7 Dec

Kuwait’s traffic nightmare

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Military halts clashes over Egypt crisis

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www.kuwaittimes.net

NO: 15650- Friday, December 7, 2012

Kuwait-Iraq relations: Media plays key role See Page 5 BAGHDAD: Kuwait Times Editor-inChief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan (left) poses for a photo with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki — Kuna

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

KUWAIT: Engineer Shiekh Abdulaziz AlSabah addresses a press conference yesterday.

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The traffic jams in Shuwaikh and other areas, particularly along the roads leading to the First Ring Road project, have not only made driving a frustrating experience but also turned it into a hot button issue in the wake of construction works that started on the Ghazali Road.

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) held a press conference yesterday morning to brief the media on the development and infrastructure projects and the progress being made in the implementation. Engineer Sheikh Abdulaziz AlSabah, Director of the Road Engineering Department at the MPW said although people were blaming the ministry for the chaos on the roads, yet the projects were being delayed because of certain unresolved issues involving some institutions regarding completion of the Jamal Abdul Nasser Development Project and the Jahra Road Development Project.

“We are not getting enough land to execute the project and those in charge of some institutions are not cooperating with us. For instance, the boundary wall of the Kuwait University is an obstacle in our work. We can temporarily shift the wall, and later relocate it at its original spot. Also, the Ministry of Communication, Fire Department, and the Ministry of Electricity and Water are not communicating with us,” he pointed out.

On his part, John Andrew Faulkner, Project Director of the Jamal Abdul Nasser Development Project said that the situation may hopefully improve soon with the cooperation of the Kuwait Port Company, which is involved in the traffic flow.

“They will reduce traffic in this area by imposing restrictions on heavy vehicles passing through the congested area during the day time, which is between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm. Also, they should open the Port’s gate leading to the Airport Road to end the jam,” he told the Kuwait Times.

According to him, the motorists will notice

Kuwait’s traffic nightmare MPW sees hurdles in executing projects improvement during the upcoming phases of the project. “The project is slated to be completed in June 2016, but most of it will be completed by 2014 which will bring relief from the traffic jams.

Even though the MPW announced the planned construction activity, still the motorists complained that adequate notice was not given. Many drivers try to find a shorter route to escape the jam, only to land up in another jam. Many roads are affected due to the Ghazali constructions,” explained Faulkner.

Patience “Drivers have to be more patient, and should leave home earlier to reach their destination. The temporary detours do cost the drivers more time

than usual, but they will become used to it. Also, we assure the motorists that all temporary detour stretches would be of the same length as the original road stretch till the project is completed. We need the cooperation of the institutions involved so that the contracted work is not delayed,” he further said.

The new development has been planned keeping in mind the expected growth in traffic volumes over the next 50 years. “The project would not be affected by the planned metro project, though in my opinion the metro needs to have parking lots in different areas,” he concluded.

Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sabah highlighted the fact that the MPW is not delaying the work and said could prove it on the basis of documents. “We thank the Municipality and the Ministry of Health

for their cooperation, but most other institutions are not cooperating and this causes delay. The Ministry of Interior demanded that we ensure compliance on 13 observations but we are unable to comply with all of them due to the obstacles that we face with institutions which are not communicating. We will frequently hold press conferences to inform people about the situation,” he noted.

Also engineer Ahmad Al-Bahar, Head of the Execution Department of Highways, spoke about the delay on Yarmour Bridge project and the fact that water pipes caused a fault in a part of the project. The MPW is working to fix this problem. He also said that the execution of Sheikh Jaber Bridge project will start in the first quarter of next year.

KUWAIT: John Andrew Faulkner (middle) and other officials during the conference. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Local Spotlight

The message from demonstrations

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

he frequent demonstrations happening in Kuwait should not be ignored or put aside as a routine matter. We have been witnessing various demonstrations about the mechanism under which elections were held and now the situation is becoming increasingly tense and prone to violence. That must not escape a deliberate application of mind. We cannot play around with the safety of the people. The unruly demonstrations cannot be merely seen as some random act by a group of people who want to disturb civilian life, particularly when some people were actually injured.

I am here to declare that I am seriously concerned about the situation in Kuwait and doubt what prompts the silence with which the Kuwaiti government is handling this matter. Surely, such demonstrations are not par for the course.

Any government that fails to take into account the safety of the people and ignores their calls for concern could be hurtling towards its own demise.

Here in Kuwait, the demonstrations are now taking a new path, a worrying one, unless the Kuwaiti government does something about them. The results could bode ill for Kuwait, and the modicum of safety that Kuwait is known for will vanish.

Should we worry? I guess we should be careful.

In fact, it is not advisable for the citizens to stay out for too late or to hang out. A demonstration may be peaceful to start with but that is no guarantee that it will not end with a clash with the police or that no one will get hurt.

We all should be careful about that. So, I do advise my friends to avoid being out late at night if it is not urgent. I want every Kuwaiti to be safe.

But sometimes good wishes are not enough and I think it will take some time for things to improve. I hope the Kuwaiti government will find a way to handle and control the protests against it.

Kuwait has passed through a difficult phase in the past, but that was a different scenario. What is happening now must receive our attention because if bloodshed were to happen in Kuwait as a result of such skirmishes, it could lead to civil war.

That is not a joke and Kuwait cannot afford this kind of a chaos.

I hope the Kuwaiti media and its writers to step up to the plate and call for an end to these daily demonstrations. They must analyze the root cause.

Do not tell me that all this was happening as a protest against a single vote system. I do believe the reasons go deeper and there could be a possible involvement of some bedoons.

The law must remain supreme, and I think the fact that laws were not being enforced for many years has encouraged some people to think it was okay to break the laws. That is why we witnessed some attempts by the protesters to clash with the police and get away with it. Such clashes were happening everywhere and could be expected at any time.

Kuwait is still safe but we should be careful. The message from the demonstrations should be read carefully. Ignoring them will not solve the issue.

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CAIRO: Kuwaiti actor Saad Al-Faraj poses with his Best Actor award for the film “Tora Bora� during the closing ceremony of the 35th Cairo International Film Festival yesterday in Cairo. — AFP

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The number of divorce cases in Kuwait is on the rise, statistics have revealed. According to data released by the Ministry of Justice for the first quarter of this year, of the 6,984 marriages held during these three months, 2,328 ended in a divorce. That means every third marriage ended in a divorce while expectations are that this number would reach around 7,000 by the end of the year.

Such a high rate of divorce would negatively impact the social, moral, and economic domains of life in Kuwait.

Psychologists warn about a strong co-relation between the increasing number of divorces and an increasing crime rate in the country. Children and teenagers suffer the most in such a situation.

Fatma is a 29-year-old Kuwaiti currently going through a divorce as her case is still in the court. “I will get divorced soon as life with my husband had become impossible after I found that he was cheating on me. I even wanted to forgive him, and gave him a second chance, but he did not deserve it. After just one week of returning to his house, I caught him again talking to a woman, and after checking his mobile, I found his chats with many other women,” she told the Kuwait Times.

Her marriage lasted for one year only. “I got married in November 2011, and filed for a divorce in November 2012. I have a two-month-old son and feel sorry for him as he will live without his father from this early age. My life now is not easy as my mother is old and I am working. I am looking for a nanny to help my mother in taking care of my son,” added Fatma.

She went through hell, was depressed, and cried a lot. “I was shocked and wondered how he could cheat me all this time. We first met on the internet, and then met a few times in public places along with his sisters. After four months, we got married. I was happy although he was not perfect, yet we built our future plans. I wonder how men can cheat so perfectly. He appeared like an angel to my family, friends and everybody. I still do not understand how did he change and abandon me and my son for a woman?” she wondered sadly.

According to data released by Kuwait’s Ministry of Justice for the first quarter of this year, of the 6,984 marriages held during these three months, 2,328 ended in a divorce. That means every third marriage ended in a divorce while expectations are that this number would reach around 7,000 by the end of the year.

Muneera is another Kuwaiti who got married in a traditional way. Her mother-in-law knew her mother and she mentioned her to her son, who after seeing her once at her house agreed to get married to her. “After I talked to him briefly, I thought he was fine. Also, he was a good looking man. I put down my conditions including the dowry, shabka, and my wish to live in a separate apartment and not at his house. He liked me and agreed to my conditions, so we got married,” she pointed out.

“Our marriage lasted for less than a year. After spending our honeymoon in Europe, when we came back, I noticed that my husband is childish. Although, at 27, he is three year older than me, yet he acts like a boy. If we faced any silly problem, he would immediately speak to his mother and sometime even his father. The whole family knew about our problems and I felt we didn’t have any secrets of our own. After our last fight, I went to my parents’ house, but instead of trying to convince me to come back home, he sent me my clothes in a garbage bag. I found it very insulting and made up my mind to get a divorce. I feel much happier now and free. I also thank God I didn’t have kids with him. I don’t mind getting married again if I found the right person,” stressed Muneera.

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Media plays major role in fostering Kuwait-Iraq ties

BAGHDAD: The Kuwaiti media delegation with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. — KUNA KUWAIT: Media can play a crucial role in developing better Kuwait-Iraq relations and expanding the frontiers of cooperation in all the fields in such a way as to turn a new page and resolve seemingly intractable issues lingering for so long, Iraq’s House Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi said during a meeting with a Kuwaiti media delegation.

The delegation was headed by Kuwait Journalists’ Association (KJA) President Ahmad Behbehani. First deputy speaker of Iraq, Qusai Al-Suhail, was also present in the meeting.

Al-Nujaifi said the media in the past was affiliated to one faction and one party and only worked within those confines but since 2003, there has been an opening of the media that has contributed to the democratic transformation and brought out certain aberrations in the system.

He also spoke about the importance of Iraq’s role in the region and how a stable Iraq was important for taking the Iraq-Kuwait ties to a new level.

He said the seemingly intractable problems would be resolved in a spirit of total cooperation, especially because the government intends to close all cases and restore normalcy. He said it was time for both the countries to embark on a quest for fraternal relations built on peace and stability that give hope to our future generations that there would be no more differences and wars.

He said Kuwait was clearly ahead of Iraq in the matter of ushering in democracy and still respecting the establishment. Kuwait is

one of the distinguished countries in the region that relied on democratic mechanism to run the country, had a constitution since 1961 and a continuous National Assembly.

He said, “Of course, there are obstacles but you have distinguished yourself with a democratic reality ahead of other powers in the region.” He said that Iraq saw a huge change after 2003, and now there was a movement to build a democratic system, draft a constitution and effect many changes. He said Iraq faced many obstacles because of military occupation, military-oriented agenda and a foreign administration that wanted to lead the country into a direction that was not in tune with the country’s history and its nature.

He said, “We now rely on the constitution as a reference for everything, and are building a democracy that we will be proud of.” He called for cooperation between the two sides to resolve any problem, adding, “We need the cooperation of our brothers in Kuwait in order to put the past behind us, and have both play a major role in the region.” He said the issue of the Airlines was solved two days ago, while the issues related to borders and water are under discussion.

“I believe that the UN Secretary General’s visit may help in this regard, and we are pushing for that.”

Al-Nujaifi said that statements by some MPs in regard to relations with Kuwait represent their own opinions, as a parliamentary system allows for freedom of opinion and expression and it was

BAGHDAD: The Kuwaiti media delegation with Iraqi House Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi. — KUNA

not possible to force everyone to adopt the same policy.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Speaker Qusai Al-Suhail spoke about Iraq’s National Assembly’s interest in improving relations with Kuwait. He referred to a delegation of 27 Iraqi MPs sent to Kuwait and said that reflected the respect that Iraqi Parliament accords Kuwait. He said the visit amounted to recognition of Kuwait’s sovereignty.

Stressing the importance of the role of information in strengthening mutual ties between Kuwaiti and Iraqi people, he said it was time to move in a pragmatic manner to improve bilateral relations, and called for joint media efforts by designating certain hours for joint TV broadcasts publishing a monthly or seasonal newspaper to which media persons from both countries can contribute.

Meanwhile, members of the Kuwait information delegation expressed their pleasure about the Iraq visit and the hospitality they received, and emphasized that they were keen on strengthening relations between the two countries in all fields.

The Kuwait Media delegation included: President of KJA Ahmad Behbehani, Al-Anbaa Editor-in-Chief Yousuf Al-Marzouq, Annahar Editor-in-Chief Emad Bukhamseen, KUNA Editor-in-Chief Rashid Al-Ruwaished, Alrai Editor-in-Chief Majid Al-Ali, Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan, deputy Editor-inChief of Yaqza Magazine Dalia Behbehani in addition to KJA manager and coordinator of the visit Adnan Al-Rashid, KJA Board Member Jassim Kamal and Photographer Majid Al-Sabej. — KUNA

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Taek won do master Ponnachan Kunjappi, aka KP, with a punching pad on his hand, during a training session with his youngest son, 9-year old Kristen.

KP poses at his house in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

30 years of taek won do Korean martial art master ‘KP’ says he is still a learner

By Sunil Cherian

A

KP does a ‘6’o clock’ high kick.

t 57, Ponnachan Kunjappy, coach, referee and master of Korean martial art taekwondo carries an age-defying aura around him.

One of the rare and lucky Indian expats to have mastered this foot-fighting art, Ponnachan, affectionately known as KP, started learning taekwondo in Kuwait in 1983, the same year the sport was introduced in India.

But 5 ‘dan’ (belt) holding KP was luckier than many in India who learnt the oriental combat mainly because of his exposure to three Korean masters who were trainees at Kuwait National Guard. Thanks to his mastery and practice, KP can still make a 6’o clock posture with his leg straight up. His flying kicks, something taekwondo is famous for, add to his standing as he talks selflessly in his down to earth style. (History says flying kicks were meant to knock men off their horses).

“I must admit I am still learning this art,” said KP who also received some training in the US. A diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering, KP went to the US several times to do a course in safety mechanism. His US expedition brought him twin rewards - his present job as a safety equipment technician and his explorations in the Korean art.

An Indian learning taekwondo in the US from Korean masters was KP’s way of proving the validity of globalization as a concept even before it struck root.

As KP was speaking about his Korean

love, his watchful eyes kept darting around the room at his Jleeb flat where he stays with his wife and four boys who are also his disciples.

“Over the years, I’ve taught more than 1,000 students through Indian schools in Kuwait,” KP said, his legs moving restlessly. “I was lucky to have met my Korean colleague back in the 80s who introduced me to Master Ku Yong Choon who was training the Protecting Force of Kuwait at that time”.

KP also took lessons from Master Bong Keum Kim who was with the then Kuwait Youth and Sports Authority.

Taekwondo, literally meaning ‘way of the foot and the fist’, has a history that goes back 2,000 years.

The martial art was banned during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945). In the post-war period, General Choi Hong Hi of the Korean army improvised the traditional martial technique. In less than 50 years, taekwondo made its way to Sydney Olympics, 2000 where 52 men and 48 women competed.

When KP started giving taekwondo lessons in various parts of Kuwait, he came across an 84-year old British lady who was as enthusiastic about the martial art as the 18-year olds in the group.

“But my lessons would vary,” KP said.

In fact, everyone’s lessons start being different as soon as they wear the dobok (white outfit). I teach my students to bow - kyungye in Korean even when they pass the safety equipment among them. “In taekwondo, you

have to bow to your opponents,” KP said. “In real life, taekwondo helps you not to let your opponents overpower you by helping you retain your emotional balance,” he said. He was ecstatic to know recently that one of his students found a job in Delhi on the strength of the taekwondo lessons that

Defending and attacking are two sides of the same coin, says KP. the youngster had learnt from him.

As KP spoke about how he kicked his way into the 6th stage of taekwondo, he did not seem to tire of regaling his audience - his four children, photographer friend Santhosh Kuriyannoor and this reporter.

“Turn on the light and light is there,” he said, adding “Our physical movements and alertness should reflect the speed of the light.” KP said he was now aiming to master the art of defending and combating in the darkness. “A blind state doesn’t mean we stop seeing.”

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

citizen accused of abducting 4 children KUWAIT: A citizen accused her husband of kidnapping four of her children whose custody she had on the strength of a court order. She said she was surprised that her husband went to the schools where her children were enrolled and took them away. She said when she called her husband, he said, “They are my children and you will never see them.” Detectives are investigating.

Egyptian arrested An Egyptian expat, who was accused by an employee at a health centre of insulting him, ended up insulting even the policemen who had gone to inquire about the matter, and was booked for his compounded crime. A Kuwaiti citizen working at Abu Fateera health center told the police that the Egyptian had insulted him. When police went and asked the Egyptian to hand over his ID, he refused and insulted them.

Police then detained him at the Sabah-Al-Salem police station for insulting public employees and handed him two charges for such insult.

Blasphemy A health ministry employee who harassed a woman, and when rebuffed by her, shouted insults against authorities, was arrested by Salwa detectives. A security source said it all started with a call to a wrong number. Coming across a woman’s voice, the man started calling her incessantly and even sent her a flirtatious text message, seeking to speak to her and claiming he was a doctor. The woman called back and admonished him but it did not seem to have any effect as he became even more persistent with his calls.

At one stage, she threatened to call the police. Salwa detectives formed a team and found out that the man was not a doctor but an employee at the health ministry.

Detectives asked a different woman, actually an undercover agent, to call him and claim it was by mistake. As expected, he called her back and tried to convince her to meet him. She obliged as per design when he asked her to meet him in Hawally where he was arrested. Detectives informed the state security about the insulting messages.

Jordanian stolen A Jordanian expat told police that an unidentified person sneaked into his house through the bathroom exhaust fan window and stole KD 2000 worth of gold. Police are investigating.

Jahra robbery gang Jahra detectives are looking for six people who stole various items from ten vehicles and set fire to six of them in the impound garage in Amghara area. The garage supervisor received a call from a guard who told him that he saw six persons after noticing smoke inside. — Al-Watan

Ban urges Kuwait, Iraq to seize ‘historic’ chance Call to fully normalize relations BAGHDAD: UN chief Ban Ki-moon held talks in Baghdad yesterday calling for Kuwait and Iraq to seize a “historic opportunity” to fully normalize ties two decades after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of the country.

“I believe that a historic opportunity is at hand to fully normalize relations between the two states,” Ban said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.

“It is time for both countries to put the past behind and usher in a new era of cooperation,” said the secretary general, who also met with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Several outstanding issues between Iraq and Kuwait remain from now slain Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s August 1990 invasion of its neighbor to the south, including recognition of their border.

Baghdad pays five percent of its oil and gas revenue into a special United Nations fund that pays compensation to Kuwait for its seven-month occupation of the country.

The UN chief, who flew in from a visit to Kuwait, said that he is “committed to normalization and to ensuring Iraq fulfils all of its outstanding international obligations” on Kuwait under UN resolutions.

Ban, who last visited Iraq in March for an Arab summit, said his talks in Baghdad also covered the current political impasse in Baghdad, tensions between it and the Kurdish regional government, as well as the conflict in Syria.

He said Syria’s President Bashar AlAssad should be “brought to justice” if his regime uses chemical weapons to combat the armed revolt in the country.

“I have expressed my concerns to the Syrian government and I have sent a letter to President Assad two days ago,” Ban said. “In any case, if chemical

weapons are used, then whoever it may be will have to be brought to justice.”

The Syrian government, fighting to prevent the capital Damascus from falling to rebel forces, has insisted it would never resort to chemical weapons. But Washington fears battlefield advances by rebels could prompt Assad to use chemical arms, or that such

which military reinforcements have been sent to disputed areas in the country’s north.

“I also expressed hope that divergences over disputed territories in northern Iraq can be resolved. There is no alternative to peaceful coexistence within a united federal Iraq,” said Ban. Talks between federal and Kurdish

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari (right) welcomes United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) upon the latter’s arrival at Baghdad International Airport yesterday. — AFP stocks could become insecure or find their way into the hands of groups hostile to the United States and its allies.

Ban urged the Iraqi government to keep its borders open to Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict. His visit also coincides with high tensions between Iraq’s federal government and the autonomous Kurdistan region, during

security officials aimed at easing the tensions broke down last week over Baghdad’s refusal to scrap a new federal military command that covers disputed territory, according to the Iraqi Kurds.

The dispute over territory in northern Iraq is the biggest threat to the country’s long-term stability, according to diplomats and officials. — AFP

KD 100,000 worth goods stolen

NA election percentage

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The Higher National Elections Committee announced the final official results of the elections. It said 57.7% of electorate cast their votes in the first constituency, 56% in the second, 53.3% in the third, 29.9% in the fourth and 22% in the fifth constituencies.

The appeals court rejected the contestation of four candidates against their disqualification and confirmed it, including member of Parliament Khalid Al-Shulaimi. Consequently, his membership will be annuled.

The administrative cassation court decided to hold a session on December 9 to consider the contestation of candidates Khalid Al-Shulaimi, Abdulrahman Al-Bulushi, Rashid AlAzmi and Adel Al-Muhaid.

KUWAIT: A manager of a sports equipment store told Shuwaikh police that unknown people broke into his store and removed goods worth KD 100,000.

Criminal evidence team determined that the thieves used a vehicle in breaking the front gate open.

Molestation A Canadian woman told Fahaheel police that an unknown person fondled her while in the elevator of the building she lives in, adding that she was decently dressed.

KUWAIT: A car plying on the Fourth Ring Road suddenly goes up in flames. — Photo by Islam Al-Shara

Blackmailing An Egyptian woman accused her former fiance of blackmailing her with private pictures and was forced to give him KD 600.

Local FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

MOH to sign contract to post reception staff Chauffeured cars to make up for vehicle shortages KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health plans to sign a contract with a company to provide it with receptionists to be posted at hospitals and health centers in view of the severe shortage of these personnel, informed sources in the ministry said.

Whenever employees posted at reception counters or other public interaction posts availed of any leave, it led to complaints from patients and massive overcrowding.

Sources said the health ministry would first run a trial by contracting the company to recruit receptionists for only two hospitals, and would enlist it for providing workforce for all hospitals and health centers later if it was satisfied with the experience.

Meanwhile, the sources said the health ministry has also coordinated with a car company for providing chauffeured cars to make up for shortage of vehicles. They said the company will provide cars during the specified period at its own expense in lieu of the fines levied on it in instances where it failed to provide cars and was thus in breach of its con-

tractual conditions. They said the company promised to continue providing conveyance facility to help avoid any delay in the delivery of health services of the ministry.

E-Technical library Separately, Dr Ibrahim Abbas Hadi, Secretary General of Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialties (KIMS), said the Institute was trying out something new by establishing the Electronic Technical Library.

Hadi said the trial run will be executed in two weeks. Personnel associated with various programs will evaluate the venture for two months. He said it was an appreciable project since it includes medical material, literature, medical journals as well as old and new medical science books. He said various departments will be conjoined through the internet and then the background information will be gathered and results studied to decide their applicability for the future.

Head of Neurology Department at Ibn Sina Hospital, Dr. Yousuf Al-Awadi, said that nearly

1,500 surgical procedures are conducted every year, adding that around 500 operations are related to brain diseases. He said that a French team assists in conducting sensitive operations for children.

Al-Awadhi, who was speaking during a press conference at the health ministry to

announce the organization of the 9th Arab Conference for Brain and Nerves surgery from December 9-12, 2012 under the patronage of the health ministry and the Arab Society for Brain and Nerves Surgeons, said the Ibn Sina Hospital conducts more than 90 percent of major backbone procedures in Kuwait.

Teacher promotions may be linked to international training KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education is all set to bring in a new system that will link teachers’ promotions to their passing international training courses, informed sources said.

The measure would require special legislations and amendments in the Civil Services Commission’s law as per which employees’ promotions are effected on the basis of their annual evaluation reports and the years they spent in service. The sources added that the ministry was currently discussing mandating

teachers to pass specialized international training courses related to the subjects they teach and explained that since the ministry’s training education cannot handle all the 50,000 teachers working for the ministry, the courses would be administered by specialized local and international institutes.

Further, the sources said that after passing the mandatory four 25-hour training units in return for fees they would have to pay, teachers would be given accreditation certificates.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Red Crescent Society launched a blood donation campaign in cooperation with Kuwait Blood Bank yesterday. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Syria says chemical scare ‘pretext for intervention’

Jordan king in West Bank to support Palestinians

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Kate leaves hospital after morning sickness

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CAIRO: An Egyptian protester wounded during overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi attends a protest outside the presidential palace yesterday. — AP

Military halts clashes over Egypt crisis Islamists comply, some Morsi opponents stay CAIRO: Egypt’s Republican Guard restored order around the presidential palace yesterday after fierce overnight clashes killed seven people, but passions ran high in a struggle over the country’s future. The Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, criticised by his opponents for his silence in the last few days, was due to address the nation later in the day, state television said. Hundreds of his supporters who had camped out near the palace overnight withdrew before a mid-afternoon deadline set by the Republican Guard. Dozens of Morsi’s foes remained, but were kept away by a barbed wire barricade guarded by tanks.

The military played a big role in removing President Hosni Mubarak during last year’s popular revolt, taking over to manage a transitional period, but had stayed out of the latest crisis.

Morsi’s Islamist partisans fought opposition protesters well into the early hours during

duelling demonstrations over the president’s decree on Nov 22 to expand his powers to help him push through a mostly Islamist-drafted constitution.

Officials said seven people had been killed and 350 wounded in the violence, for which each side blamed the other. Six of the dead were Morsi supporters, the Muslim Brotherhood said. The street clashes reflected a deep political divide in the most populous Arab nation, where contrasting visions of Islamists and their liberal rivals have complicated a struggle to embed democracy after Mubarak’s 30-year autocracy.

The United States, worried about the stability of an Arab partner which has a peace deal with Israel and which receives $1.3 billion a year in US military aid, has urged dialogue. The commander of the Republican Guard said deployment of tanks and troop carriers around the presidential palace was intended to separate

the adversaries, not to repress them. “The armed forces, and at the forefront of them the Republican Guard, will not be used as a tool to oppress the demonstrators,” General Mohamed Zaki told the state news agency. Hussein Abdel Ghani, spokesman of the opposition National Salvation Front, said more protests were planned, but not necessarily at the palace in Cairo’s Heliopolis district. “Our youth are leading us today and we decided to agree to whatever they want to do,” he told Reuters.

Egypt plunged into renewed turmoil after Morsi issued his Nov. 22 decree and an Islamistdominated assembly hastily approved a new constitution to go to a referendum on Dec 15.

The Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood, to which Morsi belonged before he was narrowly elected president in June, appealed for unity.

Divisions among Egyptians “only serve the nation’s enemies”, Mohamed Badie said in a

statement. Rival factions used rocks, petrol bombs and guns in the clashes around the presidential palace. “We came here to support President Morsi and his decisions. He is the elected president of Egypt,” said demonstrator Emad Abou Salem, 40. “He has legitimacy and nobody else does.” Opposition protester Ehab Nasser el-Din, 21, his head bandaged after being hit by a rock the day before, decried the Muslim Brotherhood’s “grip on the country”, which he said would only tighten if the new constitution is passed. Another protester, Ahmed Abdel-Hakim, 23, accused the Brotherhood of “igniting the country in the name of religion”. Morsi’s opponents accuse him of seeking to create a new “dictatorship”.

The president says his actions were necessary to prevent courts still full of judges appointed by Mubarak from derailing a constitution vital for Egypt’s political transition.—Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

‘Looking for nothing’ in Iraq’s desert QALAAT MUZEIBLEH: At the end of a research trip to an oil field in east Iraq, Ruba Husari took a detour to visit a site she had wanted to see for some time.

When she arrived it was barren-but still she was delighted. Less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Iranian border, Husari’s destination was nondescript and unremarkable-a 20 minute walk from a pothole-filled road and several kilometres (miles) from the tiny village of Qalaat Muzeibleh, with the Badra oil field barely visible in the distance.

But the spot marked the exact geographic intersection of a latitude and longitude point — 33 degrees north and 46 degrees east-one of several in Iraq and around the world that adventurous travellers are looking to document as part of an Internet-based project. “It’s a fantastic way of exploring the country,” said Husari, whose day job involves running the iraqoilforum.com website.

After successfully managing to locate and stand at the precise spot where the

two lines intersected, she triumphantly raised a clenched fist and jokingly declared, “If they ever discover oil here, I’m claiming it!” “It’s a risky adventure, but at the same time for me, it’s very rewarding,” she added, after taking a photo of her GPS receiver with the precise coordinates to show she was standing on the exact intersection.

“It allows me to visit so many places, to do things you wouldn’t do anywhere else.” The visit to the “confluence point” was her sixth in Iraq in the past three years, having first been told about the Degree Confluence Project by Dubaibased friends who spent weekends camping in the Emirati desert and driving off-road vehicles, often in search of the points themselves.

