rarely explored earlier, and present them in compelling styles that highlight the strong creative standards of the region’s talent.” With prize money of over $440,000, the best feature narrative and documentary will each receive prize money of $100,000. An award of $50,000 will be awarded to the best directors in both categories. A Best Performance Award of $15,000 will be presented in the Feature Narrative competition. The Best Short film will receive $10,000 and a development prize of up to $10,000. With an expanded Festival format this year, DTFF 2012 will showcase over 87 films from across the globe under distinct themed categories including Arab Film Competition, Made in Qatar,
Blue Dive (Al-Lawn Al-Azraq) Director: Mostafa Youssef MENA Premiere | Short Narrative | Egypt | 2011 Selim, a diver bewitched by the ocean, lays dying in a hospital bed. Mokhtar, a schizophrenic painter, contemplates the colour of death. Dalia, a nurse, remembers her father’s drowning. Set in Alexandria, ‘Blue Dive’ is the story of a brief encounter encompassing death and the beauty and danger of the sea.
Goodbye Morocco Director: Mokneche World Premiere | Feature Narrative |France, Belgium | 2012 When ancient Christian ruins are discovered beneath the construction site she oversees, Dounia sees an easy solution to all her problems. When a tragic accident threatens the success of her plan, she abandons her scruples in a selfish attempt to remodel her life, destroying everything she loves in the process. Playground Chronicles (Chroniques d’une cour de recre) Director: Brahim Fritah MENA Premiere | Feature Narrative | France, Qatar | 2012 In France in the summer of 1980, 10-year-old Brahim is becoming aware of the complexities of the world around him. By setting the simple trials and jubilations of youth against a backdrop of social turmoil, the director imagines what childhood treasures Brahim will take with him into the future. Professor (Al-Oustadh) Director: Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud International Premiere | Feature Narrative | Tunisia, France, Qatar | 2012 When the student with whom he has been having an extramarital affair is jailed for her political views, a professor working for the Tunisian government finds his career and his family life in jeopardy. ‘Professor’ is a vigorous examination of the state of human rights in Tunisia during the 70s. The Repentant (Le Repenti) Director: Merzak Allouache MENA Premiere | Feature Narrative | Algeria, France | 2012 The touching story of Rashid, a young jihadist who leaves his mountain hideout to return home in an attempt to resume a normal life. With ‘The Repentant’, Algerian director Merzak Allouache delves into his nation’s ‘black decade’, taking a close look at the lingering effects of extremism and civil war. Documentary A Deep Long Breath (Nafass Taweel) Director: Tahani Rached International Premiere | Feature Documentary | Egypt, Qatar | 2012 In a mere 18 days, the recent upset of power in Egypt brought about the end of dictatorship, and Egyptians began to remake their nation. What are their lives like as they take on the mantle of democracy? This film invites us to share their experiences during their revolution-in-progress. Embers Director: Tamara Stepanyan MENA Premiere | Feature Documentary | Lebanon, Qatar, Armenia | 2012 ‘Embers’ is a touching tribute to the memory of the filmmaker’s grandmother - also named Tamara - through conversations with her elderly circle of friends in her hometown. Their memories and souvenirs of this beloved woman close a gap between past and present, and uncover some of the history
The Forgotten (Al-Mansiyun) Director: Ehab Tarabieh World Premiere | Short Narrative | Syria, Qatar | 2012 Mustafa steals across the Israeli border with the help of a local smuggler. This is a one-way trip for Mustafa as he contemplates the end of his life. Forty-five years ago, he was forced from his home in the Golan Heights; his attempt to return is confounded by his inability to remember where he is going.
