7 Dec 2011

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

Belgian govt sworn in, ending 18-mth crisis

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Amir dissolves Assembly as opposition celebrates Barrak hails ‘people’s victory’ • Pro-govt MPs silent

Max 20º Min 03º Low Tide 04:20 & 15:29 High Tide 10:44 & 21:20

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Choose smartly this time around

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

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arliament is dissolved. Hooray! His Highness the Amir took a decision that this parliament does not serve the country anymore. I second that. He said in a statement: “Due to the deteriorating conditions that led to obstruction of process of achievements and threatened the country’s higher interests, it became necessary to resort to the people to select their representatives, overcome existing obstacles and realize national interests.”

The media and many activists have been calling for the dissolution of parliament for a long time. It is not because we don’t love democracy. It is because we realized that this institution of democracy has turned against us - against Kuwait and against our interests. The nation realized that this parliament is no longer serving the interest of Kuwait. Most of the MPs were only campaigning and working for their own interest.

The latest series of demonstrations which ended with the barraging of parliament showed what kind of parliamentarians we have and what kind of respect they have for democracy and the nation. Yet, the government through the judicial system released all those who were involved in the storming of the parliament.

I don’t think the people of Kuwait will feel any loss on the absence of this parliament. It is so sad to say such a thing about a democratic institution. People in other countries fight and campaign for years to get a parliament if they don’t have one because it is a symbol of freedom and democracy. It is the protector of a nation’s interest. Except in Kuwait. Thanks to the honourable gentlemen we have, a negative feeling has emerged towards the institution of parliament and parliamentarians. Instead of working hand-in-hand with them, we are celebrating their departure.

We are all praying and hoping that if there are new elections, as the Amir said, we will get a different criteria of MPs. I hope that the people of Kuwait have learnt their lesson and we will not go tribal. I hope that we will choose the right candidates this time around and also, in all fairness, I hope the government will not interfere and back some people, like governments do sometimes. I hope that all will leave it to the nation to choose their representatives.

Please, choose smart! Have a good day!

KUWAIT: A picture shows the National Assembly yesterday after HH the Amir dissolved parliament for the fourth time in less than six years. (Inset) Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi talks to reporters at the Assembly. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: As anticipated, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah yesterday dissolved the National Assembly for the fourth time in just five-and-a-half years, a week after accepting the government’s resignation. An Amiri decree cited the reasons for the action as “hindering progress and due to a threat on the supreme interests of the country that required going back to the nation”. The date for fresh elections has not been set however as a second decree was not issued. The decree that would call on Kuwaiti voters to elect a new Assembly and determine the date of the forthcoming polls is expected to be issued within days.

Parliamentary sources expected elections to be held around mid-January, probably on Saturday, Jan 14.

Under the Kuwaiti constitution, the new elections must be held within 60 days of dissolving the National Assembly. Following a constitutional controversy over whether the new Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah can lead the resigned Cabinet, the outgoing Cabinet met at noon yesterday under Sheikh Jaber and approved the Amiri decree dissolving the Assembly.

The Assembly was dissolved following widespread protests organized by youth activists and opposition lawmakers to demand the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Sheikh Nasser resigned last week and his resignation was accepted after three opposition MPs filed to grill him over allegations of corruption involving 16 MPs and transferring public funds into his foreign accounts. The government has denied the charges.

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59 dead in attacks on Afghan Shiites

KABUL: Afghan Shiite women cry near the dead and injured after explosions during an Ashoura ceremony yesterday. — AFP

Nasrallah vows to arm in rare public address

BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (center), flanked by his bodyguards, addresses the crowd in a rare public appearance during a rally to mark Ashoura in the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut yesterday. — AP

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in his first public appearance in more than three years, warned those banking on change in the Arab world that he would arm his fighters more heavily than ever.

Marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashoura, Nasrallah spoke in person to a frenzied crowd of tens of thousands in his stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs for only a few minutes, joking: “Don’t go away, I’ll be right back on that screen” before being whisked away by nervous-looking bodyguards.

In a speech broadcast on large screens shortly after his departure, Nasrallah vowed his Iranian-backed group would continue to arm in the face of possible “regional change”, hinting at neighbouring Syria. “A message to all those who are conspiring against the resistance and banking on change (in the Arab world)...

We will never let go of our arms,” said the black-clad Shiite leader. “We are tens of thousands of trained fighters, who are all ready to die,” he said. “Day after day, the resistance gains more fighters, trains better fighters and arms even more heavily. Every weapon that rusts is replaced.”

Many observers say the Syria crisis, which is threatening to topple the regime of Hezbollah’s ally President Bashar Al-Assad, has dealt a severe blow to the Lebanese group. Considered a prime target for his Continued on Page 13

KABUL: A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshippers at a mosque in Kabul yesterday, killing at least 55 people in the deadliest of two attacks on a Shiite holy day - the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taleban a decade ago. Four other Shiites were killed in the northern city of Mazar-iSharif when a bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded as a convoy of Afghan Shiites was driving down the road, shouting slogans for Ashoura. Health Ministry spokesman Sakhi Kargar gave the death toll and said 21 people also were wounded in that attack.

The Kabul bomber blew himself up in the midst of a crowd of men, women and children gathered outside the Abul Fazl shrine to commemorate the seventh century death of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson Imam Hussein. Some men were beating themselves in mourning and food was being distributed. The shrine, which is near the presidential palace, was packed with worshippers and dozens more were crammed into the courtyard. One witness said the bomber was at the end of a line and detonated his explosives near one of the gates to

the shrine.

Bodies of the dead lay on top of one another where they fell to their deaths.

Survivors with blood-smeared faces cried amid the chaos. The Ministry of Interior said 55 were killed - including two women and four children. Sayed Kabir Amiri, who is in charge of Kabul hospitals said more than 160 wounded in the blast. That made it the single deadliest attack in the Afghan capital in more than three years. A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul on July 7, 2008, killing more than 60 people.

Religiously motivated attacks on Shiites are rare in Afghanistan although they are common in neighboring Pakistan. No group claimed responsibility for yesterday’s blasts, reminiscent of the wave of sectarian attacks that shook Iraq during the height of the war there.

The Ministry of Interior in a statement blamed the Taleban and “terrorists”, for the attack. It provided no other details but added that police defused another bomb that had been planted in Mazar-iSharif near the one that blew up.

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Nervous Gulf stresses unity amid tensions DUBAI: It was a remark designed to send chills through Washington and its allies: an influential member of the Saudi royal family suggesting the kingdom could someday consider making its own atomic weapons if stuck between nuclear arsenals in Iran and Israel. The comment at a Gulf security forum in Riyadh by Prince Turki AlFaisal - who has served as intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States - simply echoed Western fears about a runway arms race in the Middle East if Iran ever moves toward a nuclear warhead. But it also reflects the hardening views among the Gulf Arab states that they must rely on themselves - and not just Western protection - as the showdowns with the Islamic Republic deepen.

In Kuwait, authorities are pressing ahead with several cases against alleged Iranian spies. Bahrain’s rulers claim an Iran-linked cell sought to attack the Saudi Embassy and other key points. The United Arab Emirates is close to finishing an oil pipeline that would connect directly to Indian Ocean shipping lanes and bypass the

choke point of the Gulf ’s Strait of Hormuz, where Iran shares controls with Oman. The US, meanwhile, is proposing selling 600 “bunker-buster” bombs and other munitions to the UAE to counter what the Pentagon described as “current and future regional threats”.

In meetings last week, Gulf envoys agreed to study proposals to pool their military forces into a region-wide command in an apparent reply to Iran’s expanding land and sea powers. “Iran represents the sum total of the fears for the Gulf leaders and they have decided they need to act decisively,” said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

Few have pushed this point further than Prince Turki on Monday. He said that Iran’s suspected quest for atomic weapons - a claim Iran denies - and Israel’s presumed nuclear arsenal could force Saudi Arabia to follow suit. Most defense analysts believe Israel has nuclear weapons, but it has refused to either confirm or deny their existence.

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MSAL work permit plan KUWAIT: The Ministr y of Social Affairs and Labor [MSAL] plans to allow all private companies in Kuwait to hire expatriate labor forces through work permits transferred from commercial visas but this is exclusively for citizens from the European Union, the American continents and Japan. This was revealed recently by Jamal Al-Dousar y

Simon Williams

David Bloom

Tough economic challenges facing Middle East region Threat to regional growth, stability

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The region will face tough economic challenges in the wake of continuing political turmoil, remarked an economist. Speaking at the ‘Economist Road show’ held yesterday at the Salwa Sabah Hall in Salmiya, Simon Williams, Chief Economist, HSBC Middle East, forecasted that continuing political transition in the Arab world, (even without being

that unprecedented political shift could happen in the Arab world,” he told an audience comprising mostly bankers, economists and businessmen.

“Now, we are witnessing political transition in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and there are continuing struggles in some parts of the region. What lies ahead, we don’t know yet, but I am sure there is no turning back to the old system, and that everyone is anx-

KUWAIT: A partial view of the audience.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra affected by the current global slowdown), would pose a threat to regional growth and stability. He suggested that West-led economic downturn is unlikely to trigger a repeat of 2008 slump in the Middle East and North Africa. “Exactly one year ago, during the same road show, [which HSBC organizes annually], we never knew

ious because many of us do not know what lies ahead,” he asserted.

Williams, who is currently based in Dubai, noted that non-oil producing countries are showing distress as a result of ‘Arab Spring’ upheaval, but the region’s super rich oil countries have been benefiting. According to Williams in order to see positive

Ahmed Al-Kandari

KUFM sponsors KSF for third year KUWAIT: The Kuwait United Facilities Management Company (KUFM) yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to the Kuwait Science Fair (KSF) for the third consecutive year. Founded in 2008

by ExxonMobil and Kuwait Energy and held annually, KSF is the largest science competition in Kuwait. It aims to engage students to innovate in the fields of math and science. The competition is also supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences in its role as an honorary founder.

The Chief Executive Officer of KUFM (representing United Real Estate which owns the Marina World) Ahmed Yousef Al-Kandari, said “The Kuwait Science Fair is a unique opportunity for young scientists in Kuwait. It is not just a competition; it is a platform that helps them grow through research, analytical thinking and knowledge. We here at KUFM aim to actively support this competition. We look forward to continuing to provide support for this platform and the students, who are the future of our country.”

KUFM is hosting the KSF booth at the Marina Mall, where students can seek guidance from the KSF team on how to apply, fill in their application and detail their initial scientific idea. Students can also seek support in developing their innovation if they qualify for the second cycle starting on November 28.

KSF Managing Director, Aseel Al-Turkait, said: “We thank KUFM for their continued support of the competition and for providing students with a convenient and permanent location that serves as a full-fledged support center. We encourage students to visit the KSF booth at Marina Mall and register for the competition.”

The Kuwait Science Fair is the largest science competition held to date in Kuwait, sponsored this year by eight private and public companies and institutions, in a shared commitment to encourage Kuwait’s students to pursue careers in science fields. In last three years, over 500 students have participated in the Kuwait Science Fair with two scholarships, over KD 6,000 in cash prizes and training opportunities in international leading oil and gas companies have been awarded till date. The competition reaches out to all public and private schools in Kuwait and offers support and guidance over a five-month period divided into two cycles, to help students transform their scientific ideas into innovations.

Aseel Al-Turkait

results, “It’s time for MENA region to stay away from the 1970’s style. It is also time to introduce fiscal reforms such as paying taxes,” he implied. He also suggested introducing labor market reform, boosting education, training and breaking the divide between local and foreign workers.

Williams encouraged a more transparent business environment so that governments can revitalize privatization programs.

Williams also recommends strengthening regional integration by mobilizing capital, goods and labor across borders. On capital market reform, he suggested deepening equity markets, widening FX credit markets and launching local currency debt market. “ The 2008 recession derailed Middle East growth, but right now there is a strength in weakness and strength and in the strength too,” Williams noted. Williams who joined HSBC in 2006 and has more than 15 years experience as a Middle East analyst, leads HSBC macro view of the Middle East and North Africa for equity, fixed income and FX clients across the globe.

Prior to his presentation, David Bloom, HSBC Global Head of FX Strategy also held a presentation entitled ‘Dollar Empire in the Balance. ‘ It detailed the prognosis for dollar supremacy. HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited has 46 branches throughout the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Algeria and the Palestinian Autonomous Area.

Undersecretar y Assistant for the Labor Department who said that this provision will be generalized.

The MSAL took a decision on September 1 to suspend the process by which expatriate labor forces can transfer their commercial visas to work permits, in a step aimed at reorganizing the labor market. A few days ago, the ministry announced that

companies which have contracts to carry out jobs for ministries will be excluded from this decision to help them provide necessary labor forces for development projects. “After the exception was made, [the MSAL] found that it should be generalized to give equal chances to both employers and jobseekers”, Al-Dousary said in a press release. — Al-Qabas

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Policeman rapes woman in hospital parking lot Salmiya apartment robbed KUWAIT: A traffic police officer is reportedly held under investigations by the Public Prosecution as he faces charges of sexual assault filed by an expatriate woman over the weekend.

According to a news report, the crime took place in the parking lot of a public hospital where the victim called police for help after her car broke down. The victim said that the officer forced her inside his vehicle and raped her before fleeing the scene. The police officer was arrested as soon as he was identified by the license plate number of his patrol vehicle which the victim provided. The anonymous source further said that Ministry of Interior Undersecretary Lt Gen Ghazi Al-Omar has given orders to send the officer to the Public Prosecution.

Salmiya robbery Police are looking for a thief who locked a citizen outside his apartment before robbing him and escaping. The incident took place in Salmiya where a citizen found his apartment door locked from within on returning. As he was struggling to open it, a stranger carrying a black bag passed by him and greeted him before disappearing. The man’s neighbor came and told him that he saw the same stranger exiting from his apartment’s window. Police arrived at the scene shortly and discovered that the thief had entered the apartment through the window and locked the door from inside to prevent the owner from being able to open it. The thief made away with jewelry worth KD 10,000.

Investigations in the case are currently ongoing.

Armed thief Police arrested a masked intruder 24 hours after he committed an armed robbery at a Fahaheel pharmacy recently. Criminal investigators accompanied by police rushed to the crime scene after a man reported a thief breaking into

his pharmacy and stealing KD 300 at gunpoint.

Police were able to identify the car which the thief used to make his getaway after an eyewitness provided its license plate number. They contacted the car’s owner who explained that the vehicle is being used by her husband who works at the safety and security department of the Kuwait Oil Company. The suspect was shortly arrested and he eventually admitted that he committed the theft when he was drunk. He returned the money and the unlicensed weapon to the police. The man is awaiting legal charges.

Temper tantrums A Jahra resident lost his temper and destroyed furniture at his apartment after receiving a phone call from home informing him that his father had died in an accident. Police arrived after the Asian man’s roommates reported that he went on a rampage on receiving the phone call. The man was brought under control and taken to Al-Jahra police station for investigations. He was later released after the roommates refused to press charges considering the man’s state.

Game sparks fight Three people were injured and hospitalized following a fight which erupted at an open space in Jahra where a group of young men were playing football. The brawl was reportedly sparked by tensions which started when the referee waived off a penalty kick for one of the teams whose player was tackled in the penalty area. The altercation soon escalated to a fistfight which also saw the brawlers attack each other with rocks and sticks. Police brought the situation under control following their arrival soon after the fight was reported. Three people were taken in ambulances to the Jahra Hospital, while police launched an investigation.

Bombs found Bomb squads defused six grenades found at an open place in Abdaly. Investigations revealed that the explosives are remnants of the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion. Police rushed to a location where people reported finding foreign objects half-buried in the ground near their camping site. They secured the location for bomb disposal units to arrive and handle the situation.

Impersonators held Two Kuwaiti men face multiple charges following their arrest with equipment they used to impersonate police officers to commit crimes. Salwa police were on patrol duty when they grew suspicious of an SUV driving in the area with a beacon similar to that used by police investigators. The officers called backup when the driver of the SUV attempted to escape after he was ordered to pull over. After the car was stopped, police learned that the driver and passenger were drunk. They admitted during interrogation that they mugged six Asian pedestrians who they stopped while pretending to be criminal investigators. The two were referred to the Public Prosecution to face charges.

Child rapist at large Police are looking for an unknown suspect who raped a 10-year-old boy at a building in Hawally after luring him in to a trap.

Investigations were launched at the area’s police station as soon as an Egyptian woman reported that her son was kidnapped by a man on the street and sexually assaulted at a nearby building before disappearing. Police are trying to identify and arrest the suspect based on descriptions that the victim provided.

— Al-Watan, Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

Embassy driver shot dead in Cairo KUWAIT: Egyptian authorities are currently investigating the case where an employee from the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo was shot dead in a theft attempt on Sunday.

According to security sources quoted by an Al-Qabas report yesterday, the driver identified

as Mazin Shawqi (44) died of fatal gun wounds sustained as a result of an attack carried out by suspected thieves on his car. He had been driving at the Ismailiya - Port Saied desert road. The victim reportedly refused to halt the vehicle even after suspects tried to intercept it. They are

believed to have noticed that it bore a diplomatic number plate.

He kept driving even after the car was repeatedly shot at, until he reached a cafeteria located 4km away and sought help. He was rushed to the nearest hospital by onlookers. However, he succumbed to injuries. Police

found many traces of bullet shots on the damaged vehicle. “A driver working for the embassy died [Sunday] after being shot at by criminals at Ismailiya - Port Saied desert road,” said Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt Rashid AlHamad in an official statement on Monday. —Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: Ibrahim Saleh and Bader Ahli addressing the press conference.

DSF road show visits Kuwait KUWAIT: The Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), an agenc y under the Depar tment of Economic Development (DED) and organizers of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) held a press conference at the Marina hotel in Kuwait City yesterday. They announced details of the 17th edition of DSF - the biggest shopping and entertainment extravaganza in the Middle East.

The DSF 2012 will run for 32 days from Jan 5 to Feb 5. Being held in cooperation with Emirates Airlines, Kuwait was an important stop in a regional road show that will cover the GCC and India. While the DEPE delegation showcased the highlights of the 2012 edition, Emirates airline promoted its special DSF 2012 packages for Dubai.

Ibrahim Saleh, Festival’s Coordinator General and Deputy CEO of DEPE, explained that the regional road show stopped in Kuwait due to its position as the second largest source of Dubai’s tourism, right after Saudi Arabia. Kuwaitis represent an approximate 20 percent of all GCC tourists in the city for 2010. “The 2010 figure demonstrated an increase of 25 percent on the previous year, and we have witnessed a considerable increase in 2011 as well.”

He stressed that DEPE would market and promote the 17th shopping and entertainment extravaganza to media organizations, travel agents, and tour operators, familiarizing them with the attractions of DSF which is held annually, this year under the slogan ‘Dubai at its Best.’ “More than 6,000 retail outlets and

Tainted official faces disciplinary measures KUWAIT: A senior Ministry of Interior(MoI) official accused of harassing a female citizen following an heated argument will face demotion and salary deduction as punishments. These measures were recommended by a panel assigned to investigate the case which had grabbed headlines in Kuwait several weeks ago.

According to sources, the report incriminating Colonel Shukri Al-Najjar will be referred to the interior minister as soon as a new cabinet is sworn in. The disciplinary committee comprising former interior minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah also included General Director of the General Department of Criminal Evidence Major General Fahad Al-Dousary, General Director of the General Department of Land Border Security Major General Jamaal Al-Dawas, and Investigations General Department Prosecutor Brigadier General Dr Jamaal Al-Eid. The board was given complete authority to take proper disciplinary measures in accordance with their assessment of the investigation. — Al-Qabas

around 70 shopping malls will take part in DSF 2012, offering a host of discounts and sale prices of up to 75 percent on a wide range of goods and services. The 32-day event will additionally feature more than 150 events taking place across the emirate,” he added.

Bader Ahli, Emirates’ Kuwait Manager said, “We are pleased to invite people from across Kuwait to visit Dubai during the Dubai Shopping Festival(DSF) to take advantage of the many activities and attractive shopping deals offered during this month-long event. Travelling from Kuwait to Dubai with Emirates is easy, as we operate four daily flights. Customers have a wide choice of convenient flight timings.”

“DSF is much more than just a festival it attracts thousands of visitors to shop and explore Dubai’s many fantastic attractions - and Emirates will be playing its part by bringing in travelers from across our network of 116 destinations,” Ahli added.

“DSF 2012 will offer a wide range of activities, including draws for a chance to win an Infiniti QX56 and AED 100,000 every day during the festival, the Nissan Mega Raffle and also a dream opportunity to win a total of 19 kilograms of gold during 32 days. The 2012 show will witness exclusive events, kicking off with a world class DSF launch ceremony, entertaining activities across main streets, souks and bazaars. Children will love DSF and everything it stands for, with interactive shows, colorful kiosks, and hundreds of street performers and jugglers in a massive carnival during weekends,” concluded Saleh.

Car accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 21-year-old Jordanian was severely injured in a car accident that took place along Ghazali street. He was admitted to Sabah hospital.

A 25-year-old Jordanian fractured his right arm and suffered a head injury in a car accident that took place in Bneid Al-Gar. He was admitted to Amiri hospital.

A 40-year-old citizen was admitted to Farwaniya hospital’s ICU after being fatally wounded in a car accident that took place along the Sixth Ring Road.

A 19-year-old sustained lacerations and back injury in a car accident that took place along Kabd road near the vegetable market.

A 31-year-old citizen and a 27-year-old Egyptian suffered multiple injuries in a car accident that took place near Rihab. Both were admitted to Farwaniya hospital.

KUWAIT: The narcotics department arrested a citizen with 12kg of hashish, and opium apart from two unlicensed weapons. The arrest was made after receiving a tip-off about an individual in Kheitan and the illicit materials were recovered from his car. He told the authorities that he trades in drugs and also used them for personal consumption. He was referred to concerned authorities. — Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

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KUWAIT: Shiites in Kuwait celebrated Ashura (Muharram 10th) in various Husseiniyas across Kuwait yesterday. A clergy man is seen delivering a sermon to mark the occasion, while the faithful listen to one of the sermons. Food is also prepared on the occasion of Ashura.

Teachers filed 4,700 lawsuits since 1991 KUWAIT: A total of 3,500 lawsuits demanding differences in pay, in addition to 1,200 cases demanding housing allowances were filed by expatriate teachers in Kuwait against malpractices they claim are included in contracts which the Ministry of Education signed since 1991.

According to sources, there are teachers who used to receive a KD 260 base salary before 1990 in line with Category Four of the Civil

Service Commission’s employment system.

However, the same teachers were dropped to Category Five following the liberation from the 1990 Iraqi Invasion, which entitled them to receive only a KD 200 base salary.

Cases were filed since by teachers demanding a collective payment for every KD 60 they lost from their monthly allowance over readjustment.

Tribal election illegal, contradicts patriotism KUWAIT: Tribal election is illegal for such polling is based on tribal and sectarian loyalty rather than faithfulness to the homeland, the eminent judge, Faisal Al-Saraawi, has affirmed.

A rule issued by the Constitutional Court, two days ago, in favor of the state, represented by Fatwa and Legislation department, put an end to the controversy, affirming that the holding of such polls is a criminal offense, said Al-Saraawi, the head of the cabinet-affiliated legislation department, in a statement yesterday.

The court has ruled that tribal is illegal, that holding such polls is punishable as a criminal offense for they are based on tribal and sectarian loyalty, at expense of patriotic faithfulness, he said, affirming that the tribunal condemned this form of elections for they constituted grave danger to Kuwait’s social fabric, unity and solidarity of the natives.

Such elections feed tribal zeal, sectarian and racial fanaticism at a time the state is seeking to strengthen unity of the citizens, under one slogan, loyalty to Kuwait. — KUNA

‘Human rights situation in Kuwait imperfect’ KUWAIT: While underscoring that Kuwait enjoys an advanced position in terms of protecting human rights when compared to other countries in the region, Kenneth Roth Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the Kuwaiti government should take adequate measures order to stop illegal practices.

“The government adopted positive steps to resolve illegal residents’ problem (bedoons or stateless residents) by guaranteeing their right to medical care and education,” Roth said.

He further acknowledged the cooperation forged between the HRW and the government of Kuwait, including meetings with the Interior, Social Affairs and Labor Ministries to discuss the issue of domestic workers, as well as hold meetings with the central authority to resolve the situation of stateless residents. — Al-Qabas

In the meantime, the sources explained that 1,200 teachers filed lawsuits against an MoE decision taken after 1990 which eliminated a provision in their contracts by which the ministry was obliged to provide them with accommodation.

Meanwhile, the sources who opted to speak on the condition of anonymity indicated that most of the lawsuits were rejected except for two cases. — Al-Qabas

Schlumberger upgrades university computer lab KUWAIT: Global oilfield services provider Schlumberger yesterday announced the completion of the “Schlumberger Computer Lab” at the College of Petroleum and Engineering in Kuwait University, which is now ready to facilitate the company’s previously donated $5.75 million in engineering software.

Over the last two months, Schlumberger rebuilt and upgraded the Kuwait University computer lab to help enable petroleum engineering students acquire hands-on experience with the latest upstream field technologies. The lab was inaugurated with the presence of key personnel from Schlumberger and Kuwait University, including Ashok Belani, Schlumberger Chief Technology Officer; Maen Razouqi, Schlumberger Kuwait General Manager; Dr. Ali Akbar, Chairman of Petroleum Engineering Department at the Kuwait University; and Dr. Adam Al-Mulla, Vice Dean for Planning and Consultation of the College of Engineering and Petroleum at the Kuwait University..

Schlumberger Kuwait General Manager, Maen Razouqi said: “Schlumberger Kuwait has a strong commitment towards advancement of the industry in Kuwait, especially through the education of students and the career-development of engineers. We are humbled by the relationship we have with Kuwait University and thank them for continuing to give us opportunities to actively impact the careers of Kuwait’s engineering and petroleum students.” In the last two years, Schlumberger provided Kuwait University’s College of Petroleum Engineering students with a full-year access to Schlumberger’s state-of-the-art PIPESIM software, a multiphase flow simulator developed by Schlumberger for the design and diagnostic analysis of oil and gas production systems used in major oil fields throughout the world.

Schlumberger also provided Kuwait University access to the ECLIPSE technology, a complete software offering.

Eclipse has a robust set of numerical solutions for fast and accurate prediction of dynamic behavior that is used for all types of oil and gas reservoirs and of any degrees of complexity in structure, geology, fluids, within development schemes.

NA dissolution inspires many to create Twitter accounts Fastest way to spread news

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Twitter has gone on to become the most popular social media in Kuwait, reporting news and opinions of political situations brewing in the country. There’s a sense of privacy that this platform offers where people can register with nicknames or fake names and feel free to express their political opinion.

Twitter doesn’t come under the purview of the Press Law in Kuwait which regulates free journalism and freedom of speech. This gives the users a feeling that there are no limits or red lines, so their tweets cannot be considered offensive or get them into trouble.

As the tweets can be posted 24 hours a day, many have found this to be the fastest way to spread news.

Despite the general idea that tweets on political topics cannot be held

accountable, some Twitter users have received the wrong end of the stick like Talal Al-Mutairi, Jasim Abul, Hamad Al-Aleyan, apart from others.

They were arrested and later released on bail.

The MPs also created accounts on Twitter to post their comments of the political events. They used it to advertise their calls for demonstrations and other events. During the recent assembly incident when people broke into the Parliament, the photos were published of the protestors all over the media. Twitter users who wanted them punished carried red color on their profiles and the opposition carried yellow. So colors were used to take prominent sides.

After the Parliament was dissolved yesterday, many political activists and Twitter members started posting their comments on Twitter. For instance Abdullah Al-

Shaiji, Chairman Political Science Department- Kuwait University, Political Analyst and Pan Arab Columnist criticized the tribe loyalty and sectarianism, which according to him is the main criterion to win in the election.

He wrote on his account “With such criteria, academics and intellectuals have weak chances to win the elections.” He also called for creating political parties, which he thinks can reform the current system.

The dissolution inspired many non-Twitter users to create accounts and join the bandwagon to focus their posts solely on the upcoming polls. For instance the Q8elect2012 was founded just yesterday, and claims it is the best account on Twitter, reporting the news and statements of candidates, the timings of their symposiums, and launching of their headquarters.

30% disabled citizens not genuine KUWAIT: At least 30 percent of disabled citizens that receive care from the Public Authority for People with Special Needs have provided falsified information to obtain privileges accorded to the disabled, said General Director Dr Jassem Al-Tammar.

“The authority has learnt that 1,800 out of 6,000 cases were not genuine,” Al-Tammar said while attending the First International Conference on People with

Special Needs. “The authority currently has the files of 40,000 disabled citizens. We have restudied 6,000 files so far to find that that 30 percent are faking disability,” he said. Al-Tammar rejected that local standards would be adopted to assess disabilities. “That would come to mean that a citizen will be considered disabled in Kuwait but not so according to international standards,” he said. — Al-Rai

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

LOCAL

kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

We want political parties

Hopes for the immediate future

By Dr Ahmad Y Al-Duaij

Muna Al-Fuzai

ith the grace of Almighty Allah, and HH the Amir’s wisdom, Kuwait has been able to emerge successfully from political crises. It could have dangerously escalated to a point where only Allah. Kuwait is in a perpetual state of convalesce - it has not recovered from the effects of the dangerous political polarization between the previous governments and the opposition blocs.

HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah, cannot be judged because he is in the process of forming an interim government that will resign after parliamentary elections. The current Parliament will only be constitutionally dissolved. We wish him success. It is for sure that the period between forming the awaited new government, will follow parliamentary elections. Some political arrangements may be made.

We hope that the government will follow legislative elections. We hope that the prime minister purges Kuwait of corruption. The corruption of some opposition symbols is just as dangerous as that of the government in some fields, especially in

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We hope that the government will follow legislative elections.

We hope that the prime minister purges Kuwait of corruption. The corruption of some opposition symbols is just as dangerous as that of the government in some fields, especially in relation to appointments made to the posts of assistant undersecretary, department directors and state establishments. Some ministers bow to opposition MPs, fearing a grilling motion. So, in order to keep them silent, they appoint many unsuitable people that negatively influence ministries’ work. relation to appointments made to the posts of assistant undersecretary, department directors and state establishments. Some ministers bow to opposition MPs, fearing a grilling motion. So, in order to keep them silent, they appoint many unsuitable people that negatively influence ministries’ work. It will raise ‘corruption indicator’ which has been on the rise for the past six years.

Many people, including me, believe that things will not change and the reason, is the delayed decisive action of three years that contributed to the deterioration of the situation. That would not have been the case if it there would not have been any hesitation in taking decisions. We also believe that the political steps taken do not tell of deeprooted changes that come about in the way the government functions. We wish and hope that Kuwait’s future will be a bright one. —Al-Watan

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kuwait digest

Cabinet will not succeed

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij he future Cabinet is destined to fail, whether both opposition and pro-government lawmakers it is assembled as per the new prime minis- voted to pass the teachers’ general allowance, ter’s vision or as per the desires of MPs. This except for MPs Rola Dashti and Adel Al-Saraawi. reality is inevitable not due to governmental misThough the government is indeed reaping what management as what many so-called ‘local politi- it sowed, it also has to deal with MPs who claim to cal analysts’ usually claim, be seeking reform and not due to attacks and but at the same deliberate tensions that Though the government is indeed time rejec t the some people blame the notion of reducing reaping what it sowed, it also has to opposition for. The main the benefits that deal with MPs who claim to be seeking problem which prevents citizens have, conreform but at the same time reject the the Cabinet from succeedsidered to be the ing in the ‘rentier state’ sys‘citizen’s legitimate notion of reducing the benefits that cittem followed in Kuwait right to benefit izens have, considered to be the ‘citiwith the discovery of oil. from their counzen’s legitimate right to benefit from Its sale allowed the governtry’s wealth.” MPs their country’s wealth.” MPs who often who often strongly ment to provide a luxuristrongly reject serious attempts to ous life to its citizens. rejec t serious Regardless of who is attempts to break break free from the rentier state sysselec ted in the new free from the rentem limitations, are the same ones to Cabinet, be it qualified tier state system continue filing interpellation motions limitations, are the fresh faces or former minisagainst the government. ters, the Cabinet will still same ones to conhave to face the rentier tinue filing interstate ideology which has pellation motions been growing in the society for years. This basically against the government. means that the Cabinet will always find itself at The Cabinet cannot succeed unless parliament odds with MPs who will vehemently tackle any members are assigned to formulate the state’s reform attempts that limit the rentier state policies general policy, or in other words, directly address in Kuwait, or alter the reality that the state’s problems created by the reniter state system. If I income depends solely on oil sale revenues (and were in the prime minister’s shoes, I would not that would generally require more productivity provide a work program containing solutions to from citizens at their workplaces). our main issues. Instead, I’d come up with a proWhen I say the MPs will put an end to the gram that points out the problems, and ask the Cabinet, I mean all MPs are involved. Most recently, Parliament to find solutions. — Al-Qabas

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Street tactics

By Sami Al-Kharafi any people in Kuwait are wondering how things will look after the new Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak forms his new government and whether the National Assembly Council will be dissolved. Will our problems come to an end? At any rate, we hope that there will be frankness, cooperation and coordination between the new government and the National Assembly Council, through a strategic plan, and clear vision. We must give this government a chance to work without obstacles and hold them accountable every six months.

What happened in the state during the few past days was very dangerous and it was clear that opposition MPs decided to revert to street tactics to bring about the government’s dissolution. What the government needs to do now is put Kuwait’s interests first and finish all the delayed projects and find the right people to do the right jobs. It will also help if the council members are well-known personalities.

We should not forget that there were some who made use of TV channels and local dailies to add to the confusion. A law should be brought into place and everyone should come under its jurisdiction without any exception. National Assembly Council members should work on drafting a law to fight corruption and focus on not misusing streets to achieve public demands. MPs should not be allowed to interfere in anything other than legislation and supervision. Regarding the new government, we want quick completion of projects and laws which will hold those who make mistakes accountable regardless of their position. We also want Kuwaitis to be employed in the private sector after graduation and to discover an alternate source of income. The current situation is very unsavory and I believe that we must not cross our limits unless we want a disaster. — Al-Anbaa

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e in Kuwait enjoy partial democracy because of the lack of organized political parties with a mission, work plans and representatives. I really want to stress on the term ‘representatives;’ They are believers who are faithful to their party. Who is open to public speech when it comes to defending or fighting their party that serves the nation?

In the end, they understand and accept the fact that each one loves his country but interpret the sentiments in their own way. There is nothing wrong with that! The basic value and objective of legalizing political parties now is to explore the benefit of transparency in action. Another reason is to reduce tension and struggle. One has to ensure to Kuwaitis and the world that their new government will be able to present seriousness and commitment in rebuilding trust and respect.

These are the instruments that the new government needs desperately because speculations over its success are rising. It will escalate, if it is not managed now.

Legalizing political parties now will end any individual’s attempts to manipulate the public for their personal interests. They will pursue the goals to be achieved. That will bring comfort among voters. There are several political groups whom we named Salafi, Hadas, independent, liberal, conservative Shiia. Unless they are legally allowed to campaign, voters will be kept in the dark and will be in perennial doubt. In the end, they will be misled and make a wrong choice in candidates.

Eventually, everyone will fall victim to the miscommunication and tension. It is time to legalize political parties in the country.

kuwait digest

Racing to sing patriotic songs

By Dr Ibtihal Al-Khateeb have always viewed the change of Cabinet with- to stop the new tendency or save the old out an aim. The main purpose of changing the Constitution. state’s policy is to display more commitment to The government is gone after paying, what I’d say, the Constitution and law. It was the result that a little price compared to the problems it has left should be achieved, not the target. The government behind and the violence it has resorted to, the stepped down dramatically. What if the opposition leniency with which they dealt the cash deposits blocs don’t like the performance of the new PM? issue, leaving us prey to rumors that cost the governWhat if he wants to give more freedom and reduce ment and the people. This government has adapted religious extremism? What if he opens Kuwait change using power to achieve it through some toward various forms of heroes who had origiart including theater, nally come to office The government is gone after paying, singing and formative resorting to by-elecarts? What if he bans tions, sectarianism and what I’d say, a little price compared to by-elections? What if he favoritism. They are racthe problems it has left behind and the opposes the wasteful ing to ‘sing some patriviolence it has resorted to, the leniency otic songs,’ as has been policy of approving with which they dealt the cash deposits allowances, writing off done previously. This loans? issue, leaving us prey to rumors that cost will only help change Opposition leaders Kuwait into a theocratic the government and the people. This have been bragging state following Salafi government has adapted change using about having one foot doctrine as its power to achieve it through some heroes Constitution. in the National Assembly and the other They ’d argue that who had originally come to office resortin the street, implying there are no friends in ing to by-elections, sectarianism and that whenever officials politics and to this we’d favoritism. do not follow the path, say ‘okay, let’s determine they will easily take to our path before firing the streets carrying demonstration banners and the chariot driver.’ We can’t change the driver withshouting till they are ejected according to the out having a roadmap. Nevertheless, here we have a Constitution. We can then search for an Article that new PM but no new hopes yet. We are only driven by authorizes the use of slogans and sectarian codes. the opposition blocs’ threats, temporarily halted to We may accept that exceptions can be made, but examine the new premiership’s tendencies. What if I should also realize that this is killing the like the new Cabinet and they don’t? It’s a silly quesConstitution. We stand baffled, wondering whether tion, but what if that happens? — Aljarida

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kuwait digest

The ideal govt system

By Thaar Al-Rashidi am fully convinced that this country’s executive authority will not be able to meet expectations without utilizing a ‘two government’ approach. The first government will focus on addressing the NA council and political disagreements (as the previous government used to do), whilst the second government will do the work. Despite this concept being not only impossible, but also something many may consider a form of madness, one must ask: is there any madness bigger than the political madness we are currently going through? What, then, is the problem with increasing our madness with a little more?

Yes, two governments, the first of which should be formed as per the shares systems. It would depend on appointing a liberal minister, a bedouin minister, an urban Sunni minister to represent merchants, a Shiite minister and a female minister, as well as many others. These ministers will cover every part of the different political streams from within and outside the council. This mix, therefore, would be well-equipped for any political showdown, and the ministers would be completely free to address political fights. The second government, however, would be a technocrat government. The minister of communication would be specialized in communication engineering, and have vast experience in administration. The minister of health should be a doctor. The minister of justice should be an ex-judge, or even retired one, and the finance minister a specialized professor in financial accounting or economics. The education minister would be specialized in education. These standards would apply to all of the Ministries. This second government would have time to concentrate on the growth plans and construction. The place of work for Ministers of the first government would be in the seats of the NA council members, and the place of Ministers for the second government would be in the ministries.

I know that this is impossible, but we have no other solution for our political woes in Kuwait except through this impossible solution. The first government (which is similar to the old governments) will have to walk through a field of political mines, which, upon explosion, will spark grilling after grilling in a slew of confrontations that never end. But with the second government, you will see hospitals being constructed, streets being built and maintained through real work completed not just to show that they are working. You will see will watch with your very own eyes as housing applications, which reached 110,000, are solved within two years. High prices will be brought under control and, most importantly, you will see the law is applied on every one.

This case is not demanding for a new government, with a new system, but for a government which matches the country’s and its citizens needs instead of one following the needs of politicians and satisfying political groups. This is the only solution, a government who responds to the NA council with its work in construction and growth, not in declarations, and threats to citizens of life imprisonment. A government who works, and not only declares. Which government do we want? Of course we want the second government, which I’m sure would silence opposition and eradicate grillings. - Al-Anbaa

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

Death squads darken picture of Homs revolt

Is threat of home-grown US terror suspects overblown?

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CAIRO: An Egyptian family drives on a motorbike loaded with gas canisters in Cairo. —AP

Islamist rivals in Egypt election stand-off Egyptians weary of political turmoil, unrest CAIRO: Independent monitors called for tighter oversight of Egypt’s parliamentary election yesterday as Egyptians voted in staggered run-offs hotly contested by rival Islamist groups seeking to extend their early gains. Hardline Salafis were the surprise runners-up behind the well-established Muslim Brotherhood’s party in last week’s opening stage, the biggest test of the public mood since street protests ended Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule in February.

The three-phase vote ending in January could give Islamists a popular mandate to challenge the ruling army council, which has already been pushed by protesters to hand power to civilians in mid-2012, sooner than it had envisaged.

But Islamists are not united and may not line up to form a majority bloc in parliament, giving liberals scope to take part in a post-election government and shape the future constitution. The Salafi Al-Nour Party and the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) are contesting about half of the 52 seats up for grabs in Monday and Tuesday’s run-off votes for seats where no

candidate won more than 50 percent in the first round.

There have been none of the long queues of voters that accompanied the first round vote. But, as before, party supporters have rallied voters outside polling stations and campaigned on the streets in violation of election rules. “Until now we haven’t seen a positive move to limit this phenomenon. It was widespread in the first stage and should have vanished in the run-offs, but it remains visible in front of the polling stations,” said Tarek Zaghloul, executive manager at the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, involved in monitoring.

He also noted that parties were using religious slogans, also banned, in their campaigning and bussing voters in. The election committee has noted violations and vowed to act but said irregularities did not undermine the election’s legitimacy, echoing an assessment made by independent monitors. But the committee raised eyebrows by revising its original first-round turnout figure of 62 percent down to 52 percent. A court also ruled results for one

of four constituencies in Cairo were void after ballot boxes were damaged or went missing.

ISLAMIST RIVALRY Monitors Without Borders, another independent group watching the poll, urged the committee to “swiftly address administrative and organizational mistakes in the election process for the second day of the run-offs and take urgent steps to provide the appropriate climate for the counting process”. The committee has said it wants votes to be counted at polling stations not at a central location to avoid mishandling.

Some of the fiercest run-offs are in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, an Islamist stronghold. “There were attempts to unite, but Salafis are very difficult,” said Mohamed Hussein, 20, as he distributed leaflets for the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) in front of a polling station on Monday in Alexandria. “We may agree on certain things but we are different in vision and strategy,” he said. “It is easier for me to talk with a liberal or a socialist

than a Salafi.” After the first round, the FJP’s party list won 36.6 percent of valid votes, with Al-Nour’s list winning 24.4 percent and a liberal Egyptian Bloc on 13.4 percent, based on figures published by the election committee before it revised turnout. Work on the constitution could be a major battleground among the new parliamentarians and between the assembly and the army, which angered politicians when its cabinet made proposals before the vote to shield the army from civilian oversight.

Though Islamists dominate, they range from hardline Salafis who want to stop visitors wearing bikinis on beaches and ban alcohol - to centrists. Liberals will also have a significant voice. Alongside the Egyptian Bloc and other groups that fielded separate lists, one fifth of the FJP’s list is made up of a variety of smaller parties that include the liberal Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party and the left-leaning Karama (Dignity). Under a complex system, two-thirds of the 498 elected lower house seats go proportionately to party lists, with the rest going to individual candidates.— Reuters

Pilgrims mark Ashura rituals despite attacks Millions flood Iraq shrine city KARBALA: Millions flooded Iraq’s shrine city Karbala yesterday for Ashura rituals on Shiite Islam’s most important day, amid tight security after bomb attacks targeting pilgrims killed 28 people. Throngs of pilgrims walked the streets beating their chests or flaying their backs with chains, ritually mourning the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed by armies of the caliph Yazid near Karbala in 680 AD. Tradition holds that the revered imam was decapitated and his body mutilated. Hussein’s body is buried in the holy city, 100 kilometers south of Baghdad. His death was a formative event in Shiite Islam. The processions of mourners, many dressed in black, included a person reciting poetry concerning Hussein’s death over a loudspeaker. Some people also carried pictures depicting the battle in which he was killed. The red flags representing the blood of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas, who was also killed near Karbala, that usually fly over their respective shrines in the city were changed to black for mourning.

The commemorations, which also included a reenactment of the attack that killed Imam Hussein, officially wrapped up at around 3:00 pm, according to an AFP correspondent. “The number of visitors to Karbala to commemorate Ashura reached about three million” people, Karbala governor Amal Al-Din Al-Har said.

Iftikhar Abbas, head of the province’s tourism committee, said the visitors included some

650,000 foreigners - 430,000 from Europe, the United States, Iran, India, and Pakistan, and 220,000 from Syria, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

The city’s roughly 400 hotels were full and pilgrims rented private homes, she said.

Yesterday’s rituals took place amid a heavy deployment by Iraqi security forces.

Lieutenant General Othman Al-Ghanimi, the head of Al-Farat Al-Awsat operations command which covers the Karbala area, said 28,000 police and army personnel were deployed in and around Karbala to protect pilgrims. Iraqi helicopters played a role in the security plan, he added. On Monday, at least 28 people were killed and 78 wounded in a wave of bomb attacks in central Iraq against Shiite pilgrims.

Martin Kobler, the special representative in Iraq of UN chief Ban Ki-moon, condemned the attacks in an emailed statement yesterday.

Kobler “condemns in the strongest terms yesterday’s terrorist attack that targeted pilgrims and resulted in killing and wounding dozens of people,” the statement said. “I am deeply saddened by the horrific attacks that continue to shatter the lives of Iraqis across the country.

Yesterday’s attack of pilgrims who gather on Ashura to practice their religious rights is particularly appalling,” he said.

One policeman was also killed and eight other people-three policemen and five civilians-were wounded yesterday by mortar

BASRA: Iraqi Shiite Muslims cut themselves with swords during Muharram, marking the anniversary of the 7th century death of Imam Hussein yesterday. — AP shells fired at a Shiite mosque in the disputed targeted by Sunni Arab extremists, who see northern Iraq city of Kirkuk, police said. The them as symbolically highlighting the split 10-day Ashura commemorations began on between Islam’s two main branches. Iraq’s November 27, peaking in Karbala yesterday. Sunni minority and Shiite majority engaged in During the 10 days, Shiites gather at night to a bloody sectarian conflict beginning in 2006 listen to stories about Hussein’s family and that left tens of thousands of people dead. other companions who were killed prior to his Now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s death on the 10th day of Muharram, the first Sunni-dominated regime barred the vast majority of Ashura commemorations throughmonth of the Islamic Hijra calendar year.

The Ashura rituals have frequently been out his rule until his overthrow in 2003.—AFP

News

in brief

NJ mayor resigns MEDFORD: The town’s married mayor, accused on a website two months ago of having sex with a prostitute at a California hotel, resigned Monday. The anonymous allegation against Republican Chris Myers, a father of two, included a photo of a man who appeared to be him in his underwear. The person making the allegation claimed to be a prostitute. He said Myers contacted him through a male escort website and they met at a Newport Beach, Calif., hotel. He complained Myers paid him $500 but didn’t fulfill promises of a car and other gifts. He said on the website that the broken promise was the reason he was taking his story public. The website was taken down soon after becoming public. Myers, in an interview with a reporter for the Courier-Post newspaper in October, refused to comment on the allegations but didn’t deny them. At a November township council meeting, Myers denied the claims, calling the Internet “a murky, anonymous place.” His resignation letter submitted to town officials Monday did not mention the scandal.

‘Cleric’ loses appeal SYDNEY: A self-styled Muslim cleric accused of sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday lost a bid to have his case dropped on free speech grounds. Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, also known as Sheikh Haron, is facing 13 offensive and harassing conduct charges relating to letters he sent to the widows and other bereaved relatives of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

The letters referred to the fallen troops as criminals, murderers and killers who were fighting a war of invasion, describing one as “1,000 times worse than a pig”.

A number were also sent to politicians, including one which described the Black Saturday February 2009 wildfires in Australia as divine vengeance for the execution of militant bombers in Indonesia. Monis, who claims to be an Islamic spiritual leader, tried to get the charges quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal, arguing that they infringed his “implied constitutional freedom of political communication”. But a threejudge panel led by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst ruled that his appeal should be dismissed.