Due to Iraq’s chronic instability and insecurity in recent years, few of the country’s confluence points have been documented. Indeed tourism in Iraq remains in its infancy, with many prospective travellers wary of violence

and poor infrastructure. And so despite the country’s historic attractions, the vast majority of Iraq’s tourists are Shiite pilgrims visiting the many shrines to key figures in Shiite Islam. Of Iraq’s 40 confluence points, just 14 have been “discovered”, many by Husari but also by others in the oil industry, and some American and British soldiers who were stationed near confluence points after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

The Degree Confluence Project began in 1996, the brainchild of Alex Jarrett, who visited the intersection of 43 degrees north and 72 degrees west with a friend in the American state of New Hampshire after buying a GPS receiver. It was the first of 15 such visits he made to various confluence points in the United States. “It was a fun journey (to the first confluence point),” Jarrett, who is no longer actively involved in the project, told AFP by telephone.

“And I came up with the ridiculous

idea that we should just randomly post a website and let’s visit all these points in the world and see what happens.” “I had no inkling that there would be very much interest.” Since the project was founded, more than 6,000 confluence points from around the world have been documented on www.confluence.org, a volunteer-run website, but around 10,000 are still to be found, even after discounting intersection points in the oceans and near the Earth’s poles.

Husari’s own efforts have taken her on a multitude of adventures in Iraq-she has rowed a tiny canoe through the southern marshes and driven through the desert of Najaf province south of Baghdad, all armed with her Garmin GPS system and an array of Google Maps printouts. She even had to abandon one attempt because those accompanying her refused to go further, warning she was straying into territory west of Baghdad where Al-Qaeda-linked militants still held significant sway.— AFP

Jordan king in West Bank to support Palestinians King Abdullah II set to talk with Abbas

BIRJAND: An Iranian woman stands in front of the ruins of buildings after an earthquake struck the area in the village of Shaj, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) outside the city of Birjand, eastern Iran, yesterday. — AP

8 dead in quake in eastern Iran DUBAI: An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude struck eastern Iran on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 12 others as emergency teams scrambled to rescue others and treat the injured, Iranian media reported. People fled their homes as the quake struck and brought walls and buildings down. But others were left trapped under rubble in villages across the district of Zohan in South Khorasan province, Fars news agency said. “Eight people have been killed in the earthquake area and one person is missing. Unfortunately a number of those injured have lost their lives in the last few hours,” Mehr news agency quoted South Khorasan’s crisis management director Mohammad Ali Akhundi as saying. “Homes have sustained damage and people are out in public places and they need the means to keep themselves warm because of the cold,” he said. Iran’s Red Crescent Society despatched 15 rescue teams to the affected areas to search for people stuck under the debris and doctors in the provincial capital of Birjand were on alert to treat those hurt, Fars new agency reported. Rescue units of Iran’s national Basij militia also joined operations, despatching three medical teams.

Emergency workers had reached some areas and the number of confirmed dead could rise, Tehran’s deputy emergency services director Mohammad Sarvar said. Two villages appeared to have sustained the worst of the damage including the village of Sharaj where five people were killed, Mehr news agency quoted district governor Farhad Falahati as saying.

“We have what we need to help but landslides especially on the route to Sharaj have stopped the relief supplies from getting there,” he added. At least 12 aftershocks have been registered since the quake struck at 2038 local time (1708 GMT), the Iranian Seismological Center said. The centre said the epicentre was 42 km from the town of Qayen, the heart of Iran’s saffron-growing region, one of the country’s major non-oil exports.—Reuters

RAMALLAH: Jordan’s King Abdullah II flew in to the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday for the first visit by a top foreign leader since the Palestinians gained upgraded United Nations status. The monarch arrived by military helicopter from Jordan, landing at the presidential headquarters known as the Muqataa, where he was greeted by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials.

“We and our Palestinian people and its leadership welcome this historic visit, which comes after Palestine became a (nonmember) observer at the United Nations,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement carried on the official news agency WAFA. The Palestinians “highly appreciate the important role his majesty and Jordan played internationally and regionally and at the UN to achieve this important historical achievement,” he said. The Jordanian king was welcomed by a military honour guard at the Muqataa, where Jordanian flags where raised alongside Palestinian ones. He was accompanied by a delegation including his Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

The visit is the first time a head of state has visited Ramallah since the Palestinians won non-member observer state status at the United Nations on November 29. The 138-9 vote at the General Assembly was cheered by many Palestinians, although they acknowledged it will change little on the ground in the short term. But it was fiercely opposed by both Israel and the United States, with the Jewish state quickly responding with punitive measures.

It announced it was reviving a plan to build settlements in a highly sensitive West Bank area known as E1, where observers say Israeli construction would effectively end the chance of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. Judeh, in a joint press statement with his Palestinian counterpart Riad AlMalki, slammed the E1 project, which has sparked an international backlash and caused unprecedented tension between Israel and European nations. “This would divide the West Bank into two parts,” he said, adding that E1 was “at the heart of the principle of geographical continuity of the Palestinian state.”

“Settlement policy as a principle is rejected not only by us as the Jordanian Hashemite kingdom, as Arabs and Muslims, but by the whole world,” he added. Judeh praised the UN bid, will give the Palestinians access to a range of international institutions, including potentially the International Criminal Court.

“We must be sure that the next phase will be a phase that leads us to negotiations that deal with all of the issues that we have mentioned, the final status issues, but within a time-

RAMALLAH: This picture shows Jordan’s King Abdullah II (left) speaking with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas upon his arrival yesterday. — AFP frame,” he added. The Palestinian UN move has also already had a financial impact on the government headed by Abbas, with Israel withholding tax and tariff revenue for November in response. Washington is also expected to withhold some aid to the Palestinians over the move, with Abbas likely to ask Arab League nations for additional money to make up the shortfall. Abbas and King Abdullah were holding talks expected to touch on the dire financial straits of the Palestinian Authority. There were no immediate details on their discussions. — AFP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Middle East beginning to embrace solar energy ABU DHABI: Covering nearly 300 football fields in a remote patch of desert, the Shams 1 solar project carries off plenty of symbolic significance for the United Arab Emirates. It will be the first, large-scale solar project in the oil-rich country when it is completed at the end of the year, and the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

At full capacity, the 100-megawatt, concentrated solar project will be able to power 20,000 homes. For those behind the project, it’s the surest sign yet that solar is coming to the region in a big way.

“We truly believe solar will be a major contributor to meeting our own requirements,” said Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, the UAE’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and the chief executive officer of government-funded Masdar, which is the majority investor in the project. “We are not like many other coun-

tries today that are in desperate need for complimentary sources of power,” Jaber said, adding Abu Dhabi plans to generate 7 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020. “We are looking at it from strategic point of view... we want to become a technology player, rather than an energy player.”

With its vast deserts and long stretches of sunny days, the Middle East would seem to be an ideal place to harness solar energy. But until now, the region has largely shunned solar because it has cost about three times more than heavily-subsidized fossil fuels. There are also few laws in place to regulate solar power and it faces some unique technological hurdles, given the Middle East’s harsh climate, which is much hotter and dustier than say Europe, where solar thrives.

But technological advances have

pushed costs down dramatically, and many oil-gas rich countries are reconsidering renewables amid growing demands for power to fuel their booming economies and rapidly increasing populations. There are also fears, especially in Saudi Arabia, that their once seemingly limitless oil resources may have peaked and they could one day become net oil importers. Countries also understand they can get much more revenue for their oil - as much as $90 a barrel at current prices - if they export it rather than use it domestically. “We are in the middle of a radical rethinking of the energy future of the region,” Adnan Z Amin, director general of the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency, told The Associated Press. “One of the real wake up calls for Saudi Arabia, which is a heavily hydrocarbon country, is that

they are seeing their current energy demand growing at such a high rate that they risk becoming a net energy importer in 20 years. That would be a major economic issue to deal with.”

Amid the buzz over solar, countries have begun rolling out ambitious renewable targets. Egypt and Qatar which say they will produce 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2020 and 2024 respectively. Algeria has plans to produce 22,000 megawatts of power from renewables between now and 2030.

Saudi Arabia announced targets of 10 percent by 2020 and Kuwait 15 percent by 2030. Tarek El Sayed, a principal with the consulting firm Booz & Company, projected that countries in the Middle East and North African could become significant renewable energy players in the coming decades.—AP

Syria says chemical scare ‘pretext for intervention’ West whipping up fears over weapons

GOMA: A Congolese schoolboy runs past police officers who extinguished a burning tyre set alight by demonstrators yesterday. — AP

Congolese protest against weak army GOMA: Dozens of Congolese demonstrated in the provincial capital of Goma yesterday against what they described as the impotence of the country’s armed forces, which allowed a rebel group to overrun the city a little over two weeks ago. They also decried the passivity of United Nations peacekeepers, who did little to stop the fighters saying it was not within their mandate. Goma, a city of about 1 million people and a major trading hub for minerals extracted from Congo’s lucrative mines, fell to a Rwandanbacked rebel group on Nov 20. It took days of negotiations, intense international pressure, and the hammer of United Nations sanctions for the thousands of fighters for M23 to finally withdraw from the regional capital this weekend.

The rebels, however, remain perilously close to Goma at about 3 kilometers (1.2 miles) outside the city limit. A rebel delegation is expected to travel to neighboring Uganda for talks with the Congolese government. “We denounce the failure of the ministers of interior, defense and the army chief of staff. We ask for their resignation. A team that does not work must be changed,” said one of the demonstrators, Luc Nkulula. Micheline Mwendike, another protester, criticized the planned negotiations, saying it made no sense to enter into peace talks with the very people who were aggressors in the city. The rebels are accused of numerous abuses, including using child soldiers, summary executions, rape and pillaging.

“We don’t want that the negotiations end up rewarding criminals,” she said. In a letter published this week, the United Nations’ Group of Experts on the conflict in the Congo provided detailed evidence of how the M23 rebels are backed by Rwanda. In a dayby-day outline of the invasion of Goma, the letter describes how Rwanda equipped, trained, advised, reinforced and directly commanded the rebellion, including sending four companies from Rwanda’s 305th brigade across the border to conduct operations.

Rwanda has fiercely denied the accusations, but several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom have cut off aid to Congo’s smaller, but more developed neighbor. The M23 rebels claim that they are fighting for the implementation of the March 23, 2009 peace accord, which saw their fighters integrated into the Congolese army. They withdrew from Goma on the condition that Congo’s government would negotiate with them.—AP

BEIRUT: Western powers are whipping up fears of a fateful move to the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war as a “pretext for intervention”, President Bashar alAssad’s deputy foreign minister said yesterday. He spoke as Germany’s cabinet approved stationing Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey’s border with Syria, a step requiring deployment of NATO troops that Syria fears could permit imposition of a no-fly zone over its territory.

“Syria stresses again, for the tenth, the hundredth time, that if we had such weapons, they would not be used against its people. We would not commit suicide,” Faisal Maqdad said. US President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders have warned that using chemical weapons would cross a red line and have consequences, which they have not specified.

Assad would probably lose vital diplomatic support from Russia and China that has blocked military intervention in the 20month-old uprising that has clamed more than 40,000 lives. A senior Russian lawmaker and ally of President Vladimir Putin said Syria’s government is incapable of doing its job properly, a sign that Moscow may already be trying to distance itself from Assad. “We have shared and do share the opinion that the existing government in Syria should carry out its functions. But time has shown that this task is beyond its strength,” Vladimir Vasilyev, who heads President Putin’s party group in the State Duma lower house, was quoted as saying

by Interfax news agency. Syria’s Maqdad said Western reports the Syrian military was preparing chemical weapons for use against rebel forces trying to close in on the capital Damascus were simply “theatre”.

“In fact, we fear a conspiracy ... by the United States and some European states, which might have supplied such weapons to terrorist organisations in Syria, in order to claim later that Syria is the one that used these weapons,” he said on Lebanon’s Al Manar television, the voice of Hezbollah.

“We fear there is a conspiracy to provide a pretext for any subsequent interventions in Syria by these countries that are increasing pressure on Syria.”

Exactly what Syria’s army has done with suspected chemical weapons to prompt a surge of Western warnings is not clear.

ALEPPO: A wounded rebel fighter lies in the back of a pickup truck making its way to a hospital through traffic yesterday. — AFP Reports citing Western intelligence and defence sources are vague and inconsistent. The perceived threat may be discussed in Dublin yesterday when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi to try to put a UN peace process for Syria back on track.

The talks come ahead of a meeting of the Western-backed “Friends of Syria” group in Marrakech next week which is expected to boost support for rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Brahimi wants world powers to issue a UN Security Council resolution calling for a transitional administration.

In addition to the possible use of chemical bombs by “an increasingly desperate” Assad, Clinton said Washington was concerned about the government losing control of such weapons to extreme Islamist armed groups among the rebel forces. US officials said Washington was considering blacklisting Jabhat Al-Nusra, an influential rebel group accused by other rebels of indiscriminate tactics that has advocated an Islamic state in Syria and is suspected of ties to Qaeda.

An explosion in front of the Damascus headquarters of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent killed at least one person yester-

day, Syrian state television said. It blamed “terrorists from Al-Qaeda”-a term often employed to refer to rebel forces.

Meanwhile, activists said the army pummelled several eastern suburbs of Damascus, where the rebels are dominant, with artillery and mortar fire. The suburbs have also been cut off from the city’s water and electricity for weeks, rebels say, accusing the government of collective punishment. Rebels say they have surrounded an air base 4 km (2-1/2 miles) from the centre of Damascus, a fresh sign the battle is closing in on the Syrian capital. They also said they were battling soldiers on the road to Damascus International Airport, 20 km (12 miles) out of the capital where several airlines have cancelled flights due to security concerns. Maqdad, in his interview yesterday, argued that reports of such advances were untrue: “What is sad is that foreign countries believe these repeated rumours.”

But residents inside the capital say the sound of shelling on the outskirts has become a constant backdrop and many fear the fight will soon come to Damascus.

The Western military alliance’s decision to send US, German and Dutch Patriot missile batteries to help defend the Turkish border would bring European and US troops to Syria’s frontier for the first time in the civil war.—Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Ghana poll ready to test Africa’s ‘model democracy’ President Mahama faces seven challengers

LONDON: Britain’s Prince William stands next to his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge as she leaves the King Edward VII hospital yesterday. — AP

Kate leaves hospital after morning sickness LONDON: Prince William’s pregnant wife Catherine said she was feeling much better as she was discharged from a London hospital yesterday following four days of treatment for acute morning sickness. Holding a bouquet of yellow roses and wrapped up in a dark coat and blue scarf to protect against the cold, the former Kate Middleton smiled as she left the private King Edward VII Hospital with her husband. The Duchess of Cambridge, 30, mouthed “much better” and nodded when she was asked by the waiting international media if her condition had improved, before the couple were driven away by a security team.

Kate will now have a “period of rest” at Kensington Palace in central London where the couple have an apartment, said a statement from their office at St James’s Palace. “Their Royal Highnesses would like to thank the staff at the hospital for the care and treatment The Duchess has received,” the statement said. Kate was admitted to hospital on Monday with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness that affects about one in 200 pregnant women and is sometimes associated with twins.

Treatment for the condition usually involves hydration and nutrition as sufferers find it difficult to keep down any food or drink. The pregnancy, which was only announced after she went to hospital, is believed to have not yet reached the 12th week. It will be the first child for the couple who married in April 2011.

The baby will be third in line to the British throne following last year’s historic agreement among Commonwealth realms to end the practice of male primogeniture. The hospital, a favourite with the royal family for decades, apologised on Wednesday after a nurse unwittingly released Kate’s private medical details to hoax callers from an Australian radio station.

Sydney’s 2Day FM station also said sorry after two presenters posing as Queen Elizabeth II and William’s father Prince Charles, got through despite their poor imitations of English accents. Hospital chief executive John Lofthouse said it was considering legal action. “I’ve received advice that what the Australian broadcasters did may well have broken the law,” he said. “On the other hand they’ve apologised for it so we’re going to have a long and careful think about what, if anything, we do.” He said the hospital “deeply regretted” that the nurse had given away details of Kate’s condition. In the recording of the hoax call, the nurse can be heard saying about the Duchess: “She hasn’t had any retching with me since I’ve been on duty and she has been sleeping on and off.” The Australian radio station was milking the publicity yesterday by boasting of the “biggest royal prank ever”, despite an earlier apology by presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian. — AFP

ACCRA: Ghana’s cliff-hanger presidential election today will test the country’s reputation as a bulwark for democracy and economic growth in Africa’s socalled coup-belt. The stakes are high with rivals jousting for a chance to oversee a boom in oil revenues that has brought hopes of increased development in a country where the average person makes less than $4 a day. “Ghana getting it right again will provide real mentorship and a signal for others,” Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, director of Accra-based consultancy Centre for Democratic Development, said. Ghana is expected to keep up growth of about 8 percent next year and is increasingly cited by investment bankers and fund managers as an example of Africa’s rise in contrast to the woes of Europe and the United States.

President John Dramani Mahama who replaced the late John Atta Mills after his death from an illness in July will face top opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and six others. Opinion polls point to a tight race between the two main candidates, raising the prospect of a repeat of the near deadlock in 2008 elections, in which Mills defeated AkufoAddo with a margin of fewer than 100,000 votes. US President Barack Obama called Ghana a “model of democracy in Africa” for stepping back from the brink during those polls, when others might have tipped into conflict. A disputed election in neighbouring Ivory Coast in 2010 triggered a civil war. Other regional neighbours Mali and Guinea Bissau have been thrown into chaos by military coups. Ghana, by contrast, has seen five constitutional transfers of power since its last coup in 1981. The years of

peace - along with its rich natural resources - have made it a darling for international investors.

The smell of money This election has been coloured by hopes of greater prosperity as output rises from Tullow Oil’s offshore Jubilee field, where production began less than two years ago. Rival billboards in Ghana’s sprawling capital, Accra, boil down the campaigns: Nana Akufo-Addo is “The man to trust with Ghana’s money”. Mahama, meanwhile, is “trusted, decisive and action-driven towards a better Ghana”. “The elections in 2008 were about the smell of oil - now in 2012, it is about the reality of oil,”

ACCRA: A supporter of opposition presidential candidate Nana AkufoAddo shows off her teeth, decorated in the colors of his New Patriotic Party, during Akufo-Addo’s final campaign rally yesterday. — AP

Gyimah-Boadi said. Tullow’s production is expected to rise to 120,000 barrels per day in 2013 from between 60,000 and 90,000 bpd this year while more big deposits have been found. Akufo-Addo says he would use the oil wealth to pay for free primary and secondary education.

“We are calling for a change now , a change that will take Ghana into economic transformation through value addition and no more excessive borrowing and donor dependence ,” he told cheering supporters at a rally on Wednesday, the last day of campaigning. Mahama, meanwhile, says he aims to put Ghana on the path to becoming a middle-income country with a per capita income of $2,300 by 2017 - double that in 2009. He dismisses criticism that the oil industry has created few jobs for Ghanaians. “We believe we have done our bit in the last four years in bringing economic development to our people, “ he told thousands at a rally in Accra’s seaside La badi suburb on Wednesday.

“W e are confident of winning another four years in order to consolidate the achievements, “ he said. Today, voters will also elect 275 legislators. There are 45 more seats in parliament than at the 2008 election, in which Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) won a small majority. The World Bank is upbeat on Ghana, expecting growth to be driven by investment in resources, infrastructure and agriculture in a country that also produces cocoa and gold.

But in a country where campaign messages rarely influence voting choices, many believe more than half of the 14 million voters will cast their ballot based on ethnic and social affiliation, or regionalism. — Reuters

South Sudan blogger and government critic killed JUBA: A South Sudanese blogger and government critic has been shot dead in his home, a week after unknown men threatened to kill him unless he stopped writing, his family said yesterday. Police confirmed that Diing Chan Awuol, who wrote online opinion pieces for newspapers and blogs, was shot in the face on Wednesday morning. It was the first time a journalist has been killed in South Sudan since it gained independence from the north in July last year.

Journalists have frequently complained of harassment and detention by the new nation’s security services.

Last year, the authorities closed a newspaper after it criticized President Salva Kiir for allowing his daughter to marry a foreigner. In his last piece, published by the Paris-based Sudan Tribune website, Awuol broached a sensitive subject by calling on Kiir’s government to foster better ties with its old foe Sudan and

refrain from supporting rebel groups there. The Khartoum government says the south backs rebels in two Sudan border states. The south denies this and South Sudanese newspapers usually support that stance. A week before his death, Awuol, who wrote under the pen-name Isaiah Abraham, complained that unknown men were attempting to silence him, his brother William Chan said. “He said he had received threats by phone. (They said) ‘either stop writing or we will get rid of you’,” Chan told Reuters. Police spokesman James Monday said an investigation had begun and police were yet to identify the shooter or establish a motive. No property was stolen from Awuol’s house, Monday added. The New Yorkbased Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the government to investigate. “By getting to the bottom of this murder and bringing the perpetrators to justice, authorities in South

Sudan can demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law and freedom of expression,” said the CJP’s East Africa consultant, Tom Rhodes.

France-based Reporters Without Borders ranks South Sudan 111th out of 179th in its 2011-2012 press freedom index. Rhodes said he feared press freedom was declining as the country’s economic situation worsens and a government still unaccustomed to criticism was becoming more intolerant of it. In January, South Sudan shut down oil production, the lifeline of the young republic, after tensions escalated with the north over pipeline fees. The two countries later came close to war.

Negotiators from Sudan and South Sudan are meeting in Khartoum this week to try to end a deadlock over how to improve border security, a step both say is needed to resume oil exports from the landlocked south via the north. — Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

477 dead, homeless swell after Philippines typhoon Storm destroys quarter of banana crop

SINGAPORE: A mainland Chinese worker pulls up a bottle of water with a rope after refusing to come down from a crane during a protest at a construction site yesterday. —AFP

HRW chides Singapore over Chinese bus drivers SINGAPORE: Human Rights Watch decried Singapore’s prosecution of mainland Chinese bus drivers behind the first major strike in the wealthy city-state since 1986, calling yesterday for the charges to be dropped and discrimination to be ended.

Four Chinese men, charged with inciting a two-day walkout by dozens of their colleagues last week, asked for lawyers yesterday in a case that highlights tensions over immigration in Singapore and the treatment of foreign workers.

A fifth Chinese driver, who pleaded guilty and was not represented by a lawyer, was sentenced to six weeks in jail on Monday. Singapore, a tightly regulated financial centre with no minimum wage, deported 29 others to China on Sunday.

“Singapore defies basic labor rights by criminalising migrant workers for a work stoppage,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“It then adds insult to injury by justifying nationality-based discrimination in pay and working conditions, and restricting foreign workers’ rights to form or lead a union to do something about it.” The Ministry of Manpower did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese drivers staged their walkout over living conditions and disparities in pay with their Singaporean and Malaysian peers. Workers in essential services in Singapore are barred from striking without giving 14 days’ notice and the government deters any kind of labour unrest that might hurt investment.

Singaporeans, most of whom are ethnic Chinese, were firmly in support of punishment for the workers but also blamed the bus company, a poll showed. The four drivers appeared in court yesterday but their case was adjourned until Wednesday. Bail was set at S$10,000 ($8,200) for three of them and at S$20,000 for one man who faces an extra charge.

They face a maximum fine of S$2,000 and/or a sentence of up to a year in prison. The other drivers who took part in the strike would get police warnings but be allowed to stay and work in Singapore, the government said last week.

Singapore’s long-ruling government, hit by its worst election result last year, is trying to defuse public anger over soaring costs and an influx of immigrants. At the same time, the construction, hospitality and transport sectors demand foreign workers because many Singaporeans do not want those jobs.

“Sadly, the government is drawing the wrong conclusion from the bus drivers’ strike.” Robertson of Human Rights Watch said. “Rather than prosecuting migrant workers who speak up, the government should ensure that all workers have equal rights.”

Minister of State for Health and Manpower Amy Khor said the strike was “a wake-up call” for companies to be more vigilant and put in place good management practices. In another labour protest, two Chinese workers climbed to the top of a construction crane yesterday and refused to come down. The Straits Times newspaper said they were due to return to China but were owed one month’s pay. —Reuters

NEW BATAAN: A quarter million people were homeless and 477 confirmed dead after the Philippines’ worst typhoon this year, officials said yesterday, as the government appealed for international help. Typhoon Bopha ploughed across Mindanao island on Tuesday, flattening whole towns in its path as hurricaneforce winds brought torrential rain that triggered floods and landslides.

Erinea Cantilla and her family walked barefoot for two days in a vain search for food and shelter through a muddy wasteland near the mountainous town of New Bataan after the deluge destroyed their house and banana and cocoa farm. “Everything we had is gone.

The only ones left are dead people,” Cantilla told AFP as she and her husband, three children and a granddaughter reached the outskirts of the town, which itself had been nearly totally obliterated.

Rescuers said they were looking for 380 missing while seeking help for more than 250,000 others who were sheltered in schools, gyms and other buildings after losing everything. Shell-shocked survivors scrabbled through the rubble of their homes to find anything that could be recovered, as relatives searched for missing family members among mud-caked bodies laid out in rows on tarpaulins.

President Benigno Aquino has sent food and other supplies by ship to 150,000 people on Mindanao’s east coast where three towns remain cut off by landslides and wrecked bridges, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said.

Officials said many of the 477 dead victims were poor migrants who found work at landslide-prone sites such as New Bataan and nearby Monkayo towns, either at unregulated gold mines or at banana plantations.

Bopha, flower in Cambodian, wiped out a fourth of the country’s banana crop, according to the local industry association. Major-General Ariel Bernardo, head of the army division

leading the rescue effort, said 36 people had been dug out alive in two days, but the prospects were looking dimmer for the hundreds still missing. “I do not think it likely,” he told AFP when asked if he thought most of the missing were still alive. Civil defence chief Benito Ramos refused to give up hope.

“There is no time limit-as long as it takes,” he told reporters when asked how long the search and rescue effort would take. A man trapped for two days

offered emergency assistance, with the latter sending over a rescue team in Mindanao. Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for 4.5 million Swiss francs (3.7 million euros, $4.9 million) for relief aid, warning the number of people needing help would rise in coming days.

Meanwhile the insurgent Communist Party of the Philippines offered a truce with government forces now leading

NEW BATAAN: Lenlen Medrano and her child (on stretcher), survivors of Typhoon Bopha, prepare to be transported across a surging river on a zip line in the town of New Bataan, compostela province yesterday. —AFP under rocks and debris after flash floods swept away his entire family was among those rescued yesterday. “It’s a miracle that I survived, but I might as well be dead,” said Carlos Agang, 54, who suffered a broken right leg.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the government asked the Switzerland-based International Organization for Migration to help it build bunkhouses to ease the pressure on evacuation camps. The United States, Japan and Singapore said they had

the rescue in Mindanao, while ordering its guerrillas there to help out. The army dismissed the offer, with a military spokesman saying the rebels should abandon their armed campaign instead.

Workers were struggling to reach villages due to destroyed roads and wrecked bridges, but finding corpses was not a problem due to the overpowering stench everywhere, said Francisco Macalipay, a soldier involved in the rescue. “Just let your nose lead you to them,” he told AFP. —AFP

North Korean rocket ‘to commemorate’ Kim Jong-Il

TOKYO: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un does not want to fire a rocket, but feels he has to mark the anniversary of his father’s death, the dead dictator’s former sushi chef said yesterday. The hermit state’s long range rocket will be launched 12 months to the day that Kim Jong-Il died, his one-time personal chef, Kenji Fujimoto told journalists in Tokyo.

“I believe the launch will take place on December 17 to commemorate” the first anniversary of his death, said Fujimoto, who visited Pyongyang earlier this year and lived there for around 10 years until 2001.

“I think he is talking with the military, but I don’t think he is aggressively pushing to launch a missile,” Fujimoto said. North Korea announced Saturday it will launch a rocket between December 10 and 22, a period that includes both South Korea’s presidential

election and Japan’s general election.

Pyongyang insists it is a peaceful satellite launch, but the international community sees it as a poorly disguised test of ballistic missile technology, which is banned under UN resolutions.

“I think he is reluctant to launch because he wants to change his country’s image as a hard-line state,” said Fujimoto, who is promoting a book on his recent visit. “But at the same time he must feel he needs to commemorate his father’s death.” A rocket launch is necessary in the context of North Korean politics as “you have to demonstrate to your people” that you have authority, he said. Fujimoto visited Pyongyang in July after an invitation from the country’s young leader, 11 years after what he said was an escape during a provisions shopping trip to

Japan. After his visit, a picture of Fujimoto hugging Kim Jong-Un was widely distributed to media. Fujimoto, who is among a small number of foreigners to have had personal contact with the North Korean leader, revealed Jong-Un was born on “January 8, 1983, so he will turn 30 next year.” No age has ever been confirmed for Kim, with most reports saying only that he is in his late 20s.

“When I saw him after 11 years, I had the impression that he has really grown up. My memories of him are from his childhood,” he said. Fujimoto said the messenger from Kim who invited him to Pyongyang in July arrived with a shibboleth. “(The emissary said) ‘Let’s fulfil the promise we made in 2001’,” said Fujimoto, explaining the promise dated from a 2001 encounter after the chef was injured in a horse-riding accident. —AFP

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

New Pakistan Taleban chief set to emerge Rehman poised to succeed Mehsud WANA: Pakistan’s Taleban, one of the world’s most feared militant groups, are preparing for a leadership change that could mean less violence against the state but more attacks against US-led forces in Afghanistan, Pakistani military sources said.