Omar Galato of post-war Armenia. Fidai Director: Damien Ounouri MENA Premiere |Feature Documentary | Algeria, France, United Kingdom, Kuwait, China, Qatar, Germany | 2012 The struggle for Algeria’s independence was fought by unnamed fighters whose selfless acts threw off more than a century of oppressive colonial rule. El Hadi, the filmmaker’s great uncle, is one such unsung hero. Here, he illuminates the actions of revolutionaries during one of the world’s most inspiring battles for freedom. In the Shadow of a Man (Zoll Ragel) Director: Hanan Abdalla Middle East Premiere | Feature Documentary | Egypt | 2011 New freedoms have recently come to the citizens of Egypt, but what is it like to be a woman in that nation today? Through intimate conversations, four women from different backgrounds are transformed into unique, authentic figures who imprint themselves on our memories as they go through their own personal revolutions. The Lebanese Rocket Society Directors: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige MENA Premiere | Feature Documentary | Lebanon, France, Qatar | 2012 In the 60s, Lebanon launched the first Middle Eastern rocket, and the nation celebrated its involvement in the international space race. In bringing this forgotten episode to light, this film revives Arab dreams buried since the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967 - a reflection of the reawakening of hopes in the wake of the Arab Spring. O My Body! (O Mon Corps!) Laurent Ait Benalla
World Premiere | Feature Documentary | France, Qatar | 2012 Conceived as a bridge between Mediterranean cultures, choreographer Abou Lagraa’s ‘Nya’ is the inaugural work of Algeria’s first contemporary dance troupe. On the eve of its world premiere in Algiers, ‘O My Body’ examines the piece’s evolution and the former hip-hop dancers’ discovery of new ways to use their bodies. Rafea: Solar Mama Directors: Jehane Noujaim, Mona Eldaief MENA Premiere | Feature Documentary | United States of America, Denmark, Jordan | 2012 Rafea, a Jordanian Bedouin mother, leaves her desert home to travel to India to attend the Barefoot College, which trains women in the technology of solar energy. This education will mean a better life for her family and the village but will traditional values prevent her success? Arab Short Film Competition: Film Program A Day in 1959 Director: Nadim Tabet International Premeire | Short Narrative | Lebanon | 2012 Lebanon, 1959. An upper-class couple and their friend set out for a picnic by the river. En route, they pick up a daily worker and the unexpected events that follow challenge the comfortable sweetness of their lives. The Wall (Al Hayt) Director: Odette Makhlouf Mouarkech MENA Premiere | Short Narrative | Lebanon, Qatar | 2012 In Beirut during the civil war, Odette Makhlouf Mouarkech’s family would hide in Mary’s house, which was known to be the safest in the neighbourhood because of its indestructible living-room wall. Now, the wall is being removed.
Int’l film professionals to pick winners
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oha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), the annual cultural celebration of Doha Film Institute (DFI), has announced the juries to select the winners of the Arab Film Competition, the only competition at any regional film festival dedicated wholly to honouring Arab cinema talent. The members of the four juries, drawn from across the world, include internationally acclaimed film professionals, authors and cultural thought leaders. They will evaluate the Arab Film Competition’s three segments - Feature Narrative, Feature Documentary and Short Film as well as the ‘Made in Qatar’ segment of the festival, devoted to films made by Qatar-based talent. The awards have total prize money of over $440,000. The Feature Narrative jury will be headed by renowned Tunisian actress Hend Sabry (The Yacoubian Building, Whatever Lola Wants and Asmaa). The other jury members are: Indian director Ashutoush Gowarikar (Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar); Dr Emad Amralla Sultan, Deputy General Manager of Cultural Affairs of Katara Cultural Village; renowned Turkish filmmaker Yesim Ustaoglu (The Trace, Journey to the Sun); and critically acclaimed Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul, who writes under the pen-name Yasmina Khadra (The Swallows of Kabul, The Attack). The jury for Documentary Narrative comprises: Syrian documentary filmmaker, producer, and scriptwriter Hala Al-Abdalla (I Am the One Who Takes Flowers to Her Grave), Qatari director Hafiz Ali Ali (The Oryx Return, Scents of Shadows, Cab Driver), and renowned Iranian artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat (Women Without Men). The short films at the competition will be evaluated by Joana Hadjithomas, Tahani Rached, and Nadir Mokneche. Appraising the ‘Made in Qatar’ showcase,