Australia expands Iran sanctions SYDNEY: Australia yesterday expanded sanctions against Iran to restrict business with the country’s petroleum and financial sectors as concern mounts over Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

Britain, Canada and the United States slapped fresh sanctions last month on Iran following a UN agency report that strongly suggests the country is researching nuclear weapons. The European Union followed suit by expanding a blacklist against Iranian firms and individuals, although Iran has dismissed the UN report as baseless.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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

Is threat of home-grown US terror suspects overblown?

WASHINGTON: The threat of homegrown terror attacks remains a top US concern a decade after 9/11 amid a series of recent arrests, but some experts believe the problem is being over-blown. Washington has made it a priority to track down “lone wolf” terror suspects who act alone without links or support from a wider group, such as the Al-Qaeda militant group which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in which almost 3,000 people were killed on US soil.

“The most likely scenario that we have to guard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well coordinated terrorist attack,” said President Barack Obama earlier this year. US Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said officials were now investigating about 10 lone wolf cases a year. “ We have seen a dramatic increase of homegrown violent extremists, including US citizens and residents inspired by extremist ideology, plotting attacks against targets in

the United States,” he said.

In one of the most high-profile cases a US woman named Colleen LaRose, nicknamed “Jihad Jane,” pleaded guilty this year to plotting attacks abroad. The blonde American allegedly contacted foreign terrorists who recruited her to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had illustrated the Prophet Mohammed with a dog’s body. And then just weeks ago Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, a 21 year-old from Idaho, was arrested for allegedly firing shots at the White House. He was charged with attempting to assassinate Obama.

But Michael German, a former FBI counterterrorism agent who handles national security issues at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said the “lone wolf” threat may have been overstated. “The numbers remain relatively small,” said German, author of the book “Thinking Like a Terrorist.”

“It’s not a non-existent problem, but certainly not something new and growing,” German said. At issue also is

the use of informants and whether some of those eventually charged were drawn into schemes devised and laid out by US law enforcement agents, which were never going to be implemented.

Earlier this year Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, pleaded not guilty in a Massachusetts court to planning an aerial bomb attack against sites in Washington-the latest in a string of US citizens caught through FBI sting operations. If agents and informants are “involved providing the means to accomplish the plot and that obviously this person hasn’t done anything prior the government’s involvement, it’s hard to know what this person would have done,” said German. “I am not sure that it counts as a terrorist if the government provides the means and the opportunity.”

Since September 11, terror attacks have killed 17 people in isolated incidents in the United States, including 13 who died in a 2009 military base shooting.

The concept of US-grown lone

attackers has gained growing traction since Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hassan opened fire in Fort Hood, Texas, amid allegations he had contacts with radical US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi in Yemen. “Although many of the recent plots may be smaller in scale than the 9/111 attacks, they can still prove extremely deadly as evidenced by the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas,” Boyd said. America was on heightened alert after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, and during the 10th anniversary of September 11.

But no attack came, highlighting for terrorism expert JM Berger the lack of organization by “lone wolf” terrorists.

“They just don’t act strategically, they just randomly pick up targets” and “they’re always caught,” Berger, the author of “Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name of Islam,” said.

Department of Justice officials warn threats from “lone wolves” are hard to detect in part because they do not communicate with foreign organiza-

tions. But German is not convinced by the argument. “This rhetoric is more an attempt to identify an emerging threat to justify continuing surveillance and other counterterrorism programs as the former group of Al-Qaeda is downgraded as a threat,” he said.

Berger, meanwhile, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is “spending a lot of money, time, and energy on people that are not very credible.” One such case may be that of Jose Pimentel, 27, an unemployed Dominican-born US citizen arrested last month in New York for allegedly plotting to build home-made pipe bombs to kill government workers and returning US troops. He has yet to be formally charged, and the FBI has reportedly refused to handle the case amid huge questions over how solid the evidence is against him. “In the near future, there must be a serious thought about how these cases are handled,” said Berger, adding some of the cases did not justify the means the FBI devotes to them.— AFP

Death squads darken picture of Homs revolt Syrians kidnapped, killed and dumped

KINSHASA: Congolese riot police stand in front of the parliament building in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday.— AP

Long wait for train of future in Congo KINSHASA: One of President Joseph Kabila’s campaign billboards for last week’s elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed him smiling next to three trains, each with a label in the Lingala language. The first, lobi loleki (yesterday), is rusted and crumbling. The second, lelo (today), is a newer version with shiny blue carriages. The third, lobi (tomorrow), is a sleek, ultra-modern bullet train. But at Kinshasa central station, the train of today looks a lot like the train of yesterday.

Several of Kabila’s shiny blue cars are there, but they are hooked to their rusted-out siblings, the sky visible through holes in the roof.

A crush of passengers, mostly young men, is packed inside, sitting in the windows, hanging out the doors, clutching their 500-franc tickets (53 US cents, 39 euro cents) to the outlying neighbourhoods around N’Djili airport, on the southeast side of the capital-a sprawling city of 10 million people. The locomotive, a Krupp diesel, is the only working engine on Kinshasa’s three rail lines. Another is sitting in a repair shop along the tracks. Mechanics have been working on it for a year. “We suffer a lot,” says Flory, 34, an unemployed man taking the 5:00 pm train home to Masina.

“There are lots of delays. It even leaves at 11:00 pm sometimes. We’ve bought our tickets, people are ready, but the train doesn’t leave.”

As the country endures a tense wait for election results-the winner of the presidential race will be named Tuesday-the gap between Kabila’s campaign promise of “modernity on the march” and the country’s grim realities looks wide on the 15kilometre train ride to N’Djili. The polls are seen as critical for stabilizing the vast and

fractured central African nation, which bears the scars of back-to-back wars from 1996 to 2003 and is still terrorized by marauding rebel groups in the east. Almost two-thirds of the country’s 67.8 million people live on less than $1.25 a day, and despite a wealth of cobalt, diamonds, gold and other minerals, it ranks last in the world on the UN’s Human Development Index.

Kabila, who is from the other side of the country and doesn’t have much support in Kinshasa, isn’t a popular figure on the train.

“If he can leave tonight, that works for me,” says a National Office of Transportation (ONATRA) employee, a father of 12 who doesn’t want to give his name. “I earn $300 a month. It’s miserable. We’re abandoned,” says Dieudonne, a security guard on the train. “If we had good leaders, we could earn our daily bread, but we haven’t had any since independence,” says Fefe, another disaffected ONATRA worker.

Railways were once a vital part of the economy. Back when Kinshasa was Leopoldville, in the Belgian Congo, the 1898 rail line connecting the city to the port of Matadi was the backbone of the rich ivory and rubber trade. But after decades of brutal colonial rule and kleptocratic dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seko followed by seven years of war, the city’s rails are falling apart. In some spots tracks have turned into streets with businesses spilling out onto the barely visible rails. In places they have crops planted over them.

The N’Djili trip, which costs about half as much as a mini-bus, draws 12,000 passengers a day, carrying bundles of maize, p e a n u ts and wo o d. B ut ser vice is scant.—AFP

Security Council expands sanctions against Eritrea UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council has expanded sanctions against Eritrea for continuing to provide support to Islamist militants, including Al Shabaab, in the virtually lawless Horn of Africa nation of Somalia. The council resolution - which got 13 votes in favor, none against and two abstentions - was diluted from earlier drafts that sought to ban investment in Eritrea’s mining industry and outlaw imports of its minerals. Asmara denies aiding Al Shabaab or any other militant groups in Somalia. The original draft, circulated by Gabon in October, also sought to block payment of a tax Eritrea puts on remittances from its nationals abroad.

The final version, which expands sanctions imposed two years ago, simply requires countries to make their companies involved in mining in Eritrea exercise “vigilance” to ensure funds from the sector are not used to destabilize the region. The steps passed two years ago included an arms embargo. Diplomats said Russia and China, both of which abstained from Monday’s vote, opposed sanctioning the mining sector and remittances and that some European countries and the United States also felt the original draft was too tough and could penalize the Eritrean peo-

ple. On remittances, the resolution calls on states to act to ensure Eritrea ceases “using extortion, threats of violence, fraud and other illicit means to collect taxes outside of Eritrea from its nationals.” It also “condemns” Eritrea for using a remittance tax to fund mischief in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea is seen to be on the brink of a minerals boom that could revive its struggling economy, while remittances it gets from its large diaspora in the West and Middle East are its biggest source of foreign exchange. The country’s most advanced mining project, Bisha, believed to contain gold, copper and zinc, is run by Canada’s Nevsun Resources Ltd. Earlier this year, Eritrea granted Australia’s Chalice Gold Mines two new exploration licenses in a nearby location.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice welcomed the resolution’s adoption, saying “our goal is to show Eritrea that it will pay an ever higher price for its actions.” British envoy Mark Lyall Grant said the council could pass “additional measures if there is evidence of further non-compliance.” The vote came after top officials from Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda lined up earlier on Monday to criticize Eritrea and urge the council to pass the resolution. —Reuters

BEIRUT: Shadowy death squads are operating in Syria’s flashpoint city of Homs, according to accounts from anti-government activists in the country, from which foreign reporters are officially banned. In the past two days, more people were killed in mysterious circumstances than by the state security forces firing in the streets, activists and residents say. Yet very little is known for certain about who is behind such killings, which appear to have targeted government supporters, as well as opponents.

Along with a rise in ambushes and bomb attacks by military defectors who have set up a “Free Syrian Army”, the emergence of irregular militias has complicated what began in March as a popular revolt against President Bashar AlAssad, inspired by unarmed demonstrators who led Arab Spring protests elsewhere. UN officials say Syria is close to “civil war”. There are also fears that sectarian divisions could deepen the conflict, as happened in recent years in neighboring Iraq. Available reports offer only a partial explanation of who stood behind the kidnapping and murder of over 60 Syrians whose bodies were dumped on Monday in two separate places in Homs. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a witness in Homs as saying on Monday he saw the bodies of 34 people “who were originally kidnapped earlier today by Shabiha from the neighborhood uprising against the regime”. Shabiha is a popular name for state-backed paramilitaries drawn from Assad’s minority Alawite sect, who are outnumbered about eight to one by Syria’s Sunni Muslim people.

Since the early months of the uprising, the Shabiha have been accused of abductions, assassinations and drive-by shootings in a number of Syria’s most divided cities and towns. Another anti-government activist in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 32 more bodies collected in various locations and brought to

GENEVA: With concern mounting over the crisis in Syria and President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on dissent, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (below right) meets with a small group of expatriate Syrian opposition members, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday. —AP the state hospital in the city on Monday included both opponents and supporters of Assad.

An activist known as Shadi said the explanation could lie in a cycle of spontaneous revenge killings, not necessarily by organized groups or by groups acting in complicity with the state but reflecting local traditions of blood feud, exacerbated by divisions of clan and religion. “For example, the families in one neighborhood get back the dead bodies of their loved ones,” Shadi said. “Maybe most just stay home and mourn. But all it takes is for one person to go and say, ‘I want revenge’. So suddenly you get these cases where some people are taken are killed...” “And then all you need is for a few people from the other neighborhood to go back and do the same to the people from the district they think the ‘Shabiha’ came from,” he said.

SNIPER FIRE Assad’s government says the violent unrest is being stirred by armed gangs organized and

financed from abroad. Several thousand members of its armed forces have defected to the rebels in the past few months. In a rare international television report from inside Homs, a correspondent for Britain’s Sky News said yesterday that Assad “uses militia to attack” his opponents and protesters. “The Shabiha militia don’t care who they kill, all they want to see is blood.

They’ll kill an old man, a young child, an old lady. They don’t care.

All they want to see is blood,” a Free Syrian Army soldier told Sky on camera. The soldier, wearing camouflage and manning a heavy machinegun, was filmed in a sandbagged position which Sky said was just 100 meters from government troops in a Homs suburb. “ There’s a real Sarajevo feeling about this,” correspondent Stuart Ramsay said. Nine people had been killed in one week by sniper fire on a dusty city suburb crossroads “and not one of them was armed”, he added. His report showed Syrians running across open ground from the shelter of one building to

another, in scenes reminiscent of the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s Bosnia war. The report said there was sniper and automatic arms fire, night and day.

But less evident are the abductions, and who is behind them.

“Everyone is talking about the kidnappings and killings that happened. There are rumors flying ever ywhere. How many were killed? How many were taken? Why were they taken?” another young man living in Homs told Reuters by telephone. “No one can actually really know because everyone is staying home. Who knows what is true?” Calling Monday “one of the deadliest days since the start of the Syrian revolution”, the Observatory for Human Rights added up the 34 bodies seen by its witness with 16 more killed in half a dozen separate incidents, to obtain a one-day toll of 50 dead. This tally did not include the 32 bodies seen by the other activist, suggesting that sectarian killings of Alawites by opposition Sunni militias might be going unreported. —Reuters

Yemen govt ‘imminent’, UN warns on civilians SANAA: Yemen’s new prime minister said yesterday that an interim government intended to pull the country back from the brink of civil war would be formed in the next 48 hours. The announcement came as forces opposing and loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh pulled back from some positions in the southern city of Taiz, after a bout of fighting there killed at least 20 people. The violence has threatened to derail the formation of the government, a key element a Gulf-brokered deal to end Saleh’s 33-year rule. Mohammed Basindwa, a former foreign minister representing opposition parties who are to split cabinet posts with Saleh’s party saidhe expected the government to be agreed on Wednesday night or the following day. Basindwa last week said the opposition’s commitment to the power transfer depended on ending the bloodshed in Taiz, a hotbed of protests against Saleh.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of Yemen’s richer neighbors, shares US fears that the struggle over Saleh’s fate could lead to chaos and embolden Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch. Yesterday the belligerents withdrew from some positions they held in the city, some 200 km south of the capital Sanaa, leaving residents to survey the devasta-

tion. “The two sides are fighting a guerilla war. I lost all three of my businesses in 48 hours,” said Mahmoud Hamid Sharaf, a merchant speaking outside his warehouse of computer equipment.

He said fighters from the

buses wrecked by artillery shells, heaps of burning rubbish and shops with windows blown out by gunfire and shelling. “We are trying desperately to de-militarize the city, to persuade the army to return to their barracks and the tribesmen to go

TAIZ: A wounded Yemeni protester is treated after he was hurt in a demonstration in Taiz. —AFP Republican Guard, a unit led by Saleh’s son, had fought from the warehouse before looting it. A committee tasked with implementing a ceasefire between the two sides moved through streets littered with

back to their villages, if this doesn’t happen, Taiz will pay the price in blood,” a member of the committee said.

The fighting came as the coalition of opposition parties that

signed the power transfer deal with Saleh last month said they had agreed on their candidates for an interim government. Opposition figures have warned formation of a government could founder if the other side puts forth names linked to gross abuses during the attempt to crush protests against Saleh, who would enjoy immunity from prosecution under the transition deal.

The government is to see Yemen through to presidential elections which Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the vice president to whom Saleh has transferred his powers, has set for Feb 21.

Any post-Saleh government would face multiple challenges including resurgent separatist sentiment in the south, with which Saleh’s north fought a civil war in 1994 following their unification under his rule four years earlier. The region is the site of conflict between government forces and Islamist fighters who have seized chunks of an entire province, displacing as many as 100,000 people.

The United Nations voiced concern yesterday about the deteriorating situation in Yemen despite the signing of the GCC deal nearly two weeks ago and called on all factions in Yemen yesterday to cease attacks on civilians. —Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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

NATO allies meet amid Russia anger over missile shield BRUSSELS: NATO allies will strive to convince Moscow this week that their European missile shield is not aimed at Russia after the Kremlin threatened to deploy weapons systems near EU borders. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join her 27 NATO counterparts for talks today that will also touch on the security transition in Afghanistan, ties with the Arab world and tensions in Kosovo. They will then meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tomorrow to tell him the missile shield will go ahead but that NATO still wants to negotiate a cooperation deal with Moscow, alliance diplo-

mats said. “Rather than having threats to NATO in response to the deployment of NATO missile defenses, it would be better if NATO and Russia were to cooperate on dealing with the threats that we face in common,” said a senior NATO official.

A diplomat said NATO wants to “calm things down” after Russia activated a radar warning system against incoming missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad on the EU’s borders last week. Days earlier President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad but he left the door open for continued dialogue on

NATO’s defense system one year after he agreed to explore ways to cooperate. “We have been clear and I assume we will be clear in the ministerial that NATO missile defenses will go ahead, ... that those defenses are not directed against Russia,” the senior NATO official said. Western officials insist that the missile shield is targeted against growing threats from the Middle East, especially Iran.

NATO has sought to improve ties with Russia in recent years, and Moscow has allowed the alliance to use its territory to send vital supplies to troops in Afghanistan. The transit

route through Russia has become all the more important since Pakistan shut down supply lines in anger at a NATO air strike on the Afghan border which killed 24 Pakistani troops last month. The uneasy relations with Pakistan will not be on the agenda. But ministers will discuss the transfer of security reins to Afghan forces following Monday’s major Afghanistan conference in Bonn, where participants vowed sustained support for another decade after combat troops leave in 2014.

A peacekeeping mission closer to home, Kosovo, will be discussed in the

wake of violence at the border with Serbia that injured 50 NATO troops.

The alliance wants Serbs living in northern Kosovo to remove barricades that have stoked tensions with the ethnic Albanian authorities in Pristina, three years after Kosovans declared independence. And after the end to the NATO air war in Libya on October 31, in which Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan played key roles, the alliance wants to see how the Arab Spring “may provide new opportunities for engagement with countries from the Middle East and north Africa,” the senior official said. — AFP

Belgium ends a record 541-day political crisis Di Rupo becomes first gay PM

CANTON: Authorities comb through piles of garbage from a trash container where the body of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera was found in Canton, Ga. — AP

Search for missing girl turns up body in trash CANTON: A body found in a trash container is believed to be that of a 7-yearold girl who went missing last week from an apartment complex playground north of Atlanta, authorities said yesterday.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said that “everything points to it being” Jorelys Rivera of Canton. Bankhead said officials were awaiting results of an autopsy to confirm the identity and a cause of death.

Bankhead said the body appeared to have been severely beaten and sexually assaulted. He said the girl’s mother had been notified. No suspects were in custody as of Monday night, authorities said.

The girl’s mother returned to the apartment complex early Monday evening.

Crying, the woman entered the family’s apartment without speaking to reporters and a family friend asked for privacy.

The child was last seen around 5 pm Friday at the River Ridge apartments in Canton, about 40 miles north of Atlanta, Canton police Detective Candy Worthy said. The girl was at the playground with a teenage baby sitter. The girl had gone back to her apartment to get sodas for friends when she disappeared, authorities said. Authorities brought in a specialized team of law officers trained to handle child abductions. The body was located about 1 pm Monday. Canton emergency management director Jeff Hall said authorities had not searched the trash container until Monday because it was a large garbage compacting bin that needed to be moved offsite so they could go through it.

Bankhead, the GBI spokesman, said investigators believe the girl was killed at the apartment complex and her body

left in the trash bin. Yellow crime scene tape blocked off the wooded area behind the girl’s apartment building.

Authorities planned to provide an update on the investigation. Maria Rodriguez works with Rivera’s mother at a nearby poultry plant and used to live in the same complex. “She was a very sweet girl,” Rodriguez said, crying as she held her 4-year-old daughter.

“She was the type of little girl who likes her presence to be known. It’s just so sad.”

Rodriguez said Rivera’s mother worked the graveyard shift. Police have since removed two other young children from the Rivera home over “concern about the supervision of Jorelys,” said Lt Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff ’s Department. Maria Faustino, who also used to live in the apartment complex, said she always felt safe there.

“This place is small and everybody knows everybody,” said Faustino, who has a young son. “You wouldn’t have thought something like this would have happened there.”

A schoolmate who lived in a neighboring complex, 8-year-old Ashley Rosalez, said Rivera was very talkative and that she would play on all the playgrounds in nearby apartment complexes.

Another neighbor, Nancy Hudgins, who lives next to the trash bin where the body was found, said the little girl liked to swim at the pool in the complex with her siblings and loved to pet animals that lived in the area. She said the Rivera family was “mostly quiet” and kept to itself.

Officers were checking with sex offenders in the area, an effort that will possibly broaden as the investigation continues, Bankhead said. — AP

BRUSSELS: Belgium finally swore in a government yesterday ending a record 541-day crisis, but the new Socialist-led coalition will face an uphill struggle to tackle problems at the root of the deadlock. After 18 months without a government, King Albert II swore in Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, sporting one of his iconic red bow-ties, and then his 12 cabinet ministers and six secretaries of state, one by one. “I swear fidelity to the king, obedience to the constitution and to the laws of the Belgian people,” Di Rupo said in French, and then in Dutch and German, the country’s three languages, with his right hand raised.

Albert II, who helped steer feuding politicians across Belgium’s French-Dutch language divide back to the negotiating table, shook hands with each of the members of the new cabinet. The ceremony held at the royal palace and televised live ends one of Belgium’s bleakest moments-a marathon of political haggling that last summer drew even the sovereign out of his royal reserve. As divisions sharpen between thriving Dutch northerners and the more down-at-heels Frenchspeaking south, the country that plays host to global institutions such as the EU and NATO is struggling to remain united around a joint political and economic vision.

In much the same way prosperous Germany derides spendthrift Greece, the 6.5 million people of Flanders renege on taxes destined to the 4.5 million of southern Wallonia. Notably absent from the six-party coalition built by Di Rupo, who will be the first openly gay premier of the country, is the biggest party in Flanders, the powerful separatist N-VA which pulled out of the lengthy coalition talks. Yet Di Rupo will be Belgium’s first French-speaking premier in more than three decades and the first Socialist at its helm since 1974.

He will also be one of only three-with Austria and Denmark-centre-left leaders attending this week’s crucial EU summit. “The new team, especially its leader, comes carrying a huge burden,” said an editorialist in Flemish daily Gazet van Antwerpen. “Belgians

want to believe in fairy tales,” quipped French daily Le Monde. It took soaring borrowing costs and a Standard & Poor’s downgrade from AA+ to AA late last month to jolt Belgian’s feuding politicians to set aside their quarrels and clinch a deal between six parties which together wield a parliamentary majority. Top of the agenda for Di Rupo when he outlines the new government’s policy to parliament today will be 11.3 billion euros in budget cuts, the toughest austerity measures in 70 years.

With its debt at 96 percent of GDP last year,

BRUSSELS: Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, with bow tie, poses next to Belgian King Albert II, (right) after a swearing-in ceremony as the first French-speaking prime minister in nearly 40 years. — AP just behind Greece and Italy in the eurozone, the coalition has pledged to balance the books by 2015 but many economists say it may not achieve the 0.8 percent growth the budget foresees.

The government, an unlikely alliance of Socialists, Christian Democrats and Liberals from both sides of Belgium’s language divide, also plans further devolution of powers to

Corona, a farm labor contractor with a history of mental illness, was convicted of stabbing the men, hacking open their heads and burying their remains near Yuba City, 40 miles north of Sacramento.

“He got a five-year denial. ... Part of it was because he at least discussed some of the underlying facts with regard to the commitment offense,” said his attorney, Leon Harris III, declining further comment.

Corona walked unaided into the hearing, but his dementia was evident during his comments, McClung said. “He was a little bit all over the road,” she said.

“He did start rambling a little bit.”

Corona’s first conviction in 1973 was overturned on appeal, but he was convicted again in 1982 and sentenced to 25 concurrent life sentences. He was not eligible for the death penalty because California’s capital punishment law had been ruled unconstitutional at the time.

It was the most deadly killing spree in US history, until John Wayne Gacy Jr was convicted in 1980 of murdering 33 young men and boys in his Chicago home. Gacy was executed in 1994 in Illinois.

Investigators found a machete, a meat cleaver, a double-bladed ax and a wooden club, all stained with blood, in Corona’s home, along with a ledger book containing the names of seven of the victims. His attorney argued that his age and lack of recent violent acts means he should be paroled, said McClung, who countered that his dementia and apparent lack of understanding and remorse means he is still dangerous. — AP

after mixing his verbs in a recent speech by calling on Belgians to drink (drinken) when he meant to say it was urgent (dringen) to agree to austerity. “I’m going to work on it,” Di Rupo promised. “I will reply in Dutch in parliament, even with mistakes.” “My Nigerian maid who’s only been in the country for two years speaks better Dutch than Elio,” said separatist N-VA leader Bart De Wever. — AFP

Spanish suburbs transformed into land of shattered dreams

America worst serial killer denied parole SACRAMENTO: A man who was once known as America’s worst serial killer was again denied parole Monday after he admitted his guilt for the first time before the parole board. Juan Corona said he murdered and mutilated 25 farmworkers four decades ago because they were trespassing in the orchards north of Sacramento, said Sutter County Assistant District Attorney Jana McClung. Parole officials decided Corona can try again in five years, McClung said after the two-hour hearing. It was Corona’s seventh bid for parole from Corcoran State Prison.

Corona, a Mexican national and native of Jalisco, Mexico, previously made incriminating statements to a prison psychologist. “This is the first time that I’m aware of that he made that admission to the full board. He said it was trespassing and they were winos,” McClung said. “He just doesn’t seem to realize that what he did was wrong.”

Corona, 77, has been diagnosed with dementia and mental illness. No family members of his victims attended the hearing. Prosecutors said Corona targeted victims who had few relatives and likely wouldn’t be missed. “We have had no contact with survivors for two decades now,” District Attorney Carl Adams said before the hearing. “The people who he killed were farm laborers who were itinerant. Most of them didn’t have relatives who could be contacted back in the ‘70s at the time of trial.” Four of the bodies have never been identified. The bodies of 14 of Corona’s victims were never claimed by family members after they were discovered in 1971.

regional assemblies. But having already lost a year a half to the haggling, Di Rupo has only two and a half left “which is very little to clean up public finances, adapt our socio-economic model to the 21st century and implement a reform of the state,” said an editorial in the French daily Le Soir.

The future “will be anything but a picnic,” added daily La Libre Belgique. Di Rupo, a career politician with a rags-to-riches storybook life, also comes with a black mark-his controversially poor Dutch. His thick, labored accent is all the talk in the media, particularly

MOSCOW: Riot police detain a Russian opposition activist taking part in an unauthorized rally, on Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow yesterday. — AFP

Russia shaken by anti-Putin protest MOSCOW: Moscow police were yesterday holding several Russian opposition figures after breaking up an unprecedented protest against polls monitors said were slanted in favor of Vladimir Putin’s ruling party. Several thousand people took to the streets in central Moscow late Monday despite pouring rain for a rally against the results of Sunday ’s elections in which Putin’s United Russia party won but with a sharply reduced majority. Police said they arrested 300 people including prominent activist Ilya Yashin and opposition blogger Alexei Navalny after the protesters marched towards the Lubyanka Square that houses the feared FSB security service.

Around 250 were remained detained yesterday morning, Olga Shorina, spokeswoman for Solidarnost (Solidarity) movement that organized the protest said. Many now face 15 days of arrest, she said. During the rally-called mostly through social networks whose use has boomed in Russia in recent years-protesters chanted “Russia without Putin” and “Putin should be in prison.” Navalny has won a huge following on the Internet

for exposing corruption at state-owned firms and he coined the phrase, which has now been taken up by all the opposition, “swindlers and thieves” to describe United Russia.

Putin suffered his worst ever setback at the ballot box on Sunday as United Russia’s majority in the State Duma was sharply reduced. The opposition claimed the results would have been even more dramatic in clean elections. Monitors led by the OSCE said the polls were slanted in favour of United Russia and marred by “frequent procedural violations” including ballot stuffing. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised “serious concerns”.

Along with United Russia, three other usually pliant opposition parties won seats in the State Duma, including the Communists. However liberal party Yabloko failed to win sufficient votes for seats and another anti-Kremlin force, the Parnas party, was not even registered for the vote. According to police, 2,000 people showed up at the Moscow rally while Shorina said up to 10,000 attended the rally and 1,500-2,000 marched later towards the offices of the Central Election Commission. — AFP

MADRID: When Magali Quezada began working at a remittance office in suburban Madrid four years ago there were long lines of customers-now she waits patiently for someone to walk in. “It used to be swarming with people, there were long lines of people who wanted to send money back home,” the 34-year-old Peruvian said as she looked around the empty office at Torrejon de Ardoz.

Like other Spanish suburbs, Torrejon saw a huge influx of immigrants during the years of a profitable real estate boom as millions of foreigners arrived seeking jobs in construction and the service sector. Immigrants account for about one-fourth of Torrejon’s population.

They come mainly from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe and have helped keep the town’s bars, cafes and beauty salons busy during the good times.

But with immigrants especially hard-hit by the collapse of Spain’s real estate bubble in 2008, stores are now deserted. “For sale” signs dot the windows of flats, and the suburb is plagued by unemployment and shattered dreams. “We got used to the good life, we had leisure time, we could buy a plot of land in our countries, we brought over our families. Now all of that is over,” said Quezada who arrived in Torrejon a decade ago. Spain’s unemployment rate soared to a 15-year high of 21.52 percent in the third quarter, the highest among major industrialized nations. But among immigrants the joblessness is even higher, standing at 32.7 percent. Many now struggle to meet repayments on car and home loans given out with ease by banks when times were better. When Luis Mendes arrived in Spain in 1997 from Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony on the West African coast that is one of the world’s poorest nations, he thought he found his land of opportunity. The 40-year-old worked long hours on a farm and then as a construction worker and got a bank loan for 100,000 euros to buy a 70-square-metre flat in Torrejon. “I earned a good living, I earned 1,800 euros a month because I would often worked overtime. It was enough to help my family who stayed behind,” he said.

“Today I don’t work anymore. I received jobless benefits during a year but now I am not entitled to them anymore,” said Mendes, who shares his apartment with his two brothers who are also out of work. He is facing eviction from his flat because he has not been keeping up with his mortgage payments. The street where Mendes lives has been nicknamed “eviction street” because several other people risk losing their homes over missing mortgage payments. Last month a group of about 60 activists who fight against home foreclosures tried in vain to prevent two bailiffs from evicting Consuelo Lozano from her first-floor flat in Torrejon. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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

Blagojevich hoping family, shame lighten sentence CHICAGO: He was convicted of a shocking crime: trying to sell the president’s former Senate seat. He eroded the public trust, supposedly lied to jurors and has shown no remorse. Yet Rod Blagojevich says he also did good while he was Illinois’ governor, and he has two young daughters to support and no criminal record. Judge James B Zagel will weigh such factors as he begins calculating how much time the disgraced former governor should spend behind bars. He’s said he’ll pronounce his sentence today, concluding what could be a surprise-filled hearing in which Blagojevich may beg for mercy or dig in his heels yet again to protest his innocence.

Zagel, who has gained a reputation as tough but fair during a quarter century on the federal bench, now switches hats from referee at trial to part psychologist and moral philosopher who must grapple during the two-day hearing in Chicago with sometimes nebulous concepts of justice and deterrence. The 70-year-old judge, who played a judge in the 1989 movie “Music Box,” must answer nuanced questions according to complex federal sentencing algebra, including the whether Blagojevich lied when he denied any wrongdoing during seven days from the witness stand at his trial.

Even Zagel agrees he did, that could add years to his sentence.

The ousted governor-turned-reality TV figure, who also intends to address Zagel directly, has good reason to be worried: He’s staring at the prospect of 10 or more years in prison, largely cut off from the outside world and his wife, Patti, and their school-age daughters. A man heard scoffing on wiretaps about earning a low six-figure salary would have to take a prison job - possibly scrubbing toilets - for 12 cents an hour.

Prosecutors want him to imprison the one-time “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant for 15 to 20 years. In a Monday court filing, they contend Blagojevich hasn’t accepted responsibility for his crimes and has repeatedly thumbed his nose at justice system. The defense, in seeking a term of no more than a few years, will tell Zagel that Blagojevich has already paid a hefty price in financial ruin and public scorn. In their own sentencing filing, they pointed to how his wife ate a tarantula on the reality show, “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” in what they portrayed as a desperate bid for money.

“He has suffered every kind of ridicule and humiliation imaginable - to the point that foreign tourists can often be found posing for photos on the outside staircase to his family home,” his lawyers said.

Somewhat surprisingly, Blagojevich’s attorneys seem bent on insisting he is innocent - something judges frown upon during the sentencing stage. Rehashing an argument they made at trial, they wrote in their sentencing filing that Blagojevich barely made passing grades in law school and relied on smarter, better-educated

Former Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich aides. “(They) led him into the morass of a six-year investigation that resulted in the destruction of his life and career,” the filing says.

Blagojevich’s sentencing comes just days before his 55th birthday and three years to the week of his Dec 9, 2008, arrest at his home where a dazed Blagojevich asked agents, “Is this a joke?” His first trial ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. But jurors at his recent retrial were decisive, convicting Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts, including

bribery. Though judges aren’t supposed to let personal feelings affect sentencing decisions, lawyers widely believe they do. The straight-laced Zagel wouldn’t seem to have a natural affinity for the often boastful, undisciplined Blagojevich, but he’s never said he dislikes the former governor.

Both sides are expected to finish their pitches to Zagel Tuesday, but the judge said he’d pronounce his sentence today, possibly to give himself time to sleep on it. Zagel may have a good sense of the sentence he’ll impose before the hearing starts, but Blagojevich could affect its severity if he can manage to show some remorse, several legal experts said. They widely concurred that Blagojevich eschew signing autographs in court like he did during his trials and instead focus on body language that conveys humility. A flat-out apology, though, isn’t always a must. If it isn’t sincere, it can anger a judge. And some felons are reluctant to apologize because they feel it will undermine an appeal of their convictions.

The defense could also call others to speak in court. But as Blagojevich became politically radioactive after his arrest, longtime friends and allies scattered. So it’s not clear who would be willing to speak for him now. Blagojevich set up a Facebook page asking supporters to write the judge. But the results were mixed. One posting read, “You’re getting a raw deal.” But another said, “You’re a crook and deserve to go to prison.” Wives often plea for leniency, but Zagel likely wouldn’t view Patti Blagojevich sympathetically. On FBI wiretaps, she was heard encouraging her husband’s bid for campaign cash or a top job in exchange for an appointment to Obama’s vacated seat.

A nun, a Blagojevich neighbor, his brother and others have written letters to Zagel, according to the defense filing. Several focused on the anguish Blagojevich’s absence would cause his daughters, Amy, 15, and Annie, 8. “Every day that he is gone (in prison), the girls are the ones who suffer most,” said a letter from the girls’ ice-skating coach, Kathy Murphy, that was quoted in the filing. Prosecutors said in their filing that they sympathize with the plight of the twiceelected governor’s family. But they hastened to add, “Blagojevich has nobody to blame but himself.”— AP

Romney staff spent nearly $100,000 to hide records Emails and other communications wiped from servers

NEW YORK: Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at a news conference in New York. — AP

For GOP’s Gingrich: Big declarations and hurdles NEW YORK: Surging in opinion polls, a confident Newt Gingrich declared Monday he plans to challenge Barack Obama in every state next year, and he began running a gauzy TV ad - his first - to push toward the Republican nomination to take on the president. But, illustrating how far he has to go, Gingrich also found himself defending the state of his campaign and his own comments about poor children. “I do not suggest children until about 14 or 15 years of age do heavy, dangerous janitorial work,” Gingrich told reporters. “On the other hand, there are a number of things done to clean buildings that are not heavy or dangerous.”

He’s drawn fire over the past week for suggesting that poor children as young as 9 should work at least part time cleaning their schools in order to learn about work.

As Gingrich volunteers scrambled in some states to meet deadlines to get his name on ballots, the candidate dismissed the notion that his team wasn’t up to the task of waging a credible challenge against the better-funded, better-organized Mitt Romney. “We run a very decentralized campaign,” Gingrich insisted. “ The system works.”

With only one month until the first presidential votes are cast, the GOP race has seemed to narrow to a contest between Gingrich and Romney. Each spent the day wooing donors, Gingrich on the East Coast and Romney on the West Coast, as the hunt for cash intensified ahead of the string of costly contests that begin Jan. 3 in Iowa.

The two will cross paths Wednesday as the candidates all convene in Washington to court Jewish voters and again Saturday at a debate in Iowa, the first of three planned for December.

This one is shaping up as a pivotal debate, given that Gingrich’s recent comeback has been fueled largely by a string of strong performances in which he demon-

strated policy expertise and was able to appear statesmanlike while steering clear of criticizing his GOP rivals. He is the latest GOP candidate to enjoy a burst of momentum and he’s working to prove that, unlike the others who have risen and fallen, he’s a serious contender with staying power. To that end, Monday was supposed to be a day for the former US House speaker to capitalize on Herman Cain’s departure from the race and his own soaring poll numbers, making a good showing for up-for-grabs tea party supporters.

He chose heavily Democratic New York City to announce plans to campaign all across the country - not just in traditionally Republican or swing states - next fall against Obama. He packed the rest of the day with fundraisers and meetings, including one with Donald Trump, who flirted with a presidential bid himself and has sought to play a role in the GOP selection process. But Gingrich’s expected show of force didn’t go exactly as planned, and the day ended up underscoring the challenges he now faces since going from the back of the pack to the front. Twice on Monday he tried to explain what he had meant about poor kids working.

He said his original point had been “distorted” to make him look insensitive. The idea, Gingrich said, would be “to get them into the world of work, get them into the opportunity to earn money, to get them into the habit of showing up and realizing that effort is rewarded and America is all about the work ethic.” He said he had persuaded Trump to mentor a group of children from New York City’s poorest schools.

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Trump, who hosts the reality show “Celebrity Apprentice.” “We’re going to be picking 10 young wonderful children and make them ‘apprenti.’ We’re going to have a little fun with it.” —AP

Severe winter storm blasts New Mexico ALBUQUERQUE: A severe winter blast has struck most of New Mexico, closing schools and shutting down major highways across the state. Motorists sought emergency shelter overnight as state officials closed both directions of Interstate 40 from Albuquerque to Gallup - part of the historic Route 66 - after blowing snow caused near-zero visibility.

Authorities also shut down Interstate 10 in the southern part of the state, from the Texas line to the Arizona border, because of heavy snow and icy road conditions. The storm was the third to hit the state recently and spread heavy snow throughout northern and southern New Mexico.

It forced school districts to close or end classes early Monday, as motorists struggled with icy roads. Early Tuesday KOB-TV reported nearly 200 active closings and delays. Julia Pardue, a front desk attendant at the Super 8

hotel in Grants, said a number of stranded motorists got rooms for the rest of the day after Interstate 40 was closed rather than wait for the highway to reopen. “A lot of people just didn’t want to be on the roads,” she said.

Meteorologists said heavy snow wasn’t to blame for the highway closures but rather strong winds brushing the light snow across roads, making visibility difficult. Some areas, such as Tajique, saw 2-foot snow drifts. Kerry Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said most of the heavy snowfall ended by Monday afternoon and just around an inch or two was expected throughout most of New Mexico. Jones said residents also should expect “bitter cold” weather with temperatures 15 below zero in some parts. Jones said temperatures will gradually warm throughout the week. —AP

WASHINGTON: Mitt Romney spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to replace computers in his office at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2007 as part of an unprecedented effort to keep his records secret, Reuters has learned. The move during the final weeks of Romney’s administration was legal but unusual for a departing governor, Massachusetts officials say. The effort to purge the records was made a few months before Romney launched an unsuccessful campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He is again competing for the party’s nomination, this time to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency in 2012.

Five weeks before the first contests in Iowa, Romney has seen his position as frontrunner among Republican presidential candidates whittled away in the polls as rival Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, has gained ground. When Romney left the governorship of Massachusetts, 11 of his aides bought the hard drives of their state-issued computers to keep for themselves. Also before he left office, the governor’s staff had emails and other electronic communications by Romney’s administration wiped from state servers, state officials say.

Those actions erased much of the internal documentation of Romney’s four-year tenure as governor, which ended in Januar y 2007.

Precisely what information was erased is unclear.

Republican and Democratic opponents of Romney say the scrubbing of emails - and a claim by Romney that paper records of his governorship are not subject to public disclosure hinder efforts to assess his performance as a politician and elected official. As Massachusetts governor, Romney worked with a Democrat-led state house to close a budget shortfall and signed a healthcare overhaul that required nearly all state residents to buy insurance or face penalties.

Massachusetts’ healthcare law became a model for Obama’s nationwide healthcare program, enacted into law in 2010. As a presidential candidate, however, Romney has criticized Obama’s plan as an overreach by the federal government. Massachusetts officials say they have no basis to believe that Romney’s staff violated any state laws or policies in removing his administration’s records. They acknowledge, however, that state law on maintaining and disclosing official records is vague and has not been updated to deal with issues related to digital records and other modern technology.

BUYING UP HARD DRIVES Romney’s spokesmen emphasize that he fol-

MANCHESTER: Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney, speaks to supporters and volunteers during a rally in Manchester, NH. — AP lowed the law and precedent in deleting the emails, installing new computers in the governor’s office and buying up hard drives. However, Theresa Dolan, former director of administration for the governor’s office, told Reuters that Romney’s efforts to control or wipe out records from his governorship were unprecedented.

Dolan said that in her 23 years as an aide to successive governors “no one had ever inquired about, or expressed the desire” to purchase their computer hard drives before Romney’s tenure.

The cleanup of records by Romney’s staff before his term ended included spending $205,000 for a three-year lease on new computers for the governor’s office, according to official documents and state officials. In signing the lease, Romney aides broke an earlier three-year lease that provided the same number of computers for about half the cost - $108,000. Lease documents obtained by Reuters under the state’s freedom of information law indicate that the broken lease still had 18 months to run.

As a result of the change in leases, the cost to the state for computers in the governor’s office was an additional $97,000. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney’s presidential campaign, referred questions on the computer leasing deal and records removal to state officials.

Last week, Saul claimed that Deval Patrick, the present Massachusetts governor and a Democrat, was encouraging reports about

Romney’s records to cast the former governor as secretive. Patrick‘s office has not responded to that allegation.

STATE REVIEWING RECORDS LAW The removal of digital records by Romney’s staff, first reported by the Boston Globe, has sparked a wave of requests for state officials to release paper records from Romney’s governorship that remain in the state’s archives.

Massachusetts officials are now reviewing state law to determine whether the public should have access to those records.

The issue is clouded by a 1997 state court ruling that could be interpreted to mean that records of the Massachusetts governor are not subject to disclosure. Romney has asserted that his records are exempt from disclosure.

State officials and a longtime Romney adviser have acknowledged that before leaving office, Romney asked state archives officials for permission to destroy certain paper records. It is unclear whether his office notified anyone from the state before destroying electronic records. Officials have said the details of Romney’s request to remove paper records, such as what specific documents he wanted to destroy, could be made public only in response to a request under the state’s freedom of information law. Reuters has filed such a request. — Reuters

Thousands without power after California windstorms PASADENA: Southern Californians were struggling yesterday to clean up millions of dollars in damage and restore power to thousands of people still left in the dark nearly a week after one of the worst windstorms in years ripped through the region. Meanwhile, forecasters said strong winds could return, but without nearly the punch that downed trees and utility poles by the thousands, damaged scores of homes and knocked out power to some 350,000 customers.

About 21,000 Southern California Edison customers remained without electricity Monday, five days after winds blasting to nearly 100 mph thrashed foothill communities along the San Gabriel Mountains just east of Los Angeles. More than 500 repair personnel were working around the clock and hoped to have most power restored

by Monday night, spokesman David Song said.

“We had thousands of trees down,” Song said. “A lot of them have gone onto our power lines so that’s hampered our basic recovery efforts.” Fallen trees also blocked roads, he said, making it hard for repair crews to get to downed lines.

Meanwhile, many people shivered in cold, darkened homes. Some checked into hotels,

while restaurants that still had power were packed during the worst outages. Many people said they had to dump rotten food from refrigerators. “It was horrible,” said AnnMarie Trudeau, whose condominium in Monrovia, one of the hardest hit areas, was without power for four days. “I ended up staying at my parents’ because I’m wimpy.” At one point, power was out to 75 percent of Temple City, and its downtown district resembled a ghost town with shuttered businesses and darkened stoplights. Edison opened emergency centers in some of the worst-hit areas where residents could pick up flashlights, ice and bottled water. The city of Arcadia, another hardhit area, said Monday it would keep its community center open until midnight for people who need to charge cellphones or computers or who simply want to get out of the cold weather. As the cleanup continued, the National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for extreme fire danger caused by dry, gusty winds. Northeasterly winds could bring blasts as high as 60 mph through Tuesday in mountain passes, canyons and coastal areas. Wind-prone areas of California’s Central Coast region were expected to see a rapid drop in

temperatures overnight, leading to a hard freeze and record lows.

The National Weather Service has issued hard freeze warnings to inland portions of the Central Coast, including Santa Ynez Valley and Ojai Valley.

A preliminary estimate put damage and cleanup costs from the winds last week at $3.8 million in areas serviced by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, and the effort might take weeks to complete, spokesman Bob Spencer said. In Utah, which also suffered damage, state officials warned of scams after getting reports of unlicensed contractors trying to take advantage of people needing repairs.

In Pasadena, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, 325 miles of streets were affected by downed tree limbs, fallen power poles and other debris. Damage and cleanup costs had not been determined but will run into the millions of dollars, said Lisa Derderian, the city’s emergency management coordinator. Some people have taken cleanup into their own hands, dumping debris in city parks or parking lots, so the city was working to set up authorized dumping sites, Derderian said. —AP

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Mekong nations to meet on controversial Laos dam PHNOM PENH: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam hold high-level talks tomorrow to decide whether to approve a controversial proposed dam on the Mekong River fiercely opposed by environmentalists.

The $3.8 billion Xayaburi project in Laos is the first of 11 dams planned for the mainstream lower Mekong, and activists warn that a green light could spell disaster for the roughly 60 million people who depend on the waterway.

Thailand, which has agreed to purchase some 95 percent of the electricity generated by the dam, has already indicated it will not oppose the project at this

week’s environment ministers’ meeting in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap. But Vietnam and Cambodia, wary of the dam’s impact on their farm and fishing industries, have expressed strong concern and are calling for more studies on the impact of the vast 1,260 megawatt dam before it is allowed to go ahead.

Vietnam, voicing “deep” concerns about fish stocks and crucial sediment flows to the ricegrowing Mekong river delta, has called for a 10-year moratorium on all hydro-electric projects on the lower Mekong.

The four member states of the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission have an

agreement to cooperate on the sustainable development of the waterway and have been in consultations over the Xayaburi project. In response to its neighbors’ criticism of the project, Laos-one of the poorest countries in the world which sees hydropower as vital to its future-in May said it had suspended work on Xayaburi and commissioned a new review.

Last week, Laos indicated it should be allowed to go ahead, as “this dam will not impact countries in the lower Mekong River basin,” deputy minister of energy and mines Viraphon Viravong told the official Vientiane Times.

Cambodia said this was not enough and called for more examination of cross-border impacts of the multi-billion-dollar project before a final decision is made. “We will request Laos to carry out further studies,” Te Navuth, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee said on Monday. “We don’t understand everything about the project yet.” Environmentalists have warned that damming the main stream of the river would trap vital nutrients, increase algae growth and prevent dozens of species of migratory fish swimming upstream to spawning grounds.

“An immediate green light for Xayaburi equals taking an immense risk for the survival of several unique species,” including the endangered giant Mekong catfish, conservation group WWF’s technical expert Marc Goichot said. Major questions about the dam’s impact, particularly on fish biodiversity and fisheries, have not been answered by Laos, he said. Last week, US senators called for a decision on the dam to be delayed citing concerns over the “health and well-being of the more than 60 million people who depend on the Mekong River,” Senator Jim Webb said in a statement.