Hakimullah Mehsud, a ruthless commander who has led the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) for the last three years, has lost operational control of the movement and the trust of his fighters, said a senior Pakistan army official based in the South Waziristan tribal region, the group’s stronghold.

The organisation’s more moderate deputy leader, Wali-ur-Rehman, 40, is poised to succeed Mehsud, whose extreme violence has alienated enough of his fighters to significantly weaken him, the military sources told Reuters. “Rehman is fast emerging as a consensus candidate to formally replace Hakimullah,” said the army

been a virtual no-go zone for journalists since an army offensive was launched in October 2009.

Three senior military officials said informers in the Pakistan Taleban told them Mehsud was no longer steering the group.

Pakistan Taleban commanders did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the possible leadership change. US officials said that while Rehman was Mehsud’s natural successor, they cautioned about expecting an imminent transition. Mehsud’s standing in the Pakistan Taleban might have weakened, but he still had followers, they said.

Washington has offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to the capture of either Mehsud or Rehman. One Pakistan military official, who has served in South Waziristan for more than two years, said his Pakistan Taleban contacts first alert-

MULTAN: Demonstrators shout anti-US slogans during a protest against drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region yesterday. —AFP official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“Now we may see the brutal commander replaced by a more pragmatic one for whom reconciliation with the Pakistani government has become a priority.”

The TTP, known as the Pakistan Taleban, was set up as an umbrella group of militants in 2007. Its main aim is to topple the USbacked government in Pakistan and impose its austere brand of Islam across the country of 185 million people, although it has also carried out attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan. The militants intensified their battle against the Pakistani state after an army raid on Islamabad’s Red Mosque in 2007, which had been seized by allies of the group. Mehsud, believed to be in his mid30s, took over the Pakistan Taleban in August 2009. He rose to prominence in 2010 when US prosecutors charged him with involvement in an attack that killed seven CIA employees at a US base in Afghanistan. His profile was raised further when he appeared in a farewell video with the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed the employees. Reuters interviewed several senior Pakistan military officials as well as tribal elders and locals during a three-day trip with the army in South Waziristan last week, getting rare access to an area that has

ed him to Mehsud’s waning power six months ago, when constant pressure from the Pakistan military, U.S. drone strikes and poor health had hurt his ability to lead.

“Representing the moderate point of view, there is a probability that under Rehman, TTP will dial down its fight against the Pakistani state, unlike Hakimullah who believes in wanton destruction here,” said the military official based in the South Waziristani capital of Wana. The official said this might lead to more attacks across the border in Afghanistan because Rehman has been pushing for the group’s fighters to turn their guns on Western forces.

Other factions within the Pakistan Taleban such as the Nazir group in South Waziristan and the Hekmat Gul Bahadur faction in North Waziristan have struck peace deals with the Pakistani military while focusing attacks on Western and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. A change in the Pakistan Taleban’s focus would complicate Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most NATO troops leave by the end of 2014, said Riaz Mohammad Khan, a Pakistani diplomat who has held several posts dealing with Afghanistan. The United States is already fighting the Afghan Taleban and the Haqqani network, which is based along the unruly frontier between Afghanistan and

Pakistan and which is perhaps Washington’s deadliest foe in Afghanistan.

The last thing US-led NATO troops need is a new, formidable enemy in the approach to 2014. Such a shift in emphasis, however, could reduce the number of suicide bombings that have plagued Pakistan in recent years, scaring off investment needed to prop up an economy that has barely managed to grow since 2007.

At each other’s throats The Pakistan Taleban, who are close to Qaeda, remain resilient despite a series of military offensives. They took part in a number of high-profile operations, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the attempted assassination of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai in October, who had campaigned for girls’ education. The Pakistan Taleban were also blamed for the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which killed more than 50 people.

Under Mehsud, the organisation formed complex alliances with other militant groups spread across Pakistan. But it has long been strained by internal rivalries over strategy. Mehsud has pushed the war with the Pakistani state, while others such as Rehman want the battle to be against US and allied forces in Afghanistan. “Rehman has even held secret negotiations with the Pakistani government in the past but Hakimullah always stood in his way, wanting to carry on fighting the Pakistani military,” a second Wana-based military official said. The two were at each other’s throats earlier this year and hostilities were close to open warfare, Taleban sources said.

“Differences within the ranks have only gotten worse, not better, rendering the TTP a much weaker force today than a few years ago,” the second military official said.

A source close to the Taleban told Reuters there had been months of internal talks on the Pakistan Taleban’s decreasing support among locals and fighters in tribal areas where the group has assassinated many pro-government elders. “The Taleban know they are fighting a public relations war, and under someone like Hakimullah, they will only lose it,” added the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

It isn’t clear whether Mehsud will hand over the leadership to Rehman without a fight. A power struggle could split the group, making it more difficult to recruit young fighters and also disrupt the safe havens in Pakistan used by Afghan militants. According to accepted practice, a leadership council, or shura, will ultimately decide whether to formally replace Mehsud with Rehman.

Intelligence officials said Mehsud had not commanded any recent operations, including an Aug 16 attack on the Minhas Airbase in Pakistan and a suicide attack on a street market in May that killed 24 people.

Military sources said Rehman planned the April 15 jail break in Bannu in Pakistan that freed 384 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taleban members and an Al-Qaedalinked militant who had attempted to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf. —Reuters

HYDERABAD: Indian Muslim activists of DarsgahJihad-O-Shahadat (DJS) burn a representation of the scales of justice during a protest on the 20th anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition yesterday. —AP

Tight security at India site 20 years after riots AYODHYA: Indian security forces yesterday flooded the northern town of Ayodhya where a mosque was demolished by Hindu zealots 20 years ago in a move that unleashed a wave of deadly religious riots.

More than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in clashes in New Delhi, Mumbai and other cities after the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was torn down on December 6, 1992 by protesters seeking to build a Hindu temple on the site. Opposing sides still wrangle over control of the tightly-guarded spot, with the Supreme Court last year suspending a ruling that divided it into three sections-one for Hindus, one for Muslims and one for a local Hindu trust.

At least 5,000 police were out in force in Ayodhya and surrounding areas of Uttar Pradesh state, with officers manning road blocks and monitoring key intersections to prevent any demonstrations. Police and paramilitary troops sealed off streets to the disputed area, searched cars and enforced a magistrate’s order banning unlawful assembly on the anniversary of the demolition.

No rallies or unrest were reported during the day, which coincided with an official holiday commemorating BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of India’s 1947 constitution. Amarnath Shastri, a retired advocate who lives in Ayodhya, told AFP that inter-religious tensions had calmed since 1992, though many Muslims still feel marginalised.

“Everyone now wants the town to develop, jobs to come up and industry to flourish,” he said. “People have realised that all such actions (in 1992) were wasteful.” Hindu fundamentalists flattened the mosque because they said it was built by the Moghul emperor Babur on the site of a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Ram. The destruction infuriated Muslims, who make up 13 percent of India’s population, and many feared the country was heading for an era of Hindu-Muslim bloodshed. In the most serious outbreak of religious unrest since Ayodhya, about 2,000 people-mostly Muslims-died in riots in Gujarat state in 2002. —AFP

Regional leader to rescue Indian govt in retail vote NEW DELHI: The leader of a powerful regional party said yesterday she would back the Indian government in a parliamentary vote on its plan to allow in foreign supermarkets, virtually ensuring that an opposition motion against the reform will be defeated. “Our party will vote in favour of the government tomorrow,” the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, Mayawati, said during a debate on a policy that would bring global chains such as WalMart Stores Inc to India’s $450 billion retail sector.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s minority coalition government won a non-binding vote on the same issue in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday thanks to abstentions from the BSP and another regional group, the Samajwadi Party. It had looked set to lose in an upper house vote scheduled for Friday because it has fewer parliamentary seats there.

However, the capricious Mayawati’s unexpected pledge of support from her party’s 15 upper house lawmakers means the government may be able to count on as many as 117 votes, which - if the Samajwadi Party abstained - would be just enough to win in the 245-seat chamber. Mayawati - whose power base is in the country’s most-populous state, Uttar Pradesh - said her decision was partly based on the government’s willingness to let individual states decide whether they allowed in foreign retailers. —Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Colorado shooting suspect had few friends, brief affair

University withholds more than 2,000 documents

ANCHORAGE: This handout photo shows Israel Reyes. —AFP

US fears more victims from dead ‘serial killer’ LOS ANGELES: The FBI is appealing for information about the travels of a suspected serial killer believed to have murdered up to 15 people over more than a decade, after his suicide in jail last weekend. Israel Keyes is thought to have murdered at least eight people between 2001 and March 2012 when he was arrested, said special agent Eric Gonzalez, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s office in Anchorage. Keyes, who died in jail from apparently self-inflicted wounds, lived in Washington state from 2001-2007 and then in Alaska, but he traveled around the country kidnapping, raping and murdering victims, and also robbing banks.

In preparation for his crimes, he buried caches of supplies in a number of locations, including weapons and items to help dispose of his victims’ bodies, the FBI said. The 34-yearold allegedly killed “at least eight, but investigators suspect more,” Gonzalez told AFP on Wednesday, adding that, from interviews conducted after his arrest, “their sense was that he possibly (killed) 12-15 people.” “Right now we’re looking for information concerning his travels, if anyone may have recognized him,” he added.

The FBI appeal, first made on Monday, was already providing some leads. “The media is actually referring cases with similarities to us,” he said, without going into details. Keyes admitted to murdering four people in Washington state: two victims in 2005 and 2006, and a couple some time between 2001 and 2005. He may have abducted them from another state and brought them to Washington, the FBI said.

“Additionally, Keyes admitted to investigators that, in 2009, he murdered a victim on the east coast and disposed of the body in New York State,” the statement added, saying the victim was probably abducted in a nearby state.

In interviews with detectives, Keyes “described significant planning and preparation for his murders, reflecting a meticulous and organized approach to his crimes,” they said.

“It was not unusual for Keyes to fly into an airport, rent a car and drive hundreds of miles to his final destination,” it added. In preparation for the murder of Bill and Loraine Currier, for example, Keyes flew into Chicago, and then drove in a rented car across several states to Essex, Vermont, where he killed them, the FBI said.

He then continued his travels on the East Coast, before returning to Chicago and then to Alaska.

Police have confirmed his role in at least two bank robberies, saying he used the proceeds, as well as money he made as a general contractor, to finance his travels.

“Keyes buried caches throughout the United States,” said the FBI, adding that it had found two such deposits in Eagle River, in Alaska, and Blake Falls Reservoir, in New York.

“The caches contained weapons and other items used to dispose of bodies. Keyes indicated the other caches he buried throughout the US contain weapons, money, and items used to dispose of victims.”

Alaska State Troopers meanwhile gave an update on the circumstances of Keyes’ death while locked in his cell in Anchorage last Saturday night.

Investigators have “determined that Keyes used a blade from a disposable shaving razor that had been embedded into a pencil to cut himself on the left wrist,” they said in a statement. —AFP

DENVER: It didn’t take long for suspicions to surface at a Colorado university that the man who just hours earlier shot up a midnight movie was a student who recently resigned from a school program. The name of James Holmes began to circulate in news reports a few hours after the early-morning shooting July 22 at an Aurora movie theater that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

At 6:47 am, Angie Ribera, director of the neuroscience program, noted that the shooter could be the 24-year-old of the same name who had just withdrawn from her department.

“Do you think we should meet with students in his class?” she asked colleagues. “If they had been close to him, this would definitely be something that I think we should do. But as they were not, I do not know.” The new insight into the school’s reaction came Wednesday with the release of thousands of emails, but they shed little light on the year that suspected theater shooter Holmes spent as a graduate student there.

The University of Colorado, Denver released the material in response to public records requests from media organizations, including the Associated Press. But it withheld more than 2,000 documents on Holmes, citing federal privacy laws on student medical and academic issues. What remained revealed more about the school’s reaction to the July 20 shooting than about Holmes. Holmes had withdrawn from a competitive neuroscience graduate program in June after failing a key exam. Denver’s KMGH-TV reported Wednesday reported that a university psychiatrist, Dr Lynne Fenton, reached out to campus police in June partly because Holmes talked about killing “a lot of people.” It said she opted not to place him under a psychiatric hold because he was leaving the school. A university spokeswoman said she could not comment on the report.

Holmes’ attorneys have said he suffers from mental illness. Despite the avalanche of material on Wednesday, the school has not been able to answer key questions about

Holmes and whether there were any signs he might do something violent. That’s because, administrators say, a gag order in the case and the federal privacy laws prohibit them from disclosing much information.

As it became clear that James Holmes was the former student, faculty at the school passed on more tidbits of information they knew about him. While the neuroscience pro-

AURORA: In this file photo, James Holmes, accused of killing 12 people in a shooting rampage is seen. —AP gram is very intimate - there are only six students admitted annually - Holmes had no apparent friends in the department, Ribera wrote in an email. She said he had “1-2 friends” elsewhere. Another professor, responding to a friend’s inquiry a few hours later, said Holmes had a “brief romantic relationship” with a graduate student in his computational bioscience program.

“She, fortunately, it turns out is in India right now,” professor Larry Hunter emailed.

“She knows, and is pretty freaked out.” A regular theme is the school’s difficulty in dealing with the media swarm that descended after the shooting. At 8:02 am on July 20, the neuroscience program administrator broke the news to the program’s students and urged them to avoid mentioning anything on Twitter or Facebook.

School officials wrote that they needed to protect students and staff from reporters and urged all calls to be routed through a single spokeswoman. As reporters pursued the few people connected with Holmes, professors asked the administration to take down their university web pages so journalists would have no more clues. The school did so.

Four days after the attack, the campus police chief, Doug Abraham, told a press conference that school police had no information about Holmes. Then Judge William B Sylvester implemented his gag order, and administrators said they could say no more.

Sylvester, at the request of the prosecutor, also barred the school from releasing documents under Colorado’s public record law, ruling it could jeopardize Holmes’ right to a fair trial. He did not lift that order until last month following objections from a consortium of media organizations. Attorneys in court have presented a rough chronology of Holmes’ final two weeks in the program. He failed his oral exam in early June and withdrew from the program after making unspecified threats to a professor, court records and attorneys say. He last saw Fenton on June 11, just after filing his withdrawal paperwork. Six weeks later, he surrendered to police in the multiplex’s parking lot after the attack. Holmes is charged with multiple first-degree murder and attempted murder counts. He has not entered a plea and won’t do so until after a weeklong preliminary hearing in which prosecutors will present evidence supporting the charges. That hearing is scheduled to begin Jan 7. —AP

Washington state ready for same-sex marriages OLYMPIA: A law legalizing same-sex matrimony took effect in Washington state yesterday, and officials geared up for a flood of marriage-license applications from gay and lesbian couples eager to exchange vows. Washington made history last month as one of three US states where marriage rights were extended to same-sex couples by popular vote, joining Maryland and Maine in passing ballot initiatives on Nov 6 recognizing gay nuptials.

Washington became the first of those states to put its law into effect - it became law at the stroke of midnight and same-sex matrimony is set to go on the books in Maine on Dec 29 and in Maryland on Jan 1. Under Washington state law, all would-be brides and grooms must submit their marriage certificates at least three days in advance.

So the first wave of same-sex Washington weddings - expected to number in the hundreds - is scheduled for Sunday.

In Olympia, the state capital, the Thurston County Auditor’s Office planned to grant marriage licenses to

the 15 same-sex couples who entered a lottery to be served first at midnight.

The office was to reopen in the morning to serve others. “This is an historic occasion,” said Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman, a Republican.

“Some of these couples have been together for more than 20 or 30 years.

It’s pretty moving when you hear those stories.”

Lisa Brodoff and Lynn Grotsky, partners of nearly 32 years, became the first same-sex couple in Thurston County, and perhaps the state, to receive a marriage license - to the cheers of a crowd of other same-sex couples and supporters. “We have the greatest feeling of happiness and relief and excitement,” said Brodoff, 57, a law professor at Seattle University.

Grotsky, a 56-year-old social worker, said that when she and Brodoff became a couple, they were afraid to tell acquaintances and co-workers that they were lesbians. “Everything was a fight and a conflict,” Grotsky said. “Now it’s like we’re regular people.” The pair, who hugged after getting their license,

could have tied the knot in one of the six states where same-sex marriage was already legal, but wanted to wait until they could marry in their home state.

Saving that date In Seattle, about 150 same-sex couples lined up outside county offices shortly before midnight, waiting in a festive atmosphere for the doors to open to obtain marriage licenses.

Some sat in lawn chairs and others brought late-night picnics. While heterosexual couples face difficulties enough picking an ideal time and place for their nuptials, the fraught politics of same-sex marriage in Washington state made it even trickier for gay and lesbian couples to plan ahead.

The Democratic-controlled state legislature passed a bill to legalize gay marriage in February, and Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire swiftly signed it into law. But opponents collected enough signatures to temporarily block the measure from taking effect and force the issue onto the state ballot in November. Voters passed it by 54 percent to 46 percent. —Reuters

International FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

The ‘royal molecatcher’ outlives Versailles king Moles keep me in work: Dormion

KANSAS CITY: In file photo, Kansas City Chiefs inside linebacker Jovan Belcher smiles before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Kansas City. —AP

Belcher’s mom says she loves son, dead girlfriend KANSAS CITY: The days since Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend then shot himself in the head have been very difficult for his mother, who said Wednesday that the slayings have not diminished her love for the couple. Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, had been living with the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins to help care for their 3-month-old daughter, Zoey, and was at the couple’s home Saturday morning when Perkins was shot. “That’s my son, and I love him,” Shepherd said in a brief telephone conversation Wednesday.

“She’s my daughter-in-law, just like my daughter.” Shepherd declined to say anything more about her son. Belcher shot Perkins at their Kansas City home then drove with a handgun to Arrowhead Stadium, where he thanked Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel for all they had done for him. The men tried to persuade Belcher to put the gun down, but when police arrived, Belcher moved behind a vehicle in the practice facility’s parking lot, knelt down and shot himself in the head, police said.

Shepherd, 54, said she was not happy about the release Wednesday of recordings of the emergency phone call she made Saturday after Perkins was shot. “I just got a phone call that they did that, and I don’t appreciate it,” she said. “Right now I don’t want to talk about it.” In the emergency call, Shepherd begs Perkins to “stay with me” while frantically asking for an ambulance. She tells the dispatcher that Perkins is “still breathing but please hurry. ... They were arguing, please hurry.”

Shepherd also told dispatchers that Perkins was bleeding, “just barely” awake and that it looked as though she was wounded in the back. She said Perkins moved when she spoke to her. When a police dispatcher asked about Belcher, Shepherd says only: “He left.” Police arrived at the home about 7:50 am. They said in an incident report that they found Perkins’ body on the floor of the master bathroom. She had been shot multiple times. Shepherd, who has temporary custody of the couple’s baby, said she and Perkins were very close. “She was a lovely, beautiful young woman. And we had a beautiful relationship,” Shepherd said. The estate or guardian of Belcher’s 3-month-old daughter will receive more than $1 million under terms of the NFL’s collectivebargaining agreement.

The child stands to receive $108,000 annually over the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and then $52,000 each year until age 18.

She’ll continue to receive that amount until age 23 if she attends college. The beneficiary of Belcher, who was in his fourth season, also will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus $200,000 for each credited season. There is also $100,000 in a retirement account that will go to his beneficiary or estate. Players’ beneficiaries are kept confidential.

Shepherd said family members have been helping her a great deal since the shootings, but that she had trouble eating and sleeping while working on her son’s funeral arrangements. Mourners, including several Chiefs players, attended an hourlong private memorial service for Belcher on Wednesday in Kansas City. Retired Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell said afterward that Pioli and Belcher’s uncle spoke during the service. He said it was “rough” on Pioli. “This is a sad situation,” Bell said. “You never want to be put under those situations. Never. It’s not good. You don’t want to see things like that. I don’t know how they got through it.” —AP

VERSAILLES: The king is dead, but the molecatcher lives on. He even signs SMS messages: “Molecatcher to the king.” It’s been over two centuries since Louis XVI was guillotined on Paris’ Place de la Concorde, but the job of hunting the underground pest that so troubled French monarchs on the grounds of the Versailles palace still exists. Its current holder carries on, business as usual, with a task that hasn’t changed in centuries. “It might sound funny, but it’s serious work. My job is to make sure molehills don’t deface Europe’s finest gardens,” says 36-year-old Jerome Dormion, the latest in an unbroken 330-year line of mole-killers in the royal palace and gardens visited by six million people a year. “We still have visiting dignitaries too. Imagine if they were to see them!”

Dormion - who started out as a regular gardener before noticing a niche in the molecatching market - keeps the roughly 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of magnificent horticulture mole-free. The grounds include fountains, an orangery, glistening landscaped grass, Marie Antoinette’s cherished farm and famed gardener Andre Le Notre’s Royal Path and Grand Canal. He takes the work very seriously - but there’s the odd flash of humor.

“I’m known as the king’s molecatcher because Versailles is still the palace,” he says.

“The king might be gone, but the palace still has moles, loads of them.” He smiles: “Which is good, as it keeps me in work!”

Versailles is a veritable hotbed for moles, unlike some other European palaces, since it lies in the verdant countryside some 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) outside the Paris city walls.

Across the channel, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II need not furrow her regal brow, as her palace, within London, is protected by city foundations that prevent moles from digging through to the royal residence. At Versailles, large mounds of earth mark out the path of the mole’s underground kingdom, in which Dormion sets dozens of archaic-looking traps featuring two metal prongs that smash together to break the neck.

“It resembles a guillotine,” says Dormion with a wry-smile. He tried poison for a while, but decided the contraption invented in the 1600s was the best, not to mention most faithful to the historic role. For their part, moles, solitary underground creatures with giant paws for digging, outdate even the oldest kings of France.

They first burrowed into Europe some 40 million years ago, and over the centuries

have been the enduring bane of royal gardens in and around France. In fact, it’s a small miracle that a myopic, near-deaf worm-eater that can die of stress if it goes above ground has survived so long. Zoologists say their against-all-odds success is due to a decline in natural predators like wild cats and weasels and the mole population is now booming.

One single mole can make 30 molehills a day, which multiplied a hundred-fold can see entire estates pockmarked within weeks.

The royal molecatcher was first hired by Louis XIV, the Bourbon king who moved the court to Versailles in the late 1600s.

Historians say that the spendthrift monarch lavished so much money on the upkeep of his beloved residence that it plunged the

the same family - the Liards - until in 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte put a stop to the fatherto-son succession. “The last Liard molecatcher was a bit of a party animal, and turned the residence into a cabaret and a brothel,” said Baraton.

“One day Napoleon was strolling in the gardens, and a prostitute came out and propositioned him. The molecatcher was immediately thrown out and that was the end of the residence.” Being a good molecatcher can also save lives. In 1702, William III of England died from injuries he sustained after his horse tripped on a molehill. “If the king had been more careful about the upkeep of his grass, he would not have been dead at 52 years old,” says Baraton wisely.

VERSAILLES: Frozen moles, previously caught in an unspecified location, are displayed by molecatcher Jerome Dormion. —AP entire country into debt. “Versailles was the greatest symbol of France. After everything (Louis) spent on the gardens, imagine if the moles had been allowed to run riot? All this money would have been squandered, wasted,” says Versailles’ head gardener Alan Baraton.

“For the king, of course, it was one of the most important functions at the palace.” So vital was the molecatcher to preserving the beauty of the costly gardens, he was rewarded with his own residence at Versailles. From the 1600s, the molecatchers all came from

Dormion, too, doesn’t underestimate his prey. “Moles are exceptionally clever. That’s why the majority of gardeners can’t catch them. One of the wiliest I have ever encountered outsmarted my traps for three months. ... Eventually, it got lazy and I got it.” He calls it one of his proudest professional moments.

Dormion also highlights how versatile the mole is. On a scorching summer day, he once stood aghast at a strange sight in one of the royal fountains: a mole swimming around the basin.”In my job,” says Dormion, “I never fail to be surprised.” —AP

Wisconsin priest, 92, rebuked CHICAGO: A 92-year-old Wisconsin Jesuit has become the latest Catholic priest to be punished by church authorities for celebrating Mass with a woman priest in violation of church rules, a Jesuit spokesman said on Wednesday. Father Bill Brennan, a Milwaukee-area peace activist who has done missionary work in Central America, celebrated Mass last month in Georgia with Janice Sevre-Duszynska of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. Though Brennan remains a Jesuit and can still celebrate Mass and hear confessions with other Jesuits, he can no longer celebrate Mass or other sacraments

publicly, according to Jeremy Langford, spokesman for the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits.

Women are forbidden by the church to become priests, but some have been ordained and celebrate Mass outside of the official church. Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the church’s ban on women priests this year. Catholic clergy who support the women can face sanctions. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissed Roy Bourgeois, 74, from the priesthood in October, citing his participation in the 2008 “invalid” ordination of Sevre-Duszynska and in a “simu-

lated Mass,” according to the Catholic News Service.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Province of the Jesuits mutually agreed on the sanctions against Brennan, Langford said. “The Province did not approve or sanction the event, and regrets Father Brennan’s participation in it,” the Province said in a statement.

Langford said that the Wisconsin Province had no plans to take any further action against Brennan, who is retired from active ministry and living in a Wisconsin retirement home and was not available for comment. —Reuters

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

HSBC might pay $1.8bn money laundering fine

PAGE 22

Citigroup cutting 11,000 jobs PAGE 21

MOSCOW: A visitor looks at a Russian GAZ 233001-Tiger 4X4 car during the 6th International Motor Show “Autosalon 2003” in Moscow. Russia’s deputy prime minister responsible for the defence industry, Dmitry Rogozin, said yesterday he was planning to ditch his BMW for a Tiger, a locally made military vehicle billed as Russia’s answer to the Hummer. — AFP

Egypt tumbles after deadly clashes Gulf markets mixed DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse tumbled yesterday after clashes between political parties killed five, spooking regional investors, while other Gulf markets were lackluster. Opponents of President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist supporters clashed on Wednesday night and early yesterday morning during rival demonstrations sparked by Morsi’s decision last month to expand his powers. Egypt’s military deployed around the presidential palace and ordered demonstrators to evacuate the area.

Worsening political turmoil spooked Arab investors, who were net sellers on the bourse against Egyptian buyers, exchange data showed.

Non-Egyptians have previously been net buyers amid the turmoil. “(The current level) represents a very good entry opportunity for medium-term players but not the retail,” said Safa Ghabbour, assistant fund manager at Misr Capital Investments in Cairo.

“Retail investors are governed by emotions and very short term events ... and not according to fundamentals.” Many shares were temporarily suspended intraday after they lost their maximum allowed limit during a session. Cairo’s benchmark fell 4.6 percent, taking losses to 11 percent since Mursi awarded himself extraordinary powers in a decree on Nov 22.

Commercial International Bank and Orascom Construction

Industries were the main drag, losing 5.1 and 3.4 percent respectively.

El Sewedy Electric dropped 6.6 percent. All except seven shares fell on the main 30-stock index. In Oman, the index gained 0.7 percent, rising to a three-week high as financial stocks attracted fresh buying. Al-Izz Islamic Bank jumped 4.8 percent, up for a third session after being listed on Monday. Bank Muscat rose 0.2 percent, Oman Investment and Finance Co climbed 1.1 percent. Bank Sohar added 0.6 percent.

“There is a strong allocation from local asset managers and foreigners are coming back after volumes picked up,” said Adel Nasr, United Securities brokerage manager. “Most of the stocks are moving on fundamentals - some of it is expectations on fourth-quarter (earnings results) and allocation for the next term’s dividends.” Trading volumes surged on Muscat’s bourse on Wednesday to 71.6 million shares, the highest one-day amount since June 2009, as a government fund, Investment Stabilization Fund, resumed activity to boost the market’s momentum, Nasr said.

In Kuwait, the index ticked up 0.07 percent, snapping two sessions of heavy losses. “The market was very sluggish today with thin trading on stocks like NBK and Zain,” said a Kuwait-based trader who asked not to be identified. Violent street protests extended for a third night in Kuwait on Wednesday, part of a wave triggered by changes to vot-

ing rules the opposition said were designed to skew elections in favour of pro-government candidates. “The parliament this time around is all pro-government because the opposition had boycotted the vote. Protests in the rough areas on Kuwait won’t change the political outlook,” the trader added. Elsewhere, Dubai’s measure eased 0.07 percent in thin trade amid a lack of local catalysts.

The market is still up 18.9 percent year-to-date. Investors lack a catalyst to spur activity as tension in Egypt keeps caution intact.

“Regional markets are expected to remain range bound in the near future amid political unrest in the region and mixed news from international markets,” Al-Masah Capital said in a note. Abu Dhabi clipped 0.1 percent off its benchmark but is holding on to 11.3 percent yearto-date gains.