which features the largest line-up yet this year with 19 films including 15 World Premieres, are: acclaimed Qatari author Waded Al-Kuwairi; Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker, Haifaa Al-Mansour (Women Without Shadows); and founder of the Qatar Fine Arts Society and renowned visual artist Faraj Daham. Abdulaziz Al-Khater, Chief Executive Officer, Doha Film Institute, said: “We are thankful to the jury members, coming from around the world, to evaluate our Arab Film Competition entries. The jury members will evaluate the films to international standards thus ensuring that our films are benchmarked against the best. We are setting the bar high to ensure that the finest Arab filmmaking talent get the due recognition and international recognition through the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.” This year, Doha Tribeca Film Festival will feature over 87 movies from 34 countries, with numerous nations making their debut at the Festival through the Arab Film Competition. The fourth edition will open with Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. This year, the Festival has expanded its scope to eight days, providing audiences a comprehensive and enriching cultural experience with new screening venues in Doha. Indoor and outdoor screenings will take place at Katara Cultural Village, Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA), and Souq Waqif. Public participation will be central with the Festival hosting an array of large community events, including Family Day, as well as panel discussions, networking events and educational filmmaking programmes including Doha Talks and Doha Projects. The events and program at the fourth Doha Tribeca Film Festival underscores Doha Film Institute’s mandate to provide audiences with opportunities for education and entertainment in important community spaces.
Bidoon Director: Mohammed Al-Ibrahim World Premiere | Short Narrative | Qatar | 2012 Aziz and Rana, two Qatar Foundation students of different social standing, have a secret love. When they decide they want to take their commitment to another level and get married, their families object to the proposed union. Now, Aziz must decide on his next step. The Tunnel (Damousse) Director: Karim Souaki International Premiere | Short Narrative | Tunisia, Qatar | 2012 A couple mourn the tragic loss of a child. Isolated in the harsh conditions of the desert landscape, they try to overcome the pain and come to terms with their grief. A story of two solitary quests for reconciliation and survival. Ismail Director: Nora Alsharif World Premiere | Short Narrative | Jordan, Palestine, United Kingdom, Qatar | 2012 A young Palestinian living in a refugee camp in 1949 struggles to escape imminent death when he and his little brother stray into a minefield. L’Mrayet Director: Nadia Rais MENA Premiere | Short Narrative |Tunisia | 2011 Under Tunisia’s totalitarian regime that began in 1987, Boum Mrayet is born into a world where people wear glasses from birth. As an adult, he is hired by a firm that specialises in writing the future. Maqloubeh Director: Nicolas Damuni MENA Premiere | Short Narrative | Egypt, France, Palestine | 2012 Five students who share an apartment in Ramallah are stuck inside due to the curfew. To kill time, they decide to make ‘maqloubeh’, a regional Palestinian dish. They disagree over the ingredients, but finally find common ground and finish their preparations, when an unexpected guest interrupts them. Pipe Dreams Director: Ali Cherri MENA Premiere |Short Documentary | Lebanon, France |2012 Two moments in the history of contemporary Syria that echo the situation across all Arab countries: a memorable phone call between Syrian cosmonaut Muhammed Faris and late Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad, and the removal of a statue of AlAssad by today’s Syrian government to prevent its destruction by demonstrators. Sanctity Director: Ahd Kamel World Premiere| Short Narrative | Saudi Arabia | 2012 Areej, a pregnant, young Saudi widow, will endure anything to protect her unborn child. Her brother-in-law wants to marry her, and she is sheltering a runaway young man in her home. A bold story about going against social customs, and trying to establish a friendship between men and women in a community that insists on gender segregation. Tariq Director: Alaa Mosbah World Premiere | Short Narrative | Egypt, Qatar | 2012 Tariq, a teenager, wants to show his best friend that he is a man, but his mother gets in his way. When They Slept (Qands ils dormant) Director: Maryam Touzani Gulf Premiere |Short Narrative | Morocco | 2012 Amina, a young widowed mother, takes care of her family with the precious help of her father. Lively and vigorous, the old man has a very special relationship with Sara, his youngest granddaughter, a sensitive and mischievous eight year old who will never let anything come between her grandfather and herself.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