Some 22,589 people from 106 countries have also submitted an international petition asking the ministers to cancel the project, according to environmental group International Rivers. “ The whole world is watching. We do not want to remember December 8 as the day the Mekong died,” said Pianporn Deetes, Thailand coordinator for the group, which argues the dam is not needed to meet Thailand’s future energy needs. International Rivers has accused Laos of pushing ahead with construction of access roads to the site and work camps despite a lack of regional agreement.—AFP

Indonesia brings atom test ban ‘closer to a global law’ China, India, Iran and Israel among other holdouts

SURABAYA: An Indonesian Army commando rushes in front of a Christmas tree during anti-terror exercise at a commercial center in the capital Surabaya city of East Java province yesterday. —AFP

Key political risks to watch in China BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party is preparing for a leadership transition while it deals with protests and price rises, but for now economic growth and firm controls are likely to avert serious ructions. The cost of insuring against default on 5-year sovereign debt rose steeply in September, along with many other sovereign debt markets, as fears of a global recession grew. It has traded choppily since then, and at the start of December was around 135 basis points, up 65 basis points since the start of the year. Here is a summary of key political risks in China: SUCCESSION POLITICS Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are due to give up their main Communist Party posts in late 2012 and their government posts in early 2013, making way for a new leadership generation most likely to be led by current Vice President Xi Jinping. Most other members of the nine-member Standing Committee- the Party’s decision-making core-are likely to retire in late 2012. The politics of determining who will fill those vacancies will increasingly preoccupy decision-makers, slowing policymaking and deterring the government from grappling with contentious decisions. It will also make the Party even more wary of unrest.

There will be competition for positions in the next phalanx of leaders. Some likely candidates have made little secret of their ambitions, including Bo Xilai, the charismatic Communist Party chief of Chongqing, and Wang Yang, the chief of Guangdong province. Chinese elite politics is largely circumscribed by the norms of conformity and unity around a leader, and the muted competition is unlikely to break out into open feuding or lead to major policy shifts. The growing public prominence of Vice President Xi and Vice Premier Li Keqiang indicates they are increasingly sure of succeeding President Hu and Premier Wen respectively. One key issue will be whether Hu will remain chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the People’s Liberation Army. Staying on would give him more sway over his successors.

SOCIAL UNREST The Chinese government fears that social unrest could escalate into broader protests and threaten its authority. That has been exacerbated this year by the worry of contagion from anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, and the general security tightening is likely to persist, especially with the leadership handover amplifying official jitters.

The most widespread sources of rancor are land confiscations and home demolitions for development, persistent prices rises and “corruption”, a term that covers the whole spectrum of graft and illicit self-enrichment. China’s annual inflation in 2011 is likely to be about 5.5 percent and inflationary pressures will remain next year, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said in November. The pace of price rises will overshoot the government’s target of 4 percent set earlier this year. Chen also said the country faces risks of further economic slowdown in 2012. Most outbursts of unrest are small and local protests by farmers, workers and other disgruntled groups; the chances of mass unrest challenging Party rule soon remain scant. —Reuters

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s parliament ratified a treaty to ban nuclear weapon tests yesterday, a move which the head of the agency set up to monitor the pact said brought it a “significant step closer to becoming global law.”

Adopted by consensus in the legislature, Indonesia’s endorsement makes it the 156th country to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Asian state was among nine remaining countries- including nuclear weapons powers the United States and China- whose ratifications are required for the treaty that was negotiated in the mid1990s to take effect.

“By this historic decision, the gap keeping the Treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries,” Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), said in a statement in Vienna. There is widespread international support for the treaty but it cannot take effect until eight remaining so-called nuclear technologyholder states ratify it: the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, Nor th Korea, and Egypt. Of that group, four statesIndia, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel-are outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the 1970 pact to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.

Iran is part of the NPT but the West accuses it of seeking to develop a capability to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies the

charge and says its nuclear program is aimed at producing electricity for peaceful purposes.

Proponents say US ratification of the pact, which lawmakers rejected in 1999, could encourage other holdouts to sign on. “The ratification by Indonesia today will hopefully give a push for nuclearweapon owners to do the same,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in a statement. The administration of US President Barack Obama said in May that it was preparing a push for approval of the treaty, arguing that Washington no longer needs to conduct such tests but does need to stop other countries from conducting them.

But it has not given a precise time when it would seek a Senate vote on the treaty, which the chamber rejected when fellow Democrat Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s. A twothirds majority would be needed for approval. Obama, who will seek a second term next year, has made clear he sees the test ban pact as a step toward his vision of a world without nuclear weapons, like the new START arms reduction treaty the Senate approved last year. At the time of the Senate vote 12 years ago, opponents argued that a permanent end to testing could erode the reliability of the US nuclear arsenal. The country last carried out a test nearly 20 years ago. Some also questioned whether cheaters could be detected. —Reuters

Chinese migrant worker in search of better life SHENZHEN: Young Chinese migrant worker Deng Shiping has found money since coming to the southern city of Shenzhen, but he cannot find love. Like millions of others before him, he travelled to Shenzhen-the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong-from the impoverished central province of Hunan in search of a better life three years ago. “My mother, my father, my older sister-everyone plants rice. I came here by myself. It was just for the money,” Deng, 27, said in downtown Shenzhen, surrounded by the gleaming office buildings and massive shopping malls built on the toil of migrants like him.

Deng found a job welding tiny components for earphones on the production line of a factory owned by Taiwan’s Merry Electronics. He wants to earn enough money to build a house to start a family in his rural home in Hunan near Chenzhou city. He has yet to find his bride-to-be, even though three-quarters of the workers at his factory are female-most of their parents do not want them to marry another migrant worker. Now he hopes to find a wife in his home town once his house is built, and has downloaded a photo from the Internet onto his cell phone of a doe-eyed Chinese girl as a model for his potential mate.

Pay and conditions at the factory have improved since thousands of workers went on strike in summer last year, allowing his own salary to rise to 1,320 yuan ($210) a month, which is Shenzhen’s minimum wage.

“Food prices are rising. But if I work overtime, I can get by,” he said. One of the reasons for the strike was bosses fined workers for talking on the job, a rule which has since been scrapped. “If I was working with others and I got careless and spoke, the boss would deduct 20 yuan from my salary - 180 yuan if I was loud.”

He worries about possible adverse health effects of exposure to fumes from welding and a solvent used in production. “It’s poisonous,” he said, adding workers receive an extra 50 yuan a month as compensation for the increased risk. Still, he sees the factory job as a stepping stone to starting his own business, selling clothes wholesale. “I’m not going to be here for long. I want to run my own business,” he said. Wei Wei, founder of a Chinese organization promoting migrant workers’ rights called Little Bird, said: “Everyone likes Shenzhen, because it’s special.” “But having workers find jobs in this city has caused great damage,” he said, citing labor strife and occupational diseases. “A lot of workers leave Shenzhen broken-hearted.” —AFP

SHANGHAI: A tricycle courier transports a heavy load of packages in Shanghai, China yesterday. —AP

KARACHI: A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guards outside a mosque to ensure security during the Islamic mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan. —AP

Pakistan recalls troops from border posts; US concerned ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday temporarily recalled some troops from border posts meant to coordinate activity with international forces in Afghanistan as relations have been pushed to an all-time low

by NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The troops were pulled back for “consultation” on how to improve coordination with NATO and should be back at their posts within the next few days, said Pakistan army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas. He did not specify the number of troops who would be recalled, but said some would remain at the border centers.

The decision, however, highlighted current problems with coordination because US military officials seemed to think it was another retaliatory move by Pakistan for the NATO strikes. The officials feared it would hamper efforts to liaise with Pakistani forces and increase the risk for another misunderstanding. US military officials said late Monday that Pakistan was pulling out of at least two of the three centers along the border and expressed concern about the potential impact. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The US and Pakistan have offered different accounts of what led to the NATO attacks against two army posts along the Afghan border before dawn on Nov 26, but the deadly incident seems to have been caused in part by communication breakdowns. The soldiers’ deaths have further strained already tense US-Pakistan relations, threatening Washington’s attempts to get Pakistan to cooperate on the Afghan war. Pakistan retaliated immediately by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies, demanding the US vacate an air base used by American drones and boycotting an international conference held Monday in Bonn, Germany, aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in an interview Monday that Pakistan wants to repair relations with the United States. But there is still simmering anger in the country and ties have steadily deteriorated despite billions of dollars in American aid. NATO attacks have killed Pakistani troops at least three different

times along the porous and poorly defined border since 2008, but the Nov. 26 incident in the Mohmand tribal area was by far the most deadly.

US officials have said the strike occurred when a joint US and Afghan patrol requested air support after coming under fire. The US checked with the Pakistan military to see if friendly troops were in the area and were told there were not, they said. Pakistan has said the Americans gave the wrong coordinates an allegation denied by US defense officials. Pakistani officials have also said the attack continued even after military authorities contacted one of the border coordination centers.

Gilani said Monday that negotiating new ties with the US would ensure that the two countries “respected each other’s red lines” regarding sovereignty and rules of engagement along the border. “We really want to have good relations with the US based on mutual respect and clearly defined parameters,” he said in the interview at his residence in the eastern city of Lahore. Despite Gilani’s gentler rhetoric, the gulf between the two nations remains wide. US officials have said the airstrikes have been the most serious blow to a relationship that has been battered by a series of crises this year, including the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Pakistan was outraged because it wasn’t told about the operation beforehand.

The Obama administration wants continued engagement even as Pakistan’s refusal to attack sanctuaries used by Afghan insurgents along the border has fueled criticism in Congress the country is a duplicitous ally unworthy of American aid. While lamenting the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers as a “terrible tragedy,” two key US senators on Monday criticized Pakistan’s actions since the NATO attack as “deeply troubling.” Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement that the US has been “incredibly patient” with Pakistan and now should do its own review of the relationship. —AP

Maoist rebels wreak havoc in East India PATNA: Maoist rebels have raided police posts, engaged in shootouts and bombed government buildings and railway lines in eastern India in a two-day campaign of violence protesting their leader’s killing, police said yesterday. The attacks are one of this year’s worst spasms of violence by the rebels, whom the government considers to be India’s greatest internal security threat.

While 11 people died in the violence Sunday, no deaths were reported from Monday’s attacks including a nighttime raid on a police station that sparked a heavy gunfight in the south of Bihar state, District Police Superintendent Siddhartha Mohan Jain said.

The rebels had killed 10 officers and an 8-year-old boy on Sunday in bombing and firing on a police convoy traveling with a Jharkhand state minister. Another attack on a paramilitary camp that day in Bihar led to a three-hour gunbattle that injured one rebel, who was later arrested, police said.

Another three suspected rebels were arrested with explosives Monday in the

south of Chhattisgarh state, where railway tracks had been blown up at several points as well as in neighboring Jharkhand. The rebels also set fire to a cell phone tower in Bihar on Sunday, police said.

Public transportation as well as supply deliveries were stalled as trains were canceled and buses stayed off the road for fear of hitting land mines on rural roads. The rebels also bombed an unoccupied school building around midnight Monday in the west of Jharkhand, police said. Though the rebels typically target infrastructure like railways and police stations, dozens of schools have been destroyed in recent years, according to a 2010 UNESCO report, while security forces have occupied schools for anti-rebel operations.

The rebels have pledged to avenge the Nov 24 killing of Koteshwar Rao, alias Kishenji, who they say was captured and executed during a manhunt in the jungles of West Bengal state. Security forces said the rebel leader was killed in a shootout while resisting arrest. —AP

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NEWS

Nervous Gulf stresses unity amid tensions Continued from Page 1 “Therefore, it is our duty toward our nation and people to consider all possible options, including the possession of these weapons,” Prince Turki was quoted as saying.

Gulf Arab states are desperate for Western help to derail Iran’s nuclear advances. Iran, however, says it will never give up its nuclear program which it claims is only for power and research - as a point of national pride and regional sway. That stance has likely only hardened as the Arab Spring uprisings threaten the regime in key ally Syria and as sanctions chip away at Iran’s economy.

Gulf support, meanwhile, is considered critical for the West to help enforce stronger economic pressures on Iran following a report last month by the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency that the Islamic Republic conducted secret weapons-related tests and could be on the brink of developing an atomic weapon. “(Gulf states) are terrified of Iran and they are determined to reinforce the notion in Washington and the West that Iran is the boogeyman,” said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain’s Durham University. They need little help to sell that point these days.

Iran’s relations with Britain are on life support after protesters in Tehran last week stormed the British Embassy and a compound for diplomatic workers. Other European nations - including key Iranian trade partner Germany - recalled their ambassadors in solidarity.

Iran shows no signs of easing its defiance, though. Iranian state media said the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has put itself on higher readiness. It’s an apparent bit of bluster after Iranian forces claimed to have shot down an advanced US surveillance drone near its eastern border with Afghanistan. It’s unclear whether the

wreckage of the RQ-170 craft - if it’s in Iranian hands - could yield important information about its stealth systems or reconnaissance equipment.

Last month, Iran also claimed it arrested 12 “agents” with links to the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

Officials have given no further details to back up the report. But it could signal stepped-up probes into suspected clandestine cells after a devastating Nov 12 blast at a military site that killed at least 21 people, including Gen Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam, who was in charge of the country’s missile program. Iran has called the explosion an accident, but that hasn’t squelched widespread speculation of possible sabotage to set back Iran’s missile program. Iran has already pointed its finger at alleged Israel and US involvement in the slayings last year of at least two scientists involved in nuclear research.

For Gulf states, there is a growing sense that Iran’s bravado masks some obvious worries about being an overall loser in the Arab Spring.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led calls for Arab League pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad - one of Tehran’s most important allies in the region - in response to his brutal crackdown on dissent. “The situation in the region is not in Iran’s favor,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center. “So, for Iran, it may be time to remind the Gulf countries that Tehran is still capable of destabilizing the region.”

Iran aimed one sharp warning at European-led proposals for trying to choke off Iran’s oil exports. A statement this week from Iran’s Foreign Ministry suggested crude oil prices could more than double to a record $250 a barrel if the flow was cut from OPEC’s third-largest producer which supplies fast-growing China with about 10 percent of its current energy needs. The Iranian threat did little to rattle markets. But the Gulf’s

oil security was clearly on the minds of officials at a major petroleum gathering this week in Qatar.

Qatar’s emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, opened the conference Monday by trying to calm any jitters over growing friction with Iran.

“I want to point to the numerous assurances by oil and gas exporting countries of their commitment to maintain the flow of these two resources to the consumers, and to exert every effort to fulfill this especially during crises,” he said. Olivier Jakob, an oil analyst at Petromatrix in Switzerland, said even a substantial disruption of Iranian supplies - such as through an EU-wide ban - isn’t likely to cause a massive spike in global oil prices.

“The talk of $250 a barrel, that’s part of the usual noise created by Iran.

It’s not the first time,” he said. “For that to happen, you need to have a worldwide ban,” which is still far from becoming a reality, he added. He noted that existing non-EU Iranian customers such as Turkey are unlikely to ban Iranian oil. Other Iranian supplies could shift to the Far East, particularly if Tehran decided to cut its prices significantly to entice non-Western customers. “Those other countries can still take it. Then it’s really a question of how much of a discount Iran is willing to take. ... At $110 a barrel Iran can give a pretty hefty discount,” he said.

In Dubai, which has close trade ties with Iran, ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum broke ranks somewhat with his Gulf allies by suggesting the world listen closer to Iran’s claims about not seeking nuclear arms. “I don’t believe that Iran will be under the nuclear weapon ... I don’t think so myself,” he said in an interview with CNN broadcast Monday. What can Iran do with a nuclear weapon? For example, will they hit Israel? How many Palestinians will die? And you think ... if Iran hit Israel, their cities will be safe? They will be gone (the) next day.” — AP

BEIRUT: Tens of thousands gather as Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah makes his first public appearance since 2008 before a frenzied crowd in the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday. — AFP

Nasrallah vows to arm in rare public address Continued from Page 1 arch-enemy Israel, Nasrallah last appeared in public in July 2008, when five Lebanese prisoners were released by the Jewish state. Yesterday, he was captured on camera making his way toward a stage as his ecstatic supporters pushed and shoved to get close to the leader, who was heavily guarded by a swarm of men dressed in black.

Nasrallah appeared relaxed as he strode to the stage, where he spoke for a few minutes before being ushered away. He also lashed out at the United States for seeking to destroy Syria in order to “make up for its defeat in Iraq”.

“The United States has tried to portray itself as the defender of human rights and democracy in the Arab world. “These charlatans and hypocrites are known for their support of all dictatorships that collapse and for disowning these dictatorships immediately after they collapse. This is the character of Satan.”

Nasrallah renewed his vow to stand by Assad and lashed out at the Syrian National Council, the main antiAssad opposition group, for aiming to “destroy Syria” while moving closer to Washington and Israel. “The socalled Syrian National Council, formed in Istanbul, and its

leader Burhan Ghalioun... are trying to present their credentials to the United States and Israel,” Nasrallah said.

His comments came after Ghalioun was quoted as saying a Syria run by the country’s main opposition group would cut military ties to Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

“There will be no special relationship with Iran,” Ghalioun, a 66-year-old university professor, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday.

“Breaking the exceptional relationship means breaking the strategic, military alliance,” he was quoted as saying.

“After the fall of the Syrian regime, (Hezbollah) won’t be the same.” Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, last fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 that left much of Lebanon in ruins.

Shortly before Nasrallah’s speech tens of thousands of men, women and children marched in the streets of Beirut’s southern suburbs carrying Hezbollah’s yellow and black flag and banners bearing religious slogans.

Beating their chests in a sign of grief, their chants ranged from “O Hussein” to “We will never be humiliated” and “Death to America, death to Israel”. — Agencies

Amir dissolves Assembly as opposition...

Continued from Page 1 The campaign against Sheikh Nasser began last year but intensified in March when youth activists began holding almost weekly protests that reached its climax after the discovery in August that 16 pro-government MPs received millions of dinars of illegal money into their local bank accounts. The public prosecution has launched an investigation into the scandal which was confirmed by the Financial Intelligence Unit which told the prosecution that accounts of the suspected MPs received large sums of money illegally.

The storming of the Assembly building on Nov 16 also represented an escalation of the protests, especially after the government ordered the arrest of dozens of youth activists who were detained. The attendance of tens of thousands of Kuwaitis at a rally on Nov 23 was seen as the last nail in the government’s coffin because it signalled a new trend in the campaign against the government.

Opposition MPs welcomed dissolution of the Assembly as a victory of the Kuwaiti people’s fight against corruption and corrupt MPs. MP Musallam AlBarrak said the historical decision taken by HH the Amir is a victory for the constitution and the moves of the people who rushed to defend the constitution. He said the Kuwaiti people will now have the opportunity to hold the corrupt lawmakers accountable for what they did. MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said that 20 opposition MPs will meet the Amir today to thank him for the actions he has taken in responding to the Kuwaiti people’s calls.

The liberal Progressive Movement welcomed the decision to dissolve the Assembly, saying it will reduce political tension in the country but stressed that resolving the deep-rooted political crisis will need fundamen-

tal reforms. There should be “political and constitutional reforms leading toward a fully-fledged parliamentary system and (the ruling family) should not continue its monopoly on sovereign ministries,” said the movement in a statement. It also called for political parties to be legalised and other reforms, insisting the crisis in Kuwait would continue unless the reforms were not carried out.

Ghanim Al-Najjar, a political science professor at Kuwait University, said the Amir ultimately bowed to pressures from opposition groups. “The dissolution (of parliament) was one of the demands of people who have been protesting against corrupt practices for the past months,” he said. “I think it (parliament’s dissolution) will at least open up a chance of having a new beginning with a new chance of cooperation - that’s a possibility,” Al-Najjar added. “If the prime minister and the new government take into consideration the resentment and the dissatisfaction within the public sphere I’m sure this is going to move forward.”

“Youth activists sparked the nationwide protests and this is the fruit of their efforts,” top youth leader Mohammad Al-Bulaihees said after parliament was dissolved. “The young activists will play an important role in the election to back opposition candidates” who support more freedoms and equality, he said. Bulaihees said youths would press on for deeper reforms including a constitutional monarchy, an elected government, legalising political parties and electoral law changes.

Since adopting parliamentary democracy, the Assembly has been dissolved on seven occasions. The first two in 1976 and 1986 were accompanied by a suspension of parliamentary life for a total of 11 years. The Assembly was also dissolved with elections called in 1999, 2006, 2008 and 2009 besides this time. The dissolved house was to complete its term in May 2013.

KARACHI: A Pakistani Sunni Muslim spits fire during an Ashoura procession yesterday on the tenth day of the holy month of Muharram. — AFP

KABUL: Afghan men try to remove bodies and help wounded people after an explosion during an Ashoura ceremony yesterday. — AFP

59 dead in attacks on Afghan Shiites Continued from Page 1 The Taleban strongly condemned the two attacks and said in a statement to news organizations that they deeply regretted that innocent Afghans were killed and wounded.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking at a news conference after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, said the attack was unprecedented in scope and the first time ever that one has been carried out during a religious event.

He said it was “the first time that on such an important religious day in Afghanistan terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place”.

Mohammad Bakir Shaikzada, the top Shiite cleric in Kabul, said he could not remember a similar attack having taken place on such a scale.

“This is a crime against Muslims during the holy day of Ashoura. We Muslims will never forget these attacks. It is the enemy of the Muslims who are carrying them out,” he said, declining to place blame.

Shiites make up about 20 percent of Afghanistan’s 30 million people, most of them ethnic Hazaras.

Although thousands of Hazaras were massacred by the Taleban during fighting in the 1990s, Afghan insurgents - nearly all of them Sunnis - in recent years have focused their attacks primarily on US-led NATO troops and Afghan security forces. It was unclear whether yesteray’s attacks mark a change in Afghan Taleban strategy or were carried out by al-Qaida or another group based in Pakistan, where Sunni attacks on Shiites are

common. Hardline Sunnis consider Shiites nonbelievers because their customs and traditions differ from the majority sect.

Mahood Khan, who is in charge of the Abul Fazl shrine, said the explosion occurred just outside a courtyard where dozens of worshippers were lined up as they filed in and out of the packed building. A few minutes after the blast, bodies could be seen loaded into the trunks of cars while wounded were led away by friends and relatives.

Survivors wept in the streets. “It was a very powerful blast,” Khan said.

“The food was everywhere. It was out of control. Everyone was crying, shouting. It is a disaster.”

Mustafa, a shopkeeper, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshippers when the blast occurred. Two groups of 150 to 200 people from Kabul had just prayed at the shrine and left.

Another group of more than 100 from Logar province was entering when the explosion occurred. He said the suicide bomber was at the end of the line of worshippers from Logar when he blew himself up near one of the gates to the shrine.

“It was very loud. My ears went deaf and I was blown 3 meters,” said Mustafa, who uses only one name.

“There was smoke and red blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere.”

“I was there watching people mourning when there was suddenly a huge explosion,” witness Ahmad Fawad said. “Some people around me fell down injured. I wasn’t hurt, so I got up and started running. It

was horrible,” he said. Men and women at the scene sobbed as they sur veyed the carnage, and screamed slogans denouncing AlQaeda and the Taleban. A young girl, dressed in a green shalwar kameez smeared in blood, stood shrieking, surrounded by the crumpled bodies of slain children.

Outside a Kabul hospital, mourners cried near a pile of bloody clothes and shoes. A woman in a dark headscarf clutching a bloodstained sports shoe said her son, in his early 20s, had died. “They killed my son ... this is his shoe,” she wailed.

One person wounded in the attack, Sayed Gharib, described the horrific scenes in an interview from his hospital bed. “There was a huge bang close to where I was standing, I felt a pain in my legs and hands and fell down. I saw a lot of people covered in blood around me,” he said.

The shrine’s loudspeaker continued to blast a recitation of the Holy Quran as ambulances carried bodies and wounded away. Women stood outside the shrine wailing and holding crying children. The shrine is close to the palace where Karzai lives and who is in Europe to attend an international conference on Afghanistan. It is named after Abul Fazl, who was an adviser to a 14th century Mogul emperor. The shrine and its blue minaret is one of Kabul’s better known shrines. It is located in Murad Khane area near the Kabul river, a district that has been listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of its 100 most endangered sites of cultural heritage. — Agencies

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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Issues

Reps paint themselves into corner

By David Cay Johnston lyly encouraged by President Barack Obama, Republicans have painted themselves into a tax corner. Who would have imagined a year ago, when Republicans rode the Tea Party’s anti-tax wave and retook the House of Representatives, that a year later Republicans would be forced to swallow a huge tax cut sponsored by Obama? The irony is that Obama’s payroll tax cut could have been taken over by the Republicans as their issue, but they flubbed it. The payroll tax cut, which bestows the most savings on highly paid workers, resulted from the refusal by Republicans, after they won control of the House in 2010, to extend the Making Work Pay tax credit.

The Making Work Pay tax credit’s benefits went heavily to the working poor, the disabled and retirees while in effect in 2009 and 2010. In September, Obama asked Congress to cut the payroll tax rate even further. Obama wants the 6.2 percent Social Security wage tax slashed in half, saving $1,550 for workers making $50,000. He also wants to cut the employer side of the tax in a way that favors small business. Republicans quickly rejected the proposals to expand the cut, which is how they started painting themselves into a corner both with workers and with small business owners.

With the collapse of the doomed-before-it-began super committee, the Republicans suddenly were at risk that the payroll tax rate would rise automatically in January, allowing the Democrats to portray Republicans as the party of tax hikes for working people and tax cuts for billionaires. In recent days House Republicans have signaled that they will support extension of the reduced payroll tax rate, but grudgingly. Tea Party House Republicans continue to oppose the payroll tax cut extension so it is not certain the payroll tax cut will be extended, though that would certainly damage the Republican tax-cut brand.

Congressional Republicans, most of whom have signed the no-tax-hike pledge of lobbyist Grover Norquist, have made no secret of wanting tax cuts at the top. Some want to end the corporate income tax and to slash or eliminate taxes on capital gains, dividends, rents, interest and some royalties. But numerous opinion polls show overwhelming public support for continuing tax cuts for workers and for raising taxes on millionaires. That has left Republican leaders no choice but to silently cry uncle and agree to the president’s request to extend and possibly expand the payroll tax cut.

Having outsmarted Norquist, Obama gets to run for a second term as the champion of at least a $100 billion tax cut. Obama can even say that if Republicans had had their way, working people’s taxes would have gone up while taxes on billionaires would have gone down. And he gets to tell small business owners that, but for Republicans, their taxes would have gone down too. This is a marketing fiasco for Republicans to rival the Ford Edsel and New Coke. Already more than 40 congressional Republicans have taken steps to distance themselves from Norquist, who scowls at the mere mention of what could have been his, but is now Obama’s, very popular tax cut.

The Republicans will have a harder time tarnishing Obama as a progressive because they insisted on killing his Making Work Pay tax credit. The payroll tax cut that they ultimately accept would have some of the defining features of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts - almost everyone who paid taxes got a break, but most people got very little while huge savings flowed to the top. Just one in a thousand taxpayers got 12.5 percent of the savings. In the same vein, Obama’s payroll tax cut benefits everyone who has a job, but most workers get a pittance.

The lowest paid 38 million Americans, the one in four workers who earn less than $10,000 a year, will save on average less than $80 each. Only 45 percent of the savings go to 75 percent of workers, those making under $50,000. But the top 4.8 percent get 16.3 percent of the tax savings, my analysis of the plan shows.

Applying the expected 2012 payroll tax rules to the latest wage data, from 2010, two-income professional couples who each make more than $110,100 would save $4,404 next year. That looks to be about two million households. These high-income couples were denied Obama’s Making Work Pay credit in 2009 and 2010. That tax cut, which polls indicate hardly anyone knew about, was heavily weighted to benefit the lowest income workers. Everyone except the top 3 percent or so got the $400 tax break.— Reuters

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US ramps up warnings on Iran strike risks

By Phil Stewart and Mark Hosenball he United States has pointedly ramped up its public warnings over the last few weeks about the risks of military action against Iran, accompanied by private words of caution to Israel, which sees Tehran’s nuclear push as a direct threat. But so far, at least, comments by US and Israeli officials suggest that Washington’s private lobbying has yet to convince Israeli hard-liners and even some moderates that alternatives, like sanctions and diplomatic pressure, will ultimately succeed in curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

It is unclear whether the differing views are any indication about whether Israel might be moving closer to a go-it-alone military strike, an option Tel Aviv has ruled out for the moment. Indeed, that may ultimately not be the case. Rhetoric has periodically escalated over the years, often bolstering pushes - like the present one for tougher sanctions against Iran. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech on Sunday widely seen within Israel as hinting about policy on Iran, spoke about making “the right decision at the right moment,” even when allies object.

A nuclear-armed Iran, Netanyahu has said, is an existential threat to Israel. Netanyahu’s comments came on the heels of US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s strongest comments yet explaining America’s concerns about a military strike on Iran. Panetta said it risked “an escalation” that could “consume the Middle East in confrontation and conflict that we would regret.” It could

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also hobble the fragile US and European economies and might do little to actually stop Iran from getting an atomic weapon - a goal Tehran denies having. Iran says its uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes.

Panetta, citing conversations with his “Israeli friends”, said an attack would only set back Iran’s nuclear program by one to two years at best. He also warned about blowback to US forces in the region.

“The United States would obviously be blamed and we could possibly be the target of retaliation from Iran, striking our ships, striking our military bases,” Panetta told a forum in Washington on Friday. Panetta privately outlined US concerns in talks with Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Canada last month, including the impact a strike would have on the world economy. Analysts say Tehran could retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway where about 40 percent of all traded oil passes.

President Barack Obama, who is gearing up for a reelection battle next year, has had more trouble than his Republican predecessor, George W Bush, in winning Israeli trust. Bruce Riedel, a former adviser to the Obama administration and former senior CIA expert on the Middle East, said Washington was deeply wary of being dragged into a conflict that, from its perspective, might be unnecessary. “Obama knows a strike on Iran by Israel will create a regional war and a global economic meltdown that America will have to clean up,” Riedel said. “And he knows Israel - with its own considerable nuclear arsenal - does not face an exis-

tential threat from a nuclear Iran.”

But, even considering likely retaliation on US forces, the top US military officer told Reuters in an interview this week he did not know whether the Jewish state would even give the United States notice ahead of time if it decided to act. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also suggested there was a gap in perspective between Israel and the United States, which sees sanctions and diplomatic pressure as the right path to take on Iran. “I’m not sure the Israelis share our assessment of that. And because they don’t and because to them this is an existential threat, I think probably that it’s fair to say that our expectations are different right now,” Dempsey said..

Iran is facing another wave of sanctions following a report last month by the UN nuclear watchdog which said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing an atom bomb and may still be pursuing secret research to that end. Barak said on Thursday an Israeli attack on Iran was not imminent. But, asked about Dempsey’s comments to Reuters, Barak said Israel “greatly respects” the United States. “But one must remember that ultimately, Israel is a sovereign nation and the Israeli government, defense forces and security services - not others - are responsible for Israel’s security, future and existence,” Barak said. Barak, in a radio interview, said Israel would be very glad if sanctions and diplomacy brought the Iranian leadership to a clear decision to abandon its nuclear military program. But, “unfortunately, I think that is not going to happen,” he said. — Reuters

Russia vote exposes chinks in Putin armour

By Dmitry Zaks he unexpectedly sharp drop in suppor t for Vladimir Putin’s party in parliamentar y polls has exposed the first shift in public opinion against the Russian strongman’s dominance, analysts said. Yet despite signs that social changes were slowly eroding his popularity, the premier still has ratings that would be the env y of European politicians and should still sweep presidential elec tions in M arch, they added. Once back in the Kremlin, Putin will be ruling from a potentially vulnerable position for the first time and has the option of either clamping down on dissent more tightly or easing the door to change.

“The authorities may try to tighten the screws even further but will soon discover they are no longer in a position to do so,” Yury Korgunyuk of the INDEM research institute said. “And then they will try to manoeuvre, permitting things that were banned before.” Af ter holding 315 seats in the outgoing chamber, Putin’s United Russia party managed to win just 238 out of 450 seats on 49.5 percent suppor t, the first time either the ex-KGB chief or his party lost votes while in power. The elections were largely viewed as a litmus test of Putin’s decision to stand for a third term in power under a job swap with Dmitr y

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Medvedev, who failed to come out from his mentor’s shadow while president for four years.

“People simply got terrified that this could all drag on for 1 2 m o re ye a r s,” s a i d M a r i a L i p m a n o f t h e Ca r n e gi e Moscow Centre. Putin could stay in power to 2024 by serving t wo presidential terms which are now to last six years. “People felt like fools ever ything was decided for them without even a pretence of them being asked,” said Lipman. Putin had already suf-

fered an unprecedented show of discontent in the run-up to the vote when he was booed by fight fans when he entered the ring at a martial arts showdown in Moscow.

“Based on these results, we will be able to ensure the stable development of our countr y,” Putin said tersely in a post-election speech at party headquar ters that sounded anything but jubilant.

The last years have seen social changes in Russia that could discomfort the elite -

the emergence of a new and potentially critical middle class and explosion in criticism of the authorities on the Internet. “The fall in popularity was not entirely unexpected.

It is caused by popular dissatisfaction with corruption, illegality and abuse of power,” said Lipman.

Analysts said Putin should still easily win his third term as president in March against a weak field, even if his popularity ratings are now lower than the stratospheric 80 percent

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting with the heads of regional public offices of the United Russia ruling party in Moscow yesterday. — AFP

levels recorded four years ago.

“Putin should win in the first round of the presidential elec tions,” said Konstantin Simonov of the National Energy Security Foundation. “ The par t y ’s candidate is always more popular than the party itself.” Yet some openly wondered whether Putin may now grow more sensitive to domestic criticism as he seeks to reform in order to survive. “ This should change the nature of the political debate,” said Mikhail Remizov of the National Strategy Institute, while the Paris-based investment bank BNP Paribas said in a research note it expected “a more aggressive anti-corruption campaign in the coming months.”

Putin’s command of Russia follows in part from the loyalty of a tightly-knit group of former security officers from his native Saint Petersburg whom he has installed in key government and state business posts.

The first hints of the new softer approach emerged with a report that Boris Gryzlov the ruling party chairman who has been parliament speaker since 2003 and another of Putin’s Saint Petersburg friends - could step down. “It is time to change the format of how (parliament) works - we have to listen more to our opponents and less to ourselves,” an unnamed United Par ty official told the Echo Moscow radio station.— AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

sp orts

Hoffmann gets doping ban VIENNA: Former Olympic cross- countr y ski champion Christian Hoffmann of Austria, who retired from the sport in 2009, has been given a six-year ban for blood doping. The disciplinary committee of NADA, Austria’s anti-doping agency, said yesterday it found Hoffmann guilty of having his blood taken for doping purposes at a Vienna lab between 2003 and ‘06 and possessing a centrifuge for blood enrichment.

The 36-year-old Hoffmann won gold in the 30-kilometer race at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and was part of the Austrian relay team that won the world title in 1999. He holds six World Cup titles.

Hoffmann has always denied any wrongdoing and has never tested positive. However, prosecutors in Austria have been investigating possible blood doping by him and other athletes since early 2009. NADA said Hoffmann colluded with cyclists Bernhard Kohl and Michael Rasmussen and Kohl’s former manager Stefan Matschiner, who later admitted he helped Kohl with blood doping.

Police found the centrifuge at Matschiner’s house.—AP

Kohli warned for dissent

Switch from pitch to ring MELBOURNE: Rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams will switch the pitch for the ring once again in February when he fights for New Zealand’s vacant heavyweight boxing crown, the All Blacks back told local media yesterday.

Williams faces 10-year professional Richard Tutaki in Hamilton on Feb. 8, less than three weeks before his debut with his new Super rugby side, Waikato Chiefs.

Undefeated in four fights against a succession of journeyman opponents, Williams said Tutaki presented a real challenge.

“I think every time you step in the ring, there’s a bit of fear in there but that motivates you to train hard and do your best,” Williams, clean-

cut in a snappy grey suit, told local reporters at a media conference.

“He’s a seasoned campaigner, 40 fights, so hopefully I haven’t bitten off too much, but I’ll be right.” His 33-year-old opponent, nicknamed the “Tutaki Express Train”, has a 1921 record with one draw in 41 fights. He lost his last bout in April following an 18-month break from the sport, local media said.

Williams won his last fight by unanimous decision in June against 43-year-old Tongan boxer Alipate Liava’a as then-All Blacks coach Graham Henry looked on from the crowd, but was criticised for being unable to finish his opponent in the six-round fight in Auckland.—Reuters

MUMBAI: India’s Virat Kohli has been reprimanded for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision after being given out during his side’s 16-run loss to West Indies in their one-day international in Ahmedabad on Monday.

The 23-year-old was reluctant to leave the crease after the lbw decision, which was a breach of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) code of conduct. The stylish right-handed batsman pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the proposed sanction, hence there was no need for a formal hearing, the ICC said in a statement yesterday.

“Accepting umpires’ decisions is part and parcel of playing cricket and on this occasion Virat clearly showed dissent when he had been given out,” match referee David Boon said in the statement.

Kohli, named man of the match for his 117 on Friday in the second ODI, which India won by five wickets, was given out on 20 by umpire Sudhir Asnani off debutant West Indies spinner Sunil Narine’s bowling.

India lead the five-match ODI series 2-1, with the last t wo ODIs on Thursday (I ndore) and Sunday (Chennai).—Reuters

Bruins roll over Penguins

GERMANY: In this Jan. 2, 2010, file photo, Erin Hamlin, of the United States, slides down the track during the first run of a World Cup luge competition. Hamlin has not won a major international race since capturing the 2009 world title on home ice, yet she remains USA Luge’s best hope this winter. —AP

Luge World Cup returns to Whistler WHISTLER: For the first time since the 2010 Olympics, the world’s best luge competitors are back at the Whistler Sliding Center.

Nearly t wo years have passed since the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died from massive injuries in a training wreck just hours before the Vancouver Games opened.

The luge competition was overshadowed by his death, and the rules for racing there were changed. Men started from the women’s start ramp, the women from the junior ramp, both moves made in an effor t to lessen speed and minimize risks.

The same rules apply this week for a World Cup competition. Officials have changed the shape of certain curves on the track slightly, and athletes who have tested there say it’s easier.

Erin Hamlin was back at the Whistler Sliding Center last March, took her spot in the women’s start ramp, launched her luge sled down the track and navigated her way to the finish line. “Had a blast,” Hamlin said. She won’t start from that same ramp this week - a grim reminder of perhaps the sport’s darkest hour.

This week, for the first time since the 2010 Olympics, the world’s best luge athletes are back at the track that hosted sliding at the Vancouver Games, where Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili died from massive injuries after wrecking near the finish line, his body sailing over the track wall and his head slamming into a steel pole at nearly 90 mph. This weekend’s World Cup tour stop is Whistler, British Columbia.

Athletes still speak with reverence when talking about Kumaritashvili, of course. But when the subject turns to the track, those same athletes still bristle when discussing the decision to have athletes star t from lower ramps during the Olympics.

The same rules will apply this weekend for World Cup competition, with men going from what was planned as the women’s ramp, women and doubles teams starting from what was once the juniors ramp. “I think we’re past it,” said Canadian women’s luge standout Alex Gough, a medal hopeful this weekend. “ What happened was extremely tragic. But we’re two years beyond it. Our team, especially, is looking forward.”

Most teams have been in British Columbia for a few days already, and athletes will be getting more training runs than is customary at other tracks in advance of this World Cup. Beneath the ice, the profile of the concrete chute has been slightly modified since those Olympics, meaning sliders will no longer have to be so precise to find the perfect way through every curve. In short, it’s a little easier. And slower. And that, presumably, means safer.

“Honestly, I love the track. I definitely want to slide there again,” Hamlin said. “I think it’s just a matter of having runs and getting dialed in on how to get around that curve at the lower start. Obviously, in an ideal situation, we wouldn’t be racing from there. But we are. So now we have to work with it and figure out how to go fast.” The change was par ticularly tough for the women’s Olympians.

The junior ramp has an extremely sharp curve just below where athletes start, and missing the perfect line by a half-inch either way meant sleds went off course and too much time was lost to have any chance at winning. Hamlin struggled big-time with the start at the Olympics; she was then the reigning world champion, but wasn’t even close to the medals in Whistler.

Canadian athletes had dozens, maybe hundreds, of trips down the track from the originally intended starts before the Olympics. The rule changes took away any home -ice advantage.

“You couldn’t physically drive the sled hard enough in the short space you have ... and so, having never slid there from that star t height, we weren’t prepared to have that happen,” Gough said. “Now going into this World Cup, we’ve obviously had a lot more training from that height.”

Crashes were plentiful during those Olympics, with even some of the sport’s best sliders having trouble getting down. Many focused on the speed generated at the track, but sliders said it was just a tough one to drive - and that the speed wasn’t necessarily relevant.

Kumaritashvili was on a training run Feb. 12, 2010, when he lost control of the sled in one of the final turns. He crashed into a track wall, was thrown from his sled, sailed over the side of the concrete chute and died even though emergenc y responders were at his side less than 10 seconds after the impact. When the track reopened the next day, the wall that Kumaritashvili went over had been raised.

“I tried my best to keep it out of my mind,” Hamlin said. “It was still the Olympics. I t was still the biggest competition. There were very valid reasons why they decided to do that with the starts. But there was still frustration.”

That crash has been dissected by medical experts, sliding experts, even legal officials. Someone tried to simulate the crash on a computer and failed af ter more than 25,000 attempts.

“What happened was the perfect storm,” Mazdzer said, “of bad events.”

And this weekend, just as they did in the Olympics, luge racers will move on. “ The track ’s in great shape,” Hamlin said. “ The ice is amazingly smooth and I’m excited to race here again.” —AP

PIT TSBURGH: Gregor y Campbell, Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin scored, and Tim Thomas stopped 45 shots as the surging Boston Bruins kept rolling with a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

The Bruins have won 14 of their last 15 games, their longest point streak since the club went 17 games without a loss in 1983.

The defending Stanley Cup champions clamped down on the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins, holding star Sidney Crosby scoreless.

Matt Cooke scored his sixth goal of the season for Pittsburgh, but the Penguins went 0-for-4 on the power play and squandered a pair of 5-on-3 opportunities.

Maple Leafs 4, Rangers 2 At New York, Phil Kessel had two assists to add to his NHLleading point total as Toronto snapped the New York Rangers’ five-game winning streak.

The Maple Leafs scored twice in less than two minutes to take a 3-0 lead early in the second period, then gave both goals back in another quick burst later in the period. Jonas Gustavsson made 12 saves in the third to preserve the one-goal margin, repeatedly turning New York away on a power play in the final minute before David Steckel scored an empty-net goal with 5 seconds left.

Cody Franson, Tim Connolly and Joffrey Lupul also scored for the Leafs. Gustavsson made 30 saves. Ar tem Anisimov and Marian Gaborik netted the Rangers’ goals.

Panthers 5, Capitals 4 At Sunrise, Florida, Stephen Weiss scored two goals to lead Florida to a win over Washington.

Mike Santorelli, Dmitry Kulikov and Sean Bergenheim also scored for Florida, and Scott Clemmensen stopped 28 shots.

Kulikov added two assists, and defenseman Brian Campbell had three.

Mike Knuble, Cody Eakin, Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera had goals for the Capitals. Michal Neuvir th made 25 saves, but struggled in his second star t under new Washington coach Dale Hunter.

Senators 4, Lightning 2 At Ottawa, Nick Foligno scored 15:33 into the third period and Zack Smith added two goals as Ottawa extended Tampa Bay’s losing streak to four games.

Daniel Alfredsson scored his

CHICAGO: Mikkel Boedker No. 89 of the Phoenix Coyotes turns with the puck in front of Duncan Keith No. 2 of the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. —AFP

sixth goal - the 395th of his NHL career - at 8:58 to tie it at 2 for the Senators. The Ottawa captain also earned an assist when Foligno gave the Senators a 3-2 lead by coming out from behind the net and tucking the puck past goalie Dwayne Roloson Craig Anderson, who stopped 30 shots, tied a career high with his third assist of the season on Alfredsson’s goal.

Martin St. Louis and Bruno Gervais scored for Tampa Bay,

two games since a 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks last Tuesday.

Smith finished with 32 saves.

Raffi Torres and Keith Yandle also scored in regulation for Phoenix, which recovered after blowing a 3-0 lead. Toews had two goals and an assist for the Blackhawks, who had won four of five. Toews has seven goals and six assists in six games. Emery replaced Corey Crawford early in the second period and stopped all 11 shots he faced.—AP

which began a four-game trip.

Steven Stamkos assisted on both goals. Roloson made 27 saves.

Coyotes 4, Blackhawks 3 At Chicago, Radim Vrbata and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the shootout, and Mike Smith stopped Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa in the tiebreaker to lead Phoenix to a victory over Chicago.

Vrbata also scored in regulation for Phoenix, which had lost

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Monday.

Toronto 4, NY Rangers 2; Boston 3, Pittsburgh 1; Ottawa 4 Tampa Bay 2; Florida 5, Washington 4; Phoenix 4, Chicago 3 (SO).

(SO denotes shootout win)

Pittsburgh NY Rangers Philadelphia New Jersey NY Islanders

W 16 15 15 12 8

Boston Toronto Buffalo Ottawa Montreal

17 15 14 13 11

Florida Washington Winnipeg Tampa Bay Carolina

15 13 11 11 8

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division L OTL GF 8 4 86 6 3 71 7 3 88 12 1 62 11 5 52 Northeast Division 7 1 88 10 2 87 11 1 72 11 3 83 11 5 67 Southeast Division 8 4 78 12 1 79 11 4 75 13 2 69 16 4 66

GA 69 55 73 72 78

PTS 36 33 33 25 21

Chicago Detroit St. Louis Nashville Columbus

16 16 14 12 7

52 87 69 91 69

35 32 29 29 27

Minnesota Vancouver Edmonton Colorado Calgary

17 15 13 13 11

69 84 82 84 94

34 27 26 24 20

Dallas Phoenix Los Angeles San Jose Anaheim

15 14 13 14 7

Western Conference Central Division 8 4 93 8 1 75 9 3 63 10 4 68 16 3 62 Northwest Division 7 3 69 10 1 83 11 3 76 13 1 75 13 2 60 Pacific Division 10 1 69 9 3 71 9 4 60 8 1 67 14 5 60

88 56 58 71 88

36 33 31 28 17

60 67 71 78 72

37 31 29 27 24

72 65 58 56 86

31 31 30 29 19

IOC shelves Havelange probe LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee has shelved an investigation into former FIFA head Joao Havelange after he resigned as an IOC member just days before an ethics hearing into his conduct, IOC President Jacques Rogge told Reuters yesterday.

The 95-year-old Havelange, head of soccer’s world governing body from 1974-98, was under an IOC investigation for his alleged links to FIFA’s former marketing agency International Sport and Leisure (ISL) amid allegations of corruption.

Brazilian Havelange, an IOC member for 48 years, sent a letter of resignation to Rogge as the IOC’s executive board was preparing to meet to discuss the ethics commission’s findings into three members, including Havelange, over their role in the corruption affair that rocked the world of sport.

“Havelange sent me a letter saying that he had lately had health issues and that stopped him from travelling and he considered that due to his age and health it stopped him from travelling regularly,” Rogge told Reuters in an exclusive interview.

Asked whether his resignation two days before the IOC discussed the ethics commission report was an indirect admission of guilt by Havelange, Rogge said that was just speculation.