Elsewhere, Qatar’s index gained 0.3 percent, up for a second session since Monday’s four-month low, while volumes dropped to a 15week nadir. Investors have a muted outlook on the market with little local drivers to attract buying. Only 1.48 million shares are traded on the exchange. After markets closed, news emerged from lead arrangers that Qatar Telecom had picked six banks for a possible benchmark-sized dollar-denominated bond, the operator’s first bond sale since 2010. — Reuters

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

StanChart sees $330m Iran fine HONG KONG/LONDON: Standard Chartered expects to pay $330 million to settle a case with US regulators for breaking sanctions on Iran, the Asian-focused bank said yesterday, a second such penalty which could almost wipe out its profit growth this year. Standard Chartered already paid $340 million to New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the third quarter, and the London-based bank said the settlement with federal and other state regulators was expected “very shortly”.

The original DFS fine will cut pretax profit growth this year to around 5 percent, from an underlying profit rise of more than 10 percent, the bank said in a trading update - so the additional payment could leave profits near flat on the year.

The DFS, New York’s banking regulator, said Standard Chartered had hidden financial transactions with Iran. The bank agreed to pay the civil penalty after its stock dropped due to the allegations and a threat to revoke its licence to do business in New York.

The United States has led the drive for sanctions, hoping to halt an Iranian nuclear programme which Washington suspects is aimed at producing weapons although Tehran says it is peaceful. Even slim earnings growth would mean a 10th straight year of record profits, as StanChart has ridden on Asia’s rise through much of the last decade, allowing it to continue hiring and increasing earnings when much of the industry is shrinking.

Finance Director Richard Meddings estimated Standard Chartered could have to pay $320-330 million next year under a British bank levy. This is about $65 million more than originally expected, due to finance minister George Osborne’s announcement on Wednesday that the levy would be raised.

Standard Chartered expects to pay about $210 million under the tax this year, up from $165 million in 2011, and warned that there has been a “significant and increasing cost of regulation”, in particular for liquidity.

The levy has been criticised for being harder on banks that are expanding their balance sheet, even outside Britain. These include Standard Chartered, which has threatened to quit London if the cost of being based in Britain becomes too much. Despite its regulatory costs, the bank is one of the few still hiring and Meddings told analysts he expected to add more staff this year than the previous guidance of about 1,500.

“We expect it now to be through 2,000 by the end of the year as we continue to hire. A lot of that hiring is in the back office support functions and compliance and risk, but it’s also in consumer banking,” he told analysts on a call. Meddings said the bank would add a similar number of jobs next year. “We’d expect to be at around the same level for next year,” he told Reuters. By contrast, most rivals have been cutting, with Citi saying on Wednesday it was cutting 11,000 jobs. By 1030 GMT StanChart’s London shares were up 0.9 percent, trailing a 1.1 percent rise in European bank shares.

A lid on costs A rise in the number of unemployed bankers meant Standard Chartered could keep a lid on costs, with revenue growing faster than costs - a phenomenon known in financial industry jargon as “positive jaws”. However, cost growth in its wholesale bank, effectively its investment banking arm, would be higher than income growth due to the DFS fine, it said.

For much of 2010, StanChart was hit by ever-rising costs as an increasing number of banks and brokerages tried to expand in Asia. Since then, various minor players including Samsung Securities and KBW have begun pulling out. The bank does not release specific numbers in its trading updates, which it keeps for annual results typically in late February. It singled out Malaysia, China and Indonesia as regions where income grew by at least 10 percent. In Hong Kong, its biggest market, income grew at a high single-digit percentage, the bank said. StanChart’s Hong Kong-listed shares are up 9 percent year-to-date, lagging the 20 percent rise on the Hang Seng Index.

Asset quality remained good, the bank said, with loan impairments within the wholesale bank expected to be below the levels seen in the first half of this year. For the consumer bank, loan impairment is expected to increase by at least 10 percent from the first half. However, StanChart pointed to India and the Middle East as two markets where it was watchful for asset quality. Slowing growth in some emerging markets has raised concern that StanChart could be hit by a rise in bad loans. — Reuters

ECB set to cut economic forecasts, but not rates ECB will extend unlimited liquidity offers FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank is likely to keep interest rates on hold yesterday but may offer clues on its policy path for next year with updated forecasts likely to present a grim outlook for the euro-zone economy in 2013. Since unveiling a new bondbuying plan in September, the ECB has held off further action until the programme is activated. That wait looks set to continue as Spain resists pressure to request a bailout - a precondition for the ECB to buy its bonds.

Instead, markets may focus on new ECB economic forecasts for hints on the course of monetary policy. The bank is sure to cut its growth outlook for this year and next as the euro-zone crisis has hurt the economy to its core, including Germany. The policymaking Governing Council’s meeting began shortly after 0800 GMT. With market interest rates varying greatly across the 17-country bloc, the ECB is focused on fixing what it calls the ‘transmission mechanism’ for passing on its rates before contemplating lowering official borrowing costs, already at a record-low level of 0.75 percent.

“We do not expect any change in rates,” Danske Bank analyst Anders Moller Lumholtz said. “We expect a very calm meeting.

Draghi has been pointing recently to improvements in market sentiment, and it’s our expectation that he will do it also.” Only a handful of the 71 economists polled by Reuters said the ECB would trim its main rate to 0.5 percent from 0.75 percent.

They were split down the middle over the possibility of a cut early next year, however, putting the focus back on the ECB’s new economic projections. “With disappointing macro data and the ECB poised to lower its growth forecasts, the prospect of a further reduction in the refi rate at least is back in the cards for next year,” Investec economist Philip Shaw said.

Business surveys showed on Wednesday the euro-zone’s economic slump was a little less pronounced in November than previously thought, although there are few signs the region will emerge from recession any time soon. The unemployment rate rose to record high 11.7 percent in October, with the southern European countries suffering most. The quarterly update of staff projections will reflect the woes, with economists expecting a downgrade to growth forecasts while the inflation outlook will remain largely the same.

In September, the projections pointed to gross domestic product (GDP) growing about 0.5 percent in 2013 after a slight contraction this year. The split in rate expectations shows that ECB watchers have a tougher time deciphering ECB President Mario Draghi’s language than that of his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet, who used coded language to flag rate moves often months in advance.

“Certainly in terms of communication, Draghi has thrown away the codebook,” Shaw said.—Reuters

TOKYO: A man checks his mobile phone in front of an electronic stock board of a securities firm yesterday as Japan’s Nikkei 225 index (top center) rose 78.60 points to 9,547.44. — AP

EADS deal ends state grip, boosts shares and Daimler PARIS: German group Daimler halved its holdings in aerospace giant EADS yesterday, and EADS shares surged, hours after France and Germany ended their grip on the boardroom and two months after the collapse of a merger with BAE Systems. The director for strategy at EADS, Marwan Lahoud, described the share restructuring announced late on Wednesday, which ends the ability of the French and German governments effectively to control the group, as a “new birth.”

EADS controls airliner maker Airbus which accounts for most of its business, but also builds nuclear missiles, satellites, fighter aircraft and helicopters. Lahoud told French radio station Europe 1, that from now on “decisions will be taken within the company.”

He also said that the opportunity of the merger with British defence group BAE Systems would not come again but if a similar situation were to occur “I think we would be in a better position to find a solution.”

And he added: “We are in the process of reviewing our strategy. At the moment, we do not envisage any kind of acquisition.”

The price of EADS shares, which had risen strongly as prospects

for the restructuring increased, gained a further 7.31 percent in early trading to 29.23 euros, above the price at which industrial and auto group Daimler sold shares. Daimler said shortly after trading began that it had halved its holding in EADS, as planned under the restructuring on Wednesday, raising 1.66 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

“Daimler today sold 61.1 million shares in EADS ... The price per share was set at 27.23 euros, which corresponds to the EADS closing price in Paris on Wednesday,” Daimler said. This halved Daimler’s stake in EADS to 7.5 percent and the buyers included the German state-owned investment bank KfW, which purchased a stake of 2.76 percent and the Dedalus investor consortium, which acquired 1.9 percent, the statement said.

“The demand from institutional investors was very strong. The book was multiple times oversubscribed,” it said. EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, was created in 2000 when it was formed of German defence group DASA, Aerospatiale-Matra of France, and Spanish group CASA. —AFP

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Positions harden in fiscal showdown WASHINGTON: Republicans in Congress and President Barack Obama consumed much of Wednesday talking up their positions on the “fiscal cliff” and though Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone, neither side offered any new compromises in public. Nor was the phone call, a rarity, followed by any immediate announcement of a face-to-face meeting that has been widely anticipated all week and was explicitly requested early in the day by House of Representatives Republican leader Eric Cantor. Asked in an interview with CNBC if the administration was ready to go over the so-called fiscal cliff if Republicans don’t come around on taxes, Obama’s chief negotiator, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, responded: “Oh, absolutely.” Facing spending cuts and tax increases that start to take effect in January unless Congress acts, Republicans on Capitol Hill were privately acknowledging that they were taking a public relations thrashing at the hands of the White House, which has marshaled a campaign-style offensive that involves some of the very “jobcreators” Republicans say they are protecting.

Obama met with another such corporate group on Wednesday, The Business Roundtable, renewing his call to include tax hikes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans as part of the final resolution and for including an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit. US stocks rose on Wednesday after Obama also said a deal to avert the fiscal cliff was possible within a week, though he expressed it as a hope not a prediction.

The confrontation has become an endless loop of familiar talking points and well-worn positions.

Republican leaders have balked at raising any tax rates, and Democrats have resisted Republican calls for cuts in entitlements like the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs. Obama said there could be a quick deal if Republican leaders dropped their opposition to raising tax rates for those making more than $250,000 a year in exchange for spending cuts and entitlement reforms. “If we can get the leadership on the Republican side to take that framework, to acknowledge that reality, then the numbers actually aren’t that far apart,” Obama told The

Business Roundtable. “Another way of putting this is we can probably solve this in about a week. It’s not that tough, but we need that conceptual breakthrough,” he said. Geithner reiterated that there would be no deal without higher tax rates on the wealthy and without a change in congressional rules making it harder to block an increase in the US debt ceiling.

“There is no prospect (for) an agreement that doesn’t involve rates going up on the top 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans,” he told CNBC. The two sides have submitted proposals to cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next 10 years, but differ on how to get there.

Republicans propose $1 trillion more in spending cuts than Obama, while the president wants $800 billion more in tax increases and $200 billion to boost the sluggish economy. Republicans have shown cracks in their solidarity on taxes, however, with some saying they would be willing to let rates rise on the wealthiest 2 percent in exchange for extending low rates for the other 98 percent of taxpayers. —Reuters

Citigroup cutting 11,000 jobs Stock rises 6.3 percent

HONG KONG: Traffic gridlock is seen in Hong Kong yesterday. — AFP

HK leader warns of talent drain HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s leader yesterday said the Chinese city needed to boost its housing supply and create more living space or the “best and the brightest” talents of the next generation would go elsewhere. One of the world’s most densely populated cities, Hong Kong has seen its property prices skyrocket in recent years after an influx of mainland Chinese buyers, pushing home ownership beyond the reach of many of its seven million people. Leung Chun-ying said the issue needed to be addressed urgently or the space-starved city, which already competes with Singapore to be Asia’s economic powerhouse, will lose its competitiveness.

“If we cannot, within the phase of the next two or three decades, generally increase the space in Hong Kong, the best and the brightest of the next generation will leave us,” the 58-year-old former property consultant told the city’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club. “We would have lost our competitiveness in attracting and retaining overseas talents, (and) also our competitiveness in retaining our local talents.

“We need to have adequate land supply not just to meet new demand... but also to give people more elbow room in their living space and also in their work space.” Leung has vowed to boost land supply and make housing more affordable since he took office in July after he was elected by a 1,200-strong committee packed with proBeijing elites. And the government in October slapped new taxes on foreign buyers and raised stamp duty on resale within three years, in a bid to cool the overheated housing market. —AFP

NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc said it is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide, delivering the first of what investors expect to be a new series of steps to shrink the bank down to a more manageable and profitable size. The cuts, which amount to about 4 percent of the bank’s workforce, carry the fingerprints of Citigroup’s Chairman Michael O’Neill.

A banking industry veteran, O’Neill, 66, has a history of ruthlessly shedding businesses that are not earning enough money. Investors were expecting O’Neill to launch a similar plan at Citigroup after he pushed out Vikram Pandit and made Michael Corbat chief executive in October.

Speaking at a conference, Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said the cuts announced on Wednesday are “a fairly comprehensive initial foray” for the new leaders, leaving the door open to more reorganization. Citigroup has been cutting costs since at least 2007, but investors have complained that expenses are not dropping fast enough. Its quarterly operating expenses are similar to their levels in 2006, but quarterly income is now less than half 2006 levels.

The bank announced 96,500 job cuts from 2007 to 2011, behind only the US government and General Motors for layoff announcements, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc, which tracks US layoffs. The cuts announced on Wednesday are expected to bring at least $1.1 billion in annual savings starting in 2014, thanks to both job cuts and broader reorganization efforts. The changes the bank is envisioning will also result in revenue falling by about $300 million annually, and will spur some $1.1 billion of charges through the middle of next year.

Earlier reductions, including a 2008 announcement to cut 50,000 jobs, were linked primarily to purging the company of assets that had turned bad in the financial crisis. More recent job cuts, including 4,500 announced at this time last year, have been aimed more at shrinking Citigroup’s costs as the bank became less profitable. Only 5 percent of the roughly $1 billion cost of implementing the latest plan is being spent on its Citi Holdings portfolio of bad assets that the company decided to shed after the financial crisis. In that way, Wednesday’s announcement is like job cuts this year across many banks and investment firms around the world, including Bank of America Corp, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and UBS AG. Citigroup shares rose 6.3 percent to close at $36.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Bank of America and other banks also climbed.

Wide-ranging reductions Corbat, in a memo to employees obtained by Reuters, said he used the company’s budgeting process for 2013 to identify ways to streamline the company. “Given the challenging environment, we need to continue to be disciplined in how we allocate our finite resources,” Corbat said in the memo. The cuts cover virtually all of the company’s operations, from investment banking and securities trading, to consumer banking and corporate overhead. The company said it will sell or significantly scale back consumer operations in Turkey, Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania and Uruguay.

“We have identified areas and products where our scale does not provide for meaningful returns,” Corbat said in a statement. “We will further increase our operating efficiency by reducing excess capacity and expenses.” Nancy Bush, a long-time bank analyst and a contributing editor at SNL Financial, said she expects Corbat will continue reorganizing and cutting jobs for two years. “I look at this as the

first cut,” she said. “Corbat will be forever digging and looking for places to cut, and inevitably personnel will be the biggest part of that.”

Consumer banking cuts About 35 percent of the fourth-quarter restructuring charges will be taken in the global consumer banking unit, where 6,200 jobs will be cut, the bank said. About 40 percent of those layoffs will be in technology and operations support areas. As it sharpens its focus on 150 high-growth markets, it plans to shed 84 branches in five countries, more than half of them in the United States. After the restructuring, the bank will have 4,000 branches around the world.

Bush said the bank in the mid-2000s had scattered branches in areas such as Boston and the New York suburbs. “They now need to go back and rethink their whole domestic branch strategy, and international as well,” she said. When Citigroup changed CEOs in October, O’Neill said executives would continue the bank’s strategy of paring back to operate core businesses more efficiently. The strategy has included emphasizing business in major urban areas.

Of the announced restructuring charges, about 25 percent will be taken in the bank’s investment and corporate banking businesses, and 10 percent in transaction services. Some 1,900 jobs are to be cut from those areas, with more than half coming from operations and technology functions that support the businesses.

One goal of the cuts is to eliminate redundant coverage of relationships with corporate clients, long a source of inefficiency at Citigroup, where sometimes multiple bankers handle relationships with companies and pitch them loans, deal advice, securities underwriting and other services. The moves will “streamline our client coverage model,” the bank said.—Reuters

NEW YORK: A ‘Citi’ sign is displayed outside Citigroup Center near Citibank headquarters in Manhattan yesterday. — AFP

Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

HSBC might pay $1.8bn money laundering fine

DUBLIN: A protester holds a placard outside the Irish Parliament after the announcement of another austerity budget. — AFP

Ireland tests market with latest austerity DUBLIN: The Irish government tested the economy and a long-suffering public with a new 3.5 billion euro ($4.6 billion) dose of austerity on Wednesday, though better service sector and jobless data helped soften the blow a little. Bailed-out Ireland has made a limited return to bond markets and is one of few euro zone countries to keep eking out mild growth, but with one of the highest budget deficits in Europe, it has little option but to further cut spending and hike taxes. New measures included a politically incendiary property tax at a time when one in six homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages and the budget was greeted by some 1,500 protesters outside parliament, a small number of whom clashed with police.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the government’s aim was to ensure the wealthy made a fair contribution, but the cuts will try the patience of people in a country which has so far avoided largescale protests seen elsewhere in Europe.

Striking a more restrained tone than his predecessor Brian Lenihan who ended his 2009 budget speech by claiming the economy had turned a corner, only to seek an EU/IMF bailout within a year, Noonan nevertheless said the end was in sight.

“When I stood before the house last year, the Irish government was locked out of bond markets. Our 2-year bond yields were almost 10 percent,” Noonan told parliament, delivering the country’s sixth budget in little over four years.

“Now they are less than 2 percent. We have seen a total transformation in only 12 months ...

We are now well on the road to recovery so let’s look to the future with confidence.” The new measures come on top of 25 billion euros taken out of the economy since 2008, equivalent to 15 percent of annual output, although the rapid rate of services sector growth last month showed its ability to weather the cuts as well as Europe’s downturn. The services sector, which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy, grew at its fastest pace in five years while separate data on Wednesday showed that the jobless rate hit a 17month low, helping to soften the budget blow.

With a record majority, the ministers had no problem pushing the first measures through parliament.—Reuters

NEW YORK: HSBC Holdings Plc might pay a fine of $1.8 billion as part of a settlement with US lawenforcement agencies over money-laundering lapses, according to several people familiar with the matter. The settlement with Europe’s biggest bank - which could be announced as soon as next week - will likely involve HSBC entering into a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The potential settlement, which has been in the works for months, is emerging as a test case for just how big a signal US prosecutors want to send to try to halt illicit flows of money moving through US banks. An HSBC spokesman said: “We are cooperating with authorities in ongoing investigations. The nature of discussions is confidential.”

HSBC said on Nov 5 that it set aside $1.5 billion to cover a potential fine for breaching anti-money laundering controls in Mexico and other violations, although Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said the cost could be “significantly higher.” In regulatory filings, HSBC has said it could face criminal charges. But similar US investigations have culminated in deferred prosecution deals, where law-enforcement agencies delay or forgo prosecuting a company if it admits wrongdoing, pays a fine and agrees to clean up its compliance systems. If the company missteps again, the Justice Department could prosecute.

A deferred prosecution agreement could raise questions over whether HSBC is simply paying a

big fine and nothing more, said Jimmy Gurule, a former enforcement official at the US Treasury. It would make a “mockery of the criminal justice system,” said Gurule, who is now a University of Notre Dame law-school professor. In his view, the only way to really catch the attention of banks is to indict individuals.

“That would send a shockwave through the international finance services community,” Gurule said. “It would put the fear of God in bank officials that knowingly disregard the law.” An HSBC settlement, long rumored, has been slow in coming. Inside the Justice Department, prosecutors in Washington, DC and West Virginia argued over how to best investigate HSBC. According to documents reviewed by Reuters, the US Attorney’s office in Wheeling, West Virginia, was prepared as far back as 2010 to indict HSBC and include more than 170 money laundering counts.

Prosecutors in Washington ultimately took charge. In July, the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report saying HSBC allowed clients to move shadowy funds from Mexico, Iran, the Cayman Islands, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The use of deferred prosecution agreements has surged in recent years because Justice Department officials believe they give prosecutors an option aside from indicting a company or dropping a case.

According to a report in May by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative-leaning think tank, there have been 207 deferred or non-prosecution agreements since

Ukraine gas deal still puzzles KIEV: It was hailed as a historic $1 billion deal marking a major step towards ending Ukraine’s reliance on imported Russian gas. But the ballyhoo had no sooner died down after the signing of the gas terminal deal than the alleged Spanish partner disowned it and the mysterious outsider involved vanished, leaving Ukrainian officials humiliated and embarrassed. The deal at the centre of the high-profile signing ceremony on Nov 26 had seemed to tie in Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa as the main investor in building a liquefied gas (LNG) terminal on the Black Sea Coast - a strategic project for which the former Soviet republic has long been looking for foreign support.

But, to the surprise of Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Yuri Boiko, the country’s powerful fuel minister,

who both attended the ceremony, the Spanish energy company swiftly denied joining any consortium. In the ensuing confusion, attention focused on the identity and role - of the Spanish-speaking man who had signed on behalf of the company - a bald figure with a tufty beard who was well-known as a middleman in deals between Spanish companies and Ukraine.

He was identified by Ukraine’s state investment agency - whose chief Vladislav Kaskiv was co-signatory of the agreement - as Jordi Sarda Bonvehi, who Reuters has learned is a 43-year-old ski instructor-turned-businessman from the Barcelona region. But Gas Natural said Bonvehi did not work for the company and, in a statement on Nov 28, suggested it might consider taking legal action. —Reuters

HANOI: A young couple poses for their wedding photos outside a Gucci store yesterday.

Vietnamese inflation picked up to the fastest pace in six months in November, official data showed, adding to the economic challenges facing the country’s Communist rulers. — AFP

2004. The agreements “have become a mainstay of white collar criminal law enforcement,” US Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said in September during an appearance at the New York City Bar Association.

“I’ve heard people criticize them and I’ve heard people praise them. DPAs have had a truly transformative effect on particular companies and, more generally, on corporate culture across the globe.” If US prosecutors agree to a deferred agreement, they still could wield a powerful legal tool by accusing the bank of laundering money.

That would be a much more serious charge than if prosecutors, in a deferred agreement, charged HSBC with criminal violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, a law that requires banks to maintain programs that root out suspicious transactions. In March 2010, for example, Wells Fargo & Co’s Wachovia entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to pay $160 million as part of a Justice Department probe that examined how drug traffickers moved money through the bank.

Wachovia was accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, a decision that prompted criticism from some observers who thought a money laundering charge should have been employed and individual bankers prosecuted. A charge of money laundering would be a rare move by the Justice Department and would send a signal to other big banks that the agency is intent on cracking down on dirty money moving through the US financial system. — Reuters

Natural gas exports would help economy NEW YORK: Exporting natural gas would benefit the US economy even if it led to higher domestic prices for the fuel, according to a study commissioned by the Energy Department. The study was commissioned to help guide officials as they decide whether to approve 15 liquefied natural gas export applications now under review by the department. The report’s findings could push the department to approve some or all of the applications. Companies are hoping to export US natural gas because it is cheaper by at least half than natural gas in Europe and Asia. Consumer advocates and manufacturers that use natural gas as a raw material or fuel source have opposed exports. They fear exports will drive up prices for residents and increase manufacturing costs.

Environmental groups are opposed to natural gas exports because of the impact of increased drilling and because it takes an enormous amount of energy to chill natural gas into a liquid to prepare it for export. The study, conducted by NERA Economic Consulting in Washington, did find that households would have to pay more for heating, cooking and electricity, and that industries that depend on natural gas to make their products would suffer somewhat.

But exports would help reduce the country’s trade imbalance and increase US household income, the study said. Natural gas producers would benefit from higher prices and economic activity would increase with additional drilling.

On the whole, the study said, the US is projected to see a net economic gain from exports. The study considered scenarios ranging from no natural gas exports to unlimited exports. In every scenario the US gains, and the more gas that is exported, the bigger the benefit, according to the report.—Reuters

Health FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

UK dials up ‘virtual doctors’ in big tele-health push Debate among doctors on size of clinical benefits LONDON: Shirley Silvers thinks the “virtual doctor” who monitors her chronic lung condition via mobile phone is wonderful.

“It is like having my doctor sitting on my sofa,” said the 64-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent in central England, explaining how her temperature, oxygen levels and sputum color - a barometer for infection - are now checked daily from home.

She sends her readings by text message and gets a reply within minutes, removing the need for regular trips to the doctor. British health minister Jeremy Hunt is equally enthusiastic.

He announced plans in November to roll out telehealth to 100,000 people with long-term conditions in 2013 and have 3 million on the system by 2017.

It will make Britain second only to the United States as an adopter of technology to monitor patients at home, luring technology and telecoms firms looking for somewhere to test ideas in a global market that may soon be worth tens

of billions of dollars. Remote monitoring has the potential to save money by keeping people like Silvers - who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - healthy and out of hospital.

Indeed, the department of health claims it could save up to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) over five years. Savings of that scale are hard to ignore in an age of austerity, and other governments across Europe are also exploring the concept.

A range of options are now available to keep tabs on patients at a distance, including home health computers, smartphone applications and video check-ups, while more futuristic projects involve wiring homes with sensors to feed medical and behavioral data to a central server.

But telehealth is not a panacea - and a fierce debate has sprung up in Britain since the government outlined results a year ago from the world’s largest telehealth trial, involving 6,000 patients, which triggered its commitment to the

concept. “Headline” data highlighted by officials from the so-called Whole System Demonstrator program suggested that using telehealth could cut emergency admissions to hospitals by 20 percent and slash mortality rates by 45 percent.

Those reductions, however, were relative - in other words, how much better patients on telehealth fared compared with those on standard care. When detailed results were published in June, the absolute reduction in mortality came in at a less compelling 3.7 percent, representing 59 lives saved among the 3,000 patients on telehealth who were followed for 12 months.

What is more, researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal that the positive findings could have arisen by chance and the scale of potential cost savings was unclear.

Other research paints a mixed picture. Some studies looking at specific diseases like heart failure and diabetes have made a strong case for telehealth, but a 200-patient US study published earlier this year in the Archives of Internal

Medicine linked telehealth to more deaths, for unknown reasons. The muddy picture probably reflects the interplay of multiple factors and indicates that telehealth cannot be viewed in isolation, since overall management of patients is likely to be just as important as use of technology, if not more so.

That makes integrating technical solutions within care systems a key challenge for firms in the telehealth space. “To make telemedicine truly work you need to have an integrated offering that has technology which stands alongside traditional delivery of healthcare,” said Christian Mazzi, a partner with consultancy Bain & Co. With mobile technology now cheap enough and good enough to monitor patients at home and offer consultations over the Internet, Mazzi believes telehealth’s time has finally arrived and the British commitment is an important stimulus in Europe. “Putting incentives and structures in place is beginning to remove some of the barriers to a broader roll out,” he said.—Reuters

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE STORY SO FAR : BAETH, HAFIZ, and MUKIT travel undersea to help the colony of Pacifica, which sits on the ocean floor. But when a warning of piracy comes in, the ship that brought them moves out of the area, making it impossible for Baeth to teleport food to the colony as planned...

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2012, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

Analysis FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

For Mongolia, China’s too close for comfort

By Charles Hutzler

A

fter years of testy debate, Mongolia broke ground this spring for a railroad that will haul coal across the pebbled Gobi desert to China, but with one costly condition. Citing national security, the government ordered the rails be laid 1,520 mm apart, Mongolia’s standard gauge inherited from the Soviets. The width ensures that the rails cannot connect to China’s, which are 85 mm closer together. So at the border, either the train undercarriages will need to be changed or the coal transferred to trucks, adding costs in delivering the fuel to Mongolia’s biggest customer. When it comes to China, Mongolia will only go so far and no further.

“This is a political decision,” shrugs Battsengel Gotov, the tall, boyish-looking chief executive of Mongolian Mining Corporation, which is building the railway from its prized coal mine, a few hours’ grinding truck drive north of the Chinese border. In the world’s rush to get rich off China, Mongolia works mightily to ensure that Chinese investment does not become Chinese dominance. It’s a balancing act shared by many countries, especially on China’s periphery. Mongolia, though, stands out for its vulnerability and determined deflection of Beijing’s embrace.

Landlocked with 2.8 million people spread over an area twice the size of Texas, Mongolia is dwarfed by China, with its 1.3 billion people and the world’s second largest economy. Fully 90 percent of Mongolia’s exports - coal, copper, cashmere and livestock - go to China, which in turn sends machinery, appliances and other consumer goods that account for a third of Mongolian imports. The rising trade with China now amounts to three-fourths of Mongolia’s economy, one of the highest ratios in the world, according to an AP analysis of IMF trade data.

Mongolia’s one other neighbor, Russia, remains important, supplying fuel and owning half a mammoth copper mine and half the national railway system, legacies of the 70 years Mongolia spent as a Soviet client state. But China, with its huge population and voracious demand, looms larger than resource-rich, thinly populated Russia. Mongolia has sought to minimize both Moscow’s and Beijing’s influence by forging links with other world powers. The fledgling democratic government has contributed troops to UN peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and other countries, and to the American war in Iraq. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit in July, praised Mongolia as “an inspiration and a model”.

