6th Oct

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 , 2012

THULQADA 20, 1433 AH

No: 15590

48 8Israeli19 forces kill US Samsung tips record Q3 profit of $7.3bn

150 Fils

Abu Hamza set for US extradition

West Indies through to World T20 final

gunman in shootout Man grabs guard’s weapon, kills hotel worker

Worshippers, police clash at Aqsa plaza JERUSALEM: Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday after being stoned by worshippers, following several days of clashes there, Israeli police and witnesses said. “Several hundred worshippers threw stones at police who were stationed at the Mughrabi Gate, forcing them to go onto the plaza and push them towards the middle,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP. Police and an AFP correspondent said the forces had used sound bombs to disperse the crowds when people began throwing stones after the end of the weekly Friday prayers. Some witnesses said police had also used tear gas.

The scuffles broke out after days of tension at the compound, which is referred to as the Temple Mount by Jews and Haram al-Sharif by Muslims. On Thursday, police arrested nine people. Five were Arab Israelis, who were accused of threatening Jewish and Christian visitors to the site, and four Israeli Jews, three of them rightwing activists who tried to force their way onto the plaza. Another three Arabs and two Jews were arrested on Tuesday for disturbing the peace and attacking police at the compound. — AFP

JERUSALEM: An Israeli border policeman takes position during clashes with Palestinian worshippers at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday . — AP

EILAT: Israeli soldiers secure the area near the site of a shooting incident at a hotel in this Red Sea resort town yesterday. — AP

Bahrain police clash with demonstrators DUBAI: Bahraini police clashed with hundreds of Shiite demonstrators yesterday who were trying to march on the capital’s Pearl Square, the epicentre of protests last year that were brutally crushed, witnesses said. The confrontation erupted after a memorial service held in the Manama suburb of Jad Hafs for a young Bahraini jailed over those protests who died in custody on Tuesday after being hospitalised for treatment of a hereditary disease. The interior ministry said on Twitter that a “group of terrorists” attacked police with Molotov cocktails and blocked streets, prompting police to take “legal measures” in response.

An AP photographer said the demonstrators hurled firebombs and rocks at troops about 700 m from Pearl Square. Witnesses said riot police, who were heavily deployed in the area, used tear gas, water cannon, sound bombs and buckshot to disperse the demonstrators. Among slogans shouted were “The people want the regime to fall” and “Down with Hamad”, a reference to King Hamad, whose Sunni Muslim dynasty rules the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom, the witnesses added. —AFP

SANABIS, Bahrain: Bahraini anti-government protesters, masked against tear gas, throw bottles of paint and petrol bombs at a police water cannon truck during clashes with riot police yesterday. — AP

Max 41º Min 20º

JERUSALEM: A US national opened fire at a hotel in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat yesterday, killing a hotel employee over a work dispute, before being shot dead by security forces, police said. The shooting, which police said was a purely criminal incident, took place at the five-star Leonardo Club hotel as the beach resort was packed with tourists and Israelis enjoying the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Police named the gunman as William Hershkovitz from New York, who was born in 1989, saying he had worked as a trainee sous-chef at the hotel and recently been dismissed.

“The man was a trainee sous-chef in the kitchen who had an argument with the person in charge of him after being fired,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP, without saying when he was dismissed. “He grabbed a gun from a security guard and used it against the person who had been supervising him, killing him,” she said. She identified the victim as Armando Al-Abed, a 33-year-old Arab Israeli from a Christian village in the northern Galilee region. “The shooter barricaded himself into the kitchen and was surrounded by police forces, including special units, who asked him to turn himself in,” Samri said. “He opened fire during the negotiations with police. They fired back and killed him.” Two other tourists were taken to hospital suffering from shock, Samri added.

The gunman was a 23-year-old Jewish man from New York. He was participating in a program that brings Jews to Israel for work and studies, said Ofer Gutman, head of the Oranim program, which is sponsored partially by the Israeli government. “He was a normal guy,” Gutman told AP. “There was nothing that indicated what would happen in the end.” Gutman declined to give the attacker’s name.

“From what we understood from the hotel staff, one of the workers who had been dismissed from the hotel entered the dining room and started firing everywhere,” a hotel guest called Alon Raz told the radio station of the Ynet news website.

“All the guests ran outside towards the pool and started shouting at everyone to go into their rooms,” he said. Police said hotel guests had been ordered to return to their rooms for their own safety until the gunman was apprehended.

In recent years, the crowded tourist resort of Eilat, which lies at the southernmost tip of the Jewish state and close to the borders of Egypt and Jordan, has been a target for attacks by Sinai-based militants. In August, two blasts rocked the city, and there were two similar attacks in April that caused slight damage but no casualties. In Aug 2010, several rockets fired from Sinai, apparently aimed at Eilat, slammed into the nearby Jordanian port of Aqaba, killing one person and wounding five. — Agencies

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Poultry farmers face hard times Industry in crisis as egg production costs skyrocket KUWAIT: Hamid Al-Wuhaib, Chairman of the Board of Al-Wuhaib Poultry Company said owners of poultry farms are suffering from several problems and challenges that come their way during work, especially with regard to the rise in production costs.

He said this forced them to borrow from banks, adding that they asked concerned officials many times including those at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and PAAAFR, to pay attention to their problems and concerns and try to solve them, or at least to treat them equally with local farms but there was no

response. He said officials are still slacking and negligent towards their duties although the poultry is considered one of the main pillars of food security, considering the huge amount of eggs that they supply to the local market.

Meanwhile, Abdelaziz Al-Sarraf Chairman of Al-Mubarakiya Poultry Company, which produces 700 cartons of eggs daily said poultry farms are suffering because of the lack of soya feed for birds.

He said it must be imported, especially from India, where prices went up recently from KD 70 to KD 250 per ton.

He said egg production costs multi-

plied by 300 percent during the past three years all over the world, including feed, medicine, cardboard and plastic etc.

This prompted all producing farms to raise the price of eggs by a high percentage in order to cope with the price rise.

Al-Sarraf said when local farms wanted to raise the price of eggs, cooperatives launched a campaign against them and accused them of seeking high profits at the expense of consumers. He asked if it was realistic to reject raising the price of eggs by any percentage, without presenting realistic solutions or subsidizing producing farms which are now unable to

bear the burden of production costs.

Al-Sarraf said they should have worked on subsidizing local poultry farms without middle men, canceled profit margins and not demand eggs free of charge. Poultry farming expert Mohammad Al-Furaih said they should support the poultry industry and eggs production in Kuwait, starting with monitoring feed prices, adjusting eggs sale price in cooperatives based on feed costs, while cooperating with the commerce and industry ministry as well as PAAFR to supply poultry feed at suitable prices to producing farms. — Al-Qabas

2 laborers fall into manhole, 1 dies Swimmer drowns off Salmiya

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

The wreckage of the car that rammed into a trailer

Two killed in highway crash

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Two persons were killed and three sustained injuries in a road accident that took place on the King Fahad Expressway following a collision between a trailer and a car.

One person got stuck inside his car resulting in the accident. Firemen from Al-Quran Fire Center led by Major Omar Boursley rushed to the scene. The driver who died in that accident was stuck inside the car and firemen had to cut open the car to extricate his body. The bodies were handed over to the ministry of interior. The medical emergency took the injured the Arab expats to hospital.

News

in brief

Egg prices back to normal KUWAIT: Union of Cooperative Societies asked its members to sell eggs for KD 0.950 to the public without any profit margin in accordance with an agreement with producing companies. Union President Abdelaziz Al-Samhan informed that an official letter was circulated to cooperatives Thursday, urging them to pay their bills within a week of delivery. Al-Samhan said that the problem of rising eggs prices is over and prices are normal now.

Jordan receives $250m grant from Kuwait AMMAN: Jordan’s Finance Minister Suleiman Hafez announced yesterday that the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has received $250 million from Kuwait, as part of its contribution to a $5 billion grant for Jordan that was endorsed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2011. The minister thanked Kuwait for the support, stressing the strong Jordanian-Kuwaiti relations in various fields. During a GCC summit in December 2011, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar decided to extend $5 billion to Jordan over a five-year period to support development projects in the Kingdom, with each paying $1.25 billion.

KUWAIT: Police received a report yesterday that two people fell into a manhole on one of the streets in Ardiya. Firemen from Ardiya Fire Center and Mubarak Al-Kabeer Center for Dangerous Materials and Technical Rescue Center rushed to the spot and found out that two labourers from maintenance companies accidentally fell into a manhole which was nine-metres deep. They were affected by the poisonous gases inside as they had no access to necessary breathing equipment.

The firemen managed to pull both of them from the manhole but one of them succumbed while the other one was rushed to the hospital in a critical state. Colonel Abdullah Karkooh, Director of Farwaniya Fire Department said that the maintenance companies should abide by safety precautions and avoid such accidents in the near future.

Swimmer drowns Police received a report that a person drowned in the sea off Al-Marina Mall beach after he went for a swim. Marine rescue team from Salmiya on board the boat ‘Inqath 1’ led by Lt Ismail Saleh Al- A construction worker is being pulled out of a manhole.

Khazaal launched a search and rescue mission. It was found out that he was swimming in the sea from 3 am to 5:30am. The rescue team found out the body of the drowned personand handed it By Hanan Al-Saadoun The search of their house yielded 200 over to the criminal investigation department. grams of heroin, 300 Roche pills and 20

3 Asian drug-peddlers held

Consultations on Hajj visas still going on KUWAIT: Director of Hajj Affairs Department of Awqaf Ministry Roumi Al-Roumi said consultations and coordination are going on in order to obtain Hajj visas for bedoons and the number allotted for them.

Al-Roumi told Al-Qabas daily that the Saudi authorities are yet to provide details on these questions. He said HH the Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Awqaf are personally following the issue. They have ordered that no effort should be spared to get them visas and that they should not be deprived of the opportunity to perform Hajj.

Al-Roumi informed that he met with Kuwaiti bedoons committee and informed them about the mechanism and efforts being exerted in order to get their visas, adding that the officials have faith in the Saudi authorities and their efforts in helping pilgrims.

KUWAIT: The Narcotics Department arrested two men and a woman of Asian nationalities for trading in drugs. Acting on a tip-off on their activities, police raided their house and arrested suspects.

grams of ‘shabu’ drugs. The culprits confessed that the confiscated drugs were for sale and that they trade them with some Asian traders. They all were sent to concerned authorities.

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

News

in brief

Kuwait participates in GCC meetings KUWAIT: Kuwait will be partaking in the 94th ministerial meeting for the GCC finance and economic cooperation meeting to be held in Riyadh today, said a statement here yesterday. The Finance Ministry said in a press release that Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Nayed Al-Hajraf would be heading the delegation to the ministerial meeting. The meeting would focus on issues regarding GCC economic cooperation, the governance of finance and monetary institutions in the region, results of the 55th meeting for governors of GCC central banks held in Kuwait, the GCC unified tax system, the Gulf unified trademark laws, in addition to other issues. The ministry also noted that governors of central banks and Finance Ministers in the GCC would be meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the sideline to discuss issues pertaining to recent economic happenings on a global scale.

Kuwaiti society sponsors 200 Syrian students BEIRUT: Kuwait’s Al-Rahma Society covered the educational costs of some 200 Syrian students who sought refuge in Lebanon, said an official here yesterday. Head of Charitable projects at the society Dr Suleiman Al-Shatti told KUNA that the gesture reflected Al-Rahma society’s keenness on providing Syrian students with a chance to continue their studies despite the crisis occurring in Syria.

He noted that the students at the elementary and intermediate levels would have a chance to further pursue their education in Lebanon. On a different issue, Al-Shatti noted that Al-Rahma would continue to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon especially during the approaching winter season.

Kuwait government and NGOs have been providing aid for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Assembly dissolution under scrutiny Experts debate decree amid conflicting views KUWAIT: A government source said that the decree to dissolve the National Assembly was subjected to a delicate constitutional scrutiny by experts and law professors to make sure that it does not have any constitutional violations in it.

The source confirmed approving the decree any minute besides other decrees to call for new elections, the state’s budget and transforming Kuwait Airways into a shareholding company, as the Government considers them to be laws that cannot be delayed to meet the urgency requirement, according to Article 71 of the Constitution. The Government source preferred to wait regarding the issuance of a decree to reduce the number of votes as it is decided by HH the Amir and the Government is awaiting his decision. Meanwhile, a source in the majority bloc said all members have agreed to make a joint statement about boycotting the upcoming elections if the number of votes by a voter is less than the current four votes. The source also added that the bloc received Government assurances that the elections will be held according to the current law (five constituencies and four votes) but the bloc is still not convinced.

Meanwhile, former MP Abdallah Al-Barghash said after a meeting at his diwan that the current situation does not require an urgent decree on changing the constituencies and added that any move in this direction will be met with boycotting the elections by the majority.

Al-Barghash described the reduction of the number of votes per voter to one or two by a decree as “a third is coup against the Constitution” and added that those with special interests are working hard with authorities to bring this out according to their liking.

He said the majority decided that its next move will be with the participation of the popular movement, youth and the civil society organizations because all are defending their rights and should not leave the matter to a group. He said that there will be gatherings in various areas of Kuwait adding that no date has been set for a gath-

Kuwait to host Asian Cooperation Dialogue MANAMA: The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) due to be hosted by Kuwait in the middle of this month would contribute in efforts for promoting economic cooperation between Asian and Gulf states, affirmed the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah, in a statement to KUNA yesterday, said the upcoming “summit will be a fruit of the economic and development outlook of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. “Moreover, it will boost the economic cooperation with Asia and bolster the economic partnership between the Gulf and Asian states.”

The convention will be of particular significance, in shadow of current difficult global economic conditions, Sheikh Azzam added in his statement to Kuwait News Agency, alluding to the world economic crises. Asian nations are distinguished with technical know-how and the Gulf countries are rich in natural resources, thus such potentials can be interacted for sake of boosting economic development among countries of the continent, he added. The ambassador re-stressed on significance of economic and development aspects in states’ relations, compared to political factors that may strain such relations. —KUNA

Sheikha Hessa first Arab female Vice-President of Arab-Italian Chamber of Commerce ROME: The Board of Directors of the Arab-Italian Chamber of Commerce has elected Sheikha Dr Hessa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah as VicePresident of the Chamber; the first Kuwaiti and Arab female to assume this senior post. The board also elected five other Arab females from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain to boost to Arab women’s role in the field of commerce.

Sheikha Hessa, who is also head of the Arab Women’s Business Council and representative of Kuwait in the Chamber’s general assembly session, told KUNA that electing her as vice-president is “a move directed to deepen and expanding ArabItalian ties and engaging women entrepreneurs of

small to medium businesses in promoting economic and social development in Arab countries.”

“Having a direct Arab female involvement within the Arab-Italian Chamber of Commerce and building bridges of communications with other Italian female business women, would greatly increase chances of commercial cooperation,” she stressed. She further noted that assuming this high-ranking post is also an “appreciation” of Kuwaiti women and an “admission” of their active role in the fields of production, economy, culture and science. It is also an incentive to spread their business activities regionally and internationally.— KUNA

ering at the Irada square until after coordination with “Nahj”.

MP Dr Walid Al-Tabatabae said for the Government to issue an urgent decree to change the constituencies will be a dynamite stick that will blow whatever is left of Kuwait’s constitution. He warned authorities that for each action, there will be an equal reaction. MP Ali Al-Diqbasi wondered if the government intended to change the constituencies then why did it go to the Constitutional Court in the first place and what about its decisive ruling?

MP Maasouma Al-Mubarak said reducing the number of votes will help handle the current situation and the chaos Kuwait is going through adding “if the five constituencies and four votes remain then nothing is gained or changed and things will remain the same and in fact, get worse and we will not achieve the stability we are looking for”.

Former MP Nasser Al-Duwailah said he supports reducing the number of votes to one, because the single vote actually reflects the nation’s will and prevents tribal, sectarian and groups’ alliance and gives minorities an opportunity and reflects true representation of the people. He said an urgent decree to reduce the number of votes is constitutional and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Nasser Al-Duwailah said he will run for elections if they are conducted according to a constitutional electoral system. Meanwhile his brother former MP Mubarak Al-Duwailah said it is important to leave the constituencies alone, unless it is done with the agreement of both authorities in the presence of the Assembly according to the current law. He said that any amendment on the election law with a decree will lead into a dark tunnel.

MP Ali Al-Rashid asked the majority bloc “Why are you afraid of one vote? And why do you not want an urgent decree after you agreed to run for elections?” He said “You are burning Kuwait for the sake of the speaker’s chair. Kuwait is more important than your chair. Wake up, you are a member of the 2009 Assembly and your speaker is Jassem Al-Kharafi whether you like it or not”. — Al-Watan

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

The tanker that turned upside down in Shuwaikh Port area.

KUWAIT: Fire brigade personnel sift through the rubble of a building that collapsed on Wednesday evening.

Tanker turns turtle in Shuwaikh port

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Fire department received a report about an accident which resulted in a tanker crashing upside down in Shuwaikh Port. The tanker was reported to be loaded with 26 tons of idle gas. Shuwaikh Industrial Center and Mubarak Al-Kabeer officials rushed to the site after receiving the report. They ensured that the place was free of inflamma-

ble fire materials upon arrival and carefully managed to flip the tanker without any casualties.

In a similar accident, a gasoline tanker loaded with 20,000 liters of gasoline turned upside down around 1 am in Adan. The accident happened in the residential area. Three fire centers were instructed to proceed to the site: Al-Qurain Fire Center, Mubarak AlKabeer Center for Dangerous Materials and

the support center. The first group of firemen arrived within two minutes and immediately worked on spraying the tanker with foam to ensure that it didn’t catch fire and the fuel didn’t leak. The tanker driver was injured in the accident and taken to hospital.

Colonel Waleed Al-Ansari, Director of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Fire Center, called upon all the transporters of fuel and other dangerous materials to follow safety measures and

to instruct their employees and drivers to be more careful in the future.

Building collapse The fire department received a report about the collapse of an old building. No casualties were reported as the building was very old and slated for demolition. The fire department team investigated the cause and discovered that the contractor’s negligence while tearing it down resulted in the collapse.

Sleepwalker falls from high-rise building, dies Serial robber arrested in Nugra Caribou Coffee launches breast cancer awareness campaign

A

s part of its community obligations and initiatives, Caribou Coffee Co, a leading beverage and snack service provider, recently launched an awareness campaign about breast cancer in Kuwait.

The campaign, coinciding with the world breast cancer awareness month this October, aims at boosting women’s awareness about breast cancer, the importance of women conducting regular manual examining of their breasts, the need to detect any changes early and the role of regular medical consultation in preventing the disease and limiting its spread and effects.

The campaign was motivated by Caribou Coffee’s realization that the rate of breast cancer in Kuwait has been increasing in recent years. It was also an effort to introduce modern medical methods used in various clinics to prevent breast cancer and help increase healing rates up to 90 per cent.

The campaign will also focus on the role of genetic factors, caducity, lifestyles, obesity and diets that increase the risk of cancer. Caribou Coffee’s initiatives stem from a sense of social responsibilities that feels as part of its comprehensive vision of the Kuwaiti society. Notably, the Caribou Coffee, one of the largest coffee house chains in the US, was founded in 1992, opening its first branch in Minneapolis, MN. It now has almost 500 branches around the world and is listed on NASDAQ. As the sole agent in ME, North Africa and Turkey, Al-Sayer Group runs over 100 branches serving a blend of coffee and coffee-related beverages, sandwiches, juices and cakes selected from the international Dream factory to match all tastes using the best natural coffee beans, coco and vegetables.

KUWAIT: An Asian who was walking in his sleep was killed when he fell from a high rise building in Salmiya, security sources said. The police were called when the neighbors saw the man’s body in the building’s yard and reported it as a case of suicide. However, further investigations revealed that the deceased was known to be a sleepwalker and that he was often noticed walking in his sleep but he proved to be unfortunate this time and fell to his death.

Cheque fraud averted A bank teller reported that a well-known Asian merchant showed up at the bank to collect KD 9 million by a cheque, but sensing something suspicious, the teller asked him to return the following day as he needed to arrange the cash, security sources said. However, the teller found out that the cheque’s serial number belonged to a cheque book that had been reported as stolen by its account holder in 2006. During investigations, it was found that the man owned a well known store in a famous local hotel though he had come to Kuwait as a cook. However, sensing something amiss, the suspect fled Kuwait before he was arrested.

when he fell from an escalator in a Hawalli shopping mall. A 34year-old Egyptian carpenter cut one of his fingers while sawing some lumber with an electric saw in a Shuwaikh Industrial area carpentry.

Maid attempts suicide A 25-year-old housemaid attempted suicide at her sponsor’s house in Jabriya by swallowing a large number of pills after locking herself in her room, security sources said. Case papers indicated that the house lady knocked her bedroom but finding the door locked, called the police who broke in and rushed the maid to the Mubarak Hospital for treatment. A case was filed and further investigations were in progress.

Serial robber held A ‘serial’ robber who was involved in a number of store burglaries around the area was arrested in Nogra, security sources said.

The police detectives managed to identify the robber and arrested him. They said stolen items worth KD 50,000 were recovered from the suspect’s house. The detectives also found the tools used for breaking into various stores that he had robbed.

Car thief at large

Woman found ‘unconscious’

An Egyptian citizen reported that he found his 4X4 vehicle, stolen last May in Hawally, parked in Jleeb. The man said as he was examining the vehicle closely to make sure it was indeed the same, a person in national outfit came quickly and drove away in it, hitting a number of other cars parked there. He said he was still paying the installments for the vehicle while the thief was enjoying the ride, even committing many speed limit violations cited in his name. ‘I got a copy of the speed limit radar cameras that showed the suspect with two others and took it to the police but they refused to take it into account and stressed that they had their own procedures to procure such photographs,’ he said.

An unidentified Asian woman was found unconscious in a Jahra street, security sources said. The woman was rushed to the Jahra Hospital for treatment. Eyewitnesses, who reported witnessing some unidentified people driving away after throwing her out of a vehicle, provided the police with the vehicle’s description. A case was filed and further investigations were in progress.

Escalator mishap A five-year-old child sustained multiple injuries and bruises

Missing girl found The Ahmadi detectives recently found a girl who had been reported missing and restored her to her family, security sources said. The police found the girl in a Salmiya café. They found that she had rented a flat and had been living alone. However, the girl said that she had willingly left her family’s house and wanted to continue to live alone.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Infrastructure expansion

An aerial view of the downtown Kuwait City.

The new wave of projects is expected to put infrastructure, which accounted for approximately 48.1% of the construction sector’s value in 2011, back on track, with forecasts predicting average annual growth of 8.85% over the next four years.

KUWAIT: The construction industry in Kuwait is poised for significant growth on the back of major government investment in infrastructure projects and social facilities, according to data published in August. However, the continuing lack of an approved 2012 budget has effectively meant that the government cannot sign off on any new projects.

Research compiled by Ireland-based Research and Markets expects the construction sector to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.45% between 2012 and 2016, signalling that the industry has shaken off the worst effects of the global economic crisis. Growth will be partly driven by new transport infrastructure, including airport expansion and road projects, together with institutional construction such as hospitals and health care developments.

The construction sector bore the brunt of the global economic crisis in 2009, registering a 9.8% drop in activity, which reduced the CAGR for the 2007-11 period to 1%. The contraction was partially offset by a robust performance in previous years, particularly 2007, when construction expanded by 17.6%.

However, infrastructure development was hit especially hard during the five-year period to end-2011, shrinking at a CAGR of about 1.3%.

The new wave of projects is expected to

put infrastructure, which accounted for approximately 48.1% of the construction sector’s value in 2011, back on track, with forecasts predicting average annual growth of 8.85% over the next four years.

A number of the country’s major projects, including the expansion earmarked for Kuwait International Airport, are set to be put out to tender, while the process is already up and running for other key developments.

KUNA reported in March that 16 international companies had expressed an interest in bidding for the airport expansion contract, estimated to be worth around KD700m-800m, which will include the construction of a second passenger terminal. In early August, Abdulaziz Al Kulaib, undersecretary at the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW), said that the ministry was awaiting approval from the Municipal Council before putting the project out to tender.

Government planners have also given the development of Kuwait’s roads a priority, with several major tenders awarded in recent years for new bridges and motorways. In February 2011 South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction won a KD738.7m tender from the CTC for the first phase of the Jaber Bridge project.

The government announced in July 2012

that it was opening a tender for the second phase of the bridge project, with contractors required to submit their bids by November 2012.

The successful bidder is expected to be announced in December, and construction is due to be completed by 2016. Other major road projects tendered in recent years include the KD264.7m ($954.24m) Jahra Road project, which is being overseen by primary contractor Egypt-based Arab Contractors Company.

Alongside infrastructure, the recent Research and Markets report highlighted the growth potential that it saw in institutional construction, particularly health care facilities.

Ongoing projects in this segment include the KD304m Jaber Al Ahmed Hospital, which, when finished, will be the largest facility of its kind in the country. Scheduled for completion in early 2013, the hospital is being built by Arab Contractors.

Meanwhile, the government has plans to build nine new hospitals to meet a rapidly growing demand for health care services as the country’s population increases. The MoPW invited bids for four of these projects, including the construction of a new 600-bed maternity hospital in the Al Sabah district that will cost an estimated $500m. The tender for this project closed on September 16, and the

ministry will accept bids on the Ibn Sina, Children’s and Al Razi Hospitals until September 23. The four health care facilities are expected to cost around $2bn in total to construct, according to a report by MEED. Other major projects include the construction of the $617.5m Kuwait Cancer Centre, which is being built by Kuwait-based Alghanim International General Trading and Contracting, and the $347m expansion of AlAmiri hospital, which is in the hands of local firm Associated Construction Company.

But although Kuwait remains the thirdlargest construction market in the Gulf behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to Gulf News - about $61.47bn worth of projects, out of an estimated total value of $195.99bn in projects, are currently on hold or cancelled.

Political infighting and stagnation in the parliamentary process have halted progress on many infrastructure developments as currently the government cannot sign deals for any projects that require spending that was not included in last year’s state budget. Some schemes are already beginning to fall behind schedule, including two projects central to the Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s plan to overhaul its downstream sector.

—Oxford Business Group

LOCAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Kuwaiti Gitmo detainee in limbo A military attorney’s access to his Guantanamo client eroded PITTSBURG/KUWAIT: Lt Col Barry Wingard has spent four years fighting a losing battle.

Col Wingard, a military attorney and Allegheny County public defender, represents Fayiz Al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has been held at Guantanamo Bay detention center since 2002.

In June, the charges against Al-Kandari were dropped with no explanation. In just about any judicial realm, that’s a victory.

In Guantanamo, it means instead that Col Wingard’s client is now in the group of prisoners on indefinite detention. Since the government planned no prosecution against his client, it saw no reason for Col Wingard to work on the case.

his ability to advocate for Al-Kandari is reduced. Air National Guard Col Wingard served in the Army and then as a US Air Force JAG (Judge Advocate General) attorney. He prosecuted more than 100 cases in Iraq involving more than 170 individuals who had attacked coalition forces in Iraq.

He also investigated various crimes in Bosnia during the conflict there.

Col Wingard, of Dormont, is married and has two children, ages 3 and 5. He lives mostly in Washington, DC, where he works in the Office of Military Commissions (the military judicial system in place to handle Guantanamo). He intends to return to his job as an Allegheny County public defender when his Guantanamo work is done. There is no set date for that, but the colonel hopes to finish next year.

Government rationale

Fayiz Al-Kandari

Col Wingard’s access to Al-Kandari was reduced. He can no longer travel to Kuwait or elsewhere to investigate the case. His correspondence with his client is reviewed.

Government translators/interpreters are no longer provided to enable him to communicate with his client. He has regularly traveled to Guantanamo since taking the case, spending a week of each month there. His most recent planned military transport flight was canceled.

These restrictions began about the same time as a new protocol for civilian attorneys representing Guantanamo prisoners was put into effect. Lawyers were told they had to sign a memorandum of understanding in which they agreed to certain restrictions in order to continue to see their clients.

Col Wingard, 45, long maintained that the charges against his client — material support of terrorism and conspiracy — were based on flimsy, third-hand evidence.

But now that they have been dropped, his client’s situation is worse, since there is now no real hope of a judicial proceeding, and

Al-Kandari is one of the 166 men still held at Guantanamo Bay. The prisoners now fall into three rough groups: those the government says can be tried; those that are cleared for release, but have not been released because there is nowhere for them to go; and the 40-plus who are to be detained indefinitely.

Since it opened as a detention center for terrorism suspects in 2002, Guantanamo has spurred a torrent of litigation. (“They litigate everything but the breakfast cereal down there,” one Department of Defense official said — off the record.)

At the heart of much of it is the question of whether the US government can lawfully hold prisoners without charging them or giving them an opportunity to appear in a judicial proceeding to hear the evidence and defend themselves.

Department of Defense spokesman David Oten gave the rationale for the government’s position: “The United States is detaining individuals at Guantanamo Bay pursuant to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, as informed by the law of war. Detention in wartime has long been recognized as legitimate under international law. We hold at Guantanamo detainees we assess as continuing to pose a threat in our ongoing armed conflict. And we will continue to hold these individuals in a manner that complies with our domestic and international obligations, and is consistent with our values.” Though President Barack Obama came into office saying he would shut the facility down, in the end his administration has taken much the same stance as that of the Bush administration regarding the need for the facility and the practice of indefinite detention for prisoners. It has vigorously defended a raft of legal challenges. Although detainees won a number of them — gaining the right to make habeas challenges in US courts — the practical effect has been negligible. Only four men charged have been tried. Men cleared for release remain imprisoned. And the group of men the government says it doesn’t plan to charge have no clear path to trial or release.

Of the review procedures for detainees, Oten of the Defense Department said, “As a discretionary matter, the United States has reviewed the cases of each individual at

Guantanamo and determined that some could be eligible for transfer, pending appropriate, credible security assurances from receiving governments. Just as we do with prisoners of war in more traditional armed conflicts, we acknowledge that the threat they pose may change over time.

“In today’s conflict, the threat posed by a particular detainee may be mitigated through participation in a reintegration program or through other focused measures to prevent re-engagement. That is why we have transfer policies in place and review mechanisms to ensure we only detain those whose threat cannot otherwise be mitigated.”

Limiting access But in claiming it has the right to restrict access to prisoners by their lawyers, the government was saying that it had control of how legal review of cases was to go forward.

Pittsburgh native Barry Wingard, a military attorney representing prisoners at Guantanamo, said his access to clients has been reduced by the government The Memorandum of Understanding requirement was challenged and on Sept 5, US District Judge Royce Lamberth said the government has no right to deny counsel access to detainees, issuing a stinging rebuke in his ruling. Writing that the federal government is confusing “the roles of the jailer and the judiciary,” Judge Lamberth struck down the military’s assertion that it could veto meetings between lawyers and detainees.

The judge said the government has the right to run the facility at Guantanamo, but that the courts have authority to make sure prisoners have access to the courts, and that can’t happen unless they have access to their lawyers. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said, “We have no comment on whether the Department plans to appeal the Lamberth decision on counsel access to GTMO detainees.”