“I am not going to comment on what is purely speculation. Joao Havelange already had missed other meetings, in the (IOC) session (in July) he was not there either, he missed major

meetings of FIFA. “For me the resignation is one based on health and age,” he said, adding that any probe into Havelange was now closed as far as the IOC was concerned.

“Mr Havelange will not be an IOC member any more. Investigations only apply to IOC members. So as Mr Havelange will stop to be an IOC member there will not be an investigation into him as he is a private citizen.”

ISL went bankrupt in 2001 with debts of around $300 million. A BBC Panorama television programme alleged in 2010 that Havelange had accepted money from ISL for granting lucrative World Cup contracts.

Two other IOC members, world athletics chief Lamine Diack and Issa Hayatou, are still under investigation linked to the ISL affair with a decision expected by the IOC on Thursday.

Rogge, who took over the IOC in 2001 following the Salt Lake City Olympics bribery scandal that saw four members expelled and several more sanctioned, said major sports organisations needed to be financially transparent and not just run their sport.

“There is definitely a need, a necessity for transparency and accountability,” he added.

“Sports organisations run sport but also manage major budgets and the way these budgets are run needs transparency and that applies to everyone. “(World soccer’s governing body) FIFA is start-

ing with a major overhaul, which is a good thing.

FIFA has also pledged to adapt its governance and that is a very good sign,” said the Belgian, who will step down in 2013.

“My responsibility is to manage the IOC and yes we are going to implement our rules and regulations. Don’t ask me to point fingers to other organisations,” he said.

Rogge also urged India’s Olympic association (IOA) to talk with its athletes over ongoing protests related to the 2012 London Games’ sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical.

The Indian government has asked its Olympic association to raise the issue of the sponsorship deal in the latest sign of pressure on organisers to reconsider the involvement of a company linked to the Bhopal gas disaster.

Many victims and activists hold Dow responsible for failing to give enough compensation to victims and some have called for a boycott of the London Games.

The pesticide plant was owned by Union Carbide, which settled its liabilities with the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million for Bhopal victims.

Dow bought Union Carbide a decade after the company had settled with the Indian government and now finds itself in the firing line for its sponsorship of a temporary decorative wrap over London’s Olympic Stadium. “Definitely we respect a lot the emotion in India because this is a horrific catastrophe,” Rogge said. —Reuters

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Something’s fishy — Marlins become big players DALLAS: No more little low-budget Marlins. Miami’s team hopes to become baseball’s Big Fish. “I want our team to be important,” owner Jeffrey Loria said Monday as the winter meetings opened. “It’s an energy city, and I think that’s one of the things that brings the players there. They see the energy.”

Making the first big splashes, the Marlins completed a $27 million, three-year contract with Heath Bell a day after reaching a preliminary agreement on a $106 million, six-year deal with Jose Reyes. Who will be the next big name migrating to South Florida: Albert Pujols? CJ Wilson? Mark Buehrle?

Pujols, who already has toured the new ballpark, would join Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison in the batting order - if the three-time NL MVP is willing to leave the St. Louis Cardinals, the only major league team he’s played for.

“One big hitter?” Loria said out loud, his 2003 World Series ring flashing from his hand. “Well, I don’t know about that, but there’s a possibility of another player or two we’re looking at.” Morrison, among others, was wondering.

“Just out of surgery. Everything went well,” he wrote on Twitter after a minor knee operation, adding: “Have we signed Pujols yet??”

On the mound, Wilson or Buehrle could be added to a rotation that includes Josh Johnson (if healthy), Ricky Nolasco, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. While the Marlins are being aggressive, traditional big spenders such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are moving cautiously, both with free agents and in the trade market.

“This isn’t the old seat-of-the-pants, you know, get drunk in the lobby and write names on a napkin type,” Yankees general manager Brian

Boxing a man’s game for old fighters LONDON: When Tommy Proffitt was preparing to box in the 1948 London Olympics, his sisters kindly made him a pair of shorts from an old blackout curtain.

He and his team mate Ron Cooper, a pair of still sprightly octogenarians, never dreamed that one day women, as they will for the first time next year, might also step into the ring to fight for medals at a London Olympics.

The very idea produces a grimace from both Britons. “No, definitely not,” said Proffitt, still wearing his 1948 Olympic blazer.

“Never,” agreed Cooper, wrapped up warm against the cold of a grey December afternoon in East London at a presentation of the five male British boxers to have qualified so far for next year’s Games.

“I don’t believe in it. Kaput. Finished.

I’ve been to boxing shows for West Ham and Dagenham and we go and present the prizes...Girls and boxing? I said no way. No way. It don’t make sense to me,” continued the retired ship repairer and docker. “But I can’t tell them not to do it. If they want to do it, they do it.” Cooper, the “Unbeaten Sailor” who may have hit the deck a few times but proudly boasts he was never knocked out, recognised that times have changed since he fought as a lightweight and weights were measured in pounds and ounces.

Theirs were the ‘Austerity Olympics’, held against a backdrop of food rationing and a capital city still ravaged by wartime bombing raids.

The boxing was held at Wembley, across the city from Cooper’s native East End, and facilities were basic. The ring was erected on steel girders over the Empire Pool after the renovated facility had hosted a week of swimming and diving, with water still visible through gaps in the boards.

Make do and mend was the refrain, one that Cooper and his generation have held on to. “We were on rations for coats, so we had to get clothes coupons to have them made...our own shorts we supplied and we had white trousers,” recalled Cooper, who turned professional afterwards.

“I used them (the trousers) as an instructor. I was an instructor for 35 years and I wore them out. I’ve still got the jacket for my two sons if they want it, if they want to sell it when I’m brown bread (dead). And I’ve still got my tie

and the actual vest I boxed in.”

The trays of food laid on for today’s hopefuls, well fed and funded, also revived old memories of the training regime in Uxbridge and Wargrave to the west of London.

“We never had any special food,” said Cooper, speaking for Proffitt while the Manchester-based former bantamweight contemplated the filled bap in his hand.

“I spoke to some runners and they said they had some special food. I said where did you get that from then? Was it bent? we never had none.

“Do you remember having a bit of meat, Tom? Corned beef. I had custard and jelly for afters. I loved it.” Even taking part in those strictly amateur Games was a hardship for some of the chosen few, with employers under no obligation to allow time off for staff who had to train in lunch breaks or out of hours.

“We had lads there who took three weeks off and never got paid,” said Proffitt, who was demobilised from the airforce in February of 1948 and went to work in heavy industry.

“I was fortunate that my gaffer paid me. There was at least one who got the sack, a Liverpool lad, for going down (to London).

“Prior to going to the training, I took a fortnight’s holiday and I went down to a farm and did a bit of running, just to get fit to train. Training is really hard and you’ve got to go in with a bit of backing. So that was preparation.

“I was a bit lucky. I had two sisters and they helped me a lot. They even made me black shorts out of the blackout curtains. I was well supported, family-wise,” he added. “My mother and sisters all chipped in and I did get an extra egg now and again.”

An estimated four billion people from more than 200 countries are expected to watch the ceremonies when the Games open next July, with wall-to-wall coverage in the build-up and throughout.

In 1948, it was a bit different. “We never had all the cameras and television. Did you have a TV, Tommy?” asked Cooper, who hopes to carry the torch for part of next year ’s relay, as he leaned across to his old mate. “Oh, there was one at Uxbridge,” recalled Proffitt after a moment’s reflection.

“You had to turn it off after an hour because it got too hot.” —Reuters

Donald and McIlroy go in search for desert treasure DUBAI: World number one Luke Donald and second-ranked Rory McIlroy go in search of desert treasure at this week’s Dubai World Championship, the final event of the European Tour season.

McIlroy cranked up the pressure on his fellow Briton at the top of the moneylist by holing out in stunning fashion from a greenside bunker to land the Hong Kong Open title on Sunday.

Donald, however, still has a lead of more than $1 million over the secondplaced Northern Irishman and only needs to finish among the leading eight in Dubai to become the first player to win the orders of merit on both sides of the Atlantic.

“I’ve got a nice, comfortable lead,” Donald told reporters after finishing seventh at the Sun City Challenge invitational event in South Africa won by fellow Englishman Lee Westwood on Sunday.

“The advantage is still in my court.

Rory is going to have to go and win in Dubai against a high-quality field.” Tour officials could not have scripted the Dubai extravaganza better, with the top two players in the world fighting to end the season as European number one for the first time in their careers.

World number three Westwood will also be buoyant after his victory at Sun City while fourth-ranked German Martin Kaymer, last year’s European number

one, is likely to be another contender for the first prize of $1.25 million.

The financial incentives in Dubai are huge, with $7.5 million available in prize fund and an additional $7.5 million bonus pool up for grabs for the top 15 players in the final money-list.

Donald, who clinched first place on the US money-list in October, said McIlroy’s victory in Hong Kong came as no surprise to him.

“I didn’t expect anything less from Rory,” said Donald who turns 34 on Wednesday. “I knew he would put the pressure on me and make it tough going.

“He did what he needed to do to stay in contention for the money-list title and won the tournament.”

Donald has been a model of consistency this year, producing a host of top10 finishes plus victories at the Disney Classic in Florida, the PGA Championship at Wentworth, WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona and at the Scottish Open.

Asked what it would represent to capture both orders of merit, he replied: “It would mean history-no one has ever done it. “It would be a lot of satisfaction for all the hard work. It has been a great year and that would be the icing on the cake.”

McIlroy has also enjoyed a memorable season, having won his first major at the US Open in June. — Reuters

Cashman said shortly after arriving at the meetings. “You won’t conduct business that way anymore. They just don’t.” As the four-day swap session began, the first piece of formal business was the annual meeting of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee, which elected late Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo. He’ll be inducted in Cooperstown on July 22, along with any players elected by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Jan. 9.

Pujols and Prince Fielder are the big bats on the market, and it remains unclear whether Pujols is willing to leave the World Series champions, where he’s joined Stan Musial as a franchise icon.

“I always use the word hopeful,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said.

“I think it’s presumptive to say that I’m optimistic because we obviously have continuing discussions and have a good dialogue going.”

No longer watching players such as Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera getting hooked by other teams, the Marlins now have the bait to attract baseball’s best. They drew a major league-low 1.52 million fans to Sun Life Stadium, also home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, last season. But Loria expects his team will draw 2.5 million to 3 million at the new ballpark.

“When you have a ballpark that seats 78,000, there’s no great demand - and in the middle of nowhere in a football-configured stadium,” he said.

“But with a ballpark half the size of that and a baseball-only ballpark, you create a different kind of experience and we’ve seen it in our sales already.”

The rest of baseball has taken notice of a team that hopes to overtake Philadelphia and Atlanta in the NL East. “Good for the Marlins. I’m happy for them, and it’s something, of course, I’d like to see happen for us.

But in the meantime, you can’t cry

about it,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, whose team and Oakland are the last two trying to get new ballparks.

Calling Reyes an “exciting young man” and Wilson a “very intelligent and very interesting guy,” Loria said he thinks the Marlins can become a consistent winner in their retractable-roof ballpark, not far from downtown Miami. “With the roster that we have and the things we hope we can do, the outlook is very good,” he said. “I’m not going to make any predictions.

But we certainly want to be in position to compete seriously.”

While the Marlins are poaching, other teams want to retain their stars.

Texas may want Wilson back after he helped it come within one strike of the team’s first World Series title.

“We basically felt they were going to test the market and we’d circle back to each other,” general manager Jon Daniels said. —AP

Wu targets Phelps again in London BEIJING: China’s Wu Peng, the man who ended nearly a decade of domination by Michael Phelps in the 200 metres butterfly, said a change in his training regime and a strong season had given him the confidence to aim for a medal at next year’s London Olympics.

Wu’s good season included two victories over 14-times Olympic champion Phelps, ending the American’s 60-race winning streak in the 200m which had spanned nine years.

A repeat victory over Phelps in London would be difficult, however, Wu told Reuters in a television interview. “I have to say he has a stronger ability than most of the other swimmers so it is very difficult to beat him again at the Olympic Games,” Wu said.

“But I still have confidence not just to aim to beat him, but to basically perform at the best of my ability.” Wu made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games aged 17, progressing to the final stages of the 200m butterfly. He again missed out on a medal at

the Beijing Games in 2008, finishing joint fourth.

“The London Olympics might be the last time I participate in

aiming for.” A native of Hangzhou, Wu said leaving China to train in Michigan in the United States had helped him to improve his per-

Wu Peng of China in action in this file photo. the Olympic Games. For the past two Olympics that I have participated in, I have reached the finals. So I hope to improve on that in London and be amongst the medallists. This is what I am

formances. The move also eased pressure on the swimmer who had carried China’s hopes for Olympic success in the pool at the Beijing Games.

“My overall performance has

been good this year so that has reaffirmed some of the training that I have had in the United States. After I return to the US next year, I want to work harder on the details and hope for a good per formance in the Olympics,” he said. Looking beyond the 2012 London Games, Wu said he planned to focus more on studying.

He said fellow swimmers could learn lessons from Ian Thorpe’s difficult comback attempt.

Australia’s five-times Olympic champion retired from competitive swimming in 2006 but returned this season with a string of disappointing results, dampening expectations of a fairy-tale comeback ahead of the Olympic Games.

“I feel that it is not easy for him,” Wu said. “As age catches up with him and as the sport of swimming develops, I feel it has not been easy for him to make this decision. So he is someone whom a lot of us can learn from.” —Reuters

Don Bosco blank Santos United KIFF League: JP Memorial Trophy KUWAIT: Don Bosco were in rollicking form in their first round match of the Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) League 2011-12 for JP D’Mello Memorial Trophy played at the MOH Grounds, Shuwaikh.

Don Bosco blanked Santos United 3-0 after dominating the entire match. They led 2-0 at the break with goals from Leroy Rodrigues and Michael Dias. Captain Steven Correia, one of the most vibrant footballers in the league put it beyond reach of Santos from a penalty kick in the second half. Steven was later adjudged man of the match.

The man-of-the-match trophies presented at the end of every KIFF league game are sponsored by Kuwait’s Al Muzaini Exchange Co. The next match between Gulf Cable and Santos FC was an evenly contested game. Both teams fought for supremacy and the spectators saw goals at either ends. However, the match ended 2-2. Shafi and Nirmal Joseph scored for Gulf Cable while Rosario Gomes and Cruzinho Rodrigues found the net for Santos FC. Nirmal Joseph who was declared man of the

match was presented with the trophy at the hands of KIFF’s past president Tony Correia.

The third match of the day between Rising Stars and Malabar United which turned out to be a balanced contest. Majority of the match was played out in a tightly packed midfield; the only chances created throughout the match were long range efforts.

Rising Stars came close through Sumesh whose shot blazed over the Malabar goal. The best chance of the match came off Noushad of Malabar United who enjoyed an excellent game on the right flank. However, the crossbar denied his power packed shot. The match ended a goalless draw with either teams sharing a point each. The last match saw temperatures soaring on and off the pitch on a chilly Kuwait morning. Referee Edward had a harrowing time controlling the game which warranted a bit of high-intensity surveillance from the official. Edward flashed innumerable yellows, AVC’s Lucian earned his second midway into the other half of the match and was lawfully shown off the field. AVC dominated possession

and their game plan almost paid off. Anthony from AVC came near to scoring off a close range shot in the first half that rebounded off the post only to be gathered by the Real Betalbatim goalkeeper.

It was Anthony’s beautiful run down the left flank that eventually broke the deadlock in the second half. Having dribbled past the Betalbatim defence, he had a perfect cross for his captain and man of the match Braulio who netted home. Once on the lead, AVC kept possession of the ball and toyed out rest of the match to take home 3 points and stay atop their group.

KIFF League Fixture (09/12/2011): CRC Chinchinim v/s Curtorcares United at 6.45am Kuwait Goan Association v/s Santos FC at 8.00am United Friends Club v/s United Goans Center at 9.15am DHL Football Club v/s Skynet Raider Football Club at 10.30am

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Contenders and pretenders for NFL playoffs NEW YORK: With a month left in the regular season, the Packers, 49ers and Saints have separated themselves from the rest of the NFC, and perhaps the rest of the league. Green Bay and San Francisco already have secured division titles, and New Orleans is almost there. The AFC’s elite, while not quite so accomplished, include the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots and Texans. Then there’s the muddle in the middle: teams with varied strengths and weaknesses. Nine teams sit at 7-5, and one (Giants) at 6-6. All are in the mix to either win their division or grab a wild-card spot.

Most, if not all, will be watching the Super Bowl at home, no matter how bravely they talk. Yes, that means you, Justin Tuck, the Giants defensive end who said this after the 38-35 loss to Green Bay, his team’s fourth straight: “Hopefully something wakes us back up and lets us understand that we still have a great shot of getting to where we want to get if we come out with that intensity and come out with that passion and play like that every game, we aren’t going to lose a lot of games.” That said, here’s who really has a shot at making the postseason: CONTENDERS The Packers lead the list, naturally, just

as they lead the standings at 12-0 and seem headed for an undefeated regular season - if they decide to chase it. Aaron Rodgers is in the midst of one of the greatest years for any NFL player, quarterback or otherwise. The offense is so dynamic the Packers can outscore the mistakes of their gambling defense, which makes a bunch of them. Green Bay also has been through the crucible, having won the Super Bowl at the end of a six-game winning string to finish off the 2010 season. “I think it helps to have done what we did last year,” receiver Greg Jennings said.

Two years ago, it was New Orleans leading the charmed life. Drew Brees has an even deeper, more dangerous receiving corps and backfield than in 2009, and while the Saints also have issues on defense, they, too, can outscore them. Plus, the Saints understand the pressures of chasing a championship.

The 49ers most certainly don’t as they have become one of the NFL’s surprise success stories. Having clinched their first playoff berth since 2002, the Niners have the kind of rugged, versatile defense that gives any team a chance. “It’s not a Hollywood team,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It’s a blue-collar team.”

Four AFC teams are 9-3 and, barring

collapses, are headed to the postseason.

New England, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are the perennials, Houston the newcomer.

Unlike the NFC’s best, though, each carries some hefty question marks.

As long as Tom Brady is slinging the ball and Bill Belichick is masterminding game plans, the Patriots can’t be discounted.

Their defense, though, isn’t particularly reliable, with a secondary that makes big plays and gives them up, and a so-so pass rush. Plus, they have lost their last three postseason games, two at home. There’s no air of invincibility around them.

Nor is there one around AFC defending champion Pittsburgh, which must protect Ben Roethlisberger better and create more turnovers on defense. Still, the Steelers are coming on. Baltimore might have the best balance of offense, defense and special teams in the AFC, with game-breakers (Ray Rice, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata) on both sides of the ball. If the Ravens have cured their tendency to play down to the level of the opposition and can get home-field advantage for the entire playoffs, they could be formidable. Houston, closing in on its first playoff appearance in its 10th season, is using a rookie third-string quarterback and has been ravaged by injuries, yet has responded superbly. The Texans

need to maintain their winning formula even without some key players, a difficult enough challenge in the regular season.

The remaining schedule is not the most rugged with Cincinnati, Carolina, Indianapolis and Tennessee remaining.

PRETENDERS Even with the enticing story they are writing with Tim Tebow, a forceful defense and some great clutch performances, it’s difficult to see the Broncos riding deep into the playoffs. Same for the Raiders, who are tied with Denver atop the AFC West but who have huge issues on defense and with penalties. One of them will win the division - their schedules are similar and they don’t meet again - and not much more. Dallas can be dangerous in the NFC East, and also can be a flop, as it proved Sunday at Arizona and nearly did on Thanksgiving Day against Miami. You don’t face anyone on the Cardinals’ or Dolphins’ level in the playoffs.

The Cowboys might not even get out of the division if they don’t at least split with the Giants, who trail them by a game and have significant problems running the ball and covering the pass.

Cincinnati can’t beat any of the good teams on its schedule, Chicago is down to

a backup quarterback and its key offensive player, RB Matt Forte, has an injured right knee. Undisciplined on the field, Detroit is in semi-free-fall.

The Jets won’t match their last two Januarys, in which they made the AFC title game, unless their defense tackles and covers better, their special teams hold onto the ball and they get a running game to take pressure off QB Mark Sanchez.

Tennessee probably needs to beat New Orleans or Houston to grab a wild-card slot, but at least its best player, Chris Johnson, is hitting his peak and is capable of carrying the Titans higher than projected. That leaves Atlanta, the one “outsider” with the best chance of having an impact in the final four weeks. For that to happen, the Falcons need to emulate their regular season of 2010, when they were the NFC’s top seed. And soon. Coach Mike Smith expects it will happen.

“We have not played smart, we have not played consistent and I don’t believe we’ve played as focused as we need to be,” he said. “And I think that shows that during different parts of a football game, we’re hitting on all cylinders and then other times, we’re not. That’s something we’ve got to get fixed as a team and we’re going to do this thing together.”—AP

Jaguars maul Chargers

CHITTAGONG: Pakistan cricket team pose for a group photo with the champion trophy following the third one day international cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan. —AFP

Pakistan crush Bangladesh CHITTAGONG: Pakistan’s spinners revelled in helpful conditions to crush Bangladesh by 58 runs in the third and final one-day international yesterday to win the series 3-0.

The tourists, bowled out for a modest 177, hit back to dismiss Bangladesh for 119 on a wicket that turned and bounced at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in the port city of Chittagong. Shoaib Malik marked his 200th one-day appearance with three wickets for six runs in four overs and fellow off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez picked up three for 27 as the Tigers were shot out in 38 overs.

It was Pakistan’s 28th win in 29 onedayers against Bangladesh, boosting the confidence of Misbah-ul-Haq’s men ahead of the two-Test series starting on Friday.

The match was interrupted for 20 minutes in the second session when the floodlights went off, plunging the entire stadium in total darkness.

Bangladesh were sailing smoothly at 69-1 in the 20th over when five wickets crashed for 14 runs to allow Pakistan to bounce back in the match.

Bangladesh lost opener Tamim Iqbal off the first ball of the innings, bowled by Hafeez, before Shahriar Nafees and Mohammad Mahmudullah put on 69 for

the second wicket.

The home team lost Nafees (25), skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (0) and Mahmudullah (35) in the space of three runs-all leg-before to the spinners-to slide to 72-4 by the 22nd over.

Hafeez took a return catch of Shakib Al Hasan in his final over before Nasir Hossain, who scored a century in the last match, was caught off Abdur Rehman for three. Farhad Reza and Alok Kapali delayed the end with a seventh-wicket stand of 34, before Malik polished off the tail to complete his team’s emphatic win.

Earlier, Bangladesh spinners Abdur Razzak and Mahmudullah shared six wickets to bowl Pakistan out cheaply.

Left-armer Razzak claimed three for 21 in 10 overs and off-spinner Mahmudullah grabbed three wickets in seven balls as Pakistan folded in 46.1 overs. Umar Akmal top-scored with 57 and Misbah made 47, the pair adding 94 for the fourth wicket after Pakistan were reduced to 39-3 by the 12th over.

Pakistan made a shaky start, failing to score off the first 15 deliveries after Hafeez was caught in the covers from the fourth ball of the innings.

Misbah and Akmal stayed together till the 36th over to rebuild the innings before Razzak struck twice in his eighth over.—AFP

SCOREBOARD CHITTAGONG: Full scoreboard of the third and final one-day international between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Chittagong yesterday: Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez c Reza b Shafiul 0 Asad Shafiq b Shakib 7 Younis Khan c Rahim b Razzak 26 Misbah-ul-Haq c Kapali b Razzak 47 Umar Akmal st Rahim b Sunny 57 Shoaib Malik c and b Razzak 0 Shahid Afridi c Nasir b Sunny 9 Abdur Rehman lbw b Mahmudullah 4 Sohail Tanvir c Rahim b Mahmudullah 8 Umar Gul c Rahim b Mahmudullah 0 Saeed Ajmal not out 3 Extras: (b12, lb1, w2, nb1) 16 Total (all out, 46.1 overs) 177 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hafeez), 2-37 (Shafiq), 339 (Younis), 4-133 (Misbah), 5-133 (Malik), 6148 (Afridi), 7-162 (Akmal), 8-172 (Tanvir), 9172 (Gul), 10-177 (Rehman).

Bowling: Shafiul 6-1-32-1 (1w, nb1), Reza 2-12-0, Razzak 10-2-21-3, Shakib 10-2-21-1, Sunny 9-0-36-2 (w1), Kapali 4-0-17-0, Nasir 4-0-31-0, Mahmudullah 1.1-0-4-3.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal b Hafeez 0 Shahriar Nafees lbw b Ajmal 25 Mohammad Mahmudullah lbw b Hafeez 35 Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Rehman 0 Shakib Al Hasan c and b Hafeez 9 Nasir Hossain c Misbah b Rehman 3 Alok Kapali c Shafiq b Malik 12 Farhad Reza lbw b Ajmal 21 Elias Sunny b Malik 1 Abdur Razzak not out 1 Shafiul Islam b Malik 0 Extras: (b4, lb3, w5) 12 Total (all out, 38 overs) 119 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tamim), 2-69 (Nafees), 370 (Rahim), 4-72 (Mahmudullah), 5-81 (Shakib), 6-83 (Nasir), 7-117 (Reza), 8-117 (Kapali), 9-119 (Sunny), 10-119 (Shafiul).

Bowling: Hafeez 10-2-27-3 (w3), Gul 2-0-3-0, Rehman 10-1-32-2, Afridi 4-0-27-0 (w1), Ajmal 7-4-6-2 (w1), Tanvir 1-0-11-0, Malik 4-2-6-3.

Pakistan won by 58 runs to take series 3-0.

JACKSONVILLE: A new coach, a new owner-in-waiting, and the Jacksonville Jaguars suddenly had a new outlook Monday night with back-to-back touchdown drives to build a 14-10 lead over the San Diego Chargers. The next five minutes changed everything.

It was just like old times. And the way it’s gone for the Jaguars the last few years, those are bad times.

Philip Rivers threw three straight touchdown passes - two of them in the final 2:32 of the first half, then a 52-yard strike to Malcom Floyd on the fifth play of the second half and the Chargers were on their way to a 38-14 win.

The Chargers (5-7) snapped a six-game losing streak, their longest in eight years, and it was their first win in Jacksonville in three tries. The Jaguars fell to 3-9, assuring themselves their third straight losing season.

“Five minutes to end the first half, five minutes to start the second half. That’s the 10 minutes to win, and we didn’t win that phase,” Jaguars interim coach Mel Tucker said. It was a week unlike any other for the Jaguars. Coming off a home loss to the Houston Texans and a third-string quarterback, owner Wayne Weaver fired head coach Jack Del Rio, and then announced he was selling the team to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan.

Khan elected not to come to the Monday night game, though several fans wore fake mustaches as a way to welcome him to town. The $760 million deal still must be approved by NFL owners later this month. The biggest ovation of the night came for Weaver when he was shown on the large video board in the third quarter.

Tucker has the rest of the year to audition for the job, and he wasn’t going to let one game get him down. Nor was he about to blame the Chargers’ big run on Jacksonville’s depleted secondary.

Kevin Rutland, an undrafted rookie not on the active roster at the start of the year, was beat on

the first touchdown pass. Rivers threw a strike to Vincent Brown from 22 yards on a play that Rutland had covered decently, but he got turned around.

Blaine Gabbert, who had thrown TD passes of 9 yards to Maurice

Three plays later, he hit Vincent Jackson in stride. Jackson, who had beaten Ashton Youboty, bobbled the ball briefly and pulled it in.

Youboty also was beaten on Floyd’s touchdown catch to start the second quarter. Youboty was

JACKSONVILLE: San Diego Chargers tight end Randy McMichael (81) hurdles Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Kevin Rutland (22) in front of strong safety Dwight Lowery (25) during the first quarter of an NFL football game.—AP Jones-Drew and 5 yards to Cecil Shorts on the previous two drives, had a pass tipped and intercepted.

Rivers had only 53 seconds left in the half, but that was enough.

only recently signed off the street, and then sent to the bench and replaced. “You won’t hear any excuses or explanations from me,” Tucker said of his inexperienced

secondary. “Our philosophy is ‘next man up.’ We feel like guys are on roster available to play, we feel they can get the job done. No excuses here. We won’t allow ourselves to go down that road.”

The game turned in that span of 5:28, when momentum shifted to the Chargers, and it was strong enough that the Jaguars couldn’t get it back. Gabbert, who was 19 of 33 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, couldn’t get the offense going again. The Jaguars lined up for 47-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, trailing 31-14, and the snap was botched. The Chargers recovered on the Jaguars 31, and Ryan Mathews ran around left end for a touchdown on the next play. Jones-Drew had 97 yards rushing to take over the NFL lead, and he had 91 yards receiving. He has been the lone bright spot for a Jaguars team that ranked last in the league in total offense. “That’s nice,” he deadpanned. “We’re 3-9. It doesn’t feel good.”

Jones-Drew dismissed the notion that it was a week of turmoil in the business office of the Jaguars, as did linebacker Daryl Smith. “We just didn’t put it together as a team,” Smith said. “Stuff happens in the league. We had to regroup and focus and play a ballgame. Those 5 minutes is when it swung in their favor. They had a steamroll there, and we weren’t able to respond.”

It started with Rutland, who found himself thinking about the touchdown he gave up even as he trudged to the sideline. If only he had turned his head in the other direction. If only he had reached out his arm and deflected the pass.

“No corner likes to do that, especially in his first start,” Rutland said.

To see two more touchdowns go up so quickly, that was the end.

“You see it happen,” he said. “You just hope it doesn’t happen to your team.” But it happened again to the Jaguars, who have four games remaining and no chance at a winning record.—AP

Australia, Netherlands top pools at Champs Trophy AUCKLAND: Australia beat Pakistan and the Netherlands drew with New Zealand to remain unbeaten at the end of pool play of the Champions Trophy men’s field hockey tournament.

Captain Jamie Dwyer scored a hat trick, taking his tally of goals for the tournament to six, as World No. 1 and defending champion Australia beat Pakistan 6-1 to top Pool A. The win was Australia’s largest over Pakistan in a world-level event.

New Zealand captain Dean Couzins scored from a penalty stroke with two minutes left to earn New Zealand a 3-3 draw with the Netherlands and second place in Pool B. The Netherlands topped the pool with two wins and a draw. Spain beat Britain 8-1 to take second place in Pool A while South Korea and Germany drew 3-3.

World Player of the Year nominee Dwyer opened the scoring for Australia in the 22nd minute of its match with ninth-ranked Pakistan when his speculative cross within the circle was inadvertently diverted into his own net by Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar.

Eddie Ockenden, also nominated for the Player of the Year award, doubled the margin when he lashed home a powerful reverse stick effort four minutes later, completing the first half scoring. Australia started the second half strongly with a goal to Luke Doerner, then Dwyer scored twice to complete his hat trick. Mark Patterson crashed home the sixth from a tight angle, while Pakistan scored a consolation goal with six minutes remaining.

New Zealand will compete in the medal round with Australia, the Netherlands and Spain after rallying from 3-0 down to snatch a draw, which secured second place in Pool B. The Dutch have now qualified in the top four at their last 24

Champions Trophy appearances.

Philip Burrows and Blair Hilton scored to narrow the Dutch lead to 3-2 before Couzins put away New Zealand’s first successful penalty stroke at a Champions Trophy since 1984.

Santi Freixa and Roc Oliva both scored twice as Spain crushed Britain 8-1 to reach the top four for the eighth time in 21 Champions Trophy appearances and for the first time since 2008.

The win was Spain’s biggest at the Champions Trophy and it joined the Netherlands and Australia as the only teams to have ever scored eight or more goals in a Champions Trophy match. The tournament record is 10 goals by Australia in their 10-3 victory over Spain in 2009. Britain suffered its biggest-ever Champions Trophy defeat and had never previously lost by more than five goals at the elite, eight-team tournament.—AP

AUCKLAND: Fareed Ahmed (right) of Pakistan gets away from Mark Patterson (left) and Desmond Abbott (second left) of Australia during a third round match between Australia and Pakistan at the men’s hockey Champions Trophy. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

S P ORT S

MUNICH: Manchester City players take part in a training session in Manchester on the eve of their UEFA Champions League Group A football match against German team Bayern Munich today. —AFP

City hope black cloud has Silva lining MANCHESTER: Manager Roberto Mancini has already started contemplating life in the Europa League as Manchester City’s chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages look bleak despite playmaker David Silva’s belief they can still win the whole competition.

The Premier League leaders host Bayern Munich in their final Group A match today, needing to beat the group winners and hoping second-placed Napoli fail to win at Villarreal in order to progress to the last 16. Mancini has rated his side’s chances of progressing at 30 percent but Silva is a lot more optimistic.

“Of course, we’ve got to do well in the Champions League and, well, we should aim to win it. Why not? I don’t think that is out of the question,” the Spaniard said in an interview with the competition’s official magazine. “We

need to improve upon what we’ve achieved already and keep progressing as a team.”

The probability is, however, that City will be competing for the Europa League instead as the teams who finish third in the groups go through to the last 32 of the continent’s second-tier club competition.

Mancini thinks they may just have to live with the consequences of the mistakes they made in earlier games, such as in the opener when they drew 1-1 with Napoli at home after squandering a host of chances.

“We should try to beat Bayern Munich and we should hope that Villarreal can do a good game against Naples,” the Italian told a news conference.

“But also if we don’t go through in the Champions League, our life continues-we play in the Europa League and we will try to win the Europa League; it won’t change

anything. “We did everything, we did some mistakes probably in this group but this can happen.”

City’s domestic form has been at odds with their European results as the debutants have let nerves get the better of them on the big stage but they will seek to treat Bayern with the ruthlessness of Saturday’s 5-1 win over Norwich City.

They will be without left back Aleksandar Kolarov, who is out for two to three weeks with a groin problem, so Gael Clichy could come in for the game against a German side who are flying high in Europe and back home.

Bayern regained top spot in the Bundesliga with a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday after two defeats and will visit the Etihad stadium with no pressure on them, having already secured their passage to the next round.

Despite that convincing scoreline at the weekend, it

took them more than an hour to find their rhythm and they needed the pace of substitute Arjen Robben, who is slowly easing back after a groin operation.

The Dutch winger converted two spot kicks and Franck Ribery, also in sparkling form, added two more goals.

Robben, who looked relieved after a highly successful 30-minute spell on the pitch, is likely to start against City, according to coach Jupp Heynckes, as he seeks to gain match practice before the end of the year.

“Let us hope that Arjen’s suffering is finally over and he can start playing for us from the start now,” Heynckes told reporters.

Bayern will be without injured midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, whose absence has affected the Bavarians’ game in the past weeks, with Brazilian Luiz Gustavo hoping to get a chance in the holding midfield position. — Reuters

United search for the right formula

LONDON: Fulham’ Bryan Ruiz (left) competes for the ball with Liverpool’s Jay Spearing during the English Premier League soccer match. — AP

Dempsey strikes late to sink Liverpool 1-0 Fulham 1

Liverpool 0

LONDON: Clint Dempsey pounced for an 85th-minute winner as Fulham beat Liverpool 1-0 in a dramatic Premier League match at Craven Cottage on Monday after a rare mistake from keeper Pepe Reina.

The pulsating game, in which Liverpool were reduced to 10 men when Jay Spearing was sent off after 72 minutes, appeared to be heading for a draw when Reina spilled a shot from Danny Murphy and American international Dempsey scored from close range.

Fulham, outplayed in the first half, came back strongly in the second but Liverpool were on the wrong end of three decisions from referee Kevin Friend which otherwise might have turned the game their way.

Fulham defender Philippe Senderos was lucky not to concede a penalty after 59 min-

UEFA Champions League Ajax v Real Madrid .................. 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +2 Al Jazeera Sport 2 HD Dinamo v Lyon ......................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +10 Benfica v Galati ........................ 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +9 Basel 1893 v Man United ......... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport 1 HD Al Jazeera Sport +4 Inter v CSKA .............................. 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +6 Lille v Trabzonspor ................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +8 Villarreal v Napoli ..................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +1 Man City v Bayern ..................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +5

utes when he clattered into Charlie Adam inside the box.

The officials also ruled that Luis Suarez was offside putting the ball in the Fulham net when he looked level with the last defender, and Spearing was shown a red card for a foul on Moussa Dembele when he caught the Fulham player with his trailing leg after playing the ball first.

“It’s frustrating because no-one ever tells us what the level of acceptance (from referees) is,” Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish told reporters. “Jay had it in his mind to win the ball and he did win it, but the referee didn’t think so.

“I don’t think we were going to get anything tonight were we? The goal that Luis scored could have gone either way and we could have got a penalty when he got pulled down. We did not play as well as we have been playing, but it was enough to win the game. “But we never got it, we will just have to brush ourselves down and get on with it.”

Fulham manager Martin Jol thought Spearing should have been sent off. “It was a bad challenge,” he said before concentrating on his team’s first league win since the end of October.

“It was a very welcome three points, we needed that. We had more space after the sending-off and Clint had a good game, got us a much needed win and I am ver y pleased. We had the rub of the green tonight, it was an even game but we took the chance.”

Liverpool, unbeaten in their previous 11 matches in all competitions, came to Craven Cottage seeking to equal a club record run of seven successive away wins, which included two at neighbouring Chelsea in the Premier League and League Cup. In contrast, Fulham were looking to improve a poor home record in the league in which they had won just one of eight matches since Liverpool won 5-2 at Craven Cottage at the end of last season.

Liverpool went closest to a goal after 28 minutes when a lofted shot from Jordan Henderson beat Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer before hitting the inside of the post and bouncing away.

Substitute Stewart Downing also hit the post for Liverpool in the second half and Dempsey struck the crossbar before scoring.

The win lifted Fulham away from the relegation zone to 13th in the table on 15 points from 14 games while Liverpool stayed seventh on 23 points, three behind Newcastle United. Manchester City lead the standings with 38 points. —Reuters

BASEL: Basel is a centre of the pharmaceutical industry and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson must find the right formula against the Swiss champions to avoid a premature Champions League exit today.

United, who have failed to get past the group stage only twice in 16 previous Champions League appearances, still need a point away to FC Basel to complete what is usually the formality of qualifying for the knockout stages.

A win for the hosts would send them through along with Benfica who have already made sure of taking one of the two places out of Group C. Although unbeaten with nine points, one more than third-place Basel, Ferguson’s side have only managed two wins in five matches, both of them against rank outsiders Otelul Galati of Romania.

They drew home and away against Benfica and were astonishingly held 3-3 at home by Basel earlier in the group, needing a last-gasp goal from Ashley Young to salvage a point. Basel, 2-0 down at halftime in that game, scored three times in 18 almost surreal second-half minutes in a performance which their players still struggle to come to terms with.

“It is amazing when you are playing in front of a big crowd against players you know from the television and a club such a great tradition and name,” said Basel striker Alexander Frei, who scored twice in that match. “We are proud we got a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford and it will be important for the rest of our careers.” Basel have won all six domestic league games since Heiko Vogel was promoted from assistant to coach to replace Thorsten Fink, who left to take charge of Hamburg SV shortly after the match at Old Trafford. Frei, Switzerland’s record scorer at international level, has scored 15 times in the last 16 matches and Basel have already amassed enough points to ensure they will top the Swiss league when it stops for the winter break. However, they are well aware that

SWITZERLAND: Players exercise during the FC Basel training session. Basel face Manchester United in the Champions League match today. — AP there is a huge gap between domestic and international football as they found with home defeats to AS Roma and Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season and to Fulham in the Europa League the season before that.

United are still picking up points in the Premier League despite not playing particularly well or scoring many goals. Their 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday was the seventh successive league match in which they have scored once, while the usually prolific Wayne Rooney has not scored in his last seven matches since converting two penalties against Otelul Galati in United’s 2-0 win in Romania on Oct. 18. Javier Hernandez, the 23-year-old Mexican striker, has scored four of those seven goals, but he suffered ankle ligament damage at Villa Park which will sideline him

Lille take on Trabzonspor LILLE: Lille can complete its Champions League comeback and reach the last 16 if it beats Turkish club Trabzonspor at home today.

Lille looked doomed after picking up only two points from its first four matches, but an away win at CSKA Moscow made the French club a favorite to qualify from Group B with Inter Milan.

“We owe it to ourselves to win and to carry on in this competition,” Lille midfielder Florent Balmont said. A win would also take Trabzonspor through, but a draw would leave the door open for CSKA if the Russians win at Inter, which is out of form after making its worse start in Serie A since 1946-47. Inter has 10 points, followed by Trabzonspor with six and Lille and CSKA with five each. The Italians have little to play for, but another setback would increase the pressure on coach Claudio Ranieri.

“Winning means earning money for the club and maintaining (Italy’s) UEFA ranking,” Ranieri said. “If we don’t think about these things we’ll lose more squads.”

Italy is already down to two Champions League places and one playoff spot for next season, with Germany having gained the edge in UEFA’s rankings.

“We’re not under stress for a result but

we’ve got to show what we can do,” Ranieri said. Lille surrendered leads in the 2-2 draw against CSKA and the 1-1 draw at Trabzonspor.

“I think we dominated possession over in Turkey, but they got back in the game with a penalty,” Lille winger Dimitri Payet said. “On a quality pitch like we have at home, we can play our own game and hopefully qualify for the last 16.”

Lille coach Rudi Garcia is without Brazilian striker Tulio De Melo (torn hamstring) and is waiting to hear about the fitness of midfielders Benoit Pedretti and Idrissa Gueye.

Gueye is making a good recovery from a fractured hand, while Pedretti’s recent absence has been down to general wear and tear.

“Nothing specific has shown up in the tests,” Garcia said. “It’s his back, groin, hip ... he’s in a bit of pain everywhere.” Defender Marko Basa played through pain with a shoulder injur y and even scored in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Ajaccio, so he should be fine for today.

English midfielder Joe Cole, who came off 10 minutes into the second half against Ajaccio, and Eden Hazard, who came on for Cole, are both likely to start in midfield, with Moussa Sow alone up front. —AP

Al-Jazeera buys French rights for CL NYON: Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera has bought French rights to screen the Champions League for three seasons.

UEFA says it sold four of five available media packages covering 133 matches each season from 2012-15. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Al-Jazeera replaces incumbents TF1 and Canal Plus as UEFA’s main broadcast partner in France.

UEFA says a fifth package - including first choice of games on 13 match dates, and the final - has not yet been awarded. Al-Jazeera’s deal continues its buying spree of sports media rights in France. It has already bought domestic and international rights to screen French league matches. Al-Jazeera already has Middle East and North African rights for the Champions League. — AP

for at least a month, although United could have Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck available for selection. “We are having a bad time with injuries at the moment that’s why we have a strong squad,” said Ferguson, who is waiting on Rio Ferdinand’s fitness after the central defender went off after 64 minutes against Villa.

Michael Carrick, who played well in a creative midfield role on Saturday, is suspended, so newlycapped England defender Phil Jones, who scored the first senior goal of his career against Villa, could well continue in a central midfield role. Despite their lack of goals, United have been defending well in the league, conceding just once in their last five games since their 6-1 demolition by Manchester City on Oct. 23. — Reuters

Inter again looking for European release ROME: Inter Milan host CSKA Moscow in Champions League Group B today in a vital game for both sides, but for very different reasons.

For CSKA it is very simple, they need to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the Champions League knock-out stages and hope that Lille and Trabzonspor draw in France. Inter have already won the group and can look forward to a two-legged last 16 clash against a group runner-up in February and March.

But the Italian giants cannot afford to take this game lightly. Despite winning the group with a game to spare, they are desperately short on form and confidence as their domestic woes continued at the weekend with a 1-0 defeat at home to highflying Udinese.

While their Champions League form has been good, or at least good enough to win a group that could have been trickier, they have been hapless at home.

Just four wins from 12 league games sees Inter stuck down in 16th place in Serie A and currently involved in a relegation dog-fight.

No-one is saying so much openly at Inter’s Appiano Gentile base in Milan but not only are their title hopes over but so too may be their chances of securing a top three finish and playing in this competition next season.

In fact coach Claudio Ranieri refuses to talk about Inter’s objectives as he has suffered too many disappointments during his short tenure.

“Obviously this isn’t one of our happiest seasons, we certainly have a lot more work to do but we need to keep faith in what we’re doing,” he said. “(The Udinese) match was supposed to be the start of a comeback, it was supposed to give us new self-confidence but instead we still have to roll up our sleeves.

“The way things stand we have to keep quite, work hard and let the others get on with their seasons while we concentrate on our own.

“I’m still confident, of course we’ll try to retain our objectives and we hope to get back some important players (such as Diego Forlan) who can give us a helping hand. —AFP

y

A

19

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

S P ORT S

Olympiakos win but fail to qualify Arsenal suffer 3-1 defeat

PRAGUE: Petr Jiracek (right) of FK Viktoria Plzen challenges for a ball with Pato (left) of AC Milan during their Champions League Group H soccer match. —AP

Plzen snatch late draw with Milan PRAGUE: Viktoria Plzen produced a grandstand finish to snatch a 2-2 against qualified AC Milan yesterday to secure third place in Champions League Group H and qualify for the Europa League.

A weakened Milan had looked to be cruising to victor y after goals from Brazilian pair Pato and Robinho put them in the comfort zone.

But David Bystron struck a minute from the end and M ichal Duris equalised three minutes into injury time to launch a party in Prague. Milan, who were under the cosh for much of the game, finished the group second behind Barcelona.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri unsurprisingly made a raft of changes to the team, resting the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Thiago Silva while France centre-back Philippe Mexes made his first start for the club.

Young right-back Mattia De Sciglio also made his full debut, his only other appearance being as a substitute when these two sides met at the San Siro.

It was no surprise that Milan were disjointed and it was the hosts who dominated the first period. M ilan Petrzela thrilled the home crowd by dribbling and feinting his way out of his own area before starting the move that saw Marek Bakos break clear of a high backline, only to leave the ball behind.

Vaclar Pilar produced an acrobatic bicycle kick from a corner but sent his shot high over the bar. Frantisek Rajtoral then went on a mazy run, holding off Clarence Seedorf and skipping past De Sciglio with embarrassing ease but his finish was straight at Marco Amelia.

Marian Cisovsky was next to try his luck from a corner but his header went wide. De Sciglio appeared out of his depth and Pilar left him for dead but shot into the side-netting.

Out of the blue Milan took the lead two minutes after the restart as Pato darted in to take Robinho’s chested pass off a dallying Cisovsky before rounding Marek Cech and slotting into the empty net.

And a minute later another Cisovsky error from Seedor f ’s long punt saw Robinho rob him, play a one-two with Pato and then fire home into the top corner.

Milan were threatening to romp away with it and Pato lashed a shot past Cech at his near post only to see it come back off the upright.

Yet Plzen went straight up the other end and Petrzela cut inside Taye Taiwo and beat Amelia at his near post, the ball again coming off the woodwork and although Daniel Kolar netted the loose ball, he was offside.

Plzen continued gamely to push for a goal and Mexes had to redeem himself and deflect Rajtoral’s shot wide after his own weak clearance had given the ball to the Viktoria player.

Milan felt comfortable enough to give 16-year- old midfielder Br yan Cristante, an Italy under-17 international, his debut although he had only 10 minutes.