In measures that politicians here say are aimed at China without naming it, Mongolia also caps immigrants from any one country to a third of one percent of the population, or less than 10,000 people, and restricts the numbers of foreign workers and types of investment. “We will not be another Africa,” said Ganhuyag Ch. Hutagt, a banker and former vice finance minister who wants to turn Mongolia into an international center of finance. “We cannot afford to have one particular nation control our businesses.”

From the steppe to the streets of the capital Ulan Bator, Mongolians evince a distrust of Chinese. The sentiment goes beyond a neo-Nazi fringe that shaves the head of Mongolian women who sleep with Chinese. Almost everyone says China is stealing Mongolia’s coal. When NBA star Dwight Howard appeared at an outdoor promotion for leading mobile phone operator Mobicom Corp in Ulan Bator last November, the popular Mongolian rapper Gee warmed up the crowd with his hit “Hujaa” - a pejorative term for Chinese.

Unlike neighboring countries from Japan to India, Mongolia has no Chinatowns. The tens of thousands of Chinese workers drawn to Mongolia’s mineral boom are rarely seen, living in fencedoff mining camps hidden in the vastness of the Gobi or behind high construction walls at building sites in the capital Ulan Bator. They are told to stay off the streets to avoid being beaten up by youth gangs.

The few Chinese restaurants advertise “Asian” food, not Chinese.

Coal country is where Mongolia’s balancing act is put to the test. Chinese demand for copper and especially coal has propelled the Mongolian economy to one of the world’s fastest growing, making some wealthy and driving down poverty in a still poor country, and China wants a

larger share of the resources. Tsogttsetsii, the county seat closest to Mongolia Mining Corporation’s coal mine and the planned railroad, bursts with activity. A new airport and apartment complexes rise out of the empty, tawny Gobi. Trucks full of coking coal veer off a company-built paved road to the Chinese border to avoid potholes, crushing tufts of grasses herds of camel and goats feed on.

On the Mongolian side of the border squat a few blocky concrete buildings for guards. Across the fence, the Chinese city sprawls and gleams, tangible reminders of how much richer Mongolia might be if fully open to China. “There are more buildings. There’s more construction. It’s more developed. The landscape is nicer,” said Dizaibadiin Luvsandorj, a gaunt former Buddhist monk-turned-coal hauler who makes the trip every week or so. Still, he doesn’t like to stay on the Chinese side, he said, because “food is expensive”.

Nowhere else does China’s footprint loom so large yet seem so faint. Even in totalitarian, hermetic North Korea, Chinese road-building crews string banners of Chinese characters along the construction sites. In Cambodia, where trade with China has nearly doubled from 10 percent of GDP in 2006 to 19 percent in 2011, and Chinese investments run from rubber

In this July 2, 2012 photo, a newlywed couple poses for their wedding photos in front of a statue of Genghis Khan at the Parliament House on the ground of Sukhbaatar Square in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. —AP

plantations to telecommunications, the government has done Beijing’s bidding. It sent back ethnic Uighurs seeking asylum.

This July, it squelched an attempt by Southeast Asian allies to use an annual forum to pillory Beijing for its expansive claims to disputed South China Sea islands.

China’s presence became so intrusive in Myanmar, also known as Burma, that it incited a backlash. A military-led government counted on China for investment and diplomatic protection during two decades of Western sanctions. Trade with China hovered around 10 percent of GDP, not including widespread smuggling.

Chinese companies have been so busily extracting timber, gems, oil and gas that locals complain “China is using Burma as a supermarket”. In the city of Mandalay, a real estate rush by Chinese has priced locals out of the market. Alarmed by the onslaught and the outcry, the government moved away from Beijing last year, taking steps toward democracy.

Mongolians have worried about being swallowed by China at least since Genghis Khan’s Mongol conquerors swept across much of Asia in the 13th century. Wanting a written language to unite Mongol tribes, he turned to a Turkic people, the Uighurs, to develop a script and not to China, whose character-based language was used in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Chinese came to dominate commerce and comprised about 10 percent of Mongolia’s 1 million population after it was absorbed into the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing, set up by another group of horseback warriors, the Manchus. Purges, first by a murderous White Russian general and his motley army and then in the 1960s and ‘70s by Mongolia’s Soviet-backed government, killed or drove off the remaining Chinese.

After peacefully shedding communist rule, Mongolia searched for ways to shake off its dependence on Moscow and keep Beijing at bay. “It’s an identity problem we Mongolians have not to be drawn into that big melting pot” of China, said Col Munkh-Ochir Dorjjugder, director of defense studies at National Defense University and a former head of analysis for Mongolia’s intelligence agency. “This tiny tribe, this tiny group that has survived all this time now wants to preserve what we have.”

To do so, they crafted a plan for outreach to major global players; they called it the “third neighbor” policy, taking a throwaway phrase US Secretary of State James Baker used on an early bridge-building trip in 1990. Beyond sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and offering an air base after September 11 to court the US, Mongolia has drawn in Japan as a key investor, the European Union for guidance on development and even faraway NATO as a security partner. The approach has been enshrined in a national security strategy.

Amid the current China-fueled rush for resources, the strategy identifies Mongolia’s mineral wealth as a security Achilles heel, citing the risk of “turning into a raw materials appendage to other countries.” As part of that, China and Russia are

each limited to a third of Mongolia’s total foreign investment. The government has kept foreign companies bidding to mine off-balance, drawing in US, Japanese, British as well as Chinese and other firms so that no one dominates. A $500 million low-interest loan from China for development projects sits untouched, because the government worries Beijing wants to use it to force mining concessions.

When the government-run Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd, known as Chalco, tried to take a controlling stake in a South Gobi coal mine near the Chinese border by buying shares from other foreign investors, parliament hurriedly passed a law this summer to stop it. Chalco dropped its bid. By requiring Mongolia Mining, a private company listed in Hong Kong, to use a different railway gauge than China, the government is adding $2 to $4 in costs to every ton of coal, or about $120 million each year. The railroad was debated for more than two years in parliament. A transport minister and other powerful politicians argued the railway should first connect with existing tracks to Russia.

In a compromise both are being built, though Russia doesn’t need the coal and its nearest port is 4,000 km away. The coal could be shipped via the port to Japan or South Korea, but the trip would add $100 to every ton.

“Mongolia’s mining fever is driven by Chinese consumption,” said mining company CEO Battsengel. On the wall of his 16th story corner office in the center of Mongolia’s capital hangs a map of the northeastern China cities, railways and ports his company wants to tap into. “We have two big superpowers as neighbors.

Virtually, we have one customer.”

Even in the coal belt where the prosperity of the China boom is most evident, the China trade is unpopular.

Myadagmaagiin Zolzaya, a retired carpenter and herder, left the pasturelands to live in a traditional round tent known as a “ger” in one of the neighborhoods springing up on the fringes of Dalanzadgad. The city, near where American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews made his much-heralded discovery of dinosaur eggs in the 1920s, is now Mongolia’s richest because it’s a staging ground for Tavan Tolgoi, a prized deposit estimated to hold 6.4 billion tons of coal, enough to meet Chinese demand for centuries.

Myadagmaagiin left his goats and sheep to his eldest son and followed his other children to the fast-growing city, where they found work: three sons in construction and his daughter as a cook. Now, while looking after his grandchildren, the balding 58-year-old Myadagmaagiin fumes about the mines, the environmental damage and the throngs of Chinese workers they have attracted. Like many across Mongolia, he knows that a state-owned mining company is selling China coal at below international market prices - a fact repeated endlessly on the country’s independent but highly partisan TV stations.

The mining company agreed to a relatively low price of $70 a ton in return for an upfront payment of $250 million that it used to develop the mine. —AP

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012 www.kuwaittimes.net

Amanda Seyfried arrives on the red carpet for the World Premiere of 'Les Miserables' at a central London cinema in Leicester Square, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. — AP

FOOD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

FOOD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting • 1 tsp fine salt • 2 sticks unsalted butter, chopped into pieces • 1 egg, beaten • 1 tbsp milk Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

Make a well in the center and add the rest of the ingredients. Again using your fingertips, mix together to make a smooth dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead two or three times. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

•Makes enough for one 9-inch diameter, 1-inch deep tart pan.

Mushrooms, maple syrup add touch of class

MUSHROOM, FETA AND CHERRY TOMATO TART • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, mixed colors • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • 10 oz. mixed portobello mushrooms, sliced • 4 eggs • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese • 2 tbsp snipped chives • 1 flaky pastry shell for a 9-inch diameter, 1-inch deep tart pan (see recipe above) • Salt and freshly ground black pepper Prebake the pastry shell by rolling out the dough and fitting it into the tart pan. Prick bottom with a fork. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper. Fill unbaked shell with pie weights or dried, uncooked beans. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the shell is set. Remove the paper and weight and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a roasting pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees, for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to soften slightly. Set aside and leave the oven on.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and mushrooms and sautÈ over gentle heat for 10 minutes, turning them occasionally. Pat the mushrooms dry with paper towels, if necessary, and set aside.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the feta cheese, and mix well. Stir in the mushrooms and chives, then season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the baked pastry shell and arrange the roasted tomatoes on top. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden.

Makes 6 servings.

EARLY AUTUMN CORNISH PASTIES

For the pastry: • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting • Sea salt • 8 oz cold unsalted butter • 1 large egg, beaten (preferably free-range) For the filling: • 12 oz. skirt steak • 1 white onion, peeled • 1 white potato, peeled • 1 small zucchini • 1 small carrot, peeled • 7 oz butternut squash, cut into 1/3-inch cubes • 1 whole nutmeg, for grating • Sea salt and white pepper • A few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves picked • Olive oil Pour the flour into a bowl, season it with a pinch of salt, then use your thumbs and forefingers to rub in the butter. Add 1 cup of water and use your hands to quickly mix it up. As it comes together, squeeze, hug, and pat it together crudely and imperfectly. Add a splash more water here if need be, but please don’t overwork it.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the steak and the vegetables into 1/3-inch dice, then put into a bowl, finely grate over a quarter of the nutmeg and add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Finely chop the rosemary and thyme leaves together and add them to the bowl of filling mixture. Drizzle in a little olive oil, then mix well and put aside.

Cut the pastry into 6 equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then pat and push each piece of pastry out to the thickness of a quarter, dusting and turning as you go. Repeat until you have 6 rounds roughly 8 inches in diameter.

Get a little filling, compact it in your hand, and place it in the middle of one of the pastry rounds, leaving a border around the edge. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and confidently fold the pastry over the meat and vegetables to make a semicircle. Make 5 more pasties the same way and put them on a baking tray dusted with flour.

Use your thumb to press down and seal the pasties around the edges. Brush the pasties all over with egg wash and bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden.

Makes 6 pasties. — MCT

M

ushrooms, onion and a hint of maple syrup add an autumn flavor to these mini-burgers. Using a microwave shortens the timing for this dinner and saves washing extra pots. Look for extra lean ground sirloin in the market. Ground turkey or chicken can be used instead. This meal contains 647 calories with 23 percent of calories from fat.

Helpful hints: Use 2 regular burger rolls if sliders aren’t available.

Countdown: Prepare ingredients.

Start hamburgers.

While hamburgers sautÈ, make potatoes and red pepper.

Shopping list: To buy: 1 package button mushrooms, 1 jar Dijon mustard, 1 bottle maple syrup, 1 pound lean ground sirloin (95 percent lean), 1 package whole wheat mini hamburger rolls, 1 pound sweet potatoes, 1 medium red bell pepper.

Staples: Onion, olive oil, salt, black peppercorns.

AUTUMN BURGER SLIDERS 1 cup coarsely chopped onion 1 cup coarsely chopped button mushrooms Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons maple syrup } pound lean ground sirloin (95 percent lean) 4 whole wheat slider buns (mini hamburger rolls) Place onion and mushrooms in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For stove-top, heat a small nonstick skillet over medi-

um-high heat and spray with olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and saute 3 to 4 minutes.

Mix the mustard and maple syrup together and set aside.

In a bowl, add half the mushrooms and onions and half the mustard mixture to the meat. Blend well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Form into 4 small hamburgers (about 3 inches in diameter.) Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the hamburgers. SautÈ 2 minutes; turn and sautÈ 3 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 145 degrees for medium rare.

Place the burgers on the bottom of the 4 slider rolls.

Spoon the remaining mushrooms and onions over the burgers and pour the remaining mustard mixture on top.

Close the burgers with the tops of the slider rolls and serve 2 sliders per person. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 495 calories (21 percent from fat), 11.7 g fat (4.4 g saturated, 5.2 g monounsaturated), 216 mg cholesterol, 47.6 g protein, 48.6 g carbohydrates, 6.3 g fiber, 632 mg sodium.

RED PEPPER AND SWEET POTATOES 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (1 cup) 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup) 2 teaspoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper Place potatoes and red bell pepper in a microwavesafe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a plate. Microwave on high 5 minutes. Let stand 1 minute. Remove cover and add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well.

Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 152 calories (28 percent from fat), 4.7 g fat (0.7 saturated, 3.3 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 2.4 g protein, 26.2 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g fiber, 64 mg sodium. — MCT

FOOD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

FOOD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting • 1 tsp fine salt • 2 sticks unsalted butter, chopped into pieces • 1 egg, beaten • 1 tbsp milk Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

Make a well in the center and add the rest of the ingredients. Again using your fingertips, mix together to make a smooth dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead two or three times. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

•Makes enough for one 9-inch diameter, 1-inch deep tart pan.

Mushrooms, maple syrup add touch of class

MUSHROOM, FETA AND CHERRY TOMATO TART

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, mixed colors • 2 tbsp olive oil • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • 10 oz. mixed portobello mushrooms, sliced • 4 eggs • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese • 2 tbsp snipped chives • 1 flaky pastry shell for a 9-inch diameter, 1-inch deep tart pan (see recipe above) • Salt and freshly ground black pepper Prebake the pastry shell by rolling out the dough and fitting it into the tart pan. Prick bottom with a fork. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper. Fill unbaked shell with pie weights or dried, uncooked beans. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the shell is set. Remove the paper and weight and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a roasting pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees, for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to soften slightly. Set aside and leave the oven on.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and mushrooms and sautÈ over gentle heat for 10 minutes, turning them occasionally. Pat the mushrooms dry with paper towels, if necessary, and set aside.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the feta cheese, and mix well. Stir in the mushrooms and chives, then season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the baked pastry shell and arrange the roasted tomatoes on top. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden.

Makes 6 servings.

EARLY AUTUMN CORNISH PASTIES

For the pastry: • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting • Sea salt • 8 oz cold unsalted butter • 1 large egg, beaten (preferably free-range) For the filling: • 12 oz. skirt steak • 1 white onion, peeled • 1 white potato, peeled • 1 small zucchini • 1 small carrot, peeled • 7 oz butternut squash, cut into 1/3-inch cubes • 1 whole nutmeg, for grating • Sea salt and white pepper • A few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves picked • Olive oil Pour the flour into a bowl, season it with a pinch of salt, then use your thumbs and forefingers to rub in the butter. Add 1 cup of water and use your hands to quickly mix it up. As it comes together, squeeze, hug, and pat it together crudely and imperfectly. Add a splash more water here if need be, but please don’t overwork it.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the steak and the vegetables into 1/3-inch dice, then put into a bowl, finely grate over a quarter of the nutmeg and add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Finely chop the rosemary and thyme leaves together and add them to the bowl of filling mixture. Drizzle in a little olive oil, then mix well and put aside.

Cut the pastry into 6 equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then pat and push each piece of pastry out to the thickness of a quarter, dusting and turning as you go. Repeat until you have 6 rounds roughly 8 inches in diameter.

Get a little filling, compact it in your hand, and place it in the middle of one of the pastry rounds, leaving a border around the edge. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and confidently fold the pastry over the meat and vegetables to make a semicircle. Make 5 more pasties the same way and put them on a baking tray dusted with flour.

Use your thumb to press down and seal the pasties around the edges. Brush the pasties all over with egg wash and bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden.

Makes 6 pasties. — MCT

M

ushrooms, onion and a hint of maple syrup add an autumn flavor to these mini-burgers. Using a microwave shortens the timing for this dinner and saves washing extra pots. Look for extra lean ground sirloin in the market. Ground turkey or chicken can be used instead. This meal contains 647 calories with 23 percent of calories from fat.

Helpful hints: Use 2 regular burger rolls if sliders aren’t available.

Countdown: Prepare ingredients.

Start hamburgers.

While hamburgers sautÈ, make potatoes and red pepper.

Shopping list: To buy: 1 package button mushrooms, 1 jar Dijon mustard, 1 bottle maple syrup, 1 pound lean ground sirloin (95 percent lean), 1 package whole wheat mini hamburger rolls, 1 pound sweet potatoes, 1 medium red bell pepper.

Staples: Onion, olive oil, salt, black peppercorns.

AUTUMN BURGER SLIDERS

1 cup coarsely chopped onion 1 cup coarsely chopped button mushrooms Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons maple syrup } pound lean ground sirloin (95 percent lean) 4 whole wheat slider buns (mini hamburger rolls) Place onion and mushrooms in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For stove-top, heat a small nonstick skillet over medi-

um-high heat and spray with olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and saute 3 to 4 minutes.

Mix the mustard and maple syrup together and set aside.

In a bowl, add half the mushrooms and onions and half the mustard mixture to the meat. Blend well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Form into 4 small hamburgers (about 3 inches in diameter.) Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the hamburgers. SautÈ 2 minutes; turn and sautÈ 3 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 145 degrees for medium rare.

Place the burgers on the bottom of the 4 slider rolls.

Spoon the remaining mushrooms and onions over the burgers and pour the remaining mustard mixture on top.

Close the burgers with the tops of the slider rolls and serve 2 sliders per person. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 495 calories (21 percent from fat), 11.7 g fat (4.4 g saturated, 5.2 g monounsaturated), 216 mg cholesterol, 47.6 g protein, 48.6 g carbohydrates, 6.3 g fiber, 632 mg sodium.

RED PEPPER AND SWEET POTATOES

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (1 cup) 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup) 2 teaspoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper Place potatoes and red bell pepper in a microwavesafe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a plate. Microwave on high 5 minutes. Let stand 1 minute. Remove cover and add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well.

Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 152 calories (28 percent from fat), 4.7 g fat (0.7 saturated, 3.3 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 2.4 g protein, 26.2 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g fiber, 64 mg sodium. — MCT

Beauty FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Hair-care tips for this winter Don’t let the cold get to your hair F

rom hat hair to static electricity, split ends to dry frizz, when winter weather hits, a bad hair day can last an entire season. In fact, even if you live in a moderate climate, experts say you’re still susceptible to hair-raising changes as the seasons pass.

“The environment can have some of the most damaging effects on hair in both summer and winter, but in winter it’s often worse because people generally don’t take as many precautions to protect their hair,” says celebrity stylist Nick Chavez, owner of the Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Salon and a QVC hair care expert.

Sun exposure (which can be as intense on a ski slope as it is on a beach) combined with a blustery winter wind (which can snarl hair) as well as snow, rain, and icy cold (which makes hair brittle and dry) can all come together to create some pretty bad winter hair days, says Chavez.

What’s that you say? You plan to spend all your time in the ski lodge with a hot toddy-and not a ski pole-in your hand? Not so fast snow bunny-winter is still your hair’s enemy. The reason is indoor heating, which experts say can be something akin to spending an entire afternoon under a hair dryer!

“It’s not quite as dramatic as the damage would be from that, but it certainly gives you an idea of what indoor heating can do to your hair,” says fashion runway stylist and Boston salon owner Marc Harris.

The good news: No matter what’s causing your winter hair woes, you can take both protective and replenishing steps. At the top of the list for most stylists: regular use of a thick, rich, moisturizing conditioner with a few key ingredients. “For me, the product has to contain essential fatty acids and humectants-not only because they are best at moisturizing hair, but because they help attract and hold moisture in the hair, which can be a real challenge in winter weather,” says Harris, who developed his own line of damage control hair products available at Salon Marc Harris, his Newbury Street salon. His key ingredients: soy protein and panthenol - must-haves, he says, to control winter hair.

For Chavez, whose Perfect Plus line of hair care products are sure sellouts for electronic retailer QVC, the key to choosing the right conditioner has everything to do with knowing your hair type. If you are blessed with thick or curly African-American hair, or ultra thick, heavy Asian hair, Chavez tells WebMD you need a thick, heavy conditioning hair pack-a deep treatment you leave on for about a halfhour, once or twice a week. But because these hair types generally hold oil at the roots-one reason the rest of the hair can seem so ultra dry-Chavez says it’s especially important not to condition the area closest to the scalp.

You should always apply product beginning 2 inches away from the scalp and pull it through the hair to the ends,” he says. If your hair is very fine, thin, and flyaway, Harris says avoid the conditioning pack-it’s just too heavy even for severely damaged hair. Instead, he says, use a regular conditioner every time you wash your hair, supplemented with a light conditioning leave-in spray. “But it has

to be very light or it will weigh down fine hair and make it flat and limp,” says Harris.

Chavez suggests the new “dry oil” sprays. These mostlysilicone based products go on dry so they don’t weight hair down, but still offer a layer of protection against the elements. Both Harris and Chavez also suggest supplementing your store-bought products with all-natural treatments of vegetable oil. Harris’ choice is safflower while Chavez prefers olive oil. In either case, they say simply put a few drops of the oil in the palm of your hand, rub until skin “glistens,” then starting at the bottom and working upwards, run your fingers through your hair. “You can do this after you dry your hair, or between washings-when you come in from the cold or anytime your hair looks very dry-it really works,” says Harris. Another tip: Chavez says every time you put on hand cream, touch the ends of your hair and scrunch to help deposit a bit more moisture where it’s needed most.

Static cling and other hair styling snafus As anyone who’s ever tried to pull socks out of a clothes

dryer can tell you, static electricity can be a powerful force.

But sticky socks are the least of your problems when compared with what static can do to your hair.

The remedy is the same one you use on your laundry: a fabric softening dryer sheet like Bounce!

“Just rub it lightly on your hair and it will remove the static,” says Chavez. Slightly more conventional is using a natural boar bristle hairbrush with a wooden handle, which Harris says can also reduce static. When it comes to styling winter hair, a few quick product switches may be all you need to combat most problems. For Harris, it starts with substituting a hair cream for your usual styling gel.

“Styling creams now trump the gel market because they add moisture to the hair, make it more pliable, and give it better elasticity so it’s less likely to break-all extremely important in winter,” he says. In fact, when choosing any winter hair styling products including holding sprays, Harris says avoid high alcohol content, which can be drying to hair. Likewise he says avoid putting fragrance directly on your hair since its alcohol content can also cause your tresses to look and feel dry and brittle.

Books FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

By Kate Kellaway

‘L

ast night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’, the opening of Rebecca, is Daphne du Maurier’s most quoted line. And from 10 May, the centenary of her birth, we should all be prepared to revisit Manderley repeatedly, as in a recurring dream. For du Maurier is about to be comprehensively celebrated.

Why is it that du Maurier still has such a hold? Why do so many women writers (with the exception of PD James, who voted Rebecca as ‘worst’ novel) want to write about her? After spending the past weeks submerged in the novels, I can volunteer one thing, and it is not an answer, more the beginning of a question. Du Maurier was mistress of calculated irresolution.

She did not want to put her readers’ minds at rest. She wanted her riddles to persist. She wanted the novels to continue to haunt us beyond their endings. And several of them do.

acted all the time’. There were jokes galore and a private language. ‘Venetian’ was family slang for lesbian.

Du Maurier’s most profound ‘Venetian’ passion was for Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her American publisher. She once said she wished she could be Ellen’s child - a strange companion piece to her father’s fantasy about wishing he could be her son. The two women became great friends but Ellen, even when holidaying with Daphne in Italy, would not do as the Venetians did. It was with the actress Gertrude Lawrence that Daphne had her most passionate affair. Gertrude became a substitute for Ellen. She was acting in du Maurier’s play September Tide, playing Stella, a character based on Ellen. It must have been a headily seductive situation.

Ellen was also, according to du Maurier, the inspiration for My Cousin Rachel (1951). This seems, re-reading the novel, the coldest of compliments. Rachel has big eyes, small hands, killing charm. She is as unknowable as Rebecca, a riddle with a

distant at first to her two daughters; to her son, she was always more closely attached).

There is, in several of her novels, an exploration of what it might mean to escape altogether. The House on the Strand (1969) is about drug-induced escape into the 14th century.

The plot doesn’t creak exactly, but it swoons. The Scapegoat (1957) is a similarly skilful but contrived exploration of a double life. I prefer the earlier Frenchman’s Creek (1941), a dash-

Haunting mysteries, wild landscapes, brooding mansions and secret Sapphic desire According to her biographer, Margaret Forster, du Maurier used to make lists of what she hoped to achieve. ‘Number one was atmosphere. That was her secret - she was a creator of atmosphere.’ But to define that atmosphere is less straightforward. Forster writes especially well about the way in which one house dominated du Maurier’s life - as it does Rebecca (1938). Manderley is as powerful as any character du Maurier created. The house is a love object, yet there is reason to hate it. It is fused with Rebecca, its most complicated ghost. Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper, with deviant devotion, keeps Rebecca’s personal effects enshrined in its West Wing. Like the narrative itself, Manderley is all twisted paths with no straight avenue in sight. And by the end, we have been twisted too into a queasy collusion with the murderous Maxim de Winter.

Manderley was partly inspired by a real house in Cornwall, Menabilly. Du Maurier fell in love with it and wrote about it before she ever lived there (uninhabited, its windows blinded by ivy, she saw it as ‘asleep’, waiting for her). A photograph shows Menabilly as unexpectedly plain, with an unreadable facade. Like Manderley, it was hidden in woods and could not be seen from the shore. Pleasingly, du Maurier was able to rent it partly through the proceeds of Rebecca: Manderley paid for Menabilly. Du Maurier never owned the house. It was like an illicit affair - hers, yet not hers. She once said, ‘Houses are not like marriages ... one cannot just walk out and leave them.’ According to Margaret Forster, Menabilly was ‘secretive - and Daphne loved secrets’.

There was one secret that was only made public in 1994, with the publication of Forster’s biography. It revealed that although du Maurier was married (and never walked out on her husband) she was bisexual,. A famous early photograph shows a girl with bobbed hair and a string of pearls. The expression on her face is aloof, clear, undeceived. An unflappable flapper. She was the granddaughter of novelist George du Maurier and daughter of actor-manager Gerald du Maurier (who wished, in a poem, that Daphne had been born a boy).

Her father’s relationship with her was claustrophobically adoring (he once said he wished he could be reborn as her son).

But he claimed to be thrilled when she got engaged, in 1932, to Tommy Browning, a Grenadier Guards officer. ‘Pleased?’ said Gerald. ‘My dears, I am delighted - I thought she would have had a baby by a Cornish fisherman by now!’ In the du Maurier household, according to Margaret Forster, ‘everyone

countenance that is sometimes ‘small and narrow, a face upon a coin’. (Rachel is also that rare thing: a dangerous gardener.)

I asked Sarah Waters, who is not only an admirer of du Maurier but could be seen as her natural successor, what she thought of the portrait of Ellen. She suggested that du Maurier used her novels to work through ‘unruly feelings’ about women. It is true that it is to women that she most appeals as a writer. Reading du Maurier, Waters says, ‘something chimes inside you’. She sees Rebecca as akin to Jane Eyre (and as an influence on Angela Carter in The Bloody Chamber). ‘There is a lot of Bluebeard in Rebecca ... You can’t believe there was ever a point where the novel didn’t exist.’

When Daphne du Maurier died, most of the obituaries tended to focus on Rebecca - it has a way of obstructing the view. But for thriller writer Sarah Dunant, Jamaica Inn (1936) is equally deserving of notice. It is a rattling, magnificent, slightly leaky wagon of a novel, with the Cornish moors as its bleak backdrop. The rough weather seems to conspire with the violent landlord of Jamaica Inn. Mary Yellen, its heroine, has tremendous pluck. She gives in to only one thing (and with her eyes open): love. ‘Jamaica Inn is a portrait of fear, shame, collusion,’ Dunant declares. Du Maurier was especially good at describing the ‘terrible collision of attraction and suspicion between men and women’. She believes du Maurier ‘stretched the form’ as a thriller writer and places her ‘on a par with Wilkie Collins’. But she stresses the ‘darkness’ in her work: ‘Even the happy endings are never happy. They are tainted.’

And the queasiness? ‘It is the price paid for charisma in men.’

Dunant also points out that the atmosphere in du Maurier depends on her feeling for landscape. (Her bestselling non-fictional book, Vanishing Cornwall, is about to be republished by Virago.) ‘She is very good on English landscape. You may think of her as an urbane socialite coming out of Edwardian England, but she went to the land.’ Du Maurier knew every inch of the Cornish countryside she described in the way that only a dedicated walker could.