lifestyle
A picture shows Australian singer Kylie Minogue performing at Yas Island as part of concerts on the sidelines of the Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi late on November 2, 2012. — AFP
James Bond over the years: The best and worst B
oth as a spy and a film-series brand, James Bond is invincible. The franchise, celebrating its 50th anniversary with this week’s US release of “Skyfall,” is the longest-lived in movie history. Adjusting for inflation, it’s also the most lucrative. The Bond formula of exotic locales, exquisite women, elegant tailoring and extreme danger spawned scads of imitators, but outlasted them all through sheer evolutionary agility. The films regained their youth and topicality with each new leading man, from “Dr No’s” echoes of the Cuban missile crisis to “Skyfall’s” cyber-terrorism. That potent cocktail of old and new enables Bond to span a multitude of periods, locales and adversaries. Jason Bourne, John McClane or Ethan Hunt could never fit as smoothly in 1962 Jamaica and 2012 Shanghai. Bond’s wide appeal began with Ian Fleming’s Cold War spy novels, which cast his hero as a lethal mix of British gentleman and blunt instrument. Car y Grant was approached to take the role. Fleming was displeased when Sean Connery was cast, calling him “an overdeveloped stunt man.” But as audiences embraced Connery, the novelist was won over. In later books, Fleming even gave 007 a partly Scots ancestry. In the years since, Bond has matured from a gadgetequipped action figure to a three-dimensional character. M has morphed from Bernard Lee to Judi Dench. The more times change, the more the iconic spy endures. Though his monomaniacal enemies hoped to control the world, it’s Bond who achieved global domination. BONDS • Best Bond: Sean Connery and Daniel Craig Six actors have played Ian Fleming’s lethal spy in the Eon Productions films. The best? It’s a tie between the man who launched the series and the man who rescued it. Sean Connery and Daniel Craig capture Bond’s ruthless cruelty and cold charisma. Each knows that even an iconic role calls for some actual acting and when the scene calls for it they get deep in the game. And both men have a potent physical presence. They look as if they could flatten an adversary without help from one of Q’s chloroform-emitting fountain pens. Fate dealt each actor an advantage in this sweepstakes. Connery established the Bond brand, setting the competi-
his hotel room, showers and offers herself to the irresistible spy (Roger Moore, 54 and looking it). Fortunately, 007 refuses, making Bibi the only girl to be chased out of bed by James Bond.
tive bar high for those following him. George Lazenby was more athletic, Timothy Dalton brought a classical actor’s dour focus to the part, Pierce Brosnan had the best feel for devil-may-care humor. But they just weren’t Connery. Craig’s casting ignited a firestorm of controversy (A blond Bond? Unthinkable!), but his brooding, muscular portrayal proved his critics wrong. His debut, the ambitious series reboot “Casino Royale,” introduced a stripped-down, modern, more thoughtful style to the franchise. Craig plays a spy who feels remorse when colleagues die, who sometimes blinks before he pulls the trigger, and struggles with his violent impulses. He’s a Bond who can deliver a crisp right cross, and a bruising emotional wallop. And he doesn’t give a damn if his martini is shaken or stirred. • Worst Bond: Roger Moore Roger Moore is the longest-running 007 to date, and the least suited to the role. More lounge lizard than cobra, incompetent in action scenes, Moore faced lightweight, forgettable villains, shifting the films’ tone from drama with a dash of irony to self-mockery. Hard to decide if Moore’s lowest point was donning a clown disguise or his drowsy, Austin Powers-quality sexytime with Grace Jones in “A View to a Kill.” VILLAINS • Best villain: Auric Goldfinger He’s got the best henchman (silent, hat-flinging Oddjob), the coolest methods for snuffing enemies (paint them gold, crush them in a car-smasher), the clearest motivation (simple greed) and the greatest one-liners (“You expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”). German actor Gert Frobe spoke minimal English when he took the part, but his performance is full-bodied, by turns affable and chilling. And his laser-beam vasectomy machine? Sheer genius. • Worst villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld The ultra-diabolical villain of a half-dozen Bond films, overplayed to the hammy hilt by Telly Savalas, Charles Gray and Donald Pleasence. Inspired Mike Myers’ Dr Evil. Having a white cat, a Mao jacket and a secret volcano base full of minions in orange jumpsuits is not the same as having a personality.