Duris beat Amelia from distance but again the ball struck the post. Yet a minute from time Bakos crossed for Bystron to score with a simple tap-in and then Duris burst into the area three minutes into injur y time and fired home to snatch the most unlikely draw. —AFP

Champions League results/standings PARIS: European Champions League results and standings yesterday: Group E At Genk, Belgium Genk (BEL) 1 (Vossen 30) Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 1 (Derdiyok 79)

Group G At Nicosia APOEL Nicosia (CYP) 0 Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 2 (Luiz Adriano 62, Seleznyov 78)

At London Chelsea (ENG) 3 (Drogba 3, 76, Ramires 22) Valencia (ESP) 0

At Porto, Portugal Porto (POR) 0 Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) 0

Group F At Dortmund, Germany Borussia Dortmund (GER) 2 (Blaszczykowski 23, Hummels 32-pen) Marseille (FRA) 3 (Remy 45, A Ayew 85, Valbuena 89) At Piraeus, Greece Olympiakos (GRE) 3 (Djebbour 16, Fuster 36, Modesto 89) Arsenal (ENG) 1 (Benayoun 57)

Group H At Barcelona, Spain Barcelona (ESP) 4 (Sergi Roberto 35, Montoya 60, Pedro 63, 88-pen) BATE Borisov (BLR) 0 At Prague Viktoria Plzen (CZE) 2 (Bystron 89, Duris 90) AC Milan (ITA) 2 (Pato 47, Robinho 49)

Champions League tables after final Group matches yesterday (Played, won, drawn, lost, for, against, points): Group E Chelsea

6

3

2

1

Bayer

6

3

1

2

Valencia RC Genk

6 6

2 0

2 3

2 3

13 4 11 qualified 8 8 10 qualified 12 7 8 2 16 3

Group F Arsenal

6

3

2

1

7

Marseille

6

3

1

2

Olympiakos Dortmund

6 6

3 1

0 1

3 4

6 11 qualified 7 4 10 qualified 8 6 9 6 12 4

Group G APOEL Nicosia 6

2

3

1

Zenit

6

2

3

1

FC Porto Shakhtar

6 6

2 1

2 2

2 3

Group H Barcelona

6

5

1

0

AC Milan

6

2

3

1

Viktoria Plzen BATE Borisov

6 6

1 0

2 2

3 4

6

6 9 qualified 7 5 9 qualified 7 7 8 6 8 5 20 4 16 qualified 11 8 9 qualified 4 11 5 2 14 2

ATHENS: Olympiakos beat Group F winners Arsenal 3-1 here yesterday but failed to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League following Marseille’s victory over Dortmund.

It was a heartbreaking evening for the Greek side who, having scored their third goal with a minute left heard Marseille, who netted in the 85th and 87th minutes, had gone into a 3-2 lead in Germany having been 2-0 down.

First half goals from Rafik Djebbour and David Fuster gave Olympiakos a 2-0 lead at the break before Yossi Benayoun pulled one back for the Gunners.

But in the 89th minute Olympiakos sealed victory when, from a corner, former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg’s header hit the post and Francois Modesto followed up to score.

Arsenal kicked off knowing they alone among English clubs had already qualified for the last 16, regardless of the result of their final group stage clash.

Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger selected a second string side in what was the Frenchman’s 200th European tie as a manager Lukasz Fabianski came into goal, behind a back four of Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen, Sebastien Squillaci and Andre Santos.

Emmanuel Frimpong, 19, and Francis Coquelin, 20, also started, as did England Under-21 international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with experienced Israel international Benayoun playing just behind Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh.

Olympiakos welcomed back Mellberg from injury, with in-form striker Djebbour up front. The

hosts made a terrific start but Arsenal broke on the counterattack only for Arshavin to shoot straight at Hungarian keeper Balazs Megyeri.

It was Olypiakos, though, who

panic in the Londoners’ penalty area, with Fabianski injuring his knee in the ensuing melee.

The keeper was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by 23-yearold Italian Vito Mannone-whose

lobbed the ball back into the area Mannone, who seemed to have lost his bearings, tried to scissor kick clear a lob over him by Fuster he might have handled instead and Olympiakos were 2-0 in front.

ATHENS: Olympiakos’ Vassilis Torosisdis (left) fights for the ball with Arsenal’s Yossi Benayoun during a Champions League Group F soccer match at the Karaiskaki stadium. —AP took a 16th minute lead when Arshavin failed to respond to Fabianski’s throw and the hosts regained possession, with Djebbour rounding the keeper and scoring from a tight angle.

Arsenal’s defence always the more vulnerable early on and a low cross from the left caused

last appearance was on loan at Hull in April.

And Arsenal’s new keeper went from hero to villain in the space of a few seconds as Olympiakos doubled their lead in the 36th minute.

He initially responded well to head clear a dangerous ball on the edge of the area. But when Fuser

Modesto might have made it 30 when, after another Mannone error, he somehow headed wide from just a few yards out.

However, Arsenal, halved the hosts’ lead in the 57th minute when Miquel’s cross was chested down by Chamakh and Benayoun lashed the ball home.—AFP

Genk hold Leverkusen 1-1

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Rafinha (left) duels for the ball against Bate Borisov’s Dmitri Baga during a Champions League soccer match Group H at the Nou Camp stadium. —AP

Barca youngsters fire four past BATE BARCELONA: A fledging Barcelona side showed what the reigning Champions League winners have in reserve as they swept aside BATE Borisov 4-0 in a relaxed atmosphere at the Camp Nou. An away win against AC Milan at the San Siro two weeks ago had assured the Catalans of first place in Group H and with the first Clasico in La Liga coming up this weekend against Real Madridwho Barca trail by three-points having played a game more - coach Pep Guardiola chose to blood his youngsters and rest his star players for the challenge at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Although Viktoria Plzen drew 2-2 at home to AC Milan anyway, BATE were outclassed and never appeared capable of winning a game that potentially could have seen them finish third and qualify for a place in the Europa League.

Barca broke the deadlock ten minutes before half time through Sergi Roberto, and Martin Montoya made it two after the restar t with Pedro Rodriguez adding a brace to seal an easy win.

They may have been different faces but there was no doubting it was the Barcelona style from a side which included just six players from the first team. Of the starting eleven, nine had been brought through the youth system and it was evident from their passing and domination of the ball.

Bottom of the group BATE were up against it from the off, with Rafinha

Alcantara finishing off a move with a shot from a tight angle which was parried by goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor for a corner.

Barca had complete control of the ball in the middle of the pitch as BATE set their stall out to defend deeply and hope that their dangerous Brazilian Renan Bressan could conjure up something on the counter-attack.

Rafinha saw a speculative header go well wide and then Isaac Cuenca drove a shot just past the post, while Bressan had the visitors’ first shot on goal but it was a woeful effort from distance that went well off target.

Barcelona were closing in on the BATE goal though with Sergi Roberto sliding a cross narrowly wide and then finally after 35 minutes they made the breakthrough with Sergi Roberto again firing a right-footed shot into the corner from the edge of the area.

After the break the hosts continued to probe the BATE defence and Montoya, surging forward from rightback, latched onto a Cuenca pass to finish clinically for his first senior goal on the hour mark .

While for BATE it was a case of damage limitation, Barca’s youngsters were keen for more and Pedro cheek ily flicked in a Cuenca cross.

Then in the final minutes it was Cuenca who was upended for Pedro to score his second of the night from the penalty spot. —AFP

BRUSSELS: Bayer Leverkusen was relegated to group runner-up for the knockout phase of the Champions League after being held to a 1-1 draw by already eliminated Racing Genk yesterday.

Leverkusen was already through to the last 16 but will now face one of the competition’s better teams in the next round after Chelsea took top spot in Group E with a 3-0 win over Valencia.

Racing Genk turned the tables on Leverkusen when Dugary crossed from the right and striker Jelle Vossen turned and hit a right-foot volley from the edge of the area past goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the 30th minute.

With 11 minutes to go, Leverkusen leveled when Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok received a cross from Sidney Sam and beat goalkeeper Laszlo Koteles with a low shot from 12 meters out.

Leverkusen furiously went looking for a second goal which would give it group victory. Striker Stefan Kiessling and Sam went close, but Koteles capped a fine game with good saves.

It was Leverkusen’s first point away from home but it still was not enough. The result meant Genk remained unbeaten at home with three draws, its home form contrasting sharply with its performances away following big losses at Chelsea and Valencia. —AP

APOEL beaten, but still top group NICOSIA: APOEL Nicosia suffered the first defeat of their Champions League campaign when they went down 20 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday but they still ended up celebrating as the result in Porto sent them through as Group G winners.

APOEL, against all odds, had secured qualification with a round to spare but were outplayed by the Ukrainian visitors.

Liuz Adriano Shakhtar ahead from close range after 62 minutes while substitute Yevhen Seleznyov got the second after 78, tucking in after a shot by Fernandinho that rebounded off APOEL goalkeeper Urko Pardo.

APOEL finished on nine points, level with Zenit St Petersburg after their 0-0 draw at Porto but the Cypriots top the group courtesy of their head-to-head record against Zenit. —Reuters

NICOSIA: Brazilian Marcinho (front) of Apoel Nicosia jumps for the ball with Czech Tomas Hubschman of Shakhtar during their Group G Champions League soccer match. —AP

Olympiakos win but fail to qualify in Champions League

Don Bosco blank Santos United in KIFF League

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Pakistan crush Bangladesh to clinch series

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GERMANY: Marseille’s Stephane Mbia injures Dortmund’s Sebastian Kehl (top) during the Champions League Group F soccer match. —AP

Marseille in last 16 after dream comeback DORTMUND: Olympique Marseille are into the knock-out phase of the Champions League after their dream comeback from 2-0 down saw them seal a dramatic 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund yesterday night. With Arsenal losing 3-1 at Olympiakos, Marseille were bound for the Europa League and third place in Group F before netting two goals in two minutes at the end of the second half with sub Mathieu Valbuena scoring the superb winner. Goals

by Poland midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski and Germany defender Mats Hummels had put Dortmund 2-0 up early in the first-half. France strik-

er Loic Remy pulled a goal back for Didier Deschamps-coached Marseille at the end of the first-half before Andre Ayew levelled in the 85th minute and then Valbuena completed the fairytale two minutes later.

Victory sees Marseille finish second behind Arsenal in Group F with Olympiakos third and into the Europa League while Dortmund bow out of Europe. Borussia came into the game with only a mathematical chance of reaching the knock-out phase, needing at least a 4-0 win to cancel out their 3-0 defeat at Marseille at the end of September.

Marseille had been just eight minutes from the knockout phase a fortnight ago before a late strike sealed Olympiakos’ 1-0 win at Stade Velodrome which took the group to the wire.

The Germans put up a fight at their sold-out Signal Iduna Park stadium to take the lead on 23 minutes when Blaszczykowski-known as Kuba for short-barged his way into a packed penalty area and stabbed home.

Dortmund lost their captain Sebastian Kehl six minutes later when he was left pole-axed on the turf after taking a full kick in the face from

Marseille’s Cameroon defender Stephane Mbia, who was competing for the ball.

The African was booked for the challenge, which sent Kehl sent to hospital, and English referee Howard Webb had no hesitation pointing to the spot for Dortmund Hummels to fire home on 32 minutes to make it 2-0.

Borussia goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller took over the captaincy from Kehl, Brazilian midfielder Antonio da Silva slotted into defence and Dortmund kept attacking looking for a third goal before half-time. Having spent most of the first half

Zenit through to last 16

Drogba fires Chelsea into knockout stages LONDON: Didier Drogba’s double fired Chelsea to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at Stamford Bridge that sent the Blues into the Champions League knockout-stages as Group E winners yesterday.

Andre Villas-Boas’ side knew a defeat or score-draw in this qualification shoot-out would put Valencia through at their expense, but t wo goals from Drogba either side of a R amires strike eased Chelsea’s path into the last 16.

Drogba’s early goal settled any nerves and Ramires’s strike midway through the first half put the Blues in a commanding position they never looked like squandering.

Drogba netted again in the closing stages and there was even better news from Belgium where Genk held Bayer Leverkusen to allow Chelsea to leapfrog the Germans into top spot.

That means Chelsea will avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the draw for the last 16.

After a troubled start to his reign in west London, Villas-Boas had admitted the prospect of becoming the first Chelsea manager to see his side eliminated from the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition was unthinkable.

With that in mind, Villas-Boas took a major gamble by leaving England midfielder Frank Lampard on the bench and selecting Raul Meireles in his place.

His critics have already been sharpening their knives after Chelsea’s spluttering run and Villas-Boas would have been lambasted if the Lampard move had backfired.

But Chelsea’s 3-0 vic tor y over Newcastle on Saturday had contained glimpses of the attacking style Villas-Boas employed so successfully at Porto and his decision to axe Lampard didn’t affect the Blues’ rhythm.

The thought of Thursday nights in the Europa League was clearly a substantial motivation for Villas-Boas’s team and they made the perfect start as Drogba opened the scoring in the third minute.

Daniel Sturridge swept a cross towards the far post where former Valencia winger Juan Mata expertly controlled before flicking the ball back to Drogba, who shifted the ball onto his left foot and drove a low shot past Diego Alves.

Valencia had no need to panic though as a draw would still send them through and they threatened an equaliser twice in quick succession.

Spain left-back Jordi Alba made a welltimed run behind Branislav Ivanovic to slam a fierce shot against the near post.

And the hosts were still recovering their composure from that narrow escape when Valencia midfielder David Albelda forced a superb stop from Petr Cech with a swerving 25-yard strike.

Just as Chelsea appeared to be rocking, they were gifted a second goal in the 22nd minute. Drogba embarked on a surging run down the left but his pass towards Ramires should have been dealt with by Valencia defender Victor Ruiz.

Instead, Ruiz made a tame attempt to nudge Ramires out of the way with his shoulder and the Brazil midfielder easily tipped around his opponent before pok-

under siege, Marseille pulled a goal back with virtually their first genuine attack and the last kick of the first half. There was already four minutes of added time on the clock when winger Morgan Amalfitano swung in an excellent cross to Remy and he headed home in the 49th minute of the first half to make it 2-1 at the break.

The Germans were heading for a worthless win until Amalfitano’s cross found Ayew unmarked and he headed home on 87 minutes before Valbuena found the top corner of the net from 16 metres out with a superb curling shot.—AFP

LONDON: Chelsea’s Didier Drogba (left) slides the ball under Valencia’s goalkeeper Diego Alves to score his second goal of the game during their Champions League Group E soccer match. —AP curling shot that the Chelsea keeper ing the ball past Alves from close-range.

Relief poured from the stands and the pushed away for a corner.

Villas-Boas responded by making a Chelsea dugout, where Villas-Boas leapt to change, yet it was John Obi Mikel, not his feet punching the air triumphantly.

Valencia had travelled to London in a Lampard, who the Portuguese turned to rich vein of form, but the Spaniards when he replaced Ramires.

Drogba was back to the bullish form looked overawed by the occasion for long that makes him such a handful and he periods.

Unai Emery’s team finally threw cau- sealed the win when he ran onto Mata’s tion to the wind in the second half and astute pass to slide a cool finish past Alves Sofiane Feghouli tested Cech with a clever in the 76th minute.—AFP

PORTO: Zenit St Petersburg are through to the last 16 of the Champions League at Porto’s expense after holding the Portuguese club to a goalless draw at the Estadio do Dragao here yesterday.

Zenit knew a point would be enough for them to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time, and despite rarely troubling home ‘keeper Helton, they defended stoutly and deservedly progress.

However, one point was not enough for them to finish ahead of APOEL Nicosia, the Cypriot club winning Group G by virtue of a better head-to-head record despite losing their final game at home to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Porto had to win the match but lacked imagination and must instead settle for parachuting into the Europa League, where they will get the chance to defend the trophy they won in Dublin last May. Luciano Spalletti’s Russian side are currently on their winter break, and had spent the last week preparing for this decisive encounter on a training camp in the Algarve.

Top of the Russian league, and unbeaten in 14 matches in all competitions, they were always likely to provide stern opposition for their hosts, who lie second in their domestic league behind Benfica.

Porto started brightly, and might have taken the lead inside the opening ten minutes, but Djalma’s effort was well saved by Vyacheslav Malafeev in the Zenit goal.

Despite their attacking set-up, Porto rarely looked capable of prising open the visitors’ backline, and the half-time whistle was greeted with loud jeers by the home support.

Vitor Pereira’s side again enjoyed almost total territorial dominance after the restart, but once again struggled to create chances, and after a Hulk shot flashed across the face of goal in the 50th minute it was not until the final quarter of an hour that Malafeev was forced into another save of any real note.

The 32-year-old produced a decisive stop from Colombian winger James Rodriguez, and that miss left Porto players and fans realising that it wasn’t to be their night.—AFP

Arab Thought Foundation launches FIKR10 in Dubai Page 22

German industrial orders in ‘extraordinary’ leap Page 25 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

Al-Yousifi inaugurates Denon audio section

KSE stocks pare losses Page 24

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FRANKFURT: Brokers are seen at the stock exchange in Frankfurt yesterday. German stocks opened 1.4 percent lower yesterday as a Standard & Poor’s warning of a possible downgrade for the euro-zone offset news that France and Germany had outlined a plan to save the euro.—AFP

S&P threatens to downgrade euro-zone Sarkozy, Merkel seek treaty changes PARIS/BERLIN: A threat by Standard & Poors to slash credit ratings across the euro zone sounded a clarion call yesterday, which could help Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel force through a change to the European Union treaty at a summit this week.

The French president and German chancellor are determined to change European rules to impose mandatory penalties on countries that exceed deficit targets, aiming to restore market confidence and prevent a sovereign debt crisis spiralling out of control.

Citing “continuing disagreements among European policy makers on how to tackle the immediate market confidence crisis,” S&P threatened to cut the credit ratings of 15 countries, including Germany and France, by 1-2 notches. The US-based ratings agency went a step further yesterday, placing the top-notch rating of the euro zone’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), on negative watch since it depends on the creditworthiness of the currency bloc’s six AAA-rated sovereigns.

S&P also warned of slowing growth amid

so much austerity, predicting a 40 percent chance of a fall in euro-zone output. A downgrade could automatically require some investment funds to sell bonds of affected states, making those countries’ borrowing costs rise still further.

Merkel brushed off the threat. “What a ratings agency does is its own responsibility,” she said, promising European leaders would make decisions at this week’s summit that would restore confidence. Her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said the wake-up call was S&P’s way of urging European leaders to act, and reflected financial market uncertainty rather than economic fundamentals. “It is simply an appeal to the heads of state and government that on Dec. 9 everyone has to do their duty,” Schaeuble told a panel discussion in Vienna. Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the 17 euro-zone finance ministers, said he was “astonished” by S&P’s announcement. He described it as “a wild exaggeration and also unfair” and said it failed to take into account a new austerity plan for Italy, which pulled borrowing costs for the biggest of the

• Rescue fund AAA on negative watch

euro zone’s ailing countries back from the brink. In Paris, Sarkozy’s office said S&P had taken its decision last Tuesday, before both the Italian budget and the Franco-German plan for stricter budget rules.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrived in Europe to confer with key policymakers ahead of the summit on Thursday and Friday, a sign that Washington shares the view that the event will be a make-or-break moment for the global economy.

Geithner began his talks by meeting European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt. Neither man commented afterwards but ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said the S&P move would have no bearing on the bank’s policy.

“The ECB does not let itself be put under pressure. Our decisions are our responsibility,” he told reporters in Vienna. Geithner will also meet the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the EU institutions to press for decisive action to arrest the crisis.

Sarkozy and Merkel’s plan to force states to cut deficits would be accompanied by an

early launch of a permanent bailout fund for euro states in distress.

That could provide the political cover that the ECB needs to buy more bonds of ailing countries as a short-term stopgap, preventing countries from running out of money if they cannot sell bonds on the open market. ECB chief Draghi has signalled that a euro-zone “fiscal compact” could encourage the central bank to act more decisively on the crisis. It has been reluctant to buy up debt from distressed euro states more aggressively, arguing doing so would take pressure off governments to fix their finances. Investors cheered a plan announced on Monday by new technocratic prime minister Mario Monti, slashing its borrowing costs. Yields on Italian 10-year bonds fell below 6 percent for the first time since Oct 28. Just last month, Italy - the euro zone’s biggest debtor with 1.9 trillion euros of bonds outstanding - appeared headed for a crunch after the interest rate demanded by investors to lend to it soared above 7 percent, a rate at which other countries needed bailouts. — Reuters

Zain Group website ranks No 1 in MENA DUBAI: Zain, the leading mobile network operator in the Middle East, ranked highest in two categories in the 3rd “Middle East Webranking” survey of the largest 138 leading companies by market capitalization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The survey was conducted by King Worldwide Digital (KWD), the leading online corporate communications agency that specializes in such rankings across the globe.

For the second consecutive year, www.zain.com was awarded the Best Corporate Website in the Telecom Industry across the MENA region and the Best Website in Kuwait, where the company was founded and where it is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The sites of those shortlisted were assessed according to 140 criteria, laid down in KWD’s annual survey of over 400 international business journalists, analysts and investors, to identify what information and functionality they most value from a listed company’s corporate website. Also taken into serious consideration was to what level the company had embraced social media to promote its cause and engage customers.

Zain Group’s CEO, Nabeel Bin Salamah said that the recognition was yet another demonstration, not only of the impact the Zain brand has made over the past four years, but also in the way it has captured the

public, media and investor community’s imagination. “The Zain brand is a permanent fixture in the MENA corporate landscape. As this region enters a new and exciting phase, in its development, it is pioneering brands like Zain that will continue to set the standard in the region’s economic diversification and online presence.”

He added, “At Zain, we take the issue of corporate governance and transparency extremely seriously. Our investor relations online disclosure policy is both thorough and user friendly, offering visitors a wide array of viewing options including an award-winning and dynamic, digital Annual Report.”

Staffan Lindgren, Senior Partner of KWD International said that the number of international investors eyeing up Gulf opportunities is increasing by the day and online communication is an area that regional companies cannot ignore. “Zain has gone the extra mile,” he said. “As a telecom company that is one of the largest publically listed companies in Kuwait, it has demonstrated that it understands the importance of a strong online presence for the media, analyst and investor community as a key aspect of any successful investor relations strategy. It also has recognized the necessity of social media in catering for all ages in today’s increasingly online era with dynamic and appealing Facebook,

Twitter and YouTube content.”

The winners of the KWD Webranking Survey were announced last Monday at a seminar entitled “Success in Digital Investor Relations” which was held in the Armani

Hotel Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The event, which is supported by the Middle East Investor Relations Society (MEIRS), is dedicated to promoting excellence for investor relations standards across the region.

Dubai’s JAFZA in debt talks DUBAI: Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) is confident it can refinance a $2.04-billion Islamic bond due next year without government support and it does not rule out asset sales to help raise funds, its chairman said yesterday.

Hisham Abdullah Al-Shirawi told Reuters on the sidelines of a business forum that the Dubai World unit was in talks with “many financial institutions and others” to refinance the dirhamdenominated Islamic bond, or sukuk, due in November 2012.

The JAFZA issue has been flagged by rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s as among the most problematic of Dubai’s repayments due next year. The sukuk is not guaranteed by the government of Dubai and bondholders are predominately local banks. Shirawi said the majority of bondholders have been informed of the refinancing but declined to give further details. “Our discussions with all our partners and other entities have been very positive,” Shirawi said. “JAFZA is a successful entity and I’m sure that financial institutions have enough confidence in JAFZA in order to cooperate in providing for such (refinancing) requirements,” he added. Asked whether asset sales would be an option for the repayment of the bond, Shirawi said: “I wouldn’t say that we are pursuing that option but it will depend on the overall picture.

We cannot rule out that option.”

Shirawi is also chairman of Economic Zones World, which operates technology, logistics and industrial parks as well as free zones like JAFZA, under the Dubai World Group umbrella. “We have enough entities within the Economic Zones World to support this activity (refinancing) and we are not looking for any support from the government,” he said. Ratings agency Moody’s said earlier yesterday that Dubai, which has refinanced some $41 billion in debt related to Dubai World, faces refinancing risks related to three state-linked entities next year, including JAFZA. Peer Standard & Poor’s has named the JAFZA issue as among Dubai state-linked obligations in 2012 with the greatest chance of encountering repayment issues. A source familiar with the matter said Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund may use funds it has raised to help repay some of the debt due from JAFZA and DIFC Investments, which has a $1.25 billion bond due next year.

The free zone, located on the outskirts of Dubai along the main highway connecting the city with neighboring Abu Dhabi, does not have large tangible assets it could sell, with much of its asset base made up of investment properties and concession rights. — Reuters

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business

Arab Thought Foundation launches FIKR10 in Dubai Entrepreneurs, officials, decision-makers gather

Panamera GTS: Four-door sports car DUBAI: Dr Ing. hc F Porsche AG, Stuttgart’s sportiest Gran Turismo is leaving the pits: the Panamera GTS. The clue is in the name. At Porsche, GTS stands for Gran Turismo Sport, promising extraordinary Porsche performance ever since the legendary 904 Carrera GTS back in 1963.

More power and upgraded brakes, a body lowered by ten millimetres and the sporty tuned chassis with air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) are the major technical modifications that make it the Panamera model capable of cutting it on the racing circuit - without sacrificing practicality. The sportiest of all Panamera models also conveys this to occupants and the outside world by its striking sound.

In terms of looks, the new Panamera GTS signals its independence by distinctive design features in the front-end, side and rear area as well as black highlights.

The interior is rigorously tailored to the sporty personality with sports seats, SportDesign steering wheel with shift paddles, exclusive GTS leather interior and Alcantara surfaces.

The power unit in the new Panamera GTS is a modified 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine, delivering 430 hp at 6,700 rpm, trumping the engine in its Panamera S/4S sister models by 30 hp.

Maximum torque increased from 500 Nm to 520 Nm. The way in which at the push of a button the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmits the engine output to the all-wheel

drive (PTM) - thanks to the Sport Chrono package featured as standard - is especially dynamic. This collaboration enables the Panamera GTS to sprint to 100 km/h in under 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 288 km/h. With NEDC fuel consumption of 10.9 l/100 km - only 10.7 l/100 km with low-friction tyres - the Panamera GTS remains as much of an efficiency role model in its milieu as all Porsche models.

The standard values for sprint and top speed do not do full justice to the sporty characteristics of the new Panamera GTS. Its chassis in particular makes it fit for the racing circuit: The adaptive air suspension and PASM featured as standard connect the chassis and body, constantly adapting to the driving challenges by regulating levelling settings, adjusting height and spring rate as well as electrically regulating the damping system. The damping is designed to be tauter, which helps agility and further reinforces the new Gran Turismo’s sporty personality.

Five millimetre thick wheel spacers between the wheel and the wheel carriers increase the rear axle track width, giving the Panamera an even more stable ride.

The required grip is provided by 255/45 size 19-inch tyres on the front axle and 285/40 on the rear axle. Deceleration on the sporty Panamera is provided by the superlative braking system of the Panamera Turbo. The Panamera GTS is available for order as of today with deliveries starting in March 2012. The basic retail price is $137,576 in the GCC.

DUBAI: Under the auspices of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Arab Thought Foundation, launched the tenth annual FIKR conference in Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Dubai. The event brought together entrepreneurs, officials, decision-makers, academics, intellectuals and a wide array of media figures to discuss and shed light on the aftermath of the “Arab Spring”.

The General Director of the Arab Thought Foundation, Dr. Suleiman Abdel Muneim welcomed all participants and guests and invited His Royal Highness prince Khalid Al-Faisal to take the floor.

Amel Salem, Emirati journalist, presented the ceremony and praised the Arab Thought Foundation for its achievements and the diversity of its aspects. She asserted that from Dubai, “the train of the Arab Thought Foundation takes off and tackling the issue “Arab Spring What’s Next?”

Salem presented Dr Suleiman Abdel Muneim to deliver his speech. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal acknowledged and thanked the United Arab

Emirates and its president, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. He also thanked Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai for hosting FIKR10.

Prince Khalid Al-Faisal reiterated that, ever since its establishment, the Arab Thought Foundation has always addressed -top of the hour- topics taking place in the Arab world. ATF objectively joins different Arab points of view under one intellectual free umbrella, preparing the best platform for a civilized scientific dialogue where they study the case, analyze motifs and estimate the aftermath.

He explained how the Arab Thought Foundation was alerted of the inevitable change that is to come. He also emphasized that this change is in our hands and not in anyone else’s.

During a speech he ‘delivered in the opening ceremony of FIKR3 in 2004, His Royal Highness said “nobody denies that change is an inevitable necessity and changing the present just for the sake of changing is a failed project”. The real change aims to improve the reality, refine human beings and takes them closer to heights of excellence. This aim looks at culture as the

only approach to a practical and scientific activism, believing that joining cultures is the driving force behind the wheel of human civilization. The Vice President for Business service ARAMCO-KSA, Abdel Rahman Bin Fahed AlWahib also delivered a speech praising the Arab Thought Foundation “It is a primary pillar of awareness in the Arab world” and “ going back to the history of the Foundation, I see that ATF realized special achievements and it always focused on the Arab dream and the Arab rising youth as if it is forecasting the future and realizing the effective role of youth in its changes and development.”

In recognition of a life defined by generosity and giving, the Arab Thought Foundation gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai.

FIKR10 will be held on 3 consecutive days, 56-7 of December 2011. It will include different sessions where different speakers will participate to discuss their points of view and exchange ideas as well as share impressive experiences.

Burgan premier customers, platinum card holders gain access to Pearl Lounge at KIA KUWAIT: Burgan Bank yesterday launched a new and exclusive offer, where its Premier banking customers and Platinum credit card holders can now enjoy free complementary access in the Pearl Lounge at Kuwait International Airport. This new initiative aims at providing Burgan Premier Debit Card and Visa Platinum Credit Card holders the service and amenities they need, in an effort to make their air travel more pleasant.

The new offer, which is valid for one year, allows Burgan Bank’s Premier Banking customers, and Platinum credit card holders to benefit from unlimited access into the Pearl Lounge, and enjoy a number of services that include a range of entertainment facilities, the business center, luxurious shower facilities, children’s play room, internet access, and a dining hall with a 5-star multi cuisine buffet. Special discounted rates will also be granted to guests and children accompanying the bank’s cardholders.

Haneen Al-Rumaihi, Head of Marketing at Burgan Bank said: “Burgan Bank continuously seeks value added services and special privileges to extend to our Premier Segment customers holders. Our new promotion is only an extension of the value we provide to our customers, and we continually work to enhance their banking experience with benefits that fits their premium lifestyle.”

NAS is excited about its new partnership with Burgan Bank and is looking forward to welcoming Burgan’s Premier banking customers as well as Platinum credit card holders in the Pearl Lounge. National Aviation Services (NAS) headquartered in Kuwait is an internationally reputed aviation services provider that caters to airlines and airports worldwide. From its initial operations in Kuwait, it has increased its global footprint to include Jordan, Africa and 12 airports in India. NAS prides itself in providing world class aviation solutions and is affiliated with leading industry organizations. For more information please visit www.nascorporate.com To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest offers and promotions, customers are required to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch or contact the call center on 1804080. For more information, customers can log on to the bank’s website on www.burgan.com

IKEA offers quality home furnishing products at affordable prices KUWAIT: Low prices are the cornerstone of the IKEA vision, business idea and concept. The basic thinking behind all IKEA products is that low prices make welldesigned, functional home furnishings available to everyone. After all, our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people.

We are constantly trying to do everything a little better, a little simpler, more efficiently and always cost-effectively. All IKEA units play an important part in creating our low prices which we are then able to offer our customers.

At IKEA we design the price tag first

and then develop the product to suit that price. IKEA product developers and designers work directly with suppliers to ensure that creating the low prices starts on the factory floor.

They consider maximizing production equipment, using raw materials efficiently and applying technical innovations and the best possible design. It is all about making the most of our production process, keeping waste to an absolute minimum and considering flatpack transportation and self-assembly.

IKEA of Sweden in lmhult, Sweden, develops the entire IKEA range.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4280000 .3680000 .2970000 .2690000 .2800000 .0040000 .0020000 .0749700 .7304140 .3810000 .0700000 .7160390 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2754000 GB Pound/KD .4304780 Euro .3701930 Swiss francs .2989580 Canadian dollars .2710230 Danish Kroner .0497870 Swedish Kroner .0408730 Australian dlr .2820370 Hong Kong dlr .0354410 Singapore dlr .2147540 Japanese yen .0035290 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0750100 Bahraini dinars .7307950 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0734600 Omani riyals .7156030 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

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

.2800000 .4390000 .3770000 .3090000 .2780000 .2890000 .0072500 .0035000 .0757240 .7377550 .4010000 .0760000 .7232350 .0072000 .0530000 .2790000 .4361050 .3750320 .3028660 .2745660 .0504370 .0414080 .2857240 .0359040 .2175610 .0035750 .0054710 .0024570 .0031350 .0036420 .0759910 .7403480 .3946250 .0744200 .7249580 .0064880

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.500 Egyptian Pound - Transfer46.282 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.272 Tunisian Dinar 189.860 Jordanian Dinar 392.670 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.865 Syrian Lier 6.003 Morocco Dirham 33.814 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 277.950 Euro 370.650 Sterling Pound 431.930 Canadian dollar 268.420 Turkish lire 153.940 Swiss Franc 300.620 Australian dollar 277.000 US Dollar Buying 277.750 GOLD 315.500 159.000 81.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

COUNTRY

SELL CASH

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal

286.000500 738.020020 3.810 275.800 545.100 44.800 51.400 167.800 48.390 375.500 36.390 5.730 0.032 0.213 0.241 3.660 394.110 0.188 91.050 46.400 4.270 219.500 1.798 49.300 720.810

SELL DRAFT

3.525 274.300

217.600 46.255 374.000 36.240 5.405 0.031

10 Tola

75.560 277.500

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

277.300 275.560 433.585 374.190 301.285 734.320 75.475 76.115 73.905 390.335 46.192 2.431 5.400 3.126 3.527 6.401 680.200 3.650 9.075 5.840 3.450 92.110

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

287.38 276.83 303.94 374.18

438.00 3.70 3.750 5.750 2.700 4.150 3.350 76.00 738.00 48.37 393.00 721.00 76.80 74.15

277.450 3.120 5.405 2.445 3.535 6.435 75.630 74.130 737.500 46.250 438.800 3.190 1.550 394.100 5.750 376.600 277.600 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange

UAE Exchange Center WLL Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro

436.13 3.62 3.534 5.399 2.436 3.380 3.121 75.52 738.00 46.20 394.72 721.07 76.51 74.06

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 435.500 277.500

Sterling Pound US Dollar

Currency

720.630

303.000 5.300 9.200

Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

Currency

393.230 0.187 91.050 3.400 218.000

3.125 6.405 76.340 74.090 217.610 37.340 2.433 435.500

GOLD 1,786.650

Rate for Transfer

Bahrain Exchange Company

3.330 6.660 76.770 74.090 217.610 37.340 2.644 437.500 42.200 304.500 5.300 9.340 198.263 75.660 277.900 1.220

288.00 277.00 307.40 376.60

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

277.000 373.800 435.300 274.100 3.590 5.407 46.200 2.432 3.475 6.385 3.115 737.950 75.450 73.975

WEDNESDAY, DECCEMBER 7, 2011

BUSINESS

KUWAIT: Al-Yousifi and Denon officials during the inauguration of Denon showroom in Kuwait. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Al-Yousifi inaugurates Denon audio section Adding to prestigious ‘Legacy of Firsts’ KUWAIT: Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons, official distributor of Denon products in Kuwait, inaugurated its audio section at its main branch in Al-Shuwaikh under the patronage of Arif Al-Yousifi from the company’s management. Local media covered the event which was

also attended by many enthusiasts of the audio gadgets industry. Denon’s ‘Legacy of Firsts’ and the company’s 100-year history of delivering powerful audio and visual experiences mark the company’s path into the future. “We will treasure our legacy and use it to inspire

and fuel our constant quest for perfection. We will also continue to celebrate the core strength of our products to deliver power, precision and performance,” according to Masao Goto, Representative director and Executive Vice-president and Hirofumi Ichikawa, direc-

tor. Denon is looking forward to evolving and constantly seeking to transform ideas into leading innovations. Whatever the evolution, Denon will be there adding to our already prestigious ‘Legacy of Firsts,’ they added.

Moody’s says Dubai still faces refinancing risks Three firms face risks in upcoming maturities

VIVA’s amazing surprises continue Abed Al-Rahman Asri Al-Ramadan wins a BMW KUWAIT: For the 10th consecutive week, Kuwait Telecommunications Company VIVA has announced the weekly winner of its “Win a Car Every Week” campaign, the first of its kind in Kuwait for its prepaid customers. Abed Al-Rahman Asri Al-Ramadan was the lucky winner of a new BMW 3 Series 2011 in the 10th week draw.

VIVA congratulated the winner and urged customers to follow suit and participate in the ongoing campaign in order to be one of the winners in the upcoming weekly draws. VIVA also reiterated its commitment to continuously provide unique and exclusive offers designed to better serve and reward its subscribers in Kuwait.

Abed Al-Rahman, expressed his happiness for being the lucky winner of the new BMW car as he has been participating in the campaign since its launch. Abed AlRahmanalso added that it is a dream come true and it has been made possible by VIVA. The campaign, which was launched on September 15th 2011, is only applicable to prepaid customers where they can enter

the draw through two options, the first option is to subscribe with 500 Fils per day which gives them infinite minutes and SMS within VIVA network. For every 500 fils spent, the customer is entitled 1 chance to enter the draw. The second option for prepaid customers includes subscribing to BlackBerry KD 7 which gives them full and unlimited BlackBerry Services, where customers will gain fifteen points .

Customers are able to subscribe to both options in order to enter the draw to win a luxurious car, where their points will be accumulated and carried on to the next draw if they did not win. To increase their chances to win a new car every week, prepaid customers can subscribe to the ‘Flavor of the Week’ which will be a ‘special service’ for that week allowing more opportunities to win every week. This week ‘Flavor of the Week’ allowed prepaid customers 6 more chances who had subscribed to the Local KD 3 weekly bundle which gave them 150 Local SMS & Minutes in addition to 250 MB of internet throughout the week.

Inmarsat’s BGAN bags CommsMEA 2011 award KUWAIT: Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, was awarded the CommsMEA 2011 “Most Innovative Non-Voice Service” award for their premium mobile broadband IP service, BGAN. The ceremony was held at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai, and attended by telecommunications industry professionals from the Middle East and Africa.

“We are honored to receive this outstanding award and recognition for the second consecutive year,” said Helene Bazzi, Head of Region Development for Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Russia at Inmarsat. “BGAN has dominated in the mobile satellite services category as it not only provides reliable voice services, but the quality of its broadband data service has been exceeding the user communications requirements for years. As it only takes minutes to set up and begin streaming, users have been able to access data applications at broadband speed and make calls at the same time in the remotest of areas.

“I would also like to thank our distribution channel in the region who have worked hard to ensure customer satisfaction in difficult circumstances,” she added.

BGAN delivers voice and broadband data connectivity of up to 0.5Mbps to users wherever they are on the planet. BGAN is accessible via a range of small satellite terminals that can be carried as easily as a small laptop, and due to its simplicity of use, no technical expertise is required to use it.

The CommsMEA 2011 awards shortlisted nominations were judged by a panel of international telecom experts comprising: Akshay Lamba, chief architect and head of IT strategy at MTS India; David Tusa, principal, Booz & Company; Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager, Arab Advisors Group; Michele Scanlon, principal consultant of Indian Atlantic Telecoms; Mark Kremers, associate partner, Oliver Wyman; and Rajeev Lalwani, partner, KPMS’s management consulting practice, Lower Gulf.

Finalists for the “Most Innovative NonVoice Service Award,” included Etisalat, BT Group, Comviva, and Zain. This award recognizes operators or VAS providers for developing a non-voice service that has gained substantial traction in the market and has made a significant contribution to service revenues, churn reduction and customer attraction.

Helene Bazzi, Head of Region Development for Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Russia at Inmarsat.

DUBAI: Dubai, which has restructured $41 billion of debt related to its flagship conglomerate and has about $10 billion due next year, faces refinancing risks related to some upcoming maturities, ratings agency Moody’s said yesterday.

The Gulf Arab emirate has clawed its way back from the depths of its 2009 debt crisis and seen an economic revival in trade and tourism. But looming obligations mean it is not yet out of the woods and moves by Abu Dhabi firms to refinance their own upcoming debt may crowd weaker Dubai entities out of the market, Moody’s said.

It said the main risk relates to three firmsDubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), part of the ruler’s private holding company, DIFC Investments (DIFCI) and Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) — which

have $3.8 billion due next year. The rating agency anticipated less government support now than Dubai World received two years ago. The Dubai government, backed by wealthy Abu Dhabi, supported Dubai World and its property arm Nakheel through the debt crisis but has since made clear it will only deploy its limited resources to back strategic entities.

“We believe it is DIFCI that is most likely to rely on direct government support in conjunction with refinancing its maturing debt obligations in 2012,” Moody’s said, noting the Dubai government is directly exposed to DIFCI, which runs the city’s financial freezone, having given it two loans.

The Financial Times said yesterday that Dubai had raised the prospect of restructuring some bonds and is pursuing other

options to help state-related entities meet their obligations.

Those include raising $2 billion in funds from liquid local banks, the newspaper said.

“We are working hard to meet all our liabilities but times are different. We are more confident we can negotiate a commercial deal with bondholders,” a senior government official is quoted as saying in the article.

In addition to the Dubai World restructuring, Dubai entities have been refinancing loans over the past t wo years but there has been no default on a public bond. In December 2009, Abu Dhabi stepped in with a last-minute lifeline to help Dubai avert an embarrassing default on a Nakheel Islamic bond. It subsequently paid off Nakheel’s 2010 and 2011 bonds in full upon maturity. — Reuters

Abu Dhabi’s TAQA sells $1.5 billion in bonds ABU DHABI: State-run Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) yesterday sold $1.5 billion in bonds maturing in five and 10 years to refinance upcoming debt. The company issued $750 million in five-year bonds paying a premium of 330 basis points over comparable US Treasuries, and an equal amount of 10-year paper at a spread of 390 basis points over Treasuries, Thomson Reuters’ IFR reported.

In a sign of strong investor demand, the pricing came at the tighter range of a downwardly revised guidance of 335 basis points and 400 basis points for the bonds maturing in five and 10 years, respectively. The fiveyear tranche had a reoffer price of 99.5020 and a coupon of 4.125 percent. The 10-year tranche had a reoffer price of 99.5150 and a coupon of 5.875 percent. TAQA, which is 75 percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, last month said it would buy back a $1.5 billion bond maturing October 2012 and enlisted four banks to sell new debt.

“To me it is sensible what issuers are doing. They are taking advantage of a window that is there, created by some optimism regarding the European debt situation,” said Luz Padilla, emerging markets fixed income fund portfolio manager at Los Angelesbased DoubleLine. “They offered a decent spread concession and that is enticing people before year end.”

The leaders of France and Germany on Monday agreed a master plan to impose budget discipline across the euro-zone, ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels tomorrow and Friday.

Given that the latest chapter in the crisis is not written yet, debt issuers are taking advantage of whatever remaining liquidity there is in the market before year end. TAQA is a regular issuer of debt in global markets and benefits from implicit backing from the Abu Dhabi government as one of its strategic firms. Abu Dhabi holds over 90 percent of the UAE’s oil reserves.

“As a government-controlled investment entity, and as a provider of the bulk of power and water to the Emirate, it is pivotal to the viability of the UAE. It also has extensive international investments,” said John Bates, head of fixed income at asset manager Silk Invest. TAQA’s existing bonds fell after the guidance was released as investors made room for the new issue.

TAQA’s $500 million 6.165 percent 2017 maturity yield 4.51 percent on Monday, up from 4.42 percent on Friday, according to Reuters data. The yield on its $1 billion 2016 maturity carrying a coupon of 5.875 percent rose to 3.974 percent on Monday from 3.682 percent on Friday. Bank of America, RBS, Standard Chartered and Mitsubishi UFJ are arranging the deal.

Last week, Qatar printed a $5 billion bond in a three-tranche deal making it the biggest issue from the region this year. Like Qatar, TAQA is also listing the offering as a Reg S/144a deal which makes it open to institutional US investors. “Abu Dhabi and Qatari credits are much sought-after, even when the global pictures looks volatile,” Silk Invest’s Bates said. — Reuters

GE and SEC officials sign contracts totaling almost $300 million.

Saudi Electricity Co, GE sign agreement $300m deal for six power plant expansions KUWAIT: GE yesterday signed contracts totaling almost $300 million with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to supply 13 gas turbines and associated services for the expansion of six power plants at various locations across the country.

The expansions will add nearly 800 megawatts of power to the Saudi grid by the summer of 2013, in time to support peak electricity demands and reduce the risk of blackouts.

The new contracts bring the number of GE turbines delivered for SEC projects to nearly 200 turbines in the last five years. To date, GE power generation technology and services are supporting the generation of nearly half of Saudi Arabia’s electricity. The latest plant expansions support SEC’s plans to expand its power capabilities across Saudi Arabia, including remote areas of the Kingdom.

“The expansion projects are part of our overall strategy to add an average of 4,000 megawatts of power annually to the grid in Saudi Arabia as we continue to face a growing demand for reliable electricity,” said Eng Ali Saleh Al-Barrak, president and CEO for SEC. “We have been working with GE for more than 40 years, and the new contracts reflect our continued trust in GE’s power generation solutions and ability to respond to our technology requirements and meet compressed project schedules.”

In addition to supplying 13 Frame 7EA Gas Turbines and associated generators for the plant expansions, GE also will provide technical advisory services and performance testing, which are critical elements in ensuring that the equipment is successfully installed and running reliably to provide power to residents in remote areas. To further expand GE’s knowledge sharing initiative in the Kingdom, GE also will provide

training for SEC engineers in the operation and maintenance of the gas turbines.

“We are very pleased to support SEC in their efforts to bring reliable electricity to rural regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said Joseph Anis, president and CEO of GE Energy in the Middle East. “As the leading energy provider in Saudi Arabia, GE continues to deliver localized power generation solutions to our long-time customers such as SEC and provide technology transfer to the Region through our advanced technical training and knowledge sharing initiatives.”

The six sites for the expansions are Wadi Al Dwasir, Tabuk, Qurrayat, Sharura, Ala-Wajh and Najran simple-cycle power plants. The gas turbines will be manufactured in GE’s factory in Greenville, SC, and will be delivered to the various sites during the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, with commercial operation to begin in May 2013, in time to meet the summer peak demand.

With tens of millions of hours of service in many applications, the GE 7EA Gas Turbine allows for flexibility in power generation needs and fast, low-cost additions of incremental power. It can accommodate a wide range of fuels, from high hydrogen to residual containing “heavy fuel oil,” by utilizing advanced fuel handling equipment, power nozzles and bucket cooling, thermal barrier coatings and multiplefuel combustion systems.

The latest SEC power plant expansions follow an announcement in May of this year that GE had received a contract of more than $500 million to supply equipment and services for plant expansions that will add 1,680 megawatts of new power capacity for the Kingdom.

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KSE stocks pare losses GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) started the session slightly down but soon reversed its trend to end the day in a positive territory as buyers took control and helped the market recoup some of its losses. All the sectors ended the day in green.

Global General Index (GGI) ended the day up by 0.61 percent, at 182.79 point. Market capitalization was up for the day, reaching KD29.89bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 5,870 point, adding 31.8 points (0.54 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 106 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 51 equities advanced versus 15 that advanced. Trading activity was mixed yesterday. Total volume traded was down by 12.31 percent with 191.48mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD20.13mn (15.89 percent higher compared to Monday session).

Investment sector was the volume leader.

The sector accounted for 43.03 percent of total shares exchanges.

International Financial Advisors (IFA) was the session’s most traded stock with 25.36mn shares exchanged. The same sector was the value leader, having 31.72 percent of total traded value.