She was a romantic, and that included a Wordsworthian need to be alone. Dunant thinks the loneliness is at the heart of her books and their heroines. She could be vivid company but often preferred to withdraw from society, perhaps finding it too much of a performance. The performance that really counted happened on the page. She was a dutiful wife, although the maternal instinct did not come easily (she was

ing, slender novel about responsibility. Dona is a fugitive from the Restoration court, a mother who abandons her children and escapes down to the creek into the arms of a French pirate with a taste for philosophy and soup. Will she leave her kind, irritating husband and children for him? Well, no. But du Maurier leaves us in no doubt. The unexamined life is worth living, even if the dream must not be encouraged to last. And Frenchman’s Creek has a bravura ending. Where a more ordinary writer might have described the pirate vanishing at sundown - to emphasise a passion properly relinquished - du Maurier has the rising sun, red and bold, as her finishing line.

— www.guardian.co.uk

Te c h n o l o g y FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Tablet buying guide: 10 things to look for How to choose the right tablet for you

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he Galaxy Tab is slightly thicker and slightly lighter than the iPad 2. With more tablets arriving on the market, how do you choose which is best for you?

Here’s our quick and easy guide to choosing your perfect tablet.

1. What operating system does it run?

There are various different operating systems available for tablets.

By far the most popular is iOS - the Apple option found on the iPad and iPhone. Many of the tablets due out during 2011 will run Android 3.0 - a new purpose-built version of the Google-backed operating system found on many phones. Other operating systems are on tablets from Blackberry and HP. Although there are some tablets that run Microsoft’s Windows 7, this operating system isn’t specially designed for tablet use but Windows 8 is looking increasingly tablet-friendly.

2. How big is the screen?

The screen size is one of the most important factors to consider when deciding which tablet is best for you. Obviously, the size of a tablet that you go for depends on just how comfortable you are with the various sizes - or how portable you need it to be. The iPad 2’s screen is identical to the original iPad at 9.7-inches, mostly because it proved such a popular size. Many of the new Android 3.0 tablets are bigger with 10.1-inch displays. However, some smaller options exist - 7-inch is another popular size; the Dell Streak 7 and

Blackberry Playbook are good examples. Smaller tablets do exist but there’s a thin line between a 5inch tablet and a smartphone.

to a data contract. The good thing about this is that many stores offer tablets at subsidised rates just like they do with mobile phones.

3. What processor does it run?

All tablets are based on ARM processor technology - the same as virtually all mobile phones.

Different companies have produced their own versions of the ARM chip design and many of them are now dual-core, like a lot of PC processors. Apple’s iPad 2 runs the Apple A5 chip, while Android 3.0 tablets generally use Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor.

5. Does it have cameras?

The new iPad 2 has two cameras, as do many Android 3.0 tablets. The purpose of the front-facing camera is for video-calling so you can use Skype or apps such as Google Talk.

The rear-camera can be used to take pictures or, as on mobile phones, video. Indeed, many tablet cameras are capable of taking 720p high definition video, so check that out if it’s important to you. Most new tablets have two cameras too - but it’s worth checking out before buying.

4. Do you need a 3G tablet?

All tablets support Wi-Fi so you can wirelessly connect them to your home network. However, many tablets come in two versions. And, as well as Wi-Fi, one of those versions will also support 3G so you can put a mobile internet-enabled SIM card into it and use the internet while on the move.

The 3G versions are generally more expensive and you also have to have to sign up

6. How many apps are compatible with it?

The Apple App Store has the most apps, with over 300,000 now available. The iPad 2 runs almost all of them but there are around 65,000 specially designed for the iPad. For Android, there are only a couple of

thousand 3.0 apps, but still they cover all the main bases. Older Android apps also work on Honeycomb though. Other operating systems also have app stores, but they are small in comparison.

However, for all but the most obscure operations you should still find apps to do what you need.

7. How much storage space does it have?

How much storage you require depends on what you want to use your tablet for. 16GB is more than enough for storing a load of music and photos, but large applications and HD video require a lot more memory. If you’re not going to store a lot of music or video, the smaller sizes will be fine. The iPad doesn’t have a memory card slot but many of the other tablets have microSD/microSDHC slots, so you can expand the storage.

8. Can it connect to your TV set?

Many tablets can also connect to monitor displays and televisions via an HDMI cable. This is great if you have

video content on your tablet that you can then play on the bigger screen. If this is important to you, look for a full-size or mini-HDMI output, available on many different tablets such as the Motorola Xoom.

You will need to buy a cable to connect your tablet to the TV. In the case of the iPad 2, there is a special kit (pictured) for connecting your tablet to an HDMI display. The catch is that it’ll cost you an additional £35.

9. How thick is it and how much does it weigh?

While a lot of noise has been made about the iPad 2 weighing just 601g and being 8.8mm thick, other tablets more than hold their own. It’s no longer the thinnest or lightest - the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs 595g and is 8.6mm thick. The 7-inch Blackberry Playbook is a mere 9.7mm thick and weighs just over 400g as it’s smaller.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, meanwhile, is 10.9mm thick and weighs a mere 599g, while the Motorola Xoom is surprisingly heavy at 730g. Weight and thickness is more of an aesthetic concern than anything else, but if you’re going to be holding your tablet for a long period of time (or in one hand) you’ll certainly start to notice heavier models after a while - ditto if you’re going to be carrying it around in a small bag.

10. Do you actually want a laptop?

Don’t get us wrong, we think tablets are amazing. But while there are productivity applications - like word processors and spreadsheets available - as well as image editing tools and online apps like Google Docs, don’t expect miracles from a tablet in terms of work. A tablet can be a great addition to your tech armoury, but it can’t replace a full-blown Mac or PC with powerful desktop software.

Replacing a netbook- now that’s a different game altogether. www.techradar.com

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Smartphones to light up Sydney’s New Year show S ydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks will go interactive with a smartphone-powered light show, officials announced yesterday, with Ambassador Kylie Minogue calling on the city to embrace. The light show, described by City of Sydney officials as a “worldfirst”, will run through an app on iPhone and Android smartphones that will illuminate the screens with color

at scheduled intervals leading up to midnight. The city is hoping to attract more than one million people to the harbor foreshore to witness the fireworks, and organizers want the crowds to hold their phones aloft to form a synchronized wave of color.

“In a city of great diversity we come together at New Year’s Eve to embrace the future and celebrate all that we are and the potential that tomorrow

Franck, the son of Christian Bonnet uses a thermoforming technic on a pair of tortoiseshell spectacles frames in the company Maison Bonnet’s Paris workshop. — AFP

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holds,” Minogue, the event’s creative ambassador, said in a video message for yesterday’s official launch.

Minogue said the theme for the 2012 celebrations, Embrace, was about “acceptance, tolerance, fun and above all love”. “This year I want everyone to embrace during the 9pm family fireworks and the midnight fireworks,” she said. “Whether it’s embracing new ideas, change and opportunities, or

just giving a big hug to your family and friends, it’s something everyone can get involved in.”

App users will also be able to submit a word to be projected onto the pylons of the Harbour Bridge, which is typically the centrepiece of an evening’s pyrotechnics. The Sydney fireworks kick off global New Year’s celebrations and are seen by billions of people worldwide.—AFP

Franck uses a thermoforming technic on a pair of tortoiseshell spectacles frames.

Tortoiseshell craftsmen adapt to new century

hat did Yves Saint Laurent, Jackie Kennedy and the architect Le Corbusier have in common? Their eyewear, for one, as clients of the luxury French tortoiseshell artisan, Bonnet. Four decades after the trade in tortoiseshell was banned under the 1973 CITES convention, the fourth-generation family firm sees itself as custodian of a rare craft, fashioning made-tomeasure spectacles from stocks amassed before the ban. Bonnet describes its customers-among them Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas or presidents Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac-as “aesthetes” more concerned about style, the timeless kind, than fashion.

Christian Bonnet, who learned the trade from his father and grandfather, holds the rank of “maitre d’art”, an honorific title granted

by France’s culture ministry and currently held by just over 100 craftsmen nationwide. Today jointly headed by Christian and his sons Franck and Steven, Bonnet turns out around 100 pairs of handmade tortoiseshell glasses per year for prices ranging from 3,500 to 30,000 euros. “My father didn’t want me to go into the trade, because of the problem with tortoiseshell supply,” produced mainly from the shell of the endangered hawksbill turtle, Franck Bonnet told AFP. With 12 grams of tortoiseshell needed for one pair of glasses, the firm says it uses around two to three kilos of the stuff per year.

Declared part of French national heritage in

2007, Bonnet will not say how much stock it holds, but the supply is finite. “It is inconceivable that we would ever fish another turtle out of the ocean,” says the 41-year-old, himself a staunch environmentalist. So he decided a few years ago it was time to look to the future-and to a wider market.

“For my father, my grandfather and greatgrandfather before them, it was tortoiseshell, tortoiseshell, tortoiseshell only. “I said to my

father, ‘You are the last tortoiseshell craftsman, but you are also the last hand-made eyewear maker. If we could only use more readily available materials, maybe I can keep our craft alive?’” That is how from 2008 onwards, he introduced buffalo horn-lowering the average frame price to between 1,200 and 1,500 euros, and acetate, for budgets between 850 and 1,150 euros.

Tortoiseshell aside, the dozen workers at its

A close-up shows a pair of tortoiseshell spectacles frames with its fact sheet.

Paris boutique and workshop in Sens, a few hours southeast of the capital, now produce some 700 pairs using new materials. The next step towards broadening what they offer is to come from customization-allowing people to change the size and color on standard models.

Franck Bonnet says he loves watching Japanese tourists inspect his wares, and is mulling opening a boutique in Tokyo. “They go over every last detail. You know you haven’t put the effort in for nothing!” Bonnet was snared in controversy recently when a star journalist, Audrey Pulvar-then in a relationship with a Socialist minister-was outed for wearing a pair of their steeply-priced glasses. “It wasn’t 12,000 euros, it wasn’t 15,000 euros or 18,000!”, as reported in the media, Bonnet told AFP. “Five thousand is more like it.” In other words, almost an entry-level model. “It’s true it is costly,” Bonnet said. “But we artisans are not millionaires; this kind of high craft is extremely time-consuming.”

Making glasses to measure means studying the face in minute detail. “How high your ears are, the shape of your nose-all have an incidence on the tilt of the lenses, and therefore on how well you see,” he explained. And that is before all the different steps of shaping and polishing the frame. “You can spend a crazy length of time on a pair of spectacles, redoing them two, three, five times to get them exactly right. What costs money is not marketing, it’s what goes on the client’s nose!” — AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

What the devil?

Royal Opera stages Meyerbeer rarity

Hong Kong action film star Jackie Chan holds toy pandas as he poses for photos atop a hotel roof just outside the Kremlin in Moscow, yesterday. Jackie Chan arrived in Moscow to promote his new film ‘Chinese Zodiac,’ also known as ‘Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac.’ — AFP

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he audience at London’s Royal Opera House is in for a big surprise on late last night. They will witness German composer Giacomo Meyerbeer’s 1831 grand opera “Robert le Diable” (Robert the Devil), a work so rarely performed that virtually no one has seen it, let alone sung it or played it. In fact, the last time Britain’s prestigious Royal Opera House put on the epic work was in 1890, by which time it had fallen out of favour, never to recover fully.

“I think the piece still works today,” said Laurent Pelly, the French director with the Herculean task of staging a work that turned Meyerbeer into a superstar when it premiered in Paris nearly two centuries ago. “I hope they will be taken by the story and the music and the singers,” he told Reuters backstage on the eve of opening night. “It’s a huge piece.”

The chorus is 80-strong, there are 10 dancers, and the principal singers face roles among the most demanding in opera. Adding to the stress was a lastminute casting change for the key role of Isabelle, which was to have been performed by American soprano Jennifer Rowley in her Royal Opera debut until she was replaced less than a week before the premiere.

“It was a musical problem,” Pelly explained. “We were doing five weeks and in the end it was not possible to do, so it was very important to find somebody else,” he added, speaking in English. Italian Patrizia Ciofi was brought in with the advantage that she had worked with Pelly before and, crucially, was one of the few sopranos who had previously performed Robert le Diable. “Three days is very short of course, but I know Patrizia,” Pelly said. Ciofi will sing the first four performances (Dec 6, 9, 12 and 15) and Russian soprano Sofia Fomina will take over for the final two shows on Dec 18 and 21.

Paris triumph When Meyerbeer started work on Robert le Diable, he set out to create a hit. Pelly likens the opera to a Hollywood blockbuster, light on subtlety but rich in action, special effects, stirring music and melodrama. Set in the times of knights, jousting and chivalry, the story follows Robert’s quest for the hand of Isabelle and his dangerous dance with the devil, and contains the once notorious scene of nuns’ ghosts dancing provocatively by their tombs.

The effect on audiences in 1831 was sensational.

They fell in love with the opera, which quickly became a favorite around the world and was deemed a masterpiece by Frederic Chopin. Degas captured it in paint and, according to Pelly, its influences can be traced to popular works by composers including Bizet, Offenbach and Gounod. Why it had fallen from grace by the 20th century is not clear.

“During the 19th century a lot of composers were inspired by Robert le Diable and by Meyerbeer, and 60 or 70 years after it seemed very old fashioned, there were too many performances and everybody knew it,” said Pelly.

“I think the opera-goer wanted to forget it.”

Other factors included the expense of staging such a large work, the emerging talents of Wagner and Verdi and its running time of over four hours. Except for Sunday’s matinee, there are, unusually, plenty of tickets left on the Royal Opera website. Some experts link its decline to Wagner, who was heavily influenced by Meyerbeer early on but turned on the composer and sought to disassociate himself from him. —Reuters

Keaton honored at Women in Entertainment breakfast W Actress Diane Keaton attends The Hollywood Reporter’s 21st Annual Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast presented by Lifetime on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. — AP

hen Diane Keaton learned she would receive the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, the 66-year-old actress immediately began panicking about her speech. Keaton accepted the diamond-and-ruby-encrusted prize Wednesday at the Hollywood Reporter’s 21st annual Women in Entertainment breakfast honoring the most powerful women in Hollywood.

She opened by warning that her speech wasn’t funny, then proceeded to crack up the crowd inside the ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel. “I just wanted my speech to be the most touching, heartfelt, funniest, yet also persuasive, because that’s what a leader is,” the Oscar winner said. “I just knew that my speech had to be way better than Meryl Streep’s speech or Jane Fonda or Helen Mirren” - all previous Lansing Award winners. Keaton paid tribute to her parents, particularly her mother, who died in 2008 of Alzheimer’s. Keaton revealed all the things she wished she would have said to her mom, describ-

ing her as “my first and most inspired leader.”

Wednesday’s breakfast also featured speeches by Sandra Fluke, who encouraged the entertainers and executives in attendance to show girls in leadership positions on screen and hire women for such positions off screen; and Mindy Kaling, who confessed that even though the ballroom was filled with women, she opted to wear Spanx beneath her dress because, “I need to look banging for Diane Keaton.”

The breakfast event coincides with the publication of the Hollywood Reporter’s annual Power 100 ranking of entertainment’s most influential women. Anne Sweeney, co-chairman of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group, tops the list for the third consecutive year. There’s still much progress to be made, said the magazine’s Editorial Director Janice Min. Quoting comedian Joel McHale, she said, “If women ran Hollywood, ‘Magic Mike’ would already be a theme-park ride.” — AP

Rihanna will executive produce ‘Styled to Rock’

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op star Rihanna is getting into the TV business. The 24-year-old singer will executive produce and star in the new series, “Styled to Rock,” for the Style network. Style Media made the announcement Wednesday. The 10episode series, to air next year, will give 12 aspiring designers, chosen by Rihanna, an opportunity to style A-list

stars. The weekly celeb guest will decide which designer did the best job.

One contestant will be sent home, and those remaining will advance to the next week’s challenge. At the end, one aspiring designer will be named the winner. Prizes are still being determined. A casting search is under way on Style’s website. —AP

‘The Bodyguard’ stage musical opens in London

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oes “The Bodyguard” have the muscle to be a hit? A stage musical based on the 1992 movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner has opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre to a mixed critical reception - but universal praise for its big-voiced star. Reviewers raved yesterday about Heather Headley’s performance as Rachel Marron, a superstar singer who falls for the former secret service agent (Lloyd Owen) assigned to protect her from a stalker.

Critic Mark Shenton in The Stage

newspaper found Headley - an American actor and singer who has won both a Tony and a Grammy Award - “an utterly compelling star” who combines “an authentic glamour and blazingly soulful vocals.” Evening Standard critic Henry Hitchings called her “mesmerizing,” while the Daily Telegraph’s Charles Spencer praised Headley’s “sassy stage presence” and declared her renditions of songs such as “I Will Always Love You” even better than those by Houston, who died in February aged 48. —AP

Singer Rihanna performs during the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York. —AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

This film image released by FilmDistrict shows, from left, Jessica Biel, Noah Lomax, and Gerard Butler in a scene from ‘Playing for Keeps. — AP

This film image released by Focus Features shows Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt in a scene from ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’.

Capsule reviews of new movie releases “T

he Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Stuffed with Hollywood’s latest technology, Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” prelude is some eye candy that truly dazzles and some that utterly distracts, at least in its testrun of 48 frames a second, double the projection rate that has been standard since silent-film days.

It’s also overstuffed with prologues, flashbacks and long, boring councils among dwarves, wizards and elves as Jackson tries to mine enough story out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology to build another trilogy. Remember the interminable false endings of “The Return of the King,” the Academy Awardwinning finale of Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings”?

“An Unexpected Journey” has a similar bloat throughout its nearly three hours, in which Tolkien’s brisk story of intrepid little hobbit Bilbo Baggins is drawn out and diluted by dispensable trimmings better left for DVD extras. Two more parts are coming, so we won’t know how the whole story comes together until the finale arrives in summer 2014.

Part one’s embellishments may pay off nicely, but right now, “An Unexpected Journey” looks like the start of an unnecessary trilogy better told in one film. Martin Freeman stars as homebody Bilbo, the reluctant recruit of wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) on a quest to retake a dwarf kingdom from a dragon. The 48-frame version offers remarkably lifelike images, but the view is almost too real at times, the crystal pictures bleaching away the painterly quality of traditional film and exposing sets and props as movie fakery. PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images. 169 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.-David Germain, AP

This film image released by Warner Bros., shows the character Gollum voiced by Andy Serkis in a scene from the fantasy adventure ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.’

Movie Writer “Hyde Park on Hudson” - Bill Murray as FDR? The casting might sound weird at first. But Murray’s subtly charming presence ends up being one of the stronger elements of this otherwise lightweight romance, which depicts one of the most revered United States presidents with all the substance and insight of a lukewarm cup of tea.

“Notting Hill” director Roger Michell, working from a script by Richard Nelson, depicts a brief period in the secret affair between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his fifth cousin, Margaret Suckley - or “Daisy” as she was known. Unflaggingly loyal, earnest and supportive, she’s also mousy, quiet and a total bore - a huge waste of the versatile and vibrant talents of Laura Linney. The fact that Linney

provides wall-to-wall voiceover doesn’t add much, as she’s stuck spelling out what should be pretty obvious on screen (“He said I helped him forget the weight of the world,” for example.) “Hyde Park on Hudson” focuses specifically on the June 1939 weekend when FDR hosted the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) at his family’s home in upstate New York, hence the title, just as World War II was about to erupt. Michell awkwardly tries to balance both the farce of cultural clashes and the jealous tension that arises as Daisy begins to understand that she’s not the president’s only paramour. Olivia Williams brings a nononsense presence to her portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt in a “Rushmore” reunion with Murray

that’s a total letdown. R for brief sexuality. 95 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.-Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic “Playing for Keeps” - This is supposed to be the time of year when high-quality movies come out, whether they’re potential Oscar contenders or crowd-pleasing family fare. So the presence of this flat, hacky, unfunny dreck - the kind of film that ordinarily tries to fly under the radar in January or February but would be torture to sit through in any month - is a total mystery. It is truly baffling that all these talented, acclaimed people actually read this script and then agreed to devote their time to this movie, especially given its uncomfortably flagrant misogynistic streak. Judy Greer, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Uma Thurman couldn’t possibly need work this badly. And yet, here they are as soccer moms shamelessly throwing themselves at Gerard Butler and his tousled, manly mane. Butler, still struggling with comedy, stars as George Dryer, a once-great Scottish soccer star who’s now divorced and in financial straits. He moves to suburban Virginia to reconnect with his ex-wife (Jessica Biel) and their young son (Noah Lomax). Naturally, a couple of things happen pretty quickly, accompanied by an intrusively jaunty score. First, George gets suckered into coaching his kid’s soccer team. Then, the mothers of all the other 9-year-olds start brazenly hitting on him.

Director Gabriele Muccino veers wildly between wacky hijinks and facile sentimentality, and Robbie Fox’s script doesn’t feature a single character who resembles an actual human being. PG-13 for some sexual situations, language and a brief intense image. 105 minutes. Zero stars out of four.

—Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

De Niro on finding ‘Silver Linings’ in mental illness - but not in football

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obert De Niro’s performance in “Silver Linings Playbook,” in which he plays an obsessive-compulsive Philadelphia Eagles fan trying to reconnect with his bipolar son when he’s not busy making elaborate playoff bets, has been hailed as a comeback for an actor who long ago entered his profession’s pantheon. Though “Silver Linings” is largely a comedy, it’s also the meatiest role in years for one of the preeminent actors of the 1970s, with blistering work in the likes of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull.” It also could earn the twotime Oscar winner his first nomination in more than two decades.

Robert De Niro

What drew you to this project? I’ve known [director David O. Russell] over the years, and I’ve seen some of his things he’s made. I saw “The Fighter,” and I thought it was terrific. This came along, and I was certainly more than happy to be part of it. I’m not sure if I read the original script first or the book, but then David came along and he wrote his own version and made it his own.

Your character is very different in the film than he is in Matthew Quick’s novel. Matthew made the father more solemn and taciturn and non-communicative. He’d go to his room and just wouldn’t talk much with the family. He wasn’t angry, just reticent. He was good in a way, but not as colorful as the way David envisioned him. This film is such an interesting mixture of comedy and drama often in the same scene. Was that one of its attractions?

I always feel that kind of behavior is normal in families, certain families especially. That’s probably what people like

about it. The highs and lows are part of the charm of the way David wrote this story. It’s the way people relate to each other. Is this film trying to make a deeper point about the millions of Americans who struggle with mental illness?

I don’t know about any message or the way David saw the story and the circumstances. I don’t know if it de-stigmatizes anything. But in that situation, you can feel helpless.

The way a family member deals with another family member who has these issues is hard. It can be funny, too, ironically - even when the situation is stressful.

I’m not into football. Sometimes I wonder why not. I don’t really like spectator sports other than tennis or a basketball championship or maybe a prize fight. Along with “Limitless,” this is your second film with Bradley Cooper. Why do you like working with him? Bradley is very smart and committed.

He’s not only interested in himself in a movie but how the movie is being put together in total. —Reuters

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

File photo shows guitarist Dan Auerbach, center, and drummer Patrick Carney of The Black Keys perform at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, in New York.

File photo shows the US band ‘fun,’ perform during the 2012 MTV European Music Awards show at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, central Germany. —AP photos

Male artists lead 2013

Grammy nominations M

The Lumineers present the nominees for Best Country Solo Performance at the Grammy Nominations Concert.

Janelle Monae performs with fun.

Little Big Town presents the nominees for Best New Artist.

ale artists led the nominations announced on Wednesday for the 2013 Grammys, as fun., Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys landed six nods each for music’s biggest awards. The nominations for New York-based indie-pop band fun. - made up of Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff - included the four main categories for record, song and album of the year, and best new artist fun, which also performed at the Grammy nominations concert with Janelle Monae, said it felt good to be recognized and “took pride” in its live performances. “Tonight, all I wanted to do was get up and really give it our all ... receiving the nomination is amazing and a culmination of hard work the three of us have put into this band,” lead singer Ruess told reporters backstage.

The group scored a huge hit with its first single, “We Are Young,” and then followed that up with its successful album “Some Nights” and single of the same name. Joining it in the album, record of the year and best new artist categories was hip hop artist Ocean. The 25year-old rapper-singer made waves earlier this year after revealing his first love was a man, a groundbreaking move in the hip hop industry, which has faced criticism in the past for being hostile toward gays.

His debut album, “Channel Orange” was a critical and commercial success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart in July.

Ocean and fun. will be competing with blues-rock group Alabama Shakes, country singer Hunter Hayes and folk-rockers The Lumineers for the coveted best new artist title.

While young male artists made up a large portion of nominees in key categories, noticeably absent was 18-year-old Canadian singer Justin Bieber, one of 2012’s biggest pop music stars with chart-topping album “Believe” and singles such as “Boyfriend.”

The winners will be announced at the televised awards show in Los Angeles on Feb 10.

After Adele, male artists lead After British singer Adele dominated the previous Grammy Awards with her juggernaut album “21,” male artists took the lead in the album of the year category, where Ocean and fun. are competing with The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and Jack White. British folk band Mumford & Sons, which scored six nominations both in 2011 and 2012 for its debut album, “Sigh No More,” landed six more nominations on Wednesday for its chart-topping sophomore album, “Babel,” which is the second biggest-selling album in the United States this year.

Ohio rock duo The Black Keys, formed by frontman Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, landed five nominations, while Auerbach also notched a non-classical producer of the year nomination for his work on four albums. Blues-rocker Jack White, the former frontman of The White Stripes, picked up three nods for his chart-topping debut solo album “Blunderbuss.”

Rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West continued to pick up nods for their 2011 album, “Watch The Throne,” including best rap performance for “N****s in Paris.” Jay-Z also landed nods for collaborating on songs with Young Jeezy and Rihanna, while West scored multiple nominations for his song “Mercy.” Kelly Clarkson was one of the few leading female nominees, picking up three nominations, including record of the year and best pop vocal album.

R&B singer Rihanna also landed three nods, including best solo

pop performance for “Where Have You Been.” Record of the year nominees saw an assortment of rock, pop and hip hop nominees, with Clarkson’s “Stronger” competing with The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy,” fun.’s “We Are Young,” Australian artist Gotye’s heartbreak hit “Somebody That I Used To Know,” Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You,” and Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

To be eligible for nominations this year, artists had to release their music between Oct 1, 2011, and Sept 30, 2012. Adele, who swept the awards in February with six accolades including the top three, landed only one nomination this year for best pop solo performance, as she did not release any music in the eligibility time frame.

The nominations for the top awards and main categories were announced during an hour-long televised concert in Nashville for the first time, co-hosted by country-pop artist Swift and veteran Grammy host, rapper-actor LL Cool J. Adding a twist to the announcements, Hayes sang the nominees for best pop album, a tight contest between Maroon 5, Clarkson, Pink, fun. and Florence and the Machine. Hayes picked up two nods for best new artist and best country vocal performance. British rock legends The Who will receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in February.—Reuters

Kimberly Perry, of musical group The Band Perry.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Dierks Bentley, second left, performs with The Band Perry.

File photo shows Mumford and Sons perform on stage for the Brit Awards 2011 at The O2 Arena in London.

Leading 2013 Grammy nominees ALBUM OF THE YEAR “El Camino” - The Black Keys “Some Nights” - fun.

“Babel” - Mumford & Sons “Channel Orange” - Frank Ocean “Blunderbuss” - Jack White RECORD OF THE YEAR “Lonely Boy” - Black Keys “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” Kelly Clarkson “We Are Young” - fun. featuring Janelle Monae “Somebody That I Used To Know” Gotye featuring Kimbra “Thinkin Bout You” - Frank Ocean “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” - Taylor Swift BEST NEW ARTIST Alabama Shakes fun Hunter Hayes The Lumineers Frank Ocean SONG OF THE YEAR (Songwriter’s award) “The A Team” - Ed Sheeran, songwriter “Adorn” - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter “Call Me Maybe” - Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” Jˆrgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters “We Are Young” - Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM “Stronger” - Kelly Clarkson “Ceremonials” - Florence and the Machine “Some Nights” - fun.

“Overexposed” - Maroon 5 “The Truth About Love” - Pink BEST ROCK ALBUM “El Camino” - The Black Keys “Mylo Xyloto” - Coldplay “The 2nd Law” - Muse “Wrecking Ball” - Bruce Springsteen “Blunderbuss” - Jack White BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do” -Fiona Apple “Biophilia” - Bjˆrk “Making Mirrors” - Gotye “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” - M83 “Bad As Me” - Tom Waits BEST R&B ALBUM “Black Radio” - Robert Glasper Experiment “Back To Love” - Anthony Hamilton “Write Me Back” - R. Kelly “Beautiful Surprise” - Tamia “Open Invitation” - Tyrese

From left, Wesley Schultz, Neyla Pekarek, and Jeremiah Fraites, of the musical group The Lumineers, announce the nominees for best country solo performance.

BEST RAP ALBUM “Take Care” - Drake “Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1” Lupe Fiasco “Life Is Good” - Nas “Undun” - The Roots “God Forgives, I Don’t” - Rick Ross “Based On A T.R.U. Story” - 2 Chainz

Sheryl Crow, right, and Chris Young announce the nominees for record of the year.