Judi Dench stars in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure “Skyfall.” — MCT GIRLS • Best Bond Girl: Honey Ryder The central image of the original Bond movie isn’t the hero fighting Dr No, or production designer Ken Adam’s striking, futuristic secret base. It’s surf-drenched Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) striding the Caribbean beach in her white bikini, all lips and stare and a big Bowie knife strapped to her thigh. She set the kiss-kiss-bang-bang template for the series’ women. They offered more in the way of va-va-voom than coherence or character development, yet through their confidence and comfort with their sexuality, they represented a new kind of female freedom. Honey was presented as a competent, resourceful, courageous, even dangerous woman, and her look became a classic pop-culture reference. Her appearance at the height of the Playboy era was rather tame, yet in a 2003 British TV opinion poll it was voted the sexiest moment in screen history. Andress became an instant sensation and went on to become one of the most photographed women of her time. • Worst Bond Girl: Bibi Dahl In “For Your Eyes Only,” this nymphet skating star (LynnHolly Johnson, 22) meets Bond and promptly breaks into
BAD GIRLS • Best Bad Girl: Rosa Klebb Frumpy Rosa Klebb, in “From Russia With Love” is the most formidable femme fatale of them all, no subordinate but the main villain of the piece. Played by Austrian actress Lotte Lenya, she is a genuine sadist. She tests Red Grant (Robert Shaw), the assassin chosen to kill Bond, by punching him in the stomach with brass knuckles, remarking coolly, “He seems fit enough.” Ultimately she goes after 007 herself, slashing at him with a shoe with a poisoned dagger in the toe. Lenya said that when she met people even years later, they looked at her shoes first. • Worst Bad Girl: May Day Campy villain Grace Jones fails to energize “A View to a Kill.” The pop diva’s reedlike physique makes May’s superhuman strength a cartoonish absurdity, and her amorous grappling with Roger Moore scarred a generation of moviegoers. GADGETS • Best gadget: Aston Martin DB5 The ultimate tricked-out ride. Accessories include rotating license plates, machine guns behind lowering headlights and passenger ejector seat. The dashboard mapping device predicted modern GPS systems, its rotating tireslashers inspired the craze for spinny hubcaps, and its ability to lay down a trail of oil and smoke predated the Yugo by 20 years. • Worst: Crocodile mini-submarine Plenty of competition here. There’s the missile-firing boombox from “The Living Daylights” (“a ghetto blaster,” Q explains). The invisible car from “Die Another Day.” The gondola/ hovercraft in “Moonraker” that elicits a double-take from a nearby pigeon. But nothing tops the croco-boat Bond uses to infiltrate Kamal Khan’s palace. Because if you want to escape notice, the best way is to motor up in an inert reptile. — MCT
Firefighters get primer in movie pyrotechnics F
ive soldiers dressed in camouflage and carrying machine guns took cover behind a stack of wooden pallets. One yelled “incoming” and a few seconds later a large explosion ignited behind them, setting off a ball of flame rising 30 feet high. The soldiers fell to the ground from the force of the blast, a concoction of black powder and gasoline. The scene was one of many pyrotechnic stunts performed last week at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center for a crowd of Southern California firefighters attending a
The State Fire Marshall held a three-day class to educate fire inspectors about the use of explosives on film sets. — MCT
three-day course on how to become a certified motion picture and television safety officer. The State Fire Marshal’s office launched the program two decades ago to educate local fire department officials about potential hazards on film sets - including faulty wiring, blocked exits and flammable materials - and how pyrotechnic specialists and stunt performers do their jobs. “We’re really trying to educate the local fire service as far as the movie industry way of doing things that are out of the norm,” said Cindy Moore, deputy state fire marshal, who added that most cities and counties in California require fire safety officers on sets when explosives or pyrotechnics are used. “We want to make them feel comfortable with things they are not going to see every day, so when something is going sideways, they can make it a safe environment,” Moore said. The goal of the program is to create more dialogue between the film industry and fire departments that once eyed each other warily. The suspicions deepened after an infamous helicopter crash in 1982 during the filming of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” killed actor Vic Morrow and two child actors. The tragedy raised questions about the level of safety oversight on movie sets and prompted local fire departments to introduce tougher safety rules for film crews. Some producers balked at the new requirements and