In terms of top gainers, Alrai Media Group Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.43 percent to its share value and closing at KD0.116. On the other hand, Inovest Company shed 5.95 percent and closed at KD0.040 making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sector-wise Out of the eight sectors of the market, banking stocks were the

biggest source of support during the day with Its 0.80 percent gain.

Gulf Bank rallied by 1.96 percent, and closed at KD0.520, whereas, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) ended the session up by 1.75 percent, at KD1.160. Other gainers among the banking sectors were Burgan Bank and Ahli United Bank, up by 1.06 and 1.25 percent, respectively.

Global Investment Index followed, climbing 0.67 percent.

Kuwait Financial Center added 8.47 percent in gains and closed at KD0.128 making it the biggest gainer in the sector. International Financial Advisors (IFA) was back to trading yesterday after the

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

business

company released its 9M2011 financial results. It declared a loss of KD14.11mn in 9M2011 compared to KD14.98mn loss recorded in 9M2010. However, the scrip closed up by 6.25 percent at KD0.0425 and topped the volume list for the day with 25.36mn shares changing hands.

A 1.28 percent gain on the counter of Agility Company brought the Services Index up by 0.43 percent. The scrip closed at KD0.395.

Also heavyweight National Mobile Telecommunication Company ( Wataniya Telecom) ended the day up, adding 1.05 percent to its share price and

closing at KD1.920, while Zain closed flat at KD0.910.

Corporate news Hits Telecom Holding Company has inked a five-year $43mn loan agreement with Global Emerging Markets Ltd (GEM).

The loan facility will go for expanding the telecom’s networks in countries of operation as well as financing new acquisitions. The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $110.35pb on Monday, compared with $109.66pb the previous Friday, according to OPEC secretariat calculations.

Oil falters on possible euro-zone downgrade LONDON: Oil prices stalled yesterday as a weaker dollar and tension in Iran balanced against a broad market fall on Standard & Poor’s possible euro-zone downgrades if no convincing plan emerges to solve the debt crisis this week.

EU leaders will meet tomorrow in a crucial meeting for the euro zone debt crisis, in which investors hope a convincing solution will be agreed upon. S&P said it had told 15 of the 17 euro zone countries, including Germany and France, that it might downgrade them within 90 days, depending on the outcome of Friday’s summit.

“The cost of not agreeing will be higher than agreeing. But for oil markets, if an agreement is reached there will be a lot of austerit y measures and this will affec t demand,” said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, an analyst at A/S Global Risk Management Ltd. Brent crude was up 24 cents at $110.05 a barrel by 1130 GMT, while US crude was up 1 cent at $101 a barrel.

The rating agency’s move drew criticism from the European Central Bank, as one council member questioned whether the ratings agency was contributing to the European debt crisis, adding the S&P’s methods had become increasingly political.

But worries about downgrades and the debt crisis were balanced by German industrial orders for October which posted their strongest rise since March 2010, helping to send the euro to a session high versus the dollar. Markets were also supported by growing expectation of an interest rate cut this week by the ECB, after European statistics agency Eurostat confirmed estimates pointing to weakening growth.

Diplomats and oil industr y sources told Reuters that the prospect of a ban on Iranian crude oil imports to Europe may be fading

amid growing skepticism among members about the effectiveness of sanctions. Countries are increasingly taking the view that sanctions are more likely to harm their own interests than cut into Iranian oil revenue.

But the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter has said it cannot rule out a self-imposed oil embargo to punish the West and the ongoing threat of an interruption in supply has helped keep oil prices supported. And analysts say the risk of a unilateral strike on Iran by Israel or an escalation of tensions between Tehran and its Arab neighbors remains.

“Iran is just politics, but if something happens, the impact will be high. So even if the overall probability of conflict is low, put together the risk is medium,” Jensen continued.

Elsewhere, tensions eased in Syria, where oil exports have already been banned by the EU, after it said it had conditionally approved an Arab League peace plan to end eight months of unrest.

Market participants are also waiting for next week’s OPEC meeting, where the group’s members look set to agree on a new production target that legitimizes current cartel output around 30 million barrels a day.“Today’s elevated oil price is likely to discourage OPEC from cutting, regardless of the rhetoric from Vienna on Dec 14,” said analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note.

Worries about high oil prices were echoed by BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, who said yesterday that high oil prices could derail the fragile economic recovery.

In the United States, crude oil inventories likely fell last week after rising sharply the week before as imports probably dropped, a preliminar y Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday. On average, US crude stockpiles were expected to have fallen 1.1 million barrels in the week ended Dec 5, according to the poll of seven analysts. — Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

business

Germany’s ‘working poor’ belie economic miracle FRANKFURT: “In a good month, I earn 850 euros ($1,143),” says Arek Krezalek with a long drag on his cigarette, as he stands outside the job centre in Frankfurt, the financial heart of Germany, Europe’s top economy.

Krezalek is one of a growing number of “working poor” in Germanypeople on temporary or low-paid job contracts who barely scrape together a living and who are seen as the hidden victims of the country’s “economic miracle”.

The German of Polish origin tells AFP that if he earns his 850 euros, “I lose my benefits, including my free housing.” “So, it’s basically not worth going to work. But if I don’t work, I get struck off (from the benefits), so I don’t exactly have a choice,” the 40-year-old says wistfully.

“When I do find work, it’s temporary. Two or three weeks. People don’t say it, but actually, I’m just employed to replace other staff who are away on holiday,” he added.

He has lived like this, hand to mouth, “for nearly two years” and sees no brighter future ahead. He does manual work, industrial cleaning. “It’s a slave’s job,” he complains.

But he is not without a dream: “I’ll take any job, as long as it has a fixed contract.”

Krezalek is not alone. Germany’s recent economic growth, strong relative to the rest of crisis-hit Europe, has prompted many to hail a “miracle” in the country.

However, this boom has come at a price for people like Krezalek: a sharp rise in the number of workers with an

uncertain future, stuck on short-term, precarious contracts. According to a survey conducted by IG Metall, Germany’s largest union, 43 percent of job contracts inked in 2010 in the huge metalworking sector were temporary, 42 percent were short-term.

Only 15 percent were long-term and permanent. The “German model”, seen abroad as an example to be followed, also results in levels of pay that would be unthinkably low in many other European countries.

With no formal nationwide minimum wage, 1.2 million people in Germany work for a salary of five euros per hour or less, according to a study by the DIW economic institute. A further 4.6 million earn less than 8.5 euros. Nezahat Kasap, 38, a Turkish woman working as a cleaner in a

Berlin hospital has had enough. Along with 300 other staff at the hospital, she has decided to go on strike for better working conditions.

With a “very ill” husband and two small mouths to feed, her monthly pay packet of between 800 and 900 euros does not make ends meet. “I can never go to the cinema or restaurant. I can’t buy the books my children need and that really breaks my heart,” she said. “ When our pay goes up, they reduce our hours, but the work remains the same,” she said.

With variable hours, she is unable to take a second job and dreams of steady full-time employment.

Authorities appear to be increasingly aware of the plight of people like Krezalek and Kasap. In a recent speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel

said: “It is true there are people who have two or three jobs and still don’t have enough in their wallets to live. It’s inconceivable in a society that is meant to be humane.”

Her party, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, has proposed a minimum wage that would be negotiated by employers and unions for all sectors that do not yet have such a pay floor.

However, she has not suggested an amount, in line with the German tradition that governments do not get involved in salary negotiations. Unions want 8.50 euros an hour.

Kasap, the hospital worker, however, has just one very simple and unambitious goal.

“We just want to live and work like normal people,” she said. — AFP

German industrial orders in ‘extraordinary’ leap Europe’s top economy stands up to crisis

Hiroshi Sasaoka, new Chairman, Sharp Middle East, Africa & CIS

Sharp appoints mew ME, Africa and CIS Chairman KUWAIT: Moving into its centenary year, global electronics giant Sharp yesterday announced plans to significantly increase its investment and market presence across emerging markets with a renewed focus on more than 80 countries that make up the Middle East, Africa and CIS region.

The appointment of Hiroshi Sasaoka, 54, as the new Chairman, Sharp Middle East, Africa & CIS, signals Sharp’s intent to support this new strategy with the best leadership talent within the company.

Sasaoka brings with him extensive experience of spearheading expansions in the UK and Europe for Sharp Corporation, in addition to Middle East familiarity gained from the start of his time with the corporation where he was involved in the sales division for the MEA region.

Sasaoka will lead the operations from Sharp Middle East’s headquarters in Jebel Ali, with Dubai acting as the gateway to Sharp’s business in the region.

“The Middle East, Africa and CIS consumer electronics market has significant market potential with attractive growth rates and consumer appetite for world class products. We believe this is an opportune time to expand and invest in the region with an increased product line up and a greater level of support,” said Hiroshi Sasaoka, Chairman - Sharp Middle East FZE. “2012 is our centenary,

and after 100 years of innovation we wish to start a new chapter by embarking on our next phase of growth by demonstrating our commitment to such a vibrant region. We have built a very strong operation in the region and we are now planning for aggressive growth.”

The previous structure saw the Middle East, Africa and CIS business as a subsidiary, of which there are 26 within the Sharp Corporation structure. The new investment transforms the subsidiary into a region, joining six others covering such large geographical areas, leading to staff increases offering greater support for both distributors and customers in addition to an expanded product portfolio for the region.

Customers will quickly see an impact from the expansion in terms of these new products. The newest practical innovations from the company’s product lineup will be introduced as part of the investment. The products will focus on delivering value through practicality and usefulness in everyday life, such as large screen home entertainment solutions, uniquely designed home appliances and health-&-environment products related to air, water and beauty. These will offer the Middle East market a new level of service and value for customers, demonstrating the commitment Sharp has in developing the region.

BERLIN: Industrial orders in Germany rose sharply in October, official data showed yesterday, raising hopes that Europe’s top economy is standing up to the ongoing turmoil in the eurozone.

In a result that one analyst called “extraordinary”, orders were up by 5.2 percent on the month in October, following a decline of 4.6 percent in September, according to the economy ministry. This smashed the expectations of analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who forecast a gain of 0.8 percent. And it also stood in contrast to a warning from S&P rating agency that Germany was at risk of losing its top AAA credit rating if EU leaders do not put a stop to the euro-zone debt crisis.

S&P said that 15 of the 17 euro-zone countries were at risk of a downgrade if an EU summit at the end of this week did not agree convincing action. “German factory orders jumped by an extraordinary 5.2 percent in October, the highest increase since March 2010 and the fifth highest since 1990,” said Christian Schulz from Berenberg Bank.

However, in a sign that the crisis might be having an impact on firms’ order books in Germany, the ministry said that the gain was mainly driven from abroad, where orders rose by 8.3 percent on the month.

Domestic orders rose by a less impressive 1.4 percent.

Nevertheless, the ministry said: “After three declines in a row, industrial orders have made a good start to the final quarter of

the year.” “ The demand trend however remains subdued.

Industrial production should therefore continue its currently settled development,” the ministry said in a statement. The poor

economy has remained broadly on track, although analysts warn it cannot remain immune to the turmoil forever.

Last week, unemployment in Germany fell to a 20-year low

NEW YORK: Specialist Christopher Culhane (left) works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stocks sank yesterday after Standard and Poor’s warned 15 countries using the euro that it could downgrade their credit ratings. — AP figures from last month took their toll, however, on the less volatile two-monthly data, with orders in September and October down by 2.7 percent compared to July and August. Despite the crisis seething around it, Germany’s

point and retail sales surprised to the upside, showing that consumers have not given up their optimism-a trend also suggested by confidence surveys.

However, there have also been warning signs for Europe’s

Asian refiners seen cutting Saudi buys

BP: Halliburton destroyed key oil spill evidence NEW ORLEANS: BP in a high-stakes court filing on Monday accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence about the quality of its cement slurry that went into drilling the oil well that blew out last year and caused the worst US offshore oil spill.

BP accused Halliburton of having intentionally destroyed evidence about possible problems with its cement slurry poured into the deepsea Macondo well about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast. An oil well must be cemented properly to avoid blowouts.

Also in the documents filed in a New Orleans federal court, BP accused Halliburton of failing to produce incriminating computer modeling evidence. BP accused Halliburton of claiming the modeling is gone.

BP asked US District Judge Carl Barbier to penalize Halliburton and order a court-sponsored computer forensic team to recover the missing modeling results.

Halliburton did not return a call seeking comment but told other media outlets that the accusations were untrue.

The allegations in the 310-page motion ratcheted up the showdown among BP PLC and contractors, Halliburton and Transocean Ltd. The three companies have been sparring over blame for the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast, which killed 11 workers and led to the release of 206 million gallons (780 million liters)of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. So far, BP, the majority owner of the Macondo well, has footed the

bill for the emergency response and cleanup. Also involved are Anadarko Petroleum Co. and Cameron International Corp. The first trial over the Deepwater Horizon disaster is scheduled to start Feb. 27 in New Orleans. The first leg is expected to take about three months and determine the liability of each company involved in drilling the Macondo well.

There will be other phases over cleanup costs, punitive damages and other claims.

Federal and independent investigations of the disaster have found fault in Halliburton’s cement job because it failed to properly plug the well.

Halliburton used a foamy cement slurry. In Monday’s court filing, BP accused Halliburton employees doing an internal investigation of the Macondo disaster of discarding and destroying early test results they performed on the same batch of cement slurry used in the Macondo well.

BP said Halliburton’s chief cement mixer for Gulf projects testified in depositions that the cement slurry seemed “thin” to him but that he chose not to write about his findings to his bosses out of fear he would be misinterpreted.

“I didn’t want to put anything on an email that could be twisted, and turned,” Rickey Morgan, the Halliburton cement expert, said in depositions. He worked at a laboratory in Duncan, Oklahoma.

“Upon reviewing these latest testing results, Halliburton employees destroyed records of the testing as well as the physical cement samples used in the testing,” BP alleged. — AP

biggest economy, not least from ratings agency Standard and Poor’s who warned late Monday that Germany ’s coveted AAA credit rating was at risk. A disappointing bond auction in Germany last month had also fuelled fears that the euro-zone debt crisis was seeping from the edges of the bloc to the core.

Markets were concerned that if European powerhouse Germany was having difficulty selling its bonds, then there was little hope for the likes of Italy and Spain.

And while Germany appears to be holding its own, the broader euro-zone is increasingly being battered by the crisis.

Euro-zone growth rose by only a modest 0.2 percent in the third quarter, official EU data showed yesterday, as the financial and sovereign debt crisis continues to seep into the broader real economy.

Berenberg’s Schulz said that while orders “may not be subsiding as rapidly as previously feared”, they had still taken a dive compared to the first half of the year, with a likely knock-on effect on the German economy.

“The German economy may not be contracting in the fourth quarter just yet, but without a sustained change in direction, it still seems likely to do so this winter,” he said.

“Such a change in direction is most likely to be achieved with an end to the European market confidence crisis. This week’s EU summit and possible ECB action could be an important step on the way.” — AFP

HANOI: Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (center) listens to the translation as World Bank Country Director Victoria Kwakwa (right) speaks during the Annual Consultative Group meeting between Vietnam and its aid donors in Hanoi yesterday. — AFP

Donors urge Vietnam to speed up reforms HANOI: International donors yesterday urged Vietnam to accelerate efforts to restructure its economy and warned the communist country to improve its rights record or risk jeopardizing its economic success.

Vietnam, which earlier this year refocused its attention away from growth to stabilizing the economy, is battling Asia’s highest inflation rate of around 20 percent and urgently needs to push through economic reforms, donors said. “It would be much easier for Vietnam to pursue its restructuring agenda now than have to restructure after it’s hit by a crisis,” said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director for Vietnam, at the donors’ meeting in Hanoi. Since February, policy makers have been trying to stabilize an economy beset by multiple challenges including dwindling foreign reserves, a yawning trade deficit, downward pressure on the dong and runaway inflation.

The country needs to proceed with

reform of the banking sector, privatize state-owned enterprises, simplify administrative procedures and do more to fight rampant corruption, donors said at the meeting. Donors also expressed “regret” at the state of the authoritarian country’s democracy, warning that a poor human rights record could threaten economic progress. A recent crackdown on dissidents undermines both Vietnam’s international credibility on rights issues and its “long-term economic and social development”, said Norwegian ambassador Stale Torstein Risa. Dozens of peaceful political critics have been sentenced to long prison terms since Vietnam launched a crackdown on free expression in late 2009, according to Amnesty International.

Protests are rare in Vietnam but a handful of demonstrations have been organized this year on issues from territorial disputes with China to local land disputes with authorities. Some have been forcibly broken up by police. — AFP

SINGAPORE: Asian refiners are likely to trim crude purchases from Saudi Arabia in January after the world’s top exporter raised premiums on its oil to record levels, and they may be forced to cut runs if other Middle East producers follow suit.

Other top exporters such as Iran and the United Arab Emirates typically track the kingdom’s moves when they announce their own prices. The overall rise in the cost of crude from the world’s top exporting region to Asia would drive down profits that refiners make for processing oil.

Saudi Arabia has raised prices of the flagship Arab Light, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude by at least $1.60 a barrel from the previous month, an industry source said this week. Refiners, faced last month with a 50 percent drop in profit margins from processing a barrel of oil, were already considering cutting runs. An increase in crude prices only exacerbates the situation, industry sources said. Asian refiners are likely to buy the minimum Saudi crude permitted without breaking contract, industry sources said. That would be about 10 percent less than stipulated volumes. Refiners would look to import cheaper cargoes from elsewhere on the spot physical market.

“Refiners would try and get arbitrage barrels wherever possible or else cut runs,” a trader with a North Asian refiner said. There already are some signs of arbitrage cargoes coming in to the region. South Korean refiners are turning to North Sea crude after the arbitrage opened on a narrowing of Brent’s premium to Dubai and backwardation in the European marker. More such deals could follow.

“While the hikes may bolster spot demand in the region, we may see Asian buyers turning en masse to Atlantic Basin and West African crudes in the coming period, with the latter under continued pressure from refinery shutdowns on the US East Coast,” Vienna-based JBC Energy said in a note.

“In this context, steep price hikes for the light end of the Kingdom’s crude slate may be aimed at avoiding a potential supply glut in the Atlantic Basin.” Saudi Arabia’s sharp increase in prices surprised market participants, because of the possibility that additional Iranian barrels may find their way to Asia as Europe threatens to ban imports of Iran’s oil to pressure the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear program.

Some said they thought the kingdom would offer more competitively priced crude to defend its market share. —Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

BUSINESS

Probe finds elaborate cover-up at ‘rotten’ Olympus TOKYO: A panel probing an accounting scandal at Japan’s Olympus Corp said yesterday an elaborate scheme to cover up $1.5 billion of investment losses was orchestrated by a group of

top executives who were “rotten to the core.”

The panel also credited the company’s ex-CEO, Michael Woodford, for bringing the deception at the

camera and medical equipment maker to light. Woodford, a Briton, was fired in October after questioning the dubious transactions that have become one of Japan’s

TOKYO: Lawyer Tatsuo Kainaka (center), chief of the committee probing a massive cover up of losses at Japan’s Olympus and other committee members check their documents as they hold a press conference in Tokyo yesterday. —AFP

biggest corporate fiascos.

Led by former Supreme Court judge Tatsuo Kainaka, the panel found that as of 2003, Olympus had racked up 117.7 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in investment losses dating back to the 1990s. “The management was rotten to the core and contaminated what was around it, creating in the worst sense a group mentality of the typical salarymen,” the report said in a reference to Japan’s culture of corporate loyalty.

It said it found no involvement of “anti-social groups,” a euphemism for Japanese criminal gangs, as some news reports have speculated.

The panel said it traced the money and the various funds used to cover up investment losses, and no underworld groups were involved.

Olympus initially denied any wrongdoing, but later admitted it had used a $687 million fee for financial advice when it bought British medical instruments maker Gyrus Group, as well as overpayments for acquisitions, to hide losses from past investments gone bad.

The panel identified at least six Olympus employees as part of the scheme, including President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, Executive Vice President Hisashi Mori and auditor Hideo Yamada, all of whom have resigned.

It said other board members were familiar with the cover-up that started from about 2006 and lasted

through last year, and recommended they resign too. It urged Olympus to beef up its corporate governance to prevent future problems, pointing to a small group of people who engineered the deception but were protected from scrutiny so that the dubious accounting could be kept secret for so long.

The panel pointed to one board meeting in which a part of the scheme was approved in just 15 minutes. It stressed its findings, summarized in a 24-page document released at a press conference at a Tokyo hall yesterday, were based on voluntary hearings and analysis of company computers, but that it was not authorized to pursue a criminal investigation.

Japanese financial and criminal authorities are investigating the Olympus scandal. Kainaka, the former judge, said that some Olympus people may face criminal charges, while declining to give names. He said none had pocketed the money for personal gain. Olympus risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange if it doesn’t rectify past filings with regulators by reporting revised earnings by Dec 14.

The company’s bookkeeping is now under investigation in Japan, the US and Great Britain.

Woodford has met with authorities in all three countries. The scandal has cast a harsh light on Japanese corporate governance,

which has been criticized as lagging global standards. Last week, Economy Minister Yukio Edano defended Japan, saying its corporate governance standards were on par with the US or even better. He didn’t specify any cases, but there have been a string of accounting scandals at major US companies, including Enron and AIG. Kainaka denied the Olympus scandal exemplified Japan Inc. “This is not just a Japan problem. It could have happened anywhere in the world,” he said. But others say Japan needs more transparent, accountable and knowledgeable boards at companies. Nicholas Benes, head of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan, a nonprofit group that specializes in corporate governance training, said the panel was a start but it lacks legal authority under Japanese law.

“I applaud, but obviously its work hasn’t been finished,” he said.

Yesterday’s panel report raps the Olympus board as insular, calling for better outside members.

“Most board members were mere yes-men,” it said. Olympus stock, which at one point lost 80 percent of its value after Woodford’s whistleblowing, has recovered over the last three weeks, and surged 9 percent yesterday amid optimism the company may avoid delisting. The panel released its findings after the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed. —AP

ADB: East Asian economies face euro-zone headwinds 2012 growth forecast for emerging economies trimmed HONG KONG: The Asian Development Bank yesterday trimmed its 2012 growth forecast for emerging East Asian economies including China, as the euro-zone turmoil threatens to drag the global economy back into crisis.

The Manila-based bank cut its gross domestic product growth forecast to 7.2 percent for the 10country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Hong Kong, South Korea and

slump,” the ADB’s Emerging East Asia regional economic update said.

With headwinds blowing out of Europe, the bank said its “cautiously optimistic” outlook for the Emerging East Asia region excluding Japan was under a thickening black cloud compared to its September forecasts. “The cautiously optimistic outlook for emerging East Asia is subject to much greater downside risks now than just a few months ago,” it

the global economy, the impact on East Asia would be “serious yet manageable” as long as governments responded decisively and collectively. “Emerging East Asia must prepare for a prolonged crisis and weak post-crisis recovery by implementing appropriate short-term macroeconomic responses and pursuing necessary long-term structural reform,” the report said.

Government spending could help maintain the growth

HONG KONG: A man is seen walking in Hong Kong yesterday. The Asian Development Bank released a new report which is expected to trim forecasts for growth in emerging East Asian economies including China, in the face of euro-zone turmoil. —AFP Taiwan, from 7.5 percent in September. It also mapped out an “extreme scenario” of European and US meltdown, which could shave 1.2 percent off growth next year in East Asia including Japan, from a forecast 5.4 percent to 4.2 percent, bank officials said.

“The worst-case scenario is for both the US and euro-zone to fall back into recession, pushing the global economy into a deep

said.

“The global economic recovery could flounder if the euro-zone and the US fall back into recession, causing another global financial crisis.” It said “major downside risks” included a deep recession in Europe and the United States, higher protectionism and persistent inflation.

If the euro-zone’s troubles turned into a full-blown crisis for

momentum while central banks would have to deftly manage the monetary levers to keep inflation “anchored”.

“With the euro-zone’s sovereign debt crisis unfolding and risks of faltering global recovery rising, macroeconomic policy must remain cautious and prudent,” it said.

The ADB said a defense against trouble in Western markets lay in

“increasing intra-regional trade and financial integration, and expanding links with other emerging economies”. China was the strongest performer in the region but even the world’s second biggest economy was feeling the pressure, posting 9.1 percent growth in the third quarter compared to 9.6 percent in the first half of 2011.

The ADB said China’s economic output would grow 8.8 percent in 2012, compared to its September forecast of 9.1 percent. ASEAN’s four middle-income economiesIndonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand-are expected to grow 4.5 percent in the second half compared to 4.9 percent in the first six months of the year.

The ADB said intra-regional trade and domestic consumption would shield the region from the worst of the global fall-out. “While the region’s economic expansion has moderated this year, it remains robust roughly in line with recent historical trends,” it said.

“Exports and industrial production, while slowing, have continued to grow. The economic resilience is partly due to rebalancing sources of growth from external to domestic demand.”

Regional financial systems had been “little affected” by volatility in the credit markets and were keeping the investment pipeline liquid.

“Growth in bank lending, while slowing, remains robust,” the report said. Even so, a sharp downturn in Europe and the flowon effects on the United States would have inevitable ramifications for East Asian banks, especially in financial centers such as Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

Capital outflows could hit regional share markets and consumer confidence, eroding domestic spending. Tighter global credit would also hurt Asian bank liquidity and possibly increase the cost of borrowing for investors, the ADB said. —AFP

SYDNEY: A woman passes the Reserve Bank of Australia in Sydney yesterday as official rates were slashed by 25 basis points for the second month in a row. —AFP

Xmas cheer as Australia cuts interest rates SYDNEY: Australians were handed an early Christmas present yesterday when the central bank cut interest rates for the second month in a row, but it warned the slowing global economy continued to pose risks.

Despite expectations of strong domestic growth in the third quarter to September, the Reserve Bank of Australia again slashed by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent having cut in November for the first time since April 2009.

Economists were split on whether they would move again ahead of a summit of European leaders this week seen as crucial for the future of the euro-zone, but the bank said the inflation outlook “afforded scope for a modest reduction”.

“The Board will continue to set policy as needed to foster sustainable growth and low inflation over time,” RBA governor Glenn Stevens said, with rates now at their lowest level since April 2010.

It was the first back-to-back monthly cuts since the depth of the global financial crisis in April 2009 and the dollar sank more than half a US cent to $1.0188 cents following the announcement.

While the Australian economy remains resilient, Stevens said global growth had moderated, including in China, a major trade partner, with Asia starting to see some effects of a significant slowing in economic activity in Europe. “Financial markets have experienced considerable turbulence, and financing conditions have become much more difficult, especially in Europe,” he said.

“This, together with precautionary behavior by firms and households, means that the likelihood of a further material slowing in

global growth has increased. “Commodity prices have reflected this, declining further over recent months and taking pressure off CPI inflation rates. This has increased the scope for some easing in monetary policy in a number of countries.”

Australian growth data for AprilSeptember is due for release Wednesday, with economists forecasting the economy expanded between one and 1.3 percent quarter on quarter. Growth in the three months to June was 1.2 percent. Inflation was running at 0.6 percent in the September quarter.

RBC economist Su-Lin Ong said the decision to cut rates was all about concerns over the impact of the European debt crisis on global growth. “We think that really, while the Australian economy is in reasonable shape, it’s the threats to global growth and the potential spillover to Asia and Australia that is driving today’s decision,” she said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the latest interest rate cut should buoy families and small businesses. “Today’s decision to cut interest rates again will provide Christmas cheer to families and small businesses that is particularly welcome around Christmas,” he said. Swan added that Australia’s economic fundamentals remained strong “but as this decision shows, we are facing turbulent times in the global economy with serious risks arising from Europe”.

Retailers had been calling for a rate reduction to help bolster tepid sales heading in the final few weeks of 2011 and Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond welcomed the move. —AFP

China’s workers flex their muscles as growth slows SHENZHEN, China: Faced with lay-offs and wage cuts as falling demand in the West hits the country’s vast manufacturing sector, the workers who have powered China’s breakneck growth are refusing to go quietly.

Over the past month, thousands of factory workers in China’s southern manufacturing heartlands have wrested concessions from employers facing shrinking exports and rising costs in a wave of labor unrest. In the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, workers recently gathered at the office of labor rights organization Little Bird to debate a possible strike at a factory that employs them to demand better overtime pay and compensation.

“We have never experienced this situation. We want to learn the different methods for protecting our rights,” said Ran Lin, 30, who spends 11 hours a day, six days a week

testing thousands of circuit boards on an assembly line.

Ran, who supplements his 2,000 yuan ($315) monthly wage by working overtime at the Hong Kong-invested Yong Jie Electronics factory, said the company had reduced perks such as meals and housing, even as the cost of living rose. “We made contributions to economic development. We gave so much to the company. I hope they can give us suitable compensation,” said Ran. As a manufacturing slowdown forces employers to cut back on benefits and lay off staff, workers are reaching out to grassroots groups such as Little Bird and even government-linked agencies that offer legal advice and address complaints. “Workers’ recognition of protecting their rights has increased.

They have learned to unify,” said Wei Wei, founder of Little Bird.

Wei said the dense concentration of factories in China’s southern province of Guangdong had helped spread news of past strikes, which has emboldened workers in a recent wave of labor conflicts.

Thousands of workers in Guangdong and elsewhere downed tools last month in a series of strikes as factories hit by slowing demand in the United States and Europe passed the pressure of rising costs and falling orders on to staff. China’s manufacturing activity contracted in November for the first time in 33 months, as the export-led economic growth moderated to 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 9.5 percent in the previous quarter due to falling demand.

China’s ruling Communist Party fears an independent labor movement could threaten its grip on power, so it only allows only one, government-linked trade union. But

activists say government officials have been more sympathetic to individual grievances against factories, especially those funded by foreign companies or overseas Chinese investors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“The government is afraid of simmering grievances. They don’t want workers to go on the streets or to demand trade unions,” said Debby Chan of Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior.

Authorities have addressed concerns of workers by giving more teeth to a revised labor contract law, consulting industry groups and allowing courts to handle disputes.

And in an apparent response to recent unrest, authorities in Shenzhen recently announced plans to hike the minimum wage by 14 percent to 1,500 yuan per month from January, following a 20 percent rise in April.

Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, said some of the recent action showed a new level of sophistication.

He cited the example of workers at five Pepsi bottling plants across the country who protested on the same day after the US beverage giant sold its plants in China.

“That is a level of organization that we’ve not really seen before, in terms of coordination of factories in different parts of China,” Crothall said.

In strikes last year against Japanese companies, workers cloaked their protests in antiJapanese rhetoric to make them more acceptable to the government, which still raises the issue of Japan’s wartime atrocities.

“They know it’s a motivating tool to get people on their side. Chinese workers are quite politically savvy,” added Crothall. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Facebook hires Gowalla team, will shut it down NEW YORK: Facebook has hired the team behind Gowalla, the location service that lets people share where they are using their mobile phones.

Gowalla started out in 2009 as a way for people to share their location with friends and strangers by “checking in.”

Now, Facebook will wind down the service, as it often does when buying a startup to hire its talent. It did not acquire the Gowalla service or technology.

Financial terms were not given.

Gowalla co-founder Josh Williams said in a blog post that Gowalla will join Facebook in California. Gowalla is currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, a city with a thriving tech scene and the site of the annual South By Southwest Interactive festival, where many startups - including Gowalla - are launched. Gowalla never quite caught on with a large audience, trailing rival Foursquare.

“As we move forward, we hope some of the inspiration behind

Gowalla - a fun and beautiful way to share your journey on the go - will live on at Facebook,” Williams wrote in the post. Facebook said that Williams co-founder Scott Raymond and others at Gowalla will move to Facebook in January. The companies would not say how many employees Gowalla has and how many of them are joining Facebook.

The companies didn’t specify what projects the Gowalla team will be working on, though Williams’ blog

post hinted that one might be Timeline.

The feature, which will replace users’ current profile pages, works like a virtual scrapbook. Curated by the user, it includes photos, posts and other events from the person’s life.

“The Gowalla Passport has become a record of all the places we’ve visited, the people we were with, the photos we took, and the stories we told. Many of you even use Gowalla like a scrapbook of sorts - a place to

keep all those memories,” Williams wrote.

Facebook’s latest hires come just days after the Palo Alto., Californiabased company announced it is opening an engineering office in New York City. Facebook, which is widely expected to go public after next April, has about 3,000 employees and said last week it plans to add thousands worldwide in the coming years.

Facebook won’t acquire data about Gowalla’s users, Williams said. — AP

India vows to ban offensive material Internet giants asked to screen user content

CALIFORNIA: In this Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 file photo Apple logo is seen during an announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. The European Union’s antitrust watchdog announced yesterday it, is probing whether Apple and five major publishing houses have colluded to restrict competition in the market for ebooks. —AP

EU in antitrust probe of Apple, e-book publishers BRUSSELS: The European Union’s antitrust watchdog is probing whether Apple helped five major publishing houses illegally raise prices for e-books when it launched its iPad tablet and iBookstore last year. The probe, announced yesterday by the European Commission, offers a glimpse into the fierce fight for shares of the growing ebook market, especially as Apple has tried to take on Amazon and its Kindle e-book reader. It also highlights the struggle for profits between retailers and publishers, as more and more readers download books electronically.

In par ticular, the Commission is investigating a significant shift in the way the price of e-books is determined that occurred in 2010, just as Cupertino, California-based Apple introduced the iPad and its own online bookshop, iBookstore. Apple was the first retailer that allowed publishers to move to socalled agency agreements, which let publishers set the price that online bookshops sell e-books to consumers.

Until then, publishers were able to set the wholesale price of e-books, while retailers decided what price to sell them on to readers.

“The Commission has concerns that these practices may breach EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices,” the regulator said in a statement. Giving publishers the power to set retail prices could effectively restrict competition between online bookshops, since it takes away individual retailers’ powers to set lower prices.

Since Apple’s deal with the publishers, several other online retailers have also shifted to the agency model, possibly in an attempt to secure the rights to sell popular e-books.

The EU investigation targets publishers Hachette Livre, a unit of France’s Lagardere Publishing; Harper Collins, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based News Corp.; CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster; Penguin, which is owned by UK publishing house Pearson Group;

and Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, which owns Macmillan.

The Commission stressed the probe was in its early stages and did not mean the companies actually broke EU competition law. It follows a similar investigation by Britain’s Office of Fair Trading and a class action lawsuit against the same five publishers and Apple filed this summer in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The UK agency on Tuesday closed its own probe, since the Commission has taken over the case, but said it was cooperating closely with the EU investigation. It said its investigation was triggered by several complaints, without naming any names. Apple representative Bethan Lloyd said the company would decline to comment at this time.

Pearson said the fact that the Commission has opened a probe did not prejudge its outcome. “Pearson does not believe it has breached any laws, and will continue to fully and openly cooperate with the Commission,” it said.

Holtzbrinck echoed that statement, saying it found the Commission’s case “without reason.”

HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster said they are cooperating with the investigation, while Hachette Livre declined to comment. The e-book market has been dominated by Amazon.com Inc. and its Kindle reader, with both Apple and Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader fighting to break in.

In a summary of its complaint, the US law firm Hagens Berman, which filed the US class-action suit, claims that “Apple believed that it needed to neutralize the Kindle when it entered the e-book market with its own e-reader, the iPad, and feared that one day the Kindle might challenge the iPad by digitally distributing other media like music and movies.”

The lawsuit also alleges that, following Apple’s deals, Amazon was forced to abandon its discount pricing model and move to the agency model. —AP

Online reporters, activists need protection: Clinton VILNIUS: Human rights must be defended online as fiercely as in the real world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Lithuania yesterday. “We must recognise that rights exercised in cyber space deserve as much protection as those exercised in real space,” Clinton said at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The top US diplomat urged the assembly of foreign ministers and other high-level officials from the OSCE to adopt a declaration supporting online freedoms. “Fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association and religion apply as much to a Twitter conversation and a gathering organised by NGOs or Facebook as they

do to a demonstration in a public square,” she said.

There is particular concern that bloggers and other journalists and activists using electronic media are being targeted in the countries of Central Asia, plus Belarus, Russia, and Turkey, US officials said. Former Soviet-ruled Lithuania, now a European Union member, is coming to the end of its year-long term as president of the 56-nation OSCE, whose membership stretches from the United States to Russia and Central Asia.

The OSCE, which aims to monitor and encourage democracy and human rights in its region, was spun out of an earlier body created to ease Cold War tensions. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India yesterday vowed to ban offensive material from the Internet after Facebook, Google and other major firms told the government they were unable to screen content before it was posted. Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said talks with the Internet giants had failed to come up with a solution following complaints that he had lodged three months ago over “unacceptable” images.

“My aim is that insulting material never gets uploaded,” Sibal told reporters in New Delhi. “We will evolve guidelines and mechanisms to deal with the issue. “They will have to give us the data, where these images are being uploaded and who is doing it.”

Sibal said the government supported free speech and was against censorship but that some material on the Internet was so offensive that no one would find it acceptable. He said he had shown some of the worst images to the Internet companies, who had said they could not control all distribution. “Three months back we saw that Google, Yahoo!, Facebook had images which could be an insult to Indians, especially religious-minded people,” Sibal said.

“We told them to find a way that such insulting images are not uploaded. We gave them some time... but there was no response.”

Sibal said the firms had shown that their “intention was not to cooperate” and that they had explained they were only “platforms” on which people could display material.

“I feel that this in principle was not correct but it is very clear that

BANGALORE: In this photograph taken on July 25, 2010, Indian Information Technology (IT) professionals work on their laptops during an ‘Open Hack Day’ programme organised by the global search engine Yahoo! in Bangalore. India yesterday vowed to ban offensive material from the Internet after Facebook, Google and other major firms told the government they were unable to screen content before it was posted. —AFP

we will not allow such insults to happen. We are thinking and will take the next step,” he said. “We will not allow our cultural ethos to be hurt.” Facebook, which has 25 million users in India, released a statement saying it “recognised the government’s interest in minimising the amount of abusive content” online and would continue to communicate over the issue.

Google confirmed Monday’s meeting with Sibal but made no further comment, while Yahoo! and Microsoft were not immediately available. Sibal showed some of the offending material to journalists, including fake images of naked politicians and religious figures. He added that “sometimes

when asked for data in respect to terrorists... there is hesitation (by Internet companies) to provide that data.”

The Hindustan Times yesterday said the Internet companies had rejected Sibal’s appeal for screening, saying a huge volume of information was uploaded on to the Internet and that they were not responsible for judging its content.

The paper added that Sibal had earlier complained about a site that targeted Sonia Gandhi, the influential president of the ruling Congress party. Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the government was only acting “in respect of

absolutely illegal, defamatory, pornographic or other similar kind of material”.

BlackBerry maker RIM has been embroiled in a similar wrangle with India over access to encrypted email and instant message services that the government says could be used by extremists to plot attacks. India has more than 110 million Internet users out of a population of 1.2 billion, according to latest research, with the figure likely to jump to 600 million in the next five years.

Sibal’s call for Internet screening quickly attracted a storm of criticism on Twitter, with many users expressing anger over any attempt to restrict usage. — AFP

The pricey iPad turns into a toy NEW YORK: Make room in the toy box for the iPad and iPhone.

Crayola allows tots to doodle on the iPad using its iMarker just as they would a crayon on a coloring book. Tweens are able to belt out their favorite Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez tunes on a Disney microphone that turns the tablet into a karaoke machine. And technology accessories company Griffin enables teens to fly its toy helicopter by using the iPhone as a remote control.

This holiday season, toy makers have turned Apple Inc.’s pricey tablet and smartphone into playthings for kids. They figure in this weak economy, parents will be willing to splurge on toys for their children that utilize devices they already have - or want - themselves.

Tiffany Fessler of Gainsville, Ga., certainly was willing to do that even though when she initially bought her $829 iPad she never imagined she’d be sharing it with her 20-month-old son. But whenever she sat down to check emails on the iPad, he’d climb into her lap wanting to use it. So, Fessler decided to get him the $29.99 Crayola iMarker, which transforms the iPad into a digital coloring book using a Crayola’s free ColorStudio HD application that parents can download.

Kids can draw and color using the iMarker, which has a soft tip so it doesn’t scratch the tablet’s glass screen.

“When you have a screaming toddler in a restaurant or any public area, you want to have something to calm him down with,” says Fessler, 39. “This is just another way to keep him entertained.” That the iPad and iPhone, which can cost as much as $849, have infiltrated the $22 billion toy market this season is no surprise. Smartphones and tablets - particularly Apple products - are more popular than ever with people of all ages. This year, Apple is expected to double the number of iPhones sold to 90.6 million worldwide, according to

research firm Gartner. Meanwhile, while the number of iPads sold is expected to triple to 46.7 million.

And Apple products have a certain “cool factor” with kids that toy companies, which can make up to half of their revenue during the holidays, are hoping to tap into. In fact, the iPad and iPhone are among the most coveted electronics this holiday season among kids. About 44 percent of 6- to 12 -year-olds want the iPad this year, according to a survey by research firm Nielsen. The

ber rises to 52 percent for 5- to- 8 year olds. And even 10 percent of infants have used one of the devices before their first birthday.

“It’s mostly something for kids to use in the car or at the doctor’s office,” says Chris Baynes, a toy analyst. “It’s a way to get the kid to be quiet.” With that in mind, Crayola teamed up with Nashville, Tenn.based Griffin Technology, which is mostly known for selling iPhone and iPad cases and car chargers, to make the iMarker and the

This product photo provided by Spin Master Ltd, shows the Appblaster. The $19.99 AppBlaster, a plastic gun for kids over 8 years old. After slipping an iPhone or iPad touch on top of the AppBlaster, kids can shoot at aliens that pop up on the screen. — AP iPod touch came in the No. 2 spot with 30 percent, followed by the iPhone at 27 percent.

Not to mention, anyone who’s a parent knows all too well that babies and older kids alike love to fiddle with or drool all over mommy’s iPad. Nearly 40 percent of 2-to 4-year-olds have used a smartphone, iPad or video iPod, according to a survey by nonprofit group Common Sense Media. That num-

ColorStudio HD app for kids. The iMarker, which is like a stylus that resembles a Crayola marker, is targeted at children ages three and up. “Regardless of who they buy it for, once it is in the household, we know that kids use it,” says Vicky Lozano, vice president of marketing at Crayola, which makes the iMarker. Other toy makers also have gotten into the game: • Griffin’s $49.99 remote-con-

trolled toy helicopter is aimed at teens over 14. Called the “HELO TC,” it flies using a device that plugs into an iPhone, iPad or iPod. A free app turns the touchscreen of the devices into a cockpit that controls the helicopter.

• Mattel Inc.’s Fisher-Price unit is selling “ The Laugh and Learn Apptivity Case” aimed at babies for $15. The case locks the iPhone into a colorful, easy to grab case that looks like a big round rattle. The case stops babies from making unwanted calls and protects the iPhone from something else: drool.

Parents can open up three free apps that play music, read words aloud and count numbers. The company plans to release an iPad version of the case this spring.

• Disney has three offerings. The “Disney Spotlight” microphone, which is $69.99 or $99.99 for a wireless version, plugs into the iPad and allows kids to sing along to Disney songs from shows such as “Hannah Montana” - or to their own music and record their own music video.

Disney’s $79.99 AppClix digital camera enables kids to upload their pictures to an iPad and a free app allows them add Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck into the photos. And Disney teamed up with Canadian toy maker Spin Master to create “Appmates,” a toy car based on the characters from the company ’s “Car’s 2” animated movie. One car sells for $12.99 while a two-pack goes for $19.99. Using a free app, kids can “drive” on different courses by moving the car across the iPad screen.

• Spin Master, which makes toys such as Air Hogs and Bakugan, started a new line this year of toys for the iPad and iPhone called “AppFininity.” Its first toy in the line is the $19.99 AppBlaster, a plastic gun for kids over age eight. After slipping an iPhone or iPad touch on top of the AppBlaster, kids can shoot at aliens that pop up on the screen. —AP

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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

Eating fish boosts heart health in young women WASHINGTON: Women of childbearing age can reduce their risk of heart problems by regularly eating fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids, said a Danish study out Monday. The study is the first to examine younger women, age 15-49, and determine whether fish in their diet has a real impact on their current likelihood of heart problems, instead of their longevity.

For instance, “those who rarely or never ate fish had 50 percent more car-

diovascular problems over eight years than those who ate fish regularly,” the research said. Women who rarely or never ate fish faced a 90 percent higher risk of heart problems than those who ate fish weekly.

When researchers looked at hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease in three different assessments over a 30 week period, they found it was three times higher among women who did not eat fish. The findings, published in

Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, are based on a Danish study of 49,000 women with a median age of 30 that spanned eight years. Women were interviewed by phone about their family history, lifestyle and fish consumption, and were tracked over the next eight years. “We saw a strong association with cardiovascular disease in the women who were still in their late 30s,” said Marin Strom, lead researcher and post doctoral fellow

at the Centre for Fetal Programming at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“The biggest challenge in getting health messages like this across to younger populations is that usually the benefits may not be evident for 30 or 40 years, but our study shows this is not the case.” Women most commonly reported eating cod, salmon, herring, and mackerel, all of which are high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids,

believed to protect against heart and vascular disease.

The study focused exclusively on dietary intake of fish, not supplements with fish oil. “ Women who eat fish should find the results encouraging, but it is important to emphasize that to obtain the greatest benefit from fish and fish oils, women should follow the dietary recommendations to eat fish as a main meal at least twice a week,” said Strom.—AFP

Chinese go online to vent anger over pollution Sales of face masks surge

KABUL: In a picture taken on November 29, 2011, Afghan youths medidate at a school for street children. When 30 Afghan prison guards took a break from warden duties to gather to try yoga, they lunged sideways in unison to meditate on pursuing a more peaceful existence in Afghanistan. The unusual scene was orchestrated by French yoga enthusiast Amandine Roche, on a personal quest to promote the idea that for fighting to end and battle scars to fade in the warring nation, inner peace must come forth. — AFP

Few parents recall doctor saying child overweight WASHINGTON: Pediatricians are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds - but a new study found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem. Does that mean doctors aren’t screening enough kids, or aren’t frank enough in these tough conversations?

Or is the real story parent denial? The research published Monday can’t tell, but makes it clear the message too often isn’t getting through.

“It’s tricky to say, and it’s tricky to hear,” says lead researcher Dr. Eliana Perrin of the University of North Carolina. She analyzed government health surveys that included nearly 5,000 parents of overweight children from 1999 to 2008. Parents tend not to realize when a weight problem is creeping up on their children. When almost a third of US children are at least overweight, and about 17 percent are obese, it’s harder to notice that there’s anything unusual about their own families. Plus, children change as they grow older.

The new study suggests when parents do recall a doctor noting the problem, it’s been going on for a while.

About 30 percent of the parents of overweight 12- to 15-year-olds said a doctor had alerted them, compared with just 12 percent of the parents of overweight preschoolers. Even among the parents of very obese children, only 58 percent recalled a doctor discussing it, says the report published Monday by the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

“Many pediatricians don’t worry until children are very overweight, or until they’re much older,” says Perrin, whose team has created stoplight-colored growth charts to help doctors explain when a problem’s brewing. “If we can notice a concerning trend early, we’re more likely to be able to do something about it.”

That means taking a family approach, says Dr Nazrat Mirza, medical director of an obesity clinic at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington. Important changes - such as switching to low-fat milk and water instead of sugary sodas and juice, or cutting back on fast food - should be viewed as making the whole family healthier, not depriving everyone because Johnny needs to lose weight.

“You do not want to single out one individual in the family.

That’s enough to cause a lot of friction,” says Mirza, who wasn’t involved with the new study. Doctors have long tracked children’s height and weight during yearly checkups, but more recent guidelines urge them to calcu-

late a youngster’s body mass index, or BMI, to screen for developing obesity.