The nature of restrictions on military lawyers like Col Wingard is different, but the effect is the same.

“They say, ‘We have no intention of prosecuting, so your request for travel is denied,’ “ he said. Similarly, translators and interpreters are denied. Though Col

Wingard has top security clearance, his correspondence with his clients (he also represents an Afghani and a second Kuwaiti) is now being reviewed.

Oten said the detention of Al-Kandari is legal — he filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court and the court ruled he was legally detained. The US Supreme Court declined further review of his case.

“There is no precedent for indefinite detention,” said Col Wingard. However, he said, “if the government says it can hold prisoners forever, don’t they get a lawyer forever?

“I take the position that I am still their attorney.” He acknowledges his ability to act in his clients’ behalf or take action to change his status is extremely limited. “It’s frustrating from our end. They are strangling our ability to do our jobs,” he said.

“We’re pretty much on the ropes as far as defending these guys.” But, he said, he and other attorneys in the defense section of the Office of Military Commissions are close to one another and united in what they are trying to do.

He has written opinion pieces for news organizations, including the Post-Gazette, and is active on social media in behalf of his clients and Guantanamo-related issues.

What worries him most is what he sees as the acceptance within government and military circles of a situation that goes against basic American principles. “It has sunk in as the new norm.”

Many people came into the military or into government positions after 9/11, he said. “For them Guantanamo, indefinite detention is the norm. They don’t know another system.”

Once people accept the concept, “putting people away forever is the easy part.” He said the debate has moved from whether it’s legal or justified to detain foreign combatants on an indefinite basis to whether it’s acceptable to do so to US citizens. “The scariest development in the indefinite detention battle is that under the National Defense Reauthorization Act of 2012 recently signed, you as an American citizen can be detained forever without trial, while the allegations against you go uncontested because you have no right to see them.”

On Sept 12, US District Judge Katherine Forrest of New York ruled against the administration and the National Defense Reauthorization Act on the basis that the practice of indefinite detention violates the First and Fifth Amendments. On Sept 17, Judge Raymond Lohier of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the ruling until Friday, when a 2nd Circuit motions panel took up the government’s request for stay pending appeal.

His work as a military defense attorney has put him at odds with the military.

“Once I’m done here I will probably never get promoted. But what can you do? They hired me to represent these guys. I’m going to do it to the best of my ability,” said Col. Wingard. “In the big picture, it definitely looks like we’re losing. [But] here’s the deal: You don’t fight on issues in hopes you’ll win. You fight on whether they’re right.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Radical preacher set for US extradition

8

Ivanishvili seeks to calm post-election tensions

9

Five condemned to death for India ‘honour’ killing

14

TAL ABYAD: Syrian rebels make victory signs as they patrol a street in the town of Tal Abyad near the border with Turkey yesterday. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan again warned Syria it would pay a big price for further attacks, two days after a deadly cross-border shelling. Erdogan reiterated that Turkey does not want war but is ready to act if threatened by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has been at war with rebels since early last year. — AFP

Syria warplanes pound Homs No plans to go to war: Erdogan DAMASCUS: Syrian warplanes pounded a rebelheld area of Homs yesterday in the heaviest bombardment of the city for months, monitors said, after the UN condemned the army’s deadly shelling of a Turkish border town.

Calm returned to the border, and although Ankara’s parliament approved further action in Syria after Turkish artillery hit back at Syrian army positions, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there were no plans to go to war.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP the bombardment of Khaldiyeh district was the most intense of Homs in five months, and the first time the regime has deployed fighter jets against the city.

Activist network the Syrian Revolution General Council said a series of large explosions rocked the neighbourhood after the bombing raids. The Observatory reported five civilians and one rebel killed in the central city and province of Homs, giving an initial death toll of 54 nationwide-including 28 soldiers, 14 civilians and 12 rebel fighters. In the

hill resort of Zabadani, a rebel bastion outside Damascus, two civilians were killed in an army bombardment, the watchdog added. The army also battered rebel strongholds in Aleppo, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib and Latakia, said the Britain-based Observatory, reporting clashes in each region.

Despite the relentless violence, thousands of people demonstrated across Syria calling for the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army and condemning the international community’s inaction, the Observatory reported.

The uprising, which began in March 2011 with pro-reform protests that were brutally crushed, has since turned into a civil war pitting mainly Sunni rebels against President Bashar al-Assad’s minority Alawite-dominated regime. Activists say more than 31,000 people have died in the conflict.

The international community has expressed fear the war could spill over into other countries in the region, exacerbated by exchanges of shelling between Syria and Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday. Turkey had demanded strong UN

Security Council action after Syrian fire killed five of its nationals in the border town of Akcakale on Wednesday, including a mother and her three children.

‘We want weapons, not words!’

After hours of haggling between Turkey’s Western allies and longtime Syria backer Russia, the UN body issued its statement, which was toughly worded but a rung down from a formal resolution. “The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the shelling by the Syrian armed forces,” the statement said.

Saying the shelling “highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace,” the council “demanded that such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated.”

Turkey retaliated to Wednesday’s shelling by striking back at Syrian positions. Several soldiers were reported killed, but Syria’s UN ambassador said two soldiers were only wounded.

The Turkish premier said the authorisation given by parliament for further military action was not a mandate for war but said his nation’s borders and citizens would be defended. The border region between Turkey and northern Syria was quiet on Friday, an AFP journalist in Akcakale said, although the Turkish military had amassed tanks and anti-aircraft missiles. Military vehicles patrolled the Turkish town, which lies opposite the Tall al-Abyad border post controlled by Syrian rebels since last month. The US State Department said the Turkish retaliatory fire had been an “appropriate” and “proportional” response, while Russia said the Syrian shelling had been “a tragic accident.” Turkish officials said Syria had apologised but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was “vital that Damascus states this officially.” Syria has been pushing for a matching Security Council statement condemning a series of car bombs claimed by a jihadist group that killed almost 50 people in government-controlled areas in the heart of Aleppo on Wednesday. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Lebanon suspect pleads not guilty to Cyprus plot NICOSIA: A Lebanese man accused of plotting an attack on Israeli tourists in Cyprus pleaded not guilty yesterday before a criminal court in the southern city of Limassol, court sources said.

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, who was arrested in the southern resort city some three months ago, appeared before the court under tight security.

The trial had been due to start in midSeptember, but was delayed after the prosecution changed the charges against the suspect, reducing the original 17 charges down to eight and prompting requests for clarification from the defence.

Initially, police said the 24-yearold, who also holds a Swedish passport, was to be tried on terrorism charges, but these have since been changed to conspiracy and consent to commit a crime, and belonging to an unnamed criminal organisation.

The charges refer to two visits he made to Cyprus in November 2011 and July 2012, when police suspect he was tracking the movements and planned arrival times of Israeli tourists on the holiday island.

The court agreed that Yaacoub should remain in custody until the next hearing on October 25. Cyprus police have refused to comment pub-

licly on the case, describing it as a “sensitive political issue” but did say investigators have found no evidence to suggest he had any accomplices.

The suspect was reportedly arrested in a Limassol hotel room on July 7 after flying in from London’s Heathrow. Reports said he was arrested after a tip-off from foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel’s Mossad spy service.

Cyprus bolstered security for Israeli interests on the island following a July 18 suicide bombing in Bulgaria that killed six people, five of them Israeli tourists. Israel blamed Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, saying it

fitted a pattern of earlier attacks or attempted attacks on Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia and Kenya.

Officials have said there is no evidence directly linking Yaacoub with the Bulgaria attack, despite remarks in July by Cypriot Justice Minister Loucas Louca who said there were similarities between his behaviour and that of the Burgas bomber.

In 2011, nearly 32,000 Israeli tourists visited Cyprus. The island saw attacks against Israeli interests in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but since then it has been viewed as neutral ground for unofficial Middle East peace contacts. — AFP

Radical preacher set for US extradition Abu Hamza loses appeal against extradition

AMMAN: Jordanian protestors take part in a demonstration in Amman yesterday. Thousands of Islamists demonstrated in central Amman to call for reforms, just hours after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament and called early polls without any major political change. — AFP

Demo planned after Jordan king calls early polls AMMAN: Jordan’s Islamist opposition was to hold a rally calling for reform yesterday, hours after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament and called early polls, defying calls for major changes to the political system.

The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests to have taken place in Jordan since January 2011 to call for political and economic reforms and demand an end to corruption. “The king has decided to dissolve the chamber of deputies from this Thursday and to call early elections,” a statement from the royal palace said. It gave no date, but the monarch has said he wants polls to be held by the end of 2012. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood said earlier it was going ahead with its planned rally in central Amman after Friday prayers, with the group predicting an estimated 50,000 supporters would attend.

A planned rival demonstration in support of the king’s plans, due to be held in the same location as the opposition protest, was meanwhile “postponed indefinitely ... to avoid any problems,” said Jihad al-Sheik, head of an Internet-based youth group that organised the planned event. The cancellation came “after a request to that effect from the director of general security, Hussein al-Majali, MPs and tribal leaders” to prevent unrest.

Around 200,000 people had been expected to turn up at the demonstration in Amman to show their support for the king’s efforts to bring in reforms.

The king has repeatedly voiced calls for early elections, but the Brotherhood has said it would boycott the polls as it did in 2010 to protest the lack of meaningful reforms, while calling for a parliamentary system where the prime minister is elected, rather than named by the king.

In an exclusive interview with AFP last month, the king said a decision by the Islamists to boycott the vote was “a tremendous miscalculation.” — AFP

LONDON: Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza and four other terrorism suspects are set to be extradited to the United States after a British court yesterday rejected their last-ditch attempts to block their removal.

A legal saga that has dragged on for more than a decade in the courts of Britain and Europe finally ended when two senior judges at the High Court in London dismissed the men’s pleas to be allowed a stay of extradition. Judge John Thomas said: “The applications by all five claimants must be dismissed. It follows that their extradition to the United States of America may proceed immediately.”

Britain’s Home Office said that Hamza and fellow suspects Khaled AlFawwaz, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Babar Ahmad would be removed “as quickly as possible”.

Hamza has been indicted in the United States on charges including setting up an Al-Qaeda-style training camp for militants in the state of Oregon and involvement in the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998.

The 54-year-old Egyptian-born former imam, who has a hook for his right hand, failed to convince the judges that his extradition should be blocked in order for medical tests to be carried out for his depression.

The judges said they were “wholly unpersuaded” he was unfit to face trial, and added that “the sooner he is put on trial the better”.

They also dismissed arguments by the suspects that conditions in ADX Florence, the “supermax” jail in the United States where they will be held, would breach their human rights.

The judges said there was an “overwhelming public interest” in ensuring the proper functioning of extradition treaties, and said there may be a need for Britain to consider its lengthy appeals process. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in September that all five men could be extradited, but the High Court ordered the gov-

ernment to halt their removal while it heard their final appeals. The US embassy in London said it was “pleased with the decision”, adding that “these individuals are being transferred to the United States.”

“These extraditions mark the end of a lengthy process of litigation through the UK courts and the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights),” it said. Abu Hamza rose to prominence in the 1990s when he gave fiery sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, but has been in prison in Britain for eight years after being convicted of inciting hatred.

Babar Ahmad, 38, has been in prison without trial since 2004 and Ahsan, 32, since 2006. Fawwaz, a 50year-old Saudi, and Bary, a 52-year-old Egyptian national, have both been behind bars since 1999.

Lawyers for Abu Hamza argued that he should not be extradited because he needs a brain scan. They told the court he suffers from depression exacerbated by his “demonisation” by the British

media, sleep deprivation and memory loss which make him unfit to plead, as well as infections in his arm stumps.

Ahmad and Ahsan, both British nationals who are described as computer experts, are accused of operating websites supporting Chechen and Afghan insurgents.

Lawyers for the pair argued that British authorities were wrong not to allow a private prosecution that would have meant them going on trial in Britain and prevented their extradition.

Ahmad said in a statement read out by his family outside court that he had won a “moral victory” and was “leaving with my head held high.”

His father Ashfaq Ahmad, who has run a campaign to prevent his extradition, said outside the court that the decision was “a shameful chapter in the history of Britain”. “The Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, even the court have all colluded to implement a pre-determined decision that was made in Washington,” he said. — AFP

LONDON: In this file picture taken on April 9, 2004 a bodyguard stands by as Muslim cleric Abu Hamza (R) speaks to his followers outside Finsbury park mosque in London. Radical preacher Abu Hamza failed in his bid to block US extradition yesterday. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

No more talks with Catholic rebels: Vatican official PARIS: The Vatican plans no more talks with rebel Catholic traditionalists who insist the Church must revoke modernising reforms launched five decades ago, Pope Benedict’s main doctrinal official has told a German interviewer.

Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, who took up his post as head of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in July, said in an interview to be broadcast on Saturday that the Church could not negotiate away the fundamentals of its faith.

His comments to North German Radio (NDR) were the first from the Vatican on deadlocked talks meant to reintegrate the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) into the Church after a 21-year schism over its implacable opposition to 1960s reforms.

In recent weeks, SSPX leaders have indicated a two-year series of talks with the Vatican had hit an impasse because

Rome’s insistence that they accept reforms of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council was a deal breaker for them.

“We cannot give away the Catholic faith in negotiations,” Mueller said according to a pre-broadcast report by NDR. “There will be no compromises here,” he said. “I think there now will be no new discussions.”

The German-born Pope Benedict and the CDF, which the pontiff led for over two decades under Pope John Paul, will now have to decide what to do next with the SSPX, Mueller said.

The Swiss-based SSPX broke away from Rome in 1988 in protest against the 1960s Council reforms that replaced Latin with local languages at Mass, forged reconciliation with Jews and admitted that other religions may also offer a path to salvation.

Since becoming pope in 2005,

Benedict has met the head of the SSPX, promoted the old Latin Mass it champions and lifted excommunications imposed on the group’s four bishops when they accepted ordination against Vatican orders.

Benedict’s concessions to the SSPX caused a storm of protest from Catholics, Jews and Germans in 2009 when it emerged that one of the bishops whose excommunication was lifted was a notorious Holocaust denier and the Vatican did not even know it.

Lifting the excommunications meant the four bishops were once again full members of the 1.2-billion member Church, but they and the SSPX - which claims to have 500 priests and a million followers - had no official position or role within it.

In 2010, the Vatican launched closeddoor theological discussions with the rebels aimed at an agreement that

would make the SSPX a “personal prelature” or autonomous institution in the Church similar to the conservative group Opus Dei. Benedict insisted they must declare the Vatican Council and Church doctrine since then as valid Catholic teaching.

Denying this has been a core SSPX principle from the start and SSPX leaders have said their discussions with the Vatican aimed to “convert Rome” to return to the pre-Council Church.

Mueller, who crossed swords with SSPX traditionalists while he was archbishop of Regensburg in Germany before going to Rome, rejected the group’s central argument that the Council broke with a Church’s 2,000-year traditions.

“The Second Vatican Council does not contradict the Church’s overall tradition, but only some false interpretations of the Catholic faith,” he said. — Reuters

Ivanishvili seeks to calm post-election tensions Asks supporters to end vote-rigging protests

MACHYNLLETH: Welsh Fire Service Search and Rescue teams use a boat to search the River Dyfi near Machynlleth, mid-Wales, yesterday. The search for missing five-year-old girl April Jones continues. — AFP

Man arrested ‘for murder’ over missing British girl MACHYNLLETH: A man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of the murder of a missing five-year-old girl in Wales whose disappearance has gripped Britain. Mark Bridger, 46, was held as officers stepped up their hunt for April Jones, who was last seen on Monday in her home town of Machynlleth in the mountains of mid-Wales, getting into a car.

Police had detained Bridger, who is known to April’s family, on Tuesday but so far he had been merely helping police with their investigation. But Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan told a news conference on Friday: “Mark Bridger has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of April Jones. “He remains in custody at Aberystwyth Police Station where he continues to be questioned. “The arrest does not detract from our efforts to find April and we remain committed to finding her.”

Search teams using dinghies were scouring the fast-flowing rivers in the area, while others combed a forest, but their efforts were being hampered by worsening weather conditions as rain swept in and temperatures fell.

The search has been played out in the glare of TV cameras, with every stage being followed closely by the media who have descended on the sleepy town. Police have revealed that April needs regular medication for cerebral palsy, further increasing fears for her wellbeing.

Pink ribbons have appeared on houses across the town after April’s mother asked people to wear pink, her daughter’s favourite colour, in solidarity. Prime Minister David Cameron, whose late son Ivan had cerebral palsy, has also thrown his weight behind the search.

“This is every family’s nightmare,” he said Thursday. “Clearly having this happen to you, and the fact that she suffers from cerebral palsy, something I know a little about from my own children, only makes this worse. “My appeal would be to everyone. If you know anything, if you saw anything, heard anything, have any ideas you can bring forward, talk to the police.” — AFP

TBILISI: The winner of Georgia’s parliamentary election urged his supporters to end street protests against alleged vote rigging by rivals allied to President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The billionaire leader of the Georgian Dream coalition sought to calm tensions after his supporters protested outside local election commission offices and were accused by their opponents of making threats to officials. “I’d like to ask you to stop all street protests,” Bidzina Ivanishvili said in comments to reporters.

“You should understand that we are not in opposition any more and we should move into buildings, courts and the parliament and clarify everything there.”

Any post-election violence would damage Georgian Dream’s image even before it takes power, especially as it has accused Saakashvili of heavy-handed tactics against the opposition and using force against protests during his nineyear rule. Washington ally Saakashvili conceded his party lost Monday’s poll before the final results were announced, raising hopes of a peaceful transition of power in the volatile Caucasus state.

Those hopes have been threatened by the protests by hundreds of Georgian Dream supporters angered by alleged voting irregularities in at least 10 districts outside the capital Tbilisi where candidates from Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) won.

Western governments have welcomed Saakashvili’s acceptance that his party had lost an election which some had feared could ignite unrest in a country that is a conduit for Russian energy supplies to Europe.

But Saakashvili’s UNM accused Georgian Dream supporters of trying to intimidate election officials in districts where the UNM won by a narrow margin.

In some areas, Georgian Dream wants an election runoff between the top candidates. “Such actions by the Georgian Dream represent an attack on the democratic process and on the right of the people to express their will,” the UNM

said in a statement. It urged international observers to ensure Georgian Dream does not “discredit the freest and fairest elections held in Georgia in its history.”

Ivanishvili, 56, plans to be prime minister, a post that would make him Georgia’s most powerful official when reforms weakening the head of state take effect after a presidential election expected some time in 2013.

A political novice who made his business fortune mainly in Russia, Ivanishvili has acknowledged his six-party coalition is fragile and that he faces a difficult balancing act between the West and Russia, which welcomed his election triumph.

Ivanishvili says he wants to mend ties with Moscow and denies Saakashvili’s accusations he is a Russian stooge. He has repeatedly called for calm since the election, as has Saakashvili whose final term ends next year, setting up an awkward period of political cohabitation with Ivanishvili. Saakashvili, a strong U.S. ally, sought NATO membership for Georgia and fought a brief war in 2008 with

Russia, whose leaders portray him as unbalanced. The Central Election Commission and local campaign groups called for Georgian Dream to refrain from violence and settle their complaints through the courts. “Everyone has the right to appeal but this must be done in accordance with the law,” European Union Ambassador Philip Dimitrov told reporters. Georgia’s electoral system allocates 77 of the 150 parliament seats according to party lists and the other 73 according to victories in individual constituencies. With ballots from 99.95 percent of polling stations counted under the party list system, Georgian Dream had 54.88 percent and Saakashvili’s United National Movement had 40.39 percent of the votes, the Central Election Commission said. In individual races Georgian Dream won 39 seats against 34 seats for the UNM. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Georgian Dream coalition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili o n Thursday. — Reuters

TBILISI: Georgia’s billionaire and the opposition Georgian Dream coalition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili meets with Georgian businessmen in Tbilisi, Georgia yesterday. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

American funded al-Shabab terror recruit MINNEAPOLIS: A man who left the US to join fighters in Somalia testified against a Minnesota man on trial for supporting terrorism, saying he saw the man hand $500 in cash to another al Shabab recruit while they were at a secret meeting to plan their travel.

Abdifatah Yusuf Isse also told jurors Thursday he saw Mahamud Said Omar at the cramped safe house where he stayed once he got to Somalia, where he was forced to take a new name and give up his travel documents. He said the purpose of his trip was “to wage jihad” against Ethiopians in Somalia.

Omar, 46, is charged with five terrorrelated counts in a federal trial that is part of a broader investigation into recruiting by al-Shabab, a US-designated terror group linked to al-Qaeda that is at the center of much of the violence in Somalia.

Authorities say that since 2007, more than 20 young men went to the East African nation from Minnesota, home to

the largest Somali population in the US. At least six of those men have died and others are presumed dead, according to family members and the FBI. Prosecutors say Omar helped acquire airline tickets and helped pay for weapons.

But Omar has maintained his innocence.

His attorneys and family members have said he was too poor to finance terrorism, and never acted or spoke against the US. Isse’s testimony revealed the most detailed account to date about how the men were recruited and what happened once they arrived in Somalia. On one occasion, Isse testified, he saw Omar hand $500 in cash to another al-Shabab recruit at a Minneapolis restaurant. Isse said the cash was “pocket money” and said Omar also gave them flashlights.

“He said, ‘Good luck on the trip and if you guys need anything, call me,’” Isse testified. Isse said he knew Omar as the janitor at Abubakar as-Saddique mosque, where Isse spent a lot of time after mov-

ing to Minnesota from Seattle in 2007. It was there where he also met other men who would eventually travel to Somalia.

Under questioning from Assistant US Attorney John Docherty, Isse testified that someone at the mosque named Farhan began talking to him about going to Somalia for a “jihad” against Ethiopians, which many Somalis viewed as invaders.

The men began making plans to travel meeting in private rooms at the mosque, or at restaurants and in cars. Three other men, two of whom have been identified as travelers by prosecutors, led the discussions because they knew more about traveling and had contacts in Somalia, Isse said.

Isse said he was told he had to keep the plans secret because the ideas weren’t supported by the Somali community in Minneapolis. “Did you understand you might get killed?” Docherty asked.

“Yes,” Isse replied. “Did you understand you might kill?” the prosecutor asked. Isse said that he did. The men

raised money for airline tickets by going door-to-door under the guise of raising money for a mosque, Isse said. They planned to travel in small groups to avoid detection. Isse said he and another local Somali man left Minneapolis on Dec. 8, 2007, and flew to Dubai, where they met up with two other men who had left Minneapolis two days earlier.

The four then flew from Dubai to Hargeisa, a city in northern Somalia. They eventually made their way to Mogadishu, where they met a man Isse called Samatar, who prosecutors have said is really Said Fidhin, a man who left the US in 2006. Samatar told the young men they had to pick new names and hand over their travel documents, but Isse said he didn’t give up his documents at that point. “We were new to the place and we didn’t trust anybody,” he said.

Later, he was told to give his green card and Somali passport to a woman for “security” reasons. —AP

Tears, kisses and dancing at last Chavez campaign rally ‘He’s the best president we’ve ever had’ CARACAS: Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez played air guitar, danced in the rain and blew kisses Thursday to a red sea of followers, some in tears, others shouting “I love you” ahead of his toughest election test.

Hundreds of thousands of people clad in the red colors of the ruling party turned the streets of Caracas into a carnival-like atmosphere despite a tropical downpour on the last day of campaigning before Sunday’s

Castro, 50. “Chavez is here and here,” she said, pointing to her heart and a tattoo on her back of the former paratrooper giving a military salute.

After nearly 14 years in power, the 58year-old president has developed a loyal following among Venezuela’s poor, who have benefited from social programs including free health care, subsidized food and university scholarships.

BARQUISIMETO: Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles cheer during his closing campaign rally in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Thursday. Capriles will run against President Hugo Chavez in the presidential elections Oct 7. —AP presidential vote.

Some arrived six hours before the speech, while a few men climbed trees and lampposts to get a better view of the leftist leader, who is still the favorite to win but whose rival Henrique Capriles has surged in opinion polls.

Chavez made a rock star entrance, jogging onto the stage with both fists in the air as machines blew confetti and white smoke, throwing the crowd into a frenzy. “He’s the best president we’ve ever had,” said Rosa

“He has united everybody, even the people nobody cared about before,” Castro said.

The devotion that Chavez supporters lavish on their “comandante” regularly brings some to tears at his rallies. Thursday’s was no exception.

A few women were carted off to a medical tent after fainting before his appearance.

Some people threw rolled up papers with messages on the stage, others shouted “you are my heart!” or “I love you!”

“I love him. He’s a wonderful man,” said

Maria, a young black-haired woman who wiped away tears as she stood on a railing when Chavez appeared on stage. But Capriles, a 40-year-old former Miranda state governor who says Chavez is “sick with power,” also drew hundreds of thousands of people at his own Caracas rally over the weekend, reflecting the opposition’s hope of finally defeating Chavez.

Chavez supporters fear that Capriles will end the government’s popular social programs, even though the opposition candidate, who places himself on the center-left, has vowed to keep them going.

“I heard his speeches. This is a candidate who doesn’t love the people,” said 21-yearold social worker Barbara Ascano, who wore tear-shaped earrings with an image of Chavez.

Chavez led the crowd into a rendition of the national anthem before unleashing his trademark attacks against Capriles, calling his rival “majunche,” a slang term that roughly translates to “worthless.”

While Chavez voiced confidence that he would win, he urged his army of supporters to wake up before dawn on election day to get voters to the polls and give him a crushing victory.

“You have to vote early, so that by noon victory is indisputable,” he said as rain soaked his dark-blue rain jacket. “Wake up at 3:00 am, drink a good coffee, chocolate, eat breakfast and everybody vote for the future... vote for Chavez!”

When he asked the crowd “who is the candidate of neo-liberalism?” and “who is the candidate of the corrupt?” they answered in unison “majunche!”

And when he followed that with “who is the candidate of happiness?” and “who is the candidate of the fatherland?” they responded loudly, “Chavez!”

Chavez closed his speech with shouts of “Viva la revolucion” and the words of Cuban revolution hero Che Guevera, “Hasta la victoria siempre!” (“Until victory always!”) —AFP

SAO PAULO: Celso Russomanno (C), the mayoral candidate of the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), talks with people who claims for their community’s poor utilities in Parelheiros, Sao Paulo some 50 km south of city’s downtown, in Brazil on September 28, 2012. The Sao Paulo mayoral race pits an ex-television consumer advocate against candidates of Brazil’s two main parties for a job seen as a stepping stone to higher national office. —AFP

Brazil to closely watch Sao Paulo mayor race SAO PAULO: The Sao Paulo mayoral race pits an ex-television consumer advocate against candidates of Brazil’s two main parties for a job seen as a stepping stone to higher national office. With a population of 11 million, Sao Paulo is the country’s most populous and wealthiest city, and the contest will be one of the most closely watched in the nationwide municipal elections on Sunday.

“The polls will give the major parties a chance to test their popular support ahead of the more important gubernatorial and presidential elections in 2014,” Brasilia-based political scientist Everaldo Moraes told AFP. “This is particularly true in Sao Paulo, where the mayoral office is often a stepping stone for those with presidential aspirations.” Celso Russomanno, 56, a populist former consumer advocate backed by the powerful evangelical Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, has emerged as the surprise front-runner to succeed 52-year-old Gilberto Kassab of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).

Russomanno leads with 27 percent support, followed by the PSDB’s Jose Serra with 19 percent and the governing Workers Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad with 18 percent, according to the latest poll by the Ibope institute. The so-called “Russomanno phenomenon” partly reflects a rejection of the PT and the PSDB, according to Moraes. “The PT is seen as too institutional and some people object to ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s interference in the election, as he is widely believed to have imposed Haddad, his former education minister, as the PT standard bearer,” he said. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Son of prominent Mexican politician shot dead MEXICO CITY: A son of the former chairman of Mexico’s most powerful political party was found shot dead in a town south of the US border notorious for drug traffickers, as the violence dogging the country struck the ruling establishment.

The body of Jose Eduardo Moreira, son of the embattled ex-chairman of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and former Coahuila state governor Humberto Moreira, was discovered near Ciudad Acuna, across the Rio Grande river from Texas, late on Wednesday, the state’s government said on Thursday. He had been reported missing several hours before his body was found.

The centrist PRI ruled Mexico continually between 1929 and 2000 and is due to retake power in December, when Enrique Pena Nieto will assume the presidency.

Military reinforcements were sent into Coahuila to assist investigations into the

killing, which hit one of the most prominent political families in the PRI and sp arked ou trage among party leaders.

A funeral service was held for Jose Eduardo on Thursday evening and television pictures showed his father breaking down in tears as he bore his son’s coffin in Ciudad Acuna. “I’ve had to put up with a lot of things, but I can’t bear this,” Moreira told reporters. “They killed my son. They shot him twice in the head. I expect justice,” he added, calling his son a victim of Mexico’s struggle with criminal violence.

Around 60,000 people have been killed in turf wars between drug gangs and their clashes with security forces since President Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) took office at the end of 2006.

Calderon staked his reputation on a military offensive to bring the gangs to heel. He has captured or killed many of the top bosses, but the violence has

Indian dignitaries meet with US Sikh survivors OAK CREEK: All of India shares the pain of Wisconsin Sikhs as they grapple with the aftermath of a mass shooting at a suburban Milwaukee temple, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday during a visit to the temple.

S.M Krishna, India’s external affairs minister, Nirupama Rao, the country’s ambassador to the United States, and Dutta Toma, counsel general of India in Chicago, toured the temple in Oak Creek for about an hour and half. Krishna addressed about 150 Sikhs in the temple’s hall, reassuring them that the Indian government and its people were behind them. The Sikh faith has roughly 27 million followers worldwide, and the vast majority live in India.

“I convey the sympathy of a billion people,” he said, referring to India’s total population. “I come here not only to offer prayers at this sacred temple but to express our deepest condolences.”

The Sikh community is still struggling to come to grips with the shocking attack on Aug. 5. Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran and white supremacist, arrived at the temple before Sunday services and opened fire with a 9 mm handgun.

He killed six worshippers and injured three others. He also wounded police Lt. Brian Murphy as the officer responded to the scene. Page killed himself minutes later, after he was wounded in a firefight with another officer.

Page’s motives remain unclear. The FBI declared the attack an act of domestic terrorism but is still investigating what drove Page and whether he had any help. Milwaukee FBI spokesman Leonard Peace said Thursday that probe is still ongoing and declined further comment. Sikhs contend they’re often mistaken for Muslims because they wear beards and turbans. Temple members pushed the US Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing last month to start collecting data on hate crimes against Sikhs. Still, reminders of the shooting were everywhere in the temple Thursday. Banners signed by hundreds of well-wishers plastered the walls. A piece of paper with the direct number to the Oak Creek Police Department hung on a bulletin board, and an armed private security guard patrolled the parking lot.

The dignitaries stopped at Froedtert Hospital to visit Punjab Singh, a shooting victim who remains in serious condition, then moved on to the temple. The group got a warm welcome replete with handshakes and bowed heads.