took their productions out of state. After the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also stepped up its inspections of film sets and imposed new licensing requirements for people storing and transporting explosives. State fire officials say the training program, which is offered several times a year throughout the state, is an attempt to strike a balance between ensuring compliance with fire and safety rules while also allowing film crews to do their jobs. Film industry officials tout the course as an asset. “Most other states don’t have this type of program,” said Amy Lemisch, executive director of the California Film Commission, which participates in the program. “It adds to California’s competitive advantage because we have the expertise to perform these stunts and special effects safely.” Stunt coordinator Joe Ordaz, who led the stunt demonstration in Burbank, said attitudes toward fire inspectors have changed among his colleagues. “When I first got into this business, I was brought up to avoid the fire marshal - they were the bad guys,” said Ordaz, who has performed stunts for such TV shows as “Dexter” and big action movies including “Fast & Furious.” “Today, firemen and stuntmen - we’re the best of friends,” he said. “From my perspective, the more eyes we have on the set the better, so we’re all on the same page.” —MCT
This photo shows Ilaria Venturini Fendi, a member of the famous fashion family, posing with bags from her Carmina Campus fashion project that produces bags from repurposed materials in Dallas. — AP
Young Fendi branches out with recycled material
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laria Venturini Fendi has translated the same attention to detail and craftsmanship she learned working over the years in her famous family’s Italian fashion business to her own line of bags that feature repurposed items including everything from old light switch plates to leather seats from cars once used in crash tests. “What I did was simply to add my already existing know-how I had from my family to my new vision of the fashion industry,” said Venturini Fendi, who was in Dallas last week as part of an Italian Fashion Week featuring runway shows and receptions that also included an
Italian Fashion Expo at the Dallas Market Center with more than 100 Italian designers, including Venturini Fendi, showcasing their collections. Her Carmina Campus bags are each different, made from “only reusable materials, or unused but out of production, which give a second life.” As Venturini Fendi puts it, she “grew up in fashion.” Her grandparents, Edoardo and Adele Fendi, founded the Rome-based design house in 1925. The house was then inherited by the five Fendi sisters, including Venturini Fendi’s mother Anna, before being taken over in 2001 by French conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. —AP
Stories of hope highlight DTFF’s Arab Film Competit
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012
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Owner Hiroko Fujikawa shows off her nail design inspired by the Prada Fall/Winter collection 2012, at MARS The Salon in West Hollywood, California. —MCT
Nail art niche to hether it’s tiny Union Jacks, tuxedos, stripes, crystal flowers or caviar pearls, nail art has gone mainstream. No longer relegated to the subculture sidelines or the subject of mockery, nail art has become an everyday indulgence, and not just for flamboyant pop stars like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga. It’s been sported by Britain’s Princess Eugenie, worn to the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and shown up at the Golden Globe Awards. “Nail art has been around for years, but in kitschy ways, like a Santa Claus or a Christmas tree on your pinky nail,” says Suzi WeissFischmann, creative director of OPI. “But in the last five years, the emphasis on nail design has been huge. ... Nails are an accessory.” Nail art is part of a larger trend