Unlike with adults, one measurement alone doesn’t necessarily mean children are overweight - they might be about to shoot up an inch.

The next step is plotting that BMI on a growth chart. Youngsters are considered overweight if their BMIs track in the 85th to 95th percentile for children their same age and gender, a range that just a few years ago was termed merely “at risk.” Above the 95th percentile is considered obese. To tackle lack of awareness, Children’s National has begun calculating BMIs for every child age 2 or older who is admitted for any reason. Mirza calls it “a teachable moment.”

Perrin’s analysis shows more parents of overweight kids are starting to get the message. Overall, 22 percent of parents reported a health professional telling them their child was overweight. But that rose to 29 percent in 2008, the latest year of the survey data and about the time guidelines changed. So what should parents, and overweight children themselves, be told? Perrin focuses on health, not fat.

She tells them the child is at an unhealthy weight that puts them at risk for later problems - and that she can help families learn to eat better and get more active. That’s where her color-coded BMI charts (www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com) come in.

Parents can tell at a glance if their child is in the overweight yellow zone or the obese red zone, and over time if they’re moving closer to the green zone. Perrin calls the charts especially useful between ages 3 and 8, when children are growing so fast it’s particularly hard to tell if they’re a healthy size.

Portion size is key, too.

Nutritionists define the right size as about 1 tablespoon of each food type for every year of age. Perrin’s easier measure is that a serving is about the size of a child’s palm, which will grow as the child gets older. Pre-teens and teens are more independent and have to be on board, adds Mirza. Teens, for example, start to stay up late, eating more at night and skipping breakfast, not a healthy pattern.

The kid who never exercises will tune out all weight advice if told to hit the gym but might agree to walk around the block. The athlete might be sabotaging physical activity with 600calorie snacks. The good news: As kids grow older and taller, “they can grow into a healthier weight,” Perrin says.

And “we know that parents with an accurate assessment of their child’s weight are more likely to make weightrelated changes.” — AP

BEIJING: Millions of Chinese went online yesterday to vent their anger over the thick smog that has blanketed Beijing in recent days, raising health fears and causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled. Sales of face masks were reported to have surged as residents of China’s heavily polluted capital sought to protect themselves from the air, which US embassy figures ranked as “very unhealthy”.

Beijing’s main airport cancelled hundreds of flight due to the poor visibility on Sunday and Monday, angering passengers at the world’s second-busiest airport. Visibility had improved by Tuesday, but 89 domestic and 11 international flights had been cancelled or delayed by late afternoon.

Users of Sina’s weibo-one of China’s most popular microblogs-expressed frustration at travel delays, with one saying it had taken him 24 hours, instead of four, to travel to Beijing from the southern city of Shenzhen.

“I’m exhausted. All of this was because of the thick smog,” wrote Hu Yueyue in one of 4.4 million comments about pollution posted to Sina yesterday.

Competitor Tencent’s weibo users’ posts on pollution generated a whopping 68 million comments, boosting the topic to the fourth most-discussed of the day. Some linked the toxic air to other hot issues of the day, such as a manhunt for the bomber of a bank in central China, or a yoghurt drink made by Coca Cola that was deliberately poisoned, killing one.

“The bank explosion in Wuhan, poisoned milk in Changchun, serious air pollution in Beijing... Can we live or not? Or is it that I pay too much attention to the dark side of society?” web user Gaiyong wrote. “The reality has crushed my confidence. No wonder rich people all go to foreign countries to avoid disasters.”

One online retailer reported selling 100 face masks fitted with air filters to a single customer in Beijing, according to the official Global Times daily. Taobao.com, China’s

biggest online retailer, sold 30,000 masks on Sunday, when the US embassy in Beijing rated the air as “hazardous”, the state -run Xinhua news agency said.

The US embassy conducts its own air quality measurements, measuring the finest particles, which experts say make up much of Beijing’s pollution. The official government figures are based on measurements of larger particles and often give a better assessment of air quality, leading to accusations the authorities are downplaying how serious the pollution is. Yesterday, the US embassy pollution index called the air “very unhealthy” while Xinhua’s measurement said it was

“slightly polluted.”

Weibo user “ T — maoyangshenghuo” reacted angrily at comments from the spokesperson of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau saying the smog in Beijing caused “slight pollution” over the last two days.

“Beijing citizens are speechless. Where is the serious pollution? In the brain of the spokesperson?” the message said.

Another web user said there were “always huge differences between the public data and weather broadcasts and the feelings of people.” “Sometimes, I suspect that what we’re breathing isn’t air, but politics.” —AFP

BEIJING: A woman talks on a mobile phone while she looks at a notice board displaying the cancellation of flights due to a heavy fog at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, yesterday. Thick fog has blanketed parts of northern China, delaying and cancelation several flights, and closed expressways in Beijing.—AP

Fake malaria drugs a growing problem WASHINGTON: Fake or poor quality malaria drugs are boosting resistance in parts of southeast Asia, a problem that is likely to worsen unless tighter regulations are adopted, US experts said Monday. “The malaria parasite has a history of adapting to drugs and adapting to insecticides,” Regina Rabinovich, director of infectious diseases at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told a hearing of US lawmakers.

“Drug resistance to the most effective drug available, artemisinin-based combination therapy, is developing and has been recognized in southeast Asia.” Last month, the World Health Organization said resistance to artemisinin appeared to be spreading in the region from the Cambodia-Thailand border, where it was first detected in 2009, and possibly moving into Myanmar.

Half of the world’s population is exposed to the mosquito-borne disease which kills 860,000 people ever y year, according to the WHO. According to Roger Bate of the American Enterprise Institute, research has shown that about half the malaria drugs that failed quality

control tests also contained some artemisinin.

“So they are directly contributing to resistance,” he told lawmakers at the House subcommitee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. “Resistance is being noticed on the Thai, Cambodian, Burmese borders and resistance is likely to increase,” he said.

“Fake and substandard antimalarial medications are a significant and probably growing problem.” While the actual number of poor quality drugs in circulation is unknown, “it is certainly not a negligible amount,” he added, and the problem is festering because these medications are not illegal in the countries affected.

“Simply getting the medical regulatory authorities to control what is on the market for anti malarials I think is important,” said Bate. The sale and use of monotherapies, which contain just one active agent, have long been known to contribute to resistance. Experts favor combination therapies which last longer.

Bate said that coordinated action to get monotherapies off the market in Africa has shown some success, “but some companies in

China, India and Vietnam are still producing them and this is a major contribution to resistance.”

In addition to tougher regulations, researchers need to focus on developing new drugs against malaria, and consider making sure they cannot be sold or distributed as monotherapies, the panelists urged.

“The goal now going forward is the new drugs we develop need to be made as fixed dose combinations immediately, and never be sold or available as single entities,” said Dennis Schmatz, president of Medicines for Malaria Venture North America, Inc. “And that will definitely extend the life of any of those new drugs we develop going forward.”

Rabinovich echoed that point, saying that the drugs of today will not be effective tomorrow.

“Research and development is essential because the preventive and curative tools that are available today and are so effective at controlling malaria are not sufficient to control malaria in the long term or for eradication due in part to the development of resistance,” she said.— AFP

Radiation found in Japan baby formula TOKYO: Traces of radiation spilled from Japan’s hobbled nuclear plant were detected in baby formula yesterday in the latest in a string of contaminated food turning up in the nation. Major food and candy maker Meiji Co. said that it was recalling canned powdered milk for infants, with expiration dates of October 2012, as a precaution.

The levels of radioactive cesium were well below government-set safety limits, and the company said the amounts were low enough not to have any affect on babies’ health even if they drank the formula every day. Experts say children are more at risk than are adults of getting cancer and other illnesses from radiation exposure.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan sent three reactors into meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which have been spewing radiation into the air and ocean.

Some of that radiation has crept into food, such as rice, fish and beef. But this was the first time radiation was

reported in baby formula. Kyodo News said the milk got contaminated by airborne radioactive cesium while it was being dried, citing the company. The company was not immediately available for comment late yesterday.

The levels of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in the milk were up to 31 becquerels per k ilogram, which is below the government limit of 200 becquerels per kilogram set for milk.

The government has been reviewing its food safety and other radiation standards because some of them were not clearly defined before the nuclear crisis.

Not all food samples are monitored for radiation, and readings have been voluntarily reported by the manufacturers, including the latest by Tokyobased Meiji.Many consumers are worried. Some stores are labeling where the food was grown or caught, allowing shoppers to opt for impor ts or products from par ts of the countr y deemed safe. — AP

TOKYO: This handout picture, released from Japan’s food maker Meiji Holdings yesterday shows a canned baby formula “Meiji Step”.

Radiation contamination has been found in a leading brand of Japanese baby formula, most likely fallout from the country’s crippled nuclear plant. Meiji, a major producer of milk, confectionery and pharmaceuticals, said it was recalling some 400,000 cans of “Meiji Step” formula that contained a small amount of radioactive caesium-134 and ceasium-137.—AFP

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H E A LT H

British women offered free contraception pill at Christmas LONDON: British women are being offered free supplies of the emergency “morning-after” contraceptive pill over the Christmas and New Year holidays, the country’s leading abortion agency said yesterday.

The British Pregnanc y Advisor y S er vice (BPAS) said it saw more women with unplanned pregnancies in January than any other time, and hoped the project would reduce numbers.

In its online campaign, BPAS references increased festivity at this time of year as one cause, but also warns that pharmacy closures due to the holidays often made it harder to get hold of emergency contraception. The new service allows women to request the morningafter pill in advance and, following a 15-minute telephone consultation with a nurse, receive a pack that also includes condoms and “advice literature”. “ We know women often do not take the morning-after pill after unprotected sex,” said Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS. “They may not think their risk of pregnancy is high and the cost (about £25, 29 euros, $39), inconvenience or embarrassment of obtaining it may put them off. “We hope being able to access it in advance over the phone for free will encourage more women to have one at home, just in case.”

The morning-after pill can be taken up to 72 hours after a woman has had sex, although it is most effective if taken within 12 hours. The antiabortion charity Life condemned the service, saying it encouraged risky sexual behaviour.

“If a woman has the morning-after pill at home ‘just in case’ she may be more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour than she would normally-particularly over the festive period with the associated increase in alcohol consumption,” a spokeswoman said.

Department of Health figures show 189,574 abor tions were carried out in England and Wales in 2010, 0.3 percent more than in 2009 and eight percent more than in 2000.

Some 91 percent were carried out at under 13 weeks.— AFP

FDA revisits safety of new birth control drugs WASHINGTON: Birth control drugs that were heavily promoted as having fewer side effects and the ability to clear up acne and other hormonal bothers are under new scrutiny from safety regulators. Research suggesting that newer birth control formulations are more likely to cause blood clots than older drugs has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to consider new safety measures in meetings later this week.

The increased risk is slight but significant because blood clots can cause heart attacks, strokes and blockages in lungs or blood vessels, which can be fatal.

Regulators could order new warning labels on several contraceptives that gained popularity in the last decade, including Bayer’s pill Yaz, which was the best-selling birth control pill in the US for 2008 and 2009. Yaz, its Bayer precursor Yasmin, and similar drugs use a version of a female hormone that appears to reduce side effects found in older drugs, including bloating and mood swings.

Yesterday, a judge unsealed several court documents suggesting Bayer may have withheld data from FDA about the blood clots risks of its drugs. The documents stem from expert opinion gathered by personal injury lawyers suing Bayer on behalf of patients.

According to one document, Bayer drafted a white paper in 2004 to address “FDA concerns,” about clots with Yasmin.

An early draft indicated that reports of blood clots with Yasmin were significantly higher than those for three other oral contraceptives. But that information was not included in the final paper submitted to the FDA, and instead the company said a more definitive study of blood clot risk would be forthcoming. That study did not show an increased risk.

“Based on the information that I have reviewed, and it is my opinion, that Bayer presented a selective view of the data, and that presentation obscured the potential risks associated with Yasmin,” wrote Dr. David Kessler, a former FDA commissioner, in his expert testimony.

Kessler was paid for his time and opinion

by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

The FDA declined to accept the court documents for this week’s hearings, saying the deadline for submissions was last month, according to an emailed message from an agency officer. A Bayer spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the material in the documents, noting the issues would be addressed at trial.

Bayer AG spent more than $270 million on TV and magazine advertisements for Yaz between 2007 and 2010, according TNS Media Intelligence. Such bigbudget campaigns are rare for birth control products. One advertisement featured young women singing the Twisted Sister anthem, “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” while popping balloons labeled “moodiness,” “bloating” and “acne.”

Sales of Yaz have fallen since regulators forced Bayer to correct advertisements that overstated Yaz’s benefits and as safety questions drew scrutiny in both the US and Europe. FDA also is reviewing research on clot risks associated with Johnson & Johnson’s weekly Ortho Evra patch, which is marketed as an “option for busy women who are looking to simplify life.” The drug uses a different version of the female hormone progestin than the pills under scrutiny.

Millions of women have used the products since they launched a decade ago, but recent studies comparing the medical histories of women taking the newer drugs to older ones suggest a slightly higher risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs. Last year, the US market for female contraceptive drugs totaled $3.4 billion, according to IMS Health.

Sorting out the blood clot risk of birth control drugs is especially difficult because all hormone based drugs increase the risk of clotting. Further complicating the issue is that clots can be caused by factors such as smoking, obesity or family history. Yaz, Yasmin and other pills containing a synthetic hormone called drospirenone are the focus of a discussion Thursday. The next day’s meeting focuses on the Ortho Evra

patch, which uses the hormone norelgestromin.

Bayer says its studies have shown no difference in blood clot risk between its drugs and the older birth control drugs.

But several large, independent studies suggest the risk with Yaz and similar medications is slightly higher. The latest analysis by the FDA estimates the risk of a blood clot with drospirenone-containing pills is 1.5-fold higher than other hormone-based contraceptives. That translates into an estimated 10 in 10,000 women on the newer drugs experiencing a blood clot, compared with 6 in 10,000 women on older contraceptives, according to the FDA. “It’s a ver y small percentage of patients that develop these, but it’s such a serious side effect that I think doctors have to use a lot of caution,” said Dr Jennifer Wu, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Even if Yaz and other newer drugs get additional warning labels, some doctors say they don’t expect to stop prescribing them. Doctors say the risk of blood clots with any birth control pill is still far lower than that associated with pregnancy and birth, when hormone levels and reduced blood flow increase clotting risk.

“At the end of the day I tell my patients the absolute risk is still very, very low compared to pregnancy and postpartum risk,” said Dr. Rebecca Starck, of Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital.

“There are still many benefits to combination birth control pills.” The Ortho Evra patch already carries warning labels about an increased risk of blood clots compared with pills. Some, but not all, studies suggest patch users have twice the risk of clots. The FDA will try to further define that risk using the latest data.

Most birth control drugs use a combination of two female hormones, estrogen and progestin, to stop ovulation and help block sperm. But for decades many women have reported bloating and mood swings as side effects.

Introduced in 2001, Yasmin was the first birth control pill to use a new form of

progestin called drospirenone, which appeared to have fewer side effects. The reformulated version of the drug, Yaz, was approved in 2006 with new claims on the label that it decreased acne and a severe type of mood disorder.

Yaz quickly grew into the best-selling birth control pill in the US Sales plummeted more than 50 percent in 2010, after the company was forced to run corrective TV and magazine advertisements.

Among other problems, the FDA said the company’s commercials suggested Yaz could treat premenstrual syndrome when it has only been shown to decrease incidence of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe mood disorder associated with major depression. Less than 8 percent of US women experience the disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Yaz currently ranks fourth in sales among contraceptive pills in the US Last year doctors wrote roughly 13 million prescriptions for Yaz and two generic versions of the drug, according to IMS Health. Doctors prescribed the Ortho Evra patch nearly 1.6 million times.

Newer drugs like Yaz are no more effective than older pills, generally allowing one unplanned pregnancy per year for every 100 women.

“Many women will do fine on the older generation drugs, but some women will not,” said Dr. Petra Casey, of the Mayo Clinic. “I think the newer drugs help many women in terms of mood and the water retention.” About 4,000 lawsuits against Bayer argue that any additional risk with the newer drugs should have been detected and emphasized to the public.

On Thursday, Cindy Rippee will tell the FDA panel about her 20-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who died Christmas Eve 2008 when a blood clot traveled to her lung. Rippee says her daughter had been taking Yasmin for about two months. “I really feel that if my daughter had been told about the increased risk she would have made a different decision,” said Rippee, of Escondido, Calif. — AP

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W H AT ’ S O N

CINEMAGIC Thursday, December 8th at 7:30pm WE LIVE IN PUBLIC A documentary focusing on the life of dotcom entrepreneur Josh Harris, and his exploits over the last decade.

Saturday, December 10th at 7:30pm THE ICE STORM 1973, suburban Connecticut: middle class families experimenting with casual sex, drink, etc., find their lives out of control.

Thursday, December 15th at 7:30pm THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY DRINKER This is an enchanting, mesmeric fable. It tells the story of an alcoholic who strives for redemption, but is cheated out of attaining it again and again - either by drink or friends or any of the myriad pleasures life throws at us. And yet somehow - miraculously - the drinker’s soul remainsintact; his final mission frustrated, temporarily foresaken but never entirely forgotten.

Saturday, December 17th at 7:30pm 12 ANGRY MEN A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

Kuwait English School’s MUN team.

Kuwait English School’s Award winners.

KES scoops the pool at KSSA MUN conference

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uwait English School (KES) won seven of the fourteen prizes awarded at the annual Model United Nations Conference, held at the American School of Kuwait over the weekend of 24, 25 and 25th of November.

Private secondary schools from all over Kuwait met last weekend at ASK to

compete in the KSSA MUN Conference, a simulation of the United Nations, where over four hundred students debated, wrote resolutions and tackled real world issues. This year, the Arab Spring provided for much animated debate, with the student representatives for Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen fielding questions from the USA, Great Britain, Kuwait

Upcoming events

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Christmas bell rings The region is getting ready to welcome the spring of Christmas tide as the sweet bells ring the evergreen cadence of the celebration. Men’s Voice and Choral Society - Kuwait, the renowned Christian musicale in Kuwait since 2001 always launch the beginning of the Christmas Carols in Kuwait. This group who were able to put up an incredible Christmas Concert in the form of a 23 ft Living Christmas tree last year is now all set to present their 11th Annual Christmas Music Concert “Celtic Christmas” for all the music lovers of the region on Wednesday 7th, December 2011 at 7.OOpm at Hall of Faith, National Evangelical Church (NECK), KuwaitThis musicale of Men s Voice and Choral Society is led by Choir Master Sam C Abraham, and Frederick Nirmal on the keyboard. They will bring the harmony of western classics, hymns and the melodies of Malayalam songs. Every music lover is cordially invited to this musical concert. For more details contact: 94064465/66044819 or visit: www.mensvoicekuwait.org or www.facebook.com/mensvoicekuwait

Talent Hunt Wesal Media Team is organizing a new concept competition for little talents in Kuwait. This competition is for children ages 6-12 years who have excellent talents in singing, dancing, drawing, etc. All interested little talents are welcome to participate. To sign-up, just visit their website and register your child. The final announcements will be published in a short event at Discovery Mall with famous singers and actors in Kuwait. For more information: 9754-7705

Kuwait English School award winners were: Outstanding Delegates: Krish Kabra, Naomi Alphonso, Mariam Arab.

Best Delegates: Muhannad Al Shihabi, Riya Bains, Stefan Radulov and the top award at the conference.

Best Chair: Mohammed Abdullah.

The Center for Gulf Studies at AUK hosts lecture on biodiversity

Entertaining events Al-Kout and The British Playhouse join hands in bringing fun, entertaining and educational events to the community. Please join them for lots of fun filled activities. All activities are FREE of charge! Events will include: Face painting, Henna, Characters Clown, Balloon arch Balloon art, gifts for children’s competitions for kids (best drawing, etc). Interactive activities will include: Coloring corner, story telling corner, play dough corner, arts and crafts corner, bricks blocks, board games and puzzles corner on Thursday December 8th, Saturday December 17th, & Thursday December 29th at Al-Kout Mall, Fahaheel-Kuwait From 5pm - 9pm. For more info: 9441-1783.

Christmas Carol concert The Ahmadi Music Group will be holding a fantastic Christmas Carol Concert on December 9 and 10 at New English School (NES) from 5pm both days with an adult show at 7:30pm on both days, in which Santa will be making an appearance, and the children can get involved with singing, waving jingle bells, etc.

Guaranteed Christmas fun for the whole family!

and Qatar among others.

Model United Nations conferences are held all over the world and help students get real-life experience in politics, international studies, diplomacy and cultural history. Kuwait English Schools MUN Teams will be attending QATARMUN in Doha and GEMUN in Genoa, Italy - both in February 2012.

ESF ROYAL VISIT

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taff and students from The English School Fahaheel were honoured when they were recently invited to the British Embassy grounds to meet His Royal Highness Prince Charles during his visit to Kuwait.

he Center for Gulf Studies at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) hosted a talk by Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan about Biodiversity in Kuwait and Arabia. The event took place at the AUK Auditorium and attracted many AUK students, staff and faculty.

Al-Sirhan focused on the importance of preserving the earth’s biodiversity and biological wealth to human life and economic well-being.

According to Al-Sirhan, many human activities are negatively affecting biodiversity and disturbing the ecosystem.

In Kuwait, this phenomenon can be observed in overgrazing, housing expansion, and coastal development.

These human practices have direct and indirect effects on the degradation and destruction of Kuwait’s ecosystem. AlSirhan listed some examples of those possible ecological hazards including, changes in numbers and distribution of species, alteration of natural chemical cycles and energy flows, as well as pollution of air, water and soil.

Al-Sirhan also shed light on the regulatory perspective associated with Kuwait’s ecological issues. He warned that inadequate implementation of policies that promote preservation of Kuwait’s ecosystem will lead to severe damage, and eventually, the extinction of many species including those that are endemic to Kuwait’s habitat.

Furthermore, policies aimed at “making the desert green” could have disastrous effects.

Concluding his lecture, Al-Sirhan put forth some recommendations to support Kuwait’s biodiversity. He stressed that instead of efforts to turn

the desert green, policymakers should focus on preserving Kuwait’s indigenous species, preventing overgrazing, and educating the public on the value of Kuwait’s biodiversity.

Al-Sirhan holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Manchester Polytechnic University, UK. His contributions to improving understanding of Kuwait’s biodiversity include the publication of three scientific papers on Kuwait’s reptiles, and the discovery of various species of plants, birds and reptiles within Kuwait. Al-Sirhan is also a co-opted council member of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, and Secretary of the Kuwait Ornithological Rarities Committee. His website, www.alsirhan.com, includes a comprehensive list of all bird species that inhabit Kuwait.

The Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at the American University of Kuwait is a research center that aims to promote greater cultural understanding of and increased intellectual interest in the Gulf by facilitating free and open academic discourse on a range of issues that both shape and challenge this critical region of the world. The goal of CGS is to enable scholars as well as political and civil society actors both within and outside the region to contribute and add value to the burgeoning field of Gulf Studies, while at the same time informing and engaging the general public. To this end, the CGS encourages, supports, and cultivates interesting and original research on the Gulf, while regularly organizing a variety of public academic events such as lectures, roundtable discussions, and conferences.

Silsila Ye Chahat Ka Youth icon for the millions Shreya Ghoshal will be performing live in Kuwait on Friday, 9th Dec. 2011. ICS is now all set to present “Silsila Ye Chahat Ka” with Shreya Ghoshal at Al Jeel Al Jadeed School, Hawally.

The mega evening is organised by Indian Cultural Society.

New Year Hangama The RAK Dance Academy (RDA) Kuwait, is planning to put a charity event as celebration of its New Year Hangama 2012, on 31st December, 2011, from 6 pm onwards, at Carmel School Khaitan. All participants are well known artists from Kuwait. The main purpose of this celebration is to collect donations and raise money for supporting handicapped children in India. contributions from you. Your attendance is your donation. Please join for an evening for a good cause. Call 99692266, 65925730 for details.

Aware Center Arabic lessons The AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Winter 1 Arabic language courses will begin on November 20th, 2011 until January 12th, 2012.

AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

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

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

Picnic time in ICSK

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tudents of ICSK Khaitan were thrilled and excited last fortnight being the annual picnic season for them. The students of higher classes visited the Shaab Park while the little ones had a wonderful time in the Scientific Centre. A day without books, tests and assignments, students were exhilarated while they treated themselves to a variety of rides in the park. Students enjoyed the day thoroughly. For the tiny tots it was not only a day of fun and frolic but also an enriching educational exploration as they took a ride through the world of marine life in the aquarium.

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W H AT ’ S O N

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

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

EMBASSY OF CANADA

IDAK organizes picnic

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ndian Dentists’ Alliance in Kuwait (IDAK) organized a picnic for its members and their families at Shaab Sea Club on Nov 25. The daylong programme was packed with fun-filled activities. The foot-tapping music also added to the excitement. Games were conducted for both children and adults alike followed by a sumptuous buffet.

The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form.

All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants.

Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IM M5257E.PDF. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GERMANY

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (AlBabtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com

Visit by KS PATH

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t Kuwait National English School we instill in our pupils the importance of looking after our Earth Home. We teach them the importance of sustaining our environment so that future generations can enjoy the natural resources we have today.

In keeping with our Schools Guiding Statement and our quest of Kuwait National English School ‘Going Green’, this message of Sustainable Development was reinforced by a presentation by a team from KS PATH last week on the Conservation of our Marine Life and the Coastal Areas of Kuwait. Pupils participated eagerly in the presentation and many have shown a keen interest in volunteering with KS PATH in their endeavours of conserving and sustaining our environment.

Tempting offers this holiday season at Marina Hotel Kuwait

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed December 25, 2011 (Sunday) “Christmas Day”. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF PERU The Embassy of Peru is located at Al-Arablya Tower, Sharq, Ahmed Al-Jaber Street, on the 6th Floor. In the same place, as a part of the Chancellery of the Embassy of Peru in Kuwait, also is located the Showing Room of “PeruExpoTour, Trade & Invest.” nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA Embassy of the Russian Federation will hold the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (Parliament) on December 3, 2011, between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm in the Embassy s premises by the address: Kuwait City, Daiya, Block 5, Diplomatic campus, Plot 17. All the Russians are invited to participate.

They are requested to present valid Russian passports. nnnnnnn

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arina Hotel Kuwait is celebrating this holiday season with exciting offers from 15th December 2011 - 30th December 2011. Pamper yourself and your loved one this month and enjoy the charm of genuine Arabian hospitality with a room for two.

With a multitude of facilities and services, you can break the daily routine and enjoy some peace of mind with the room package on offer. You can enjoy the vibrant white sands of the private beach along with the state of the art Coral Reef Health Club facilities and amenities- all not far away from your favourite shopping destination.

The fun doesn’t stop here; guests and their families can experience a luxurious escape, and indulge themselves at the hotel’s two renowned restaurants with

their freshly prepared, appetizing delicacies. Experience fine dining as ‘The Six Palms’ restaurant serves a scrumptious breakfast buffet, while the ‘Atlantis’ restaurant, which specializes in International and Mediterranean cuisines, would be an exceptional choice for the mouth-watering aroma of its fresh menu choices with a magnificent sea view.

In close proximity to Marina Mall and the Crescent, it is an ideal location for family leisure. The award winning Marina Hotel Kuwait is the destination to be for its dedication to a unique guest experience and high standard of quality service.

Marina Hotel Kuwait offers the perfect venue for the holiday season under the twinkling lights and the cool breeze of the Arabian coast.

EMBASSY OF US The United States and Kuwait enjoy a long-standing and fruitful relationship with higher education. As evidence of this enduring partnership, the number of Kuwaiti students enrolled in US institutions of higher education in 2010/11 increased from 2442 to 2998, a 22.8% increase compared to the previous year. Kuwaiti students study in 45 states.

This year, embassies and institutions around the world will be celebrating International Education Week the week of November 14-18.

In honor of International Education Week, the US Embassy s Mobile American Corner will be at the Marina Mall on Wednesday evening, November 16, and at the Avenues Mall on Thursday evening, November 17. Information about higher education in the US, English language classes and the student visa application process will be available, and staff will be present to answer questions about study in the USA from the general public.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

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

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

I’m Alive Animal Cops Phoenix Life Of Mammals Big Five Challenge I’m Alive Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Animal Cops Phoenix Miami Animal Police Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Natural Born Hunters Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Breed All About It Your Very First Puppy Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Animal Cops Houston Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS Animal Cops Specials 2009 Animal Cops Phoenix Life Of Mammals Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Natural Born Hunters The Really Wild Show Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Dogs 101: Specials Bondi Vet Breed All About It Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Life Of Mammals Speed Of Life Untamed & Uncut

Blackadder Goes Forth My Family My Family The Weakest Link Holby City Doctors My Family 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles 3rd & Bird Bobinogs Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Poetry Pie Buzz & Tell Tweenies Charlie and Lola Fimbles My Family My Family The Weakest Link The Planets Doctors EastEnders Holby City My Family The Planets The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Holby City The Planets The Weakest Link Doctors EastEnders Casualty Return To Cranford

00:00 BBC World News America 00:30 Hardtalk

01:00 BBC World News 01:30 World Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 BBC World News America 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Sport Today 04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 Newsday 07:30 Hardtalk 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 Sport Today 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

00:15 Samurai Jack 00:40 Megas XLR 01:05 Robotboy 01:30 Squirrel Boy 01:55 George Of The Jungle 02:20 Cramp Twins 02:45 Chop Socky Chooks 03:10 Best Ed 03:35 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:25 Generator Rex 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 05:40 Chowder 05:55 Powerpuff Girls 06:30 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:55 I Am Weasel 07:20 Squirrel Boy 07:45 Cow & Chicken 08:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge 08:25 Angelo Rules 08:50 Best Ed 09:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 09:40 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:05 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 10:30 Courage The Cowardly Dog 10:55 Cow & Chicken 11:20 I Am Weasel 11:35 Adventure Time 12:00 Ben 10 12:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 12:50 The Secret Saturdays 13:15 Samurai Jack 13:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 14:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 14:30 Skunk Fu! 14:50 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 15:15 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 15:40 Ed, Edd n Eddy 16:05 Camp Lazlo

16:30 Chowder 16:55 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 17:25 Cow & Chicken 17:50 Courage The Cowardly Dog 18:15 I Am Weasel 18:40 George Of The Jungle 19:05 Codename: Kids Next Door 19:30 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 19:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 20:20 Generator Rex 20:45 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 21:10 Sym-Bionic Titan 21:35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 22:00 Hero 108 22:25 Adventure Time 22:50 The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy 23:00 Ben 10 23:25 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:50 The Secret Saturdays

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

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Stitch Replacements Emperor’s New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School The Suite Life Of Zack And Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction The Hive Handy Manny Imagination Movers Phineas And Ferb Emperor’s New School Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Shake It Up The Suite Life Of Zack And Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Emperor’s New School Fish Hooks Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up The Suite Life Of Zack And Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Floyd On Africa 01:30 Glutton For Punishment 02:00 Tokyo Revealed 03:00 Glutton For Punishment 03:30 Life’s A Trip 04:00 Trabant Trek 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Floyd On Africa 06:30 Glutton For Punishment 07:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Essential 09:30 Travel Today 10:00 The Blue Continent

LITTLE ASHES ON OSN CINEMA

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

Danger Coast Dual Survival Overhaulin’ Dirty Jobs Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Stuff’S Made How It’S Made Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ How Stuff’S Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Curiosity Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Dual Survival Danger Coast Cash Cab Us Wheeler Dealers Fifth Gear Overhaulin’ Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings How It’S Made How Stuff’S Made Cash Cab Us Deception With Keith Barry Mythbusters Curiosity

00:40 The Gadget Show 01:05 The Tech Show 01:35 The Kustomizer 02:25 Stunt Junkies 02:50 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 03:40 Cosmic Collisions 04:35 The Gadget Show 05:25 Cool Stuff & How It Works 05:50 The Kustomizer 06:40 One Step Beyond 07:10 Brainiac 08:00 Scrapheap Challenge 08:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:40 The Tech Show 10:10 Weird Connections 10:35 The Gadget Show 11:25 Brainiac 12:20 Sci-Fi Science 12:45 Cool Stuff & How It Works 13:15 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 14:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:55 One Step Beyond 15:20 Stunt Junkies 15:50 The Kustomizer 16:40 Weird Connections 17:05 Scrapheap Challenge 18:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:50 Sci-Fi Science 19:15 The Tech Show 19:40 Weird Or What?

20:30 What’s That About?

21:20 How The Universe Works 22:10 The Gadget Show 23:00 Weird Or What?

23:50 What’s That About?

00:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:40 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 01:05 World Cafe Asia 01:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:55 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 02:45 Food Network Challenge 03:35 Chopped 04:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 05:40 Unwrapped 06:05 Chef vs Britain 06:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 06:50 Paula’s Party 07:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:00 Chopped 08:50 Guy’s Big Bite 09:15 Extra Virgin 09:40 Chef vs Britain 10:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 10:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 10:55 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 11:20 Aarti Party 11:45 Guy’s Big Bite 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Paula’s Party 13:25 Extra Virgin 13:50 Paula’s Best Dishes

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

15:15 15:40 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 18:00 18:20 18:30 18:55 19:25 19:50 20:05 20:25 20:40 20:50 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:15 23:25 23:40 23:55

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Special Agent Oso Animated Stories Jungle Junction The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Imagination Movers Little Einsteins Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:0050 Most Insane Celebrity Oops 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Bridalplasty 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Giuliana & Bill 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55Kourtney & Kim Take New York 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 THS 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:00 I’ll Do Anything 00:50 Untracked 01:40 Mantracker 02:30 World Combat League 03:20 Untracked 04:10 I’ll Do Anything 05:00 Final Fu 05:50 Mantracker 06:40 World Combat League 07:30 Ride Guide Snow 2009 09:00 Tread BMX 09:25 AMA Motocross 2011 10:15 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 11:55 Fantasy Factory 12:45 Man’s Work 13:35 Untracked 14:25 Mantracker 15:15 World Combat League 16:05 Fantasy Factory 16:55 Man’s Work 17:45 Tread BMX 18:10 AMA Motocross 2011 19:00 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 20:40 Mantracker

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Couples Who Kill Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Mystery Diagnosis FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared I Almost Got Away With It FBI Case Files FBI Case Files

00:00 Adventure Wanted 01:00 Meet The Natives: USA 02:00 Treks In A Wild World 03:00 Cycling Home From Siberia 03:30 Deadliest Journeys 04:00 Amazing Adventures of A Nobody UK 04:30 Which Way To 05:30 Graham’s World 06:00 Adventure Wanted 07:00 Meet The Natives: USA 08:00 Treks In A Wild World 09:00 Cycling Home From Siberia 09:30 Deadliest Journeys 10:00 Amazing Adventures of A Nobody UK 10:30 Which Way To 11:30 Graham’s World 12:00 Adventure Wanted 13:00 Destination Extreme 13:30 Word Travels 14:00 Wild Rides 15:00 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 16:00 Around The World For Free 17:00 Nomads 18:00 Treks In A Wild World 19:00 Destination Extreme 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Wild Rides 21:00 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 22:00 Around The World For Free

COUNTRY STRONG ON OSN MOVIES HD

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

Camp Hope-PG15 The Collector-18 X-Men-PG15 The Bannen Way-PG15 The Lost Future-PG15 Fast Lane-PG15 The Fast And The Furious-PG15 The Lost Future-PG15 S.W.A.T.: Firefight-PG15 The Fast And The Furious-PG15 Brotherhood-PG15 Tank Girl-PG15

01:00 Vinyan-18 03:00 Chasing A Dream-PG15 05:00 The Spy Next Door-PG 07:00 Citizen Jane-PG 09:00 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 11:00 The Spy Next Door-PG 13:00 Bustin’ Down The Door-PG15 15:00 Parlez-Moi De LA Pluie-PG15 17:00 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-PG15 19:00 The Boys Are Back-PG 21:00 West Is West-PG15 23:00 Little Ashes-R

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 American Dad 02:00 Weeds 02:30 South Park 03:00 Friends 04:00 According To Jim 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 06:00 Yes Dear 06:30 Just Shoot Me 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 According To Jim 08:30 Friends 09:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 09:30 How I Met Your Mother 10:00 Traffic Light 10:30 Just Shoot Me 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Yes Dear 12:30 According To Jim 13:00 Friends 13:30 Seinfeld 14:00 Just Shoot Me 14:30 Traffic Light 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Yes Dear 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends 19:00 Friends With Benefits 19:30 Traffic Light 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

01:00 Fatal Secrets-PG15 03:00 X-Men-PG15 05:00 Luster-18 07:00 Dick Tracy-PG15 09:00 Rocky II-PG15 11:00 The Box-PG15 13:00 Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse-PG15 15:00 Rocky II-PG15 17:00 Tracker-PG15 19:00 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days 21:00 Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels-18 23:00 Dorothy Mills-18

16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Born Yesterday-PG15 When In Rome-PG15 Tank Girl-PG15 My Best Friend’s Girl-18

01:15 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 PG15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Triage-18 A Guy Thing-PG15 The Last Song-PG15 Good Hair-PG15 The Informant!-PG15 The Day After TomorrowThe Ramen Girl-PG15 Adam-PG15 The Informant!-PG15 Country Strong-PG15 Green Zone-PG15 Hot Tub Time Machine-18

00:00 Inspector Gadget’s Biggest Caper Ever-FAM 01:45 The Amazing Zorro-FAM 03:30 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG 05:30 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 07:45 Turtle Hero: Part I-FAM 10:00 Inspector Gadget’s Biggest Caper Ever-FAM 12:00 Pocahontas & The Spider Woman-PG 14:00 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG 16:00 The Archies In Jugman-FAM 18:00 Shipwrecked-PG

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

Trans World Sport WWE Bottom Line UFC Unleashed Speedway FIM Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Aquabike World Powerboats Nations Cup Trans World Sport International Rugby Union WWE SmackDown WWE Vintage Collection Speedway Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Aquabike World Powerboats Nations Cup Le Mans Series Magazine Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Trans World Sport Powerboats UIM UFC Unleashed UFC Countdown International Rugby Union

00:30 Golfing World 01:30 FEI Equestrian World 02:00 Spirit of Yachting 02:30 Futbol Mundial 03:00 Snooker UK Championship 07:00 Scottish League Cup 09:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 09:30 Futbol Mundial 10:00 World Cup of Pool 12:00 US Bass Fishing 13:00 Rugby Union International 15:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 15:30 Golfing World 16:30 World Hockey 17:00 ICC Cricket World 17:30 Trans World Sport 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 HSBC Sevens World Series 22:30 Trans World Sport 23:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights

02:00 World Cup of Pool 03:00 World Pool Masters 04:00 US Bass Fishing 05:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 06:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 00:00 Born Yesterday-PG15 07:00 Golfing World 02:00 Fools Rush In-PG15 08:00 Snooker UK Championship 04:00 Easy Virtue-PG15 12:00 Golfing World 06:00 Checking Out-PG15 08:00 Princess Diaries 2: Royal 13:00 FEI Equestrian World 13:30 Spirit of Yachting Engagement-FAM 14:00 European PGA Tour 10:00 The Dukes-PG15 Highlights 12:00 Dragnet-PG15 15:00 Asian Tour Golf 14:00 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15

15:30 Live Snooker Championship 21:30 European Tour Weekly 22:00 Live Snooker Championship

UK UK

00:00 01:00 02:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

UFC 140 Countdown UFC Unleashed Prizefighter UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT Speedway Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship WWE SmackDown Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship Speedway WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection UFC 140 Countdown UFC Unleashed The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale

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

Swamp People Mega Movers Decoding The Past American Restoration Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Swamp People Mega Movers Decoding The Past American Restoration Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Swamp People Mega Movers Decoding The Past American Restoration Pawn Stars American Restoration American Pickers Life After People Mega Movers Decoding The Past Hell’S Battlefield

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

04:20 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

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

11:50 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

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

13:50 Clean House 14:45 Videofashion Daily 15:45 How Do I Look?

16:40 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 17:35 Jerseylicious 18:30 Big Rich Texas 19:25 Clean House: New York 20:25 Open House 21:20 Clean House 22:15 Tia And Tamera 23:10 How Do I Look?

01:30 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 01:45 Cold Heaven 03:25 Semi-Tough 05:10 The Believers-PG 07:00 Just Another Story-PG 08:15 Strictly Business-PG 09:40 A Matter Of Justice-PG 11:10 Danielle Steel’s Mixed Blessings-PG 12:40 A Green Journey-PG 14:15 Arena-PG 15:50 The Group-PG 18:20 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 18:35 Crime And Punishment (1998)-PG

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

FOR SALE Samsung automatic washing machine 6.5 kilo, plus dr yer whirlpool KD 70/both of them. Contact: 90029751.

6-12-2011 32” Sony LCD TV in excellent condition KD 90/-.

Contact: 99598324.

(C 3757) Furniture for sale, Shaab Sea side, Spectacular direct sea view, very close to the Canadian Embassy - 3 bedrooms flat. Wood flooring and wall paper in the living room. Contact: 60027061 / 97310272. (C 3761) Mitsubishi Jeep, Nativa, model 2010, white color, 6 cylinder engine alloy rim, registration till 20-04-2013, excellent condition (installment possible), cash price KD 3,550.

Contact: 99105286. (C 3762) 5-12-2011 Mercedes Benz 1998 (E 200), color beige, running condition, registration till May 2012. Price KD 600.

Contact: 97277135.

4-5-2011

SITUATION VACANT Looking for immediate employment Pakistani/ Indian/Bangladeshi cook who is ready to work on part time or full time basis and can cook for a small Pakistani family. Contact: 24828124. (C 3763) 6-12-2011 English speaking female lady Indian / Sri Lankan full time live-in housemaid is required in Salmiya for an Indian family. Contact: 25635450 / 99838117.

(C 3760)

SITUATION WANTED

Indian Accountant highly experienced in preparing Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, Budget & Budget controls, Dealing with Banks, all Accounting Procedures, L/Cs, Foreign Purchase, oil field Tenders, knowing Arabic, Accounting Softwares Tally, Al-Sahel, BIS, with Driving License available immediately. Can work as Secretary also. Contact: 97669236 / 24315927. (C 3758) 5-12-2011

MATRIMONIAL Bride wanted for Hindu Nair (M.S, USA), Rohini, 28, 5’7”, E&E Eng. (Kuwait).

Prefer educated, traditional yet modern pleasant girl from well to do cultured family. Contact Email: dpakvnair@gmail.com (C 3754) 5-12-2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Abbasiya near Integrated Indian School, High Land Super Market building, Keralite family.

Contact: 99379252.

(C 3759) 5-11-2011

CHANGE OF NAME I, Habibulla Ismail Mithu, holder of Indian Passport No. Z 026492, hereby change my name Mitha Habibullah Ismail to Lunawada (pms) 389230.

(C 3764) 6-12-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR RBG JZR ETH THY UAE QTR DHX FDB ETD GFA THY DHX FCX JZR BAW KAC AFR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA FCX IRA RBG KNE JZR RKM IRM MEA MSR CLX KAC GFA MSR SYR FDB KAC UAL

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 7/12/2011 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 3564 ASSIUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 138 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 6702 PARIS 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 382 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 203 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 3555 ALEXANDRIA 839 JEDDAH 165 DUBAI 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 5066 MASHAD 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 792 LUXEMBOURG 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 341 DAMASCUS 57 DUBAI 790 MEDINAH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES

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

IRC QTR KNE SVA RJA SVA ABY KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR IYE JZR ETD UAE KAC GFA SVA RBG ABY JZR ALK JZR FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC AIC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA DHX VOS MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR SAI JZR UAL AXB DLH

6791 140 745 500 640 9301 123 284 257 546 134 561 824 213 303 857 550 215 510 3557 127 777 227 177 63 542 618 787 786 614 674 975 166 102 774 61 572 647 372 81 402 217 136 859 135 441 239 981 393 636

MASHAD DOHA JEDDAH JEDDAH AMMAN JEDDAH SHARJAH DHAKA BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA SOHAG SANAA/DOHA DEIREZZOR/ALEPPO ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG BAHRAIN RIYADH SOHAG SHARJAH JEDDAH COLOMBO/DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI CAIRO DOHA RIYADH JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI CHENNAI/GOA PARIS/ROME NEW YORK/LONDON RIYADH DUBAI MUMBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN BAGHDAD BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN LAHORE AMMAN BAHRAIN KOZHIKODE/COCHIN FRANKFURT

14:20 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 14:40 14:45 15:00 15:00 15:20 15:25 16:10 16:35 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:10 18:15 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:10 20:15 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:40 23:50

Airlines UAL AXB BBC IC DLH RBG KAC KAC ETH THY VOS FDB UAE DHX ETD QTR THY JZR GFA FDB KAC BAW AFR KAC JZR KAC KAC JZR JZR UAE ABY KAC FDB QTR ETD KAC GFA IRA RBG FCX KNE KAC JZR KAC RKM MEA IRM KAC JZR MSR

Departure Flights on Wednesday 7/12/2011 Flt Route Time 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 0:45 390 MANGALORE/KOZHIKODE 0:50 44 DHAKA 1:00 982 AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD/CHENNAI1:05 637 FRANKFURT 1:20 3562 ALEXANDRIA 1:25 283 DHAKA 2:40 283 DHAKA 2:40 621 ADDIS ABABA 2:45 773 ISTANBUL 3:15 94 DUBAI/KANDAHAR 3:30 68 DUBAI 3:45 854 DUBAI 3:50 371 BAHRAIN 3:55 306 ABU DHABI 4:00 139 DOHA 4:55 771 ISTANBUL 5:50 164 DUBAI 6:55 212 BAHRAIN 7:00 54 DUBAI 8:25 545 ALEXANDRIA 8:30 156 LONDON 8:40 6702 DUBAI/HONG KONG 8:45 671 DUBAI 9:00 256 BEIRUT 9:00 549 SHARM EL SHEIKH/SOHAG 9:15 789 MEDINAH 9:25 560 SOHAG 9:30 212 ALEPPO/DEIREZZOR 9:35 856 DUBAI 9:40 126 SHARJAH 9:45 117 NEW YORK 10:00 56 DUBAI 10:05 133 DOHA 10:10 302 ABU DHABI 10:20 177 FRANKFURT/GENEVA 10:35 214 BAHRAIN 10:40 602 SHIRAZ 11:40 3558 SOHAG 11:45 204 DUBAI 11:45 840 MEDINAH/JEDDAH 11:55 541 CAIRO 12:00 776 JEDDAH 12:15 103 LONDON 12:30 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 12:50 405 BEIRUT 12:55 5065 MASHAD 13:20 785 JEDDAH 13:40 176 DUBAI 13:50 611 CAIRO 13:55

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

GFA MSR FDB SYR CLX KAC KNE UAL IRC ABY RJA KAC SVA JZR SVA KAC KAC QTR JZR IYE ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA RBG ABY KAC SVA JZR JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC FDB KAC DHX KAC JAI OMA DHX MEA GFA FCX KAC QTR KAC UAE KAC JZR KAC SAI

220 622 58 342 792 673 746 982 6792 124 641 617 503 786 2301 613 773 141 238 824 304 538 135 858 216 3556 128 153 511 266 134 228 64 184 361 62 331 171 351 571 648 373 403 218 102 381 137 301 860 205 502 415 442

BAHRAIN ASSIUT DUBAI DAMASCUS VIETNAM DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN MASHAD SHARJAH AMMAN DOHA MEDINAH/JEDDAH RIYADH JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA AMMAN SANAA ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA SHARJAH ISTANBUL RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI/COLOMBO DUBAI DUBAI COLOMBO DUBAI TRIVANDRUM BAHRAIN COCHIN MUMBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN BEIRUT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DELHI DOHA MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA LAHORE

14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:20 15:25 15:35 15:40 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:35 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:20 20:40 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:35 23:45 23:50

34

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 520

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Assuming risks can bring great rewards. Someone younger than yourself could look to you for answers to problems of great importance. You may figure out how to proceed with plans and decisions in respect to your professional world. You should discover that your talents are in demand by others—whether you are at home or at work. Perhaps you will find yourself involved in some in-depth discussions or probing conversations; you are at your mental best just now. Sweethearts, children and other folks or things that you consider near and dear to your heart are accented at this time. There may not be a more powerful need in your life than knowing that you are appreciated and admired for your special talents; do this for others.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your innate ability to understand the needs others puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to communicating regarding groups or society in general. Knowing what people really want and need is the main key to your success. You may find yourself more involved in getting things and people organized at this time. You are not willing to accept the opinions of others strictly on their say-so, unless they have some proof or authority. Small problems that arise this afternoon may slow down your progress. Your creative and intuitive talents may surface bringing with them some new and unique thoughts and ideas. There will be those that you are close to that will be very supportive of your eccentricities. Tonight there is some welcomed news!