They then filed into the temple’s main hall. The congregation sat cross-legged on the floor as Krishna relayed the condolences of the Indian government and people. He said the shooting was even more tragic because it took place in a place of worship and peace. “All right-thinking people have condemned this dastardly act,” he said. “The entire Indian nation and government are behind you, and the entire United States government and people are behind you.”

Rao and Tuma did not speak. Temple trustee Harcharan Gill then led the group around the building, explaining how Page mounted his attack. Then Krishna, Rao and Toma spent about fifteen minutes meeting behind closed doors with the victims’ families. —AP

increased on his watch. Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, who replaced Moreira as PRI chairman, said there could be no impunity in Mexico. “We need a crusade against violence with all tiers of government, society and religious organizations taking part,” he said.

Pena Nieto has vowed to quickly reduce the violence after he takes power on Dec. 1. He called the killing an “irreparable loss” to the Moreira family in a Tweet, and said the “murder should not go unpunished.”

Critics of the PRI, which became a byword for corruption during its long domination of Mexico, say it is partly to blame for the impunity in the country, accusing it of having made deals with drug gangs in the past to keep the peace.

Jose Eduardo, who was in his twenties, worked for the Coahuila government now led by his uncle, Ruben Moreira.

Ciudad Acuna is a key transit point for cartels running drugs to Texas. It was not immediately clear if Jose Eduardo Moreira’s murder was linked to organized crime in the city.

Some media reports said the killing may have been a revenge attack by the brutal Zetas gang on the Moreira family for losses suffered in recent clashes with security forces.

Humberto Moreira stepped down as PRI chairman in December due to a scandal surrounding a massive increase in Coahuila’s debt when he was governor between 2005 and 2011. Coahuila has become one of the states worst hit by drug violence. Though the number of killings nationwide linked to organized crime has eased somewhat this year, the death toll has surged toward its highest level under Calderon in Coahuila.

Calderon also condemned the killing, saying that he “deeply regretted this cowardly murder.” —Reuters

Obama plays catch-up after lethargic debate ‘If you want to be president, you owe Americans the truth’ MADISON: President Barack Obama landed the verbal blows he missed the previous night in his debate with Mitt Romney, clawing at his Republican foe to stop him gaining a boost in the polls. Obama went on the attack at big rallies in Colorado and Wisconsin and was energetic, combative and concise, the opposite of the tired and long-winded candidate who was decisively beaten by Romney on Wednesday night.

The president beseeched voters not to be duped by the suave debater seen by 67 million television viewers, but to focus on the “real Mitt Romney” who he said promised tax cuts for the rich and cared little for teachers.

“If you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth,” a fired-up Obama told supporters anxious not to see him fritter away his opinion poll lead with less than five weeks to go before election day on November 6. But Obama aides admitted that they needed to take a “hard look” at their strategy before the next debate on October 16, after Romney used the first of a trio of head-to-head clashes to breathe fresh life into a sagging campaign.

Romney celebrated his debate coup with a surprise visit to a conservative conference in the Colorado city of Denver, and warned Obama’s economic policies would take America down a slippery slope to the fate of debt-laden Europe. “I saw the president’s vision as trickle-down government, and I don’t think that’s what America believes in,” Romney said. “I see instead a prosperity that comes through freedom.”

The Republican ticket later gained the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, the biggest gun rights lobby in the United States, which has on several occasions clashed with Obama.

The president, however, sought to capitalize on openings he missed against the well-prepared Romney, including his vow to end government subsidies for PBS television, the stomping ground of famed Sesame Street character Big Bird.

“He would get rid of regulations on Wall Street, but he’s gonna crack down on Sesame Street. Thank goodness somebody is finally cracking down on Big Bird,” Obama said in the picturesque Wisconsin college town of Madison.

crowd so far — 30,000 — in Madison, Wisconsin, after an airport delay in Denver caused reporters to miss the event.

Top Obama aide David Axelrod promised a rethink of tactics before the next debate at Hofstra University, in New York,

FISHERSVILLE: Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his running mate Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) hold signs during a campaign rally at the Augusta Expoland in Fishersville, Viriginia. One day after the first Presidential debate, Mitt Romney spoke to the CPAC before heading to Virginia to campaign with his running mate Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI). —AFP The president also leaped on Romney’s comment Wednesday that he had never heard of a tax break for companies that ship jobs overseas, and would need a new accountant if it was true.

“He seems to be doing just fine with his current accountant,” he said, poking fun at Romney’s complex offshore tax arrangements, which Democrats highlight to press the case he is indifferent to middle-class struggles.

In a hiccup for the normally smooth Obama machine Thursday, the campaign missed a chance to highlight its biggest

and said the “Artful Dodger” untruths of the Republican candidate made him hard to handle in a debate.

“We are going to take a hard look at this,” Axelrod said. “I’m sure we will make adjustments.” Obama advisor David Plouffe played down the idea that Romney’s slick showing would reset a race led by Obama in both national polls and key battlegrounds.

“I would just humbly suggest you cast your gaze to places like Ohio and Iowa and New Hampshire, and see if the race structurally changes,” Plouffe said. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Philippine rebels accuse military amid peace talks MANILA: Muslim rebels waging a decades-long insurgency in the southern Philippines said yesterday the military had provocatively violated a ceasefire as peace negotiators held crucial talks. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) issued the accusation amid talks in Malaysia that the government has said could lead to the imminent signing of a roadmap to end the insurgency that has claimed more than 150,000 lives.

The MILF said the Philippine Marines had deployed more than 100 troops near Palimbang, a town on the southern Muslim homeland of

Mindanao island where rebel troops were stationed, describing the move as “provocative”.

“These troops of marines are not respecting and violating the ceasefire accord and the primacy of the peace process between the government and the MILF,” said a statement on its website. The troops arrived on Tuesday, the same day that the Malaysia talks began, according to the statement.

“We can not understand why they are doing it deliberately... while the talks are ongoing.

“It is only the government to blame when firefight erupts.” The military

said it had moved troops into the area near Palimbang, but denied it had broken the ceasefire with the 12,000strong MILF. The marine unit’s commander, Colonel Alexander Balutan, insisted they were enforcing arrest warrants against “lawless elements”none of them MILF members-who had illegally cut down trees in Palimbang.

“We have been directed by no less than (President Benigno Aquino) to conduct anti-illegal logging operations,” Balutan told reporters. “I am not targeting the MILF nor any of their camps. They have no camps in the area.” The MILF and other Muslim

rebel groups have been fighting for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, a resource-rich region they regard as their ancestral homeland, since the early 1970s.

After months of intense talks, chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen said on Tuesday that the two sides were on the brink of an “historic” agreement that could outline the path towards a final peace pact. The MILF negotiators also expressed optimism, but cautioned there were still many obstacles to overcome. This latest round of peace talks are expected to wrap up this weekend. — AFP

All 18 children confirmed dead in China landslide School safety is a sensitive issue

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (front of jeep) review troops during a parade marking the 67th anniversary of the Indonesian armed forces at Halim Perdana Kusumah airport in Jakarta yesterday. — AFP

Australia High Court backs security risk refugee’s visa SYDNEY: Australia’s High Court yesterday ruled that an asylum-seeker deemed a security risk can still be granted a refugee visa, in a decision that could have implications for others in similar situations.

The 36-year-old plaintiff, a Sri Lankan known as M47, arrived in Australia in December 2009 and has been held in detention since. He applied for a protection visa in 2010 and the immigration department found he had a wellfounded fear of persecution in Sri Lanka and was therefore a refugee. But the security services deemed him a risk and denied his application, prompting him to claim the procedure of their assessment had been unfair, while also challenging his continued detention.

The High Court rejected the procedural fairness argument, but ruled that regulations preventing him getting the visa on public interest grounds were invalid because they were at odds with the Migration Act. The decision could have implications for a group of about 50 people, mostly Sri Lankans, given adverse security assessments and who are being detained indefinitely in Australia. Lawyer David Manne said M47 had committed no crime, yet had been incarcerated in Australia for almost three years. “This is a significant victory for our client,” he told reporters. “What should happen now is that the government should urgently process his visa... grant him a refugee visa and grant him his freedom so that he can rebuild his life.” Attorney General Nicola Roxon said the ruling was being studied.

“The government takes both national security and its international obligations to refugees seriously,” she said, adding that those considered as security risks were only a very small minority of illegal arrivals.

“The government is carefully reviewing the reasoning of the High Court to determine the implications of the decision.” — AFP

BEIJING: The bodies of all 18 schoolchildren buried under a landslide in China have been recovered, officials said yesterday, as authorities defended returning them to school following recent deadly earthquakes.

The landslip, triggered by sustained rains, buried the school and three farmhouses on Thursday in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, where a pair of earthquakes last month killed 81 people and injured hundreds.

Any last hopes for survivors among the children in Zhenhe village, where the landslide struck, evaporated early yesterday when local officials said rescuers had pulled the body of the last missing child from the debris.

The disaster is likely to raise questions over why the pupils had been brought back into the school, located in a deep mountain valley, when China was on a week-long national holiday.

School safety is a sensitive issue in China after thousands of students died when an 8.0-magnitude tremor centred in Sichuan province rocked the southwest of the country in 2008.

China has a highly competitive education system built around cramming for high-stress testing that determines entry into good schools later. Local officials in Yiliang county, which includes Zhenhe, have said the dead children needed to make up lessons lost due to disruptions stemming from the September earthquakes in the area. The state-run Xinhua news agency said they had been brought in to study from another school which was badly damaged in those tremors, which had magnitudes of 5.6 and left more than 800 people injured and 201,000 displaced.

“The mountains around the school are covered with dense vegetation, and there were no signs of potential landslides during investigations after the earthquake,” said Xiao Shunxing, deputy county chief, according to the Yunnan Information news website.

But domestic media quoted nearby residents saying they had been con-

cerned about children walking long distances to school over muddy mountain paths so soon after last month’s earthquakes.

“If the students were off for holidays, there wouldn’t be this tragedy,” said a user of Sina.com’s micro-blogging service, one of many outraged postings.

“Couldn’t they just take time making up the missed classes? Officials, schools, and teachers are too eager for quick success and instant benefits.

They are the the biggest killers.”

The body of a villager who had also been buried under the rubble was recovered later yesterday, bringing the final toll to 19, according to a statement by the county government.

Like many schools and homes in the poor and rugged region, the disaster-hit primary school was located at the base of steep slopes.

Mountainous southwestern China is prone to deadly landslides, a threat worsened by frequent seismic activity.

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which killed more than 80,000 people, triggered giant landslides that left whole mountainsides scarred.

Many schools collapsed in that disaster, triggering accusations of shoddy construction, corner-cutting and possible corruption, especially as many other buildings near such schools held firm.

There have so far been no such allegations in the Yunnan landslide.

Families who lost children will receive compensation payments of 20,000 yuan ($3,200), media reports said.

State media reports initially identified the school as the Youfang Primary School, but subsequent reports have said its official name is the Tiantou Primary School. — AFP

YILIANG: Chinese paramilitary police move mud as they dig for children buried by a landslide in Yiliang county in southwest China’s Yunnan province. All 18 elementary school students buried in the landslide were confirmed dead yesterday. — AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

SHARQ Indian Mughlai Cuisine

Sharq - Near Al-Hamra Mall - Opp. Marriott Courtyard Hotel

Timings: Open on all days from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. then 6:00 11:30 midnight

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Laila Haidari, ‘mother’ of Afghan drug addicts KABUL: She has known terrible torment, but talks about it with a smile.

Married off at 12 and a mother at 13, Afghan divorcee Laila Haidari now lives to help drug addicts in Kabul, who call her mother. Thirty-five years old, she was born and brought up in Iran, where her refugee parents lived out war and political instability at home, coming to Afghanistan for the first time only a year ago.

Brought up by a violent mother, she spent 13 years with an abusive husband before being ostracised by her family for daring to divorce a cleric and today rarely sees her three children.

The woman who has spent a lifetime fighting her lot now devotes her energy to drug addicts sleeping rough on the streets of the Afghan capital. In a country that produces 90 percent of the world’s opium, yet has little public health infrastructure, addiction is an alarming problem.

According to the counter-narcotics ministry, there were 1.5 million addicts in 2010, including one million users of hard drugs such as heroin and opium.

With little understanding of treatments, life for addicts can be hell.

Malnourished, beaten and sick, many gather under the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge over the Kabul River, where dozens of them died in the freezing snows of last winter. Whenever Haidari found herself crossing the bridge, she began to think that as she had defied her husband to get an education and always struggled to help those worse off then herself, she could do something for them.

“Mother Teresa... was always good

to people. I always wanted to be like that. Then I studied about Gandhi and Che Guevara. They did something for humanity. So I asked myself ‘what could I do for others?’”

And it is the addicts under the bridge who have benefited from her help. “Even the first day, when I went under the bridge, one man, who was older than me started to call me mother. The others followed,” she says.

Haidari had originally come to Kabul after divorcing her husband and embarking on a career as a documentary maker, visiting to attend a film festival. But instead her life took a completely different turn. Helped by an associate, who has since pulled out, she built a shelter in western Kabul, known as “mother’s home”, able to accommodate up to 20 addicts a night. The shelter is inspired by the Narcotics Anonymous method of detox, which uses only group therapy and no medication to overcome addiction. Jane Nickels, a spokeswoman for the USbased organisation, says there are 60,000 therapy meetings a week all over the world. But apart from 50 staff in California, NA activities are all voluntary. Volunteers help other volunteers, and so Nickels was unable to account officially for Laila or any other affiliates in Afghanistan.

The type of treatment also has its detractors. “It’s useless,” says one Western expert in Kabul. “Addiction is mental illness. You need medication to recover.” But undeterred and determined, Haidari says she has helped 300 addicts in less than a year. It was not possible to verify the claim, with

Pakistan arrests seven in terror plots: Police KARACH: Pakistani police said yesterday that seven suspects from a feared Al-Qaeda-linked group had been arrested for allegedly plotting to attack school buses and prisons in Karachi.

“We have arrested seven men and recovered seven explosive-filled jackets, rockets and detonators,” senior police official Aslam Khan told reporters. “They were planning to hit school vans in Karachi to create anarchy and then attack prisons to get their comrades freed,” he added. Police arrested the men Friday in the western neighbourhood of Manghopir and Khan said they were members of banned sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city with an estimated population of 18 million. Its Arabian Sea port is used by the United States and NATO to ship supplies to the war in neighbouring, landlocked Afghanistan. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is regarded as one of the most brutal of Pakistan’s sectarian groups and has been linked to strings of attacks on minority Shiite Muslims. Afghan President Hamid Karzai last year blamed the group over the unprecedented bombing of a Kabul shrine which killed 55 people. Pakistani authorities also accused the group over the 2008 attack on Islamabad’s five-star Marriott hotel which left 60 people dead, and say the group has strong links to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Pakistan’s top court yeterday gave the government more time to meet its demands about corruption allegations against the president, indicating that a solution to a nearly three-year show-

down was imminent. Since December 2009, the Supreme Court has insisted that the government re-open multi-million-dollar graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland that were frozen when he became head of state in 2008. Earlier this year it convicted and dismissed prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for refusing to ask Switzerland to re-open the cases, but the government appeared to back down last month by agreeing to write a letter.

“We are inches away from a perfect solution, which upholds the dignity of the court and takes care of any other concerns,” Judge Asif Saeed Khosa told the court. He gave the government until October 10 to consult Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and amend a paragraph of a still unpublished draft letter that the court had deemed objectionable and threatened fresh contempt proceedings over. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Law Minister Farooq H Naik (C) talks with media representatives after appearing at the Supreme Court in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP

KABUL: In this photograph taken on June 25, 2012, Laila Haidari gestures as she speaks in her office at “The Mother Camp” in Kabul. She has known terrible torment, but talks about it with a smile. Married off at 12 and a mother at 13, Afghan divorcee Laila Haidari now lives to help drug addicts in Kabul, who call her mother. — AFP Afghan authorities saying they have no gering tensions. The neighbours complain about noise at night and resent knowledge of her shelter.

AFP met 12 addicts who all said that the presence of addicts in their neighthanks to Haidari and her “Life is bourhood and have even accused Laila, Beautiful” charity, they are in recovery. who also lives at the shelter, of being a “My real mother tried to take me to prostitute. Several months ago, she some places but she didn’t succeed. So claimed to have escaped a murder she left me,” said Ali, 34, a former sol- attempt, but the circumstances and dier who became an addict in Iran and who was responsible remain unclear.

She is also constantly short of monsays he has been clean for four or five ey. But nothing seems to deter her. months.

Fatima, a policewoman in her 40s “When I go back to the life I had before, whose son has been under Laila’s care I have the impression I was not living. for two weeks, said: “I’m happy he’s got But what I’ve been doing for nine another mother. He looks better now.” months with these guys... that’s beautiBut beneath the surface, there are lin- ful!” — AFP

Five condemned to death for India ‘honour’ killing ‘Punishment will have huge impact on society’ NEW DELHI: Five members of a family in India were sentenced to death yesterday for the torture and “brutal” murder of a young couple from Delhi in a so-called “honour killing” two years ago. The parents, uncle, aunt and brother of Asha, a 19-year-old woman killed along with her boyfriend Yogesh in 2010, were all condemned to hang by additional sessions court judge Ramesh Kumar.

Yogesh, a taxi driver, wanted to marry Asha, the daughter of a vegetable vendor, but the girl’s family was against the alliance because the boy belonged to a lower caste.

India has seen an upsurge in such killings, which mainly involve young couples who marry outside their caste or against their relatives’ wishes and are murdered to protect what is seen as the family’s reputation and pride.

Autopsy reports revealed that the young couple had been tied with ropes, beaten with metal pipes and electrocuted, local media reports said. “Medical examination had revealed that the two had died due to the thermoelectric shock from repeated electrocution,” said the Indian Express newspaper.

Public prosecutor P.K. Verma told AFP: “All the five persons were handed the death penalty because it was proved beyond doubt that they tortured and killed the young boy and girl just because they were in love and wanted to marry.

“The murders were brutal and deliberate,”

Verma added. The convicted family can appeal against the decision in a higher court.

Last year, India’s Supreme Court said the death penalty should be given to those found guilty of “honour” killings, calling the crime a barbaric “slur” on the nation.

It only allows the death penalty in what it calls the “rarest of rare” category. Ravi Kant, a New Delhi lawyer who has been fighting to bring in a law which will provide specific, severe penalties to curb such killings, welcomed the punishment handed out yesterday by the city court. “Such a punishment will certainly have a huge impact on the society. It will serve as a strong deterrent to one and all.

The sentencing is also in line with the Supreme Court directive and it must be lauded,” Kant told AFP. There are no official figures on honour killings, though an independent study in 2010 suggested that as many as 900 were being committed every year in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Many cases go unreported, with police and local politicians turning a blind eye to what some see as an acceptable form of traditional justice by families seeking to protect what they see as their honour.

Prisoners can often languish for years on death row in India, with only one execution having taken place in the last 15 years-that of a former security guard hanged in 2004 for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. — AFP

16

Maghreb leaders reassure Europe over Arab Spring

17

Merkel to visit Greece as money running out

Business

18

12,000 sacked as S Africa mine strike turns deadly

20

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Trading mistakes crash Indian stock exchange

NEW YORK: Fleetmatics CEO Jim Travers (center) pumps his fist as he’s applauded during opening bell ceremonies for his company’s initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Stocks were rising in early trading on Wall Street after the government reported that the US unemployment rate fell below 8 percent for the first time in almost four years. — AP

US jobless rate sinks to 7.8% Lowest unemployment level since Jan 2009 WASHINGTON: Huge revisions to previous data gave a sharply better picture of the US jobs situation yesterday, pushing the unemployment rate down to 7.8 percent, the lowest level since Barack Obama became president in Jan 2009. The Labor Department’s figures for last month showed only 114,000 jobs were generated, but upward revisions both to July and August new jobs numbers, and a broader baseline adjustment last week, helped reduce the overall jobless rate from the previous 8.1 percent. The 7.8 percent level was the lowest since President Barack Obama took office, and challenged critics, including White House rival Mitt Romney, who said Obama could not make good on his pledge to bring unemployment below 8.0 percent by the end of his first four-year term in office.

It was also lower than forecasts for this year of the Federal Reserve, which embarked on a QE3 stimulus program in September mainly because of the persistence of high joblessness. “Today’s employ-

ment report provides further evidence that the US economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression,” said Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The economy has now added private sector jobs for 31 straight months. Taking account of the preliminary benchmark revision released last week, the economy has added a total of 5.2 million private sector jobs during that period.”

Revisions to the previous two months’ numbers added 86,000 net new jobs to what had been understood, not enough by itself to bring down the overall unemployment rate. But last week the Labor Department did a more far-reaching adjustment to the base labor sector data reaching back several years, helping reduce the total number of unemployed. In addition, the September figures showed a 170,000 increase in the number of people who dropped out of the work force since July.

The details were not all positive: manufacturers reduced their job rolls for the second straight month and the average duration that people are going without jobs increased to 39.8 weeks. Moreover, the number of people who could only do part time work increased by 580,000. But in an important shift, the numbers showed that, in addition to the private sector, government bodies at all levels returned to hiring in June and July, albeit at a modest pace, reversing a slow contrary trend since May 2010. Overall, 12.1 million Americans remained officially unemployed, down from 13.9 million in Sept 2011, when the jobless rate was 9.0 percent. Another 6.7 million were counted as having given up looking for a job but still wanting one, up from 6.2 million a year earlier.

The data “points to some gradual improvement on the market that is expected to continue, even though fiscal policy uncertainties and the financial market turbulences linked to the European crisis can weigh on the economic agents’ confidence in the

months to come,” said Inna Mufteeva, US economist at Natixis. The numbers were not expected to slow the latest Federal Reserve stimulus program, an open-ended bond-buying operation branded QE3 that aims to encourage investment and hiring by bringing down long-term interest rates.

The Federal Reserve justified the program, announced Sept 13, primarily as a response to the unemployment rate being stuck between 8.1 percent and 8.3 percent since the beginning of the year.

“The rate of job growth over the last three months is not especially robust... at the current rate it will take more than a decade to reach full employment,” said Dean Baker at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “The employment outlook for the remainder of the year remains muted. This mainly reflects businesses’ reluctance to hire amid the uncertainty about the global economic outlook and concerns about fiscal policy in the US,” said Harm Bandholz of UniCredit. — AFP

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Iran blames ‘conspiracy’ as price rises loom DUBAI: Iran will defeat a “conspiracy” against its foreign currency and gold markets, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday, as pressure mounts on authorities to deal with the rapid collapse of the rial. Riot police fought demonstrators and arrested money changers in and around the Tehran bazaar on Wednesday during protests triggered by the fall of the Iranian currency, which has lost a third of its value against the dollar over the last week.

Protesters called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a traitor because of what many say is his serious mismanagement of the economy, which has also been badly hit by US-led Western sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program.

But there has so far been no public criticism of Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s most powerful authority. “Iran is overcoming the psychological war and conspiracy that the enemy has brought to the currency and gold market and this war is constantly fluctuating,” Gholam Ali

Haddad Adel, an adviser to Khamenei, said in a report by the semi-official Fars news agency.

“The arrogant powers, in their crude way, think that the nation of Iran is ready to let go of the Islamic revolution through economic pressure but we are establishing Iran’s economic strength,” he said. Haddad Adel is an ally of Khamenei and father-in-law to his son Mojtaba.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a hardline cleric, called on the various branches of government to work together to solve the country’s economic problems. “It is expected that the authorities should solve the problems with empathy.

Treating the pain will solve the problem, not apportioning blame,” he said in a sermon at Friday prayers. Most of the bazaar was shut on Thursday, but business associations said it would reopen today under the supervision of the security forces. It is traditionally closed on Fridays. Analysts say any further discontent could spread quickly if it is allowed to gain a foothold. The bazaar, whose merchants were

influential in bringing an end to Iran’s monarchy in 1979, wields significant influence and this week’s unrest is a clear signal that the economic hardship is having a profound effect on businessmen and residents alike. “I have a good salary and I can still afford the shopping and expenses for my family,” Ali, 42-year-old Iranian engineer, told Reuters by telephone. He earns $1,000 a month. “But everything has become so expensive and so difficult for people. I’m just glad I have a job.”

This week’s plunge in the rial has not yet made groceries more expensive, says Ali, but he fears more price rises are around the corner.

The cost of food and fuel has shot up in the last year as rampant inflation has taken hold.

Iranians now pay nearly three times more for chicken and red meat than a year ago. Farmers say they are forced to pass on the increased costs of animal feed and vaccines, which are often imported and directly affected by the fluctuations in the exchange rate. The rial’s loss-

es have accelerated despite the government’s attempts to stem the slide by setting up an “exchange centre” designed to supply dollars to importers of some basic goods at a special rate, slightly cheaper than the market rate. Instead of allaying fears about the availability of dollars, the centre seems to have intensified the race for hard currency.

Despite this, there is no indication that the government will back down from its policies, which analysts say will leave Khamenei with the dilemma of backing Ahmadinejad or blaming him. “This is a very serious situation. There is a lot of pressure on Khamenei to remove Ahmadinejad but they will need to find a way to do it without losing face. Otherwise it will have to back him with force,” said Iranian-born Mehrdad Emami, an economics adviser to the European Union. “Ahmadinejad is pushing ahead and that could create continuing unrest which will need a lot of security on the streets,” he added. —Reuters

Maghreb leaders reassure Europe over Arab Spring Malta hosts ‘frank’ Europe-Arab summit VALLETTA: North African leaders sought to reassure Europe at a summit in Malta yesterday that the upheaval in their countries would ultimately generate more stability and investment opportunities. Transitions in North Africa “are not a threat for Europe”, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, who came to power last year after long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled and the country held its first democratic vote.

“Don’t be afraid of Salafi Islamic groups,” Marzouki said following a wave of antiWestern protests across the Muslim world over a US video offensive to Islam and satirical cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed published in France.

“Non-democratic Islamic systems would not be accepted by people. We want Islamic democracy, not autocracy,” said Marzouki, who has come under criticism in Tunisia for not doing enough to keep radical Islamist movements in check. Marzouki also said there were “lots of opportunities” for European investment, adding that the region was

“in bad need” of infrastructure. He said Arab Spring states were “paying a heavy price” for democracy - a reference to the plunge in foreign investment and public finances woes.

“Europe is our destiny,” said Marzouki, one of five Maghreb leaders at the talks with five European leaders including French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. “We have to rebuild the Maghreb,” he said, adding that Tunisia was planning to host a summit of the regional Arab Maghreb Union by the end of the year.

Mauritanian President Ould Abdel Aziz said at the talks: “We are meeting after our region has seen political developments that will help stabilise it. “Our countries are trying to reconcile democracy with good management.” The meeting is part of a diplomatic forum known as “Five-Plus-Five”, which was launched in Rome in 1990 and held its last summit in Tunis in 2003. It brings

VALETTA, Malta: European and North African leaders pose for the photo family at the Upper Barracca Gardens yesterday as part of the “5+5 Dialogue” summit yesterday. —AFP

together five European countries (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain) and five Maghreb states (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia).

Libya’s new President Mohamed AlMegaryef was one of the leaders present.

His predecessor, dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was toppled in August last year, then captured and killed two months later after a bloody conflict swept the country. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh have also been ousted, but their countries lie outside the Maghreb region. The summit was expected to adopt a declaration later yesterday but no binding decisions and the talks are then set for a second day today.

“The events in North Africa are historic and they have consequences for every other country,” said Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. “People in Misrata and Tripoli have given their lives for democracy... Our long-term objective should be a democratic North Africa, to see people there living in prosperity and peace,” Gonzi said. A Maltese official told AFP that the informal nature of the forum “permits a more frank discussion” of themes expected to include security and immigration issues and new areas of cooperation like education, environment and energy. On immigration, Marzouki said Europe should be “patient and understanding in this critical period of transition” over the flow of tens of thousands of undocumented migrants from North Africa to Europe since the Arab Spring. The summit will allow the West to show its determination “to maintain an ambitious Mediterranean cooperation in spite of economic difficulties and the eurozone crisis,” a spokesman from the French president’s office said earlier. Paris also wants to declare “its renewed confidence in the political process on the south shore of the Mediterranean and Maghreb in particular following the Arab Spring”, and “create productive, confident and varied ties” in the region. —AFP

ISMAILIA, Egypt: The largest container ship in the world, Danish-flagged Edith Maersk, crosses the Suez Canal as seen from this Egyptian port yesterday. —AFP

Rial drop due to Iran policy, sanctions: US LONDON: The fall in the Iranian rial over the past year is the result of Tehran’s economic mismanagement and sanctions imposed over its disputed nuclear program, U.S. Treasury official David Cohen said yesterday. Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, added in remarks on a visit to Britain’s Chatham House think-tank that Iran had the ability to “relieve the pressure its people are feeling” by resolving concerns over its nuclear work. Iran has blamed the plunge in the currency on what it says is a foreign conspiracy.

“What in particular has sparked the most recent precipitous decline in the rial, I’m not in a position to say on a granular basis,” he said, adding however that over the past year it had fallen substantially. “That is undoubtedly in significant part due to the Iranian government’s own mismanagement of its economy and it is in part due to the effect of sanctions. The Iranian leadership has within its capacity the ability to relieve the pressure its people are feeling.” European governments and the United States are searching for fresh ways to pressure Tehran into scaling back its nuclear program after diplomacy foundered earlier this year.

Tehran dismisses Western concerns that its work has any military intentions. —Reuters

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Fledging electric car market in turmoil DETROIT: The fledgling electric car business is in turmoil as predictions about potential sales have proven to be wildly optimistic despite volatile fuel prices and plenty of media hype. Weak consumer demand is hitting both the big automakers like General Motors and Nissan -which have failed to meet sales targets on the plug-in Volt and allelectric Leaf - and smaller start-up firms trying to carve out a piece of a very small niche. “Electric vehicles don’t make any more sense today than they did in 1912,” says Sean McAlinden, an analyst with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “They take too long to charge, the range is too short and they cost too much.”

Electric cars also face stiff competition from hybrids and improved fuel efficiency in conventional vehicles as automakers update their fleet to meet tougher government standards. Toyota recently announced plans to drastically scale back the release of its all-electric eQ and Honda has limited the release of its Fit EV to 1,100 US customers over the next two years. The Chevy Volt which can switch over to a regular gasoline engine once the battery runs

out of juice - is by far the most successful electric car in the United States.

After a slow start, Volt sales have tripled this year with help of discounted leases and a decision by California to allow them in fast-moving carpool lanes on the state’s clogged freeways.

But sales of 16,348 through September are still far short of the 45,000 Volts that the US Department of Energy forecast in a 2011 report that GM could sell per year. As fuel prices rise, consumers have been far more attracted to Toyota’s Prius hybrid, which saw sales double this year to 183,340 vehicles.

Sales of the all-electric Leaf - which has a maximum range of 117 km - are down 28 percent to just 5,212 vehicles in the United States this year despite a major marketing push.