of individualized selfexpression that includes tattooing, body piercing and wild, temporary hair color - all of which is being driven in no small part by our cultural compulsion to share-and-compare on YouTube, blogs and social media. Welcome to the era of what might be called Kustom Beauty, doing for the individual what the Southern California Kustom Kulture movement did for jazzy hot rods. “Nail art has almost crept into the mainstream a couple of times,” says Linda Wells, editor in chief of Allure magazine. “The closest call came when hip-hop artists Mary J Blige and Missy Elliott were doing nail art with crazy designs like dollar bills and designer logos in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But then it disappeared.” Now it’s not only back, it’s booming. As of June 10, consumer spending on nail products
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and accessories at the mass-market level had increased 23 percent over the previous year to more than $1 billion, according to Symphony IRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm. And the number of nail salons nationwide doubled between 1997 and 2007. The boom is due in part to nail technology advances. “People can do this at home,” Wells says. “It doesn’t require going to the salon for four hours. Maybe you can’t do Katy Perry’s 3-D flowers at home, but you can do other things. Sally Hanson has stick-ons that look good because they are not stickers, they are made of nail lacquer, and they are flexible.” OPI recently released its first nail decals. Called OPI Pure Lacquer Nail Apps, they come in 14 designs, including rattlesnake, lace and fishnet prints, for $11.95 per package. Each kit contains 16 pre-cut appliques, which require only trimming once they are stuck on the nails. Gel-color manicures, which are baked on using UV light and last two to three times longer than a regular manicure, allow for long-lasting decoration, including gradated glitter and stripes, as well as crystal and charm appliques. The fashion world has embraced - and stoked the nail art trend. Polish and cosmetics brands partner with fashion designers to create new colors and patterns that are presented during the fashion labels’ runway shows in global style capitals such as Milan, Italy; Paris; and New York. At New York Fashion Week in February, for instance, MAC cosmetics created custom velvetflocked nail tips for the Ruffian presentation. For the Kate Spade show, nail pro Deborah
Lippmann designed polka dot nail art. And, front-row regular, blogger and model Alexa Chung wowed the fashion crowd with the Egyptian-style hieroglyphic eyeballs painted on her nails. YouTube how-to videos instantly sprang up teaching people how to get the look. “Years ago, you never used to see nail polish on the runways,” Weiss-Fischmann says. “And now, designers like Marc Jacobs and Jason Wu want nail designs to match certain looks, like painting the nail moon a different color or stripes, two toning or gradation.” Celebrities have also been influential in popularizing nail art. Peacockish pop singers like Minaj and Lady Gaga seem to be out to see who can sport the most outrageous manicures. For the “Born This Way” video, Japanese-born, New York-based nail artist Aya Fukuda filed Gaga’s talons to sharp points, polished them blood red and decorated them with Gothic-looking jet black Swarovski crystals and silver hardware. But the trend isn’t just for teen fangirls. “I’m surprised at how women in their 30s and 40s are doing this,” Wells says. “It’s a playful thing and the beauty of it is that it can be taken off tomorrow. It’s something you really can do for an evening.” A lot of the recent creative inspiration has come from Japan, where there are numerous nail art magazines and competitions. “It’s 3D things and bar codes, gold glitter on the tips, nothing is off-limits,” says Wells, who has yet to jump on the nail art bandwagon, being a pale pink Essie Mademoiselle woman herself. “The fascination with highly decorative things, with miniaturization of detail - that has finally come