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM “Uncaged” - Zac Brown Band “Hunter Hayes” - Hunter Hayes “Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran” - Jamey Johnson “Four The Record” - Miranda Lambert “The Time Jumpers” — Reuters

Hosts LL Cool J, left, and Taylor Swift speak onstage.

Country Artist Dierks Bentley

Jay-Z performs.

Adam Levine, of the musical group Maroon 5.

Kanye West performs during the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York.

Ne-Yo performs.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Al-Madena Al-Shohada’a Al-Shuwaikh Al-Nuzha Sabhan Al-Helaly Al-Fayhaa Al-Farwaniya Al-Sulaibikhat Al-Fahaheel Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Ahmadi Al-Mangaf Al-Shuaiba Al-Jahra Al-Salmiya

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PETS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Rachel Nieder uses the self-serve dog wash area at Ollu Dog Salon to clean her 14-year-old Labrador on November 14, 2012. — MCT

Do it yourself, doggone it!

‘If you can give a kid a bath, you can give a dog a bath’

R

achel Nieder gave her black lab a bath at home once. “But just once,” she said.

“There was a lot of water, a lot of fur and a lot of hurt feelings.” So now the Columbia Heights, Minn, resident takes her dog, Beauty, to the Ollu self-service dog wash in Minneapolis. Both seem happy with the change. Nieder doesn’t have to kneel next to her bathtub or worry about Beauty’s fur clogging the drain.

And when the bath is over, Beauty can shake to her heart’s content - the shop provides Nieder with a rubber apron and an attendant squeegees the floor. If the words “self-service dog wash” prompt a double take, you’re not alone, said Jodel Fesenmaier, Ollu’s owner. When she opened the shop three years ago, she spent half her time trying to explain to customers why there was a need for such a place.

“But once they try it, they’re hooked,” she said. Similar businesses have sprung up all over, and have made inroads into some national chains, including Petco, as part of the $3.5 billion that Americans spend each year on their pets. “You can actually have fun washing your dog,” promised Keith Miller, owner of Bubbly Paws in St Louis Park, Minn.

In fact, many dog owners are surprised at how docile their pets become when their owners aren’t worried about the logistics of bathing.

“The dog is more relaxed because you’re more relaxed,” he said. The self-service shops also have professional groomers on hand to help with the tasks that make some owners nervous, such as clipping nails. They’ll help you pick out the right shampoo, too. But for the most part, it’s just common sense, said Kristiana Clough, owner of Country Critters in St Francis, Minn. “If you can give a kid a bath, you can give a dog a bath,” she said.

The notion of a self-service dog wash didn’t originate with Fesenmaier. The businesses are extremely popular in Southern California, and when she was living in San Diego she used them often to clean her dogs.

When Fesenmaier moved back to Minnesota, she couldn’t find a DIY wash. “So I drew up a business plan for Ollu.” (The name is a nod to her dogs, Oliver and Lulu.)

The shops have found a niche with condominium owners, who often lack laundry rooms in which to spray down their pets. The service also is popular among people who own large dogs. (Ramps help get the big dogs into the waist-high tubs.) The businesses also draw seasonal customers. Among them are Jennifer and Corey Johnson from Brooklyn Park, Minn, who recently brought their black lab, Harley, into Ollu for a bath.

“Normally we just hose him down when he gets dirty,” Corey Johnson said. “But when it

gets cold out, we can’t wash him in the yard anymore.” Plus, there’s the hair, Jennifer Johnson added, which tends to amass in alarming quantities.

“He’ll leave a couple of pounds of hair behind,” she said. “We don’t want that in the bathtub.” Some customers alternate between using professional groomers and the DIY approach. A bath can be “a cheap way to get out of a few groomings,” Miller said. But most groomers don’t have an issue with the selfservice baths, Clough said. Dogs that need regular cuts, such as poodles, are still going to use a grooming service.

“I think most groomers are indifferent” about the trend, she said. “It caters to a different group of people.” Prices at the self-service washes start at about $15, depending on the size of the dog and the number of extra services, such as nail clipping. The fee includes shampoo, towels, toothbrushes and electric dryers for the dogs, plus waterproof aprons for the owners. The tubs are sanitized between washes. Some owners have found a social component that’s missing from an athome bath. About once every six weeks, friends Annie Salmen and Kasia Chamiec wash their dogs at the same time. They stand at adjacent tubs: Salmen, of St Paul, Minn, tends to Buddy, a beagle-spaniel mix, while Chamiec, from Minneapolis, washes her bea-

gle-chow, Peanut. “It’s sort of a girls’ night out,” Salmen said. To which Chamiec added: “When we get done, we go out to celebrate our victory.” — MCT

Rachel Nieder cleans her dog’s teeth while secured in the bath area at the self-serve dog wash area at Ollu Dog Salon. — MCT

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Stars

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are to be praised for the emotional control you have today. There could be quite a lot of stress associated with the amount of work you feel you must accomplish. This afternoon is much improved as work is easier to accomplish than you thought.

There is an emphasis on close relationships later today. The intellectual and communicative talents of those close to you take on a great deal of importance. You are please with the progress of a co-worker and also a person you mentor makes you proud. When you get home, you might take a few minutes to really relax—set a timer if you must.

Young people in your household or in the neighborhood create moments of light-hearted fun and laughter tonight. Sharing your dreams becomes the key to a happy day.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your imagination is energized. Your activities now can involve promotional campaigns, music, storytelling or inspirational work. Keep in mind the importance of keeping some prime time for your own. You have great opportunities for leadership without unpleasant duties or responsibilities. You can develop a more independent lifestyle if you are watchful. Self-improvement and the influence of those around you can go along educational, religious, philosophical or cultural lines. You find it easier to identify with a more professional and prosperous class of people now than in the past. You may travel or do business over a distance. There is food to sample today. This day will find you in a happy mood.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) At times you may have exciting and unexpected financial gains and losses—this may be another time for some gain. Careful—there is a temptation to gamble. If you really want to invest, try the service industries. If you have been interested in starting up a business for yourself and you have been doing the research, then you will begin to make progress in this endeavor. Old friends from the past may be contacting you today . . . or soon. You enjoy the camaraderie and make plans to meet and reminisce. Make it a point to bring pictures—then if they show their pictures, you will have yours to show. A love relationship may need a little work but slow and patient will get you where you want to go. You don’t need advice . . . you just need time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Solving problems should be easy to complete. Your mental sharpness is fine-tuned. You have a lot of energy to pour into practical and career decisions. You could feel great support from those around you. Your own enthusiasm toward your ideas may attract people around you this afternoon to listen to your ideas.

Perhaps political issues will be the areas in which you will find your energies focused. Your opinions may draw others into some interesting discussions. Any legal matters may be settled soon—especially in your favor. Start now to make plans toward a social gathering on the fifteenth of this month. If possible, plan this gathering away from home. Your unique, creative touch is impressive to all.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may have to work extra hard to get someone to listen to what you are saying just now. Don’t take it too personally—it just seems to be something in the air this morning.

Take some time to preplan how you will present your ideas and you will have most positive results. Figuring out how to organize projects and people is likely to become a topic of special interest. Opinions are not enough for you now: authority or evidence must back them.

Above all, there must be practical worth and application. You may be performing some sort of detective work; whatever the case, this is a period of intense study and thought. You have the talent to turn a negative into a positive. You may also be moved to volunteer or create a hobby for yourself.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You could talk anyone into just about anything today and that is what you may be asked to do before a meeting begins this morning. The situation is a natural for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas. Give professional challenges much forethought since any decision you make now would cause a lot of interest. This may even call for a pro and con list. You could develop a knack for being in the right place at the right time and you may find that you have friends in high places. If you find yourself in a position to take control of a project or to become group leader, keep in mind that this time favors working for group objectives. Personal goals are likely to get a boost early next week. A family member gives you good news.

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

Stars

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are to be praised for the emotional control you have today. There could be quite a lot of stress associated with the amount of work you feel you must accomplish. This afternoon is much improved as work is easier to accomplish than you thought.

There is an emphasis on close relationships later today. The intellectual and communicative talents of those close to you take on a great deal of importance. You are please with the progress of a co-worker and also a person you mentor makes you proud. When you get home, you might take a few minutes to really relax—set a timer if you must.

Young people in your household or in the neighborhood create moments of light-hearted fun and laughter tonight. Sharing your dreams becomes the key to a happy day.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your imagination is energized. Your activities now can involve promotional campaigns, music, storytelling or inspirational work. Keep in mind the importance of keeping some prime time for your own. You have great opportunities for leadership without unpleasant duties or responsibilities. You can develop a more independent lifestyle if you are watchful. Self-improvement and the influence of those around you can go along educational, religious, philosophical or cultural lines. You find it easier to identify with a more professional and prosperous class of people now than in the past. You may travel or do business over a distance. There is food to sample today. This day will find you in a happy mood.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) At times you may have exciting and unexpected financial gains and losses—this may be another time for some gain. Careful—there is a temptation to gamble. If you really want to invest, try the service industries. If you have been interested in starting up a business for yourself and you have been doing the research, then you will begin to make progress in this endeavor. Old friends from the past may be contacting you today . . . or soon. You enjoy the camaraderie and make plans to meet and reminisce. Make it a point to bring pictures—then if they show their pictures, you will have yours to show. A love relationship may need a little work but slow and patient will get you where you want to go. You don’t need advice . . . you just need time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Solving problems should be easy to complete. Your mental sharpness is fine-tuned. You have a lot of energy to pour into practical and career decisions. You could feel great support from those around you. Your own enthusiasm toward your ideas may attract people around you this afternoon to listen to your ideas.

Perhaps political issues will be the areas in which you will find your energies focused. Your opinions may draw others into some interesting discussions. Any legal matters may be settled soon—especially in your favor. Start now to make plans toward a social gathering on the fifteenth of this month. If possible, plan this gathering away from home. Your unique, creative touch is impressive to all.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may have to work extra hard to get someone to listen to what you are saying just now. Don’t take it too personally—it just seems to be something in the air this morning.

Take some time to preplan how you will present your ideas and you will have most positive results. Figuring out how to organize projects and people is likely to become a topic of special interest. Opinions are not enough for you now: authority or evidence must back them.

Above all, there must be practical worth and application. You may be performing some sort of detective work; whatever the case, this is a period of intense study and thought. You have the talent to turn a negative into a positive. You may also be moved to volunteer or create a hobby for yourself.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You could talk anyone into just about anything today and that is what you may be asked to do before a meeting begins this morning. The situation is a natural for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas. Give professional challenges much forethought since any decision you make now would cause a lot of interest. This may even call for a pro and con list. You could develop a knack for being in the right place at the right time and you may find that you have friends in high places. If you find yourself in a position to take control of a project or to become group leader, keep in mind that this time favors working for group objectives. Personal goals are likely to get a boost early next week. A family member gives you good news.

COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22) Professional responsibilities may utilize your ability to analyze or anticipate the needs and requirements of others. You may have to think ahead all the time—causing much stress. Play and stress, frowns and smiles, laughter and anger, do not coexist in the same space. If you feel stress, you can help to reduce the stress if you allow play, smiles or laughter into your day. A situation occurs that causes you to stop and recognize just how important your participation is regarding some job or project.

You appreciate where you are in your life and you enjoy the support that those around you offer. Others appreciate the expression of your gifts and your talents. Make it a point to teach the young ones around you how to successfully use or eliminate stress. Laugh!

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Work, achievement and ambition mean a lot to you now.

You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others. Perhaps there is a bonus for the extra work? You know just what to do and can act without haste and emotion. You are called on to make use of your natural abilities and common sense.

Rewards and recognition is coming your way; open the door. Keep your social involvement on the light side for the next few days. You have many friends and some may be from different lands. Share your own culture’s holiday customs with others and enjoy your friend’s customs as well. If you are sending holiday cards this year, this is the time to get them ready for mailing. Young people play a big part in your afternoon.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may find someone changing the times and dates of appointments and just barely transferring that message over to you. There could be a feeling of sabotage but this is just a busy person so—easy does it. A new friend may be coming into your life—he or she has seen you around your workplace and has a lot in common with you. Socializing with people that have your same interest is a fun way to create or sustain healthy relationships. Of course, people with new ideas and unusual hobbies may create opportunities for growth and new insights. A new job opportunity could develop soon. This is a possible part-time opportunity but if you really like it, it could work into a more permanent position. Tonight there is a lot of delightful mail to open.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discover. Today you will be able to tackle tasks that require real discipline or organization. You feel successful and able to handle difficult situations.

Good advice from a guide or older person may be forthcoming. You could be most persuasive with others and impressive with your helpful work.

The situation is a natural for self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas. You are encouraged to do some careful cleanup job today in order to prepare for a visitor. Ideas may come to you for new ways to organize, perhaps making it easier to put things away. Why not fill up a box or two with things you no longer need?

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Lunch hour shopping might be better saved for another time! Take your lunch hour to relax and plan. Taking charge and being in control become important issues this afternoon. You want to get things organized and you have the initiative to do it. You will accomplish quite a lot today. By the time the evening rolls around you will be ready for the very pleasant atmosphere you find at home. Besides, you may have decided to stop off at a nearby theater to purchase a book of movie tickets for that special gift. Losing sight of the practical can make you very artistic this evening—keep an eye on the finances. Ask for a chore list from your partner or loved one. If you are party planning there are still many chores left undone that need your attention.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) There is a need for focus and careful analysis in many areas of your life. The work you do and the ways in which you take care of your health are important keys to reaching your best potential. Set up systems and schedules and stick to them! There are people in your life that tend to slow you a bit. However, they also influence you quite a lot of the time. Sorting things out and getting them organized to utmost efficiency keep you busy. You are very concerned with fairness and justice—you may help to open up new possibilities for someone who was destined to repeat old mistakes. Your creative ideas will turn the tide.

Poetry and art may be enjoyable this evening—perhaps the ballet. Allow time for cuddling with your loved one tonight.

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

Stars

C R O S S W O R D

3 1

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. A numbered compartment in a post office where mail is put to be called for.

4. Bound by chains fastened around the ankles.

12. Committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money for their favorite political candidates.

15. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

16. Being somewhat early.

17. An extension at the end and at right angles to the main building.

18. Brought back.

20. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

21. Blockage consisting of an object designed to fill a hole tightly.

23. A unit of radiation exposure.

25. A region of central Europe rich in deposits of coal and iron ore.

26. The muscular back part of the shank.

28. A river that rises in Russia near Smolensk and flowing south through Belarus and Ukraine to empty into the Black Sea. 31. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

32. Herbs, shrubs and trees.

33. Remaining after all deductions.

38. English novelist noted for her insightful portrayals of middle-class families (17751817).

40. Imperial moths.

42. Standard time in the 6th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 90th meridian.

43. The principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group.

46. A spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle.

47. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

49. A slender double-reed instrument.

50. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

51. United States writer (1914-1986).

54. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

56. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

57. An insect in the inactive stage of development (when it is not feeding) intermediate between larva and adult.

60. French composer who is said to have created impressionism in music (18621918).

63. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

67. A member of the Siouan people formerly inhabiting the Black Hills of western South Dakota.

71. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

72. Sexually transmitted urethritis (usually caused by chlamydia).

73. A minor and almost extinct branch of the Indo-European languages.

75. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

76. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

77. A great raja.

78. A young woman making her debut into society.

DOWN 1. Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (1512-1548).

2. A spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter.

3. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria.

4. Having six units or components.

5. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

6. The state of being behind in payments.

7. Group of people related by blood or marriage.

8. A state in east central United States.

9. Gracefully slender.

10. Sleep during summer, as of certain animals.

11. Fierce wild dog of the forests of central and southeast Asia that hunts in packs.

12. Pepsi Cola is a trademarked cola.

13. European shad.

14. A metal or leather projection (as from the sole of a shoe).

19. Remove from political office.

22. Informal terms for money.

24. English Catholic novelist (1904-1991).

27. (Roman Catholic) A diplomatic representative of the Pope having ambassadorial status.

29. The state that precedes vomiting.

30. Set up for use.

34. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.

35. A song that was formerly popular.

36. A large stringed instrument.

37. An association of nations dedicated to economic and political cooperation in southeastern Asia.

39. A bachelor's degree in theology.

41. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

44. The present time or age.

45. Give over.

48. A Pacific island north of Australia.

52. Of or relating to or supporting Islamism.

53. A city is east central Sweden north northwest of Stockholm.

55. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

58. Rock star and drummer for the Beatles (born in 1940).

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

61. Oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food.

62. Having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky.

64. One of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes.

65. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

66. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

68. 100 pyas equal 1 kyat.

69. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

70. A pilgrimage to Makkah.

74. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

Yesterday始s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Durban rain postpones European Tour season DURBAN: The opening day of the inaugural Nelson Mandela Championship was postponed until today after relentless rain left the Royal Durban Golf Club waterlogged.

The first tee-shot for the opening event of the European Tour 2013 season was set for 0630 local time on Thursday, but the only ball struck was the traditional opening drive by a nominated official.

“We got a little bit more rain overnight and this morning. Nearly all the fairways are waterlogged, and we simply can’t play due to that,” European Tour Tournament Director Mikael Eriksson told Reuters just after making the decision.

“We made the call at about 0830, and told the players at about 0900. Those decisions are always tough, but it wasn’t too hard to actually decide in the end. Everyone was in agreement that it was

SYDNEY: Australia’s Greg Chalmers chips out of a bunker on the 11th hole during the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney. —AP

Senden swoops early to take Australia Open lead SYDNEY: John Senden made the most of benign early conditions to shoot a six-under-par 66 and take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the $1.25 million Australian Open yesterday.

The Queenslander, going for a second title at his national open after his 2006 triumph, believes he is playing the best golf of his career and showed why with a six-birdie blitz in his first 10 holes.

He stuttered with bogeys on his 11th and 12th holes but picked up another couple of shots on the run home to stand two shots clear of world number four Justin Rose and four others with a share of second place after carding 68s.

“We had the perfect conditions this morning, teeing off at seven o’clock,” the 41-year-old Senden, who has won once on the U.S. PGA Tour, told reporters.

“You won’t get much of a better day. I thought there were a lot of birdies out there and there would probably be some good scores this morning.”

Australia’s top player Adam Scott was also among the early starters but struggled with three bogeys and two birdies on his front nine before steadying his round with a single birdie in an otherwise flawless back nine for a 72.

The world number seven, fresh from a victory at the Australian Masters, stuck with his belly putter and said he had paid the price for being too aggressive at the start of his round.

Eight times major winner Tom Watson, now 63, and Chinese sensation Guan Tianlang, 14, were among the later starters and suffered for it as the wind picked up at The Lakes course.

American Watson said he was “embarrassed” with his round after starting with three bogeys and two double bogeys on the front nine and ending up with a six-over-par 78.

Guan, who next year will become the youngest player to take part in the US Masters after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last month, failed to record a single birdie in his round of 82.

“He was unlucky today,” his father Guan Hanwen told Reuters.

“He lipped out on four holes. He played this tournament to get used to these kind of conditions which he is unfamiliar with.”

Briton Rose, who picked up five birdies in his first nine holes, was glad to have taken advantage of his early start to grab a share of second with locals Kim Felton, Richard Green, Brendan Jones and New Zealander Gareth Paddison.

“When you see the draw, you know you have one early time when hopefully the wind will lay down,” the Englishman said. “Wind obviously kicked up in the back nine, got a little bit tricky, but all in all, a good start.” Rose, who has never won a national open, said he enjoyed the challenge of playing in such conditions.

“You have to control your shots, and judge your trajectory - it’s a lot of fun playing this kind of golf,” he added. Australian Marcus Fraser was the best of the late starters and also had the best shot of the day when he hit a hole-in-one at the par-three 15th. He finished with a 69 to share seventh with compatriots Stephen Allan and Nick Flanagan, a shot behind Rose’s group. —Reuters

too wet to play golf out there.” The Durban area has experienced unseasonably high amounts of rain recently with more than a year’s worth falling in the last two months. A few dry days last week helped the course recover somewhat, but 60 millilitres of rain fell on Saturday. However, Eriksson believes 72 holes can still be completed at the tournament, which offers a first prize of 158,500 Euros ($207,100).

“We’re looking at restarting tomorrow at 0630 again, so we’re hoping the weather will improve over today and that the water will sink away. We have shortened the golf course dramatically so we’re hoping that will work,” he said.

“Shortening the golf tournament or reducing the number of holes is not something we have decided on yet.” The forecast for today suggests there will be no rain, but there is a threat of thunderstorms tomorrow. —Reuters

Feng, Parker lead first round in Dubai DUBAI: Feng Shanshan, the highest ranked player in the field, showed her class as he shot a six-under par round of 66 on Wednesday to lead the 500,000 euros Dubai Ladies Masters along with England’s Florentyna Parker.

The Chinese world No.6, winner of this year LPGA Championship, and Parker are paired together for the first two rounds. And they clearly enjoyed each other’s company as they opened a narrow one-shot lead on top of the leaderboard over Czech Republic’s Klara Spilkova, Wales’ Sahra Hassan and American Cindy Lacrosse.

Defending champion Alexis Thompson of the United States opened with a three-under par 69 to be tied 14th in a group of 14 players, while compatriot Michelle Wie, who has been down with a viral attack the last few days, shot a two-under par 70.

In the battle for the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit crown, No.1 Carlota Ciganda of Spain shot a two-under par 70, while No.2 Caroline Masson of Germany, the only player who can deny Ciganda this week, began with a four-under par 68.

Feng played a bogey-free round with six birdies, but apart from a birdie on the par-5 third hole, she could not get going till she dropped a 15-footer birdie putt on the eighth hole. She then followed it up with four more birdies over the next eight holes.

The 23-year-old from Guangzhou said: “There is a lot of pressure because this is my sponsors’ tournament and I really want to do well here. But at the start of the day, I told myself to stay patient, and that’s exactly what I did.

“I was only one-under after seven holes and I was not hitting my irons too well. And then suddenly, after that long birdie putt on the eighth hole, I started to hit it really well.” The 23-year-old Parker, who is 17th on the Money List with three top-10s, made a solitary bogey and seven birdies in her round of 66.

“I have somehow always played well in the first round here in Dubai,” said Parker, who revealed that she spent a better part of last two months in the city with a cousin practicing. “The last two years, I have finished ninth

and fourth here, so the course really suits me.

What got me going today was that I putted really well. I hit 14 greens and had 26 putts.”

Thompson, who became the youngest professional to win on the LET last year, was happy with the way she started the defence of her crown.

“Three-under par is a nice start,” said the 17-year-old world No.24. “I had a few lip-outs there and could have done better, but there are three days to go. I am in a good position.” —AFP

DUBAI: Michelle Wie from US eyes her ball on the 18th hole during the second round of Dubai Ladies Masters golf tournament. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Lakers snap losing streak NEW ORLEANS: Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, making him the fifth player in NBA history to score 30,000 as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 103-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.

Bryant entered the game needing only 13 points to eclipse the scoring milestone and did so with a short jumper late in the first half that was perhaps the least spectacular of his baskets, which included the usual array of soaring dunks, demoralizing transition 3-pointers and turnaround, offbalance jumpers.

At 34 years old, Bryant is the youngest to reach the milestone. Wilt Chamberlain was 35 when he hit the mark, Kareem AbdulJabbar and Karl Malone were each 36 and Michael Jordan was 38.

Dwight Howard added 18 points for the Lakers, who trailed by a point at halftime but seized control with a 13-0 run to open the third quarter, and the lead grew as large as 20. Ryan Anderson scored 31 for New Orleans and Greivis Vasquez added 16 points.

Spurs 110, Bucks 99 In San Antonio, Tony Parker and Gary Neal each scored 22 points, and San Antonio had a season-high 53 rebounds in the win over Milwaukee. Tim Duncan added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs. Tiago Splitter had 15 points, Manu Ginobili scored 11 and Matt Bonner had a season-high 12 rebounds. Monta Ellis had 21 points and 11 assists for Milwaukee.

Brandon Jennings added 14 points and Ersan Ilyasova scored all of his 17 points in the first half.

San Antonio, which went on a 36-15 run bridging the final two quarters to pull away, outrebounded Milwaukee 53-36, including a 28-17 advantage in the second half.

Knicks 100, Bobcats 98 In Charlotte, JR Smith hit a fallaway jumper from the left wing as time expired to give New York a win over Charlotte. The Bobcats appeared in position to win after a miss by Raymond Felton with 14 seconds left, but rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made an ill-advised pass and Smith intercepted it.

After a timeout, Smith drove to the left side and hit an 18-footer over KiddGilchrist. Carmelo Anthony scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half for New York and Tyson Chandler had 18 points and 17 rebounds. Kemba Walker scored 25 points for the Bobcats.

Clippers 112, Mavericks 90 In Los Angeles, Blake Griffin had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists, propelling Los Angeles over Dallas for its fourth straight victory. Jamal Crawford had 20 points, Caron Butler scored 16 and DeAndre Jordan 12 for the Clippers, who shot 50 percent and dominated the entire game, keeping Dallas owner Mark Cuban glued to his seat with his chin cupped in his left hand. Reserve Vince Carter scored 16 points for Dallas. Derek Fisher added 15 points, and Shawn Marion and Chris Kaman had 14 points apiece for the Mavericks, who fell to 2-7 on the road.

the Warriors. Tayshaun Prince was the only Pistons starter to reach double figures with 24 points. Rodney Stuckey had 17 points and fellow reserve Andre Drummond had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

NEW ORLEANS: Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Jodie Meeks (top center) battles under the basket with New Orleans Hornets power forward Jason Smith and point guard Brian Roberts (right) in the second half of an NBA basketball game. —AP

Pacers 99, Trail Blazers 92 In Indianapolis, Paul George scored 22 points and George Hill added 18 to help Indiana beat Portland. David West had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers (109), who have won four of five and moved above .500 for the first time since a 2-1 start.

Damian Lillard led Portland with 23 points. Wesley Matthews scored 19, LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Indiana outscored Portland 31-14 in the third quarter to take control. The Blazers made a push in the fourth but could get no closer than four.

Celtics 104, Timberwolves 94 In Boston, Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 10 rebounds and remained unbeaten against his former team as Boston beat Minnesota in Rajon Rondo’s return from a two-game suspension. The Celtics

improved to 10-0 against Minnesota since they acquired Garnett from the Timberwolves during the summer of 2007.

Boston went 1-1 without Rondo, suspended for his role in a scuffle during a game against the Brooklyn Nets last Wednesday.

Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists, Paul Pierce scored 18, Jason Terry 17 and Brandon Bass 12 for the Celtics. Kevin Love had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Nikola Pekovic scored 14 for the T-Wolves.

Warriors 104, Pistons 97 In Auburn Hills, Klay Thompson scored 19 of his 27 points in the third quarter to help Golden State pull away to beat Detroit. The Warriors, starting a sevengame Eastern trip, snapped Detroit’s fivegame winning streak at home. Golden State has won two straight games in Detroit after losing 25 of 29. Stephen Curry finished with 22 points and 10 assists, his fourth straight 20-10 game, while David Lee added 20 points and 11 rebounds for

NBA results/standings NY Knicks 100, Charlotte 98; Indiana 99, Portland 92; Boston 104, Minnesota 94; Golden State 104, Detroit 97; Chicago 95, Cleveland 85; LA Lakers 103, New Orleans 87; Atlanta 108, Denver 104; San Antonio 110, Milwaukee 99; Utah 87, Orlando 81; Sacramento 107, Toronto 100; LA Clippers 112, Dallas 90.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT NY Knicks 13 4 .765 Brooklyn 11 6 .647 Philadelphia 10 8 .556 Boston 10 8 .556 Toronto 4 15 .211 Central Division Chicago 9 8 .529 Indiana 10 9 .526 Milwaukee 8 9 .471 Detroit 6 14 .300 Cleveland 4 15 .211 Southeast Division Miami 12 4 .750 Atlanta 10 5 .667 Charlotte 7 10 .412 Orlando 7 11 .389 Washington 2 13 .133

GB 2 3.5 3.5 10 1 4.5 6 1.5 5.5 6 9.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 15 4 .789 Utah 10 10 .500 Denver 9 10 .474 Minnesota 8 9 .471 Portland 8 11 .421 Pacific Division LA Clippers 12 6 .667 Golden State 11 7 .611 LA Lakers 9 10 .474 Phoenix 7 12 .368 Sacramento 5 12 .294 Southwest Division Memphis 13 3 .813 San Antonio 15 4 .789 Houston 9 8 .529 Dallas 8 10 .444 New Orleans 5 12 .294

5.5 6 6 7 1 3.5 5.5 6.5 0 4.5 6 8.5

Hawks 108, Nuggets 104 In Atlanta, Josh Smith’s steal, jam and free throw with 31 seconds remaining extended Atlanta’s lead and the Hawks held on to beat Denver. Smith had 16 points and 13 rebounds on his 27th birthday, while Al Horford led the Hawks with 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Ty Lawson paced Denver with a seasonhigh 32 points and Corey Brewer added 19.

Lawson’s 3-pointer gave the Nuggets a 101-99 advantage before Horford hit a tying jumper.