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. An undergarment worn by women to support their breasts.

4. Popular music originating in the West Indies.

10. Of southern Europe.

13. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.

14. French writer who was the embodiment of 18th century Enlightenment (1694-1778).

15. An accountant certified by the state.

16. Being eight more than fifty.

18. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

19. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

20. A mountain in the Himalayas in Nepal (27,790 feet high).

22. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

24. (cosmology) The original matter that (according to the big bang theory) existed before the formation of the chemical elements.

25. The capital of Croatia.

28. Two-masted sailing vessel square-rigged on both masts.

30. Yellow-fever mosquitos.

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

37. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

39. (British colloquialism) An excavation.

40. Strong lightweight wood of the balsa tree used especially for floats.

42. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

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

45. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

47. A linguistic element added to a word to produce an inflected or derived form v 1.

49. (used of count nouns) Every one considered individually.

51. A Russian river.

53. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

55. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

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

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

65. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

66. United States Army surgeon who suppressed yellow fever in Havana and in the Panama Canal Zone (1854-1920).

67. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

68. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

69. Anneal or toughen by a process of gradually heating and cooling.

70. A young woman making her debut into society.

DOWN 1. Informal or slang terms for mentally irregular.

2. Being in competition.

3. Having the same or similar characteristics.

4. A barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports.

5. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

6. A state of southwestern India.

7. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

8. A high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary).

9. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

10. Type genus of the Aceraceae.

11. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

12. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

17. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.

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

23. In bed.

26. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

27. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

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

31. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

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

33. The second largest city in Tunisia.

35. (Scotland) A small loaf or roll of soft bread.

36. On or toward the lee.

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

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

43. The cry made by sheep.

46. The sixth month of the Hindu calendar.

48. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

50. Water accumulated in the bilge of a ship.

52. A small cake leavened with yeast.

54. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills.

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

56. Set down according to a plan.

57. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

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

60. Being one hundred more than two hundred.

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

62. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

63. The sign language used in the United States.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may find it easy to make some clear evaluations that affect others at this time. Your ability to make common-sense decisions will be valued. You just seem to naturally know what the public wants and you are not afraid to seek help with finances, if necessary. Something or someone is instrumental in helping you to understand some difficult task that may be needed this morning.

Underneath that hard working shell is a very creative and intuitive being; an invention may be seen before much time has passed. Extra incentive and drive insures that you will have a successful future. Diet, exercise and work will somehow be important to you, as you sincerely want to feel good about yourself and the way that you do things.

You encourage family harmony.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Those in authority know of your ability to manage and direct other people and could be seeking you out to take the responsibility for a particular job requiring this talent. It is a great time to be with others and to work together. This is a super time for you to use your imagination and creative ability when it comes to new ideas. This, along with the ability to put your thoughts into words, will allow you to delight and fascinate those around you. You may find a good book or movie to enjoy with your cup of tea, this afternoon. You should find no problem in entertaining others or caring for people that just need a little guidance. You may feel especially kindhearted toward a friend. Although this is a very busy time of year, you find time to enjoy yourself.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Someone who truly understands your situation and how you feel will be sympathetic today. You may take heart in realizing just how appreciated or valued you are for your feelings or your ability to take action and get things done. You are kindhearted, understanding and sensitive to the needs of others just now and that puts you in an excellent position to communicate with all concerned. You find more time to broaden your thinking and reach for the truth. You feel the need to involve yourself in more areas like education, politics, religion, law or something travel related. This could find you searching far from your established roots.

Company may drop by at an inconvenient time. Be prepared to invite them on an evening walk for good health.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Figuring out how to organize people is likely to be a topic of special appeal today. This is also a time of concentrated study and thought. You are extremely resourceful and can find a way for yourself to make a little extra money at doing practically anything. You might also teach others your ideas or techniques. Major financial changes will show positive results. Seek investments you believe in and making money becomes doubly rewarding. You seem to understand your emotions and drive and you have no problem in discussing your feelings with great insight and fluidity. This evening should be a particularly pleasant time to be with loved ones. Plan to spend some quality time with your loved one(s). Say yes to a romantic dinner away from home.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Expect a feeling of support and goodwill from those around you. Because of your eloquence in speech and communication, you should find others being very responsive to what you have to say. Conditions are perfect for self-expression and work very well with your special thoughts and ideas. You stay focused on your responsibilities and with only a few kind words you can help others do the same. There are a number of treasures that you have uncovered this year and you find yourself in an appreciative mood. Through your words and ideas, you can move others. You find it easy to bring a group together this evening. Poetry and art may be a part of this activity. You may decide to take some kind of art class after the holidays to enhance your talent.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Work conditions may be active and possibly stressful during the day. You will succeed in accomplishing whatever you set out to do this day. Your desire to try something totally new and different could lead you on an investigation of some rather far out ideas. Everything is working in your favor to help bring out your more unique and unusual qualities. It may surprise you just a little to realize who will understand and support your rather eccentric behavior. This could all find you coming up with some new solutions to long held problems or possibly even guide you in discovering something very inventive. Socially, you could be the star of the ball because of your rather different vision of how to put together some beautiful material, styles and colors.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Your patience is rewarded as you work to solve a problem or busy yourself to get things accomplished. You feel a clear sense of direction and are learning to keep your priorities in the right place.

There will be no snags now as you work to accomplish a couple of long-term goals for yourself before the year is ended. Enlightenment and relationships are what brings you the most emotional satisfaction at this time. Imminent ties to other people are a focal point for your feelings and you may find marriage and other partnerships being means of access for this. Compassion and comprehension are emotional qualities that take on greater importance for you now. You make yourself available to listen and give advice.

Your thoughtful appreciation for ideas and thoughts should make this an excellent time to begin a new project in the workplace. This is also a positive and productive period for you and others are very enthusiastic about something you have to offer. Those around you will have no problem in knowing just where you are coming from, as you are quite eloquent in your ability to communicate. You may find yourself in the middle of a very enjoyable conversation, writing a letter, or getting caught up on a bit of reading.

You draw to yourself an abundance of beautiful and harmonious relationships to your life. Partnerships and marriage could be some of the key elements in this now. You aim for a balanced life.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) A very active day is forecasted at this time. You are under a bit more pressure this morning than you have been recently, but that’s OK—you are finishing up a lot of overdue projects as a result. Although you are assigned to do a lot more than usual, you are able to take it all in stride. Trying to establish a plan to get new projects and people organized could take up much of your time this afternoon. Fortunately, you are most interested in work-related matters at this time, as well as the co-workers. This afternoon could be a period of very involved study and thought. A sudden inspiration today will resolve a long-standing worry. If you can clear out enough space tonight and tomorrow, you will be able to make some fun changes around the home front.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Your recent investments will be showing results soon— patience! Figuring things out is just the thing that takes on a special significance. A career goal that you have been thinking about recently can now be put into action. You also have a heightened interest in health and diet, as well as an urge to get things organized into a rational system. There is much mental busywork today—at home and at work. If you are thinking about picking out that new car soon, check out all the Internet reports or purchase money-guide magazines before you sign on the dotted line—you will be glad you did. Use discretion in making purchasing decisions; you could find it easy to make some wrong choices—especially those that may affect your living situation.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

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Moss is making

Ono visits Fukushima

chutneys for Christmas

oko Ono paid her first visit to Fukushima yesterday since the March nuclear disaster to meet local children ahead of a charity concert in Tokyo. The Japanese-born widow of Beatles star John Lennon visited an elementary school in Fukushima city, where some 30 pupils from Minami Soma city have transferred after evacuating their houses near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

“All the people in the world are thinking of you,” Ono told the students, Jiji Press said. New York-based Ono is in her native country for a live charity concert with Japanese artists taking place on Thursday. The concert is to raise money to build schools in poor countries.

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ate Moss is making her friends jams and chutneys for Christmas. The supermodel loves making her own preserves and intends to create some special chutneys to give away as gifts to her close pals during this year’s festive season. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Some of Kate’s pals are really into cheese so she has told them to expect a surprise this Christmas. “She loves cooking and experimenting with different flavors.” This is not the first time Kate has put produce from her home in the Cotswolds, England, to good use, as she has also made fresh soaps with ingredients sourced from her garden. A friend explained: “Kate has gone soap mad. She’s been trying to master the art after one of friends sent her a batch of home-made bars, which she loved. “She’s adamant all the ingredients should be fresh and natural. She’s sent quite a few to her girlfriends to try out. Depending on the feedback, she’s thinking of releasing a range.” Kate and her rocker husband Jamie Hince, who she married in July, are also set to head into the wine business, after she bought him a £130,000 vineyard in France so he can start pressing his own grapes. Of their plans, a source said: “Jamie really appreciates a good drop and is quite knowledgeable about vintages and grapes, and Kate even picked up a couple of handy tips.

“Kate is planning on naming the wine after herself and has even suggesting using a Merlot grape to produce the inaugural Vin de Mossot.”

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Depp sparks pre-Christmas Jolie sued over ‘Blood and Honey’ plot ngelina Jolie’s directorial debut is continuing to create headaches for her. The “Salt” actress is being sued by Croatian journalist and author James J Braddock, who claims that the plot for the film was lifted from a 2007 article he wrote.

According to the suit, filed in federal court in Illinois, Braddock’s story and “Blood and Honey”-which Jolie wrote, in addition to directing-tell a similar tale of a rape victim who comes to work as a servant in the camp occupied by the soldiers who have abused her. “The subject work’s main female character is subject to continuous abuse and rape by soldiers and officers in the camp. In addition to being raped continuously by soldiers and officers, she is forced to become a servant at the camp headquarters, a duty assumed by very few of the captives,” the suit

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reads. “The Motion Picture’s main female character is also subject to continuous rape by soldiers and officers in the camp and subsequently becomes a servant at camp headquarters.” Claiming copyright infringement, Braddock-who also goes by the name Josip J Knezevic-has requested a jury trial and is seeking unspecified damages. GK Films, which is releasing the film, is also named. Jolie was initially banned from filming in Bosnia, due to reports that the film would feature a rape victim who falls in love with her attacker. The filming permit was reinstated after Bosnia’s culture minister was given the script for review. “In the Land of Blood and Honey” is scheduled for a Dec 23 release. A representative for Jolie did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

‘Real Housewives’ star Richards enters rehab

Morissette wants son to have values

nd the troubles keep on mounting for the “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast. “RHoBH” cast member Kim Richards has entered an undisclosed rehab facility to seek treatment, several sources confirm to ET Online. Though it isn’t clear what affliction Richards, 47, is seeking treatment for, her use of alcohol has become a point of concern on the series. During the “Beverly Hills” season finale last January, Richards’ sister, Kyle Richards, lashed out at her sister, accusing her of being an alcoholic. More recently, in an episode that aired in October, Richards’ new castmate, Brandi Glanville, accused Richards of being “wasted out of her f—-ing mind,” an accusation that Richards denied at the time. The second season of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” which premiered in September, has already been marred by tragedy, with the August suicide of cast member Russell Armstrong-a month his wife, Taylor Armstrong, filed for divorce-casting a shadow over the season. A spokesperson for Richards did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

lanis Morissette will try and let her son develop his own beliefs and values. The ‘Ironic’ singer - who has an 11-monthold son Ever Imre with her husband Mario ‘Souleye’ Treadway - says it’s important for children to have their own thoughts, while still listening to the views and opinions of their family. Writing on her blog for the iVillage website, she said: “Defining our power by how we stack up against our given value systems of the day: This starts by begging the question, who sets the standards of what we value in the world?

Well, WE do. And we do it in small and large ways. “Our families: Our families tell us what is valued, thereby what our power is in our home and the world at large. Basically, what is approved of by mama and papa (and grandma and grandpa too) is what wins and gets the approval.

Certainly, parents are well-meaning enough, but when who we are differs from what is valued in our house, is it any wonder why we have barely any dregs of self-valuation available after being hammered with their agenda? (sic)” Alanis also revealed

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outrage with Jesus song f some Christian groups get their way, Johnny Depp will end up with a lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star has enraged at least two religious organizations by contributing vocals to the song “Jesus Stag Night Club” by the British band Babybird. The song, which recasts the Son of God as a boozechugging party animal who revels in driving stolen cars and facilitating bachelor parties, begins with the lyrics, “Saw a man in a bar with his hair like a lady/ Bloody thorns round his ear like he was a crazy/ He had holes in his hands and a cross for a spine/ Crushed a berry in his Perrier and called it wine.” For some reason, this has raised the hackles of some religious folk. Christian Coalition spokesperson Lee Douglas told British news-

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how it’s important to not think of ourselves as separate to anyone else. She wrote: “The thought that we are separate beings: This value system keeps us at odds with each other, and sets up the win-lose battle at the heart of our struggles, large and small. Through this lens, we believe that if someone else loses, that’s their loss, and we remain unaffected. We keep ourselves locked in the loneliness and depressing sense of disconnection that comes from such a separatist belief.”

Pattinson and Stewart’s LA love nest for sale obert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have moved out of their Los Angeles house. The ‘Twilight’ star couple had been renting a 240-square-metre property in the city’s exclusive Bel Air neighborhood, but had to leave as the owner is putting it on the market at a price of $5.9 million.

Robert, 25, and Kristen, 21, were believed to be paying $22,500 per month to stay in the four bedroom, four bathroom property. According to the listings the home features a high wood ceilings and hardwood floors, a spa, pool and a gazebo as well as a guest house with its own

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paper the Daily Star that the song is “blasphemy,” adding that Depp is “simply a disgrace” for taking part in the song. “One day, Johnny Depp and his cronies will face the judgment of our Lord and they will burn in hell for this filth,” Douglas predicted. The Focus on the Family organization was similarly condemnatory, telling the paper, “We are sickened by Depp’s behavior. Why did he need to record this song?” The song, according to Focus on the Family, is “a slap in the face to Christians all over the world.” Apparently, the whole “turn the other cheek” philosophy is just sooooooooooo first century.

kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom.

The couple - who play on-screen lovers Edward Cullen and Bella Swan in the vampire film franchise - have reportedly already been renting another house together in Robert’s native London, where Kristen has been based recently, filming ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’. The flat they are renting together in the city’s Notting Hill area is similarly luxurious, with an open plan kitchen and modern decor throughout, two bedrooms, an open plan living area and a large rooftop terrace, offering fantastic views over the city. Kristen who grew up in Los Angeles - has previously spoken of her love for London, in particular the city’s traditional English pubs. She said: “We have bars, clubs and restaurants in the US, but here you go to the pub for the afternoon and you have lunch. In an American publication, that would seem like, ‘She’s hitting the bars in London!’ but it’s just a different mentality here. “I’m a huge Guinness fan and I’ve had some really good roast dinners. I prefer old-man pubs to Gastropubs, definitely.”

Robert and Kristen are also rumored to be looking at getting a pet together, to join their dog, Bear.

Johansson: Marriage was ‘best thing’ ever carlett Johansson claims marrying Ryan Reynolds was the “best thing” she ever did. The 27-year-old actress wed the ‘Green Lantern’ star in 2008, and although they split in December 2010, Scarlett is not regretful as she felt it was “instinct” to set up a home with him. She said: “It was the best

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thing I ever did. I’m a big believer that when something feels right, you should do it. “I’m a big believer in instinct. Getting married was the right thing to do because it was natural. It grew out of romance and love and a desire to have a future with somebody, and I was very fortunate that I married somebody who turned out to be the person I thought he would be.” However, the ‘Avengers’ beauty admits the pair spent a lot of time away from one another and she was not prepared to do the work necessary to keep their romance alive. In an interview with America’s Cosmopolitan magazine, she said: “Relationships are complicated. Being married is a living, breathing process. I think I was not fully aware of the peaks and the valleys. I wasn’t prepared to hunker down and do the work. “Both of us were extremely busy. We spent so much time apart. It’s very difficult.”

Scarlett - who dated Sean Penn for five months following her break-up with Ryan - recently admitted she likes a “bad boy” in a relationship.

She said: “I’m attracted to the quality of being adventurous and perhaps a bit mischievous. And also questioning authority and being proactive. If that makes up a quintessential bad boy, then whatever.” —Agencies

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Aldean parties hard with 6 wins at ACAs he American Country Awards were Jason Aldean’s kinda party. Country music’s newest superstar won six awards Monday in Las Vegas, including the night’s top honors - artist of the year and record of the year for “My Kinda Party.” It’s true, 2010 has been a non-stop party for Aldean. More than a million fans turned out for his arena tour, his platinum album has spawned four hits so far and the awards are starting to pile up after years of being ignored. “This is getting a little ridiculous now,” Aldean said on his second visit to the stage. “I don’t know what else to say. It’s been a crazy year.”

Carrie Underwood’s fans came through for her again at the fan-voted awards a year after she was the top winner on the inaugural show with six trophies. She picked up three awards this year, including female artist of the year and female single of the year for “Mama’s Song.”“You guys vote like crazy,” Underwood said during her second trip to the stage. As expected, the show’s focus was mostly on country music’s emerging stars.

Thompson Square also won three trophies blue Fender Telecasters with an embossed silhouette of the US. The husband-and-wife duo of Shawna and Kiefer Thompson rode their breakthrough single “Are You Going to Kiss Me Or Not?” to group single, new artist single and new artist video of the year awards.

“This is the first time we’ve won anything, so be patient,” Kiefer Thompson joked. Chris Young won two awards, breakthrough artist and single of the year for “Voices,”“American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery was named new artist of the year and Lady Antebellum won a second straight group of the year.

Along with the night’s top two honors, Aldean also was named touring artist of the year and won male single of the year for “My Kinda Party” and vocal collaboration single of the year for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson. Alabama won a Greatest Hits Award and Toby Keith was named artist of the decade as the most-played country star on radio over the past 10 years.

Blake Shelton won video of the year for

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In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Carrie Underwood walks the red carpet at the American Country Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

—AP photos

Jason Aldean and Ludacris perform during the Grammy Nominations Concert in Los Angeles on November 30, 2011. —AFP “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking.” He dedicated the win to his father, Dick, who is in the hospital with pneumonia. He then appeared to tear up at the end of his performance of “God Gave Me You.”“I want to say ‘hi’ to my dad back home,” Shelton said.

“He’s been having a pretty rough couple of

weeks. I know he’s watching back at home and I love you, dad, and want to dedicate this to you.” —AP

(From left)In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, the Pistol Annies, Ashley Monroe, Angaleena (From left) Photo shows the Band Perry ,Neil Perry, Kimberly Perry and Reid Perry.

Pressley and Miranda Lambert walk the red carpet at the American Country Awards.

Vampires bite off rivals to box office glory for 3rd week

Dunst, Willis, Gere, Sarandon are Sundance-bound

he latest “Twilight” teen vampire sequel was the most popular movie in North America for the third weekend in a row, industry figures showed Monday. The vampire heart-throbber neared the quarter-billion-dollar mark, raking in a total of $246.9 million since it opened, and $16.5 this weekend alone, according to Exhibitor Relations. That put the teen flick ahead of “The Muppets,” the new film based on the Jim Henson puppet characters, which grossed $11.1 million in its second week in theaters for a total run of $56.4 million so far.

Martin Scorsese’s first 3D film “Hugo” came in third place. The adventure drama based on Brian Selznick’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station raked in $7.6 million. Staying in fourth place was animated family comedy “Arthur Christmas,” about Santa’s son tasked with completing a mission by Christmas morning. It pulled in $7.4 million. In other family fare, penguin tale “Happy Feet Two” landed in fifth place, with $5.9 million.

Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” comedy in which he plays both a successful Los Angeles advertising executive and his needy twin sister Jill, came in sixth. It got $5.4 million. In seventh was George Clooney comedy-drama “The Descendants,” with $4.8 million, enough to push it ahead of big-budget 3-D epic “Immortals,” which got 4.5 million.

Action comedy “Tower Heist,” starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller, scored $4 million to come in ninth, ahead of animated children’s film “Puss in Boots,” with $3 million. —AFP

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Washington film critics embrace ‘The Artist,’ ‘Hugo’ wo movies about the early days of movies have landed at the top of another list of awards, with “The Artist” being named Best Film and “Hugo” director Martin Scorsese winning Best Director honors from the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association.

Michel Hazanavicius’ black-and-white silent film “The Artist” won two awards, Best Film and Best Score (Ludovic Bource), while “Hugo” production designer Dante Ferretti and set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo were also honored for their work on that 3D film.

George Clooney and Michelle Williams won top acting awards for “The Descendants” and “My Week With Marilyn,” respectively, while Albert Brooks (“Drive”) and Octavia Spencer (“The Help”) won for their supporting roles. Other winners included “Bridesmaids” (Best Acting Ensemble), “Rango” (Best Animated Feature), “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” (Best Documentary) and “The Skin I Live In” (Best Foreign Language Film).—Reuters

t’ll be a busy shopping season at next month’s Sundance Film Festival, whose star-studded premieres are up for grabs by potential theatrical distributors. Some premieres usually enter the independent-film showcase with US distribution already lined up. But festival director John Cooper said all the premieres that Sundance announced Monday will be looking for distributors. “I don’t think that’s ever happened before,” said festival director John Cooper. “It makes for a much more exciting buyer’s market, I think. At least, lively.” Among Sundance’s big-name premieres: Kirsten Dunst’s wedding romp “Bachelorette,” directed by Leslye Headland; Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Las Vegas bookie caper “Lay the Favorite,” from filmmaker Stephen Frears; Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon’s Wall Street saga “Arbitrage,” directed by Nicholas Jarecki; Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro in Rodrigo Cortes’ paranormal thriller “Red Lights”; and actordirector Julie Delpy’s “2 Days in New York,” co-starring Chris Rock in a follow-up to her 2007 romance “2 Days in Paris.”

Sarandon also stars alongside Frank Langella in a second Sundance premiere, director Jake Schreier’s geriatric comedy “Robot and Frank,” which also features Liv Tyler and James Marsden. Former “X-Files” partners David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson both have premieres playing Sundance. Duchovny and Vera Farmiga star in Christopher Neil’s father-son story “Goats,” while Anderson is featured along with Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough in James Marsh’s Irish terrorism tale “Shadow Dancer.” Director Spike Lee, who came to Sundance with his 2009 rock musical “Passing Strange,” returns with “Red Hook Summer,” the story of an Atlanta boy spending the summer with his grandfather in Brooklyn. Cooper said the film is a return to the same urban landscape Lee explored two decades ago in “Do the Right Thing,” with the director reprising the role he played in that film.

“It’s very back to his roots, very much in his old style. He’s even playing his old character, Mookie,” Cooper said. “This is the same neighborhood.”

Overseen by Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, the festival runs Jan. 19-29 in Park City, Utah. Sundance opens with four films that were announced last week among the festival’s dramatic and documentary competitions. It closes with one of the premieres unveiled Monday, directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal’s literary plagiarism story “The Words,” starring Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde.

The premieres, which screen out of competition, also include actor-director Josh Radnor’s campus romance “Liberal Arts,” co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Allison Janney; Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ aging

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Actor Ashton Kutcher arrives for the film premiere of ‘New Year’s Eve; at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood on December 5, 2011. The movie opens in theaters on December 9. —AFP

supermodel documentary “About Face,” featuring Christie Brinkley, Paulina Poriskova and Christy Turlington; Rory Kennedy’s Ethel Kennedy portrait “Ethel”; and two musical documentaries an as-yetuntitled Paul Simon documentary from director Joe Berlinger, and rapper Ice-T’s “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,” featuring Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Eminem, Kanye West and other performers.

The premieres present strong roles for women, said Trevor Groth, the festival’s programming director.

Among them: Michael Walker’s workplace tale “Price Check,” starring Sundance regular Parker Posey; Lee Toland Krieger’s divorce romance “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” with Rashida Jones, who also co-wrote the film; and Frears’“Lay the Favorite,” with Rebecca Hall in the lead alongside Willis and Zeta-Jones. Dunst’s “Bachelorette,” co-starring Isla Fisher and Lizzie

In this film publicity image released by Sundance Film Festival, Chris Rock, left, and Julie Delpy are shown in a scene from, ‘2 Days in New York,’ premiering at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.—AP Caplan, and director Jamie Travis’ phone-sex farce “For a Good Time, Call ...,” starring Ari Graynor and Lauren Anne Miller, are raunchy comedies that could benefit from the success of last summer’s R-rated female romps “Bridesmaids” and “Bad Teacher.”

“Both written by women, both very funny and pretty outrageous for that type of comedy,” Groth said. “Happening to sort of follow in the wake of the success of ‘Bridesmaids,’ that seems to have opened some doors for creating female comedies outside the traditional romantic comedy. I think these two are really going to pop.” —AP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

South Korean volunteers in Santa Claus outfits perform before going out to hand out Christmas gifts to prematurely born babies in Seoul yesterday. The volunteers will visit some 45 homes raising prematurely born babies in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. —AFP

Strong sales shine on Art Basel Miami Beach T

ough economic times around the world did not stop European and Latin American collectors from snapping up works at Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art fair of its kind in the United States. The 10th edition of the event in Miami Beach wrapped up Sunday on a sunny note. “I heard estimates as high as a billion dollars in art sales, which would be wonderful. We were just reaching, we were on the genesis of what this will be. It’s bigger every year,” said Florida Republican senator Mike Haridopolos, who stood in for Florida Governor Rick Scott at the event.

The fair’s big attraction is that it pulls in modern and contemporary art by artists from Latin America, Asia, Africa, the United States and Europe.

More than 260 galleries from around the world exhibited works by more than 2,000 artists in an event organizers said drew some 50,000 people.

“What stood out this year was that the economic crisis really did not make itself felt, though clearly

there were fewer people from Europe than in prior years,” said Orly Benzacar, who runs the Ruth Benzacar Gallery, and hasn’t missed the event in a decade.

Representatives of galleries in Switzerland, Germany and France all agreed the fair was busy compared to recent years. And there was a stronger showing from Latin American buyers from Brazil, Colombia and Peru investing in art, they said. “Most importantly, Americans are buying again,” said Arne Ehmann, of the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac of Paris and Salzburg. “We sold 90% to American collections, which is totally different to two years ago and surprised us.” Most gallery owners would not give their sales figures.

And Art Basel does not provide overall sales numbers, either.

Yet as early as Friday afternoon, at least 10 stands at the event at the Miami Beach convention center had closed-after selling out their entire

inventory. “Among the big Latin American collectors on our list, everyone was there. And the most important US collectors also were there,” one organizer said privately. Lucy Mitchell-Innes, director of Mitchell-Innes & Nash, of New York, said she noticed a wave of younger buyers. “We saw a whole new generation of thirty-something collectors, seriously interested in looking and learningand now buying as well, with many more women collectors making their own independent collecting decisions.” This year, 16 art galleries came from Brazil, some of which have witnessed the growth of Art Basel Miami Beach since its debut a decade ago. “Before the 2008 crisis, the sales were spectacular. Then there was a slight drop, but this year has been phenomenal for us,” said Cristina Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Sao Paulo gallery Fortes Vilaca. — AFP

(File photo) Artists from all over the United States are taking to the streets of Miami Design District on November 28, 2011 to prepare the 10th edition of ArtBasel Miami Beach. —AFP

Japan returns looted Favorite Martin Boyce ancient books to South Korea scoops UK’s Turner Prize J apan yesterday returned to South Korea more than 1,000 volumes of historical documents it seized during its colonial rule of the peninsula in a gesture aimed at improving prickly relations. A traditional troupe greeted the arrival of the 1,200 volumes at Incheon airport west of Seoul.

After a ceremony attended by South Korean and Japanese officials, the books were to be transported to a state museum in Seoul.

The archives include royal protocols for weddings, funerals, banquets and other events during Korea’s Joseon dynasty, which ruled from the 14th century until Japan took over in 1910. Tokyo agreed to return the documents last year in an effort to improve ties. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko

Noda delivered five volumes of the treasured books in October when he met South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak in Seoul.

Relations remain tense because of disputes that have lingered since Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

A row over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) — known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan-has often strained ties. Seoul also complains that its neighbor’s school textbooks distort their shared history. And it wants to discuss compensation for Japan’s use of Korean women as sex slaves during World War II. Japan says all colonial issues were settled in a 1965 compensation deal that led to the normalization of relations.—AFP

File photo shows a man poses for pictures with a work of art entitled ‘Do Words Have Voices’ by artist Martin Boyce, during a photocall for the 2011 Turner Prize at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts in partnership with Tate, in Gateshead, north-east England. — AFP

F

avorite Martin Boyce won the Turner Prize on Monday, claiming a 25,000 pound ($40,000) check and one of the art world’s most prestigious and controversial awards. The 44-year-old’s distinctive sculptural installations, which seek to create an urban landscape within the confines of the gallery space, topped a shortlist of works that some critics said was one of the best in the Turner’s 27-year history.

“Some really good artists have won the Turner Prize and some really good artists have not won the Turner Prize,” Boyce said at a press conference afterwards. “The impact of this hasn’t even hit yet and I don’t know when or if it’s going to hit.” Brown paper “leaves” are strewn across the floor of his exhibition at the BALTIC gallery in Gateshead, northern England, which hosted the awards-only the second time they have been held outside London.

“I guess it has something to do with hope and finding the poetic in the abject,” Boyce said of his work. A trashcan-like structure fitted with a fabric liner and small, rectangular grills attached to the wall at ankle-height produces the atmosphere of a city park. “Boyce ... has steadily shown himself to be strong through his work seen internationally and in a number of big shows,” Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate galleries which run the annual award, told Reuters.

It is the second year running that a Scottish

artist has won the Turner Prize after Susan Philipsz claimed the 2010 award for her sound installation. The winning choice this year was more restrained than it has been in the past, with the Turner Prize famous for sparking fierce debate about what constitutes art.

Damien Hirst was presented with the prize in 1995 for a pickled cow, and in 2001 an empty room with a light that switched on and off clinched the prize for Martin Creed. But the lack of controversy this year did not dampen public interest in the exhibition of works by the four shortlisted artists and a nearly naked man in a pink tutu leapt on stage during the proceedings providing a brief moment of hilarity.

More than 100,000 people have visited the show at the BALTIC since it opened in Octoberalready double the number that saw the exhibition at the Tate in London last year. Celebrity photographer Mario Testino, who presented the award, said the Turner Prize had made more people aware of contemporary art. “There is a lot more consciousness today in the art world ... people are more aware, and art is more accessible,” he said. “We are more used to everything, and it’s from not knowing that you get those sort of (negative) reactions. “(The Turner Prize) has been a key player in making people look at art,” he said. Second favorite and the only painter on the shortlist, George Shaw, depicts the

melancholic and gritty urban wasteland of Coventry-his childhood home. With his unusual choice of humbrol enamel, normally used in model making, Shaw gives the paintings a glossy sheen which contrasts with their drab subject matter. Video artist Hilary Lloyd has constructed a room of flickering images where the projectors are just as much a part of the artwork as the videos themselves. And Karla Black’s pastel powder creations bring the sense of smell to her vast constructions of paper and plastic through the use of balsa wood, moisturizer and nail varnish.

The three runners-up each receive 5,000 pounds. Boyce said the prize was a confirmation of his youthful dream to become an artist, a career decision fraught with uncertainty for the future. “I never thought I would be able to support my family through art, but I am able to live a creative life and it’s a privilege,” he said. The Turner Prize, created in 1984, is awarded annually to a British artist under the age of 50 whose work over the past year has been judged as particularly innovative and important.— Reuters

South Korean workers unload a cargo containing Korea’s ancient royal documents taken by Japan during the 1910-45 colonial rule, at the Incheon International Airport west of Seoul yesterday. — AFP

Dutch scientists identify painting as a Rembrandt

A

painting known as “Old man with a beard” has been identified as a Rembrandt work thanks to the discovery of a hidden image underneath the paint. The painting, owned by a private collector, shows the head of an elderly man with tufts of white hair and a white beard.

Professor Joris Dik from Delft University of Technology told Reuters that x-ray techniques had revealed a very rough unfinished self-portrait by the artist underneath the image of the old man.

Ernst van de Wetering, a Dutch expert on Rembrandt, said that the painting was done using a technique very similar to that used by Rembrandt when he lived in Leiden in 1630. He said an identical image of the old man appeared in a reproduction dating from 1633 with an inscription stating that it was made by Rembrandt-further evidence that the painting itself was by Rembrandt. The painting will go on loan to the

Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt’s former house and studio in Amsterdam, and will be on show from May to July next year.—Reuters

Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering speaks during the presentation at the Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House Museum) in Amsterdam. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Bruce Lee’s kung fu style draws new generation

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am Lau picks up his sword and waves it in a series of terrifying slashes as he runs towards a student, who retreats laughing nervously.

All around them, kung fu students grapple fiercely. The pupils have come to Lau’s Hong Kong studio-some from as far away as Italy-to hone their moves in the kung fu style called wing chun, which is on the rise again decades after the death of its most famous follower, Bruce Lee. Many credit wing chun’s renewed popularity to a series of films about Yip Man, one of the art’s greatest “sifus”, or teachers, and most famously the man who turned Lee from street fighter to martial arts legend.

“I started to learn wing chun because of the movie ‘Ip Man’. He was a great person,” said Sam Ng, 12. “When Yip Man saw someone beating someone else, he would stand up and help to rescue them.” Ng shows off a series of sharp chopping gestures followed by a formal bow. But though students may

dynasty, Yim Wing Chun, who used techniques taught to her by a nun to overcome a local warlord trying to trap her into marriage.

Yip Man brought her art to Hong Kong and, through Bruce Lee and the heyday of Hong Kong film, to the attention of the world. “A lady in a dangerous situation can do something very serious, very fierce attack the eye, the chin, the neck-wing chun is real fighting, real defense that relies on your technique,” Lau said. Fortunately, Lau’s studios in Hong Kong’s teeming Tsim Sha Tsui are free of pupils gouging one another’s eyes out. Instead they stand in pairs grappling with their arms in an exercise called chi sao, or “sticky hands”-a key element of wing chun in which students learn to respond instantly to an opponent’s movements.

Other exercises involve kicks and punches, while students may also train with wooden dummies and, in advanced stages, poles or swords.

Wing Chun practictioners spar at the Yip Man Martial Arts Athletic Association.

be brought to wing chun by the 2008 blockbuster starring Donnie Yen-or its sequel and prequel-it is the health and self-defence benefits that keep them sparring, said Yip’s son, Yip Ching, 77.

“Yip Man let the world know about wing chun but it’s even more popular now,” he said. Lau, 64, was once Yip’s assistant and is now a sifu in his own right with over 1,000 pupils. He says that wing chun appeals to a broad range of students because of its emphasis on cunning and focus rather than brute force. Like other adherents, he constantly brings up wing chun’s founding legend that of a young woman in southern China during the Qing

Students learn to outwit opponents with speed and deliver multiple punches in quick succession while staying balanced around a centre line. The most important exercises are not the most spectacular, but Lau’s students say they train the body to react faster than the brain. They also lead to a different state of mind and body in which relaxation enables total focus, says Lau’s disciple, Italian Furio Piccinini.

“Even when punching incredibly fast you have to also be relaxed... Normally you think that to punch you use force, but that’s not true, you use the body weight to punch and to develop power,” he said. “If you are relaxed, you can

develop great power. I think that’s incredible it’s like geometry, physics.

With a simple movement you can push very, very hard.” Piccinini, 34, and his colleague Silvio Gazzaniga regularly bring students from near Milan to Hong Kong

for lessons.

Erica Rossetti, 23, started learning three years ago because her boyfriend went to the classes, but before long found some of the spark of the original wing chun. “I like it because now I am

not shy,” she said. “Before, I was shy, but now I have found a different part of myself. I have more positive energy.” Lau also credits the growth in student numbers to the Internet, which allows would-be martial artists to instantly find Yip’s followers and their kung fu schools rather than what he sees as cheap imitations.

“Wing chun is the best kung fu in the world, and we have to tell the world, this is the correct wing chun,” he said.

“People see my website, they say this is very good, this is Bruce Lee again.” But exact numbers of wing chun students around the world are hard to come by, and this, says Lau, is a symptom of wing chun’s problems. With roots in downand-dirty street fighting, the sport has no standardized system of exams and competitions, and lacks the international profile of other martial arts like judo and taekwondo.

Lau sees it as his mission to “unify wing chun” to preserve Yip Man’s techniques for the future. “I have been asking the Chinese government to pro-

Coen gets bleak in 3 new off-Broadway plays H

(From left) In this image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Gordon MacDonald, Lenny Venito, and Clark Gregg are shown in a scene from ‘End Days’. — AP

William Mebarak, right, and his daughter Colombian pop star Shakira laugh during the presentation of his book ‘The wind and the chance’ in Bogota, Colombia, Monday. Shakira wrote the prologue and edited the book, a collection of love stories, poems, fiction pieces and essays. —AP

ow long does it take while watching Ethan Coen’s new play “Happy Hour” to realize that the title is ironic? Let’s put it this way - it doesn’t take an hour. This collection of three short, black comedies by a playwright best known as half of filmdom’s prolific Coen brothers is filled with misanthropes, one-way talkers, awkward types, cheaters and the terminally self-involved. There are no happy endings and the whole bitter thing consumes about two hours.

“You’re depressed,” one of his characters says to a morose friend, but might as well be talking about the author himself. “You got like a, a man’s-place-in-society thing and it’s heavy and it’s got you down.”

The world premiere of Coen’s play is presented by the Atlantic Theater Company and opened Monday at the Signature Theatre Company’s Peter Norton Space while the Atlantic’s main stage is being renovated.

If you love the movies Coen has made with his brother Joel - including “No Country for Old Men,” “Fargo,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “The Big Lebowski” - this will be right up your dark, twisted little alley.

The cast is composed of Cassie Beck, Aya Cash, Clark Gregg, Susan Hyon, Rock Kohli, Gordon MacDonald, Amanda Quaid, Ana Reeder, Joey Slotnick and Lenny Venito. Some play multiple parts, including Gregg, Venito, Reeder and Kohli. Neil Pepe directs with a successful attempt to play up as much humor as possible, but it’s often a hopeless task. The playwright, twice the author of three previously compiled short plays - “Almost an Evening” and “Offices,” which were also presented by the Atlantic Theater Company - can be seen on Broadway, too, having penned one-third of “Relatively Speaking,” an evening of three one-acts that also includes works by Woody Allen and Elaine May. In the first of these new mini-plays, MacDonald plays a bar fly who bulldozes any conversation with his fantastic and slightly unhinged end-of-days theories, such as his prediction that various energy crises will lead to a mass freak-out and then to everyone killing Jews. He talks the other bar patrons into submission - whether they even speak English is moot. But, at home, he’s an irritable, one-word mouse who doesn’t talk to his wife and has trouble even unlocking his apartment door. His arcane information is clipped from The New York Times and stored in a huge binder.

In the second story, we are transported to the 1970s where a bitter session musician (Slotnick) and an idealistic teacher (Cash) are thrust together by accident and though they’re pretty perfect for each other, there’s no love connection because they blow it. After an intermission, the third play involves two travelers (Gregg and Venito) in a cheap motel room. Venito’s Buck is having an existential crisis and his friend Tony just wants to cheat on his wife with some local floozies, played

by Reeder and Quaid. Tony leaves his friend behind to have a bizarre Japanese dinner with the two ladies. While the stories aren’t connected in time or space, there are thematic echoes - such as one that poses our planet seeking revenge on humans - and a dark blanket of paranoia that covers much of Coen’s writing.

He is masterful at left-of-center monologues and uses dialogue to show that people are destined to just get confused when expressing themselves and will ultimately misunderstand each other. What’s it all about? Who knows? “Sometimes a story is not about the story,” one character says. “It’s about the mood.” And the mood here is bleak enough to drive you to the nearest bar for a chance to catch the last few minutes of a real happy hour. — AP

mote wing chun, to develop it and tell the world to follow,” he said. “But they only know about gold medals and the Olympic Games. “We can’t wait for them. We have a duty to do this with or without the government.” With several teachers claiming to be the heirs of Yip Man, Lau’s quest to become the head of a united wing chun movement may prove difficult. But the crowd that gathers at Yip’s grave for an autumn commemoration shows the old man is far from forgotten. One Hong Kong disciple, Tony Ng, has only been learning for a year but sees wing chun featuring heavily in his future. “I’m learning to use my whole body for fighting,” he said.

“It’s very easy to say but very difficult to do.” —AFP

Photographers bring their wars to New York’s Bronx

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fter dangerous, dusty assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan, photographer Michael Kamber has chosen a tough area of New York City as the new backdrop for his interest in war. The award-winning journalist recently opened a gallery in the Bronx, the first in the borough, and he hopes that his gesture will both help photographers and build bridges with a neighborhood that, while not at war, certainly knows the harder side of life. The Bronx Documentary Center’s inaugural exhibition focused on images by Tim Hetherington, a British photographer who was killed in April, along with his colleague Chris Hondros, while working in the rebel Libyan town of Misrata.

Kamber says the 40-year-old, who was killed in shelling by besieging forces loyal to the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, had always been fascinated by the Bronx, one section of which has the highest poverty rate of any district in the United States. “That was something we’d spoken about for a long time and Tim in particular was interested in new audiences,” said Kamber, who covered the US invasion and occupation of Iraq for The New York Times. “Tim felt like we always reach the same audience and always sell and put in auctions in Chelsea, you know, Soho. We don’t look for new people.” The idea of establishing a gallery in the Bronx, rather than the swish districts of lower Manhattan, “excited” Hetherington, Kamber says. “He loved the Bronx.”

The surrounding neighborhood seems to have adopted its unusual new addition. Schoolchildren have turned the gallery into one of their meeting points while curious passersby stop in, wishing to know more or just congratulating staff. The paint still smells fresh in the exhibition room where you can see Hetherington’s final pictures, taken before he was fatally wounded. The helmet and flack jacket he wore during that fatal day also sit by the door. Danielle Jackson, director of the Bronx Documentary Center, said Hetherington and she talked shortly before his death “about what should be done about photography and how you need to get it out of the museum.” Kamber also said his friend had wanted photography to escape its usual confines.

“He thought like the media was sometimes used as a form of propaganda. It gave people what they expected to see week after week, months after months, and he felt that in so doing we became part of the propaganda,” Kamber said. In addition, the center has living and working space for young photographers upstairs, an arrangement that Benjamin Petit, a French photographer, said was “very inspiring.” “We wanted photographers there, people that would be able to work on projects, people are coming from the street, children are helping as volunteers,” Kamber said. “In a sense, in this building, we’re building a community.” The Bronx, where more than one in four lives in poverty, could do with the attention. “It’s a rough area. There are not many cultural organizations,” Jackson said. “So people have been super responsive.” — AFP

Jason Aldean parties hard with 6 wins at ACAs

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

37 An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop.

Z

ahra Nazer’s fingers work deftly on the loom, rapidly weaving each colorful silk thread into a carpet that will take more than a year to complete. The practiced, swift movements and the loom, strung up on rough-hewn wooden rods, are ages-old, virtually unchanged in the more than 2,500 years that Persian carpets have been coming out of what is today’s Iran. But the industry, worth half a billion dollars in exports, has come under threat in recent years and is responding by introducing some radical transformations-effectively replacing tradition with 21st-century technology.

Nazer sees her profession-which counts 200,000 registered weavers, including her mother, father and aunts-as an inherited one passed from one generation to the next since time immemorial. “I’m 18, and I have been weaving since I was 15,” Nazer said. “I like weaving and it’s not that hard unless one does too much of it.” What she does not see, though, is the changing market outside her cozy workshop shared with dozens of other women. There, cheaper imitations of what she makes are flooding in from China and Pakistan, many of them machine-weaved. The number of buyers is dwindling, put off by rising prices for the carpets, largely a result of soaring silk costs. A genuine, good-quality handmade Persian carpet can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Weavers like Nazer, though, receive less than a dollar a day for their painstaking work. That reflects the narrow profit margins,

Persian carpets including in the ancient bazaars where piles of ornate coverings are piled on top of each other, waiting for prospective customers. “The situation in the market has worsened drastically in the past few years, due to the lack of buyers, especially since our carpets’ (target) customers are tourists and we need

An Iranian art student learns the craft of carpet-making at a university in Isfahan.

An Iranian art student draws a design at a course teaching the craft of carpet-making. more tourists in the country,” said Hassan Hosseinzadeh, a carpet seller attending an exhibition of the wares in the central city of Isfahan.

An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop.

Iranian women weave carpets at a workshop in Isfahan.

Computers are faster To counter the decline, some carpet businesses have turned to computers and machinery to claw back their place in the market. One firm, in the city of Qom, has a young designer, Javad Dejahany, sitting in front of a desktop PC connected to a drawing tablet. He uses the device to sketch out the intricate patterns of lines and flowers and birds that will be set into the carpet by the female weavers. Next to him sits an older worker determinedly doing the work the old-fashioned way: by hand, on grid paper. “Some people have been designing for years and are still working by hand. Those in their 60s have no interest in computers. Why? One has to keep pace with science, otherwise one becomes 100% isolated,”

An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop.

Dejahany said. The computer, he explained, “speeds up designing and allows room for more maneuvers. Working with the computer is much, much faster than hand-drawn work.”

It’s the same story of change in the dyeing process. Most of it is still carried out in steamy rooms where men dunk balls of silk into vats, then roll them into loops around their arms before drying them on rooftop beams. One worker in the firm’s dyeing operation, Javad Firoozi, said the practice underscored carpet-making as “traditional art”. “However, nowadays it is being treated as an export commodity,” he admitted.

In a factory outside the town of Kashan, between Qom and Isfahan, that shift can be clearly seen. One worker in a white coat oversees automated dyeing in several stainless steel vats which ensure the dyes are applied evenly and to catalogue standards obviating the colour variations that occur in the artisanal technique. To keep pace with the changing face of the sector, the hand-me-down style of teaching has shifted from the workshops to the classroom.

Classes speed up teaching In Isfahan’s university of art, students pick up in a matter of days techniques their traditional predecessors would have spent months trying to glean from their elders. “Our methods of academising the traditional way have really sped up teaching,” said a carpet weaving teacher at the university, Ali Reza Iranpour. He pointed out as an example the work of one student that he said matched the quality of old masters, all from just six hours a week of weaving classes. “I haven’t figured out yet why in the traditional system, there is this opposition to using measurement tools,” he said. He stressed, though, that he held up traditional methods in his teaching, “because those people learned their craft from the masters and it’s not experience accumulated over just a couple of centuries, but rather a millennium.” — AFP

Iranian men work at a traditional carpet dye factory in Qom.