here.” The Tokyo-based Mars salon recently opened its first US location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, offering high-end gel manicures starting at $80, along with custom nail art in a luxury setting. Each customer has a private room, with a television, where two technicians work at one time. It’s not uncommon for clients to come in with clothing they want their nails to match. One woman brought in a picture of a beaded Diane von Furstenberg top. The technicians were able to mimic the color and 3-D nature of the floral beading in the nail design. “Later, Diane (von Furstenberg) tweeted about it,” says Hiroko Fujikawa, the owner of Mars. Chicago-based artist Dzine was so inspired by the creativity that goes into nail art designs and the sense of community at salons that he wrote “Nailed: The History of Nail Culture and DZine,” published last year by Standard Press/Damiani. The book covers the history of nail adornment all the way back to the Ming dynasty and features commissioned photography of extraordinary contemporary nail art from around the world. A selection of photographs from Dzine’s book is scheduled to be on view beginning in September at Subliminal Projects gallery in LA. One of the designs in the book features miniature sculpted camping paraphernalia (a tent, a bonfire) on each nail, another 3-D flowers “growing” out of the nails like vines. “I didn’t want to have celebs in the book, and I didn’t want it to be the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ either,” he says. “I wanted to stay true to the young nail techs and creative artists.” One of
Spying a stylish coverup ond Girls are known for being symbols of beauty, class and style, so it’s no surprise that actress Berenice Marlohe has taken on the role. She plays Severine in the upcoming 23rd James Bond film, “Skyfall,” slated for release Nov 9. The French beauty has been spotted around the globe proving just how stylish she can be in outfits worthy of any Bond love interest. She chose a sleeveless royal blue peplum number by Julien Macdonald at a photo call in Moscow and a draped aqua blue dress by Roksanda Ilincic in Istanbul, Turkey. Marlohe was photographed at a recent photo call for the film at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City in a Salvatore Ferragamo fall 2012 military-green coat and Tod’s knee-high boots. On the runway Ferragamo showed this look with matching high-waist pants, a silky top, belt and riding boots. Marlohe covered up,
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but the coat’s shape, her loose waves and high boots amp up the sex appeal, proving you don’t have to show skin to turn heads. For a sharp coat to wear over an outfit or by itself, try the wool military coat from Victoria’s Secret for $188 or the military piped girly coat from Top Shop for $190. Whether you’re looking to ward off the chill or simply need a pair of shoes to go with your new trench, a functional, stylish boot works for any occasion. Marlohe’s Tod’s boots feature a fashionable suede top and a functional leather bottom. For a similar style, try the blocked platform knee-high boots from Arden B for $62.30, the Cougar women’s mirage knee-high boot from Amazon.com for $124.50 or the Annie shoes women’s Denver boot from Amazon.com for $44.50. You’ll be cozy and stylish at the same time. —MCT
these new creative artists is Oakland, Calif.-based Liz Baca, a freelance stylist and vintage clothing dealer who never had any professional beauty training but was inspired by her love of fashion to create custom nail art designs to match designer accessories, such as Chanel sneakers and Tiffany & Co’s blue boxes. Some of Baca’s nail art creations can be seen online at www.missomnimedia.com/photo-shoots. Nails “are like tiny canvases,” Baca says. “And it’s really trial and error about what adhesive will work with what I’m trying to glue on my nail. I went as far as putting real food on nails for one of our shoots. One of the nails had crumbled-up potato chips with French onion dip at the tips.” The fascination with nail decoration to this degree will probably never wane among artists and craftsy folks such as Baca. The real question is whether nail art will continue to ride the wave of mainstream popularity or fall under the changing tides of fashion. “I don’t see it ending right away,” says Wells, likening the nail art trend to the now neardecade-long cultural obsession with decorative shoes by the likes of Christian Louboutin. It’s true that nail art, like shoes, provides an easy way to spice up even the most basic of outfits. And, like shoes, nail decoration can fit and flatter, no matter your dress size. “It’s on an appendage. It’s fun and experimental in a way people are not willing to do with their hair or facial makeup, which is too close to their identity,” Wells says. “The farther you get from the face, the more experimental you are willing to be.” — MCT