Lou Williams made two free throws to put Atlanta up by two before Smith stole the ball from Lawson and completed a fast break with a dunk over Brewer, who was called for a foul.

Bulls 95, Cavaliers 85 In Cleveland, Marco Belinelli scored a season-high 23 points, Luol Deng added 22 and Chicago took control early on to beat Cleveland. Belinelli, starting his second straight game in place of injured shooting guard Richard Hamilton, helped the Bulls bounce back from a four-point home loss to Indiana on Tuesday. They went ahead for good less than two minutes in and shot 66.7 percent in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers have lost 13 of 15 and are 2-7 since point guard Kyrie Irving broke his left index finger last month. Anderson Varejao recorded his 10th straight doubledouble with 11 points and 15 rebounds his 10th straight game with at least 15 boards.

Kings 107, Raptors 100 In Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 13 rebounds to help Sacramento beat Toronto for only its third win in the last 12 games. The Kings used strong fourth-quarter play from Cousins and Tyreke Evans to earn a rare victory.

Sacramento suffered an embarrassing 35point loss Sunday against the Clippers.

Evans, back in the starting lineup after missing the past two games with a bruised left knee, scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Jason Thompson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, while John Salmons scored 12 and Aaron Brooks 11. Kyle Lowry scored 29 of his 34 points in the second half for the Raptors.

Jazz 87, Magic 81 In Salt Lake City, Al Jefferson scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Utah over Orlando.

Jefferson had just eight points at halftime but scored 17 in the third quarter and was the difference down the stretch as the Jazz held off a furious Orlando comeback attempt.

Orlando trailed by 14 in the first half and by 11 entering the fourth but took a 79-78 lead on Glen Davis’ powerful jam. Randy Foye’s 3-pointer and back-to-back jumpers

by Jefferson sealed it for Utah. Davis led Orlando with 18 points, Jameer Nelson had 17 and Arron Afflalo added 16.-— AP

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

MELBOURNE: Jerome Truyens of Belgium (right) is tackled by Birenda Lakra of India (left) in their Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy match. — AFP

Champions Australia face India in semis MELBOURNE: Arch-rivals India and Pakistan marched into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy while Australia’s hopes of a fifth straight title remain on target after beating England 2-0 in Melbourne yesterday.

The Netherlands also progressed to the final four after easily disposing of New Zealand 2-0.

India, chasing their first Trophy medal for 30 years, edged out Belgium 1-0, while Pakistan upset Olympic champions Germany 2-1. While making the semi-final is an achievement for India, they now face the much tougher task of playing Australia before a capacity home crowd.

Pakistan will also be underdogs again when they take on the Dutch in tomorrow’s semifinals. India, a bronze medallist at the 1982 event at Amstelveen, are bidding to play in their first Trophy final.

Unlike their other wins at the tournament, India’s win over Belgium was hard fought, with Indian coach Michael Nobbs praising his team’s defence. “It’s an amazing feeling, they have worked really hard. I didn’t think we played that well today but our defence was amazing,” Nobbs said. “It’s something I haven’t seen from an Indian defence in years, but I thought they played their hearts out.” The win came despite the Belgians controlling much of the match, however they were unable to convert their many opportunities.

The Indians made them pay, scoring a goal against the run of play through Nithin Thimmaiah in the 13th minute. Pakistan are one win away from their first Champions Trophy final since 1998 after upsetting the Germans. Pakistan’s win was due largely to Shakeel Abbasi, who dominated and scored

both of his team’s goals. Abbasi said he believed his team could continue to do well in the tournament. “In the last three matches I didn’t score and I am a mentor for my side so I realised I had to score,” he said. “If we have confidence and play hard and have dedication, we have the potential to win against every team.”

Pakistan’s second and decisive goal was full of controversy. The goal was scored by Abbasi, however Germany referred the decision claiming it should not have been awarded as the ball initially came off the back of the stick of a Pakistani player before making its way to Abbasi. The video proved inconclusive with the goal standing despite the German protests.

Australia saw off the English threat with a firsthalf goal to Jamie Dwyer and a final goal to Chris Ciriello sealing the match. “We were hoping to work into the tournament and tonight

was probably our best game,” Dwyer said. “In saying that we haven’t let a goal in in three games so defensively we are doing well, it’s just about creating opportunities up the front.” The Dutch were pleased to progress to the last four, yet coach Paul van Ass said he didn’t feel his team played their best. “It wasn’t the best game from us here. It wasn’t a fun game to watch, but maybe this weekend we will see a lot of nice matches,” he said. “The test will come this weekend when we play against high pressure.

That is what we are here for so I’m looking forward to that.”

After scoring first through Jeroen Hertzberger, Netherlands struggled to find a way through until a brilliant run into the circle

by Sander de Wijn for Billy Bakker to convert for a two-goal cushion and passage into the semifinals. — AFP

IOC strips 4 medals from 2004 Athens Olympics LAUSANNE: Eight years after winning Olympic medals in Athens, four track and field athletes from eastern Europe were ordered to hand them back Wednesday because of positive doping tests. Lance Armstrong, meanwhile, can hold onto his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games for a little while longer.

The International Olympic Committee executive board disqualified four athletes whose Athens doping samples were retested earlier this year and came back positive for steroids, including shot put gold medalist Yuriy Bilonog of Ukraine.

Also stripped were hammer throw silver medalist Ivan Tskikhan of Belarus and two bronze medalists - women’s shot putter Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia and discus thrower Irina Yatchenko of Belarus.

The case of a fifth bronze medalist, weightlifter Oleg Perepechenov of Russia, remains pending. “Athletes who cheat by using doping substances must understand that just because they get away with it one

day, there is a very good chance that they will be caught in the future,” WADA President John Fahey said in a statement.

“The retesting and subsequent decisions of the IOC are proof of that.”

The IOC said it will ask the International Association of Athletics Federations to get the four medals back and readjust the results and rankings from the Athens Games.

Until then, no decision will be taken on reallocating the medals. Adam Nelson of the United States finished second in the shot put in Athens behind Bilonog and would stand to move up to gold. The IOC, meanwhile, held off stripping Armstrong of the bronze he won 12 years ago in the cycling road time trial in Sydney, citing procedural reasons for the delay.

IOC leaders want the medal back following the damning U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that painted Armstrong as a systematic drug cheat and led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles

from 1999-2005. But the IOC said it must wait for cycling’s governing body UCI to formally notify Armstrong of the loss of all his results since August 1998. The IOC wants to avoid any legal problems in connection with the eight-year statute of limitations in the Olympic rules.

“The IOC today will not move,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said at a news conference following a two-day executive board meeting in Lausanne. “We need to have the situation whereby the UCI notifies officially Mr. Armstrong of the fact that he will be disqualified, declared ineligible and that he should hand over his medal.

“This is a legal obligation not for the IOC but for the International Cycling Union.

When he will be notified, Mr. Armstrong will have 21 days to launch an appeal if he wishes. It is only after this period of 21 days that the IOC can legally take action.”

The intention of the IOC to wipe Armstrong from the Olympic record books remains clear. “Absolutely,” IOC vice presi-

dent Craig Reedie of Britain told The Associated Press. “If the UCI have the ability to remove all these titles, we should have the ability to remove a bronze medal. Once they go through their procedures, then we’ll go through ours.”

Armstrong finished behind winner and US Postal Service teammate Vyacheslav Ekimov of Russia and Jan Ullrich of Germany in Sydney. The IOC has no plans to reallocate Armstrong’s bronze medal, just as the UCI decided not to declare any winners for the Tour titles once held by the American.

In August, the IOC stripped Tyler Hamilton, a former Armstrong teammate, of his time-trial gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics after he admitted to doping. The Athens Games were already considered the dirtiest on record, producing 26 doping cases and catching six medalists including two gold winners - at the time.

The retroactive tests bring the number of Athens cases to 31, including 11 medal winners and three gold medalists. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Lyon faces test at Saint-Etienne

Huub Stevens

Pressure mounts on Schalke boss Stevens BERLIN: Schalke 04 are in danger of heading into a mid-season crisis after a winless run of four league matches and their fiery Dutch coach Huub Stevens is at the centre of the storm.

Schalke, who lifted some of the pressure by drawing at Montpellier in the Champions League on Tuesday to top their group with an unbeaten record, have a difficult match at seventh-placed VfB Stuttgart tomorrow.

The Gelsenkirchen team have slipped to fourth in the Bundesliga with 25 points after losing two and drawing two of their last four games and Stuttgart will pull level with them on points if they win tomorrow. Stevens criticised Schalke’s fans after last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach where he surprisingly replaced goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall with former Germany international Timo Hildebrand. Stevens had previously criticised fans for booing Unnerstall and was again angry after they took part in the socalled silent protests against proposed tougher security measures in the Bundesliga during last Saturday’s game.

Fans at several other matches also stayed silent for the opening few minutes to show their displeasure. “I give compliments to the team but not for a certain section of the fans,” said Stevens. “A high number of fans support the team, but a minority does not. I don’t get it.”

This has prompted speculation that Stevens, who took over the reins in September last year after Ralf Rangnick resigned citing exhaustion, could be replaced at the end of

the season when his contract ends.

Sporting director Horst Heldt said that such talk was premature. “Huub for me is an absolutely reliable partner, who I respect very much,” he told the DPA news agency. “We’ll get together at some point and discuss everything alone. Since we have not talked yet, I cannot say anything. I do not know Huub’s feelings on the matter.”

Heldt previously told the SID sports news agency that he was also baffled by the fans reaction last week. “I do not know why it happened,” he said. “After all, it’s a shame because you have to join forces if things are not going well. We all have to pull together. “Stevens is certainly very emotional character and stands up for the team and each of his players. He does not hold back. “Perhaps some find his statements unacceptable but that is how he is and he will remain that way.” The Bundesliga is on a high after Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Germany’s other Champions League representatives, also topped their groups this week.

Leaders Bayern, who have an eight-point advantage over Bayer Leverkusen, look unlikely to slip up on Saturday when they visit lowly Augsburg, who are 17th in the 18-team table and have only eight points from 15 games.

Leverkusen visit midtable Hanover 96 while third-placed Borussia Dortmund are away to VfL Wolfsburg. Titleholders Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 11 games and held Bayern 1-1 away last weekend, although they have dropped 11 points adrift of the dominant Bavarians.—Reuters

PARIS: While Paris Saint-Germain’s attempt to buy glory by signing big names has failed so far, Lyon has surged to the top of the French league despite spending hardly any money and by keeping faith in a novice coach.

PSG may boast Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is among the world’s best strikers, and Carlo Ancelotti, a highly experienced coach with trophy success in Italy and England, but the team is five points behind Lyon. This weekend, the leaders travel to local rival Saint-Etienne and PSG hosts struggling Evian. “Every night when I go to sleep I dream of the title, and I hope my players do the same,” Lyon coach Remi Garde, who started his playing career as a center half with Lyon 25 years ago, told sports daily L’Equipe on Thursday.

“Normally, PSG should be way out in front.”

Garde’s best signing - midfielder Steed Malbranque - cost nothing and the club’s best decision was not selling Bafetimbi Gomis to Fenerbahce, even though the Turkish club was offering ‚Ǩ13 million ($17 million) during the offseason. Gomis has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season - one less than Ibrahimovic - and his goals have helped Lyon move three points clear of second-place Marseille, which hosts Lorient on Sunday.

While PSG has spent more than ‚Ǩ160 million ($209 million) in the offseason on new players Brazil center half Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic both joined from AC Milan - Lyon’s smart move was giving more opportunity to young players like midfielder Clement Grenier and striker Alexandre Lacazette, and taking a chance on Malbranque, the former Fulham and Tottenham midfielder. It was Malbranque himself who approached the club where he started out his career after terminating his Saint-Etienne contract and initially retiring.

Lyon gave Malbranque a trial - at the age of 32 and he is now playing some of the best football of his career, creating goals for Gomis and Lisandro Lopez and winning the admiration of teammates

and fans. Lyon’s unity, its development of youth players and willingness to take a chance on older ones like Malbranque, is the polar opposite of the ruthless, money-driven drive for success at PSG. “There’s been a good team spirit since the start the season,” Grenier said. That’s far from being the case at PSG. Although Ibrahimovic has been an undoubted success in terms of goals, an increasing number of reports in the past two weeks have told of other players becoming exasperated with his tendency to constantly demand the ball and hog the limelight. Even the fans are starting to get on his back, and he was jeered during the match against FC Porto on Tuesday for trying an extravagant shot rather than passing to the unmarked Jeremy Menez.

Reports of rifts between French players and the Italians in the squad added further fuel to the growing tensions at PSG this week. “It’s a new dressing room, there are no problems in particular,” Ancelotti said. “I think that when you are trying to build a team with new players, you have to take the necessary time to build good relations.”

While Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas took a gamble on promoting Garde from the youth team last season, PSG fired Antoine Kombouare just before last year’s winter break - even though he was at the top of the league - and recruited the highly-regarded Ancelotti to oversee the hopedfor transformation into a European powerhouse.

This has fallen rather flat, with PSG in fourth place after losing three of its past five league games, and reports surfacing on Monday that Ancelotti was close to losing his job. The 2-1 win over Porto ensured PSG finished first in its group, and took some of the pressure off Ancelotti. He said that the players will find their form again in the league, starting with a win against Evian, which is just above the relegation zone. “Maybe the players were more focused on the Champions League, but we will have to change that,” Ancelotti said.—AP

Steed Malbranque

City and United meet in mouth-watering derby LONDON: An early end to their European commitments means Manchester City can give their undivided attention to reining in Premier League leaders Manchester United by making the most of their neighbors’ shaky defence in Sunday’s mouth-watering derby. Already looking like a potential title-decider, the meeting at the Etihad Stadium comes in a week when Premier League champions City finished bottom of their Champions League group and missed out on even second-tier Europa League soccer.

“Clearly this (European exit) can help us win the Premier League because we don’t play in the Europa League but we tried

to play in it and that was our tactic tonight,” City boss Roberto Mancini said after Tuesday’s loss at Borussia Dortmund.

Without European distractions, Mancini’s squad, who remain the league’s only unbeaten side, can focus on what most Blues fans believe is more important than continental glory - defeating United and beating them to the title once more.

Despite having lost three games, United hold a three-point lead over City with 36 points from 15 matches and the Manchester duo have been so dominant that they have pulled clear of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion (all on

26). United manager Alex Ferguson’s main concern ahead of this season’s first meeting with his cross-town rivals is his side’s recent habit of producing comical and sloppy defending. The Red Devils have conceded 32 goals in all competitions, making it their worst record at this stage of the year in more than a decade and also of particular concern having lost the title last year on goal difference.

Having leaked goals against City at Old Trafford last term in a 6-1 defeat and having also lost 1-0 at the Etihad to tilt the title race in their neighbours’ favour, United are very aware how important it is to tighten things up for this fixture.—Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Tigre, Sao Paulo draw in Copa Sudamericana BUENOS AIRES: Sao Paulo and Argentine side Tigre drew 0-0 on Wednesday in the first-leg of the Copa Sudamericana final, which should give a slight edge to the Brazilians in the second leg in a week. Sao Paulo, one of South America’s most decorated clubs, had more possession but failed to break down the modest Argentine side, which is playing in its first international final. The second leg of the final is Dec. 12 at Sao Paulo.

Both teams played with 10 men after Sao Paulo’s Luis Fabiano and Tigre’s Alejandro Donatti were shown red cards in the 15th minute by referee Antonio Arias.

Amid pushing and shoving, Fabiano - the former Porto and Sevilla forward - kicked out in the direction of Donatti, but television replays showed he missed. Donatti, after a slight delay, crumbled to the pitch and was sent off for diving.

The match was fast-paced at the start with Lucas threatening for Sao Paulo in the second minute, forcing Tigre keeper Damian Albil to make a diving save. Sao Paulo had most of the possession in the first half, but got few clear chances.

Tigre looked more threatening late in the half, trying to entertain local fans in the match played at Boca Junior’s La Bombonera stadium.

Tigre came out more aggressively in the second half but failed to generate much attack, foiled by Sao Paulo’s two central defenders Rhodolfo and Rafael Toloi. As the match wore on, both teams had problems stringing together passes.Lucas again had the best chance for Sao Paulo in the second half, breaking down the right side in the 81st, evading several defenders before cutting the ball harmlessly into the area.

Sao Paulo is one of South America’s big clubs and has won the Copa Libertadores - the equivalent of Europe’s Champions League - three times. It has also won the Club World Cup once, and twice won the Intercontinental Cup, the predecessor to the Club World Cup. Tigre has never won an Argentine first-division title. The match was played at Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera stadium as it offered more security than Tigre’s 25,000-seat stadium. The Copa Sudamericana is South America’s No. 2 club trophy behind the more prestigious Copa Libertadores. — AP

BUENOS AIRES: Brazil’s Sao Paulo FC’s Rhodolfo (top) and Argentina’s Tigre’s Ruben Botta go for a header during the Copa Sudamericana first leg final soccer match. — AP

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from Argentina is placed on a stretcher after suffering an injury during a Group G Champions League soccer match against Benfica on Wednesday. — AP

Messi scare a reminder of Argentine’s key role MADRID: When Lionel Messi was taken off on a stretcher with what looked like a serious knee injury on Wednesday it was a jolting reminder, if one were needed, of just how crucial the Argentine forward is to Barcelona’s fortunes.

Thankfully for fans of the La Liga club and those who enjoy watching the Argentine World Player of the Year weave his magic, tests quickly ruled out anything worse than bruising, sustained in a collision with Benfica goalkeeper Artur near the end of the Champions League Group G game. The prolific 25-year-old may be available for undefeated Barca’s match at Real Betis on Sunday (2000 GMT) and if he plays he will have a chance to add to the 21 goals he has scored in 14 La Liga matches this season.

That represents almost half the club’s total of 48 and has helped them win all but one of their matches and put them six clear of Atletico Madrid on 40 points at the top of the table.

He netted 50 of Barca’s 114 La Liga goals last term and 31 of 95 during the 2010-11 campaign and he has been top scorer in the Champions League the past four seasons, when Barca twice won the title. It is hard to imagine them without Messi, who last missed a game through injury in September 2010 after a crunching tackle from Atletico defender Tomas Ujfalusi damaged an ankle. Favorite to secure a fourth consecutive World Player award when the winner is announced next month, he is involved in virtually every attack and typically the only thing on the minds of his team mates when they are going forward is to try to get the ball to him.

Barca were already through to the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition as group winners and coach Tito Vilanova was asked after the Benfica game why he had brought Messi off the bench for the final half an hour instead of resting him. Vilanova said it had nothing to do with Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record of 85 goals for a calendar year, which Messi is one short of on 84. His two goals against Athletic Bilbao last weekend also made him Barca’s joint top scorer in La Liga, level with Cesar Rodriguez on 190. “If it happened again I would take the same decision as he could injure himself in training or at any time,” Vilanova told a news conference. “He is a player who likes playing and not because of the (Mueller) record that everyone is talking about ... it also serves as physical training,” he added. Barca travel to Seville to take on Betis with the Andalusian club still on a high after beating champions Real Madrid 1-0 at their Benito Villamarin stadium last month. They won 3-2 at Deportivo La Coruna last weekend and are fourth on 25 points, four behind Real, who play at seventh-placed Real Valladolid on Saturday (1900).

Despite their impressive early-season form, Betis defender Ruben Perez said the club are still focused on securing their place in the top flight rather than thinking about a possible place in

European competition next season. “We have to carry on in the same vein but we have to be realistic and make sure of our place in the first division as soon as possible,” Perez said on the club’s website (www.realbetisbalompie.es). “It’s going to be a tough game because it’s the best team in the world,” he added. “They have the ball for the whole match and it’s difficult. We’ll try to get at least a point or go for the win.”

Atletico, who lost 2-0 at city rivals Real last weekend, are at home to Depor on Sunday (1800), while Ernesto Valverde will take charge of Valencia for the first time since replacing the sacked Mauricio Pellegrino when his new side play at Osasuna tomorrow. Valencia, through to the last 16 of the Champions League along with Barca, Real and Malaga, are 12th on 18 points.

Malaga, in fifth three points behind Betis, are at home to Andalusian neighbors Granada tomorrow. — Reuters

Blatter shocked at linesman death YOKOHAMA: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed his “sadness and distress” after a linesman died following an incident during a youth competition earlier this week.

Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, died on Monday after an under-17 match in Almere on Sunday. He was officiating for the Buitenboys team, for whom his son plays.

Three teenaged players, two aged 15 and one 16, will be charged with manslaughter, assault or public violence over the death of Nieuwenhuizen, according to Dutch prosecutors. “I would like to express my sadness and distress on hearing of the death of assistant referee Richard Nieuwenhuizen,” wrote Blatter in a letter to the Dutch FA (KNVB). “I was deeply shocked to learn of this tragic incident.”

A minute’s silence will be held before late yesterday’s opening match of the Club World Cup between Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Auckland City in Yokohama, FIFA said.

Police arrested the three members of the Nieuw-Sloten Amsterdam youth team after the incident, in which the linesman fell to the ground. Nieuwenhuizen collapsed hours after the match and was taken to hospital where he fell into a coma. He died the following day. —Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Hiroshima defeat Auckland as goal-line system debuts Club World Cup

Antonio Conte

Coach Conte’s return set to rejuvenate Juventus ITALY: Antonio Conte has, in the words of Juventus goalkeeper and club captain Gianluigi Buffon, been like a “caged lion” while serving his touchline and changing room ban over the past four months.

The Juve coach was barred from the Bianconeri bench after being found guilty of failing to report attempts to fix matches during the 2010-11 season while in charge at Siena, then a Serie B club.

Initially handed a 10-month ban, which would have seen him sidelined for the entire season, his punishment was reduced on appeal to four months and, this Sunday, Conte returns to his normal matchday duties as Juventus take on Palermo in Sicily.

It has been a frustrating time for the coach, who has had to watch his charges from high up in the stands, often clutching a vial of holy water and occasionally kicking out at surrounding seats, but the club have continued to impress both domestically and, crucially for their future plans, in Europe. Progression to the knockout stage of the Champions League has been a huge boost for the Italian champions, who remain top of Serie A, two points ahead of a lively Napoli and with a chasing pack including Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio.

The Turin club’s ability to score goals from all around the team and, in particular, the midfield, has been a plus point, but recent blips, notably two defeats against both Milan clubs in November, have highlighted Juve’s pressing need to sign a target man.

Both Mirko Vucinic and Sebastian Giovinco have been busy doing their bit, but neither could be said to provide a physical presence and both tend to prefer a second striker-type role.

Re-establishing themselves at Europe’s top table provides Juventus with a stronger hand in the January transfer window, with Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente still the first choice, even if the Spaniard now looks set to stay at the San Mames Stadium until the end of the season.

Equally, Wednesday’s 1-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine has lifted confidence, with Conte’s reappearance on the touchlines providing further motivation in the run-up to the winter break.

However, getting a result in Palermo, despite the Sicilians hovering fourth from bottom just above the drop zone, won’t be easy. “We will win, 2-1,” Palermo club captain and striker Fabrizio Miccoli confidently told reporters this week. “I’ll definitely score one goal and (Franco) Brienza will get the other. For the Bianconeri? (Andrea) Pirlo.” You read it here first.”

While Juve will be looking to consolidate their lead at the top of the table, Napoli travel to third-placed Inter, with the San Siro outfit in stuttering form, set against the backdrop of the ongoing Wesley Sneijder saga.

The Dutchman turned down a new contract on Monday, unhappy at being asked to accept a reduced wage deal, with a January move away from the Nerazzurri looking increasingly likely.

AC Milan, now up to seventh, though still 14 points behind Juve, face a trip to Torino, where they will be looking to win their third consecutive Serie A match. But coach Massimiliano Allegri has voiced concerns about his side’s defensive record after conceding 19 goals this season.

Roma’s game with Fiorentina, on Saturday provides a useful pointer for the near-future fortunes of both clubs, with the former looking an increasingly serious proposition and the latter seeing some recent sparkling form come juddering to a halt following a series of key injuries. —Reuters

YOKOHAMA: Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat part-timers Auckland City 1-0 at the Club World Cup yesterday in a landmark match at which goal-line technology was available to the referee for the first time ever. The J-League winners proved too strong for their New Zealand opponents, who were representing Oceania at the intercontinental tournament in Japan, to set up a quarter-final clash with seven-time African champions Al Ahly of Egypt. FIFA made football history by trialling the first of two goal-line systems to be used at the showpiece event, however the match in Yokohama passed without GoalRef’s magnetic field technology being required to determine a close call.

Instead, a dramatic strike from Hiroshima’s Toshihiro Aoyama left the human eye in no doubt about whether a goal had been scored, with the ball hitting the back of the net in style.

The Japanese champions dominated possession in the first half, but several good saves from Auckland goalkeeper Tamati Williams-including one from close range-meant the two sides went into the break locked at 0-0.

Hiroshima started the second half with intent, hitting the post from a 20yard strike on the 50-minute mark before having a header tipped wide shortly afterwards.

The New Zealanders, whose players included a lawyer and a plumber, started to tire and Hiroshima broke the deadlock in dramatic fashion after 66 minutes when midfielder Aoyama lashed the ball into the net

from around 30 yards.

The men in purple looked keen to add to their tally but wasted a number of opportunities, going closest with a vicious strike that struck the bar with six minutes of the match remaining, and

er sports including tennis and cricket.

In July, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) — custodians of the game’s laws-decided to use goal-line technology at the Club World Cup, next year’s Confederations Cup and the World

YOKOHAMA: New Zealand’s Auckland City FC’s Adam Dickinson (right) of England and Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s Kazuhiko Chiba vie for the ball during their match of the Club World Cup soccer tournament. —AP the second goal proved elusive.

Hiroshima, who won their maiden JLeague title last month, on Sunday will play Al Ahly in Toyota where FIFA are trialling the second goal-line system-camera-based Hawk-Eye. Fans have called for years for football to embrace technology aimed at eliminating human error, citing its use in oth-

Cup in Brazil in 2014. FIFA gave licences to Britain-based but Sony-owned Hawk-Eye and Germany’s GoalRef, following a testing process lasting around two years.

Both systems transmit their findings to devices that can be worn on officials’ wrists. Thursday’s game was the first time that officials had ever worn the watch-like device during a match. —AFP

Ramy takes his passion to world championships DOHA: Ramy Ashour is hoping that his bid to win back the world title will be a bit of a morale booster during Egypt’s ongoing political revolution. The 25year-old from Cairo has made visits to join protesters in Tahrir Square, and has been tweeting his support of them whilst preparing his bid to raise the trophy again in the world championships from December 7-14.

Ashour is as passionate about the state of his country as about proving that he is again the world’s best player.

If he achieves that, more people may listen to his words. “I love my country but we are struggling at the moment,” he said. “I feel for the less fortunate people, as the revolution was basically raised to help them. But now they are the ones who are suffering the most.”

Despite this heartache — or perhaps because of it — Ashour has been in outstanding form this year, winning three Super Series tournaments, the most recent being the Hong Kong Open title on Sunday.

It has made the fifth-seeded Egyptian the unofficial favourite for the title, even though two Englishmen,

world number one James Willstrop and World Open champion Nick Matthew, are the top two seeds.

Ashour beat both in Hong Kong last week, having also overcome Matthew while winning the US Open title in Philadelphia last month, and Willstrop in the El Gouna International final in Alexandria in April. That was Egypt’s first tournament for 18 months since the revolution.

“This is how the true real moderate Egyptians unite and stand up for themselves,” he tweeted on Wednessay, showing quotes and images from people before the Presidential palace.

Ashour could hardly be more ambitious about his profession. “I am doing my best to get back to the top,” said Ashour, who has just risen one place to fourth in the world rankings but can reach number one again if he wins the world title. “I am proud of my achievements, but more is yet to come.” Even Matthew acknowledges the revival of the Ashour threat, partly an outcome of avoiding injuries which have plagued him in the past.

“While Ramy doesn’t have consis-

tency within matches — he has more peaks and troughs in terms of winners and errors - overall his end product is getting more consistent by the day,” the world champion said. If the 32year-old Matthew does triumph again, it will be for the third successive time, something no Englishman has ever achieved.

However both he and Ashour may be hindered by an unkind draw, which lands them in the same half, along with Gregory Gaultier, the former world number one from France, and with Amr Shabana, the four times former World Open champion from Egypt.

Ashour and Gaultier, whose form has improved since becoming a father three months ago, should meet in the quarter-finals, with Matthew likely to face Shabana, the enduring 33-yearold legend, at the same stage.

An easier route appears to have appeared in the top half for Willstrop, who could have a semi-final with Karim Darwish, the former world number one, or another Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy, the former world junior champion. —AFP

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

Lakers snap losing streak Page 43

www.kuwaittimes.net

Australia face India in semis Page 44

MELBOURNE: England’s Dan Shingles (right) tangles with Australia’s Eddie Ockenden (left) in their Menís Hockey Champions Trophy match. Australia won 2-0. — AFP