Nissan -which is preparing to open a new assembly for electric vehicles in Tennessee - is falling well short of CEO Carlos Ghosn’s ambitious goal to double Leaf sales for fiscal 2013. Only two years ago, the Boston Consulting Group predicted electric vehicle sales could reach five percent or roughly 4 million to 5 million vehicles of the industry’s total global sales volume by

2020. Now they are saying electric vehicles might represent just three percent of total global sales.

While the big automakers can cushion their massive investments in electric vehicles with sales of conventional cars, the painfully slow growth and the difficulties in adapting electric technology to the tastes of modern motorists have posed huge challenges for startups. Tesla Motors is falling behind in its efforts to produce a sleek new electric vehicle, the electric vehicle start-up company spawned by Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk acknowledged in a recent regulatory filing.

That leaves the Palo Alto, Californiabased company in danger of failing to meet the terms of a $465 million Energy Department loan. Nonetheless, electric vehicles advocates remain upbeat and investors are not shying from the companies.

Tesla was able to raise $128 million by selling new shares of common stock and Fisker Automotive also raised $100 million in new capital last month despite problems with the launch of its extended range electric vehicle, the Karma. Tony Posawatz, Fisker’s third

Merkel to visit Greece as money running out German leader hails Greek reform drive BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make her first visit to Greece next week since the euro zone debt crisis erupted, in a show of support for Athens after it said it will run out of money at the end of November without fresh international aid. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras hailed the trip as a very positive development at a time when his country is locked in negotiations with euro zone and IMF creditors who are holding back some euro 31.5 billion ($41 billion) in urgently needed loans.

“The key is liquidity. That is why the next credit tranche is so important for us,” Samaras told the German business daily Handelsblatt. Asked how long Greece could manage without it, he said: “Until the end of November. Then the coffers are empty.” A German government spokesman said Merkel would travel to Athens on Tuesday for her first visit since the crisis began in late 2009, when a previous government revealed that Greece had hugely understated its public deficit.

“It is a trip that of course happens to the backdrop of this very difficult situation that Greece is going through right now, the massive adjustment and reform measures that have shaped Greece for the past two years,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference.

“We see that the reform efforts have increased under the Samaras government and we want to support that.”

The visit appears to signal that Europe’s most powerful leader has decided it is essential to keep Greece in the single currency area despite is repeated failure to meet fiscal targets and economic

ATHENS: Arrested shipyard workers are led into a court while their supporters chant yesterday. More than 200 employees of a Greek shipyard broke into the courtyard of the defence ministry in Athens on Thursday to protest against nonpayment of their wages. They broke down barriers at the entry and anti-riot forces were sent in half an hour later using clubs and tear gas to remove them.

When they refused to leave they were arrested en masse. — AFP reform commitments under two bailout programs. “This is symbolically very important. It points clearly to the fact that Merkel is not going to drop Greece, even though things are not going well there,” said Carsten Brzeski, senior European economist at ING bank.

Merkel has been vilified in some Greek media as dictating devastating austerity to Greece. One newspaper dressed her in a Nazi uniform on its cover. Germany’s popular press meanwhile has systematically depicted the Greeks as work-shy tax cheats. Greek government spokesman

Simos Kedikoglou said in a statement: “It’s the first time in five years that the German Chancellor visits Greece.

This visit ... will certainly be a further, important step towards future European decisions.” But Greek labour unions called a work stoppage and a protest rally outside parliament during her visit, and a far-right anti-bailout party, the Independent Greeks, will demonstrate at the German embassy “to express in front of Chancellor Angela Merkel our opposition to Greece becoming a German protectorate”. —Reuters

chief executive officer since February, acknowledged the company made mistakes but dismissed a crushing review by Consumer Reports, which described the Karma’s design as flawed.

“Customers do like these cars,” said Posawatz, a former GM executive who had been responsible for bringing the Volt to market. Fisker has sold more than 1,000 Karmas, which cost $103,000, since the car went on sale last December. Posawatz also predicted the technology for electric and extended range electric vehicles will catch on. “It took 10 years, but the Prius is the best-selling vehicle in California,” he said at a recent meeting of the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

The company is moving ahead with plans to build its next vehicle, a sedan dubbed the Atlantic that will costs roughly half as much as the Karma, and expects to raise another $200 million in private equity funding soon.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv-based Better Place is looking for new direction after replacing founder Shai Agassi with a new chief executive officer. — AFP

Lehman brokerage, Europe unit settle $38bn in claims NEW YORK: The US brokerage unit and a European unit of the former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said they settled a dispute over $38 billion in claims over client and creditor assets, a major step toward allowing customers and creditors to recover money. Lehman Brothers Inc and Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) announced the agreement in principle in a joint statement yesterday. The accord requires approval by US Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan as well as by the English High Court. On Thursday, the US brokerage unit announced a separate agreement with its former Swiss-based derivatives unit Lehman Brothers Finance AG. Taken together, the agreements resolve two of the biggest outstanding claims facing the US brokerage unit.

Yesterday’s agreement “sets the stage for distributions that will provide for 100 percent recovery of customer property,” said James Giddens, the trustee for the Lehman brokerage unit. Tony Lomas, joint administrator of LBIE, said the accord allows it to focus on how to distribute more than $7 billion of client assets. Under the agreement, the European unit will be allowed $8 billion in claims for customer accounts. The accounts include $7.5 billion in securities and cash and $500 million in cash net equity. The unit will also be entitled to a $4 billion general property claim, plus $600 million of “post-filing income.” Lehman Brothers Inc’s $13.8 billion unsecured claim against the European unit will be eliminated. In March, the parent company emerged from the largest US bankruptcy in history after 3-1/2 years in Chapter 11. Lehman had been Wall Street’s fourth largest investment bank. — Reuters

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Land reform protests heat up in Paraguay OACUNDAY, Paraguay: Landless farm workers pushing for reform in Paraguay are regaining momentum three months after the movement lost one of its biggest champions with the ouster of president Fernando Lugo. Farm-worker groups have mobilized to demand the expropriation of four large farms owned by “Brasiguayos” - a term for Brazilian settlers and their descendants and tensions are rising as the fight over land heats up. Federic Ayala, a protest leader, said the dispute could turn violent. “If they provoke us, ‘iputa trinka’,” he said, using an expression in the Guarani language that means, “There will be war”. “Nobody will be able to stop it,” he said. “A lot of farm workers will die, but so will they.” Ayala spoke to AFP at an encampment of some 2,000 of the protesters on the banks of the Nacunday river.

The itinerant farm workers are known as

“carperos”, or tent people, for the encampments they set up in occupying the large tracts of land in Paraguay’s remote rural hinterlands. “These were the lands of Anastasio Somoza,” Ayala said, referring to the Nicaraguan dictator who moved to Paraguay after his ouster in the 1979 Sandinista revolution. Somoza was assassinated in Paraguay in 1980. “Over there are the lands of Pinochet,” he said, alluding to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as he pointed in the direction of a 4,000-hectare farm currently being farmed by Brasiguayos.

According to official sources, there are about 400,000 Brasiguayos, who arrived in the last half-century and staged an agricultural revolution in eastern Paraguay. The region now produces between 13 and 15 million tonnes of grain per year, and Paraguay is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of soybeans. Tensions are also sim-

mering in other areas of Paraguay. Last week, some 200 masked and armed farm workers calling themselves members of the “National League of Carperos” -occupied the rich lands of a Brazilian national, Ulisses Teixeira, in San Pedro department, 300 km north of the capital, Asuncion. Their leader, Jose Bordon, called for the government of President Federico Franco to expropriate 22,000 hectares, warning “blood will flow” otherwise.

Another conflict is threatening to erupt on “Barbero’s lands”, also in San Pedro, named after an Italian who donated more than 17,000 hectares to the government. In Canindeyu department, on the border with Brazil, some 250 farm workers have occupied land owned by Ache Guayaki Indians. The indigenous group, armed with bows and arrows, are themselves threatening to attack if the government doesn’t chase out the pro-

testers. “Patience is running out: there could be deaths, like those in Curuguaty,” Ayala told AFP, referring to a June 15 clash sparked when police tried to dislodge protesters from a farm owned by local businessman Blas Riquelme. The attempt turned into a bloodbath: 11 farm workers and six police officers were killed.

Just days later, the Senate ousted president Lugo, handing power to Franco, his center-left vice-president. The man accused of setting off the shootout, peasant leader Raul Villalba, was arrested last week, officials said. Here in the carperos camp - some 500 tents pitched among massive soybean fields - conditions are grim. “We live in the mud,” said Anabella Romero Gonzalez, one of the women leaders of the camp, showing her sandals. “Each times it rains, it is a disaster.” A sign in the camp reads: “Mario Ferreiro, President of Paraguay.” —AFP

12,000 sacked as S Africa mine strike turns deadly Miner killed in clashes with police RUSTENBURG, South Africa: The world’s biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum, sacked 12,000 striking workers in South Africa yesterday, just hours after a miner was killed in clashes with police. Anglo American Platinum said the miners failed to appear before disciplinary hearings “and have therefore been dismissed in their absence”. Around 28,000 workers have been on strike for three weeks at the firm’s sprawling mines in Rustenburg, in the north of the country, demanding better pay and conditions.

The company said the strike had so far

dropping their demands for higher pay.

Late Thursday one miner was killed when police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a group of 300 illegal strikers protesting on a hilltop close to the mines.

The independent police watchdog is investigating the man’s death “as the incident appeared to have arisen from police action,” according to police spokeswoman Emelda Setlhako. “The crowd began stoning the police who then had to use stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them,” spokesman Setlhako said in a statement. The victim has not been

RUSTENBURG, South Africa: Striking miners watch South African police recover yesterday the body of a miner killed near an Anglo American-owned mine in this northern town. —AFP cost 700 million rand ($80 million) in lost revenue.

In a bid to halt further losses, Amplats on Monday warned wildcat strikers that they would be sacked if they failed to attend hearings. Yesterday, it made good on that threat. “Despite the company’s repeated calls for employees to return to work, we have continued to experience attendance levels of less than 20 percent,” the firm said in a statement. The standoff has intensified this week, with at least six people killed as miners showed no sign of

officially identified, but colleagues told AFP the man, in his late 40s, was from the rural Eastern Cape province and had been a rock drill operator at the Bleskop shaft, one of several at the sprawling complex.

Yesterday police cordoned off the hill with red tape as investigators examined the scene, while strikers barricaded roads close by with tyres and rocks. “The situation is tense,” said local police spokesman Thulani Ngubane. It is not the first time South Africa has seen a mass sacking during a wage dispute. In February, Amplats’

rival Impala Platinum fired 17,000 workers, only to rehire them a few weeks later as part of a wage agreement. Amplats yesterday indicated it was open to “exploring the possibility of bringing forward wage negotiations within our current agreements”.

Meanwhile a small group of defiant miners congregated close to the hill accused police of other killings and waging nightly raids with teargas. “We are only waiting for the money,” said Mikael Rafuza, a 54-year-old who has worked at the mine for more than a decade and is demanding a wage of 16,070 rand ($1,300) a month. “I don’t go to work before.” With around 100,000 workers currently on strike across the country, President Jacob Zuma - who has publically kept his distance from the crisis - on Thursday called for the work stoppages to end.

Speaking to business leaders in Johannesburg, he warned the strikes would hurt South Africa’s ability to attract more investment and growth. “We should not seek to portray ourselves as a nation that is perpetually fighting.” He added that business and labour needed “to ensure shop floor peace and stability in the country, in order for us to continue the collective responsibility of promoting economic growth and development.”

The South African rand sank against the dollar on news of renewed violence.

The wave of strikes began two months ago with a deadly wildcat work stoppage by 28,000 miners at a Lonmin platinum mine in August. That unrest ended with an up to 22 percent pay rise, but not before 46 people had died. The pay rises have emboldened other workers in the strike-prone country, Africa’s largest economy. Since then industrial action has spread from platinum to gold mining and other sectors. Analysts have warned that the strikers’ demands will result in job losses in the country where one in every four employable people is out of a job. On Thursday, major gold miners and unions agreed to review wages and pay grades for entry-level workers. —AFP

ROME: Students clash with riot police during a demonstration yesterday against deep cuts in the education budget by the previous government under Silvio Berlusconi, as well as more widely against recent reductions in local government finances and the freeze on public sector hiring. —AFP

Italy to slash pay packets of pols ROME: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has said Italy must act to prevent further erosion of public confidence in politicians and shore up its image abroad following a series of financial scandals. “I am convinced that after the unspeakable events of recent weeks, people are outraged because we are asking them for sacrifices while the world of politics is exempt,” Monti said late on Thursday after the cabinet approved a bill aimed at reducing the cost of Italian politics. For months, Italians have been bombarded by a string of financial scandals concerning senior politicians at a time when austerity measures are increasingly hitting ordinary Italians. “We can imagine the effect of these stories of corruption on the image of Italy. What can foreigners think when they see pictures on television (of these goings on)? For Italy, this is doing incalculable damage,” he added.

Under the new law, the number of regional councillors will be almost halved from around 1,400 to 790 and those remaining will see their income, currently as high as 14,000 euros a month for some, reduced. Councillors will also find it more difficult to secure a pension with only those aged 66 and with ten years’ service behind them being eligible. In the latest scandal, a member of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party (PDL) was arrested on Tuesday on charges of embezzlement.

Franco Fiorito, the former PDL leader for the region which includes Rome, is suspected of embezzling around one million euros ($1.2 million) of public funds, though he has repeatedly denied the charges. According to media reports, Fiorito, who had access to the party’s funds, rents at least three apartments in Rome and owns a yacht and a villa by the sea, as well as several luxury cars and an apartment in Spain. The turmoil has been compounded by pictures of lavish and steamy parties held by members of Berlusconi’s party, splashed over the media in the past few weeks. —AFP

business SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

China auto sales tumble as row hits Japan Inc BEIJING: Toyota Motor Corp’s China sales fell about 40 percent in September from the year before, while those of rivals such as Hyundai and BMW jumped, underscoring how badly Japanese brands have been hit by a territorial row between the two countries. Showroom traffic and sales have plunged at Japanese car makers since violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products broke out across China in mid-September over the Japanese government’s purchase of a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea from their private owner.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp said yesterday its China sales dived 63 percent to 2,340 vehicles in September from 6,307 a year earlier. Mazda Motor Corp said its sales in China sank 36 percent to 13,258 vehicles for the month. A prolonged sales hit of this scale could threaten profit forecasts at Toyota, Nissan Motor Co and others as China, the world’s biggest car market, makes up a bigger portion of their global sales. Toyota sold about 50,000 cars in China in September, a senior company executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters yesterday. That would be down from about 86,000 in Sept

2011 but better than the figure reported earlier by Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper, which said sales halved from the 75,000 sold in August. The dramatic fall-off in demand for Japanese vehicles has been an unexpected boon for other foreign brands, with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co saying yesterday its China sales climbed 15 percent to 84,188 vehicles last month.

Toyota declined to confirm the number, saying it would announce its Chinese sales for September on Tuesday. As demand evaporates, Toyota, Nissan, Honda Motor Co and others have been forced to cut back production in recent weeks in a slowing, but still promising Chinese market.

A source told Reuters late last month that Toyota’s production cutbacks could extend through November, a move that would almost certainly put the company’s goal of selling 1 million cars in China this year out of reach. “I would say it’s almost impossible now,” the executive said, blaming the wave of anti-Japan sentiment that has swept the country. He added, however, that sales showed signs of recovery towards the end of last month, especially over the final weekend, providing some hope for an early comeback. Anti-Japan

sentiment across China escalated last month amid a row over a group of uninhabited islets, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China, whose nearby waters are thought to hold potentially rich natural gas reserves. They have been under Japan’s control since 1895. Demonstrators vandalised properties of Japanese companies, including a Toyota outlet in the eastern city of Qingdao that was torched, in the latest flare-up in tensions that have smouldered since the end of World War Two. Japanese carmakers have been the most visible losers, although there have been signs of the tensions affecting other sectors, with All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (ANA) saying late last month it had seen a wave of cancellations on Japan-China routes.

Semiconductor maker Rohm Co Ltd forecast a decline in orders for the second half of the fiscal year ending March, citing significant weakness from automakers. “The second half is not looking very good, it all depends on how much impact the events in China will have,” said Hidemi Takasu, managing director of R&D at Rohm, on the sidelines of the CEATEC technology trade show near Tokyo. “We sell quite a lot to

automakers so when they decide to cut production we feel the impact.”

On Thursday, Mazda Motor Corp said its China sales tumbled by more than a third last month from a year earlier, providing the first concrete numbers to point to Japanese automakers’ troubles in China. A Nissan executive said on Friday he expected the protests to have affected its Chinese sales in September, but reiterated the car maker’s stance that it would not alter its strategy there. “China is a growing market,” Executive Vice President Takao Katagiri told reporters in Yokohama. He added that official figures would be announced after China’s mid-autumn festival holiday, which ends on Friday. The exodus from Japanese cars has in turn helped other foreign brands. Among premium brands, Volkswagen’s Audi boosted sales by 20 percent in September, BMW by 55 percent and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz by 10 percent. The owner of a large car dealership chain in China said his Japanese brand outlets - Toyota, Lexus, Nissan and Honda have endured anti-Japan sentiment in the past. “But this time it feels a bit different, and I hope things will return to normal quickly as before,” he said. —Reuters

Samsung tips record Q3 profit of $7.3 bn Fourth quarter will be tougher

TOKYO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa gestures as he speaks before the press at the bank’s headquarters yesterday. —AFP

BOJ defies pressure TOKYO: Japan’s central bank has ended its latest policy meeting yesterday with no changes in its key interest rate or asset buying program, resisting government pressure for further easing. The Bank of Japan said in a statement Friday that it expected the world’s thirdlargest economy to “level off” for now, with inflation at about 0 percent. In a rare move, the government’s national policy minister, Seiji Maehara, told reporters he attended the central bank’s meeting to appeal for more dramatic action to spur growth.

He and other government officials have recently voiced frustration over the failure of policies to end Japan’s protracted bout of deflation, or falling prices, which are a drag on economic growth.

“I’m heading to the meeting keeping in mind the government’s stance of urging further easing of monetary policy to help us escape from deflation,” Maehara said Thursday. Local media reports said he was the first government minister to attend a central bank policy meeting since 2003. The Bank of Japan’s key interest rate is already near zero.

The BOJ said it would keep policy unchanged for now but continue asset purchases and other “powerful monetary easing,” such as its decision, announced last month, to increase and extend its purchases of Japanese government bonds and treasury bills under its stimulus program. It also urged that greater attention be paid to the impact of financial and foreign exchange markets on the economy reflecting Tokyo’s unhappiness over the recent strengthening of the Japanese yen against other currencies. —AP

SEOUL: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said yesterday it expected a record operating profit of 8.1 trillion won ($7.3 billion) in the third quarter, boosted by sales of its flagship Galaxy smartphones. The estimate beat analyst expectations and came with a predicted 26 percent surge in sales to 52 trillion won in the three months to September, despite uncertainties surrounding Samsung’s growing patent battle with Apple Inc. Samsung, the world’s largest technology firm by revenue, was giving earnings guidance before its official results announcement later this month.

The projected operating profit for July-September would represent a 90.5 percent rise from a year earlier, and beat the previous record of 6.7 trillion won set in the last quarter. The estimate saw the company’s shares rise 1.5 percent to 1.387 million won at the opening in Seoul - their highest level in five months although they later fell back to close at 1.370 million won. Samsung’s operating profits have risen every quarter since the first three months of 2011, as booming smartphone sales helped it leapfrog Apple as the world’s biggest maker of the devices. But its shares have been under pressure due to the legal spat with the iPhone manufacturer.

Samsung was dealt a blow in late August when a US federal jury ruled that the Korean giant infringed some of Apple’s design and software patents and fined it more than $1 billion. Samsung has appealed the ruling. The legal duel, being fought in some 10 countries, has mirrored an intense market battle between Samsung’s new Galaxy S III smartphone, released in June, and

Apple’s iPhone 5 launched last month.

The South Korean firm also launched the Galaxy Note II - the latest version of its oversized smartphone - at the end of September. Galaxy S III shipments have been estimated at 18 million units for the third quarter, while smartphone and overall mobile device shipments are pro-

Investment and Securities. “The fourthquarter operating profit is expected to decrease... as slower profit at its telecom unit seems inevitable due to an increase in marketing expenses,” Lee said.

But James Song at KDB Daewoo Securities said he expected Samsung’s mobile sales to maintain their strength

SEOUL: Visitors walk by a billboard of a Samsung Electronics’ product yesterday. —AP jected at 59 million and 106 million units respectively.

Some analysts said operating profit at the company’s mobile business may fall off slightly in the fourth quarter, partly due to higher marketing costs in the intensely competitive market. “The third quarter may be the peak in terms of earnings,” said Lee Sun-Tae, an analyst at NH

and keep profits high, with fourth quarter earnings “about the same” as the JulySeptember period. Stronger earnings at Samsung’s flat-panel display and television businesses helped offset the third quarter performance of the company’s chip division, which struggled with falling prices for memory chips used in personal computers. —AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Kingfisher fleet grounded for another week MUMBAI: India’s cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines will remain grounded for at least another week after employees refused to go back to work without payment of salaries owing for seven months, the company said. All Kingfisher flights have been cancelled since Monday as the airline tries to persuade employees to return to work, but talks to resolve the crisis ended without making any headway on Thursday.

Yesterday, nearly 200 striking pilots, engineers and other workers staged a march in Mumbai in protest after the wife of a Kingfisher technician killed herself in the Indian capital.

Police said the woman had left a note blaming her death on financial stress caused by her husband’s lack of wages. “We have taken out this march to condole the untimely death our colleague’s wife,” said Vikrant Patkar, a pilot, who represents the striking workers. The marchers carried posters lampooning the airline and its owner, billionaire-liquor baron Vijay Mallya, as they marched in uniform from the city’s domestic airport to the airline’s city office, Kingfisher House. “Stop sucking our blood,” read one of the banners while another poster

said: “Asking for salaries after seven months is not illegal.”

Kingfisher spokesman Prakash Mirpuri expressed “regret” the staff refused to return to work, “thereby continuing to cripple and paralyse the working of the entire airline”. The airline extended what it called a “partial lock-out” to Oct 12. Kingfisher’s shares fell by 4.68 percent to 13.25 rupees, its fifth straight trading day of declines. The carrier, which has a debt of nearly $1.3 billion, is desperately scouting for a foreign airline to pump in fresh capital to keep it flying.

The airline, which owes millions of dollars in taxes as well as money to suppliers, lenders and staff, has been forced to drastically cut down its operations in the past year, shutting down international flights completely. The company was India’s second-largest airline until a year ago but now has a market share of just 3.2 percent, the smallest of the country’s carriers. Governmentcontrolled State Bank of India, which heads a consortium of mainly state-run banks that has extended loans to Kingfisher, ruled out providing further funds to the carrier.—AFP

MUMBAI: Striking employees of India’s private Kingfisher Airlines hold a protest march from the domestic airport to the company’s office yesterday. — AFP

Trading mistakes crash Indian stock exchange Firm suspended, faces large liability

NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer rests on bags of spices in the Spice Market yesterday. Delhi’s wholesale spice market is said to be Asia’s largest selling, all kinds of spices, nuts, herbs and other food products like rice and tea. — AP

Zero deduction on gold exchange at Joyalukkas KUWAIT: Joyalukkas has announced an exclusive gold exchange promotion at their showrooms across Kuwait.

Between 4 and 13 Oct, 2012, customers can visit the store to exchange their old gold jewelry at zero deduction for dazzling new designs in gold, diamond, polki, precious stone or pearl jewelry. This offer is available at all Joyalukkas showrooms in Kuwait.

“With the festive season approaching, customers would like to refresh their jewelry collections. The gold rate being high, our offer enables them to get the jewelry of their choice, without too much expense,” explains John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group. “Plus, customers have the option of choosing diamonds, precious stones or pearls, if they like, without any loss in value.”

Customers can exchange their 22k GCC gold for branded gold, diamond, polki, precious stone and pearl jewelry, at zero percent deduction. Customers can also exchange their 22k Joyalukkas gold for any new jewelry, at zero percent deduction. Since inception, Joyalukkas has launched various customer-centric initiatives at their showroom to excite the market. The response from customers has encouraged the renowned jeweler to continue and launch various fresh such initiatives to maintain the excitement and favorable response from jewelry lovers.

MUMBAI: Mistakes by a local brokerage in placing orders worth $125 million briefly crashed India’s National Stock Exchange yesterday, leading to a 15.5-percent fall in the main index and a suspension of trading. The exchange’s Nifty index fell 920 points yesterday morning with shares in heavyweight financial stocks such as State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC particularly hard hit. “The Nifty fall was on account of abnormal orders resulting in multiple trades at low prices,” a statement from the exchange said. “The circuit filter got triggered and the market closed automatically.”

After the automatic suspension of 10 minutes, designed to ensure stability on the market and avoid wild fluctuations, trading resumed in line with global trends and India’s other market, the Bombay Stock Exchange. Mumbai’s Emkay Global Financial brokerage, which placed the erroneous trades, was later suspended from trading at the exchange and could face a large liability related to the 59 mistaken orders. NSE senior vice-president Ravi Varanasi said an investigation would be completed soon “into how orders were sent despite controls being in place for trading members”. “But from what I understand, the event stems from a human error,” Varanasi told AFP. He said that the NSE would decide when to lift Emkay’s suspension after the investigation was completed. The trades were not cancelled and have gone through, an NSE spokeswoman told AFP. Analysts said the brokerage had likely sold shares at prices far lower than market prices. The trades could have been reversed by buying back the shares at higher levels. The Nifty closed the day down 0.70 percent at 5,746.95

points, while shares in Emkay sank 9.86 percent to 31.1 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which hosts more companies than the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Shares in State Bank of India, which fell 14.2 percent in morning trade, ended down 0.27 percent at 2,339.45 rupees. An Emkay spokesman declined to comment to AFP other than saying the company was “investigating the matter”. Yesteray’s incident was at least the third instance since April when trading on the National Stock Exchange has been hit due to incorrect orders, Dow Jones Newswires reported. This comes at a time when competition is set to

intensify among India’s stockmarket operators with the entry of the MCX Stock Exchange, which is set to start operations next month.

In June 2010, the Bombay Stock Exchange witnessed unusual trades, when Reliance Industries - India’s highest-weighted stock at the exchange - fell 20 percent due to a large sell order at a low price. The BSE at that time said it was a “human error” and there was no manipulation of prices. Internationally, yesterday’s fall was similar to a “flash crash” in US stocks in May 2010 in which the Dow Jones plunged 1,010 points about nine percent - before recovering losses within minutes. — AFP

MUMBAI: In this file photo taken on Sept 23, 2011, an Indian stock dealer watches share prices on his terminal at a brokerage house. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012 www.kuwaittimes.net

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei gets Smithsonian showcase PAGE 25

A tiger cub rests at a nursery room at the Shanghai Zoo in Shanghai, China. — AP

Jedi do battle in Paris PAGE 27

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Gwen Stefani

doesn’t want any more kids

T

he 42-year-old singer has two sons, Kingston, six, and Zuma, four, with her husband Gavin Rossdale and she is happy with her family and sees no reason to add to her brood. She said: “Do I want more children? Not really, no. Two kids are enough. I’m done with having children. I’m tearing myself up every day as it is.” Gwen has been married to Gavin for 10 years, and while she admits the relationship can have its difficulties, she insists they are both “very happy” with each

other. The No Doubt singer added to HELLO! magazine: “We have found a way to handle it. Of course things are sometimes running better and sometimes not so great. But we’re always very happy that we’ve been together this long. “We stick together and on the main things we agree. We both wanted a family, for example. Gavin is a fantastic father. I could never record a song with him, but the guys are our great common passion.”

Taylor Swift talks to

herself in the mirror T he 22-year-old singer is a nervous wreck before she performs a gig, particularly at music festivals where fans may not have turned up just to see her, so the blonde beauty quells her anxiety by repeatedly telling herself that she is “going to be OK”. She said: “I get pretty

nervous. I kind of like go through, you know when you talk to yourself in the mirror? And I’m like, ‘They’re not going to throw things at you, it’s going to be OK, it’s going to be OK.’ It’s not like that, it’s more like, ‘Mmm ... it’s going to be OK?’ “I don’t get nervous when I’m going on stage and a crowd of people have bought

tickets to see me, because I’m like, ‘You guys totally want to be here.’ It’s when I’m not sure if people want me to be on stage.” The ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ hitmaker - who is currently on a visit to the UK - was delighted to meet fellow singer Ellie Goulding last night (04.10.12) because Taylor is “obsessed” with the ‘Your Song’ singer but thinks the 25-year-old star may have been “weirded out” by her constant questions. She explained: “I made a friend last night. I have two British friends. Ed Sheeran is one of my friends and I met Ellie Goulding last night and she’s the coolest girl. I’ve been obsessed with her records for a really long time. I felt a little fan girl-ish because I was quoting lines from her songs and I was like, ‘Where did you come up with that? What’s the meaning behind that?’ She was physically weirded out. I know all the words to her new song.” As well as her obsession with Ellie, Taylor loves Katy Perry and has been an even bigger fan of the ‘Firework’ singer ever since she wore a Taylor Swift T-shirt to a performance. Speaking to BBC Radio 1, she added: “Katy Perry is awesome, she’s really hilarious. She always says something feisty and nice at the same time. She’s exactly how you imagine her.

I’ve known her for a long time and I remember the first time we played at the Staples Center in LA, like three years ago, and I called her up and was like, ‘I love ‘Hot N Cold’ - will you play it?’ “She showed up and she went to the store and bought a Taylor Swift T-shirt with my face on it and she wore that when she played it. It was incredible.”

Daryl Hannah

arrested in Texas

T

he ‘Kill Bill’ actress was taken into custody for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest and held at the Wood County Jail after she and a landowner stepped in front of machinery to halt the construction of an oil pipeline. Daryl and 78-yearold Eleanor Fairchild were hoping to stop the progress of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipe through the latter’s farmland in Winnsboro - which was subject to a compulsory purchase order for the project - almost a hundred miles east of Dallas. The pipeline is designed to bring crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Daryl’s agent, Paul Bassis, said the protesters were likely to be kept in jail adding: “They’ve arrested Daryl Hannah and a rural Texas great-grandmother. “The streets of Winnsboro will be much safer tonight now that they’ve gotten that 78-year-old great grandmother off the streets.” Daryl has previously been arrested for protesting against the pipeline in Washington DC in 2011. She and other activists believe it will carry heavy, acidic crude oil that could corrode a metal pipeline and lead to a spill.

They also claim that by not refining the oil, it would further contaminate the air in a region that struggles with pollution.

TransCanada counter that the pipeline will be the safest ever built. The issue has even been debated by President Barak Obama. Speaking of Daryl’s arrest, TransCanada spokesman David Dodson said: “It is unfortunate Ms. Hannah and other outof-state activists have chosen to break the law by illegally trespassing on private property.” He added protesters were “putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk”.

T

Jack Osbourne set for ‘low-key’ wedding

he reality star and fiancee Lisa Stelly who have a daughter Pearl together have only just sent out the invitations to close friends and family in order to keep the nuptials secret. A source told the New York Post’s Page Six: “They just sent the invites out and are asking guests to sign non-disclosure agreements.” Jack was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) shortly after Pearl’s birth earlier this year and though he admits the news was initially hard to take, he now knows his condition is “manageable” and says he has other priorities ahead of his medical problems. He said: “I’m alright. I think when you get news like, ‘You have MS,’ it’s a bit of a buzz kill, but when you do a bit of research into it, you realise it’s quite manageable as long as you take care of yourself. “Having a new baby is forcing me to just focus on that and work, so it takes the sting away a little bit.”

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Ellie Goulding used to

Zac Efron

suffer from crippling panic attacks

finds dating ‘awkward’

T

he ‘Anything Could Happen’ singer struggled to cope with the pressures of being a pop star when she first got famous and used to think she was having a heart attack because the episodes were so frightening. Ellie was eventually prescribed Diazepam - a sedative used to treat anxiety - for her panic attacks but she didn’t want to take the drug. In an interview with The Sun newspaper, she said: “There were times when I felt like I was having a heart attack. There was too much adrenaline and my heart was pounding. It’s just such a horrible, horrible thing to go through. “I hadn’t even released my first proper single when I started to feel the strain of attention. But I don’t believe that it was the attention that was giving me panic attacks. “I think it was everything in my life colliding at the same time. “It really did get to a serious point where I couldn’t even walk down the street without getting the pain. “I’d have a numb arm, a very strange lump in my throat and a really hot chest, like my heart was on fire. “I had to take Diazepam but I found it debilitating.” Ellie, 25, started having cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which has helped her cope with the pressures in her life. The 25year-old musician - who is getting ready to release her new album ‘Halcyon’ next week - revealed: “I couldn’t do anything so I had cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) instead and that actually really worked.“The other day I was in Germany and it was a really hectic day and I thought, ‘Oh god here we go,’ but I laid down, started breathing, closed my eyes and told people not to talk to me, and then I was fine.”

T Khloe Kardashian’s teachers told her she wasn’t pretty

T

he reality TV star has been subjected to comparisons with her sisters Kim and Kourtney for years and Khloe admitted it used to take a toll on her until she decided to be happy with her looks. She told The Block magazine: “[My teachers would say] ‘Oh, you’re a Kardashian sister? But they’re so pretty!’ They’re not saying I’m ugly, but they are - or that’s how I took it. “One day I just thought, yeah, I am different and I’m pretty in my own way and they’re pretty in their own way.

Some people like apples, some people like oranges, but that doesn’t mean apples are bad. I just accepted it.” These days Khloe is happy in her own skin and is the top choice of Simon Cowell to host his reality TV show ‘The X Factor’ in the US. Simon recently said: “It could be a Kardashian. “I think that could work. I’m quite a fan of not putting hosts on this show because I think it’s going to give it a different dynamic. “So we have to find people who have a great chemistry but Khloe is definitely up there.” — Bangshowbiz

he ‘Paperboy’ star hasn’t been in a serious relationship since splitting from ‘High School Musical’ co-star Vanessa Hudgens and Zac admitted one of the reasons is because he finds going out to dinner with a person he doesn’t know very well, difficult. He told chat show host Ellen DeGeneres: “Dating is kind of hard. Like dinner or something like that. Like a forced awkward situation is very strange. Especially for me, for some reason. I like to go and do something adventurous. I like to go out and do some sort of crazy activity.” Zac also revealed he can never be sure if people like him for him or if they are just interested in his fame. He explained: “You know you always have to be careful, I guess, about that kind of thing. don’t have to.” However, one woman he was recently impressed by was his ‘Paperboy’ co-star Nicole Kidman. He said: “Nicole is so amazing to work with. She’s also very improvisational. You never know what to expect. [The dancing scene in the movie] was supposed to be a very serious scene. It was a sort of an intense dramatic moment for me. So I was very prepared to give my all in a dramatic moment and before I knew it music starts to turn up around me and she kind of looks at me and says ‘you want to dance?’ “And they’re still rolling so I can’t really say cut. And before I knew it we were improvising an entire dance in the rain. ... It’s one of my favourite scenes in the movie. ...That is was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. It is the day I think I became a man.”

David Beckham secretly wants to be a photographer T he soccer star has become obsessed with taking pictures and has even splashed out on pricey camera equipment to help him with his new hobby. A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Since David took some photography lessons, he never puts his camera down. “He’s bought himself how-to books and spends hours trying to perfect shots. “He thinks he’s David Bailey now he’s had a few lessons.

He takes pictures of everything - birds in his back garden, flowers, the sky, his kids playing football. “He’s spent thousands. His camera equipment is better than some professionals.”

Meanwhile, proud dad David recently revealed his 14-month-old daughter Harper is a mix of him and his fashion designer wife Victoria as she is into “soccer and handbags”. The 37-year-

old sports star is delighted the tot - who was seen kicking a football on a pitch recently - is picking up traits from both him and Victoria, and is also taking tips from her brothers Brooklyn, 13, Romeo, 10, and seven-year-old Cruz. He said: “She is a mixture of us both. She is walking and running around and the boys are running with her to make sure she doesn’t fall. “She is also kicking the ball around while she is carrying handbags.”

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

A

This image shows Jena Sims at the premiere of the documentary “Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007,” celebrating the 50th anniversary of the fictional British spy James Bond in New York. — AP

nd we thought we owed Julia Child a word of thanks for bringing creme brulee and champagne to American palates. According to author Thomas J. Craughwell and his meticulously researched book, “Thomas Jefferson’s Creme Brulee: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America,” it was Thomas Jefferson in the 1780s who was responsible for such then-exotic delights.

Craughwell weaves the surprising and little-known story of how Jefferson promised and later granted freedom - albeit belatedly - to Hemings in exchange for his culinary training in France and chef services at home in Monticello, Jefferson’s plantation in Virginia. But it also teaches us about 18th-century American eating habits, an equally fascinating subject to even the most casual of foodies. Despite the ocean, lakes and rivers crowded with cod and bass, clams and mussels, even lobster - none of this was deemed palatable to the early colonial settlers. Instead, they boiled their meat and game, overcooked their vegetables and heavily sweetened their desserts.

Craughwell also illuminates Jefferson, the farmer. He developed more efficient ways to raise crops, increase harvests and limit pests. He tried endless varieties of fruits, nuts and wines, and experimented with European crops that he thought might thrive in the US, including rice, which he smuggled illegally out of Italy.

He also shares everything he learned about Hemings, a slave 20 years Jefferson’s junior, who served as his chef for more than a decade and whose sister, Sally, may have been the mother of several of their owner’s children. And, remarkably, the book includes several of Hemings’ recipes - eight written in his own hand have survived and nearly 150 others were passed down by Jefferson or his granddaughters. They include ice cream, macaroni and cheese and, of course, creme brulee. - AP

Kennedy unveils Picasso painting at JFK Library

J

ames Bond fans yesterday celebrated 50 years of the suave British spy’s adventures on the silver screen with a day of 007themed events around the world. Bond appeared in a film for the first time in the now classic “Dr. No”, released on October 5, 1962, introducing himself with the immortal line “Bond... James Bond” over a high-stakes game of baccarat.

The movie franchise has gone on to become one of the most successful in history, with the 22 Bond films taking in more than five billion dollars (3.85 billion euros). To mark “Global Bond Day”, British diva Adele released a clip of the theme song for “Skyfall”, the 23rd and newest Bond film, on her website as anticipation built for its worldwide premiere on October 23.

The rugged Daniel Craig is the latest of six actors to play Bond, but some things have stayed the same-his taste for fast cars, beautiful women, high-tech gadgets and vodka Martinis. “For all the attempts at change, the core of the Bondian world remains the same: obsessed with sex and violence, hypermasculine, simplistically nationalistic, and addicted to conspicuous consumption,” Christoph Lindner, editor of “The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader”, told AFP. A collection of cars from the films, including the iconic Aston Martins, were gathered at Pinewood Studios near London where the movies are made. An auction of memorabilia at Christie’s in London was another highlight of the day before the action moves across the Atlantic.

In New York, the Museum of Modern Art was unveiling an installation dedicated to the title sequence of 1964’s “Goldfinger,” which it said “captures the sexual suggestiveness and wry humor of the James Bond mythos.” And in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences-organisers of the Academy Awards-was hosting an evening of “memorable title songs and indelible scores” from the past 22 James Bond films. British session player Vic Flick, 75, who laid down the signature guitar riff for the James Bond theme song is due to attend.

In Washington, the International Spy Museum is staging an interactive exhibition, “Exquisitely Evil,” which pays homage to Bond’s adversaries with more than 100 artefacts from the Bond movies as well as “real stories from real spies”, recalling their own Bond-like moments in espionage. London’s Barbican Centre has put on an exhibition showcasing the design and style of “the world’s most influential and iconic movie brand”. It will move on to Toronto later this month.—AFP

A

Picasso painting the famous artist created in denouncing war has come to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. Caroline Kennedy unveiled the “Rape of the Sabine Women” on Thursday, on loan through Jan 6 from the Museum of Fine Arts. She said it shows the fear and uncertainty of the time.

“The Cuban missile crisis was really the most dangerous time in my father’s presidency, and there really was a risk that the United States and the Soviet Union might go to war,” she said. “I think there’s a lot that current leaders can learn from (it).” She called the 1962 crisis over Soviet missiles in Cuba and subsequent ease of tensions her father’s “greatest challenge.”

The painting, a 6-foot (1.83-meter)- by-4-foot (1.22-meter) vertical oil on canvas, depicts in bold colors two armed men with spear

A man walks by “Desperanza” an artwork by artist Theo Mercier displayed as part of Lille’s fantastic festival yesterday in Lille, northern France. — AFP

and sword raised toward each other, standing over a woman and wailing child. Picasso started the work soon after the 13-day crisis, referencing a fabled abduction of Sabine women by ancient Romans. Legend has it, Rome faced a shortage of marriageable women after it was founded or perhaps sought an alliance with a nearby warlike tribe, the Sabines. Roman leaders invited the Sabines to a feast, only to capture dozens to hundreds of Sabine virgins. The Sabines later tried to rescue the women, who reminded them the Romans were now the men’s relatives by marriage and brokered a truce. — AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

This three-picture combo, provided by the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum, shows the three panels of Al Weiwei’s triptych: “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995/2009.” — AP

C

hinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has drawn tough scrutiny for his political activism, is opening the first North American retrospective exhibition of his work in Washington. Ai, 55, is barred from leaving China after being detained without explanation for three months last year while fighting charges of tax evasion. So he won’t be at Sunday’s opening at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum.

Artworks in “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” capture his push for free expression and his relentless questioning of authority, curators said. One

self-expression,” he said. The show is on view through February before traveling to Indianapolis, Toronto, Miami and New York City. It includes new works created since the last major exhibition in Tokyo. One piece involves 3,200 porcelain crabs called “He Xie.” The Chinese words for river crab sound like the Chinese word for “harmonious,” part of the Communist Party’s slogan of “the realization of a harmonious society.” The term has become Internet slang for online censorship.

Several works emerged from Ai’s response to the devastating Sichuan earthquake in 2008 that

Ai’s father, Ai Qing, was a famous Chinese poet.

Shortly after the Cultural Revolution and Ai’s birth, however, the family was exiled during China’s AntiRightist Movement. Ai saw his father humiliated, reduced to cleaning public toilets, Kataoka said.

“He was born out of those kind of social conditions,” she said. “I think it’s only natural for him to question about human rights.”

Ai’s release from government detention last year was seen as a concession to international pressure and appeals inside the ruling Communist Party, where Ai’s father is still widely revered.

Smithsonian leaders celebrated the exhibit’s open-

T

This shows Ai Weiwei’s, He Xie. — AP 1995 photograph shows him giving the middle finger to the White House. It’s also a study on perspective that Ai has repeated at the Eiffel Tower, Tiananmen Square and elsewhere.

“I always admire his questioning attitude. I think it’s important for all of us to try to find the truth and where the truth is,” said curator Mami Kataoka of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, who organized the exhibit. “It’s very difficult to find the truth, particularly in China.” Planning for the exhibit began years ago, long before Ai was detained for 81 days during a crackdown on dissent. The installation includes sculpture, photography, video and audio works, encompassing most of the museum.

In a statement to the Smithsonian, Ai said the exhibition was a chance to communicate with faraway audiences. “It is part of a continual process of

killed more than 5,000 children in poorly constructed schools that collapsed. One wall lists all of their names. A snake on the ceiling is made of children’s backpacks in their honor. And a sculptural piece, entitled “Straight,” was created from 38 tons of twisted steel from collapsed buildings.

Ai was angry that society was “forgetting what happened as if nothing had happened” in the quake’s aftermath, Kataoka said. Visitors will find a photo montage covering the gallery’s walls and floors of the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium, which Ai designed, under construction. There are also photographs from Ai’s years living in New York in the 1980s and 1990s, where he witnessed protests and government opposition and studied the work of Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Marcel Duchamp.

he discovery of a tomb that experts believe might be that of a great Maya queen could redefine the understanding of women’s political roles during the Classic Maya period, experts said Thursday. A team of US and Guatemalan experts led by anthropologist David Freidel found a stone jar at a burial chamber in northern Guatemala that led them to believe it is the burial site of Lady K’abel, considered the military governor of an ancient Maya city during the 7th century.

“Lady K’abel was buried 11 meters down from the surface in a temple near a stairway,” Freidel said. “K’abel was not a regular person.

To put her in that location means that it was important; it means that people continued to worship her after the fall of the dynasty.” The team working in the royal Maya city of El PeruWaka also found other evidence, such as ceramic vessels, jade jewelry, thousands of obsidian blades and a large stone with carvings referring to Lady K’abel.

The alabaster jar showed the head and arm of an aged woman emerging from the opening and glyphs pointing to the name of the queen, Guatemala’s cultural ministry said in a statement Thursday. “The royal tomb shows that women have been leaders in the past and we must now assume and exercise political participation to strengthen the role of women in the

ing in the US political capital near diplomats from more than 200 countries. Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek called it one of the museum’s most important installations. “The context in which this exhibition is being presented is extremely, extremely important to him and to us,” Koshalek said. “I think what he’s saying refers to not just China, but it refers to other places in the world where freedom of expression is threated or doesn’t exist.” — AP

new era,” Rosa Maria Chan, deputy minister for cultural and natural heritage, said in the statement.

K’abel, considered the greatest ruler of the Late Classic period, ruled with her husband, K’inich Bahlam, for at least 20 years in the 7th century, Freidel said. She was the military governor of the Waka kingdom for her family, the imperial house of the Snake King, and she carried the title “Kaloomte” - translated as “Supreme Warrior,” higher in authority than her husband, the king.

Freidel, who is from Washington University in St Louis, said the findings at the ruins of El Peru-Waka were “serendipitous.” “In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that the people of Waka buried her in this particularly prominent place in their city,” Freidel said. For Marcello A Canuto, director of the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University, the alabaster identifies the tomb as that of the “Lady of Kaan” and noted there is a stela erected in her honor at the archaeological site.—AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

T

he boss of French clothing firm Zadig & Voltaire has apologised for saying that Chinese tourists would not be welcome at an exclusive new hotel planned by the company in Paris. Company founder Thierry Gillier told fashion industry journal Women’s Wear Daily late last month: “We are going to select guests. It won’t be open to Chinese tourists, for example.”

The article has since been amended to remove the reference to Chinese tourists and instead refers to “busloads of tourists”.

But that did not stop outraged Internet users posting angry

Pakistani models present creations of local designer Sonya Batla during a fashion show in Karachi, Pakistan. — AP/AFP photos

messages on social media and websites in China. “This is obviously racial discrimination. Not every Chinese is uncultivated, there are many more who are cultured,” said one user on popular portal Sina.com. “I think this pretentious brand will lose an important market if it really turns down Chinese.”

In a statement released on Thursday, Gillier said the remarks had been taken out of context and apologised for any offence caused. “These reported words do not reflect either my line of thought or my ethics,” he said. “My remarks were doubtless

clumsy and, taken out of their context, I understand they might have hurt my friends from China, France or elsewhere, and I am deeply sorry for that.” The hotel would be an “intimate address”, the statement said, adding that Gillier “admits he expressed himself in an inappropriate way to explain that his hotel was not suited to mass tourism”. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Models wear creations by designer Lie Sang Bong as part of his ready to wear Spring-Summer 2013 collection in Paris. — AP

A

sia is driving global sales of men’s skin care products, with Chinese, Japanese and South Koreans the most avid users in the region, a report on male grooming trends showed yesterday. Consumer research group Euromonitor International said the Asia-Pacific accounted for nearly 60 percent of worldwide sales of men’s skin care products, a fast-growing section of a $33 billion male grooming industry. “As features from women’s skin care are replicated in male-specific products, an array of products targeting issues from ageing and blemishes to brightening has become available,” said the report sent to AFP on Friday.

Male grooming habits vary worldwide, with Asian men

spending more on skin care and their counterparts in Brazil-set to overtake the United States as the largest single market in three years-devoting more money to deodorants. Shaving items were the most widely sold grooming products in 2011 but toiletries including deodorants and skin care were catching up.

Euromonitor said the global market for male grooming products has plenty of room for expansion, with average growth over the past five years at only 6.0 percent to reach nearly $33 billion last year. However, the rate of growth varies sharply across regions, with Latin America posting double-digit expansion and western Europe, hit by a prolonged financial cri-

sis, rising at a slower pace. While western Europe remains the biggest market for men’s grooming products, Latin America is closing the gap, it said.

Brazil is expected to overtake the United States as the leading market for men’s grooming items in 2015. By 2016, the Asia-Pacific will be the second biggest contributor to growth in the category after Latin America, Euromonitor said. “The region’s potential for the men’s grooming market remains largely untapped,” it said. “It is the region to watch for men’s grooming.” — AFP

technology SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

YouTube alienates amateurs Amateur ‘stars’ leaving YouTube and signing up with rival site SAN FRANCISCO: After struggling for years, in late 2010, Driving Sports TV, a scrappy, two-person video production outfit led by Ryan Douthit, finally began supporting itself with advertising income from YouTube.

It didn’t matter that the channel’s production set was simply a green screen in Douthit’s cramped garage in a leafy Seattle suburb; Driving Sports TV’s revenues were roaring like the rally car engines it featured.

Achieving self-sufficiency on YouTube was Douthit’s dream. Then it became a nightmare.

Over the past year, Driving Sports TV’s popularity and revenues have plummeted as much as 90 percent, Douthit said, as viewers abandoned him for slicker, more professional and better-marketed fare that’s suddenly streaming onto YouTube.

Douthit is among thousands of amateur video producers who helped Google-owned YouTube become the Internet’s most popular video-sharing site. But YouTube’s thriving amateur core now feels squeezed out by the site’s sweeping transformation from user-generated clips to more professionally produced content, posing a potential dilemma for Google’s long-term ambitions in online video.

“I drank their Kool-Aid,” Douthit said. “I believed their whole pitch, that anybody with talent and drive could make a living out of YouTube.” A year ago this month, YouTube embarked on an initiative to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire original, professional content in an effort to compete for ad dollars against traditional television networks, digital streaming services such as Netflix and rival Internet companies like AOL and Yahoo.

Tom Hanks, Amy Poehler and other big-name talent are now backing YouTube projects, while Madonna, Jay-Z and Ashton Kutcher have signed up to curate YouTube “channels,” bringing hierarchy to an ecosystem that looks more like Hollywood by the day.

The influx of cash, celebrity and structure has left many small “YouTubers” - the bedroom pundits and aspiring guitar heroes who helped make YouTube popular - feeling alienated and shunted aside.

In July at Vidcon, an annual conference for the YouTube creator community, Jim Louderback, the chief executive of Revision3, a well-known digital video network recently purchased by Discovery Communications, said disenchanted YouTubers were fleeing for other platforms. As he spoke on stage, a slide presentation behind him showed a picture of rats scrambling off of a ship named “YouTube.”

Louderback’s presentation proved prescient in the past year, as their frustration has mounted, some young YouTubers have begun uploading content elsewhere, a potentially damaging prospect for Google.

In an interview with Reuters at Revision3’s 4,000-square foot studio space in an industrial building in San Francisco, Louderback said many successful YouTubers were exploring how to stream video in their own apps, totally independent of YouTube.

He has poached some of YouTube’s biggest stars himself, signing them to Revision3’s talent roster and shifting some of their videos onto its own website. “If you’ve got great content, you can find an audience anywhere,” he said.

YouTube executives say they’ve made a concerted effort to keep all the site’s contentproviders happy.

However, there is little doubt that the move to more professionally produced content is proving good for business.

“Our big advertisers like the path that YouTube has taken,” said Andy Chapman, head of digital investment at Mindshare, an ad agency that counts Unilever, Kimberly Clark and LG Electronics among its clients. “A number of clients say this looks and feels like the direction the market is going.”

Wall Street analysts like Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney say YouTube already contributes about $3.5 billion to Google’s top line every year, a figure that is expected to climb.

In the US market, for instance, total revenue from digital video advertising is expected to grow from $2.3 billion this year to about $7 billion to 2015, when roughly 40 percent of the US population will be watching TV online, according to advertising industry analyst eMarketer. In recent years, YouTube has shared ad revenues with its content creators, based on how many views their videos get. But tensions between the company and video creators came to a head in March when YouTube, which says its streams more than 4 billion videos per day, changed an algorithm that governed which clips were recommended to viewers.

The tweaks, which lowered the number of overall views across the site but boosted the average time viewers spent in each video, prompted

many of YouTube’s amateur providers to cry foul, arguing that the move favored longer, professionally produced content. A group of young users started circulating the #saveyoutube hashtag on Twitter and, in May, when a Google employee sought feedback on the situation on the Google+ social network, she received more than 150 responses from users, many concerned and some bitterly angry.

Douthit, the producer of Driving Sports TV, said he was stunned recently when he saw YouTube promoting Drive - a competing professional program that received investment funding from the site - in ad slots shown before his own videos load.

“It felt like being kicked,” he said. “They’re forcing independent producers like us to go other routes.” Douthit has since sold his segments to a TV network in South Africa and uploaded segments to Apple Inc’s iTunes, where, he said, they were downloaded 800,000 times last month.

For its part, YouTube executives say they recognize the importance of their “community” and that they are working hard to cater to both the “heartland, heritage YouTube” and the namebrand content streaming in from Hollywood.

“Any time you have a lot of changes, people get nervous,” said Tom Pickett, the company’s global head of content operations. “We’re trying to listen as best we can to the concerns coming out and coach folks through these changes.”

In recent months, company employees have held Google+ video chats to talk creators through their concerns, and next month, Google will open a sprawling, 40,000-foot facility in Marina del Rey, California, offering free studio space and equipment rentals to independent creators who otherwise wouldn’t have access to such resources.

“YouTube is nothing without its content creators,” Pickett said. “One of our key differentiators is that breadth and depth of content, so we’re totally about making it possible for anybody to have that opportunity for success.”

YouTube has in fact deepened its investment in its young would-be stars. Last March, Google acquired video start-up Next New Networks, and turned it into an academy of sorts teaching videography skills and publishing a Creator’s

Playbook offering tips on how to promote videos.

The company invited up-and-coming YouTubers with fewer than 300,000 subscribers to apply for $35,000 in funding and four-day stays at a “Creator Camp” to hone production skills with help from pros.

To a great extent, the frustration among YouTube’s amateur users stems from the evermounting competitiveness amongst their peers.

Not unlike aspiring actors, aspiring YouTubers have flocked to Los Angeles with hopes of joining the handful of stars rumored to make million-dollar salaries.

An entire industry of production start-ups, perhaps ironically called “networks,” has sprung up, signing YouTube stars to contracts and helping negotiate ad deals and merchandising tieups.

These networks, among them Revision3, Maker Studios, Big Frame, the Collective, Machinima and Fullscreen, u se subtle programming techniques to make YouTube’s recommendation engine to highlight their videos more often and also call on their roster of stars to cross-promote rising talent.

YouTubers say it’s becoming impossible to rise to the top without the support of these networks, who increasingly control the levers of stardom.

“The sad thing was when YouTube was first starting out, we didn’t need networks,” said Philip Wang, 28, an independent YouTuber who has made videos professionally since college. “It was people working together and exploring. But now there’s more at stake. People are all fighting for ad dollars, fighting for views.”

YouTube also benefits from the new networks. For instance, the ad deals Big Frame has independently struck with Home Depot, Levi’s and Electronic Arts in turn burnish YouTube’s reputation as an ad vehicle, said Jamie Byrne, the site’s head of original programming.

And not all of YouTube’s amateur providers feel disenfranchised by its move to more professional content. Many argue that the corporate dollars and Hollywood attitudes have had a net positive effect for them. In May, the company disclosed that “thousands” of its young stars now make six-digit salaries from YouTube, up from just a handful a few years ago.

“This is real money - and real businesses being made. The ecosystem is getting that much stronger,” said Shira Lazar, who hosts the “What’s Trending” show on YouTube. “It’s incredible,” Lazar said, “if you think how this has all happened in the past three years.” —Reuters

Japan mini-satellite to flash code from space TOKYO: A palm-sized Japanese satellite in orbit around Earth will flash a Morse code message that will be visible around the world from next month, the mission commander said yesterday.

Researchers hope the satellite, measuring 10 centimetres (four inches) cubed and launched from the International Space Station on Friday, will become the first orbiter to transmit an LED message across the night sky.

The message was originally intended to be seen just in Japan, but people around the world have asked for the satellite to communicate when it overflies them, said Takushi Tanaka, professor at The Fukuoka Institute of Technology.

“Requests came from far more people than I expected-a man in Silicon Valley wanted to see it while another man wanted us to

flash it over Central Park in New York,” Tanaka told AFP by telephone.

He said he has also received requests from residents of cities in Italy, Germany, Brazil, Britain and Hungary.

“There is no practical aim to this, but it is a fun experiment that everybody can join,” he said. Observers, ideally with binoculars, will be able to see flashes of light-green in the northern hemisphere, where people will see the “front” of the satellite, and red in the southern hemisphere, where the “back” will be visible.

Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet and is commonly understood across the world as a way of transmitting pieces of text.

“A man in Slovakia who has laser beam said he would flash back if he sees the message from space. He wants the satellite to

take pictures of his beam and send them to Earth,” Tanaka said.

The professor said his team would try their best to accommodate requests but warned being able to see the Morse code message would be largely dependent on the weather.

The message it will send is “Hi this is Niwaka Japan”. Niwaka is the satellite’s nickname and reflects a play on words in the local dialect of southwestern Japan.

Besides transmitting its LED message, the camera-equipped satellite will also take images of Earth and send them to a base station in an experiment on high-speed data transmissions.

The solar-powered device was released from the International Space Station 390 kilometres (242 miles) above Earth and is now in a regular orbit. —AFP

FUKUOTA: This handout picture, taken by Fukuoka Institute of Technology on April 20, 2012 shows the college’s professor Takushi Tanaka holding a palm sized satellite at his laboratory in Fukuoka. The 10cm cubic satellite, which has LED lights on surfaces, was launched from the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday. —AFP

technology SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Kaspersky Lab and ITU co-host cyber-security debates ITU Telecom World 2012 DUBAI: Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, together with ITU (International Telecommunication Union), the United Nations agency for information and communication technology, have announced the main topics for high level discussions on cyber-security at ITU Telecom World 2012 (October 14-18, 2012, Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, United Arab Emirates).

Kaspersky Lab, which is in partnership with ITU and the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), has contributed to the high-level cyber-security agenda for a series of open and closed debates at ITU Telecom World this year. The debates will feature panel lists including thought leaders in the corporate sector, high-ranking policy makers and regulators from

around the world. Topics will include national cyber-security in general, mitigating risks posed by major coordinated cyber-attacks at the national level in particular, and strengthening international cooperation in response to the growing threats.

Questions driving cyber-security discussions are as follows: ● Are nations prepared and ready to respond to cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure? ● Is there a need for government and/or international regulation and standardization? ● What are the attribution, deterrence and containment strategies that are already in place, or that need to be put in place?

Eugene Kaspersky to Deliver Keynote Speech Kaspersky Lab co-founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky will deliver a keynote speech at the event outlining the magnitude and global nature

of cyber-threats today. The speech will take place on October 15 at 17:30in the Al Multaqua room of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will focus on the latest attacks involving highly complex malware, such as Flame and Gauss (discovered by Kaspersky Lab during the course of investigations initiated by ITU), the consequences of such attacks, and possible response solutions.

Commenting briefly on the underlying message of his upcoming keynote, Eugene Kaspersky said: “The threat of cyber-war is very real and very serious, with the potential to cause grave consequences for the human population of the world. And this isn’t some far-off potential threat of the future: the potential to cause catastrophic damage with cyberweapons already exists. For example, there could be dozens of cyber-war attacks taking place around the

world right this minute - about which we know nothing and which for one ominous reason or another don’t end up on the evening news. The only possible solution to getting the upper hand in combatting cyberweapons of war - both their proliferation and use - lies in effective, decisive international cooperation, and that is why an event like ITU Telecom World is so crucial. The event provides a platform for the much-needed dialogue between industry and governments to enable the development of a framework for the proactive measures that need to be taken as soon as possible.”

Cyber-security is one of a number of core subjects to be discussed at ITU Telecom World 2012. Other topics on the agenda include the impact of big data, cloud computing, M2M, e-Health and new business models and frameworks in the transformed industry.

Brazilian Internet boom attracts global investors Rio bets it can become Brazil’s Silicon Beach RIO DE JANEIRO: For years, Rio de Janeiro’s bohemian neighborhood of Lapa has been a hotspot for people seeking samba shows and late night partying. But recently, the area has also started hosting a different kind of crowd. Once every two months, Lapa becomes home to “Geeks on Beer,” a happy hour networking event for tech entrepreneurs and investors. The meet-up includes a session of speednetworking, a round robin of meetings during which 15 startups have five minutes to woo investors into setting up another encounter.

“The romance with my investors started at Geeks on Beer,” said Brunno Galv„o, co-founder of O HolandÍs, a group-buying website with headquarters in Rio. Events like Geeks on Beer are becoming frequent in Rio, a sign that its Internet startup scene is on the rise. Investors and entrepreneurs are trying to capitalize on Brazil’s Internet boom and make Rio its next startup capital, or at least offer serious competition for S„o Paulo in Web innovation.

To reach that goal, they face many obstacles, such as the rising cost of real estate and a dearth of experienced talent. But city officials are behind the effort and see it as another chapter of Rio’s economic revival. In August, Rio Negocios, the city’s investment promotion agency, held a conference in London to promote opportunities in Rio’s tech industries, claiming the title of “Silicon Beach.” “Rio has a mix of characteristics which we think could make it the main hub for digital entrepreneurship in Brazil,” said Antonio Carlos Dias, commercial director at Rio Negocios. There are reasons to believe the push will be a success. Rio already

boasts sophisticated technological infrastructure for Brazil’s oil and gas industry, is home to top-notch engineering schools, and offers an appealing, laid-back lifestyle for young entrepreneurs.

The city has already produced some noteworthy success stories, such as Hotel Urbano, Brazil’s No. 1 site for travel and accommodation booking, and Peixe Urbano, a Groupon-style deals site. Peixe Urbano was founded in 2010 and received financing from Benchmark Capital and General Atlantic. It now has 20 million registered users in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

“We opened some doors for other startups that now come to us for advice,” said Leticia Leite, a Peixe Urbano executive. Brazil’s 85 million Internet users and 255 million mobile phones are a promising market for digital ventures.

The information technology sector grew a hefty 11.3 percent last year to $100 billion, defying a broad economic slowdown that punished other industries.

That growth is expected to continue as Brazil’s bulging middle class keeps expanding and a government-led push to extend Internet access bears fruit.

“We have an enormous internal market that is just getting started,” said Marcelo Sales, a partner at 21212, a new digital accelerator with offices in Rio and New York that provides seed money, mentoring and infrastructure for startups.

21212’s portfolio includes companies like PagPop, a Square-like online platform that allows self-employed professionals to accept credit card payments through their phones, and BidCorp, a digital marketplace that sells surplus building materials and machin-

ery from completed construction sites.

International venture capital and private equity firms are starting to set their sights on Brazil’s bustling startup scene. In July, Redpoint e.ventures, the Brazilian venture capital firm created by Redpoint Ventures and e.ventures, raised $130 million for its inaugural early stage fund. “It’s a fantastic moment for Brazil, it is really at an intersection point,” said Yann de Vries, founding partner at Redpoint e.ventures.

In addition to its encouraging market conditions, Rio graduates many of Brazil’s top engineers. It hosts 22 business incubators and accelerators and has increasingly become the Brazilian destination of choice for private equity firms. Brazil’s second-largest city has a population of 6.5 million and is also home to state development bank BNDES and the oil and gas industry, including national oil company Petrobras . It hosts research and development centers for General Electric, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger.

And Cisco Systems Inc plans to open an innovation center in Rio. “Rio definitely has the ability to be a tech hub,” said Robert Chefitz, managing partner at Egis Capital Partners, a private equity firm in New York. “The technical infrastructure that supports Petrobras, or BNDES, provides the backbone for emerging businesses.” Rio has shown that it is no longer just a tourist destination and that it can profit from the qualities that make it Brazil’s “Cidade Maravilhosa,” the marvelous city. Stunning views and beautiful beaches are an advantage when recruiting the foreign expertise needed to build a healthy startup environment. — Reuters

LYON: Customers shop using their smartphone after downloading the mobile application “My Carrefour shopping” enabling them to enter the world’s second biggest retailer, French company Carrefour’s virtual market, in the lobby of the La Part-Dieu railway station in Lyon yesterday. — AFP

Philippine president defends cybercrime law MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino defended a new cybercrime law yesterday amid a storm of protests from critics who say it will severely curb Internet freedoms and intimidate netizens into self-censorship.

Aquino specifically backed one of the most controversial elements of the law, which mandates that people who post defamatory comments online be given much longer jail sentences than those who commit libel in traditional media. “I do not agree that it (the provision on libel) should be removed. If you say something libellous through the Internet, then it is still libellous... no matter what the format,” Aquino told reporters.

Another controversial element of the law, which went into effect on Wednesday, allows the government to monitor online activities, such as e-mail, video chats and instant messaging, without a warrant.

The government can also now close down websites it deems to be involved in criminal activities without a warrant. Human rights groups, media organisations and netizens have voiced their outrage at the law, with some saying it echoes the curbs on freedoms imposed by Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.

Philippine social media has been alight with protests this week, while hackers have attacked government websites and 10 petitions have been filed with the Supreme Court calling for it to overturn the law. — AFP

CINEMA

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

IKTUWA

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (04/10/2012 TO 10/10/2012) SHARQIA-1 THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 ARBITRAGE :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) SUN+TUE+WED WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D ARBITRAGE :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM 1:30 AM

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

MUHALAB-1 ARBITRAGE :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 1:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-3 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D DREDD :3D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-1 DARLING COMPANION :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-2 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D BAIT (3D- Digital) WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D DREDD :3D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-3 ARBITRAGE :2D ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ARBITRAGE :2D ARBITRAGE :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:30 PM 7:15 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-4 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D

1:30 PM 3:45 PM

TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-6 BAIT (3D- Digital) DREDD :3D BAIT (3D- Digital) DREDD :3D DREDD :3D BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-7 WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) BARFI! (Hindi)(2D-Digital) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) WAR OF THE DEAD (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-8 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-9 DARLING COMPANION :2D RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

NO SUN+TUE+WED

FANAR-5 PREMIUM RUSH THE WORDS THE APPARITION THE WORDS THE WORDS THE APPARITION THE APPARITION NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-1 THE APPARITION :2D ARBITRAGE :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE WORDS :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 1:30 AM

MARINA-2 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:30 PM

MARINA-3 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D DREDD :3D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-10 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) THE WORDS :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:15 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:30 PM

AVENUES-11 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 12:45 AM

360 º- 1 ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) ROBOT & FRANK (2D- Digital) BAIT (3D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

360º- 2 DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D DARLING COMPANION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 1:00 AM

360º- 3 ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM

360º- 4 PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital)

AVENUES-1 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-2 ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D ARBITRAGE :2D THE APPARITION :2D PREMIUM RUSH (2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-3 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-4 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED AVENUES-5 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

360º- 5 ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) FRI+SAT ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) ENGLISH VINGLISH :2D (Hindi) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:30 PM

360º- 6 DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D DREDD :3D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

360º- 7 THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D THE WORDS :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:30 PM

360º- 8 AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 9(VIP-1) AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D AL SULTAN AL FATIH (Turkish) :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

360º-10(VIP-2) TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 11 TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D TAKEN2 :2D NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 12 WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D WON’T BACK DOWN :2D SILENT HOUSE (2D- Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM 1:30 AM

360º- 13 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (3D-IMAX) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2D-IMAX) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-IMAX) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (3D-IMAX) RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (3D-IMAX) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:45 AM

360º- 14 TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) TETA RAHIBA(2D-Digital) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

TV listings SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

00:45 Buggin’ With Ruud 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Shark Fight 03:15 Beast Lands 04:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 04:55 Animal Battlegrounds 05:20 Dark Days In Monkey City 05:45 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Talk To The Animals 07:25 Dogs 101 08:15 Crocodile Hunter 09:10 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 10:05 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 10:30 Breed All About It 11:00 Natural Born Hunters 11:25 The Really Wild Show 11:55 Wildest Arctic 12:50 The Magic Of The Big Blue 13:45 Pandamonium 14:40 Pandamonium 15:35 Pandamonium 16:30 Pandamonium 17:25 Pandamonium 18:20 Uakari ‚Äì Secrets Of The English Monkey 19:15 Into The Pride 20:10 Killer Whales 21:05 Wildest Arctic 22:00 Bad Dog 22:55 Cats 101 23:50 I’m Alive

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

Antiques Roadshow Fantasy Homes By The Sea Fantasy Homes By The Sea Living In The Sun Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 MasterChef Living In The Sun MasterChef Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 Saturday Kitchen 2008/09 Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Antiques Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Gok’s Clothes Roadshow

00:30 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 00:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 01:20 Foster’s Home For...

01:45 Foster’s Home For...

02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 The Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10 05:30 Ben 10 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:30 Casper’s Scare School 07:00 The Marvelous Misadventures...

07:25 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 07:45 Grim Adventures Of...

08:35 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 08:55 Level Up 09:20 Evil Con Carne 09:35 Transformers Prime 10:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 10:25 Ben 10: Omniverse 10:50 Regular Show 11:15 Adventure Time 11:40 The Amazing World Of Gumball 12:05 Johnny Test 12:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 12:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 13:20 The Powerpuff Girls 14:10 Green Lantern: The Animated

Series 14:35 Transformers Prime 15:00 Angelo Rules 15:50 Ben 10: Omniverse 16:15 Ben 10: Omniverse 16:40 Eliot Kid 17:30 Regular Show 18:20 Adventure Time 18:45 The Amazing World Of Gumball 19:10 Johnny Test 19:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 20:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 20:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:15 Grim Adventures Of...

22:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 22:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 22:50 The Powerpuff Girls 23:40 Chowder

00:00 Paintball-PG15 02:00 Alien-18 04:00 Monsters-PG15 06:00 Largo Winch 2-PG15 08:00 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights-PG15 10:00 Friday Night Lights-PG15 12:00 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 14:00 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights-PG15 16:00 Taxi-PG15 18:00 Jackie Chan’s Who Am I?-PG15 20:00 Gridlock’d-18 22:00 Biker Boyz-PG15

01:30 03:30 05:00 06:30 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00

Crazy-18 Open Season 3-FAM Not Since You-PG15 Another Year-PG15 The Lightkeepers-PG15 Quest For Zhu-PG The Silent Fall-PG15 The Adjustment Bureau-PG15

17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Conspirator-PG15 Green Lantern-PG15 Peter And Vandy-18 Love And Other Drugs-R

01:30 Weeds 02:00 Girls 02:30 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 03:00 Friends With Benefits 03:30 Friends With Benefits 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Friends 06:30 Til Death 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Friends With Benefits 09:30 The Simpsons 10:30 Til Death 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:30 Til Death 14:00 Friends With Benefits 15:00 The Simpsons 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Bent 18:30 Bent 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The X Factor U.S. Glee Survivor: Philippines Glee The Tudors Good Morning America The View Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar The View The X Factor U.S. Glee Touch Live Good Morning America White Collar The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street House C.S.I. C.S.I. New York C.S.I. Miami The Tudors

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00

White Collar Survivor: Philippines Touch Greek The X Factor U.S. Touch White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street Castle Glee The X Factor U.S. Survivor: Philippines Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show

14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Castle White Collar Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle House C.S.I. C.S.I. New York C.S.I. Miami Grimm

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:45 14:30 16:15 18:00 21:00 23:00

RoboCop-PG15 D.E.B.S-18 Game Of Death-PG15 Age Of The Dragons-PG15 The Reunion-PG15 Game Of Death-PG15 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 The Reunion-PG15 The Transporter-PG15 Saving Private Ryan-18 Biker Boyz-PG15 Storm Warning-18

00:00 Reach The Rock-18 02:00 Eurotrip-18 04:00 Wayne’s World-PG15 06:00 Say Anything-PG15 08:00 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-PG 10:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 12:00 The Beverly Hillbillies-PG15 14:00 Held Up (1999)-PG15 16:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 18:00 The Extra Man-PG15 20:00 No Strings Attached-18 22:00 Neil Delamere-PG15

01:00 02:45 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:30

00:00 02:00 03:45 05:15 07:00 PG15 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:45 20:00 22:15

Please Give-18 Walk The Line-PG15 Best Laid Plans-PG15 Glorious 39-PG15 Khao Niao Moo Ping-PG15 The Associate-PG15 Pina-PG15 Khao Niao Moo Ping-PG15 The Natural-PG The King’s Speech-PG15 Biutiful-18 One Hour Photo-18

Roadie-18 Hop-PG Boy-PG15 Yogi Bear-FAM The Secret World Of ArriettyLove N’ Dancing-PG15 Unstoppable-PG15 The Birth Of Big Air-PG15 The Spy Next Door-PG Love N’ Dancing-PG15 Real Steel-PG15 The Tree Of Life-PG15 The Hangover 2-18

02:00 Marco Macaco-FAM 04:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 06:00 Winnie The Pooh-FAM 07:45 The Muppets Take ManhattanPG 10:00 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 12:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 14:00 The Nimbols: Part I-FAM 16:00 The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland-PG 18:00 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 20:00 Cars 2-FAM 22:00 The Nimbols: Part I-FAM

TAXI ON OSN ACTION HD

00:00 Deadline-18 02:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 04:00 Lego: The Adventures Of Clutch Powers-FAM 06:00 Flash Of Genius-PG15 08:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 10:00 Puss In Boots-PG 12:00 X-Men: First Class-PG15 14:15 Rio-FAM 16:00 Gulliver’s Travels-PG 18:00 Dear John-PG15

20:00 The Tree Of Life-PG15 22:15 Wuthering Heights-18

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 04:00 04:30 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 10:30 11:00 13:00 15:00 15:30 17:30 18:00 20:00 20:15 22:15 23:15 23:45

Trans World Sport ICC Cricket 360 PGA European Tour Weekly Live America’s Cup Kiteboard World Cup Top 14 Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport ICC Cricket 360 Live Rugby Union ITM CUP America’s Cup Highlights Rugby Union Currie Cup ITM Cup ICC Cricket 360 Live Rugby Union Currie Cup Live Rugby Match Day Live The Rugby Championship Live Rugby Match Day Live Rugby Union Currie Cup Trans World Sport Rugby Match Day The Rugby Championship

00:00 01:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 11:30 15:00 15:30 19:30 22:00 22:30

UFC The Ultimate Fighter Live UFC Live UFC UFC The Ultimate Fighter PGA European Tour Premier League Snooker PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour Live Super League Futbol Mundial Live Prizefighter

00:30 01:30 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:30 06:30 11:30 12:00 14:00 15:00 20:30 22:30 23:00

AFL Highlights Pro 12 NRL Full Time Total Rugby Trans World Sport Golfing World Live Asian Tour Golf Total Rugby Pro 12 AFL Highlights Asian Tour Golf Live Pro 12 Total Rugby Pro 12

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Highlights WWE Bottom Line WWE Smackdown Live Top 14 European Le Mans Series WWE Vintage Collection Live Sailing World Match UFC

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

Pawn Stars Storage Wars Soviet Storm: WWII In The East WWII: Europe’s Secret Army Vietnam: Lost Films UFO Hunters Top Shot Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Deep Sea Detectives Deep Sea Detectives Deep Sea Detectives American Pickers American Pickers American Pickers Deep Sea Detectives Deep Sea Detectives Deep Sea Detectives Dogfights WWII: Europe’s Secret Army UFO Hunters Ancient Discoveries Top Shot Decoded MysteryQuest UFO HuntersX

what’s on

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

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

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

IDAK Quick Gun Murugan Shooting Competition

I

DAK conducted a Quick Gun Murugan Shooting Competition at the Mayadeen Shooting Range near the Hunting and Equestrian Club in which 65 to-be-shooters participated. In spite of the carnival like atmosphere the IDAKians listened with great attention to the instructors who explained and demonstrated to the group on how to handle the firearms safely. The competition involved 4 categories: Men’s Pistol Shooting, Women’s Pistol Shooting, Men’s Rifle Shooting and Women’s Rifle Shooting. In spite of the fact that many were shooting for the first time, the participants did remarkably well.

The results were announced and the president himself won 2 out of the 4 prizes. The winners of the first ever IDAK Shooting competition are: Women’s Rifle - Nancy V Thomas scored 43.

Women’s Pistol Shooting - Fene Thomas scored 165. Men’s Pistol Shooting - John Joy scored 45. Men’s Rifle Shooting - John Joy scored 175. IDAK wishes to thank the General Ahmed, Mohammed, Benny, Willie, Eric (instructor), Sports Secretary Dr Renjit and Joint Secretary Dr Jijan Sam for the successful organization of the event.

IOC Gandhidarsan exhibition at UIS

I

ndian overseas congress, Kuwait is organizing photo exhibition of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, “Gandhidarsan 2012” on October 5th and 6th at United Indian School, Abbasiya.

The exhibition starts at 6:30 pm on Oct 5th. and ends on Oct. 6th evening which will be inaugurated by Aleyamma Thomas, a freedom fighter who met Gandhiji by person.

More than 200 pictures of Gandhi’s life will be exhibited.

Photos from Gandhi’s childhood to his tragic death will be exhibited at the venue. Very rare photos of His African life, pictures of various Indian Freedom movement and other exclusive photos are included. IOC requests each and everyone especially parents to make use of the exhibition by encouraging children to the venue.

Announcements ‘Leniency of Islam’ n unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

A

Focus Kuwait 6th annual day s a part of the 6th anniversary celebrations, Forum of Cadd Users (FOCUS Kuwait), a nonpolitical, non-religious organization is set to stage a mega cultural event “Focus Fest-2012”. This

A

mega event will be a blend of traditional and contemporary dance and musical extravaganza by renowned South Indian playback singers Jyotsna and Sudeesh.

Scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, October 12, 2012, at the Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed School Auditorium, Hawally, the mega musical show, is expected to be a super-hit in Kuwait.

Audition for ZEE Antakshari or the first time Indian Cultural Society brings you live excitement of ZEE - International Antakshari in Kuwait. Audition & first round will be held in Kuwait, there after followed by semi finals in India & Grand Finale in Dubai. Complete team of Carnival films & Zee TV will be in Kuwait for the final round of selection on Friday 5th October with Jaaved Jaaferi: Celebrity Judge, Akriti Kakkar: Female Bollywood Singer & Host of Antakshari, Manish Paul: Host for Auditions, Sarfaraz Khan: Actor, Director and

F

Producer, Michael Amin: Producer & Director Carnival films world. Musicians, Male Singer & many more for live performances. Final audition at 10 am & music show at 7:30 pm at AIS-Hawally.

Tulukoota Kuwait ‘Merit Scholarship’ pplications are now being invited for “Tulukoota Kuwait Merit Cum Means Scholarship” to be awarded during Tuluparba 2012 scheduled to be held on October 11 and 12, 2012.

The objective of this scholarship is to provide financial assistance and support to deserving meritorious students, to enable them to pursue their higher studies.

Applications are accepted from minimum one year valid Tulukoota Kuwait member’s children studying either in the State of Kuwait or in India and scoring high grades in Xth and XIIth standard Board Examination held for Academic year 2011-2012.

A

what’s on

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Embassy Information

NCCAL, India Embassy organize classical music, dance concert

A

n outstanding Indian classical music and dance concert featuring maestro Salil Bhatt on Satvik Veena and Kathak dance performance by Parwati Dutta and her troupe was held on Wednesday at the Abdul Aziz Hussain Auditorium, Mishref in the run up to the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Summit being organized by the Kuwait government.

Pt Salil Bhatt filled the environment with sublime music by playing waltz on his Satvik Veena. This was followed by recital of Raga Jog, by Salil Bhatt assisted by Himanshu Mahant on Tabla (Indian drums). He also played two compositions of the traditional Alap at very high speed to a thunderous response from the audience.

Parwati Dutta and her troupe mesmerized the audience with various masterly dance pieces like “Arpan” which was composed by the legendary singer Tansen in praise of Mughal Emperor Akbar describing his power and grandeur as majestic as the five elements that have created this world.

This was followed by “Holi” the vibrant

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@javascript:changeImage('N',%20'N'); 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, AlBanwan 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 ARGENTINE The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information. The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy.

The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency.

■■■■■■■

festival of colors expressed through narrative and rhythmic passages based on poem of medieval poet Padmakar in which he describes the folks of village Gokul being smeared with colors, yet their forehead shining with the great fortune of being with the Lord.

Parwati Dutta thereafter rendered the “Niratat Dhang” and displayed the technical virtuosity of Kathak dance including fast-paced spins, crisp footwork and gliding movements. She concluded by “Sfuran” a Kaleidoscope in time and space, woven across rhythmic and melodic patterns. A large number of Kuwaiti dignitaries, distin-

guished Ambassadors and members of the Indian community in Kuwait attended the concert. Prominent among those who attended were Mohammad Abdullah Abo Al-Hassan, Advisor to His Highness the Amir, Eng Ali Hussein Al-Youha, Secretary General of National Council for Arts, Culture and Literature, Mohamad Ali Al-Kandari, Under Secretary of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Ambassador Mohamad Rashed AlMejren Al-Roomi, Director, Asia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The vibrant and scintillating performance by maestro Salil Bhatt and the troupe led by Parwati Dutta received spontaneous applause from the appreciative audience in the auditorium. The audience gave the maestros a standing ovation upon conclusion of the performance. The event was organized by National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Kuwait in cooperation with the Embassy of India.

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN Consular section at the British Embassy will be starting an online appointment booking system for our consular customers from Sunday, 01 July 2012. All information including how to make an appointment is now available on the embassy website. In addition, there is also a “Consular Appointment System” option under Quick links on the right hand side on the homepage, which should take you to the “Consular online booking appointment system” main page.

Please be aware that from 01 July 2012, we will no longer accept walk-in customers for legalisation, notarial services and certificates (birth, death and marriages). If you have problems accessing the system or need to make an appointment for non-notarial consular issues or have a consular emergency, please call 2259 4355/7/8 or email us on consularenquirieskuwait@fco.gov.uk. If you require consular assistance out of office hours (working hours: 0730-l430 hrs), please contact the Embassy on 2259 4320.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Health SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Japan team offers fertility hope with stemcell eggs Normal cells from adult mice created

Helene Beaumont, Canadian agronomist, holds worms as she stands next to a toilet built by Ecosphere Technologies yesterday in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. If someone tries to find the new toilet at the elegant golf field La Providence in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, closing his eyes and trusting his flair, he will likely fail, there is not the slightest smell, even when you enter the wooden cabin. —AFP

Turd-eating worms clear air around Canadian toilets SAINT-HYACINTHE, Canada: Anyone relying on their nose to guide them to a toilet at Quebec’s La Providence golf course won’t find one that’s because its outhouse is odorless.

Beneath a tidy wooden latrine on the grounds is an army of earthworms that churn decaying organic materials into compost.

The worm-powered design is a first of its kind in North America, according to Ecosphere Technologies international sales representative Frederic Neau. It was developed near Nyons, France.

A half-kilogram (1.1 pounds) of Eisenia fetida or red wiggler worms native to Europe imported from France and raised locally by Helene Beaumont are placed between layers of dung and straw in an underground space beneath the toilet. “A worm eats almost its own weight in food each day,” she told AFP during a demonstration at the golf course in Saint-Hyacinthe east of Montreal. “And the more poop there is to eat, the more they reproduce.”

The washroom uses neither water nor electricity, and can be used 10,000 times before needing maintenance. A pedal at the foot of the toilet triggers a system of conveyor belts that separate fecal matter from urine, which is then filtered through sand while the stool goes to the worms.

Urine mixed with feces is what produces the typical unpleasant odors in some older dry toilets, said Neau. A venting system in Ecosphere’s washroom also flows air away from the washroom to doubly ensure it produces no bad smells.

Neau pointed to dozens of installations in France, Spain, Switzerland and Italy as proof of concept, where electricity or water may not be available, in mountain retreats or nature parks.

Canada’s vast wilderness dotted with hundreds of thousands of remote cabins and campgrounds, ski lodges and hunting camps, as well as sugar shacks makes it an ideal market for this technology.

Several varieties of dry composting toilets can already be found throughout the country, mostly in privately-owned vacation cabins in the woods. In most of these, excrement is mixed with a scoop of sawdust, coconut coir or peat moss to support aerobic processing, absorb liquids and reduce odors.

The decomposition process is generally faster than in wet sewage treatment systems such as septic tanks. Ecosphere’s toilets are not cheap at Can$40,000 ($40,800) each, compared to competitors that charge an average of Can$1,800.

But Neau said the price will likely drop as sales increase.

Maintenance costs, he added, are negligible since the facilities only require a check on the worms once per year, while other dry composting toilets often need far more maintenance and output management. —AFP

TOKYO: Hopes of a cure for infertility in humans were raised yesterday after Japanese stem cell researchers announced they had created viable eggs using normal cells from adult mice.

The breakthrough raises the possibility that women who are unable to produce eggs naturally could have them created in a test tube from their own cells and then planted back into their body.

A team at Kyoto University harvested stem cells from mice and altered a number of genes to create cells very similar to the primordial germ cells that generate sperm in men and oocytes-or eggsin women. They then nurtured these with cells that would become ovaries and transplanted the mixture into living mice, where the cells matured into fullygrown oocytes.

They extracted the matured oocytes, fertilized them in vitro-in a test tube-and implanted them into surrogate mother mice. The resulting mice pups were born healthy and were even able to reproduce once they matured.

Writing in the US journal Science, which published the findings, research leader professor Michinori Saito said the work provided a promising basis for hope in reproductive medicine.

“Our system serves as a robust foundation to investigate and further reconstitute female germline development in vitro, not only in mice, but also in other mammals, including humans,” he said. Saito cautioned that this was not a ready-made cure for people with fertility problems, adding that a lot of work remained.

“This achievement is expected to help us understand further the egg-producing mechanism and contribute to clarifying the causes of infertility,” he told reporters. “We intend to continue this research with monkeys and humans,” he said. Stem cells-infant cells that develop into the specialized tissues of the body-have sparked great excitement because they offer the chance of rebuilding organs damaged by disease or accident.

Until fairly recently, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from embryos, a process that is controversial because it necessitates the destruction of the embryo.

Religious conservatives, amongst others, have objected to research on human embryonic stem cells because they hold that the destruction of a foetus is wrong. But pioneering work done in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka, also at Kyoto University, succeeded in generat-

Mouse egg cells, made from indiced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells of a mouse. —AFP

This handout picture, released from Kyoto University yesterday shows a mouse (right) which was born from an egg cell, made from indiced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells of a mouse, and this mouse’s offspring. —AFP ing “induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells”, from skin tissue. Like embryonic stemcells, iPS cells are also capable of developing into any cell in the body, but crucially their base material is readily available.

The findings on egg development published this week come just a year after scientists in Kyoto successfully

coaxed sperm cells from mouse stem cells. In that work, researchers took mice that were unable to produce normal sperm and injected them with the stem cell-derived primordial germ cells, or PGCs. These PGCs “produced normallooking sperm, which were then used to successfully fertilize eggs”, the study said last year. —AFP

Defective generic pill revives quality fears WASHINGTON: More Americans than ever are taking generic drugs, as blockbuster medicines like Plavix and Lipitor become available in low-cost versions. But the government’s revelation this week that it mistakenly approved a defective generic antidepressant could stoke longtime concerns about the quality of knockoff drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday asked Teva Pharmaceuticals to withdraw its drug Budeprion XL 300 after testing showed the drug did not properly release its key ingredient. The drug is supposed to be equivalent to GlaxoSmithKline’s popular antidepres-

sant Wellbutrin XL, which is prescribed to treat depression, anxiety and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. The announcement marked an about-face for regulators, who said in 2008 that the two drugs were essentially the same, despite hundreds of complaints from patients who said they experienced side effects such as headaches, anxiety and insomnia after switching to the generic drug. The FDA has withdrawn generic drugs before, but this appears to be the first case driven by consumer complaints, which continued to pile up after the FDA said the drug was working correctly.—AP

CLASSIFIEDS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

ACCOMMODATION

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Hospitals 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

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Sharing accommodation available, near Jabriya Indian School, Jabriya, central A/C flat. Decent Muslim couple or two working ladies only. Call 66795253. (C 4156) 3-10-2012

SITUATION WANTED Australian Project Manager, with two Engineering Degrees and four Master Degrees, with 23 years experience in Gulf and Australia, seeking top management job. Call: 65695468. (C 4141) 2-10-2012

SITUATION VACANT Need driver to work or houseboy, visa 18 or 20 ok.

Contact: 55400994. (C 4155) 2-10-2012

FOR SALE

Used 2 sofa bed, color brown, good condition, in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Price each KD 15. Call 66762737.

(C 4163) 6-10-2012 Galant 1997 model, blue color, good condition, A/C, price KD 400, passing valid for one year.

Contact: 96975726.

Kawai Piano, Yamaha electric organ, Yamaha keyboard, household furniture. Please contact: 22661316.

(C 4157) 3-10-2012 For immediate sale - Toyota Corolla (2011), 1.8 white, done only 22,000 km, expecting KD 3,900 (only cash) real buyers only contact mobile: 97473028 between 10 am - 6:30 pm).

(C 4154) 1-10-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Mohamed Haja Mohamed Sourcane, holder of Indian Passport No: E2780618 hereby change my name to Mohamad Saircane Mouhamad Hadja.

(C 4159) 3-10-2012 Yuvaraja Dhanapal, son of Dhanapal and Paruvadhavarthani bearing an Indian Passport No: E6580676 having an address 2/59, East Street, Melnariyappanur, Kallakurichi, Villupuram 606 201, Tamil Nadu, India had embraced Islam and changed the name as NASEER AHMAD. (C 4152) 30-9-2012

Prayer timings

SITUATION WANTED PMP certified, IT Project Management, Software Testing Professional with 7 year experience including 3 year in UK, Postgraduate.

Looking for executive level job. Call 69905419. (C 4158) 3-10-2012

Fajr:

04:23

Duhr:

11:37

Asr:

15:00

Maghrib:

17:33

Isha:

18:49

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

information SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines QTR JZR QTR JZR SAI ETH PIA GFA UAE ETD OMA FDB MSR QTR JZR THY DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY GFA QTR FDB ETD BAB GFA UAE JZR MSR IRM MSR GFA KAC FDB JZR KNE QTR SVA KAC RJA KNE JZR QTR KAC IZG KAC JZR JZR ETD UAE UAL IRC GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC KAC KAC QTR BAB KAC

Arrival Flights on Saturday 6/10/2012 Flt Route 6130 DOHA 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 239 ISLAMABAD 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 223 BAHRAIN 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 325 NAJAF 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 562 AMMAN 640 AMMAN 476 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 4161 MASHAD 118 NEW YORK 535 CAIRO 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 6791 MASHAD 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 176 GENEVA 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 438 BAHRAIN 786 JEDDAH

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

FDB KAC MSR JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC IRA AXB OMA MEA QTR KNE KAC GFA MPH KNE ALK KLM UAE JZR BBC SYR ABY QTR KAC JZR FDB AIC GFA UAL JZR DLH FDB MSR THY DHX JAI

63 104 620 175 618 674 572 774 607 393 647 402 146 460 790 221 79 474 229 415 859 135 43 341 129 136 614 513 61 975 217 981 239 636 51 614 772 372 574

DUBAI LONDON ASSIUT DUBAI DOHA DUBAI MUMBAI RIYADH MASHAD KOZHIKODE MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA MEDINAH MEDINAH BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM JEDDAH COLOMBO AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA DAMASCUS SHARJAH DOHA BAHRAIN SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT DUBAI CAIRO ISTANBUL BAHRAIN MUMBAI

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR JAI KLM QTR THY SAI ETH PIA UAE FDB OMA ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA THY BAW FDB JZR ABY JZR KAC KAC GFA UAE QTR KAC KAC FDB ETD

Departure Flights on Saturday 6/10/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 573 MUMBAI 413 AMSTERDAM 6131 DOHA 773 ISTANBUL 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 240 SIALKOT 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO, EGYPT” 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 671 DUBAI 224 BAHRAIN 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI

18:45 18:45 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:40 19:50 19:55 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:25 20:25 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:50 0:55 1:30 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:20 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:55 7:05 7:10 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:40 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15

BAB JZR JZR GFA KAC KAC KAC JZR UAE MSR KAC JZR IRM GFA FDB MSR JZR KAC KNE KAC RJA KNE JZR KAC SVA QTR KAC IZG ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE IRC GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR KAC QTR FDB BAB JZR MSR KAC JAI IRA KAC KAC OMA MEA KNE KAC GFA KNE DHX ALK KLM ABY MPH KAC UAE SYR QTR KAC KAC FDB JZR BBC AXB QTR GFA KAC JZR JZR

437 324 356 214 541 165 501 776 872 619 785 176 5065 220 58 611 174 673 473 617 641 461 512 789 505 135 773 4162 304 238 538 141 858 6792 216 134 128 982 511 266 613 145 64 439 184 621 283 571 604 331 351 648 403 477 543 222 475 171 230 415 120 79 381 860 342 137 301 205 62 554 44 394 147 218 411 504 528

BAHRAIN AL NAJAF MASHHAD BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME BEIRUT JEDDAH DUBAI ASSIUT JEDDAH DUBAI MASHHAD BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO DUBAI DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA AMMAN MADINAH SHARM EL SHEIKH MADINAH JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH MASHHAD ABU DHABI AMMAN CAIRO DOHA DUBAI MASHHAD BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DHAKA MUMBAI ISFAHAN TRIVANDRUM KOCHI MUSCAT BEIRUT JEDDAH CAIRO BAHRAIN JEDDAH BAHRAIN COLOMBO DAMMAM SHARJAH SHARJAH DELHI DUBAI DAMASCUS DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD DUBAI ALEXANDRIA CHITTAGONG KOCHI DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK LUXOR ASSIUT

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

10:25 10:25 10:30 10:45 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:20 12:25 13:10 13:20 13:25 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:05 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:50 15:50 15:55 16:00 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:45 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:50 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:45 23:50

C R O S S W O R D 8 1 8

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. Any of various units of capacity.

4. Any of various small terrestrial or aquatic crustaceans with seven pairs of legs adapted for crawling.

10. South American wood sorrel cultivated for its edible tubers.

13. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than beer.

14. (botany) Of leaves.

15. The act of slowing down or falling behind.

16. Not only so, but.

18. A rapid escape (as by criminals).

20. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

21. Humble request for help.

23. A feeling of intense anger.

24. A Loloish language.

26. A master's degree in business.

28. The conversion of waste land into land suitable for use of habitation or cultivation.

31. A prosthesis that replaces a missing leg.

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

36. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

38. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

39. The ability and desire to purchase goods and services.

40. A large mass of ice floating at sea.

43. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

44. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

45. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

48. Capital and largest city of Iraq.

50. A warning against certain acts.

53. A short labored intake of breath with the mouth open.

56. A less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarters of the moon.

57. Present reasons and arguments.

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

62. Armor plate that protects the chest.

63. Sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupial with gray furry ears and coat.

64. A light touch or stroke.

65. A ridge of sand created by the wind.

66. A machine or person that adds.

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

DOWN 1. Common Indian weaverbird.

2. (pathology) An elevation of the skin filled with serous fluid.

3. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

4. A heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group.

5. Antibacterial consisting of any of several synthetic organic compounds capable of inhibiting the growth of bacteria that require PABA. 6. A member of the Siouan people formerly inhabiting the Black Hills of western South Dakota.

7. A fleshy fruit (apple or pear or related fruits) having seed chambers and an outer fleshy part.

8. A mouth or mouthlike opening.

9. A Mid-Atlantic state.

10. Evergreen trees and shrubs having oily one-seeded fruits.

11. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the

blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

12. A fit of shivering.

17. Doglike nocturnal mammal of Africa and southern Asia that feeds chiefly on carrion.

19. A steep rugged rock or cliff.

22. The basic unit of electric current adopted under the System International d'Unites.

25. A festival featuring African-American culture.

27. Cut the head of.

29. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

30. A language unit by which a person or thing is known.

32. A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth.

33. A British peer ranking below a Marquess and above a Viscount.

34. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

37. Capital and largest city and economic center of Peru.

41. Lightweight parka.

42. (informal) Exceptionally good.

46. A city in southeastern South Korea.

47. A member of a Finnish people of Russia.

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

51. Characteristic of false pride.

52. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

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

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

58. (British) A linear measure of 16.5 feet.

59. An anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months.

60. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Orfevre gets tough draw for Arc

PARIS: Orfevre faces a tough task if he is to deliver Japan their first win in Europe’s most prestigious race the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after he was drawn on the wide outside for tomorrow’s showpiece event at Longchamp. Japan’s 2011 horse of the year was drawn in stall 18, from where just one winner has come in its 90 previous editions, the great Irish champion Alleged in 1977, who was to go on and win it the next year as well.

The draw, which was performed by France’s Olympic judo champion Lucie Decosse, saw dual Derby winner Camelot, co-favorite with Orfevre, land a plum draw in five from where three winners have been drawn with Bago in 2004 the last one to have prevailed. Camelot’s other fancied stablemate - trainer Aidan O’Brien runs two pacemakers as well - St Nicholas Abbey drew 10 from where four previous winners have come, the last one being the great Montjeu in 1999.

Of the other favorites, French Derby winner Saonois - bought for just 10,000

euros as a yearling, owned by a prosperous baker and trained in the equine backwater of Lyon by Jean-Claude Gauvin - got a plum stall of two. Six winners have come from that draw and it pleased his young rookie jockey Anthony Hamelin. “It is a very good draw,” said Hamelin, who has been the riding revelation of the season. “It will allow me to hide him in the middle of the field. He (Saonois) has evolved during the season, he is a bit stronger physically and is good both in his head and his speed.”

Hamelin admitted that the significance of riding in his first Arc was gradually dawning on him. “My sleep patterns seem to be changing nightly with the pressure mounting,” he said. Crack French filly Shareta, bidding to give trainer Alain de Royer Dupre his third win in the race, was drawn in 11 which was greeted with delight by her jockey Christophe Lemaire despite only one previous winner coming out of that stall. “I am very satisfied as it gives us some space to get well placed and with two of the pacemakers inside us they

will give us a lead,” said Lemaire, who has yet to win the Arc. “It is an ideal number.”

Lemaire, who has ridden Shareta in her two Group Ones wins in the past two months, said that his filly, one of three runners for His Highness the Aga Khan, had all the weapons to win and improve on her runners-up spot last year. “She is a very tough filly, who won the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp last month brilliantly,” said the 33-year-old. “This is the ideal distance for her. As regards Alain de Royer Dupre’s other runner Bayrir (drawn 14), he has been a late progressive type but I didn’t know whether he would run or not so Shareta was my obvious choice.”

Lemaire said Orfevre’s rider Christophe Soumillon faced a tough task from their draw, but he added that the odds were not insurmountable. “Orfevre holds most of the cards required to win an Arc. He has speed and stamina but whether the extra ground he will have to cover blunts his finishing burst we shall see,” said Lemaire.

Master trainer Andre Fabre, who holds the

Moore flirts with a magical jackpot LAS VEGAS: American Ryan Moore flirted with golf’s magical jackpot, a 59, before he bogeyed his penultimate hole on the way to a sizzling 10-under-par 61 in Thursday’s opening round of the Las Vegas Open.

Moore, who started out at the par-four 10th, missed the green to the left with his tee shot at the short eighth but was otherwise delighted with his spectacular form in near-perfect scoring conditions in the Nevada desert.

“It was one of those days that you just keep putting it in play,” said the 29-yearold Las Vegas resident, who has played the TPC Summerlin layout countless times.

“You know you’re going to have a bunch of pitching wedges, nine-irons, eight-irons into these greens. “As solid as I’m hitting it right now, that’s just kind of my key. I know I’m going to have enough pretty darn good birdie chances if I’m just in the fairway with them. “The bogey there on my 17th hole, No 8, I wasn’t too happy about, but it was great to bounce back with a birdie on the ninth hole.”

Moore, who won his only PGA Tour title at the 2009 Wyndham Championship, piled up nine birdies and an eagle, at the par-four 15th, to end the opening round of the Fall Series event with a one-stroke lead over Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge.

Americans Tim Herron and tour rookie John Huh opened with 63s while compatriots Justin Leonard and Chris Kirk, and Swede Jonas Blixt, returned 64s. World number 21 Nick Watney, the highestranked player in the field, carded a 66 while US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, whose 12-man team stunningly lost to a resurgent Europe after being outplayed in the concluding singles at Medinah on Sunday, opened with a 68.

Moore commanded the spotlight on Thursday as he raced to the turn in a scintillating seven-under 29, raising hopes of becoming only the sixth player to shoot a 59 on the PGA Tour. He picked up further

LAS VEGAS: Ryan Moore plays a bunker shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. — AFP shots at the first, fifth and seventh before his red-hot momentum stalled with his bogey at the eighth. “I’ve just been playing good, solid golf lately,” said Moore, who two weeks ago tied for third in the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the lucrative Tour Championship in Atlanta. “On a golf course like this, I’m probably more comfortable. I’ve played it more this year than any other. It was just one of those nice days. Got off to a great start, seven under on the front nine and just kind of cruised the next nine.”

American Al Geiberger was the first

player to break 60 on the PGA Tour, shooting a 13-under-par 59 in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic. Chip Beck was the next to do so, in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational at Sunrise Golf Club, and David Duval became the third, in the fifth and final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Classic. Paul Goydos achieved the feat when he shot a 59 in the opening round of the John Deere Classic in 2010, while Australia’s Stuart Appleby achieved it during the final round of the Greenbrier Classic to clinch victory less than a month later. — Reuters

record for Arc wins with seven, saw his two runners, Masterstroke and Meandre, sixth last year, drawn in 17 and 13 respectively, and while Meandre is fancied, only one winner has come from his stall and that was 46 years ago. The most controversial runner Mikhail Glinka drew stall nine from where just one winner has come-Urban Sea in 1993. Mikhail Glinka is owned by Chechnya’s maverick strongman Ramzan Kadyrov accused by human rights groups of using his personal militia to allegedly torture and kill opponents. Despite not being allowed to run his horses in the United States, because the State Department has brought pressure to bear on the licensing boards to not give them permission to run, Europe is more lenient and Mikhail Glinka will be his first runner in the race. The going at Longchamp was soft yesterday morning. Light showers are forecasted for today, but it is set to be dry tomorrow. France Galop’s Francois Boulard said: “The ground shouldn’t provide a handicap to anyone.” — AFP

Imposing Shareta ‘just right’ for Arc CHANTILLY: Shareta can pull off a rare feat at Longchamp tomorrow and become only the fifth horse to win Europe’s most prestigious race the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a year after finishing runner-up, her trainer Alain de Royer Dupre said. Shareta, who would be the first since Tony Bin won in 1988 a year after finishing second and the first filly since the legendary Allez France (second in 1973 before winning in 1974), has come a long way since she was a pacemaker for the favourite Sarafina in last year’s renewal.

De Royer Dupre said it was her surprise second place, albeit five lengths adrift of Danedream, that alerted him to the fact she could develop into an outstanding filly. “She had had an honourable race record up to then but nothing to suggest she was up to winning such a race as the Arc,” said the 68year-old. “However, her second in the Arc suggested she was a late developer.” And go on she has as she has won two Group Ones - The Yorkshire Oaks in August and then the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp last month in an eyecatching time.

“Normally if you looked at her time in the Vermeille and she was winning on her return to the track after a break you would say forget the Arc because it was fast,” he said.

“However, she came to the race after winning the Yorkshire Oaks so the time in the Vermeille is not a concern because it registers a logical improvement in her performance.” De Royer Dupre, who has two Arc wins to his name with Dalakhani in 2003 and the brilliant filly Zarkava in 2008, said that Shareta’s physique made her stand out from other rivals.

“She is huge! She is bigger than most other horses and very imposing,” he said. “She has been a late developer especially in terms of her acceleration, but now she is quick on her legs and can get well placed quickly which is important as it means she avoids traffic. “A horse who can manage that in an Arc is already in a strong position.” De Royer Dupre, who has trained in Chantilly for Shareta’s owner his Highness the Aga Khan since Francois Mathet died in 1983, said that tactics for tomorrow were fluid. “Christophe Lemaire won on her in her last two races and rides her well,” he said.

“We don’t have any pre-determined tactics. We will chat and on the day itself we will take note of what the ground is like and decide whether to opt for whether we go on the rail or on the outside. “However, you don’t tell great jockeys like Lemaire to do this and that at specific times of the race, you leave it up to their instinct.” On that note De Royer Dupre who also supplemented Bayrir at a cost of 100,000 euros to the Aga Khan on Thursday - believes that to have a French jockey on board in the Arc is a huge advantage on a challenging Longchamp track. De Royer Dupre, who has a 160 horse yard with half owned by the Aga Khan, said the connections of Japanese joint favorite Orfevre were right for breaking with tradition. For unlike previous Japanese runners it will not be a Japanese rider aboard but France-based Belgian riding ace Christophe Soumillon. —AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

McLaren keep door open for Hamilton SUZUKA: McLaren will ‘never say never’ to Lewis Hamilton returning to them one day even if that looks unlikely at the moment, team principal Martin Whitmarsh said yesterday.

Hamilton, McLaren’s 2008 Formula One world champion, has signed a three-year deal with rivals Mercedes and will take retiring Michael Schumacher’s place there at the end of this season. The British driver assured reporters ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix that he

was not leaving McLaren through the back door and that the path he had chosen to take could ultimately bring him back.

“Yes, certainly, I think it is (possible),” Whitmarsh said. “But he’s joining a strong team in Mercedes and I don’t think he’ll be coming back any time soon. “I’m sure they’ve got a good contract... and I don’t think Lewis’s intention is to hop from team-to-team on an annual basis.

“But never say never and we’ll see

Barkley rallies No 13 USC past Utah 38-28 SALT LAKE CITY: Matt Barkley passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns, including an 83yarder to Marqise Lee in the fourth quarter, and No 13 Southern California came back from a two touchdown deficit to beat Utah 3828 Thursday night. Utah (2-3, 0-2 Pac-12) forced turnovers 1:16 apart to open the game, including a play

by Nate Fakahafua to score from 8 yards out after stripping the ball from Barkley after a bad snap.

But the Trojans (4-1, 2-1) turned the tables in the fourth, scoring twice in a span of less than 3 minutes to turn a 3-point game into victory in their first trip to Salt Lake City in 95 years. Barkley connected with Lee with 12:10 remaining, then cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted a pass by Jon Hays and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. Lee finished with 12 catches for 192 yards. The teams combined for 736 yards of offense and 222 yards in penalties.

Utah led 14-0 less than 3 minutes in, and was up 21-10 with 8:54 left in the half after Hays passed 18 yards to DeVonte Christopher, electrifying the fourth-largest crowd in stadium history (46,037). But Barkley answered with scoring passes to Randall Telfer and Robert Woods as USC took a 24-21 lead into the break.

The Trojans scored 28 straight before Utah put together a late drive. Before the season the game was being touted as a possible showdown for the Pac-12 South title.

But then Stanford upset then-No 2ranked USC on Sept 15 and Utah lost by 30 to Arizona State the following week. The Trojans have been trying to work their way back to the top of a league with six Pac-12 teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.

On Thursday night, they had to fight their way out of a big hole early. On USC’s second play from scrimmage, Rimington Award candidate Khaled Holmes skidded the snap to Barkley. He managed to pick it up but was hit immediately by defensive end Fakahafua, who spun Barkley around then grabbed the ball out of his hands and sprinted eight yards into the end zone. It gave Utah a 7-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game. Two plays lat-

SALT LAKE CITY: TJ McDonald #7 and Lamar Dawson #55 of the USC Trojans upends Jake Murphy #86 of the Utah Utes during the first half of a college football game on October 4, 2012. — AFP er reigning Pac-12 defensive lineman of the year Star Lotulelei bulldozed Holmes as he snapped the ball and pounced on the fumble with 12:57 left in the first. Hays completed an 11-yard TD pass to Kenneth Scott two plays later.

Like that Utah was up 14-0 less than 3 minutes into the game.

Barkley brought USC back, driving the Trojans 75 yards in eight plays, capped by Silas Redd’s 3-yard run, to pull USC within 14-7 midway through the first quarter. After Utah bumped its lead to 21-10, Barkley countered a minute later with a three-play,74-yard TD drive, passing 41 yards to All-American Robert Woods and capping it with a 23yard strike to tight end Telfer that pulled USC within 21-17. Barkley gave USC its first lead with 4:38 left in the half on a 6-yard TD pass to Woods on third and-goal from the 6.

The score was set up when Robey forced tight end Dallin Rogers to fumble on the Utah 34-yard line 3 minutes earlier. Redd had a key play on the drive when he picked up a blitz, giving Barkley time to complete a 17-yard pass to Lee. Barkley completed 23 of 30 passes, while Redd had 77 yards rushing on 17 carries before DJ Morgan took over.

Hays finished 19 of 32 for 160 yards with a pair of touchdowns, but the interception proved costly Utah also hurt itself with penalties, with eight for 82 yards in the first half alone and 13 for 122 overall. — AP

what happens in the future,” he added. There is a notable precedent for Hamilton, with four times world champion Alain Prost starting his Formula One career at McLaren in 1980 before moving to Renault for three years and then returning to win titles.

Hamilton’s 2007 team mate Fernando Alonso, now the championship leader with Ferrari, moved to McLaren from Renault and then went back to his previous team after an ill-

fated season. Whitmarsh also played down a suggestion by Hamilton on Thursday that he knew all about next year’s McLaren, with the driver telling his Mexican replacement Sergio Perez that it was sure to be good. “I think he knows the people and what we’re trying to do but I don’t think there’s any great secrets in that,” he said. “I think if I was pursuing intellectual property from other teams, I’d probably go for engineers not drivers.” — Reuters

Schumacher crashes; Webber sets the pace SUZUKA: Michael Schumacher crashed out of Japanese Grand Prix practice yesterday, a day after announcing his retirement, while Australian Mark Webber set the pace for Red Bull. Schumacher, a seven times champion and winner six times at Suzuka, went wide into the Spoon corner and lost control with the car slewing sideways into the tyre wall.

The 43-year-old German removed the steering wheel, extricated himself from the cockpit, patted a marshal on the back and helped tidy up some debris before walking away. He had been fifth fastest in the morning.

“I had to go to the medical centre...but I’m 100 percent okay,” said Schumacher. “I think I was already concentrating on too much on the corner ahead of me and therefore had a wheel on the dirt and went off.” Force India’s Paul Di Resta had earlier gone off at the same place, a slip that left him without a timed lap in the afternoon session.

His team mate Nico Hulkenberg was fourth fastest.

Webber’s best lap of one minute 32.493 seconds was the quickest of the day after McLaren’s Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had led the opening session at one of the classic drivers’ tracks. Button, last year’s race winner in Japan but with a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race after a gearbox change, set a time of 1:34.507 on a sunny morning at the Honda-owned figure of eight circuit. McLaren will be chasing a fifth successive pole position today, the team’s best run of qualifying form since 1999 when Finland’s Mika Hakkinen chalked up five in a row, but Webber showed championship leaders Red Bull would be hard to beat.

The Australian was third fastest in the morning, a position filled by team mate and double world champion Sebastian Vettel in the afternoon. “It was a smooth one for us today and we completed all the runs we wanted to,” said Webber. “We have areas where we can improve, mostly with the balance.” Vettel, who clinched his second title at

Suzuka last year, has won two of the last three Japanese Grands Prix after starting all of them from pole.

Button was seventh after lunch with Hamilton second.

ALONSO RELAXED Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso, who is 29 points clear of Vettel, was 11th and fifth respectively. The Spaniard has been a model of consistency, however, and yesterday practice times count for little. “This was a reasonably good day,” he said. “Overall the feeling is good and I don’t think the high temperatures can constitute a problem for the tyres.” Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, was 13th and 14th in a Lotus with an updated front wing but had to pit with the team warning him about a possible KERS problem that ren-

dered the car unsafe. He stepped out gingerly in the pits before gloved mechanics removed the car’s battery. The Finn is third overall despite not having won a race yet this year.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg, who will have Hamilton joining him at Mercedes next year, slowed and parked up at the side of the track two minutes from the end between turns three and four in the morning.

The team said it was due to an oil pressure problem and the engine shut down as a precaution. With a different engine, he was 11th in the afternoon. Local favorite Kamui Kobayashi was sixth and 13th fastest for Sauber. Vitaly Petrov’s Caterham shed its rear wing at speed in the second session, leaving the Russian shaken and relieved to step out unscathed. — Reuters

SUZUKA: Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of Germany takes a turn during the first free practice session in the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit yesterday. — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Sri Lanka captain relishes 4th final COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene goes into tomorrow’s World Twenty20 final confident of winning the title after failing at the last hurdle in three previous world meets. Sri Lanka made the final of two successive 50-over World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and also the World Twenty20 in 2009, but were unable to win when it mattered most, frustrating fans, former players and media alike. But Jayawardene said playing the sold-out final on home soil in front of adoring fans at the 35,000-capacity Premadasa stadium in Colombo gave him hope that the team would finally turn the corner.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” the accomplished 35-year-old said as the hosts, who beat Pakistan by 16 runs on Thursday night, awaited the winner of second semi-final between Australia and the West Indies. “We are all really happy to be part of a very successful group over a period of time. “We have been blessed with four now - although I know we haven’t won anything. “But four finals, it’s amazing. In one’s career you are lucky enough to play in one final. We are a proud nation and everyone will be behind us tomorrow.” Jayawardene, who accepted the captaincy for a second stint after Tillakaratne Dilshan stepped down in January, said his team’s strategy tomorrow will be different from previous finals. “They have all had to be approached in different ways,” he said. “One final was in Barbados (2007), one in England (2009) and one was in Mumbai (2011). “Now we are playing in the Premadasa, so we will approach it differently. “We play with a very positive mindset. We spoke at the start of the tournament that we would have to play on three different surfaces in Hambantota, Pallekele and now Colombo. “We had to adapt. It is all about handling tough situations better.”

Sri Lanka have lost just one of their six games in the tournament so far - a sevenovers-a-side rain-affected game against South Africa in Hambantota in the preliminary league. Jayawardene has himself led from the front with 210 runs at an average of 42, the third highest run-maker behind Australian Shane Watson (242) and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand (212). Sri Lanka have been further boosted by the matchwinning form of unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis, who shares the top spot among bowlers with Watson at 11 wickets apiece, and sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who has eight scalps. The wily Jayawardene has already shown he will go to any length to see Sri Lanka end on a high even changing captains for a match.

Eyebrows were raised when Kumar Sangakkara took up the captaincy for the Super Eights match against England in Pallekele last Monday, even though both Jayawardene and vice-captain Angelo Mathews were part of the playing eleven.

Jayawardene explained later the change was made to prevent him and Mathews from missing out on the semi-finals since both of them were already serving a onematch notice for slow over rates. But Jayawardene was back at the helm in the semi-final against Pakistan, emerging the main scorer with a polished 42 at the top of the order. —AFP

Rams hand Cardinals first loss ST LOUIS: Sam Bradford missed high, low, left, right. After capping the St Louis Rams’ opening drive with a touchdown pass to Lance Kendricks, the former No 1 overall pick endured an 0-for-12 slump that included Patrick Peterson’s interception in the end zone on a pass tossed up for grabs under heavy pressure. No worries. The Rams’ rapidlyimproving defense saw to that. “Those guys played outstanding,” Bradford said after the Rams knocked off the previously unbeaten Arizona Cardinals 17-3 on Thursday night.

“They’ve played great all year and they have kept us in a lot of games.” Bradford busted out of his funk with a 52-yard touchdown pass to rookie Chris Givens for a two-TD cushion and Robert Quinn had three of the Rams’ nine sacks on Kevin Kolb to keep the Cardinals in check. The Rams have three first-round picks on the defensive line and the fourth, tackle Kendall Langford, was a key freeagent pickup.

“We believe in ourselves,” Quinn said. “We believe we can be one of the great defenses. When there was a play to be made, we made it.” Arizona (4-1) scored at least 20 points in each of its first four games, but had no luck containing a pass rush that had totaled just six sacks on the year, and got stopped twice inside the 20 in the final minutes.

The Rams also had a strong defensive game last week in a 19-13 victory over Seattle, also at home.

Kolb got his helmet knocked off twice on hits, once after getting popped in the jaw. He described the Cardinals’ first-half woes as “sickening.” “I’m all right,” Kolb said. “I’m glad we’ve got the weekend to heal up, mentally and physically.”

The Rams also limited the Cardinals to 45 yards rushing on 17 carries. “Bottom line, they decided they wanted to throw the ball a lot and that made it kind of a track meet,” Rams defensive end Chris Long said. “We’ve been waiting a long time to feel like we’ve done our job on defense.” Kendricks caught a 7-yard TD pass in the first quarter and Greg Zuerlein kicked a 53-yard field goal in the second quarter for the Rams (3-2), who are 3-0 at home and ended Arizona’s seven-game winning streak in St. Louis - the Cardinals’ home before leaving for the desert in 1988.

“I didn’t like anything,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “The thing I respected is our guys didn’t quit, and even as bad as it went we had a chance at the end of the game.” The Rams totaled two victories last year but so far have executed a quick turnaround under new coach Jeff Fisher. They’re 3-0 at home for the first time since 2003, when they were unbeaten in the Edward Jones Dome and they’re

above .500 for the first time since they were 4-3 on Nov 4, 2006. “I’ve never been there before,” Long said. “I’m unfamiliar with the sound of it, but I’m liking it.” Bradford finished 7 for 21 for 141 yards, the second-lowest total of his career. He threw for 126 yards against Tampa Bay his rookie year in 2010.

Before the second TD pass, he had been 3 for 16 overall for just 25 yards, often missing on his receivers by a lot. Undoubtedly, he missed Danny Amendola, sidelined in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury on a diving attempt that was initially ruled a 22-yard catch for a first down but overturned after the Cardinals challenged.

Amendola perhaps hinted at the extent of the injury when he flung his helmet, with his left hand, while walking in a tunnel to get X-Rays. He had the arm in a sling after the game, but the Rams did not make him available to reporters. The Rams, ranked 27th in offense, came out throwing, with Bradford completing passes of 14 yards to Brandon Gibson and 44 yards to Amendola on the first two plays, setting up the score to Kendricks on third down. It was the first offensive touchdown in three games for St Louis. Arizona responded with a drive that lasted 9:24, ending with Jay Feely’s 35-yard field goal. The Cardinals kept the drive alive with three third-down conversions. —AP

ST LOUIS: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (4) is sacked by St Louis Rams defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo (93) as Cardinals’ Adam Snyder (top left) gets in on the play during the third quarter of an NFL football game on Thursday, Oct 4, 2012.— AP

Tendulkar mulls retirement NEW DELHI: Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar has admitted to having thoughts about retiring from the sport but would not confirm precisely when he plans to hang up his boots. At 39, Tendulkar possesses bundles of batting records in international cricket and achieved his long-cherished dream of being part of a World Cup-winning team last year when India claimed the 50-over tournament in his home city Mumbai.

His slowing reflexes and the manner of recent dismissals have convinced many observers that the “Little Master” should bring an end to a shining career that started with his

1989 debut in Pakistan. “Of course I have been.

I will be lying if I said I do not,” Tendulkar told Times Now channel, when asked if he had started thinking about retirement after dodging the question for some time. “I am 39 plus and it is not abnormal for me to think of it. It is natural. “At that moment, I will go by what my heart says. At this moment, my heart says I am okay. But you will have to look at series by series,” said Tendulkar, whose nearly 34,000 international runs put him well clear of any other batsman.

The first cricketer to have scored 100 international centuries, Tendulkar said slowing

down was a rule of the nature. “When I met (Australian batting great) Sir Don Bradman on his 90th birthday, he told me that it was natural for a batsman to change after he was 30,” Tendulkar said, recalling his meeting with a player he is compared to more than a decade ago. “I have played quite well for nine years after I turned 30. It is natural for any person to slow down as he grows older. I am a normal person as well, so why won’t it happen to me?”

Tendulkar also dismissed media reports suggesting he was only continuing because of pressure from his sponsors as “irresponsible journalism”.— Reuters

sports SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Li sets up mouthwatering Sharapova clash BEIJING: Home favorite Li Na set up a testing China Open semi-final with Russian tennis queen Maria Sharapova yesterday as the fairytale run of Zhang Ze in the men’s draw came crashing to a halt. Li, Asia’s only Grand Slam winner, defeated defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-2 to join Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka in the last four, who dropped just two games between them in their quarterfinal matches.

Victory for world number eight Li also secured her the final place at the end-of-season WTA Championships in Istanbul later this month. Showing ominous form, French Open champion Sharapova, yet to drop a set in China, won the first set 6-0, and was 3-0 up in

the second when Germany’s Angelique Kerber quit the match citing an injury to her right foot. The Russian stayed on track for a re-match of this year’s Australian Open final, which she lost to Azarenka, who has also yet to drop a set this week. Azarenka also came out on top in their semi-final clash at the US Open.

“I thought we played a high level of tennis in the first set and a half, and even though the scoreline was 6-0, 3-0 there were many games that went to deuce,” Sharapova said. “She had a few break points and long games on her serve,” the Russian added, saying Kerber was probably lacking fitness at the end of a long season. “I actually didn’t see much of her injury. I was surprised she called

the trainer and even more so when she retired quickly after that,” Sharapova said. “The schedule takes its toll on everyone. It’s a normal process. If you feel like it’s too bad, you’ve got to take care of it.”

Azarenka, from Belarus, maintained her scintillating form, dismissing Romina Oprandi 6-2, 6-0. “It’s never easy to go in the tennis court and win the match even though the score was like this,” Azarenka, 23, said. “It’s important to stay tough and have that concentration to make sure that you can win every ball and every point. I felt like I was playing well, but it wasn’t easy,” she added.

In the men’s draw Chinese wildcard Zhang Ze’s impressive run came to an end when he suffered a straight-sets

Death-threat Federer faces Djokovic scrap Unknown blogger makes outlandish threat SHANGHAI: Roger Federer will have to shrug off a bizarre death threat as he returns to action at the Shanghai Masters from tomorrow to combat Novak Djokovic’s attempt on his world number one crown. Security precautions are in place for the Swiss player and his family in the teeming Chinese city, after an unknown blogger made the outlandish threat to “assassinate” the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

“On October 6, I plan to assassinate Federer for the purpose of tennis extermination,” read the message,

of the threat was unknown, organizers were taking no chances. “We are fully aware of the comments that have been made and we take all such issues seriously,” a tournament official said.

The incident has provided an unwelcome distraction ahead of the Shanghai Masters, where Federer and Djokovic will take centre-stage along with Britain’s defending champion Andy Murray, fresh from his US Open success. Federer, 31, missed the 2011 Shanghai Masters but has an enviable record at the magnolia-shaped Qi

SHANGHAI: A policeman (center) and security guard (right) are seen under a giant poster of top-ranked men’s tennis player Roger Federer in Shanghai, who will be competing in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament. —AFP posted under the name ‘Blue Cat Polytheistic Religion Founder 07’ on baidu.com. The user also posted a doctored image showing a decapitated Federer on his knees on a tennis court, with an axe-wielding executioner posing next to him. While the credibility

Zhong Stadium, winning two of his six season-ending showpiece titles there before the event shifted to London. “It will be fantastic to return to Shanghai,” Federer said. “I love the city and especially the fans. I’ve enjoyed great success at the tournament, dating back to

the Tennis Masters Cups.”

As the grueling season enters its final few weeks, the Swiss has 11,805 points in the rolling 12-month rankings with Djokovic in second place on 10,470. A total of 1,000 points are on offer to the winner in Shanghai. But crucially the Serb has fewer points to defend for the rest of the season, and his eye is firmly on supplanting Federer by the end of the year. “That’s one of the goals. Of course I want to be number one of the world again. It’s an ambition. It’s possible by the end of the year,” said Djokovic, who also missed last year’s event, through injury.

Meanwhile Murray, 25, defends his title still on a high from his historic win over Djokovic in the US Open final, which made him Britain’s first men’s singles Grand Slam champion since the 1930s. But the Scot downplayed suggestions he has been the best player of a vintage season with four different Slam winners, after Djokovic won the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal took out the French Open and Federer triumphed at Wimbledon. “There are four Slams, but there are also many other tournaments to get to number one in the world,” he said. “I think if you’re number one you deserve to be the player of the year. I would say Novak or Roger would be the best players this year.”

Third-ranked Murray, who beat Spain’s David Ferrer in the Shanghai final last year, is currently more than 2,000 points adrift of Djokovic and looks unlikely to reach number one for the first time in his career. Other big names in the Shanghai mix include powerful Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Argentina’s former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

Eleven-time Grand Slam-winner Nadal remains out with a knee injury and is reportedly targeting a return at next month’s ATP World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup final.—AFP

defeat to Germany’s Florian Mayer in the quarter-finals.

The 22-year-old, ranked 165th in the world, made history in the last 16 when he became the first Chinese man ever to beat a top 20 player, dumping out France’s Richard Gasquet. His defeat of the Frenchman, ranked 14th, also meant Zhang was the first men’s player from China to reach the quarter-final of an ATP event since Pan Bing made the semi-finals in Seoul in 1995. But matching Pan’s 17-year-old mark proved a step too far for the right-hander from Nanjing, with world number 29 Mayer winning 6-3, 6-4. Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals. —AFP

Racquets smashed as Murray wins in Tokyo TOKYO: Title holder Andy Murray beat fellow racquet-trasher Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 3-6 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Open yesterday in a match which brought both men to boiling point. Second seed Tomas Berdych crashed out in the day’s late quarter-final, beaten 7-5 6-4 by local favourite Kei Nishikori under floodlights in the tournament’s biggest upset so far. Olympic champion Murray, playing his first event since winning his maiden grand slam title at last month’s US Open, survived a scare from the Swiss in brilliant Tokyo sunshine.

Briton Murray faces sixth seed Milos Raonic today after the big-serving Canadian squeaked by third seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 6-2 7-6 in an epic struggle. “It will be a totally different match,” top seed Murray told reporters, looking ahead to Raonic. “He’s obviously got a massive serve. “I played him a few weeks ago at the US Open. He’s always a tricky player because of his game style.” Murray attacked Wawrinka from the start, sealing a double break after chasing down a drop volley and whipping a superb lob into the corner with Wawrinka’s nose still poking over the net.

Seventh seed Wawrinka had clearly not read the script and fought back to take the second, Murray smashing his racquet on the court in disgust. Normal service resumed in the decider, however. Murray was a touch fortunate to break for 3-1 when a forehand return clipped the net and rolled onto Wawrinka’s side of the court. A frustrated Wawrinka responded by mangling his own racquet in the next game to even up the code violation warnings from the chair umpire. “It was a difficult match,” said world number three Murray after extending his winning streak to 10 matches and beating his Swiss opponent for the eighth time in 12 meetings. “There are no easy games against Stan. We’ve had lots of tough matches. It was the same again today.”

RED-HOT RAONIC Murray, who also reached this year’s Wimbledon final, thrashed Raonic 6-4 6-4 6-2 in the fourth round of the US Open but the Canadian has been in red-hot form in Tokyo.

Making a bold fashion statement in a pair of bright orange goggles, Serbian Tipsarevic held a match point in the final set tiebreak, only for Raonic to snatch it away with a huge serve.

Raonic, who ripped 24 aces in total, took the breaker 9-7, fittingly with another sizzling serve out wide, ending a quality match after two hours, 43 minutes. “He was just too good,” Raonic said when asked about his spanking by Murray in New York. “I just have to hope he doesn’t play that well again.”

Raonic has been taking in ancient Tokyo from the back of a rickshaw in between matches. “I got my samurai experience,” said the 21-year-old, whose uncle is the former vice-president of Montenegro. “I got to hold a sword, which was something that was really fun.” Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-2 6-4 to reach the last four of the $1.28 million hardcourt tournament.

He next faces eighth seed Nishikori, who became the first Japanese to reach the semi-finals with an inspired performance against 2008 Tokyo winner Berdych. “I just kept going for broke,” said Nishikori. “I let my mind wander to winning the match in the second set but luckily I kept my focus and got the result.” —Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

ITALIAN LEAGUE PREVIEW

GERMAN LEAGUE PREVIEW

AC Milan brace for Inter derby

Bayern’s boss demands return to winning ways

MILAN: AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri is hoping his embattled side has finally turned a corner after their disastrous start to the campaign as tomorrow’s derby against Inter approaches. Milan finished runners-up to Juventus last season but 45-year-old Allegri was given a formidable challenge for this campaign after he lost the spine of an experienced and battle-hardened squad over the summer.

As expected, Milan struggled but no one had anticipated them failing to win at the San Siro in four attempts. It was their worst start to the season in over 80 years.

In recent weeks, however, Milan have started to gel and the emergence of Stephan El Shaarawy, who has now scored five goals in four games, has given the Rossoneri fans a huge boost. Despite a 1-1 draw away to Parma last week Allegri’s side enjoyed a 3-2 win away to Champions League opponents Zenit Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. “We are going into the derby on the back of a good victory,” Allegri said. El Shaarawy has been hailed as the club’s early season saviour. The Italy under-21 striker scored two goals to give Milan their first home win of the season against Cagliari 10 days ago and scored Milan’s second in Saint Petersburg.

Along with his goal in a 2-1 defeat to Udinese, and his leveller against Parma, the 19-year-old’s tally of five goals is one better than former star Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s tally of four at the start of the 2012 season. For El Shaarawy, who has an Egyptian father, the Inter derby is coming at the right time. “I’m happy with the form I have at the moment but it’s only the start. Wednesday’s win is going to give us confidence going into the derby,” he said. The confidence Milan lacked so conspicuously two weeks ago will be needed if they are to upset an Inter side which has amassed 12 points from six games, and just seem to be getting better.

Andrea Stramaccioni’s side had their own challenges early in the camapaign and had also failed to win at the San Siro, until last week’s 2-1 win over Fiorentina moved them up to third in the table. It was a pulsating match and the first time Stramaccioni had kind words to say about his players. “I think Inter showed tonight we have the makings of a great team,” said the 36-year-old. Inter were involved in the Europa League on Thursday against Azerbaijani side Neftchi, but Stramaccioni still left several key players in Milan including strikers Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano and defenders Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti.

“The players who stayed in Milan are the ones who have played five games in 10 days and for this game I want to field the most lively and on-form team I can,” the Inter coach said according to the club’s website. Juventus, who hammered Roma 4-1 Saturday to extend their unbeaten streak to 45 games, sit top on 16 points with Napoli second on goal difference.

The Turin side took their unbeaten streak to 46 games on Tuesday when they escaped with a draw at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, but they may face a real test in their bid to make it 47.

Juventus travel to Serie A strugglers Siena, who stunned Inter 2-0 at the San Siro three weeks ago. In the event the Old Lady of Turin suffers another shock, Napoli will got top of the table if they beat Udinese at the Stadio San Paolo. — AFP

ST PETERSBURG: Viktor Fayzulin (left) of FC Zenit St Petersburg and Nigel de Jong of AC Milan fight for the ball during their UEFA Champions League Group C football match in Saint-Petersburg on October 3, 2012.

AC Milan won 3-2. — AFP

BERLIN: Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is demanding Bayern Munich bounce back from their midweek Champions League defeat at BATE Borisov and return to winning ways today at home to Hoffenheim. Bundesliga leaders Bayern are back in domestic action at Munich’s Allianz Arena having suffered a shock 3-1 loss at Belarus champions BATE on Tuesday which dented their Champions League aspirations.

It was Bayern’s first defeat in 10 competitive matches since losing the Champions League final to Chelsea in Munich on penalties in May and Rummenigge said his team must not be thrown off track by the setback in Minsk. “It is important that we react straight away against Hoffenheim today and go flat out, so that our Bundesliga rivals see again that Bayern lost a game, but aren’t beaten,” said Rummenigge. “I think it’s also important we don’t let this defeat throw us off course.”

Having won all six of their opening league games, leaders Bayern are seven points clear of defending champions Dortmund, who are in third place. Bayern certainly need to produce an impressive display and show a united front with obvious disharmony between Coach Jupp Heynckes and director of sport Matthias Sammer over comments the latter made after last weekend’s win at Werder Bremen. “He put his finger in the wound for the first time, I have been doing that for 30 years,” said Bayern president Uli Hoeness, implying disagreement between the coach and director may not be an unhealthy thing.

Having started on the bench in Belarus, Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to start alongside Javier Martinez while winger Arjen Robben may be involved after a thigh strain. Buoyed by Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Premier League champions Manchester City in Europe, Dortmund are looking to build on their 5-0 domestic thumping of Borussia Moenchengladbach last weekend when they travel to Hanover. Dortmund were only denied a rare away win by a 90th-minute penalty from Italy striker Mario Balotelli after Marco Reus gave them the lead with an hour gone in Manchester.

“We don’t have much time to dwell on what happened (in Manchester),” said Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek. “Hanover are a strong team, that we know, but we’ll be well prepared for them, and do everything we can to take all three points back to Dortmund.” Dortmund are waiting on the fitness of defender Mats Hummels und midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. “Nothing is broken or torn, perhaps a nerve is trapped. I can’t give a prognosis,” said Hummels, who is laboring with a hip injury, while Gundagan is nursing a back injury. —AFP

FRENCH LEAGUE PREVIEW

Tight security for French ‘clasico’ PARIS: Marseille and Paris Saint Germain clash tomorrow in the latest installment of French football’s stormiest rivalry with security so tight that only 150 fans will travel from the capital to the Mediterranean coast. Marseille go into the game at their Stade Velodrome home on top of the table with a three-point lead over PSG while Carlo Ancelotti’s revamped PSG remain just one of three unbeaten teams in the league, along with Lorient and Bordeaux. But the Champions League hopefuls came crashing down in midweek when they fell 1-0 to a late Porto strike for their first defeat of the campaign and Ancelotti must now rally his troops against Elie Baup’s resilient Marseille.

“We are not yet ready as a team which is normal and we need time and experience to deal with the big matches,” said the 53-year-old Italian. PSG had won their previous five matches in all competitions and seemed to be building up a head of

steam heading into the hostile atmosphere of Marseille’s home ground, but even star signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits he is not at the top of his game.

“Personally I could have done a lot more to help my team get a result (against Porto) but I am not yet at the level where I would like to be,” said the Swedish captain, who can point to seven goals in six league matches in the face of criticism.

Baup saw his team taken apart 4-1 in their last league outing away to Valenciennes but fielded a weakened lineup, including former English rebel Joey Barton who made his home debut, during Thursday’s Europa League match against Cypriot upstarts AEL Limassol.

It remains to be seen whether Barton will feature tomorrow, but the home supporters have already taken the veteran and on-loan QPR midfielder to their hearts which was evident in a banner held aloft by fans during a recent home

match that read: “Welcome, sweet and tender hooligan”.

Saint Etienne hosted Nancy yesterday in the first of a 10-match slate that features former clubs of current UEFA president and French legend Michel Platini, before defending champions Montpellier host relagation candidates Evian in the today game. Montpellier have had a wretched start to their defense, with the city also embroiled in a handball matchfixing scandal.

But there was some positive news for the club when Souleymane Camara snatched a late equalizer at Schalke 04 in midweek, for their first ever Champions League point.

Seven-time champions Lyon come into their tie against surprise packages Lorient in third spot and four points off the lead, but will need to be on top of their game to halt the Britanny club’s seven-match unbeaten start to the season.— AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Wenger renews rivalry with Allardyce LONDON: Arsenal’s visit to West Ham today will rekindle the potentially explosive touchline rivalry between Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce. Arsenal manager Wenger and Hammers boss Allardyce regularly got under each other’s skins when Allardyce was in charge of a Bolton side that reveled in upsetting the top four.

Wenger often criticized Bolton’s physical approach while Allardyce appeared to take particular pleasure in winding up the Frenchman when his team beat an Arsenal side that sometimes struggled against opponents who concentrated on roughing them up. Now the pair will meet again with Allardyce’s promoted Hammers having moved above Wenger’s club into seventh place to add extra spice to an already redhot London derby at Upton Park. Arsenal will be anxious to bounce back following last weekend’s first defeat of the season at home to Chelsea, but Wenger’s squad will make the short trip across the English capital without France midfielder Abou Diaby.

Diaby’s thigh injury prompted Wenger to criticize France coach Didier Deschamps for his decision to select the player in recent internationals despite his fitness problems.

Deschamps, though, has responded forcefully. “I want to remind him (Wenger) that I am the only one to decide who will be picked and how long those who are picked will play,” Deschamps said. “There is only one to decide and it’s me.”

Whether that offers a taste of the verbal spats that might follow between Wenger and Allardyce at Upton Park remains to be seen. But Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs has warned West Ham his team will be in aggressive mood themselves after getting

COLNEY: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (centre) watches his team during their training session, in London Colney, England. — AP back to winning ways by beating Olympiakos in the Champions League in midweek. Arsenal triumphed 3-1, although the scoreline suggested the game was more comfortable than it actually was for Wenger’s side. Gibbs, who has been called up into the England squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers with San Marino and Poland said: “It was important to bounce back after a defeat against Chelsea at home.

“It was important for the players especially. We wanted to shake off a few doubts in our mind that we had. We certainly did that and we’re back on the front foot now.

Brazilian fans make FIFA WCup history KUWAIT: Today Brazilian football fans have written their own chapter in FIFA World Cup history by picking Brazuca as the name of the official match ball for the 2014 tournament. adidas, the World Cup Official Match Ball supplier since 1970, took inspiration from elements of national culture to come up with a shortlist of three possible names for the ball.

The three chosen names were Brazuca, Bossa Nova, and Carnavalesca and for the past three weeks Brazilian football fans have been voting for their favorite in their thousands - the first time fans have been directly involved the naming of the FIFA World Cup(tm) ball.

The FIFA World Cup Official Match Ball is always a symbol for the tournament with examples like Azteca at Mexico 1986, Fevernova at Japan 2002, and the iconic Tango at Argentina 1978. At the 2014 FIFA World Cup the official match ball will be called adidas Brazuca - an informal term used by Brazilians to describe national pride in the Brazilian way of life. As with their approach to football, it is always full of emotion, pride and goodwill to all.

In conjunction with the FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, and the Brazilian host broadcaster Globo, the Official Match Ball name was unveiled to the country by former FIFA World Cup(tm) winner and football legend Cafu on the Esporte Espetacular program after a massive activation of more than 1 million votes, 70% of voters put their support behind Brazuca. The naming of the ball marks the first step for adidas on the road to Brazil 2014 and excitement around the tournament is already building with cities already competing in

“This is what we have to keep doing and keep pushing on from here.” West Ham will not be short of belief after an impressive win at QPR on Monday that came with the added bonus of a return for Hammers striker Andy Carroll. And West Ham centre-back James Collins said: “Obviously we’re coming off the back of a good win on Monday and we’re full of confidence. “Going into the game we’re pretty confident of beating anyone at home, especially with our fans behind us.”

Carroll appeared as a late substitute against QPR and his 18-minute appearance was enough to convince England manager

Today’s matches on TV English Premier League Man City v Sunderland 14:45 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Chelsea v Norwich City 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Swansea City v Reading 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Bromwich v QPR 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Wigan Athletic v Everton 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD West Ham United v Arsenal 19:30 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Spanish League Vallecano v Deportivo Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Zaragoza v Getafe Aljazeera Sport +6 Real Valladolid v Espanyol Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Betis v Real Sociedad Aljazeera Sport +2

the passion stakes. In the country wide vote Brazuca came out on top with 70% of the total votes coming from locals.

As suppliers of the Official Match ball to all FIFA World Cup matches since 1970 adidas have continually set new standards of innovation with iconic designs and cutting edge technology and the Brazuca ball will continue that heritage. The ball is currently being developed and testing of it is taking place across the world with several football clubs and federations. The player feedback process has been particularly focused on playing in Brazil with testing taking place across the diverse environments and climates that exist throughout the country and this will continue in 2012 and 2013. Further information on the testing and development of the ball will be delivered when the Brazuca is launched and the design is unveiled at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Roy Hodgson to also call the striker into his squad, although Allardyce has warned the on-loan Liverpool star is still short of match practice. Collins, though, believes the presence of Carroll is enough to unsettle any defense, even if the striker is likely to once again be used from the substitutes’ bench.

“He’s been great,” Collins said. “The first game he came in against Fulham at home he was superb and unfortunately got injured and to have him back for the later stages of the game on Monday gave us all a boost. “He’s a handful. Obviously I’ve played against him before and I’m glad he’s on my team now.”— AFP

17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Italian League Chievo Verona v Sampdoria Aljazeera Sport +1 Genoa v Palermo Aljazeera Sport +1 German League Bayern Munich v Hoffenheim Dubai Sport +1 Schalke v Wolfsburg Aljazeera Sport +2 French League Montpellier v Evian Thonon Aljazeera Sport +3 Sochaux v Stade Rennais Aljazeera Sport +8 Lille OSC v Ajaccio Aljazeera Sport +4 Stade Reims v Nice Aljazeera Sport +9 Toulouse v Valenciennes Aljazeera Sport +7

19:00 21:45

16:30 16:30

18:00 21:00 21:00 21:00 21:00

Di Matteo demands more from pace-setters Chelsea LONDON: Roberto Di Matteo insists Chelsea have plenty of room for improvement as the European champions aim to cement their position at the top of the Premier League. The Blues face Norwich City at Stamford Bridge today unbeaten in their opening six games and sitting two points clear at the head of the table.

Last weekend’s victory at Arsenal highlighted their strengths and that result was given even more significance when Manchester United later lost to Tottenham, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson’s side four points off the pace.

The title race will take many turns in the

months ahead but it will be a major surprise if Chelsea don’t at least maintain that advantage after facing a Norwich side who have yet to claim three points this season and lost 5-2 at home to Liverpool last time out. Chelsea’s erratic performance in Denmark in the Champions League group game against FC Nordsjaelland may have highlighted some of the reasons why Di Matteo believes there is more to come for his team, but the 4-0 scoreline was emphatic enough. Part of the reason for Chelsea’s promising start has been the way summer signings Oscar and Eden Hazard have settled into the side. —AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Udinese shock Liverpool More misery for Rodgers; Newcastle cruise in Europa LONDON: Udinese produced a stirring comeback to beat Liverpool 3-2 away in the Europa League on Thursday, joining fellow Italian teams Inter Milan and Lazio in notching maiden group-stage victories in this season’s competition. Trailing 1-0 at halftime at Anfield, Udinese stunned the five-time European champions with a second-half fightback sparked by Antonio Di Natale’s well-taken equalizer and completed by Giovanni Pasquale’s drilled finish that proved to be the winning goal.

“We can’t have to score three, four or five goals to win games,” said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, bemoaning defensive sloppiness that has plagued his team so far this season. “We’re just disappointed after such a good first half to give away such poor goals in the second half to leave us chasing the game.” Anzhi Makhachkala is level on four points with Udinese at the top of Group A thanks to a 2-0 win over Young Boys, courtesy of a brace by veteran Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o.

Inter scored all its goals in the first half in a 3-1 win at Neftci of Azerbaijan to leave Andrea Stramaccioni’s side level on four points in Group H with Rubin Kazan, which beat Partizan Belgrade 2-0. Lazio heads Group J on four points following a 1-0 home win over Maribor of Slovenia but Tottenham is languishing in third place after conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at struggling Panathinaikos. The only dampener on the night for Serie A clubs was Napoli’s 3-0 loss at PSV Eindhoven.

That result ceded top spot in Group F

to Dnipro and came as a surprise given a 4-0 win over AIK Solna by Walter Mazzarri’s side two weeks ago and its strong start to Serie A, where the team is unbeaten in second place.

Elsewhere, Cristian Rodriguez grabbed an injury-time winner for Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 victory over Plzen, the defending champions’ second straight triumph in Group B. French club Lyon also left it late to beat Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 4-3 in a thrilling match in Israel, with Gueida Fofana scoring a stoppagetime winner. However, there was no end to the woes of Athletic Bilbao, last sea-

son’s beaten finalist, which lost 3-1 to Sparta Prague to slump to the bottom of Group I. Bilbao is also in the relegation zone in the Spanish league.

In other results, France forward Loic Remy scored twice in Group C leader Marseille’s 5-1 thrashing of AEL Limassol, fellow French club Bordeaux was sunk 30 at Newcastle and Hannover beat Levante 2-1 despite playing with 10 men for 80 minutes. In another surprising result, unheralded Hungarian side Videoton swept past Sporting Lisbon 3-0 in Group G. Liverpool came into the match against Udinese in buoyant mood

LIVERPOOL: Udinese’s Giovanni Pasquale and Liverpool’s Stewart Downing (left) battle for the ball during their Europa League Group A soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England. — AP

Japan aim to grow by battling giants TOKYO: Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni believes upcoming friendlies against France and Brazil will show the Blue Samurai the way to go as he dreams of presenting them as serious contenders at the 2014 World Cup. The Italian tactician called up 23 regulars, including 13 Europe-based players such as Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa and CSKA Moscow playmaker Keisuke Honda to face France, whom Japan have never beaten. Japan, four-time Asian champions, will play Les Bleus at the Stade de France in Paris on October 12 and Brazil in Wrocklaw, Poland, four days later.

Striker Ryo Miyaichi, on loan to Wigan Athletic from Arsenal, was also in the squad, which was announced on Thursday. “By playing against strong teams that lead Europe and South America, I hope we can gain valuable experience of international-level battles that will help us grow further,” Zaccheroni said in a press release. “There are more players I wanted to call up who are not in the squad.

That I have so many options shows how high the quality of Japanese football is now.” Japan, aiming for a fifth straight World Cup since their debut at France 1998, are leading Asian Group B with 10 points from three wins and one draw. They will play their next qualifier away to Oman on November 14.

Zaccheroni, who coached AC Milan and other Serie-A sides, took over the Blue Samurai after they reached the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After piloting Japan to a record fourth Asian Cup title in January last year, he said he wanted to help Japan qualify for Brazil 2014 and “fight as a team capable of vying for the top spot there”. “I got the impression that France are a team wellbalanced between technical and physical aspects,” he said in the press release.

“They have made a wonderful start under the stewardship of (Didier) Deschamps.

Together with Paris Saint-Germain’s strong showing, French football itself appears to be regaining an important position in Europe,” Zaccheroni said. “As for Brazil, they are a team so rich with ideas and high-quality techniques that there is no need to say anything more about them.” France have been undefeated in five games against Japan. In their last meeting, at the 2003 Confederations Cup in Saint-Etienne, they beat Japan 2-1. Japan have also yet to beat the Brazilians at full international level. But they held Brazil to a 2-2 draw at the Confederations Cup in Germany in June 2005. In their last encounter, Brazil came from behind to overwhelm Japan 4-1 in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. — AFP

after finally ending its winless run in the Premier League with a 5-2 demolition of Norwich on Saturday. It started well, with Jonjo Shelvey putting the team ahead in the 23rd with a fine header.

But the evergreen Di Natale equalized 32 seconds after the break by meeting a cross from the left with a superb guided finish and after Sebastian Coates headed into his own net, Pasquale ran onto Di Natale’s lay-off and thumped a low shot into the corner in the 72nd. Substitute Luis Suarez pulled a goal back from a free kick but late pressure failed to produce an equalizer for Liverpool. Inter warmed up for tomorrow’s city derby with AC Milan with a victory courtesy of goals by Philippe Coutinho, Joel Obi and Marko Livaja. “Even though there were a lot of changes to the side, Inter put in a really solid first half,” said Stramaccioni. “This group of players is on the way up.”

Ederson’s 62nd-minute winner left Lazio in control of a group containing Spurs, who took a first-half lead through Michael Dawson but failed to make their dominance count before Toche leveled in the 77th for Panathinaikos.

The Greek team was there for the taking after its poor start in the domestic league, which resulted in officials throwing captain Costas Katsouranis off the team on Wednesday. “There is a sense of disappointment,” said Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, who won the Europa League with Porto in 2011. “In the second half, we made a lot of mistakes in passing and that let them in the game. But a point away from home is positive.” — AP

Spanish League Preview

Barca wary of red-hot Ronaldo in El Clasico MADRID: Real Madrid face Barcelona in a make-orbreak El Clasico this weekend aided by a resurgent Cristiano Ronaldo but acutely aware that defeat would see them trail their bitter enemies by a massive 11 points. Ronaldo has hit form at just the right time, netting three in the 4-1 win at Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, that haul coming after his hat-trick in the 5-1 La Liga rout of Deportivo La Coruna last weekend. The last time Real and Barcelona clashed in the league last April, Ronaldo scored the decisive goal at the Camp Nou as Madrid went on to win the league. But this season Barcelona have begun with ominous intent to reclaim their crown with six straight victories.

Perhaps the result of basking in their own triumph, Jose Mourinho’s side instead made a stuttering start with just one win from the first four games but since then they have clicked into gear and Ronaldo has looked more like his old self. The Portuguese had looked moody and introspective, refusing to celebrate some goals with his teammates and declaring himself unhappy but his winner against Manchester City in the Champions League last month showed his desire was back.

And now he is fully primed to face Barca after his successive hat-tricks. “I am very happy with the way we are playing and the victory against Ajax gives us all plenty of confidence while for me personally to score three is vital for my own confidence,” said

Ronaldo. “We will go to the Camp Nou which is a very difficult stadium but we have belief in our chances and that we can get a good result. Barca have a very strong side with strength in depth.”

His teammate Xabi Alonso admitted that there is no margin for error. “To win will be fantastic and lose, bad, there is no way of hiding the fact. We are aware of the difference in points and so obviously we are going out for the victory but we need to rest and prepare,” he said.

Although Barca have a 100 per cent record they have had injury worries to deal with especially in defense. And the bad news to come from their midweek Champions League win over Benfica was that Carles Puyol will be out of action for up to two months with a dislocated elbow.

The talismanic defender was only just returning from a lengthy layoff and is now back in the treatment room along with fellow centre-half Gerard Pique, so it is likely that Javier Mascherano and Alex Song will line up in the heart of the defense tomorrow. Elsewhere unbeaten duo Atletico Madrid and Malaga go head-to-head while high-flying Sevilla and Mallorca, both on 11 points, are against Celta Vigo and Granada respectively. At the other end of the table the situation remains desperate for Espanyol who have just one point and they are now away to Valladolid while Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna immediately above them face each other. — AFP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2012

Sports

Europa - Udinese shock Liverpool

47

COLOMBO: Australian cricketer Shane Watson (left) plays a shot as Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni (center) looks on during the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup’s Super Eight match between India and Australia at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday. — AFP

West Indies storm into T20 final Windies demolish Australia, face off with Sri Lanka COLOMBO: Chris Gayle smashed an unbeaten 75 off 41 balls as the West Indies stormed into the World Twenty20 final with a record 74-run demolition of Australia in Colombo yesterday. The lefthander pounded six sixes and five fours as the Windies piled up the tournament’s highest total of 205-4 after electing to bat on what was regarded as a slow pitch unsuited to aggressive batting.

The Australians found the huge target too hot to handle and folded up for 131 in 16.4 overs at the Premadasa stadium in front of 28,000 awestruck spectators still reeling from the West Indies innings. Skipper George Bailey played a lone hand for the Aussies, making 63 off 29 balls with four sixes and six boundaries after adding 68 for the seventh wicket with Pat Cummins. Darren Sammy’s men take on hosts Sri Lanka in Sunday’s final with both sides looking for their first World Twenty20 title.

The biggest Twenty20 win for the West Indies, surpassing their 70-run victory over Ireland in 2010, was celebrated by the entire team performing an energetic version of global hit “Gangnam Style” in the middle. Gayle, who lost his opening partner Johnson Charles in the third over, plodded for nine

balls to make four before swinging Shane Watson for a six over long-off. That opened the floodgates for an onslaught as Marlon Samuels and Gayle smashed left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty for a six each in one over and Brad Hogg was greeted into the attack with another six from Samuels.

Samuels contributed 26 in a second-wicket stand of 41 with Gayle when he was bowled by Cummins attempting another big hit. Gayle, who faced just 18 balls in the first 10 overs, still managed to bring up his half-century off 29 deliveries with the help of four sixes and three boundaries.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo (37) helped Gayle add 83 for the third wicket from just 51 deliveries to propel the innings at a brisk pace. Kieron Pollard hit 38 off 15 balls as the West Indies plundered 55 runs in the final three overs, including 25 off the last six deliveries by Doherty.

Doherty was the most expensive Australian bowler with 1-48 from three overs, while Watson went for 35 runs in four unsuccessful overs.

Australia never recovered after opener David Warner was bowled by spinner Samuel Badree with the sixth delivery and crashed to 43-6 by the eighth over. —AFP

SCOREBOARD COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Scoreboard of the World Twenty20 second semi-final between Australia and the West Indies at Premadasa stadium yesterday: West Indies J. Charles c Wade b Starc 10 C. Gayle not out 75 M. Samuels b Cummins 26 D. Bravo c Bailey b Cummins 37 K. Pollard c Warner b Doherty 38 Extras: (b6, lb5, w8) 19 Total: (for four wickets, 20 overs) 205 Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Charles), 2-57 (Samuels), 3-140 (Bravo), 4-205 (Pollard).

Bowling: Starc 4-0-32-1 (w7), Watson 4-0-35-0, Cummins 4-0-36-2 (w1), Doherty 3-0-48-1, Hogg 3-0-21-0, D. Hussey 2-0-22-0 Australia D. Warner b Badree S. Watson b Badree M. Hussey c and b Samuels C. White c Ramdin b Rampaul

1 7 18 5

G. Bailey c Russell b Pollard 63 D. Hussey c and b Rampaul 0 M. Wade c Badree b Narine 1 P. Cummins c Charles b Pollard 13 M. Starc b Rampaul 2 B. Hogg st Ramdin b Narine 7 X. Doherty not out 9 Extras: (lb3, w2) 5 Total: (all out; 16.4 overs) 131 Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Warner), 2-22 (M. Hussey), 3-29 (Watson), 4-42 (White), 5-42 (D. Hussey), 6-43 (Wade), 7-111 (Bailey), 8-111 (Cummins), 9-121 (Hogg).

Bowling: Badree 4-0-27-2, Samuels 3-0-26-1 (w1), Rampaul 3.4-0-16-3 (w1), Narine 3-0-17-2, Russell 1-0-25-0, Sammy 1-011-0, Pollard 1-0-6-2.

Result: West Indies win by 74 runs Man of the match: C. Gayle